The Pokemon Masters League (A Tribute to ASB) [Archive] - Page 4

Chris 2.1

15th March 2007, 05:38 PM

Bear with me: This chapter is in a few parts!

Chapter Forty
Luna Fuerte

“This Amy Wolfsong.”

Amy was sat at her desk and talking on a video call with Gordon from the Board of Governors. The scheduled meeting was currently on hold, for Amy was calling with big news. At her side was Magnus Archer.

After arriving with his field operation team to arrest Ecks, Magnus was fuming to learn that the man had been killed. All CCTV was smashed and broken and the three guards were also dead. He contacted Amy straight away and had come to see her.

Grey had not arrived. Amy was unable to reach him, unaware his phone had been destroyed when Gengar attacked him outside the Theatre. Despite wanting to wait for him, Amy began the meeting under Magnus Archer’s command.

“How is everything Amy?” Gordon asked. The entire Board was sitting there.

“The bodies have been taken to the morgue,” Amy explained.

“My Forensic Unit is sweeping the area,” Magnus interrupted.

“Good to see you made it there, Magnus,” Gordon replied. Magnus gave a firm nod; he was very broad and muscled with olive skin and short black hair. He looked powerful physically and mentally.

“This place is in disarray,” he snarled. “The Arbiter has failed to turn up again.”

“His phone is not on him,” Amy argued. “He…He’ll be here.”

“We need to do something about this,” Gordon told the Board. Members nodded and discussed this for a brief moment before the Chairman continued. “Magnus, spearhead the investigation into Ecks’ death.”

“Yes sir.”

“Amy, send me your reports on the Tournament details. Volletta is working alongside some of the Management Staff on Floor 3 so she will look at them as well. We want a list of all registered members by the end of the week.”

“Final registrations will be taking place shortly,” Amy responded. “I’ll send you what I have.”

“Thank you.”

The call ended and Magnus walked to the door purposefully. He turned to Amy.

“I am taking my best men with me. We are scouring this village for Callisto Thunder.”

“You have to do a report on Ecks death! Gordon just asked for it!” cried Amy.

“I’m unconventional,” growled the Latino man. “I will get results.”

He turned and walked out of the room. Amy Wolfsong watched him go, feeling frustration bubble up inside her. She banged her fist on the table. It was late at night. Ecks had been killed. Her assistance from the Board was some renegade vigilante who played by his own rules, and Grey had disappeared. She gave a long dry sob as she buried her head in her arms.

*

Down BT Street, the Contest Hall was packed as people anxiously watched the second official TPML Contest, which was held as part of the Frontier Brains leaving ceremony. Amy Wolfsong was pacing up and down anxiously as Andrew walked in.

“G’day!”

“Oh, hi Andrew!” Amy said in a cheery voice.

“Listen…I know I haven’t actually done any organizing for the Contest yet…” Andrew said. “But…I think we should have like some…death tree, and then there’s this tennis –”

“It’s ok,” Amy replied.

“It is?”

“Of course!” Amy said, smiling. “Oh…by-the-by, you’re not running the Contest any longer.”

“What?”

“I found someone else.”

“You did?”

“May I (re)introduce you to…..River Asayake!”

From behind a curtain River appeared meekly, waving. She was only young but looked very pretty today. Andrew’s jaw dropped. This was who he lost against in the first TPML Contest.

“Hello River,” Andrew said sourly.

“Last night I was so worried,” Amy said, enjoying the look on Andrew’s face. “We had nobody to judge the contest! Then River came to my office. She had been in Chicago, competing in the Grand Festival, and upon returning asked me if she was still registered for the league. I said yes, and asked inquisitively if she did well in the Grand Festival. Well, River told me that she won! That’s right…she won the Grand Festival. I suddenly had a brainwave. I asked her if she would mind hosting the contest today, and she agreed!”

“Well isn’t that…something,” Andrew murmured. “I guess I wasted a journey.”

“Not quite,” River said. “I was explaining to Amy that at The Grand Festival they have three judges. I’m going to have you be my assistant judge.”

“Who is the other assistant judge?” Andrew asked.

“That woman over there,” River said, pointing to a large black woman who was eating a meringue in the corridor. “Nurse Smiles.”

“Oh, the disgraced Pokemon Nurse?” Andrew said, recalling when the hapless Nurse injected a person with a Pokemon virus. “Cooleo!”

“Hi!” Nurse Smiles cried randomly.

*

“WELCOME EVERYBODY!” cried River. The audience cheered loudly. River sat on the Judges panel, in the middle, at the back of the stage, with Andrew on her left and Nurse Smiles on her right. “TO THE FRONTIER CLOSING CEREMONY!”

“We are delighted to be a part of The Frontier Brains Closing Ceremony,” she continued, and the large jumbo-vision showed all seven of the Frontier Brains, including Dome Ace Daniel, watching the Contest with intrigue. Scott and Amy Wolfsong sat with them.

“My name is River Asayake, and I have just been crowned Champion of Contests! Having just won The Grand Festival in Chicago I am back in TPML as your guest judge today!”

As she spoke, footage of her appeals was shown from The Grand Festival. There was an appeal with a little Spinarak that was firing a psybeam through a web-like shield; a furious battle with River’s Camerupt and Yanma fighting a Cacturne and Masquerain and a shot of River’s Surskit dancing along an icy arena.

“My assistant judges with me today are: OzAndrew, ‘current’ Head Coordinator of TPML!”

“Whatever,” grumbled Andrew.

“And Nurse Smiles, Pokemon Nurse!”

“I’ve been in watermelon eating contest! I came 5th!” she cried manically.

“And so, without further ado, please, let us begin the contest! Contestant #1 please!”

On came the first competitor, Saffire Persian. A very slim, slender girl, she had beautiful blue eyes and a paintbrush tucked behind her ear. She unleashed a Meowth, who fired a shadow ball high up into the air. The crackling orb of shadow was soon pierced by a dancing bolt of lightening that the little cat summoned up. As the sparks fell to the ground, the Meowth unleashed a variety of gold coins all around.

“A good appeal overall,” River said importantly. “Nice use of moves and attacks, as well as Meowth’s signature move, Pay day! Good work. 7.0. Nurse Smiles?”

“OHMYGOD I loved it!” she cried. “9.9!”

“Thank…you…Nurse Smiles,” River mumbled. “Andrew?”

“Meh. I’m allergic to cats. 2.1”

“Oh,” Saffire said sadly.

“That totals a score of 19 out of 30. Well done,” River said, as Saffire left the stage. “Contestant #2!”

Out came The Blue Avenger, who released his demonic looking troll, Shiftry. The stumpy little troll was of both grass and dark types. Shiftry held its fan-like arms out and gave a gruff cry of his name; a fantastic sweeping collection of leaves burst into life and flew to all areas of the stage.

“Shiftry is demonstrating the use of its Leaf Storm attack; the strongest grass-type move there is,” River said. Shiftry clapped his fans together and a tremendous whirlwind picked up; the leaves, wherever they were, span on the spot, leaving Shiftry standing amongst the haunted leaves. As this happened he held his head up and blasted an orange hyper beam right up, leaving an incredible sight to behold. The audience gave a tremendous applause.

“Fantastic use of attacks,” River said. “You demonstrated the traits of Shiftry’s power well. I’ll give you 8.5”

“I LOVED it, partly because my ex-husband looks like a troll, but also because the leaves remind me of trees! 9.9!” cried Smiles.

“Eh…it was a bit lame. 3.2,” muttered Andrew.

“Okay,” River said nervously, beginning to see a pattern. “You…get a combined total of 21.6 out of 30.”

“Hey, River…I don’t have a lever thingy on my chair! I want my chair to be as high as yours!” Andrew whimpered.

“Next contestant!” River said, secretly exhausted already with the sheer pantomime of the contest.

*

“This is the phone of River Asayake. I’m not able to take your call but please leave a message after the beep.”

“Hey, sis? I heard you were back in the village and wanted to meet up with you. Erm…call me when you get this.”

Crystal was sitting in the park as she tried contacting her sister. They had both kept in touch during the time River had been in Chicago and Crystal was excited to hear about her sister’s experiences. For now, though, she was simply filling time.

“Hey,” she said, seeing a boy across the way. “Fancy a battle?”

His back was turned to her but he murmured a ‘no, thanks’. Crystal got up, sighing.

“Why not? The league is soon. I hear they’re calling for final registration soon. Like…they need people to re-register in case current registered members aren’t around. Like…dead people. And Mega Horny.”

“I’m fine.”

“Come on!” Crystal said. “And for god’s sake, look at me!”

The boy turned around. It was Girafarig, but he had two large black swollen eyes. One was much less swollen than the other, and a much lighter tone; the worse eye, however, was a deep black, blue and purple, much bigger in terms of swelling. He looked woebegone.

“Ohmygod!”

“Yea, yea,” he grumbled sarcastically.

“Your face!”

“Yup.”

“It’s…”

“Uh huh.”

“Panda’d!”

“What?”

“Panda’d…it’s the spin-off of Punk’d,” Crystal explained. “Ashton Kutcher…finds celebrities he hates, and his cameraman distracts them by offering publicity then Ashton hits them in the face, giving them panda eyes. This one time, he beat Lindsay Lohan with a chair.”

“Right.”

“Who did it?”

“Different people hit different eyes,” he explained. “Chris 2.0 hit me in this one –” he showed her the better-looking of the two. “I…aggravated him.”

“And the other one?”

“Someone else,” Girafarig sighed. “I didn’t deserve this one.”

“Why did…what…what?” murmured the young girl. “Stop being so cryptic!”

“Ok,” Girafarig snapped. “This one – the ‘Chris 2.0 job’ – I was being a jackass to him. I treat him like crap. And he hit me. Guy’s a nut. I deserved that, because I’m not nice, k? This other one, the…let’s call it the ‘Brink job’ – because that was the guy’s name. I…I did not deserve what he did to me.”

“Why did he go it then?”

“He was delivering a message,” Girafarig said emptily.

“Why?”

“Because…I…”

He sighed.

“This is stupid.”

“Stupid?”

“I…really can’t talk.”

“Why?”

“You don’t stop with the questions,” grumbled Girafarig. Crystal slapped him across the face. “Ow!”

“I hope that hurt,” she whispered. “I’m trying to find out what’s going on so I can help you. How are you not appreciating this?”

“They’re watching me,” replied Girafarig. “All the time, someone is watching me.”

His eyes darted left and right.

“Brink is here?” Crystal asked. Girafarig shook his head.

“He only comes out at night. But someone else is always watching me.”

“Why?”

“In case I tell anyone about it.”

“About what?”

“Just STOP IT!” snapped the boy. Crystal recoiled in fright. “Stop trying to find the answer to a question nobody asked.”

“I asked,” Crystal snapped back quietly. “Now answer.”

“If I told you,” Girafarig sighed. “You’d get ‘Panda’d’ too. Have a good one.”

He turned and walked off into the park. Crystal stood there for a moment, shaking from the adrenaline. She suddenly turned around as a busker packed his things up for the day. Was this ‘Brink’, the person who assaulted Girafarig? As she went to sit down she saw an elderly gentleman reading a newspaper. What if that was Brink? Or what about the woman on her cell phone?

She left the park completely. Who could she find that would be willing to help her get the truth from Girafarig?

*

“Thank you Charles for that….unique appeal,” River said dryly. “Trying to swallow your own Rattata…wow. Good luck with that.”

She wiped her forehead, turned her smile on and stood up.

“Next we have…Chris 2.0!”

I walked on stage after seeing Charles nursing some burns around his mouth. I also saw a lot of purple fur on his top lip, making him look like he had some sort of gay moustache. Funky. I sent out Politoed and my new, lithe frog emerged, giving a bellowing ribbit.

“Ice Ball!” I ordered. Opening his jaws Politoed created a ball of ice, firing it up out his mouth. It grew and grew in size until it was the size of a beach ball, and when it got high enough Politoed held his hands out and used a psychic to suspend the ball in place. His eyes glowed. The ball of ice was suspended in mid-air. He then fired off a bright flash from his cheeks, which fired directly up and was refracted in the ball like a disco ball, sending spears of light shooting off in all directions. The audience watched as the ice ball sparkled.

“Now, smash!”

Politoed’s tongue whipped up and smashed the ball, shattering it into a thousand tiny forgotten shards. He bowed proudly as the shards fell around him like glass. I smiled as the judges gave the scores.

“A fantastic use of light and shape,” River said proudly. “8.1!”

“I KNOW YOU!” Nurse Smiles said frantically. “10.0!”

“I take bribes,” droned Andrew. “8.1”

“Giving Chris a grand total of 26.2!” cried River, astonished at her other judges. “Well done Chris! Please exit the stage as we make way for the next contestant! Luna Princess!”

Luna walked on nervously. She stepped onto the stage – she felt so different. Whereas usually Solia would whisper ‘good luck!’ or, if they had fallen out (a common occurrence) ‘I hope you trip up bitch’. Either way, hearing something comforting from her sister would be nice.

Instead, she saw, backstage on the other side of the stage she had entered on, one of her other sisters. But it was not Solia. It was Eve, her eldest sister with the vivid ginger hair in curls. She looked happy but oddly determined. Luna did not expect her sister to be in the contest as well.

Either way, Luna turned to face the audience, gripping her Pokeball and releasing it. In a sparkle her Umbreon emerged, standing ready as Luna pointed to the lights.

“Dark Pulse!”

Lady had helped them practice the attack; rings glowing a dark black colour, they crackled as little bolts of energy bolted up. They arced towards the ceiling where they seemed to cloak the lights and windows. The entire hall was shrouded in darkness.

“And Luna Princess has completely shrouded us in darkness!” commented River. “What is she planning? And where is everyone!?”

“Moonlight!”

“Umbree!”

The rings on Umbreon’s body soon turned that crystalline, liquid silvery colour. They shone and sparkled, as did the ring on Umbreon’s head and the stripe on each ear. The audience watched as this perpetual glow filled the Pokemon’s body as, up above, a glowing, spherical moon hung on its own accord.

“Good, Luna,” whispered Lady from the seats. Eve watched with intrigue.

“Now Umbreon!” Luna cried. Still glowing the gleaming moonlight colours, Umbreon used a quick attack to dash around the arena at high speeds, sending the fantastic shades piercing all around the arena.

The audience were in awe, applauding loudly as Luna brought the lights back up after retracting her dark pulse attack. Eve mustered a polite applause and River got the audiences attention.

“A wonderful appeal, combining Umbreon’s moon-like characteristics while managing to summon the beauty of the night sky,” she said, enthralled. “I can see you are cut out for The Grand Festival, Luna.”

“Thank you,” Luna said politely.

“I’m giving you 9.5,” said River.

“Ehh, it was okay,” Andrew said, his head supported lazily by his hand. “5.5.”

“I LOVED the appeal!” Nurse Smiles said. “Incidentally I do still have a fear of the dark so I did wet myself two….and a half times. So OzTralian…or whoever you are, I’m sorry if you can smell it.”

“What…score did she get, Nurse?” asked River.

“Oh. Score!”

“Yes, score.”

“Score.”

“Yes.”

“Yup!”

“The score.”

“Score?”

“WHAT SCORE DID SHE GET?”

“ERR…TEN!” screamed the Nurse girlishly. “You shouldn’t shout! That’s three times now!”

“THAT,” snapped River. “Comes to a combined total of 25 points out of 30! Well done!”

“Thank you,” Luna said calmly.

“Please allow for a brief, fifteen minute interval,” River told the audience. “The next appeal will be in 15 minutes!”

*

Chris 2.1

15th March 2007, 05:40 PM

*

Meanwhile, the Board had just finished their meeting for the day. Magnus had updated Gordon with his investigation into Ecks’ death, while Jacques and Austin from technical were trying to locate Callisto.

“Look at this,” Austin said loudly. Jacques, Brooklyn and Volletta, the only people on that floor came over to his console.

“What is it?” Jacques asked.

“I managed to salvage some of the data from the CCTV of Ecks’ cell,” Austin said smartly. “Amy sent over the damaged files, since it seems the attacker shot the cameras when they arrived. I’ve been fixing it and trying to make some sense of it.”

“Let’s see it then,” grumbled Jacques, slightly jealous at Austin’s progress. The camera was in the top corner; you could see, from here, the three guards who were at their work station. You could also see the staircase next to them that wound upstairs. What you could not see was Ecks; for he was directly under the camera.

“That’s Mag&^ghhs om the Board of Govkhh$$ah –”

“I know-hss%%hf*ghh—thank you,” came Ecks’ voice.

“Wow Austin, the quality is fantastic,” growled Jacques sarcastically.

“It’s damaged; the audio isn’t quite right,” he admitted.

“Really?” Jacques sniped.

“Shut up Jacques you old moaner,” Volletta said. “Austin, good work.”

They watched amid crackling sound and shaking visual as the three guards entered the cell (beneath the camera). A variety of bangs were heard before the third guard was seen at the foot of the stairs. A figure barely slinked onto the camera’s sight before the gun was pulled and the third guard was shot dead, slumped over the stairs.

“Oh my god,” wept Volletta, a hand held to her face. Brooklyn looked across at the woman’s evident distress. “I…I think I’ve seen enough.”

She straightened up and headed off down the hallway. Brooklyn watched her go.

“Look at this!” Austin said. “Look who it is!”

“You escaped!” came the unmistakable voice of Callisto Thunder. She was not visible from the camera yet; she was too far up the stairs. “How?”

“Ways and means,” grumbled Ecks.

“I came to –” began Callisto. There was a violent shudder on the screen and the picture was distorted. They heard an odd scraping noise and Jacques growled in frustration.

“Fix it, Myers!” he snapped at Austin. “We need to see this!”

“Ok, ok!” Austin snapped back. He tried typing in some codes and fixing the screen; as he did, and the picture returned, they just saw Ecks fall to the bottom of the stairs as footsteps whisked away in the opposite direction.

“Damnit,” Jacques snapped.

“We’ll try and fix it,” Austin said.

“I think that spells a lot out for us anyway,” Brooklyn said. “Callisto did it.”

“Brooklyn is right,” murmured Jacques. “But until we show this to Gordon we need more concrete evidence.”

“Fine,” Brooklyn said. “But as soon as we have evidence, we tell Gordon.”

*

“The appeals are over!” River cried excitedly, as Eve left the stage. “Thanks to Eve and her Flareon for that fantastic appeal! With 23.6 she heads back stage!”

“Now the following 4 people have made it to the quarter-finals!”

She showed a screen.

“Chris 2.0! Luna Princess! The Blue Avenger and Eve Wentworth! The pairings will be randomized and displayed!”

The profiles swam around and Luna was paired with Eve. Chris was paired with TBA. River clapped her hands enthusiastically.

“Luna and Eve! Please make it to the stage for your quarter-final battle!”

Backstage I was sitting with Politoed. I saw Luna and Eve exchange what I thought was a friendly smile as they walked on. The Blue Avenger sat down next to me.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“I see I’m battling you,” The Blue Avenger replied.

“Yea,” I said. “I’m surprised I got this far.”

“Me too,” he said.

Meanwhile, Luna made it onto the stage as Eve took her place.

“Good luck sister!” Eve cried, flicking her ginger curls back and holding her Pokeball ready.

“You too,” Luna said.

“This match will last five minutes,” River said firmly, taking her seat. The big screen above showed the HP bars of each competitor as they gripped their Pokeballs and sent out their Pokemon. “BEGIN!”

“Umbreon!”

“Flareon!”

“GO!”

In the relaxation area I watched the match on the screen there. I’d never seen this ginger haired woman but she looked ready to do her best. Flareon began by charging across the arena at a blinding speed. Umbreon did a sharp leap to the left and fired off a strew of golden stars that struck the foe. Umbreon ran away as Flareon blasted a stream of flame forward.

“Both competitors are fighting fierce,” River noted. Umbreon leapt up and unleashed a shadow ball; the crackling orb of searing shadow an misery was catapulted down towards Flareon, but the graceful fire Pokemon leapt up to meet the attack. Initially it seemed she was going to use her own momentum to lessen the impact, but she swung a shimmering silver tail around and destroyed the attack. In the air Flareon blasted a series of small, burning flames that rained down at Umbreon.

“Flareon’s wide-spread ember attack is difficult to avoid for Umbreon,” River noted. “Umbreon is a more defensive Pokemon than its fire-type counterpart. But can Umbreon manage to fight back?”

“Yes she can,” Luna whispered.

*

“Come on Luna!” came cries from all around. I was watching keenly as Umbreon raced around the arena of the contest hall; Flareon had not lost as much health and Umbreon was definitely tiring.

“You know,” said Saffire Persian. “This eeveelution face-off is interesting. Umbreon shouldn’t really be able to fight off a Flareon. Eeveelutions have all evolved to adapt to their surroundings. Umbreon is not as physically strong as Flareon, and their element, darkness, is much stronger during the night.”

“Like in the appeal,” I said, thinking.

“But Flareon can call on its fire-type attacks at any time,” Saffire went on. “And they are working.”

However as we watched, Umbreon leapt up and fired a shadow ball which managed to connect with Flareon’s face. Skidding back, Flareon unleashed a whooshing jet of flame that struck Umbreon back. Staggering, Umbreon sent off a swift attack.

“I read about Luna,” Saffire said intelligently. “She’s a fantastic coordinator. But I’m sure most regular contests ask for a different appeal and battle Pokemon. Saffire’s strongest battle Pokemon is her Lunatone. So Umbreon is good at appeals, but weaker when it comes to battling. Lunatone, however, is a good firm battler but not very competent at appealing.”

“Why isn’t she using Lunatone?” I asked.

“In this contest you must use the same Pokemon for both rounds,” Saffire finished importantly.

We kept our eyes on the screen as Flareon flipped up in mid-air, firing off a will-o-wisp attack. The periwinkle-blue flames swept down like trailing bullets at Umbreon, but the Pokemon used a psychic attack to grip the flames and hold them off. Umbreon stood there, feet planted into the ground as her brow furrowed and her psychic powers held each flaming trail.

“Umbreon!” Luna cried. “Send them back!”

The little balls of flame all melded together into a large, spitting ball of flame that was fired off at Flareon. Flareon stood there calmly, and Eve didn’t bat an eyelid as the ball smashed right into Flareon and she was enveloped by the cataclysmic ball.

“Flareon is hit…” River began. “But she stays in the game! Flareon’s Flash Fire ability protects it from fire attacks, and it uses those fire attacks by inhaling the fire into its flame sac to help boost its firepower for the rest of the match!”

“I know that!” Luna said, smiling. In the time it had taken for Flareon to absorb the fire, Umbreon was now standing there proudly, a golden glow surrounding her. Golden steam vapor was coming off her.

“What?” Eve asked.

“Giga Attack!”

“A secret weapon!” River cried. Umbreon raced along the arena, the golden vapor simmering behind. Leaping up, Umbreon span around as fumes coiled around her body and caused her to sparkle with power. She tore down through the air and dealt a devastating smash right into Flareon, who flew back and slammed right into the opposite wall of the Contest Hall. Umbreon leapt back and unleashed a swift attack; half of the golden stars destroyed themselves upon contact with Flareon. The other half pinned her where she was.

“Flareon is down-and-out in a fantastic twist to the Contest Quarter-Finals!” cried River. “Saffire and Umbreon go on to the finals!”

Eve looked stunned, but smiled broadly as she left the stage.

*

Saffire had done a good job, but I knew that I had to beat The Blue Avenger and his Shiftry if I wanted a shot at even taking her on. I was there, standing on the stage where Eve had stood. I turned and saw, just behind me, the large crack Flareon had made in the wall.

“The Blue Avenger and Chris 2.0 have taken to the stage for the second round of the Quarter-Finals!” River cried. “BEGIN!”

“Shiftry!”

“Politoed!”

Our Pokemon emerged. Politoed clapped his hands and gave me a thumbs up. Shiftry was slightly larger than Politoed and definitely more intimidating. The timer began to tick and we were off!”

“Shiftry use bullet seed!” shouted TBA. From his mouth, Shiftry blasted the compact seeds of energy. They rapped against the ground like gunfire.

“Bounce!”

Politoed crouched and then leapt high, reaching the rafters of the hall easily. This new-found power in his legs was a trait we discovered upon evolution and he was making the most of it. Politoed fired off an ice beam as he flew down towards Shiftry. The troll blocked the attack with his two fan-like-hands, causing them to be encased in ice and protecting his short torso.

Upon landing, Politoed was caught off-guard as Shiftry incorporated a brick-break attack into helping rid his appendages of ice. Politoed staggered and Shiftry darted forward with a quick attack, sending Politoed collapsing.

“Now use razor wind!”

Flapping his arms wildly, Shiftry created a blistering wind that caused Politoed to find trouble in getting up. As he did, two sharp blades of slicing energy smashed into his body and he crashed back down. We were getting slaughtered!

“Politoed get up! Ice Beam!”

“Dodge and use bullet seed!”

Politoed blasted the frosted beam of ice at Shiftry, who turned to dodge and slipped away from the attack just in time. He turned back to us and fired off the bullet seed which struck Politoed and pushed him back.

Unfortunately the psychic attacks we had worked on were going to be ineffective against this dark-type, and the water attacks were similarly useless. We had to rely on fighting and ice attacks if we wanted to win this.

“Politoed use an ice ball!”

Politoed nodded, charging the small ball of ice and firing it. Shiftry naturally leapt up high and evaded it before charging up a shadow ball and firing it down at us. Countering, Politoed fired the second ball, which was roughly the size of a large grapefruit. It tore through the shadows and they escaped their confinements, sweeping up into the atmosphere. Shiftry was struck by the second ice ball and fell down to the ground.

“That was nothing Shiftry! Use a razor leaf!”

The beast flicked his arms out and commanded a stream of sharp leaves to fly through the air. Politoed, having charged the third ice ball (which was about the size of a small football) leapt to the side and evaded the strip of leaves before unleashing the third ball which smashed directly into Shiftry. Not stopping his onslaught of leaves, Shiftry unleashed them with one hand while using the other to create a whirlwind. This whirlwind helped guide the leaves in a curve and allow them to strike Politoed.

“As The Blue Avenger creates a clever attack pattern with whirlwind and razor leaf, Chris prepares to unleash the fourth consecutive ice ball,” said River.

The fourth Ice Ball was the size of a beach ball. It was heavier and difficult for Politoed to casually hurl. But with his strength he managed, launching it at Shiftry. He planted his feet into the ground and readied himself to run, but he was too late; the fourth ice ball slammed right into his body and bowled him right over.

“Now!” I shouted. “Before he can get up! ICE BALL!”

“Chris and Politoed take advantage of their foe’s weakened state!” commented River.

Politoed created the fifth ball, which was almost the size of himself, and as he ran with it he leapt, bouncing up and hurling the ball down effortlessly, where gravity led the gigantic ball of hulking ice right into the body of Shiftry. Shiftry gave a groan as the ice shattered all over his body.

“Shiftry! Get up!” The Blue Avenger said firmly. Shiftry shook his grizzled mane, where shards of ice now lay. “Solarbeam!”

“He has to charge up,” I told Politoed calmly. “Use psychic.”

Shiftry’s hands were clasped around an invisible space as energy was building up in the form of citrus coloured solar energy. Politoed, meanwhile, was using a psychic attack to gather up the varying shards of jagged ice all around the foe. Politoed’s eyes glowed blue as his hands pointed forward; like a swarm of angry bees the shards swept up into the air and then back down, striking Shiftry and preventing from holding together the charged solar energy. In no time the energy dissipated, not contained within an area and therefore useless.

“Now!” I cried at Politoed. “End it!”

Politoed bounced high and span as he hurtled down, slamming his hands in a chopping motion right on Shiftry’s skull. The troll collapsed, unable to take any more. Politoed pulled out of the spinning Brick Break and bounced back to my side of the arena as the crowd erupted in applause and cheers.

“Shiftry is defeated! Chris 2.0 and Politoed go on to the finals of the Contest!” River cried out.

*

“Looks like that’s our opponent, Umbreon,” Luna said, smiling. She watched Chris 2.0 defeat The Blue Avenger and stroked her Pokemon, who was recovering from the exhausting match before.

“Well done before,” said a voice. It was Lady. “Luna you’re doing fantastic! In the finals!”

“Thanks,” Luna replied. “Umbreon’s doing great.”

“You both are,” Lady said. “Now I’ve been checking out this Chris 2.0…he has a good battle record. This is his first contest so for him, he’s back in his comfort zone now that he’s done the appealing. And that battle showed you that he is capable of many things.”

“We can manage,” Luna said, although she wasn’t quite sure that she agreed with what she said. At that moment, Eve came over, her Flareon in its Pokeball.

“Hey Luna!” she cooed. “Well done!”

“Thanks Eve,” Luna replied. “Oh. Erm Lady, this is Eve, my big sister. Eve, this is Lady.”

“Lady?” Eve asked, as the two women shook hands. “What an…interesting name.”

“It is,” Lady replied firmly. “Luna, I must get my seat. The battle will begin shortly. Good luck.”

“Thank you!”

“Nice to meet you,” Eve added.

“So Eve,” Luna said. “Have you seen Mida or Dawn in the audience? I tried to look before but couldn’t see them.”

“Dawn and Mida both left the village and headed back home,” Eve admitted.

“They did?” Luna asked. Eve nodded. “Why?”

“The three of us…disagreed on how we would look after you following Solia’s death,” admitted Eve. “They felt like you needed to overcome this on your own. I, however, wanted to stay and see how you were doing, and be there if you ever needed anyone.”

“That’s very kind,” Luna said. “But I’m fine. Absolutely fine.”

“If you ever need me –”

“Oh, Eve,” Luna said, seeing River on the screen. “I…I need to head off.”

“- just give me a call –”

“See you soon,” Luna said, getting up. “Come on, Umbreon.”

“Ok,” Eve replied quietly.

*

Meanwhile, in The Old Village, Hanada Tattsu woke up slowly. His eyes adjusted to the dark room he was in. Ceres the Vileplume was standing by him. In the corner of the old, disused room, his mother was frantically typing on her laptop. Magnemite was providing power.

“Mum?” Hanada asked blearily.

“Gregg!” she said quietly. “You’re awake!”

“Wha…where are we?”

“We’re just staying here for a little longer,” Callisto muttered as she typed away.

“How did I get here?” asked Gregg. He suddenly had a fleeting memory. “I remember hiding at the Theatre…”

“Now we have a flight booked and we have to be there in an hour,” Callisto muttered. “So we’re getting the train in about half an hour to the airport.”

“And you took me away,” Gregg said, thinking fast. “Gengar did something…”

He stopped.

“Flight?”

“Yes.”

“Where are we going?”

“Away from here. We need to go.”

“If you need to go back to work, I don’t mind. I’ll stay.”

“No, not work. I’m not going back there,” muttered Callisto. “Me and you and going to London.”

“Why are we going?” Gregg asked. “Why isn’t Dad –”

He froze as he remembered something. He heard his mother’s sobs as a deep gunshot echoed throughout the cell.

“You shot him.”

“What?” she asked frantically, turning to see her son.

“You shot dad!”

“I did no such thing!” Callisto protested, as tears filled her eyes.

“I was there…you…you had me outside with Gengar!” Hanada said, as flashes appeared before his eyes. “I could hear you sobbing so I ran inside, and was at the top of the stairs when you started to get the gun out and shoot Dad. But then Gengar caught me and put me to sleep again…”

“Gregg!” Callisto said, tears welling up. “You…don’t! Stop this! Stop saying such…such lies!”

“Did you murder my father?” asked Gregg darkly.

“I did not do –”

“BE HONEST!” screamed the boy. “FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE BE HONEST!”

“YES!” Callisto wailed back, sinking to the floor. “Yes! Yes I did! Oh Christian! Christian…”

“Christian?” snapped Gregg. “Who the hell is Christian?”

“That was your fathers name,” Callisto sniffed. “Before he…”

“Before he what,” asked Gregg sourly.

“He…took over Cronus Industries,” Callisto mumbled. “And the money went to his head.”

This was not true at all; Christian took the Ecks alias after he tried murdering his father to claim ownership of the company and the family business; however, he was the only one who knew that his father committed suicide. Callisto believed her late husband had killed Virgil Cronus, her late father-in-law.

“So I’ve had to call my father by an alias?” snapped Gregg. He gave a laugh. A dry laugh. “This is so…”

He trailed off, not even knowing how to describe the situation. Callisto intervened, shutting her laptop and stuffing it into the bag. She had two small suitcases with her.

“C-Come on Gregg,” she sniffled. “I’ve packed some things for you…some…clothes and I’ve got them all here. We need to go to the train station.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I’m not coming,” Gregg said softly. “I’m staying here.”

“Wha…why…how could you?” Callisto asked, teary-eyed. “No…come with me Gregg!”

“I’m training to compete here in the league,” replied Gregg. “I won’t come on the run from the law with you!”

“Gregg no…” said Callisto, feeling weak. “Please…you need to…we’re a family Gregg! A family. And since your father…passed, we need to keep close together! To support each other!”

“You wouldn’t need to support me if you didn’t KILL HIM in the first place!” cried Gregg. “And I wouldn’t dare support your decision and neither would my dad!”

He walked to the door.

“C-C-Ceres!” sniffed Callisto. “Stop him.”

“Get out my way,” Gregg snapped to the large, vicious flower. Vileplume shook her head firmly.

“Sle-Sleep po-”

“Help me!” Gregg shouted, releasing a Pokeball. His Octillery emerged at once and fired off a psybeam that smashed right into Ceres. She leapt up and fired a sludge bomb, but Octillery used a psychic attack to re-direct them into Gengar. Octillery then fired off a pearly-white ice beam to root Vileplume to the ground.

“Ceres!” cried Callisto.

“I’m going,” Gregg snapped. “Good luck. I won’t tell a soul where you go. You deserve that much.”

“GREGG!”

And with that, Hanada Tattsu ran out the old dusty room and into the darkening streets of The Old Village. He turned left and bolted down a street, Octillery safely in his Pokeball. Callisto recalled her Vileplume and had Magnemite and Gengar give chase as she ran with both their suitcases, hysterical.

*

Chris 2.1

15th March 2007, 05:47 PM

*

“And here we are!” River said happily. “Both Chris and Luna are here for the finals of the Winter Contest! The entire contest is part of the Frontier Brains leading ceremony and as a result the Ribbon will be presented by our guest – Tower Maiden Annabel!”

“I’d just like to say good luck to both of you,” Annabel replied, smiling. “We Frontier Brains recognize strength, courage and determination and all of those qualities are evident in you today.”

“Thank you Annabel!” River said. I didn’t notice. I saw Greta in the audience, looking at me quizzically. She knew that I had not taken care of Dusclops yet…I don’t know how. Maybe Frontier Brain’s have mind reading guns. Or she literally has a massive Brain. Maybe the Frontier Brains are like MENSA? I heard UuberFred applied.

“The five minutes begin!” River cried.

“Politoed! Go for ice beam!” I shouted. Politoed nodded, firing off the cold beam of frosted energy. It slammed into Umbreon as she tried to dodge; Umbreon retaliated with a swift attack. The shimmering golden stars tore into Politoed’s body as he staggered back. Politoed leapt up with a bounce, and charged up energy in his right fist as he aimed a dynamicpunch.

“Umbreon confuse ray!”

“Umbree!”

A jet of light sped through the air like a ghostly train. It met Politoed’s eyes and, in mid-strike, Politoed stumbled and fell over. Umbreon leapt over Politoed, turned and fired a shadow ball into Politoed’s back.

“Politoed! Bubblebeam!”

The whooshing bubbles were fired at Umbreon and burst upon contact. Umbreon was peppered by the attack but managed to get out of their wake; using a quick attack she sped along the arena as her tail shimmered silver and she leapt up, swinging her tail around and catching Politoed in the stomach. Politoed flew back.

“Ice Beam on the ground!”

