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

[classy_cat18]

Kurtzwick will battle a Frillish.

[Lady Vulpix]

OK, thanks, Jeff and DL.

Recomments: Hero and Tsunami's friendly rivalry has a lot more to do with their personalities than their types. They're opposed in several ways (for instance one specializes in speed and one in endurance, and their respective observation skills are focused on completely different areas) and alike in many others (they both love attention, competition and word-fighting, they both tend to get carried away when doing something they like, and they're both very loud, among other things).

As for Caledor being a spaz... that's true only in the hyperactive and overly energetic sense, not in the retarded sense. He's actually quite smart, he just loves being silly and hates being serious. And he wasn't kidding about how important it is for him to make others smile. Metaphorically speaking, he loves making lemonade.

[Wolfsong]

I think i asked for an extension on this scneario but just to be on the safe side, i'll ask agian. I'd like an extension please. As well as an rbg for Jas L.26 winged dratini from the Caledor's Nature Protection Agency *hands over 7 stamps*

[classy_cat18]

Jasmine will battle a Cyndaquil. And extension granted.

[The Blue Avenger]

I'm here!

Point by point, Gabi:
- I really want to see Caledor's skill of balancing a beach ball come in handy.
- A puzzle wrapped in a... cloud. Caledor's mind moves in mysterious ways.
- Lady Bellsprout angry is somewhat scary.
- "What do you call an alien griffin?" "Dunno, how's about 'alien griffin'?" I enjoyed that exchange.
- Oh hey, Tsuyoi and Rhiannon. Haven't heard those names in a while.
- Caledor's tangent on lengths of words made me laugh.
- Just sayin', I really like Cryogonal, so this was a cool (no pun intended) battle.
- Having Tsunami battle someone else with his strategy was good. And his dialogue while he was confused, I liked that.
- Oh hey, it's Gamble. I bet everyone's excited to see him again.

All right. The battle was good, 5 stamps there, and the very detailed intro and outro together... I liked it. Let's say 15 stamps total.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks for the detailed comments! It was worth the wait. :) And I'm glad you liked it.

Caledor is always fun to write. And it's a good exercise in non-linear thinking (at least whenever his attempts at avoiding seriousness succeed). I must admit I don't know how balancing a beach ball would help him in real life... except perhaps as general balance and concentration practice. Hmm... come to think of it, that may have been what he had in mind all along. He does like to employ extra silliness to disguise his attempts at improving himself.

While I was writing it I started missing Rhiannon... and Ade's team in general. Not Tsuyoi, though. That's a character I'd never miss.

And yes, it's Gamble. :D I'm sure he would appreciate your excitement, as long as he didn't notice the ironic tone. ;)

[The Blue Avenger]

Can I get a triple RBG for Bow, Groove Guy, and Mona, please, from the Jungle Deforestation place? *hands over 21 stamps*

[classy_cat18]

Cacnea, Budew, and Shuckle are waiting for them.

[Wolfsong]

I'd like an rbg from the Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency for Darin please. *hands over 7 stamps*

[classy_cat18]

Darin will face a Wooper.

[The Blue Avenger]

Here are my last few RBGs: Test No. 6?! and Two To Tango. Cheers!
---
The tournament had ended. Jeff had come home. And when he got there, he had found a very frustrated Kurtzwick waiting for him. Though most people might have been a little unnerved by an irritated, six-foot snake in their house, Jeff was not, in fact, most people, and greeted Kurtzwick with a hug. After the requisite explanations, Jeff had directed Kurtzwick to go to the Dragon Tamers. Not, he said, because of anything involving Kurtzwick’s trials; that would have to wait. When Kurtzwick had raised an objection, saying that whoever was behind it had kidnapped him once and probably would do it again, Jeff had said that the Guild would be better served to help him. The Tamers, he said, were going to teach him a special move; after that, Kurtzwick could feel free to go to the Guild to get help. Jeff added that he and the rest of the team were going on a mission; Kurtzwick was welcome to go with them, and in fact it would probably be safer to do so. Kurtzwick had cut him off there, saying that he had a mission of his own, and left to go get his free move.

Kurtzwick didn’t really see a flaw with that. After all, if Jeff wanted to give him the reward for winning the tournament, who was he to complain? It meant that Raini didn’t get some ultra-powerful move, and he was perfectly okay with that. The process didn’t take long, and the machine that the Tamers used even gave him the same sensation that a TM did. And so, without much fanfare, Kurtzwick learned V-Create. They also gave him a handful of candy, which Kurtzwick ate without a second thought. It made his stomach jump for a moment, but it settled down, leaving him feeling energized.

The next fool, he thought, from that foul place is going to get a face full of flaming Dratini. Kurtzwick thought about that sentence for a moment, considered revising it, but didn’t; the alliteration was too good. He left the Tamers’ headquarters and began the trip to the Guild.

All in all, it was a very inconvenient moment for something to grab him and pull him off of the street. The last thing Kurtzwick saw before everything went black was an empty street. Of course nobody saw it happening.

He woke up some time later, and let out a loud expletive. The two events were not unrelated; he had, naturally, woken up in what appeared to be a large warehouse. Dust coated every available surface, as if nothing had been there in months. A catwalk hung near the ceiling, leading to the only door in the room.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Kurtzwick howled. “This crap again?! You didn’t even give me a chance to start investigating! Popple, you jackass, show your face! I know you’re around here somewhere!”

A clunking sound rang out from overhead – the same sound that Kurtzwick remembered from the last time he was there. The air vent popped open, and something fell out – instead of a Pokéball, though, a Pokémon fell out. It was small and pink, and it landed neatly on top of Kurtzwick before collapsing to the ground.

Kurtzwick looked at the figure, then glared at the ceiling. “You know, if you’re going to start answering my requests now, I’d really like a million stamps and to go home. Not necessarily in that order.”

The figure groaned. “Might as well save your breath, see?” it said.

“Good as always to see you, Popple,” Kurtzwick answered. “Which is to say, not at all.”

“I’m in the same boat as you, you schmuck!” Popple said. “When you broke out, they made me start running their tests, see? All their stooges here are more powerful than me!”

Kurtzwick rolled his eyes. “Oh no, I’m soooo sorry. Let me play you a sad song on the world’s tiniest violin.”

“Hey, shut up! You know as well as I do what it’s like here, see?”

The loudspeaker crackled to life above them, and a decidedly more feminine voice than Popple’s spoke. “The test subjects are already showing an alarming degree of infighting. This reminds me of a test! Perhaps that test will promote teamwork. This shall have to be studied.”

Kurtzwick and Popple glanced at each other, but didn’t have a chance to do much more before the room started rumbling in a significantly unnerving manner. “To the wall!” Popple cried, looking up at the ceiling. Without thinking about it, Kurtzwick pressed himself against the wall of the room, just as a series of a dozen or so crates fell from rusted-out holes in the roof and landed with a thunk on the floor. To follow that, panels in the walls slid aside, and water began to pour out. Kurtzwick and Popple both jumped onto crates, and before long, the crates were floating, about half of the room already submerged. The water level’s rising began to slow until it was almost imperceptible.

“Water. It would be water, wouldn’t it?” Popple grumbled, his fur rising on end as he stared at his reflection.

Kurtzwick, however, had no such compunctions, and dove in. “You’re being a wuss, Popple.”

“No, I’m being a cat, see?! There’s a difference!” Popple said, a level of hysteria beginning to rise in his voice. “Who knows what’s in that water?!”

“Look, this has got to be part of some inane test. Let’s just get it solved, then bust out of here.”

“The test will begin shortly,” the loudspeaker said. “Please, prepare yourselves.” Two more Pokéballs dropped from the ceiling and sunk under the water. Two Pokémon rose up and focused their attention on the two thieves.

Test! Kurtzwick and Popple versus Tirtouga and Frillish!
Kurtzwick: “Hack, slay, and haul it all away!”
Popple: “Time to squash these two drips, see?”
Tirtouga: “I see you!”
Frillish: “Are you still there?”

“These two Pokémon,” the loudspeaker said, “used to be like you two. They fought. But then, under my tutelage, they have learned to function as a single unit.” As if to confirm, the Frillish and the Tirtouga stared unflinchingly at their targets.

“Yeah, I bet they have,” Kurtzwick said. “Popple! Keep them occupied! I’m going to try and lock them down!” He dove under the water without waiting for a response.

That turned out to be a poor move on his part; if he had stayed above water for a moment longer, he would have heard Popple fire back with “Like hell, you stooge! I can’t draw their attacks!” This was followed by an “Ah, crap,” as both Pokémon looked at Popple, their other target gone, and generated a tremendous wave that washed across the room. The wave crashed into Popple, knocking him from his crate and sending him crashing into a wall. The Surf also caught Kurtzwick in its undertow and pulled him back up to the surface, reappearing just as the wave hit the wall.

“Popple! What the hell?!” Kurtzwick growled. When he didn’t get an answer, he turned to look at the Skitty…

…who was floating face down in the water. Kurtzwick grumbled something unrepeatable under his breath and swam to Popple. Just as he thought, the Skitty was out cold. Two Surfs must have been too much for him. What had Popple said? That all the Pokémon there were stronger than him? How strong had Popple been when Maza and Trezzatura had fought him and Rookie all that time ago? If he hadn’t been training much, it would make sense that the Pokémon here, which were giving Kurtzwick a run for his money, would skunk Popple pretty easily.

Looks like it’s just me, then, Kurtzwick thought. With a surprising show of dexterity, he hauled Popple onto a crate. He looked up. The ceiling seemed closer than it had a while ago. Of course; the water level’s still rising. After a moment’s thought, Kurtzwick smiled. Then that means I have a plan now. Let’s rock. He jumped onto a crate himself – a different one from Popple – and shot a grin at his two opponents. Without giving them time to react, he arched a bolt of lightning into the water.

The subject of water and electricity is interesting. Everyone knows that water-type Pokémon are weak to electricity, but what about the water itself? Does it conduct electricity? Most people would say yes. Fewer people would say that it would only if the water wasn’t pure. The first group of people would probably fire right back with, “Well, how often does that come up?” To which the latter group of people would likely be forced to respond, “Not often, we’re afraid, and the water probably wouldn’t stay pure for long anyway.” This exercise, in addition to leaving the first group feeling frustrated and the second group embarrassed, just goes to show that if you’re a water-type Pokémon hanging around in the water, facing a Pokémon with an electric attack probably won’t end well.

It didn’t end well. The water conducted the Hidden Power quite excellently, and the bolt coursed through the bodies of the Frillish and the Tirtouga, leaving them charred and slightly smoky.

However, against Kurtzwick’s fondest hopes, it did not down them. Instead, it only served to make them angrier, from the looks on their faces. The Tirtouga sped through the water faster than one would expect a turtle to and locked its teeth on Kurtzwick’s tail, which prompted an anguished yell that only stopped when the Frillish locked eyes on him. An evil-looking glow radiated from the Frillish, and Kurtzwick felt the Hex hurt him in ways he wasn’t quite able to describe. He lashed his tail around and the Tirtouga finally ceded, letting go and flying back into the water.

“Popple, you just had to get knocked out,” Kurtzwick muttered, fully aware how unfair his statement was and yet, at the same time, not caring in the slightest. Under the reasoning that it seemed to work well enough the first time, he lashed a bolt into the water again, frying both Pokémon. They took the attack, showing severe signs of damage, but still wouldn’t go down.

“Repetition in your attacks shows a lack of creativity,” the loudspeaker said in a slightly condescending tone of voice. Well, more condescending than normal.

“Screw that!” Kurtzwick yelled. “What it means is that I’ve got an attack that does a lot of damage to both of them at once and I want to get out of this freaking place!”

“Oh, so you’re going for power over everything else?” the loudspeaker mused. “Let us see how well that works out.” The Frillish and the Tirtouga closed their eyes, bobbing halfway out of the water. A chill was immediately evident in the air, and as a wind began to pick up, Kurtzwick realized exactly what was about to happen. He had used the attack more than once, after all. A Blizzard was coming, and with both of them using it at once… He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to hold off something of that magnitude with Protect for long. If it hit him, it’d be over.

That answers that question for me! Kurtzwick thought. This would take some very precise timing and a healthy amount of luck. As the Blizzard began to pick up, Kurtzwick grit his teeth. Focusing on his inner reserves of energy, he channeled it up to his horn. Embers began to spark from his skin, until his horn was blazing red. Just as the Blizzard started in earnest, a brilliant, flaming V, nearly Kurtzwick’s size, sprung forth from his forehead. He charged through the Blizzard, cutting a swath through it effortlessly, and tackled the Frillish. It didn’t do much damage, just as he expected, but it got him past the Blizzard. Kurtzwick landed on another crate and caught his breath. V-Create really tired him out. He’d have to remember that.

Even though the attack didn’t seem to affect the Frillish at first, after a moment, it started wavering. It floated around in a tight circle, then slumped over, unmoving. The V-Create was, apparently, just enough to take it down.

The Tirtouga betrayed no emotion. It simply clamped its jaws onto Kurtzwick’s tail again, giving Kurtzwick cause for another yelp, but Kurtzwick was just as quick on the draw this time around. He grinned in a slightly sinister way; as he did so, for the second time that day, a wind blew through the room. This one centered in a cyclone around the two Pokémon. As it grew stronger, Kurtzwick tore himself from the Tirtouga’s grip and swam out of the way. The Twister picked up both the Tirtouga and a healthy amount of water; as it span, it slammed the turtle into the ceiling, which, by this point, was not very far away. The Tirtouga fell back down, unconscious, and the water fell back down on top of it.

Battle over! Kurtzwick wins! Kurtzwick grows to level 27!

Kurtzwick looked to the ceiling. One of the rusted holes was directly over him. He started for it, then had a second thought. He jumped a few crates, then grabbed the frozen, soaking Popple. With his new traveling companion, he leaped out of the hole…

…and a green arm pulled him back down. Kurtzwick’s head spun as a sharp pain tore through his head. All he saw was a vaguely white and green blur before he blacked out, the second time in one day.

When Kurtzwick woke up, he was at home. Popple was nowhere to be seen. He narrowed his eyes. The person or Pokémon in charge of that warehouse was just messing with him now. But he had a clue. When he had jumped out of the ceiling, he had caught a glimpse of the skyline. It wasn’t much, but it told him where he was. Now it was just a matter of pinpointing the exact location.

Excellent.

---

On the other side of the continent, Sydney Cross was having some difficulties, to put it mildly. About a week or so ago, Miro had suggested to her that she take a little hike through some of Chrace’s countryside. Sydney had jumped at the idea; between training with Broz, getting some logistics on the proposed branch down with Miro, and getting attacked in the news (still!), she felt that a break was deserved.

And so she had gone out into the countryside. She had found a nice bed and breakfast in Lionhome, a small, quaint village that sat amidst rolling green hills. It was very peaceful, but Sydney quickly noticed two things in quick succession. The first was that there was no internet connection anywhere in the village, which meant that the small laptop she brought with her was only useful for Solitaire and taking notes when it occurred to her. The second was that there was no cell reception either, so reporting back into the Guild was difficult.

It wasn’t until three or four days into her vacation that she realized, embarrassingly, that landlines were still a thing. When she called back to the Guild, she found out that Lord Porygon had been panicking a bit. Lord Persian promised that he’d let Lord Porygon know, then insisted that she go back to her vacation.

It was on one hike through the aforementioned rolling hills that the incident happened.

Sydney sat at the foot of a tree. Its broad branches shaded her from the sun, and the leaves were beginning to turn red and yellow. The wind whispered past her, not unpleasantly. She rooted through her bag for a book. These sorts of moments – peaceful, quiet, with nobody asking her for anything or telling her that she’d done something wrong… well, she wished they could last forever.

Of course, those sorts of moments don’t last forever, a fact that Sydney became painfully aware of when another hiker crossed her path. It was a young man, maybe a few years older than her. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way; his heavy clothes were slightly raggedy and he had a few days’ worth of stubble. “Afternoon, miss,” he said with a slight drawl, tipping his hat in a friendly manner, as he stopped in front of her.

Sydney looked up from her book. “Good afternoon,” she said. She wasn’t expecting to see anyone else, and had trouble keeping the slight hint of disappointment from her voice.

“I can’t help but see you’re a Pokémon trainer,” he continued, nodding in the general direction of Sydney’s belt.

Oh lord, Sydney thought. She could see exactly what was coming. He would want to battle. And she couldn’t say no. If she did, somehow, Broz would find out, and he’d rake her over the coals for turning down an opportunity to train. He already wasn’t happy that she was taking time off, but Miro had somehow managed to one-up him in the ‘discussion’ that had ensued.

“What do you say to a friendly match, eh?” the man asked. “My name’s Tango, by the by.”

Sydney stood up. “Sydney,” she said with a nod. “Yeah, I’ll go for a battle.”

“Three on three okay with you?”

Haven’t had one of those before… Sydney thought. But what the hell, I guess. “Sure,” she said out loud. She pulled three Pokéballs from her belt and tossed them to the ground; at the same time, Tango released his Pokémon.

STRIFE! Bow, GG, and Mona versus Cacnea, Budew, and Shuckle!
Bow: “Gast, gast…”
GG: “Woodo sud sud! ♪”
Mona: “SmeeearGLE!”
Cacnea: “Cac! Nea!”
Budew: “Dew bud.”
Shuckle: “Uckle! Shuck uckle!”

Aside from Bow, Sydney realized she hadn’t really used Mona or Groove Guy in a battle much. She pulled the notebook that Lord Porygon had given her from her bag and flipped through it.

Tango laughed good-naturedly. “Taking notes on the match, huh? Not a bad idea!”

“Sure,” Sydney said, half-listening. Two grass-types and a bug-type. Bow is going to shine in this battle. But Groove Guy might have a hard time. Okay. Let’s do this. “Bow! Incapacitate the Cacnea! GG, to the Shuckle! Mona, to the Budew!” One of the things she had picked up from the battles she had participated in was that Lord Porygon’s Pokémon seemed to enjoy doing their own thing. In order to bolster her own skills, she still gave direction, but she left a lot of the execution up to them.

“You heard the woman, boys,” Tango said, nodding to his Pokémon. “Do it.”

Bow moved first, locking eyes with the Cacnea. She stared at him for a moment, neither looking away, until the Cacnea simply fell backwards, sound asleep. Bow gave a small smile that disappeared just as quickly. The Budew gave a troubled glance at his teammate, but discarded his worry; Mona was advancing on him with a smile on her face. It wasn’t a malicious smile by any means, but it was still a smile, and the Budew seemed to find that plenty unnerving. He stood up straight, smiled back, and said “Budew dew,” in what Sydney assumed was the Budew version of a suave voice.

Sydney could almost see the hearts spring up in Mona’s eyes. Attract. Wonderful. Broz had warned her about that move. She was a bit more surprised when the red string that Mona wore around her neck, tied loosely in a bow, began to glow, and the Budew got a similar stupefied expression. Lord Porygon had mentioned Mona’s Destiny Knot, but hadn’t been very clear on what it did. Now I guess I know.

Even with two Pokémon on his team incapacitated, Tango seemed less than worried. His Shuckle began to inch forward, but GG got there first. With an acrobatic movement that involved a somersault and no fewer than two flips, he grabbed a boulder from nearby, picked it up over his head with relative ease, and hurled it at the Shuckle. The rock landed on the Shuckle’s hard shell and actually cracked in two, but when the Shuckle poked his head back out, he didn’t look too hurt. He withdrew into his shell again and began spinning on the spot; once he had built up enough speed, he zipped across the grass with a metallic sheen coating him. Shuckle slammed into Lady Bow, sending both of them scattering. Bow took a moment to catch her breath, then glanced at Sydney and nodded. “Sudo!” GG proclaimed proudly, smiling to Sydney, apparently pleased with his attack.

Sydney nodded. “Good, guys. Bow, switch to Budew and give it a punch.”

“A punch?” Tango asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Mona, give the Budew a nice friendly lick,” Sydney continued. “And GG, hit the Budew with your Hidden Power.”

Tango merely nodded at his team, or at least his Shuckle, who was the only one paying attention.

Bow struck first again. The gas that surrounded her coalesced into a spectral hand. The hand clenched into a fist – a fist that then burst into flame – and pounded the Budew from atop his head. The flames coursed over Budew, bringing focus back to his eyes, but as soon as he saw Mona again, he calmed down. Mona stood up to approach the Budew, but apparently a thought occurred to her; she looked at the Budew, then looked at Sydney with a sad look in her eyes. “Smear?” she asked quietly.

Sydney sighed. “Fine. Go after the Shuckle.”

Mona nodded. She clasped her hands to her head and strained audibly; as her eyes began to glow blue, so too did the Shuckle. Shuckle rose into the air, struggling wildly, then Mona hurled him back into GG’s earlier makeshift projectile. Shuckle bounced off, spinning slightly on the ground.

“Go on, Budew,” Tango said. “Give that sweetie over there a present.”

Budew raised a berry that it had been holding… somewhere into the air. The berry disappeared, and a ring of fire erupted from the ground around Mona. The flames receded quickly, leaving as evidence Mona’s scorched fur. Impressively, she didn’t look fazed, the love-struck expression still on her face. Must be… what’d Broz call it? Natural Gift.

Groove Guy took a deep bow, something Sydney had noticed he had been doing more and more before he did elaborate moves. Three purple orbs appeared in each of his hands, and he tossed them all upwards at the same time. With surprising dexterity, he caught them all and began tossing them from hand to hand. The juggling act soon became too quick to follow, and GG began throwing them rapid-fire at the Budew. Each one hit home, splattering Budew with a thick ooze, and it began wavering on the spot.

Good, that’s good, Sydney thought. But wait… what’s the Shuckle going to do? When she turned to look, all she saw was a hole in the ground. I guess that answers that question.


“Bow, finish the Budew off,” Sydney said. The Budew certainly looked like it was on its last legs. “Mona, GG, hit the Shuckle with your most powerful blows.” Broz mentioned how Shuckle can take hits. Let’s hope we can overwhelm it…

All it took was a single Sludge Bomb, slimy and toxic, from Bow to bring the Budew down. The sludge hit it, splattering all over the ground, and the Budew collapsed.

“Good, good!” Tango laughed. “First blood goes to you! But I think I see who your powerhouse is now!” He looked between Shuckle and Cacnea, who was beginning to stir. “Guys, focus yourselves on the Gastly!”

Bow frowned. She had understood that easily enough. With a burst of speed, GG slid in front of her, holding his hands up as if to say “just try it.” The Shuckle began to slowly inch towards the pair, but GG rushed it with a powerful Dynamicpunch. The crack that resonated through the field when he struck certainly spoke to the toughness of the Shuckle’s shell, but it seemed to be in vain; the punch was enough to make the Shuckle retreat into his shell and not come back out.

Sydney raised an eyebrow. “Are you taking this seriously?” she asked. “This seems a bit too easy.”

“No,” Tango laughed. “You must just be that good!”

“Whatever you say…” Sydney shook her head. She couldn’t help but shake the sneaking suspicion that something was up.

The Cacnea was completely awake at that point, and when he realized that his teammates were down, the look of panic that crossed his face was clearly evident. He disappeared into this air, then reappeared behind Bow; Cacnea swung one needle-tipped arm at her, and the impact made her wince with pain. She turned around and locked eyes on him. This was different from the Hypnosis; Sydney remembered that she had seen Bow do this once before. A cage of ice began to form at the Cacnea’s feet, and it began to travel upwards until the Cacnea was completely frozen. Bow’s eyes widened, and the ice shattered. Mona sprang into action next, gripping Cacnea in a psychic hold and hurling him backwards, straight into GG’s punch. The one-two combo proved too much for the Cacnea, and he dropped.

Battle over! Bow grows to level 9! Mona grows to level 10! Groove Guy grows to level 9!

“That wasn’t too bad,” Sydney said, looking over her team. They certainly looked happy enough, if not tired.

“Yeah, not too bad at all,” Tango agreed. When Sydney looked up, he was holding a Pokéball. She hadn’t seen him pull one out; it was as if it had just appeared in his hand. “I think we both profited.”

“What’s that supposed to mean…?” Sydney asked. The sinking feeling in her gut was acting up again.

Tango smirked. He threw the Pokéball with one swift motion, and it hit Bow neatly on the forehead. To both her and Sydney’s surprise, it drew her in and clattered to the ground. Sydney, Mona, and GG watched with gaping mouths as the Pokéball ticked three times in succession, then lay still.

“Yes, I think I profited too,” Tango said. He picked up the Pokéball and saluted. “I must be going! Be seeing you!” He tossed another Pokéball, this one revealing a Dodrio, and he climbed on and ran off.

It took a moment for Sydney to get her senses back together. What do I do?! Hell, hell… one of Lord Porygon’s Pokémon got stolen… I’ll need to contact him! But I’ll need to go back into town, and that’ll take the rest of the day… I can’t lose this guy’s trail!

Then something occurred to her. Sydney drew another Pokéball and opened it, in the process recalling Mona and GG. This Pokéball held Bobbery, and he looked to her with a small smile on his face, eager to help.

“Bobbery, Odor Sleuth. Track a Dodrio down for me.”

Bobbery nodded and began sniffing the air, walking the same path the Dodrio took.

Sydney clenched her fists. Whoever this Tango was, he was going to find out what happened to people who messed with Sydney Cross.

Just as soon as she figured out what that would be.

[DarkestLight]

I need..let's see...

Is it possible to buy 4 battles? If so, I'll take one from the Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency, one from the Universal Adoption Center, and two from the Professional Sports Breeding System.

If now, then I'll need to ask what's the maximum number I can buy at once. Stocking up for a slew of stories for next month's writing bonanza....

And..not to neglect.

Jeff-
I Like Sydney's storyline. Tango seems like the random name someone from the Colosseum games would have as well.
But your ghost is gone! I'm anxious to read what happens next.
Sydney seems to be really filling out her Trainer ability. Now she just needs some of her own, lol.
As for Kurtz-that's cool. I'm glad he has a hint now as to where he was yoinked too.
But Popple prolly got it bad, lol. I still suspect a setup. Don't trust that pink ball of fluff.

[classy_cat18]

You can request one every week.

[DarkestLight]

Ok. Then I need my first one to be from the Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency! *7 stamps for you*

[Lady Vulpix]

You were supposed to say who it's for (in case the randomizer chose a Pokemon that evolved early). In any case, he or she will battle a Snorunt.

I've already enjoyed the first part of Jeff's story. I'm taking the rest to read on the plane. :)

It's a long flight, so I don't think I'll be back online before Thursday (could be Wednesday but I'll probably collapse as soon as I see a bed rather than taking the time to get online).

[Lady Vulpix]

This is Gabi a.k.a. Lady Vulpix reporting from Toronto airport.

I must say that Jeff's stories have made my flight more enjoyable. If only I had more of them to read on my next flight, but I guess I'll make do with the book I brought.

I agree with Kurtzwick that the alliteration was good. Though when he said that was a part of an inane test I thought that it was more of an insane test. ;)

Oh, and how many times have I heard - and taken part of - that argument about water and electricity!

As for the second story... I laughed at Tango's reaction when Sydney told Bow to punch the Budew, because I had a similar reaction when I learned that Ghastlies(?) could punch. I like Groove Guy's battling style, and I like how Sydney has started to trust your Pokemon's judgement in battle. Poor Lady Bow, though. Oh, and Ulthuan is not exactly a continent, but I believe you know that already.

Take 33 stamps, 15 for your first story and 18 for the second. Sorry if I don't make the stamp symbol, it's not easy to make it here.

[DarkestLight]

Oh yeah. It was for May

[classy_cat18]

Can I get an RBG for my Ralts, Circe? From the Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency. *pays*

[Wolfsong]

Circe will battle a Chinchou

[DarkestLight]

Another one. This for Zent. From the UAC

[classy_cat18]

Zent will battle a Jellicent.

[classy_cat18]

Sorry for the double post, but could I get an RBG for Athena from the Professional Sports Breeding System?

[The Blue Avenger]

Athena's gonna rumble with a Sawk.

[classy_cat18]

Yay, my first BW Pokemon!

...Aw crap, a Sawk.

[The Blue Avenger]

While I'm here, I'd like an RBG for Kurtzwick, from the Jungle Deforestation place. *hands over 7 stamps*

[classy_cat18]

Curse you, NaNoWriMo. Sorry for the delay. Kurtzwick will battle a Budew.

Bo’s POV

I keep having a dream. In my dream, a snake slithers around me and whispers things to me. Like “I’m watching you” or “wait for me”. It never attacks me. In fact, I never see it. Somehow my mind just somehow thinks it’s a snake. It could be an eel or a snakelike Pokemon, like an Ekans or a Dratini.

But whatever it is, it’s too unnatural to be a snake or a Pokemon.

Ken tapped me on the head. “Bo, you’re doing that weird staring thing again,” he whispered.

My ears perked up. “I am? Sorry about that.”

“You said you were going to tell Miss Shonta about your bad dreams. What if they’re trying to tell you something?”

That’s right. I did kinda tell Ken about the nightmares. But if I tell any of the team then they would all freak out, and maybe even drop out of the tournament. I put a paw on his head. “It’s probably nothing. That thing may just be part of my dream. Let’s worry more about Uncle Bandit and his battles, okay?”

“Okay! I got you something!” the Squirtle told me happily as he held out a large water bottle. “The team said they were going to the Desert Room next!”

“Keep it. If you’re going with them, you’ll need it more than me.”

“You’re coming too, right?”

“Uhh…” I wasn’t sure that I even wanted to battle, but Ken’s big eyes were pleading me to change my mind. “Maybe I should stay up here.”

“We can’t have that,” a voice behind us said. We turned around to face a Girafarig. She had a blue nose, not the pink one I remember them having. “You see, I spent the last five minutes bringing up the courage to ask you for a battle. You can’t just shoot down my offer before I put it on the table!”

“Sorry, but I really don’t feel like battling today,” I said to her while sneaking a quick glance at the rest of the team. This time Miss Shonta was with them.

“No way! Pleeeeeease?” She wagged her whimpering tail. “Just a friendly battle. Nothing on the line.”

“Why not Ken? He’s just as powerful.”

“I wanted a shot with someone with a type advantage!”

“I’m sorry but no.”

“I’ll whine and whine until you battle me!” She stomped her hooves on the floor.

“Boooooo, please battle her! She’s getting annoying!” Ken whined.

I resisted until her tail started getting in on the action, growling and whimpering as loud as she did. “Fine! Fine! I’ll battle you! Just cut out that noise! Jeez!” I shouted.

The Girafarig immediately stopped whining and bounced around excitedly. “Yay yay yay! You said yes! We can fight down in the Desert Room! Race you there!” She took off for the elevator before I could react.

“Whoa, wait up!” Ken and I followed but the doors of the elevator closed before we could get there. “The stairs!”

Ken ran as well as he could while carrying his big bottle of water, but still tripped a couple of times on the way down. By the time we got down to the lower floor, the Girafarig was going through the doors to the Desert Room. “The team was coming down here anyway,” I said to Ken.

More footsteps came from the stairs as some of the team came down to meet me. “Why did you leave so suddenly?” Auntie Katana asked me.

“Someone challenged me,” I answered. “She wouldn’t leave me alone until I said yes.”

“No problem!” Miss Moriko said as she patted my head. “We were coming down here anyway!” She walked past me and threw the heavy doors open.

Miss Ali stepped in the large room and whistled. “It’s hot here too, but at least it’s not the Lava Room. So let’s find us a brawl!”

Miss Moriko took off and flew above me, Miss Ali running right behind her. Auntie Katana stayed by my side for a moment. “I guess I’ll go find a battle too,” she said before running off.

I looked back at Ken who was already drinking from the water bottle he carried with him. “I’m fine!” he exclaimed boldly before walking off. “Let’s find that crazy Pokemon!”

“Who are you calling crazy?” I heard the blue-nosed Girafarig say behind me.

Ken yelped and withdrew in his shell. “How did she get there?” his voice came from the shell.

“I walked. Duh.” She looked around the room, looking less crazy than she did earlier. “There’s a nice open spot. Let’s battle there.”

We trotted there and faced each other, Ken on my side. “Ken, get on the sidelines,” I told him.

“What sidelines?” he asked me.

“Uhhh…just take ten steps back or something.” He nodded and started counting with each step he took backwards, stopping at the tenth.

The Girafarig dug in the sand with her hoof impatiently. “You ready?” she shouted to me.

“Wait.” She snorted. “I just wanna know your name before we start.”

“Why? We probably won’t be seeing each other again.”

What’s with her? She’s totally different than earlier. Don’t tell me it’s another Girafarig. I shrugged. “Just curious.”

“It’s Valkyrie. How about you?”

“I’m Bo.” What kind of name is Valkyrie?

“Now that we’ve introduced ourselves--” She didn’t get to finish her sentence, as a big sandstorm kicked up, surprising all of us. “Who started this darn thing?”

“Guess we’ll have to fight with it!” I shouted


L9 Male Umbreon (Bo) vs. L9 Female Girafarig (Valkyrie)

Easier said than done. Every time I open my eyes I get sand in them! I couldn’t see whatever blasted my side and sent me rolling. The sandstorm died down, and Valkyrie grinned at me.

“This is something we’ll have to work with. It’s the Desert Room so you’ll have to expect little gusts of sand and wind every now and then,” she told me.

I growled and got to my feet. “How did you hit me?”

“Don’t need to aim when you got Swift!” she replied happily with a wink.

“Aww man…”

She took off at a run, the sand not slowing her down one bit. I started running too, towards her. We ended up circling each other a couple times before charging for each other. But before we could tackle, she skidded to a stop and ran the other way!

“Wha?” I yelped. Was she escaping? I chased after her.

Her tail growled at me and opened his mouth wide. I kept running until it charged up a green ball of energy. I tried to stop but that only made me a still target for the attack. She can attack from both ends!?

“How’d you like that Energy Ball?” Valkyrie taunted. “My tail’s got my back!”

I grunted in pain and rolled over to stand. She’s gone!

“Bo, up!” Ken shouted.

“Huh?” I looked up in time to watch a black shape drop all four hooves on me. The impact sent a cloud of sand up, sending it into places I really didn’t want it getting into.

“Bo!” I heard Ken cry out.

I got free and rolled on my back. Valkyrie’s belly was in reach of my paws so I gave her a good Tickle. The Girafarig giggled and even snorted as she wobbled from side to side. Uncle Bandit taught me how non-attacking moves could be useful too. While she was distracted, I crunched on the leg nearest to my face. Valkyrie flailed and jumped away from me. “Owwww,” she whimpered. “You got needle teeth, you know that? And strong jaws!”

“You’ll live!” I snorted sand out my nose and shook sand off my fur.

She reared on her hind legs and charged for me again. Remembering a new attack of mine, I turned away from her and kicked up sand with my back legs. A squeak of surprise told me that she had been blinded. Again! I bit her front leg this time. She yelped and kicked me away.

“Again with the teeth!” she complained. Her hooves stomped in the sand around me. The ground shook the harder she stomped.

Earthquake! The attack wasn’t as severe since she was stomping in sand instead of dirt or rock but it was still really hard to keep standing. Then she somehow kept up her stomping while swinging her neck and shooting more stars at me. With the ground shaking I couldn’t even try to dodge and had to take the hit.

Gotta finish this! I spit out a fireball that hit Valkyrie in the chest, stopping her Earthquake. As she was recovering, I ran behind her and bit the living tail, not even letting go when it bit my nose. The pain was felt by both, and Valkyrie fell on her side.


Bo won and grew to level 10! He got Sucker Punch as his free TM!

Ken clapped and ran to me. “Need water?” he asked eagerly while waving his water bottle in front of my face. The bottle was already half-empty.

I took a few gulps of water. “Wanna go see if our teammates found a battle?” I told him.

“Sure!” We headed over the sand dunes to join up with them.

Katana’s POV

I stood beside Moriko and Ali while they looked around the huge room. “So I guess we just stick out our thumbs and get a challenge,” Ali suggested after a long silence.

“We’ll have to use your thumbs,” Moriko joked. “I got a better idea. HEY, WE NEED A BATTLE HERE!”

I flinched and eyed all the Pokemon and trainers who turned to us. “You couldn’t have been a little more subtle, Moriko?”

“Shonta said we needed to hurry up!”

Two Pokemon came up to us: a Baltoy and an Onix. Then a Diglett popped out of the ground. “You girls called for a battle?” the Onix asked in a deep voice.

“Yeah! You up for it?” Moriko said excitedly.

“Moriko, lemme battle the Onix!” Ali interrupted while tugging at the Heracross’s horn.

“Wh-wha? But he’s perfect for me! Fine, I’ll take the Diglett.”

Guess that means I get the Baltoy.

“Then again, I could get some good experience with battling someone with a type advantage,” Moriko continued. “Katana, switch with me!”

“You sure about that?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Yeah, yeah!”

“O…kay.”

“One at a time,” the Onix declared when the fighting trio stepped forward. “I need room to work and I don’t want to worry about friendly fire.”

“Then how about we go first?” Ali offered. Onix nodded in agreement.


L10 Female Meditite (Ali) vs. L15 Male Onix

Ali made the first move, leaping high into the air with a foot ready to plant between the giant’s eyes. I could already see how Onix would react. He ducked and burrowed into the sand, leaving Ali to keep on going.

“Oh no, she missed!” Moriko said before flying after her. The rest of us followed for a short distance, just enough to keep Ali in our sights.

The Meditite finally hit the far wall (which was hard to see since it was painted to look like part of the scenery. She made a dent in it and yelled in pain. “Man, that hurt!” she exclaimed loudly after landing in the sand.

My ears perked at a loud rumbling sound. Sand sank in and kicked up in a trail to Ali while her back was still turned. “ONIX HOOOOOO!” Moriko yelled in warning.

Ali turned around just in time to watch a boulder burst out of the ground, aimed at her. She gasped and met the boulder with a Dizzy Punch to knock it back where it came from. Onix’s head popped up and headbutted the rock to smaller pieces. “Where’d he know where to aim?” she muttered while cradling her hurt knuckles.

He roared and dove back under the sand. Ali stood still and looked all around her. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes. “Bide.” A white aura surrounded her.

A huge blur came out beside her and flew at her. She stretched out an arm and calmly caught the speeding tail, a grunt of pain telling me that the move wasn’t easy to do. “Is she going to be able to last long enough to retaliate?” I whispered to myself.

The tail withdrew into the sand, then everything got quiet. I held my breath. Where is he going to pop up this time?

“AAAH!” Ali shrieked as she was flung into the air by Onix’s head. Her head hit the high ceiling, making me and Moriko wince together. As she fell, Onix rose for another hit.

“This is it!” Moriko declared happily.

Ali recovered and threw a punch at Onix’s snout. His stony skin cracked from the impact. He let out a roar of pain.

“Whoa!” I said.

Ali bounced off his crest and landed on both feet. Onix tumbled down to the ground like a rock slide. “Almost there!” Ali said. She balled her fist again, this time charging it for an Ice Punch.

Onix turned to her and yelped. He started to slither back into the sand.

“Not so fast!” She climbed on him and slammed her icy fist into his tail. His whole body was covered with a thin layer of frost. He shivered and closed his eyes in defeat.


Ali won and grew to level 12! She learned Detect!

“Next,” Ali panted as she stumbled back to us. “Where are the other two chumps?”

Diglett popped up at her feet. “Name calling isn’t going to make this easier on you,” he told her.

“Let’s see if that’s true. Katana, you’re up.”

I nodded confidently. “Here goes.”


L10 Female Zangoose (Katana) vs. L8 Male Diglett

Diglett popped back in the ground before I could even twitch a muscle. He was fast, that much was sure. “This is going to be a tricky battle,” I said to myself.

“You can do this!” Moriko cheered. “You’re speedy too!”

I wasn’t speedy enough to dodge the ground as it collapsed under my feet. I yowled and fell into Diglett’s pit trap. “Owwww,” I moaned as I stayed on my back. Sand fell in my eyes and mouth, making things even worse.

So much for landing on my feet. I rolled over and growled as I spat and cried out sand. The Desert Room was now my least favorite room, and I hadn’t even seen the Lava Room. I probably still would’ve preferred lava to sand.

“I need to get out this hole before…” I stopped at the sound of rumbling. Deep rumbling. “Damn.” I started grabbing at the walls of the pit and climbed to the edge just as the ground beneath me erupted, catching my rear end before it I could get myself completely free.

“AAAAAH!” I cried out as I tumbled through the air until I landed. Not on the ground. On a cactus. “YEEEEOWCH!”

“Oooh, that must’ve hurt,” Ali empathized.

“Are you okay?” Moriko called out to me.

I climbed down and slowly pulled a needle out my cheek. “I’ll live,” I grumbled.

“Auntie Tana!”

“Huh?” I looked over my shoulder at Ken and Bo as they stood on a rock on top of a sand dune. The Squirtle who had called out to me smiled brightly and waved. “Auntie’s in a battle right now! We can talk later!”

“Okay!” He sat next to Bo and drank from his water bottle.

“Auntie Katana, behind you!” Bo warned me.

I turned and dodged the falling cactus. Diglett finally popped back up. “This is hard for you, huh? I can defeat you without even having to surface.”

I snarled. The little mole had a point. But I still had tricks up my sleeve. I stared straight at the Diglett while my shadow stretched to him. “You’re not the only fast one, buddy,” I said with a smirk.

He blinked. “Huh?”

I sank into my shadow and resurfaced behind him with a punch to the back of his head. “Gotcha!” I crowed.

“Yay!” my teammates cheered.

“Sneak attack!” Diglett squeaked.

I glared at him with my eyes glowing from a Leer. “Oh, I’m not done with you yet.” He screamed and went back underground. “Tch. Where is that little runt now?”

“This old trick again?” Ali said.

“That must be Earth Power he’s been using,” Moriko guessed. “That attack packs a real punch.”

How to get him out long enough to attack him? Hm, he probably feels the vibrations in the ground to find out where I am. There was a large rock nearby. He wouldn’t know where I was if I climbed on it. I took a deep breath and kept my ears open to any sound. The second I heard more rumbling, every muscle in me bunched up. “Detect!” I leaped away from another geyser of sand, dirt and rock and faked a cry of pain after landing on the rock. “Ugh! Damn, that hurts! You little monster! Come out and face me, dammit!”

Moriko plugged up Ken’s ears. “Keep it PG, Katana! Remember that the kids are here!”

“Sorry, I forgot,” I said in a hushed voice. Wind whipped around me as I charged up Razor Wind. “Ugh, if I get hit by another attack like that I’m done for!”

It worked. Diglett resurfaced for more taunting, and I had the high ground. “Gotcha again! RAZOR WIND!” I slashed the air to make wind scythes that scratched and cut him.

“He’s dazed! Don’t let up on him!” Ali encouraged.

“Keep on pushing!” Moriko added.

“Go, Auntie!” Bo and Ken said together.

I pounced on Diglett’s head with talons outstretched and slashed him. He yelped and went back underground. “That is it!” I stomped the ground. “Rock Tomb!”

Rocks sprang around the hole he had created. That should keep him still long enough for me to finish him off.

“Rock Tomb?” Bo questioned.

“She probably raided Shonta’s backpack before coming here,” Moriko clarified.

“That’s one less TM we’ll be getting,” Ali lamented.

I climbed on top of the circle of rocks that I had trapped Diglett in and smirked at him. “Well well, it seems like I got you between a rock and a hard place. Which is another rock!” I joked.

“Come down here and say that, you Cheshire Cat!” he shot back.

“Sure.”

“…Wait, I take that back!”

“Too late.” I unsheathed my claws and jumped in, slowly circling him before slashing him to my content. He whimpered after the second one and fell unconscious.


Katana won and grew to level 11!

I climbed back out and landed in front of the last opponent, the quiet Baltoy. “You don’t seem very concerned about your opponents,” I mused.

<They were not my teammates,> Baltoy said. <I am ready for my battle with the Heracross now.>

“You sure are blunt. Hey Moriko, your opponent’s ready!”

We switched positions, Moriko taking her place with Baltoy and me sitting with my teammates. By now Ken’s water bottle was empty and he was starting to lick his lips. “I’m thirsty,” he told me.

“Bo, could you take Ken up to the café upstairs?” I asked the Umbreon.

“Aww, but I wanna see Miss Moriko battle!”

“I can take the little guy up to the café,” Ali suggested. “I gotta see someone about these bruises anyway.”

“But the Pokemon Center is downstairs and the café is above us,” I said. “Won’t that be too much of a walk for you?”

“I’ll be just fine. I’m more durable than I look!” She patted Ken’s shell and walked with him. I watched them until they were out of my sight.

Moriko and Baltoy hadn’t done anything yet. “Are you ready for us yet?” Moriko asked us.

“You didn’t have to wait for us,” I said to her.

“We watched each other’s battles. I figured you’d want to watch mine, you know?” She laughed cheerfully.

“Thanks for waiting, Miss Moriko!” Bo said.

<This is getting tiresome,> Baltoy groaned psychically.

“Wow, you are gloomier than Jewel,” Moriko observed. “I would ask if all psychic Pokemon must be like that, but we have Ali and Circe on our team. Too much sand get in your crevices or something?”

I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes. I swear she’s gotten more childish lately.

“Be our referee!” Moriko said to me.

“Alright, alright.” I raised my paw. “For our third round we have Moriko the Heracross facing off against, um, Baltoy. Unnamed. Let the match… begin!” I dropped my paw.


L10 Female Heracross (Moriko) vs. L10 Baltoy

Moriko opened her wing case and took to the sky in a matter of seconds. She went as high as the room would allow her. “Why is she going so high?” Bo asked.

“She’s probably going to dive bomb him.” I shifted my gaze to the calm Baltoy. “He doesn’t seem very worried about that. Maybe he has—“

For a split second, his eyes flashed.

THUD! Moriko dropped to the sand like a stone.

“Yep, he’s got Gravity,” I confirmed.

“Gravity?” Bo repeated.

“It grounds flying Pokemon. That will cut Moriko’s speed and make it harder for her to evade and attack.”

“How is she going to get around that?”

“We’ll see.”

Moriko chuckled nervously as she got to her feet. “Okay, you got me there. Should’ve expected that from a Psychic type. That’s a handy move.”

<This is a battle. There is no time for idle chatter in a battle,> Baltoy admonished.

“There you go with that gloomy talk again!” She raised a claw and waved it in front of him. “Okay, I’ll talk less. Gravity!”

<Ooof!> he grunted as he hit the ground as well. <You should not know that move.>

“Yeah, you’re right about that. But I know Mimic! That took care of things!”

I grinned. Unfortunately for him, levitating is the only way he can move. He’s a sitting duck now.

<I am not done yet.> His eyes shone brightly. Moriko cried out in pain and held her head. She was lifted a few feet off the ground. <There’s still not much defense from my psychic attacks.>

“Now who’s doing idle chatter doing battle?” the Heracross managed to grunt. She struggled to get free but to no avail.

“How can she get free from that?” Bo wondered while his tail wagged in anticipation.

I watched quietly as Moriko’s wing case slowly opened. Her wings beat faster and faster until a great wind kicked up and blew sand over Baltoy, almost completely burying him. This broke his concentration and made him drop Moriko. “By sheer will!” Moriko answered.

With Gravity still in effect, Moriko had to run around. She charged for Baltoy with her horn lowered and ready for attack. Baltoy rolled around and shot a beam of electricity at her. She wasn’t running fast enough to evade, but she tried anyway, wincing when the Charge Beam hit her side. She still kept on going. There was a look in her eyes that I didn’t see when she was joking around with him.

She’s gotten into it. She’s determined now. All fired up.

“It’ll take more than that to slow me down!” Moriko said boldly. She stumbled as soon as she said that.

<Very well.> He blasted her with another Psychic. She slowed down but still ran, even as she was being pushed back by the power. Wincing from the pain, she dug her toes in the sand and did the same trick as before, using her wings to blow sand in Baltoy’s eyes. This time it took longer, neither of them wanting to give up. After a long struggle, Baltoy finally let go.

“Ha… I… win,” Moriko panted.

The celebration was short-lived, however, when she saw Baltoy float off the ground. Gravity had worn off. <I have regained mobility, Heracross.>

“You don’t get it, don’t you? I grounded you after you grounded me.”

“She can fly again!” Bo finished with glee.

<One more Psychic should do it!>

She grinned. Her eyes flickered and the pink aura around her disappeared as soon as it appeared. Baltoy sank to the ground and floated back up, his hovering getting unstable. He’s exhausted. They both are. She’s going to have to finish this quick, because she won’t be able to last much longer.

Moriko grinned and powered her wings one last time. Baltoy spun in place. A rock sprang up in Moriko’s path! “Whoa!” she yelped as she barrel rolled to the side. Another two boulders sprang up in front of her!

“Oh no!” I exclaimed.

Moriko just sped up and slammed both glowing fists into the rocks, shattering them into pieces. Focus Punch! She sped up, her horn the next part of her to glow. Megahorn! Baltoy backed up and sparked with electricity.

“Don’t slow down, Moriko! He knows you’ll get him with this one blow!” I commanded.

<NO!> Baltoy exclaimed.

“Bam!” Moriko said as she rammed into him with top speed. The force was enough to send him way back to the back wall.

“That was AWESOME!” Bo cried out.

Moriko stumbled a little before slowly flying towards where Baltoy had crashed. Bo and I followed eagerly. We all stopped when we saw a light headed this way. No, wait…a beam!

“Miss Moriko! Solarbeam!” Bo warned.

She used Detect again, flying above the beam at just the right time. “This guy’s a toughie,” she commented while charging for him again.

<Oh no.> He spun in place, deflecting her Horn Attack again and again. I flinched each time I heard them clash.

Come on, get him!

She backed up and rammed into him, ignoring the scratches made by his spinning arms. He let out an ‘oomph’ from the impact. “I’m not able to use my horn on you like I do with other opponents,” she told him. “It’s a big shame. I like tossing.” She pressed down on him harder until he groaned and closed his eyes, dropping to the sand when Moriko backed up.

“Katana! Call it!” she told me.

“The battle is over! Moriko is the winner!” I announced with a outstretched paw.


Moriko won! She grew to level 11!

“You were awesome, Moriko. It’s been a while since I last saw you battle,” I complimented when she stumbled back to us. “You went all out for a training battle.”

She laughed loudly, then winced and held her side. “Yeah, but I’m wiped out now. Maybe I should’ve ended it quickly.”

“Are you crazy? It wouldn’t have been as much fun to watch.” We shared a laugh.

Bo nuzzled her side, where she got grazed by the Charge Beam. “Do you need help?” he asked softly.

“Yeah, I do. Do me a big favor and help me walk to the Pokemon Center downstairs. Shonta will probably be waiting for us down there anyway.”

Third Person POV

She was almost ready to report. She waited for the nurse at the Pokemon Center to heal her before reaching out telepathically and searched for Eli. <Master Eli, they’ve left.>

<That took a long time, dear Valkyrie,> her partner sent back.

She choked at the teasing tone in her trainer’s voice, accidentally catching the eye of the nearby nurse. <I am not your dear anything, and it took a long time because the Umbreon knocked me out. Where are you right now?>

<Back in the Lava Room. I wanted to stay close without running into our new playmate again.>

<I’m sorry to question your methods, master, but what was the purpose of interacting with the Umbreon? Surely you could’ve determined by yourself his condition.>

<I was afraid Noah would’ve been a little too rough with him had he battled instead of you, and I needed a capable Psychic type to read him during battle.>

<I could’ve done that while standing by your side.>

<Another thing is that I didn’t want to risk them linking you to me. The less of this team they know, the better. Not even the Guild knows of anyone besides Noah.>

<That makes sense.>

<So what have you found out?>

She sighed out loud. <Nothing, master. He seems very normal for a Pokemon his age. There’s no sign at all that he had been possessed. The whole thing seemed unnecessary now.>

<Doesn’t that negate your claim of having found nothing out?>

She would’ve blushed if she could. <I guess. So what do we do now?>

<Nothing, until the Dragon Games are over. Then we go back to keeping an eye on them.>

<You really think they won’t make a move until then?>

<Too many excited trainers around. If they make a move now then everyone will go on high alert quickly.> He went quiet for a moment. <Activity down here is growing. I’m coming back up.>

<I’ll be waiting.>

She grinned to herself and left the Pokemon Center, bumping into another familiar face on the way out. “Loki!” she hissed.

The constantly grinning fox Pokemon snickered and circled her. “You sound mad. Are you mad?” he inquired.

“Yes, I’m mad! You turned into me and pretended to be me! And you got me wrong! I told you not to do that if you couldn’t be me the right way!”

“It’s you. Trust me, it’s you. Even Noah thinks my impression of you is dead on, especially when I start gooshing over Eli.” The Zoroark transformed into her again. “Oh, Master Eli! I have finished my report, Master Eli! I fully respect your decision on anything and everything, Master Eli!”

“I DON’T SOUND LIKE THAT!” she shrieked, scaring nearby people.

“Oh please, you love acting all formal and proper when it comes to Eli.” He transformed back. “Any idea why he’s so attached to that particular human? She seems too… annoying.”

“Stop trying to figure him out. It’ll just hurt your brain.”

He snarled and pressed his face close to hers. “Are you saying I’m stupid?”

“Not this time. I’m saying he’s too much of a mystery wrapped in an enigma, or whatever the phrase is. But I’m sure there’s some kind of reason. He’s just not telling us.”

“Why would he not tell us? Bet that mutt knows.”

“Shush! The mutt’s coming.”

Eli walked up to him, Noah at his feet as usual. “Shall we go home, team?” The mysterious trainer asked.

Valkyrie and Loki nodded together. Some rest was needed before the next step.

[Lady Vulpix]

I had some comments typed down, but I saved them on a buggy memory stick and they got corrupted. In any case, Gravity affects all the Pokemon in the field, so there was no point in Moriko mimicking it.

At what time are these battles set?

[classy_cat18]

Oh. I didn't know.

Right before the start of the Dragon Games. I had been working on it since then.

...Why do you ask?

[Lady Vulpix]

To understand it better, and to know where to put it in the archive.

You can have 25 stamps. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[classy_cat18]

An RBG for Ali, from the Professional Sports Breeding System. *pays*

[Wolfsong]

Ali will battle a Croagunk.

[DarkestLight]

Dang, two days late. I need another battle. From the Professional Sports place. For Wyrm. AAAH story getting AWESOMEEE!!

[Wolfsong]

Wyrm will battle a Mankey

[DarkestLight]

O.o That's all sorts of wicked awesome!

[The Blue Avenger]

A second RBG for Kurtzwick, please, from the Nature Protection Agency. *hands over 7 stamps*

Also, a question - Kurtzwick's level 27. How do we handle opponents that evolve by happiness? Should the Budew he already got be a Roselia, or would it stay a Budew?

[Lady Vulpix]

You got a Flareon. As you can see, evolved Pokemon do show up from time to time. But not following any coherent pattern. I'm open to suggestions.

[The Blue Avenger]

I'd have to think about that. I started trying to figure out something we could use, then realized there were a lot of different cases that could be involved.

[Lady Vulpix]

Maybe we can discuss it over AIM?

[The Blue Avenger]

Sounds good to me.

[DarkestLight]

Finally!. Another battle. From the Professional sorts place. Forrrrr...uhhhh no not Mossy...uhhhh...shoot who was next up? Drat.ok...May. yea.

[classy_cat18]

What level is May? Gotta use the new randomizer properly.

An RBG from L11 Moriko from the Professional Sports Breeding System. *pays*

[DarkestLight]

Uhhhh Damn I need the level now? She's at...14

[classy_cat18]

May will battle a Lileep.

[The Blue Avenger]

Shonta: Moriko's gonna fight a Solrock.

[The Blue Avenger]

One last RBG for right now, for Kurtzwick (lv. 27), from the Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency. *hands over 7 stamps*

[classy_cat18]

Kurtzwick will battle a Relicanth.

[The Blue Avenger]

Here we are! The Final Test or Indiana Grove and the Templa of Taure!

---

“Forests. Forests. I am sick to death of forests,” Groviglio grumbled. He was one of only three Pokémon traveling alongside Jeff as they slowly made their way through the forest surrounding what they assumed was Templa Taure.

“You should be all over forests, Grove,” Maza said, idly flipping a spoon in the air as he walked. “Grass type, you know.”

Groviglio turned an icy stare over at Maza. “You know what else lives in forests besides grass and plants? A whole damn bunch of other stuff I don’t like. Listen. You can hear Beedrill in the distance. The trees are probably infested with birds. And from what Gabi said, there’s a mess of other Pokémon around here that don’t belong in forests. She found dragons and stuff!”

“Devil’s advocate, we’re here to look for evidence of the Black Dragon and find something to help bring him down. Why wouldn’t there be dragons here?” Maza asked.

Groviglio didn’t respond, instead choosing to simply grumble something unintelligible under his breath.

Several paces away from Groviglio and Maza, Raini regarded the pair with an emotionless glance. She apparently didn’t have anything to add to the conversation, not that she ever did, and so she turned her attention to the forest itself. It was mid-morning, and the light was filtering down through the trees, casting everything in a faint glow. It was a peaceful forest; the conditions that Gabi had described (or rather, the ones Jeff had described from Gabi’s records) had mostly gone. There was still a vague sense of unease, no doubt a residual effect of the Black Dragon’s presence, but the plant life was flourishing and the natural fauna population of the forest had certainly come back. And focusing on the forest itself let Raini ignore the bickering between the other two Pokémon.

Jeff was also ignoring the argument, but for a different reason. “After the black trees comes a rock?” he muttered, reading the paper in his hands. “All these trees are definitely not black. I hope we’re going in the right direction.” He read a little further down the page. “How are these rocks supposed to tell us the way, anyway? I don’t need any talking rocks today…”

---

Back in the city of Sector Alpha, Kurtzwick was on a mission of his own. Nobody had kidnapped him, not since the last time, and he was taking his time stealthily moving through the city, looking for clues.

As it turned out, the city was a little on the large size. The hunt was going to take some time. Thankfully, Kurtzwick had some clues.

“Okay, I know what the skyline looks like around the building,” Kurtzwick said to himself. “I could see the mountains in front of me, which tells me which way I was facing, and the buildings around me all looked more or less like abandoned warehouses…”

The proverbial lightbulb went off over his head.

“The shipping district.” Kurtzwick immediately took off down the road. By lucky coincidence (or, as Kurtzwick would put it, unintentional skill), his searches had actually taken him not too far from his destination already. The buildings of the shipping district loomed overhead. He’d be looking for a large one, he knew, in width if not in height, and it couldn’t be currently in use; that narrowed the options down significantly, Kurtzwick realized.

It wasn’t long before Kurtzwick found a building matching his requirements. He clambered up to the rooftop. There was a rusted hole beneath him, and the view from the roof matched what he remembered. There was even a small silo to the building’s side, which he vaguely remembered from his first visit to the place. He paused to think for a moment. Whoever was in there, he wanted to get the drop on them. What would they expect less? Coming in through the ceiling or going in the front door? Dropping from above was the traditional surprise route, but maybe the occupant of the building would expect that because of it. The front door, on the other (non-existent) hand, was just about the least surprising thing in the world.

Kurtzwick took a third option. He lanced a breath of fire at the sheet metal roof, melting a neat hole in it, then jumped in. He landed on a conveyer belt, the same one, he realized, that he had fought on before. The lights were out and the belts were still, so Kurtzwick scrambled to one side of the room.

The door flew open, making Kurtzwick jump and proving his earlier hypothesis wrong. Two Pokémon dashed in, and water began to pour into the room much faster than Kurtzwick thought it had any right to, stopping when it was just shy of the conveyer belts. A third Pokémon was swimming behind Kurtzwick, seemingly having already been in the room.

A Budew, a Flareon, and a Relicanth all faced him.

“I knew you would come back,” a familiar voice said over the ever-present loudspeaker. “You still had tests to complete, after all. Though, I expect this will be your last one, one way or another. Have fun!”

Kurtzwick prepared some obscenities, but before he could unleash them, the three Pokémon advanced on him.

STRIFE! Kurtzwick versus Budew, Flareon, and Relicanth!
Kurtzwick: “Hack, slay, and haul it all away!”
Budew: “I see you!”
Flareon: “Are you still there?”
Relicanth: “Target acquired.”

“Last one, huh?” Kurtzwick muttered. “Let’s make it count.”

---

The temple itself was enormous. It almost looked like it had been carved from a single tremendous boulder, but upon closer inspection, Jeff could see where smaller stones had been near-seamlessly attached to each other to create a gigantic whole. Large statues surrounded the temple, each one of a different subject, as did giant pillars, all of which were sculpted from the same pure-white stone.

Jeff realized that his internal thesaurus was running pretty dry.
The front doors were crafted from gold, and they shone like the sun in the morning light. Squinting, Jeff reached for them, and they swung aside with the slightest touch, not even making a sound.

“That’s not ominous in the slightest,” Groviglio said flatly.

“It could be worse,” Maza said. “It could have required a lot more force to open, and then when we did open it, it could have rumbled aside with a noise that shook the ground.”

Groviglio raised an eyebrow-analogue. “You’re turning into Bolovayr. Stop it.”

“Let’s just go inside,” Jeff said, looking through the doors. “We’re not going to learn anything just standing out here.”

“Shouldn’t we be worried about traps or something?” Groviglio asked, his arm-analogues crossed.

Jeff shook his head. “This place has been deserted. If there’re any traps here, they’ve likely been already set off. Let’s go.”

With Raini bringing up the rear, the quartet entered the doors.

---

“Bring it!” Kurtzwick growled, turning his head in an attempt to keep all three opponents in view. It was, indeed, brought, and a Flamethrower, an Energy Ball, and a Water Pulse hit him simultaneously. “That’s not fair!” Kurtzwick mumbled, dazed. “Ganging up on me like that!”

“Your final test, incidentally,” the loudspeaker said, “will test you on your ability to defeat three perfectly synchronized foes.”

“That’s oddly specific.”

“Nonetheless, you would be surprised at how often it comes in handy.”

Kurtzwick caught a flicker of motion from his side. He instinctively threw out a hasty Protect, just barely protecting himself from the next triple attack. Okay, this is going to wear me out pretty quick, he thought, noting that his breath was already a little labored. I need to conserve my energy. And I need to wear them down… Weakest one first! He slithered back and exhaled a Flamethrower of his own at the Budew. The Budew crossed its arms in front of it as best as it could, but it still took the brunt of the attack. The fire stopped, and a vague aroma of burning plants drifted through the room. The Budew, eyes spinning, struggled back to balance.

The Budew momentarily being stunned did nothing to stop its teammates, and they slung an Incinerate (which, despite the name, Kurtzwick found, really didn’t hurt that much) and then a Surf at him.

The Surf washed over all of the Pokémon standing on the floor next to the pool. Despite all this, nobody but Kurtzwick flinched, but it did make him stop to think. The Relicanth will hurt its teammates? Interesting… maybe they aren’t as in sync as I thought. Kurtzwick shrugged off the blow and blasted the Budew with another Flamethrower. This one was more than enough, and the Budew collapsed. “When can I stop fighting Budews?” he grumbled to nobody in particular. “It’s getting old.”

---

“Okay, this is the tapestry that’s in Gabi’s report,” Jeff said, looking up at the wall. “Apparently it’s some kind of map? I can’t see it very easily though.”

Maza stepped up and squinted, peering closely at the wall hanging. “I think this is where we started,” he said, lifting a spoon into the air telekinetically and using it to mark out a rectangle. “With that said,” he continued, lifting his other spoon and tracing a spiral pattern on the tapestry, “I think we need to be heading this direction to reach the center.”

“What’s this?” Groviglio asked.

“Generally we call it a tapestry; it’s a cloth with patterns or designs on it, usually large-ish,” Maza said, the sarcastic reply coming to his mouth before he registered it. He had been spending too much time around Groviglio, he decided. Then Maza actually looked at what Groviglio was looking at. A golden candelabra, scorched and twisted, sat on the ground.

“Looks like something that might be helpful,” Jeff said before Groviglio could get a word in edgewise. He picked the relic up and placed it gingerly in his bag. “Let’s keep moving. We don’t want to waste time.” The group left through one of the several doors in the chamber.