Politoed fired the attack off at the ground, creating a frosted strip across the arena. Umbreon leapt on the right side of the strip. Politoed then leapt up with bounce but fired off the ice beam as he span; his icy attack grazed the arena at a variety of angles. As Politoed landed in a small bare patch, the arena looked like it had been scribbled on with a frosted pen.

“Politoed’s ice beam has limited the use of movement in the match,” River noted. “But can Umbreon rely on projectiles to score a win?”

“No,” Luna said, saddened. “She can’t. We need our speed.”

“Politoed! Ice Ball!” I shouted happily. Umbreon had nowhere to go and thus the ice balls would hit each time. The first ball flew at Umbreon and smashed into her. She staggered onto some ice and slipped down. Umbreon scrabbled back onto the bare patch, where she could stand without problems.

“The next one!” I shouted happily. I saw the slightly bigger ball fly into Umbreon. The darkness Pokemon gave a shudder as she was struck again. Across the way, Luna’s wheels were turning as she struggled to thick of a good strategy.

“Politoed’s attack, which works a total of five times, gets larger and more destructive each time,” River went on. “By isolating Umbreon’s movement Chris has not only excluded what attacks Umbreon can use but has also painted a target on his foe to give his attacks more accuracy.”

“Wait…” Luna said. She thought suddenly to her hometown of Washington DC. Last Christmas, when the streets were paved with ice, a lorry came around spraying sand and grit to help dissolve the ice. “Umbreon! Sand Attack!”

Umbreon gave a flickering smile as she growled and a small gust of sand whipped up before her. The sand weakened the nearby ice and Luna saw it dissolve and melt. Umbreon used this new space to duck down as the third Ice Ball whooshed past and smashed into the opposing wall.

“Umbreon! Protect!” Luna cried. “And use Confuse Ray again!”

She sensed that the last confuse ray was weakening it and knew exactly how to project the attack further. Umbreon erected a greenish dome around herself, and as the fourth, larger ice ball hurtled towards them, Umbreon blasted her confuse ray through the shield and at the ice. The ice managed to refract the confuse ray like a prism, and a wider spectrum was blasted out, striking Politoed and engulfing him.

“Politoed is struck with a souped-up confuse ray as Luna fights back!” River said. “Andrew? Do you have anything to say about this fantastic comeback?”

“I hate her,” Andrew grumbled. “And shut up. I’m watching X Factor on my mobile phone.”

“River is great!” Smiles cried energetically.

“And why is that?” River asked.

“Uhh. SHE JUST IS!” Smiles shouted. “BUT CHRIS IS BETTER! MARRY ME CHRIS!”

“BACK TO… the match!” shouted River, overriding Smiles and her disgustingly loud maniac-like tendencies.

“Umbreon!” Luna cried. “Mean look!”

Umbreon gave a piercing stare that transfixed the already confused Politoed. Politoed’s fifth use of ice ball was launched in the wrong direction; Umbreon watched as it smashed into the wall.

“Now Umbreon!” Luna cried. “Psychic to pick up the shards!”

“Hey!” I cried. “Politoed she’s stealing our idea!”

Umbreon’s psychic attack managed to gather all of the shattered ice from nearby. The attack sped through the air like a swarm; Umbreon sent them flying quite low and some of the shards, like a blade managed to scrape some of the ice from the arena, leaving a long strip of bare floor for Umbreon. Politoed staggered around as the icy shards all swooped in, slashing and cutting him, bruising and grazing him, leaving him injured and befuddled.

“Now! Use quick attack!” Luna shouted. Umbreon tore through the arena at a blinding speed. Silvery energy trailed behind the darkness Pokemon as she smashed into Politoed and sent him flying up into the air.

“Politoed! Snap out of it! ICE BEAM!” I cried.

“Umbreon! Shadow Ball! Do it!”

The crackling orb launched itself right up into the air and smashed right into Politoed as he hung in the air mid-plummet. Politoed fell to the ground, finally knocked out, all the energy gone. His eyes looked blank and transfixed.

“Politoed!” I cried.

“That’s it!” River shouted. “The match is over and Politoed is defeated! The match and ribbon goes to Luna Princess!”

“Umbreon!” Luna cried, embracing her Pokemon tightly.

“Hey,” I said to Politoed. “Good work.”

Recalling him, I smiled at Luna and left the arena. I’d been beaten…but to be honest the match had gone either way. I had led but that was taken away from me. We had an amazing appeal score and thwarted The Blue Avenger in the quarter-finals. Politoed had done fantastic, and I think he felt proud in his new body.

I walked off home, looking forward to the closing ceremony. Meanwhile, as Luna shook Annabel’s hand, Andrew walked off in a strop, Nurse Smiles mounted her chair and threw her arms up in appreciation and Lady V walked up to congratulate Luna.

“Hold it.”

Lady turned to see Eve standing there at the door to the Hall.

“Eve!”

“Before you congratulate my sister,” Eve said darkly. “Just know that I’m on to you. I know exactly what you’re doing, Gabi.”

Lady V looked at Eve quizzically.

“I have to go.”

And with that, she strode up to the stage, congratulating Luna, who was being showered with praise from all. As they smiled and laughed, Lady looked back at the spot where Eve had been, only to find she wasn’t there any longer.

*

Callisto Thunder’s heart was hammering in her chest. She left the suitcases. She left her laptop. Armed only with her husbands Pokemon she ran through the village, panic-stricken. Her son was gone…and he could have gone anywhere by now. Recovering him just wasn’t going to work…not if she wanted to disappear.

Priority was everything, thought Callisto, as she moved along the desolate street. The train station was north of the main square, up a little quaint place called Smith Street. Callisto kept close to buildings and sank in the shadows. She was across the village square.

Just as she walked past the Bank Tower, she heard a click and cock of a gun. She looked, and from the shadowy depths of a tower emerged a familiar face.

“Stop.”

It was Magnus Archer from the Board. Callisto eyed his gun, which had a silencer on it, and smirked.

“Hello Magnus; what is it with Board members and this little village?”

“I came after your husband, but since he’s dead, I’m after you,” growled the powerful man.

“I know you, Magnus,” replied Callisto smoothly. “You’re all talk.”

In a snap she pulled her own gun and stepped to the side, firing a shot at Magnus. He fell back as the bullet grazed his shoulder; Magnus dropped his gun and fell back into the wall of the tower, screwing his face up in pain. Callisto ran.

“HEY!”

Moments later, Liang ran over. He saw Magnus on his knees and instantly came to help.

“What happened?” Liang asked.

“Callisto…” groaned Magnus.

“She did this?” Liang asked. “Oh my god…I’ll call the ambulance and we’ll –”

“NO!” Magnus groaned. “It’s not a serious wound…she just…grazed…my shoulder. I won’t suffer. You need to go after her.”

Liang looked at him. He gave a nod and picked up Magnus’ gun.

“She only fired once,” Magnus explained. “If she wanted me dead she would have fired a few shots. I think her ammunition is low.”

Nodding, Liang raced through the village after Callisto Thunder, hoping he would be able to put a stop to this.

*

“Welcome everybody!”

It was a beautiful sight in The Pokemon Masters League. Fireworks jetted up into the sky and burst fantastically. At the very bottom of BT Street was a big roundabout-style cul-de-sac; down here came a variety of floats commemorating the Battle Frontier. Each Brain had their own float with their Pokemon out, waving to the fans and members of the league.

Annabel sat proudly on her float, waving to everyone. Her float was gray and looked like a castle; she was the Brain of the Battle Tower so she was on a throne-like chair on a raised part of the float. Her Pokemon: Alakazam, Furret and Slowbro all waved to the fans. Interestingly enough a Jynx was also present on the float, wearing a businesswoman’s suit and skirt, her hair tied back in a ponytail and holding a suitcase. Annabel had found this Pokemon attempting to encase an a seedy building called Oz’s Corrupt in ice and, feeling sorry for the disarrayed Pokemon, took her in.

Greta’s float was very flat and painted with dojo markings. Her Umbreon, Shedinja, Gengar and Heracross happily waved to the audience while alternating among various fighting poses.

Next was Noland; he had a longer float which had big 3D question marks all over it. All around these structures were his Pokemon; he had about ten on his float, from his Pidgeot (who had fought the Antibodies) and his Arbok. His Crawdaunt, Dunsparce and Poliwrath all waved, too. Noland had his brow furrowed as he saw a familiar face in the crowd: UuberFred. UuberFred was happily watching with some of his newly-stolen Pokemon: his new Wobbuffet (who had put on some dashing red lipstick, and he had named Ladyffet), his Lickitung, Quilava and in his arms the baby Eevee that smiled cutely.

“That bastard stole more of my Pokemon!” snarled Noland. “STOP THE FLOAT!”

He realised that none of his Pokemon could.

“Damnit,” he growled. “UuberFred, I’m coming after you...once I get off this float.”

Next was Lucy, whose Seviper-shaped float got a great reaction from the audience. She sat on the head, her Seviper, Shuckle and Milotic all assorted around. She was winking, flirting and blowing kisses to the men in the audience and got more than a few flowers thrown her way in gratitude.

Spenser came after Lucy in an elegant, chariot-themed float. He was with his Arcanine, Crobat and Slaking, holding his mysterious blue staff as he waved. He had two flaming torches at the head of his float. Also with him was a Blissey – she was a staple member of Spenser’s team but did not battle as much, being more of a personal nurse than anything. She fired off an egg bomb attack, the exploring projectiles shimmering among the fireworks.

After this was The Battle Dome’s float. Razor Leaf stood atop it looking rather confused. With him were his main Pokemon; Blaziken, Zangoose, Ariados, Lunatone, Walrein and Victreebel. Razor Leaf had been told to give up the rest of his team, for the limit was 6 on a Battle Frontier roster. Razor Leaf had made sure that they were going to be ok, but this gesture was simply one more reason he was willing to stay in TPML. However next to him on the same float was Tucker, in his wheelchair, arms crossed and looking grumpy as his Charizard, Salamence and Swampert mulled around. Charizard and Salamence took to the skies, shooting torrents of flame into the air powerfully.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” spat Tucker.

“I’m just doing what they asked,” Razor Leaf said innocently. He wore his dark jeans, new trainers and his black zip-up training jacket. It was thin and zipped up to his neck. It had the Battle Frontier symbol on the breast.

“Oh yea, first it’s ‘wave to the audience’, then guess who has to tag along to watch his production of ‘Town Without a Turkey’ because his ex is there? I DON’T WANT TO GO SOMEWHERE WHERE HIS EX IS ALLOWED TO KISS MY BOYFRIENDS ASS! HE WASN’T EVEN THAT GOOD! General Cluck was way better. Man I’d like to cluck his…turkey.”

“Whatever,” grumbled Razor Leaf.

Unfortunately, however, without the brakes on his wheelchair, Tucker began to roll ever-so-gently off the side of the float. His eyes flickered back towards Razor Leaf, who had just caught a bouquet of flowers and was not able to see the disaster.

“HELP!”

Tucker rolled off the side of the float and onto the ground, where he tumbled out of his wheelchair and gave a long moan of pain. Swampert leapt off the float and landed by his master as Charizard and Salamence swept down to investigate.

“Lol!” cried Andrew from the audience. “I’ve got three words! Sucks – To – Be – (adding a fourth) YOU!”

Razor Leaf was worried as he looked back at Tucker, but he caught a glance of the person on the float behind him. Brandon was smiling at Razor Leaf proudly and gave a ‘thumbs-up’. Razor Leaf returned it and continued to wave.

Brandon, due to his main Pokemon’s bulk, did not have them with him. Instead he stood with Scott of the Frontier on a very simple float, waving in a way that suggested he was beyond this level of humiliation.

Amy Wolfsong stood at a big podium with the other moderators. Grey was not present at all and nobody had seen him all day so, ten minutes before the ceremony Liang had hurried off to find him.

“Thank you everybody for turning up today,” she said. “Here with me is Luna Princess, who has just won the Winter Contest! Congratulations!”

“Thank you everyone,” Luna said, accepting the ribbon. “I would like to take this moment to say that I have been at the Rules Tower today and have henceforth changed my name. My username here will be Luna Fuerte, which is Spanish for ‘Luna the Strong’.”

The crowd cheered loudly as Luna took a seat.

“I would also like to make an announcement after the results of the Contest,” Amy said. “Our new Head Coordinator is River Asayake, after the fantastic work on this afternoons contest!”

“Thank you,” River said, walking to the podium.

“WHAT!?” cried Andrew from the crowd. “She’s replaced me?”

“After all this,” River said proudly. “I would like to say that I will be doing a much better job than my predecessor! Let’s actually launch Contests into TPML instead of burying them!”

A roar of enthusiasm made Andrew feel slightly less inclined to get up and complain. He turned to see Tucker, back in his wheelchair and struggling to catch up with his float. Andrew threw a rock at the wheel, denting it and causing Tucker to veer off into a group of people.

“That’s better,” Andrew replied, smiling.

“The Frontier Brains are ready to leave TPML, so please, everybody give them your support!” Amy cried, as the floats wound around the cul-de-sac and made their way back up BT Street. Roars and deafening cries filled the night as the celebrations continued. Tonight was a night for celebration, remembrance and happiness.

*

Callisto was nearly at the train station, making her way up Smith Street calmly. She had shot Magnus, which had been necessary. But she didn’t need to cause any more harm to anybody else. She saw the station platform and she kept going, but as she did, a figure stepped out from an alleyway.

“Liang.”

“Good evening,” Liang said calmly, holding a gun to Callisto’s head.

“I’m not in a good mood, Liang,” Callisto snapped irritably. “So please don’t be pleasant. Just shoot me.”

“Only if you don’t march back into the village and hand yourself in,” Liang replied. “I’ve done too many bad things and I will not kill you myself and leave your son an orphan. I can’t bring myself to do that.”

“Then let me go – I’ll still be alive,” Callisto replied.

“You need to repent for what you’ve done,” Liang snapped back. “All the evidence points towards you killing Ecks. Just admit it.”

“You know what, Liang?” Callisto asked, as she heard the nearby rail tracks buzzing with electricity. “It’s funny. You…you haven’t really been much of a bad person. And yet you’re scared to do the right thing incase it becomes a tiny black mark on your life. But me…I’m submerged in a life of misery, murder and anguish and I’m still able to make things worse.”

She clicked her fingers. From behind Liang emerged Pluto, her Gengar. His fingers glowed with an oozing purple poison as he swiped his hand through Liang. The boy gave a gasp as the hand passed through his insides and he collapsed instantly from the shock. Gengar floated to Callisto’s side. She took Liang’s gun, replaced it with her empty one and walked towards the old, quiet train that had just pulled in.

“Bye-bye,” she said softly. She climbed onto the train and took a seat, but as the tears began to well up in her eyes, and her mascara began to run, she took out some big elaborate sunglasses and covered her eyes. The train gave a honk and pulled out the station and Callisto took one last look at the struggling, wheezing Aragornbird before she was whisked away.

*

Meanwhile, as these seven figureheads made their way back up to their tour buses, it seemed everybody in TPML took a moment to consider just how much impact these people have had on their lives. If it weren’t for them, then Ecks and his Antibodies might have had an easier time at penetrating the village, and they may have succeeded in killing Cocoa Sting. During the attack, Knight of Time perished at the hands of Christian Cronus once Palace Mavern Spenser had fallen, and while many Antibodies invaded the TPML Square, Solia Princess stood up after feeling inadequate. She was struck from a hyper beam from Mega Horny and she too left this world.

It seemed that The Pokemon Masters League had forever been changed by the Frontier Brains. One of the original seven brains seemed destined to stay in TPML, for Tucker (real name Heath Williams) had suffered numerous back and spinal problems after an attack. Despite his inklings that it was OzAndrew who attacked him, another man (Sushi McPrawn) had been arrested for the crimes.

And then, taking Tucker’s place was Razor Leaf or, as he was now to be known – Dome Ace Daniel. The man had battled ferociously against Brandon, who had declared that the man deserved Tucker’s old place. But the more Daniel thought about it, the more he was reluctant to leave. A good number of his Pokemon were left behind, as well as the only people he knew. This felt like his home.

As the floats all met back at the tour site, the Brains loaded their things onto the buses and the entire fleet (photographers, camera crew etc) prepared to leave. The Brains had inhabited various locations across TPML; The Battle Arena had been an old Fighting Dojo on Falken Street. Lucy’s Battle Pike was in an old maze within Grave’s Yard. Annabel used an old Tower in the main square and The Battle Factory was an old warehouse down Smith Street. The Brains had all taken personal belongings from their locations and were ready to go.

“Come on,” snapped Scott. “We’re late and we need to arrive in London in two days time.”

“Are you ready?” asked Brandon, as Noland clambered up into the elaborate, black-and-red furnished bus, muttering about ‘time restraints’ and ‘UuberFred’. Razor Leaf looked at him. He got out his old VS Seeker and held it out, about to throw it away.

“We’re starting a new chapter in the Frontier Brains saga,” continued Brandon. “And you, Daniel, are ready to start a new chapter in your life as a Pokemon Trainer.”

“Yea…” Razor Leaf replied. “I am.”

“Have you ever been to London before?” asked Brandon.

“I grew up there,” Razor Leaf said, smirking. He had a fleeting memory of flying there to attend his mother’s funeral.

“Aha,” Brandon replied, as he climbed into the bus. “Visiting your home!”

He gave a laugh as he boarded it. Razor Leaf watched him.

“I’ve just left my home,” he said sadly. He slipped the VS Seeker in his pocket, deciding to keep it. And he climbed up onto the bus, wondering if anybody was sad that he was about to leave. The very thought made him laugh.

*

Aragornbird lay there. His eyes shut and opened sporadically. There was a dark, longing ache in his stomach, his chest…he saw Magnus Archer walk up to him and kneel down. Also there was Grey and Hanada Tattsu.

“Liang!” Grey called. “Are you ok?”

“She got on the train,” gasped Liang, as he was helped up by Magnus.

“I’m going to try and contact the next station,” Magnus growled as he disappeared. Grey took a look at Liang.

“I came looking for you,” Liang said quietly.

“So did Gregg,” Grey said calmly. “We then decided that we’d try and block Callisto off at the station…but found Magnus first.”

“What did she do to you?” Gregg asked.

“Gengar…he stabbed me,” Liang murmured.

“Poison stab,” said Gregg.

“Where did he stab you?” asked Grey.

“Stomach…his hand…passed through me,” Liang moaned. Grey looked worried, but he didn’t explain why.

“He needs a doctor, now,” Grey said firmly. He released his Salamence and helped Aragornbird onto the beast. “Gregg, you must come with me.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t trust that you’ll be ok on your own,” Grey said firmly. And, together with Liang and Gregg, Grey and Salamence took to the skies, soaring across the main square towards Jolly Japes Hospital as fast as they could.

*

As the Frontier buses began to rev up they slowly pulled out of the village. Some people were still down BT Street attending the celebrations (and there were rumors of a street party being held after Amy’s announcements), but there were some people mulling around the village, watching Razor Leaf go.

“Are you ok?” Gregg asked Grey, as they sat and watched the bus drive off. He didn’t answer, choosing simply to stare ahead.

“Will Liang be ok?”

“I hope so,” whispered Grey. “The Doctor is meeting with me tomorrow. Liang was conscious, and Callisto acted sporadically so she did not aim correctly. I don’t think that attack could kill anybody anyway.”

“Will Razor Leaf be ok?” Gregg asked. “Now that he’s left?”

“Daniel will be fine,” Grey replied emptily, staring into the stars.

And me? I was sitting on a low wall, admiring the stars in the sky as they shone among the renegade fireworks. These fireworks…strange, abstract figures disappearing just as soon as they burst into life. Almost like the Frontier Brains themselves. Almost like Ecks. He came onto the scene so suddenly, and caused a rush of drama. And now, he was just…gone.

If only our visitors didn’t scar us. If only our skies were clear after the fireworks screamed and banged. But no. The events, the moments the ups and the downs would forever remain in our minds because they change us. For better or for worse.

In spite of Jenny, and her brief shimmering colour in my sky, the events didn’t scar me. The firework rose, exploded and the sparks burned out, and my skies were clear. Everything felt right.

“Oh there you are!” came a shrill voice. I wondered who on earth was running around at this hour. It was getting late. And I liked the silence of the stars.

“Chris!”

“What?” I asked, turning to see who it was. And there, standing before me was a person I didn’t expect to see again for a long time. Two bags dropped to the floor as she made her arrival known. I fell off the wall and onto the floor. Suddenly I picked myself up and stared at the woman.

“Mum?”

Next: Chapter Forty-One - Bea Wilson (AKA Queen Bea)
Chris feels frustrated and underappreciated when his mom Bea arrives in TPML for a visit. But is there more to her arrival than meets the eye? Flashbacks tell the tale of Chris' life before TPML as we see just how fragile their relationship as mother and son really was.

The Board of Governors has a shocking revelation for Amy and Grey, while Volletta is the victim of suspicion from Brooklyn Knight. Luna is concerned with Lady Vulpix' sudden change in character and Chris finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time

The Blue Avenger

17th March 2007, 08:32 PM

Hoo, a lot of stuff happened in this chapter. It's good to see Chris lose gracefully, after what's happened in the last few chapters. Seeing Smiles as a judge was... interesting, and it's good to know that Andrew accepts bribes. *stores that knowledge away for later* Speaking of, Andrew was in good form today, especially his continuing vendetta against Tucker.

Also, Callisto is a nasty piece of work. That's all I can really say about that.

Excellent send off for Dan. Are we going to see how he operates in London?

One thing, though: it detracts from the experience when the first sentence of the chapter has a jarring grammatical error. “This Amy Wolfsong.” - you forgot 'is'. Not a big deal, but keep an eye on grammar in the future.

Finally, totally called Queen Bea. ;)

classy_cat18

17th March 2007, 09:14 PM

What was Tucker's problem? He was having serious issues during the parade!

“Oh yea, first it’s ‘wave to the audience’, then guess who has to tag along to watch his production of ‘Town Without a Turkey’ because his ex is there? I DON’T WANT TO GO SOMEWHERE WHERE HIS EX IS ALLOWED TO KISS MY BOYFRIENDS ASS! HE WASN’T EVEN THAT GOOD! General Cluck was way better. Man I’d like to cluck his…turkey.”

Remind me to vote that as Best Quote at the next awards.

Also, I didn't know Nurse Smiles was black. But she was still hilarious!

My one complaint was the lack of details on how Noland kicked Uuberfred's ass. I wanted him to be carted off in a gurney, dammit! That's the right word, right? Gurney?

MeLoVeGhOsTs

18th March 2007, 05:50 AM

I pity Tucker, I mean, he was like, respected, but now gets tossed around like an old sock. Oh well.

Luna's Umbreon did suprise me. I love defensive battle strategies way more then attacking strategies, so it was a pleasure to read. Good job chris.

Nurse Smiles. Must...resist...killing...

I think we haven't heard the last of Daniel just yet.

If I was Noland, I would have jumped of the parade to retrieve my pokemon from that filthy little thief.

Saffire’s strongest battle Pokemon is her Lunatone.

I believe that it should be: Luna's strongest pokemon. Just correcting a tiny flaw, don't shoot me.

Also, I'm still very interested in Dusclops, I hope I'll see what'll become of him, aswell as my character.

Good job, keep up the good work.

~MLG

Chris 2.1

18th March 2007, 03:15 PM

Hyp: I think the contest was a cool way for Chris and Politoed to bond. Smiles and Andrew also got to make this a complete chore for River but I think their expirience (Smiles' watermelon eating contest) was invaluable!

This sort of round-up of the Frontier Brains stay needed some Andrew/Tucker moments. And Tucker's staying around, so I guess we'll see more interaction between them.

Callisto is nasty...will she get caught? As for Dan, I don't think we will see any of his career. It would be fascinating though...and had we included a sequel he would have definitely returned in some way. But given the time we have left of the fic...it doesn't seem plausible he'd return, and visiting him would be odd. So that truly was goodbye to Razor Leaf.

Queen Bea! I've started writing it now and it's interesting. We've got some quirk, some emotion and if you liked trippy weirdo scenes (The Ecks special, for example) you'll love the closing scene of this next chapter. It sets everything up for the next few chapters very well.

Oh and cheers for the mistake :)

Classy: Hey stranger! Noland didn't kick Uuber's ass at all; due to the time constraints Noland was unable to get his Pokemon back, but I think he's come to realise he can spare 3 or 4. Perhaps not his little girl's Eevee....but he'll have to manage, now!

MLG: Hey! Yea Tucker gets a lot of pity. I think the wheelchair helps. But I want to keep him included; I think he's going to register for the league if his heart can take it. I want to show you that he's still mentally strong. And he hates Andrew.

Thanks. Honestly it came about when I was reading through Umbreon's attacks....and it isn't an offensive Pokemon at all. And I thought...well why not play it differently? Luna does have a strategic side to her, too. I'm glad you enjoyed the battle.

Thanks for the Luna/Saffire error >_<;. As for MLG, he will be introduced....probably in Ch42. He does battle in Ch43, I've planned that; so maybe we'll see his character explored during the league. The league begins in Ch43, and will last until Ch50. I don't know, but I am assuming we will have one character-based chapter during that time.

My aim is to finish the fic on Ch50. If I can't, I'll push to 55. I did want an epilogue as well, based around a woman named Emma that I was going to introduce at the end of the fic. Hmm. Since there is no sequel I am sort of tying everything up and trying to sort everything out.

Dusclops! You will get some clues as to where his story is going. I think it reaches new heights. You might find yourself surprised at the Pokemon. Either way, I've decided on what's going to happen. In an original draft he was given away to Greta before she left. Now I'm going in a completely different direction.

I'm also wondering if, during the league, we'll get narrations from different people each chapter. You'll soon see why I have to bring about this loose change to the storytelling elements but perhaps the character whose major battle is the chapters focus narrates the battle. We see more of that characters TPML lifestyle. I might do that.

Charles Legend

18th March 2007, 07:22 PM

“Thank you Charles for that….unique appeal,” River said dryly. “Trying to swallow your own Rattata…wow. Good luck with that.”

Err what was the Score, and I am guesing Charles Appeal went somthing like this "Spinter use quick attak to build up speed before you jump into the air and aim for my mouth then before you hit it use defene Curl into a tight ball then light yourself on fire with a Flame wheel! ;)" btw what did Andrew and Nurs Smiles think of it?

other then that the rest of the chapter was fine, and the other Chapters are ok I guess... Althought it was a shooker that Callisto Killed Eaks and that Gregg saw her do it... and abot Poison stab I had Leeks do that in one of my storyies and all the two narrations came down with was a bad case of food poising... ;) sadly I cant show you what I wrote do to my mine computer Crashing, Thus I am using my back up computer for the time being....

~Charles legend

Chris 2.1

19th March 2007, 01:13 PM

MeLoVeGhOsTs

19th March 2007, 01:28 PM

Yes, Umbreon's great. I <3 defensive pokemon ^____^

Dusclops, I can't wait, looks promosing, aswell as my character.

If I were Tucker, I would have murdered Andrew, but that's just my internet agression on the loose^^, I'm patiently waiting for Andrew vs. Tucker.

Next chapter, hurry.

Andrew

19th March 2007, 06:37 PM

I'm surprised all the other TPMLs don't have as much drama as this one!? Or are they generally just happy happy places. For the amount of time and effort they've put into it (The board etc) it must've been monumental as opposed to other places (Africa).

River taking over OzAndrew's place! >=| And they didn't even give him a chance to show off! Also, Nurse Smiles' comment has led to me eating watermelon the past three days. How did she get the job!?

Also.. Panda'd sounds.. bizzare in the very least.

And did Andrew take a bribe for Chris' appeal?

Also, it was nice to have Luna come this far, especially against Eve's tough Flareon.

The Gregg/Callisto scene was very emotional and well done.

The contest finals, lol, bizzare with OzAndrew and Nurse Smiles, but Luna did well.

The final parade - LOL Miss Justice got a proper home in the end I suppose. She'll hopefully become a good battler. But I was surprised Noland wouldn't have just jumped off of the float. I bet poor Razor Leaf's Pokemon must've been shitty when he was all like "Shunt off". Surely he could've brought them along, if anything, just to hang out with as groupies. And he can't change his roster, EVA?! I didn't understand Tucker's blathering about a turkey? Please explain.

That Gengar is evil, but wow, Liang got OWNED!11

But, you know there's going to be a thing with Callisto and the frontier brains in London. It was nice of Razor to keep his Vs Seeker (Even if he did have 2014 episodes)

Finally, mum turning up! Hoorah!

Charles Legend

19th March 2007, 09:13 PM

Charles appeal will have recieved a very low score. I didn't show all of them but he evidently didn't do enough! I'm slightly dissapointed with the lack of enthusiasm in your reply, you didn't seem particularly bothered with anything other than your appearence. Was there anything else you found funny or surprising?

Sorry Chris, it's that I was in a bad mood, because both of my Compters are Stupid hunks of junks, my newer one that I use most of the time got TKOed by a blue Screen... and my older one I am using right now is Slow and rather Annoying....

but if it makes you fell any better Chris' Politoad rocked, to bad he lost to an Umereon thoght....

Next was Noland; he had a longer float which had big 3D question marks all over it. All around these structures were his Pokemon; he had about ten on his float, from his Pidgeot (who had fought the Antibodies) and his Arbok. His Crawdaunt, Dunsparce and Poliwrath all waved, too. Noland had his brow furrowed as he saw a familiar face in the crowd: UuberFred. UuberFred was happily watching with some of his newly-stolen Pokemon: his new Wobbuffet (who had put on some dashing red lipstick, and he had named Ladyffet), his Lickitung, Quilava and in his arms the baby Eevee that smiled cutely.

“That bastard stole more of my Pokemon!” snarled Noland. “STOP THE FLOAT!”

He realised that none of his Pokemon could.

“Damnit,” he growled. “UuberFred, I’m coming after you...once I get off this float.” LOL that sucks for Noland, I wonder if that Eevee might Evolve, if it dose I think that it might become a Leafeon... yell then again you would be eating your own words if you did that... :P

I also Liked the parts with Tucker falling off the float and Andrew thowing a rock at his weelchair, also so Annabel Addoped Miss Justice instering well at lest Miss Justice well have a better trainer now...

~Charles Legend

Chris 2.1

20th March 2007, 11:14 AM

Andrew: Yea I thought about that. TPML Village 04621 is TINY. Hmm I think the Board are tied up in other villages, but you just don't hear about it since its not relevant.

Nurse Smiles probably volunteered for the judging. Like how Nurse Joy's always ref contests in the anime. Guuuuh. So Smiles did it! Even though, as you know, she lost her job for infecting someone with PokeRus.

Panda'd - its gonna be a real show someday. Andrew didn't actually get a bribe......moreso he was being bias because he knew Chris. So cos comment just showed how easily swayed he was.

I'm glad Gregg/Callisto was well recieved!

The scene with the Brains was touching in some ways....kinda nostalgic since Annabel hasnt done much since Ch25. And is it coincidence that both Callisto and the Brains are going to London?.....yes. Sorry for the dissapointment.

Yea Razor Leaf gave his Pokemon that couldnt come with him to Grey; I had to edit that scene out but it is explained in Ch41 that Grey has a few more Pokemon to care for. He was only allowed to take his strongest! Rules are rules.

And the turkey: Tucker basically....went to see 'Town without a Turkey' at the theatre because his boyfriend was in it. and he was ranting because he HAD to go see him and also because his bfs ex was also there and it gave him in excuse to suck up. And then tucker rants that doing what people ask (ie: stand and wave to the crowd) will lead to worse things (having to watch productions of town without a turkey). Tucker then explained he liked the look of the person playing General Cluck. Or something. A bit random but I think Tucker is a bit stressed!

Liang = OWNED

Yesh Razor did keep his VS Seeker as in...it's like he's keeping some of his Razor Leaf persona. AND BEA HAS ARRIVED! TIME FOR FLASHBACKS!!!!!!!!!

Charles: UuberFred will be seen getting to grips with his new team over the next chapters. You'll see just how it evolves (if it does!)

Miss Justice.....goodbye! We'll miss you!

Sike Saner

25th March 2007, 03:01 AM

“I was explaining to Amy that at The Grand Festival they have three judges. I’m going to have you be my assistant judge.”

“Who is the other assistant judge?” Andrew asked.

“That woman over there,” River said, pointing to a large black woman who was eating a meringue in the corridor. “Nurse Smiles.”

The moment I read that, I went, “Oh dear God,” because I knew that I was in for some awesomely bizarre and seriously hilarious moments courtesy of her. And that’s exactly what she brought. God, she cracks me up. XD

Her…er, noteworthy judging style was only part of what was so great about the contest scenes; great appeals, great battles. Luna’s appeal was particularly lovely.

Great handling of character emotions in the parting of Gregg and Callisto. Very powerful scene, there.

Liked the parade scene, too…poor Tucker. Sucks to be him, indeed. (I salute Andrew for tossing that rock at Tucker’s wheel. XD) And lol, Ladyffet. That makes me think of the first time I beheld the female Wobbuffet sprite for Diamond and Pearl. Oh how I laughed… XD

Oh, and I just about died at the “Panda’d” bit. XD That was fricking brilliant. :D

Other highlights:

“A fantastic use of light and shape,” River said proudly. “8.1!”

“I KNOW YOU!” Nurse Smiles said frantically. “10.0!”

“I take bribes,” droned Andrew. “8.1”

And me? I was sitting on a low wall, admiring the stars in the sky as they shone among the renegade fireworks. These fireworks…strange, abstract figures disappearing just as soon as they burst into life. Almost like the Frontier Brains themselves. Almost like Ecks. He came onto the scene so suddenly, and caused a rush of drama. And now, he was just…gone.

If only our visitors didn’t scar us. If only our skies were clear after the fireworks screamed and banged. But no. The events, the moments the ups and the downs would forever remain in our minds because they change us. For better or for worse.

In spite of Jenny, and her brief shimmering colour in my sky, the events didn’t scar me. The firework rose, exploded and the sparks burned out, and my skies were clear. Everything felt right.

Another high-quality piece of written entertainment from you, that chapter was. Damn, I love this stuff. :D

Chris 2.1

25th March 2007, 12:18 PM

Thanks Sike! I always like to know I'm entertaining and thought provoking in the same chapter. The contest was an amalgamation of laughter - it was fun to write and the idea that Nurse Smiles and Andrew both counterbalanced each other and River was the sensible one.

You liked Panda'd! That was utter randomness that I thought of as I wrote, like the Friends spinoff where they're named after cities. *chuckle* Herefordshire.

I'm glad Callisto and Gregg's parting scene touched you. Gregg is only 15 and yet he's willingly letting go of his family. It's confusing. I think Gregg is confused over which of his parents he loved (if not the most then at all). But Grey takes a sort of fatherly, older-brother role in Gregg's life. That leads into a lot of character development for Grey (and maybe another Grey chapter) because you don't know the half of what happened to that poor young man.

The parade was quite symbolic. We've got.....the next chapter, then another, and then we begin the League! To help ease back into the TPML zaniness, we've got a TBA-based chapter coming up which OOZES crazy zany odd and blurk.

I so nearly had Jenny return. As I wrote it I thought "this totally implies that Jenny's coming back!" and then decided against it. I won't rule out a return from Jenny. It's just not anytime soon.

The arrival of Chris' mum is opening up some doors that want to stay locked. There are some sad and wistful moments. And some hilarious ones, obviously. We need that balance! I think it's always important.

Ch41 - Bea Wilson (AKA Queen Bea)
Chris feels frustrated and underappreciated when his mom Bea arrives in TPML for a visit. But is there more to her arrival than meets the eye? Flashbacks tell the tale of Chris' life before TPML as we see just how fragile their relationship as mother and son really was.

The Board of Governors has a shocking revelation for Amy and Grey, while Volletta is the victim of suspicion from Brooklyn Knight. Luna is concerned with Lady Vulpix' sudden change in character and Chris finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ch42 - The Blue Avenger (Part II)
The Blue Avenger, following an inspirational dream, leads a fleet of TPML's 'finest' to The Other Island to wage war. With OzAndrew, Charles Legend and Tsuki Megumi among others, the motly crew decide to tackle the weirdos!

{More detailed synopsis to follow after Ch41 is posted, which will be like, a week? ish.}

Chris 2.1

1st April 2007, 07:54 PM

Chapter Forty-One
Bea Wilson (AKA Queen Bea)

“Oh dear,” muttered Bea.

“What?” I asked.

“Red wine on a white carpet!” cried my Mum. “Honestly.”

“Actually, that’s blood,” I said bluntly, showing her the spot where Morpheus shot herself in the head.

“Oh,” Bea replied, looking lost. She was unpacking her things - I had given her Jenny’s old room. My Mum had brought two suitcases with her, packed with things, and she looked to be staying here for some time.

“So what brings you here?” I asked nonchalantly.

“I felt like we needed to bond a bit…ever since you came to this league you never call me!” she said.

“I rang you once!” I protested, remembering just after Jenny had been raped (well, you know…Morpheus had faked being raped and started the entire storyline with me falling in love with a clone.) I gave Mum a quick call.

“You rang me once…asking for a pile of money,” growled Bea, shooting a furtive glance at me. She sniffed. “Anyway…the league is starting soon, and I can stay with you and make sure you’ve got support from your family.”

“Where’s Dad?” I asked. “And David?”

“They couldn’t be here,” Bea replied. “Dad…well…he works too much to even consider putting his family first…and your brother’s nearing graduation – he needs to stay at University.”

She gave a deep sigh as she put her last pair of jeans away.

“Why on earth you decided to come here instead of pursuing a career I’ll never know,” she muttered.

That’s the thing with my mum. She’s not a particularly warm person when you first meet her, and she can make the lousiest first impressions. She was the drill sergeant of the house (I mentioned this in Chapter 2…don’t you remember?) and ruled our household with a cruel streak.

“But that’s behind us!” she said cheerily. “Chris…we have all of tomorrow to catch up. I’m so tired! I tell you what. Let’s go for a meal. Somewhere nice. My treat. Sound nice?”

“It does…” I stammered. In light of my mother’s unnatural kindness I couldn’t show how I really felt. Confused. When did she ever take me for a meal? Dad was the nice one. Mum was…the bad cop. And I think she liked it.

Two Years Ago…

“Hey, kid!” came a voice. “You ready?”

Chris came slowly down the stairs one at a time. His parents, Oscar and Bea Wilson were watching television in the lounge and were eager to see their son before he left the house. Oscar was a handsome man; he was tall, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He had a natural ease about him, which was quite different to his wife, Bea. She was a very pretty woman with black hair tied back; she had pale skin but shimmering sapphire eyes. However when their son emerged at the foot of the stairs, both parents turned around.

“So?” asked the boy, roughly fifteen years old. “How do I look?”

“You look fantastic,” Oscar said, getting up. “What’s the name of your date?”

“Jenny,” the boy replied. “Jenny Jackson-Smith.”

“You know Meredith’s boy went on a date with that girl,” Bea told Oscar. “Said she wasn’t a nice person at all. Very rude.”

“Well if it’s ok by me,” Chris retorted. “I’d like to make my own opinion of her.”

“Of course,” Bea replied warmly. “…I just don’t want to have to say ‘I told you so’ when she breaks your heart.”

“This is typical of you,” snapped the boy. “You…manifest your own opinion of someone without even meeting them and then you hold it against them for the rest of your time. It’s so frustrating!”

There was silence as Bea watched her son. She didn’t look particularly upset or hurt by the boy’s words. Oscar tried to slip out the conversation by becoming engrossed in the TV.

“Anyway,” Chris mumbled. “I’m off.”

“Have a good night!” Oscar said. “Just be yourself, don’t put on an act.”

“Bye Mum,” Chris said.

“Don’t get too invested! She’s only human!” Bea called. Chris slammed the door behind him and left, leaving Oscar and Bea alone.

“You need to be more supportive,” replied Oscar.

“I’m protecting him!” she protested. “You’re just trying to be his best friend!”

“You are quite opinionated,” Oscar admitted. “You know what you’re known as around here? They call you Queen Bea because of your superiority. The way you look down your nose at people and judge them.”

“I do not judge people!” cried Bea. Oscar opened his mouth to protest but there was a beep. His pager was beeping and he had a look at it.

“I need to go,” he said, reading the message. Oscar was a surgeon and had been called into work at an unsocial hour for an emergency. “Sorry about arguing honey…I just think Chris needs a bit more nurturing from you.”

He kissed her on the cheek and left the house, barely finding time to slip his jacket on as he closed the door. Bea sat in the room, alone, deep in thought.

Present Day…

“Thanks for everything you did yesterday, River,” Amy said. It was the day after the leaving ceremony and there was a definite calm in the village. River, the new Head Coordinator of TPML was already discussing plans for The Spring Contest to take place, which would have to be special as it was to take place after the league. Generally once the tournament finished, a lot of people went home, or on holiday for the spring and summer months. You weren’t required to train in TPML, just as long as you were logged in and registered for it before the league. So during the ‘dry patch’ following the league, the Spring Contest would be held in TPML.

“It’s no problem,” River replied. “Anyway Amy I’ll head down to the Contest Hall, get the place all sorted out. And we’ll meet again in a few days to discuss the P1 Contests ok?”

“That’s great,” Amy replied kindly. She was actually quite tired. River left the room just as another figure walked in. Amy looked as Grey entered, looking white and clammy.

“Amy,” he said.

“Look who it is!” she said firmly. “Where the HELL have you been Grey? I’ve been running this place by myself for quite some time now! You don’t answer my calls, you don’t do any work, you don’t attend meetings and you couldn’t even come to the closing ceremony last night! Do you have any idea how that looked?”

“Liang is in hospital,” Grey replied gravely.

“What?”

“He was…attacked last night. He went to look for Callisto and she attacked him.”

“Oh my god,” Amy gasped.

“There’s a car outside,” Grey said. “Come on.”

*

After a good sleep I had taken mum out for a meal as per our agreement. It was nice to see her, but Mum was being awfully burdensome. We walked up BT Street, heading to the main square.

“This is OmaStarbucks,” I said, showing her the new, ocean-themed coffee house. HootHooters had closed down after someone got Bird Flu from the Beak ‘N’ Gristle salad. It was now just an old, disused building down BT Street. OmaStarbucks was nestled between two of the towers in the main square and looked quite nice. It was pleasant, but the staff all wore really disgusting costumes.

“Two Davey Jones Latte’s!” announced the waiter, dresses as a deep-sea-diver. “Extra plankton sprinkles?”

“Plankton?”

“It’s really just green chocolate sprinkles,” he said, all-knowingly. “No?”

“No,” replied my mum. “Chris…this place is such a complete dump!”

“Well it’s just new,” I said, defending this monstrosity of a coffee house. I saw No-Frowns the Clown in the corner looking quite somber, perhaps wanting to try and drown himself in his own Davey Jones Latte.

“But it’s so nice to see you again,” she said, smiling as she nurtured her coffee. “How have you been?”

“Umm. Good,” I replied, confused. “Yea things are great.”

“That’s nice to hear,” she said, sipping her drink.

“And you?” I asked, feeling obliged.

“Oh yes, yes everything’s quite good really,” Mum said. “Your brother David has picked a lovely house to move into next year. Oh Chris. You want to see it! Beautiful.”

“Where is it?”

“Oh I don’t know,” she replied vaguely. “I’ve not actually seen it. But I hear it’s really nice.”

“Good for him,” I said, musing. “And Dad?”

“Your father? Well he’s applied for Chief of Surgery at the Hospital where he works. That was a while ago. He hasn’t heard back yet.”

Bea sounded quite hurt, as if she was slightly offended the hospital had not acknowledged her husbands application.

“What about your job?” I asked. Mum was an attorney, and a damn good one, too. She used to travel a lot, but managed to get work in the area to stay and look after us. After all, Dad gets dragged away at all hours to do surgery or consultations; we need at least one parent around.

“Well that’s what brought me here,” she explained. “I was visiting a client nearby and…well; it had been a long trip. So I thought I’d stay with you! I’ve got all these old crumpled clothes in my suitcases…do you have a washing machine?”

“Yea,” I replied.

“Excellent,” she said smugly, taking a sip of her drink. “The coffee really is…odd here, isn’t it?”

“It’s an odd place,” I replied. “But…quirky ‘odd’. Loveable ‘odd’. Not…psycho ‘odd’.”

“I went past a place called ‘OzAndrew’s C.O.R.R.U.P.T,” she noted. “It looked seedy. I don’t want you going there Chris.”

“I…won’t,” I mumbled.

“So what are we doing this afternoon?” asked Mum.

“I was going to train,” I explained. “Umm…”

“Oh,” she replied. “I thought we could perhaps go to the park and spend some quality time together?”

“I really need this,” I told her. “The league is days away!”

“Well...here’s what we’ll do,” Mum said, finishing her drink and pulling a face as she swallowed it. “I’ll go to your flat…do some washing up. You head off for your little battle and I’ll meet you in the park later!”

“Ok,” I said emptily. Mum got up, gave me a quick squeeze and headed out of the café. She refused to tip the man in a dolphin costume at the door. I sat there for a moment, thinking about how weird things were. Mum was so…nice.

“Erm…Chris?”

My thoughts were ruptured by Crystal Tears, who was standing over me awkwardly.

“Hi,” I said.

“I was wondering…” she mumbled. “If I could join you?”

“Sure,” I said nonchalantly. Crystal gave a slight squeak and hurried over, occupying the seat that my mum had sat in. “How’s it going?”

“Hm?” came her curious noise.

“I said…how’s it going?” I said again.

“Oh it…it’s going fine!” she said brightly. “Listen…um…I wondered if I could ask you a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yea…it’s nothing too big,” she said quickly. “Oh that’s a lie. It’s massive. Listen. You know Girafarig?”

“I do…” I sighed.

“Yea. He’s a jerk. Well anyway I spoke to him and he was saying that he got attacked by someone.”

“Oh,” I replied, thinking. “Yea, it was me.”

“No, he got attacked again,” Crystal replied stubbornly. “Oh, and by the way.”

She gave me a sharp slap across the face.

“That’s for hitting him in the face. K? Right. So anyway someone else hit him (and did a way better job than you) but he’s really secretive about it. Someone called ‘Brink’…but it sounds really dodgy. Like…he said people are always watching him. And that he can’t tell me anything in case ‘they hear’ and I don’t like the sound of it!” she finished dramatically.

“Right…”

“And…since I know you. And you’re a good trainer…I thought maybe you could help me get the truth out of him?”

“Oh, like some sort of interrogation?” I asked. “‘Magmar, use flamethrower and get him to talk!’…that sort of thing?”

“Not…quite,” sighed Crystal. “He needs help. Something fishy is going on!”

“Look, Crystal,” I shouted. “I do not care if that guy is being targeted by the FBI for not paying his bills. I don’t care if Greenpeace are poaching him because he spat on a whale at SeaWorld. I also don’t care if it’s some weirdo robot whose setting a motley crew of agents after him because he’s ‘The One’. I hate Girafarig. He is a complete tool.”

I got up and stormed out. Crystal watched me go. I wanted to get away somewhere quiet and peaceful. She sat there, shaken from my shouting. A voice behind her brought the girl to her senses.

“I can help you.”

She turned around to see a man with sharp black hair in a trench coat.

“Oh,” she said. “You’re Dark Dragonite. Head Businessman?”

“Actually I’m not a mod any longer,” he replied. “Amy Wolfsong decided…I wasn’t right and gave me the boot. But I’m still in the league. I’m a veteran trainer Crystal, and I didn’t like the way Chris spoke to you.”

“He’s…busy,” Crystal replied.

“Look, tell me more about what happened…I think I would like to help you uncover these goings on.”

“Why?” Crystal asked.

“Maybe if I help prevent some…disaster,” Dark Dragonite said thoughtfully. “I can get my old job back. Now let’s talk.”

Chris 2.1

1st April 2007, 07:57 PM

One Year Ago…

In the Wilson household, Chris was eating dinner with his mother, Bea. Chris’ father, Oscar, was at work doing another late shift, and David, Chris’ older brother, was currently out.

“Any plans this weekend?” Bea asked politely.

“Jenny and I are going to the park to hang out,” replied Chris.

“You know I’m surprised you two are dating,” Bea said. Chris was silent; he did not like to give his mother the satisfaction of knowing he agreed with her. A year ago the two went on a catastrophic date involving a fajita landing down Jenny’s dress; the two never pursued their relationship further but in recent months had become friendlier towards each other.

“You know what they say,” Chris mumbled. “If you’re supposed to be together, then you’re supposed to be together.”

“Quite right,” Bea sniffed, eating some more of her meal. “Speaking of which, Eleanor’s daughter is still single. She’s in your class. Molly?”

“Molly Cartwright?” Chris said, smirking. “No way. I’ll stick with Jenny.”

“Eleanor told me that Molly got into the regional finals for the rowing team,” Bea added conversationally. “Tell me Chris…what hobbies does Jenny have?”

“She likes…clothes,” Chris stammered. “And….TV. And Pokemon I guess. She does have a Meowth.”

“A Meowth that comes to our door and steals our milk,” sulked Bea. “Molly is more ambitious than Jenny.”

“Molly has bigger forearms than me,” Chris replied.

“I don’t doubt that,” Bea replied curtly, staring at her son’s physique. A key turned in the lock and the front door opened. Bea looked up. “Oscar?”

It was David; Chris’ brother was quite broad with shaggy black hair. He had a friendly smile but a mischievous something in his eyes. He was three school years older than Chris. He clutched a piece of paper, grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Mum!” he cried. “I got accepted into Hull!”

“Hull? The Universi- OH DAVID!” Bea cried. She got up so suddenly her food was knocked off the table. Ecstatic she hugged her son as her Pokemon, a little Chikorita, dodged the shattering plate and ran to get a dustpan and brush. Chris eyed his brother.

“I thought you wanted to go to King’s College?” asked Chris. David looked at his brother from within the hug.

“Well sure, but I didn’t get an offer from them,” he replied. “Wasn’t clever enough.”

“No, no,” Bea said fussily, pulling out the hug. “You’re very clever. King’s College want all the upper-class private-educated riff-raff. Hull is a fine choice to study at David. They’re on the right level.”

“Let’s just hope I get the grades,” chuckled David. Chris grumbled from the dining room table as Bea’s Chikorita, using her vines, gripped the dustpan and brush and swept up the debris from the shattered plate and scurried off.

“You will, you will,” coed Bea.

“I need CCC,” David read from the letter.

“You only failed your last exams because they didn’t teach you the right things,” Bea reminded her son. “Remember?”

David cast a glance towards his younger brother, who looked on incredulously.

“That’s right,” he replied, smiling, before embracing his mother tightly.

“You missed the main course, dear, but I’ll get the pudding out,” Bea said, walking into the kitchen. “Ooh and your father and I can come and visit you at Hull! You can come too, Chris.”

“Yea, that’ll be great!” David told his brother.

“Why is it good that you got rejected from King’s College and managed to blag your way into a pathetic little University in a dingy city?” Chris asked his brother quietly, for their mother was in the next room serving up ice cream.

“Hull is nice,” David replied calmly.

“You haven’t even been down there before!” Chris cried. “Let’s just hope you can get taught the right things so you can pass your exams. Mum is so gullible to believe all that rubbish. You just never put the work in and she still adores you.”

“She hears what she wants to, Chris,” David replied. “Sure I bunked off a bit. Sure I spent more time in Tuscany than in school.”

“Tuscany’s your girlfriend,” Chris replied.

“I know,” David replied, smirking. “Get it?”

“Oh god,” Chris groaned.

“I want to get into Hull. And CCC is easy.”

“You were predicted AAB before you started going downhill,” rasped the young boy. David leaned back in his chair as their mother hummed away to herself in the kitchen.

“Why do you hate me?”

“What?”

“I said why do you hate me, Chris?” David asked, looking satisfied that his abruptness had unhinged his brother. “Over the last year or so…our relationship’s really changed. What happened?”

“I’ll tell you what happened,” Chris snarled. At that moment Bea came in, smiling as she brought a selection of ice cream in.

“Now the farm shop had this delicious new raspberry and mint flavour…I asked if they mixed the contents of two old flavors together and they gave me an extra tub to keep my big fat mouth shut!” she said.

Bea noticed the tension in the room.

“Say…what were you talking about?”

“I was…just telling David how…how I’ll miss him when he goes away,” Chris lied. He shot a cold glance at his brother before tucking into his ice cream.

Present Day

Meanwhile, at Jolly Japes Hospital, Amy and Grey were at Liang’s bedside. He was asleep at the moment. Doctor Wernham stepped in and sat down on the opposite side of the bed.

“Thank you for seeing us,” Amy said.

“Liang was hit by an attack,” Dr Wernham explained. “Now we get a lot of patients who have been injured by their Pokemon, but this was much different. A poison was literally stabbed into his gut and thanks to the Pokemon – I am told a Gengar administered the attack – it was able to phase past his skin and stab his insides.”

“I see,” Grey said thoughtfully.

“Now Liang has shown no particular symptoms other than nausea and dizziness,” Dr Wernham continued. “But if he has indeed been poisoned then we might not see any dangerous symptoms until further on.”

“Where was he stabbed?” Grey asked. “Were his vital organs ok?”

“Actually we are running tests on that,” the doctor went on. “From what the scans show he was struck near and around the stomach but his stomach acids were able to stop penetration of the toxins.”

“Will he be okay?” Amy asked timidly.

“He will survive, if that’s what you mean,” replied Dr Wernham. He chuckled. “This is just another notch on Liang’s list of disasters.”

“He’s been through a lot,” Grey said.

“I’ll leave you two with Liang for now,” said Dr Wernham, smiling. “I’ll give you the results of the abdominal scan later.”

“He’s going to be fine,” Grey told Amy. “We can’t stay long. We have to meet with the moderators and organize the league tables.”

He got up, but Amy stayed there, sitting, staring into Liang’s closed eyes.

“It was so easy for me to judge you,” she muttered. “You spending all that time with Gregg. But he needed you. And Liang…he needs me.”

Grey understood.

“I’ll go to the towers now,” he told her. “Come whenever you’re ready, Amy.”

“Grey?”

“Yes?”

“Why do you care so much about Gregg?” Amy asked. Grey looked at her worried expression and took a step back towards her.

“He’s had a rough childhood,” he explained. “And I can relate to that. If someone had been there for me when I was his age…I might have been ok. I might not have had to walk down a dark path in my life.”

“Grey…” whispered Amy softly. “You don’t need to talk about it. I know.”

“You’re one of the only people who does,” Grey admitted. “I told Karin. And Daniel. They know what I was like before I came to this league.”

“You’re a good person now,” Amy replied. “I understand about Gregg.”

“I understand about Liang,” Grey replied. Amy blushed.

“I…I just…he needs me,” came the hurried reply.

“And you need him,” Grey said, nodding. He turned and left the hospital, passing a little bronze plaque on the wall.

’This plaque is in honour of Kyle, aka Knight of Time. Kyle fought bravely to protect this Hospital when the village was under attack and risked his life in doing so. Thank you, Kyle.’

*

“Good work honey!” cried my mum.

“Ha-ha!” came a jovial cry. I clenched my teeth as Mum ridiculed me from her resting place. Mum and I were at Crush Quarry when I had come across The Green Lanturn, a mysterious member who never took his mask off. Aron was fighting TGL’s Grumpig, but he didn’t seem to be doing particularly well.

“Come on!” I cried. “Aron use a metal claw!”

Aron nodded, tearing through the air. His paws glowed silver as he slashed mercilessly at Grumpig, but the Pokemon simply blasted Aron back with a psychic attack. Grumpig then leapt back, landing on his springy tail and launching himself high into the air. As he did, he blasted a swirling beam of psychic energy down at Aron, who tucked his limbs in and used Iron Defence.

“Good work!” I shouted; Aron took little damage. He then leapt up abruptly, just as Grumpig was landing and recovering from the expenditure of so much energy. Aron raced forward, looking furious and focused. He leapt up, spread his arms and legs wide and landed firmly on Grumpig’s head.

“Body slam!” I said triumphantly. “Great work Aron!”

Aron smiled at me just before Grumpig used another psychic attack to forcefully send Aron skidding back across the arena. I got his Pokeball out…this was hopeless.

“You’re in way over your head,” I told him. “You did fantastic work though.”

Aron shook his head and dodged the beam, burying fluidly into the earth and disappearing. Grumpig stomped forward, waiting for my Pokemon to emerge.

“Aron!” I snapped. He was embarrassing me in front of my Mum. The Green Lanturn laughed manically.

“Fool! A Pokemon that disobeys you will surely be the Judas among your Disciples!” he cried.

“Shut up,” I snapped. At that moment Aron burst from the ground, smashing into Grumpig. He swung his tail around, which glowed silver, straightened out and smashed into Aron. He soared back, landed and darted back through the air. A blinding tackle knocked Grumpig back, but he summoned up a fire punch and slammed my Pokemon mercilessly.

“Aron get in your Pokeball,” I said firmly. “Now!”

Aron shook his head, leaping away and causing his claws to glow a shimmering silver. Slash, slash, slash – the claws raked across a tiring Grumpig, but Grumpig used a psychic attack to levitate Aron and slam him into the ground.

I took this moment to recall Aron, who looked slightly dismayed, and grabbed another Pokeball. This Pokemon would show Grumpig who was boss. I hurled it forward, noticing how dirty and grubby it was. The ball opened and my Sneasel emerged, claws held up and ready for action.

“Sneasel,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“Dun, dun DUUUUUN!” The Green Lanturn cried. “This fiendish fiend has emerged to tackle the Pig of Justice! Grumpig, let’s go!”

“Pigeru!”

“Sneasel go for a Quick Clawz combo,” I said firmly. This was one of Sneasel’s best combo attacks; quick attack and metal claw. Sneasel sped along the arena at a liquefying speed; his claws were shimmering silver as he darted behind the foe and leapt up, tearing his claws into Grumpig’s back. Sneasel leapt off the psychic-Pokemon’s head and back to me, turning and watching for a response.

“Grumpig, use fire punch!”

“Pig!”

Grumpig’s fists both erupted in flames as he raced along the arena, looking hardy and ready for action. Sneasel stood there calmly as the pig got closer, the fire burning brighter and higher. At the last second Sneasel leapt back and darted left, tearing around Grumpig and unleashing a shadow ball that slammed into the Pokemon’s back and sent him flying into a jagged boulder among our arena.

“Grumpig, power gem!”

Grumpig’s paws clasped around the black pearl on his head and he fired off a large black gem from it, which struck Sneasel in the head. Sneasel staggered back as Grumpig leapt up for a body slam, but Sneasel fired off an ice beam and struck Grumpig in the stomach, before leaping up and using brick break to damage the pig further.

“Iron tail!” shouted the superhero. Grumpig’s curly tail straightened out and he swung it round, where it smashed into Sneasel and catapulted him back. Sneasel got up and began to growl as a black glow shimmered into his claws. This looked familiar. He took a slow jog, tore into a run and sped across the arena as his claws crackled with a dark energy. Leaping high, Sneasel’s claws were on top of each other as a fantastic black warmth spread through him. As he came down he swiped his blades down, causing a searing black blade of energy to strike Grumpig across the stomach.

“Blade Test!” The Green Lanturn cried. “The ultimate in evil!”

“Hey good work Sneasel!” I cried. “You learnt a new attack!”

Sneasel gave a dark nod and fired another shadow ball to faint Grumpig. The Green Lanturn eyed me suspiciously, recalling his fallen Pokemon and selecting a different Pokeball from his utility belt. At that point, an alarm went off and I turned around. My mum was getting off her rock.

“Honey, we need to go.”

“What?” I snapped. The Green Lanturn released a hardy-looking Ursaring and Sneasel seemed to enjoy the idea of challenging this beast.

“You’ve been in the sun far too long,” she told me. “Come on. Inside!”

“The greatest weakness was the very woman that brought him into the world!” announced The Green Lanturn.

“I’ll go in when I want,” I said firmly. “And you, shut up. At least I don’t have to wear spandex in the sun! Your body will be red raw.”

“Chicory!” Bea cried. “Vine whip!”

Her little Chikorita unleashed two thick vines that she used to slap and whip me with. I gave a weak yelp as I was harassed by the grass Pokemon, recalling Sneasel and dashing off out of the quarry. Bea followed importantly, wearing a big flowery hat.

“He’s right,” The Green Lanturn mused. “I am chaffing like the red fabric of hell is clenched around my thighs! I need some sort of moisturizer. To the Pharmacy!”

Chris 2.1

1st April 2007, 07:59 PM

Luna was sitting in the park. She put her Ribbon in her ribbon case – that made three now. She was with her Pokemon, waiting for Lady, her friend, to show up. They were going to have a practice battle.

“Luna?”

“Lady!” Luna said, getting up as her friend walked along in a very expensive looking suit. “How are you?”

“Very well,” she said, smiling. “Thank you for asking.”

“So…look at me!” Luna cried. “Mrs Contest winner!”

“You did exceptional,” Lady said proudly. “The odds were against you…that Flareon was truly powerful. But I sense your older sister is more suited for battles than contests, given the way she handled Flareon.”

“Don’t be fooled,” Luna said. “All my sisters are powerful.”

“Where are the other two?” asked Lady curiously.

“Well they wanted to give me room. But Eve wanted to look after me. She’s around about the village, I think. But she doesn’t want to suffocate me.”

“I see,” Lady replied. “And the finals…against that powerful Politoed. Again, a strong battler…although I did enjoy his appeal.”

“Yea it was great,” Luna said, thinking about Chris.

“Luna…I am afraid to say that I cannot make the practice battle we had arranged for today,” Lady said suddenly.

“You can’t?” Luna asked, upset. “Oh.”

“I am sorry Luna,” Lady stated. “But…other things are prying me away. Registration for the league – the deadline is mere hours away and I am expecting a cue to have formed – I also have a lot of people to meet around here.”

“Why do you need to meet people?” Luna asked.

“I…wanted to see more of the other coordinators,” Lady said calmly. “Luna, you are the diamond among a sea of coals…but I sense there is more talent in this village.”

“Oh,” Luna said sadly. She had felt pride in being the girl Lady had seen potential in. But now that she heard Lady was looking for more…and now that Luna had peaked…she was probably too boring.

“I’m sorry,” Lady replied. “We…we will meet another time, yes? Goodbye for now.”

“Goodbye…” Luna murmured. Lady dashed off rather quickly. Luna turned to her Espeon, who had previously belonged to Solia.

“She isn’t interested in me anymore,” Luna sighed. “Why?”

Espeon gave a soft cry.

“Up until the contest it was ‘train, train, train!’ now she’s put me on a shelf and gone looking for other people. This sucks.”

However, not too far away, Lady had a phone pressed against her ear, looking over her shoulder.

“Look,” she hissed. “I really think that I have caused enough damage.”

“You have not done a single thing wrong,” came the voice playfully. “You’re doing it right.”

“If this girl finds out I have ulterior motives then everything I have done since I got here will be destroyed!” Lady snapped. “I’m done. I’m off.”

“No you are not,” the voice said threateningly. “Double.”

“What?”

“I’ll pay you double to stay in TPML,” the voice said. Lady took a swift look at Luna in the distance and heaved a sigh.

“Fine.”

*

I was cross with my mum. She had totally ruined my match against The Green Lanturn. Luckily her favorite soap was on, and she was glued to the TV screen. I wasn’t aware she even watched those tacky programmers. She always used to hate them. And she used to be at work representing rednecks who spent all their time watching daytime TV.

I was wandering around the village aimlessly, having just managed to beat UuberFred in a fantastic battle with my Aron VS his Eevee. When did he get Eevee? Checking his VS Seeker Profile, I saw that he had a completely new team.

My team was looking good. I had Politoed, Magmar, Electabuzz, Sneasel, Cacturne, Dusclops, Aron and Vibrava. Granted I still wasn’t sure how to evolve Sneasel, and Aron was a tad weak, but we were doing quite well. I felt as if I didn’t really want any new Pokemon. So after we began training in the park, I sat and talked to some of my team.

“You’re doing a great job,” I told Cacturne. He smiled and patted me on the shoulder, which hurt a lot given his large thorny arms. “Remember how when we were fighting in the bunker, you used a form of Destiny Bond?”

“Cac,” he replied grimly.

“I want to work on that,” I told him. “We could do great things with that.”

Meanwhile Politoed sprang out of the way of Vibrava’s supersonic. Vibrava went into a quick attack and struck the frog, who unleashed an ice beam to strike the dragon’s wings. Vibrava gave a screech and fell to the ground. Politoed cheered.

“Magmar, warm Vibrava’s wings up,” I told my Pokemon. “Politoed, good work. Stay on. Ok, Cacturne, you go up for the next round.”

Magmar used a weak fire punch to heat up his hands before using his hands to help defrost Vibrava’s wings. As Vibrava eased up, Sneasel and Electabuzz sat with me as Cacturne swept onto the arena manically. Dusclops was in his Pokeball. I didn’t want him out at all. Politoed blasted an ice beam at Cacturne who flashed and disappeared, leaping up and spinning his needle arms into the frog Pokemon’s back.

“Sneasel, we’re going to get you evolved,” I explained. “Honestly. I’m going to try.”

Sneasel gave a nod. I saw how Politoed and Cacturne were duking it out and decided to make things interesting. Cacturne’s pin missile was encased in a psychic glow, and Politoed sent the pins flying back at Cacturne in a move I liked to call ‘Anti-jectile’. It would be a useful tactic against any sort of projectile attacks.

“Ok Electabuzz, help Politoed. Magmar, help Cacturne,” I said proudly. In true double-battle style, Electabuzz charged himself with sparks and leapt onto the arena, firing off a colossal blast of fizzing sparks to smash into Cacturne and stop him attacking Politoed. Magmar, seeing this, swung his tail around and attacked Politoed, sending him reeling. The match was exciting; Politoed leapt back up and blasted an ice beam, which Magmar countered by encasing himself and Cacturne in a very large fire spin. Cacturne then unleashed a pin missile through the flames; Politoed leapt out the way, leaving Electabuzz to get peppered by the attack.

“Chris!”

“Huh?”

I turned around to see a familiar figure standing there. With his messy black hair looking slightly shorter, and his smile still irritatingly scamp-like, my brother David stood there, pocketing his car keys.

“David?”

“Where’s Mum,” he said firmly. “We need to talk.”

Eight Months Ago…

It was late afternoon. Chris and Jenny sat together in the park, watching the sun set. Jenny had her Meowth and Sunkern out; as the young Meowth sat in the sun glamorously, the small kernel hopped around practicing a razor leaf attack. Chris had his Poliwag and Elekid out. They were just playing chase.

“Thanks,” Chris said.

“For what?” Jenny asked.

“Giving me a really fun day,” Chris replied, smiling.

“We’ve been sitting here for about three hours,” Jenny joked. “I can’t feel my feet! I don’t know if it’s been fun, Chris.”

“Sometimes it’s nice sitting and doing nothing,” Chris replied. “Makes you think about everything you have left to do.”

“Like send our forms off for The Pokemon Masters League,” the girl reminded him, giving him a prod in the stomach. “They’re starting the next cycle of initiation battles soon.”

“Look I downloaded the form,” droned Chris.

“You need to do more than that!” Jenny smirked. “I know how much you want to go to this battling village.”

“It’s just like…a chance for me to get away,” Chris sighed. “Ever since David went off to University things have totally changed.”

“I know, I know,” Jenny said softly. “Chris, it’s ok.”

“I don’t think my mum loves me,” Chris whispered weakly.

“What?” asked Jenny.

“And I don’t think I love her,” he went on mysteriously.

“Chris, you shouldn’t say things like this,” Jenny warned her boyfriend. Chris, staring blankly ahead, went on.

“It’s true,” Chris mumbled. “She…she loved David. And she always will. He’s doing a chemistry degree and lives at the other end of the country. He’s away and he’s making the family proud. And me? I don’t want to really go to university. I might go…but I don’t want to. And she doesn’t love me because I’m not David. She misses the son that makes her proud and is upset that I can’t fill his place.”

“Chris…” Jenny said quietly. She was literally lost for words, a first for the young girl.

“You don’t need to say anything,” Chris whispered. “Just…come to The Pokemon Master’s League with me.”

“First,” Jenny told her boyfriend, heaving him up. “Fill out the forms. Come on.”

Present Day

Why was my brother David looking so concerned? I looked at him quizzically as we stood in the park, facing each other. He hadn’t changed much. My brother was wearing a gray jacket with a red scarf.

“What do you want to see Mum for?” I asked. “And how did you know she was here?”

“I’ll explain everything later,” he replied firmly.

“No,” I replied. “If you want to see her, tell me why.”

“This is important, Chris! I need to speak with both of you,” David cried. “Why else do you think I drove here from Hull? To say hi? Maybe to remind you that you haven’t replied to a single email I’ve sent you since you came here?”

“What’s so important,” I asked.

“Please, Chris,” David replied desperately. “Just take me to your flat. I’ll explain everything there. I promise.”

“Fine,” I snapped. I got my Pokeballs out and began recalling my team members, apologizing to them for cutting the training session short. And, when all the balls were tucked onto my belt, I led my older brother through the park towards my flat.

*

“Is that you, Chris?” Bea called, as she heard a key scrape in the lock. She turned to see Chris walk inside. “Oh hi honey! How did training –”

She then saw David enter the room, looking serious.

“…go.”

“Come on then brother,” I snarled. “What’s going on?”

“Is everything ok?” Bea asked nervously. “David…what on earth are you doing here? Why aren’t you at University?”

“Study week,” he replied. “Mum, its ok. We know.”

“What?” she asked.

“Yea, what?” I snapped.

“I spoke to Dad,” David replied, still firmly, still staring at his mother as if she were a venomous snake.

“You did,” Bea mumbled.

“What?” I asked.

“And then I couldn’t get in touch with you,” David went on. “And when Dad told me how much stuff you took with you…well, I assumed you’d come and see Chris.”

“She’s been visiting a cli-” I began, trailing away.

“No I haven’t,” Bea sniffed, staring at her feet as she sat on the sofa, her two sons behind her. “I made that up. I haven’t been seeing a client.”

“Then why did you have so many bags?” I asked her, genuinely baffled.

“Your father…threw me out the house,” she said softly.

“What?” I cried. “Dad threw you…why would he do that?”

“Because…” Bea sniffed. “H-He doesn’t love me anymore.”

“Dad has fallen in love with someone from work,” David explained. “And he realised that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He realised that he wasn’t happy with Mum and kicked her out.”

“No,” I said defensively. “Dad isn’t like that.”

“Love does that to people,” David told me condescendingly. “It can make you sacrifice everything else you have.”

Like your very own life, I mused, thinking about Morpheus. She was so in love with me that…she couldn’t bear to be someone she wasn’t.

“I need to speak to Dad,” I said firmly.

“There’s no point,” David replied.

“We’ve tried speaking to him,” stammered a clearly distraught Bea, who was squeezing a cushion in her tight embrace. “You can’t talk someone out of love.”

“Mum…why did you lie to me?” I asked her. “Were you even going to tell me the truth?”

“I was,” she said, sniffing. Her eyes were red and swollen. “I really was, Chris. But…everything with Oscar had escalated…David was so busy…I…I had so few options. And seeing you again…oh it made me realize how precious you are…how precious we three are as a family.”

“Mum,” said David, uncharacteristically cold. “Stop lying.”

He turned to me.

“She didn’t want to be needy.”