The hallway they entered was much like the chambers they had already been in. It looked like it might have been regal at one point, but years at the least of disuse had left a layer of dust over everything. The paintings and tapestries adorning the walls were falling to pieces, quite unlike the map they had just seen, which looked like someone had taken immaculate care of it. The hallway led to another chamber, and Jeff pushed the door open easily. This room held nothing but a pedestal. What looked like a small idol, also gold, sat on the stand, somehow glinting despite the lack of natural light.

“Okay guys,” Jeff said quietly, “that looks like a set-up for a tr—Raini!”

The idol had been removed from its perch, and currently rested in Raini’s paws. The pedestal itself began to emit a series of worrying clicks. A rumbling began to shake the room, originating from one of the walls, and Raini jumped to put the idol back. It was too late, though, and a panel in the wall slid open. Jeff slid back to one of the side walls, as did the rest of his team, bracing for the inevitable giant boulder…

What actually happened was a Graveler rolled out of the wall – not even particularly fast, but at a leisurely pace that suggested he was just doing his job. He gave them a casual wave as he rolled by, then disappeared into a hole in the other wall. The panels slid back over their respective openings, refusing to open again despite the force Jeff, Groviglio, and Maza put on them. When they were satisfied that there was nothing else to be done there, they looked at each other and shrugged. As they left the room through a door on the remaining wall, Jeff grabbed the idol from Raini, who was more than happy to let go of it, and he placed it inside his bag.

---

The Budew was down, but that certainly hadn’t stopped its teammates. Kurtzwick, however, had a plan. He slithered back away from the water’s edge, leaving the Relicanth in the lurch, and waved his tail tauntingly in front of the Flareon. The Falreon took the bait and clamped its fangs onto the tail. Kurtzwick winced as fire spread out from the Flareon’s teeth, but he deftly twisted around, leaving the Flareon between him and the Relicanth.

Exactly as Kurtzwick predicted, the Relicanth was in the middle of forming another Surf; the wave washed over him and the Flareon, but with the Flareom taking the bulk of the attack, Kurtzwick evaded most of the Surf.

Two Surfs just wasn’t enough to bring down the Flareon, although it certainly was enough to shock it into releasing Kurtzwick. The Flareon, very briefly, shot an irritated look at the Relicanth – but a moment later, it was back to wearing the same dull expression that all of Kurtzwick’s opponents there had been wearing. He clearly wasn’t expecting Kurtzwick to ram into him, top speed, with an Aqua Jet; however, even that wasn’t enough to send the Flareon into unconsciousness. The Flareon, apparently finally getting wise to the general ineffectuality of Fire-type moves, gathered an orb of shady energy; it fired the Shadow Ball at Kurtzwick, an easy hit due to their proximity.

The Relicanth, though, hadn’t gotten the memo; a third Surf was forthcoming. “Damn! You’re using that move like it’s going out of style!” Kurtzwick hissed just before the wave crashed. When the water receded from the platform Kurtzwick was standing on, the Flareon lay on its side, completely unconscious. “Finally!” Kurtzwick groaned, rolling his eyes. Even though the Surfs hadn’t been very effective, them combined with the other attacks that had landed had brought Kurtzwick to the point of panting heavily. He faced the Relicanth and prayed to whatever deity would listen that this wouldn’t take too long.

---

The next room that greeted Jeff and company was a wide room lined with various statues of dragon Pokémon, not to mention a bunch of other draconic-looking… things as well. “Be careful, everyone,” Jeff said quietly, extending his arms out to either side and blocking his team from continuing. “This could be a trap too. Those statues probably shoot fire.”

Maza leveled a look at him. “I thought you said that the traps were dead.”

“That was before that Graveler,” Jeff said.

Groviglio frowned. “That was a really lame trap.”

“Still! Can’t be too careful—Raini!”

Raini darted ahead to the other side of the room. Jeff held his breath…

…as absolutely nothing happened. Jeff sighed. “Okay, I guess you all have a point.” Jeff took the same path Raini did, as did Maza and Groviglio; nothing continued to happen. On the other side of the room, as with the other rooms, an artifact lay on the ground. It was about the size of a large-ish belt buckle, and it too was gold; it was sculpted in the shape of a dragon’s head.

Maza looked upwards, recalling a memory from somewhere in his mind. “If I remember the map correctly, we just need to take a short detour here, and we’ll be at the center.”

“Good.” Groviglio scowled. “The sooner we’re done with this absurd treasure hunt, the better.”

“Nice to see you supporting the team,” Jeff said, rolling his eyes.

“Stuff it.”

Jeff smirked in spite of himself, then followed as Maza led the way. A few corridors later, they found themselves in a large chamber – the biggest one by far. A wide pool sat in the center, but the water had already drained out of it. A pedestal, broken, sat behind the pool, and lying next to it was a pair of spheres, each about as big as a billiards ball. One was pure white, and the other was pitch black; their surfaces were completely blemish free, and they looked for all the world like they had only been there since, say, yesterday.

Jeff walked carefully around the pool and laid a hand on each of them. Since they completely failed to react, he grabbed them and placed them in his bag, which was by this point getting more than a little heavy. “So this is the center, is it?” he asked.

Maza nodded. “Seems like it. Unless there were hidden passages somewhere, I think we cleaned house pretty well.”

“Thank god,” Groviglio said. “Are we done here?”

Jeff frowned. “I don’t know if any of these are what we’re looking for… I don’t feel power or anything radiating off of them.”

“Is there any reason to expect that you would?” Groviglio asked.

“No,” Jeff said after a moment’s reflection. “I suppose not. Let’s head back out and start getting home. I need to write a report on this.” As they left, Jeff kept the items they found circulating in his head. A candelabra. An idol. A dragon’s head. Two billiards balls. Would any of them help?

---

Kurtzwick panted. The Relicanth didn’t seem to be having similar problems, having not been touched at all in the match. I’ve got to decide this soon, Kurtzwick thought. Can’t hold out much longer… He arched his back and fired a bolt of lightning into the pool. Thankfully, that strategy seemed to work okay; the electricity cascaded through the water and shocked the Relicanth. The only problem was that the Relicanth didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. Damn! And I can’t try many physical attacks… that fish looks really beefy on defense! I guess I just stay the course… wait… I think I have an idea… if I can take him out in one blow, I don’t need to worry about conserving energy…

The Relicanth took that moment to wise up. Instead of preparing another Surf, as if in response to some unheard command, it fired a ray of frost and ice straight at Kurtzwick. Kurtzwick managed to just barely limbo underneath it, then fell backwards and collapsed on the ground. Gotta end this… He weakly lifted his head and looked to the ceiling. An orange storm cloud began to form, and from it fell a tremendous meteor, blazing with orange flames.

The Draco Meteor collided with the Relicanth, and Kurtzwick saw through blurry vision that it impacted especially hard. A critical hit. The meteor shattered, sinking into the waves, and the Relicanth sunk under as well.

It was over.

Battle over! Kurtzwick wins (barely)! Kurtzwick gains 3 levels and grows to level 30!
Kurtzwick learns Substitute as his level 30 move!
What? Kurtzwick is evolving!

Kurtzwick barely registered it as his body began to grow and lengthen. A pair of small wings appeared on the side of his head, his horn sharpened itself, and a set of cerulean beads sprouted below his chin and on his tail.

Congratulations! Kurtzwick evolved into Dragonair!

Fighting to keep his eyes open, he saw a pair of shapes approach him. One looked to be a Gardevoir (the dress shape was unmistakable) and the other a human. The human was dressed in a set of bulky clothes: a dark sweater and loose brown pants. One of the arms of the sweater looked lumpier than the other, though Kurtzwick couldn’t fathom why. She – and Kurtzwick realized her gender despite her androgynous appearance when she spoke – looked at Kurtzwick. “Good work, Zade,” she said, and the Gardevoir nodded appreciatively. “You successfully trained up then wore down the self-styled ‘best thief of Caledor’. I think he will be very helpful to us…”

The woman produced a Pokéball in her hand from seemingly nowhere and tossed it underhanded at Kurtzwick. He realized with a muted horror what was going on, and then realized that he didn’t have the energy to fight back. The Pokéball didn’t even need three shakes.

“Let’s go, Zade,” the woman said, and the two of them, Pokéball in tow, disappeared.

[Lady Vulpix]

Comments for Jeff:

I loved your description of the forest. I also liked the phrase "the city was a little on the large size" and the internal thesaurus remark, and the phrase "nothing continued to happen".

Also, that was an interesting way of alternating between 2 scenes.

The proverbial lightbulb went... off?

Oh, I miss Bolovayr. :\ Nice reference to him, in any case.

How often does the ability to defeat three perfectly synchronized foes come in handy?

I laughed at Maza's reply to Groviglio about the tapestry. He reminded me of my dad. And when Jeff picked up the candelabra, it reminded me of graphic adventures where you pick up everything you can find because it may be useful later.

Interesting twist to the giant boulder cliché.

Little typo: Flareom=>Flareon

Tsunami would probably complain about Kurtzwick's comment about Surf going out of style, but he might also complain at the way the Relicanth was using it.

The idea of Kurtzwick limboing beneath an Ice Beam was funny. (It was an Ice Beam, right?)

He was very lucky to deal a Critical Hit while using his last resort. But his luck ran out too soon. :(

Take 32 stamps! :yes: ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[The Blue Avenger]

In order:

-I had fun with the descriptions in this one. I'm glad it transmitted!
-I did want to break it up, too, and this story lent itself well to that style.
-I meant "went off" as in "triggered," but upon reflection it wasn't the best word choice.
-I miss Bolovayr too. :[ Reading the old Templa Taure stories put Ade and Soo's teams back in my mind.
-Not often, in any case. The test administrator was likely just making a lot of stuff up.
-Jeff was definitely running off of video game logic. XD That was the entire idea behind the dungeon crawling.
-I love the giant boulder cliche so much.
-Whoops! Good catch.
-Yeah, Relicanth definitely wasn't fighting as smart as it could have been.
-Yup! An Ice Beam. And I figure he's got to be pretty limber.
-And Kurtzwick's luck over the past... forever is finally starting to catch up with him.

Thanks!

[Lady Vulpix]

And some way of catching up it is! For such a proud thief to be stolen, how shameful it must be.

Congratulations on his evolution anyway.

[DarkestLight]

Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency.
Battle for Lvl 9 Nincada, she needs a new attack. Oh btw, Gabi, her bred on move is Bug Buzz.

[classy_cat18]

Your Nincada will battle a Snorunt.

[DarkestLight]

... >.>...Ok. Snorunt really needs to stay out of my life. Definitely going to be a Trainer then..

[Lady Vulpix]

I've just taken a look at the database. In Zent's description, when you say "anger", don't you mean "hunger"? ;)

[DarkestLight]

LOL. I need to update those blurbs...

[Wolfsong]

I'd like another rbg from the Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency for Darin l.20 espeon please. *hands over 7 stamps*

[classy_cat18]

Delibird is ready to battle Darin.

[Wolfsong]

I'd like another rbg please this time for flame L.37 charizard (though it will take place a while back timeline wise...) from the Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency *pays*

[classy_cat18]

Flame will battle a Swanna.

[DarkestLight]

Here we go :D This takes place right after the Dragon Games. Times are approximated, so if you all feel that some parts of the journey should have taken weeks, that's cool. This was my NaNo project-so if there are grammar mistakes...I apologize and reedit it summore.


Book One: The Search

A balmy Tuesday night. The air was crisp, a slight chill ripping through its invisible stature. Though harmless in the greater scheme of things, this chill gave a few particular denizens of the local tent something to shiver together about. The green fellow that seemed to be the heart of the mass stayed still, internalizing his temperament about the weather. To his left, the rocky exterior of the youngest member kept some of the chill at bay, in exchange for a bevy of smells no nose should ever need to lay whiffs upon. These scents from her mouth were readily picked up by the massive pink female that sat behind them both, leaned over a bit to try and keep them warm.

The newest member of the group, a thin blue serpent, coiled up around the trio, acting as a base heater for them all. May and Zent seemed to approve of Wyrm, as per their allowance of them sharing body heat. Or maybe, they knew it would be smarter to add more bodies to the pile. The four shivered soundly until the night faeiries whisked them to sleep.

Watching the quartet, Rapp silently noted their cohesion. When he was sure that they all were asleep, the lithe fellow quickly grabbed the only blanket amongst them, and wrapped them all in its wooly glory. In moments, each of the four stopped shivering, and attained a more pleasant and restful sleep. Pleased with their unlabored rest, Rapp turned to a book that he had instructed Mossy to give up before he went to sleep. The book rested on the floor next to them all. Rapp quietly pressed the book together hand between his hands, resting his forehead on it one time. When the silent prayer was finished, the book was opened to a point where a thin white sheet stuck out. Rapp grabbed the paper, and stuffed it into his vest pocket. Satisfied, Rapp quietly crept out the tent, in order to take a most important walk.

"Can't believe that just a week ago, we finished off a Dragon Game Tournament, and actually made it to the top three finalists!" He decided to elevate his pace to a brisk walk, feeling the chill in the night air. It wouldn't be long before he knew the deep chill would set in, and he would rather not be caught running back to his tent when it was that cold. His journey had not been one of peace as of late.

With the Tournament coming to a close, and with Mossy returned to him knowing a move of extreme power and uniqueness-he knew that now all eyes would be on him. Traveling might be easier, but there would be people eager to battle him. He had done well not battling random folks during the Tournament, but now that he was no longer protected by their laws-the people came out of the woodwork! He had to be on guard at every moment. Maybe that's why he was so confused when he found out he was to have an audience with Lord Azure. Not only that, but at said meeting's conclusion, he received the Dratini that was awarded to the Lord himself.

Thinking back on that moment, and then to the serpent that now laid coiled around the others, Rapp nodded. "I didn't know how I felt about dragons back then. All I ever heard were tales of death and anguish. But people use Pokedragons, and these dragons don't seem like the type to lay siege to entire towns. But I could be wrong. Still...Wyrm's too small to be of any danger."

Rapp continued to walk, turning his glance back every once in a while to spy the small light that hung outside his tent. It's amber glow alerted him to how far he had to travel back, just in case his path became one turn too windy.
"So... I got Wyrm. Mossy learned that new move, and we're here. I thought it would be smart to start in Sybyll, since that was the last place where my mother was seen, but now, I'm pretty sure that was a bad idea."

Rapp reflected back on the moments that transcended into his current state. With the help from an Abra, he and his merry band of four were transported right into the heart of Sybyll. In his hand-an invitation to Sector Alpha-should he be so inclined to actually join their rankings. That was for another time, he surmised. He already had a goal, and it was about time he stuck to it. Hands clenched tight as he quickly made his way through the main street, to head back toward the library.

Least, that's what he would have liked to do. Instead, Rapp dove for cover at the first chance, as he spied bikes lining the front of the shop. Peering out from behind a set of barrels, Rapp watched as a few burly men stomped out of the place. Rapp watched each one carefully, so he knew for next time whom to target first. He recognized the skinny fellow that came sauntering out as Solomon, the man with the metal bird that ripped his shoulder free from its natural inclinations.

Some of the burly figures looked familiar, but none were worth remembering. Rapp took careful note of the fact that these people kept their Pokemon in small spheres, only releasing them to cause mayhem. As a haze of red lines shot around and reclaimed a group of bad seed Pokemon, the voice of one in particular gave him the chills. Keeping low, Rapp kept his eyes affixed on Sheen, as the owner of the voice held up one hand in a show of strength.

"The pride of the ride! The strength we show is the fear they now know!"

Turning with a malevolent grin, Sheen whipped that raised hand around and thrust it forth. The speed of that massive fist crashing into the glass pane of the window made for an intense shattering sound. The others cheered as Sheen pulled his arm back, immediately inspecting it for any major lacerations. Skittering across his arm to check for glass was that familiar green spider, and he found no need for worry on Sheen's part. Satisfied that he came away clean, he laughed and walked to his bike, the others following suit.

"Don't make me come back here, old man! You gonna pay what you OWE!"

Rapp winced as they all rode off, their bikes shooting up the main road. He covered his head with his vest to avoid the eyes of the Skarmory that hovered overhead for a few moments. When even the bird was too far away to see him clearly, Rapp made his move. Knowing the others were safe-since he put them in the inn for the time being, Rapp burst into the library, heading straight for the back. He didn't even make it halfway there amidst the paper carnage that lied before him. Books were strewn everywhere, torn left and right. Some books even seemed to have been set ablaze. Rapp called out the shopkeeper's name-or at least what he thought his name was. Did he even know his name? That didn't matter. He hopped over a turned over bookcase, landing on a pile of leather bound books.

"Geez, what didn't they destroy?"

In a crumpled pile of paper and spine lied the elderly fellow that helped Rapp earlier. With a low groan, the shopkeeper was able to garnish Rapp's attention. It took the better part of a half hour before the old man was able to even focus on sitting, let alone telling Rapp the extent of his foray with those folks.

Rapp waited patiently, staring at the old man as he collected himself. Despite the mess here, the old codger looked more that able to deal with what just happened, Not to mention him being able to recollect everything that occurred after Rapp left for the final part of the tournament. Rapp listened intently as he helped the bookeeper out by lifting up the fallen furniture and moving the books that he could over in small piles to make a walkway. Rapp learned about a strange visitor that asked for a specific piece of documentation that he had originally given to Rapp. Rapp listened intently as he learned that old shopkeeper kept a second copy of this document, just in case. It seemed that the fellow knew this as well-and relieved the old man of the duplicate, tearing it up before his very eyes. Once complete, the man set fire to the torn pieces, leaving the shopkeeper to put out the blaze.

As for Sheen-those ruffians came in on their own agenda-which was causing mayhem for no real good reason. Initially glad the two events were unrelated, Rapp felt that he had inadvertently caused this to befall him. The bookeeper assured him that was not the case, but that there was something that Rapp could do.

"I'm supposed to meet that fellow outside Sybyll tonight. I was threatened, Rapp, and it's all because of your very existence. Don't you know what this means?"

"No..No I don't."

"I guess you wouldn't then. Either she was smart, or naive."

"Who?" Rapp asked, confused by the turn this convo took. The old man shook his head and raised one hand to push past this point. "In any event, I want you to go in my place. He's looking for you, and I do not believe his intentions are not the worst that they could be."

"As a favor for your insight to my mother, I'll go and meet this fellow. Draw me on a map where I'm to meet him. I hope that-after this meeting-I am able to walk back to see you and tell you the outcome."

The old man nodded, and turned to the floor, now littered with papers. He grabbed one out of a stack, and quickly scribbled directions to an area where Rapp was to meet this person that wanted to know his location.

"You going to take them?"

Rapp looked behind, noting the elderly fellow was talking about the Pokemon.

"No. I'll camp a safe distance away. No reason for them to get involved in something like this. Besides, I can use a knife pretty well."

"Well then. You best be on your way."

------

Rapp stopped reminiscing, and turned to look back at the camp. The amber light's halo still shone, though the distance between him and them was farther than he was admittedly comfortable with. But this was the way this needed to be.

"Did you come alone?" said a voice from the shadows.

"As best as I can, provided I have an entourage that needs my help as much as I need them." Rapp retorted, looking around the branches to try and spy whom he was talking to. "I came at the behest of the librarian in Sybyll." he stated, keeping his position ever shifting so as to not be surprised.

"Oh?. I was hoping he would show up. But instead he sends you. I can't blame him, even for a spry fellow at his age, night journeys are a risk best taken only out of necessity. I trust you've brung what I asked for? The location of the boy?"

"Yes." Rapp slid one hand into his vest pocket, patting his chest. Following the pats, he quickly pulled out a ragged sheet of paper. He held it up into the air, and waved it around a bit, before lowering his hand. "I have it. It's just a list of 9 names."

"Just a list of names? Hrm. Maybe you are as naive as you are lucky, Rapp Laster." Rapp stood back up at the end of that comment, partially hurt and partially confused. As he watched the form step out of the shadows, a feeling of disillusioned fear started to rise in his stomach. This man, with his piercing gaze and eye glinting arm guards, seemed ready to fight at a moment's whim. But that wasn't the reason for the fear. As Rapp tried to pinpoint the source of his newfound emotion, he felt his arm raise up. The older gentleman politely grabbed his arm, and now ripped the paper out of his hand.

Rapp stared at him, noting his features. The man's eyes were brown, unimaginative. He had no facial hair, and his jet black hair slicked back into a ponytail that came all the way down to his back. Stopping only 5 steps away, the man turned to look at the sheet of paper. He seemed interested enough to stay and read it. Rapp didn't mind, as he continued to scrutinize the fellow.

The man had a thick set of boots on, as well as a scabbard attached to his side. The hilt of the sword swayed with the man's hips as he rocked back and forth. Leather armor covered his torso, and a necklace of some sort adorned his chest. Rapp stared at that a little longer, before the impulses in Rapp's mind finally seemed to reach a collective understanding.

"You have met one of the names on that list already." he whispered. The man looked up and stared the boy down. Obviously, he was not counting on this discovery, as his sword was drawn in a moment's passing. "You would be wise to leave child-if you knew what was best for you."

"I think what's best..." Rapp stated, as he reached for his knife in his back pocket "..is for you to give me back that list. That list means more to me than it does to you." The man took a large step toward Rapp, forcing the boy to hop backwards twice. His knife was flicked out and held with the blade underneath his forearm. Rapp sidestepped, the swordsman copying and studying his stance. "I will say, for a librarian assistant, you sure do have alot of skills that are...unique. Knife play? Pokemon training? Heck, even earth whispers? One could say you know a thing or two about magic?"

"Magic is nothing but lore for children." Rapp countered. His grip on the knife handle was tightening, leaving his fingers blue. His mind shut the pain out, all that mattered was getting that list back. The man, hearing Rapp's reasoning for the word "magic" stifled a laugh.

"Boy, didn't you ever dream of knowing what was it you all hid for? Didn't you leave to seek the answers of your past? Do you even know why the Sundering took place, or for that matter, who ended the wars?" The man stared as Rapp seemed to take each word as a physical blow.

"I never hid. I lived in my village known to them all, I think you have the wrong person. As for events that happened when I was no closer to being born that I am right now...never cared to know." Rapp lowered his weapon, eyes still locked on the man. "I knew that-as a village-we were outcasts for a reason. But we had visitors to the village from time to time. I never cared to know the outside world and their politics. Even now, as you taunt me with your words, I don't care what happened to this world before I stepped into it. All I want is that paper you hold in your hand...because it will help me more than it will EVER help you."

The rolling clouds that seeped into the night sky started to blot the remaining moonrays. The man smirked, and quickly turned away, heading for a thicket. Rapp gave chase, knowing full well no person with a suit of armor could outrun him. He was right. No man could. In a few strides, Rapp had started to close the distance, but the man was close enough to the thicket to alert his partner in crime. Wings extended out of the bush almost immediately, and all the figure did was jump onto its back. In two flaps, the wind was too strong for Rapp to push through. In another two, they were gone.

Rapp watched the sky paitently, hoping to catch a glimpse of where they went. The clouds however, obscured their path with perfect integrity. Rapp stared at the sky for a moment longer, before hanging his head, and heading back toward his own camp. It wasn't until he reached the tent flap, and pushed it aside, that he seemed to be ok with the strange set of events that transpired. He quietly shuffled into the tent and grabbed that book once more. Swiftly, he opened it up to the end pages, where there was a map of Ulthuan printed. On this map however, were small traces of ink, cursive lines that could be translated into names. Rapp carefully grabbed a pen, and began to trace the streaks, creating letters where there were only dots. It took moments, but those moments made Rapp more than estatic about what he had to do.

On the map of Ulthuan were the names on that list. He knew it was oriented correctly, due to his own name being located on the map where his village was. But the names seemed to be scattered across the globe.
"Well. At least I have a map. Now...who is closest to me?" Rapp looked for Sybyll and noted a name encircled around where a small town should be, possibly a few days walk from here. The place seemed familiar, and through his own scribble, Rapp laughed at the notation of the place.

"Well then. It seems I should have stayed in Sector Alpha after all...we have an adventure ahead of us."

TBC

:D

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry for the late reply, I had to go to Quilmes, and there was an incident with my car and smoke came out of the engine but the man from the emergency service said it's going to be fine and there's nothing to fix. >.>

Anyway, I liked your story. A few typos here and there, but the writing was clear and the story itself is quite interesting. I'm looking forward to reading the next part. For now, take 17 stamps! :yes:¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[DarkestLight]

II: Sector Alpha Wizardry

The bustling military presence of Sector Alpha was as regulated as it was distant. People from all walks of life congregated there with a similar purpose; a pride of their homeland and a need to protect it. But Sector Alpha was a town as well, with people that lived here, noting the legions of people that came and went. The small bazaars and open markets were inviting enough, splashed with the colors of citrus and scents of the forests. Children eagerly picked out the fruit and played with it, parents quickly tossing out stamps to eager buisnessfolk.
It was here that Rapp once again found himself out of place. After two weeks of traveling and camping, being in a bustling city was strange, to say the least. Any bustling area made him nervous. His quiet upbringing was partially to blame-as he timidly walked around as people shuffled left and right through the bazaar, trading their wares. Looking up and around, he noted the architecture of the buildings-carefully carved stone molded into designs to invoke critical thought in the minds of admirers. Rapp slowly made his way out of the street fair he wandered into, looking around for his Pokemon. The small Dratini appeared first, quickly slithering next to him. Silent eyes peered up at him, before returning to the path. Huffing in confusion, Rapp turned around to consult his group.

"Kay guys. Going to have to figure this out. Where are you..."

Rapp's lack of training etiquette shone at moments like this. With a growing Pokemon ensemble, he found it harder and harder to keep track of everyone. He looked around and saw that most people didn't have very many Pokemon with them, but that didn't mean that they didn't have a plethora to choose from. Some chose to store them in small spheres that they carried on their person, and that seemed like a simple enough solution. Rapp disagreed with that, not only because of the possibility of then being stolen much easier, but because every living thing should be allowed to roam freely. But it was that roaming aspect right now that got him in serious trouble.

"Ok Wyrm, please stay here for the moment, while I wrangle up the others."

The serpent nodded, and coiled around himself comfortably as Rapp marched back into the bazaar. He didn't have to march far to find Mossy, whom found himself comisseurating with a few folks as they talked over tea and chips and other finger foods. No one seemed to mind that there was a Tangela musing with them, enjoying the music from a nearby flute whittler.

"K Mossy's staying put. Prolly heisted a box of tea from them. Oh geez that means Zent's alone!"

Rapp quickly looked around, spying food stands everywhere, not to mention the multitude of food shops in the buildings. He took a careful look and surmised that she might make her way to the kebabs-as they smelled the tastiest. Patting Mossy on the head, he quickly dashed through the aisles and made his way to the kebab stand. Three people were hard at work, grilling steaks and chicken and assorted flesh for consumption. A line extended 6 people back, and the next to receive their food quickly shot Rapp a dirty look. Rapp held his hands up, shaking his head in response. "No. I'm hungry yes, but I'm looking for a small rock Pokemon. I fear she might have been eating this place out of food."

One of the cooks heard Rapp's description and shouted at him, pointing a very sharp knife at him. "Oh. She's yours? We let her have the fat and pieces we won't cook. She really puts them away. You sure you wanna keep her, we could use a Pokemon like her." Rapp was stunned. He never thought someone would need a portable trash compactor. But he shook his head. "No. That little girl is important to me. If you need her for today, I'll be glad to have her eat up your meat." The man smiled, and sliced off a piece of fat from a new slab of meat, tossing it behind him. Rapp quickly dashed around to the back of the shop, and peered inside. Right as rain, there was Zent, gleefully chomping away on the fat strip, tearing the meat easily. Her focus was unbroken until she caught a whiff of strong woodland smell. She growled a bit as she turned to face Rapp, whom smiled at her little nook. "Good job staying out of trouble girlie. You wanna stay here for a little bit?"

The dinosaur smiled at the prospect, clapping her hands and shaking her head positively. Rapp snickered and patted her on the head, a great achievement for him since she didn't give him that glaring look anymore when it came to physical contact. Seeing she was in good hands, Rapp thanked the chefs again, and left the back of the shop. "Ok Mossy's sipping tea, and Zent's eating her fill of meat. That leaves May. Where's the nearest mirror?" Rapp stood tall, looking around the area. There weren't any shops with shiny objects that would capture her attention...and that worried him. He walked back to where he left Mossy, to see that moptop of vines now wandering the main road, looking presumably for him. Rapp raised his hand and waved, relieving Mossy of his nervous search.

"I see you're done here?" Rapp asked. A affirmative nod was all that was given, before he shifted left and right. A vine snaked up, coiled around a book. Rapp took the book from Mossy and placed it in his inside vest pocket, nodding. "Yes, its time to get searching. We've made it this far, we need to consult with this "Dungrae" person. By the way, have you seen Maybelline? I can't locate her."

Mossy shrugged, a strange gesture for a Tangela since it just looked like his vines were rolling over a bump in the road. Rapp nodded, and they both exited the bazaar, to spy Wyrm quietly coiled where he was told to stay.

"Wyrm, we're back. Has Maybelline showed up?"

The serpent opened one eye, and then turned to look at Rapp. He shook his head and then looked to Mossy. Mossy seemed indifferent with his presence, which did not seem to make Wyrm comfortable with travelling with him. Rapp had noted the group was still getting used to their new addition- and each Pokemon seemed to be coming into their own. Mossy seemed a bit detached these days, while May and Zent started to become a close pairing. That left Wyrm a bit in the cold, and Rapp knew that had to be alleviated. But as for right now, that could wait.
"Ok well, if we were ladies, what would capture our attention?"

"Excuse me. Are you looking for someone?"

Rapp and Mossy turned around to see who spoke to them, and were greeted by a person below Rapp's range of view. Wyrm uncoiled and slithered closer, as the child stared at them all. The child had a pair of ice blue eyes that seemed to pierce into their souls. Rapp leered back, wary of what he said now.

"Y-yes. We're looking for a pink Pokemon, with a long tongue."

"Oh! The Lady Lickitung! Oh she's been over here with us!" he exclaimed. Almost immediately, he ran off, heading away from the bazaar. Rapp gave chase, scooping up Mossy. He offered his arm to Wyrm, but Wyrm declined, electing to keep up on foot-figuratively. Rapp nodded, impressed that Wyrm was able to move so quickly. Made his load lighter, at least. The trio dashed down the alleyway, easily keeping up with the kid. Behind a few buildings, they found themselves in another area of town-away from the bazaar. It still was a grand place to be, but this area was moreso lined with businesses. There was a park not too far away, where Rapp could see a few other kids playing with a large pink object. At first, it looked like they were all kicking the pink object-which worried Rapp.

"What...have you all been playing?" Rapp asked as he dashed toward the park. The little boy shouted "Freeze tag!" as he was quickly over taken by Rapp and Wyrm. Wyrm slowed at the edge of the grass, as there was a gate that he was none too inclined to slam into at that speed. That's where Rapp's height came into play. In one bound he somersaulted over the gate and let Mossy go. Mossy spun in the air himself and landed on his feet, as Rapp landed a few feet aside from him. Wyrm quickly found the entrance to the park, and sped across the grass as Rapp approached the group of kids.

The sounds of children laughing was always something the world seemed to enjoy. It never seemed to be affected by the troubles of the world. Mossy and Rapp both sighed, seemingly subdued by the presence of peace and tranquility, even in this place.
There were a few boys and girls, all running in a small area. In the middle was May, quietly standing still. Next to her was a girl who was also undergoing the false rigor mortis that came with this type of game. Rapp quickly deduced that she was "frozen" and would be free only when she was "tagged". Instead of disrupting her game, he sat down on the grass and waited.

Mossy and Wyrm watched, quickly figuring out the mechanics of this game. One child was "it" and that child somehow had the power to "freeze" the others with but a touch. Wyrm shivered and moved closer to Rapp, initiating Rapp to pet his back

"It's ok Wyrm. They're not really frozen. You have nothing to worry about." Wyrm still didn't approve, and coiled up a tad to conserve his own body temperature. Moss meanwhile, stuck his vines in the ground, and tapped his feet. The land here was maintained well, the soil felt good. Nothing like back home, or in that jungle room, oh that jungle room. Rapp looked at Mossy with a puzzled look, and shook his head.

"I'm sure you'll find some good ground to plant some roots in soon Mossy. Once we talk to this person here, we'll head out to the next spot. But for now, let's enjoy the moment."

Mossy agreed, and went back to his daydream, as May was unceremoniously tagged, and freed from her predicament. She immediately flicked her tongue out and freed the little girl, before trotting over to Rapp.

"Had a fun game?" he asked as Wyrm leered at her, wondering if she still retained some of that ice residue. May nodded, visibly panting from all the running. She wiped her brow free from sweat, and flopped down on Rapp, unexpectedly.

"Heh. Someone's tuckered out. Come on. Let's go see if we can rent a room here, and get started on our search." May agreed, and the four of them got up collectively. Instead of heading toward the bazaar, Rapp pointed toward an area of town that was more secluded.

"We may have better luck there, where there are not so many people." Mossy nodded in acknowledgement and headed over there, Rapp following.

Only a good 15 minute walk landed the group down a small alley, and into a side street with a few things. The first thing was a swinging sign that pointed them to a small inn. Unlike most inns and hotels in the town, this one was hidden away, barely visible unless one really wished to find it. Rapp and Mossy however, seemed to be adept at finding these small alcoves. Rapp turned to face the door, and then looked to his left. Down the alleyway a ways was that little boy again. He just stood there, staring at the four of them. Rapp grabbed the door handle, feeling the craftsmanship that went into this ivory handle, and pulled it open.

The hefty door opened slowly, and out came a strong scent of peanuts and musk. Wyrm and May turned away from the smell for the moment, before heading in. Rapp followed, with Mossy taking the rear. After pulling the door closed, Mossy hopped in and ran forward, heading straight to a table that he could unload his wares on.

May and Wyrm took a moment to look around this area. A dimly lit room was the only comforting thing. Adorned along the walls were busts of large game that were mounted, as well as many a hunting picture, There was even a rug made from a large animal's hide here. Wyrm and May both jumped off the rug, thinking the beast was roaring out in pain from their presence. Rapp smiled, and made his way over to the desk, less than pleased with the energy in the room. On the counter was a small knocker. Rapp aptly raised it, and slammed it on the placard three times. After a moment of silence, the door in the back opened, and out came a woman. She seemed to have a grudge against the world, as her face was stuck in a scowl that sent shivers down his spine. But he did not let that judge her character, as he explained his intentions.

"Hello Ma'am. I am looking fo-"

"I'm no Ma'am! Misses to the likes of you mercenaries!" she shouted, pointing at him. Rapp raised one hand, and shook it in explanation. "I'm sorry..Miss. I mean no disrespect, but I'm no mercenary. I merely wish to request lodging." The woman stared at Rapp, before snorting a nice sized ball of snot out of her nose. Rapp winced, as he stared at the booger-thinking how glad he was that Zent was somewhere else at the moment. His attention went back to her as she cleared her voice. It was no heaven sent serenade, that much he knew.

"Not a mercenary then? How did you bypass all them fancy areas and make it to the Stag's Scat?"

This place was sounding more and more pleasant by the moment. Rapp however, had no answer that would make sense. "I try....to actually stay in a place which allows me to live in the towns history-is the best way I can describe it."

The woman nodded, and shuffled over to the front of the counter. As her full form could be seen, Rapp noted she was a husky woman. She wore a fur fleece, and thick shaglike pants-complete with fluffy boots. It looked like she just returned from a trip in the mountains somewhere. The woman waved for them to follow, and headed upstairs to show them a room. Rapp and May followed, Wyrm declining to traverse the stairwell for the moment. As Rapp and May reached the second floor, the woman opened the first door. "Here's a room. If you like it, you can stay for as long as you can stand me." Rapp smirked, seeing she was only a scrooge to those that deserved it. "But you get your own food in the morning. We only do dinner here." Rapp nodded, pleased with that. Breakfast was a meal only Zent really partook in. "We'll take it. There's one more Pokemon that we'll be fetching soon enough." The woman nodded, and pointed downstairs. "Fine. As long as they aren't larger than an Ursaring, I'm ok with it." She slid past him, and began to head downstairs. Rapp leaned over the railing, and whistled. Mossy immediately packed up his stuff, and headed toward the stairwell. Wyrm followed and the pair employed the same method of climbing the stairs: using their worm like bodies/appendages to climb atop the banister and then run up. Hoping off the top of the stair banister, Rapp let the trio run into the room. Immediately, May walked toward the bathroom, eager to wash off. Rapp obliged, turning the shower on so she could wash. As Rapp closed the door, he realized how foolish that must seem, a Lickitung washing herself like a human. "Wonder when she picked that up?"

It didn't matter, as he went to look at Mossy. Mossy was near a window, examining all of the things he was able to pilfer over the last few weeks. Some things were thrown aside-a bottle cap, 6 spoons, a encyclopedia set, a map of Ulthuan, his coveted teapot and 7 cup matching set, a Grovyle head leaf, and around 6 or 7 small boxes that looked like "TM's? Mossy, how do you find all of these things?"

Mossy looked up at him and gave him a smile behind that batch of vines. Wyrm slithered over, duly impressed with the collection as well, as well as the things that were being tossed in the rubbish bin, including a few cold rocks, a burnt torch handle and a purple bandanna. Rapp knelt down and examined some of the TM's, no longer upset over the acquisition of them. He looked to Mossy, and nodded. "Hey, remind me to get you a TM case. Would probably give you a lot more space in your.....I still don't know where you are stuffing all of this. You aren't that big, how do you hold 33 books?" Mossy shrugged as the vines began sucking back all those items. In no time at all, all that was left out were the map of Ulthuan, the TM's of assorted abilities and the teapot to steep.

"Well I know that I'm going to get a few more of these machines later on, but how about we take the time to see what each one of them are, and to divy them up amongst you three? I'll put aside any that seems right for Zent." The Tangela gave him a positive expression, and Wyrm slithered around to Rapp's right side as the boy sat on the floor. With their undivided attention, Rapp began unceremoniously looking on the underside of the boxes. Two he set aside, after realizing they were the same one.

"Got two Dragon Tail TM's here. I think I'm gonna wait before giving those out. Sorry Wyrm, but you might learn it, and that would be a waste." Wyrm shook his head in agreeance, no need to learn something that you'll get later on. Rapp turned back to the small learning devices, and slid one toward the bathroom door. Both Pokemon looked to him for an explanation.

"May's the only one of you that can effectively punch. That was Ice Punch. Besides, Mossy, you have your ice move." Mossy nodded, swivelling his vines in glee at the reminder. Wyrm looked to the plant confused. Did he say "ice?" No, that couldn't be right. Not at all. Turning back to Rapp, the Dratini stared as he looked from disc to disc, discerning what their capabilities were.

"Well then. I have a Protect TM. Who wants it? I know about this move, it allows you to withstand any attack, but it doesn't work all the time." Mossy and Wyrm looked to each other, and both shook their heads. Rapp shrugged and set it aside. "Guess we'll let Zent have it then. Wouldn't be bad, seeing as she's still lacking in variety." Both species in front of Rapp agreed, as he continued sifting.

"Hrm. Fake Tears? Wonder what that is? Twister...eh, seems not so useful. Hrm all that are left is Psybeam, Dark Pulse and Slam. Wonder if Zent could learn Slam. Don't see why not?"

Rapp pondered for a moment, as Mossy seemed to lose interest in the TM's he currently had. They still would be useful, but none seemed to tickle his fancy. Meaning he just had to acquire more. Rapp nodded, and Mossy grabbed the two TM's that Rapp reserved for May and Zent, placing them in a safer place-his vinecloset. As they were stored for safekeeping, Rapp stood back up, dusting his pants off. "Anyway, I'm going to go and see if we can garnish any information about this name. You want to come?" Mossy shook his head, visibly tired. May was still in the shower, so she was a no-go.

"Wyrm?"

At the call of his name, the Dratini raised his head. Looking to Mossy, the Tangela nodded, before going back to his teapot, and cleaning out his cup. Wyrm wriggled over to Rapp, before swiftly coiling up and around Rapp's body, before hugging his head like some sort of hat! Rapp tilted backwards, before regaining his balance from the lightning fast manuvear, and snickered. "Ok, you can sit up there. Let's head out and grab Zent, before these folks close."

Rapp exited the room and closed the door behind him, before heading down the stairs. Before heading out, he returned to the counter, and rang for assistance once more. The woman came out, and looked around with a scowl, but when her eyes laid on Rapp, she dropped her guard. "Oh. You. What do ya need?"

"Well, I assume there are keys to the room I'm staying in?" he asked, resting one arm on the counter, that book firmly open. The woman looked up and then back to him, realizing she had not given him the keys. "Sorry. I'll grab those. Dinner will be done in 2 hours at the latest. Fresh from the bazaar. Have you any need for a town map?"

"Umm no. I'm looking for someone here. Have you been here long?" he asked, figuring she should be as good as any to ask about this name on this map. "Many moons longer than I look, woodsman. If I don't know someone, I'm sure ol 'Pat does. He lives next door, runs the locksmith shop. Been here for ages, along with his family. What's the name?" She inquired, as she tossed him the keys. Rapp caught them and tucked them away, as he pointed to the book.

"The name is...Dungrae."

Rapp looked to the woman, who looked at him with a puzzled look. She shook her head in confusion, to Rapp's chagrin. "Nope. Never heard of anyone named that. But ask Pat. And don't be late for dinner, woodsman." Rapp nodded, and quickly exited the inn. He shut the door behind him, and stood in the stairwell. His path was impeded by the appearance of a short figure. The blue eyed boy. Rapp and Wyrm both found themselves in a staring contest with him-and for a moment, Rapp could no longer hear the sounds of this part of the alley. He felt that this boy-this strange boy-was hiding something. The boy nodded at him and walked away...breaking the mental connection it seemed to have established with Rapp.

"Man, what's with that kid? I just asked him for help and now he's following me. Weird huh, Wyrm?" A wobble on his head told Rapp Wyrm agreed and the pair now headed toward the locksmith shop. It was a short walk, right to the next swinging sign near the entrance to the alleyway they could take to get near the center area of town. Rapp looked at the handle, and saw it was a carefully crafted piece of wood that he had to stick his hand inside before grasping and pulling. Interesting to say the least. He pulled, and entered the shop, making sure to pull the door closed behind him. As he turned to gaze in the shop, all he could see were locks and keys. They hung on the ceilings, and along the walls. Their organization seemed terrible, but he was not concerned with their placement.

"H-Hello? Anyone here?"

There was silence. Rapp cleared his throat and headed toward the counter. There was no visible knocker, and as such he had no way of making noise to alert anyone to his presence. Sighing, Rapp leaned on the counter.

"He might be out at the bazaar. Hrm. What to do now?"

Wyrm slithered off of Rapp's head and onto the counter, allowing Rapp to fuss with his hair for a moment. As Rapp scritched, a creak caught both of their attention. Only Rapp's ear swiveled in response, as the creak repeated itself.

"Hello?" He spoke, this time forcing it out in a louder octave than usual. This time, there was a response. "Oh! Someone out there in the front! One moment, I gotta find my clickers and knickers!" Rapp and Wyrm turned to look at each other.

"Clickers and knickers?"

"Yes, My shoes and my belt for you-young woodsmen. You finish cutting down half a forest?" was the reply that came from the back. Rapp was now puzzled. This was the second time he was called a woodsman from as many people. Turning his head, he raised his arm and sniffed. Nothing foul came to his nostril. He let it go again, and waited until the male came out. Rapp noted that the creaking sounds were from the cane the man used to help him walk, as he reached the counter. Again, Rapp was greeted with a scowl that could wake the dead. He stood up straight and kept his hands to his sides, Wyrm slithering off the counter and back up to Rapp's head.

"Umm, yeah I'm here because I was told you might know someone by the name Dungrae. Have you any knowledge of this name?"

The old man raised his glasses from his chest, and fixed them before taking a harder look at him. It was an awkward moment for Rapp, being scrutinized by this older fellow. Taking a deep breath, Rapp dared speak again. Before his words left his mouth, the old man raised one hand to his lips, emphasizing silence. "Listen here woodsman. Leave this place. You speak of a name you do not need to know."

Jackpot.

Rapp's face turned into a smirk. "I will. As soon as you tell me the meaning of this name, and any others on this map." Rapp quickly whipped out his book, and opened it to the last page. The old man slowly took the book from Rapp's grasp, and held it to the light, studying the names. He noted their positions and nodded, looking back at Rapp once more. "Never thought I would see the day that two people would be seeking the knowledge of the days before prosperity."

"Two?" Rapp stated, his expression changing from excitement to perplexity. He quickly inquired as to whom else knew of this name, and the old man quickly handed Rapp back the book.

"It seems you are the person the first male wishes to bypass. The question I have for you is-why are you seeking Dungrae? What would this person do for you?"

Rapp nodded, realizing that this answer could leave him in the dark, or it could help his path. This was his only lead, and he had to be craftier than whomever was here before. "This name is one of the nine that are on this map. My name is on this map. This list is the last thing I have, aside from my blood-that belonged to my mother."

The old man showed no shift in emotion at the young man's speech. Even with the realization that this mission was personal-he seemed indifferent. Cautiously, the old man began to walk around the lobby, looking up at all the keys. "You see all these keys up here? These keys belong to so many doors. So many paths that can be opened and closed. I told the man here before to take three keys, and I sent him on his way. You can't find Dungrae here. Dungrae has already left for parts unknown, and I am positive that one of the keys you pick will open up a door somewhere in your path.

I've lived here in Ulthuan for over 75 years, I've built and replaced locks for doors so old that their last seal was a magical incantation. But I never stay to see what happened behind each closed door. Those were paths that I could open, but dare not to. You however, seem to be willing to find your mother at any cost."

"Why was the other man searching for Dungrae-nay, the names on this list." Rapp asked, eager to get some insight on this fellow. The old man snickered, as Rapp watched him. "He say you might be clever enough to ask that, and to tell you that he's doing you a favor by finding your mother first."

"I need no favors from someone that won't show themsel--" Rapp stopped his own statement, after thinking whom would have asked this man these same questions. The fellow he originally gave the list to? But Rapp did not give him a map-he gave him the list-how did he discern he had to find this specific name? Rapp then turned to the man...and realized why he wanted him to leave.

"...He's still here." Rapp said, Wyrm now raising up. The serpent looked down to Rapp, noticing that Rapp's scent changed. Rapp's ears twitched and turned, listening carefully. He could hear the bazaar from here-he could hear the woman cooking in the inn. Most importantly, he could hear 4 heartbeats in the immediate vicinity. Rapp immediately took a step back, as the old man smirked. "You are more than meets the eye, woodsman. I wonder if you are more than what you know you are."

"Where is he?" Rapp said, lips curling to release a snarl. Eyes darted back and forth, and Wyrm took this moment to jump off of Rapp and prepare himself. "Yes, Wyrm, be ready. I don't trust this situation, and I will be needing your help." Wyrm nodded, and looked around, unsure what he was looking for. In a flash, the door to the locksmith shop flew open, and there stood the child with the ice blue eyes. The old man's eyes opened wide and he clapped.

"Now now, don't stand out there in the doorway, come in. Are you lost little one?" The old man pushed Rapp aside, only to be met with a snarl from the boy outside. The boy raised a hand, and Rapp acted. He dove, and knocked the man to the ground, right before a blast of energy flew and slammed into the back of the shop. Keys flew everywhere, along with glass, as the boy snarled. His attack was met by a stream of fire, as Wyrm took the moment to try and separate him from Pat and Rapp. Rapp rolled backwards from the flame, dragging Pat with him. "Sorry sir, but that's no boy. Wyrm, excellent work. Can you take down that thing without hurting it too bad?"

Wyrm didn't know, but he'd try. The boy jumped over the fire with ease, grabbing a few keys and shards of glass. In one heave, he flung them at Rapp, who curled over Pat to protect him. Wyrm snaked into action, careful to not slither over shards that could harm his underside. He surged atop a slanted shard of glass and sped through the air. The blue bullet slammed into the boy, knocking him across the floor. The boy grunted and then howled as his body started to shimmer. In no time at all, the boy's facade was gone, and in its place was a dark, foxlike Pokemon. It shook off the lump to its head, and kneeled; sneering at Pat. As Rapp pushed off of him, the Zoarark pounced. Rapp turned to brace himself for the tackle, but the blue whizzing bullet struck again. This time Wyrm backflipped and flicked his body like a whip. The force of the speedy manuvear knocked Zoarark down and to the ground once more. As the beast recovered yet again, Wyrm swiftly released another Flamethrower to give them some space. Rapp helped Pat up, and pointed.

"Who-or WHAT is that? And why is it after me!"

Pat clapped, and pointed to the Pokemon whom now seemed more tame than terror after those strikes to its noggin. "That, my boy, is Dungrae, the Zoarark. It's been here for years, allying with no one but whomever its master told it to protect."

Rapp stared at the old man, confused. "A-A Pokemon? Really? That does not make any sense..." He stared at the dark figure watching him, and then turned to Wyrm. Wyrm slithered closer, and Rapp raised one open palm, forcing Wyrm to yield. "Dungrae?" he asked-only to receive a snarl in return. "Dungrae...my name is Rapp Laster. I have been given this information in order to locate my moth-" Before he finished, the beast's eyes widened and it jumped backwards. Its claws went out, and its eyes now stared at the sky. Rapp backed away as well, and listened. There seemed to be nothing, but then, his ears picked up the faintest sound. A wingbeat. Another one. They were getting closer. They were landing...on the roof.

"That man who came to you before-" Rapp asked Pat, never looking down. "-When did he show up here?" Pat walked around the remains of his counter, and quickly began sifting through keys. "Hrm, his last visit... maybe a week or two ago? It seems he has a faster mode of transportation than you, I take it? Not to mention his line of work has a headquarters here..." Rapp nodded, and looked at Dungrae whom turned his gaze back to Rapp. All at once, he had an idea. "Dungrae-if you helped Veronica, then you'll help me. If that man finds us, there's going to be trouble. Let this be my chance to show you I'm truly looking for her."

The Pokemon snapped its gaze to Rapp, and then to Pat. Pat nodded and rested a hand on Rapp's shoulder. "I think the lad's worth trusting. But you already knew that, Dun. Let's see if we can't get ourselves a little game of tag going..."

-----

In a flash, the locksmith door burst open, and Rapp dashed out, with Wyrm following. Rapp looked back as Pat stood in the entranceway, before turning to head for the bazaar. Wyrm kept up with him as they crossed the small park and swiftly threw themselves into the throng of people. All at once, a large Pidgeot landed in the midst of the park, allowing its rider to jump off of its back. In two flaps, the Pidgeot flew skyward once again to perform an aerial reconnaissance. The man seemed to be on a mission, pushing past people with no regard for their personal sanctity. Rapp and Wyrm noted the man's dismount, and quickly ducked as the bobbed and weaved. "Listen quick Wyrm. Stick to the plan, and get to safety as fast as you can."

Rapp pointed over to the kebab shop as he tried to keep running, keeping low and evading people. "Get there, and get Zent. Remember, make sure you get to safety afterwards!" Wyrm got the hint and broke off from Rapp, zipping over to the back of the shop. The back was open, allowing Wyrm easy access. The Dratini peered around, but saw no signs of the little lizard. That changed when a heavy mass rolled onto the back of his tail. Stifling a scream, Wyrm swiftly turned to see a bloated Zent stepping on his tail. Before she could sink her teeth into his hide, Wyrm pulled his tail away, and hissed at her. Zent turned to see who the owner of the shiny blue yum yum was, and then placed both hands over her mouth. A massive burp left her body, relieving her of the bloatedness, and reigniting the black hole that could be called her stomach. The appearance of only Wyrm however gave Zent a bad feeling.

"Wapp?"

"He's back at the hotel. No time to explain. We have to go."

"We? No leave with stwanger."

"Oh god, Zent, we have to go. He sent me here, he's being chased right now!"

"Bad man afta Wapp? U leave him! Bad Snakey!"

Zent waddled toward the door and half stumbled out of the back of the kebab shop. Wyrm stared at her and felt himself impressed with how a baby, a little baby, trusted her trainer enough to chase after him in the face of danger. Especially since it seemed that she ate a truckload of food. But, as Wyrm looked to the ground-there wasn't a scrap of meat anywhere. The floor was figuratively spotless. Amazed, Wyrm slowly slithered after her.

"Come on Zent. He's going to run back this way. We can help him if we get over here."

"Kay. Snakey help Zent help Wapp!"

"My name's Wyrm..."

The pair slowly moved through the crowd, and managed to reach a main road. Before long, Wyrm spied the avian soaring overhead in a lazy circle. He wasn't sure if he was spotted yet, but he knew that both of them here wouldn't help the larger plan at hand.

"Kay Zent. Rapp's going to run through here. We gotta stop the bad man here."

Zent nodded, and then snarled. Wyrm looked at her-and then down the road. Right as rain-Rapp sped down the road, evading people deftly. Wyrm pondered the nature of Rapp's movements in a situation like this, as he blew past them both. Zent however, looked to Wyrm and gave him another snarl.

"What? We have to stop the armor guy that's chasing him!"

"No smell like Wapp!"

"...There's no time to explain! That guy wants Rapp. I need to keep up with Rapp. Can you PLEASE stop the bad man, as you put it!?"

Zent stared at the snake. She had missed something in her eating bonanza, but right now, the snake did not seem to want to lose Rapp. Knowing that she was definitely not as fast as any of them, she nodded and waddled out in the street. Her small stature allowed her to not be seen by anyone not paying attention.

Wyrm sighed, glad she decided to trust him enough for this moment, and blitzed through the bazaar to find Rapp. He made a sharp right where he last saw the brown vest and spied a fleeing figure a good 20 yards away. He gave chase, and managed to cover the distance easily...only to find himself confused. He saw one figure in a vest dashing left, and another dashing right. Looking up, the lazy circling avian seemed to have the same problem as he. Wyrn realized the grand scope of this plan, and smirked, before heading right. Somehow, he had a feeling he'd be the bird bait. It worked like clockwork. The Pidgeot in the sky spied the blue serpent moving toward the brown vested individual, and began to make tighter circles heading right in the skies above.

With the shift of focus, the man smirked and turned to head right-in an eager attempt to trap Rapp. However, he failed to notice the tiny Pokemon by his foot that gleefully bit his ankle and dragged him to the ground. The man collided with the cobblestone ground and grunted, before turning to see what he tripped over. Before he could get a good look, a massive weight hit the small of his back. He cried out, and reached for his back. There was a nice size sore area there now. Wincing, the mercenary pushed himself off the ground and looked around. He didn't see anything. Was he actually attacked? The pain from his ankle proved that, but was was sure he saw no small Pokemon running around. With his ankle now slightly hampering him, he knew that regrouping would be the wisest method. He whistled loud, catching the ears of his Pidgeot. The bird turned away from its pinpointing and swooped over the crowd to pick his trainer up. The man threw himself on his back and the bird flew to the nearest rooftop.

"I know he's here. I need to wrap this, and then we'll get right back to tracking." he murmured, as he slid off his boot. His sock was pretty painted with red, a shock since his boots were made of leather. "The heck bites through leather and hits like a freight truck?'

Back in the bazaar, Wyrm realized that Rapp must have went into hiding because he couldn't find him. But the bird was gone, flying toward a building...in the opposite direction. Meaning the second he went into the open, he would lead them straight to the hotel. He needed a plan. First however, he figured he could find Zent. Safety in numbers. The serpent slithered back the way he came, panting from moving around so hurriedly.

It didn't take long to get back to where he left Zent. There were signs of a scuffle on the ground here, and the small foot prints in the cracks of the cobblestones that led back into the bazaar was easily enough followed for all of a meter. In short, he lost Zent. Disappointed in himself, Wyrm quickly darted down the sidepath and began calling for her. He didn't hear a thing. After a few more moments of slithering, the Dratini stopped and hid behind a store. With the Pidgeot down for the moment, he would just have to make it back on his own. But Wyrm's problems seemed to compound as his world went black. In no time at all, he felt his tail right by his face and the world was bouncing around him. Disoriented and confused the snake tried violently to free himself from this bag? Someone really tried to bag him?

All the thrashing seemed to do was remove Wyrm from the back of the individual and now left him freefloating in the air. It was not a long trip, as Wyrm felt the ground almost immediately afterward. Wriggling left and right and whipping his tail, Wyrm managed to open the bag and spring out. The serpent stopped only to evade the jaws of death! Zipping across the mouth of a bear and then makng a hard right to evade the sweeping paws of another beast, Wyrm coiled himself into a corner.

It took the serpent a few moments to collect his bearings, as he first spied the small rock girl, eating away on a chair. Then the dim lightning, this looked familiar. Was he back at the inn? He peered out from his corner to see a man cloked in a thick burlap robe. Behind the man was a squat form of green, rifling through said bag that Wyrm escaped from. The cloaked form swiftly removed the hood of the garment and revealed himself. Wyrm exhaled, glad to see that it was Rapp all along. Confidently slithering around the stupid bear rug (which he whacked with his tail for scaring him so), he coiled around Rapp's leg. Rapp knelt down and patted him.

"Sorry for scaring you like that, but we had to act fast. But you and Zent did excellent-and we probably have bought a day in time. Thank you both."

Zent gave out a roar in accomplishment, and Wyrm recoiled off of his leg, slithering up to his own place at the lowlying table. The inkeeper and the smirked at Rapp's getup, and then to his menagerie of Pokemon.

"Well, after an entrance like that-it can only mean you are staying for a night. I figure you found what you are looking for here?"

"Not exactly Miss," Rapp explained as he folded up the cloak and put it down on the back of the chair he sat in to eat. "We figured out the name. But it turned out to be a Pokemon, rather than a person. I don't know what to make of this, but they did help me, so I am in their debt." Rapp looked down at his plate, but the notion of eating was not as strong as he felt it should. The woman looked as he stared at his food. "Well, I know its not going to jump up and bite you, so you better bite it first."

"I know I need to eat. I just can't figure this out. Dungrae is a Pokemon. A Pokemon disguised as a human." The woman listened as Rapp stabbed a steak with his knife and slammed it on his plate of vegetables and rice. "Why hide who you are?"

"So you aren't found by those that wish to use you for intentions you wish not to commit." she replied as calmly as she ate. The answer left Rapp with an inkling of a thought, but he dismissed it for the moment. His appetite seemed to finally have awoken, allowing him to fully divulge into this feast. As he ate, he looked to his group-sans the sleeping princess who ate early. Wyrm seemed eager to eat, and Zent-gawd how much did she eat today? Mossy still seemed interested in eating, that was good. But he still seemed disconnected, and Rapp still was unsure why.

"Moss, you ok bud?"

The plant looked up to Rapp, and gave him a nod. Both knew that nod. It was more of a "private conversation" nod that Rapp instantly took heed of. He pursued the conversation no longer and the dinner table was now filled with the sounds of silverware against plates and some loud chewing from the baby.

Once dinner was finished, Rapp helped the innkeeper clean up. He even did the dishes-to her surprise. With the major chores done, and with Zent finally sleeping off all she ate; Rapp was able to put her to bed. That left Mossy and Wyrm. Mossy walked up to Rapp, and pointed to the Dratini as Rapp headed to grab that cloak. "Yea Mossy. He's really smart. Is that's what bugging you?"

Wyrm, puzzeled as to what was happening, slithered over. Mossy retracted his vine and stepped aside to give Wyrm his space. Rapp knelt down and placed a hand on both of them.

"Now you two are boys. Wyrm, Mossy's worried that you're going to replace him as leader of this team. Mossy, Wyrm's nervous around you because you are the alpha male, in a sense, and he figured if you don't accept him as a member of the team, then no one is." Both Pokemon lowered their gaze, realizing Rapp spoke the truth. Rapp sighed and pulled them both into a hug. "But I really am thinkful for meeting you two, and Zent and May. I don't think any one of you are greater than the other. You all are so different, and as it is, we just have a family of 5. This might grow over time, but I never want you all to think I'm favoring one of you over the others. But you all need to communicate with each other as well."

Rapp released them both and Wyrm slithered up to Mossy. He extended the tip of his tail, and Mossy looked at it. Two vines snaked out and coiled around Wyrm, before dragging him close for a hug. Wyrm was surprised, and felt a little offput by the gesture, but accepted it anyways. When they released, Mossy seemed to regain a glimmer in his eyes-something Rapp noticed was missing a while ago. Glad that at least one internal conflict was brought to the light, Rapp turned his focus toward the major dilemma at hand-Dungrae's safety. Affixing the cloak to his neck, Rapp headed for the door. "Well, while night is falling, let's go figure out more about Dungrae." Wyrm and Mossy agreed and the both of them followed.

Shutting the inn door, Rapp opened his cloak. Swiftly, Wyrm slithered up it-in order to hide his shiny blueness from prying eyes. Mossy smirked and assumed his perch as a bookbag to Rapp. The trio headed over to the locksmith shop with no delay. Reaching the shop, Rapp made sure to look around before entering. Closing and locking the door behind him, Rapp only removed the hood, allowing Wyrm to see. Mossy released from his back and walked to the front, apparently in heaven.

"Don't touch Mossy. Least, not until I tell you to."

"Pat! We're back! Is Dungrae back?" Rapp shouted. That familiar creak was heard, and all at once, Pat appeared from the back, a smile on his face. The counter was still smashed, but the glass was completly removed. All the keys that were thrown about were accounted for, and he seemed ok overall. "That was a show that I thought I would never see. I will say I am impressed with your command of the situation. Dungrae will be out in a second."

Rapp smirked and Wyrm hopped off as Mossy called him over. Slithering over, Wyrm noticed that Mossy was walking around the perimeter of the place, sticking his vines in cracks. Was he looting the place, or performing reconnisance? Either way, Wyrm took the time to pay attention and start performing his own recon on the other side of the building. Mossy approved, and nodded at Wyrm's diligence. Maybe he did write off the serpent too soon.

As the Pokemon did their thing, Rapp waited until the red tipped clawed Pokemon showed itself. It still stayed a fair distance from Rapp-but now there was no snarling. "You have to understand, Dungrae will protect me at all cost. But, that's not to say that he won't help you."

"I see. I first must say, that was an impressive illusion of me. You had me fooled when I ran into you at the bazaar." The slighest smirk came over the Zoarark, and he nodded slightly. "Well, I guess I can only offer explanations. Dungrae-I am Rapp Laster. My mother's name was Veronica." At the mention of that name, Dungrae dropped the leer. He took a moment to sniff Rapp, and then leaned backwards. Scratching his left shoulder, Dungrae then scampered into the back. Pat and Rapp waited a moment, and soon enough, that little boy with the ice blue eyes came out. Rapp was unsure of why the Zoarark decided to turn back into the boy, until it spoke.

"It's easier to answer you this way. Veronica was my trainer, and my friend. I knew her until she was with child, and then she told me that we would all be split up in order to preserve her integrity. I never met her child, but some of the others have. If you are whom you say you are-then Wyndryde will know you. Your scent is truly familiar, and I am inclined to believe you are whom you say. But-why seek me out when you do not know me?"

"Because I never knew my mother. She had me, and then she was gone. I presumed her dead until my village told me to go out in the world and learn all I can. I came across a piece of paper with these names on it from a man in Sybyll, and I figured if I could listen to what these people had to say, I might be able to find some peace-whether it be a gravestone or her in person."

"Well" the little boy began, a voice that seemed to echo in their minds as much as in the room. "then as I said, Wyndryde will know you. He's as wary as I-and I know he's still around. Unlike me, he won't be in disguise. May I see the list you've acquired?"

Rapp nodded and procured the book from his pocket. Opening it onto the map, he showed it to the boy. The boy nodded, and reached for a writing utensil. Pat quickly handed him a pen, and the boy wrote some more words in places. "These are the exact locations of the ones I've known since Veronica left us behind to guard these people. I would join you, but I fear that Veronica may not be alive, and I would rather see her again rather than merely feel her spirit."

"I understand." Rapp said-as he examined the map. The eastern side of the map was still relatively unmarked, but the western side now had neighborhood names or regions where thhe others could be found. Rapp then realized. "Wait..all these names are Pokemon? Why include my name on a list of Pokemon?"

"We were not just Pokemon to her. We were family. You're on that map because you're the core of her family. We're still around because of her, and I suspect that we are yours to protect as well. But, as I have seen, you are amassing a family of your own..." The boy tilted his view to spy Wyrm and Mossy. A second glance to the map's scribbles, and Dungrae nodded in approval. "I do hope you find the others. But-you are going to need the three keys that she left behind."

"Oh. Yes, anything that can help would be most appreciated." Rapp exclaimed, clapping his hands. A wooden staff slapped his hands down, as Pat slid inbetween them. "And that's where I come in. You may be her youth, but you still need to follw the rules. You have to pick three keys. Take your time, earth whisperer."

Rapp looked and then turned around. "Mossy. You pick." Mossy walked over, and immediatly glared at Rapp. Why did HE have to pick? Rapp looked down at the perplexed Pokemon, and smirked. "Because-you're the pilferer for the team, and anything you take has a use. Therefore, the keys you'll pick will help you-and therefore help us." Mossy nodded, surprised Rapp thought this far ahead. He had been doing that alot lately, being a step or two ahead. Vines whipped out, and flicked against the keys hanging on the ceiling, and the ones in the walls of the shop. Mossy walked around, and then slammed his vines into the cracks of the base of the shop. The vines shifted left and right, and then Mossy retracted all but one vine. That vine whizzed right next to Pat, and snagged his cane. Pat willingly released it, and Mossy held it up for Rapp to grab.

"What? His cane? You...sure?" Mossy nodded and now made his way to the smashed counter. With the glass all gone it made it easy to walk through. Mossy looked around the twisted metal, until he found something that seemed odd. It looked like a black nail. He snaked it in a vine and quietly pilfered it as he continued sifting. The planimal then looked up, spying that there was one key in the ceiling that was apart from all the others. Mossy left it alone. Instead he wrapped his vine around the key that was embedded in the wall next to the hallway that led to the back, and ripped that from the wall. He swung his vine around, delivering that to Rapp.

"That's two" Pat nodded, as he picked up another staff that was next to the hallway-a sturdier one. "Never liked using that as a cane anyway." Rapp looked quizzically at the staff, still puzzeled it was a key to anything. "One more Mossy. I believe in you." Mossy sighed, and plopped off of the small ledge. He walked over to the keys in the middle of the ceiling and raised a vine through them. Nothing. He retracted his vine, and shook his head. "Wait, but Mossy, he said three."

"Well, you can pick." Pat said, as he slowly made his way to a chair. Wyrm wriggled over, looking to Mossy for an answer. None came. But he did notice Mossy staring at the faux boy. Their gaze was locked. Wyrm turned to Rapp, whom seemed oblivious to it all. Rapp was struggling with his last choice, and he seemed unsure what to do. In truth, Rapp was more than perplexed. He was trying to decide what key would be the most useless key in here.

"Got it. Give me the key to this shop."

"What?" Pat said, confused and surprised.

"Yes. You said you've built locks in shops all around Ulthuan. Its hard to have so many skeleton keys, unless your master skeleton key is something super simple-like the shop lock. No one could break into it-because it has locks from all over the world in its makeup, but I could use it to access doors you've built."

"Yer smarter than your years, boy." The locksmith walked over to the counter, and picked up a jar. He shifted the keys around and pulled out a thin green key. He handed the key to Rapp and nodded. "That key will open doors most don't have access too. Be careful-don't go entering doors all willy-nilly." Rapp nodded, and turned to head back to the inn. "Well alright Wyrm, Mossy, let's head back."

As the two Pokemon start to head toward the door, Rapp turned around and extended his hand. "Dungrae-thank you again for impersonating me. If it was not for you and your Illusion skill, we would not have the time to talk about the steps I need to take. We will be watching for that mercenary-but you both take care."

"We will, and when you find news of Veronica, please come back and let us know." Pat added, as Dungrae headed in the back, breaking his glare with Mossjito. The planimal quickly scurried out, and looked to the skies. No signs of anything watching. Wyrm climbed atop Rapp, whom donned his cloak and once again took to the alleyway. Rapp however, turned back to ask the Zoarark one last question. He threw himself back into the shop, and Pat turned to see what else he needed. "Wait. Why hide? Why disguise yourself as a boy?" Rapp asked, hoping to receive an answer. The familiar footsteps of the faux child were heard and his answer was delivered. "Because the world creates preconceived notions based on appearance. Things are simply...not as they appear." Satisfied with that answer, Rapp shut the door. They scampered off-and headed back to the inn-eager to get to sleep.

The night passed without incident in Sector Alpha, and the morning to follow seemed silent enough. Rapp was up with the dawn, sitting at the table with Mossy-as he investigated the keys he acquired. "I'll have to make a sling to carry this staff, no need to have this in my hands all the time." Moss nodded, as he sipped some of that Sultan Syrup tea.
Wyrm slithered to the table and worked his way atop of it, before letting out a yawn. As he did, Rapp looked over to the pile of crumbs placed strangely in the center of the room. "Oh. Mossy. That's right. I got you that TM case I heard about." Mossy looked over to Rapp as he got up from the table. Running over to the cloak he borrowed from the innkeeper, Rapp pulled out the case, and tossed it at Mossy. Mossy caught it, and opened it after some vine fiddling. Impressed with the storage capacity, Mossy gleefully stuck it in his vine closet, sucking it out of view. "So weird." Rapp laughed as he watched it vanish.
Zent and May seemed to be in their own sleepy world, both not stirring as of yet. No need either, they still had time before they made a move. Rapp returned to his seat and reopened that book, now determined to see whom else he had to find. "It seems that Dungrae hasn't seen the eastern ones in a while. I hope Wyndryde will be able to help out." Rapp studied the map again, and then turned it so Mossy and Wyrm could scrutinize it. "We're headed here next. I don't know what to expect, but I'll make sure we get enough provisons in order to make it all the way to these mountains and back here. I'm glad I was able to meet Dungrae, he seemed honorable. But I wonder why my mother thought it important to break apart her family?"

Mossy leaned back and went to enjoying his tea. There was no reason for contemplation, all that was evident was that they were going to the mountains outside of Sector Alpha. There was no reason to worry, the Forbidden Mountains didn't sound dangerous at all.

----

The door was shoved open in disgust as he stomped in, wincing with his limp. Before the door shut, he turned and pointed at the flier that stayed outside. "Get some rest. We'll be leaving soon. I'm sure he'll be trying to leave as soon as possible."

As the bird nodded and flapped to go roost in its own place, the man turned back toward his current heading, a bathroom in this building. He moved past a counter, and slid down a narrow hallway. Reaching a back area, he made a sharp left, zipping past a room where a few other men were loitering around, sharpening weapons.

"Hey Melfice! You're back! Did you finish slaying that witch?" The other men laughed as Melfice stopped and began unlacing his boot before entering the bathroom. "No, no Euclis. No one was slayed yet. I'm still searching. But for the price I was paid, I'll gladly hunt down this demon and end her existance." "Sure, sure, we know." Euclis stated, holding a hand up to impede any forthcoming speeches. He opened his mouth to spit out another remark, but the extent of Melfice's injury caught his eye. "Man, what happened to you? Snakebite?"

"I don't know. I was puisuing my lead for this mission, and something attacked me. I don't know many things that can bite through leather. Hey-by the way, who won that Tournament? I was in the field, totally didn't see the ending."

"Oh you missed a heck of a battle there. In the end, Lord Azure won it with a crazy powerful Persian. But this unknown bummy kid won second place." another fellow piped up, peeking his head out.

"Oh really? Did you guys record it? I'd like to see it." he asked, as he raised his bloody foot to the sink, rinsing off the wound thoroughly. "You know it. We figured you would want to see it." Euclid replied, before tossing him a fresh packet of gauze. "That thing bit through your boots?"

"Yeah. Craziest thing. Then it hit me in the back, like it was a slingshot ball. Weirdest thing ever. But that's alright. I won't get jumped like that again." Melfice promised, as he dried his foot off-and began wrapping it.

"Well, get in here and check this kid out. I gotta say, he's pretty good for having only a Tangela." one guy said, as he slid over on the couch. Melfice smirked, and hobbled into the room, flopping on the couch before resting his foot on his knee, so he could wrap and watch. But when the tape resumed-the battle being shown was of a Persian versus a Metang.

"Uhh I don't want to watch some wimpy cat. Where's this bummy kid" Melfice laughed, as the battle played though their conversation. "Oh it's coming. Yer gonna crap yourself. They showed each person's exploits in a row, and this was the winning battle for the Lord." Euclid explained. Melfice nodded, and turned back to the television, satisfied with his foots' taping now. Wiggling his toes in satisfaction; he leaned back and unsnapped his belt from his waist, tossing his sword over the side of the couch.

"And now-the exploits of Rapp Laster-our second place rank in this years Dragon Games!" Melfice cocked an eyebrow, before whispering to himself. "Rapp was one of the names on that list."

"Hey, pass me a pad and pencil." Melfice asked. Quickly, someone tossed him one from the other side of the couch. As fast as he could, he wrote down the names he could remember from memory, and circled Rapp to act as a reminder. He also put a check around the name Dungrae, and stuck his left hand into his pocket, feeling the three keys he took from that weird locksmith and his strange son.

Turning his attention to the battle, he watched as a Tangela-of all things-whooped up on a Gurdurr. "Not bad. But a Gurdurr? Really?"

"No, Melfice, watch. Its nuts. This year brung out the talent." Melfice sucked his teeth in disbelief and kept watching. His demeanor changed when he watched the fight between the same Tangela and a Dewott.
"Whoa, he beat a water type wth a grass Pokemon....in the water?" Melfice noted, the skepticism in his voice now starting to waver. It was no longer about the type matchups, but about the quickness in battle. The ability to shift and adapt. Melfice took those in almost eidetically, and nodded. "Rapp Laster huh. Kid's got skill. Who'd he beat to win?"
The final battle clicked on, and Melfice sat back, astounded at the way the Tangela took down a Crobat-down to the critical Leech Seed ending. Melfice found himself clapping for the green mass of vines by the end of the match, as the hilight reel ended. "Man, I hope that guy decides to join the Tamers here. I'd like to battle him."

"Look look, that's his furry mug." One of the men said, pointing at the screen. "He looks like a treegoblin." That garnished a raucous interlude of laughs from the men, and Melfice would have participated, had he not seen this face. The brown face, scarred cheek, long pointy ears and dirty greenbrown hair of the boy that owned that Tangela. Those soulful brown eyes and pointy canines. That woodland style of dressing. Melfice stared at the screen as the image of Rapp's face seemed to be looking directly at him.

"Wait. How did he get a Dratini? He didn't win." Melfice asked as he pointed to a photo of Lord Azure and Rapp standing together. Rapp holding a Dratini, with Mossy hoisting himself up on his vines; while the Persian sat behind the champion, cleaning her arm. "Oh, Yeah, so Azure GIVES this guy a Dratini since he already had one! How crazy is that?" Euclid points out. Melfice turned to stare at Euclid, as if he cursed his mother. "You're serious? I'm chasing down the second place winner of the Dragon GAMES?!"

Everyone turned to look at Melfice. Obviously they were missing something. "My longstanding job-I'm supposed to stop a person named Veronica at any means. I don't know who sent in the job, all I know is that the amount of money I earn from it will allow me to quit being a Mercenary, and that's fine for me. I've been on her trail for 3 years, and I finally get a lead-and it turns out to be HIM! That boy! That boy is looking for her too, and I'm trying to stop him-he doesn't know his mother is a killer."

"How do you know she's a killer?" Euclid piped up, everyone now engaged in the conversation. "Because. She tore through a small settlement in Yversse, near the Shifting Isles. Took me over 4 months to get out of that-that's where I found Serenity."

"Yeah, yeah I remember that. A hell of a mess. Looked like someone found some sort of fire magic and went crazy with starting fire to rock." a larger fellow said as he stood up. "I went there after you left. Place is wiped off the map, but that's the nature of those Isles."

"So, you think the kid knows?" Euclid asked, curious as to how Melfice was going to handle this.

"I know the kid doesn't. What I don't need is the kid to follow in her footsteps. I'm going to have to double up and take that kid out of the game now." he said, as he crossed his arms, now in serious thought. Upset over this turn of events, Melfice turned to leave, grabbing his boot in the process.

"Hey, don't go doing anything dumb. Get some rest, and then go find him." Euclid shouted as Melfice headed deeper into the Mercenaries Trader Union building. As the TV blared once more, playing the results of Amy who claimed third place in the Tournament; Melfice headed to a small quarters. He tossed his boot down in frustration, and lied down on the small bed there. He changed his clothes, hanging up his gear for easy access tomorrow morning, and then lied down.

"Rapp...Don't force me to walk down that dark path again..."

TBC....

[Lady Vulpix]

...Aand I'm finally done reading that story!

This one had me spend quite some time fixing typos, punctuation, lacks of past perfect tense, uses of "whom" instead of "who", and missing spaces and line breaks, but I think I got most of theml, so they should be fixed in the archived version. Except for the part that says "The inkeeper and the smirked at Rapp's getup". I can tell a word is missing, but which one? Who else smirked?

I liked the description of Mossy's shrug, and it was nice to see Zent's unending hunger become useful for someone.

The comparison between freeze tag and rigor mortis was creepy. And the woman at the inn was really disgusting. As was the inn itself. I'm glad Rapp managed to warm up to her, I don't think I would have.

Why would it seem foolish for a Lickitung to wash herself in the bathroom? It's a practical way to stay clean, especially after a game of tag.

I see that Rapp has finally noticed how weird it is for Mossy to be able to stuff all those things within his vines.

I agree that Twister is not very useful, but it was once the center of an overly dramatic scene in which a certain trainer was mortally afraid of it after having a nightmare in which one of his Pokemon died upon getting hit by that attack. :rolleyes: I'm not giving names out of respect to those involved... just noting how weird stories can get sometimes.

Dungrae was quite intriguing. And Rapp's reaction when he walked into the locksmith's shop was very cinematic. But he turned out to be quite an interesting character.

The phrase "I am positive that one of the keys you pick will open up a door somewhere in your path" reminded me of many video-games.

And I chuckled at the phrase "Wyrm snaked into action".

...And everyone seems to like playing tag.

I liked the description of Zent's encounter with Wyrm.

And I'm sure Wyrm's rug-whacking must have been very effective. I doubt the rug could attack him after that.

Rapp's reasoning for making Mossy choose the keys was funny. Is Mossy enchanted or something?

"There was no reason to worry, the Forbidden Mountains didn't sound dangerous at all. " :rolleyes: I'm curious as to how that turns out.

And the plot twist end was interesting. And you're starting to make the MTU sound as scary as... as its name, really. A lot of much more innocent trainers had some trouble explaining that all they did was train and battle Pokemon for a living. But it's the Dragon's Guild, I suppose every branch has its secrets.

Take 31 stamps! :yes: ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[The Blue Avenger]

Can I get an RBG for Bow (level 9) from the UAC, please? *hands over 7 stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

Lady Bow is going to battle a Poochyena.

[DarkestLight]

Sorry for all the typos. I actually go over the story when I post it, so I think I snag them all. Damn me and my use of tenses :/. Hopefully I got the rest of them when I post the next portion up. Which happens to be the mountains...which might get a scene or two added, just for continuity's sake.

[Lady Vulpix]

I'm really looking forward to it, but could you please, PLEASE break the lines in the dialogues so that I can tell when the speaker changes without having to read each part twice?

[DarkestLight]

Yeah, no prob. Thought I got them all last time. I'm going over the next chapter before I post, jus so I don't miss anything. Been writing the next part...yeah its getting weird now, lol.

[classy_cat18]

FINALLY DONE! This story takes place after the first round of the Dragon Games.

Bo’s POV

With Uncle Bandit’s first round battle over, we traveled back to the Training Grounds for, well, more training. Miss Shonta kept checking her cell phone every few minutes, waiting for the results of the battle. “Please let him pass, please let him pass…” she chanted.

She seemed more nervous about the tournament than she was about the Yssera stuff. The training and the tournament took my mind off of it sometimes but it still nagged me, especially at night. If no one on the team is worried about it, then maybe I shouldn’t be either.

Miss Shonta looked up from her cell phone. “Something wrong, Bo? You’ve been pretty quiet.”

“Just thinking about things,” I replied while trying to smile. It probably made her even more worried.

“About the tournament? Or what happened before that?” I just nodded at the second question. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“But I don’t even really know what happened!”

She bit her lip and scratched her head. “How to put this? Something bad got… in you when you were on White Mountain.”

So the dreams did mean something! I didn’t know anything about my time on White Mountain! Now I knew! I wasn’t knocked out like Auntie Katana had told me! I growled at Miss Shonta. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you would’ve been worried. We’ve been keeping this a secret from anyone outside those who went to White Mountain. We were afraid it was going to cause us some trouble.”

“But I had no idea what was going on!”

“I’m really sorry. We wanted to wait until we knew more about what happened. You have a right to be mad at us.”

“So Miss Gabi knows about it too?”

“And Amy, and your dad was with us so he knows too. The Dragon Games were supposed to be a way for us to relax.”

The fur on my body finally lay back down. “You said something bad got in me. You mean like possession?”

Miss Shonta looked surprised. “You know about that?”

“I’ve watched a few scary movies.”

“You’re not supposed to,” she sang with a grin.

“It told me more than you guys did,” I muttered.

“Hey hey, just because you’re mad doesn’t mean you can use any of that sass Katana taught you.”

“So what was it? How did it get in me? Did it do anything bad in my body?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! One at a time!” She held my muzzle closed. “We think it was something that worked for the Black Dragon.”

I batted her hand away. “I remember everyone talking about that guy. He’s not nice either, right?”

“Downright evil.”

“So how did it get in me?”

“We have no idea.”

“It didn’t just jump into me?”

“If it did, then it could’ve done it to one of the other Pokemon at any time. You didn’t show signs of possession until we were going up White Mountain.” She took a sip out of a bottle of soda she had been holding. “We agreed that if it was that easy for them to possess someone, the Black Dragon would’ve had this whole island under control. That meant that there had to have been some special way for the demon to get in you.”

“It’s not still in me, is it?” I asked her slowly and quietly, remembering the nightmares.

She smiled. “Nope, it’s long gone. The Aurora Mirror took care of that. And the psychic-type Pokemon say that they haven’t felt any residue from it.”

“What does that mean?”

“That there’s not a single piece of that demon in you right now. For now you can relax.”

I felt a little more relaxed but I was still mad at her. “I’m still mad at you guys.”

“You have a right to. After we get done with the Dragon Games, we’re going to research the Black Dragon and see if we can find some new info.”

“Let me research with you!” I shouted the second she said the last word.

She leaned back in her seat. “Um… okay. It was going to be a team effort anyway.”

“I want to learn what you learn as soon as you learn it!”

“Okay, okay! Calm down. People are starting to stare.”

Both people and Pokemon were leaning over their seats to listen to us. I groaned and curled up for a nap. Maybe a battle would calm me down. I suddenly had the need to beat something up.

Shonta’s POV

“So this tower has the Pond Room, the Blizzard Room and the Jungle Room,” I informed the team as I looked at the map of the other tower. “The Blizzard Room’s at the top, the Jungle Room is right above us and the Pond Room is in the basement. So where to first?”

“Pond Room!” Ken said happily.

Bo sighed softly. The Umbreon could swim a little but a room completely filled with water still wasn’t the best place for him to battle. “Bo, we have plenty of time before the next round. You can go with Ken down to the Pond Room and then go up to one of the other rooms for a battle. Or you could let Jewel look after him and go with the others.”

Bo glanced up at me with a look that was either annoyance or something else; I couldn’t tell what. Is he still mad at me?

“I got a headache,” he groaned as he hung his head. “Can I go in my pokeball for a while?”

“Will you be alright?” Katana asked him as I pulled it out.

“Yeah, I guess.” He returned himself by poking the button with his nose.

I made a mental note to talk with him again later. “Okay, since there’s not a lot of room at the Pond Room, Ken and Jewel can go down there by themselves.”

“I’ll go with the little squirt,” Bandit said while patting Ken’s head.

“You really should get some training in,” Katana advised. “The second round will definitely be more difficult than the first.”

He yawned deeply and stretched. “I won’t get any more moves or anything. There’s no need in it. Let the more enthusiastic teammates get the action.”

“I know someone who desperately needs some training. Trinity, go up to the Blizzard Room.”

“WHY ME?” the Ninetales screeched without warning. “You’re not the trainer here! You don’t call the shots!”

“Trinity, go up to the Blizzard Room,” I repeated dully.

“But why?”

“Because you’re getting chubby,” Ali blurted out.

She gasped and growled at Ali. “You take that back!”

Beacon gulped and took a step back. “You have been pigging out a lot,” the Flaaffy added.

“You got that battle in at the Lava Room but that isn’t enough,” I told Trinity.

“What battle?”

All of us looked at her. “The battle you got with the Torchic? That poor thing looked traumatized from the whole thing, by the way.”

“I don’t remember a battle at the Lava Room.”

Lily started to say something but I covered her mouth. “Then go up to the Blizzard Room.”

“Crap!” She stormed towards the elevator.

“And take the stairs.”

“CRAP!” She changed direction towards the stairs.

Nama raised her paw. “I need a battle too.”

<We’ll need to factor in the possibility that Bandit might not win first place,> Jewel told me. <Nama will need to win a few more battles.>

“We’ll get you a battle in the Jungle Room,” I told my Slakoth. “But that Double Shield won’t be of much use up there.” I slipped a Pokemon Collar around her neck. “This will up your attack.”

“Thanks.” She grinned.

“So! Jewel and Ken in the Pond Room, Nama in the Jungle Room, and Trinity in the Blizzard Room! Anyone else need a battle?”

“Go to the Jungle Room!” Moriko told Athena. “Pleeeeease! We already missed our chance to fight as the Fighting Trio in the Desert Room!”

Athena fidgeted. “Moriko, the reason why I want to drop out is because I don’t really like battling.”

“You used to!”

“People change.”

Everyone’s mood seemed to go a little down so I cleared my throat to get their attention. “If Athena doesn’t want to battle then she doesn’t have to,” I said to Moriko. “Now divide and conquer! I want to try to get back on track with our research!”

“Please. You didn’t get any done last time and you won’t accomplish anything this time either,” Katana sighed. “As long as your mind is on the tournament then you won’t get anything done.”

“Just get your furry butt in gear.”

Bandit’s POV

The Pond Room was almost entirely water except for a small platform for trainers. Since there wasn’t a lot of room for people, that meant that the room was peaceful when we first got down there. Every once in a while we’d hear a splash from a Pokemon swimming around.

It’s quiet. Too quiet.

A Mudkip popped its head out of the water. “FIRE!” she cried before spraying a jet of water in my face. I shielded my face until she stopped.

“Uncle Bandit’s blue now!” Ken told Jewel with a laugh.

<Playful little thing, isn’t she?> the Starmie commented. If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was a tone of smugness to that sentence.

“I will never say it’s too quiet again,” I groaned.

“Hey, Squirtle!” the Mudkip shouted at Ken.

“My name’s Ken!” Ken corrected.

“Whatever! My name’s Blue! Wanna battle? I’m bored down here! I promise I’ll be fun!”

“Okay!” He jumped into the water and swam over to her.

“I gotta warn you that I’m the fastest Pokemon in this pond!” She swam circles around him but she wasn’t as fast as Jewel. “Hey, Kecleon!”

“My name’s Bandit!” I corrected.

“Whatever! Tell us when to start!”

Ugh, she’s like Trinity except she’s small and blue. I folded my arms over my chest. “Be nicer and I’ll do it.”

She pouted and ducked underwater. Ken looked down and watched her jump out of the water and fire a well-aimed Water Gun right at my face. “Hey!” I yelped.

“Hey! Be nice to Uncle Bandit!” Ken told her.

“He’s your uncle?” she asked, sounding doubtful.

“It could happen!” I said from the platform.

“If you flinch every time that you get sprayed then I doubt it!”

“Stop being mean!” Ken said. “If I win this battle, you have to say you’re sorry!”

“Mmm… okay.”

I sat down on the platform and scratched my head. Is there something about me that makes girls want to kick me around? I must be the female world’s designated butt monkey.

“Bandit, right? Are you gonna just sit there or are you gonna start the fight?” Blue whined. She and Ken were already facing each other like they were at a stadium.

“Okay, okay! Let the match begin!”


L7 Male Squirtle (Ken) vs. L8 Female Mudkip (Blue)

The two of them dove underwater. Jewel jumped on the railing to get a better look. <This will be interesting. Ken only has one move to get the upper hand on a fellow Water type,> Jewel commented.

“Shouldn’t you be finding yourself a battle?” I asked her.

<After this one is over.>

Ken interrupted our conversation by bursting out of the water. Blue had clamped down hard on his curly tail. “YEOWCH!” the Squirtle yelped before splashing back down.

“Well, it looks like she found a way around that too,” I commented. “Ken, use your Hidden Power!”

“Oh yeah!” He sparked and electrified the Mudkip still pulling at his tail.

“OW! Hey, no fair! You’re not supposed to know electric attacks!” Blue shouted.

“Just give her another!” I told Ken.

“Nuh uh!” She took a deep breath and spat out a big ball of mud that hit Ken right in the face. “Dead center!”

Ken cried out in surprise and tried to rub his face clean. “I can’t see!” he said. Blue took the opportunity to tackle him.

“Relax and dive! It might wash the mud off!” I instructed. “Hurry up! She’s circling around!”

He nodded and dove, avoiding her next Tackle. The water was clear enough for me to watch them underwater. Other Pokemon swam out of the way as they chased each other around. “Jewel, help me out here. Ken won’t be able to hear me while he’s underwater,” I said to her.

<Ken, don’t forget your Mirror Coat. That will help out a little,> Jewel sent to him.

He jumped out of the water again and glowed a slight pink. Another ball of mud hit him, then bounced off and hit Blue when she popped her head out of the pond. “Gah! Now I’m blind!” she groaned.

Ken grinned and held his arms out. A ball of light shot out and zapped Blue. “Dead center!” he mimicked before swimming away.

How did he know he could use Hidden Power that way?

“I’m getting tired of chasing you around!” Blue yelled. She yelled random gibberish, getting louder and louder. It bounced off the walls so nowhere was safe.

<This sounds awful!> Jewel complained. <What is this noise?>

Ken stopped swimming and covered his ears. “It sounds bad, even when I’m underwater!”

“I think it’s Echoed Voice!” I explained. “The longer she screams, the worse it gets!”

<If I had eardrums, they’d be ready to burst right now!>

Unfortunately, Ken and I have them.

Ken tried Mirror Coat again. I didn’t know if he knew it would work, but trying anything was better than just floating there and suffering. Seconds later, Blue was cringing in pain from her own voice. She immediately stopped, whimpering and looking around with dazed eyes. “Zap her again while she can’t attack!” I told Ken.

He threw another Hidden Power at Blue. That brought her to her senses. She dove again to get out of range.

“This game of cat and mouse is kind of funny to watch but we should move it along,” I muttered.

“I thought we were battling!” Ken yelled out. A few bystanders popped their heads out. “Don’t tell me you’re chickening out!”

<Oh boy,> Jewel said.

Blue resurfaced on the other side of the pond. “I’m not chickening out!” she yelled back. “I’m dodging!”

“Then try dodging this!” He started to spark again like he was about to use Hidden Power, but then spat out a swarm of sparking bubbles.

Wait, electric bubbles? Since when was that possible?

Blue started to laugh until she noticed the sparks. “No way! This can’t happen!” She dove under water but Ken kept firing until he hit her. The barrage was enough to send her belly up (not in a dead way).


Ken won and grew to level 8!

We were still gawking at Ken when he was swimming back to us and climbing out of the pool. Jewel’s mind was still on the battle. <That training with Bo has really been paying off, but Bo doesn’t combine attacks like that!>

“You didn’t teach him that?” I asked him.

<No, I never thought to do such a thing.>

“I didn’t know I could do that either!” Ken said with a grin. “I just thought I’d try it out!”

“Just like that? In the middle of battle?”

“Wow, your eyes are pretty big, Uncle Bandit.” He giggled. “I wanna see you battle next, Miss Jewel.”

<Okay then. Here I go.> She jumped in the water.

The two of us sat peacefully until we saw a Croconaw nudge the unconscious Blue onto the platform. “Some battle that was,” he seemed to mutter to himself. “This is going to be a busy day.”

I cleared my throat to get his attention. “You know that Mudkip?” I asked him.

“Yeah, she’s my teammate. The name’s Lock, and I’m a member of the MTU. Of course, a lot of the Pokemon who hang out here are.”

“I’m Bandit. This Squirtle’s name is Ken.” Ken waved to him.

“The little guy with the electric Bubble? Glad to meet you.” The two shook hands. “Either of you need another battle?”

“No, but the Starmie who just jumped in does.”

“Starmie, huh? STOCK! HEY, STOCK!”

Something shot out of the water and landed heavily on the platform. “What’s with the holler?” a Prinplup grunted.

“Someone in there needs a battle,” Lock replied.

“I’m about to take my break.”

“You took a break an hour ago, and you haven’t battled all day!”

“Another lazy one, huh?” I joked.

“You stay out of this!” Stock snapped.

“If you ain’t going to battle, then at least take Blue here over to the Pokemon Center,” Lock said to Stock while holding up Blue by the scruff of her neck.

Blue moaned and half-opened her eyes. “So long and thanks for all the fish,” she murmured before blacking out again.

“No problem, but how am I supposed to carry her?” He waved his fins in front of him.

“Then we’ll walk there together. Could you get Barrel for them?” He pointed to us.

I snorted behind my hand. Lock, Stock and Barrel? Shonta would’ve found that funny.

“Something funny, blue boy?” Lock growled while leaning close.

I gulped. Forgot that I was still blue. I smiled shyly and took a couple steps back. “No, not really, but kinda?”

Ken hid behind me. “They look scary, Uncle Bandit,” he whispered to me.

Both he and his friend glared at me for a tense minute before breaking out into loud laughter. “You got guts, lizard!” Stock remarked.

“You’re not mad at him?” Ken asked in amazement.

“Heck no! We think our names are stupid too! But most Pokemon smaller than us keep it to themselves!”

“Heh heh. Heh,” I tried to laugh. It came out wimpier than I had intended. “I guess I should be thankful we agree on that fact.”

“You really should!” Lock the Croconaw agreed. “Because when it comes to our trainer, we’re a little crazy about upholding her honor!”

“Crazy? You mean ‘a little hyperactive’ crazy, or ‘let’s get our team and lynch the stupid loudmouthed Kecleon’ crazy?”

“Like ‘attack nuclear power plants and nuke the world’ crazy!” The two of them laughed again.

Another Pokemon climbed out of the water to join us. “Hey, what’s the joke? You know I like to laugh too,” the Bibarel said.

“Oh, Barrel! We were just about to go find you!” Lock greeted with a slap on the Bibarel’s back. “This funny reptile here needs an opponent for his friend.”

“You mean the Starmie? I just passed her on the way here. I could give her a battle if she wants.”

“How did you know she was a Starmie?” I asked Barrel.

“Just a guess. She was swimming around like she was lost or something. I’ll go get her.” He jumped back in the water.

“You three guys sure stick close together, huh?” I told Lock and Stock.

The two Pokemon glanced at each other for a brief moment. Then Lock shot another glare my way. “Three guys?” he echoed.

“Yeah. You, Stock and Barrel.” I looked at the still knocked out Blue. “I’m not counting the Mudkip, of course. Although she must be close to you too.”

He growled and marched up to me. “Boy, are you implying that I’m a male?”

The color literally drained away from my body, leaving me a blank white except for my red zigzag stripe. “Um… you’re not?”

“What makes you think I am?”

“M-most starter Pokemon are male, and you have a deep… voice…” My voice got softer and softer until it was barely heard even by me. I gulped when his (or her) eyes narrowed.

Crap crap crap crap crap! Did I ever make a big mistake! They’re going to kill me now! Poor little Ken’s going to witness a bloody murder in front of his big, innocent eyes! Shonta will have to bury me in a matter of minutes if there’s anything left to bury! It’s kinda funny though; I always thought that Katana would be the one to kill me. Maybe I could be buried at the foot of White Mountain, with my pokeball…

“HA HA HA HA HA!” Lock laughed. He/she gave me a hard slap on the back that knocked me on my face.

Stock joined in on the laughter. “Man, I don’t think I could’ve held that in any longer. You got him good, Lock!”

“Y-You were joking?” I questioned shakily.

“I don’t get the joke, Uncle Bandit,” Ken admitted.

“Neither do I.”

“I’m a dude, man!” Lock said. “You can relax! Man, we get a lot of chumps with that one!”

“Uncle Bandit’s not a chump!” Ken said, trying to shove Lock.

“Oops, wrong word. We know he’s not a chump. Take it easy, kid. It was just a prank. It wasn’t meant to insult him.”

Ken pouted and looked through the bars of the railing. “Where’s Miss Jewel? She and that Barrel guy have been in there for a while.”

“No idea.” All of us got closer to the water.

And almost got a face full of Thunderbolt.

“WHOA!” we all yelped together. We fell on our butts and immediately got back up.

“Who shot that?” Stock squawked.

“Chances are it was Jewel,” I replied.

“Then our buddy Barrel is doomed.”

Jewel’s POV

The Bibarel had found me while I was looking around for opponents. I wasn’t really in a rush; it wasn’t often that I got to swim around in such a large body of water. In fact, I had forgotten about battle until the Bibarel started talking to me. “Hey, you know that Kecleon and Squirtle out there?” he questioned while swimming around me.

<I do. Do they need me or something?>

“They said you needed a battle, and I’m happy to oblige.”

“Well then. I accept your challenge.”


L15 Starmie (Jewel) vs. L15 Male Bibarel (Barrel)

The two of us rammed each other with Tackle after Tackle. Each Tackle from Barrel stunned me for a second. He’s got impressive physical strength. How well does he do in the special attack department?

I’ve never fought a Bibarel before. What abilities do they have? There’s only one way to find out. Then again, maybe there’s an easier way to find out.

<Skill Swap.> Both of us shone for a moment, and traded white orbs of light. Now he had a basically useless ability. Let’s hope his isn’t as useless.

Barrel charged for me again, this time circling me and picking up speed with each lap. The water around me swirled, becoming a whirlpool. <This is easy to counter,> I scoffed before spinning in the opposite direction with Rapid Spin, then shooting a Thunderbolt at him when he started slowing down. He dove to avoid the bolt, and the sound of shouting from above the water told me that I almost missed my teammates (although I wasn’t aiming for them in the first place).

They won’t be happy about that. Barrel came up behind me and bit one of my arms. Another Rapid Spin quickly threw him off.

The teeth were sharp enough to leave a deep pain. <Hyper Fang?>

“My teeth are hard enough to make a dent in steel,” Barrel replied. “A starfish like you is no trouble at all.”

<No trouble, huh?> I concentrated my telekinetic powers on him and flung him far out of the water. <I’d say that any Pokemon with psychic powers would be a lot of trouble.>

Barrel was on his way down. There’d be almost no way to dodge the Thunderbolt I shot at him. He could’ve found a way, but I doubt there wasn’t enough time to even think of it. That one bolt was enough to knock him out before he even hit the water.


Jewel wins! She grows to level 17!

Jewel came up right after Barrel had landed on the deck with a loud “thud”, out cold. “That Starmie don’t play around,” Lock commented.

<I’m not one for playing around in battle,> Jewel said.

“Yeah, I forgot to tell you guys that,” I grumbled. “Anyway, up to the next room?”

<I suppose I could go without treatment for a while.>

I let the others start get in the elevator. “You guys need help getting him to the Pokemon Center?”

“We’ll manage just fine,” Stock commented with just a little irritation in his voice.

[Lady Vulpix]

I like the way Bo speaks. It's a bit redundant sometimes, but it's funny. And he was right to be angry, even if everyone else was trying to save him from worrying too much. He was bound to find out eventually in any case.

It was also funny - yet sad at the same time - that Trinity didn't register the Lava Room episode as a battle.

I wonder what it was that made Athena not want to battle anymore.

What did Bandit mean by "It could happen!"?

I smiled at the Douglas Adams quote. Did Blue dream of fish when she passed out?

Jewel's thoughts while using Skill Swap reminded me of an ancient battle between Ventura and a Ditto when she was still a Venonat with only Tackle, Disable and Foresight. It's nice to see Pokemon who can use their own disadvantages as an advantage.

Take 22 stamps! :yes:¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[classy_cat18]

I just now noticed what you meant by Bo's speech being redundant. I wrote that part doing NaNoWriMo and was concentrating more on word count. ^^;;

Bandit was being his usual immature self, and a young Pokemon probably wouldn't immediately know that two Pokemon of such different species could be related by blood. Same egg group, but it was a Normal-type and a Water-type.

EDIT: I see a tiny typo. Ken was L7 when he started the battle, not L8.

[Lady Vulpix]

I've fixed the typo in the archive. Thanks for pointing it out, and for the explanations. :)

[DarkestLight]

Ch 3

The quintet took refuge in the inn for another day, just to ensure that they were not found by that strange mercenary. Rapp took the time to check over all four of the Pokemon, just to make sure they weren't being followed by some sort of technology. Satisfied that none of them were tagged, he explained his plan to everyone. While Mossy and Wyrm were on board, May seemed a bit taken aback by the prospect of a mountain hike. She expressed her concern in a very unique way-a very loud and extensive raspberry that left everyone more than a little damp.

"Alright May. I understand this is a large undertaking, but I can't leave you here. I don't know if we will be followed in the mountains, or if they'll storm this inn at some time. I don't want to split us up. If we push through these mountains, and find Wyndryde-I think we'll really be able to make progress."

May turned away from Rapp to avoid his heart felt eyes. She honestly didn't want to have to hike for miles. Zent seemed indifferent to it, as she munched on a bun. When her treat was finished, she raised both arms in exclamation, unnaturally excited to go somewhere.

"Well it’s settled then. We'll take the train as far as we can, and hike the rest of the way. I'm sure there will be an inn there May. Don't worry." he said as he rubbed her head. "You'll look better after a hike in the mountains."

This garnished a collective laugh from the group, and even May was hard pressed to not smile at that.

---

The sky was but a bleeding blur of blue and white. Its travelers were of sound focus, headed to the far hills. With a tight tug, the man atop the Pidgeot barked a new set of orders.

"They got ahead of us. You have to get us south, toward the Forbidden Mountains so we can stop that Laster child."

The bird cooed in response, and began to descend, speeding up in order to cover the distance. As they sped through the air blanketing the beginning of that isolated mountain range, a pair of eyes watched them streak across the sky. White wisps of hair floated up with the softest breeze as the streaking flier left his view as fast as it came. A growl emanated from the four legged beast, before it jumped backwards. The beast landed, crouching in a slide down the side of a mountain. It was a descent that would make a sure-footed goat fearful. Padded feet made rocks as soft as pillows and snow mere stuffing of an ethereal fancy. It didn't take long for the beast to reach the bottom and start its trek through the lower foothills. The only problem was what to expect when it got there.

--

"All aboard to Eataine! Home of the Glittering Tower Lighthouse! Making stops at Tor Syle and Selenia. Scenic Route will pass the Forbidden Mountains!"

As the announcements rained on from the conductor-Rapp and his group swiftly boarded one of the rear cars-close enough so Zent could go to the food car with little obstruction. Rapp slid into a booth easily enough, as May and Mossy crowded into one seat. Wyrm slithered up next to Mossy, taking up the room on that side of the bench. Zent was hoisted up on the bench with Rapp, and she quietly sat still. For once, her curiosity about the world was abated, as she watched the other three Pokemon.

The snake was simply quiet, studying the map that Mossy whipped out of its viney body. May was looking out of the window actively, as Rapp was eying each of them. When their eyes met, Zent gave him a warm roar and waved her hands in happiness. Rapp reciprocated by rubbing her belly, a move that Zent thoroughly enjoyed. As he soothed the ever hungry beast, Rapp quietly contemplated everything that he learned from Dungrae; and what that meant for his current mission. Now that he knew they were all Pokemon, this left him with a harder situation. People were less likely to know a Pokemon's name unless his mother has had contact with them. So-his original method would still have to be the frontrunner, ask and see if his mother had been there, and then to ask with what Pokemon.

"Oh duh! I didn't even think to ask Dungrae what Pokemon to look for! Ugh, not thinking!"

Rapp grunted as he slapped his forehead with his palm. The sound snapped May out of her stupor and she looked to Rapp in curiosity. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she went back to traingazing.

"Well..." Rapp said, not really talking to anyone "I did remember to ask what to expect when I get to the mountains. I was told there would be a cabin where I could rest up in the mountains. But Dungrae also warned me about listening to the mountains-that they'll talk to me and I would do well not to talk back. No idea what that meant."

Mossy turned away from the map and looked at Rapp when he said that, but then went right back to over viewing the map.

The trip took no shorter than two hours, but the scenery was enthralling to a girl like May. This was something she could enjoy. Plains shot past in the blink of an eye, with an ever growing mountain range coming closer and closer with each passing minute. She smiled at the thought and clapped to herself. Turning back, she looked to her right to see what those two boys next to her were doing.

The Tangela and Dratini were both making notes about things on the map, and agreeing with each other. Whenever their bonding happened, she felt slighted that she wasn't there to witness it. But Mossy accepted the strange worm like Pokemon, so he couldn't be all bad. May yawned; now ready to be on with the next part of their journey. Had she looked out the window just then, she would have laid eyes on a strange spire of energy rising from the mountains. Rapp instantly began to rub his head, feeling extremely light headed. He leaned back against the booth, and sighed heavily.

"Ugh. Must be tired." he said as Zent looked over at him. All at once, the feeling passed, and Rapp shook off the remnants of the feeling.

The train pulled into a small rest stop-to allow passengers to stretch their legs if need be, as well as to stock up and give the folks that lived out on the outskirts of the Forbidden Mountains some much needed supplies. Rapp knew this was the only time to leave, and so rounded up his posse. He bought up as much food as he could before leaving-so he could keep Zent's hunger at bay while they traversed these mountainous roads.

Stepping out of the train, Rapp quickly ushered everyone in and through the small station. Once through-and on the other side of the fare collectors, Rapp took a deep breath. In front of them were these majestic cliffs-and they were going to take them on.

"Alright guys! Lets go. Our next answers lie in there."

Zent gleefully followed, followed by the two boys. May stood behind a minute longer, looking as the train geared up to leave. Did she REALLY have to come?

"Maybelline..." Rapp called out, staring at her as she made her decision. Knowing she'd be safer with Rapp, she slowly walked over, kicking a rock here and there in disagreement. "Oh it'll be ok girl. We won't actually climb a mountain.....I hope."

The 5 merry travelers started their way on a dirt road that led through the mountains. Since it was early afternoon when they started, Rapp figured they could get a good 6 to 8 hours of hiking in before they would have to worry about shelter. He affixed the tent and staff on his back in order to be able to manipulate them easier. May brought up the rear, slowly walking up the incline. She wasn't committed to the cause of hiking through anything, but the fact that this would help her figure be more tone was enough to have her endure this type of natural punishment. In front of her were Wyrm and Zent. The serpent seemed a bit unnerved by this hike, as he never let his eyes off of the snow covered tips. Zent was the opposite, staring at the ground and grabbing up shiny rocks to devour. As she crunched on stone peacefully, Mossy stayed on pace with Rapp, who now found that cane useful. They managed to cover a good amount of distance...before they rounded a bend and came across a strange sight.

In front of them, rising up as high as they could see was a shimmering field of light. It seemed to fade in and out with the passage of time, but it was there, plain as day. There was another person staring up at the massive barrier-and the sounds of traveling feet made him turn around.

"Hey! You come to see the mighty Forbidden Barrier?"

"Barrier?" Rapp asked, as the other looked on in awe. Rapp made sure to kneel and grab Zent up, lest she walk into the barrier and hurt herself. The fellow turned to face Rapp fully, and nodded.

"Yeah! No one's ever walked into the Forbidden Mountains. For hundreds of years, if I remember right. You can walk around them, but it'll take you a while. You're better off just heading south and reach the little village by the sea there if you didn't want to take the train."

"Why is there a barrier there?" Rapp asked, half in disgust that this was not disclosed to him, and half amazed at what kind of power was needed to make such a field of energy. He stared at the wondrous sight, as its curvature leaned back; encompassing a grand portion of the range he thought he would hike through.

"Man, I don't know why it’s there either. But I'm glad. That massive mountain in there? Black Mountain? It's always spewing up black smoke and it’s just dark and eerie and creepy and all sorts of wrong. Not to mention its possibly pure evil…"

Rapp's ears seemed to point away from the fellow as began talking about something along the lines of dragons and old wars. Wyrm seemed interested in it and slithered closer to listen to the man's words intently. Mossy meanwhile, noticed Rapp's apparent disenchantment to the conversation at hand. He turned to watch as Rapp turned his gaze left and right, ears twitching every which way. It was Zent's belly growl that brung him back to the current moment, and he looked back toward her. Her eyes were wide open, a sign that she had enough of being away from the ground. He looked back to the individual whom had not missed a single beat.

"--and then this dragon flew into the barrier! After NO ONE could get in, for like centuries! Then my mothers brother’s wife’s sister’s daughter’s boyfriends’ kid told me that somebody killed that dragon, but I bet you it’s still in there. Watching. Waiting. Plotting. Or so they say."

"I..see. Thanks for the lesson. South right?"

"Uh yeah. South if you want to go check out that fishing village. You will find a cabin a bit of the way in. No one lives there, but it’s not too far from the village. You can take this road, it'll keep you in the lesser parts of the range, so you can still hike through."

"Will do." Rapp stated. He nudged Zent forward, eyes studying the area as he began to walk ahead. Maybelline and Mossy both wore cautious expressions now, as Rapp's behavior seemed almost...erratic. His pace didn't slow either. After leaving the traveler to marvel at the barrier some more, the quintet began the beginning of a slightly less grueling hike through the lesser part of the range. When her feet could stand no more of the pace, May audibly protested about going on any further.

"Alright May. You're right. We've been hiking for a good while; let's take a half hour break, ok? It's a shame that I don't see that cabin, which would be nice now, as its getting a bit cold."

May clapped, and immediately sat on a stone, eager to get off her feet. The others settled down in the area, eager to explore their limited surroundings. Zent immediately went to a side of a mountain and tried to climb it. It ended up climbing her as she fell off of it. She growled, and began to zone everything out, only focusing on this one task. For a while, it was entertaining for the others, but after the 7th time, Mossy was done watching Zent.

Rapp meanwhile turned his gaze westward, in order to see where an outpost might be located. Either that, or keep hiking for a small amount of time-and set up camp. However, what he saw drove his body into overdrive. A good distance away, through the barrier atop that smoking mountain-a strange pink energy spire was emitting into the sky. Rapp watched it carefully, as it seemed to be made out of pure electricity. As soon as it appeared, it was gone, leaving Rapp with a strange feeling in his body. Immediately, Rapp fell over, his stomach churning. His eyes couldn't focus and his throat closed up. The Pokemon all ran to his side, as Rapp began gasping for air. His neck twitched backwards dangerously and that forced his muscles to cringe. Rapp held his ears closed while trying to breathe. All at once, the invasive problems he was experiencing ceased to be. Rapp lied on the ground, breathing heavily and looking up at the 8 eyes of his crew.

"We're close... whatever that was, means we're close. I need to talk to the Mountain...Let me in..."

---

A solitary mountaintop was all he needed. As he dismounted from the roosting Pidgeot, the mercenary took a few careful steps and wiped the snow away from a rock. He then knelt down and set a box atop the rock. Satisfied with the box’s resting place, Melfice went to work unloading it. Sticks and metal emerged, and in no time, he had constructed a tiny fire pit. The dark colored Pidgeot hopped over, eager to feel warm in this climate. Melfice nodded as the shadow of the bird fell over him, and he quickly began rubbing sticks together in order to warm the dry kindling. It didn’t take long before the smoke began to billow from the mass of small wood. The fiery embers began to poke through, and Melfice quickly pulled out a few larger pieces of wood out of the box. Noting his box was almost empty, Melfice rubbed his hands together and held them out over the small fire as it popped and crackled. Satisfied with his warmth, he turned back to the dilemma ahead. The barrier of legend.

"If we could fly though this, it would save us so much time. I don't understand why this damned barrier is here. Actually, I take it back. Stupid elves. It's all their fault!"

Melfice made his discontent known, screaming that last sentence at the barrier-to nil effect. As the avian watched, Melfice stomped back and forth, trying to make a plan as to where to go. But he knew there was no other way. He solemnly hopped upon his flying steed and pointed.

"Whenever you are ready-after we eat and get warm, we’ll take off again. He's going to head by train to Eataine. But if we fly straight there, we'll beat him by days. So let's circumvent this barrier and then see if he can arrive at the same time. He looked down to the Pidgeot, who was looking down, preening itself cautiously. The mercenary leaned on the avian and patted his head gently.

"Hey hey. You alright? Don't be scared. That strange energy won't affect you. We won't be around long enough to be warped by it. Not like Jack."

Melfice leaned back and stared at the sky, at how much of a dichotomy seemed to take place. Over the barrier enclosed Black Mountain, the lightning struck around haphazardly. Dark soot billowed from the caldera atop that peak, and Melfice could almost feel the heat given off by that force of nature. But on his side of the barrier, the wind was chilly, freezing even.

The mercenary patted the side of the Pidgeot's head, before turning around to look at the fire again. Only instead of orange flame, there was a white furred animal snarling at him, fire snuffed out by its snow covered paws. The Pidgeot immediately backed up upon spying the beast, and opened his wings. The mercenary swiftly unsheathed his blade, and flipped off of the Pidgeot. He smirked and knelt, putting himself on eye level with the beast. The wolfish beast gave him a warning growl, before releasing a dastardly howl that rang through the mountains.

---

That howl was powerful enough to catch the attention of Rapp and the group. Rapp sat up, and looked off to that far off peak, pointing weakly with one finger.

"We need to get there. I know what we need, and it’s up there."

But Rapp was in no condition to walk. His body never felt so weak before. He had no idea what to make of this. Could it be because he was around so much manipulated earth? Or were these mountains abandoned for a reason? In any event, he pushed himself to his feet, and forced himself forward. The four Pokemon looked to each other, realizing that there was no turning back now. Zent and Mossy dared not leave Rapp alone now, and kept up. Wyrm slithered forward, but turned to look back at Maybelline. She had a look on her face that exuded fright at what just happened to him. She looked back to Wyrm, but she shook his head-and followed after. May-shocked that the newcomer was willing to go, swallowed her pride and fear and changed it into resolve. Resolve that charged her into a run as she realized they were moving pretty quick.

Rapp was now even more thankful for the cane, but he stopped for a moment when he remembered what Dungrae said. About the mountains talking to him. About how he shouldn't listen to it. Could that feeling be what Dungrae was talking about? This consideration was further convoluted by him hearing what seemed to be words in the wind. He pushed forward, looking up at that far peak, and hearing a distinct voice.

<Get out of here.>

Rapp's ears both pointed forward, confused. He looked back, but saw the others catching up. He looked to the ground, and then to the sky. The smell of active energy was growing as he neared that barrier...but he had to go to the mountain...right? The five of them began to head down a sweeping path that seemed to wind through the ridge. Rapp kept a pace that they all could match, but was faster than a simple gait. As he kept his eyes on the far off ridge, a second howl caught his ears. This one was closer. Stopping, he looked at the nearer peaks; eager to see if the owner of said howl was who he might be looking for. For the moment however, he saw nothing. He also said nothing to the others about what he was hearing. He was unsure if he was going crazy, or if this was normal.

<Get out of here NOW!>

"I feel like I know that howl. Or...a part of me knows it. I can't explain it."

His feelings were confirmed when Mossy tugged on his arm and nodded as well. Rapp steeled his resolve and kept moving, keeping a careful eye on the limitation of his path by the barrier that encased most of the larger mountaintops as they continued to round bends.

---

The clangs of metal against rock echoed in the stratosphere as the mercenary engaged the Absol in combat. Well, if you could call it combat. It was moreso an overzealous fool attacking a hound, and leaving himself wide open. A properly trained Absol whom excelled in the art of stealth attacks and blindside blitzes. The mercenary went for a piercing strike and wound up stabbing only air as the Absol jumped over the motion. He ran up the blade, before slashing the human in the face. The blow forced the merc to drop his weapon and stagger backwards. Growling, Absol slowly moved in closer. His claws were bared, and he tried to quickly disarm the mercenary with a slashing manner. In a split second reaction, the beast cringed instead of attacking as a wave of snow and ice whipped out of nowhere. Knowing the cause of the sudden snowstorm, he stopped his approach and instead engaged the avian in speech. He kept circling Melfice, forcing the winged assailant to hop to the left in order to preserve space.

"Why do you protect him? He knows not what he pursues."

"Why do you protect her anymore? She abandoned us! She's dead to the world..."

" Never! She'd never die without a fight. Why don't you try to save her!"

"I do! I'm trying!... Not like you would know. You stay here and proclaim to be some legendary hound of the past. You stay behind your petty barrier and watch, never acting! You weren't even there, so I don't expect you to understand!"

"I don't understand?!? I WAS THE LAST ONE TO LEAVE HER BECAUSE OF RENEGADE ACTIONS!"

"You fled when I came to you for help!"

"You were not here when she told us to disband! You simply think this human will end this horrible cycle! Enough talk!"

Before the avian could retort with an answer, the Absol slashed the front of the Pidgeot's chest with a fast moving paw. The avian fell backwards, wheezing. The wolfish beast approached the downed bird, fangs bared. A shifting sound reached his ears and he ducked before dashing forward, barely avoiding the overhead swipe the mercenary committed.

"Get away from my bird!" he yelled as the Absol spun on two feet and faced them again. The Pidgeot righted itself, and the man boarded him hastily.

"You'll never howl again as soon as I'm done with you!"

The Absol looked skyward as the Pidgeot attained lift, wary of the flight pattern. With them in the air, it made for a very tricky battle situation, as they now began swooping at him. Knowing that they could now move much faster than him, Absol made a risky choice.

The avian and the mercenary banked around and turned to dive at the Absol-whom was now on the run. Sword out, the mercenary gave out a battle cry that would cause any front runner in a war to shiver in fear. The blade swung down and managed to strip the Absol of its hair upon its left leg. The hound lunged at the perfect moment, bending as it dove down the side of the mountain. Displeased with his missed strike, he pointed down the mountain.

"Chase after! I will finish this foolish attacker off!"

The avian nodded and began to topspin as he rose into the sky. When his single flap lost all momentum, the avian fell backwards and completely reversed momentum. The sheer force of the maneuver forced the man to hold onto the bird, as they sped down from the upper stratosphere, and closed in on the Absol. Looking back, Absol spied the speeding bird skimming the side of the mounting, coming in for a direct strike. If he hit, it was all over.

The timing could not have been more perfect, as the Absol saw a small rock jutting out of the mountain. It would give him the ramp he needed to help sustain a leap across peaks...into the darkness. He knew that the Pidgeot would hit him only seconds before he'd reach it. But he had to try. Feet thundered against the mountain hurriedly, even as the bird inched closer and closer. The ramp was so close, too close to call. He lowered his head as much as he could, and rushed the peak; determined to make the jump. The Pidgeot and his rider streaked in for the piercing strike, knowing they had this wolfish creature right where they wanted him...until they all heard two words that seemed to come from the mountains themselves.

"SHOCK WAVE!"

The airborne wolf turned his gaze in mid leap, as the crackle of lightning and thunder rippled from the mountain-casting a deep flash that was filtered by the barrier. It was fearsome to see the Pidgeot encumbered with a massive bolt of electricity and the mercenary falling toward the mountain. As the adjacent peak came closer, Absol reached out with all four feet, allowing the ground to rake against his claws. Resuming running was easy enough; it was attaining a controlled traction that would be the trick now. He growled when his foot missed a crucial step, which led to his face meeting the rocky side. His body became a snowball, which tumbled down until it reached a trail. He sprawled out onto the path, and hastily tried to get back up-because footsteps were coming. Baring his fangs and growling, Absol lunged when he saw the leg of the incoming. His claws were fully extended, but the speeding lad instinctively kept his body low and yelled out something about an air tackle. Absol landed; only to have a flurry of blue fly up and slam him in the face. The strike knocked him backwards, but then the form that ran past him slung something that felt like a mix between a sledgehammer and a rocket powered brick into his left leg. Absol tumbled over himself, but used his right forelimb to backflip off the nearby mountainside and land on his feet….

..that fell from under him with some sort of whip. What the heck was going on? He looked to see a small plant, its vines being the reason for being bound. He turned back to see what hit him before, and saw a small rock like creature running up to him. These were not the same people that were pursuing him. But they seemed familiar. There was also-what, a Dratini? The heck was that doing up here? But when the growling creature laid eyes on Rapp-all hostility seemed to melt away. Instead, there was urgency-and he directed his growl toward Mossy.

"If that is who my nose tells me it is, you need to let me go now!"

"He doesn't talk."

Absol blinked, and looked behind the Tangela, to see a pink femme fatale walk up. She patted her head a few times, and spoke again. Rapp looked behind them to see any sign of the flier that he shot down moments earlier. Nothing.

"Hurry up guys. Nights gonna fall and that jerk is gonna be scouring for us. Where is that cabin!?"

"Like I said. Moss Boss here doesn't talk. Who do you think tall, dark and pointy eared is?"

"He's the son I'M CHARGED TO PROTECT! LET ME FREE OR TASTE FIRE"

"I can spit fire too, so I'd think twice before doing that."

"Yah! Goggie Rock face!"

Everyone turned to look as Zent slammed her left fist into her open right hand. Possibly the only one unphazed by the strange outburst, Mossy unfurled his vines, allowing the hound to reassert itself. Quickly it looked to see if they were being followed, and then it took off down the path. Rapp scooped up Zent and knelt down so May could climb on.

"HEY! Hey are you Wyndryde?"

Rapp shouted after that hound as Mossy wrapped around his front. Wyrm rocketed after the hound, in order to act as a intermediary so they did not lose sight of their quarry. Not a moment too soon, as the Pidgeot shot back up into the sky, diving back down to fetch his rider. The avian spied their conjoined effort...and smiled.

"Good move kid. You win today."

He cawed, spying his now unconscious rider lying still in a ravine a few hundred feet down. By the time it would take to wake him and get him up to where they might be, he knew that Absol would have moved by then. It was fine. Their end goal would be the same.

Veronica.

---

The fire was warming to both the physical and spiritual form, as the 5 Pokemon hung around it. The Absol growled, pleased that for once, it was around Pokemon that didn't fight over scraps of food. It was especially pleased to see that the reason for its exile was now here. But it seemed strange, that the lad could not understand them. The hound turned to Mossy and then to Rapp, whom was playing with Zent's food.

"How come he can't understand me?" Wyndryde growled, before turning to the three older Pokemon. "If he is who you say he is, then he should have no problem understanding me. Hell, there are humans around today that know what their Pokemon say with ease."


"I don't know. I just joined up with them less than two weeks ago. It’s been a wild ride, to say the least. But you are Wyndryde, right?" Wyrn inquired, eager to see why this Absol was so important.

"I am. I am the Seer of the 9, and I am the one that foresaw the end of Veronica Laster."

"Wait-the END of her? So you saw her die?" Maybelline asked, moving closer.

Rapp seemed oblivious to them all as Wyndryde stretched out. "Yes. I did see her die. The elegance of her ideas, the compassion she had towards all us, her very essence-is dead."

"So....where's her grave?"

"Wyrm!"


"Sorry! It's an honest question! He's now a boy without a mother!"

Wyndryde huffed, and stood back up, looking at the silent plant. Tilting his head to attain a better glance, he was sure of it. The plant was truly a mute. He had said not a word this whole time.

"I must say I find it remarkable that you do not speak, Mossjito. Is this an act of sheer will?"

"I've seen him fight. He doesn't make a sound even then." Maybelline stated, as Mossy just stared at the fire. "But, Wyrm is right. Where is her grave so we can put this silly mission behind us and go explore new places that aren't so dark and dank and unladylike!"

"You'll never find her grave. I can't find it. What makes you think you'll find it?"

"Because I've already met Dungrae. And he told me that I'd be able to talk to you. I just didn't think he meant literally..." Rapp said, as he coyly turned his head. Maybelline, Zent and Wyrm all stared in shock. Mossy and Wyndryde both turned toward Rapp, impressed.

"Alright. That makes this easier. You start. What do you know of your mother?"

"That's just it. I was sent out of the village with the express charge of finding her. No real way to know how to find her. Just that I had to. I ended up finding people that used to live in my village-and acquiring a list of names, name of her Po-no, her family. I've been going though a hell of a traveling saga trying to get to her-and the more I find out, the more questions are gathered."

"Well, then what do you know of your village's past?"

"Nothing as well. I just know that we've been around for ages, probably before the Sundering, or whatever that event was where they say the magic was torn from the world."

"...I see. Well, then all you will need to know is that your mother fled to the village in order to return home...and for you to join her. Heed my words boy-forget this quest. Dungrae already told you we were disbanded. Her final order for me was to never let you see her until it was time."

"But you already know I'm going to. And if you don't help me, I'll just ask the others."

"I'd approve if you did that. You need to find the rest of us. You need to learn the whole story. Once you do, I'll be waiting for you. You'll know where I am when you need to meet me again."

The Absol shook off a slight chill, and then nimbly jumped over the fire. Sauntering out of the small recess they used for shelter, the hound turned to the ragtag group.

"Love the present, Rapp Laster. Forget about your past, because it will consume your future."

The group watched as the hound scanned the skies, before bounding up the very side of the mountain. Zent ran over to the entrance and looked up at the white beast.

"Bye Goggie!"

"As for the rest of you. I fear this method of communication is due to the mountains. These mountains...make me feel strange. I feel like I want to stay here, to dig and to unearth something, but I know that its not right. But for some reason, its allowing me to converse with you."

Wyrm and May nodded, knowing that meant that they wouldn't be able to talk to Rapp after they left. They immediately ran over to Rapp, and began gabbing away. Rapp was enthralled by this new ability, and made sure not to leave any question unanswered for them. Mossy however, headed out the cave, obviously disturbed about something. Maybelline and Wyrm were keeping Rapp busy with their speech-so he was free to leave.

As he stepped outside, he wormed a vine through his inventory. After a few moments of aimless walking and rooting, he was positive. That wolf stole the book. Anger swept over his face, and he turned around, looking at the skies. Vines began to snake out, and he began considering making alot of noise to drive that wolf out. As he braced himself in the chilling wind, he felt the presence of something watching him. Vines started to spin in defense, but he dared not turn around.

"You're the first one. Therefore you share that link with Rapp." Wyndryde stated as he silently sauntered down the side of the mountain, leering at Mossy. The silent planimal shrugged and recoiled its vines.

"Here. I've marked the exact places where you will find the remaining 6 of us-should you stick to the train to travel Ulthuan. We each were charged with a task, whether we keep to it depends on when we were with his mother. As you'll learn, you will see a ...difference between us."

Mossy nodded, and reclaimed the map that the wolf had craftily pilfered from him at some point. The hound nodded and bounded away, leaving Mossy to walk back into the cave-once again in charge of the secrets of the journey.

[Lady Vulpix]

DL, your story keeps getting more and more interesting! I loved the descriptions, as well as the insight on all the characters. That Pidgeot was rather intriguing, he seems to be more decent than his rider - and he speaks with the same color as Tsunami, whether that means anything or not. It was interesting to see how the mountains affected Rapp, and it was also nice to see Rapp get a chance to have a conversation with (most of) his team. And Wyndryde gets a hundred years of forgiveness for taking the book from Mossy (I don't know if the saying even exists in English but you should get the idea anyway).

I especially liked the phrase "padded feet made rocks as soft as pillows and snow mere stuffing of an ethereal fancy".

I also liked the word "traingazing".

The man by the mountains was not well-informed, but he was very well-represented.