“Shut up David,” I snapped. My own eyes were filling up with tears as my already dysfunctional family began to tear more and more. “Just SHUT UP! Mum’s upset. I would be if it happened to me. She needs comforting.”

Why was I being so nice? Why was I suddenly looking after my Mum, the woman who I wasn’t sure even loved me? And my father…my wonderful, caring father. The surgeon who saved peoples lives every single day. He was in love with someone else…

“Don’t be fooled,” David said. “Look. I agree this is a sad time for all of us. But Dad is as much a victim as Mum.”

I stared at him wildly.

“HOW in the name of god do you come to that conclusion?” I shouted. “How, David? HOW ON EARTH can you think Dad is a victim for…for…falling in love with some daft bimbo and throwing away his family for her?”

“He is not throwing us away!” snapped my brother, squaring up to me. “Dad isn’t cutting ties with us. He still wants to be our father, he still wants to see us and get on with us. Heck he doesn’t even want to burn bridges with Mum. He’s not trying to turn his back on us at all. But Tracey has made him realize…”

“Tracey? Your on first name terms, are you?” I snapped at him, eyes seething with rage. David went on.

“…Tracey has made him realize that he doesn’t feel for Mum in the same way,” David concluded. “Now he can lock skeletons up in his closet….or he can do things the healthy way and be honest with himself and how he feels! How can you not want that?”

“This is…” I said, shuddering with rage. “This is pathetic!”

“What is, Chris?” David argued, as our mother sobbed in front of us.

“This family,” I replied coldly. “I’ve got a perfect, honest, trustworthy father who kicks our own mother out the house who, by the way, never seemed to love me as much as her other son. The perfect, charming David Wilson! And the ironic thing is he is clever. Really clever. But obviously not clever enough to know that if you’re good at something then you bloody well DO IT!”

David looked at me.

“You smoke! You drink! You spend each night of the week with a different girl and I don’t think you even know where your University is! You could achieve so much – so much more than I ever could. And you still throw it away. And it’s not because you were never loved growing up – it was that the love wasn’t enough! So while I spend every night sitting in the imprint of your legacy, just wishing I could make the family as proud as you have, you drift through modules and lectures and will no doubt scrape a decent enough degree to mask up all the time you waste your life!”

He was bewildered. Standing there, shocked; his body was shaking slightly and I could see a tear in his eye, too. But David blinked it away and kept his face still. Mum had stopped crying and looked at us.

“Anything else?” David asked coldly. I nodded.

“I will never consider you anything more than David Wilson,” I replied softly. I changed my tone. “You can sleep in the room on the right. It’s mine. Mum, you can spend the night in the guest room.”

I walked to the closet where we kept spare duvets and blankets.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Hold on,” David said firmly. “We need to sort this out.”

“Chris has made it clear he doesn’t want to be involved with this family,” Bea sniffed.

“That’s right,” I snapped, tears streaming down my face. “I don’t. As soon as I came here I felt…happy. And glad. And proud. And as if I was achieving something. Leave me to feel like I’m accomplishing something, even if it’s never as good as what you do, David.”

Chris 2.1

1st April 2007, 08:07 PM

The Board of Governors was quiet. The Leagues all across the world were looming, but the Board was in its pre-league slumber at the moment. Work was being delegated to the Heads of the Leagues by the Board.

“I’ve just shown Gordon the video,” Jacques told Austin and Brooklyn. These three worked on the same floor in Technical. Volletta had also recently acquired an office on this floor, despite being in Accounts.

“You said we were going to show him together!” Austin said.

“Well you were on a doughnut break,” Jacques teased. “And Brooklyn was flirting with something. So I did it myself.”

“What did he say?” Brooklyn asked.

“It’s being brought up at the next meeting,” Jacques replied crisply. “Anyway, Volletta has just been sent to Floor 2 to help liaise with an ‘important’ ‘businessman’. So Brooklyn I think you could do some of her reports.”

“I’m Technical,” Brooklyn replied angrily. “She’s Accounts.”

“You can still write her paperwork up; all the statistics are there,” Jacques replied.

“You’re not even my boss,” Brooklyn replied. “Leave it out, Jacques. Why don’t you do it?”

“Because I’ve been on this Board longer than you and I don’t want to,” Jacques replied. Brooklyn gave a heavy sigh and decided that, still being new here, doing a bit of extra work might actually be a good idea. He walked towards the office, but the door was ajar.

Inside, he saw the computer was left on. A filing cabinet was still open and papers littered the desk. Volletta was a very orderly woman; she always tidied her office before she left it. Brooklyn wondered what was so important about the liaison that she had to break this tradition.

He walked over to the computer and tried to access Volletta’s inbox. This might have some clues as to who she was contacting the other day. Unfortunately, as he had suspected, the inbox was password protected.

However one would be foolish to think a Technical Advisor could not work around simple passwords. Pulling out a little device from his pocket about the size of a stopwatch. It was rectangular with a few small buttons on the front and a square LCD screen. Brooklyn plugged it into the computer and pressed a button in the corner. It beeped and clicked as, one-by-one, the password appeared:

t-h-e-s-u-b-j-e-c-t

Wondering what the password meant (or if it was just a random collection of words Volleta used to confuse hackers) he watched as the inbox materialized before him. There were the usual SPAM emails, as well as messages from Gordon, Cocoa and even Callisto Thunder from when she was on the Board. However there were also a few from a mysterious person called ‘Thomas?’. Brooklyn saw that these emails dated back, with subject titles vague and mysterious. He clicked on the latest one, which was titled ‘Phase 0.1 – Soon’.

Opening it, and hastily looking up at the door every now and then, Brooklyn looked at the suspicious message.

‘Volletta,

My sources tell me the announcement is being made in three days. This information is accurate and my source reliable. You will know of this too, but you will also need to get to work on what needs to be done. How big is the workload at the Board? If you are needed elsewhere, find someone you can rely on to carry out the initial tasks so that everything runs smoothly. I need someone I can trust.

In other news the situation with Girafarig seems to have settled itself. He was coaxed into cooperating by Brink. We also have swelled our ranks in TPML to help us in the next Phase. I will contact you soon.’

Thomas

Again Brooklyn saw the name Thomas. Who was this man? However, as he heard Volletta come down the corridor (he knew nobody with such deadly heeled shoes), he had a plan. Using a similar tactic as Volletta, he turned the computer off at the mains and opened up the side of the tower. She came into the room and saw Brooklyn’s back half sticking out under her desk.

“What are you doing?” she said firmly.

“Just seeing if your computer is still acting up,” Brooklyn said, getting up. “Apparently not!”

He smiled at her, which she replied toothily. Her hand caressed Brooklyn’s arm.

“How fantastic,” she said. “Thank you Brooklyn.”

“Any time,” Brooklyn said, smiling boyishly.

“You may go,” stated Volletta. Nodding, Brooklyn left the room. Volletta ran her tongue around her teeth as she surveyed the spot where the man worked. She got her phone out and dialed a number, turning her computer back on. She noticed Brooklyn’s hacker device.

“What.”

“Thomas…my ‘problem’ has become an ‘obstacle’,” Volletta purred. “He’s been checking my email.”

“Did he duplicate anything?” asked the voice.

“I don’t know, but I know a hacking utensil when I see one,” she replied. “They think I’m such an airhead...”

“Of course, Volletta,” came the voice. “Just make sure you can ‘clear’ this obstacle as soon as possible.”

Volleta gave a dark nod as she turned the phone off, understanding exactly what she had to do. She then instinctively tidied her desk, closed her filing cabinet drawer and organized the messages in her in-tray.

*

In the end, Mum and David were bold. They told me they wouldn’t give up on me at all, and despite my comment about being happy here, on my own, they decided I was a social outcast and that they were going to stay and keep me company. They wanted us to get over the whole thing with Mum and Dad.

I hate to sound elitist, but even my family can take something as common as divorce and make it seem more dramatic. David was siding with Dad still, saying that he felt Dad wasn’t someone evil or manipulative; that he wasn’t a bad person. He was in love, and being honest about how he felt. I felt otherwise. My image of Dad had been completely shattered and I felt nothing but hot waves of guilt, disgust and upset. I was siding with Mum, who only took an interest in me when it became apparent that she could stay with me, repair a burnt bridge and talk to someone else in the family. It felt odd…but I really did empathize with her.

We had all gone to bed; it was not a late hour at all, but we were emotionally and physically drained from everything. David was interested in a Pokemon Battle (explaining he had caught a Swalot, some gigantic stomach Pokemon) even though his Pokemon generally seemed to be more like accessories than actual battlers.

I felt numb, like a layer of my skin had been peeled off and the flesh within exposed to the eyes of the world. Why did they come here? Why did they ruin everything?

Don’t worry about a thing.

“What?” I whispered. I had distinctly heard a voice.

Shhhh.

“David?” I asked, sitting up and peering into the darkness. “I-Is that you?”

I’m not your brother, the voice whispered. It had a waspish quality. How on earth can you not recognize this voice?

“I…I’m just tired,” I replied, my voice cracking. “Just tell me who you are!”

As the words left my lips a sharp, mental anguish stabbed at my head. Screwing my eyes up, I curled into a ball as the pain intensified. I could not scream. I had to fight this. I bit my lip and let the pain jab me.

“S-s-stop this,” I hissed, turning my head to face the darkness. “Is this you?”

This is me… replied the voice. A wider spectrum of searing pain flooded my senses and I threw myself off the sofa, writhing on the floor in agony beyond words. No screams…no cries, no moans. I couldn’t even do it.

You are such a damaged soul, Chris! the voice told me. This is exactly why...

“This is all in my head,” I muttered. “All in my head!”

You could never create pain like this, I was told. You need to pay for what you have done.

“I – I haven’t done – anything!” I gasped, staggering to my feet and staring around. “Who are you? Where are you?

My hand smacked the wall where the light switch was. Fiercely I was close to finding who this was. But the light didn’t come on. I was still plunged in darkness.

I took the time to fiddle with the electrics, sneered the voice. But like I said…you need to pay for what you’ve done, Chris Wilson.

“Please…” I moped, writhing around in agony as small needles jousted at me. I felt hot…hotter than the roasted coals of hell as heat pulsated from my body. Hairs stood up all over me and I shivered, despite the torturing heat. Dry sobs shook me as I lay there, the darkness swimming around me and engulfing me from all sides.

Cold, cruel laughter filled my ears, shaking, ringing, crying, laughing…I clutched my searing head with shaking hands and tried to find the air to scream…

“M-M-Make it stop…”

Loose, my head swayed on my neck as I knelt up, trying to find strength. My vision was fading…various fizzles of light burst before my eyes as I blinked furiously, desperate to banish this endless misery.

“Make it stop,” I wheezed, draping myself over the sofa. “Just…”

I swallowed.

“Finish me off.”

*

Next: Chapter 42 - The Blue Avenger (Part II)
Set two days after Chapter 41, the members of the league are preparing for TPML's League to kick off and are getting some last minute training in. As Amy struggles to prioritise TPML over Liang, Grey reveals some of his darkest secrets to Gregg.

Girafarig cracks under the pressure of his superiors and tells Crystal everything he knows about why he was attacked. Brooklyn takes his research to Gordon in the hope of stopping whatever Volletta is planning, but he is quickly ridiculed for his idea when Volletta gives her side of the story.

And, as The Blue Avenger makes a startling discovery about The Green Lanturn, he decides to wage a small-scale war on The Other Island, taking OzAndrew, Charles Legend, Tsuki Megumi and No-Frowns the Clown with him.

Finally Chris 2.0's dissapearence spawns a search party led by The Missing Link, who is determined to find out what has happened to the boy.

Ultimate Charizard

1st April 2007, 08:38 PM

Hmmm so Chris's family is self serving and manuiplative too. Makes me understand him so much more lol.
Lots of secrets and mysterious people running around. All getting a bit X-Filey.
As for the ending....Dusclops maybe?

Btw, loved the Tuscany joke ;)

Gavin Luper

4th April 2007, 01:13 AM

I understand where both of you guys are coming from, because I've been there with some of my own fics before. In an ideal world, people would comment and give feedback on everything they read. Unfortunately, we can't force people to post replies. A lot of people prefer to remain 'closet readers', reading a story but never replying to it, and there's simply nothing you can really do about that. Sometimes it looks like there have been dozens of people reading your story, but several of those views might be of people who had a quick glance at the fic and decided it wasn't their cup of tea. Most people won't reply unless they read an entire chapter. Even then, some people don't like expressing their opinions openly; still others might not know how they ought to be reviewing properly.

The reality is, as a writer, you can only be patient and keep trying. If people aren't replying to what you write, you'll need to accept that and perhaps consider that a different story might bring you more success. Readers will only reply when they wish to, and certainly not when they feel pressured to.

Now, to housekeeping matters:

Mario72486, consider your fic added to the list.

Shonta, I've decided I'm gonna review Knights to Remember, since I've always meant to read it at some stage. My time is short though, so I'll get it done when I can.

Reviewers - keep reviewing! (I know, like I can talk, but I feel like I should give some kind of motivational prod nonetheless. Hypocritical, I know. Sorry!)

Le List:

Full Length Fics To-Be-Reviewed:
The Pokemon Masters League (A Tribute to ASB), by Chris 2.0.
Yu-Gi-Oh: Virtual Disaster, by starjake.
Divinity, by Bulbasaur4.
Phoenix Saga, by Dr. McNinja.
Electric Buggy to Victory!, by Andrew.
Scyther's Story, by Dragonfree.
Digimon: Frontier Legacy, by mario72486.

Short Stories and other Short Fics To-Be-Reviewed:
Warped and Broken, by Weasel Overlord.
Werewolf: The Forsaken, by Mew Master.

Fics Currently Being Reviewed:
Philosophic Pabulum, by Plantae. (Dragonfree)
Spinner-out of Fate, by fireguardian. (mr_pikachu)
Monica's Vendetta, by Chris 2.0. (mistysakura)
Knights to Remember, by classy_cat18. (Gavin Luper)

MeLoVeGhOsTs

4th April 2007, 07:19 AM

Yup I thought it was Dusclops aswell, but I'm not sure.

So the family is fucked up, I can see that. Looks interesting to say the least although I do not like Mum.

Lady V, could she in someway be involved in the Girafarig/Voletta affaire? Thomas seems to start a new part in the fic.

The League is coming closer, hurray, and I'm really keen on knowing what happened to Grey.

Good job, waiting.

PS: The tuscany job was indeed lovely, but lame, just the way I like 'em.

Chris 2.1

4th April 2007, 03:18 PM

UC: Yea it was an interesting window into Chris' family life. Originally Bea was going to have a few chapters, and we'd gradually learn this, but she was the sort of person I felt shouldn't get overused.

Dusclops? Hmm. He might say something like that. But what does he mean, paying Chris back? Is there anyone else that might want payback against Chris? Maybe the next chapter can shed some clues.

Tuscany = crude. But I'm glad you liked it :)

MLG: Yea Bea is a pain. It's easy to see Chris isn't the avarage sort of hero. He's disturbed, addled and just waiting for a mental breakdown. Hmm....end to the fic perhaps? Maybe the person in the room actually killed him.

Thomas - yes! Thomas is a prominent character for the rest of the fic. Good? Bad? You'll find out. The Volletta/Girafarig story also stretches out more and next chapter we'll find out more about Girafarig's attack. But Lady V? Now that is a good guess.

Grey's story is quite startling. It takes him back to his roots. There have been numerous occaisons where I wanted to bring his backstory into the fic, but it never really fitted. Now, however, his almost brotherly way with Gregg means we should start to ask questions about his own life. I do hope you won't be dissapointed!

Ch43 is the official start to the league!

TPML Extra

Just something I thought I'd start doing for the fic. There are a lot of things that I've planned for the fic - I've really worked and developed certain things. But as it always goes, not everything makes it into the final cuts. Now a good writer can fit them in anywhere but I can't.

Some things just don't seem easy enough to slot into the storyline without being jerky and out of place. Back-notes on characters or places.

We're going to start with The Board of Governors - a bit of information about the 12 members on said Board that you might not have noticed.

The Board of Governors
Information

The Board of Governors is located in the epicenter of New York City. An entire 12-storey building is dedicated to the Board of wealthy investors and important people.

These people are responsible for running, maintaining and financing the league. The 12 members are selected in a number of ways; they are scouted, they inherit positions from parents/spouses or they work their way up the career ladder at the Board.

The top floor of the Board is the sleek meeting room where the 12 members meet for their discussions and advisory board meetings. There are other floors such as Technical, Accounts and Marketing, and this is where the various members work when they are not in meetings.

Also, while the Board oversee the events of the TPML leagues all across the world, they have an entire floor dedicated to running the business side of the New York TPML: 01055.

MEMBERS

Chairman: Gordon
Elderly, rich and powerful, Gordon is the current Chairman of the Board of Governors. He is a clever man, very proud and honest. The last 3 generations of his family have been chairmen for the Board. Gordon is tough and authoratative, but has very small windows of friendliness and compassion for others.

Cocoa Sting
Secretary to the Chairman
Cocoa is Gordon’s second-hand-man. She helps file his reports, prepare speeches and organize key meetings with the other Board members. She was sent to TPML 04621 to step in and resume command following a murder [Henry, Liang's brother] and several complaints; during her time she was poisoned and shot following the Antibodies attack. She was later sent back to work at the Board again. However, not long after, when Grey and The Missing Link invaded the Board to capture Callisto, she was shot in the stomach and had been very close to death. Finally, she returned to the Board after Callisto and Ecks were 'dealt with', in her words. Her time at TPML seems to have affected her precise appearence, but she is as capable as ever.

Her maiden name was Caniche, until she married a wealthy businessman called Eric Sting in 2003.

Austin Myers
Technical Advisor
Age: 33. Description: 5’7. Quite overweight. Wears a casual shirt and brown chord trousers. Hazel eyes, short black hair with an already receding hair line.

Austin Myers is a slightly shy, easy to intimidate technician who is on the Board of Governors mainly due to his highly advanced technological knowledge. He graduated from Oxford with a Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. He is very easily intimidated by others, particularly Volletta, Jacques and Gordon, but is humble and honest in his work. He has been on the Board roughly three years. He originally worked as a technician for a small business, until it was absorbed by the Board. Gordon then asked that Austin join the Board as a member, leading Technical.

Rosie Cran
Public Relations Advisor
Age: 24. Petite and pretty. Trendy fashion sense. Dark blonde hair with two curved strands either side of her face. Emerald green eyes.

Studied English Literature, Language and Logistics at Edinburgh University. Has a slight crush on Austin Myers. She is intelligent but quiet; reasonable and uneasily intimidated. Was put on the board following the departure of Imperion, and has only been on the Board roughly a month prior to the start of the fic. Gordon has a grandfatherly-like fondness for her.

She got a job straight out of University in Public Relations for the Mayor of New York: impressed, Gordon hired her. Her place irks many, since she is younger and prettier than most the members. She has a lot of pride and will always do the right thing.

Volletta Kane
Accountancy Advisor
Volletta is nearing 50 but she disguises it cleverly. She is pretty, very large and 'in charge' and does not like being spoken rudely to. After managing a Building Society for ten years Volletta felt life was boring and wanted a little more money.

After a year of writing letters she finally convinced Gordon to give her a place on the Board, perhaps because even Gordon is somewhat scared of her. She loves an argument and likes expensive things. She has now been on the Board five years and seven months.

Derek
Communications Advisor
A jaded man who is nearing 60. After things began escalating in TPML Gordon asked that Derek keep his son, Razola, in 04621 as a 'reporter'. Derek did so, resenting Gordon. Razola eventually left after The War. He is rude, exhausted and has little to add.

Derek, however, has been on the Board twenty years. He has a dark and cloudest past, working in a variety of jobs. He is an excellent source for information as, in his own words, 'there is not a soul in this city i don't know'.

Derek and Gordon were good friends, but it seems that Gordon's sucess has been bitter for Derek.

Jacques
Technical Advisor
A half French, half American technician with a sharp tongue and piercing glare. He also resents most of the Board but has a lot of respect for Gordon. With short hair and an irritable moustache he looks cleaner than a computer geek should.

Jacques works in Technical, like Austin and Brooklyn, but his expertise is more in codes and hacking. He is good with programmes and very dedicated to his job.

He is roughly 40, and has been on the Board for 4 years. He used to own a string of computing companies in New York, gaining Gordon's intrigue.

Arthur Pacie
Legal Advisor
Calm, friendly, handsome. He deals with the Law side of the Boards dealings, and funds a solicitors in London. Arthur is from a very rich background but never shows it; he is down to earth, doesnt always wear the flashiest clothes or drive the speediest cars.

He has a wife, Eden, and two children Oliver (seven) and Amy (four). He has been on the Board for four years, starting just before Jacques. Jacques resents Arthur's success and wealth. Arthur works on floor 9, Legal Administration, where he directs a team of workers.

Brooklyn Knight
Technical Advisor
Brooklyn used to work for Jacques and Austin, on Floor 5 - Technical. This branch looks at all forms of electronic communication; the generator's bimodel is on this floor, as well as phones and computing.

However when Callisto Thunder was sent off the Board, Brooklyn was given a promotion. He is welcomed onto the Board, but his suspicions against Volletta may lose his new position. He is wary of opening doors that should not be opened.

Brooklyn is young and cocky; he trained as an engineer and used to work in an Audi garage - from fixing cars he then ended up managing the business, going from rags to riches, and loves nothing more than to look good. Gordon wanted this plucky, salesman-approach in the Board, and this is the main reason Brooklyn has progressed so far.

Magnus Archer
Field Operative Advisor
A big hulking man who is head of field operatives. He is from italy and has a bronzed complex, always wears simple clothing and is very serious. He has served in the R.A.F but has not seen war. Magnus is the head of all security on the Board; he has SWAT teams, works with Technical on the security systems of the TPML Leagues and also installs the highest security on the Board himself.

He has been on the Board for seven years. He is single and in his middle forties. He is currently in TPML 04621 - Magnus led a team to apprehend Ecks, but after he was found dead he has spearheaded the search for Callisto Thunder.

Ivy Cope
Marketing Advisor
Ivy is a character not yet seen in the fic. She has been on the Board for 9 years, but is still only 37 years old. Recently engaged, she enjoys the finer things in life. Her department, on Floor 8, look at the marketing for the Board. She has a team of Advertising Executives that work for her, dealing with ways of further progressing the leagues.

She is quite chatty and perfectly likeable. She studied Accounts at Manchester University, but opted for a career change pending graduation, focusing on her MA in Marketing and Sociology.

Marylyn Hamilton
Legal Advisor

Marylyn has served on the Board for fifteen years. She works in the same department as Arthur. She is quite quiet and soft-spoken but has a vitriolic, business-like side to her. She will not let anything lie.

The woman has a level of superiority among the members, as most were not around when she started. She has trained and worked as a barrister and was representing the 'guilty' side of a famous murder trial. Despite not winning her client's case, Marylyn's smooth talking and easy attitude intrigued Derek, who was on Jury Duty at the time. Derek approached Gordon with the woman's file, and she was given a place.

These 12 people are all key members of the Board. Past members:

Ecks (AKA Christian Cronus)
Business Advisor
Christian Cronus was hired by the Board of Governors at a young age. He worked with his father, Virgil Cronus, at Cronus Industries, which his father owned. Virgil was offered the place on the Board, but before he was instated, Christian drove him out to the dessert to kill him. However, Virgil turned the gun on himself and took his own life, refusing to die at his sons hand.

The offer faded as Christian, going by the name Ecks, ran Cronus Industries as C.E.O. He was soon offered a simialr job by the Board, who did not know that Ecks was the son of Virgil. Ecks accepted and became Business Advisor, leaving the C.E.O position to his wife, Callisto.

Ecks dealt with a lot of the core themes on the Board, working with most of the departments. He was quite an all-rounder. He went by the name Ecks Iain, which was his way of disguising his first name (he explained to Callisto Ecks was an ancient term for Christ, making his forged name ChristIan).

However he was removed from the Board after admitting to murdering Michael Phillips, the little boy that ridiculed Gregg at school. It was actually his wife, Callisto that did it, but Ecks covered it up. At this point in time, Cronus Industries had been absorbed by the Board (ie: bought out) and Callisto, on her husbands advice, was given a place too.

Disgraced, Ecks left the Board, and while Callisto pretended to file for divorce, the two continued to live together all this time.

Callisto Thunder:
Public Relations Advisor
Callisto’s dark secrets go back to when she was a new mother. Gregg had been bullied at school viciously about his upbringing, and Callisto, feeling responsible, murdered Micheal Phillips, the ringleader of the bullies. When evidence came to light, Ecks took the blame, and was sent to jail for 3 years. He was also fired from the Board. Callisto then used forged divorce papers to convince people she was separated from Ecks, when in actuality she continued to stay married to him.

Ecks raised Gregg as he did not work any longer; Callisto eventually allowed Cronus Industries to be taken over by The Board of Governors and became Public Relations Advisor for the Board.

She came to TPML to visit Gregg after he was possessed by Chris and Dusclops; Gregg miraculously got the use of his legs back and Callisto was forced to come back to the Board.

After murdering her husband she fled for London, leaving her son and her old life behind.

Imperion
Accountancy Advisor
Imperion had a similar job to Volletta, but left abruptly a few months prior to the start of the fic. He was replaced by Rosie Cran, although she had a different specialty to her predecessor.

Kevin
Technical/Public Relations Advisor
Kevin was admirable in that he had two specialties on the Board. He was a mature young man, but left recently to pursue other interests beyond the Board. He now operates a famous website and forums, and his position was replaced by Callisto Thunder, on her husbands advice.

Next TPML Extra: Van Artz Corporations and Cronus Industries! Ever wondered what Ecks' bunker was doing in TPML? You'll find out!

Chris 2.1

14th April 2007, 05:28 PM

Below is a summary of all relevant information from past chapters that relate to this chapter. Just in case you forget! I might do this for all future chapters?

Previously:

-Chris was visited by his family, much to his chagrin.
-Luna won the Winter Contest after being mentored by Lady Vulpix
-One of Luna's sisters, Eve, commented that she knew 'what [Lady] was up to'
-The Blue Avenger and Chris crashed on an Island filled with rejects from TPML who decided to impersonate popular members and idolise them. They managed to escape.
-Girafarig was attacked in TPML by a man named Brink. Crystal managed to convince Dark Dragonite to help her out in finding out the truth about the attack.
-On the Board, Brooklyn Knight grew suspicious about Volletta Kane, but had no concrete evidence she was actually doing anything wrong.
-Grey began mentoring Hanada Tattsu (aka Gregg)
-River was modded as Head Coordinator
-Liang was stabbed by Callisto Thunder's Gengar, who used Poison Sting. He was initially in Hospital, stirring feelings up inside good friend Amy Wolfsong.
-Magnus Archer, from the Board, was investigating Ecks' Murder and Callisto's escape.

Chapter Forty-Two
The Blue Avenger (Part II)

On a clear day the birds swam through the skies gracefully, chirping with joy. The clouds drifted lazily among the space above The Pokemon Masters League, which was readying itself for a brand new day. Down BT Street, a familiar scenario was forming; The Missing Link, known also as Becca was standing outside a flat in BT Street, hammering against the door.

“Hello?” she asked, peering into the letterbox. “Chris?”

Again she hammered the door but there was no response from inside. Instinctively, Becca got her cell phone out and rang a number, standing anxiously at the boy’s door.

“Hello?”

“Amy it’s me,” Becca sighed, staring into the flat through the letterbox again. “Chris isn’t around. No sign of anybody in his house at all.”

“You’ve been checking for the past three days,” Amy sighed. “I don’t like the sound of this at all Becca.”

“Neither do I,” Becca replied.

“We’ll figure out the next stage of action after our meeting,” Amy decided. “Becca, we’re meeting at the Rules Tower now. I suppose the rank of Head Businessman can go to the next candidate.”

“I’ll be there right away,” Becca said, hanging up.

*

Meanwhile, The Blue Avenger was doing his job as Head of Archives. While this position generally involved organizing and maintaining the TPML Archives hidden within Trolgar Mountain, he was also responsible for maintaining the absence tower. Here, among the shimmering blue holograms, the moderator wandered around, looking for a message from Chris 2.0.

“Nothing here Grey,” he explained. “But I do have a message here from OzAndrew. He’s going to be around less and less each day because he’s now running a completely illegal Pokemon pawn shop therefore approving of criminal activity and violence.”

“That must be some sort of code for what he’s really doing,” mused Grey on the other line.

“No…” TBA said. “I think he’s genuinely running a black market Pokemon shop.”

“Either way,” Grey said. “Come up to the Rules Tower. We’re going to be giving the moderator position to Elec Man EXE instead. And we have a quick briefing.”

“Ok.”

TBA hung up, turning around and smashing his head right into the wall. He staggered back and collapsed against an absence message of Nurse Smiles, feeling weak and sleepy as he voice rang through the room.

“I’M GOING TO BE AWAY!! YIPEE! Oh it’s going to be amazing! Sun, Sea, Sand….erm…Sea, and lots of Sea! I love the Sea! Except the stuff in the ocean! Anyway I’m going to treat patients who have swallowed infected needles whilst holidaying on the beach! Those nasty drug addicts with their filthy, filthy needles! Oooh! Be back soon! MWA! HAHA! EEP!”

*

“Whoa,” TBA said, nurturing a lump on his head. “Jeez. I must have knocked myself out there.”

He looked around, finding that the life-sized holograms were all gone. Instead, they had boarded a large hologram of a pirate ship and were sweeping around the tower in laps, singing a song of pirate-like merriment:

We're a band of vicious pirates!
A sailin´ out to sea.
When you hear our gentle singing...
You'll be sure to turn and flee!

“Erm…” TBA said calmly. “Holograms? What are you doing?”

“Arrrghhh!” cried a hologram of Blademaster. “We be purging this tower of all holograms and setting sail!”

“Why?” TBA asked.

“Well it’s a trippy dream sequence, it needs to be ‘wow’ and ‘w00t’!” explained MeLoveGhosts from the crow’s nest. An UuberFred hologram was trying to engage a Luna hologram in a titanic-themed poise at the front of the ship. The Luna Hologram looked disgusted.

We're a club of tuneful rovers!
We can sing in every clef!
We can even hit the high notes!
It's just too bad we're tone deaf!

The holograms sang on as an Amy Wolfsong hologram began wildly slashing at the air.

“Stop, stop STOP!” TBA shouted. “Guys! Stay where you are! For god’s sake this is just…crazy!”

“Fine!” snapped a voice. The Chris Watarimono Hologram clicked his fingers and, instead of a raucous pirate anthem belting from their lungs they began to sing something else.

“I'm your only friend,” sand Blademaster.

“I'm not your only friend,” added Luna.

“But I'm a little glowing friend.”

“But really I'm not actually your friend…….But I am,” finished MeLoveGhosts. “Chris! Hit it!”

“Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul,” sang Chris Watarimono. The ship took a gentler, softer journey around the room. It sashayed from left to right rhythmically.

“Look,” TBA said severely. “This is very ni- oh I love this part! ‘I have a secret to tell…from my electrical well… - **ahem** right. Holograms, the song is very nice but what’s going on?”

“The Blue Avenger!” cried a hologram of The Missing Link.

“You need to VINDICATE the imposter!” shouted MeLoveGhosts.

“What do you mean?” TBA asked wildly.

“The Green Vindicator of The Other Island!” MLG continued. “You need to get rid of him!”

“But he’s on the Other Island,” TBA explained.

“He is planning a revolution!” chimed in Luna, Vermillion and Chris Watarimono. “An attack on TPML! And he’s going to frame you!”

“He is?” TBA asked.

“The only difference between you is your colour! Add a little bit of Yellow Retaliator to a Blue Avenger and you’ll soon have a Green Vindicator!”

“Good Gravy!” TBA cried.

“The Green Vindicator…” sang the holograms. “Travel to the Island!”

“I will!” TBA cried, getting up. Suddenly he fell back down and lights burst into colour before him. The holograms all dived off the ship in synchronized style, landing on their stone podiums and putting away their pirate gear. The ship exploded fantastically into a thousand hues of blue. TBA stirred, lying on the floor, a large bump on his head.

“Jeff!” cried a voice. TBA looked up to see River Asayake staring down at him, concerned.

“Oh, hey…River,” slurred the moderator.”

“You missed the meeting!” River said anxiously. “Elec Man EXE was given the position of Head Businessman. They still can’t find Chris anywhere.”

“Oh,” TBA mused. “They can’t?”

“No,” River sighed. “Becca is getting a search party together. But are you ok?”

“Hurt my head,” TBA sighed. He spied something lying by River’s feet. In a flash his hand darted to it, causing an unsuspecting River to flinch slightly. TBA grabbed it – it was a biro pen. He examined it carefully.

The Green Lanturn

“The Green Lanturn has his own pens?” River asked curiously. “How odd.”

“River…” TBA said slowly. “This makes perfect sense! How could I not have seen this?”

“Seen what?”

“The obviousness!”

“…that he owns a stationary shop?” suggested the new Head Coordinator. TBA got up, flustered.

“No, no, no! That The Green Vindicator and The Green Lanturn are one and the same!”

“The Green Vindicator?”

“Yes, yes! Oh my god!” TBA cried, running over to the pedestal and examining the hologram that The Green Lanturn had left before dropping his pen.

“This is The Green Lanturn. I will be taking the day off visiting other Superhero friends in the Lake District. Please find some other form of crime-fighting ace for your superhero needs.”

“He’s gone…” TBA mused. “River.”

“Yea?”

“I have to go.”

“What?”

“I need to go away and find The Green Lanturn, River,” TBA said urgently.

“But you can’t! We need to do…Moderatey stuff!”

“I’m sure we do, but this is so much more important,” TBA said, dashing to the staircase and speeding down it frantically. “I SHALL STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF THE NORM!”

“Oh my god,” sighed River. She took a look around. “Without Chris 2.0…who is going to narrate this woeful chapter of fantastic wonderment?”

“I WILL!” came TBA’s scream as he hurtled down the stairs.

*

Meanwhile, Grey and Becca were walking through the main square of The Pokemon Masters League.

“I’m glad Liang is back with us,” Becca said.

“He seems to have fought the poison,” Grey noted. “That boy is amazing.”

“He really is,” Becca said. Aragornbird had been discharged from the Hospital and was now back in the Bank Tower, where Amy had given him menial jobs to do all day. She wanted him safe and away from harm.

“What do you think we should do about Chris?” Grey asked Becca. “He was our prime candidate for Head Businessman.”

“We need to do something,” Becca replied. On an arena in the main square, River was battling with MeLoveGhosts, a solitary member of the league. MeLoveGhosts had not been registered for the league long, having trained in his home town, but he boasted a powerful team and an expertise of knowledge.

“Ice Beam!” River cried, as her muscled Pokemon blasted a jagged beam of ice at MLG’s Slowbro. She was battling with her Weavile, which was a lighter gray in colour. Her sister and her had both captured a Weavile each, as they often traveled in pairs. Slowbro, however, surrounded himself in a protective dome and the attack did not hit him at all.

“Athene,” MLG rasped. He was about 17 or 18 years old, with wild, dirty blonde hair and a guitar strapped around his back. “Use an iron tail.”

“I agree,” Grey said to Becca, admiring the match for a second. “We need to try and find Chris.”

“Chris?” River asked, from nearby. Slowbro’s shell shimmered silver and was smashed right into Weavile, knocking him out. River dodged her Pokemon as it fell to the floor while MLG swung his guitar around and strummed a victory tune. “Chris is in trouble?”

“Oh,” Becca said, noticing River. The young girl recalled her Pokemon and ran over, leaving MLG standing there.

“Hey! Next Pokemon!” he called. “Oy! Mod! Geez…”

“What happened to Chris?” she asked.

“He’s missing,” Grey replied honestly. “Do…do you know him well?”