I wonder... has the Black Dragon really penetrated the barrier? It might be possible, given how long he's been trying, but that makes the situation even more dire. Rapp may have to find a way to lure him out.

I liked witnessing Rapp's thought processes as he tried to figure out what was going on and what Dungrae's words had really meant. If only he were better at reading between words, things would probably be much easier for him.

Oh, and May can be very expressive. ;) And "you'll look better after a hike in the mountains" was a very well-aimed argument. I would add that Mossy is very secretive, but saying that feels redundant by now.

"Love the present, Rapp Laster. Forget about your past, because it will consume your future." <- Those were mysterious and ominous words.

Now, the grammar comments: first of all, thanks for the line breaks! They made the text a LOT clearer and easier to read!

The tenses were mostly fine, you just used simple past in some places where past perfect would have been better (statements made in the past recalling things from further back), but the rest was good.

There were some random uses of '-' in place of other punctuation marks, like commas, semicolons, colons or even spaces. The '-' should be used enclose clarifications - and put between spaces in those cases - or - without spaces - in compound words like "light-headed", "split-second", "snow-covered" or "white-furred", where it was usually missing.

An ellipsis is composed of just 3 dots, and there should be a space between them and the next word, unless the ellipsis is at the beginning of the line.

There were also some uses of "whom" instead of "who", "lets" instead of "let's", and "its" instead of "it's". All those are real words, but they have different uses.

Oh, and the past tense of "bring" is "brought".

I must say your grammar has improved a lot within less than a year! :cheesy:

Take 29 stamps! :yes:¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[DarkestLight]

I will edit this post with reactions and explanations. I will say this; I used to write a long time ago. I've just been lazy and not kept up with it, but this year's NaNo invigorated me. That and I now have a good copy of Word to destroy this space abomination that has been irritating me for so long now.

EDIT: Ok, ASB taken care of, I can focus here.

Thanks :D I've just been hoping my stories get clearer. The pace may pick up at times-but I'm glad that as you read them, yer getting to know my characters alongside Rapp. It can be easy to neglect them and solely focus on Rapp. As for the saying, type it in Spanish so I can get a better feel for it. :o Because its literal translation does not work right.

I like describing things with old words. You'll see alot more of it.

The man by the mountain was what you call a tourist who knows-it-all! LOL I had a strange experience with a person like that the day I originally wrote this part of the story, so I threw him in there.

Yeah, Rapp's definitely not the brightest. Still has alot of growing out to do. Not growing up. Growing out.

May's becoming more and more fun to write. It's hard not to stereotype her. Now that I've had practice, and revised her role in the team a bit, it's becoming more of an expression rather than a chore. And Mossy...It's really a challenge conveying a character than can't talk and has no real form of communication except vines.

You are very welcome for the line breaks, I finally got Word to work, so now my text won't be all over the dang place. Thank you for the grammar notations. I'll put them to use straight away as I edit and update the next section (after the next scenario of course.)

Sweet. 29 stamps. uuugh!

[Lady Vulpix]

Ouch, cultural breach here... I'm afraid I can't tell which words are old. I just know I like the ones you use.

The saying goes "a quien roba a un ladrón, cien años de perdón". Perhaps I should add it to the sayings and idioms thread in Misc.

Uuugh? Please, don't choke on the stamps! >.>

I'm looking forward to our chat tomorrow. :keke:

[Lady Vulpix]

I now present you with a new non-battle segment, which is largely the result of the aforementioned chat (except for the first part, which was written earlier).

Thanks to DarkestLight for his team's lines and for a really fun roleplaying session. We must do it again. :D And of course, you can post your side of the story whenever it's ready. You can use my quotes, I've already typo-checked them. ;)

And I have updated the archive (http://dragonsguild.com.ar/Archives/).

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<Gabi's POV>

It all began like just another weird dream: there was a window in my house which led to another world full of tall grass and colorful, carnivorous balls of fluff. After spending some time there, I came back home and found my old classmates from primary school, who were escaping from an armed migrations agent, and my mum showed up to offer everyone tea. Then there was suddenly a huge set of stairs which we had to go down, and most of my ex-classmates ran off that way, only one taking a bit longer and one more - Santiago, I recall - staying upstairs because he hadn't had his tea yet. My mum stayed with him to help him get his tea, but everyone else was going away fast and I knew we all needed to be together because otherwise we'd get lost. I waited for a while, but I started losing sight of everyone. When I could only see the slowest one, I started going down slowly myself, looking up every now and then to see whether Santiago and my mum were coming... but they weren't. Just when I was about to lose sight of either them or the other guy, I shouted out: "¡Mamá, vení!" ("Mum, come here!")

Then I was suddenly tucked in my bed in my old bedroom in Buenos Aires, and my mum was sitting at my feet. When I looked at her, she spoke to me.

"¿Estás lista?" ("Are you ready?")
"¿Lista para qué" I asked. ("Ready for what?")
"Hoy tenés que salir." ("You have to go out today.")
"¿A dónde?" ("Where?")

...And then I was suddenly on the mountains. I knew these mountains: they were the same I could see on the horizon from the southern area of Sector Alpha, and I had already seen them up close in a previous dream. And I knew I'd have to go there eventually. But something was out of place. I had the nagging feeling that there was a presence which didn't belong there... not necessarily an evil presence, but something that didn't fit. Then it became clearer as I felt a presence behind me. I turned around to see a tall, blond young boy - no, he was a young man now - with webbed fingers. I sighed with relief.

"Orknye. You scared me," I told him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," he apologized. "I'm glad you recognize me."
"You've already been in my dreams looking like that once before. No, not quite like that. You've grown taller."

The selkie smiled.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"I was sent here by an angel," he replied, the corners of his mouth bending slightly upwards.
"I still don't understand what the word 'angel' means in Bei," I admitted. "When I was a child, I was told angels were God's messengers."
"Well, she's a messenger alright. Even though all her messages are garbled and I have no idea where she gets them from."
"Sounds like an oracle to me," I told him.
"Maybe she is. But the closest English word for her species is 'angel'. She's not a kind of creature you can find in your world. And we're getting sidetracked."
"Sorry. What was the messenger's message?"
"From what I could gather, there's something in this dream that you need to see and remember. She told me to come here and make sure you did."
"Something I need to see? What kind of 'something' am I looking for?"
"Hey, you try getting that kind of information out of Harims!"
"Fair point. So... this dream is important, and Harims knows it, and she has sent you here," I lay out the facts for closer examination. "But... what if your presence here distracts me from what I'm supposed to see?"
"Oh! No, please don't let that happen! Don't look at me. Look around! We must find something."

I took a slow look around, paying as much attention to detail as I could which, in a dream, is not an easy task. At one moment I was getting a view of the highest peaks along with some strange sparks in the air, then the next I was zooming in to the edges on a set of rocks and the grains of earth around them. And there was this constant feeling of uneasiness... it felt almost like being pre-tickled by a giant claw whose owner's intentions were far worse than a tickle. Then I thought of my brother and how he had come up with the term 'pre-tickles' when he realized I started feeling uncomfortable a couple of seconds before he would tickle me. And then I forced my thoughts back to the mountains. And still found nothing new.

"I can't see anything I haven't seen before," I told Orknye. "What exactly was the message?"
"Harims's words were: 'she shall hear and see. There is a connection. Go and make sure she remembers today.'"
"That's about as vague as it gets," I remarked with frustration.
"Sorry. Maybe you'll be able to make more sense of it when you wake up? It happens sometimes."
"I can try... I'll take some time to make sure I remember everything. Especially the tiniest details, because they're usually where the really important things are hiding."
"OK, then," said Orknye. "I'll give you some time to think. Can you please meet me at the Guild's fountain in the morning? I'd like to know how things turn out."
"Sure," I accepted.

Orknye's image and presence began to fade away, and soon the mountains followed. There was a moment of darkness, broken by the first rays of sunlight making their way through my eyelids. I was not surprised to find Lagi sitting close to me... but her placement by the corner of my bed reminded me of the brief scene I had nearly missed. All of a sudden, the vague message acquired a new meaning.

"Hoy," I said. "Today. The key word is 'today'."
"Well," said Lagi, "I'm glad you've figured it out, whatever it is that you had to figure out."
"It's scary," I said. "If I'm wrong, it'll be the worst and the last mistake I'll ever make."
"But you don't feel like you're likely to be wrong," Lagi told me. "You feel like something has clicked and is making a scary amount of sense. Now, if you could tell me what this is all about, I could try to help you decide."
"The thing is... it really doesn't. I mean, it does, but only by itself. It doesn't have a base in any certain facts. It's just that the maths are sound: I heard 'you have to go out today', then I asked where and I saw the Forbidden Mountains, and the phrase 'make sure she remembers today' sounds like the final clue that tells me what to do. But just because the maths work, it doesn't mean the conclusion is right. And if it's not, then going to the Forbidden Mountains today could be the end of us. Well... of me and anyone who decides to come along."
"As if anyone in this house would refuse to go with you," Lagi told me. "We won't let you go to such a dangerous place without us. And your words aren't making an awful lot of sense yet, but your emotions are, and I know you well enough to know when a hunch is worth following. Not to mention Harims has yet to let us down."
"Have I mentioned Harims?"
"You didn't have to. I know the kind of confusion her words cause, and who else would say something like 'make sure she remembers today'?"
I let out a small chuckle. "No one else that I can think of."
"I can also tell that someone else was in there with you... the one who delivered the message, perhaps? And since you weren't scared, nor shocked, I could venture that it was Orknye."
"Lagi, you're amazing! Have you thought of working as a detective?"
Lagi smiled. "I don't think I'd make a good detective. I'm good with details, but I tend to lose sight of the big picture, as Tsunami is so often kind enough to point out."
"It's very kind of you to find kindness in Tsunami's remarks."
"He's blunt as a bludgeon, but he does mean well," she assured.

I explained everything to everyone doing breakfast, and they were all as supportive as Lagi had predicted. Of course, after all we'd been through together, who would have dared turn back? But it was still comforting to know that I had 10 friends I could count on for anything... even to go to what had to be the most dangerous place in Ulthuan without a clear reason. Ventura rationalized it by saying we needed to learn more about that place and - if possible - find out what exactly the Black Dragon was up to. If Harims - and whatever the source of my visions was - thought this was the best day to do so, then we shouldn't miss the chance.

I did go to my office at the Guild's HQ, mostly to put my things in order and to make sure there weren't any really urgent matters I needed to resolve, and then went down to the garden to talk to Orknye. The Dewgong was eagerly waiting for me at the fountain, and seemed excited, but at the same time more than a bit worried, when I told him about the conclusions we had reached.

"So... today?" he repeated. "I don't think I can get my team - or even just Glyph - ready to leave for the mountains today."
"You don't have to," I told him. "Right now our best hope is for the Black Dragon not to notice us, so the fewer visible travelers we have, the better our chances will be. I was planning to take most of my friends in their Pokeballs, and only keep the flyers out to scan the terrain."
"Sounds sensible," he agreed. "And I think I would only slow you down. But please do get back safely, and let me know of anything you find."
"Don't worry," I promised. "As soon as I get back, you and everyone else who's on our side will hear whatever news we can bring. Our preparations are going too slow, it's time for us to have a meeting and share all the information we have."
"In that case, I think I can speak for my whole team when I say... count us in for the meeting."
"Thanks," I said. "All help will be more than welcome."

<Spark's POV>

We took off shortly after lunch. I was carrying Gabi, while Lagi, Ventura and Amber flew by my side. Everyone else was tucked in their pokeballs. As we approached the mountains, we flew low and tried to be as quiet as possible. Only Ventura teleported up and down many times, presumably to get a better view of the area. After a while, her teleportations became more frequent, and I began to wonder whether she was getting nervous. I looked at Lagi and saw that she was watching Ventura too, but I didn't dare ask what was going on.

A few minutes later, Lagi stopped advancing and turned to face the rest of us. We gathered around her to hear what she had to say.

"Someone needs help," she told us. "And they're not moving. We shouldn't go together, they may get scared. I will go first, and you can all follow me from a safe distance."

We all agreed and let her go. We hovered in circles for a bit until Lagi was almost out of sight. Then I began to fly in her direction, and my friends followed. It took just a minute or so before I could hear the chatter of several worried Pokemon. Still, I was surprised that Lagi had been able to sense them from such a long distance. When they came into view, I noticed that Lagi was already talking to them, so I landed a few meters away, and soon - as Gabi got off my back - I became surrounded by the rest of my team and I felt Water Angel's comforting weight on my wing.

"Solace!" shouted the humanoid mess that was lying on the ground. "I am the achiever of the darkness! Ripping, unforgiving darkness! It binds us in life as it does in blood!"

I couldn't see his face from where I was standing, but it was evident that he was sick, and he seemed to be in some kind of trance. I gathered he was the Pokemon's trainer, as they were all surrounding him with worry and fear on their faces: a Tangela, a Lickitung, a Larvitar and... a Dratini. The latter came as quite a surprise considering how rare his kind was in Ulthuan. It was him who made the first remark up on seeing us.

"Whoa, entourage galore!"
"He's not possessed, is he?" asked Hero, slowly approaching the lying trainer.
"I don't know," said the Dratini. "He is surely acting like it."
"Well um, I can't wait to leave," complained the Lickitung. "We came here cause we're looking for his mom. But we get him fighting for control of his brain!"
"Rapp no yell," moaned the Larvitar, who was clearly still a child.

Lagi examined the trainer, who seemed to be called Rapp, while I tried to recall where I'd heard his name before.

"I can't tell for sure..." she said. "His emotions are confusing, and there's definitely something in him, but it doesn't feel like the demons we've met before. How long has he been like this?"
"I don't think this is a good place to stay and discuss," Gabi warned us. "Something just doesn't feel right here. Not to mention we could be seen by our enemies at any time. Let's get away from here first and talk later."
"This place is all kinds of weird," said Caledor. "I support the motion."

I looked around. I could feel something like static in the air, but I wasn't sure what he had meant by "all kinds of weird". Was something going on that I was missing? Perhaps it only affected those who were particularly sensitive to certain kinds of energy. That could explain Ventura's strange attitude, Caledor's uneasiness and... yes, Gabi's too. Perhaps even Lagi's increased range. I wonder whether I was lucky or unlucky to be mostly unaffected. But that still didn't explain how Rapp had ended up like that... unless he was far more attuned to that place's energy than any of us.

"I agree," said the Dratini. "But we found a cave over there," he pointed. "That cave was where we were hiding all night while we talked to him."
"NO! No more caves!" cried the Lickitung.
"Cave!!!" cheered the Larvitar, in clear disagreement with her teammate.
"NO!" the Lickitung insisted.

Gabi tried to intercede. "Can you think of a safer place?" she asked the Lickitung, who was shock to see a human addressing her like that.
"...Uh...you can understand me?"
"Whoa, she can talk to us?" the Dratini reacted with similar bewilderment. (Am I starting to sound like Water Angel?)
"Yes, I can," Gabi confirmed. "Sorry, it's a bit of a long story. I can tell you all about it when we're safe."
"I guess we're going to have to come back here," moaned the Lickitung. "I wish we could get this abominable trip over with."
"He'll come back until we find out about his mom, but didn't Wynd tell us to find the other?" asked the Dratini. I wished I had a clue as to what he was talking about.

The discussion was interrupted by the young Larvitar's sudden discovery of Sylvan.

"Yummy pwant!" the child exclaimed.
"Be careful, little one. Some plants can be dangerous," Sylvan warned her with a smile.
"Dan... ga... wous? Wuz dat?"

Hero didn't wait for Sylvan's explanation.

"I'm sure everyone will have a lot of interesting stories to tell around a fire," he said, "but shall we do that away from here? Let's go to the cave if there is no better option."
"It's not far," stated the Dratini.

The mysterious trainer went on rambling. "Mother... I can't hear you. But I can hear the cries of the fallen! I want to dig up the honeypots of luxury again!"

For a moment I wondered what the phrase "honeypots of luxury" might mean, but I soon stopped trying to make any sense out of it.

"Ooooook," the Lickitung conceded, "cave it is. Introductions later, can you all help us move him inside?"
"Sure," Lagi and I spoke in unison.

The Lickitung led us to the cave, while Lagi carried the sick trainer in her arms and I helped a few of the others get past the toughest parts of the way. It wasn't exactly a comfortable place: the roof was quite low - even the Lickitung had ducked in order to enter - and it was hard to move inside. I felt the tension build inside me, but I fought it, reminding myself that I was not trapped: I could get out any time I wanted. I just needed to put up with the discomfort for a while until we could all make our next move, whatever that might be. At least I had the comforting pressure of Water Angel's body against my feathers.

"It's at times like this when I really miss being smaller," Sylvan remarked, revealing that the Lickitung and I were not the only ones who found the cave uncomfortable. But it was our best option at that moment.

Lagi carefully put Rapp down, never taking her eyes off him. He was wet with his own sweat, but seemed to have calmed down. The Larvitar ran to him and growled at Lagi and the rest of us, as if to protect him from some unknown threat.

"They're helping, Zent," said the Lickitung.
"Hey... where's fearless leader?" asked the Dratini.

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked around. I wondered who this "fearless leader" might be.

"I don't think any of us could claim that title at this point," Ventura told him.
"Oh. Sorry. No not any of you," the Dratini clarified. "Our fearless leader..."
"One of you is gone!" Ventura realized. "How could this happen?"

She began to flutter about, searching desperately. That was not the way she usually searched. I wondered what was wrong with her. Was her radar failing?

"Well he doesn't talk..." the Dratini stated, "so when he leaves no one really notices."

I had never met a Pokemon who couldn't talk before - unless that was the case with the Deerling at the Adoption Center - but I still didn't believe that was reason enough for him to go unnoticed. And neither did Lagi.

"He...? Talking's not necessary in order to be noticed. I should have been paying more attention!" the Dragonite scolded herself. "I can't believe it," she said, looking at Rapp. "I was so worried about the one who was most clearly in trouble that I neglected everyone else!"
"If it helps you feel less guilty, I think this place is doing something to everyone," Ventura revealed. "My radar's not working very well."
So that was it.
"No, its alright," said the Lickitung. "He'll pop back up."

I wished I could have been so confident, but it was hard while having my mobility restricted and knowing the Black Dragon was probably not too far from us. This group acted like they didn't know about the threat.

"Yeah. Well....at least Rapp is OK," said the Dratini. "And... I'm Wyrm... to introduce myself."
"Maybeline the elegant," the Lickitung followed cue.
"Elephant?" Wyrm mocked her.
"WHAT?" she reacted.
"Hero the accurately named," my oldest teammate ignored them and introduced himself.
"I'm Tsunami... My name may be a bit of an exaggeration but at least I'm more honest."
And then Hero retorted. "As honest as someone who was given a huge dose of truth serum at birth and hasn't closed his mouth since then."
"Guys, will you please stop?" Gabi intervened.
"Hey, I was just about to introduce myself!" claimed Caledor.
Gabi sighed. "OK, introduce yourself, but no fighting, please, this is not the place for that."
"Sure! My name is Caledor, and I'm just a battle or two away from becoming the ultimate Swiss Army knife of the Pokemon world."
"Huh?" asked Hero. The names our Espeon friend gave himself just kept getting weirder.
"Don't tell me you haven't been keeping tabs on my training," Caledor told him.
And then I realized what he had meant. Still a weird thing to call oneself,though.

Zent, the little Larvitar, tried to repeat the names she'd heard.

"Hewo.... Cawedaw... Fu... Fu... Funani. Zent!"
"Nice to meet you, Zent," Amber greeted her. "My name is Amber."
"And I'm Sylvan," added the Venusaur.
I reckoned it was my turn. "Spark. And the lovely lady by my side is Water Angel."
"I could have introduced myself, you know," said Water Angel with a smile.
"But then I wouldn't have had the chance to call you lovely," I replied playfully, causing her to chuckle.
"Amba. Sibim. Spok, Wawa Angl," Zent attempted.
"Good girl," Maybeline praised her.
"Spok!" exclaimed Tsunami. "That's a good one! I should have thought of that one."

I thought of reminding him that he was not supposed to call me names, but I realized it was just a silly joke, so I contented myself with pointing out that some things never change.

"Is it my turn?" Iael continued. "I'm Iael."
"Oooh this should be good," Wyrm anticipated.
"Eel," Zent produced.
Iael smiled, having never been called any funny names before.
"And I'm Gabriela, but everyone who doesn't call me Lady Vulpix calls me Gabi. And the Venomoth's name is Ventura... Still having trouble with your radar?"
"I've faced interference before, but it's worse than ever here," Ventura replied. "Sorry, everyone, I just... wish I could help."
"It's not your fault," Gabi reminded her.
"I know. But knowing doesn't help. If it were my fault, then maybe I could do something about it."
I hated to see a friend so upset. "We'll get out of this one somehow," I assured. "We always have."
Rapp the mysterious coughed before introducing himself. "Rapp Laster... thanks for the lift..."
Rapp Laster! I had definitely heard that name before!
"Anytime," replied Lagi.
"You know..." Gabi began, "ever since the Dragon Games I've been wondering when I would get to meet you in person. You and Mossjito, of course. I just wish it had been under better circumstances."

And only then did I remember why the trainer's name had seemed so familiar. That's what I get for not paying enough attention to the games. Of course, I'd had a lot to think about at that time, and I'd been spending most of the time catching up with my long lost father. So I suppose my distraction can be excused. I took a closer look at him and noticed some really unusual things about him... especially his ears. His appearance left a lot of room for speculation, but it would have served no purpose at that time. In any case, he was a trainer, that much I did know. And a good one at that: he had earned the second place at the Dragon Games.

"This is unnatural for me," Rapp excused himself. "I usually have control of my words."
"I guess," said the Lickitung.
"Agree with May," Wyrm supported them.
"Shouldn't you two be loo-" Rapp began. "Oh. There he is."

I turned round to see a large mass of vines. Wrapped among them was a bunch of firewood and, presumably, further behind was the rest of the Pokemon known as Mossjito. I caught a glimpse of his eyes as he looked my way, probably surveying my team, but they soon turned away from me as Hero spoke.

"The missing prodigy shows up at last!"
"You should be honored," Tsunami remarked. "Not everyone gets that kind of compliment from Hero."

I saw Mossjito's eyes again as he blinked. There was a moment of silence.

"Oh... um... he doesn't talk..." Rapp explained.
"But he can hear, right?" Hero queried.

The Tangela flicked out a vine in response. The end was wrapped around a twig, and he shook it in front of Hero. The Ninetales took that as a sign to continue delivering praise.

"Then let me tell you, I saw your performance at the tournament and I was impressed. I must admit I didn't have great expectations from a newcomer at first, but I'm glad to stand corrected. My favorite was your second battle... The way you combined your Shock Wave with that Dewott's Air Cutter, and then led him into the water to give him a false sense of security... and the propeller whip wasn't half bad either."

Now I wished I had seen that myself.

"It all made me wish I could take part in a tournament again..." Hero concluded. "But I really don't see it happening any time soon."

It was hard to me to read a Tangela's body language inside a poorly lit cave, but he seemed at the very least surprised by Hero's words.

"Uh wow," Rapp said, sitting up. "Thanks. But now... the big question. Why are all of you here? I'm here because I'm looking for clues about my mom."
"I've been kidnapped by him and him and him," May pointed to her trainer and her two male teammates.

I was startled for a moment, but it was clear from the way they all acted that she wasn't speaking literally. They were clearly not kidnappers, and she was annoyed, but not really scared. Many use words like that lightly when they don't know what the real thing feels like.

I was shaken away from that train of thoughts as Zent said something which sounded like "I eat feet". But she couldn't have said that, could she?

"What?" asked Wyrm, apparently just as unable to understand.

Then Lagi spoke out. "Hero, you'll be glad to know Mossjito is honored by your praise. As for why we're here... I think it would be best if Gabi gave you the explanation she promised first."
"Sorry, what explanation?" Gabi asked her.
"The explanation of why you can understand them."
"Oh! Sorry, there were just too many things going on at the same time. Well... I have some psychic abilities, but before you think too much of that, they're really not the best. I just get occasional visions and pick up a stray thought every now and then. Not very often, even. But it's enough to allow... an artifact I've been given... to enhance my abilities enough for me to understand Pokemon speech."

Was the stone really an artifact? I would have said 'object' if I'd been trying to be vague, but perhaps it could be considered an artifact. Had anyone made it? I wished I knew where it had really come from, but at least it seemed to be safe and harmless enough in Gabi's hands.

Gabi paused for a moment. Everyone seemed to have stopped moving.

"Why have you stopped?" asked Tsunami. "Are you pondering how detailed and confusing your next explanation should be?"
That got a chuckle out of her. "Sort of. I was trying to see how confusing my latest explanation had been."

From the looks on everyone's faces, it seemed to have been more shocking than confusing. May and Wyrm nodded, while Rapp slid across the rock he was using as a support and stood up.

"A benefit for you, I assure you," he remarked.

While Gabi paused again to think of what to say next, Zent began to pick up small rocks, and then held one up to Amber.
"Aw, thanks, that's so nice of you!" Amber thanked her. "But I'm afraid I can't eat rocks. They're a bit hard on my stomach."
"Oh. Sowwy," said Zent, who then proceeded to eat the rock herself.

Gabi smiled at the scene before turning her attention back to Rapp.

"Yes, it's definitely a benefit. Although I've seen some trainers who could understand any Pokemon even without any external help. I never did get to know how Jeff does it. Lord Porygon, that is."
"Oh," replied Rapp. "I've had the pleasure of receiving Wyrm from him!" He then stopped, holding his head. "Ugh, this place is really no good. Why were you all traveling through again?"
"Yes!" insisted Caledor, a bit too loudly. "Are you going to get to the really weird part of why we're here? Or you could just say we've been sent here by an angel. It would be technically true!"
"And awfully misleading," Gabi noted before the others got it wrong. "I'm thinking of how to explain."
Zent pointed to Water Angel. "Angl!"
"No, not her," Gabi attempted to explain. "It was... some kind of creature who gets called an angel for lack of a better term. She's like an oracle, she knows a lot of things... may be even omniscient for all we know. But she just can't speak straight. Everything she says is a confusing puzzle. And she... sent someone to talk to me in a dream while I was having a vision..." She sighed. "It really is complicated to explain all at once. The thing is that we gathered we were supposed to be here today, and even if the message wasn't clear the source was reliable enough for us to take the chance."

The group nodded, which was more than I had expected after Gabi's attempt to explain her abilities and Harims all at once. At least she hadn't said the word 'alien', that one tends to cause a lot of commotion. But another strange thing had been transpiring as she spoke, and now we could see the result as Mossjito held out a vine to offer Gabi a cup of tea.

"Do you have enough for everyone?" asked Maybeline.

The Tangela nodded, and brought forth no less than 15 more cups!

"Why did you ask?" Wyrm shook his head, his head, tapping his forehead with the tip of his tail.
"Wow! Just... how...?" Gabi was nearly speechless. She accepted the cup and took a sip. "Oh, wow, now I'm really impressed. Thank you!"
"Now you've won her for life," Tsunami commented.

Yes, my trainer can be funny sometimes. The best performance in battle won't reach her heart as fast nor as deeply as a good cup of tea. Not to mention the mystery of how he'd been storing all those cups and the ingredients used to make the beverage.

"He does that. A lot," Rapp said. "He's pretty good at storing things in his grove. And tea. He loves it."
"That makes two of us," Gabi agreed.
Amber smiled. "I can't complain either."

I took a sip from my cup and helped Water Angel pick hers up. It was sweet... it tasted of honey and roses and something else which Gabi and Amber could probably identify, but I couldn't. When Water Angel was finished with her tea, I tried to finish mine, but there was a bit left in the cup which my beak just couldn't reach.

"Honey!" exclaimed Hero, after trying his own. "Nice. Now to get back on topic... In fewer words, we don't know why we're here today. But we were planning to come later, once we were ready. This can serve as a recon mission."
"Perhaps we were sent here to help you," Lagi suggested.
"Well, we thank you for that," said Wyrm. "Though... Rapp, will you relapse?"
"Hard to say," answered the trainer. "All I know is that I know there's a 'door' here I was screamed at to enter."
"A door?" asked Gabi.
"Yes. When you all found me, it was after I began having the conversation with the mountain? That's the best way I can explain it. It told me to enter and reclaim my birthright. I have no idea what that means, but I have a feeling my mother might. If I could find her..."
"OK, Mossy," said May, "this tea is actually go- ZENT DON'T...!"

Too late. At the sound of "CRUNCH", the cup was eaten. Mossy sighed. I had the feeling he was used to that kind of thing. In the meantime, it seemed like Gabi was still musing over Rapp's words.

"Your... Wait, you haven't been here before?"
"Nope," Rapp replied. "We've just started our journey."

Mossjito found a spot where the roof was higher and began to play jump rope with his own vines, clearly unaware of the danger in which we all were. Such unawareness did not last for long, although somehow the jumping went on.

"Then I think it may have something to do with the barrier surrounding the inner mountains," Gabi conjectured. "I really don't know what it feels like for those who can enter... the few people I've known who could never mentioned it. But you must be able to get through... whether or not that's a good idea, I don't know. I've heard that it's really dangerous inside, and that was before the Black Dragon showed up."
That immediately caught Rapp's and Wyrm's attention. "Dragon?"
"Hey... that tourist from earlier..." May began.
Then the 3 spoke in unison. "He wasn't making that up?!"

They looked a bit funny, and would have been funnier if it hadn't been the Black Dragon we were talking about.

"I don't know who the tourist was," said Gabi, "but there is a dragon and he's extremely dangerous. We've been trying to find him for years. In that time we know for certain that he has killed at least three people... there are probably more we're not aware of. And he has an army of demons who can possess bodies... at least Pokemon bodies."
"We have reasons to believe he's around here," Tsunami added, "either past the barrier or outside trying to get in. We're hoping for the latter because he has a history of desecrating sites with high magical energy to gather more power."

The news hit the five like a bomb. They remained quiet for a while, not knowing how to react. Finally, Rapp broke the silence.

"So... you are saying we should leave?"
"Right now? Yes, I think you should," Gabi told him. "But the Dragon Tamers - definitely no pun intended - are working on a plan to stop the Black Dragon. If you work with us, maybe we'll stand a better chance to make the world safer for everyone, and the Forbidden Mountains just as dangerous as they used to be."
"I liked the way you phrased that," Caledor commented.
"Thanks," said Gabi. "Sometimes laughter is the best tool to fight despair."
"Sometimes? Always!!" Caledor... was Caledor.
"Hrm. And you all are looking for the way in..." Rapp assumed, "which the mountain keeps telling me to open some sort of door. Well, I guess I could stick around for that. What do you all say?"
"Not like we really have a choice," said Wyrm. "But I'm with you."
"I'm completely against it," May protested. "You aren't even well!"
Zent roared in agreement.
"We're not going to strike today, it would be suicide," Gabi clarified. "We're going to have a meeting, bring all our resources together, and work out a proper plan."

Moments later, a sudden silence caught my attention. Mossjito had stopped jumping and was now looking out through the mouth of the cave.

"Well..." said Rapp, "if this is a recon mission, what can we do to help?"
"You could start by telling us anything you know about this place," Tsunami suggested. "Or what the tourist told you, for that matter."
"Um..." May hummed. "Would it be a bad time to say that I didn't listen?"
"He said something about dragons..." Wyrm recalled, "and his sister's dad was a ninja?"
Zent shifted her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking. "Dawk time. Mounten alway scawy. Bad Dragun came, twy to harm udders. Guud peeple defeet it. Bawweear gu up, stuuy up. Nu une git in. Bad Dwagon twy to get in always, den got in, and den... sumone kyl dwagon!"
The Larvitar then smiled, pleased with herself.
"How in the world did you remember all that?" Rapp wondered. "Oh well, I guess since I was holding you up the whole time, you had no choice. Great job! Yeah, he said that - through some strange grape vine - that a dragon got in and died in there? But he wasn't sure. I think he made that part up."
"He probably did," agreed Gabi. "If the Black Dragon had been killed, I believe we should have found out by now. Unless it was Lord Absol, but would even he be so cruel to keep that in secret when he knows how worried we are?"
"And would you still be dreaming about this place if that were the case?" Ventura pointed out.
"I can't pretend to know for sure what my dreams mean, but... no, I think that would be way too much to hope for."
Tsunami gave wishful thinking another try. "Although it would explain Lord Absol laughing at Golden Growlithe for wanting to help us, and Harims vanishing from the scene and only now showing signs of life to tell you to come here."
"No, guys," Lagi declared. "He's alive... I can feel it."
"Wow, you can feel him?" Wyrm was reasonably surprised. "Can you feel him to come out so I can give him a good slapping for hurting Rapp?"
"I wish it were that easy," said Lagi. "I can feel him because his rage is so huge that it reaches here from wherever he is... which is not far, but fortunately not close enough for him to know we're here. Which leads me to believe he hasn't found the way to get through the barrier yet."
"So... we're possibly in the same area as him right now, outside the barrier?" Rapp summarized. "Oh no, that's no good; what's stopping him form attacking us?"
"Yeah, I don't know about you all, but we're not your equals in terms of power," Wyrm remarked.
"I think the only thing that's stopping him is that he's too focused on trying to break through and hasn't noticed our presence," Lagi replied.
"I suddenly hope the tourist was lucky enough to leave before the Black Dragon found him," Tsunami commented.
"If he's so close, then it's too risky for us to stay in this area," Hero pointed out. "I can try sending Spooky out from a safe distance later; it's not great, but at least he can't get hurt and won't be terrible easy to trace back to us. And it's not like Ventura's radar can help us here, and Lagi has already given us as much information as she could get. We should go back to Sector Alpha."
"You can send your Hidden Power here all the way from Sector Alpha?" Tsunami sounded impressed.
"The reception hasn't improved a lot, but its stability has," Hero revealed.
"I can't believe you spend so much time bragging about the wrong things and haven't told us that," Tsunami complained.
"I like to keep my new tricks a secret until it's the right time to use it. I have revealed it now because I realized it could be useful. And you're wrong. I don't brag about the wrong things. I brag about all kinds of things."
"I... can't leave," said Rapp. "Not without finding the door? Because what's the use if I can't find the door when we come back...?"
"I'd never heard about a door here," replied Gabi, "but I know someone who may be able to help you with that. His name is Ian, he works for the MTU. He has something like 1/16th elven blood, and he has walked through the barrier more than once. If there is a door, either physical or metaphorical, he's quite likely to know about it. And he has reasons to cooperate with us. After all, the Black Dragon has taken two of the Pokemon in his team."
"And even if it turns out he doesn't know, Teclis definitely will," added Ventura.
"Right," said Tsunami. "You'll only need to go for a wild ride to reach the Tower of Hoeth, but that seems to be pretty much what you've been doing so far."

I remembered I'd never found out what had really happened during Tsunami's last 'wild ride'. He and Hero had a firm resolution to never speak of it.

"So... in lieu of all of this, do you think we should stay or leave?" asked Wyrm.
"Possibly better to leave," Rapp answered. "We have to come back here, and Wyndryde still runs around here freely, so we know at least one other being here..."

I wondered who Wyndryde was and how he or she could possibly be safe in the Forbidden Mountains. Yet another mystery, but that was not the time to ask for explanations.

"THANK YOU!" May exploded. "This air has been drying out my skin. Do you know how long it takes to moisturize a tongue?"
"I can help you with that if you want," Tsunami offered.
"Could you? Please, I'd love to not look like a pink prune."
"He can soak your tongue," said Gabi. "I'm not sure what move he has in mind."
Tsunami gave it a little thought. "Well, this place is too cramped for my favorite move not to hit everyone, but maybe a Water Gun?"
"If she's willing to subject her tongue to water that came from a Vaporeon's mouth," Hero warned.
Iael slowly approached Maybeline. "You don't look like a prune. I think you look very pretty."
"Oh, why, thank you Iael," the Lickitung replied before turning to Wyrm. "See, someone with class."
"Oh, brother..." Wyrm reacted.
"Well, I'm sure I could make it work," May accepted.

She flicked her massive tongue out in front of Tsunami, who wet its surface from top to bottom with a Water Gun. The huge mass of muscles was then rolled back in, as its owner modestly took cover behind some rocks.

"So... I assume we will meet at Sector Alpha, seeing as there is a large number of us, alongside you all," Rapp proposed.
"Yes, I think it will be best to move in small groups," agreed Gabi, "not to attract too much attention. If you have pokeballs, it may be a good idea to use them now. But we must set a meeting point to make sure everyone gets there safely."
"Or you can exchange telephone numbers, which would also be useful for the future," Ventura pointed out.

I found it strange that Gabi hadn't thought of that herself. After all, there was a time when all DT missions were arranged telephonically or by PokeGear broadcast. Some things do change.

"Oh, that too," Gabi reacted. "Do you have a telephone?"
"No," Rapp replied. "Don't really have phones where I come from."

Things kept getting weirder. I hadn't heard of any places in Ulthuan where they didn't have telephones. Who was this guy, and where did he come from? Still, he appeared to be on our side.

"Oh..." said Gabi. "Well, then I guess it's back to setting a meeting point... and unless there's any reason why you can't use a telephone, it would be useful to get one once we're in the city."
"Oh, OK. I can do that," Rapp accepted. "What would be a great meeting place? I was just in Sector Alpha not too long ago actually..."
"Do you remember any landmarks?" Gabi asked.
"Well there was a park. Near the center of town. Big green area, kids playing tag. Stayed at a place called the Stag's Scat. Charming, I know," he laughed.
"I haven't heard of the Stag's Scat," Gabi admitted, "but... was that a big park with lots of trees and an artificial lake?"

That question caught my attention. I carefully listened to the following exchange.

"I believe so," Rapp said. "I didn't go deep into it, I just watched some kids play tag."
"There are usually kids in the park, and sometimes trainers having battles too," Gabi stated, "but they're generally the kind of trainers who don't bother you if you're not interested. We could meet by the lake, there's a place which has some large white stones lined up around the water. I think that'll be the best place for us to find each other."
"Alright then," Rapp accepted.

I chuckled. Yes, it was that park. The park where Water Angel and I had had what we could call our first date, as well as our first battle together.

"And perhaps a rampaging Gyarados," I added casually.
"He was taken away from that lake many years ago," said Water Angel. "But I'm glad you remembered."
"Always," I assured.
"We'll be meeting at our spot, then," she remarked. "I wish you all a safe journey."
"Well then," said Rapp. "We'll meet you there. I'm sure we'll take a little longer to leave than you all..."

...And so we did. We headed for Sector Alpha and waited for the others at the park. Water Angel and I went into the lake, but I couldn't get myself to relax until I was sure the others had made it out of the mountains safely. I wondered if I should have offered them a lift, but by the time we left they hadn't looked like they were quite ready to get out yet. I soared into the air every now and then, to see if I could find any signs of them. Until they finally arrived, safe and sound. The telephone was acquired and numbers were exchanged. There was no mention of whether the mysterious team wanted to join the Dragon Tamers, but there would be time to talk about that later. We were going to take different paths for now, but all evidence indicated that we had found some new allies.

[DarkestLight]

Whoa whoa whoa. Mossy's still a Tangela :O. Still squishy and cute, not fat and grotesque..

[Lady Vulpix]

Oops! I'm really sorry, I don't know where I got that idea. I have fixed it and I'll fix it in the archive soon. Thanks for (proof)reading.

Hmm... how can you know whether a Tangela or Tangrowth is fat with all those vines covering most of their bodies?

[Edit: fixed on the archive too. It must have been the summer sickness. Once more, I apologize. >_<]

[DarkestLight]

It has to have enough mass to hold its body that way. And its legs are big. Yeah I know, I just called Grov big legged, but hey :p

[classy_cat18]

Eleven stamps for Gabi. Your interactions with Rapp and co. were great.

[Lady Vulpix]

Wow, thank you! :keke:

[DarkestLight]

It all began like just another weird dream: there was a window in my house which led to another world full of tall grass and colorful, carnivorous balls of fluff

Best dream ever. I wanna fight a carnivorous ball of fluff. No I'm serious. I'm going to write it in somehow. Watch!

I am not familiar with selkis, so that's another research topic for me, but I like the dream sequence becasue of the manner at which it moves. Its nonlinear-like quick cuts in a movie. First you're her, then its all action, then its silence, then its drama. Its good for the reader because their mind opens like a lotus flower when reading it. Very engaging.

[classy_cat18]

Selkies are also known as were-seals. There's a lot more to it but that's the shortest definition I can think of.

[Lady Vulpix]

Well summed-up, Shonta. :) I don't really know a lot about selkies either, I first came across the term years ago when searching for a suitable race for Orknye. I read that most of the time they're in seal form, although their eyes look human. They also have a form that is nearly human, but with webbed fingers and toes. There have been stories of selkies marrying humans and having children with them, and even of humans tricking selkies into marrying them and subsequently being abandoned as soon as the selkies could escape. O_o In any case, Orknye is weird even for a selkie, because he has the ability to enter the dreams of others. Which is why Yssera gave him a hard time when she tried to convince him that he was like her. And Lagi once told him that he was probably a mutant like her... Hmm... do I see a pattern here? Nah, two cases are hardly a pattern.

And thanks, DL! I did my best to portray a typical weird dream up until the point where the vision started... then I kept it as dream-like as I could while including the content of the vision and Orknye's involvement (and he looked taller than before before it's been a few years since he last visited me in my dreams and he has reached adulthood since then). Thanks again.

And I'd like to see what you can write about carnivorous balls of fluff. ;)

[Dioscuri]

So this isn't a complete story but rather the beginning of one. Its also a test because m microsoft word is acting up and I'm trying to see if it's working now. So excuse this "introduction"


"You can't be serious! You can't keep it! What will people think?" Erik cried. His face was flushed with exasperation as he stared down at the 'mon in his best friends lap.*
At sixteen Tomias Alexander Prinnison was the living embodiment of Ganymede. Pale blonde hair curled over an aquiline face perfectly setting off pale skin and dazzling dark green eyes. He was tall and had the easy musculature of a youth who spent his days outdoors.*
He also had currently in his lap a squirming dark haired blue lizard. A lizard that seemed to be on a mission to taste everything that the universe had in store, starting with Tomias's sneakers.
"He's cute...I'm keeping him." the youth said tilting his head and absent-mindedly pushing the squirming mon away from his sneaker. Once he was assured his footwear was safe he began to pout. It was his last weapon of defense in their friendship and he used it with expert skill.
Erik turned as red as his hair. Of average height and build he was the aggressor of their little group. The leader and most times the trouble-starter. He also was absolutely useless when it came to dealing with Tomias.
"It's a Deino. A Dark-Type for goddess sakes! People will think your a thief or a drug dealer or something." As he spoke his voice rose, both in pitch and volume so the last couple of words came out in a violent screech.
"Actually, it's Dark and Dragon type." this came from Josh, the third member of their gang. Short and stocky with dark hair and cafe skin. He was the cool and logical one with dreams of being a big name researcher one day.*
"Even worse!"
"Erik stop being a baby. Ringo isn't going to kill anyone." Tomias smiled, even as "Ringo" struggled loose, running across the yard *snapping at everything he passed.
The boys watched as the dragon came to a stop, looked around and then ran forward again, banging against the fence.
"Oh joy. An evil wicked dragon, with a biting problem and retarded as well. Come on! It's obvious that the thing is dumb. It's trying to eat the fence now!"
They continued to stare with amazement as the little creature got it's mouth around the post and was gnawing away with abandonment. Obviously the wood didn't taste good, for after a few moments the little one wandered off, tasting the air and following the fence line towards the front of the house.
"He's blind dummy, that's how they see! They do it by heat and vibration though their mouth. Like snakes." Tomias got up, walking over and picking Ringo up, carefully avoiding his snapping jaws.
"What about you Josh? What's your opinion on him?"
Josh sighed, pushing up his glasses and looking between his two best friends.
"I think you two should take your belligerent sexual tension, grab a hotel room and engage in some homosexual congress so I can get some peace."*
He quickly ducked with this pronouncement, just barely missing a pale hand flying over his head and side-stepping a rough kick from behind.
The three had been friends since birth when all three of their mothers had been pregnant at the same time. In fact They had been born, Josh, Erik and Tomias within twelve hours of each other.
As such they shared that easy going friendship that comes so rarely. Anything that was said or done was forgiven within a couple of weeks, with the exception of the time Erik accused Tom of looking like a Jynx which had required a month of chilly silences and a forced apology at the behest of the local professor whom had tired of having the two in class shooting each other daggers.
Now the three of them stared and Josh wondered to himself if this would start another fight. Tomias had a soft spot for the bizarre and confusing and didn't look any closer to breaking down.
In the end he needn't worry.
"Where did you find him anyway?"
"In the yard, he had gotten lost I think. You know the old mine is still right down the road. He must have wandered down here."
Erik bit his lip, then nodded. Reaching out carefully he brushed a had down his friend shoulder, barely avoiding a quick snap of the pokemon as it searched out the new disturbance in his area.
"Fine, let's take him to Prof. Tai and get him registered" Erik turned quickly even as the air filled with shouts of joy both human and *monster.*
"And my Piplup should be ready anyhow...that's the only reason your getting away with this. Sixteen years of waiting to travel to the training grounds, I'm not letting you screw it up with your evil blind dragon thing." Erik kept his voice bitter but both others shared a secret smile.
Carrying Ringo the three began to troop towards the university. The town of Amberlin was like many areas this close to the training grounds. Small houses and dirt roads*wrapped around a local business center. In this case the focal point was the local university.
It was a great stone monstrosity, built during a time when style and elegance had been set aside for function and cheapness. As such it sprawled over a good mile or so of land, with courtyards and unused annexes and towers that had been made from a quick need for extra rooms or just further away ones was needed.
In theory the university was separated into five colleges. Gabriel College taught Musicians, Bards and Actors. It kept the northern squadron of the school and was where Tomias father worked as a teacher.
Uriel college housed doctors both human and 'mon. The Nurse Joys there were sweet, amusing ladies sometimes called the joy of the West where their Center light could be seen facing the setting sun.
Raphael College was for the more literal sciences, keeping mostly to the eastern tower while Metatron college ruled the basement an center rooms. There was the psychics and mystics and rumor had it the halls were filled with Yamask and*
Shuppet.
It was to the south that the lads approached, the great Gate stating that here lay the Master's college of Michael.
It was here as well that professor Tai brought new trainers into the fold. The man was renown in Amberlin as a good and witty individual and one of the most inspiring teachers in the world.*
Though not a specialist or having any great accomplishments he had a way of teaching that made children excited to learn. It was His office that the three teenagers headed with Tomias dragging behind as he struggled to keep horn, claw and jaw away from his face and neck.
They had made it though the central courtyard, empty this time a day except for a few stragglers hurrying to various classes and were approaching the steps to the Professor's office when the door flung open in a cascade of bubbles and feathers.
"Piiii! Pip Pip Piiiii!"*
Piplup, not just any Piplup but Erik's Piplup came bounding out of the mass of watery spheres, a smug look upon his little face. Strutting with an air of superiority the penguin pokemon came up to his trainer.
"I take it you've mastered the Bubble Attack huh?"*
Erik had had Piplup now for ten days, a birthday present from his parents. Like his master the small water-type was prone to cockiness, pride and a healthy dose of trouble-making. Which is why he had been with the professor for a bi of behavioral psychology and an attempt to teach him Bubble early.
"One out of two isn't bad. Let see if we can find the professor amongst this mess."

[Lady Vulpix]

Isn't "acting up" the normal behavior of Microsoft Word? Are the asterisks a result of that? You don't have to use Word to write these, any text editor will do.

Welcome to the Battle Range! Now I'd really like to know what your original TPM name was. Would you like your stories to be archived? If so, under what name? Your style reminds me a bit of someone who used to post here years ago, under many names and starting many different stories. I hope you continue yours, though.

Does your story take place in Ulthuan, or are Josh, Erik and Tomias from some other place? If you need any world references, feel free to ask and/or consult the Dragon's Guild website (http://dragonsguild.com.ar/) and the Dragon Tamers Information Center (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19879).

It was strange to see 4 colleges with names of archangels. Are they related? (I must admit it was also strange to learn of 3 friends born on the same day, but it could happen).

I liked your descriptions.

You can have 4 stamps for your introduction. I wonder how the story will develop. ¢¢¢¢

[Dioscuri]

A) Yes, and when I get off work I'll clean up that post, I'm sorry for using the thread as a testing ground. Thanks for the stamps though *happy dance*

B) It was klan_destine I hid out in TCG and the Game forums. It's been a really long time, like since GSC.

Actually all five colleges are archangel themed. And sorry for the confusion they are colleges in the old ivy league/European style. It's all one university (Amberlin) but the colleges are the speciality areas. Like Harry potter houses I guess? So that's the reason.

I was going to ask. I'm a little daunted by the amount of backstory for Ulthuan. Can I keep my characters in their own world if I keep to the generics of the scenario? (tower with the rooms in the Same place) it's ok if not, I have a secret up my sleeve for it if it has to be in Ulthuan

And finally. Yes it's a stretch that three kids would all be borne on the same day in the same town. That happens to have a creepy university with a department of magic....What could Possibly go wrong there....

[Lady Vulpix]

Ah, I see. Well, if you stick to your own world, then you'll never be able to interact with the rest of us. Someone did that once - a girl who went by the name of Darkfire -, and she posted a few stories, but then she regretted it. I don't know if the same thing would happen to you or not, but if you do want to join our continuity, there are many ways in which that can be handled. For example, you could come to Ulthuan from a different country - some characters have done that before, including my own. And you can learn more about the world on a need-to-know basis, or whenever you feel curious about it; and you can also add to it as long as it doesn't contradict anything that's already established. We usually talk among ourselves to make our stories coherent with each other, and in my opinion that makes the game more fun; but if you'd rather develop your own story in a separate world, only following the details set by the scenario, then I guess you can do that too.

[Dioscuri]

~~~~episode 1: Mysterious Jungle? No way! This is all your fault!~~~~
The Professor's lab, normally a spotless environment with dark wood floors and stainless steel tables now looked like the inside of a car wash.
Bubbles, water and foam covered every available surface, streaming down bookcases in small waterfalls and pooling across the floor. Books and various Pokeballs and instruments floated like the wrecks of a sea battle.*
Amongst this aquatic chaos various water and ice types were cavorting and chatting happily. A squirtle was eating Poffin with two Mudkip, while a school of red-finned Basquin were chasing a couple of Finneon. There was even a cloyster clinging to one wall, opening his shell to cast more water into the room.
"Welcome apparently to SeaWorld Amberlin. Enjoy your stay."*
The voice, calm and melodious was familiar to the three youths who were gawking at the event. All three turned to see a tall spiky-haired gentleman emerge *from one particularly large clump of foam. His normally immaculate labcoat was now soaked and his hair in front dripped down his face as he blinked.
"Erik, please grab the pokeball to your left and return your Piplup, Josh see if you can find my glasses. Tomias, I'm glad to see you've made a friend but can you with one hand start saving some of the books and stuff? Thank the lord I put the electronics away before we started this experiment."
The boys immediately leapt into action. Josh stepped slowly into the water and began to search around, dodging fish, turtles and eels as he searched.
Erik, face still flush from earlier burned even brighter with embarrassment. Yet deep within his baby blues the twinkle of mischievous pride held dear.*
It was with a slow and purposeful hand he fished out a pokeball, clicking the button with a choked giggle.
The red light enveloped Piplup, an safely stored away the ringleader.*
It was Tomias, scrambling as he moved Ringo, a brand new Deino over one shoulder that found several more pokeballs. Within seconds both Finneon, the Cloyster and a Erstwhile Krabby were contained. Even as he scrambled for the next one the rest of the water pokemon glared at him.
The trio made short work however. Josh didn't find spectacles but did find a clump of lure balls that removed the pirahanna School from the room, Tomias found a instrument that placated the other various monsters and Erik a mop which he used with great finesse to clean off areas for books and various sundry.
Within ten minutes the place was still a soaking wreck but the pokemon were gone, the professor was put together along with his glasses and at least four serviceable surfaces were piled with various goods.
"What exactly happened Professor?" Josh asked as he set a stack of waterlogged books down.
"Well you see Claudette's Mudkip was being tutored as well as Erik Piplup by a very patient Cloyster I know. So I figured some others could learn or at least get the idea of them. Everything was going fine until they learned it. Then Piplup decided he had to learn Water Gun. After that it all goes downhill I'm afraid."
Tomias bit back a giggle. The professor shot him a look, then shrugged.
"Well we have at least learned a variety of useful information. For example. I am not waterproof, Squirtle are big eaters and Erik is a bad influence on Pokemon."
Erik blushed again while his friends and teacher burst into fits of laughter. Even Ringo gave a strange rattling screech.
"Ah, now I take it your visit has to do with the Deino that seems to be attached to Tomias chest?" Professor. Tai said.
With a series of nods the boys explained the finding of Ringo in Tomias backyard, Tomias's want to use him as a starter and Erik fifteen pages of complaints and issues with that idea.
"Ah he is right -" the professor began even as Erik fist pumped.
"I told you so, why -"*
"Just a second Erik.*
Tomias Dark and Dragons are much harder to train then say...A water or grass type. And dual-types are harder then single. It's due to their nature on the more...inexplicable parts of the universe.
Also, be advised that Deino themselves require alot of time and experience to trust their trainers and even more time to evolve. He'll still be a basic when Piplup is an Empereon. If your understanding of that then I'll let you keep him on a beginning basis. "
Tomias didn't even blink. He had started nodding when the Professor began and didn't stop now. The pretty one smiled, nodded again and shifted Ringo to his other shoulder.
The professor nodded. He had taught all three boys since they were little. A favor to Joshua father Mr. Omarashi. He also was glad Tomias didn't try a long speech. While big on looks and emotional aptitude the boy was a bit of a mess when it came to Wordcraft.
"Alright. Let's register you."
The small group headed to a back room -The professor explained he had locked up the electronic equipment including the trainer cards. - with only muttered complaints from Erik and the soft unsettling noise of Ringo trying to eat the back of Josh's shirt.
The back room was row after row of glass cabinets, filled with Captureballs, flutes and watches, drums and strange looking devices that glowed with inner light. The professor motioned for Tomias to set the dragon on the table and began to fill out the paperwork for a trainer card.
In Amberlin and surroundings everyone registered as some kind of trainer, contestant, or etc. The reasoning for separate licenses was vague and archaic yet immutable. One of those little things that no one dared question for fear of registration being made illegal.*
The process didn't take long, and with the exception of one pen they managed to keep all the various tools they used to measure, weigh and name the dark monster.
Satisfied the pokemon slipped of the table and waddled around, bumping and tasting things with a renewed vigor.
Josh was bustling around, checking out the various dex, watch and radios that were available, connecting and turning them on While Erik who had his card already studied the capture devices that were there for new trainers.
Both boys occasionally shot sarcastic remarks as Tomias answered questions but in general the mood was a comfortable silence. After cleaning the lab and the walk to the university all three were glad to just be relaxing.
There was a small cheer and one irritated 'finally' when the trainer card popped out, a glittering little thing with Tomias's information and address.
They were still cheering when Ringo came by with a large sheet in his jaws. Without even acknowledging his new trainer he continued on, absent-mindedly chewing on one edge.
Tomias reached for him, grabbing the sheet and not even paying attention as his friends saw what the sheet had been covering.
A large cabinet much like the others stood open near the back corner. It was the same height and width, the same pure glass with steel corners. The difference was where shelves and accoutrements would normally lie was just a big softly glowing substance. The color of the morning sun.
"OH!" Be careful of that. It's a stabilized transporter from the honor students at Metatron. They want me to compare it to the Teleportation abilities of certain pokemon."
Of course, it is a well known fact that as soon as someone says be careful something bad happens.
So no one should have been surprised when Tomias, who had been trying to pull the sheet back to the corner and out of his partner mouth trip and fell. Nor should panic overcome them when he fell headfirst into the device.
There was a snapping noise, a burst of light very very similar to the teleport use by Pokemon and Tomias, Ringo and the poor chewed sheet disappeared.
Erik's jaw dropped. Reaching out with both hands he grabbed two trainer bags full of food, capture devices and potions in one.*
The other wrapped around the wrist of his friend Josh who still had a top of the line experimental dex-type device in his hands.*
He Leapt out, yelling a quick apology to the professor and dragging Josh and supplies slammed into the teleport. Another flash and crack and the professor was alone.
"Ah...and I liked that sheet." the older man moved towards the phone. People would have to be notified, emergency parties formed.*
The jungle. A chirping seething pit of life. Bugs scuttled in the undergrowth, birds swoop in and out of the sky.
Everywhere one looks one sees greens and golds, bright swatches of red and blue flowers placed against the cool dark shadows where eyes glimmer.
The seething Chaos is a perfect place for there to be two cracks of light, one after another. It wasn't the perfect place for three teenage boys, one Deino and a pair of packs to tumble into.
Arms and legs, horns and straps all entangled and twisted as they rolled to a stop underneath a huge Banyan Tree.
Silence...then a soft whisper
"Who ever hand this is, its cold and wet and in my eye. I would appreciate if you removed it." Josh cool and clipped tones caused the others to begin moaning and complaining.
The only one happy was Ringo. A brand new world to taste. Plants he hadn't chewed on yet.*
"Tomias I told you he was evil -""It's not his fault!""Why would the professor keep such a -"
"When we get back I swear -""Where are we any -""Dei? Nom Nom Nom Deino!""Gentleman. I don't think we will be getting back anytime soon."
As before when his voice caused commotion now it produced stillness in at least the human members of the party.
All three now stared around. Besides them, the world was nature. Nature all around. Trees and foliage as far as the eye could perceive.
It was also woefully unprepared for Ringo. He currently had desiccated two saplings and was happily munching away on a third.*
"hey! Stop! It might be poisonous!" Tomias rushed forward, grabbing his 'mon away from the flowering plant and carefully removing it from his jaws.
"Oh good. Hopefully the beast will keel over since it got us into this mess. At least give it a stomachache or something." Erik muttered
This remark set off another interlude of squabbling, allowing Ringo to go wandering off while Josh studied the flower. Blinking he looked around then turned to his travel companions.
"Lucille, Ricky quiet the lovefest for a second. Check this out" he extended his hand to show a half-masticated delicate white orchid."

"A flower? How nice...so?"

"Not just any flower, A Vanilla plant. And that's a banyan tree. Those over there are bamboo and those blue flowers are african violets. And while I can't be sure I think those are royal palms over that way being mauled by your Deino."
Erik stared, running a hand though his hair he bit back a sarcastic remark. He knew if he was patient Josh would get to his point.
"What I'm getting at is that none of these plants are all native or wild-grown in the same place. Someone made this jungle."
Both blonde and rouge looked at him with confusion as he opened his new Dex device. It sputtered to life and then shot a beam of blue light from deep within, bathing the trainers, dragon pokemon and plants.
"I'm right. Check it out. Even discounting residue from the Teleportation there is a high amount of geomancy and thermionic Emission. Were inside something, NOT outside."
This revelation left them stunned. Erik bit his lip and ruminated while Tomias grabbed Ringo. Bringing him back over.
The three sat for a little while. Pondering the possibilities. On one hand sitting here someone might teleport to them and use a psychic type to get them out. On the other hand they might be easier to find there way to a door or to civilization. especially since they now knew it was just a room. A large room but a room.
In the end the decision was made for them. While they sat Ringo happily munched away, tasting rocks, vines, Tomias's hair and more flowers. It was on one particular bunch -which Josh identified as "Buttercups"- that disaster struck.
The jungle filled with the soft fluttering of wings, and soon out of the undergrowth came a huge Collection of Butterfree.
The trio jerked back as the Insect Pokemon began to collect nectar from various plants. A particularly large one swooped down and clicking to itself danced along the ground before stopping.
Compound eyes met black fur. With a harsh shrill cry the Butterfree took to the air, staring down at the intruders. Immediately the others of his flock took back into flight
"Uh-Oh" Tomias muttered, standing up.
[It looks like it's fight time! Ringo LV5 (m) with Hustle VS Jungle Butterfree LV15 M with Compound eyes]
Butterfree flapped his wings as Ringo let loose a small growl and snapped his jaws with a peculiar menace.*
Butterfree began to glow, wings spread out a harsh blue tinge came to them and Tomias and his friends had to squint and avert their gaze as a confusing mass of energy slammed into Ringo.
However if the psychic attack was even noticed by him the Basic pokemon didn't even notice. He just stood there, horn raised and energy coursing though his body.
The Butterfree flipped back and released another blast again to no avail. Finally Erik gave a short laugh.
"Of course! Confusion is psychic. Damn little guy is too dumb to be confused."
Normally Tomias would have been insulted but currently he had bigger things to worry about. He looked at Josh but the stockier researcher was busy scanning data into his Dex.
"Go on Ringo! Don't just stand there focusing... Knock the bastard down!"
The words must have made sense, for Ringo opened his jaws and growled as blue fire began to build in his throat. His horn quivered and his whole body seemed ready to explode.
Butterfree on the other hand was weaving back and forth, antennae twitching as silvery blue powder flaked down. The Sleep spores it hid in it's wings should have made quick work of it's opponent but he had waited to long.
The dragon cyclone erupted from Ringo mouth, all the rage and bruises transformed into pure energy that burned the poisonous powder and slammed into the butterfly above him, bringing the poor insect to the ground aid a thud.
Tomias cheered and Erik grinned as the dragon pokemon followed the sound in a dead charge, tackling his enemy solidly across the side.
This wasn't the end however, the Butterfree slammed it's fangs into Ringo's side, causing the poor pokemon to stumble back with a nasty bite.
The buterfree took to the air again, wobbly but confident as it sprayed soft white silk across the neck and legs of the still ailing reptile, cocooning him slowly.
"Hey! Don't let him win! Rage out again."
The encouragement, or maybe just the discomfort of string made the Deino respond...Opening his mouth another cyclone burst. The string ripped and the poor Jungle defender took the brunt of yet another blast of blue white force.
The Butterfree floated down, weak and unable to move it was easy to finish off with another quick stumbling tackle, leaving the Dragon pokemon aching but the victor

[Battle over! Ringo +2 Lv...LV7 reached.]
Tomias races over picking up the string covered bug bit warrior. Much squealing -on the part of his trainer- and embarrassed stares -on the part of his friends commenced.
"We need to find ourselves away from here." all three agreed even though none knew who spoke the words.
As such the trainers and pokemon and researcher traversed further into the jungle, hoping to find the exit...or at least a mage who made such a thing


OOC recap: 3 stamps, a Dig TM*
Team Dioscuri: *Piplup Lv6 and Ringo Lv7.


So im still trying to Battle with Word. Yes I know I haven't edited the before post or this one. I promise I will I know it's hard to read structurewise...try to forgive and be lenient, I know it's a lame excuse but I'm trying my best to make this work.

^^;; besides the structure I hope it's ok

[Lady Vulpix]

Well, the pacing was a bit slow at first, but it picked up when the group was teleported. Nice turn of events, by the way. And I also liked the way they noticed the jungle wasn't natural in origin. Take 8 stamps. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

By the way, please let me know if you're interested in spelling/grammar corrections. Some people want them while others feel offended by them, so I prefer to ask and do whatever is best for everyone. I personally would like readers to correct any mistakes they find in my writings, so that I can fix them on the archived version.

[Dioscuri]

Of course I would like any help that can be given

Yey! 8 + 8 equals 16¢

[Lady Vulpix]

In that case, pay attention to the difference between "then" and "than". "Then" is used for conclusions or successions of events, while "than" is used for comparisons.

And you can use the database (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21818) to keep track of your stamps, Pokemon, and anything else from this subforum you want to keep track of.

[Knight of Time]

Well, my progress on writing this story was quite slow at first, but at last, I'm done. I have a few references I used asterisks for though, and they represent or were used for the following:

*- all my AC items.
**- I borrowed this concept from the episode "Mutiny in the Bounty", when Pokemon Hunter J's Ariados used String Shot at times to bind its human target to a sturdy object like a tree or a boulder.
***- when I mean coding, I basically am talking about the assembly language, or ASM for short.

Anyway, here we go. Oh, BTW, after this story, does this mean that I may be written into future stories from anyone else here? I'm slightly curious.

My POV

Things in Crossroads were starting to look quiet these days, after my last couple of battles, I woke up to a knock on my front door. Opening it up, I saw a familiar face. It was Allen, the guy who had helped me on a couple of occasions.

"Hey Kyle, I have a bit of news to tell you. Have you heard of a place called Glacier Peaks?"

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask, Allen? Do you have a friend or relative that lives there?"

"No, I don't. I just found this letter addressed to me on my doorstep earlier today about this business needing major help with a serious problem they're currently having."

"What kind of help do they need, Allen?"

"I don't know yet. All I know is that they said something about possibly needing some Electric Pokemon to help them. Unfortunately, not one of my Pokemon is an Electric type. But nonetheless, I think we're going to have to move away from Crossroads. You have Electric Pokemon, right Kyle?"

"Yes, I have Surge and Electro. It makes me wonder if the business is lacking in Electric Pokemon or something?"

"It's possible. But at this rate, we better think about our decision to move. We can't let this business suffer, agreed?"

"I totally agree with you, Allen. But the thought of moving is going to be tricky, that's for sure. I don't want to go alone, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to go alone either, if we ended up becoming separated, it could be bad news. But how do we get to Glacier Peaks?"

"Good question. It seems so far away, I guess our only chance is to take a chance with a portal, and see where it leads us."

Reluctantly agreeing with Allen on the move, I shrugged my shoulders and packed all my items* and Pokeballs into my backpack, and got on my Mach Bike, Allen following me close behind. As I rode to the bike shop, I could tell it had taken a bit of damage from the fire that had happened there months ago. But I felt some relief when I walked in to the shop.

"Sorry I didn't get around to visiting you last time Mr. Gardiner, are you working on getting some repairs here?"

"Yes, but I can't afford to get the repairs done right now...unfortunately, that fire cost me a few thousand dollars in damage, but I'm just glad you weren't responsible for the fire. I did hear someone was responsible though, who was it?"

"If I recall correctly, his name is Jeff "Blue" Azure, I did have a run-in with him earlier, but I don't know what became of him after my friend Allen battled him. Either way, Mr. Gardiner, I was wondering, is there anything new here?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I just picked up a new kind of bike that has two speeds to it, if you shift the gears around, you can cover plenty of distance on it, and I even heard you can climb up some slippery slopes if you build up enough speed first."

"Would I have to give up the other bike I have?"

"Yes, absolutely. But since you saved my shop from getting any further damage, I'll let you have this one, free of charge. Just promise you won't tell anyone, okay?"

"I promise."

"Good, it's yours. Now, if you don't mind me asking, what's on tap for your next adventure?"

"It's a bit of a hard one to say, Mr. Gardiner. Allen just received a job opportunity at a faraway place called Glacier Peaks, and I'm feeling this strong temptation to move with him, I mean, if I don't go along with him, I may never see him again, so I am thinking seriously about a change of scenery. It's been fun living here in Crossroads for the last few years, but I feel the time has come for me to say goodbye. Anyway, it was nice knowing you, Mr. Gardiner...see you around."

With my voice beginning to break, I knew it was time to make a painful decision. As I made the bike exchange and said my final goodbyes to Mr. Gardiner and Crossroads, I walked out to the outskirts of town with Allen and let out all my adopted Pokemon.

"Well guys, as much as I don't like doing this, Allen is moving away to a place called Glacier Peaks, between the choices of never seeing him again and moving out of Crossroads, I can't bear the thoughts of losing touch with him, so I figured I better tag along with him."

"Leaving your hometown sounds like a tough decision, Kyle, are you sure you can handle it? I mean, this is the most emotional I've seen you in as long as I can remember." Surge said, speaking for everyone in the group.

"Yeah Surge...I may have a hard time fitting in to whatever city we end up in, but I'm pretty sure you'll all be able to make some new friends in that city, once I figure out what "that city" is."

"I just hope we don't end up getting lost on the way, that's what has me most nervous, Kyle." Allen said, turning to face me and my crew.

"Well, in the case we do, Allen, I have Blazer, who might be of help."

"How? What is Blazer again? I can't remember."

"Blazer is a Flareon. If we end up needing some light, and we have the right stuff, he can help us."

"Okay...I suppose that'd mean having to find some decent-sized piece of wood that will burn safely. Should we go?"

"Yeah, but let's see what Blazer thinks first. Hey Blazer, if Allen and I end up travelling, but night falls before we reach a town or city, can you possibly help us please? We may need a bit of your fire along the way."

"I can try, Kyle. I agree with Allen though, if you guys need my help later on, you should show me a branch of sorts, and I'll light it for you." Blazer said.

Okay, thanks Blazer, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. For now, since I may need to travel by my new bicycle to get to this Glacier Peaks area Allen talked about, I'm going to have to recall everybody. I mean, my explaining as to what's going on here is one thing, but you and the others will be safer in your Pokeballs." I said.

"I hear you, Kyle. Uh, how fast can this new bicycle of yours go?" Blazer asked.

"I have no idea...I guess the only way to find out is to ride it and test it at its faster speed...with any luck, we'll be hitting a new area we haven't explored yet." I said, as I recalled Blazer and the rest of the crew back to their Pokeballs.

Turning to face Allen, I hopped on my bike.

"You ready, Allen? I just hope this won't be a case of no turning back, but either way, let's catch the portal quick!" I called, as I pointed to the portal I could just make out in the distance ahead.

As Allen and I rode off in the direction of the portal, we entered it, and soon found ourselves in a most unfamiliar place. I could no longer see the sky, and the walls appeared to be made of solid dirt, as I suddenly realized we ended up in a cave, of all places. Noticing a few wild Geodude glaring angrily at Allen and I as if we were invading their territory, I quickly turned to Allen, who pointed my attention back at the Geodude.

"Kyle, wait. I think those Geodude made their home here. I mean, we didn't mean to come in here on purpose, but if we can get them to believe us, maybe they'll let us go without any harm." Allen said.

"I dunno Allen, but it's worth a try." I said, as I turned to face the trio of Geodude.

"Listen to me, both my friend and I aren't intruders. We only came in here because our mode of transportation brought us here. Neither he nor I want to hurt any of you, so can you please let us be?" I asked the middle Geodude, who appeared to be the leader of the group.

"Fine, whatever. But if you come back in here again, you will suffer the consequences. Now get out of our sight." the middle Geodude said, still glaring at me.

"Wait, where's the way out?" I asked.

"Out of the cave? Up that slope. But I highly doubt you'll make it up...unless that thing you have can get you up there." the middle Geodude said, pointing at the steep looking slope in between me and the only true exit out of the cave.

Seeing that the exit looked tricky to reach, I rode up the slope leading to the exit. But the ride proved to be more difficult than I thought, as I didn't quite make it to the top, and ended up getting sent backwards close to where I was a moment ago. Then I remembered the second speed on the bicycle Mr. Gardiner gave me. Getting off the bicycle for a moment, I shifted the gears around until the bicycle was ready again, and I hopped back on, making a second attempt at the slope. This time though, I had the burst of speed I previously needed, and I made it up to the slope, peering ahead at the many stone columns holding up the cave ceiling. Allen soon followed suit, getting up there too, and with that, we exited the cave. But no sooner did we exit the cave, I turned back for a split second and found the Geodude were still looking angry as they were starting to pound their fists against the columns.

"What's going on? What are they doing?" Allen asked.

"I'm thinking they might be using Earthquake...good thing we got out of the cave on time Allen, because I have a bad feeling they..."

Before I could finish, a loud crash made me stare at the exit in shock.

"It looks like the Geodude in that cave wanted to make sure we'd never disturb them again after we got out, Allen. I hate to admit this, but it looks like we cannot backtrack..." I said with a sigh.

"Oh well, the days of living in Crossroads were as good as they lasted." Allen agreed.

As Allen and I rode away, we soon came to a sign. It read "Sector Alpha, 10 km ahead, Glacier Peaks, 25 km ahead.".

"Hmm, to get to Glacier Peaks, it seems like we have to go through Sector Alpha first. If we're lucky enough, maybe we'll be able to each get a PokeGear in Sector Alpha." Allen said.

"A PokeGear? Uh, can you elaborate a bit more on it, please Allen?" I asked.

"A friend I know from Glacier Peaks has some relatives in Sector Alpha, she tells me that they know a bit more about the PokeGear than she does herself. But we better look for a place to sleep, I mean, look at the sky." Allen said, pointing up.

Seeing that night indeed was approaching, I let out Blazer and Cyberius.

"Why did you send Cyberius out, Kyle? He doesn't have any Fire-type moves." Allen said.

"That's right...but I have a few TMs I'm certain will help him. The first one is Hidden Power, and I made sure to make it the Fire type. Now Cyberius, your predecessor had Hidden Power as well, but it wasn't the Fire type back then. For you though, it will be. You never know, but this might be handy outside of battle incase Blazer needs an extra hand." I said.

As I sprinkled the TM's powdery contents on Cyberius, everyone watched as a small circle of red orbs began to form around him. Though they didn't fully form yet, they still signified the success, as Cyberius learned Hidden Power: Fire!

"So Cyberius, the reason I wanted to give you Hidden Power: Fire was mainly to cover up for some things Cybertron didn't, or wasn't able to do. He battled a lot back in my old days, but I'm holding onto hope you'll one day be as good as he was, or better. I mean, he evolved into a Porygon2 before I lost him, but now that you're a Porygon2, you can succeed him by eventually evolving again." I said.

"Evolving did help me, but it didn't grant my wish to fly." Cyberius said, looking slightly upset.

"Haha, you want to learn how to fly? That's a good one. The only way I can see you getting wings, is if you evolve again, or take this other TM I have for you. If I recall correctly, when you make it all the way to a Porygon-Z, you'll get wings...in a way. Of course, as the saying goes, the sky's the limit. Let's just enjoy things the way they are, for now. I'll try and help you make your dream a reality someday." I said.

"Other TM? Are you trying to be Santa Claus here, Kyle?" Allen asked.

"Ho ho ho, I guess so, Allen. It's not Christmas, but I think the Psychic TM I recently picked up will also help Cyberius. Cyberius, you up for learning this second TM?"

"Psychic? Can that help me fly?" Cyberius asked, his eyes beginning to glow a little.

"Well, yeah, it can if you use the move on yourself, but you won't be able to fly as much with this move, as I have a feeling using Psychic to fly will make you able to fly for only short distances." I said.

"It's alright. As long as I can get a little more maneuverability in the air, I'll be fine." Cyberius replied.

Sprinkling the contents of the second TM on Cyberius, I watched as his body absorbed it. This time, he began to glow a light purple for a brief moment as he learned how to use Psychic!

"Okay Cyberius, now, this last TM I want to give you is one I recently received from a friend. It's Tri-Attack. If we utilize it in battle, there's the chance for you to freeze, burn, or paralyze your opponent, depending on which one of the three beams from this move has the most effect, if one of them ends up having a stronger effect than the others at any time when you use this move in battle. Cybertron knew this move, too, when another friend traded me her Tri-Attack TM years ago, but this will definitely get you a step closer to following in his footsteps." I said.

Taking out the Tri-Attack TM, I sprinkled its contents on Cyberius, and soon a small fireball, a tiny bolt of lightning, and a cloud of ice energy formed in a triangle around Cyberius, signifying he had learned Tri-Attack!

"Whew, teaching a Pokemon three moves definitely takes a bit out of the trainer, but how do you feel, Cyberius?"

"I'm definitely feeling a surge of energy in my body...I can't wait to start putting it all to good use in battle." Cyberius answered.

As we all kept going, we soon came to another cave. This one though sounded very quiet, and above all, pitch black inside. Blazer had been walking close to me, and I could tell he had the look of curiosity in his eyes.

"What were you going to ask me, Kyle? I presumed you did send me out for a reason." Blazer asked.

"Yeah, I had a slight feeling I would need your help, Blazer, and I can see I am definitely right. We can't safely traverse this cave without shedding some light, and since Flash isn't one of our options, the only other choice for getting through this cave is to make a makeshift torch. Allen, do you know where we can find a stick or something that Blazer can ignite one end of, without turning it into a major fire hazard?" I asked.

"A makeshift torch, eh? Hmm, well, if we had a candle, that would be even better...but where do you suppose we'll be able to find a candle in the middle of nowhere? I think the stick option might actually work, Kyle, but as far as I know, the stick needs to be dry, and it wouldn't hurt for it to be thick, either." Allen said.

I looked around for a stick, and spotted a tree nearby with a couple of fallen branches near it. Assuming that the wind must have blown them off at some point recently, I walked over and picked up one of the branches. Though it still had some excess wood on it, I managed to break off a good number of the segments until I had a long stick. I mean, it wasn't perfect, but I knew it had to do, as I took it back with me to show Allen and my Pokemon.

"Well, what do you think, Allen? You think this will make a good makeshift torch?" I asked.

"If it can last long enough, sure." Allen replied.

Shrugging, I led the way into the cave, with Blazer at my side. Allen followed cautiously behind. Slowly leading the way, I had to move the torch around a bit in defense to scare off a few Zubat that came a little too close for comfort at times, but Blazer was thankfully there during the times when I needed to relight the stick because of the times when it nearly went out. But after an hour or so, we made our way out of the cave and found ourselves at another sign.

"Sector Alpha, 1 km. ahead North-East." I said as I read the sign.

"Ah, that means we're getting closer to our destination....wait, what's that commotion up ahead?" Allen asked, suddenly getting tense as he heard something unpleasant ahead.

"Help!" a young female voice shouted in the distance.

Feeling relieved for having my strong hearing, I dashed along with Allen to the source of the cry for help. Pretty soon, we found ourselves face-to-face with a guy with a nasty attitude. He had a fairly strong build, and judging by the insect tattoos on his arms, he looked like he was a specialist in Bug-type Pokemon. Taking a closer look, I could see he had a young woman of around twenty-five or so in his strong grasp. She had medium dark hair, and some auburn highlights, and was carrying a backpack of sorts, and she was struggling to get free.

"Hey, put her down!" Don't you know any better?" I angrily asked.

"Oh yeah? You want to save the girl? I dare you to follow me to where I plan to take her."

"Where are you taking me?" the young woman demanded.

"To a place called Sybyll...aw, drat, now I'm going to get it!"

"What, did you just let the cat out of the bag?" I asked, cautiously eyeing the guy.

"My boss didn't want me giving away the location of the town where she's been building her army of rebels. If she finds out I accidentally gave away the town to an outsider, she'll be furious with me, especially now that most of her followers have been already defeated!"

"Just who is your boss?" I asked.

"Yssera. I'm one of the few remaining grunts she has left. So we've been executing desperate measures to make sure her plans won't collapse."

Turning to the young woman, I asked her for her name.

"I...I'm Autumn. Now can you please help me?" she asked.

Telling her I was ready to help, I then turned to her captor. He looked like he was ready to flee from me.

"Yssera is going to be furious at me...I better get out of here!" said the grunt, as he turned and began to run away, still holding his captive.

"Hellllp!" Autumn cried.

No sooner had I heard her crying for help, I saw the grunt take off in a mad dash. Thinking he was cowardly, I knew I had to rescue Autumn at all costs. But while walking, Allen and I came across something in the snow.

"Hey look Allen, a Pokeball. You thinking it might be Autumn's?" I asked.

"I don't know...but if it is hers, we better return it to her when we save her, just incase." Allen replied.

Before I could say another word, the Pokeball opened up, revealing a sad looking Rapidash inside.

"Oh, hello there. Do you belong to Autumn?" I asked curiously.

The Rapidash nodded at me and neighed quietly, indicating this Rapidash was probably Autumn's.

"Ah, well in that case, I'll make sure you and Autumn are reunited." I said to the Rapidash, making sure to give her my word.

The Rapidash soon neighed again, and I let her go back into her Pokeball. Picking the Pokeball up again, I put it into my backpack, but put it into a separate area so that it wouldn't be accidentally amongst my own Pokeballs. Turning back to Allen, I had the name of the town of Sybyll fresh in my memory, and so we headed for Sector Alpha first, since neither of us had a map. As Allen and I walked toward Sector Alpha, we soon came to a visitor information center, where we saw a young woman around my age at the front desk. She had long, dark hair with some blond highlights, and was looking surprisingly nice in her business outfit.

"Hello, may I help you?" she said.

"Yes, my name's Kyle, and my friend's name is Allen. We're new to Sector Alpha, but we need a map to find our way to the town of Sybyll...have you heard of that town?" I asked.

"My name's Jennifer. To answer your question about Sybyll, I most certainly have heard of it, and I've been hearing really bad things about events that have been happening in that town...you better stay away from there." Jennifer warned.

"I can't...I've been chosen to help defend the town from the wrath of this Yssera character and her army...one of her cronies just kidnapped a woman named Autumn that I tried to help. He ran away from me." I said.

"Autumn...come to think of it, I think I know her and her mother. I've seen her mother from time to time at the supermarket." Jennifer said.

"Do you have her mother's address?" I asked.

"Her mother lives in this blue and white house, you can't miss it. Most of the house is blue, but the roof was painted white." Jennifer said.

"A white roof on a blue house? Interesting, and thanks. Oh, BTW, I forgot to mention where I am from, I used to live in a place called Crossroads, but I couldn't stay there because my friend Allen was given a letter from somewhere in Glacier Peaks that apparently needs help." I said.

"Ah yes, that's north of here. What kind of help?" Jennifer asked, turning to face Allen.

"If I recall correctly, they needed the service of an Electric-type Pokemon. But I'm beginning to think the problem may be worse than I thought." Allen replied.

"Hmm, that is odd. A place looking for the help of Electric-type Pokemon...I wish I could help you two there, but I don't have any Pokemon with me right now. Before you go, let me give you two a couple of maps. They should help you both immensely." Jennifer said.

"Thank you." I said.

"Yes, thanks." Allen said.

"You're most welcome. Anyway, good luck on your quest." Jennifer said.

As both Allen and I thanked Jennifer for her help, we began to steadily explore the sights of Sector Alpha, and about 5 minutes in, we found what we were looking for. There was a blue house with a white roof just a few feet away, so we went up to the door, and I carefully rang the doorbell. A woman who looked like she was in her mid-fifties opened the door.

"Hello? Hmm, don't think I've seen you two here before...who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Kyle, and this is Allen. You're Autumn's mother, am I right?" I asked.

"Yes, but how do you know her?" the woman wanted to know.

"I bumped into her earlier today, however, I have some bad news, she was kidnapped!" I said.

"Kidnapped! Are you serious?" the woman asked.

"I'm afraid so. This guy was headed to Sybyll, and it turned out he works for this woman named Yssera. He got away with Autumn." I said.

"Ohhh no, this isn't good. Autumn was going to take some medicine to her grandmother in the town of Selenia, due east of here. She and I co-own a medicine shop where we make our own medicines. Not only that, but Autumn's also a budding equestrian." the woman said.

"Okay...first of all, does that mean this Rapidash I found earlier is hers?"

"Yes, she does own a Rapidash. Why do you ask?"

"When Autumn was kidnapped, she somehow either dropped or threw her Rapidash's Pokeball. If it was the latter, I'm presuming it was because she wanted me to be able to catch that guy who kidnapped her."

"Hmm...now did you have a second question to ask me?"

"Yeah I do, as a matter of fact. Do the medicines work on just humans, or Pokemon too?" I asked.

"Well, the ones Autumn took with her only work on humans, but I have a supply of medicines in the basement for Pokemon only. We make various kinds of elixirs here, some restore health, while others give the Pokemon more energy incase they get tired of battling. But anyway, please do your best to rescue her. Oh, before I forget, my name is Linda. Linda Stoddart. Now where are you from?" Linda asked.

"I'm from a place called Crossroads. Unfortunately, it's a long way from here. Not only that, but earlier Allen and I found ourselves unable to go back to the town after a few Geodude created an avalanche in this cave he and I travelled through." I said.

"An avalanche? Oh dear, how?" Linda asked.

"Somehow they used that avalanche to seal off the exit after Allen and I safely got out...they didn't want us invading their territory, no doubt." I said.

"I understand...but it sounds like those Pokemon are indeed territorial." Linda said.

"Can I please come back with Autumn, that is, if I am able to rescue her? Moving to a new town isn't easy for me, but I don't want to feel like an outsider here too much longer." I said.

"I understand, Kyle. Yes, I'll try and renovate the guest room we have upstairs. It's in need of some serious cleaning, so I should be done by the time you come back with Autumn. I want to thank you for accepting the rescue mission, I hope you are successful." Linda said.

"Thanks...I'll be sure to stop him. Allen and I received maps earlier, so we might as well open one of them and look for Sybyll." I said.

Doing just that, I opened up my map and spread it out on the wooden table.

"Sybyll...Sybyll, ah, here it is. Oh, but it's so far from here." I said.

"Yes...according to the map, it's north by west." Linda said.

"North by west?" I asked.

"It's the direction between north, and north-northwest. Sybyll is roughly 600 kilometers from here though, so your best bet may be taking the train. But before I forget, are either of you a Pokemon trainer?" Linda asked.

"I am, why?" I replied.

"Well, presuming that you have some good Pokemon of your own, I hope you'll be okay. For the sake of my daughter, please be careful, I don't want you to end up lost." Linda said.

"I should be fine. But anyway, Autumn won't mind if I ride her Rapidash, will she?" I asked curiously.

"In a situation like this, you might want to ride the Rapidash anyway. But it's up to you if you want to or not. Sector Alpha has a train station, but if you'd prefer an alternate way of transportation, I'm sure the Rapidash will let you ride on her back if you ask her nicely." Linda replied.

"Oh, that shouldn't be a problem; the Rapidash was friendly with me earlier when I first met her, so I'm fairly sure I'll be able to ride her without getting burned." I said.

"Alright, well good luck then Kyle. Please bring back Autumn safely!" Linda said as Allen and I left the house.

Minimizing the map just after Allen and I were back outside, I took out the Rapidash's Pokeball again, and opened it up to reveal the Fire Horse Pokemon.

"Hey, nice to see you again, can you please give me and my friend Allen a ride?" I asked the Rapidash.

The Rapidash could only say her own name, but seeing that look in her eyes that she wanted to help in saving her owner told me that Allen and I were able to get our ride. So we both hopped on the Rapidash's back, and I opened up my map again to find the location of Glacier Peaks, the town we had to go to first before we could head for Sybyll. Upon eventually reaching Glacier Peaks, it wasn't too long before we found a building with a "Help Needed" sign near it. Walking toward the other side of the building to see what was going on here, I could make out part of a majestic hill of snow, with a chairlift mechanism on it. Oddly enough, it didn't appear to be working, and I walked back to the main entrance.

"Hmm, this appears to be the place that was looking for help...Sam's Ski & Snowboard Resort." Allen said, looking at the big blue letters above the door.

As Allen and I walked into the building, the owner greeted us both.

"Hello, and welcome to Sam's Ski & Snowboard Resort, I'm Sam. I take it you received my letter and business card?" Sam asked the two of us.

"I did, yes. I'm Allen." Allen said as he extended his hand to Sam.

"And I'm Kyle. I've known Allen for quite some time now, and I accompanied him here." I said, extending my hand to Sam as well.

"Well, it's nice to meet the both of you." Sam said, as he shook Allen's hand one moment, then mine the next moment after.

"Judging by the name of your business, you must operate this place, right?" I asked.

"Yes, but, we're currently in the middle of a serious problem. Our generator, which allows our chairlifts to run smoothly, was mysteriously stolen one day while we were closed for the night. Someone broke in and made off with it." Sam said.

"Two questions here, one, did you identify the thief, and two, how long ago did this happen?" I asked.

"No, we couldn't identify the thief, and this happened a week ago. All I know, I overheard the name of this town called Sybyll...I think that's where he's from. Also, if you're wondering, he had a young woman as his captive while he stole the generator part. Now, the reason I mentioned Electric Pokemon is, I wish to borrow any you may have on hand to see if they can help us out here." Sam said.

"I have a Raichu and a Jolteon, but that's about it. But about this young woman, her name is Autumn...and that means the thief could be the same guy who kidnapped her. She's got to be the young woman you mentioned. I have to help her." I said.

"If you can leave your Raichu and Jolteon here, I'll see how far we can get if their combined electricity was used as an alternate source of electricity." Sam said.

"I have a feeling it won't be enough, but you never know. Surge, Electro, please do the best you can to help this man. I'll get the generator back." I said.

"We'll do the best we can, Kyle. But if we can't get enough combined electricity, at least we tried. It's better to do something than to do nothing in a dire situation like this one." Surge said, as he and Electro pondered their strategy.

"What about you, Allen? Can you help me save Autumn?" I asked.

"I wish I could go with you, Kyle, but I better stay here. I doubt the Rapidash can support you, me, and Autumn at the same time, so I'll see if I can help Sam in any way I can." Allen said.

Thinking the guy stole the generator as a diversion to make it harder for me to save Autumn, I made a vow to Sam that I'd get the generator back at all costs, and I headed to the north side of Glacier Peaks. Taking the Rapidash's Pokeball out again, I let the fire horse Pokemon out once more.

"All right buddy, I have some additional business now besides having to rescue Autumn, I need to retrieve a stolen generator, you think you can get me to Sybyll now, please?" I asked.

The Rapidash neighed, and soon I was off again. The second trip was longer than the first, but after a couple of hours and a half of riding, I had at long last made it to Sybyll. Upon setting foot in the town, I didn't like what I saw, but I still had a rescue on my hands. Cautiously walking around the town, it didn't take us too long to find the grunt with the insect tattoos, or Autumn. She was tied to a post not far from the grunt, but not with rope. To me, it looked like strong, sticky threads were keeping her bound to the post.

"Oh no, Autumn! Are you okay?" I shouted, as I saw Autumn unsuccessfully struggling to get free.**

"Was it you who stole that generator from Sam's Ski & Snowboard Resort?" I asked angrily as I turned to Autumn's captor.

"You're a real annoyance, you know that? If you want them back that badly, you're going to have to defeat me in battle! If you win, I'll give them both back to you. But if I win, the girl is staying my prisoner, and I'll never return the generator."

"I have a funny feeling I know just what you did to her. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, exposing her to a String Shot!" I said.

"That's just one way to ensure she doesn't get free easily, and I can certainly do the same thing to you and your Pokemon. Beautifly, go!" the grunt shouted as he released a Beautifly.

"A Beautifly? We'll see about that, Cyberius, let's teach this guy and his Beautifly a lesson! Make sure to activate your Download ability the moment the battle begins, with it, that Beautifly's trainer will want to think twice about battling you!" I shouted back as I let Cyberius out.


Cyberius the Porygon2 ("M", L5) VS Yssera Grunt (M) #1's Beautifly (M, L15)

Cyberius' POV

By the time I was into the battle, my opponent's trainer was on the attack already. But I was ready. Thinking about Cybertron, my predecessor, gave me the determination I needed to win this battle for Kyle, and I took a battle stance and activated my Download ability as Kyle had requested, "scanning" my opponent and giving myself a much-needed boost in my Special Attack power.

"What the? That Porygon2's ability somehow gave him a boost in power! No matter, Beautifly, let's start this battle strong so that we can get this pesky Porygon2 out of the way. Use Stun Spore!" the grunt ordered.

"That's what Download does, it increases Cyberius' Attack if his opponent's Defense is lower than its Special Defense. On the flip side, Download increases Cyberius' Special Attack if his opponent's Special Defense is lower than its Defense, or if the opponent's Defense and Special Defense are equal. I did my calculations here, and your Beautifly's Defense and Special Defense are the same, so Cyberius has higher Special Attack here. Now, Cyberius, don't let that Stun Spore touch you, wait for the cloud to get close, then blow it off course with your Icy Wind!" Kyle ordered to me.

I watched as the cloud of yellow spores came my way. When they were close enough, I exhaled and breathed out my Icy Wind, blowing them all away from me. Though they didn't come back to hit my airborne opponent, a bit of the wind still clipped the Beautifly's wings, making him shiver a bit but not lose any altitude.

"Grrr, some strategy! Beautifly, time to change tactics, use Gust!" the grunt ordered.

"Cyberius, move forward so that the Gust can't push you as hard, and use Conversion2!" Kyle ordered back.

I watched as the Beautifly began to rapidly flap his wings, forming a Gust that was a bit on the painful side, but I didn't allow it to push me back too far as I used Conversion2. Praying that it'd be as helpful to me as possible, I closed my eyes for a brief moment as my body turned bright yellow.

Realizing I had become an Electric type, I felt a little extra confidence flowing in me, and was ready to use it.

"Gah, that may cause us problems later on, Beaitifly, but no matter, use String Shot! We want to slow that Porygon2 down enough so that he cannot evade future attacks from you!" the grunt ordered.

"A String Shot? Okay Cyberius, it appears like we can't fully take advantage of the effects of Conversion2 right away, but we can still stop that String Shot, use Ice Beam to freeze it and hit Beautifly at the same time!" Kyle ordered back.

Watching as the Beautifly's String Shot came my way, I shot off my Ice Beam in its direction, causing it to freeze and drop harmlessly to the ground, and hit the Beautifly dead-on. The Beautifly shuddered from the supereffectiveness of my Ice Beam, and although I had weakened him a good deal, he wasn't out yet.

"Beautifly, that Ice Beam did hurt, but right now, we have no further choice, fight back with Hidden Power!" the grunt ordered.

"Cyberius, apparently this guy didn't learn his lesson yet, use Ice Beam on Beautifly this time, full power!" Kyle ordered back.

The Beautifly's Hidden Power was soon fired in my direction. Upon seeing that the orbs had a red glow in them, I gasped, the Beautifly's Hidden Power was Fire, same as mine! I wasn't going to let the Hidden Power get the better of me though, as I fired off an Ice Beam with a little more bite than the last one, weakening the Beautifly even more.

"Gah, this Porygon2 is stronger than I thought. Beautifly, use Giga Drain!" the grunt ordered.

"Alright Cyberius, seems like Beautifly is trying to get back into this battle, so we have to act fast here, use Thunderbolt this time, at its full power!" Kyle ordered back.

The Beautifly began to fly my way, intending to steal some of my health, but I was ready. As I began to spark with electricity, I shot off my Thunderbolt, shocking the daylights out of the Beautifly, and he fell to the ground. He appeared to have been knocked out, but somehow, he was still hanging on.

"Oh no, this isn't good, Beautifly, he could knock you out on his next move...unless we counter with a powerful attack of our own, use the last of your strength to use Giga Impact!" the grunt ordered.

"Giga Impact? I don't think so, pal. Your Beautifly is going down, Cyberius, use Psychic to keep Beautifly from advancing on you, and use it to slam him into the ground. You can do it, Cyberius!" Kyle ordered back.

The Beautifly soon slowly lifted himself back into the air, and used up the last bit of his energy to fly into me as hard as he could with his Giga Impact. I wasn't going to let him off easy though, as my eyes began to glow red, I got him with my Psychic mere inches from hitting me, and I used my Psychic power to slam him hard into the ground. This time, the Beautifly didn't get up, and I was victorious.

I grew to L7!

Hovering back to Kyle, I felt relieved. Even though my Download boost went away and my type changed back to Normal, the reversions didn't bother me at all. But the look on Kyle's face told me that our work was not done yet.

"Okay pal, you remember what you said earlier about what happens if you lose the battle. Now let go of Autumn and the generator! A deal's a deal!" Kyle ordered.

"Fine, take them. Just for the record, by defeating me, you and those other trainers have caused Yssera's defenses to weaken severely, but even so, just as long as she has at least one undefeated grunt remaining, she'll never surrender!" the grunt shouted as he fled out of sight.

"Other trainers?" I thought to myself.

Pondering about who these other trainers were, I ran over to Autumn, still trapped in her predicament.

"Oh Kyle, thank you! I had the slight feeling he was going to win the battle, but you were great! Now, can you please help me get out of this String Shot? Not only is it keeping me from getting away from this post, but I'm afraid the stickiness is going to ruin my clothes after a while if the stickiness doesn't completely come off." Autumn said.

"I'll try...but it looks like I'm going to need help from at least one of the other Pokemon I have on me in order to get you loose...hmm...I've got it. Raven, come on out!" Kyle said as he called out his Zangoose.

"Hi Cyberius, congrats, hi Kyle. Who is this?" Raven asked as he pointed one claw in Autumn's direction.

"That's Autumn. Now Raven, I called you out because I need help to get her freed here, can you do it?" Kyle asked.

"I can try." Raven replied.

"Okay, thanks. Try from the back of the pole, the opposite side of where she is." Kyle suggested.

As Raven carefully pulled the sticky String Shot off the back of the pole, he soon was able to loosen it from the back.

"It's working, Kyle! I hope your Zangoose can do the trick alone." Autumn said as she felt the String Shot loosening more and more.

"Not a problem. With my long claws, this is literally going to be a snap." Raven said, as the String Shot was close to breaking.

"Good going Raven, you've almost got it! Just a few more seconds of pulling, and it should break." Kyle said.

As Raven continued to pull, the String Shot finally broke.

"All right! But now we need to get the rest of this stickiness off me!" Autumn said.

"I have an idea. Raven, how about you wrap both ends of the broken String Shot around each hand. Autumn, you better hold still for this, as this may become a sticky situation for Raven instead of you if it works. Now Raven, once you're ready, pull as hard and as quick as you can!" Kyle said.

"But how am I supposed to get this off my claws if I get it off the girl totally?" Raven asked, looking at Kyle suspiciously.

"You should be able to cut that with your claws, Raven. You don't need Fury Swipes to get it off of you, I don't think. Just try moving your claws in rapid figure eights, and that might do the trick." Kyle replied.

As Raven walked in front of Autumn and grabbed one end of the torn String Shot in each set of claws, he gave the sticky stuff one mighty pull, getting off most, if not all of the String Shot off of her.

"Oh well, there's still traces of it on my clothes, but at least my mom should be able to get the rest off, thanks." Autumn said as she flashed a smile of gratitude at Kyle.

"I used your Rapidash to get here, so I hope you didn't mind me riding it to get here." Kyle said.

"I did see that. And no, I don't mind at all. In fact, I'm grateful I didn't have its Pokeball on me when I was kidnapped, otherwise you might not have gotten here on time." Autumn said.

"On time? Uh...?" Kyle said, looking a little confused.

"I was nervous that the next move my captor could have done, was set the post on fire...incase you didn't know, I don't allow my Rapidash to use Fire type moves because I am scared of fires." Autumn said.

"You, scared of fires? What do you mean?"

"It was about an accident that happened many years ago...my old house was destroyed by a fire and we never found out whether the fire was accidental or not." Autumn said.

"Oh my, did you lose anything in that fire?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, I lost a few minor possessions, some dolls that I used to have as a little girl. I guess you didn't know this, but I have a girly girl side." Autumn said.

"That's very interesting. I'm sorry about what happened to you in the past, but I'm glad we made it here. Anyway, I'm also happy we got back the generator." Kyle said.

"What's that for?" Autumn asked.

"It's for a business called Sam's Ski & Snowboard Resort. Their chairlift mechanism cannot run without the generator." Kyle said.

"That's terrible! Oh, when I think of the ordeal I went through, it makes me so upset. But, this isn't a time for me to cry, despite how emotional I can be at times. Where is this business?" Autumn asked.

"It's in the town of Glacier Peaks. In fact, that's the town we have to go to after I'm finished with my business here. I see your Rapidash can carry two, so do you want to sit in front of me when we're ready to head out of here? I'll guard the generator with my life." Kyle said.

"Hold it right there!" a voice said, interuptting Kyle and Autumn before they could plot their next move.

My POV

Turning around to see who was interuptting me and Autumn just after she had gotten free, I came face-to-face with another guy who looked like trouble. But after some careful eyeing, I could tell he was not the same guy who I had battled earlier.

"So, you're trying to ruin our plans, huh? Yssera has gotten word of your presence here from the grunt you just defeated, so she sent me in to stop you. You better be ready!" this new grunt shouted.

"Be careful, Kyle! He looks meaner than the other guy. I hope you can defeat him too!" Autumn shouted, rooting for me.

"I'll be fine. If I manage to defeat this guy, that'll deal another blow to Yssera's plans!" I said.

"You want trouble? You're looking at it. I train bug Pokemon too, but this one is not to be messed with. Go, Dustox!" the grunt shouted as he let out the poisonous moth Pokemon.

"Cyberius, you're up again. Let's do to this bug the same thing we did to the last bug Pokemon you dealt with!" I shouted, taking a battle stance.


Cyberius the Porygon2 ("M", L7) VS Yssera Grunt (M) #2's Dustox (M, L15)

Cyberius' POV

Just as I thought, my work wasn't over. First a Beautifly, and now a Dustox. I activated my Download ability again, "scanning" my new opponent and getting a boost in my Attack this time.

"What was that?" the grunt demanded.

"Huh, you didn't know about my Porygon2's Download ability? If you're so occupied with your boss' work that you cannot always study your opponent's strategy, a loophole will spell your defeat." Kyle said.

"Download or no Download, I'm not going to take this lightly, Dustox, start this off with Confusion!" the grunt ordered.

"Cyberius, immediately use Conversion2! We want to make things hard for your opponent right away!" Kyle ordered back.

The rippling air around me caused me a bit of pain, but luckily not enough of its effect was there to try and confuse me. Using my type converting power, I turned into the Psychic type.

"Alright Dustox, we have to immobilize that Porygon2 as best as we can! Use a combination of Gust and String Shot to blow the Porygon2 into that post so that you can wrap him up to it the moment he is touching it!" the grunt ordered.

"Seems like that man is taking a page out of the other guy's book there Cyberius, let's make sure he doesn't succeed! Make sure you are constantly moving forward against the wind, then nail him and his String Shot with your Hidden Power!"

The Dustox began to flap his wings hard, creating a powerful Gust that began to blow me backward. But, I advanced against it as much as I could, charging up several red orbs of energy and firing them off the moment the Dustox switched to his String Shot. The heat from the orbs was just enough to destroy the sticky threads, and they collided with the Dustox, shaking him up quite a bit.

"That Hidden Power...ugh, I hate it when Hidden Power turns out to be super effective on my Pokemon! Dustox, let's make sure that Porygon2 can't do that again! Use Bug Bite!" the grunt ordered.

"Bug Bite, huh? Cyberius, wait for Dustox to get close, then give him the squeeze with Psychic. With your type currently Psychic, this will hurt the Dustox more than you." Kyle ordered back.

I was caught off guard when the Dustox quickly flew toward me, intending to use his Bug Bite on me. I waited until he was in range, before enveloping him with my Psychic. Getting squeezed definitely put the hurt on the Dustox, getting him fairly close to his defeat. But, he still managed to suck a bit of my health away.

"Dustox, we cannot afford to take too much more damage here. Use Bug Bite again!" the grunt ordered.

"Cyberius, this is it. Don't let the Dustox use Bug Bite on you again, use Psychic again, and that should do it!" Kyle ordered back.

In a last ditch effort, the Dustox came at me again with Bug Bite. Since he was closer to me this time, I couldn't shake him off without taking another hit, but luckily I managed to throw him off with my Psychic before he could do some real damage here, and he fell to the ground, defeated.

I grew to L9! With that, I learned Agility! My Attack boost soon faded after, and I was back to being a Normal type.

"No, Dustox! You...you are going to pay for what you've done!" The grunt shouted at Kyle.

"What's the matter? You giving up already?" Kyle asked coyly.

"Yssera is not going to like this, I guarantee it. With only one undefeated grunt left, our plans are falling apart, and I'm not going to accept it!" the grunt said.

"You might as well. The more weakened the structure of an evil organization is, the harder they fall." Kyle said.

"Maybe so...but like I said, there is still one grunt remaining. She'll only accept defeat if all the grunts are defeated." the grunt said.

"Have it your way." Kyle said as the grunt ran away.

My POV

After putting a second grunt of Yssera's in his place, I figured that this was a good time to help heal Cyberius' injuries from the last battle. Knowing that I couldn't do the job without a little help, I took out Blazer's Pokeball, and let out my Flareon.

"Oh nice, I like your Flareon." Autumn said.

"Thanks. You know, I thought I should tell you, his siblings and father are part of my team." I said.

"Cool! What kind of Pokemon are they?" Autumn asked.

"Blazer's father is my Jolteon, Electro. Blazer himself is the oldest of the siblings, my Espeon is the youngest of the siblings, and the other two, which are an Umbreon and Vaporeon, happen to be twins, as in brother and sister. Their mother belongs to a friend of mine." I said.

"Do they get along? I mean, with four of them, isn't there some sibling rivalry?" Autumn asked.

"Not that I know of. In my mind, the four of them are best friends. Anyway, they and their father all know Wish, as I wanted Electro to know the move before the siblings were all born. That was shortly after he joined my team."

"Kyle and I have been close ever since I and my siblings were born. If I recall correctly, he wanted my father to know Wish so that when we four were born, that we'd get the move too." Blazer said.

At that moment, I heard something whimpering close by. Thinking it was a Pokemon, I signaled for everyone to be careful as I checked to see what was making all the whimpering. To my surprise, and Blazer's as well, it was a Glaceon. She didn't appear to be injured in any way, but I had the funny feeling she was hungry. The only problem was, I had no Pokemon food in my backpack.

"I can get some, Kyle. I'll head home long enough to pick up something I'm sure the Glaceon will like." Autumn said.

"Okay...but please be careful Autumn. I won't let anything bad happen to the Glaceon." I said.

As Autumn nodded and temporarily let me behind, I ensured the Glaceon that she would be fed. By the look in the Glaceon's eyes, I could tell this Glaceon was believing me, as she licked my hand. Though it felt cold, I still felt the warmth coming in.

We ended up waiting for close to an hour, but soon Autumn came back, holding a bag in her right hand.

"Whew, am I glad I made it back here with the food. Now, how's the Glaceon doing?" Autumn asked.

"She's doing fine." I replied.

Indeed, the Glaceon looked very happy as Autumn took out the contents of her bag, where she fed not only the Glaceon, but Blazer too. On the other hand, Cyberius didn't look hungry at all, which surprised me.

"There you go guys. Good stuff, isn't it?" Autumn asked.

"Well, the Glaceon sure likes it." I said, as I pointed to the Glaceon who was eating happily.

"This food is not bad...it could have been a little spicier, but it's okay." Blazer said between bites.

"Oh, well I'll have to remember that the next time I go to buy more Pokemon food." Autumn said with a smile.

"Anyway Blazer, I think I'm going to need Cyberius' help for one more battle, but before that, I need help to get him healed up, can you do your thing please?" I asked.

Blazer nodded and went to work with his Wish. After a few moments, Cyberius began to have a sparkling light around him as a good chunk of his health returned.

"Thanks guys. Now, I'm ready for my next opponent, wherever he is." Cyberius said.

As I thanked Blazer and returned the Flareon to his Pokeball, we looked around the town for any remaining followers of Yssera, we soon found what had to be the only remaining grunt left. At first, she had her back turned to us and sounded like she was fearing the end for Yssera's plans, but the sudden sound of my foot stepping on a broken branch soon got her attention, and she turned around to face us.

"You! You were listening to my moaning, weren't you?" the grunt demanded.

"Yeah...and good thing too. You must be the last of Yssera's followers here." I said.

"Eh, I may be the last one remaining, but I'm still determined to do what my fellow grunts could not do when they all went down in defeat. I'm going to win a battle for Yssera! Go, Dustox!"

"We'll see about that. I'll just bet that Yssera's plans will be totally shattered if things work in my favour here, Cyberius, you're up once more!"


Cyberius the Porygon2 ("M", L9) VS Yssera Grunt (F) #3's Dustox (F, L15)

Cyberius' POV

I was surprised upon seeing what I was up against this time. But it didn't matter, as I was ready. Using my Download ability once more, I gained an Attack boost to help me in the battle.

"Alright Dustox, this Porygon2 thinks he can have a major part in stopping our leader's plans, but we have to make sure that doesn't happen. Start with Sludge Bomb!" the grunt ordered.

"Cyberius! This Dustox is trying to start things off strong, so we have to start strong as well. Use Conversion2 quickly, and don't let that Sludge Bomb poison you!" Kyle ordered back.

Using my trusty Conversion2 once more to aid me before the Sludge Bomb could hit, this time it made me become a Poison type even though I still took a hit from the Sludge Bomb. It wasn't quite what I had in mind, but it would have to do.

"Aha, that's what I was hoping would happen. Dustox, use Confusion!" the grunt ordered.

"Ugh, you got lucky that happened. But I'm not letting you take full advantage of the situation that easily. Cyberius, use Thunderbolt!" Kyle ordered back.

The Dustox's Confusion hurt a bit more than I realized, but it didn't scramble my mind enough to make me confused. Retaliating, I shot off my Thunderbolt at the Dustox. To my surprise, some of the electricity remained around the Dustox, crackling as it indicated I had paralyzed her with sheer luck on my side.

"Pffft...paralysis is no fun to deal with Dustox, but we have to cross our fingers so that it doesn't cripple you too much. Use Confusion again!" the grunt ordered.

"Cyberius, that was great that you got Dustox paralyzed, but right now, we ought to fight psychic power with psychic power. Use Psychic on Dustox!" Kyle ordered back.

The Dustox looked like she was about to try and make my head spin with Confusion again, but paralysis took over before she could make the air around me begin to ripple again. I used my own psychic power on her, conjuring up a stronger wave of Psychic energy that went through the Dustox painfully, making her drop to the ground. I thought I had won right there, but when I saw she was able to lift one wing off the ground, I knew it would take a bit more work to defeat her.

"Alright Dustox, it's time for a last-ditch effort here. With you in your paralyzed state, we have no choice but to use...Facade!" the grunt ordered.

"Cyberius, just one more hit on Dustox should deliver victory to us. Let's make sure we get that victory, by using a little element of surprise. Use Hidden Power!" Kyle ordered back.

Paralysis didn't stop my opponent from scoring a strong hit on me, but I was able to hang on there as I used my Hidden Power, sending off several orbs of energy that glowed red and circled around Dustox, before hitting her all at once and sending her down into a heap, knocked out.

I grew to L11! As my free TM, I got Return!

"Oh no, Dustox! I never expected that Hidden Power to be of an element you're weak to...nonetheless, you battled well." the grunt said as she recalled her defeated Dustox.

"Now what, Kyle?" I asked.

"Yssera will soon figure out her plans have been foiled. For now, let's head for the nearest Pokemon Center and heal up before we head back to Glacier Peaks and Sector Alpha." Kyle said.

"Very well, go then! I don't need to hang around here, and considering Yssera is probably going to be furious with me by the time I go to see her, there's no sense for me to keep hanging around." the grunt said as she walked off.

"Let her go, Kyle. I don't think we're going to hear from Yssera for a long time." Autumn said.

My POV

With Cyberius victorious once again, I decided now was the best time of any to evolve my beloved Porygon2 into his final form. Taking out the Dubious Disc I got recently, I showed it off to Autumn for a second.

"You sure you know what you're doing with this thing? I mean, is your Porygon2 really ready to evolve?" Autumn asked curiously.

"he's been ecstatic about evolution since he told me earlier today about how much he wants to fly. So I'm quite sure the answer to your questions are yes, and yes." I replied.

Using the Dubious Disc on Cyberius, I watched as he absorbed all the new data coming into his system and began to glow white. Within a few moments, the transformation was complete, leaving me with a happy looking Porygon-Z.

"Well, what do you think of your new form?" I asked Cyberius.

"I feel a little strange...but other than that I feel great!" Cyberius replied.

"You know Cyberius, I have an ability to do some basic coding***, although I don't know if any of that will help you outside of battles. But maybe, maybe we can find a way to provide some laughs someday." I said.

"Okay, now that you're done with the evolution stuff, why don't we head for the Pokemon Center, please?" Amber asked.

Nodding to Autumn, we headed for the Pokemon Center. After several minutes of healing and a bit of relaxation, we left the Pokemon Center and prepared to leave Sybyll. With the generator part in tow, Autumn and I rode back to Glacier Peaks first atop her Rapidash, and I pointed out Sam's Ski & Snowboard Resort to Autumn as it came into our view. Stopping just short of the building, I walked in carrying the missing part.

"I'm back. Look what I've got!"

"Kyle, you're safe. Is that the missing generator?" Allen asked.

"It sure is. Sam, did my Electric Pokemon help out enough while I was away?" I asked.

"They did give us a fair amount of temporary power, but now that you've gotten the generator back, we can finally get the ski lift running at full power again." Sam said with a smile.

Thanking Surge and Electro for their help, I let them back into their Pokeballs, and helped Sam and Allen as we got the generator back in its proper place.

"Well Kyle, I was thinking I might as well stay here in Glacier Peaks, by becoming Sam's assistant here. It was fun travelling with you though, so come back anytime you want." Allen said.

"I wasn't expecting you and I to no longer travel together Allen, but I guess that if this is what you want to do, I'm totally okay with your decision. Anyway, I better head back to Secor Alpha with Autumn, see you later!" I said, as I waved good-bye to Sam and Allen for now.

"Well, how'd it go?" Autumn asked.

"The generator is back where it rightfully belongs. However, Allen has decided to stay in Glacier Peaks, presumably to make sure nothing bad happens with Sam's ski lift business ever again. I guess this would be the right time to head back to your house?" I asked.

"Yes. You know, in all this time I spent with you, I nearly forgot about my task. Let's go back to my house for now, then I'll head out to meet my grandmother. Thankfully, the medicine I brought along with me is okay." Autumn said as she let out a chuckle.

Getting back on Autumn's Rapidash, we left Glacier Peaks and made our way back to Sector Alpha, where our last stop for the day was back at Autumn's house.

"Autumn! Oh, I'm so glad you're all right! But your shirt, what happened to it?" Linda said as she pointed at the marks on Autumn's shirt.

"It's a long story. Anyway, I'll take it off and change into a different shirt. I still have to deliver the medicine to Grandma." Autumn replied as she headed upstairs to her room.

Nodding at Autumn then turning to face her mother, I was slightly curious to ask what would be next for me.

"If you want, you can stay here with us, Kyle. But where's your friend?" Linda asked.

"He decided to stay in Glacier Peaks." I said.

"I see. Well, I finished my work in the guest room, so if you want to go up there now, go ahead. It's across the hall from Autumn's room." Linda said.

"Thank you." I replied.

As I went up to the higher floor of the house, I noticed Autumn's door was locked. Figuring she just wanted privacy for the time being, I went to the guest room and relaxed, pondering where I'd be going next.

[Lady Vulpix]

...And I'm finally done reading this story! Sorry for the delay, I've been busy these days, and I suppose the other workers have been busy too.

You get 12 stamps for the story, plus another 6 stamps for the wait, totalling 18! And congratulations to Cyberius!

Now for the comments...

Your descriptions have improved, and it was interesting to see a portal that led to an unexpected place. (How could you understand the Geodudes' speech, by the way?) But there were still some situations that didn't seem to make much sense.

For starters, Allen decided to move to an unknown area because an unknown business needed help. Would you do something like that? And Kyle followed him because he couldn't stand the thought of living away from Allen, yet he left Allen at Glacier Peak and headed for Sector Alpha?

Also, Autumn's mother was incredibly calm for someone whose daughter had been kidnapped. Sounded like she didn't believe the story and just wanted to get rid of the strangers by humoring them.

The grunts were all weird and cartoonish, but the first one was just... unbelievable. It's impossible to run all the way to another town while carrying a struggling woman (Kyle and Allen could have taken him down then and there). And then he made a stop and stole a generator while neither Autumn nor the workers made a move, and just somehow lifted them both up and ran off with both of them? Even assuming he had super strength+speed+stamina+balance, it would still feel weird (and that's already a strong assumption).

There were also some time issues. 1. The business contacted Allen because they needed electric Pokemon and somehow assumed that Allen could provide them (I'm also assuming that they had interviewed Allen for a job position, because otherwise it would make even less sense that he went there). 2. Allen and Kyle decided to go, and then saw the grunt kidnap Autumn. 3. The grunt stole the generator while carrying Autumn somehow, thus causing the need for electric Pokemon that led to 1. Was there some kind of time travel involved? Like Kyle and Allen arrived in Ulthuan some time before the letter which summoned them was sent? That would be really weird too.

Also, how can you make sure to make Hidden Power a certain type? The type of a Hidden Power depends on the individual Pokemon who uses it. You could have somehow scanned Cyberius (by means of rare psychic powers or technology we don't have in Ulthuan) to figure out in advance what kind of Hidden Power he would have, but you can't go to a store and buy a Hidden Power TM of a certain type.

I may have said this before, but it can't be nice for Cyberius to be compared to Cybertron all the time. How would you feel if someone you care for were always comparing you to someone else, asking you to follow his footsteps and hoping that you'll be like him someday?

And if you'd really wanted to go back to Crossroads, I'm sure you could have found a way, or at least tried to look for one.

I'm curious, where did Kyle learn Porygon architecture assembly language?

[The Blue Avenger]

Just something small to get back into the swing of things. :D

Epsilon & Upsilon
---
Cam, currently in the guise of a Machop, snaked his hand into the hollow of a tree. Ah, yes. There it was. A candy bar. King-sized, no less. It was the standard payment, he had decided, for his services. This time, his clients had been a Rotom and a Pikachu. The Rotom had seemed to run the show between the two of them, and there definitely was a relationship there, though Cam couldn’t put his finger-analogue on exactly what it was.

He started into the candy bar as he walked back towards town. The job had been simple. Much like the few other Pokémon that had hired him since he started offering his services, Team Lightning Strikers, as the Rotom had called himself and the Pikachu, wanted information. There was, the Rotom said, a duo that they kept running into. He wanted as much information as he could on them.

The pair, as it turned out, had been an Electabuzz and an Electrode. They were easy enough to tail; the Electabuzz had a mouth that never quit, and so all Cam had to do was stay in the shadows in their favorite hangout and listen. Before long, Cam had their levels, their moves, their items, everything down to their favorite flavor of ice cream (caramel for the Electabuzz and vanilla for the Electrode). The Rotom, when Cam handed over the information, had looked, in order, thrilled, then terrified; apparently the Electabuzz outclassed him by some tens of levels.

Not that that mattered to Cam a whole lot. He had done his job, it had kept him busy for a bit, and he’d gotten some good candy out of the deal. Plus, he needed to get his sleuthing skills in order if he was ever going to find out what’d happened to him before he joined his trainer.

---

“Okay, Ups, here’s where we stand.”

“You’re hovering, Epsilon.”

“What?”

“How can you say where we stand when—”

“Oh. Ha ha. I get it. Anyway.” The Rotom unfurled a sheet of paper on the forest floor where he and a Pikachu, Upsilon, were hiding out. They were crouched behind a bush in order to attract minimal amounts of attention. This plan was more or less doomed from the start, as one member of their duo was a Rotom and the other a naturally shiny Pikachu. “Look. This is the information Cam came up with about Daleth and Aleph.”

Upsilon looked over the paper. It was helpfully organized in tables, with pictures dotting it here and there. “I woulda thought Daleth woulda liked mango sherbet more.”

“That’s beside the point. This is why they keep trashing us, Ups. Look at how strong they are. Look at their moves. They’ve been set up with some really great TMs. They’re double our level, even.” Epsilon sighed and looked up from the dossier. “I think our plan from here on out should be to avoid them at all costs.”

It was then, in accordance with proper dramatic timing, that they heard the one voice they were desperately hoping not to hear: “OH YEAH!” A figure, bright yellow with striking black stripes, came leaping out of a tree, followed, less oddly, by a red-and-white orb rolling up behind him on the ground.

Epsilon growled. “Daleth,” he said, spitting the word out.

“And Aleph!” Upsilon added. Epsilon glared at her.

Daleth, the Electabuzz, struck a pose as the wind shifted the canopy above them, casting him in a beam of sunlight. “I’m HERE!” he crowed. “And I can tell that you’re just absolutely THRILLED to see me!” He laughed – well, you could call it a laugh; to Epsilon, it sounded more like he was just repeating “ha ha” over and over.

“Look, Daleth,” Epsilon said. “We’ll leave you alone. Any time you’re around, we’ll get out of the way. We won’t bug you anymore. Just let us go, okay?”

Daleth whipped a finger out, wagging it in Epsilon’s face. “OH NO! We can’t let that happen, can we, Aleph?”

“No,” the Electrode said in a considerably more understated voice.

“You’ve had someone spying on us!” Daleth continued. “I can certainly understand WANTING to spy on me! Ha HA! But it’s unacceptable! For your crimes against me, I’m going to SHRED you!” He thrust his finger directly overhead as the sunbeam got momentarily brighter.

Epsilon’s face fell. “H’oh boy.”

STRIFE! Epsilon and Upsilon versus Daleth and Aleph!
Epsilon: “Take it away!”
Upsilon: “Yay! Here we go!”
Daleth: “OH YEAH!”
Aleph: “Let’s get this over with."

Daleth immediately began the battle by locking eyes on Upsilon, winking, and flexing his muscles. “Hey there, baby, is that a notch in your tail or are you just happy to see me? UNF!”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Epsilon growled, but even he could see that Daleth’s moves had the desired effect – Upsilon was staring at Daleth, her eyes half-lidded and a dopey smile on her face. Before he could do anything about it, though, Epsilon looked upwards – a drop of rain had splashed on his forehead. Another joined it, then a third – before long, a downpour had started, courtesy of Aleph, who had somehow performed a successful Rain Dance despite lacking several of the prerequisites for dancing in general. Okay, Epsilon thought to himself, they’ve opened with moves to throw us off. Something big must be coming. Better prepare myself. He faded out of plain sight, replacing himself with a reasonably-accurate stuffed facsimile. Nobody noticed the switch; Daleth and Aleph’s eyes were all locked on the substitute.

“OH YEAH! Aleph! Bring on the storm!” Daleth called.

Aleph nodded. “This should be more than enough…” Without a moment’s notice, he sent a tremendous lightning bolt into the sky. It arced in a parabola before crashing down right on Epsilon – or, at least, his replacement. The substitute simply ceased to exist – all that was left was a small pile of smoldering ashes. Epsilon crept back into the battle, looking slightly more worried. This turned out to be justified, as Daleth immediately hammered him with a fist that was crackling with frost crystals. One blow was all it took to send Epsilon spiraling to the ground.

This didn’t seem to concern Upsilon, who just continued to fawn over Daleth. “That was such a strong attack,” she crooned, tugging at her ear shyly.

Daleth grinned, striking another pose. “OH YEAH! If you like that, baby, I’ve got something REALLY hot for you!” He surrounded himself in a blue glow and propelled himself up in the air with a liberal blast of psychic power. With a backflip, he came crashing down on top of Upsilon, who was too busy admiring the form of the dive to even think about dodging. When he picked himself back up, Upsilon was entirely too unconscious to be admiring anything.

Daleth and Aleph win!

Daleth grinned. “OH YEAH! That’ll teach them to spy on us, eh, Aleph?”

“It certainly taught them something,” Aleph said unemotionally as he glanced over the two fallen Pokémon. “Whether we run into them again, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

“After that drubbing? Ha HA! There’s no way they’re going to show their faces again!”

“Yes, and that may be true, but fate does play games with us all.”
Daleth frowned at his partner. “You think too much.”

---

Some time later, after the duo had gotten a chance to regain consciousness and lick their wounds, Epsilon crumpled up the dossier and tossed it over his shoulder-analogue. “Remind me to never get anything from Cam on those two again.”

“Sure thing!” Upsilon saluted.

“We should probably go find a new hideout too. And maybe find new places to explore where those two won’t be.”

“Maybe we could head down to the beach and see if we find any caves,” Upsilon said.

Epsilon considered it. “That could work. Let’s give it a shot.” He began leading the way out of the forest, Upsilon trailing close behind.

“Oh yeah, Epsilon?”

“Yeah, Ups?”

“Don’t get any info from Cam on those two guys again!”

“…Thanks, Ups.”

[DarkestLight]

Heh. Like the short story there.

What makes it fun to read is the rewards. King sized chocolate bars, assorted candies, its really funny. I guess the obvious question is: What would Cam do for a Klondike bar?

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry for the delay, I was caught in a mess of work, computer issues and demanding relatives.

Welcome back to the Battle range, Jeff! You get 13 stamps for your story! :yes:¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

I think that was the first double-battle I've seen with all-new characters. Greek letters vs. Hebrew letters... interesting. (And no, that wasn't meant to be a pun about characters).

The story was funny and had a nice flow. I particularly liked the description of the Thunder attack. ε and υ were doomed from the start, though. How do you fight someone whose dramatic statements are assisted by the sun itself? :P

By the way, Machops do have fingers, but Cam wouldn't be able to put one on a relationship anyway. ;) And perhaps possessing an appliance could allow Epsilon to actually stand.

[Wolfsong]

one mroe rbg for me pleas. this time for Blazer. *hands over seven stamps* From the Electric Shutdown Retirement System

[Lady Vulpix]

The Smeargle's teammate will be a Raichu.

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: Ebony and Kiara’s battles in the blizzard room were supposed to have taken place before Sinopa’s battle in the second round of the games. I also bought and gave Kiara a Flamethrower TM from the reward center. Had a little bit of writers bock while working on this but at least I managed to get something written. The battles may be short but I’m trying to get back into the mindset of writing them…..


(Kiara’s POV)

After we had learned the results of the first round, I saw Darin and Sinopa slip out of the hotel room. I decided to congratulate her later, and decided to get some rest. Ebony and I would need it, given that we would be battling tomorrow. At least this one was going to be a friendly battle, not like my last one.

“Hey! Give me that back. It’s mine!”

I looked up when I first heard Colby’s shout, in time to see Rick chasing after the beach ball with the black vaporeon on his heels. A chuckle escaped, when Amy when I saw her scoop the ball up and put it away for the time being.

“I’ll give it back later,” she promised Colby as Rick ran off to see what else he could find. “I’ll give it back as soon as he’s interested in something else.”

It turned out that Colby didn’t have to wait for very long because Danny pounced on rick and the two of them ran off chasing and wrestling with each other. I watched Colby when he got his beach ball back, until he ran outside to play with Tiny. Then, I yawned and closed my eyes, letting myself drift off to sleep.


* * *

The next morning, while Amy and the others were preparing to leave, she gave me a note saying that Ebony and I had permission to train without her being present. She also sent Blazer with us so that he could teleport us back to the hotel room when we were done. Then we’d all leave together.

As we made our way towards the West Tower, Blazer kept his eyes and ears open, and so did I. Ebony glanced around occasionally, but overall kept her eyes on our destination. We hadn’t gone very far when he heard pawsteps behind us. Blazer and I stopped and turned around to discover that Rick was following us. When he saw that we had noticed him, he gave a yip and ran over and nuzzled me.

Blazer sighed. “I’ll be right back,” he promised. Then, in less time than it took to blink, he was gone.

“That is cool,” Ebony remarked, as I nodded my head in agreement.

A couple of minutes later, Blazer returned just as silently as he disappeared. “We have a couple of options.”

“What are they?”

The first one is that I can take Rick back to the hotel now,” he explained. “Or we can take him with us. Ultimately, it’s your and Ebony’s decision.”

I glanced over at her. “What do you want to do? I don’t mind keeping an eye on him until my battle.”

She looked over at him. Rick gave her his best ‘I’m cute’ look, and she sighed.

“I think he’s been taking lessons from Sugar, but he can come with us.”

Rick purled loudly as he wound himself around our legs.

“Okay,” Blazer agreed with a nod. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” True to his word, he was back a short time later.


* * *

Once we arrived at the outside of the West Tower, Blazer picked Rick up by the scruff of his neck, before he pushed against the door opening it and holding it open for Ebony and me to go through.

The guy at the desk blinked when he saw Rick, Ebony, and Blazer. In fact, I had to clear my throat a couple times to get his attention. When he finally noticed me, he leaned over the desk, so I had to stand up on my hind legs in order to hand him the slip of paper giving us permission to use the facilities.

He took the paper, read it once, then again, before pushing a button to open the door behind him and motioning us past. I shook my head as the three of us quietly walked past heading into the stairwell where he started our ascent to the top floor.

As we neared the top floor, Rick began to struggle and Blazer finally set him down, letting the eevee walk alongside us. However this time when the door opened to the Blizzard Room, he didn’t rush inside like we were told he had done in the Jungle Room. Instead, he slowed down and entered behind Ebony and myself, alongside Blazer.

The cold didn’t seem to bother him too much as he pawed at the snow. When it didn’t hurt him he jumped only to sink into it when he landed. The shiny eevee let out a surprised squeak before squealing with joy as be began to play in it.

For a while, nothing happened. None of us saw any other Pokémon, so I fluffed up my fur as I kept an eye on Rick. We all chuckled when he jumped into another snowdrift. This time instead of crawling out, he rose up on the back of another pokemon, a glaceon. Blazer stepped forward, but Rick just giggled. He wagged his tail before leaping down from the ice eeveelution’s back, and with one last nuzzle, he began playing in the snow once more.

The glaceon watched him with a smile before turning her attention back towards us. At first she didn’t say anything, merely watched us as she sized the two of us up. Blazer glanced back before he followed after Rick to make sure that he didn’t end up getting into any trouble.

I could feel the heat from Ebony’s mane getting stronger as her impatience rose. Just as she snorted, the air leaving her nostrils looking like smoke, before she could say anything the glaceon spoke up.

“I assume that you are looking for someone to battle.” The ice eeveelution stated as she watched us, her eyes focused mainly on Ebony.