“Yes,” River said fiercely. In truth, during her ‘wild days’, she had attacked Chris with a pin badge. She would love to do that now, once she assured herself that her attacks had not mentally unhinged the boy into disappearing.

“We were going to lead a search party into looking for him,” Becca explained.

“Well count me in,” River replied firmly.

“You want to come?” Becca asked. Initially she had thought that perhaps some of the other moderators should help – she did not know River well at all.

“I’ll come, too,” said MeLoveGhosts, striding forward. He pulled on a jacket over his casual shirt and zipped it up. “I want to help find Chris.”

“Look, this wasn’t…” Becca stammered. “This wasn’t a sort of…’open invite’ sort of thing.”

“Why shouldn’t it be?” River asked.

“You need as many people as you can looking for Chris,” MLG argued. “Why limit it?”

“You have a point,” sighed Becca. “Look. Us three…we’ll search his house, look for clues. If we can get anything from there, we’ll get a group of people – a big group – to search the entire village.”

“Everything seemed fine with him when I last saw him,” Grey noted.

“For him to disappear he will have been troubled on the inside,” MLG said sagely. “You cannot gauge how he was by what you saw on the outside.”

“Very wise,” Grey said. “But I must go. Becca, let me know how the search goes.”

“I will,” Becca said. River and MeLoveGhosts got their things together and the three of them bode farewell to Grey.

“We’ll find you, Chris,” Becca murmured.

Chris 2.1

14th April 2007, 05:30 PM

This might be slightly strange for you. You…Mr Reader man. Or Mrs Reader lady…since we do have male and female readers. Chris is a narrator. It’s what he does. But since his departure I have decided to take on the reigns of narrative structure. Me. The member of TPML with the largest hat collection. The Blue Avenger.

I’m sick of being some lackey. Some crazy cat. I could do great things, you know. If only they let me…IF ONLY!

I sent a message out to every member of the league. It read like this:

New Message: From The BlueAvenger
URGENT – Meet me at Hancock Harbor, just past The Old Village. You need to help fight a war!

Looking back, it wasn’t the best way to convey the utter importance of the task at hand. The Green Lanturn…The Green Vindicator…they were one and the same. I had to lead an army. Unfortunately, after kidnapping Chris 2.0 himself, who subsequently destroyed my submarine from the inside, I was wary of letting guests in my sub. That…and the Department of Underwater Machine-Powered Vehicles (DUMP-V) had crushed my submarine into a little cube. Bastards.

So we arranged to meet at Hancock Harbor. Now back when TPML was in The Old Village, Hancock Harbor was a thriving metropolis. See before we had the train station up north from the Tower Square, all battlers used to come to the village by boat. So Hancock Harbor was bustling, and it was right by The Old Village. But now…like the Old Village, Hancock Harbor was a dump. A real dive. Luckily, the only person that actually inhabited the place was a valuable asset to my nautical commandeering.

I went there, dressed in full pirate garb; I had a rippled white shirt with a thin, suede waist-jacket over it; I smeared some mud on to look pirateier. I also wore some black trousers and big black boots. My eye patch was polished, my three-corner-hat squashed slightly, and I was ready to go.

“Ok team!” I bellowed. Man, I love my voice. “Let’s take over an Island!”

…unfortunately my enthusiasm hadn’t been met. A cluster of people hung around the long stretch of disused shops by the boardwalk. I saw Charles Legend with a little Totodile, OzAndrew with an unshaven face and a bottle of vodka in his hand and a mysterious woman in ninja clothing, with a Venomoth perched on her arm like a boggled hawk and a plush Banette sitting at her feet.

“This is it?” I asked meekly.

“You…don’t know SQUAT ABOUT MY MOTHER!!” garbled Andrew.

“I found him talking to a yacht,” Charles murmured sadly. “He needs help Jeff! And did you know the Other Island has healing powers?”

“What? You’ve been?” I asked, bewildered by this flicker of information.

“Oh yes,” Charles said, speaking his lines robotically. It was if he had recited this before. “It was a dark and/or stormy night. And I said “Leeks! To TPML!”

“Wait,” said a voice. The woman spoke up. “I thought you caught Leeks the Farfetch’d in Ivy Woods?”

“Uhh,” Charles mumbled. “Well…you see…”

I took this time to scan the woman in my VS Seeker.

Tsuki Megumi
A quiet, evil, mad, pretty genius. Tsuki is not particularly well known in the village due to her secretive nature, but she has an immense phobia of chocolate and recently returned to the village after leading her own cult to defeat the French.

“Anyway,” Charles said airily. “Leeks said ‘BUT CHARLES! We’re going to crash! I’m not strong enough to carry you even though we’ve already flown from the top of SugarWhip Mountain where you battled the legendary CousCous-Cousin!’ And I said ‘well in that case whooooaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh’ and we crash landed, or should I say smashed into the ground breaking my collarbone! Hahaha!”

Nobody laughed. Even a passing tumbleweed chose to go somewhere else.

“I looked around. And it was like a beachy version of TPML. And there was this huge Dragonite called Mary and she said ‘Charles, I can see your Houndour is ill. Let me cure it’ but she sneezed as she held out the ‘Deus Ex Machina Problem Solving Gun’ and she went ‘whooooaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh’ and it fired at Leeks instead! And Leeks grew this massive green L with green eyes and also he had a tumor! And he said ‘Quack! Qua-Qua-Quaack?’ which translates to ‘Charles! I can’t…talk?’ and I said ‘Leeks, it’s ok. Now let’s find you a life support machine! So Atilla the Nun said –”

“ANYWAY,” I shouted, drowning him out. “It’s just us four?”

“What about him?” Tsuki said, pointing to the end of one of the docks. “We could use someone like him to provide actual humor.”

She was pointing to a very fat looking clown, who was on the edge of a pier, sitting there dolefully, two anvils tied comically around his ankles. I knew this to be No-Frowns the Clown, the comedian-turned-battler. Apparently a man named Mr Pikachu slated his latest comedy performance in TPML’s local paper. Now the clown wanted to commit suicide.

“Excuse me!” Tsuki called. “Mr Clown?”

“I am no clown!” he bawled. “One jump…and these anvils will drag me to my death! I MEAN IT!”

“Look,” I said rationally. “This guy is obviously suicidal. Let’s leave him. Please?”

“If you come, we can cure your lack of humor!” Charles explained. “Because the island has healing powers and it will heal you!”

“Charles!” I snapped.

“Stop lying you little bastard,” Tsuki hissed, despite the fact Charles was older than her.

“C-Cure me?” No-Frowns asked, looking across the harbor at them. “You can get me a sense of humor?”

“What IS this?” roared Andrew, staggering. “The..frikkin’ wizard of friggin’ Oz? ‘Oooh I want a hangover cure! Oooh I want a sense of humour! Oooh I want to lose my ungodly obsession with FRIJJIN PIRATES YOU WEIRDO!”

“No-Frowns, you can come,” I sighed, feeling that we needed all the manpower we could get. “Now then, you guys all hang around while I go and get the boat hire guy.”

“There’s a boat hire guy?” Tsuki asked keenly, eyeing up the battered old vessels. “I wonder which one is ours.”

I turned around to walk to the very lonely-looking office at the end of the boardwalk when a figure popped up in my face. He had a square jaw, very dark eyes and a cowboy hat on, as well as tartan trousers, a bottle-green jacket and a t-shirt bearing the legend ‘FRANKIE SAYS RELAX’.

It was my brother, Stan.

*

Meanwhile, Lady Vulpix was battling at Crush Quarry against Chris Watarimomo, the resident DJ of TPML. He was on air in two hours with the pairings for the first round of the league, which begun in just three days time, but was currently proving his worth to expert trainer Lady.

“Meliadoul!” Chris cried, as his Grovyle darted across the arena. “Bullet seed!”

His Pokemon blasted a series of exploding lime pellets towards Lady and her Absol. The Absol, quite thin, tore to the left but still was hit by the attack, skidding back. She then leapt up and, charging energy, blasted a swift blade of power from her head. Grovyle was ploughed into and was hurled back, but regained his position.

“Leaf Blade!”

“Go in for a quick attack/slash combo!” Lady cried. Both Pokemon tore through the air at a fantastic speed; Grovyle’s arms glowed and morphed as thick, curving blades of energy formed and he gathered momentum. Absol’s sharp blade-like appendage on the side of her head glowed white as she sped along towards Grovyle, preparing a slash attack.

“Go on Lady!” Luna cried enthusiastically. She was simply watching to pick up tips. Lady Vulpix had left her things with Luna on the large rock they were on. Grovyle darted to the far left and dodged an attack from Absol.

“Absol, ice beam!”

Absol’s head turned at just the right angle in time; a chilled beam of ice was blasted out her mouth, crackling and fizzing as it jettisoned towards Grovyle. The grass Pokemon was struck hard in the side, his arm frosting over slightly. Absol then darted and dealt a powerful headbutt.

“Meliadoul, that’s enough,” Chris said, as his Pokemon wandered over to a rock on his side of the arena, where some of Chris’ younger Pokemon, namely a Togetic, Ralts, Snorunt and Swablu watched. Chris got a new Pokeball out.

“You stay on,” Lady told her Absol.

“You know, Lady Vulpix, I’m impressed with your ability,” Chris mused, holding his Pokeball ready. “Swampert! GO!”

He unleashed his next Pokemon – a large gargantuan amphibian Pokemon with menacing eyes. Swampert gave a throaty roar and watched Absol, who seemed to be adept at hiding her apprehension.

Luna looked down suddenly as, among Lady’s possessions, a beeping was heard. She looked back up to see the woman battling frantically against the Swampert. Luna saw that it was Lady’s VS Seeker, and decided to check what the message was, just in case it was important.

New Message
From: Foreign Device
We need to talk about Luna. Meet me at Room 6C of Spatial Spa at midnight. Come alone. It’s at the far end of Tranquil Shores. I’ve got your money, too.

Luna re-read the message through shock – she knew her name was a rare one and the chances they were going to talk about another Luna were slim. And what was all this about money?

She was sure that she didn’t want to be here anymore. Solrock at her side, she asked the Pokemon to take her away. Solrock glowed, and Luna was teleported away from Crush Quarry, slightly disturbed by the message she read.

Swampert was smashed back as he failed to block a slash attack. Lady gave a smirk and turned to Luna, only to find the girl wasn’t there at all.

“Luna?” she asked vaguely.

*

“Hey Stan,” I said kindly.

“Good aftermorninevenin’ and welcome to ‘Veracity by Stan’, The Pokemon Master’s League’s number one boat sales boutique,” he said in a deep, pleasing baritone. He had an overbearing posture.

“Stan, it’s me,” I replied firmly, but my brother kept on going, repeating his rehearsed introductory speech.

“…my name is Stanley Stanne the Boat-Hire Mann and I know the meaning of ‘Veracity’. What is it, you ask? It is, in my own words ‘habitual observance of truth in speech or statement’, and that, dear customer, is out motto here at ‘Veracity by Stan’. Our boats – all sleek, polished, bred like puma’s over their time and ready to ride the waves like a velvet child sweeping the wettest floor.”

He peered down on me.

“Well listen to me talk! It’s my little brother Jeff. How’s it goin’ buddy? Caught any mermaids yet?”

“I stopped that a long time ago!” I snapped. “Listen Stan…we need a boat.”

“Oh I see,” he said casually. “Well gentlemen – and woman! And…tragic clown. Look no further! I have the boat for you. What is the boat for you, I hear you cry? Well it is, in my own words –”

“Just give us a boat,” I snapped.

“Very well!” cried Stan cheerily. “Now when I saw you about a minute ago, I was reminded of a dream I had. A boat visited me in a dream just last night and said ‘Stan, I’m going to leave your shop tomorrow’. I said ‘but Wavemaster K176623GG@ With Built-In-Mermaid-Snaring-Torpedo-Wagon! You can’t leave my shop!”

He paused dramatically.

“And do you know what she said?”

“WHAT?” moaned Charles, engaged in the story which, in my opinion, was as gripping as a laminated trout.

“She said ‘Stan…I predict, using my SmartNav 2.0 Clairvoyance-Guided-Compass that a group of compassionate warriors will set foot in…erm…on your store and they will need a mighty vessel’.”

“Warriors?” Charles gurgled. “Oh…WARRIORS!”

“And I said ‘Wavemaster K176623GG@ With Built-In-Mermaid-Snaring-Torpedo-Wagon…I understand. I feel as if we are a strong duo. I love you more than my own brother –”

“Hey!” I grumbled.

“…but I understand,” Stan replied slickly, smiling. “So fellas – and fellette, as I understand is the female colloquialisation for a fella, I have the boat for you –”

“Oh you think you have the boat for everything, don’t you?” snarled a staggering OzAndrew. He was squinting at Stan. “If you like boats so much why don’t you just MARRY ONE!”

“When the paperwork is signed, son,” Stan said warmly.

“Where’s the Wavemaster K176623GG@ With Built-In-Mermaid-Snaring-Torpedo-Wagon! Where’s the Wavemaster K176623GG@ With Built-In-Mermaid-Snaring-Torpedo-Wagon!” cried Charles excitedly.

“Now I stay true to my word, hip-cats – and, as I understand the female colloquialisation is, Hipette Cattettes, I never lie. Were I to lie I would…my god I would disable the Auxiliary Control Center from the Deluxe SuperSilver CD Player in my Laptop’s Mouse!”

“Noooooo!”

“Shut up Charles,” whispered Tsuki, jabbing him with a finger.

“But the boat – the Wavemaster K176623GG@ With Built-In-Mermaid-Snaring-Torpedo-Wagon….she was brutally sold to a disgustingly rich man just today.”

“NO!” screamed Charles.

“STOP SCREAMING!” screamed OzAndrew. “I CAN FEEL MY HANGOVER STARTING TO WORSEN!”

“You sold the boat?” I asked, bewildered.

“Jeffy boy…this man was rich,” Stan sighed. “Oh Jeffy boy. JEFFY BOY!!”

“Stop calling me that!” I snapped. “Look. We need a boat. Do you have anything?”

“Now you mention it,” Stan murmured. “I know the perfect – oh but you wouldn’t want it.”

“Yes – we – WOULD!” I shouted angrily.

“Fine, fine!” laughed Stan. “Ladies, Gentlemen, Dudes, Dudettes, Hip Cats, Hippette Cattettes, Boat Lovers and Boattette –”

“GET ON WITH IT!” I snapped.

“I present to you Anserinae Fleetia – V3.1!”

Sitting in the shadow of a large, pirate-like vessel was our ship. Well…ships. A little fleet of pure white, wooden -

“Swan boats?” Tsuki asked.

“Swan boats,” No-Frowns murmured sadly.

“Swamp Coats?” asked Charles keenly.

“You’re giving us swan pedal boats?” I asked rudely. “Stan…”

“Jeff, these are a high-quality breed of bird-themed water self-propellation vehi-”

“I’ll take three,” I said desperately.

“DEAL!” cried Stan, getting out a foghorn. He blew it loudly, causing Andrew, in his drunken stupor, to fall off the edge of the pier. Everyone gasped in surprise, Tsuki sending out her Poliwag to help pull the soggy man out the water.

“Ok then!” Stan said. “This is your average pedal boat fleet. Each can hold two patrons.”

“I know how to pilot a pedal boat,” I said nonchalantly. “Tsuki…go with No-Frowns. I’ll go with Andrew. We need to keep them both alive. Charles, you’re sailing solo.”

“Ok,” he said calmly. We all clambered into the boats. I released my Sharpedo, Mantine and Relicanth, while Tsuki’s Venomoth span threads of tough silk to help me rear my Pokemon up to the swan boat. She did the same for the other boaters – Andrew released a Starmie and a Corsola, too.

“Come on out Entrails!” cried No-Frowns. He released a ruffled looking Wingull. “You can be our look-out! I choose Felix!”

He then sent out a very disgusting looking Barboach; it was slimy and wrinkled, with a tiny little face and whiskers sticking out its front. Felix the Barboach was tied to the front of his boat as well as Tsuki’s Poliwag. Entrails flew in the air above as Charles got a Pokeball out.

“Go Snappy!” he said, but his Totodile proceeded to bite the boy’s labcoat. “SNAPPY NO!”

“Erm Charles I’ll lend you my Sharpedo,” I sighed, and sent him to fix himself up to the boat. “Ok team! Is everyone in their boat?”

“YES!”

“Does everyone know where we’re going!”

“NO!”

“Does everyone have life jackets?”

“Huh?”

“I’m just joking!” I cried. “FLEET GO!”

And just like that the demonic fleet pulled out of Hancock Harbor. Stanley Stan the Boat-Hire Mann began digging a hole rather sporadically, throwing in some papers and igniting them with a match, seemingly destroying some shady evidence. As we sailed off, we didn’t have a care in the world.

EXCEPT TO FIND THE GREEN VINDICATOR AND DESTROY HIS VERY SELF!

Chris 2.1

14th April 2007, 05:33 PM

Meanwhile Becca, River and MeLoveGhosts arrived down BT Street at Chris 2.0’s flat. There was no sign of life. River peered into the window but saw nothing.

“Nobody,” Becca said succinctly.

“Maybe he’s inside,” MLG said. “But unable to answer.”

“He could have been knocked out,” River thought, siding with MLG. Becca shook her head slowly, not entirely dismissing the theory, but as if she were trying to rid her head of speech and thought. In a flash she released her Hitmonchan, which smashed the door open.

“Good work,” MLG said thoughtfully, admiring Hitmonchan. The trainers all gasped as a horrific stench filled their nostrils. Becca, hand covering her mouth, crept into the living area softly.

“What’s that smell?” River asked, looking around.

“Everything here’s all…dismantled,” said MeLoveGhosts. They were in whispers, careful not to disturb anything. Becca opened the door to a bedroom, which was looking neat, tidy and untouched. The next bedroom, however, had an odd, cold chill filling it; Becca shivered as she looked around.

“Nothing here,” Becca muttered.

“Becca,” River called. “Come into the kitchen.”

The Missing Link obliged, wandering through; River was standing in the archway, where shattered bottles, spilled water and overturned objects littered the area. There was a large dent in the fridge, while shattered china flooded the floor.

“There’s been…something in here,” Becca mused.

“But was it Chris, or his attacker?” River asked. “This is so perplexing.”

“Look,” Becca said. There were six varieties of knife all wedged into the wall. “Someone must have tried to stab Chris with these knives.”

“No,” MLG said, entering the room. “Look at them. All lined up, perfectly…all the same depth into the wall. This isn’t normal.”

“I saw a battle Chris had,” Becca said, thinking back to when she witnessed Chris fighting in the Cronus Industries bunker. “He used his Poliwhirl’s psychic and his Cacturne’s pin missile to focus a wall of needles into his attacker. The same thing seems to have been done with these knives.”

“So Chris attacked someone?” River asked.

“It’s possible,” Becca answered. “He may have fled after his house was broken into.”

“The door is in tact,” River mentioned. “Unless he was attacked by someone already in the house? A friend? A fellow TPML battler maybe…”

“I think we’ve established Chris is not here,” Becca concluded. “I think we should head to Jolly Japes Hospital next and see if he’s there. After all, it’s clear someone was attacked. They may be at the hospital.”

They nodded and headed into the living room. As they did, attention was suddenly drawn to the coffee table before the couch; it was shattered, the glass center in pieces as the wooden frame was splintered and torn. The three cast a wary look as they wandered back out through the small flat.

“I hope we can find out where he is,” Becca murmured, closing the door behind her.

*

In the main TPML Village, Grey was sitting in his theatre. Hanada Tattsu was battling his own Pokemon against themselves as a form of training. His Quagsire leapt up to dodge an attack from his Octillery, while his Wartortle tucked into his shell and slid underneath his opponent, Croconaw.

“You are doing well,” Grey said, smiling. In his playhouse, a Magneton hovered around the lighting rig as a Tyrogue walked around. There was a Solrock also floating around, and a Raticate chewed on a seat.

“Grey…” Gregg said musingly. “You’ve got some new Pokemon.”

He looked at the Noctowl perched in the rafters, the Mightyena laying there grouchily and the Crobat sleeping upside down. A Haunter swam around with Grey’s Gengar in the misty theatre.

“Daniel was only allowed to take six Pokemon,” Grey said sadly. “I took the rest of his team in my care.”

“Why?” Gregg asked.

“They need somewhere to stay,” Grey explained.

“They can’t just stay here,” Gregg told his teacher. “There’s a performance tonight!”

“True, Noctowl is leaving droppings in the seats, and on the occasions I forget to recall Crobat I do worry he will bite the necks of my audiences…but they are happy here,” Grey mused.

“How is my training then?” Gregg asked.

“Coverage of grass and electric types is fantastic,” Grey replied. “Gregg you are almost there.”

“We’ve come so far,” Gregg said happily, drinking from his water. “I mean…back when I first lost to Chris, at Hanada Gym…I never thought I’d actually train and refine a water-based team to this level of perfection.”

“You have come along in leaps and bounds,” Grey replied, nodding. “I’m very proud.”

“Grey?” Gregg asked, putting his water down. “You’ve been great. But this doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?” Grey asked earnestly. Gregg’s face was plastered in a smirk, but he didn’t look happy.

“Grey…you’ve sacrificed all the time you have to train your team to spend time with me to help me do well. It’s generous. It’s very kind. But it doesn’t make sense,” the boy said.

“I told you –”

“I know what you told me,” replied Gregg, getting to his feet. “Grey, I want the truth.”

“I’ve told you nothing but the truth, Gregg,” Grey said. “Like when I was training Razor Leaf, I found theoretically I could gain so much and learn so much about Pokemon Training.”

“I’m sorry,” Gregg replied darkly. “That’s not good enough.”

“I have connected with my Pokemon beyond instructions and commands,” continued the man. “We do not need to train at that level.”

“This is ridiculous,” Gregg replied, grabbing something. In a flash he drew a gun, pointing it at Grey from where he stood. Grey’s eyes did not widen at all; he watched the young boy with intrigue.

“You have a gun,” Grey noted.

“It’s Mum’s,” replied Gregg. “Ok Grey. Tell me. Why do you really want to train me? Have you…placed a bet on me? Are you hoping to earn a little pot of gold if I win the league? Or…maybe you’re working with my mum? Yea…yea maybe you’re working with her to help me win.”

“Gregg…”

“What made you take such an interest in me?” Gregg asked. “I mean…”

“Fine,” said a firm Grey, standing up. “I took an interest in you because you were a damaged young boy. You were broken down and you were going off the rails and if you weren’t guided back…then…”

He sighed.

“Then you’d end up like me.”

*

On and on we sailed – the voyage was pleasant, the sea breeze tickling our faces and the light spray gushing from the boat as we sped along was refreshing. The Pokemon Masters League was fast behind us as we approached Other Island in the distance.

“Now these guys are smart,” I shouted to the group, warning them of what was to come.

“I KNOW! I’VE BEEN BEFORE!” Charles called back.

“Shut up!” I replied. “They’re all a bit weird, and they’re obsessed about urine samples. But we need to be vigilant. We need to fight them off. Here’s the plan. I want you guys to basically beat the tar out of them while I go with Tsuki to find The Green Vindicator. Now when I was last there, there were two main clearings.”

“I know, I’ve been,” Charles told everyone proudly.

“No you haven’t, anyway,” I rasped, continuing. “There was a housing area and a sort of ‘bunker area’, which contained large metal bunkers like their equivalent to TPML Towers. They were both very bare wooded areas and distinguishable easily. But you guys fight off on the beach. Then I want you to go to the housing area – the hatches will be difficult to make your way into.”

“Ok,” Tsuki said, nodding. Andrew threw up over the side of the boat, looking somewhat green; No-Frowns the Clown listened sadly and Charles took everything in with determination.

“Look!” I cried. “We’re nearly there!”

I saw the rolling golden beach before us as we drew closer. Our Pokemon fleet slowed down slightly, and I eventually had the group recall all their Pokemon, bringing our boats to a gradual gliding decline as we slowly approached the beach.

“WE’RE GOING TO CRASH!” screamed No-Frowns the Clown. In actuality we were wedged into the sand nicely; I flew out my seat and landed on the beach, hearing cries and shouts as my crew disentangled themselves from their boats.

“Ok guys,” I said firmly, noticing black drapes hanging from some of the palm trees. “We’re here. Send a strong Pokemon out and let’s go.”

I unleashed Tap-Tap, my Dugtrio, as well as my Nosepass. They stood by me as No-Frowns commanded his Wingull, Entrails, to help him. Tsuki sent Banette and Venomoth out, while a drunken OzAndrew released an Alakazam.

“Andrew!” I shouted, recognizing the maroon coloured shoulder pads on the psychic Pokemon.. “That’s a TPML Tower employee!”

“The damn bastard was taking ages to update my profile so I caught him,” Andrew shrugged. “OzZam! You…go and do that thing with the thong…”

“Kazam?”

“JUST DO IT!”

“I choose Snappy and King!” Charles cried, his Totodile accompanied by his large, muscled Charmeleon.

“And I choose my new Lickitung! And Ladyffet!” came a cry. We turned to see none other than UuberFred bobbing along on his Lickitung’s stomach, using a branch as a very lame paddle. “Hey guys!”

He leapt off his Pokemon but slipped, falling waist-deep into the salty water. Lickitung glided to the beach and leapt up as UuberFred, sopping wet, sent out a Wobbuffet who had red lipstick on.

“UuberFred?” I asked.

“Come on Fred, help out!” Charles cried.

“I will! Ladyffet use hyper beam!” he shouted.

“Wobb?”

“Hyper beam!”

“Wobb!”

“Hyper Beam!”

“…Wobb…”

“…hyper –”

“WOBB!”

“ – beam?”

“Guys, there’s nobody here,” I said. “We’ll all storm the jungle. Same plans. Pokemon Masters League – ATTACK!”

“Banette use a shadow ball!” Tsuki cried. “Venomoth! Psybeam!”

“OzZam use….erm….” came Andrew’s drunken murmur. Alakazam blasted an intense beam of energy to destroy the trees and foliage as Charles had Totodile fire an ice beam. Charmeleon smashed trees with his tail and unleashed a dragonbreath to torch the jungle.

“Good work,” I said. “Nosepass! Zap Cannon! Dugtrio, use hyper beam!”

Our attack continued as we marched on through the forest. Nosepass charged up a frantic, crackling orb of energy and fired it off into the trees, causing an explosion to plough through some of the foliage. Dugtrio blasted a beam to wipe out a large bush in our way.

Suddenly, however, there was a large cry filling the air. I paused as figures darted from around the treetops all around, fencing us in. They all had at least one Pokemon with them; I saw The Weakest Link, The Negotiator (aka White), Gandalfbird, Foxsong, OzAlex, Ultimate Blastoise and others.

“Stop, intruders!” came Foxsong’s cry. “You are trespassing on TPML Village 04622!”

“Shut it!” I snapped. “Let us past.”

“Masters!” Foxsong shouted. “ROLE CALL!”

“White!” shouted the Grey-look-alike, clad entirely in white – a white suit, shirt, tie, trousers and shoes. He had a white Umbreon with him.

“The Weakest Link!” said the familiar 04622 member, closely resembling Becca. She had a golden Starmie with her.

“Gandalfbird!” said a voice, and someone with a vaguely Liang-esque hairstyle emerged, a Porygon at his side. He was very pale in the face and slightly hunched over, not looking well at all.

“OzzzzzzALEX!” cried the super-enthusiastic Australian. Like before he had a Dratini draped around his shoulders and a Bagon at his side. OzAndrew eyed OzAlex with vindictive fury. Drunk, he staggered forward towards his look-alike and grabbed his throat.

“What in the HELL do you think you’re doing FREAK!” he screamed. “I FUCKING HATE DRAGONS! AND I HATE YOU! YOU’RE A BIG IDIOT AND YOUR NAME IS ALEX AND I…..HATE…..YOU….SO……MUCH! OZZAM! PSYCHIC TO THROW HIM AWAY HE’S MAKING ME SICK!”

True to his threat, OzAndrew staggered and spewed all over UuberFred, who cried slightly. Alakazam grasped OzAlex and hurled him into a tree, where he gave a grumble and sent his dragons forward.

“Now wait just a minute,” Foxsong said. “We haven’t finished role-call!”

“CHARLIE LEGENDARY!” said a voice. A gangly teenager emerged with a big grin. He was very lanky and wore tight jeans and a graffiti-style t-shirt.

“A doppelganger for me!” Charles said, smiling. “Hi Charlie!”

“Hi Charles!”

“Wow!”

“Yea!”

“This is cool!”

“I know!” Charlie said happily. “Look at the Feraligatr I have. He’s called Snappy!”

Charlie sent out a lumbering alligator with huge jaws and a hulking frame. Charles looked up at the colossal Pokemon, his little Totodile by his side. He was quite ashamed that his ‘clone’ had better Pokemon than him.

“Yes…well, those are very nice but…well…you know…mine’s…better,” he said quietly.

“CONTINUE THE GODDAMN ROLE CALL!” Foxsong snapped irritably.

“The real Amy would never blaspheme,” I whispered to Tsuki. Foxsong glared at me viciously.

“Ultimate Blastoise!” came a cry. A boy in blue stepped forward, his t-shirt with a shell-like pattern all over it.

“UuberTim!” said a grown man. He was roughly forty years of age with a small t-shirt on. “Doh doh doh! I’m a stupidface! Bleh bleh! My Pokemon are all idiots!”

“This guy is so funny!” UuberFred said, laughing. “Who are you impersonating? Charles? Chris 2.0? Razor Leaf?”

“You’ve got copies of all of us,” Tsuki said, disgusted. “Well, except me.”

“Well when we discovered you left TPML to lead a revolution against the French, we sent our Tsuki Megumi (called Tsumi Kumegmi) off to sort of fit in with the events of the real TPML,” explained Foxsong. “Oh! And here’s Choco Stink. She’s from the…Board of…erm…monkeys?”

An irritated black woman stood there.

“Important…rich, black…yea,” she moaned. Her lips stayed pursed as she hissed to Foxsong. “I’ve hung around with you freaks…where’s my goddamn money?”

“When I was last here, you had more people,” I said. “Where’s Karin? And Razor Leaf?”

“Well Vine Whip is stalking the Frontier Brains,” Foxsong said. “And 04622…she…unfortunately…well, she died.”

“Oh my god,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok,” said a voice. I turned to see the Karin impersonator dressed in black, standing right there.

“YIKES!” I screamed.

“Calm down,” 04622 said. “Do not fear the dead.”

She was calm and serene, but nobody around seemed to even notice she was there.

“…if you’re dead, then…why are you here?” came my nervous question.

“I died, but I still live on,” she said mysteriously.

“So you’re pretending,” Tsuki summarized.

“Well yes,” replied 04622. “But…I am… not here! Whooooo…!”

Using a piece of black cloth she waved it mysteriously, moving in a ghost-like fashion around the jungle clearing.

“Look,” I said firmly. “We’re here for The Green Vindicator. Where is he?”

“The Prophecy is true!” cried Foxsong. “Members of The Parodying Masters Locality! STOP THE INTRUDERS!”

“LEAGUERS!” I cried. “FIGHT BACK!”

“If only I were still alive,” sighed 04622. “I used to love battling.”

“04622!” Foxsong snapped. “STOP DOING THE WHOLE ‘WALKING CORPSE THING’ AND FIGHT GODDAMNIT!”

“The real Amy would never blaspheme,” I hissed again to Tsuki, nodding. Foxsong glared at me again.

“SHUT YOUR FACE YOU LITTLE SOD-CHILD!” she screamed, releasing a Sandslash.

“Ok!” White said. “Umbreon go!”

“Take it on Banette!” Tsuki said firmly, her Banette flying through the air and charging up a fist of powerful, crackling energy. The Umbreon slipped, smashing into a tree and eventually being struck by Banette’s powerful punch.

“GREY YOU SUCK!” Foxsong shouted, red in the face.

“Gandalfbird calls forth Porygon!” shouted the Liang impersonator. “Porygon! Sharpen then use double edge!”

His Porygon’s nose sharpened to a point and in a flash he was speeding through the air. Charles has his Totodile blast a water gun to stop Porygon, but the Pokemon swerved out the way with agility. Porygon drove itself into Charmeleon, dealing effective damage.

“King, get it off! Slash!” Charles cried. His Charmeleon slashed at the Porygon that jousted into him, but Porygon began glowing and creating a rocky layer over its own body, protecting it from physical attacks. Porygon then slammed into Charmeleon hard.

“Dugtrio trap those losers in a sand tomb!” I shouted. Dugtrio tunneled underground and sped around the 04622-ers, sending a spiraling vortex of wind speeding up to ensnare them. The majority of them were trapped, allowing us to make our move.

“Ok,” I said, turning. “Dugtrio needs to stay here…”

I looked at the crew – Tsuki was assisting me, but I didn’t trust Andrew, Charles, Fred or No-Frowns to look after Dugtrio. Since I needed to go and find The Green Vindicator, and Dugtrio needed to stay here, I wondered what I could do.

“Tsuki, stay here with Dugtrio,” I said. “Your Venomoth can use its spores to lull the 04622-ers to sleep.”

“Right,” she said.

“No-Frowns, you’re coming with me,” I said firmly. The clown ran alongside me as we disappeared off in the forest. Tsuki had her Venomoth blast sleeping spores into the vortex to help subdue the people we had trapped. Some, like OzAlex, had managed to escape; OzAndrew put an end to this by having his Alakazam blast a psychic attack into the weedy, eccentric dragon-lover.

“Aiyee! BagOz!” cried OzAlex. “Save me!”

The feisty dragon leapt up and attacked Alakazam but luckily Charles and Snappy the Totodile intervened, fighting off the opposition.

“SNAPPY!” came a cry – Charlie Legendary, the gangly teen, ordered his Feralitar to endure the sandstorm and burst out, stomping out dramatically. Charles Legend, with his smaller form, looked slightly disturbed as UuberFred and Lickitung prepared to fight.

Chris 2.1

14th April 2007, 05:35 PM

*

Brooklyn Knight was doing some work for a meeting the Board had later on that day. Since finding a suspicious email from one ‘Thomas’, he was determined to find out what Volletta had planned. Unfortunately the importance of the meeting today meant his priorities were shifted.

The meeting was, in short, the kick-start of the league and would thankfully allow for a little less work on the Board’s part. Brooklyn was also to meet with executives from The Van Artz Corporation to work on the new VS Seeker models. Jacques was also going to be there.

But right now, Brooklyn was staring at Volletta, who was chatting away to another Board member, Ivy Cope, who was the Board’s resident Marketing Advisor. She was pretty with long silky black hair. The two continued to converse as Brooklyn pondered.

“Volletta?”

Brooklyn looked up; Rosie Cran was nervously walking towards the big, busty woman with a file kept close to her chest.

“Ivy, we’ll go over the finer details later. Thanks,” Volletta said sweetly. “What can I do for you, Rosie?”

“Gordon asked me to come down here to talk to you,” Rosie explained. “Your computer’s data output is exceeding the allotted amount for every Board Member. You’re using up too much space.”

“I see,” Volletta said, genuinely sounding concerned. “How is this so?”

“Well generally this can be due to too much excess data…for example…do you have a lot of old emails in your inbox?”

“Well I suppose it has been a while since I ‘spring-cleaned’ the computer,” she replied sweetly. “I do have a lot of important things there, mind you…”

“Excuse me?” Brooklyn said, intervening. “Volletta I’m Tech – I’ll have a look at your computer for you.”

“Oh now Brooklyn,” Volletta said sweetly. “You have far too much to be getting on with.”

“Not at all,” he protested. “My meeting isn’t until tomorrow. You need to speak with Ivy, and if you followed Board protocol your crucial information will be safeguarded from any cleaning up I do on your computer.”

Volletta glared at Brooklyn. Evidently he had just caught her out.

“Perfect!” Rosie said, smiling. “I’ll pass everything on to Gordon.”