“I am,” the black ponyta confirmed as she snorted again, this time in anticipation. The glaceon approached her slowly, coming to a stop in front of her as she waited for Ebony to make the first move. I backed off a short distance so that I could still watch the battle but not be in the way.


Ebony L.18 http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/WolsongsWilderness/ebonyponyta1.gif F Ponyta Vs. L.25 F Glaceon

(Ebony’s POV)

I pawed the ground with my hoof as I watched my opponent. The ice fox stood there her eyes never leaving me as she waited for me to make the first move, as I did the same. As the minutes ticked by, I began to lose patience and I charged at her, the flames above my hooves burning brightly melting the snow as I charged. Just as I reared up, the glaceon split into two. When my hooves crashed down, the copy disappeared and I stumbled into a snow drift.

Snorting angrily, I jumped out of the snow and whirled around to face her. I could see that the glaceon was smiling and that irritated me. Then she threw her head back and howled up at the sky. In response, chunks of ice started to pelt down. I winced as one landing right in the middle of my head and I glanced over to see that Blazer was standing over Rick. Snorting once more, I charged towards the glaceon and reared up before kicking at her with both of my front legs and managed to hit her twice causing her to yelp in surprise.

I quickly put some distance between the ice fox and myself but it wasn’t enough. I got hit by a beam of ice cold energy that slammed into me and pushed me backwards. I took a deep breath and used recover as I snorted angrily.

She quickly launched another ice beam which was just as cold and strong as the previous one before I took in a deep breath and when I exhaled a stream of flames that slammed into the glaceon and without a sound she sank to the snow out cold.


I won!
I grew to L.20!
I learned Stomp and got Wild Charge as my free TM.

I waited until she came to and thanked her for her battle and watched as she walked off. I walked over and leaned against Blazer as Kiara stepped forward and sniffed the air.


(Kiara’s POV)

Once Ebony was done with her battle and the Glaceon had left, I stepped forward and sniffed the air. I didn’t pick up the scents of anyone but my fellow teammates. Thankfully, not long after, the hail finally stopped. I looked around and noticed that the snow a few feet to my left was starting to sink. Instinctively, I took a step back as a hole opened up and a dewgong poked his head out and hauled himself up onto the snow. He looked over at Rick, Blazer, and Ebony before returning his gaze back to me.

“I take it that you’re my opponent.”

I nodded, thinking that my luck hadn’t been the greatest lately. But I wasn’t going to dwell on that. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly not taking my eyes from my opponent.

Kiara L.49 F Flareon Vs. L.49 M Dewgong

I watched my opponent closely as he started to rust towards me with his tail still dripping with water and glowing blue. Just as his tail would have slammed into me, I leapt to the left and narrowly missed being hit by the aqua tail.

Panting, I turned around. As I did so, I focused on creating a few copies of myself. Unfortunately, I only managed to create just one before it was obliterated by a water pulse.

I growled in frustration as I saw that the dewgong was heading towards the hole that he had first emerged from. I began concentrating on my hidden power and as I did so, my fur began to crackle with electricity. When I released my hold on it, the electricity arced to the dewgong hitting his tail and sending him hurtling into the water hole that he had emerged from and he disappeared under the water.

I looked around warily but since I couldn’t see him, I wasn’t able to detect where he was going to emerge. Instead, I took a deep breath of air which I could feel getting heated in my flame sac and held it as I waited for him to surface.

Just when I was beginning to wonder if he was, I was sent tumbling head over paws as he surfaced beneath me creating another hole in the snowy landscape. Once I came to a stop I turned to face him and let loose the stream of flames until I had to stop and take a breath of air.

I stood there on wobbly legs as I panted. I knew I couldn’t take another hit like that one. When no attack was forthcoming, I looked over to see that the dewgong was lying on the snow. I cautiously padded over to him just in case it was a trick. There was no movement, so I gently nudged him but he was out cold.


I won!
I grew to L. 50
I learned Last Resort and Giga Impact for my free TM.

[Lady Vulpix]

It's nice to see you getting back into the swing of writing, Amy. Take 13 stamps! :yes:¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

I liked the first scene, where Colby and Rick were both after the ball, and the whole situation.

There was just one sentence I couldn't completely make out: "when Amy when I saw her scoop the ball up". Would that be "when I saw Amy scoop the ball up"?

Also, some sentences would benefit from the use of commas, like these ones:
"The ice fox stood there, her eyes never leaving me"
"I quickly put some distance between the ice fox and myself, but it wasn’t enough"
"I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, not taking my eyes from my opponent."
"the electricity arced to the dewgong, hitting his tail and sending him hurtling into the water hole that he had emerged from, and he disappeared under the water"
"I took a deep breath of air, which I could feel getting heated in my flame sack, and held it as I waited for him to surface."
"I was sent tumbling head over paws as he surfaced beneath me, creating another hole in the snowy landscape"
"Once I came to a stop, I turned to face him and let loose the stream of flames"
"so I gently nudged him, but he was out cold."

That would make the story easier to read. Other than that, I enjoyed it. :)

And now... I have one of my own! To tie a few loose ends and prepare the stage for the next scenario.

Glenda's return

<Eshree's POV>

It was the 2nd day of January, and it was Monday. There was a strange feeling in the air... perhaps because it was the first work day of both the week and the year... like things needed some time to get back in motion after the holidays. Or perhaps it was because so many people were out doing random jobs and the place felt empty. Or - I hate it to admit it - it could be because Glenda wasn't there.

I wondered what was up with Glenda's absence. She'd been away for over a week, visiting some relatives in Saphery, but she should have returned and come back to work on the 2nd. She was often a few minutes late with silly excuses like her hair took too long to dry or she forgot to water her plants... I remembered that used to bother me at first; it had made her sound like a bimbo. But over time I had realized my first impression of her had been completely wrong: it was just that, to her, there was no such thing as a minor detail. She wasn't exactly obsessive, but she believed that everything mattered. Sometimes it was a good thing: it was nice to hear her talk about things I had never stopped to think about, like when she wondered why so many people used the work 'literature' when referring to scientific reports, or when she told me about the sparrow she had found sleeping on a traffic light on her way to work. Sometimes we would engage in long conversations about irrelevant things, and I would keep wondering how much longer she could drag them on. But she did tend to overstate the importance of little things, and would sometimes blow things out of proportion. And while I could occasionally help her put things into perspective and calm down, sometimes I was completely helpless. Like the time when she found out I had come from another world. It is weird, I know. I'd lie if I said it wasn't weird even to me: before I met Harims, I'd never imagined I would someday visit another world, let alone spend so many years in it that it would start feeling like home. But there is weird and there is completely outrageous, which is what Glenda had made it sound like. Even after she had calmed down from her initial outburst, it took week before she started treating me with familiarity again, and I felt that I still hadn't fully regained her trust. Because I had done something far worse than make a long journey: I had lied to her about it. I had given her a fake name and birthplace, and even though everything else I'd ever said and done had been sincere, we still hadn't regained the bond we used to have, even though she now claimed to understand my motives and we had managed to finish our joint report before the deadline. And now she was already 2 hours late and it made me so uneasy, and I hated it. I kept telling myself that whatever the reason was, I couldn't possibly have anything to do with it; but that didn't comfort me: what if something bad had happened to her?

Luckily, I didn't have to wait much longer to find out. I heard the door open and turned around to see Glenda stagger in. I had to stop myself from running to her side, and instead waited for her to sit down. She looked terrible. It took me a few moments to get past 'terrible' and see what exactly was wrong with the picture: she had bags under her eyes and her hair was a mess. I'd never thought she could step on the street without brushing her hair!

"Sorry I'm so late," she said. "It took longer than I expected and the regular train is not so 'regular' at night."
"Are you OK?" I asked her.
"I'll be fine. It's just that trains are not a good place to sleep. I dropped my luggage at home, but it was too late to do anything else, so I came here as fast as I could. I must look like a zombie."
"I wouldn't know. I've never met a zombie."

She chuckled.

"It's good to know you can still laugh," I told her. "You had me worried for a moment."
"I'm sorry. It's just... you didn't tell me about the test!"
"What test?"
"On the way to the tower."
"The tower?... Wait, you mean the Tower of Hoeth? You actually went there?!"

She nodded.

"I didn't do it just for you," she said. "Someone had to do it and I was the only one available. But the journey there was... quite an experience."
"Really? I'm sorry. I didn't know there were any tests. I've never been there, remember? What was it like? What happened?"
"Never mind... Everything will be OK, I think. Listen, I'm very sorry for how I treated you and I know my apology is long overdue. I will understand if you can't find it in yourself to forgive me, but I just... I wish things could go back to the way they were between us. I overreacted, I know that now. I just couldn't understand some things, I can't say I understand everything yet, but I'm willing to try."

That caught me completely off-guard. I didn't know how to respond.

"It's... It's OK if you don't want to talk right now," she told me.
"No, it's not that!" I assured. "It's just... I've spent months trying to apologize for lying and trying to make it up to you... and now all of a sudden you're apologizing and saying you want things to go back to the way they were? What brought this about? I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"Let's just say this trip has helped me see things in a different light and recognize the things that really matter. And realize how much of a jerk I've been without knowing it."
"The things that really matter? Wait... Does that mean..."

She looked at me expectantly. I think I failed to meet her expectations.

"Does that mean no more talk about little birds?"
"Little birds do matter," she claimed. "And so do other things... all the things we have shared... they can't have been fake. I think I now know what you meant when you said that I really did know who you were. I would still like to know more about you, though... about what your life was like before you came here."
"Sure, I'll tell you everything you want to know," I said with a smile. "But will you please tell me one thing first?"
"What thing?"
"What did you find out at the Tower of Hoeth?"
"Oh!" she laughed. "I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you that! Sorry, I'm so sleepy... I'm surprised I can still form coherent sentences. I can, right? Or do they just sound coherent to me?"
"You can, don't worry."
"Oh, good. So... where to begin? Ah, yes. First of all, Teclis has nothing against you, and I get the feeling that he has seen weirder things than you in his lifetime, so don't be afraid of him if you want to pay him a visit someday. Be ready for the test, though. It's usually not easy, it's different for everyone and every time, and you may not want to talk about it afterward. But I think that if a large group goes together, not everyone may be tested, so I suppose there is safety in numbers. It's not really harmful, though, but it can be... shaking."
"Oh. OK, I'll keep that in mind, thanks. But did you learn anything about the Black Dragon?"
"Yes, I was getting there. We were right, he's trying to break the barrier at the Forbidden Mountains. It's taking him a really long time because the barrier is that good and he's not really great at strategy, brute force having nearly always worked for him. But he's already achieved some results, and some of the chaos magic has been leaking out, which makes the area even more dangerous. If he keeps at it, he may be able to break the barrier soon. Some measures are being taken to fix it - he didn't tell me by whom, but I think we can still do our part without that bit of information. Especially since Lord Porygon has a part of the seal that was used to trap him. That is the idol he found on Templa Taure, by the way. There's another part, a pedestal. The Black Dragon stole it from the temple. We're lucky he dropped the idol and didn't think twice about it, otherwise our work would have been much harder. Since then, the pedestal has been moved several times, either by the Black Dragon himself or by... others. He was vague about that. But now it's hidden somewhere near the barrier, on the outside. I don't know the exact location, so some search will be necessary, but if we can find it and put the idol back on it, and find someone to complete the spell..."
"What spell?"
"The binding spell. The one that was once used to seal the Black Dragon. He won't go back to Templa Taure, but we can try to seal him on the mountains."
"Right. So... what spell is that, and who can cast it? I don't think any of us is exactly a wizard."
"Good point... we'll have to work on that. We need to tell the others. Lady Vulpix, Lord Porygon... and the Dragon Tamers! Maybe we can come up with something if we all work on it."
"It's been hard to schedule meetings these days. First the deadlines for the December reports, then the holidays and now almost everyone is out catching up with field work. But we'll try... Hopefully our branch will come together once everyone realizes how dire the situation is. We've waited too long already. I'm not an expert, but I do know that if chaos magic is leaking out of the mountains, it's serious. If we let it get any worse, there's no telling what will happen."
"We won't. We will have that meeting, and we'll come up with a plan. We need to talk to... who's in the building right now?"
"Lady Ninetales, who never seems to leave her desk, and Lord Magikarp, whom you don't want to talk to. Gabi should be back soon, though. She had to do some inventory work at the Reward Center, it shouldn't take too long."
"OK, let's wait for her, then," she yawned. "I just wish I could take a nap in the meantime. I had a terrible night, there was a fat man sitting next to me on the train and he kept leaning over me. And then when I changed trains in Lothern I was afraid of falling asleep and missing my stop. This desk is starting to look like a pillow to me."
"If you want to take a nap, I'll cover for you. It's the least I can do. After all, I was the one who asked you to go to the tower."
"Oh, Eshree, you're amazing. I'll be eternally grateful."
"Now you've stopped making sense," I said, half-jokingly. "Relax, everything will be fine."

I couldn't be certain of that, of course, but I felt it had to be true. After all - I thought as I saw her lay her arms on her desk and rest her head on them with a smile - things were already starting to return to the way they should be.

[DarkestLight]

Note: These stories are what I wrote before I knew the whole deal with the end of the scenario. So they're gonna take Rapp away...and then bring him back via a simple cellphone call. It's also gonna have a bit of a fun twist, cause I love pirates :D

And awaaaaaa we go!

Ch 3.2: Panhandling for jewels

The next morning left Rapp with an immense headache. He sat up, and remembered where he was. A quick scan had everyone accounted for, except for Zent. She NEVER got up early. Quickly, he thrust himself up and dashed out the cave. His thunderous exit woke up Wyrm, who wriggled after groggily. Wyrm barely spied Rapp tearing down the path, sliding to execute some of the sharp turns necessary as he began shouting.

"Zent! Baby girl! Where are you. Zeeennnnt!"

His voice echoed across the mountains, rebounding a incalculable amount of times. But that did not dissuade him from listening for a reply. He dashed back up to the cave and ran farther up the path, repeating the shouting process. Wyrm calmly watched the hectic manner in which Rapp began this search, and slithered out in the chilly weather in order to alleviate his trainer's worry. He slithered up the path a tad and took a moment to take a deep breath. Exhaling allowed for a thin stream of fire to be produced, and hit against the mountain. Snow began to melt, and soon a hole could be seen.

Rapp turned around to see Wyrm burning this hole and slid next to him to investigate. As they peered into the hole, they both were surprised to see Zent sitting in there, eating something shiny and ...gold? Evidently, the value of money was absent when it came to her appetite.

"Little girl, don't scare me like that." Rapp said , as he reached in to pull her out of there. Zent however growled at his hand. Rapp knelt down, and looked at her.

"Hey, you ok?"

Zent growled again, and partially crawled out of the crevice she was in. She stared past Rapp and then retreated back in the hole, uttering one word.

"Stwanger."

"Huh?" Rapp turned to look behind him, and noted Wyrm zipped into hiding. He was by himself, and there was a man bundled up in front of him. "Oh. Oh. Sorry, I'm blocking your path. Excuse me."

Rapp said, as he stepped into the cave. The figure shuffled past for a few moments, before stopping and turning around. Removing their hood, Rapp could make out supremely rosy cheeks and a tuft of hair atop deep set eyes.

"Hi there! Hiking today?"

"Eh, actually, I'm heading back. I was looking for a way through, but I can't find one. Unfortunate, I wanted to see what was on the other end of the mountains." he replied. The hiker nodded, and looked up the path he was going to take. "Oh.Well you can take a different route and end up down by the shoreline. Still interested?"

Rapp looked back at the path he had to take. This took the better part of 6 hours. But that also led him to the train.

"Let me ask you. Is there a way to Eataine from the other side of these mountains? We have to get there soon."

"I believe so. There are a few villagers over there who live off of the chilling sea. They use the lighthouse to dock their boats when sailing in the times of unfavorable weather. I'm sure someone will be glad to give you a lift. If you go down this path, you'll find a smaller dock and a cabin where they usually refuel."

"Thanks for the information. I guess I'll see you there, I have to get my group up." Rapp said, now rubbing his arms in the wake of all this cold. Rapp turned to head back in, when he heard a clap. He turned toward the hiker, whom had a very creepy smile on his face.

"Hey! I know what will warm you up! How about a battle!"

Rapp stared at this man. He wanted to have a battle out here? In the freezing wind? What kind of fellow was this? Did he not realize how cold this snow stuff was? He had to, otherwise he would have not been here.

"Umm, I really don't think my party is up to snuff..."

"Oh stop. Now you're being modest. I saw you on TV. You won second place with that plant Pokemon. I don't wanna battle that, if that's ok. But you gotta have others! Come on! Let's battle. You'll be warmer after it."

Rapp knew this guy was not going to be budged until he battled, but who was even awake?

"Hey! Who's up besides Zent!" he shouted into the cave forlornly. Wyrm slithered forward, but the rotund girl stepped forward, stopping the snake.

"It's cold out there. Stay warm Wyrm. I'll take this one." May smiled and stumbled out, yawning. Rapp was a little shocked to see May up, but this would have to do.

"Ok. You got yourself a battle."

May lv13 vs Snorunt lv13

The hiker smirked, and released his Pokemon from a sphere he carried on his vest. The ball bounced back to his hand, and in its place was a small Pokemon that Rapp immediately recognized. "Hey, you have one of those! What are they called?"

The hiker gleefully replied. "Snorunt. They're funny cause they always shake. But, enough pleasantries. Snorunt, hit her with a Powder Snow!"

The Snorunt nodded and opened his mouth. "You ready to freeze, fatty?"

At that insult, May's eyes went from boredom to anger. She looked to Rapp-and he just pointed to it.

"Don't even ask me. I heard him too. A Slam should set things off right."

May stomped forward, as the Snorunt shook his arms and compounded the cold that she already felt on her body. It was fine, as she blew into her hands and flopped forward. The Snorunt watched her lurch forward...and stepped backwards, allowing her to fall flat on her face. It snickered and pointed at her, before firing another Powdery puff and fluff in her face. She wiped the chilling structures away and got back up, wiping her belly free of the silt.

"Oh no, not so easy now is it? Ok Snorunt. Go for a Leer. Put her in her place."

The Snorunt smiled and then changed his face to that of a stern one. May looked right back at him, and swung her hand out in a typical female maneuver. The slap caused the small ice creature to spin on his feet, and tilt backwards.

"Knock it off twerp! Its cold and I want a hot shower!"

"Well..ow! I'm just following orders!"

"Follow this!"

]May huffed, and flung her tongue out, slathering the poor Snorunt with a bounty of saliva and bad intentions. The Snorunt stood there, partially disturbed by the girth that just touched him, and partially from the ensuing paralysis that came about because of it. He shook in place a few times, before being able to move, but by then May had already made her play. She coiled her tongue around his triangular form, and began to flex it tightly. Snorunt struggled to move-and the Hiker felt this might be more trouble than it was worth.

Rapp noted that the battle seemed to be under control, as he crouched down to examine his Larvitar burrower. The hiker looked from the battle to Rapp, surprised at the lack of enthusiasm he had about this battle.

"How are you so calm. Can you even control your Pokemon, she's just squeezing him! Snorunt, Bite her tongue!"

May's eyes opened wide at what she heard, and Snorunt relished in his Trainers' choice of attacks. He opened his mouth and bit down on that bulbous muscle, making sure to shake his body a bit to really sink his teeth in. May hissed and reeled her tongue back in, sticking her hand in her mouth to rub the sore spot. Snorunt gnashed his teeth and came in close, ready to bite her again. But once more, he ran right into a open palm smack that knocked him back.

"PNOCK IF OTH!!"

"Huh fatty? Can't hear you while your chewing your tongue!"

Rapp turned away to stifle a giggle, as May huffed. She stomped her foot in frustration, and looked back to Rapp. Rapp turned to face her, hiding the laughter he so wanted to erupt into.

"Yes May. Hammer him into oblivion if you wish."

The little ice being seemed fine with the hits dealt so far, and so waddled over to try and put the kabash on May. May stomped toward him, and raised her hand in anger. Snorunt gleaned, and seemed to ripple, as she slammed her hand down, and all she could see was her fist going right through it! Aw what now? She turned around, and saw 3 more Snorunts, all with their annoying beady little faces.

"Good split Snorunt. Now let's make sure she can't move. Icy Wind!"

The Snorunts agreed with the choice of moves, and began to serenade the breeze together. If it wasn't already cold enough, a whipping gust flushed May's cheeks and gave her a nasty chill. With all this cold attacking her, she felt imperially sluggish. That didn't stop her from trying to smash the little runt into oblivion. She flicked out her tongue again, in a attempt to wrap one-but all she got was air. That left two-one on each side of her.

Snorunt had the upper hand now, and used it well. He kept May pinned down with another Icy Wind, and now the poor Lickitung was on her knees, trying to fight the chill. Rapp was watching carefully, and looked at the two clones that were pinning her down. Once was standing next to the mountain, the other precariously close to the edge of the road.

"May, don't try to hit them. Let off that strange cry you have.."

May listened, and nodded, realizing she completely forgot she knew that. She unfurled from her curled up position on the ground and released a strange set of sounds. Its effect was multiplied in the mountainous setting, their effect carrying over to all the Pokemon in the immediate region. Rapp wasn't sure about Wyrm, but he covered Zent's ears just in case. The Snorunts were visibly stunned, and they began to walk in circles. Rapp noted the Snorunt that walked in a circle over by the edge walked off the trail...and didn't fall.

"May. East 'Runt. Hammer Time."

She pushed forward, and raised her hand again. It felt like an eternity for her to stomp over, but the Snorunt was no match for what came now on his head. Her weight was the driving force for that overarm blow, and it laid the Snorunt out immediately. She backed away after completing the strike, watching as the clone faded away, and the actual opponent try to move. But he was down, crunched by that blunt force trauma.

[May wins! May grows to Lvl 14]

The hiker stared in shock at his little 'Runt lied there, too hurt to move. He quickly scooped him up and looked to Rapp.

"Wow, you really are good. I thought you were a fluke when I saw you. That little pink one is pretty strong huh?"

"My whole team in equal in ability. But, aside from this, how far is this small pitstop for the ships? 3 hours this way? Your Pokemon has given mine a hardship that will make it harder for us to travel this distance."

Rapp stated, pointing to the shivering Lickitung that now clung to his leg. The hiker nodded, but began to back away. "W-well that's the breaks! I'll see you at the cabin." He immediately began to trot off, his jolly size making for a funny sight to see him accelerate.

Rapp disregarded him and knelt to May, taking off his vest. He put it on her and buttoned it so it could stay on somehow. She looked at him like he was nuts, he just had a T-shirt on now.

"Now. If we hurry, we can make it and I won't catch cold. You're all warmed up, and I know Zent is. Wyrm, Mossy, you two ready?"

Stumbling out of the cave came the plant, but he was dragging something. It was apparent that Supersonic had a grander effect here, as Wringwyrm was yanked out of the cave, but still coiled up in Mossy's vines. He had a dazed look on his face, and he kept fidgeting around erratically. Mossy glared at May, whom shrugged.

"Ok ok. No more pointing fingers. Besides, I have that robe we used as the blanket. Lets move." Rapp stated, darting back in the cave to grab the aforementioned item. In no time at all, he was wrapped up and stuffed Wyrm atop his head, and Mossy on his back. Zent waddled after them with May as they began to trot to the cabin themselves.

Within 2 hours, the group saw smoke in the nearby sky. While no sounds were audible yet, Rapp clapped. "Great. We're nearing the refuel spot. Nice warm fire. Sounds nice." May clapped as well, and began to increase her pace, trotting in front of Rapp to get in this seemingly mythical area. Rapp snickered and began after-Zent now being lifted for this portion, since it was downhill.

"Don't want you rolling down ahead of us." he told her as she tried to kick free of his grasp. Her kicking stopped when she opened her eyes and realized that they were running down the side of the mountain. In lieu of this new sensation of weightlessness, she kicked her feet in joy and roared her delight. Rapp could only smile as they slid down the rugged path that led them free of the mountains and onto rugged plains.

Once the land was less inclined, Rapp set her down. He took the time to walk around in a circle since he had run down a long way. That hiker from before had just reached the top of the descent-and had since stopped to catch his breath. Rapp waved to him, and then pointed to May, whom finished scaling the treacherous downpaths at a record pace. Sure, she was chunky, but it was all muscle. She raspberried the Hiker, before walking past Rapp and headed straight for the log cabin in the foreground.

The cabin was rustic, and yet it held a charm to it all its own. Its placement made it a primary spot for Fisherman and hikers-as the Ulthuan sea was not too far away, a 15 minute walk at best. The surrounding area smelled of fish and sea, scents that were compounded when they broke the entranceway open. May burst into the place, and stopped dead in her tracks when all eyes were on her. She had inadvertently walked in on a bunch of raucous seamen. May felt a wave of nervousness come over her, and at that same moment, she felt a strange sensation exude from her body. In the back of her mind-she knew that feeling, and it was the exact LAST thing she wanted. Knowing what was going to happen, she closed the door and ran for the coast, Rapp and Zent unsure what just happened.

"Hey May-I thought you wanted to take a shower? Was someone in there?"

Rapp's question was answered as the door burst open and men began to pour out. Rapp turned and picked up Zent, while Mossy tightened his vine restraint. Wyrm, now free of his apparent confusion, flew off of Rapp and slithered to catch up to May-unsure what was the deal.

"Ok, what's happening now, why are we running?"

"My fault. I can't control it. Guys seem to really fall for me!"

"Um...ok? All those fisherman are chasing you?"

"Oh hush! You won't understand, you're still a boy!"

May's speed began to slow, and Rapp came up alongside her, pushing her back. "I can't carry both you and Zent while running. I'll zip and see if there is a boat, and then if yer not right here, I'll run back and grab you. Wyrm, help May to keep those fellers back."

May continued to slow down as Wyrm slithered alongside her, looking as the men began to catch up, forcing Rapp to push on with his plan. He skidded to a stop when he actually reached the beach end, setting Zent down. Mossy jumped off on his own accord, and Rapp noted he was already making for a boat that was docked. Lunging over to the boat, Rapp began to push it off of the beach, as Mossy climbed inside. Mossy stood in the center of the vessel as Rapp used all he had to lift Zent into the boat. Zent waddled to the back, giving the boat enough weight to aid Rapp's pushing and it was ready to sail.

"Grab the oars, I'll be back with the others!" Rapp exclaimed as he darted back to grab those two. Those two, May and Wyrm, were having a hell of a time. Those men managed to catch up, but May luckily rolled to the side, allowing Wyrm to jump and combo rattail the first wave of their hands away. This got the surly bunch even more riled up, and they began to try and hurt Wyrm. Rocks were thrown, and some of the more...eclectic men even whipped out rope and nets. Wyrm and May backed up, fearing their options were running out.

"Ok. Your turn. You got any ideas? Besides licking them all like you did me?"

May looked at Wyrm, and then turned around. Whirling back to Wyrm, she nodded and pointed to the incoming crowd. "One."

May stopped and raised her hands in a emphatic manner. Her chest heaved with the deep breaths she had to take, but she hoped this worked. The men stopped and ogled her for a moment, as she struck a pose that she believed defined her as a model. The men clapped, and then were amazed when Rapp swept in from the south and grabbed her. She waved as Rapp hightailed it toward the coast, holding May overhead as if she was a gold statue. The sailors collectively roared, and gave chase-with May waving and taunting them. Wyrm sizzled across the rocky beach and wriggled through the water, before launching himself in the boat. Rapp sloshed through the water and clamored in the boat, dropping May in the boat in the process.

The few seamen that made it to the coast were quick to set up their boats, and began to set sail after him. Rapp quickly took the oars and began to row, but even with his rowing, the sailors were catching up. He could hear chants of "Bring her back" being cried amongst the collective fleet being assembled against him.

"Oh we are REALLY going to figure out how to turn that off." Rapp noted, as he looked to May. May frowned-she couldn't help who she was. But with the fleet nearing, Rapp was fresh out of ideas. Not to mention he was starting to get a headache once again. Pulling one oar in, he raised his right arm to his temple to rub his head. "Not now, I gotta focus. What is with these mountains?"

Mossy hopped up and tried to wrangle control of the oar, but Rapp resisted. "No Mossy, I'm fine." Mossy protested and pulled harder, inadvertently rowing a bit. Rapp shook off the feeling and turned to Mossy, when something caught his eye.

"DOWN!" was the last thing Mossy heard from Rapp, as a shining metal object whizzed over the planimal. A hard clang was heard, followed by a strange sound from Rapp as he fell backwards. The object bounced off the side of the boat, sliding into the water. Mossy looked up to see a blank look on Rapp's face, divided by a trail of blood. The boys' eyes went white, and he tilted to the left, slamming his head on the back of the boat before collapsing. Mossy and Zent ran to try and help him up, while Wyrm tried to save the oar that was not pulled in. May looked over the helm, and saw the object that hit him. It was long and metal, with a very jagged tip that was laced with blood around its tip, now mixed with the ocean water.

"He was hit with a...a harpoon!"

She looked back to the fishermen fleet, and saw the speedboat that had fired it pull up along side them. The sailors in the boat began to board, and Mossy whipped out its vines in a rage. The sea began to wake under them, and the sailors received a propeller whipping heading away from them. A second boat sailed over to try and cut off their escape, only to meet Wyrm's flaming streak. May and Zent stood on either side of the downed boy, and prepared to attack as well, when suddenly, the winds seemed to change in their favor.

The sailors stopped their encroach and all looked toward the mountains. At first, it was a strange wail, a ancient sound from a creature that seemed to be otherworldly. It wasn't visible but it was enough to cause the sailors to stop. It was soon followed by an ear-splitting howl-one that carried the power to weaken mens' spirits and incite thoughts of terror. They all began to flee back to their ships, cursing their luck. May first thought it was only the one boat, but when they looked around-it seemed to be everyone around them. In fact, they were all fleeing. Even the ones that were on land, they were heading for the cabin.

She listened again, and heard that distinct howl carry itself over the wind. It seemed too familiar, and she huffed a moment before screaming. Her scream soon quieted, as their boat began to drift toward the open sea.

"Well, that was helpful. Thanks for nothing,Wyndryde!" she scowled softly, as the sailor boats returned to their docked positions along the rocky shore.

Standing high above the bluffs, obscured by the clouds and the snow, Wyndryde stood tall, watching them sail off toward the lighthouse, that even he couldn't see. He released another howl-one that would snap the men out of their attractive trance-as well as have a message for the child.

"Heed my final words-Don't let the past consume you!"

---

Rapp was still down as the evening onset, and showed no signs of waking up. Zent stayed by his side, watching him with a quiet demeanor. Her stomach growled, but she growled right back at it. Mossy had since assumed control of the boat, using his vines to weakly row one oar, Wyrm controlling the other with his body. May was at the bow, making sure there were no rocks in their path.

"What do you think happened to him before he was hit?" Wyrm asked, as he pulled the oar in so it was not swept away. "Think it was leaving the mountains?"

"I'm sure that's probably it. He probably won't understand us anymore either. At least not in complete speech. He's pretty empathic already." May chimed in, keeping an eye on the coast as they sailed eastward toward the lighthouse. They had a nice current pushing them along, so no real rowing was necessary. Mossy stowed his oar and turned back to Rapp, before raising a vine. Both Licki and Dratini looked at him as he fished though himself, and whipped out a first aid kit! Setting it down on the bench, he flicked open its tabs and quickly whipped out a small bottle. Uncorking the bottle, he coiled one vine around the smelling salts, and waved it under Rapp's nose.

There was silence, and Zent was starting to eye the small pebbles as a midday snack when finally Rapp groaned. "...stinks.....like....ugh..." was all he said, before he went still again. Mossy retracted the medicinal item and recorked it, nodding.

"Well, that almost worked. But what do we do? All we know is that we have to get to that light house. Who are we even going to look for?" May raised her hands in frustration, and sat down, her short legs swinging above Rapp's face. Zent looked up at May and Wyrm, noting their tones of voice were reaching elevated levels of speech.

"Simple. We'll figure it out when we get there. Finding Dungrae and Wyndryde worked out. I'm sure that something will turn up." Wyrm replied, lazily coiled up now, watching the water. Mossy nodded in response to Wyrm's logic, but May was not satisfied with that. "Look, we have gotten extremely lucky up til now. But this is what I was afraid of-when Rapp's knocked out and its just us."

"What's there to worry about? We just watch over him and hope he gets up. Or we reach the lighthouse and get help. Well..not you. Mossy or I." Wyrm noted, referring to the fisherman from earlier. "Don't need you bringing your love-struck fans over for any more "help".

"That's not my fault! If I could turn it off, I would!" May shouted, huffing and turning away from them as Wyrm continued.

"I think you can, but you don't want to. I think you LIKE the attention, despite the danger it can cause. Look at him and tell me if that really is worth your attention."

Wyrm stood by his statement as May turned around, glaring daggers at him. She didn't have an immediate response. She didn't know they were going to fire a harpoon at them, let alone strike Rapp in his temple! That wasn't because of her! She fumed in place, and Mossy stood up, breaking the silence with his action. He quickly grabbed the oar and began to row. Both Wyrm and May looked over the edge of the boat. At first, they thought he was just rowing to keep them near the coast.

"Mossy, why are you rowing?" Wyrm asked, looking as the land crept by."We're fine. The lighthouse is probably a 2-3 day trip this way."

"Yeah, you aren't gonna get us there faster." May stated, ignoring any glances Wyrm may have darted her way.

Mossy ignored them both. Instead, he looked to Zent, whom seemed to have a smile on her face. He made a smile with his vines, giving Zent an ease of heart. His gaze then went back to a stoic focus as he lazily rowed, keeping the boat on a low slant, so that they would eventually sail onto land rather than stay parallel to the land. He shuffled though his vines, and pulled out 5 small boxes of food. He stuffed one away, and snaked one down to Zent, whom roared in glee and kicked her feet in happiness. May and Wyrm chose their own-and Mossy then stuffed the last one away as well.

"Mossy...how do you do it?" May asked, as she talked between bites-still nursing her tongue. The Tangela turned toward her, still rowing. Wyrm nibbled on a biscuit that was as big as his nose, curious to hear-or well..interpret this answer.

"I know you can't talk. But...how come Rapp and you are able to communicate so well? Is it because you've been with him for so long? Did you used to talk, and then stop talking?" Mossy allowed all the questions to be asked, and shook his head to each one. He then raised one vine and pointed it to Rapp's chest. That same vine then pointed to his own chest. Wyrm nodded and wriggled a bit to secure his tray of food, as Zent was now starting to peer into Wyrm's tray to see what she could reach.

"You're connected. I see" Wyrm said, as he swallowed. "I guess we all are, with how much he dotes on us. He doesn't train us all the time, and we do fairly well in combat together. I think he doesn't care how well we fight, rather how well we make decisions."

"Rapp good guy. Rapp save me."

All eyes turned to Zent, as she patted the boy's scarred forehead and cheek. She looked to all of them again, and took a moment before she spoke. "Rapp love everyone. No fight." In the same motion, she licked the blood off of her hand, slightly smiling at the taste.

"Hey, you're not saying "Wapp" anymore." Wyrm noted.

May nodded. "Yeah. And yer a little taller. You're gonna be a big girl." Zent beamed with happiness, and roared in glee, shaking the boat a bit. Everyone leaned back to try and balance the little one's exuberant motion. But she was right. As the four of them sailed on, they all had the time to remember moments in which Rapp made it seem as if nothing mattered aside from them. To break the reflective silence, the little one tried very hard to repeat what she heard a few hours ago.

"Wha does "dun wet pas confus you" mean?"All eyes on the girl again, they all tried to discern what she meant. Mossy seemed quick to the gate though, and used his vines to make a waving motion in the air.

"Wind? Wyndryde? Oh yeah, he did say something like that." Wyrm noted. He looked up trying to remember what it was he said. "Was it something like..Don't let it consume you?"

"Yes. He told Rapp to not let the past consume him. But I guess that can be used for any of us. But I wonder why he told Rapp that? Rapp's never met him before. Maybe there's something we don't know."

All eyes shot to Mossy, who shook his head. Even though he'd been around for quite a while, nothing of that magnitude ever came up.

"I'd wish he'd just wake up already. Tired of thinking for him." May said, as the boat sailed on into the night.

***

The next day and night passed with little incident. When the chill became unbearable, May and Wyrm worked to unravel the robe Rapp had stowed in his belongings, and all but Zent curled up under it. It worked well enough. An unlucky fish lunged into the boat, but never made it past Zent's grasp. She seemed to be the only one up at the time that happened, but once the morning came, and Mossy woke-she made sure to show off her new fish skeleton. Mossy was a bit disturbed by the way she flaunted the skeleton around him-but it made for humor when it was Wyrm's turn. Wyrm slithered backwards from the unfamiliar face, hissing at Zent when he regained his bearings. Zent was pleased with her new game, and made sure to save it for the last one of their party, since Rapp hadn't moved from the moment he fell unconscious.

As they group sailed on, the sunrise made for a very interesting discovery. Mossy and Wyrm looked over the sides of the boat, to see the ocean alight with millions of colors. Wyrm was amazed, but Mossy was very critical of this. He made sure Zent couldn't see it, because she would try to eat them. He looked to May, and cursed his luck. Vines went out and repeatedly rapped against her hide until she rolled off of the bench. She landed on Rapp, and that made her stumble awake. Realizing what she did, she climbed back onto the seat, with a shocked look on her face. The glinting lights then caught her attention, and she peered over the edge of the boat.

She was transfixed by the millions of lights reflecting off the water. It was such a unique sight, and possibly a very valuable sight. She flicked out her tongue and managed to wrap it around one of the jewels. But when she pulled it up, she found it connected to a strange brown mass. The brown mass flickered and pulled at her grasp as it went back to floating in the water.

"Oh what is THAT?" Wyrm yelled out as he sped to the other side of the boat. Mossy turned around, to see small purple and brown appendages creeping over the boats' bow. He stowed the oar and jumped into the middle of the boat, vines already whirring. The appendages grew, and started to reveal their full form. Strange creatures with jewels in their center were climbing on and over and inside the boat. They were pretty big, and Mossy knew they would take over the boat and sink them if they weren't careful. Fearing the whole boat would sink, Mossy did what he could-lash back. Two quick raps from his spinning vines made one of those brown creatures back away.

Wyrm and May climbed into the middle of the boat, and Zent now saw them climbing in near Rapp. She growled, and bit one of the arms as it crept over. That forced the purple armed one to immediately recoil, and fall back in the water. Mossy noted this, and then saw that the whole boat was at risk. He stayed in the center and began to extend his whirring vines.

"Oh I get it. I'll take the front, Mossy. Wyrm, get the back of the boat, we gotta beat them back!"

Wyrm nodded and whipped himself over to the back of the boat, where he began striking any and all appendages. His hits did something good, as the arms started to back up with every strike he could land. Mossy's Vine Whips were working wonders, as there were none coming over the center walls now. But May had a bit more trouble. Though she was slamming them, they were overwhelming her. Before Mossy and Wyrm could lend a hand, a large purple 8 armed one flew up out the water and knocked May down into the bottom of the boat. Zent hopped up and roared, before lunging for it. Her growl earned her a new sensation-a generous dowsing. The floating animal managed to fire water in a jet like propulsion right on Zent. The little creature screamed bloody murder, completely disagreeing with that type of attack.

Mossy and Wyrm quickly deduced that Zent was really weak to water. She had not been exposed to it being used as an attack, so right now was not the best time to learn. But since they shot water, Mossy knew he could take the hits. Before the second hit came to wash Zent out of being any help. Mossy dove in front of her. His body gleefully sucked up the fluid, and he lashed back with his vines. It took a few hits, but the Starmie backed off.

Wyrm was still doing fine, and after a few minutes, it seemed that they left their goal of over taking the boat. "Looks like we got them." he said triumphantly, standing up as tall he could to get a better look. He snaked back down immediately, and curled up.

"What?" May asked, as she got back up, after helping Zent turn Rapp over so nothing could land on his face. Mossy pointed up, and May looked to a most unnerving sight. All of the jewel stomached beasts were now floating, and encircling the ship. Mossy wasn't deterred. They weren't going to get on this boat. Vines flew out from every spot Mossy had on his body and they all began spinning in unison. May and Wyrm moved out of his way as he kept himself whirling, providing support from the sides.

It was a smart ploy, as the Starmie's and Staryu's began to bombard them. The first few waves met grass strikes of a high speed nature, and that deterred them. As more and more began crashing into his spinning vines, Mossy's defense began to weaken. Wyrm tried a series of aerial tackles, and for a time that worked, until three Starmies crisscrossed Wyrm in the air and managed to knock him off the boat.

"Wyrm!" May cried out, as she managed to Slam two Staryu's back. She flung her tongue out as far as it could reach, hoping he could wrap himself around it. The Dratini bobbed up, in the midst of all these jewels and then shook his head, before going underwater. May reeled her tongue in, and looked over the boat edge for a moment, before being hit by a Starmie in the back. She turned around, and managed to backhand it in the jewel, and that sent it spinning out of the boat. Looking at the power of her hand, she smiled. She could slap things all day! Sliding behind Mossy, she raised both hands.

"We can do this, I smack, you whip. Zent baby, you watch Rapp, ok?"

A roar was her affirmative cry, as a new wave of these star invaders came crashing at the boat. With his coverage area effectively halved, Mossy could now alternate vine groups, thereby making it easier on his body. But he knew this still would tire him out. But May's new found slapfest seemed to work just as well. But where did Wyrm go? No need to worry about that now. They were holding them off right now, and that's all that matters, as they sailed on through this Starry sea.

It seemed to be a stalemate, with no side giving any quarter. May was panting heavily, and Mossy was running out of energy to revolve his vines at the speed needed to knock them out. There was a hefty pile of knocked out Starmie's and Staryu's in the boat, but they were still coming. Just then, a set of six Staryu's floated up, and instead of firing water, fired ice! Mossy cringed, and May tried to wrap her tongue around them both to act as a barrier. Zent hollered, and began to shake Rapp, hoping he would wake up. Just then, a weird wave of electricity flew up, and struck that group of Staryu's. The ice stopped, and Mossy fell over, exhausted.

"Mossy get up! GET UP! We need you. WYRM! Was that you?" May got no immediate response as more Staryu's and Starmie's floated up. The penultimate group of echidnoderms all started to spin. Before they moved in to collide, that blue serpent flung itself out the water at a high rate of speed, and slammed into their jewels; bouncing off of each of them like a pinball. Standby Starmie's tried to fire Ice beams at the blue ball pinging their cohorts, but their aim was off. Just when it seemed one beam was going to hit dead on, Wyrm unfurled and the beam was a tad low, flying under his belly and striking a cohort Staryu. Wyrm landed back in the boat, to see May barely able to stand. Staryu's were walking over and smacking her left and right, and Mossy was barely able to get up. Wyrm didn't have much else he could do.

"We need cover...Mossy, May, can you make it darker?"

He turned to look at May, who was smacked by a Staryu, which then began to rejoice with a few emphatic "Hyaa!" Wyrm flung himself into that Staryu, knocking it off board, and then rattailed another one, giving May some room to breathe. May got up, and rested her hands on her knees, shaking her head at Wyrm.

"Damn, we're not gonna get out of this...."

Wyrm then looked behind May, and May weakly turned around to see an even creepier sight.

The glistening sea was churning...and with it were the Starmie's and Staryus. They were flying toward the ship from 50 yards out, spinning like ninja stars thrown from the ocean itself!

"We need a miracle..." May cried out.

Just then, a green halo covered the boat, focused on the water dwelling creatures. They all started to move more sluggish, and all of that delicious health began to flood Mossy's body. While they were slowed, May thrust her hands out left and right, knocking out as many as she could. Wyrm joined in, rattailing them extremely fast. When the Absorb bonanza ended, Mossy stood tall, rejuvenated in this fight.

"Now you start to fight like a champion!" May joked as the first of the high speed Starmie's reached the boat, They cut right through the side, water now becoming a treacherous danger. Being fed up with these violent water dwellers, Mossy hopped atop the row bench and began to try and pump up a powder. The powders started to float around the boat, but they lingered there, and the Staryu's that watched the others suddenly fall limp after flying in the boat's vicinity now flew lower and start to tilt the boat towards one side.

"We gotta get wind." May shouted as she dragged Zent to one side of the boat, effectively leveling out the starfish's efforts. "None of us knows any moves to make a--?"

"ME!"

Mossy looked at Zent, and then whipped his vines out to stop a few Starmie's that reared their ugly jewels.

"Zent, do it! What move?" Wyrm asked, as he fired out a hefty Flamethrower.

Zent hopped up and raised her arms, before roaring. All at once, May ducked from an incoming Starmie, and answered for her. "SANDSTORM!! HOLD ON."

The ocean -the pristine water that they sailed on suddenly began to swell. Sediment in the water flew up as well as blew in from the land to the east of them. Sand even poured from Zent's small body and billowed up into a cyclone that engulfed the boat and the surrounding water. Mossy grunted from the shifting sands, but managed to grab an oar and start rowing. He threw his vines out to stabilize himself in the boat, as Zent kept the storm going. All around them, the sounds of Staryu's and Starmie's colliding were heard, and a multitude of the unconscious fell in the boat.

Knowing that their added weight was going to cause a problem for their sailing, May began the tedious job of just tossing starfish off the boat. Still, the starfish whizzed through the storm, but with their visibility obscured, the boat managed to sail on with far less collisions from them. With all the sand, Wyrm couldn't see a thing. But he wriggled through the boat until he felt one of Mossy's vines. He climbed up and managed to find the other oar-in order to help Mossy out. With them both rowing, the boat stopped turning towards land, and now donned a true eastern heading.

It took the better part of the next 40 minutes of sailing blind before the Sandstorm died down. As the sands became less irritating, May finally spoke. "I'm so glad she's on our side!"

"You aren't kidding, you're awesome Zent!" Wyrm exclaimed, as he continued rowing. Mossy snaked a vine out to pat the little girl, as she stomped toward the unconscious cargo. Staryu and Starmie covered the lad completely.

Disgusted, Zent growled and threw them overboard alongside May. Each one gave the boat a bit more survivability, as the creatures made enough holes on the sides of the boat that water seeped in with their added dead weight. Now that the weight lessened, the water intake was stemmed. May and Zent took a break after a while, realizing there were only 5 or 6 of those strange attackers left. May climbed up on the back rowseat, and spied the shimmering sea now behind them.

"We probably sailed through their home. We will never make that mistake again." May stated. She exhaled deeper and turned around, hoping that there would be no more treacherous danger along this trip. What her vision laid upon her next forced her to exclaim and point.

"Zent look! Look! What is that?"

The baby Larvitar looked up, and licked her lips. "Its candy cane!"

"Candy cane?" Wyrm stated, looking up to spy what they were talking about. When his eyes laid on the structure standing tall on the eastern coast, he sighed. "The lighthouse, Mossy. We made it."

He looked over to Mossy, whom seemed ...preoccupied. Wyrm nodded, understanding immediately. They both looked to their unconscious cargo. They made it, but did they ALL make it?

"Oh no you two don't! No getting sad. He would have fought with us, and I'm sure he's fighting now. Something is wrong and we have to help him. Let's get to land and we'll get help." May shouted at them, pushing Mossy off the bench and grabbing an oar. "Besides. You need a break Mossy. Come on Wyrm. Row."

"Ok May." Wyrm eeked out, a bit skeptical of her newfound bravado. Mossy welcomed the break however, and went over to Rapp with Zent, poking his cheek with a vine. He put a vine under his nose, and felt the gentle breeze of breath. There was still time, as they approached the eastern portion of Eataine.


TBC...really soon (Gabi., I know there are tense problems, and I apologize in advance. I will go back through it though and flesh out the parts that sound wonky tense wise...as well as all this damned extra coding..)

[Skye]

I'm going to ask for an extension since everyone's working on fixing up the next scenario :3 I am probably gonna retcon my entire... entireness with my old stuff and I still have to figure out who has what and who -is- what... Starting over with a whole re-introduction for my character and my Pokemon, basically one at a time, is interesting xD Either this or I just re-write everything. Or start over... Urgh.

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: This is Jasmine’s rbg and it takes place roughly a month after the end of the Dragon Games. And One more rbg down a few more to go but Jas is almost there ^.^


(Jasmine’s POV)

It had been almost a month since the end of the Dragon Games and our team hadn’t done much more than resting. I was tired of resting especially when I was so close to evolving. Surprisingly enough, the training grounds were still open and I hoped to get Amy to take me there. She still had two rooms left and I was hoping that I could get some experience in one before they were closed until the next games.

I sighed as I looked around at my teammates. Rick was outside in the yard with Darin watching him. I couldn’t help but shiver as I watched the young glaceon. He was practicing his ice beam but he couldn’t get a big enough breath yet to shoot a solid beam. Instead it was more like ice chunks. Still I was glad that I was inside. I didn’t want to accidentally get hit by a stray chunk and become a dratinisicle… The chunks of ice that rick managed to create he quickly got rid of them with his iron tail.

I turned away from the window and saw Sinopa dozing on the sofa. It was now very obvious as to why she had been feeling rough during the last two rounds of the games. She grunted softly and rolled onto her back briefly before rolling back onto her side and grunting as she felt another kick.

Talut and Blazer had gone off to look for Flame again. I wished I could have gone with them but I had been asleep when they left. Kovu and Sugar were gone as well so I imagined that they were out looking for him as well.

Colby had gone out with Amy when she went to run a few errands. I hoped that when she got back I could talk her into visiting the pond room. With a sigh, I headed over to where Yana was resting and waited for her to wake up. I didn’t have to wait for long, although I wasn’t sure if it had been her hidden power waking her up or if it had been her ability.

“Did you need something?” she asked as she stood up and stretched.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me for a while. I wanted to try and find a battle and you know how everyone has lately been trying not to go out unless we had someone to go with us…” I let my voice trail off.

“It’s not very convenient, I know, but it’s less likely for something to take one of us if we go out in pairs.”

“I know…” I said as she padded over to Sinopa and let her know what we were planning. The ninetales nodded before letting her eyes drift shut once more.

Yana used her hidden power to open the door and close it behind us. “Anywhere in particular you want to go?” she asked.

“I was thinking about heading into town. Maybe towards the MTU building…”

Yana glanced over at me and I knew what she was thinking.

“I know we don’t have a note for Amy, but maybe we could find someone outside that wants a battle or something. I’m just bored and I’m so close to evolving…”

She smiled, and I guess she was remembering what it felt like. The two of us didn’t say much the rest of the way. I stretched my wings as we drew closer to our destination.

When we arrived, I looked around but the only pokemon that I saw was a cyndaquil waiting outside of the MTU. I almost ignored her until I saw the everstone hanging around her neck.

Taking a deep breath, I approached. “Hi?”

The fire mouse startled before looking in my direction her mouth dropping open. I sighed, but was used to that reaction. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” I apologized as I folded my wings against my back.”

“It’s okay.” She sighed before sitting up on her hind legs. I’m just waiting for my trainer and teammate.”

I tilted my head. “I was looking for a battle myself.”

She perked up at that. “Really?”

“I nodded.”

“What’s your level?” she asked.

“Twenty-six,” I answered, unfurling my wings as I did so. “Why?”

The cyndaquil smiled. “Because I might just be able to help you out then and I won’t end up being bored until they get back.” Her smile got larger. “We’re the same level.”

Yana padded a safe distance away but still close where she could reach me if it proved necessary.

“Really?” I asked.

She nodded. “Of course. I’m just not ready to evolve just yet and besides, it makes things interesting…” Her voice trailed off. I wasn’t sure what she meant about making things interesting but she was willing to battle and so was I. “My name is Cinder, by the way.”

I nodded. “My name is Jasmine.”


Jasmine http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/WolsongsWilderness/hexaewingeddratini.png L.26 Female Mutant Winged Dratini Vs. Cinder L. 26 F Cyndaquil

I coiled up tightly and launched myself before Cinder even had a chance to react. I hit her hard and she skidded back but recovered her bearings quickly as the flames on her back ignited and she began rolling towards me a solid wheel of flames. I tried to dodge but I didn’t have any luck. She slammed square into my chest.

I spread out my wings to keep from getting bowled over as she rolled away the flames being extinguished as she headed my way for a second time. Eyes widening, I quickly created copies of myself and sighed in relief when I saw that I managed to create five. And it was a good thing two because I felt the gust of wind as Cindy rolled through the clone immediately to my left.

The cyndaquil skidded to a halt and turned to face me. I stretched my wings and my copies all did the same. She tilted her head before doing the same and I was staring at three cyndaquils. Tucking my wings back to my side I stared at the three Cinders. The air around me began to crackle with electricity until I released it in a wave that tore through the clones and still hit the real Cinder.

She shook her head before taking a deep breath and spitting out several star-shaped heat seeking missiles that honed in on me and obliterated my clones. I sat there panting and I was pleased to see that she was panting hard as well. Taking a deep breath, I began to concentrate on gathering up energy for my next attack. I could feel the draconic energy building up. When I couldn’t hold it back any longer, I opened my mouth and released the dragon rage attack I had been preparing into a stream of pinkish flame that enveloped Cinder.

When the attack was over, I watched closely. At first I couldn’t see anything but as the energy faded, she was lying there on her stomach completely still. I cautiously headed over, but she was out.


I won!
I grew to L.27!

Yana and I waited until she came to before we left. I smiled when Cinder said maybe we could have a rematch after she did decide to evolve. I nodded at that. “Sounds good to me,” I told her before the three of us parted ways.

Amy and Colby were arriving just as Yana and I got back home. Once the four of us were safely inside, Amy reached into her bag and pulled out one of the three rare candies that were part of the prizes that she and Sinopa had won for placing third.

“Are you sure?” I asked as I looked up at Amy, holding my breath as I waited for an answer.

She nodded. “I’m positive.”

“Thanks,” I told her before quickly gobbling up the piece of candy.


I grew to L.28.
I learned Fly!

[Lady Vulpix]

Darkfire gets her extension.

I haven't read Amy's latest story yet. I'm planning to, but since I'm very busy, I wouldn't mind if either Jeff or Shonta rated it first.

Here's my response to DarkestLight's latest story...

I like the concept of the refuel spot seeming mythical after all that went on. And Zent growling back at her stomach.

The battles were interesting and very creative.

Beautiful descriptions too!

It was also interesting to see how all the Pokemon in the team reacted when Rapp was unconscious.

The description of the Starmies and Staryus was interesting, though it took me a while before I could figure out what they were, since there was no mention of them being star-shaped or anything like that. Just... how could they knock out a number of them without gaining any levels? Were the stars' levels really low or something? But they did have a wide range of attacks. Or were only the weak ones knocked out?

In any case, May has become quite a good strategist! It's good to see that she's able to take charge when the need arises.

And it was interesting to see how the jewels went from beautiful to ugly during the course of the battle.

The comparison of the lighthouse to candy cane was funny.
I didn't find many tense issues, just a few. I did, however, find a lot of 'whom' and '-' abuse (don't be afraid of the word 'who' and other punctuation marks like commas and colons), misplaced apostrophes, and ellipses without a trailing space or with more or fewer than 3 dots. I've fixed all of that in the archived version.

And there's nothing like getting a miracle right when you ask for one. ;)

Why did Rapp go back to the mountains between the previous story and this one? I don't think that was ever explained.

Take 31 stamps! :yes:¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[DarkestLight]

That was part of the edit I needed to sort, as when I originally wrote this, it was all one fluid continuity. So, for the sake of not breaking continuity, I'ma gonna say that he has not yet met up with you again yet as per our IMRP, and that will come in the coming days...weeks? We left it open ended, so that helped XD.

As for the Starmies (and upcoming battles with mass Pokemon) I don't tend to use them as leveling battles, but rather just situations where character grows rather than strength. So, you will see a few more mass battles like that, where it'll focus on HOW to get out of the situation, rather than the Pokemon getting stronger persay.

[The Blue Avenger]

Okay, I thought I was gonna have time to rate something yesterday, but that didn't happen. Do my best to do so tomorrow. Haven't forgotten. XD;

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks in advance. :) I have to give a lecture tomorrow. Then spend Friday catching up with my Chinese homework before going to class to get new homework. :P And my students have an exam on Saturday, and then I'm going to see my dad.

But on Sunday I should have time to read Amy's battle, and maybe even write some more. And post the scenario, of course.

[DarkestLight]

So. I have until Sunday to get it all up and back to Sector Alpha. Challenge accepted :D!

[Lady Vulpix]

You could still post it later (it doesn't even require an extension, since it's not a Training Grounds battle). But now I'm intrigued to see what you come up with.

[Skye]

I'd like an RBG battle for my level 5 Meowth from the Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency please *pays 7 Stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

Your Meowth will battle a Delibird.

[Skye]

Alright. This is the first time since I was last here that I have written anything Pokemon related. xD I'm rusty so I'm just trying to get back into the flow of things. This is the first part, more will come as I write them, but I should be done sometime next week, unless something comes up and I just speed through the rest of this introduction arc. I'd wait to post all of it at once, but I'm afraid I might kill someone's eyes :/ Too much blue.







My Shadow...


"You know..." the woman began that strange phrase, which usually meant that someone else was unaware. "I haven't a clue where we're going..." sheepish laughter followed that admittance, but it wasn't as if she thought she would hear much back from it, her only companion at that time being her Meowth.

A soft growl answered her words, and she knew that he had understood her, yet that was the limited response a Pokemon could give. At least, that was what she believed at that point in time, leading her to only smile down at the Pokemon who had been with her for quite some time. Black fur shone brightly under the sunlight as the feline stalked otherwise silently next to her, yellow eyes fixed on the path ahead. A golden coin could be seen as well, catching the sunlight's rays in a blinding spectacle.

"I'm sorry!" she laughed, as if thinking that the Pokemon would hold a grudge. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't, but she dare not anger her Shadow, least he abandon her. Not that she minded the companionship of her only other Pokemon, a Magikarp she had been carefully raising for a while, but she could tell that the stress of being 'second to a fish' was getting to him. At least, that's what she thought was wrong. He had been getting sullen of late.

"You know, he'll evolve soon. Then I can focus on your training exclusively. In fact..." she reached into her bags to pull out a small box. Inside contained the powdered mixture known as a TM, something she could only teach once to a Pokemon. "I have a present for you."

Perhaps her thoughts had been wrong, for the Meowth looked up at her as if she had grown two heads. Perhaps Skye's natural lack of knack for direct conversation was at fault, or perhaps he simply didn't believe that she would so such a thing. Stopping in her movements, she knelt down to bestow the wisdom and knowledge of a U-Turn onto him.

"Just be careful when using this attack. Otherwise, you'll return yourself and someone else will come out. It's called U-Turn..." another dirty look was given to her at that. "But, it's a powerful attack. It'll work great against Psychic and Dark types. Grass too, I think..." she gave a pause before reaching into her bags to check a roughly scrawled out type listing.

Of course, the Meowth seemed to sigh as his eyes rolled skyward. Yet, he sat still quite patiently, letting the knowledge of the technique sink in. Despite his earlier distrust of the attack, however, he began to understand why it would be so useful, and seemed almost to grin when Skye looked back down to him. In response to his expression, she smiled as well, though perhaps she believed he was thinking such things because they had known each other for so long.

"I'm not teaching you it because I want for you to be second place," she explained anyway. "I'm teaching you it because I mean it when I say I'm going to work with you and no one else," she set her arms into a cross for emphasis, causing the Meowth to snicker. And, from there, they continued on the road to sign up with the Dragon Tamers, the mood brightened considerably.

Such a road would entail getting quite a bit lost, then finding the proper city, only to get lost within it, as well. Shadow would have been the first to find the proper place they were heading and, with much tugging at her leggings, would guide his air-headed trainer along with him. Lacking any decent sense of direction, it was a necessary sacrifice for his teeth to endure such a thing, though the payoff was worth it. Not only was their application taken quite well (sans the strange looks given when she showed off her second Pokemon), but they were informed that the Dragon Games were underway at someplace called the Dragon Gate.

Once it was obvious enough that Skye was not going to be able to find such a place anytime soon, the receptionist happily gave her a voucher for a round trip before giving her written directions to the train station. Such tickets were quickly processed and the strange trio were on their way. Or, at least Skye and Shadow were, the poor Magikarp didn't like being outside of his Pokeball with no water around.


***

"Wow..." was the brilliant, poetic utterance Skye managed when they arrived. Sitting at a vantage where she could look between the towers, the woman found herself nearly grinning like an idiot at their sheer size. And, of course, they should be that large, considering each hosted a number of facilities within them. "Just think about it... Wow..."

"Nyarr nyarr..." was all Shadow could respond with, though his tone didn't sound as enthusiastic as his trainer's. Impatient fidgeting caused his tail to sway back and forth like a broken metronome. And yet, Skye didn't do more than cast him a glance before grinning and looking back at the towers. So many trainers had gathered, wandering this way and that. She wondered how many of them were Dragon Tamers and how many were just unaffiliated wanderers like she had been.

"Hey, cool cat you have there," one of them actually stopped to gawk at the gawker, or, at least her Pokemon.

Looking up, Skye found herself giving a childish grin up at the teenager who had stopped and was now gazing between her and her partner. The man himself didn't have that many Pokeballs on his belt at that point in time, causing her to wonder if he was just a beginner. Of course, she wasn't the most seasoned trainer, either, despite being legal for quite some years in the local region.

"Thanks, cool hat," she responded, pointing up to the cap he had, not that his hat could compare to her Pokemon. But, it was better than saying something which could be taken as crude, such as, 'Thanks, nice balls. What's inside?'

"Thanks," he grinned at her awkward compliment. "But, I was wondering. Wanna battle?"

"Uhm. Sure! Give me a moment," she stood up quickly enough to cause her head to spin before running into one of the nearby towers. Her return was fast enough that the trainer who had challenged her was left with his expression warped with confusion for her viewing pleasure. Her Meowth, on the other hand, was far too used to her darting off to even get up and follow, still sitting with his tail twitching upon her return, even though she had stopped a good distance away from the pair.

"Sorry, ready!" she panted slightly from the sprint.

"Uh... huh. Alright, then, let's go!" he grabbed one of this Pokeballs from the small collection at his waist before pressing the touch sensitive button in the middle. Once it had enlarged to be of useful, hand-filling size, he gave it a toss, just as Shadow darted to get into position. By the time he had taken place before Skye, tail raised high and teeth showing, the opponent had finished solidifying from a burst of energy to be a Delibird.

"Now that's an interesting Pokemon," Skye commented, eyeing the red and white penguin, who seemed more focused on her Meowth than anything else. It didn't look very experienced in battle, and for that, Skye was grateful, shooting her opponent a smile.

"Yeah, he's new, but I'm planning on training with him in the Pond Room, so he'll definitely get stronger!" of that, the trainer seemed certain.

"Good, then. For the maximum challenge..." Skye stepped in, since the battle hadn't started, and pulled out a strip of black leather with a silver buckle. Moving behind Shadow, she crouched down and slipped it about his slender neck before fastening it. "Just a little something to help."

"Oh, feel free, you'll need all of the help you can get," the man laughed as Skye retreated a respectable distance.


http://vindictivenature.webs.com/img/Meowth.png
Shadow Lv. 5 vs Delibird Lv. 5

Each Pokemon stared down the other as tensions rose, waiting for their trainers to begin issuing orders. Skye held her breath, uncertain if she should command first or wait, though the pause lasted mere seconds before she heard the other trainer issue the first command.

"Okay, go for an Aurora Beam!" commanded the other trainer.

"Growl!" countered Skye.

Delibird's yellow beak parted as it began charging a rainbow sphere, its head tilting back slightly while Shadow stood his ground. Opening his own mouth in response, a loud growling sound escaped the tiny feline, nearly giving the illusion that the air itself was rippling. Though it disturbed the opponent's concentration, it wasn't enough to cause his attack to fail as he leaned forward, releasing a beautiful, chilling blast which reminded one of the Aurora Borealis, the strike flowing from Delibird's focus point like a living serpent. Shadow took the blow, hissing in protest as he was pressed back, claws leaving scrape marks in the ground.

"Move to the side and go for Scratch!" Skye decided quickly.

"Give it a Present," the opposing trainer grinned, apparently deciding to take a gamble.

Taking the advise, Shadow slipped to the side of Delibird's attack, though his movements were stiff from being exposed to the chilling attack. Still, he rushed forward as best as he could, eager and determined to land a good strike on the opponent. Noticing that the orders had changed, Delibird closed its beak before rushing towards the Meowth, rather than attempting to escape. Though this startled the Meowth, he didn't stop, instead unsheathing his claws before landing a good strike against the opponent's face, the most open spot.

Scratch marks appeared, reddening as blood was drawn to the surface beneath feathers, though the wounds didn't look as bad as they could have been, it still gave Delibird cause to back away from his opponent, giving the feline a harsh stare. Shadow also backed away a few steps, turning his side to the penguin, tail raised and fur on end as a low hiss sounded. Recalling his own orders, the Delibird reached into the sack that all Delibird seem obsessed about carrying, pulling out an orb which shimmered, much like the Aurora Beam had before holding it out to give to Shadow.

Confused, the feline stopped his posturing, reaching a paw out to take the sudden present, eyes wide as he seemed temporarily enthralled with being given a shiny, round object. However, not long after taking the object, it seemed to explode with unstable energy, sending both combatants flying apart. Delibird landed close to his trainer, looking rather smug, while Shadow came to land just before Skye, coughing heavily from the force of the explosion.

"Now, finish it with Aerial Ace!" the opponent seemed more than certain that his Pokemon would be victorious.

"Stop it with Hidden Power!" Skye encouraged desperately.

The Delibird set his sack down before leaping up, arms flapping in the strange fashion in which most birds would, though it looked nearly hilarious to all who observed it. Even the spectators, which Skye only now noticed had gathered, seemed to give a little chortle at the sight. Yet, still, it held promise of a powerful strike which would deal a good amount of damage if Shadow left himself fully exposed after the last explosion.

Luckily, the Meowth managed to straighten himself, just in time to see the opponent starting to fall, wings spread as it gathered speed and began to control the air flow in a far more serious manner, his beak taking on a deadly gleam. Black fur began to shine with a new light as Shadow tapped into the unique energies held within him, focusing until a series of shimmering orbs, slightly tinted with a brown shade, began to circle around him like a protective shield. This wouldn't last long, however, before he began to launch each at the Delibird. Each strike was powerful enough to be felt, and threw the inexperienced opponent off balance, causing him to fall off course and crash down before he could complete his attack.

"Good going! Go in for another Scratch!" Skye cheered, feeling a rush of adrenaline flood into her the longer the battle went on, mixing with pride to see her Pokemon fairing so well. Though, she noticed that his movements seemed to be a little off as Shadow began his approach, almost seeming to shake as the effects of the previous attacks held their grip on him.

"Give him another Present!" belatedly, Skye came to realize that the Delibird's crash landing had sent him close to his sack again, allowing him to reach in and gather another orb of deadly energy. Shadow, who had only just picked up the energy to force himself into a run, started at the incoming ball of unstable energy with fearful disbelief.

"U-Turn on the Present!" Skye didn't know if it would work, but that was all that she could think about. The only thing she believed that could work. Though, she noticed Shadow falter in his step at the mention of the attack. Thanks to her earlier dip into the Pokemon Center to drop off her Magikarp, however, Skye was confident that the attack could be used without consequence. "Hurry!"

Shadow lowered himself against the ground, bracing before he shot forward with an amazing amount of speed, enough to startle Skye, who had no idea that the attack could cause her Pokemon to appear to be a dark blur. Black paws curled slightly before reaching out to smack into the ball of energy, which seemed to be set off a few seconds after being touched. Its pattern grew erratic after Shadow came into contact with it, just as it had before, though it was also enough a part of the physical world that it flew back towards Delibird with quite a bit of force.

Just as Meowth came to land after hitting the ball, paws spread against the ground, Skye noticed that he looked rather uncomfortable. As the mass of the orb wasn't enough for him to complete the U-Turn off of, he twisted before dashing back with the same speed he had displayed, returning to his original spot before being able to relax, though the entire process had taken mere seconds to complete, it was just enough time to give the illusion of him turning his back on the explosion which followed the successful counter of the Present attack, which left Delibird flat on his back, unconscious to the world.

"Damn it!"

"Awesome!"


Shadow won and grew to Lv. 6!

Exhausted, the worn Meowth lowered himself, breathing heavily from the battle. Though it hadn't lasted for very long, it took its toll on him to work that hard. Glancing back at the opponent, the marks left behind from the Scratch attack seemed deeper than they had originally. Beyond delighted that Shadow had worked so hard for his victory, Skye approached and scooped the feline up into a tight embrace.

"Good job, Shadow!" she whispered into the top of his head, and was rewarded with soft, rumbling purrs in response. Approaching the other trainer, she shifted the Meowth, cradling him in her left arm as she held her right out in offering. "Thanks for the battle. I'm Skye, by the way. And this is my Shadow."

"Thomas," he sighed as he took her hand, shaking it with a rueful grin. "And, I won't lose to you next time. Delibird is going to get much stronger, as is the rest of my team."

"Just wait," she grinned in response. "With Shadow and Shan--" she was interrupted when Delibird came around and began to talk up at Shadow. Grinning, the Meowth began to purr out whatever responses he could manage in his limited language, though the two Pokemon seemed to be having quite the conversation. Whatever it was, it was enough to cause Thomas to laugh again.

"What?" she wondered, confused.

"Aren't you listening to what they're saying?" he replied in a confused tone, an eyebrow raising.

"Uhm..." she trailed off at that, uncertain how to answer. His eyebrow raised before he shook his head, turning a pitying gaze upon her. "What?!"

"Sorry, sorry. Don't worry about it, you'll learn to listen one day. You're not a bad trainer. It just takes time, sometimes..." recalling his Delibird, the man raised a hand before turning and heading to the next tower over, the one opposite of the one Skye had run into.

"What the hell...?" Skye wondered as she looked down at Shadow, who was waving after the pair, looking rather delighted. "And I thought I was strange..."

"Nyaa..." Shadow replied, taking a comforting tone before following his statement up with a rough, sand paper tongue cat kiss.



... I am Never Alone

[The Blue Avenger]

Okay! Here I am! For Amy's story:

- The mental image of a Dratinisicle is kinda funny. XD
- I found the transition into the battle a little... sharp? Jasmine introduces herself, then immediately attacks. Points for strategy, though.
- You switch names for the Cyndaquil a couple of times.
- Maybe it's just because of the way I write battles (i.e., as long as I can), but it seemed like Cinder went down pretty quick.
- Congrats for Jasmine learning Fly. :o

Let's call this... 8 stamps. Cheers!

[DarkestLight]

Ch 4: The Light is a Prison?

The ragged sailboat that the group acquired from the base of the Forbidden Mountains made it to the sands of the eastern shore of Eataine. Almost immediately, the group hustled out of the beached boat. Mossy wrapped his vines around the bow of the boat and tried to pull it further onshore, but found he was not strong enough. Wyrm and May came out to help and together, with Wyrm wrapped around a rock and around May-and May holding Mossy-they were able to slowly pull it so it would not be swept away.

Zent climbed up to peer over the edge, and spied the other three straining to pull the boat. Figuring she could help, she tried to hop over the stern. Her limited size made that an impossibility. It took a few moments of genuine effort and strength for her to muster her stout legs over the back of the ship, and then fall over the far port side of the boat. The sudden decrease in weight on the boat caused a radical shift in power needed to dock the ship and the boat lurched on shore with the combined efforts of the other three.

"She weighs more than the boat?" Wyrm exclaimed, uncoiling from the rock.

"Prolly. She's probably pushing 200 now." May noted, holding her back with her left hand. Mossy however, ran back to the boat and looked around. He saw her fall out, but he didn't see nor hear where she landed.

[Zent Lv9 vs Jellicent lv 9]

That all changed when Zent came bursting out of the water, in the grasp of a strange creature. She spat out water and snarled, biting down on the pink forelimb that was wrapped around her. In response, the beast gave off a strange cry. Mossy backed away, as May and Wyrm came to see what was happening. Before they could dive in, Mossy wrapped them both up in his vines and pulled them back.

"Are you crazy? That thing lives in the water! We all know she can't take water!" May noted, trying to get free.

"Mossy, I respect you, but if you don't let me go, I will burn myself free." Wyrm warned, opening his mouth.

Mossy turned to look at Wyrm, and saw that he was serious. To mitigate the seriousness of the situation, Mossy took a deep breath, and focused. Suddenly, Wyrm felt a nasty chill in his body-it was as if

"...you know an Ice move? Impossible!"

Mossy relaxed his vines, releasing the both of them. Both Pokemon however, did not move. Wyrm was especially confused. Mossy was a Tangela. Was there something he missed-since when could they have an affinity for ice moves? He remembered the moment in the Inn where that same question came to light before, when they were looking through all those TMs.

That mystery would be left for a later time as Zent landed back on the sandy ground, snarling at the bulbous form. The trio backed up as the pink Pokemon slid on land, eager to make Zent her next meal. She wasted no time in spitting out a stream of bubbles, but Zent was a veteran of this type of attack. She danced backwards, gearing herself up for this fight. Skidding backwards onto the softer sand, Zent lured the creature to her.

That turned out to be a bad idea, as the creature seemed to exhale. The water released slammed into the rocky beast, and knocked her to the ground. She rolled around in pain, crying aloud. Wyrm and May winced and seemed to flex all over, feeling this was a battle she could not win. Mossy still raised his vines, holding them back.

The girl got up, and bared her tiny yet potent fangs. The fish fired off another Scalding set of water, and Zent danced backwards as fast as she could. This time, she watched the water hit the ground, and hissed as steam rose from it. As the steam rose, so did her awareness that her tail was tingling. She turned to look back at the flayed ends of her rocky appendage and spied the slightly darker patch near the end fringes. Yeap, a true burn.

Zent roared in anger and seemed to actually gain more ferocity from the knowledge of the burn! But this strange fish that looked like jelly wasn't done. It raised up again, and tried to fire bubbles at her. Zent ran forward, and managed to duck under them, leaving the Jellicent wide open for a fierce bite. The pain shot through the Jellicent, and she backed up, only to be greeted with a nasty swath of sand. The trio watching the battle for survival backed away, as this localized Sandstorm was all Zent's doing.

The jellyfish winced at the sand, and at the pain in her tentacles. That thing just bit her twice and the pain grew exponentially. She couldn't take anything like that again. So when she though she had a bead on the rocky meal, she tried to Absorb it. The halo wrapped around the rock she pinpointed, but nothing was gathered. Suddenly, she turned her head, and there was Zent, teeth bared. A new Bite caused the creature to quiver and flinch, and then drop to the ground. Zent backed away, as the attacker started to slide forward. but the sands that were scratching its face proved to be the tipping point. She grunted and flopped there, face down. Zent sneered, and then looked back at the others. The Sandstorm hid them from her, but not her from them. As she was still invisible, there would be no wrong here, as she turned toward the Jellicent...

[Zent wins. Zent reaches Lv 10. New Move is Earth Power.]

A few moments later, the Sandstorm began to wash away, and out from it walked Zent. She kept looking back at her tail, feeling the part of it that was burnt. That thing really hurt her rock exterior, but it also energized her. She stopped in front of them, to receive praise from both May and Wyrm.

"See I told you. She can handle herself." May quipped, taking the time to tend to Zent's tail. Wyrm nodded, proven wrong again. But he then turned to Mossy, whom managed to walk over to where the fight began. He wiped the rocks with his vines, and managed to find a sticky residue there. Eyes opened wide, and he turned to look at Zent, who eyed him.

"I won." was all that came from her little mouth. But her voice had lost all innocence that was once associated with her. The Dratini and Lickitung didn't note this, but Mossy did. He nodded, and walked over to the Larvitar, to pat her on the head. She accepted, and broke his judgmental gaze, in order to look back to the boat. He didn't get to see her win. Mossy looked back at the boat as well, and then to Zent. He made sure to carefully wrap one vine around her small horn, and tugged on it. Her attention snapped to Mossy, and his shaking head. She looked the plant once over, and huffed, stomping away from the boat.

"Want Rapp up."

"Now what? We're here. We gotta get some rest and some help." Wyrm stated, looking over toward the Lighthouse, which was a good hike away. Mossy fidgeted and began marching, determined to make it to the lighthouse. The others looked at one another, and realized that there was no other plan. Single file, the group of four trooped on, in search for something or someone to help them.

***

High above the peaks of the Forbidden mountains, the solitary avian and rider skimmed the skies, looking for anything moving below. Since their run in with that Absol, their luck had been less than stellar. Melfice had been fortunate to bring a ball of gauze with him; he figured he would have to use it. A good portion was now wrapped around his head, keeping the gash he attained from being thrown off of a speeding Pidgeot closed. But he was not deterred. His goal was-now and forevermore-the elimination of Veronica Laster.

"The fisherman down at the wharf may have seen something. Come on Serenity, lets get down there. Our trail has run cold, and I believe our quarry may be making a major move."

Serenity nodded and dove down at the appropriate altitude, in order to make a clean dive from the mountain air updrafts to the lowlands behind them. It took only minutes before they were leaving the chilling air behind for the salty air of the ocean. Serenity tilted his wings, and began to slow down, allowing his feet to attain a perfect landing spot a few yards outside of the cabin that was at the end of the trail. Coming to a complete stop, Melfice jumped off of the bird and quickly dashed toward the cabin. When he reached the front, he was welcomed by a pair of rough faces, and even rougher hands.

"Well, if it isin't Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!" Melfice exclaimed, hands raised in exaltation. The pairs of faces turned to look at the man, and responded with equally exuberant tones.

"Well look what the sea brought in!" "You'd think we'd be in Gaen Vale with how green you look."

Hugs and handshakes were exchanged between them, and with no hesitation, they entered the cabin.

Melfice smirked as he closed the door behind him. The place was always magical, no matter how rustic it looked. It only had one counter and an upstairs for anyone who wished to rent one of the two rooms, but aside from that, it was full of the ragtag fisherman that made a living between here and Eataine. As Melfice sat down at a table with the men at the door, a larger man pushed one of the smaller fellows aside and slapped Melfice on the back.

"Well look at Mr Mercenary! Come to do a day's worth of real work?" Melfice coughed as he leaned on one elbow, and turned his view to engage this burly character.

"Harial, you never change. How's your wife, the moon?" A generous round of laughter was shared by all as the two fake roughhoused for a few seconds, before Harial sat down with the gentlemen.

"So Melfice. I figure that you come right after the howl of the Absol. What death defying mission are you on this time, or are you still on that magic ending quest?"

"You must follow my movements with a fine tooth comb; Charles. I am still entrusted to the paladin-as long as he pays!" A hearty hear hear was cheered, and glasses clinked together as Melfice continued. "My mission will take me around this globe once again, but I come to ask you, my brothers of the world, for information. Have you any stories for me-of strange ruminations anywhere on the other side of the world?" The two men looked to each other, and then to Harial, who finished his glass of ale.

"I've heard nothing Melfice. The world is as I left it, nasty and angry. and full of fish who never bite." the burly man exclaimed, raising his hand for another round to be delivered to them.

"Well, Charles and I will be crafting a new ship. It's the darnedest thing, we lost one of our older ships today. Shocked the danged thing even sailed. Has the largest hole in it, and yet it sailed like nothing was wrong!"

Melfice looked at Beauford-the second of the skinny men and laughed.

"You mean that old half a ship that you kept trying to put together? I don't understand why you keep thinking someone would steal that ship." Melfice retorted to the pair.

"Well we did fix it. It was a hell of a ship too, able to hold many a shark if we needed. But yeah, earlier today we ended up in a strange predicament. It was as if the goddess smiled upon us for a brief moment."

Melfice coughed, and almost spat out his ale, earning a laugh from Harial.

"Easy brothers. We want Melfice to be able to return." Melfice grunted, and exhaled heavy, clearing his throat. "Please, Tell me why the goddess her self would smile on you two rapscallions."

"Because!!" Charles said "We were all here, enjoying the simple life, when this mystery woman walked in! She looked sunkissed, perfect pink summer complexion. Anyway, Beauford and I-along with everyone that had come in from their trips today went over to assist her, but she just led us on. Some jungle bunny came out from the foothills and scooped her up, and then ran in one of our boats with a bevy of Pokemon. I think Max over there hit him with the harpoon, but right around then, we heard the warning howl from the Absol that lives in these mountains. That was more than reason enough to call off the search. But by god, I swear to you they stole our boat and sailed East for crying out loud!!"

"I don't know who would sail this time of year anyway toward Eataine." Melfice chimed in. "The Staryu and their evolved forms are real nasty 'round this time. If they made it out of there, then they do have luck on their side."

Harial nodded and then leaned in close, pointing to a solitary hiker sitting at the wall. "Hey Mel. There's a feller over there that's a bit down on his luck. Says he ran into a Trainer in the Mountains today-something about being a champion. Guess he got soundly trounced."

"Well what're you telling me for?" Mefice asked between sips, looking back at the rolypoly Hiker.

"Because-we haven't seen the other guy he said he battled."

Melfice turned to look at Harial, whom merely pointed with his nose at the guy. Melfice rested one hand on his sword hilt, and spun off of his chair. He silently approached the man from the west, resting a hand on his shoulder. The fellow jumped a bit, but was initially cheerful.

"Hey there stranger. Haven't seen you from here before. You lost?" Melfice asked.

The man smirked and shook his head. "Nope. I'm just a hiker, eager to walk the world. Those last mountains take alot out of you."

"Yeah. They say that deep under them lies an ancient burial ground, and that anyone that crosses them had better do it fast, or they can lose their minds from the voices that can be heard." Melfice stated, not missing a beat. The gentleman looked up at Melfice and huffed, before looking down at his trembling hands.

"Well, I don't know anything about that. I just know that I got beat by the person who won second place at the Dragon Games this season. He was up there, milling around-and he didn't even seem too interested in battling-real modest, you know? He was nice about battling me, but man, did his Pokemon put the kabash on mine."

This information felt like a knife in Melfice's back. He grunted and patted the man on his back, before heading over to the table he originally sat at. Resting his hands on the tabletop, he leaned in close and looked at everyone.

"Gentlemen, tell me this. This "jungle bunny" that absconded with your female. Did he look like a woodsman?"

Harial and Charles shrugged, but Beauford leaned back in his chair and burped.

"Yessir. In fact, he looked like that feller that used to come 'round here some 10-12 years ago. Dark skinned feller. You should remember him Melfice. Think we all fished together once. We used to call him Elf-foot."

The others at the table began to laugh, and quickly chime in with flavorful anecdotes about the name, but Melfice had a realization that began to gnaw at him. "I'll return for another round in the coming days gentleman, but I have to fly." Harial and Charles raised their glasses to him as he headed out, allowing the door to close on its own as he hastened his pace.

The avian heard his approach and immediately opened his wings, and prepared for boarding. The mercenary jumped on and murmured his intentions under his breath. "The boy was here. He was here, he stole a boat and he's probably to Eataine by now, and we did not see him. This kid is truly more than what he knows. So we'll set a trap." The bird cooed in reply and took off, heading across the ocean as fast as necessary.

***

As the sun set over the shores of the lighthouse, the keeper of the light resumed his duty, turning the light on and setting it to sweep across the sea. As the powerful light shone bright and cast its rays across the sky, the man turned and left the top of the lighthouse. He shut the door and began his way down the spiral staircase, making it to the ground level in a short time. Entering the main floor, he quickly grabbed his coat and hat, and headed to the door that would lead him to the beach. When he opened the front door however, he was surprised to see four figures standing there.

"Whoa! What are you?" He exclaimed, backing away from the door. Immediately, the rockish looking beast stomped in, looking for food. She walked past the startled human, swiftly followed by the larger pink beast. That just left the snake and the shrub. He looked at the shrub for a moment, and then to the snake, whom seem to both share the same earnest look in their eyes.

"Well, obviously, you are someone's Pokemon. This someone is not here. Where did you come from?"

Wyrm looked to Mossy, who merely turned and began to walk back in the darkness. Wyrm slithered after, but stopped to look at the man-whom now was curious as to what happened to the other two that just ran past him. His worries were answered when the pink one came walking back out, pushing the small rock creature, whom somehow found a pie!

"Hey wha? Where did you get that pie? I didn't even know they kept food here!"

The Pokemon didn't reply, they just kept moving. The man was too enthralled with them to just let them walk away in the night. "Hey, wait up. Where's your Trainer?"

A few minutes of shuffling about, and the man had joined the ranks of Mossy and co. His flashlight shone the way, allowing the others to clearly see the footsteps and trails they made on their way to the lighthouse. As they traversed the beach, the man looked down at each of them. He noted that the plant seemed to be the leader, with its silent but strong demeanor. The snake seemed to be a learner, while the pink thing was somehow captivating. The little greedy thing ate alot. With a menagerie such as this, there was no way they were brung together randomly. While the man had questions, he knew that the Pokemon were taking him to his answer. Well-to some sort of an answer. After a good hike, Mossy pointed to the boat that rested against the rocks.

"You sailed here? At this time of year? During the Jewel Sequencing? Wow you're either very brave or very stupid." he exclaimed, as he made his way to the boat. He carefully clamored up to where the boat was eschewed, and peered inside. Lying there was their Trainer, as still as the boards he was upon.

"Nope. Very stupid. We gotta get him back to the lighthouse.." the man exclaimed. He immediately pulled out a radio, and switched it on. The crackle of static filled the air, before a voice came out of the box. "Yeah, what's going on out there?" Zent's eyes immediately went to focus on the little box that had sounds coming from it.

"You aren't gonna believe this. I got a kid shipwrecked here, Johnson. I'm out about 3 miles from the house, with a Tangela, a Dratini, a Lickitung and a...I don't even know what that is right now. It just eats anything. Found a pie in the lighth--err anyway! They led me to the kid-check this-who sailed over where from what I think was Caledor."

"What?" The lad held the radio away from his ear at the rapid change of volume. When it sounded like the person in the other end calmed down, he raised it back to his ear and caught the tail end of what the person was saying.

"Jeez! Well, is the kid alright?"

"Don't look it. Might have been this way for a few days now. Gonna need Mary and Sue for this." he explained. "Sure. They'll be right there. Hope that kid makes it. Johnson out."

The man affixed the small box back to his side, and looked back to the group now staring at him. "It's ok guys. We're gonna get help, and we'll be back in the lighthouse in no time."

The group looked to one another, unsure what he meant. The answer came in an instant. A strange scent filled the air-before the air itself warped and revealed a pair of figures. One was of a tall slender female, with reddish brown hair and eyes as green as Mossy's color. The other figure was of a feminine form as well, green hairdo combed over half of her face. Her gown seemed almost as if it was part of her body.

"We're here!" rang her voice as she took a few steps forward. The light that the resident watchman wielded swiveled up to her face, forcing her to raise her hand. "Jake, not in the eyes, please. You know Sue hates it." The form next to her also raised its arms, blocking her visible eye from the sharp glare of the halogen light.

"Oh sorry. Well yeah. The boy is in the boat. Sue, come help me here. These little guys were also in the boat, and clear walked to the lighthouse to get help. The fellow set the light down, pointing its powerful beam toward the ocean. This allowed the boat to be seen, as well as the rocks it sat upon. The feminine newcomer seemed to float over toward the male, and both stepped into the boat to examine the boy lying still.

The red haired human knelt down, and placed her hands out. "Hello there. You four look like you've had a hardship laid upon you. We'll try our best to help."

Her words sounded sincere enough to Wyrm and May, and they nodded, walking closer to the woman. Mossy however, snaked a vine around the two of them-as Zent took a step back behind Mossy. The girl saw the defensive nature of the Tangela and nodded, standing back up.

"I don't mean to encroach-I can understand your concern. Sue there will take that lad back to the lighthouse with two of you. Then she'll return to take the rest of us."

The four of them turned to see the man carrying Rapp out of the boat, Sue floating behind him. The Pokemon began to glow, and laid her hands on. She waved once to them, and Mary smiled. "Hurry now. Two of you, go with her. She'll be back for us in a split second."

Mossy unfurled May and Wyrm, and stepped aside, the pair of them looking to each other. Swiftly Wyrm shifted over to the man and wrapped his tail around his ankle. May came up and put a hand on Wyrms' body-and then in a flash they were gone! Mossy seemed unphased by the sight, but Zent immediately growled at the disappearance of half of their party! She turned and began to snarl at the girl, taking a threatening stance forward. The girl took a step back, and tried to allay the girls concerns. "I'm sorry if that startled you. She'll be back any moment to come get u-"

Before Mary could even finish the statement, the Psychic Pokemon returned, landing with the lightest of sounds. Zent's snarls hampered down and Mossy wrapped a vine around the now anxious girl. Another vine went up and wrapped around the Pokemon's waist, as she held her cohort's hand. In a flash, they left the beach, and reappeared in a completely new room.

The reappearance of Mossy and Zent made Wyrm and May visibly relieved. The four grouped together and shared a small moment of joy. As they acclimated themselves for the moment, the male finally spoke up.

"Hey there ya'll. I'm Jake Trestil. I'm the night watchman here at the Glimmering Lighthouse. This is Maryann, and that is her Gardevoir, Sue. " Both women performed a curtsie, to which May responded in kind. Maryann smiled, and knelt down to the Lickitung. "It's rare to see one of your species so...feminine."

That put a smile on May's face and she flicked out her tongue in response. She began to speak, but then silenced, realizing that they were nowhere near the mountains that let them talk to humans.

"Well, now that we've introduced ourselves, I'll let Sue explain what will happen next." Jake stated, pointing to the Gardevoir. The elegant Pokemon walked over to the group and closed her eyes. All at once, the four Pokemon could hear her in their head. Zent growled and began to hit her head, displeased with someone talking in there. Mossy quickly restrained her arm, and pointed to her ear. At first, she didn't get what he meant, and she tried to poke a claw in her ear to root that voice out! Mossy whacked her finger with a vine, and then pointed to her ear again. Zent glared at the vine, and mocksnapped at it, but then she realized that she just needed to listen.

"Hi all. As Jake said, I'm Sue. I'm able to make it so we can all converse-it makes our job worlds easier. We want to help you, but we need to know what happened to your Trainer-and why were you coming from...whereever it was you came from."

The 4 of them looked to each other, now nervous to make a sound. Jake and Mary nodded however, and moved over to the boy now lying in a bed in an adjacent room. "He's right here. His breathing is very shallow, but his heartbeat is strong. I promise we won't hurt you, but we need to know what happened to you all."

At Jake's behest, Wyrm slithered forward, and spoke up. Though he was speaking his name, the humans seemed able to understand them. "My name is Wringwyrm, but I go by Wyrm. Thank you for your assistance. I'll let the others introduce themselves." The Dratini slithered aside, allowing May to walk up and speak. "Um, hello. I'm Maybelline. And I really love your gown Sue. It's really pretty."

Sue smiled and looked down at her form. "Its a part of me. But I'm sure that Mary could make one for you!" May turned and looked to the redhaired girl, whom was busy studying Rapp's face. She turned to look at May, and smiled. "Sue's being a bad influence. I've made one or two dresses before. If you happen to be here a while, I'll be glad to try something."

"Did you hear that? She said she'd make me a dress!" May exclaimed, looking to Mossy and Wyrm. Wyrm 's eyebrows crinkled, unsure what would be the practical use for such a gown on her form, but May was seeing stars. "It'll be beautiful, I tell you. I'll model it off and we'll never worry about anything. I'll be irresistible."

"Harpoon." was all Wyrm said, to snap May back into reality. She glared daggers at the Dratini, but it was Zent's intervention that brought a critical question to light. "Me Zent. Me no like you speak in head."

At her comment, Sue turned to look at the Larvitar, feeling a bit guilty. "I-I'm sorry. I thought--" [/SIZE]

"No. Don't apologize Sue." May quickly interrupted, moving over to Zent. "Zent's pretty young, so things that are beneficial, such as this gift, don't quite make sense to her. Zent, she's not reading our minds."

Zent huffed, and looked to her stomach, which began to growl audibly. Jake chimed in then, reminded about something. "Hey. She ate a whole pie that she found in here. Where do you keep the food at in here?" Mary looked at Jake and then to the little one. "Well, if she found it, wouldn't you want her to lead you to it?" Jake and Zent looked to each other, and both realized she was right. Zent looked left and right, and took a deep breath. All of a sudden, her eyes lit up, and she headed right. Jake followed her as she made her way out of the bedroom, and to a red door. Jake opened the door-and Zent found herself at the top of a very long staircase. She didn't let that stop her, as she went to take the first step.

"Hey, how about I carry you down?" he offered, moving close to try and pick her up.

Zent immediately growled and bared her fangs. That immediately made Jake back up, and give her space. "Oh ok. Nope, sorry. You don't like being touched. Alright. We'll take it slow." Zent nodded and turned back to the stairwell. It was pretty long, but she didn't care. It would just make her appetite greater! She turned around, and hoisted herself down to the next step backwards, her feet touching the step before she released herself from the front step. As the staircase was a long winding one, Jake figured he could leave her to it, and come back in a bit to see where she was.

Walking back into the room, he kept the door open, so he could hear the rhythmic thud of the Larvitar's weight on each step as she scaled them. Walking back into the bedroom, he clapped his hands and grabbed a small chair over in the corner. "So, what did I miss. Wyrm, May, Zent and...." he looked to the Tangela, whom had now climbed up on the table and stared at Rapp.

"Oh...yeah. That's Mossjito. Mossy for short. He's been with Rapp the longest." Wyrm answered.

"Mossjito?" Sue asked, looking for a response. Eyes flickered to the Psychic, and for a moment, Sue allowed her connection to the Tangela to elevate-attaining a slight magenta aura around her. The moment passed and Mossy turned back to Rapp.

"He doesn't seem to have the ability to speak, not even in his native tongue. It is very odd." she stated aloud to the others. Jake and Mary stared at Mossy for a minute, surprised at how inexpressive Mossy seemed to be.

"Mossy, you can understand us, right?"

He merely nodded, and extended a vine inside his grove, to pull out that book with the map."

"He can understand us perfectly, and he can communicate with his eyes. It's strange, but it works." Wyrm stated as he slithered over to pluck the book from Mossy's vine. Taking it in his mouth, he wriggled over to the bed, and slid atop of it, opening it to the back of the cover. The map of Ulthuan was unfurled, and Jake slid over to take a look at it. He handed it to Mary, whom nodded.

"I assume you were traveling to visit these people? So you started in Caledor?"

Wyrm nodded. May sauntered over and spoke next, grabbing a small stool to sit on as she began to relate their tale-looking to Mossy every now and then to make sure she didn't give away any valuable information that could have been kept out. Mossy seemed to agree with everything she said-right up to the shocking development of Rapp being struck with the harpoon. Mary gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, as Jake looked to the boy lying in the bed.

"Yeah, so we ended up here, after getting to the coast. " May finished, flicking her tongue back and forth. Jake, Mary and Sue nodded, all amazed at their adventure thus far.

"Well, as it is, you all should get some rest. After a tale like that, and after him being whom he is-I'm sure that person will be coming after him. Hopefully we can get him to health so you can get back on your mission." Mary reaffirmed, before looking to Jake. "Did you forget the little one, or did you stop being hungry?"

Jake looked at her quizzically, before realizing he heard no more thuds on the stairwell. Quickly, he got up and ran to the staircase. Sure enough, the little Larvitar was nowhere on the stairwell. He sped down the staircase and bolted into the main area of the lighthouse. At first, there was no sound. He walked into the pathway that led into the back of the tower, and heard what first sounded like a muffled roar. He wound up in a room that had a low ceiling, and-as he learned-a fake door that was made to look like a brick floor. He walked around it, seeing the flight of stairs that extended down into a lower level. Quickly scampering down, he hit his head on the low ceiling beam. The sounds of rummaging could be heard down here, so he made sure to make his presence known.

"Zent? It's Jake. How in the world did you find this place!"

No answer. Just another roar. Jake took the stairs slow, as they creaked in response to his weight. When his weight hit solid rock, he immediately felt the nearest wall for anything. His fingers did not let him down, he found a old torch rod. Grabbing it, he quickly fished in his pocket, locating his lighter. It was only a matter of moments before the old wood caught on fire atop the wired tip, allowing the fire to burn bright. All at once, he could see around him.

The underside of the lighthouse was very extensive, leading east and west. He could hear water running somewhere, but now he needed help asserting a direction. That came with the sound of metal banging against rock. He turned and headed toward the sound, invariably to the east.

He headed down the corridor slowly, noticing the rocks here were shaved down to the point that pictures could be seen on them. Just how long was this place around for? He kept walking, and found himself at a fork in the road. Straight ahead led to that sound of running water, while making a left led him to a shadowed figure smashing something.

Holding the torch over the darkened left hallway, Jake found the culprit of the sound. Zent stood there, smashing a can against a rock until it opened. Her teeth did the rest, ripping the open metal backwards so she could get to the contents inside. Leaving her alone, Jake walked around this hallway-filled with food of all sorts. Canned, preserved, but all fresh somehow! He found the shelf where the pie sat, as there were more alongside it. He peeled back the wrapping and pulled out a pie pan, with something in the center. As he examined it, the Larvitar tossed the last can she was working on aside, and stopped to spy what he was doing.

"How in the world did you get a pie out of this?" he asked, looking around quizzically.

"Wawa!" replied the miniscule eater. She looked around for a moment, before grabbing a can. She then took off, stomping toward the other passageway. Jake followed, amazed she made it all the way back here all due to her nose! As he followed down the northern passage, the little lizard stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong." Jake asked, as he knelt down to try and see what she saw.

Over a few yards away, the passageway ended abruptly. There was a pool of water about 4 meters wide-and beyond that, a mural. In front of that mural however, floating on the water was the form of a woman. She was oblivious to the pair behind her, focusing only on the mural. Zent turned to Jake-and pointed to the woman. Jake nodded, putting his finger to his lips so she would not speak aloud. He quietly covered the light with his arm, and they both edged closer.

The figure admiring the mural extended both hands to the stone, and slid them around in circles, apparently enthralled with the picture. She rested her face against it, caressing the picture as if it was a long lost relative. As the pair watched, the form seemed to feel her love was misplaced, as it backed away from the rock. As silent as it had been, the form seemed to melt into the water, and disappear from the lagoon. When he was sure it was gone, Jake stopped covering the flame. The pair stopped at the edge of the lagoon, spying the mural that the woman was caressing.

"I...have no idea what this is. Come on Zent, we need to get back to the others." Zent nodded, but still dunked a can into the water. The lid of the can broke off, and Zent watched it float away from her. She spied the fire starting to head back, and she quickly followed. As she left the water's edge, a few bubbles surfaced, along with a tiny blue spire. The spire dipped under the surface, and shot back up, piercing the floating lid. With the litter attached, the spire then receded, and the bubbles ceased.

***

The next morning came about with no change in Rapp's condition. Up with the dawn, Mossy made his way out of the makeshift sleeping quarters Mary and Sue made for them. The others were still out, which meant that the downstairs would probably be quiet as well. Mossy made his way down to the main area, and headed to the room with the large bay window. His path took him directly past the front door to the adjacent room. In this room resided a bright red sofa, and a small dinner table. There was a two burner stove there as well, which is what he needed. In no time, the planimal had started his teapot and was not waiting for it to get to the right temperature. A tea flavor was whipped out-Camerupt Chamomile. He nodded, getting visibly excited about the savory taste that would hit his lips. As his pot began to whistle, he removed it from the flame, and poured himself a glass. While he poured himself a glass, he began to hear words float in from the hallway. He set his pot down and lowered himself off of the counter. His small stature made it over to the edge of the table, where he could stay hidden under the chairs, but still listen in.

"...I'm telling you, it was weird. The little rock lizard found this whole pantry of food, and there was a running river down there, and there was a water nymph!" Jake stated, as he pointed to the brick covered doorway that led to the underside of the lighthouse. Mary and Sue both stared at it unceremoniously, and looked to Jake, as he rambled on.

"I've only been here what, 2 years? And I never seen this! Never! I don't even remember that back room having a hidden hole amongst a brick floor! And now this lighthouse has a hidden set of passages? Outrageous."

"Well calm down, first of all." Mary stated, raising her hands up palms out. "We just need to get Johnson over here, and he'll tell us what was down here. We should be thankful that there's a place for us to store food, just in case something happens."

"And possibly a way to the water from underground." Sue chimed in, her voice giving off a strange echo in Mossy's head.

"Fine. Lets get him here today. He can probably help with that boy. Rapp? He should be up as far as I can tell. I dunno if that harpoon was poisoned, or if it was something to do with those mountains, but that boy shouldn't be down."

Mary sighed, and nodded, waving Jake away. "Speaking of, can you check on him. I don't want him to suddenly wake up and run out of here in fright of not knowing his surroundings." Jake nodded, and left, stepping past the table in a flash, and ran up the stairs.

As he left, Mary turned to Sue, and then to the open doorway. She shivered and crossed her fingers in front of her chest. Her head bowed, and for a moment-there was silence. She broke out of her prayer position and looked to Sue, whom was merely floating there, peering into the abyss.

"What do you feel Sue? Malevolence?"

"...Sorrow. Fear. Alot of fear. I'm inclined to believe that under this building might be an ancient ruin..." Sue looked up at Mary, whom had a very concerned look on her face.

"We're going to have to be fast then. I don't want what's down there to come up here and harm any of us. Johnson will know what to do." Mary nodded and turned to leave, heading to exit the lighthouse. As the girl left, Mossy turned to look back at the hole at the end of the hallway, to spy what the Psychic Pokemon would do. However, she was not there.

"You're a strange one. I can't read your mind unless your eyes state your intentions. You don't speak-and you have a strange energy around you." Mossy huffed, and walked from under the table quietly sipping his tea. He looked up to see the Gardevoir floating above, out of his range of vision whilst he was hidden. She lowered down, and Mossy continued to walk toward the hole.

"The boy upstairs needs you. Is that why you don't talk? Because your energies are so similar?" she inquired, as Mossy sipped away. He flung a few seeds down into the darkness of the stairwell and looked carefully. Satisfied with that strange action, the planimal turned to look at Sue, and shrugged.

"I will tell you this. I'm getting a message from down there. It's for someone named...Shimmer. It's telling this Shimmer to remember its job, to teach the truth. Does that mean anything?" Sue stared Mossy down, and the plant stared back, shaking his head. Sue nodded in return, vanishing in a flash. With her gone, Mossy fished out the book, and looked up the map. True to his memory-the name Shimmer appeared, right at the base of the Lighthouse. He closed the book and smiled. They were a step closer, but at what cost? His eyes diverted to the dark hole, and he set his teacup down...

TBC...SUPER SOON!

[Skye]

Next part!







Don't You Hate It....

Skye went back to collect Shandar from the Pokemon Center and gave Shadow a bit of a well deserved rest and some treatment from the battle against Delibird. The Magikarp hadn't suffered much from spending a minute or so out of his Pokeball earlier, being shoved in people's faces. but it had been a good excuse to put him in some actual water for a bit. Still, Shadow thought it was distasteful to bring the fish along. But, it made sense since their trainer had apparently decided that it was a good idea to head to the Pond Room first. His fur bristled at the thought of being in water, which would probably happen, but it was all for the sake of training, so he put up no fight.

Walking alongside his trainer, the Meowth took his time to observe their surroundings. With the Pond Room resting below the Pokemon Center of the tower they were in, it was a descent into a colder atmosphere, though not unpleasant. It certainly contrasted against having sun beat on his dark coat, leaving him feeling a bit refreshed as they stepped out and onto a platform in the room. It was then that Shadow's jaw nearly hit the floor.

The entire room was made out of water. A crystalline water which would have made a Suicune jealous, but still. It was water. Water everywhere. Not a dry scrap of land to stand on, except for the platform which they now stood upon, all of it far too small for one to fight on. His eyes lifted to gaze at Skye, hoping to get his discomfort across, adding a low groan for emphasis, but she only looked down at him and smiled encouragingly. Oh well... he had to keep up with Shandar, anyway. Sighing, he sat down patiently next to her feet and waited.

"Shandar, come out!" Skye commanded as she tossed her Pokeball into the water. Shadow's eyes flicked to the splash before he let out a discontented sound. "Don't worry, you'll be fighting first, I just want for Shandar to be able to warm up, too..." the Pokeball gave a flash from under the water as the Magikarp was released before it popped back out, retracing the path it had taken to be caught by Skye. "Alright?"

"Right, right..." Shadow replied, not that Skye would understand a word he said. His eyes returned to the water before finally willing himself to stand and slowly approach the water's edge. Leaning down, he gazed upon his own reflection, watching the water ripple ever so slightly, probably teaming with fish. Lots of fish. Shadow's mouth watered at the thought.

"Hello!" a head popped out with an energetic, deep-throated greeting. Sitting upright, Shadow's eyes widened as he gazed at the brown-coated creature which had surfaced. Thick, rolling curls could be seen, though it was his buck teeth that the Meowth marveled at.

"Hello..."

"There's your opponent, Shadow. You ready?"

"Sorry, she's a bit impatient," Shadow sighed before straightening himself. Oh well, if one mammal could swim, so could another. "Care to fight?"

"Of course, that's why I'm here!" the Bibarel replied before swimming back a few feet to give the Meowth a chance to enter the water. Shadow gave a deep, heavy sigh before taking the plunge, quite literally, though he shot right back up to get his head out of the water, ears laying back with discomfort. His eyes traveled around, searching for the Magikarp which had been let loose into the water. With no sign of him, however,

"You're just a young one, aren't you?" Bibarel asked, drifting lazily to one side.

"I'm just rusty..." Shadow paddled after his opponent, doing his best to look graceful while trying to close the gap. "Get back here!"


http://vindictivenature.webs.com/img/Meowth.png
Shadow Lv.6 vs Bibarel Lv. 15

"Shadow, calm down and start with a Growl!" Skye called from behind him. Stopping with his paddling, the Meowth inhaled deeply before letting a vicious sound bellow from deep within his chest. He could literally feel it rolling out through his throat and echoing from the back of his throat. The water seemed to tremble as Bibarel winced before going under water. Well, now what?

"Don't let it get away, use Hidden Power to draw it back up!"

Shadow looked down beneath the water, locating the opponent heading towards him, fast. How could a mammal swim that fast? Baffled, he still focused as instructed. While still treading water, he managed to draw all of his hidden potential from deep within him, only to release it in a spray of orbs towards his opponent. The Bibarel managed to avoid the first orb, but the second and third seemed to catch it and send it sinking, and quickly. Shadow couldn't help at bare his teeth in a grin at this revelation of power.

"Try a U-Turn when it gets closer..." Skye said, and Shadow had to agree that it sounded plausible. With Shandar in the water as well, though he couldn't tell the other Pokemon's location, it might well be a good chance to use the attack without being punished for it. This battle was his!

Focusing on his target, he felt the strange energies of the new attack gathering within him. His limbs were filled with power as he waited, shivering with the power as it grew within him, almost buzzing in the water. Bibarel finally righted himself and, instead of approaching for an attack, rose straight up. Once his head breached the water, Shadow shot forward as fast as his body could carry him. Paws shot out of the water to smack against the beaver's face before he bounced back towards his original location, as the energies commanded him in payment for the speedy attack.

That was when Bibarel finally got an attack in. His mouth opened to blast a powerful stream of water at Shadow, which caught him in his return trip, sending him flying back into the platform. Hitting the edge painfully, the Meowth choked, gasping for pain. Instincts gripped him as he floundered, twisting about rapidly to sink claws into the platform to haul himself into the water.

"Shadow?" Skye was next to him, but he wouldn't look up at her. Shivering from the cold air soaking in through his coat, he could hear his opponent splashing about in the water behind him. turning, he shot a nasty glare at the Pokemon, who was belly down in the water. A long, paddle-like tail stretched out behind the curly furred freak, explaining to Shadow how he could swim so quickly.

"I've got it," he snarled at his trainer before turning and, after taking a deep breath, jumped back into the water. His heart pounded and his body ached from having his own attack used against him, but he wanted to fight. He wanted strength, and he wanted to protect Skye, so he swam. Without being given a command, he began to charge his Hidden Power once again as soon as his head broke water again.

"Not going to work again!" Bibarel commented smugly before diving. Watching this, Shadow kept the powers within himself, swimming slowly after his opponent, only to nearly freeze, quite literally. The water was getting colder... and colder. Squinting down at the Bibarel, he saw that the enemy's mouth was open and a strange, faint blue glow could be seen through the broken image. Soon, Shadow's teeth were chattering against his will, his body shivering, trying to lock up, just as it had before. An ice-type attack!

Quickly, he channeled the Hidden Power into its separate spheres before sending them towards Bibarel, though the first one hit a layer of nigh invisible ice which had gathered in front of the Pokemon. The second shattered through, however, and the third struck home, hard enough to make his opponent send bubbles of air to the surface, much to Shadow's relief. He didn't stop there, however, charging his attack once again. It was the best that he could do, with his body starting to wear down from the swimming.

By the time Bibarel broke the surface, inhaling desperately for air, Shadow released his Hidden Power once more, and this time, each of the orbs hit, knocking the opponent unconscious. Thankfully, perhaps due to fat hidden beneath his curly coat, the Bibarel floated up onto his back, letting out a low groan as he floated along.


Shadow won and grew to level 8!

Panting heavily, Shadow swam back to the platform tiredly. Noticing that it held small claw marks from the first time he had dragged himself out of the water, he tried to place his paws on the same location as to not make it look worse than it already was. Pulling himself up, he came to lie there, hearing his heart pounding in his ears. Though, he wore a pleased little grin, and showed that to Skye, who was smiling happily.

"You're getting stronger, but I think it's time you just sit back and rest. That must have been hard on you..." she reached down to grab Shadow up and pull him into her arms. Her warmth crept into his skin, making him realize just how cold he was. And so he shivered there, miserably, his tail wrapping around himself as he watched the Bibarel slowly come to before giving a salute and diving to nurse his wounds.

"I thought I was going to drown..." he mumbled softly, only to watch as Shandar broke the surface finally, coming up with a Spheal next to him.

"I found... Pokemon..." Shandar gazed between Meowth and trainer.

"Afternoon, how is everyone? What a wet Meowth. Don't tell me... she made you, a cat, fight in here? That's ridiculous!" the Spheal began to giggle, causing Shadow to hiss at her.

"It was my decision, and I'll have you know that I won!" his eyes drifted to Shandar, then, wary. "So..."

"So..." the fish spoke as slow as he possibly could, staring at Shadow with a blank expression. The one thing that Shadow hated second most about the Magikarp was that he could never tell the creature's mood at a glance. Even his voice was monotonous at best.

"Battle..." he sank down slowly, until his mouth was beneath the water.

"Shall we?" Skye chimed in, unaware of the conversation she was interrupting. "If you please, Spheal."

"It would be my... delight!" Spheal giggled again before sinking down under the water.

"I hope that's a yes... Did he say yes?" Skye looked down to Shadow, who simply sighed at his hopeless trainer before nodding his head. "Oh, good. Shandar, Tackle!"

Slowly, the orange fish sank as well, until he was facing the opponent. That is, until...

"Spheal! Hey, Spheal! Spheal!" Skye was shouting as loud as she could. Rolling her eyes, Spheal popped her head up.

"Hey, do you even know any TMs? I heard that Pokemon here could, but I haven't seen a whole lot of it."

"Of course I can!" she huffed indignantly. "I'm the local weather maker. Watch this!" she sank down again and the room began to darken.


http://vindictivenature.webs.com/img/Shandar.png
Shandar Lv.19 vs Spheal Lv.19

Twisting and dancing, Shadow could just make out how the Spheal twirled, generating quite a flow beneath the water's surface. The water began to ripple, then, not because of the Pokemon living in the Pond Room, or because of anything that she was currently doing, but because a drop of water had hit the surface of the water. Blinking in confusion, his head lifted to view that a cloud had appeared within the room, floating and drifting, it swirled, dark and swollen with water. Water which fell as the Spheal successfully conducted an indoor Rain Dance. Eyes dropping, he then spotted an orange Magikarp heading towards the Spheal, only to nearly blur as the water grew heavier. With the rain now active, Shandar would have a massive speed boost to help him win.

"Aren't I smart?" Skye grinned.

"Cheap... But it is a Magikarp we're talking about. You need all of the help you can get... not that I want him to succeed..." Shadow murmured. His senses always tingled when he talked to the fish, something -bad- was going to happen. He could feel it in his chilled bones.

"Tricked, I was tricked!" Spheal complained before pulling her fins in close to herself. Squinting, Shadow could now begin to make out the details a bit better. Her eyes closed as she braced for the next impact, the damage reduced slightly from her Defense Curl. The Meowth shook his head slowly, wondering how she was going to win if she was just going to defend herself.

As Shandar swam a bit of distance to prepare himself for the next Tackle, the Spheal uncurled herself and began forming a ball of ice just before herself. This orb was small, however, and once fired, Shandar seemed to shrug it off as he rammed her again, causing her to spin a little. However, the water was probably cold from the ice's touch, as it had been during Bibarel's ice attack. The next sphere formed quickly, and far larger than the next.

"Hm..." Skye resumed her brilliant utterances as she leaned over, trying to get a better picture.

"Don't fall in. I'll rip your face off if I have to go back into the water..." Shadow complained, claws digging into flesh to brace himself. Skye hissed softly and held him closer in response.

The second ball shot forward, hitting hard enough to cause Shandar to hesitate before attacking again in another drive by Tackle. Unfortunately for Magikarps, they don't hit very hard, even if they are nearly inedible due to their defensive scales. Twirling a bit, she formed a third Ice Ball attack, this one even larger than the previous ones, to shoot and hit hard enough to cause Shandar to stop fully and shake himself off before he could get another Tackle in. Spun about, she formed the fourth ball, this one as large as she was. And, it shot off fast enough that Shandar could only take the hit, sinking a little as he visibly recoiled.

"Miss your Tackle!" Skye called, only hoping that he could hear. The Magikarp, still boosted by a rain which wasn't even close to letting up, rushed forward, and seemed to hit Spheal. Of course, Shadow thought to himself. Even if he did hear Skye, he has never really listened.

Spheal spun hard and fast, however, and even as she tried to form her Ice Ball, it went awry and shot off into the pond, smacking another floating figure. That figure twisted about in pain before beginning to do some odd type of movement. The rain grew heavier, the downpour thick as Shadow realized that the Rain Dance should have ended awhile ago. The other Water Pokemon were enjoying the rain too much to let it stop!

"Tackle!" Skye was truly getting into it. Slowly ceasing her spinning, the Meowth thought it odd how she just floated there. Perhaps she was dizzy from being turned about so much? It was too hard to make out, but Shandar came around for one last attack. Though he didn't hit hard, the speed and solidity of his body was adding up the damage. So, it was a complete shock when he got enough distance and speed to knock the Spheal, not spinning her, but knocking her clean out of the water and into one of the nearby walls. Hitting it, she slid down, and fell back into the water, only to float there, no longer able to maintain herself under water.


Shandar won and grew to level 20!

It was then that the bad thing Shadow had been dreading came about. At first, it seemed alright, Shandar's form glowing beneath the water as he surveyed his victory. Elongating, Skye could only let out a delighted little sound as she watched her first successful evolution. Even Shadow had to admit, it would have taken him a while to become a Persian, and he observed Shandar's trophy of triumph with envy. A large, blue trident surfaced first, followed by the face of the fully grown Gyarados. At least, he looked fully grown. Raising, he towered, making even the Pond Room's vast surface, built to accommodate mild aerial combat.


Shandar evolved into Gyarados! He learned:
Bite (Level 20)
Thrash (Default Gyarados attack)
Iron Head (Free level 20 attack)

"Good job, Shandar!" Skye cheered, though her joy was short lived as Shandar let out a deep throated bellow to announce his victory. It was the words that went with such a war cry which made Shadow's blood chill and soaked fur attempt to stand on edge.

"Finally! I am released to unleash my vengeance upon all. Humans and Pokemon alike shall learn why one simply does not... toy with my race! Never again shall I be repressed, be it by Pokemon or human! Let's start with... you two... thank you for helping me. I have no more need for you..." Shandar apparently didn't realize he was in a very confined room in which to exact his full revenge, but he easily had room enough to eat one girl and one cat. He lunged, then, mouth agape.

Drawing in his power, Shadow could only draw on his internal strength, weakened as he was, and shoot the condensed orbs of fighting prowess towards the attacker. It was enough to make the Pokemon, not yet used to his body, flinch in his assault. Falling down from his leap, however, Shadow found himself, once again, in water. Water which was now spinning and twirling as the Gyarados thrashed, twisting as he sized up Skye, who had fallen back in shock.

"Help!" Shadow choked on water as he splashed desperately, only to be smashed painfully into the platform before being sucked under. The water was cold, colder than he remembered. His limbs and lungs ached as he forced eyes open. But, trying to tell up from down in the chaotic world was nigh impossible. That is, until something large and furry rose from beneath him, pressing against his side. Grasping at it, his claws hooked into a thick coat as the waters began to calm, yet were so chill, Shadow thought for sure he would freeze.

Breaking the surface, he rose a paw to his face, trying to get the water from out of his eyes, even as he choked in gasps of air gratefully.

"Ow, ow, ow..." a vaguely familiar voice complained. Looking, down, he noticed that he was raking up the Bibarel he had fought earlier. "Watch it, boy."

"I... I'm sorry..." Shadow coughed again before looking for Skye. His eyes landed on quite the spectacle, however. Shandar's sudden wrath had been stilled, the great sea serpent now displayed in the form of a great ice statue. Skye was still sitting, shivering on the platform as she stared at the Pokemon she had worked so hard to help raise. He glanced around to see who had managed to turn the giant Pokemon into a popsicle, but all he could see were ripples in the water.

Skye, understandably enough, went into a long string of cursing and swearing before she raised Shandar's Pokeball and recalled him. Then, crawling across the drenched platform, she reached out to pick Shadow up off of the Bibarel. Though, being removed from the water hurt, more than Shadow had thought it would.

"Oh, Shadow... Oh no..." she murmured softly before holding him close to her. The Meowth hadn't a clue what she was talking about, and so, reached up to try to paw at her. Only, one of his arms wouldn't move right. Glancing to the side, he thought he spotted white among the black, bones twisting as they shouldn't. Beyond shocked, he was about to scream in terror, only to have his outcries silenced as he was put into stasis within his Pokeball.


... When You're Always Right?

[Lady Vulpix]

OK, too many stories and too little time!

I'll do my very best to read them all - this is a particularly busy month for me - but I would like to know 2 things first.

1. Jeff, have you read my story? Or anyone else for that matter. I'm not in a hurry about the stamps, but I would like to hear some comments.

2. Skye, would you like your stories to be included in our archive? And if so, under what name should I file them (author's name, that is)? We normally use first names or short forms thereof, but if you prefer to use a pseudonym that's OK.

[Skye]

Uh, sure, I guess. xD Under Skye would work. Are they actually coherent to the story line enough to be archived this time around? :x

[The Blue Avenger]

Gabi: Only one I read at this point was Amy's; sorry, real life cropped up very unexpectedly. XD; I'll see if I can't get another done today.

[Skye]

I Wonder If...

It was racing day again, though Ashes didn't know when it wasn't racing day. Her hooves pounded the broken and worn pathways, though no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't reach the group of Ponyta before her. Breathing in the volcanic fumes with each labored pant, she pushed forward, but it was too late. They passed the set of obsidian stones left along their mock race track which represented the finish line. Bringing up the rear, as she always did, Ashes slowed her desperate pace to a weary trot. Her head lowered as the other Ponyta stopped and observed her, only to let out soft sounds of laughter.

"In last place again?" one of them, named Penelope, shook her head. "You'll never be able to run with a herd at this rate. You'll just fall behind every time. Not that you..." her eyes narrowed as she looked over the younger mare critically. "Fit in."

Ashes came to a stop, nostrils flaring as she looked over herself. Dark fur, purple and blue flames... not to mention her eyes. The feature she couldn't see at all was the feature she despised the most. While normal Ponyta kept dark eyes until they matured into Rapidash, hers were already a strange, bright color. Flicking her tail to get a bit of movement in the air around herself to cool from the run, she enviously observed the pale yellow coats of the others, their natural flames burning as they, too, sought to cool their bodies from the race. But, at least they fanned each other as they did so.

"I can keep up... I might stand out a bit, but at night, at least..." she began, only to look away, not even wanting to finish her words. Even at night, when their flames glowed in the dark, she stood out. She attracted attention. The law of the herd was to be as one, to look as one, and to protect each other. With such a sore thumb roaming, she wouldn't last outside of the room. And, each day of racing only proved time and again that she wasn't fit to run with a herd.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Penelope shook her head before turning away to head back to the center of the room. Each of the trained Pokemon were fed and given plenty of water to sustain themselves in the harsh environment of the lava room, and it was close to their midday meal. Ashes, who wasn't even a trained Pokemon, could only turn her head to look at the obsidian stones before drawing those poisonous fumes within her body and mixing them with saliva. The toxic gunk she created wasn't even strong enough to melt the stones she spat at, but at least she knocked one into the lava and sent the rest scattering.

Still, at least she would be fed, and she craved a drink of water after the hard run. Still reluctant to face the other Pokemon, she dragged her hooves over the ruined stone pathways, her tail set low as she silently mourned her position. All hopes and dreams of leaving the training center and joining a while herd were fading fast. Even the trained Pokemon were thrown off by her looks, so perhaps it just wasn't meant to be. What, then? What could she do? People didn't want her, either. Though she had been too young to recall more than glimpses of the past, she thought she had once seen another like her. Only once. And then... she had ended up here. Alone.

A thunderous roar sounded from within the room, causing Ashes to stop in her tracks. Lavender eyes went wide as her ears flicked to locate the direction that sound had come from. Certainly, it didn't belong to any Pokemon she had ever known. Perhaps a trainer had come in? Curious to see what could make such a loud sound, the Ponyta turned away from all thoughts of food and rushed towards the Room's entrance.

It didn't take long before she saw a giant blue creature. Large enough to cause her to freeze up, mouth dropping to observe it. Eyes red with rage, it thrashed, seeming to be lashing out at something or someone. Perhaps it really was a fight? But, who would bring such a creature into the lava room? There was hardly anywhere for the creature to snake around on, except the large mound of volcanic stone at the entrance.

"I'll kill you!" he shouted, causing Ashes to lower her head, legs braced as she prepared herself for flight. Yet, he didn't even try to attack her. All of his fixation was upon a human. A small female with long brown hair who was holding a Pokeball in her hand.

"Shandar, calm down already!" the human coughed, her voice muffled. Apparently she had pulled her tank top up to cover her nose and mouth, not yet used to the fumes. Most of them were filtered out of the room to keep human and Pokemon alike from being poisoned, but Ashes still felt bad for her. The heat was making her squint even as she tried to avoid the Gyarados' wrath.

"How about you hold still so I can finally be rid of you and your Pokeball!" his head gleamed with a metallic sheen, the trident-like crest on his forehead taking on the appearance of bright metal before he slammed forward, striking at the human. She managed to evade, if barely, tough she was getting dangerously close to the stone pathways, where she wouldn't be able to do more than run along them. The Iron Head attack seemed like it dazed the Pokemon, however, and the trainer used that to her advantage. She brought the Pokeball up and recalled the crazed beast while he suffered a bit of draw back from his attack.

"I thought for sure that a hot environment would wear him out quickly..." the female proceeded to string her wishful thinking with a series of colorful words Ashes hadn't heard from human lips before. Raising her head, the Ponyta nickered softly, sympathetic to the trainer being rejected. Turning, the woman caught sight of Ashes finally, looked away, then did a double take. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No..." Ashes replied somberly, her head lowering with ears flattened at the accusation.

"Yeah, you should be sorry..." the trainer apparently mistook the gesture for guilt, causing Ashes to raise her head once again. "Why are you here, anyway? To battle? I'm sorry, but that's the only Pokemon I've got right now, and... yeah. He'd eat us both..."

"I don't want to battle, exactly..." but, no matter what she said, the trainer didn't exactly seem to understand her. At all. Most of the trainers around here seemed to at least be able to connect with other Pokemon on some level, or at least get a translation. But, if what the woman had said was true, and that was the only chance she had of a translation, it was probably best this way.

"You are a gorgeous thing, though. Ponyta, right?" the trainer moved back towards the entrance to lean up against the doors leading into this room.

"Don't do tha--"

"Ah!" she shot forward, the heat of the doors enough to burn after prolonged contact.

Sighing at the trainer, she wondered how such a woman had come to possess such a nasty looking Pokemon. Perhaps she had another somewhere, a far more powerful Pokemon. One which could subdue the Gyarados, but not enough for her to use in battle. Yet. Though, as she continued to observe the woman, it seemed less and less likely as the female discovered that the ground was also not pleasant to sit on.

"Yeah... Anyway, I'm Skye. Just... training around here. How about you?" she tried to start a conversation, despite it being obvious that she was clueless.

"Ashes... I'm training, too. Or, I'm trying to..." the Ponyta glanced back over her shoulder at the way she had come, her gaze disheartened.

"You don't really fit in here, do you?" more of an observation than a question, the obvious nature of Ashes' plight caused the Ponyta to look back at the human.

"I could, if I wanted. I could lead the herd!" she neighed in open defiance.

"Alright, alright, no need to shout. Sorry..." Skye laughed. "I just thought... you know. The rooms are going to close soon. I don't have a Pokemon I can really train. Shadow, my Meowth, is recovering from a broken leg. Shandar apparently hates my guts..."

"Closing soon? Already?" Ashes pressed her ears back again at the realization that she was going to be kicked out soon. Once they realized that she had snuck in for training and didn't really belong to anyone. That, or they would try to capture her, forcing her to try to sneak out and escape as soon as she could.

"I was going to go out and try to capture another Pokemon soon, in any event. I need two lead Pokemon, and since evolving Shandar turned out so terrible..."

"You evolved that thing?" Ashes tried to recall what she could of a Gyarados. Though she hadn't recognized it at first, she did recall seeing Magikarp in the streams. They were known to be harmless, docile, the last Pokemon one would expect to battle, much less win. She also recalled how many trainers called them worthless. Shaking her head with bewilderment, Skye's words caused the Ponyta to offer her a bit more respect.

"I thought so. Hey, it never hurts to ask!" giving a laugh, the woman turned before lifting a foot to press to the doors, pressing one open to leave.

"W-wait!" Ashes darted forward, closing the gap on weary legs, she reached out to bite the back of Skye's shirt and pulled the woman back in.

"Ou-woah!" Skye first yelped in pain before falling back into the Ponyta. Startled, Ashes instinctively let her flames burn hotter than before pulling back, nearly scorching the human before dropping her onto the rough, jagged ground. "Ow..."

"Sorry..." Ashes flicked her ears. "Look... I don't know... maybe we can try something? Maybe?"

"Did you change your mind?" Skye looked up at the Ponyta, beyond confused. Despite having never openly said no to the offer in the first place, Ashes nodded slowly. "That didn't look enthusiastic..."

Rising from the ground again, the human's shirt had fallen back into place, making her speech much more clear as she rubbed at her back in pain. Being much closer to Ashes, however, her attention shifted over the small horse before discovering something which caused her expression to change. Fidgeting nervously under such observation, Ashes turned her head, not out of shame, but to observe Skye in return. Fixating on the human with one eye served to give her a much better view than turning her head directly to face the woman and put her in Ashes' blind spot.

"You've really been working yourself hard... your coat's a mess..." a sympathetic hand raised, only to falter as the human seemed to have enough sense to recall being burned before. Ashes' flames had eased up since the incident, however. Feeling quite proud at the observation, she stepped forward a little, leaning her neck into the human's hand. One stroke of skin over fur caused a delighted reaction before Ashes began bobbing her head, leaning into the human with delight as itchy fur and skin were given scratches.

"Hey..." Skye laughed. "You're going to knock me over!" but oh, a human couldn't begin to understand how wonderful it felt to have nails work through fur after working oneself into a sweat day after day, only to have that sweat evaporate in the heat of the lava room. All too soon, the scratching stopped, leaving Ashes to turn her head away from Skye to regard the human with gratitude.

"Well, if you did change your mind, we should wash you up first... I think I can get a sponge and we can find some water... then we should start your training. Well... continue, I suppose..." Skye pulled an empty Pokeball from one of her pockets and enlarged it before holding it out in offering. A pause was taken as Ashes wondered if she really should accept this offer. Finally, she reached out to tap her nose against the orb and allow it to draw her in.


***

After a good, long rinsing, something which required quite a bit of trust on Ashes' part, as too much water could damage her flames, the Ponyta soon found herself drying off in a very different area than she had once been in. Rather than lava and fumes, flora and humidity flooded the room. The ground felt strange too. After days... weeks... months... she wasn't certain how long she had been running on volcanic stone, but having green grass and dirt beneath hoof felt beyond strange. Stumbling now and then over her feet sinking, she could at least feel relieved that Skye wasn't fairing any better.

"Ah... ack! Anyway... You're a fire type. So, starting in the Jungle Room should be good. They can't really do much against you to begin with. Just... be careful to not set the entire place on fire, alright?" Skye winced as a large leaf brushed over Ashes. Oddly enough, it didn't seem to light on fire, causing the human to gaze at the Ponyta strangely. Snorting, Ashes looked away from the human and observed the surrounding area. One day, Skye might come to realize that a Ponyta's fire didn't automatically set everything on fire. They would burn entire plains when trying to sleep if that were the case, then die of starvation.

"You do have Fire-type moves, right?"

At that, Ashes paused before shaking her head from side to side. A long pause came after that before Skye simply laughed at the ridiculous state they were in. At least, Ashes felt that was the case. Looking away, she took the laughter as she had taken it from the other Ponyta. Just another grudge to bear in the long run.

"Good!" Skye grinned at that, causing Ashes to swivel her head and eye the woman, bewildered.

"Do you have any idea how much shit we would be in if you burned the place down? No fire moves, you don't even set the plants on fire when you touch them... though I guess that makes sense. Ponyta do eat plants... and plants can burn..." Ashes sighed heavily at that. At least the woman could learn. "What kind of attacks do you have, then?"

Thinking over it, Ashes shook her head again, not wanting to bring it up. Her moves were limited and that caused problems. The amusement faded from her trainer's tone, then, before she pulled out a small cardboard box and opened it. Before Ashes could comment or resist, a thick powder was dumped onto her, causing the Pokemon to rear, startled. A shout escaped her as she felt something new take hold of her mind before settling. The ins and outs of the new technique burned within her, as if it had always been. A healing move which was related to the sun.

"Morning Sun," Skye smiled. "I'm sure you can figure out what it does on your own. But, going against tougher opponent without fire power, this will give you the endurance to take on whatever we come up against. Alright?"

As if she needed to be asked if it was alright. Ashes nodded slowly, though she was still reeling from the revelation of being taught a TM. And a powerful one at that! It was a shame that they were something that could only be used once, however. And, for that, she felt guilty. Still, she managed to find a way to express gratitude towards her slightly inept trainer, turning to rub her head into the woman while nickering softly.

"You're welcome... You're welcome!" Skye laughed softly, though the moment was short lived. Ashes turned her head to catch what Skye had spotted, and saw a Butterfree hovering just before them.

"Are you here to fight?" the bug type sounded less than thrilled as she observed the Ponyta standing in the jungle. Just beneath her, a Turtwig crept out from the underbrush, looking somewhat sleepy.

"Yes..." Ashes moved forward, then.


http://vindictivenature.webs.com/img/Ponyta.png
Ashes Lv. 5 Vs Turtwig Lv. 8 and Butterfree Lv.15

Not yet in sync with her new trainer, Ashes rushed forward first, only to trip and stumble over the brush. But, the close distance was required, and after much annoyance, the Ponyta disregarded it completely with a powerful jump so that she could crash into a very startled Butterfree. Grounded, the butterfly Pokemon tried to struggle, wings flapping, though she was pinned down beneath heavy hooves. Drawing in the toxins stored within her body from the volcano room, Ashes coughed a good amount of the poisonous goop onto the struggling insect's midsection before turning and spitting the rest at the Turtwig, who fully awoken by the sudden and vicious attack.

"Ponyta, what are you... Don't attack them both!" Skye called out, but it was too late. The Turtwig, navigating with frustrating familiarity over the terrain Ashes had just stumbled over gracelessly, rose up to slam into the Ponyta, making her previous attempts to cripple the bug Pokemon completely useless. Choking from the heavy impact, she staggered, attempting to find footing, only to trip over roots and weeds, tangling herself. Frustrated, she shot a harsh glare towards the two before bellowing a loud, thunderous cry of defiance, causing their courage to falter slightly as she set blaze to the weeds trapping her.

"Why me... Shandar," glancing over her shoulder at the trainer who was bemoaning taking such a reckless battler into her care, Ashes saw her holding a Pokeball, ready to toss it, only to recoil as she seemed to recall that Shandar currently hated her beyond reason. That glance cost her, however, as the Butterfree let out a piercing sound of its own, one which disoriented the Ponyta. All sense of balance was lost, the room spinning as she struggled to make up from down. Desperate to lash out, she attempted to find her opponents, eyes wild with panic as the effects of the Supersonic grasped painfully at her.

"Ponyta, use Growl again, then just stand still!" Skye called from somewhere, though Ashes couldn't tell where the woman had gone to or what she was doing. Bits of charred vine and leaf crawled over her fur, causing her skin to visibly twitch as she hesitated, only to realize that she was blind in this sea of chaos and confusion. Skye's voice was the only calm sense of reason left in the world, leaving her to realize why Pokemon relied so heavily on their trainers to become powerful.

Bracing her legs against the ground, the Ponyta let another threatening bellow escape from deep within her chest, ears flicking to and fro. Slowly, the disorientation was fading, and for a time, it seemed that she may have frightened the opponents into submission. That illusion was quickly lost, however, as another painful blow plowed into her chest, causing her to slide back. With her vision returning to normal, she could see the Turtwig backing himself up, looking beyond angry that she had poisoned him.

"Tackle, now!" Skye seemed to be close to the action, judging by Ashes' returned sense of hearing. Almost right next to her. Still lingering with hesitation, Ashes eyed her opponent before rushing forward to knock him back. Their size different made the strike heavily awkward, yet it seemed that the blow, paired with the dense underbrush behind him, caused quite a trap. Still, Ashes felt the pain from the two strikes deeply in her body. The sound of trashing soon caught her attention, causing the Ponyta to twist and rear up, preparing to strike, only to twist and pull herself short as she saw Skye desperately stamping out the small blaze she had started in her frantic attempts to free herself.

"Don't attack me!" Skye jumped back, eyeing the Pokemon warily. "Where's Butterfree?"

Ashes turned away, her eyes roaming the dense jungle habitat, but it seemed as if the Butterfree may have fled, which suited her just fine. Skye glanced around, seeming far more wary and less likely to accept that it would end so easily. Such feelings could be heard in her tone as she gave her next command, "Morning Sun to recover some of your strength."

Ashes lifted her head to gaze up at the ceiling, where lights had been installed that reflected both the light and heat of true tropics. Her eyes closed in devoted concentration as she began to draw in the properties of the pseudo suns above her, head lowering as the blaze of her flames began to cool once again, peace entering along with the light, to create a soothing feeling of healing and restoration within her system, but such tranquility was not to last.

"Look out!" came Skye's voice, which seemed so distant in Ashes' peaceful little bubble. The Ponyta opened her eyes, anyway, expecting Turtwig had righted himself and was planning to tackle her again. But no. The Turtwig barely seemed to be on his feet alright, but he seemed fairly focused on her. Suddenly, she felt roots moving about her feet, raising to entangle her, holding onto her solidly and wrapping about her torso to attempt to trip her up, if not, crush her. Another blazing burst of her mane and tail stayed most of it, but Turtwig's attack had been more effective than Ashes had anticipated. For, Skye hadn't been calling out a warning about the Grass Knot. Instead, she had been calling about the Solar Beam Butterfree had just finished charging.

It hurt. Anyone who thought grass types weren't effective against fire Pokemon hadn't been hit with a blast of pure solar energy. Tripping over the roots she had managed to damage with her body, the Ponyta staggered, choking painfully as she braced herself against the ground, determined to not fall. Gasping, choking for breath, she watched the Butterfree float back into view, only to land on the ground, her energy spent as the poison took its course. Glancing for the Turtwig, Ashes felt triumphant when she noticed that he, too, had given in to her toxic spew, though she wasn't certain when he had passed out.


Ashes won and grew to level 8!
She learned Tail Whip (Level 8)!

"I guess that was just a battle of stamina... good thing you're pretty determined, hm?" Skye kicked out the last of the embers before letting out a heavy sigh. "But, you should listen to me a bit more. Attacking two Pokemon is reckless, not to mention dangerous. What if something dangerous had happened, huh?" Ashes looked away in shame as Skye lectured her. She hadn't meant it to be a malicious act, she had just gotten ahead of herself. Skye didn't see it that way, however. Arms wrapped around her neck, and Ashes tensed, only just resisting the urge to burn the woman. "I'm glad you're safe..."

"Thanks..." Ashes couldn't help at respond, despite knowing that Skye was still oblivious to her language.

"You know what?" Skye began to walk, keeping an arm around the Ponyta as they headed back out of the room. "You need a name."

"I have a name," Ashes protested, though she leaned heavily into the woman as she walked off her battle.

"Something dark."

"My name isn't dark."

"How about Eclipse?"

"My name is Ashes..."

"I like that. How about you?"

"I don't even have a say in this, do I..."

"Let's go, Eclipse!"


Ashes was renamed to Eclipse!

... I Made the Right Choice

[DarkestLight]

As the morning sifted on, the group woke up and began their rituals. Even with Rapp down, they made sure that they had everything they came with. As a group, they made it a point to look over their friend, in hopes that he would wke up soon.

They all headed downstairs after each of them stared at the unconscious Rapp, in a possible silent prayer. May and Wyrm managed to hold Zent up so they could get down the stairs faster, and were ever so happy to get her downstairs and relieve themselves of the weight she introduced. When they reached the base of the stairs, Zent was unceremoniously tossed off of them. She didn't mind, as she rolled onto her stomach and boosted herself up. Her tail was feeling a lot better, that burn was almost healed up, and she felt a lot calmer.

"Moss? Where are you?" she shouted, as Mary walked in the front door.

The Lickitung stopped her elevated speech and smiled at Mary. The gesture was returned as Mary held the door open. In walked a shorter man, with a heap of whitish hair. He strode in and immediately glared at the three Pokemon now staring at him. Instead of what they thought were to be a harsh set of comments, they were greeted just as warmly.

"Well, you must be the three Pokemon with that unfortunate lad. I've come to see if I can't whip him back up."

That made the three of them cautiously smile, and they stepped aside to let him by. As he headed upstairs, Mary looked down the hallway that lead to the hidden trapdoor. She shivered upon looking down the corridor, and turned to the 3 pairs of eyes now focused on her.

"I'll ask him what he knows about this. First, let him see what's wrong with Rapp."

Just then, Jake appeared, apparently shaking off a chill of his own. His hair was scattered atop his head, and he hurriedly sat on the couch, stretching out. Mary walked over to the table, and looked toward the small sink. In a flash, Sue appeared, as the others wandered into the living quarters.

"Right, now that everyone is here, I'm going to explain what I saw."

May and Wyrm were unsure what this meant, but Mary nodded. Zent waddled over to Jake's side as he began to retell their short trip downstairs. May nodded-pointing out that's where Zent immediately went when they first burst in; she had smelled the pie for a good half hour's distance away. As the story continued, the chills began to run down Wyrm's spine. Upon finishing, Jeff held up the pie pan with strange flakes inside it. Zent then stomped her foot, to get their attention, and once again held up that can she procured last night.

"Oh yeah, Zent poured water into a pie pan, and the pie emerged. But the first one we found was already there?"

Now that May was speaking this aloud, she began to realize its foolishness. Magical pies that hydrate when you add water?

"Really? She DID say wawa to me last night too. Sorry for not listening to you then. Let's see this."

Jake walked over to the sink, and allowed water to drip in the pan. Sure enough, the flakes in the pan began to swell and form, and a strong smell of raspberries came over them. Everyone stared in amazement as in no time at all, a full raspberry pie appeared. Jake set it down, completely blown away.

"I never knew you could shrink a food down to that state!" he exclaimed, staring at the filled pie pan.

Sue acknowledged, waving her arm around it to make sure it was actually there. The others agreed, and then looked to Zent, whom was already staring hard at the pie.

"But why a pantry down there?" was the next question to be raised by Mary.

Jake and Sue nodded, and Jake pointed upstairs. "I heard Johnson walk in. When he's done up there with the boy, I'm definitely going to ask him what's going on with this. Until then-no one should go down there."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and May turned to see Zent somehow-atop the counter, already halfway devouring the pie.

"Hey! That means you too, Zent. No more pantry raiding."

Zent went to acknowledge the new rule, but her eyes fell on something next to her. She looked around frantically, but didn't see its owner. Her nose never lied though, and Zent sniffed the air. She grunted, and worked her way down to the floor. As the others discussed possible courses of action, Zent ambled over to the doorway. She stopped at its edge, and sniffed, before pointing down the hole.

"Mothy!"

"Mothy?" was their collective reply, as they all looked at her. May and Wyrm looked at her, puzzled, and Mary smirked.

"It must be fun, hearing her learn new words."

"Oh, it's great." Wyrm cynically retorted, looking back at Mary.

Zent huffed, and pointed at the hole again, repeating herself. "Mothy there! Want see Mothy!"

"No, I don't like bugs too much, Zent. If you see the moth, I won't hold it against you if you eat it. But don't go down there after it!" May replied, before turning away.

Zent huffed some more, looking up at Mary, the only one who seemed even half interested in listening.

"Hey, you two stop." Mary scolded, looking at Zent. She could see the visible trouble the little girl was trying in communicating, and she went closer.

"Try again, little one. Does it smell mothy? Do you want us to see the moth?"

Though she was trying, Mary's questions began to piss Zent off, and she roared in protest. May and Wyrm turned toward Zent again, knowing that roar. They didn't want her to lash out against Mary, and so came to Mary's aid. Mary however held out her hand, pausing their approach.

"She's just frustrated. "Mothy" is not what she's trying to say."

"So, what could she be saying?" May said, as she leaned against the hallway.

Wyrm sulked back a bit, thinking. "No idea. No idea. You know who we need right now?"

"MOTHY!" Zent hollered, picking up a small cup she saw right next to the door.

Aiming, her little body rocked back before throwing it, hitting Wyrm in the head. May turned and laughed, as Wyrm felt the cup roll down his back. He flicked it up with his tail and caught it, keeping one eye closed.

"Ow! Why me?" May then grabbed the cup, and looked at it. All at once, Mary, and Wyrm realized what she was saying, and Wyrm wasted no time in barreling his serpentine body to the hole. Zent barely had time to grab the tip of his tail, but her grip stopped Wyrm from diving into the darkness.

"Let me go! If he's down there, and if its as dangerous as you guys made it sound, he is gonna need help!"

"NO! SNAKE STAY! NO ONE GO DAOWN HOLE!" was the response he got, and Wyrm continued to wriggle against her grasp.

Mary joined in, grabbing Wyrm as well and pulling him up.

"No, the baby is right, Wyrm. Please listen. Mossy probably went down there unwillingly. We'll go down there, but only as soon as Johnson can tell us what might be there."

"Well let's go now! I don't want Mossy down there by himself!"

"For once the blue earthworm speaks truth. Mossy disappears, and we lose alot of information." May chimed in, already heading toward the stairwell.

Jake nodded, and Sue hovered above the hole. "I'll stay here to make sure no one else enters. The little one will stay with me." Zent agreed, and Mary set Wyrm down, whom immediately snaked toward the stairs. Jake followed, and the pair flew up the lengthy stairwell to see how the boy was doing. Mary and May stood at the base of the steps, looking up to see what the news was.

It didn't take long for the boys to reach the mid tier room. Jake reached the doorknob and opened it slowly, allowing the serpent to slither in quietly. Jake followed, and shut the door behind him.


The elderly fellow peeked out of the back bedroom, and nodded. In a few seconds, he had set his instruments down and closed the door behind him. Looking to Jake, he raised his hands to his sides, palms up.

"I can't tell you what's wrong with him. his reflexes are hyper sensitive, he's breathing normally-its like he is in a sleeping adrenaline rush. He's sweating and murmuring incoherent statements, and he keeps saying "Veronica."

"That's his mother, as far as we can figure." Wyrm interjected, as Jake silently nodded. "Yeah. He's searching for her, as I've come to learn from the tale told to us by these guys. But now rewind. You said he's moving and sweating?"

"Very much so. Was he not doing this before?"Johnson asked, as the figure in question rolled on his side-to Wyrm's surprise.

"No. Tell you the truth, he looked like a block of ice 24 hours ago. You think he could wake up soon?"

"He might. As to what triggered this trancelike sleep...well all I can say is that someone put him under a spell. That, or he experienced a magical influx that his body wasn't ready for. You said he left the Forbidden Mountains. That could have done it."

Jake nodded, and looked to Wyrm. "Well, you heard it from him. That solves one problem. Those mountains are called Forbidden for a reason Now, about the hole downstairs."

At the mention of the hole in the lower area of the lighthouse, the older man sat down. He slid his hands along his thighs, removing any trace of sweat from his palms. It was evident there was a secret here, as the old man removed his glasses and tucked them away into his breast pocket. "Has anyone been in the hole?"

"I have, as has the little rock lizard." Jake stated, crossing his arms. Johnson nodded, keeping a stoic face as he began.

"How much did you see?"

"We saw a few passages, a pantry full of dehydrated food, and what seemed to be a mural of some sort. There was also-and you are going to think me crazy for saying this-but there was a woman down there." Jake nodded, as he watched the old man's reaction.

To his chagrin, the elder merely shook his head and sighed again. "You all should have never found that door. I was told of its existence years ago, but that was when it was being boarded up. The lightmaster two roles before you was the person who first found it."

Jake nodded, and pulled up a chair. Wyrm coiled upon himself and listen with baited breath as Johnson related his knowledge to them.

"Maximus told us of his experience down there. The lighthouse existed then as it does now, but it probably had a better coat of paint on it. Back then, the lightmaster was a jolly fellow, always making this the place lively. Well, one night, he happened to come home, to the place completely ransacked. Thinking it was a party guest going for a little too long, he followed the mess to the back room. It probably surprised him when he found that small staircase leading to the underground grotto-and to the paintings on the wall. It probably frightened him more so as he began to spend more and more time down there. No longer was the lighthouse a place to see, he had effectively closed it down aside from its primary function.

As he told it to us, he stayed down in that underground passage for weeks, charting it out. It extends farther east than any subterranean map would show. He speculated it could extend as far as to a Shifting Isle, but he dared not travel that far and lose his way. But-down the passage you said you went down, he also came across that watery lagoon, and to that mural. That sad painting, of people huddled around a stone dais-with a giant ball of yellow light hovering above them. He deduced it was a sort of door, but he did not know of a key that would open it. He never did examine that mural farther, he said knowing as much as he did was enough to make him go crazy, and he was not resigned to ending up a crackpot just yet.

So for you to tell me there is a woman down there whom was trying to push past that mural...that tells me that under this lighthouse, hides an ancient ruin of some sort. Possibly something that still exists from those olden times-probably something that was supposed to be hidden. Either way, its not supposed to be open. So don't go opening doors that you don't have any reason opening." the old man finished, sitting back in his chair.

Wyrm hissed at the end of that tale. That told him nothing of interest, and every second they sat here waiting for a tidbit of information was a moment more that Mossjito was possibly in a dire situation! The old man leaned forward to stand, Jake giving him an arm to rest upon.

"But, you both didn't come up here to learn about an old man's tale. One of your party went down there on their own, didn't they? If you saw a woman down there then, than I can only guess that whatever lies down there is a denizen of the dead, and should be imprisoned."

Wyrm's eyes opened wide, and he looked to Jake. Jake nodded, and tapped his forehead with his fingers in a salute toward the old man. "Johnson, thank for the info. But we'll take our chances with the darkness."

Jake turned, Wyrm zipping between his feet in order to accelerate. They both headed out, ready to go down. Jake opened the door post haste, and leaned over the railing, as Wyrm already began to slide down the bannister.

"Get down that hole now! We'll be right behind you. Pairs of 2!"

May and Mary looked up to hear Jake's shouts, listening carefully. Gathering the whole message, they ran forward, to Zent's position. She immediately jumped down into the darkness, followed by the psychic. May and Mary waited by the entrance as Wyrm came flying across the ground. Jake followed after a moment, and those two followed right after.

Once down in the darkness, Zent's growl helped Wyrm follow the pair that entered before him. Before any suggestions could be made about how to deal with the lack of light, the darkness was melted back by Jake's torch relighting. Only now in here, Jake heard a distinctly different sound. Wyrm did not hesitate, and headed right while Jake listened carefully. It sounded like something was whipping something backwards. Wyrm weaved down the open corridor, despite the darkness. It wasn't until he was out of conceivable vision did he wait for Jake.

Once Jake rounded the bend Wyrm took, and the torch's fire illuminated a long ways down, Wyrm took off once more. The light helped him to made another left to avoid slamming into a wall, and then end up in the fork in the road.

"Hey, wait up! We don't even know if Sue and Zent went this way!" Jake called out. Wyrm was about to reply when a heavy slam rang in the tunnel, urging investigation. Both human and Pokemon took the following path, and came into view of a lagoon, with a strange turn of events.


Wyrm skidded into the view of a massive blue body, part of it which still stayed submerged. Jake ran into the area with the lagoon, stunned by the girth of the blue watery behemoth that tossed Zent around like a rag doll. The little girl did not give in-and made sure to get back on her feet and dance around again. The mental battalion from the Psychic helped, pushing the beast back. It vocalized its pain with a sound that was melodic and harmonic-making it hard to discern if the beast was visibly hurt.

"Sue, try a Thunderbolt. It's in water, so that should help!" Jake cried out, as Wyrm wriggled over to Zent. She looked miserable, soaking wet and slammed against a wall. But her eyes were fiercely determined, as Wyrm helped her up. She nodded in approval to the serpents assistance.

"Zent, I dont know if this is a good idea. I mean, have you even found Mossy?"

Zent positively shook her head in response, and pointed to the mural behind the beast that was now trying to shoot down the floating Gardevoir with high pressure water columns!

"Mothy back there!"

"Back where? Across the lagoon?"

Wyrm looked over, and barely saw anything where anyone could stand, let alone hide. He turned to look at Jake, whom was now doling out countermeasures for the Gardevior. "Ok, we need space. Calm yourself and then give it a second Thunderbolt."

The sea monster didn't care for interlopers, and quickly sent a spray of water to dispatch of Jake. The man was hit square in the chest, and thrown back into the hallway, skidding past the pantry. Wyrm left Zent's side just then, as Sue managed to land and tried to calm herself. Wyrm hit the water as silently as possible, and rocketed for the massive beast. It was excellent timing on his part, as he struck the beast head on, releasing a thin electrical current that swept through all of its systems. The beast sang that melodic cry again, before swimming backwards to try and discern where that rogue electric wave came from. It didn't matter, as a powerful surge of electricity came streaking across the water. It struck the beast in the face, and the beast shrank back more. It still did not fall, and that was angering Sue. She began to truly flex her power, and the waters began to swirl around her in a shield. The beast felt its element being ripped away from it, and barreled forward to try and knock it loose from her grasp. Sue however, held up a barrier in order to hold off the frontal attack. Wyrm took that moment to collide with the beast. His small mass curled in a ball as he rocketed from the water, and slammed into what seemed to be a shield on its back. The impact caused himself alot of pain, but the larger beast winced, and let its guard down. Sue pushed forward with a Psychic attack that threw the beast backward, and then lowered the water that swirled around her. She still seemed able to battle, but the emotions of sorrow she sensed before were starting to re-emerge.

She looked around, only to suddenly be surrounded by the water itself! She found herself stuck in a whrlpool, unable to focus for the moment. Wyrm noted the whirlpool, and began to swim toward the mural in order to find somewhere to land. However, something had bigger pains for the Dratini. All at once, Wyrm went flying in the sky, thrust by a sharp horn of sorts. The large blue beast sang as it swam up and flung Wyrm out of the water, making sure to have it collide with the ceiling, before he hit the water again. Wyrm cried out, and then went silent, sinking into the water. Sue spied the fallen Dratini, and tried to reach out mentally to grab him, but the blue beast was heading for her. She focused her energies in protecting herself but was struck by its massive bulk. Between the whirlpool and the Body Slam, Sue was knocked backwards and onto land. Before the beast could drag her into the brink, Zent managed to grab ahold and pull her back, albiet slowly. The beast watched as the little rocky lizard stood in front of Sue and roared-a respectfully loud sound from something so small.

The beast however, was not one to show compassion. As Zent began to dance around, the waters began to swirl around the swimmer. Zent realized that all the water was coming solely for her, and she had no real defense against it. She cringed in front of Sam, olny to be overshadowed by two bodies. The first was Jake, as he slid in and grabbed both her and Sue. Jake stumbled over himself as he realized her true weight, but still managed to roll them both away from the impending impact of the Hydro Pump. The second body flew across the water and slammed into the beast head on, a blistering headbutt that seemed to emulate some soft of foreign ability. May quickly swam back to shore, breathing heavily while rubbing her head. The beast grunted, shocked there still were Pokemon to fight. With its Hydro Pump spent, and with a new Pokemon to battle, it now refocused its efforts.

"Where's Wyrm, Zent; did he run away?"

"Unda WAWA!" Zent hollered, as she broke out of Jake's grip. Jake barely sat up, to see May curl her arms and puff her body up a bit, before standing on the edge of the water.

"Under the water? Wyrm! Get up here right now!" she hollered, as she watched the larger beast swim back -undeniably rearing up another method of attack.

Upstairs, Mary and Johnson sat on both sides of the bed as the once still boy began to writhe and shake. His body seized up and his mouth spat out words in volumes and tongues incomprehensible. Johnson held him down, as Mary kept wiping his face off.

"What's wrong with him, Johnson? Is he possessed?"

"No. He's awakening. Which means that...someone's figured out how to open the door."

"The door?" Mary asked, unsure what he meant. The old man just smiled and dapped the damp cloth on his head, watching as the internal discord took place...

"Take note Mary. This may be the only time in our generations we may witness this!"