“Thank you dear,” simpered Volletta. Brooklyn smiled.

“Can I have the keys to your office?” he asked calmly.

“Of course,” she replied, handing them to him. “I need to go, Ivy is waiting. Have fun!”

She marched off, feeling somehow trapped and confused. She wasn’t sure what Brooklyn would do with the information he was sure to find. As she walked, her phone rang and she quickly pressed it to her ear.

“Hello?” she asked.

“It’s me,” came a reply.

“Thomas,” Volletta said. “How are you?”

“What is the status of your ‘obstacle’, Volletta?” asked Thomas curtly.

“It is…taken care of completely,” lied Volletta.

“Excellent. I didn’t think you would let me down.”

“Of course not.”

“I’m sending some crucial information to your computer now,” Thomas went on busily. “Just give it a read through and make sure you know exactly what you need to do.”

“What sort of information?” Volletta asked, wondering just how much she was playing into Brooklyn’s hands.

“Our next phase of action in achieving success,” Thomas replied, evidently smug with the information. “Thank you, Volletta.”

He hung up there and then, leaving Volletta feeling slightly sick.

*

“What do you mean?” Gregg asked. “End up like you?”

Grey thought for a moment, still ignoring the gun pointed at him.

“I grew up alone,” he said. “I never knew my parents, and my grandfather, my sole guardian, died when I was only seventeen years old.”

“I didn’t realize,” Gregg uttered.

“Like you, I was without any firm, parental influence as I reached the age when said influence was essential,” he went on. “I grew up originally in Chicago, and with nowhere to go, I took to the streets.

“My teen years involved so many things,” Grey said, and it was now that Gregg noticed a tear in his eye. He began lowering his gun as Grey recalled his past. “Drugs. Alcohol. Crime. I remember joining a gang…we were called Bloque, although I never knew why. We trashed cars, houses, attacked innocent people just because we could. I…didn’t even question the way I operated and spent my life tainting other people’s happiness.”

“Why did you stop?” Gregg asked, keen.

“I was arrested,” Grey mused. “Our ringleader killed somebody during one of our ‘raids’. I remember him panicking. A few of us realised that what we did began to have consequences, but we were soon compromised and many of us sent to jail. We had to pay for what our leader had done, and those were, if I may say so, the cracks appearing within the mask. I was visited by nobody during my time in prison – except one.”

“Who?” asked Gregg.

“Her name was Emma,” Grey recalled. “She was a beautiful woman with sleek blonde hair. She was religious…very Christian. Emma saw someone inside me that I don’t think anybody else ever had, except perhaps my grandfather and my parents before that. She was originally a public speaker…but Emma came to see me. Each time, she came to see me.”

“So did she help you get out?” asked Gregg.

“She did,” Grey said, smiling. “She appealed. And because of commitment to my sentence I was released soon after. Once I tasted freedom…once I grasped justice in my hand, I knew I had to get my life back on track. In prison we were given a Pokemon to train, something of an incentive, something to work towards. I was given a Charmander, and, now released from Prison, I took Charmander and signed up to TPML City 01332 – Chicago.”

“Chicago?” Gregg queried.

“I was in the TPML in Chicago, yes,” Grey said, thinking back. “At twenty-one years of age. But it seemed that my new life apart from Bloque caused…irritation to some former members of the gang. After seeing a lot of acquaintances in Chicago, and after the ghosts of my past taunted me so, Emma, who had accompanied me to TPML, suggested we move to a more secluded place…a place where we could escape our demons.”

“Here,” Gregg summarized, looking around the homely theatre. “You came here?”

“I did,” Grey replied. “Emma… never saw this place.”

“But…she said…”

“Emma…was killed,” Grey muttered.

“Killed?”

“Our car…we drove to 04621 in a car…but we were knocked off the road. We veered to the left and rolled over before smashing into a tree. I was conscious, dragging us both out of the wreckage before the car exploded. I pulled through…but Emma didn’t make it.”

Grey sighed, biting his lip and staring into the rafters of his theatre. A tear teetered in his eyelid but in a flicker, he brushed it away, not allowing it to even trickle down his cheek.

“…Emma didn’t make it.”

“I’m so sorry Grey,” Gregg replied, his gun gripped limply in his hand. “I…I didn’t know.”

“On the way here…she said to me ‘Drew…this will change our lives forever’. She knew this place would be special to me, and I honestly think she made it more so. Gregg…I needed guidance in my life. If I had some parental influence when I was your age, I would never have been with Bloque. I’d never have been in jail. I wouldn’t have become so reliant on other things…”

“But Grey,” Gregg said. “All those things brought you to Emma. They made you turn around.”

Grey thought for a moment, shaking his head.

“All those things made me feel attached to somebody I had to say goodbye to far too early,” he said, succinctly. “Gregg…I came here, despite what happened. I came here young, disturbed and secluded. I was scared to approach anybody…because the closer I am to anybody…the more pain I will feel when I had to say goodbye. As a teacher I am close to people but I get to keep that natural distance that avoids me being hurt. I remember arriving here…there was a jaded theatre down an otherwise bustling Business District…and I used to spend time there. On my own. It was my place.”

“It still is,” Gregg said.

“Yes,” Grey said sadly. “It is. Despite all in my way…I hid here and lived here when I left the league at the end of 2004. And when I came back this year, shortly after we met atop Trolgar Mountain…I had to rebuild this place. And not because of the theatre, or the plays…but the hope that is contained within these walls and the safety I feel when I am here.”

He sighed again.

“Gregg…you may go for today. You have done well. Let’s meet again tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry for making you upset,” Gregg told his teacher. “I am.”

“I understand,” Grey replied meekly. The young water Pokemon Trainer wandered aimlessly outside onto BT Street. As he did, he looked at the gun, disgusted, and dropped it to the floor, walking back up to the main part of the village.

*

I was gasping hard. I ran through the forest with No-Frowns the Clown – it was pandemonium. We tore trees apart with our Pokemon as we raced around.

“Where are we going?” whined No-Frowns the clown.

“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!” I screamed at him, collapsing to the ground. I was exhausted, fed up and so, so angry I didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t find The Green Vindicator at all, and I was troubled.

“Excuse me?”

I turned to see a boy walking into the woods. He looked…unusually clean. He had messy brown hair, a troubled look on his face and a Sneasel by his side. I sent out my Clefable and had her charge an attack up.

“Who are you?” I demanded firmly.

“M-My name is Chris,” he replied. “Chris Rutherford.”

“Are you some…doppelganger of Chris 2.0?” I asked. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know who you mean,” he said rationally. “I just…you’re not with them are you?”

“We sailed here,” I replied.

“I…I was brought here by them,” he said awkwardly. “They kidnapped me and brought me here. I’m a writer, actually, from North England…I’m writing a story now about a powerful Pokemon League in a secluded village somewhere in England.”

“I don’t care,” I snapped. The boy looked disillusioned.

“It’s just…they kept taking urine samples. And they started slapping me with chapters of my book. They wanted to know how it ends, and they wanted me to dress like some guy called Chris 2.0. They even gave me this stupid Sneasel to train. I want to go home. – I have to finish my book!”

“Where is The Green Vindicator,” I said curtly.

“He’s at the housing,” Chris said politely. “Just keep going straight ahead. I can take –”

I pushed the loser out the way and No-Frowns followed. He tore through bushes, Clefable blasting trees apart with various lethal attacks. I was a supporter of Greenpeace…but you can’t spell The Green Vindicator without Green so I…well I guess I hate them now.

“That…Chris guy seems…very…nice,” gasped No-Frowns.

“No, he doesn’t, and I’m sure he eats children,” I snapped. I had no time to socialize with some English person. You can’t trust their sarcasm and excellent sense of humor at all. In a moment we burst into a bare, empty space, filled with small wooden houses. Some houses were actually crafted from an iron-like substance, making it look natural and kitsch at the same time.

“This is the housing area,” I stated boldly. “Look for The Green Vindicator.”

No-Frowns the Clown helped me look for his house – they all had their names etched onto crummy signposts so it was easy to see which was which. I saw Nurse Anger’s house, as well as Ultimate Blastoise’s and even one belonging to ‘Zedd’. Some parody of Ecks? I wonder…

“Look!” No-Frowns said. “The Gr-”

“Outofmywayloserface!” I said hurriedly, pushing him aside into the sand.

“It’s…my birthday,” he wept.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Arven,” I told Clefable. “Mega Punch the door down. NOW!”

“FABLE!”

In a sweeping smash the door flew off its hinges and I stood there in a very small, one-room house. It looked awful. A fat boy was watching television, eating a very large looking potato.

“Oh no!” he cried.

“HEY!” I snapped. “GAYFACE!”

“W-What do you want?” he stammered. “I’m watching my superhero!”

“I don’t care if you’re watching Jeremy Kyle!” I shouted. I glanced at the television. “Wait…what are you watching?”

“My hero, The Green Lanturn,” said the boy. “Oh – I’m The Green Chinchou, by the way.”

He held a pudgy hand out to shake. I turned to No-Frowns the Clown.

“You said –”

“I said The Green and you pushed me out the way,” he said sadly. “I was going to say ‘This says ‘The Green Chinchou’, so The Green Lanturn must be close by’. But you wouldn’t let me!”

“Wait,” I said. I saw, on the television screen, The Green Lanturn at what looked like a superhero convention. He was with various geeks dressed as spandex-clad superheroes. Just like the message he left at the Absence Tower. “Wait…so…”

“I’m a kid who idolizes The Green Lanturn from your village,” said The Green Chinchou.

“What about The Green Vindicator?” I asked quietly.

“Oh, he’s actually fixing his submarine outside,” the boy went on. Oh no. I wandered through the room and punched down the back door, finding a very large, spacious clearing where a few people were hanging around. There was a Submarine there, big, long and gleaming, with someone evidently fixing something onto it. Dressed in green pirate clothes, I began to realize it was unwise to trust a dream.

“Vindicator?” I asked.

“Look who it is!” the man said, getting up. “After you and your crew stole my submarine I bought a new one. The SuperGrandDeluxeHypoMegaGloboBurgerFreeFunToySub. It came free with my HypoMegaGloboDeluxEnjoymentMeal.”

“I should really go there more often,” I mused, thinking about the bright eatery.

“Wait a minute…” he said slowly. “Why did you come here?”

“I knocked myself, bringing about a slightly insane dream involving a crew of holograms telling me you were actually the same Green Lanturn from my TPML Village and you were going to lead a revolution to overthrow my TPML with your TPML. I led a crew of men and one woman here in SWAN PEDAL BOATS to try and attack you and destroy you before realizing my mistake and now… I feel stupid.”

“Well,” Vindicator said, wiping his brow. “Apologies are obstacles that allow you –”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “I ALSO feel as if coming all the way here and not beating the crap out of you would be stupid.”

I grabbed my Pokeball belt and in a flash, released my team: Clefable, Exeggutor, Weezing, Mr Mime, Smeargle, Nosepass, Charizard, Electabuzz, Shiftry, Snorlax, Slaking, Gengar, Kingler, Persian, Espeon, Tangela, Kabutops, Heracross, Poliwrath and Xatu. They all circled Vindicator.

“I choose Felix!” cried No-Frowns, adding his slimy Barbroach to the fray.

“Crap,” murmured Vindicator.

*

Chris 2.1

14th April 2007, 05:43 PM

*

Chaos rained on the beach of TPML 04622. OzAndrew had managed to induce OzAlex into a coma due to psychic-induced mentalities, and was thus focusing his attention on UuberTim, who was trying to handle his Raichu with immense stupidity. Unfortunately, this was hard when your foe was drunk, and he was faring well.

Charles Legend was trading some Pokemon with his doppelganger, Charlie Legendary. UuberFred was trying to beat up The Weakest Link’s Hitmonchan, before being socked in the face and hurtled into the air.

The sand tomb had eroded and Tsuki cried out as a flood of 04622-ers leapt at them. They wore odd warrior-like make-up and had more Pokemon out, leering at the 04621-ers menacingly.

Just then, a psychic glow filled the air – an eerie, delicate, tingling shimmer rang through the beachy shores and everybody looked around. Suddenly, the trees were ripped apart as a gigantic Submarine swept through the forest, hovering just above the ground and building speed. A fleet of psychic Pokemon were aboard it, piloting it to the sea.

“LOOK OUT!” Foxsong cried. The submarine fired off attacks from the guns (revealed to be hydro pumps) and struck many of the beach-dwellers. The Weakest Link flew back into the ground. White’s new suit was ruined as he was struck. The submarine splashed into the ocean, causing a large tidal wave to rise up.

“I got a message!” Tsuki said.

New Message: The Blue Avenger
I stole the sub off The Green Vindicator. Everybody get in!

“It’s for us!” Tsuki cried, recalling Dugtrio in TBA’s Pokeball. “Andrew! Charles! Uuber! COME ON!”

“Ok!” Charles said, running off.

“Thanks for the Larvitar!” Charlie Legendary cried.

“What is my new Pokemon called again?” Charles asked, running.

“MUNCHLAX!” Charlie shouted, as the two parted company.

“Come on!” Tsuki cried, shepherding everybody away from the site. The freaks all sent their Pokemon out as Charles, Fred and Andrew stumbled into the submarine, following the psychic Pokemon of The Blue Avenger’s as they entered. TBA closed the hatch up and shut it tightly, running to the controls.

“Ok,” he said. “I can do this.”

“LOWER IT!” Tsuki said, looking through the periscope. “They’re attacking!”

“Ok Drivvy Fin!” TBA cried. “Hydro pump through the torpedoes! GO!”

An attack was fired off, but nobody saw the result as they crowded around the controls. TBA lowered the altitude and soon they were moving forward, sinking, sinking…their vision was drowned by sloshing waves and the submarine began to head underwater.

“We made it!” Tsuki sighed, handing Dugtrio back to The Blue Avenger.

“But Andrew is still drunk!” Charles said. “A-And No-Frowns still doesn’t have –”

“OH MY GOD,” TBA cried. “I left the clown behind!”

There was a silence.

“I left him behind!” TBA explained. “I left an innocent yet depressing clown on a beach full of weirdos!”

Still, silence hung in the room as nobody seemed particularly interested in the loss of the middle-aged man.

“So, who wants to watch that new Friends spinoff?” Tsuki asked, after finding a working DVD player. “I hear Tuscany and Paris BOTH get engaged to Kazakhstan!”

“No way!” UuberFred cried. “But I thought Homer worked at the nuclear Power Plant?”

“SHUT UP!” Andrew screamed. “YOU ARE SO FUCKING STUPID!”

“So TBA,” Charles said, sitting beside the pirate as he played around with the submarine’s coffee dispenser. “How did you enjoy narrating the chapter?”

“Are you kidding me?” he said, navigating. “I LOVED IT!”

“Really?” Charles mused. “Then hey…maybe I’ll give it a shot!”

“Look, guys,” TBA called back to the group. “I know we have had a long day…and Charles’ notion of narration has reminded me that there WILL be consequences from the events of today. But think about it. It’s been great…we’ve creamed a load of losers, had a bit of fun…wasn’t it worth it?”

Again, silence filled the air.

*

The sun was setting. In her seat at the Rules Tower Amy hung the phone up and spoke to one Magnus Archer.

“Becca has been to Jolly Japes,” she said. “There are no records of Chris Wilson being admitted there recently.”

“This is a waste of time,” Magnus snapped. “We have three more days until the league starts, Amy! Three days. You need to shift your priorities.”

“I disagree,” came Becca’s voice, as she walked plainly into the room. She was accompanied by Liang, Elec Man EXE and River. “Chris is a valued member of our community.”

“He has been considered for moderation twice,” Liang said. “He has the same level of appreciation as any of us mods.”

“But he is not a moderator,” snapped Magnus. “He is one person. In New York, Amy, a death is no more than a statistic. A suspicious death is nothing more than gossip. Only when a death becomes a threat do they do something about it.”

“Well we are 04622,” Amy said firmly. “We will find Chris, and we will begin the league in three days time.”

*

Meanwhile, Crystal Tears was sitting in the main village square. She had convinced Dark Dragonite to go away from her, as he was really annoying her with his hanging around and irritation. He had agreed to help her wrangle the truth from Girafarig but the two had no luck in finding him at all.

In fact, he had just been an annoyance, talking about old battles he had when he was in the last league and how corrupt everything was following his redundancy as Business Mod.

Now, however, Crystal was alone. By herself. Despite her sister being back in the village, Crystal hadn’t seen her for more than ten minutes, and was trying to reach her desperately. But her sister left her mind as someone stumbled over.

“Girafarig!” Crystal cried. He had blood seeping from his nose – it had evidently been broken. His shirt was torn and a tooth missing as his bruises around his eyes seem to have been ‘re-bruised’. Tears spilled down his face.

“They got me again,” he spluttered. “Crystal…they want me to back down and I can’t take the pain anymore.”

“But you’re doing so well!”

“They said they’ll kill me,” he said sadly. “And I want to do the right thing Crystal…but it will cost me so much.”

He cleared his throat, standing before her. Gulping and swallowing his fear, Girafarig addressed the distraught young girl.

“It’s time I told you.”

“Told me what?” she asked weakly.

“Everything. How I got attacked that night…”

He sighed.

“…and about a group called WAVEX.”

Chapter Forty-Three: Round One! (Part One): Girafarig VS Charles Legend
The Pokemon Masters League has begun! Girafarig faces difficult odds in his battle against Charles but will he persevere? Brooklyn Knight manages to compromise Volletta and soon unravels her secretive mission…but has he caused more harm than good?

Meanwhile, Luna gets a shock at Spatial Spa, and Amy has to face her worst nightmare as her world comes crashing down.

The preview doesn't sound that awesome but I guarentee this episode will be extremely important to the storylines for the rest of the fic. How the league will work is that we'll have chapters documenting the various rounds of the Tourney.

Ch43 and Ch44 are Round One (Part 1) and Round One (Part 2) respectively. Each of these chapters are also named after one of the matches that will take place. In Ch43, we see Charles VS Girafarig (a very important battle), but we also expirience TML, River, TBA, MeLoveGhosts, UuberFred and Andrew's matches among others.

Now I say expirience - that is to say you won't get a full blown qualifying match for ALL of those people. You'll get small scenes, or you'll be aware of peoples progress through dialogue, scenes, flashbacks etc etc, so we'll get a real sense of the league's rate while at the same time focusing on some big matches.

R1 matches are all fought among and around TPML. So it's going to be fun :)

Oh and just for the record it is set 3 days AFTER Ch42. So it's nearly been a week since Luna won the contest.

Expect BIG REVEALS to come in Ch43:
-Luna
-Volletta/Brooklyn
-Crystal/Girafarig/DD/Brink
-Thomas!?

These storylines will REALLY heat up and you'll get some great scope on the status of the plotlines next chapter!

See you there!

Oh and I know you guys are busy but I'm not getting much feedback on chapters. If you do read it, please let me know what you thought! You know I love discussing the fic :)

Ultimate Charizard

14th April 2007, 06:19 PM

Nice. Its always good to add a filler now and then. Just a little bit of silly fun to lighten the mood while still keeping the Story going in the background.
I enjoyed it more than the last couple of chapters but thats mostly because im more a fan of action and comedy than i am of angst and emotion but i realise you cant please all of the people all the time (hmm, that would make a good saying)

And what the hell.....my Doppleganger gets more of a mention than me these days lol.

Andrew

14th April 2007, 09:53 PM

I find it hillarious TML is looking through people's letterboxes. I could see the neighbours going "What the hell is she doing? Is she casing the joint?" But Chris getting head buisnessman... Like... wouldn't someone with actual BUISNESS experience be a good choice... But, I'm not in charge, am I?

Also, I've been reading this whilst supremely hung over and vomiting repeatedly. Whenever I laughed, I had to go to the loo and then come back to read some more.

Also, there is foreshadowing! Oh no! CORRUPT is going to dissapear?!

The Hologram stuff was LOL. I was half expecting real pirates holograms to come along and slice them down. And the Stationary store comment. I'd be funny to see him have erasers and whatnot.

Liang being okay... Blah... How dissapointing! He has as many lives as Coke-0. MeLovesGhost, I never expected he had a guitar... like EVA. Breaking the 4th wall a few times was okay, amusing, and having a new narrator, it was a surprise. I wonder if we'll have other characters narrate? Like, someone particularly vindictive.

Charles' story of the cous-cous cousins made me think of Care Bears! Still, No-Frowns becoming suicidal is amusing. And the fact that the Island will heal you. I've been keeping tabs on Lost. Quite frankly, I'm sick of the ATeam on Lost and I want to see more Rose, Bernard, Claire, Libby (Oh wait she's dead)... Hurley's annoying... Maybe a Vincent Episode.... Because Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Saiyed and Locke shit me to tears. I didn't mind Nikki and Paolo but they died!

I wonder what the Lady/Luna thing is going to turn into.... TBA's brother.... irritating! The boat comment OzAndrew made was absolutely true and I make that snide one quite often. Lol. "Well if you love X so much why not MARRY IT!!" When I saw that X, whatever happened to the kid in the hospital Chris saw when he was visiting Morpheus after the rape. You know the one that was saying X over and over....

So they all went on pedal swans? Lol, brilliant. Still, the "Crack" team of investigators really really suck. Lol. Did they get all CSI? No? I think they should've cleaned his house after breaking in too. Wouldn't notifying their family be a good idea too? Seeing Greggles getting "Type Coverage" Bwha. I hope someone just uses Absorb to Ko them. Pulling a gun was very assy.

LadyFett is brilliant, I can imagine it can wear a wig and hooker clothes. Also, OzAlex having his comuppance was well deserved. As was the vomit... oooh... feels so bad. Charles getting on well with his doppleganger was funny too. Also, the Karin rip-off. Hillarious. Seeing TBA's Sand Tomb strat again was amusing. Also, funny that he didn't trust anyone but the EVIL NINJA.

I wonder what Violetta is up to, but I'm glad to see Rosie and Brooklyn again. Grey's backstory was good, poor Emma, but I don't know why they'd give prisoners Pokemon to train in Prison. Sounds like disaster to me! Still, having yourself as a character, hillarious. The urine samples are not as bad as any invasive proceedures I suppose.

Funny as with the entire hologram dream being a sham. As is No-Frown's pathetic Pokemon team. Leaving No-Frowns behind... ooh, Girafarig over again why was he attacked

Maybe next episode even having Charles Legend narrate a chapter, but it'd get very tiring. And in the end, it probably would've all been for him getting a bottle of milk from the store.

I am wondering what Amy's worst nightmare is. Good work, I enjoyed seeing so many TPMLers!

Elec Man EXE

16th April 2007, 10:53 AM

I've been lax on comments the last few chapters, admittedly. Laziness FTW!

This chapter was... well, interesting to say the least. It was kind of cool having a new narrator. TBA explaining the situation to the readers was fun.

The pirate hologram scene was trippy and amusing. Go pirates! :pirate: Even moreso when River walked in. "He owns a stationary shop?" hehe. Listening to Charles give his strange story was rather confused me, as I guess it should have. TBA's brother was just about as annoying as possible, a good personification of a salesman. The swan boats were funny. Drunken Andrew = even better than sober Andrew, impossible as it may seem.

Overall, the whole island storyline was amusing. I liked seeing the dopplegangers of all the TPM'ers (but where's mine? I'd like to see what kind of name you'd think up for him :keke: ). And it all turned out to be pointless, concussion-induced madness... sucks for Green Vindicator. I especially liked Chris' doppleganger, and TBA's comments about him.

I'm a moderator now, eh? Thats a bit of a suprise, but cool of course.

Grey's past... didn't see that coming. That was a nice bit of backstory. And I definately didn't see Gregg becomming paranoid and pulling a gun, of all things. He ought to know that nothing good can some of violence, someone ought to smack him upside the head.

Chris is missing, eh? I smell Dusclops evilness. Between that and Crystal Tears / Girafarig, the next chapter should really be interesting. Looking forward to it, yar.

Chris 2.1

18th April 2007, 06:36 PM

UC: I agree and another important element was the title character's storyline was consistent through the entire chapter. I thought that was something that unfortunately doesn't happen often enough, but allows the title to reflect the chapters content.

I do hope to add more comedy in. We have some drama and sadness as usual but the league will be lighthearted. People will have fantastic battle sequences and some will have humerous wins that aren't really down to skill as much as they are down to sheer luck.

Andrew: Well you have to understand these people are battlers that look after various things. I think Chris would make a fine business mod, but Elec Man got the job!

CORRUPT dissapearing? Why so? No I like CORRUPT.

Glad you liked the holograms! I had to bring the feel of the archives back, and the idea of a hologram ship piercing the darkness amused me. Liang is in the clear, but I think the entire situation actually shed some light on wherehe stands with Amy. Love in the air?

As I told you online, I am actually trying out some narration. The league cannot be planned in the same way that the normal chapters are so a lot of this is down to trial and error.

Possible candidates for narration duties include:
-Girafarig
-Charles Legend
-Chris Watarimono

Ch43 will take a bit of time I'm afraid!

Haha yea Charles wasn't being honest - the island cannot heal anyone! No-Frowns isn't funny and Andrew is still hungover! He was trying to impress people.

RE: Storylines
Lady/Luna
Brooklyn/Volletta
Girafarig/Crystal

two of these are connected to each other, which you'll learn about next chapter! One however is more of a standalone mini arc.

Stanley Stanne the Boat Hire Manne....he's based off those annoying salesmen at car showrooms. I loathe them! But I like TBA's brother. He was humouring to write.

To be fair none of the team are forensic experts. They were expecting to find Chris on the floor in his house or something. WHERE IS HE!?

Hehe glad you liked Karin's living corpse syndrome. I was going to write more but she did irritate me a bit!! I'll possibly do more of that........maybe invite some of the clones to the league?

I've been trying to find a suitable place in the fic for Grey's back story but never found it. Initially Emma Logue was actually a businesswoman who ended up runnng TPML in the last few chapters, but then I decided to give the name and character to the identity of the woman Grey was in love with. So I don't know who will run the league at the end. Her name sounds ever so much like Epilogue, since she was going to almost tie up the loose ends at the end of the fic. But we will perhaps hear some mention of her again.

I wonder who else knew about her? Did Grey ever tell Razor?

Pokemon in Prisons: they were given to them like once a day for an hour, that kinda thing, in confined spaces. Not "here's a sandshrew to take to your cell" "sandshrew dig me out".

The problem is Charles' character tends to blabber on a lot. I think you'll enjoy the resulting chapter. Amy's worse nightmare? Hmm.........it's not about something you'd expect.

Elec: Laziness = bad.

But thank you for replying! I like to see how people respond.......and a chapter like this is bound to stir something up! I can see there being an Elec Lady or something. Like some woman with really static hair. Hmm.

Elec is a mod! woop. We didn't actually see him last chapter but I expect we'll see/hear of his league progress during the next few chapters! Grey's backstory was sudden which helped I think. As I mentioned I thought it was a fitting place to explain Greys fondness to the league, the village, his theatre and his love of tutoring. He can grow close to someone and still be protected. But after hearing it, I think Gregg will leave the gun alone.

If you can smell Dusclops you might just be onto something. But what did Chris do wrong? What did Dusclops do? And where are Bea and David? It's like they all....dissapeared. Nobody has seen them at all.

You'll get more answers next chapter.

New preview:

Chapter 42: Round One! Part One: Charles Legend VS Girafarig
After learning about the group WAVEX, Crystal stays to watch Girafarig's first match of The Pokemon Masters League 2006. Can Girafarig stay focused enough to get to the next round, or will Charles suceed?

Among other leage battles, Luna Fuerte finds a surprise waiting for her at Spatial Spa when she gatecrashes Lady's meeting, and Amy's world is shaken when she recieves some startling news.

Brooklyn discovers some home truths about Volletta Kane, but the feisty woman pulls all the stops out to ensure her coworker stays quiet.

The Brooklyn/Volletta storyline has......taken a different route. Slightly.

Sike Saner

19th April 2007, 11:23 PM

Oh man.... Sorry for being so late to review--I actually hadn't expected there to be an update so soon, let alone more than one. I need to stop expecting everyone to write as slowly as I do, I guess. XD;

Anyway. A great dramatic chapter with some nice comedic elements, followed by a great comedic chapter with some cool dramatic elements. Okay, maybe I just made an understatement there. XD Well, bottom line is, both were excellent in many ways. :D

A particular highlight (or set of highlights, I guess would be more accurate) was learning more about Chris's family, seeing the interactions and troubles among them. Especially potent was the scene in which it was revealed that Chris's dad dumped his mom for another woman. While I have to say that both Bea and David are people that I would really, really not like to know in real life, at the same time, I feel like I can understand where they're coming from, and why they feel the way they do, and the same goes for Chris and Oscar. Curiously, I feel like I can sympathize with all of them. Which I suppose is a sign that you really did a great job at portraying all of these people as real, as people with souls--even a character like Bea, being how she is, I still can't help but feel kind of bad for her, as I do for everyone in that family.

Speaking of learning more about characters, I was glad to get that look at Grey's past that was provided in Chapter 42. Man... that was some potent stuff, too. Poor Emma. :( I was also glad about that Extra that allowed me to learn more about the Board of Governors.

And Volletta's certainly surprised me. o.o Somehow, I should have known there was more than meets the eye about her. I'm very curious about this "Thomas" she's been in contact with... Should be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out.

I’m also curious about what’s up with Lady, and what’s up with this “WAVEX” that was mentioned at the end of Chapter 42. And OH FRELL, what in God’s name happened to Chris at the end of Chapter 41?! Where is he now? There’s some major question marks there. I definitely look forward to seeing what that was all about. o.o

Lots of funny stuff, too. There was the hologram-dream-thing that TBA had, for example. And the dopplegangers of the Other Island--especially UuberTim, 04622, and Choco Stink. XD

And that plaque for Kyle in the hospital made me go “aww”. :(

I will now conclude this review with a few more random, favorite moments:

“Now the farm shop had this delicious new raspberry and mint flavour…I asked if they mixed the contents of two old flavors together and they gave me an extra tub to keep my big fat mouth shut!” she said.

“Honey, we need to go.”

“What?” I snapped. The Green Lanturn released a hardy-looking Ursaring and Sneasel seemed to enjoy the idea of challenging this beast.

“You’ve been in the sun far too long,” she told me. “Come on. Inside!”

“The greatest weakness was the very woman that brought him into the world!” announced The Green Lanturn.

“I’ll go in when I want,” I said firmly. “And you, shut up. At least I don’t have to wear spandex in the sun! Your body will be red raw.”

“Chicory!” Bea cried. “Vine whip!”

Her little Chikorita unleashed two thick vines that she used to slap and whip me with. I gave a weak yelp as I was harassed by the grass Pokemon, recalling Sneasel and dashing off out of the quarry. Bea followed importantly, wearing a big flowery hat.

“He’s right,” The Green Lanturn mused. “I am chaffing like the red fabric of hell is clenched around my thighs! I need some sort of moisturizer. To the Pharmacy!”

“I’M GOING TO BE AWAY!! YIPEE! Oh it’s going to be amazing! Sun, Sea, Sand….erm…Sea, and lots of Sea! I love the Sea! Except the stuff in the ocean! Anyway I’m going to treat patients who have swallowed infected needles whilst holidaying on the beach! Those nasty drug addicts with their filthy, filthy needles! Oooh! Be back soon! MWA! HAHA! EEP!”

“I will! Ladyffet use hyper beam!” he shouted.

“Wobb?”

“Hyper beam!”

“Wobb!”

“Hyper Beam!”

“…[I]Wobb…”

“…hyper –”

“WOBB!”

“ – beam?”

Boss work as usual. I’ll be back for the next--hopefully on time next time. XD;

Chris 2.1

20th April 2007, 10:51 AM

Sike: Heh my sig has updates in it - that's a good place to look :) These two chapters were so different in content and yet side by side they somehow worked!

I'm so glad you liked the flashbacks into Chris' past; I won't bore you with the alarming similarities it has with my own life but I do agree that all characters deserve sympathy. Bea's just trying to salvage her son's youth, possibly after realising how little attention she paid him; David is trying to emerge as the prominent male figure in the family with little sucess, and Chris has begun to realize he might be happiest when he's on his own.

Speaking of which...where IS he? I wish I had the stones to kill him off, but I can't see that happening at this point in the fic :|

Yea Emma was an elusive sort of figure I felt. A lot of our characters will get some interesting development during the league since I think this is a good oppertunity to delve into their past. I'd really like to look at Becca's life before or during TPML, as well as Amy or Liang's. Maybe we'll see that in future chapters.

Thomas....and Volletta...and well that entire storyline was going to climax next chapter but instead i've pushed it back a little. There's so much more to learn! Expect shocks.

Shocks also to be expected with regards to Lady's mysteriousness and the development of WAVEX. I'm also glad you liked the Kyle plaque :) We need reminders these people were such impacts on TPML!

Ok so over the next few chapters we're going to be getting a lot of action packed scenes! Expect Cocoa's gunshot at the Board (when Grey accidentally shot her) to resurface at the worst possible time! And don't think Amy's going to get completely off after setting that pulse off in the Bank!

Character development is the prime catalyst for the rest of the fic. We've learned so much about Grey and Chris, we'll also learn about some of the less involved characters such as MeLoveGhosts, Blademaster, Dark Dragonite and even Pichu, the ex Trading Mod who Cocoa Sting fired. We'll also potentially see old faces like Vermillion, Syberia, Mega Horny and Ultimate Charizard.

Expect a little bit of death and a decent amount of bloodshed as WAVEX and its people's intentions emerge. We'll learn who Thomas is, what Girafarig refused to do, who Lady V has been in contact with and just how much Volletta needs to keep her story covered up!

TPML Extra
#2: Cronus Industries and VA Corporations

Two key companies in the fic, but what is their story?

Cronus Industries is a big company in New York, founded by Gilligan Cronus. Gilligan's small business company dealt with finance and accounts, and soon began to grow as a firm. Gilligan passed it down to his son, Virgil Cronus, who continued to run the business.

Virgil employed his son, Christian, as his second-in-charge at CI. The company was thriving and blossoming, but Christian struggled to work under his father's difficult standards.

After Christian and his wife, Callisto, found trouble in raising new-born Gregg, Christian approached his father and asked for a raise, but being rebunked each time. In the end, Christian plotted to kill his father after learning he was next in line to take on the Business.

Taking the place as his fathers personal driver, Christian drove his father out to a sandstone wasteland, hurling him to the ground and pointing a gun at him. Virgil, evidently dismayed at seeing his son like this, explained that Christian would never have the guts to pull a trigger. Strong men can do that. He then proceeded to grab the gun and shoot himself in the throat. His message: Christian could have the business, but at the price of knowing he never got it the way he planned.

Christian went dark and operated under the name 'Ecks', telling only his wife that he had killed his father, when in actuality he had done no such thing.

Prior to this, Virgil had been approached to join The Board of Governors, who seemed interested in absorbing Cronus Industries. They wanted the next person in line to join them - a man who went by the name 'Ecks Ian'. As CEO, Ecks went to join The Board, promoting his wife, Callisto, as CEO and runner of the company.

During this time, a new league was being established in england and the Board wanted it to be monitored sucessfully. Since their sister station in London was not adequately supplied, Cronus Industries began building a small metal bunker near a wise lake in TPML 04621. It's purpose: to monitor and display all the goings on in the village. Nobody in TPML knew of this.

Callisto employed people to look after it, but when the testing stage of said league was finished, and the league went into its third sucessful year of operation, the project was scrapped as it was deemed unecessary. At this point Karin, a Public Relations Board Member who had been doing reports on the new village, decided to leave the Board in order to stay and run the League. She named herself 04621, after the picturesque place she fell in love with, and was the Head Lady of TPML.

By this point Karin was not the only Board Member to leave TPML, so the Board needed help filling in the spots. Ecks suggested current CEO of Cronus Industries, Callisto Thunder, and she was snapped up immediatelty.