~~~~~~

The vines that began to grow in this dank air gave off their own type of luminescence. As the others were unaware of his presence, or lack thereof, Mossy figured he had time. The Tangela silently took off down the steps, and fished through its vines. He cursed himself for throwing out that torch handle when he cleaned out his stash, but smiled when he found the heat rock. Though not much, it still glowed with enough heat to allow him to strike out a path. His own smelling skills were not as sharp as Zent's, but he could smell where the food came from. That was the way he wanted to avoid.

He trotted left, walking along the slick rocks until he reached what looked to be a dead end, with just water everywhere. Stuffing the rock away, Mossy lowered himself into the water, and quietly floated. He knew he could propel himself, but he just kicked with his feet slowly. As he swam, his body began to be pulled in a certain direction. Glad to find his bearings, he began to spin his vines, creating a propeller propulsion.

Shooting along at a good clip, the Tangela was able to swim through a good portion of a low-ceiling channel, that wrapped around in a large circle. As he swam along, Mossy noticed that the current was getting stronger. He slowed his vines down, and realized that he was at the mercy of the current. He tried to latch onto the riverbed, onto any rock that could be used as a hold-but nothing was around. Everything was too slippery and smooth to affix a grip. Mossy braced himself, as he rounded another bend and spilled out over a small waterfall. Caught off guard by the incoming falls, Mossy lashed his vines out in desperation, hoping to snag any precipice. His vines finally reached out to snag against the side of the falls, and Mossy immediately swung to snap out of the free fall. However, Mossy had no way to slow down, and sped headfirst into the cliff face. While his grip held, his consciousness did not...

The cold feeling that gripped his body finally dug deep enough to give him a start. Waking up, the planimal looked around groggily. The world was spinning-albeit slowly. Mossy blinked and tried to focus on anything, but all he could see was bluish rocks and foamy water. Looking down, he noted the mass of stones that were waiting for him. Realizing that his grip could go at any time, Mossy made sure his feet were firmly planted on the wall, before he slowly walked down the cliff face, until he reached solid stone. He ended up on a safe ledge close to the base of the waterfall. Resting, the plant stared at the falling water, confused. It took a while before he got his bearings, and remembered that he came here from the lighthouse.

Mossy silently looked around the grotto. The path he seemed to be on lead him around the room-to a dead end. He turned to look toward the waterfall, and noticed there was a rock right near the rear of the falling sheet of water, that was remarkably not wet. The only reason he spied it was due to his location in relation to the waterfall. Heading left, he carefully jumped from rock to rock, reaching that rock that seemed to be immune to the water. Once he landed on it, he saw the reason for its dryness-an overhang from a rock above forced the water to fall in front of it.

Exhaling audibly, the Tangela sat down. The water was chilly, and his head was throbbing. He was getting tired, and he had no way of getting back to the stairwell that lead to all of this. Yet he had no way of contacting anyone now-he was on his own. Shaking away any doubt and dizziness, the Tangela turned to look at where this rock led. There was a tunnel here, leading into the cliff face. At first glance, there was nothing but darkness, but mere shadows did not deter the planimal. Once again retrieving that heat rock, Mossy walked into the darkness, unsure of what he would find.

The waterfalls' roar did nothing to drown out the eerieness of the passageway itself. Drops of water dripped from an unknown source, creating puddles that Mossy avoided. Just in case some silent creature made its home in this dank setting, Mossy kept his footsteps light, and the heat rock held in front of him. It was a long straight path, only about as tall as a average male human. Mossy stopped, and looked around, noticing the waterfall was a ways back now.

The Tangela averted his gaze, and instead refocused on the walls that bordered each side of him. He saw many a painting on the wall, scenes even, as his trek took him deeper behind the waterfall. His tiny red shoes slightly glistened with the warm light, and he found that to be his only solace as he trooped ever so deep into the heart of the underground.
It was a while of this type of travel before Mossy realized he was bathed in complete silence. No longer did water drip from the heavens, and no longer was there a breeze and a roar from the waterfalls' fury. He also noticed the rocky path that he walked along was no longer natural stretches and slabs of sedimentary rock, but actually formed and cut brick. Noting the subtle but cued differences, Mossy realized he had to be making progress. There was actually something hidden down here. Why else have a pantry hidden away?

He kept walking, and started to lower his heat rock-since there was an ambient light source that began to grow. Mossy kept up the walk, now curious as to just where did he end up? This place was much larger than just a lighthouse, and he could be miles away from everyone. As he kept walking, the light started to grow, allowing him to put the heat rock away. The bricks started to get lighter in color, and the murals began to grow in color. What was first abstract now took form and became widespread. What were squiggles and unconnected lines became pictures of birds and fountains, people standing around in harmony with the sun and sky. Trees of all sorts, growing and proliferating. Powerful pictures of what seemed to be war and carnage followed the peaceful murals, with many a figure falling due to the darkness that was painted on these now white canvasses.

Mossy stopped when the final mural that he could scrutinize was in his foreground. It shown a group of men, huddled together around some sort of structure. In the distance, to the southeast, there was a shining beacon of light. But the group of men seemed determined about something, as they all placed their hands on a strange dias in the center of their group. Mossy ran forward, eager to see the next drawing, but all there was was dark rock. No paintings on them at all. He swiped at the rock with his vines, hoping they were covered. Nothing.

Knowing this was something more than just a painting, but lacking the knowledge to fully understand, Mossy turned away from the wall, and looked down the hall. To his surprise, there was no more path to walk to his north. As he considered turning back, Mossy's vines shivered with a chill, one that usually came from wind. As he felt no breeze in this place until now, he eagerly looked around for some sort of opening. There was a thin passage to the east, barely able for him to squeeze in. He took it anyway, knowing that going back would still yield him trapped under a waterfall.

The planimal wriggled and crawled, and even hacked away at stone with his vines, until he was able to push himself into a small room. It was too dark to see, and even worse, it smelled horribly. He stepped over what he thought to be logs, and fumbled around for his rock. Vines finally located it amongst the jumble of items, and he held it up as if it was a lantern. Upon gaining visual acuity, he wished he never had the bravado to swim upriver.

His perch was atop a skull, its body articulated in such a way that its arm was above Mossy's head. Mossy's eyes widened, and he jumped for safety, rolling across this small room. His roll landed him next to another open mouth, to which he swatted away with a vine. Whipping his gaze left and right, Mossy saw bones everywhere. Skulls, tattered bits of what could be considered clothing and even ancient weaponry resided here in this apparent tomb of unlucky souls.

The Tangela wheezed for air, and pushed through to the back of the room, eager to see if this led out somewhere. He kept feeling that strange breeze, and every once in a while, a thud would catch his attention. He reached the back of the room, a place where three skeletons stood, and Mossy stared up at their forlorn bodies. He turned back to look at the other bodies, and saw that, despite their close proximity-they seemed to be in poised positions. They were either standing or sitting against one of the walls, away from the gap that he crawled in to get there. The men at the back even seemed to be...guarding the back wall? Mossy walked closer, and stared at the three skeletons, as he heard another series of thuds. They were coming from the other side of the wall. But...as far as he could see, there was no way through it...

Unless he had to move one of the skeletons. Mossy shivered at the though of disrupting a grave, but this had to be done. A trio of vines went up to the skeleton on the right, and he began to tug. The body didn't give at first, but with enough pulling, the skeleton crumpled over and crashed next to Mossy in a flurry of bone and ancient armor.

With the release of that skeleton from its post, Mossy raised up its makeshift lantern. From here, he could feel a breeze coming from a crack in the wall, extending a good ways. One vine shot to where he felt the breeze the strongest from, and was able to slide through the rock until hitting the end of the groove. Mossy peered carefully at the crack, and then backed away as a rather loud thud caught his attention. He looked down, and saw water seep in from under this rocky wall. Mossy lowered his heat rock, and noticed that there was water bubbling in from somewhere.

He turned away from the wall, keeping his eyes on the water as it slowly made its way to the center of the room, right next to a small rocky device. It had symbols on it, of a design that he did not recognize. Undaunted, Mossy watched as the water seeped under this device. He held the heat rock low to the ground, and noticed there was a small hole from which the water seeped into, and possibly out of. Raising the rock back up, Mossy took a second look at the device. It looked like a dias; and it seemed to all be made from the same stone, so no turning it. Mossy climbed atop of it, and saw no visible depressions or grooves that would denote anything hidden inside it. He hit the dais in frustration, disgusted with how stuck he was.

Sitting on the dias, Mossy waved the heat rock around once more, seeing if he forgot something. All he saw were skeletons and trinkets from a bygone era. All laying down, except those two still standing against that wall. In frustration Mossy snaked his vines across the room and pulled with all his might once he coiled them around the leg of the middle skeleton. With a unceremonious snapping sensation, the skeleton fell into a heap. Mossy looked around as it fell, seeing nor hearing any change in his environment. Maybe these foolish souls ran here in fright and died here. But it didn't make sense, especially since there were thuds continuously raining down from the other side of the wall. Vines entwined together and Mossy lashed out at the third skeleton in a show of frustration. When his whip connected, the skeleton fell over, its body crumbling into segmented pieces. Behind the pelvic bone of this skeleton revealed a pinhole of light, that caught Mossy's attention.

Sliding off the dais, Mossy eagerly ran toward the wall. He once again stuck his vine through the hole, but this time he felt water hit against it. Rising up, he looked through the hall, for all he could see was blue, and a flash of white foam. Water. Splashing water. Mossy slinked back down, and raised the rock to get a better look. The wall had a thin crack that then extended deeper into the wall...as if it needed a key.

No way!

Mossy blinked at the hole, and then fished in its vines for those keys that were given to it from Pat in Sector Alpha. He pulled out that tiny black sliver and the one key he picked out from the doorframe. Both were too small to be of use. Looking to the skeletons he knocked down, Mossy turned and began to push their bones into three piles, respective of the three bodies he toppled over. Their helmets were empty, and at first glance, so was their tattered armor. But their hands were the key. Mossy was able to discern the three piles, and saw that each of them held a small rod, about the thickness of the crack.

A glean of a smile came across Mossy's demeanor as he snagged each of the three pieces, and fiddled with them with his vines. In no time, he connected the three pieces, creating a strange shaped tool that fit in the hole as well as the crack. Once he slid the tool into place, the rock seemed to roar alive! Mossy backed away, hiding behind the dais.

However, he didn't feel any safer as the crack in the wall that led him to this tiny room began to close. There was the sound of flooding water as well, but that seemed to disappear as the only visible exit closed. Mossy kept watched as the rock wall began to split apart, creating a new doorway, and with it, a new path.

***

May flexed her tongue as well as well as her arms, as the beast floated into position. Two massive water columns swirled up alongside it, and with a mighty roar, the twin columns dove at May. She cringed as both attacks smacked her dead on, and caused her to fall to her knees. Her vision was blurred, and her nose full of water. As she shook her head to clear her brain of the haze, the beast began another attack. Water rose up once more, as Zent waddled over, standing in front of May.

"No...Zent. It's gonna hurt you... move!"

"No! No leave!" she protested, snarling as her body began to start sifting out sand.

May weakly reached out to try and prohibit her, but it seemed to be too late. The water sped toward them both, and Zent instinctively tried to call upon the sands once more. May closed her eyes in anticipation of being defeated, but was surprised when no attack came.

The watery columns seemed to be sucked away, as well as the depth of the lagoon! The beast found itself beached on land, unable to move around comfortably as the waters receded to an unknown place. As the water vanished, the land roared alive, and the muralled wall that the beast seemed to be guarding began to split open. As it split open, the beast turned around to see whom else was wishing to enter the fight.

Jake managed to regain his bearings, and saw the strewn bodies of Sue, and of Wyrm, whom was lying near a wall where the last of the water was being sucked into? Zent was still up and kicking, and May seemed to be on her last legs. The mural was opening, and there was no more water? He stood up cautiously, and moved over to Sue, while the creature was otherwise preoccupied. The creature looked into the crevasse that opened, only seeing a strange dias in the center...and what looked to be kneeling people. Unknown to it, it was also being watched.

The creature angrily bellowed into the recess, before alighting the darkness with a Thunderbolt. At the sign of hostility, Mossy grunted from behind the dias, and prepared himself. He sparked up two of his vines and listened for the beast's next move. It didn't take long, before a chilling beam of Ice flew in and struck two of the skeletons. As the blast shattered the bones into pieces, those vines whipped out and around the beast's long neck. The electric shock took the beast by surprise and it pulled back, yanking Mossy from its hiding spot, and into the open.

Fearless even when being yanked around, Mossy released its electrified vine grip and flew toward where May and Zent stood. Both girls stared in disbelief as their venerable grass friend reappeared, sliding on the rocks alongside them while throwing out six vines to lash at the larger foe. Caught off guard by this new Pokemon, the beast tried to back away, but wound up only backing into a corner, smashing its head against a rock. May and Zent charged as Jake quickly shouted a command.

"Sue! Let's give them some room! Shadowball it!"

Sue nodded as she shook her head free of water. Her left hand raised, and from it formed a sphere of pure darkness. The massive beast turned to retaliate against the vines lashing at him, only to be stunned by a strike to its face. The blow knocked the beast off kilter, allowing May enough of an opening to slam her arm on its back! As the beast groaned from the dual hit, Zent waddled over and grabbed a flipper in both hands, before biting down on it. The shock of the bite caused the beast to flail in anguish, tossing Zent skyward. Her landing was impeded by the quick thinking of Sue, creating a Psychic cushion to slow her descent. With Zent safe, and May backing toward the regrouping, the beast saw this as a last hurrah.

The flames clinched it, as they spread from its backside, giving it no quarter. A horrible song was released from its throat in anguish, before falling in in front of the party of five. As it laid there, slumped over, Wyrm slithered atop its back, breathing heavy.

"Sorry about that. What happ-Mossy!?!"

"Yeah, he shows up at the last possible second!" May yelled at Mossy with that comment, very disgusted with his actions as of late. Wyrm grinned, and slithered over to the group, coiling behind Zent.

"Well, I for one, am glad to see you aren't hurt. Zent was the one who figured you were missing."

Mossy looked toward the rocklizard, who waved her hands in joy. "Mothy!" A quizzical look came over Mossy's face, but he quickly surmised the meaning of her word. As Sue and Jake walked over to join the merry gathering, Mossy pointed to the dais in the hidden room. As they all turned to gaze at his discovery, the dais began to glow orange. The letters and symbols written all over flickered in this color, before the dais began to crack and bend in on itself.

~~~~~~

The words that encumbered the boy's mouth for the last hour were not to be lost to the wind. When it seemed that this was more than just dreams, Johnson and Mary made sure to write down as much as they could, as the sleeping lad spoke. It seemed to be a great tale of prosperity and enlightenment, but all of a sudden, it ended.

"I wonder what he's talking about."

"It sounded like something only those who were told about the ancient times would know." Johnson replied, as he reviewed the notes. He shook his head, shocked at the retelling he was able to piece together from those ramblings. What shocked him even more was the sudden revival of the boy altogether, and his exuberant energy.

"By the Dais! DON'T LET IT TOUCH YOU!!!" He yelled as he lunged out of the bedroom. He burst through the door and reached the bannister to the stairwell in record time. Before he headed down the stairs, his arm was grabbed by Johnson. Rapp turned around, ears pointing straight up. He snarled and ripped his hand free of the older fellow, scowling.

"Get off of me! They don't know what they've set in motion! They're in danger! Where are--huh?" Rapp stopped, and looked around. He didn't recognize anything or anyone for that matter. Yet there was an urgency in his heart. He closed his eyes, and thought deeply, feeling for the memory in his mind. There it was, as clear as day, glowing at him with its cold, soulless eyes. He opened his eyes again, startled by his own thoughts. Mary and Johnson stood their distance, as Rapp looked around, sweaty and confused about his predicament.

~~~~~~

As the dais glowed, the water seemed to start to return. However, it only bubbled around the dais as it continued to crack. All at once, the water began to form, until it took the form of a woman. Jake cut in immediately.

"That's what I saw before! The woman!"

Mossy stepped in front of his team, vines out, glaring at the water now surrounding the dais. Streaks of water flew out toward them, but everyone went into evasive maneuver, diving and wriggling left or right. The others watched as "she" slid around the dais, almost relishing in her discovery. All at once, she reformed back into water, and slammed against the top of the dais-shattering it. The orange aura it contained shone in enveloping darkness for a moment, before the waters claimed that as its prize-and seeped away.

"What...just happened?" Jake asked, as he looked to the 5 Pokemon. There was a collective silence as the group stared at the ruin, unsure what to make of anything. Mossy's eyes glowered though, as he spied a small bubbling of water near him. Twin beads of dim light appeared for a moment, before seeping back into the ground. His own eyes glared at the twin beads...and one vine raised in halted anticipation.

~~~~~~

"I see you there." Rapp spoke, before passing out on the stairwell. Johnson and Maryann ran over immediately, and hoisted him up.

"What is going on?" Maryann stated, as they dragged him into the bedroom.

"What is happening..." Johnson spoke, as they got him back into the bed. "...is something only our country's predecessors know. To know him is to know the history of elves that came before. This boy-whether he'll like it or not-is a link to the past."

End Book 1.

[Lady Vulpix]

I'm sorry, the scenario will be a bit late. Too many things came up and my weekend ended up being just as busy as the rest of the week. -_- I need a break... But anyway, I'll do my best to post it tomorrow. I could use some help rating, though. Please? :<

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: Here are my battles for the Pond Room. It takes place about two weeks after Jas’s last RBG. Sorry if it seems a bit rushed but I wanted to get this done in time… The Swagger and water pulse TMs I gave Colby were some of the EMTs I’ve received. I bought the Ice Beam TM at the reward center. Colby’s battle took longer than I expected… One room left to go after this one.


(Jasmine’s POV)

It took two more weeks but we were finally on the way to the Pond Room. There wasn’t many of us going since it was such a long distance. It was just me, Amy, Talut, Colby, and Kovu. For once I was flying under my own power, and it was amazing. I made a loop in the air.

“We have a long way to go.” He told me.

“I know.”

“You might want to conserve some of your energy.”

I slowed down remembering the last time we made the trip and how long I had been inside my pokeball. As if she was sensing what I was thinking about, Amy spoke up.

“If you get tired just let me know and you can rest in your pokeball. I know you don’t want to but if you need it the option is there.”

I just nodded, hoping that I could make it the entire way.


* * * *

I managed to make it halfway before I started to lag behind. A couple of times, I had to use agility to catch up with Talut. Amy was watching me but she didn’t ask me if I wanted to go inside my pokeball even though I knew she wanted to. Finally, I had to admit to myself I could go no further.

“Amy…” Thankfully I didn’t say anymore and I was enveloped by a flash of red light and was able to rest the rest of the way. I knew that when we got there, Amy would get us a hotel room and then make sure that we were all healed up before we even attempted any of the rooms.


* * * *

(Colby’s POV)

After what seemed like forever, I finally felt myself being released along with Jasmine. As I looked around, I noticed that Kovu was still inside his pokeball and Talut had been returned.

“Why-” I started to ask why they were still in their pokeballs. However, I stopped when I noticed that we were outside one of the training rooms. I smiled, because I knew that Jasmine and I were supposed to be battling in the Pond Room so I figured that was the one we were waiting outside of.

Jasmine took to the air, beating her wings impatiently as she waited for Amy to open the door. But Amy was digging around in her pack for something. I tilted my head curiously and watched her until she found what she was looking for. When Amy stood up, she had three TM boxes in her hands.

“These are for you Colby. One of the moves is Swagger, another is Ice Beam and the last is Water Pulse.

I purred and nuzzled her hand in thanks before pawing at the boxes. I closed my eyes as I absorbed the moves. When I opened them, Amy was throwing the empty boxes in a garbage can.

“Are you two ready?”

“I am!”

“Yeah.”

With that, Amy opened the door and stepped out onto a small platform. I followed beside her and looked out into the room as Jasmine flew in and hovered next to Amy.

I wiggled in excitement. I couldn’t wait to dive into the crystal clear water.

“Who gets to battle first?”

“I was thinking Colby first, then you Jas. Ultimately, it depends on who finds an opponent first.”

As soon as I heard my name, I dove into the water swimming deep down before surfacing and launching the beach ball up into the air with a water pulse. I laughed in delight as the water fell back down on me and I caught the beach ball on my nose. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasmine roll her eyes.

I shook my head as I looked out over the crystal clear water. At first, the pond was still not even a ripple. Then, at the far side of the room, I saw a small ripple. I tossed my head back and caught the ball on my tail as I turned in the direction of the ripple. I watched as it slowly headed towards me until it stopped in front of me.

I didn’t move and for a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, slowly a dark blue fin broke the surface until I was face to face with a marshtomp.

“Hi.” He didn’t say anything at all. In fact he just blinked.

“Okay…” I looked around. “Are you my opponent?”

At that, the marshtomp blinked and nodded his head, before putting some distance between us.


Colby L. 18 M Black Vaporeon Vs. L.25 Male Marshtomp

I floated there watching the marshtomp. Instead of coming after me, he sunk under the water. I cleared my throat as I prepared my attack. Suddenly I was tackled from below causing me to drop the beach ball into the water as it floated off. I winced but when the marshtomp broke the surface, I spit the acid right into his eyes. He cried out pawing at his face.

I used the opportunity to put some distance between the two of us and retrieved my beach ball. The marshtomp poked his head out of the water and watched me carefully, his eyes now bloodshot. He just floated there, only his head breaking the surface. I narrowed my eyes, but he wasn’t making any more to attack me. I took a deep breath and blasted him with a water pulse. The attack pushed him back a couple feet through the water but other than a faint smile he didn’t react.

I frowned. I knew water attacks weren’t that effective but a water pulse wasn’t anything to smile at. That is, unless you happened to have the water absorb ability like I did and I knew that it wasn’t an option for marshtomps. I took a deep breath and felt my body temperature drop as I focused on the one ice attack I was comfortable using, aurora beam. Just before the attack hit, the marshtomp started laughing. When the aurora beam hit him, he winced slightly before he opened his mouth and a beam of energy slammed into me and sent me flying backwards until I slammed into the wall at the far side of the room before sinking into the water.

Shaking my head, I looked across the room at him. I couldn’t risk him doing that again. After taking a deep breath I began to shout out any and every insult that I could think of. Some of them sounded rather pathetic even to me, and I shook my head but it served its purpose as it made the marshtomp so mad he could barley think. I think I heard Jasmine groaning. Tuning her out, I turned back to face my opponent who was rapidly swimming in my direction. However, he misjudged the distance and tackled the wall just to my right.

Spinning around, I turned to face the mud fish pokemon. As I did so, I began concentrating on my hidden power. I did feel a slight breeze as it took on a different form than it usually did. As I watched several sky blue orbs appeared around me and each of them had what appeared to be a feather inside. With a cry, I slapped each of them in his direction with my tail. There was a loud, fierce, angry growl coming from him.

Before I could do anything the other pokemon shot a glob of mud at me and it splattered all over my front. Gritting my teeth, I swam towards the marshtomp as fast as I could and crunched down on his left arm.

I didn’t want to let go as I shook my head from side to side digging my teeth in deeper. He marshtomp had other ideas and he spit a ball of ice at my face causing me to lose my grip. I took in as deep a breath as I could before firing off a massive that tore across the pond room and slammed into him.

I floated there panting, the hydro cannon taking a lot out of me. Somehow he held on and he spit another ice ball at me that was larger than the previous one and hurt more. But until I regained my energy there wasn’t much I could do to avoid it.

I winced as I took a couple more ice balls before I felt my energy returning. As it did so, I began to channel it into my next attack. I could feel my body’s temperature slowly getting much colder than it did with the aurora beam until I couldn’t stand it anymore and I opened my mouth and let the ice beam shoot out and slam into the marshtomp. He hit the wall and just floated there out cold.


I won!
I grew to L.20!
I learned Toxic as my free TM.

I slowly swam over to the platform and dragged myself up on it. Once I was sitting at Amy’s side, panting Jasmine flew over the water.


(Jasmine’s POV)

Colby’s battle was lasting forever. As I watched, it soon became apparent that neither of them had any super effective attacks against each other. I was uncomfortable when they both started using ice attacks though. Then, just when I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to finish, Colby won.

When he climbed up onto the platform I flapped my wings before soaring out over the water. From where I was, I could see shapes moving around. Then, in the middle of the room, a head broke the surface.

I slowed down so that I could get a better look, and it was a good thing I did. The air in front of me was pierced by a beam of ice causing me to cry out in surprise. I looked at where it came from and saw a blue head with an orange fin on top. I blinked as I realized that it was a huntail.


Jasmine L.28 http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/WolsongsWilderness/hexaewingeddratini-1.png Female Winged Dratini Vs. L.35 Female Huntail.

I quickly responded by firing rings of electrical energy at the deep sea pokemon paralyzing it.

She floated up to the surface as I slowly began to circle her in the air. Suddenly she began to glow brightly and when the glow faded, she had no trouble moving. My eyes widened. She had cured her paralysis.

Wonderful, I thought to myself. That just made things much more difficult. I began to concentrate on my hidden power and I could feel the breeze stirring as I did so. Then, I began beating my wings as fast as I could, watching as the huntail fought to stay put against my hidden power assault.

The next thing I knew, there was a pulse of water coming towards me. However instead of hitting me in the chest like I had expected, it hit my left wing weighing me down ever so slightly. I narrowed my eyes as I worked to stay up in the air though I was leaning towards the left. The air around me began to crackle with electricity. When I couldn’t hold it back anymore, I released the thunderbolt and it struck.

I winced at the shrill cry that she let out before I was hit by another water pulse which soaked my other wing and I was no longer able to stay aloft. I tucked my wings tightly as I could as I dove towards the water and went under.

Immediately, I swam up to the surface where I looked around only to see that I was now facing three huntails. I let the water carry me back as I concentrated on the currents in the water. When I found one that seemed right, I could feel the air I the room pushing me higher and higher until I was riding a wave which slammed into all three of the huntails destroying the clones as well as hitting the real one.

With a snarl she bit down on my wing causing me to cry out in pain, but I quickly wrapped myself around her body and began squeezing for all I was worth. It was only a few minutes before she let go but it seemed like ages. Only I didn’t stop squeezing her. As long as I was wrapped around her, I was safe from the majority of her attacks and as long as I kept my wings from her mouth…

Suddenly, there was a loud screech in my ear and startled, I loosened my hold and she quickly swam out of reach. Snarling in frustration at myself, I began to focus on my next attack. I needed to end this soon. I smiled as I felt the familiar sensation of draconic energy building up inside my chest. I held it back for as long as I could, before releasing the streams of pinkish flames that enveloped the huntail.

When they faded, she was out cold.


I won!
I grew to L.30.
I learned Dragon Pulse as my free TM.

I wearily floated there for a few moments before I felt energized as I began to glow a bright white. I gasped and beat my wings excitedly as they began to elongate along with the rest of my body. My tail began to itch as well as my chin. When I looked over at my tail, I saw a pair of beads forming. The last change I could feel happened was the horn in the middle of my forehead. If I crossed my eyes just right, I could see it. I blinked as the glow faded.


I evolved into a Dragonair !
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/WolsongsWilderness/wingeddragonair.gif

[The Blue Avenger]

Son of a submariner, you all post fast. @_@

Okay. First. Gabi.
First: +1 stamp for waiting longer than a week.
"Does that mean no more talk about little birds?" I laughed, I admit it.
"I'm surprised I can still form coherent sentences. I can, right? Or do they just sound coherent to me?" I've been there before.
"It's been hard to schedule meetings these days." No kidding.
I'll call it 7 stamps total, including the lateness stamp. Cheers!

Skye (My Shadow...):
I do like how you bypass the issue of how a TM works, since no two canons agree there. XD
Nice touch with Skye having to consult a chart on type listings. Not everyone's perfect.
I like your description of Shadow's tail as a broken metronome.
Fun fact: apparently a Delibird's bag is actually its tail. It's weird.
Ha, the battle ending with Shadow walking away from an explosion. Niiice.
Looking good! Take... hm... 8 stamps for that one.

DL (Chapter 4):
I think Wyrm will be surprised by exactly how versatile Tangela can be. XD
...Ooh, and Zent can be a scary little thing. And Mossy is as enigmatic as always.
"You must follow my movements with a fine tooth comb; Charles." That... certainly is an interesting turn of a phrase.
XD Pies from nowhere! What an awesome application of Hidden Power that would be.
The diversion about May's dress - loved it. XD
...I'm now pondering the feasibility of a Tangela/Tangrowth language communicated solely with eyes. Maybe Groviglio knows it.
Very intriguing! Digging it. Let's call it 17 stamps. You're spinning an engrossing tale.

Skye (Don't You Hate It...):
I really like your descriptions, lemme say that up front.
Also, good to know I'm not the only person who took a black Meowth into the Pond Room. :B
Good use of Hidden Power. The traditional use is pretty versatile, but don't be afraid to experiment with it. Hidden Power's a lot of fun, since you're only really limited by your imagination on that one.
I like Shandar. XD Sounds pretty much how I expected a Magikarp to sound.
I was about to say congrats on the evolution, but damn! Shandar turned psycho quick. o _o
I'll say 14 stamps here. Keep it up!

Skye (I Wonder If...):
I hope for Skye's sake that Shandar calms down soon. o _o
Good on you for addressing the dangers of washing a Ponyta. I was wondering if you were going to.
A level 5 Ponyta against those two Pokemon? Well... I've taken on worse odds. XD
So she beat them by outlasting them? Clever.
Poor Ashes. XD; She'd probably have liked to keep that name. Skye doesn't always seem to be the most together person. XD;
I'll say... 12 stamps here.

DL (Your next untitled thing):
The team's devotion to Rapp is touching. :]
Oh man, dehydrated pie. Delicious.
...Zent's a bit of a handful, huh.
"Those mountains are forbidden for a reason." This makes sense.
The ability of a Tangela to smell confuses me. Not that you've done something wrong, I'm sure they can smell, but it gave me pause. XD
"Planimal." I like that. XD
Mossy's quite the adventurer.
"Yeah, he shows up at the last possible second!" Like a true action hero.
Still quite intriguing! Let's call this... 20 stamps.

Amy:
Just as a note, Colby's text color hurts on the default gray background. x_o
Wouldn't using Agility tire Jasmine out even more?
The Marshtomp was kinda creepy, being honest. He had such a poker face, and then to just start laughing like that. ...Then, of course, he started reacting a bit more normally, so. XD;
I only just thought about the ramifications of using electricity as a flying type, especially if you have to draw the electricity around you first. Not that that's a problem, of course; other elements do similar stuff all the time.
Congratulations on Jasmine's evolution!
Let's say... 12 stamps.

Cheers, everyone! Sorry for the wait!

[Lady Vulpix]

Wow, that's a lot of work you did there! We could have split the load, you know.

Really, thanks for rating all those stories. I've been reading them, but I'm still behind.

I'm going to say a few things to DL...
First of all, you know how to build suspense.
The end of the first battle was a bit confusing... who was invisible and who was visible, and what did Zent do to end it? And how did her burn heal?
I was glad to see the word 'who' appear in the story, but all those 'whom' should have been 'who' as well (when in doubt, try replacing the word by a pronoun: he or she => who; him or her => whom).
The concept of a team of two being named Mary and Sue was funny, as was the way May commented on Sue's "gown". Back to her normal self when a moment of peace comes, right? :)
Zent's reaction to Sue's telepathy was interesting to see.
And I chuckled a bit at the "pairs of 2". What other kind of pair is there? ;)
Camerupt Chamomile... do I want to know what that's made of?
The inflatable pies were very original.
I can imagine how frustrating it must have been to listen to a long story which provided no useful information, while Mossy was likely to be in trouble.
And the skeleton puzzle reminded me of MSPA.

Skye: interesting start. :) I have yet to finish reading your other 2 posts, but I have already noticed Shandar's evolution, so congratulations!

And Amy: congratuations on Jarmine's evolution, too! It's been quite an eventful week at the Battle Range. Let's see if I can post the scenario - and the new version - before the day is over.

[Wolfsong]

And made it.

Before story notes: Here are my battles for the Desert Room. Tierra came from the PokeZoo Adoption Center Version 4 and her bred on move is Thunder Fang and her trait is Intimidate. Sorry if this is short. I couldn’t seem to get started on Tierra’s battle… I also bought the crunch TM for Kovu.


(Sandile’s POV)

I was awakened from my nap by a sharp pinch to my tail as I was dragged out of my nice, comfortable, dark hole. I swung my body around and snapped at the intruder only to be flung all the way to the far side of the room by a gligar that massively out leveled me.

I hissed and growled my frustration before I turned and slowly padded through the sand of the desert room. I had come here hoping to find a trainer but as of yet, I hadn’t seen anyone I was particularly drawn to. With one last snarl, I spied a small hole in the sand not too far away from where I had landed. Maybe, I wouldn’t have to dig another hole, I thought to myself.

No sooner than I had poked my snout into the hole than it started stinging. Pulling it out, I saw that I had three scratch marks across the top of it. A diglett poked its head out and growled at me. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to back away, but the head disappeared. I took another step backwards only to feel my tail bump into something and when I spun around I saw that it was the diglett.


L.7 Female Sandile Vs. L.8 Diglett

I kicked at the sand with my hind legs, and heard coughing as the diglett got a face full of sand. There was another growl as I spun around to face the diglett resigned to a fight. I was met by a purple glob to my face causing me to cough and spit until I could no longer taste the nasty goo.

I snarled, as I only had one halfway decent attack to use. My only other good attack was completely useless here. I snapped at the diglett but only managed to graze it as the diglett was disappearing underground.

Immediately after, the entire ground began shaking. I braced the best I could until the earthquake quit. Remaining completely still, I waited for the diglett to poke his head out when the curiosity to see if I was still conscious got too much. Opening my jaws, I waited patiently and as soon as is saw the round top of the diglett’s head break the surface I bit down as hard as I could and held on.

The diglett scratched at the underside of my jaw, but I refused to let go as I dug my teeth into the diglett once more. This time the struggling stopped. I let go.


I won.
I grew to L.8.

When I heard the door open, I burrowed under the sand before heading over to see who had come in. My eyes were the only part of me that was visible as I saw a young woman and a strong looking umbreon with a scar down the right side of his face.

I silently moved closer and watched as she set her backpack on the ground and took a water bottle out and took a sip before giving some of the water to the umbreon. I emerged from the sand and crawled into her backpack and proceeded to watch as they looked for a battle. I couldn’t help but smile when they encountered that bully of a gligar.


(Kovu’s POV)

Kovu L. 61 Male Umbreon Vs. L.62 M Gligar

Almost immediately, the gligar created a sandstorm. I narrowed my eyes, until they were almost shut as the sandstorm started to pick up. Taking a deep breath, I faded into the shadows. I silently moved from shadow to shadow until I emerged behind the gligar where I slammed into him, completely taking him by surprise.

Giving a flap of his wings he rose up in the air and dove towards me. His claw slammed into my collar and knocked it off. I gave a loud growl of anger at that, and he backed off momentarily.

The reprieve didn’t last long as the flying scorpion began to swoop and dart gracefully around in the sandstorm before slamming into me and I was sent tumbling head over paws through the sand. Growling, I climbed up on my paws and glared at him, my eyes glowing violet. As I watched, the gligar was sent flying into the wall as hard as I could with psychic.

Giving myself a full-body shake, I stepped forward as I worked on gathering up ethereal energy as I prepared my next attack. I was almost ready when the scorpion dive-bombed me and jabbed his tail into my leg. A yelp escaped as I felt the poison spreading out from my leg. There was a cry of pain from the gligar as well. I opened my mouth and released the shadow ball I’d been preparing and watched as it hit the gligar on his belly and sending him sliding across the sand on his back.

He took to the air and dove at me and slashed me with both pinches making an X as I snarled to keep from yelping as that attack hurt worse than any so far had. I took a step almost stumbling as the pain in my leg hurt but I managed to freeze him in place using my psychic attack.

Taking a deep breath, glad that the sandstorm had subsided, I limped over to where I had the gligar immobilized with psychic and crunched down hard on his tail. The flying scorpion responded by slashing at me as soon as I opened my mouth.

Wincing as he narrowly missed my eye, I lunched forward and crunched down on him again this time grabbing him by one of his wings and shaking my head as I did so before dropping him on the ground.


I won.
I grew to L.62.

When he didn’t get back up, I limped over to Amy where she recalled me into my pokeball.


(Sandile’s POV)

I was impressed as I watched the battle. I longed to be able to do it that well. The umbreon didn’t even need instructions. I looked down in the back and smiled when I saw an empty pokeball. I tapped it and was sucked inside where I let myself be caught.