Shortly after, Cronus Industries, under the maintanance of a lady named Maddison Algam, was absorbed by the Board of Governors. It is located on Floor Two. It operates as a branch of the BOG, still under Maddison's care.

A communications post was also planned on a small island just off from TPML 04621 - small bunkers were built, but the idea soon scrapped, leaving the desserted island to become inhabited by rejects of TPML.

V.A Corporations was founded by Leslie Van Artz, a working class man with a dream. His company was a communications-orientated one that is responsible for the VS Seekers and the clever computing across all TPML villages.

Leslie collaborated with the Board many times, even though his company was based in Manchester. His son, Joseph, was keen to enter the TPML League but his father refused as he was too young.

Leslie worked with Ecks on the Bunker project in TPML, which is where Ecks soon planned to frame Leslie for his own crimes. Ecks soon began leeching small saps of Gordon's money from his private accounts, working through Leslie's IP and using similar methods to act under Leslie's name.

When the trail got thicker, the finger pointed at Leslie, and Ecks managed to provide evidence that proved Leslie was guilty. He was arrested initially, but his wife managed to pay his bail so he could be released momentarily.

The night Leslie was released, someone broke into their house and his wife was brutally murdered, a blood-red X smeared on the walls. Joseph was the first to see it, becoming traumatised, seeing nothing but 'an almighty X'. He soon began to decline mentally and was restricted to hospital at TPML.

Leslie sold the company after his life was ruined from his jail sentence to his wife's death and his son's distant personality. He lives in the countryside now. A man named Steven Alexander runs the company, still in Manchester.

There we go! Basically a condensed version of ALL the information we've had in small pieces here and there: i wasn't sure quite how much of this information you knew, but about 80% of it is present in the fic.

Next TPML Extra: So how many TPML's are there? And what's the significance behind number 04621? You'll find out!

The Blue Avenger

30th April 2007, 03:17 PM

Right, I'm here! *is still catching up*

Chapter 41:

Wow, Bea's a jerk. After meeting her, I suddenly have so much more sympathy for Chris, heh. Although I did get a kick out of her calling Oz's shop seedy. She's probably not too far off either. In fact, the scene at Omastarbuck's in and of itself played out well; Crystal Tears was awesome, and I think that there's more to DD's motivations than we're seeing. ...David seems to have inherited more from his mother than his father; he's a bit of a prat, isn't he? Again, sympathy for Chris is rising. :P Green Lanturn was hilariously overdramatic, but the battle as a whole was funny if only for Bea. ...I'm really interested to see what Lady V is up to. She's been surrounded in mystery for a while, and I can't get a good read on her at all. And then of course we get to the "He kicked me out" bit... it was satisfying seeing Bea get a metaphorical slap in the face like that, I will admit. Having Oscar shack up with someone else seems out of character for what we've seen of him, but we haven't seen that much, admittedly, and he was married to Bea. That's reason enough, heh. ...As with Lady V, Voletta is intriguing. I'm interested to see who Thomas is and what effect he'll have. And then Chris gets Dusclops'd. Sucks to be him, doesn't it? Kid goes through hell on a fairly regular basis.

Chapter 42:

Of course Oz is running a black market shop and admits to it freely. :P The concussion hallucination was great... and probably something I'd actually end up doing - I can totally see myself singing TMBG songs with holograms. I'm not sure whether that's a good sign or not. ...and then I take over narration. Best. 4th wall break. Ever. Of course, I could be slightly biased. ...Good to know that Liang pulls through. He has it worse than Chris, doesn't he? Geez, this league is like a magnet for people who are themselves disaster magnets. ..."A real dive." Oh wow, that actually made me cringe. Nice. ...Of course Oz is drunk. :P Other than that... wow, a pretty motley crew. And thank you SO MUCH for having No-Frowns show up again. I love that character. Speaking of awesomely bizarre characters, Stan fits that bill quite nicely. What scares me though is that I actually know people like that. I dig the guy's rather verbose nature, incidentally. And Chris' disappearance gets even more bizarre. If it really was Dusclops, I can see why the knife strategy didn't work too well. ...Ooh, Grey's mysterious. :O And then UuberFred shows up. Oh god. Oz's explosion at OzAlex was hilarious, and the role call was good too. Grey's backstory is really sad, though; this explains a lot about his character. And would I be correct in saying that you yourself had a small cameo in this chapter? :P Also, “No, he doesn’t, and I’m sure he eats children" is in fact one of the better quotes I've heard in a while... but as I said, I might be a touch biased. It was oddly satisfying seeing the plan fail in such a spectacular manner too. And, heh, poor No-Frowns. I wonder if his doppelganger is as depressed? And finally, with mention of WAVEX, maybe we'll get some answers.

Phew. I think that's about it, except to say that I'm looking forward to the next chapter, as always.

emerald fan!

5th May 2007, 12:32 PM

hi im new and im sorta confused about all youe talk about charaters and catching and battling pokemon. i just cant seem to find out how if you guys can tell me how to please do!

MeLoVeGhOsTs

7th May 2007, 09:28 AM

My character appeared! Hurray! *ahem* Very nice indeed. Slowbro *drools*

I liked the way TBA narrated the chapter, but I enjoy Chris' naration more. Although I like a humorous note, I'm more into the whole seriousness in a fic. Battling and such. With the league starting out, I'll be checking TPM every day for an update.

Drunken Andrew has to be the best character in the whole fic. Seriously. He cracked me up as a cliché parody off a drunk.

I waited for Grey's backstory for quite a while and I'm a bit dissapointed actually. The whole bad youth is a tad boring and overdone, although I'm actually glad to know it :)

I hope Dusclops re-appears and has something to do with this whole dissapearing thing. Jolly! I'm even hoping for a Dusclops evolution.

Thomas, Volleta, Brooklyn, Girafarig, I'm standing on the edge of waiting. The Lady/Luna thing is something I've been dying to know for a while now, so I'm finally getting to know it.

I also hope Bea and David die, they irritate me and they totaly destroy Chris. I just want Chris to train some more so that he has a fair shot in the league.

Glad to see my character appear and to Andrew: yes I have a guitar, I'm playing guitar for three years now.

Very nice work again, although the island isn't really my thing, but nontheless I want to read the next chapter (league! battles!) very badly. Keep up the good work! :D

Chris 2.1

7th May 2007, 02:04 PM

TBA: Glad you liked the chapters! Ch43 sheds some more light on where Chris has been and what he's been doing - I really liked the idea of our hero being AWOL for a while, and when we reach the conclusion of that story, we'll perhaps see Chris in a different way.

I've actually written out the Lady/Luna scene for Ch43, just tweaking it a little. In Ch43 we have a few scenes at the start before a 3-day time lapse, wherein the league begins. Lady's scene is before this gap and is structurally quite surprising. I'm very pleased with it but the chapter won't quite wrap up the plot.

As for Volletta.....next chapter will point you in the right direction. But there are some big big shocks coming up on that front. Answers on WAVEX will come in floods: you'll get a sense of what's going on.

No-Frowns is stuck on Other Island. For now at least.

MLG: Hey! MLG (among others) do get more spotlight during the league. The next chapter is about halfway done so it won't be long! Grey's backstory helped...and while I agree it isn't amazing original, it served as a catalyst to propel his relationship with Gregg. The content achieved the desired results, results that might have not come about if Grey was actually the son of an alien and a palm tree.

No Dusclops evolution I'm afraid, but Dusclops' does tie into the story of Chris' dissapearence. He has a lot of influence over where Chris has been.

We meet Thomas next chapter. But this isn't Thomas' first time in the fic.

Ch43 - LEAGUE! I'll write up some more tonight guys. I hope you enjoy it when it is ready.

Chris 2.1

18th May 2007, 07:27 PM

So sorry when you see a reply :p

Just a quick note to say I'm alive! And Ch43 is almost completed. This is basically to tell you that I'm working on it but this first chapter, which is so different from the previous ones, has been difficult to write and it still is.

I enjoy it, as I proofread the 23 pages I have written. I'm pleased with the way some things have worked out. Others I am extremely pleased with. Again I have ended up adding things I didn't mean to. Like the woman from the elemental stones shop. She is in Ch43 and has an amusing role.

I also tweaked each battle scene. I wanted the referees to be more prominent and I think you'll get a sense of that.

So hopefully it will be up this week! I predict the fic will reach 50 chapters now. Possibly more. Maybe 52/53.

Chris 2.1

19th May 2007, 04:45 PM

Chapter Forty-Three

Round One – Part One
Girafarig VS Charles Legend

“So what is WAVEX?” Crystal asked reluctantly. Girafarig sighed as he spoke.

“WAVEX is a corporation…a group. They are led by a person called Thomas who is powerful and very frightening,” he explained. “WAVEX are aiming to fix the Pokemon Masters League.”

“Fix it?”

“Yea. They have a person that they want to win…they call them ‘the subject’, but I’m not sure which member it is. The Subject is being helped to progress through the league,” Girafarig explained. “WAVEX are doing everything they can to make sure Subject wins.”

“How are they doing it?” Crystal asked keenly.

“They blackmail people. They threaten them. They paid me £2,000 to lose my first match. But after I got the money I…I couldn’t do it. This means a lot to me…and even though I’m not strong enough to win, I couldn’t force myself to lose. I have to fight, and do my best…and that is the position I deserve. So I spoke to Brink.”

“The guy that hit you?” Crystal asked wildly.

“Yea, yea, he’s a member of WAVEX. He’s the one who approached me about losing on purpose. He said that by fixing the outcome, I’d help someone else get what they deserve…and that I didn’t deserve to win anyway. I agreed with him and…everything made sense. But when I changed my mind, I spoke with him. He explained that I needed to be persuaded…and he smashed me in the face. He kicked me, beat me, tore into me…and reminded me that Thomas wouldn’t accept my decision.”

“I see,” replied Crystal thoughtfully.

“I am not falling down on purpose,” he said. “I won’t. I refuse. But Brink, Thomas, WAVEX…they’re going to kill me if I defeat my opponent in the match.”

“They’ve threatened to…” Crystal corrected him. “If you believe that you should stand up to their threats than stick to your guns.”

“Yea…” he replied airily.

“So who else is in WAVEX?” Crystal asked.

“More people than you’d think,” Girafarig said darkly. “We work in units; I answered to Brink. So do a few other people. But other members answered to other people who ultimately answer to Thomas.”

“So Thomas is behind everything?” Crystal pondered.

“Yea,” Girafarig went on. “They operate somewhere in the village.”

He gave a long sigh. However his VS Seeker went off, revealing his tournament information. Girafarig scrolled through the information before letting out a cry.

“Look at this,” he replied.

From: TPML Registry
Thank you for registering for The Pokemon Masters League. Your Round One match is scheduled to take place at Hancock Harbor in three days time at 12:00pm. It is a one-on-one match against Charles Legend. Please arrive at least half an hour before your match for final registration and debriefing. Thank you.

“Charles?” Crystal asked.

“Hancock Harbor!” Girafarig snapped. “What a coincidence that a rock-Pokemon specialist has his first match at a harbor!”

“You think WAVEX had something to do with this?” Crystal asked.

“They want me to fail,” snarled the boy. “And they can do what they want. They have connections on the Board, apparently.”

“Look,” Crystal said. “You’ve got three days until the league. I can help you.”

*

It was late at night. The moon was out, shining down on the beautiful beach of Tranquil Shores. But there was a girl that did not enjoy the moonlit night. Luna Fuerte, whose TPML name was ‘Luna the Strong’ in Spanish, was carefully sneaking into a building at the very end of the beach.

It was Spatial Spa – an old hotel revived by Dark Dragonite before he lost his job as Head of Business. Now a very popular spa, Spatial Spa was frequently visited by beach-goers and tourists alike. After intercepting a message to her friend Lady Vulpix, Luna was heading to room 6C.

Was she sure what she would find? No, she wasn’t, and this was perhaps the most worrying thing of all. Was Lady a criminal? A thief? A murderer? Or was this a purely innocent situation that she was going to interrupt?

Solrock, Lunatone and Natu arrived at her side; they had been scouting the corridors to help her identify where room 6C was. Luna had snuck in at the same time as a delivery man had entered the building, and now she knew where to go.

“Hey!” cried a voice. A very important-looking man saw Luna. “What are you doing in here?”

“Hypnosis!” Luna whispered. Lunatone and Solrock both projected swirling rings of energy that entered the mans eyes. He instantly staggered back into the wall, where he slumped to the ground. Luna smirked, recalling both her rock Pokemon and keeping Natu perched on her shoulder.

She followed the corridor, being as quiet as possible, before stopping. She heard a jangling of keys and a whispering voice. Suddenly spying a supply closet, Luna dashed inside, shutting the door discreetly. It was then that she heard a familiar voice.

“I’m leaving ‘my room’ now; I’ll be there in a minute.”

It was Lady. Luna listened keenly as the footsteps got quieter. Waiting, she slowly crept out the door. Lady’s heels whipped around the corner and she silently followed. Luna then arrived at a long, slender corridor, Lady walking powerfully down towards her destination in a navy coloured suit.

It was going to be hard to follow. Luna quickly hopped along, trying to be light on her feet. She had nowhere to hide if she was caught. As she tiptoed she felt like a sitting duck, simply waiting to be discovered by Lady as she snooped on her meeting. Was this the way to do it?

Not at all. Would Solia want her hiding and sneaking? No. She needed to be bold, outrageous and confrontational.

“Natu use shadow ball!”

Chirping, Natu charged up a lethal orb of swirling shadow. Hearing the voice, Lady Vulpix turned and eyed Luna. The orb smashed into Lady and threw her off her feet. She hit the floor awkwardly and gripped a Pokeball, hurling it forward.

A Stantler emerged; the spindly deer-like Pokemon stood there firmly, its eyes boring into Luna.

“Iael,” Lady whispered. “Keep that girl rooted to the spot.”

“Natu use Zen Headbutt!” Luna said, leaping away from Stantler’s gaze. Her Pokemon swept through the air and delivered a concise slam to Stantler’s side. Natu then fired a psychic blast to grip and throttle the foe’s weak legs.

“What are you doing here?” Lady hissed.

“I read the message,” Luna replied firmly. “Why are you here? Why are you discussing me? And who’s paying you?”

Lady looked at her carefully, Stantler by her side. Natu flapped to Luna’s shoulder.

“You saw my message,” she mused. “I thought…when you left the quarry so suddenly you might have…”

“Answer my question,” Luna said angrily.

“Luna, this is very complicated,” Lady added hastily. “You need to understand –”

“TELL ME!” screamed Luna wildly. “Or I’ll send every Pokemon I have to tear you up!”

“Stop shouting!” Lady snapped. “It’s midnight!”

“Tell me the truth damnit!” Luna moaned. “You were the only person who ever gave me the respect I deserved. Don’t stop now.”

“Look, Luna…”

“Tell me right now or I’ll leave this village and tell your client you’ve failed your mission, whatever it is…” Luna said. “I mean it. I’ll honestly just leave, just so I can savor the satisfaction that you didn’t do your job.”

“Ok, ok,” Lady sighed. “Luna. I…was paid by my boss to train you up. She wanted you to win the contest and made a bet on you. You had low odds. I managed to help you win and secure a victory for myself, too. I received some of the cash.”

“You took advantage of me just to win some money?” Luna snapped. “After I was emotionally fragile and after I lost my sister? You bitch!”

She advanced at Lady, who had her Stantler quickly blast a thin powder at Luna. She collapsed into the wall, stiff as a board.

“You need to understand,” Lady said softly. “I began training you…and I realised what you had gone through. Soon…well soon I felt closer to you than I had anticipated. Like a friend. And I knew I couldn’t tell you about my mission until I knew you better…otherwise…you would run. I wanted to stay as your tutor…your coach, even after the contest had ended. My boss wanted me to stay and train you up for the Spring Contest, too.”

Luna had an ugly grimace on her face as she gritted her teeth in frustration, propped against the wall like an ironing board.

“I’m going to meet my boss now,” Lady said. “And then…Luna…I’ll disappear. I’ll just collect my pay and leave this village. I promise you’ll never see me again.”

Lady clicked her fingers.

“Stantler, send her to sleep. Send her to her room.”

Stantler began to emit slow hypnotic waves through the air. Luna felt them lap over her body and soon became sleepy and tired.

“Thank you for being such good company,” Lady said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

Luna was soon fast asleep. Stantler used some of its psychic prowess to teleport Luna away from the Hotel. Lady Vulpix sighed and continued down the hallway. She shortly arrived at Room 6C and knocked three times. She stood back, waiting.

The door opened.

“You’re late,” said the voice.

“I’m sorry Dawn,” Lady replied firmly. She stepped into the room, where it was revealed that one of Luna’s other sisters, Dawn, was waiting with a suitcase and a lot of money.

“Not at all,” Dawn replied.

“She found me,” Lady replied. “I told her I was…helping my boss win a bet.”

“You used the cover story then?” Dawn asked irritably. She looked surly as she crossed her arms, her blonde hair in wide curls. “I have your money here.”

“Good,” Lady said.

“You’re doing a good job,” Dawn said. “Although tonight may have put a dent in everything. Luna likes you. She confides in you. My other two sisters never liked the idea of someone ‘keeping an eye’ on Luna, but when she made it clear we weren’t allowed to spend time with her we all reacted in different ways.”

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Lady replied firmly. “Dawn the money is wonderful but I am not willing to betray this girl’s trust.”

“How are you betraying her trust?” asked Dawn. “I hired you to be a friend for Luna. To emerge as a coordinating scout and to bond with her. You have done that. All you need to do is stay in this village and be Luna’s support and I will continue to pay you handsomely.”

“Your sister Eve spoke to me at the contest,” Lady mumbled.

“Eve thinks she knows about this,” Dawn replied. “But she doesn’t have a clue. Now take your money and go. Get some sleep and repair what you’ve damaged in your relationship.”

Lady sighed and picked up the suitcase. She was angry with Dawn for doing this to her. Striding towards the door, Lady stopped.

“No.”

“What did you say?” Dawn asked.

“I said no,” Lady retorted. “I will not do this anymore.”

“I think you need to reconsider,” Dawn replied.

In a flash Lady swung her arm around, smashing Dawn in the face with the heavy suitcase. Dawn staggered back and Lady grabbed a letter opener from the table. Dawn’s eyes were wide in fear as blood wept down her face from her nose.

“What the hell?” she snapped. “Gabi!”

“I’m not doing this any more damnit!” Lady snapped. “I told you that and you still tried to keep me here! NO!”

She swung her suitcase again; Dawn screamed and fell to the floor. Lady gripped the letter opener and watched Dawn threateningly. A thick sweat dribbled down Dawn’s face.

“Wh-What are you going to do?” Dawn asked meekly. “Kill me?”

“This girl deserves to be left alone!” Lady snapped. “Stop this possessiveness!”

“It’s not your job to decide what’s best for her!” argued Dawn. “I’m her sister. I decide. Now get off me!”

She rolled out of Lady’s way aptly. She got up, turned and headed across the spacious room into a kitchen area.

“I will not let me and this girl be enslaved by you!” cried Lady as she followed Dawn. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed Dawn, who turned and punched Lady in the face. Lady fell back but sidestepped to avoid a vicious swing from Dawn.

“This is for the best!” Lady cried, trying to joust Dawn with the letter opener. Dawn managed to kick Lady, grab the letter opener and hurl it out of the way. Lady got a chopping board and swung it into the woman’s face, causing a deep crack as the board smashed.

“GET OFF ME!” shouted Dawn as she writhed in pain. Her hand felt along the worktop but before she could grab an implement she felt a second of freedom. She ducked under Lady and ran to the side, but Lady turned with a splintered fragment of the chopping board and hit her again. Lady, backed against the counter, managed to grip something. A meat hammer.

She swung her free arm up jubilantly and smashed the spiked mallet into Lady’s head. Lady gave a lurching gasp as the mallet lay imbedded in her skull. Blood began to leak down the side of her head. Dawn pulled away.

Lady staggered forward, a dumbfounded look on her face. Dawn grabbed the mallet and wrenched it from the wound, causing a sticky, squelching wretch. She then smashed it into Lady’s head a second time, giving a sudden, raw scream as she did. Lady groaned and slumped over the sofa, having staggered into the living room. Dawn’s eyes were wide as she stood there, numb not from the pain but from the realization of what she had done to defend herself.

“Oh my god,” she said emptily. The woman lay there over the sofa. She was not moving.

*

Three Days Later…

It was a glorious day. The sun shone brightly over the crystal waters of Hancock Harbor. This was day one (of many) of the official Pokemon Masters League Tournament in Village 04621. Round One had officially begun.

However Crescent Walk, the stadium area overlooking the village, remained locked by a vigilant janitor called Alf. The First Round was actually held…all around the village. They were the qualifying matches, and were fought in a number of arenas chosen at random before the match was to take place.

Everybody had trained hard, and over the last three days there was a definite increase in last-minute training. Two particular combatants were having their Round One battle in Crush Quarry – a lone, barren wasteland of rocks and dust. It was 10am, and Hanada Tattsu just sent out his Wartortle.

His opponent was a soft, shy girl called Twilight, who had pale skin and was wearing a deep blue dress. She smiled sweetly as she sent out a Medicham, a thin and supple warrior with monkey-like characteristics.

“This will be a 1-1 Pokemon match,” said the referee. “A victory qualifies the battler for entry into Round Two. You may begin.”

“Wartortle use water gun!” Gregg said firmly. Wartortle opened his mouth and blasted a foaming spray of water towards Medicham. Medicham closed her hands together, forming a protective barrier. The water gun jetted up vertically before arching back down and firing at Wartortle.

“Withdraw!”

Wartortle tucked into his shell instantly, but Medicham opened her palms and grabbed the foe’s shell with her psychic prowess. She used her psychic attack to manipulate and spin the shell, causing it to hurtle around at a dizzying speed.

“Wartortle!” Gregg shouted. “Try and get out!”

“Faster, Medicham!” Twilight cried. She smiled as her eyes glimmered. “Now counter-clockwise!”

Medicham waved her hands and sent Wartortle spinning the other way sharply. The Pokemon was a mere blur as he was trapped in his shell, Medicham waving her hands magically.

There were a few people watching the match, mulling around on the large rocks or else standing in the distance. One was Grey, who sat on a rock calmly and observed the match. He didn’t seem particularly worried by Gregg’s situation.

“Wartortle! Try a water gun!” Gregg shouted.

“Medicham hold it in place and sweep in for thunderpunch!” Twilight cried. Medicham charged up crackling volts and sparks in her hand as she tore through the air; Wartortle, spill being spun on the spot, blasted a water gun that was propelled by his spinning into a swirling perimeter of cold water. Medicham was struck by the attack before her punch could connect, breaking the psychic connection and propelling Wartortle into the air.

“Wartortle!” Gregg cried. His Pokemon landed awkwardly and stumbled, looking dizzied. “Ok! Good work! Ice Beam!”

Wartortle nodded, charging up the pearly-white beam. He leapt up and blasted it down at Medicham, who was struck in her torso, reeling slightly. She span around and leapt up with a kick. Wartortle dodged it, albeit by staggering unintentionally.

*

It was mid morning and Gordon was pleasantly sipping on his coffee. Piping hot, strong and alluring…the perfect way to start his day. Gordon set his reading glasses down. Meanwhile, Cocoa Sting was in a meeting with Ida Gale, the head of New York’s TPML. They had begun the league today and already had an entrant into Round Two.

“His name is Ultimate Charizard,” Ida said conversationally. “Fantastic battler. He’s only just emerged before registration closed.”

Cocoa gave a nod; she knew Ultimate was from 04621 and was banned from that specific league. She did not like to tell Ida that UC had a dark past; everybody seemed to agree that the further away these people were the better. UC had acted out of respect for Ecks. Now he was dead, Cocoa believed Ultimate would begin to become a normal person again.

Meanwhile Austin and Rosie mumbled into conversation over a coffee in the Relaxation Room, Austin staring at his feet as Rosie eagerly twiddled her fingers. On Floor 5, the Technicians floor, however, Brooklyn Knight was in his office working on something.

After inspecting Volletta Kane’s computer he had found a goldmine of information relating to everything that she was up to. He made several copies and was just going over everything to ensure that his findings were accurate and presented properly.

“Gordon?” Brooklyn said over the phone. “Hi. I’ve got some important documents to show you. It’s very serious. Can I come up to your office in about ten minutes?”

“I’m a little busy right now,” Gordon replied firmly. “But I can see you in an hour.”

“Thank you,” Brooklyn replied, putting the phone down. He got up and decided to go to the top floor now anyway – he had a bit of collaborative work he could be doing with Rosie. He left his office briskly and locked the door behind him, taking a disc which contained all the information of his presentation.

Walking down the hallway he saw Jacques at work. Deciding that he would take the elevator, Brooklyn hit the button and waited patiently. He had discovered that Volletta Kane was working with high-ranking members of a company called WAVEX and passed on important information from the Board. She could get arrested. Brooklyn smiled as the door opened and Arthur Pacie, Legal Advisor, got out. Brooklyn stepped into the lift and was instantly whisked up to Floor 12.

Here he would finally put an end to Volletta’s schemes. He would get recognition for finding this…how could it have gone unnoticed? He paused however when the lift began to slow down far too soon and he came to an abrupt juddering halt in the middle of the lift shaft. Brooklyn looked around; the doors were not opening. The lights dimmed, the left one flickering off, and leaving him in worry.

He picked up the phone, pressing it to his ear and pushing the ‘Call for Help’ button.

“Hello?” he said urgently. “The lift’s jammed. I can’t get out.”

There was no response.

“I-Is anyone there? This is Brooklyn Knight. I’m on the Board of Governors.”

Again, no answer.

“Hello?”

On the other end of the line, Volletta Kane held the phone at arms length. She then disconnected the emergency phone and replaced it on the hook before she walked back down the hallway, a smile glazing her lips.

*

“We are here in Main Square TPML with a cataclysmic first round match!” yelled a voice. It was Chris Watarimono, DJ of Revival Radio, who was doing guest commentary on a match. In the main square MeLoveGhosts was frantically battling against a trainer named Joe.

Joe was using a Hitmontop in the large, caged arena, while MLG had his Miltank out. Hitmontop leapt onto his head and span frantically towards the dairy cow, who leapt left and clung to the side of the cage as Hitmontop swerved past.

“Ice Beam!” MLG shouted. His Pokemon blasted a frosty beam of ice down to the ground, striking it and glazing it over.

“Hitmontop get up and use quick attack!” Joe cried. Landing on his feet, Hitmontop sped through the air and smashed into Miltank, who fell from her place high on the caged wall and hit the ground. Hitmontop charged up a silvery orb of power that sparkled and shone; he launched it and it flew through the air like a demented ball. It swerved down and homed in on Miltank, smashing into her and exploding.

“Come on!” MLG cried.

“Hitmontop displays the use of Gyro Ball,” Chris Watarimono commented. “A rare and powerful steel-type attack that actually gets stronger the more the opponent tries to evade.

“Miltank and Hitmontop are evenly matched here,” he went on. “Who will pull through?”

“Hitmontop use rapid spin!”

“Miltank use an iron tail!” MLG cried. Miltank’s tail shimmered a metallic colour as she leapt up and swung the attack around. Hitmontop was struck hard, teetering off balance. Miltank then swung her fist under and up, uppercutting Hitmontop and sending him flying across the arena. He slammed into the wall of the cage, groaning.

“Ok Hitmontop, get up!” Joe cried. “You’re ok! You’re doing great. Now I need you to use rapid spin and quick attack!”

“Miltank!” MeLoveGhosts said, staring at the clear skies. “Use a Solarbeam!”

“Miruu!”

“MeLoveGhost’s Miltank is a mistress of elemental attacks,” cried Chris Watarimono. “The grass move solarbeam draws energy from the sun, so on a day like today you can bet this attack will be packed with power.”

Hitmontop span through the air at great speed like a fantastic whirring top. Body glowing brightly, Miltank unleashed a fantastic white beam of heated solar energy, which hurtled into Hitmontop, smashed into his frail shape and ploughed him into the mesh cage that they were in.

“Now! Thunderbolt!” cried the boy. Miltank unleashed a very quick, precise bolt of lightening into the cage itself; the metal conducted the electricity and the entire cage became a crackling prison of volts. Hitmontop, clutching onto the wall, was frazzled and shocked, falling to the ground in a heap.

“And it’s OVER!” shouted Chris Watarimono. “In a fantastic science lesson MLG manages to conduct his own attack into his opponent! Joeseph Malin is defeated and MeLoveGhosts proceeds to Round 2!”

“YES!” MLG cried. “Miltank!”

His large Pokemon gripped him fondly and they shared an embrace. They had cleared the first round! They were going to Round 2!” In the audience, a group of businessman watched the match half-heartedly.

Chris 2.1

19th May 2007, 04:47 PM

“Hey River,” Amy said kindly. She was sitting in the park having her lunch (and taking in some of the rare post-winter sunshine) when River emerged with her Masquerain and Furret.

“Hi,” River said.

“How’s it going?” Amy asked casually. “Had your Round One match yet?”

“No, it’s this afternoon,” River replied. “VS The Blue Avenger.”

“Oh, I see,” Amy said curiously. “How do you think you’ll do?”

“Ok I guess,” River laughed. “He’s been away though. I don’t know where, but he’s been away.”

“Speaking of which,” Amy said, swallowing a bite of her sandwich. “Have you found anything about Chris?”

“Yes, actually,” River said keenly, sitting down. “I spoke with Chris Watarimono before. Since he’s the radio DJ and the Radio Tower is up on Trolgar Mountain, he came down a few days ago to come see some of the matches. He got someone to cover his shows. That psycho Nurse who helped judge the contest. Anyway when he was walking down, he said he saw Chris walking up the mountain with his mother and brother.”

“Really?” Amy said wildly.

“Really,” River said.

“So wait…when exactly was this?” Amy asked River.

“I spoke with Becca. We’ve pinpointed it. It was the day after we stopped hearing from him. The day after he disappeared.”

“So he’s up Trolgar Mountain then?” Amy asked.

“Well Chris Watarimono hasn’t seen him come down,” River sighed.

“Is there any way you Becca and…who else was it that went to investigate his flat?”

“MeLoveGhosts,” River said.

”Yes, MLG. Is there any way the three of you can’t go to there on a search?”

“We’re all battling at different times,” River sighed. “Well, MLG won his match against JoeJo. Becca has her match soon against Toxicity. I’ve got mine later. It just won’t work.”

“We’ll sort something out tonight,” Amy said, thinking. “The last match is at 10pm, and the earliest one tomorrow isn’t until 9am. We could go looking then?”

“It will be dark…but it’s a good idea,” River agreed. “Look, I’m off to train quickly. But I’ll speak later.”

“Ok,” Amy said, waving. No sooner had she settled herself back down when an alarming cry rang out through the park. So loud was this cry that Silencer, who was training his Kadabra, managed to direct a psychic attack right into Hughie Hott’s Hotdog Van, sending processed sausages flying everywhere.

“AMY WOLFSONG!”

“Whaaa!?” Amy cried, turning. A girl ran over with two men, who were holding recording equipment with them. The girl wore baggy cargo jeans and a gray hoody, while her friends (slightly older than her) held microphones, cameras and other recording devices.

“OH MY GOD! AMY!”

“What’s wrong?” Amy cried, turning. She looked at the girl. “Oh my god! Pichu!”

“Yes!” the girl cried. This was Pichu – a former member of TPML who had previously battled Aragornbird for the Head Referee job. Having lost, Pichu was given Head of Trading. She was grouchy and surly, often quite rude, but when Cocoa Sting took over she fired Pichu and told her to pack her bags. Despite deserving it, Pichu still argued that it was unfair.

“This is such a surprise!” cried Pichu. “Amy when I was in TPML you’d been pronounced DEAD!”

“Oh yea,” Amy said, thinking. Cocoa’s Regime had begun while Amy was held captive under Ivy Lake. Pichu presumably thought Amy was actually dead, and the reason for the girl’s large scream was justified.

“It’s great to see you!” Pichu cried. “Oh. This is Marcus Deatley and this is Arman Wayne. They’re my crew!”

“Crew?”

“Yea, I’m a journalist now!” Pichu explained. Her dark, ginger-brown hair was in two pigtails and despite being roughly 20 years of age, she still had a few freckles. “When Cocoa kicked me out, I got a job as a reporter for a local news station. We broadcast in and around TPML so since the league has begun today we’ve been interviewing battlers!”

“Oh cool!” Amy said.

“I got a great interview with Hanada Tattsu – god, I remember that guy from when I was around. He only had a few Pokemon back then but he seems pretty strong now! He beat Twilight in his match. Wartortle VS Medicham. Very frantic!” Pichu commented.
“Anyway Amy I was wondering if we could perhaps have a quick interview? From the Head Lady? I understand you run the place now?”

“Well yes,” Amy said. “With Grey.”

“Of course,” Pichu said. “I’ve done Stealth Journalism 101 and I still can’t track that guy down. So anyway. Interview?”

“I guess so,” Amy said. “Yea, ok.”

“Great!” Pichu said happily.

*

“Oh my god, oh my god,” gasped Girafarig. There was quite a crowd at Hancock Harbor as his battle lay ahead. He was standing on the arena, which was essentially a large, wide, wooden jetty by the ocean. Crystal Tears was in the audience, watching him nervously.

“Welcome to this first round match,” said the referee. Girafarig stood on the end nearest the water. He felt surrounded…scared…but something kept his spirit alive. He saw Crystal in the audience, smiling. “Girafarig VS Charles Legend. This is a one-on-one match.”

He turned.

“Charles, you have to send out your Pokemon first.”

“Ok,” he replied firmly. “I choose you! Jaws!”

His Pokeball burst open to reveal a Carnvanha, which leapt promptly into the water around the arena. Girafarig sighed as he gripped his own Pokeball and unleashed his battler. From the bright flash of light a Pikachu emerged, looking perky.

“Girafarig has sent out a Pikachu to combat Charles’ Carvanha!” the referee cried. “Our database shows that Girafarig – who is known for training rock and ground types – recently received the Pikachu in a trade from Crystal Tears.”

“Jaws! Aqua Jet!”

A thin, dart-like jet of water sped through the air from the water and struck Pikachu, who clutched his chest and staggered back.

“Thunderbolt! Aim for the water!” Girafarig yelled, knowing fine well that any electricity hitting the water would cause excellent damage. The bolt tore through the air, arcing down towards the water…but Carvanha, on his own impulse, leapt high out the water and arched over the arena.

“Good!” Charles cried, as the electrical attack missed. “Take down!”

In the air, Carvanha sped down at Pikachu and rammed into him. Pikachu cried out and collapsed, Carvanha then going into a body slam. Pikachu used an iron tail to hurl Carvanha off him, before blasting a thunderbolt up and shocking the fish in mid-air.

“Use agility to leap into the water again!” Charles yelled.

“Pikachu! Thundershock!” Girafarig cried. “Zap him!”

“Carvanha use bite on the jetty!” Charles yelled. Carvanha sank his jaws into the pier’s edge, causing him to avoid the electric attack that zapped the ocean floor. He dropped into the water and swam under the pier.

“Use dark pulse!” Cried the boy. Girafarig stood there innocently, Pikachu’s ears prickling up and down for any sign of the foe, when a crackling, pulsating beam of energy burst up from the pier and tore a large hole in the center.

“Whoa!” Girafarig yelled. “Pikachu! Fire a thunderbolt down that hole!”

“Jaws, leap up!” Charles cried, but the attack didn’t quite work. Carvanha ended up leaping right into the thunderbolt, zapping him hard. He fell limply back into the ocean.

“Ok Pikachu, unleash a thunderwave into the water,” Girafarig said firmly. Crystal was watching from the stands – he had the upper hand now. Tiny bolts of lightening pierced through the air and darted into the water where Jaws was swimming. He gave a large thick grunt as he was zapped, flailing around wildly.

“Pikachu is taking excellent advantage of the hole in the pier!” cried an announcer. “By doing so he is exposing Carnvanha to the electrical assaults while expertly being free of any incoming attacks!”

“Jaws use agility…then dark pulse!” Charles shouted. Carvanha, despite being hurt, built up speed and hurtled through the hole in the pier. As he did, his mouth throbbed and he blasted a crackling pulse of blackened energy that smashed into Pikachu, ferociously driving him along and across the pier.

“TAKE DOWN!” Charles cried as Carvanha used his descent to sweep down and give Pikachu a hearty tackle. Crying, the electric Pokemon flew off the end of the pier and out of sight.

“Crap!” Girafarig yelled.

“Pika!” yelled the Pokemon.

“Pikachu is hurled off the pier and into dangerous territory!” yelled the announcer. Pikachu splashed into the water, where he could see Carvanha’s fin as the foe swam towards him. Pikachu paddled away but was soon smashed into and bitten by the foe.

“Pikachu! Thunderbolt!” Girafarig cried. Pikachu cried out and unleashed a fantastic bolt of lightening; the sea flashed and illuminated as the rodent leapt onto Carvanha and up towards the pier.

“Jaws! Get Pikachu!” Charles cried. The mouse clung onto the edge of the pier frantically as Carvanha leapt up to attack.

“Iron tail!” Girafarig yelled. Pikachu’s tail glowed a metallic colour and he swung it desperately. He smashed Carvanha’s face and the piranha dropped into the sea effortlessly.

“That’s it!” cried the announcer. “Carvanha is down! Girafarig has won the match and goes on to Round 2 of the Tournament!”

Applause rang out from around the seating as Girafarig gave a deep sigh. Charles, concerned, ran along the pier to look over the edge, where his Carvanha floated lazily. Girafarig helped Pikachu up and gave him a squeeze.

“Thanks,” he whispered.

“You did it!” Crystal cried, running over. “Well done!”

“Pikachu did the hard work,” Girafarig commented, smiling. Charles walked off sadly as Girafarig scanned the area. He saw a group of familiar looking men walking towards him among the crowd.

“Come on,” he said to Crystal. “Let’s go.”

*

“Amy Wolfsong. Friend, Girl-Next-Door. Mod.

“Hi this is Pichu here reporting for EastBound News! After my feature on ‘The Return to TPML’ yesterday I am following up with a little ‘Girl-Time’, and who better to talk to than my favorite gal-pal Amy Wolfsong! Amy, Good to see you!”

“Oh…yes! And you, Pichu,” Amy said, trying desperately to remember the girl’s first name.

“So Amy. The League has officially begun!” Pichu prompted.

“Yes, yes it’s started today,” Amy said, trying to look at everything but the camera. “We’ve had some intense battles already, and the culmination of the first round tomorrow, too.”

“Amazing,” replied the interviewer. “And since I’ve been away you have in fact taken over as Head Lady of TPML, correct?”

“That’s right, I run the place with The Arbiter,” Amy explained. “Together.”

“I see,” Pichu went on, shrugging to Wayne, who was holding the boom mic. “Do you still enjoy being here now that you’ve got an increased workload?”

“Sure,” Amy said lightly. “I never had much else to do anyway.”

“You always were a busybody,” Pichu joked. Amy had no recollection of Pichu and her sharing any sort of positive memory. In actuality, she barely knew the girl. “Oh memories. Well I’m trying to find some other members of the league, like Aragornbird. Do you know where he might be?”

“Oh my god,” Amy said suddenly. “Liang’s match!”

She tore off suddenly, leaving Pichu and her crew standing there abruptly. She turned to the camera.

“Well there’s obviously some fascinating backstory here,” she said. “Ok cut.”

*

It was a frantic match up Trolgar Mountain. Among the dusted rock and beneath the sweltering heat Aragornbird stood proudly. He was looking pale, almost as if the sun itself was sweating his complexion from him, but he stood there in a polo shirt and jeans as his opponent, a young boy called Siderous stood opposite.

Siderous was a boy of sixteen – he wore a red t-shirt and had baggy jeans on. He wore a baseball cap but his lightly freckled face was serious. He had released a Fearow, who was up in the skies.

As the match commenced, Amy Wolfsong raced up the side of the mountain on her Meganium. She saw the Fearow just up ahead, and continued on to the top of the mountain. Amy stayed on Meganiums’ back as Liang briefly made eye contact with her, smiling.

He had his Dragonite out, who was sweeping around the edge of the mountain and charging up energy in his mouth. The referee was conducting the match as Fearow darted left, tearing away from Dragonite’s hyper beam. The attack smashed into the adjacent rock wall, causing it to crumble as Dragonite landed, gasping.

“That big oaf’s exhausted,” Siderous laughed, as Fearow flapped higher. Liang furrowed his brow and wiped sweat from his forehead – he was more exhausted than his Pokemon. Dragonite had undergone a lot of torturous training in order to help it learn and execute elemental attacks – this had been when Liang was under the command of Ecks. Now, though, those elemental attacks were not the only thing that left Dragonite exhausted.

“Dragonite use twister,” Liang croaked. The heat was really dehydrating him…his throat was dry and cracked. Dragonite flapped his broad wings as he pushed off from the ground, expelling a blast of wind into two twisting columns of draconian energy. They slammed into Fearow, who took damage but quickly tore up and out of the way.

“Fearow, Silver Drill!” cried Siderous. His Fearow combined drill peck with agility, tearing through the air as he span frantically. Dragonite staggered back and Fearow struck, driving into Dragonite for excellent damage. Dragonite mustered his energy into a crackling punch, sending volts slamming right into the Pokemon’s small head as the bird gave a long, ugly squawk.

“Now use iron tail,” Liang said quickly, noticing the quick shock on his opponent’s face. In a glimmering flash, Dragonite swung his thick, powerful tail into Fearow and slammed him right into the ground. Dragonite then flew up, his wings unfolding like majestic kites as he soared.

“Fearow get up! Quick Attack!” Siderous cried. Liang smiled through the exhaustion that the heat had brought. As Fearow darted into Dragonite the large draconian beast held his palms out.

Fearow dealt a speedy tackle, but Dragonite grasped the Pokemon with his paws. Hands clasped around the scrawny birds neck Dragonite crackled and buzzed, brimming with sparks. Fearow knew what was coming and flailed around, but the hold was too tight. A fantastic thunder attack burst from the Pokemon, passing into Fearow and lighting up the summit of Trolgar Mountain like a golden beacon.

“Good one!” Liang shouted. Dragonite limply fell from the sky, thoroughly beaten. “…Dragonite?”

Fearow similarly dropped to the ground, clearly beaten. An oddly chicken-like smell wafted in the lazy air. The referee watched the two fallen Pokemon as Dragonite managed to stand back up, staggering dizzily.

“Fearow! One last strike!” Siderous shouted. “Come on!”

“Fearow is unable to battle. Dragonite is still standing. The winner of the match is Aragornbird,” the referee said firmly, avoiding the frazzled bird. Siderous recalled him and mustered up the guts to look at Aragornbird right in the eye.

“Thanks for the match,” he mumbled. He held his hand out. Liang clasped it firmly and they shook it. “…”

“Hey, you did a good job,” Liang replied, his voice hoarse. His handshake loosened slightly. His eyes began to widen as he smiled. “Really. That was a gre...”

Suddenly he fell back and collapsed, almost pulling Siderous with him. Amy and the referee ran over as Liang lay there, eyes in the back of his head.

“Oh my god, OH MY FRIKKIN GOD!” screamed the referee. “I can’t do CPR! I can’t do CPR! Dianne does the CPR and it’s her nephew’s christening…oh my god……”

“Shut up!” Amy snapped. “Meganium! Sweet Scent.”

Meganium nodded, exhaling a deep, tasty fragrance that lingered through the air. It wafted towards Liang, whose eyes drooped, but he showed no signs of reacting to the aroma. Amy was gasping slightly. Siderous was on the phone.

“Dad? Good news! I lost…but my opponent is a bit dead. So…I might get through to Round Two!”

“He’s dead?” spluttered the referee. “Oh my god. Don’t touch him… I can’t have my fingerprints on a dead body – I WONT GO TO JAIL AGAIN!”

“He’s not dead!” Amy snapped. “We need to get him to the Hospital. Meganium. Use a sleep powder to lull him to sleep then take him onto your back and secure him with your vines.”

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“We need to hurry.”

*

Brooklyn Knight was tired. Exhausted. Frustrated. He sat in a corner of the lift he was currently stuck in, having been in here for some time. He was baffled that nobody had noticed his absence. Next to him was his file documenting all the evidence he found on Volletta Kane’s computer that he was about to deliver to Gordon before the lift was stuck.

This was her work, he mused to himself. His left foot lazily wandered in and out of his shoe as cool air struck his heel. He sighed, blinking and looking to the roof. How long had he even been here?

Brooklyn decided, after much thought, that sitting and waiting was the wrong call. He got up. He slipped his shoe back on and he grabbed his file. He had not been in the lift long when it stopped; in conclusion, the man decided he was not far from the nearest floor. His lever-arch file, in his hand, was slammed firmly into the lift’s door, between the little crevice where the doors met. Wiggling it furiously Brooklyn tried prying the doors apart but the flimsy file did no good. He hammered at the door wildly.

“LET ME OUT!” he roared powerfully. His phone (which had no signal, coincidentally) lay on the floor, useless and forgotten. “SOMEONE! ANYONE!”

There was a shuddering moan from the lift. Brooklyn stopped pounding and looked around. The lighting flickered on and off. A creaking groan wheezed through the lift shaft before a long pause.

And then it happened.

The lift jerked wildly and plummeted down the shaft. Brooklyn clung to the side as he screamed loudly, barely able to contain himself. The seconds whooshed by and in no time the man’s knees buckled as he slammed into the ground. He toppled over dizzily. The man blacked out suddenly. Everything just….stopped.

*

Meanwhile Girafarig and Crystal Tears were sitting in the park. Crystal had her Pikachu back and was stroking him softly. Girafarig was exhausted after his match, but it didn’t stop him training.

“Magcargo!” he cried. His large fiery slug blasted a stream of fire through the air – a wild Nidorino gave a sharp snap and leapt forward. The attack smashed into him and he was bowled backwards.

“Now use heat wave!”

Magcargo nodded; his body glowed and he unleashed a streaming jet of flame. It struck Nidorino head-on and scorched him badly. Girafarig smirked, grabbing a Great Ball and arching his arm back.

“Pokeball go!” he cried. The ball arched through the air, hit Nidorino and sucked him inside. Girafarig watched hungrily as the ball, wobbling with excitement, rattled left and right before the Pokemon gave up the struggle and became captured.

“Well done!” Crystal said. “I always liked Nidorino.”

“Hands off,” joked the boy, clipping the ball to his belt. “I need to train hard.”

“Take a day off at least,” Crystal replied. “You only just finished your Round 1 Match today.”

“I need to keep at it,” he said firmly. “WAVEX failed in putting Charles to Round 2. They’re angry with me – I know it.”

“You’re beating the odds,” Crystal told him. “You’re showing everyone what you can do. If you keep pushing you can achieve great things.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Crystal asked.

“Getting you involved. They’re watching me all the time,” Girafarig continued.

“I want to help you overcome these people,” Crystal protested. “We’ll stop them fixing this league. We’ll stop them elevating their ‘subject’ to victory. I promise.”

Girafarig smiled pleasantly at Crystal. Dark Dragonite walked past them in the park, stopping to say hi.

“How’s it going?” he asked them.

“Fine,” Girafarig grumbled. Neither of them liked the persistent ex-moderator.

“Had your Round 1 matches?” he asked keenly.

“No,” Crystal mumbled.

“Yea, I won,” Girafarig replied. “Anyway Crystal, what you were saying about your sister, I agree, and actually…”

Dark Dragonite eyed the two.

“I’ll leave you both alone,” he said airily, walking off as Girafarig staged a conversation with the girl. They smirked as the man walked off firmly. He made sure he was far away from both of them, finding the situation thoroughly awkward. Slowly he got his phone out and dialed a number.

“Thomas?” he said quietly, amongst bushes.

“What do you want, Steve,” came Thomas’ voice.

“I’ve spent much of today gathering information for you, as per your request,” the former moderator explained. “Girafarig has told Crystal about WAVEX.”

“I suspected so,” Thomas replied. “Thanks Steve.”

“What do we do now?” Steve asked.

“You’ll have to come back here,” Thomas said. “We’ll discuss what to do.”

“Ok,” he replied. Dark Dragonite hung up and very discreetly slipped off into the darkness.

*

“GO!”

There was a manic cry. River leapt to the side as her Masquerain swept forward, slicing an attack through a bushy overgrowth. The foliage was slashed away, revealing a large, sturdy rock. River watched it.

“Fire an attack at it! Water Pulse!”

Masquerain blasted a stream of rushing, foaming water. It struck the large formation. Two eyes opened wildly and the rock, revealing itself to be a Nosepass, rose up into the air and blasted off a web of electricity. Once it struck Masquerain, paralyzing her ferociously, the rock Pokemon swept through the rabid jungle. River ran on, noticing her foe, The Blue Avenger, running alongside his Pokemon. A Referee was sluggishly following.

“Nosepass use charge beam,” TBA cried, leaping onto a large rock. Nosepass revolved and blasted a sweeping beam of sparks. Masquerain shrieked in pain as she was struck, fluttering back. River watched fearfully as Nosepass smashed the trees apart with an explosive electrical attack.

“Latife, use a silver wind!” River cried. Her weakened Pokemon flapped its wings and two towering cyclones of speeding silvery air swept across and tore away loose foliage and debris. Nosepass was struck, staggering into a thick tree before rising up and launching a wild spasm of lightening. The discharge attack slammed into the muddy earth. Masquerain darted away.

“Use water pulse!” said River wildly, leaping from obstruction to see the battle. Masquerain powered up a watery orb and slammed it into the earth; where it gave birth to a swirling tide that whooshed across the jungle and slammed into Nosepass.

“Rock Polish!” TBA cried. He had a pirate hat on and held a fake cutlass. The referee managed to catch up before slipping in the mud and toppling over, cursing loudly. Nosepass began to gleam with a polished sheen, and soon managed to sweep up and speed towards Masquerain with surprising agility. Masquerain did an automatic dodge with quick attack but her muscles seized up and she stayed in mid-air momentarily, becoming victim to the large Pokemon’s brutal mid-air tackle.

“Masquerain!” shouted the young trainer. The battered Pokemon fell to the ground and the referee quickly wiped mud from her chunky thighs and lifted her flag.

“Masquerain is unable to battle! The winner of the match is The Blue Avenger!”

“No!” River said, giving a dry sob as she fell to her knees. “Not already…”

“Good work Nosepass!” The Blue Avenger said proudly. His Pokemon lowered itself to the ground as TBA recalled it. River similarly recalled her Masquerain, who lay defeated on the floor.

“Well done Jeff,” River mumbled.

“You did a good job too,” TBA said kindly. “Your attacks were really graceful and interesting. You can tell you’re a good coordinator.”

“I won the Grand Festival,” River sighed. “And yet I didn’t even get past the first round of this Tournament.”

“It’s a league of big fishes that have all come from small ponds,” TBA explained, still kind. “If everyone is fantastic then when we are put together people will be re-ranked. Besides…you still have coordinating. And moderating.”

“I suppose,” River said, despite a saddened tear leaking down her face. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Tell you what,” TBA said. “Since I won, you can buy me a drink at Omastarbucks.”

River laughed.

“Fine,” she said. The two left the muddy, sweltering jungle together as the referee cleaned her muddyness with a Poliwag friend, who was spraying her with soft, watery bubbles.

Chris 2.1

19th May 2007, 04:50 PM

It was getting on in the day. Elec Man EXE managed to defeat Vermillion in a match down BT Street – Vermillion had sent his Nidoking out to fight Elec Man’s Breloom, who used her fantastic fighting skills and grass expertise to secure a victory. Elec Man was thrilled with his victory while Vermillion angrily returned to his young son, who was seen playing with a very young Psyduck, perhaps the child of Vermillion’s Golduck.

Hanada Tattsu and Grey met at Ivy Lake for a very lenient practice session. Grey had not had his battle yet but was thrilled to hear Gregg had defeated Twilight.

“I did see your battle, from afar,” Grey responded. “You did well to defeat that Medicham.”

“Thanks,” Gregg replied.

“But you did not deserve that victory.”

Gregg looked at Grey, surprised.

“Why not?”

“I felt as if everything we trained for was lost. What happened to technique? Tactics? Tapping into your opponents weakness?”

“Well I…”

“You let Twilight set the pace of the battle and your match consisted of you fighting back, clawing your way back into the victory circle.”

“What do you suppose I do?” Gregg asked fiercely. “Medicham can attack from afar and from close up because of its type combination.”

“Then do both together,” Grey advised. “Or do neither.”

“It’s hard,” Gregg replied. “I…panicked. I tried doing what was right.”

“You need to think more, don’t get caught up in things,” Grey explained. “Remember to lead your opponent into your strategy. I would have exhausted Medicham while evading and using ice attacks – the dry arena was perfect for freezing – before guiding Medicham to rely on speed and physicality and limiting her movement before going in for the win.”

“Sorry,” Gregg mumbled. “I went blank.”

Ahead, by the muddy grave of Ivy Lake, which had accumulated some rainwater in its large, empty ditch-like state, The Missing Link was battling Toxicity. Becca had her Absol out while Toxicity used Bellossom. The flower Pokemon danced and dived out of the way of Absol’s deadly slash attacks, firing off projectiles like bullet seed and magical leaf to strike.

“Just look at the sheer ELEGANCE of the attack!” shouted an onlooker. “What beauty!”

“Be quiet!” hissed Silencer.

“You won, and you got through to the next round,” Grey told Gregg. “That was excellent. I have seen stronger trainers fall at this hurdle already.”

“We should really do some more training,” Gregg thought to himself.

“I cannot really help you any more,” Grey said calmly, the two watching the battle. Absol slashed a searing silver blade that smashed into Bellossom, hurtling her back. She landed, bounced up and swirled around, unleashing a leaf storm. The swirling tornado of razor sharp leaves whipped up around Absol, who was provoked by the attack while Bellossom recovered her health.

“Alas! Healing is the poison of the martyr!” cried the same onlooker. It was the owner of ‘Stones, Stems and Storks’, the mysterious shop that specialized in elemental stones, herbal remedies and stork-themed plush toys. She had waist-long hair which was a moss-green colour, wearing a very foresty dress. She was pretty, but she looked….well-worn.

“Can you shut up?” Silencer asked her from a nearby grassy rock, where he was watching the match. “We’re trying to watch the battle.”

“Can’t help?” Gregg asked. “Why?”

“My position here is important,” Grey explained. “And I worry what people will think if we spend too much time training.”

“They might think you are helping me to win…that your friendship is blinding your job,” Gregg mused.

“Yes.”

“Well they are wrong,” Gregg noted. “You’ve been there for me when everyone else was too scared to even approach me. And I really like hanging out.”

“For now…we should maybe hang out a bit less,” Grey sighed. “I do have a lot of work to be doing, and Amy can be quite frightening. The league requires such precise attention to detail I’d be angry at myself if my priorities were elsewhere.”

“Of course,” Gregg responded.

“Let’s watch the match,” Grey said, smiling. Bellossom danced to the left to avoid an ice beam from Absol. She leapt up to evade a quick attack and she turned to blast a razor leaf at Absol. But Absol then used another quick attack, causing Bellossom to leap up and scatter a cloud of spores. Absol crouched and spat a long silky flamethrower up to strike Bellossom and cause an explosion at Ivy Lake, albeit one slightly smaller than the one Liang managed to pull off when he blew up Ecks’ HQ.

Bellossom fell back, allowing Absol to slice across and up with a slash attack. Bellossom opened wide and charged up a solarbeam attack, the only problem being that the shading in the lakeside blocked the sun’s power. Bellossom managed to shimmy to the side, dodging a razor wind, but Absol then leapt up ferociously, firing off an ice beam attack directly down at Bellossom, encasing her head and neck in ice. Prematurely, the solarbeam was unleashed at an odd angle, firing off through the trees and dissipating. Absol then headbutted and subsequently iron-tailed the Bellossom right into a tree, where she fell to the ground.

“Bellossom is DOWN!!” cried the referee. “The WINNER is The Missing Link! Take that you flower-power embracing HIPPIE!”

“Hey!” the woman cried from the stands, hurt.

“Good work Lyra,” Becca said, her Pokemon striding over to her. She gave it a friendly nuzzle as Toxicity dejectedly recalled her Bellossom. “Hey Tox. Good work.”

“Thanks,” she murmured, wandering off along the bank of the dried up lake.

“I should be going now,” Grey told Gregg. “I have to do a little work at the Rules Tower.”

“Well…I’m going to go, too,” Gregg said aimlessly. “Ok then…erm…”

Grey held his hand out.

“Until we meet again, Gregg,” he said fondly. Gregg nodded and shook the man’s hand before the two went in separate directions. Becca watched them go, knelt by her Absol, before she got up and headed off into the woods.

*

Meanwhile, at Jolly Japes Hospital, Amy Wolfsong nervously walked into the ward where Aragornbird was being kept. He looked pale and clammy although very cheery. He was smiling. A very triangular Nurse scuttled out of the room at this point.

“Liang,” Amy gasped, walking in. “Are you ok?”

“Fine,” he smiled.

“You shouldn’t scare me like that,” Amy replied firmly. “I was so worried about you!”

“Admittedly I took it too far by losing consciousness,” joked Liang. He gave a rattling cough. “I’m fine. Honestly.”

“It’s the sun,” Amy noted. “It’s far too hot to be battling up Trolgar Mountain. That’s how you got so dehydrated. I’ll speak with Grey. We won’t have any more matches up there.”

Liang did not say anything, instead watching Amy intently.

“I mean, god forbid anybody else collapses…”

“It wasn’t dehydration,” Liang replied bluntly.

“What?” Amy asked suddenly. “What do you mean?”

“I…need to explain something to you Amy,” he continued. “When I was attacked by Callisto, when she fled the village…the poison stab did more to me than we thought. I was discharged soon on, but the poison began to build up and eat away inside me. It’s been getting worse day by day. I collapsed because of the pain. I’ve got sickly toxic liquid running through my veins and traveling to every organ in my body. The doctor told me it’s going to have severe consequences. My body can’t fight it off any more.”

Amy didn’t say anything. She simply sat there, staring into emptiness.

“An ant-venom is futile because the poison is everywhere. It’s spread. Soon my lungs, liver, kidneys, heart…they’re all going to surrender to this infection and I’m going to die.”

“No.”

Amy had tears in her eyes.

“I won’t let you die.”

“It’s inevitable,” Liang argued calmly. “The intensity of this poison is too much.”

“No…” Amy whispered, shaking her head just slightly.

“I needed you to understand,” Liang said. “But I don’t want anybody else to know. Not now.”

“How long do you have left to live,” Amy asked quietly.

“Not long,” Liang replied. “About 6 months maximum, but I could drop down dead in as little as a month.”

Amy’s face contorted with upset as she sobbed quietly.

“A month?”

“It’s…not going to be a particularly pleasant,” Liang went on. “The decline is sharp. I already feel poorly now, and it’s not even been two weeks.”

“You can’t die,” Amy wept. “I won’t let this happen Liang.”

“I’m so sorry,” Liang sighed.

“No,” Amy said. “No Liang. I’m sorry. Sorry for being so awful to you all those years ago.”

“Amy…”

“You were infatuated with me and I knew it. I never took your feelings into consideration…why didn’t I even try to value your feelings!” she cried.

“It’s ok!” Liang told her. “Amy….it’s ok…”

But it was not ok. As Amy sobbed uncontrollably at Liang’s bedside, Liang, who had slight tears in his eyes, stared fearfully ahead as his companion’s reaction stirred new feelings of panic and trepidation within him. Was he really going to be ok?

*

Meanwhile at Feizhi Outpost, a rather bored looking Chris Watarimono sat on a rock in the empty area around the lookout tower. The two story watch tower was covered in swathing vines and creepers, cracked and old. This old meeting spot for The Antibodies was in a clearing area of the wild, sweltering jungle.

Also present was Elec Man EXE. All the moderators (Elec Man, River, Becca, Liang, The Blue Avenger and Amy/Grey) were official tournament refs as well, so Elec Man, with a free schedule, was refereeing Chris Watarimono’s match. He looked disgruntled at his blue shirt and black referee shorts.

“This is hopeless,” Chris Watarimono spat. He was fiddling with a Pokeball in his hand. “We’ve been waiting for twenty minutes.”

“Just wait a bit longer,” Elec Man replied calmly.

“No!” Chris snapped. “My opponent has refused to turn up.”

“I’m on official orders to wait longer,” replied the referee coldly. “It is quite hard to find this part of the jungle.”

“He knows where it is,” Chris replied. “I could be covering other matches right now. I hear UuberFred and OzAndrew are squaring off in BT Street.”

“It’s just finished,” Elec Man noted, checking his VS Seeker. “I got a message from the ref. OzAndrew won. UuberFred’s Wobbuffet is apparently Narcoleptic and got so excited about the battle she instantly fell asleep.”

“Must be nice to battle,” Chris scowled. There was a rustle ahead. The bushes shook slightly. Chris perked up only to see a Pokemon leap from the overgrowth. It was a large fleet of Yanma, buzzing loudly as they swept up and around the arena.

“Get away from here!” Elec Man cried. “This is an official Round One battle arena!”

He released his Magnemite, who hovered around and unleashed bolts of lightening in a bid to try and scare the large insects. They did not like the idea, and began to swarm around the two humans as they waited patiently.

“Polaron! Again!” Elec Man cried. “Chris, help out!”

“Elekid!” he cried. His small Pokemon emerged. “Thundershock!”

Elekid swung his arms around and generated a buzz – this electrical discharge excited the Pokemon who began flapping their wings wildly. A frantic sonicboom erupted around the arena and bowled Elec Man over.

Suddenly there was a primal scream as a bright beam of ice shot up among the pack of Yanma, causing them to split into two smaller swarms and head up. A dark coloured weasel emerged with a large, red crown-like headpiece. It had two thick claws on each hand and a smirk on its face.

“Weavile,” came a voice. “Blizzard.”

A sweeping entity of frosted ice and crystal was blasted up. The Yanma all scattered, clicking wildly and vacating to another area of the jungle.

“Yanma prefer warm climates. Your electric attacks just excited them and worked them up. You need to chill them out. Then they will leave.”

Weavile leapt up and landed as Chris 2.0 wandered out of the overgrowth. He was wearing a black shirt and dark jeans, his hair slightly shorter and his eyes looking dark and sallow.

“Sorry I’m late for my match,” he said, smiling.

“Not at all,” Elec Man muttered.

“Return, Weavile,” Chris said, recalling his Pokemon. Chris Watarimono recalled his Elekid and walked to his part of the arena.

“This is a one-on-one Pokemon match between Chris 2.0 and Chris Watarimono,” Elec Man began. Chris 2.0 smirked and stared across at Chris Watarimono, who looked somewhat troubled.

*

“In a fantastic twist Wobbuffet promptly fell asleep, causing OzAndrew to breathe a sign of relief.”

Pichu watched a television report from earlier in the day that she and her crew had put together. She was interviewing OzAndrew after his victory.

“Once the little blue bitch was asleep I used a combination of toxic, confuse ray and spite to leech her energy,” Andrew explained. “Then I used a variety of AWESOME and AMAZING fire attacks to like, get the audience’s attention. We had Will-O-Wisp fireworks and flaming swift attacks! Then I finished it off with Overheat.”

“Turn it off.”

A man turned the television off.

“That was a good day,” said Pichu. “We got some good footage. I’m intrigued about Amy and Liang though…that sounds juicy. A romance might help add to the drama of everything.”

She got out her phone and dialed it.

“Colton, put the equipment away. I need to make a few calls.”

A broad man helped put some of the camera equipment away. Meanwhile her boom mic operator was on a computer, digitally rendering some sound files.

“This is the voicemail of Volletta Kane. I can’t be at the phone. Please leave a message after the tone.”

“Volletta, it’s Thomas,” Pichu said firmly. “I’ve not been able to contact you for some time now and I’m worrying. You told me you had cleared Brooklyn Knight from being an obstacle and I do hope that your actions have not caught up with you. The future of WAVEX is counting on your cooperation. Do not fail me. You know the price you will pay.”

She hung up, turning darkly to a man smoking a cigar.

“Brink, put that out,” she snapped. “Bring Dark Dragonite here. We need to decide how we are going to silence Girafarig.”

“Yes Thomas,” he replied, leaving the room. The girl sat in her chair again, sighing, as she tried to ring Volletta once again.

Chapter Forty-Four: Round One (Part Two: Chris 2.0 VS Chris Watarimono)

Round One commences! Volletta’s dark secret goes public as Brooklyn finally delivers his findings. Chris 2.0, presumably alive and well, begins his ferocious battle against Chris Watarimono in Feizhi Outpost, but where has Chris been all this time?

Amy struggles to keep Liang’s secret to herself as she has her first match, while a scheming Dark Dragonite begins plans to silence Girafarig once and for all. Luna battles the artistic Saffire Persian, seemingly unaware of what happened to her mentor.

Meanwhile, Thomas calls a surprising contact in relation to WAVEX’s next step.

MeLoVeGhOsTs

21st May 2007, 11:05 AM

Well, interesting to say the least.

Pichu, Thomas, what do you know. I wonder how she gained so much power.

I won my first match! Hurray. Yeah, miltank is awesome, she even won me a contest.

Dark dragonite, Brink, Pichu, this WAVEX thing is pretty complex, I wonder who Pichu's new contact is.

Chris? Where has he been? How did he evolve Weavile? I hope the next chapter explains a few things. Weavile = Shizzles.

I hope Brooklyn finishes off that bloody woman.

The league seems interesting and I hope to see some more, aswell as the the Round Two rules, could it be something different?

I hope to find out. Good job!

Chris 2.1

21st May 2007, 11:16 AM

MLG: She has apparently got control over some sort of empire, hasn't she? We'll see some of her past. I think it's important. But what are WAVEX's motives? I think Pichu's actions during this chapter are a big clue.

WAVEX does simplify - at the moment it's all so much new information to process but we begin to ease into their storyline a bit more, and we'll see how they operate in more detail.

Chris has been.............! I won't say. Over the next couple of chapters we peel away the story of where he's been. I think it is quite a compelling tale. Did he perhaps go to Trolgar Mountain to evolve Sneasel? Did he look in the archives for some information? Did he perhaps meet someone there? You'll find out.

Volletta gets what she deserves. So does Brooklyn!

Round Two matches are held at the stadiums. And I'll tell you this: MLG's match is going to be a pretty awesome one :) It's the only one I've planned so far.

Elec Man EXE

21st May 2007, 11:25 AM

Lots of battles, hoorah. Good chapter.

Dawn is the one collaborating with Lady Vulpix? Hmm... maybe I should have, but I didn't see it coming. Nasty cat fight between them, wonder if LV pulls through. Seems unlikely, but ya never know with this fic.

This whole WAVEX thing is pretty interesting. Lots of people involved. Girafarig better be on his toes.

Brooklyn fell for elevator-ownage, what a loser. Everyone knows you don't enter an elevator when you have someone potentially after you. He needs to watch more TV/movies. Though it seems he's seen enough to think he can wedge the door open and pull some sort of Batman-esque escape.

Aragornbird is still getting spit upon by life. I suppose even after he dies, they'll find some way to bring him back to life just to kill him again. Seriously, that guy just doesn't get a break. Ever.

Take that, you flower-power embracing hippie! :xd: And narceleptic Wobby. Good stuff.

:rolleyes: at me taking an official tone with the wild Yanma. Like they care if its an official battle site.

Chris returns, and everyone acts like its no big deal. Wassup with that, surely my character at least is aware that he's been missing. Unless I'm some sort of accomplice... dum dum duuummmm. And he finally got his Sneasel to evolve I see, cool.

Looking forward to the next chapter, as always. Especially since we get a hopefully intense battle.

Sike Saner

21st May 2007, 08:21 PM

Quite surprising to find that Pichu = Thomas. o.o Another neat surprise was finding out who had employed Lady and why. The lengths Dawn was willing to go to to keep a watch on Luna kinda disturbs me. o.o And oh snap, now she’s gone and brained Lady with a meat hammer. Loved the fight between Dawn and Lady, btw. :D

Loved Brooklyn’s misadventure in the elevator, too, especially when the thing went *makes cartoonesque sound of something plummeting, with floorbound gesture to match*—that was a “Holy frell!” moment. Fwee… very fun to read about, that sort of thing. :D

Poor Liang. :( I can only imagine how it must suck for one to know they’re not long for this world. Slowly dying of nasty, nasty poison has got to suck too, of course. And poor Amy, for that matter. She definitely took the news hard; I get the feeling it’s going to devastate her in a major way when he goes.

And Chris is back! :o And yay, his Sneasel has evolved. Oh, hell yes, do I wonder how Chris managed to make that happen, not to mention what happened to him, where he’s been and all. Fwee, I do so enjoy having something to wonder about, as well as something to look forward to learning more about in the future. Mystery is a delicious thing, indeed.

Great battles, as always. I especially liked seeing a Nosepass in action—I love those. :D And the narcoleptic Wobbuffet was just frelling priceless. XD

And now for a couple of excerpts that I found especially amusing:

No sooner had she settled herself back down when an alarming cry rang out through the park. So loud was this cry that Silencer, who was training his Kadabra, managed to direct a psychic attack right into Hughie Hott’s Hotdog Van, sending processed sausages flying everywhere.

The image of an explosion of SAUSAGES… XD

A fantastic thunder attack burst from the Pokemon, passing into Fearow and lighting up the summit of Trolgar Mountain like a golden beacon.

“Good one!” Liang shouted. Dragonite limply fell from the sky, thoroughly beaten. “…Dragonite?”

Fearow similarly dropped to the ground, clearly beaten. An oddly chicken-like smell wafted in the lazy air.

I like nice attention to detail in a battle, and what’s great about the above is that not only is the detail nice, it’s also humorous—I love the “chicken-like smell” line. XD

Nice chapter—and I liked that latest extra, too. :D It’s pretty damned sweet to see a setting in fiction that’s so well thought-out.

Andrew

21st May 2007, 10:18 PM

OOh... Chapter!

So many titbits! I missed a main narrator though! But it would've been impossible to have one with SO MUCH going on!

Luna - Oh noes! Lady G is DEAD! The fight with herself and Dawn was wow, I wasn't expecting Lady G to be violent! EVA! Still, I have a feeling Luna could be framed for this, like, with DNA samples and stuff.

Brooklyn - I hope he released a heap of copies so that if he dies, they'll get to the board, and the press and totally work. Poor fellow being trapped in an elevator.

Girafathingie and Crystal - They're such a small little resistance, I do hope they're not thrown off of a cliff or something. They're kind of endearingly pathetic. I also thought Charles battled very well, not to mention, I didn't mind a Pikachu battling. Plus, Dark Dragonite is against them! Yeeks.

Liang - Jeeze, a Fearow, I haven't seen those in YEARS! Also, I loved Siderous' phonecall to dad! THe ref was hillariously overdone too.

TBA and River - A Nice ending and potential romance!11! Still, poor Masquerain!

Also, poor Hippie woman getting yelled at.

Chris on Chris action! I'm actually a bit worried about this new Chris, (Has he had laser treatment on those burns yet?) and he's like, uuber strong! How did he evolve Sneasel! I also do hope he's not a total psycho still with Dusclops.

Finally - Go OzAndrew!

Edit - Post 800!

1 more and I hit 6 Grand Post!

Chris 2.1

27th May 2007, 06:54 PM

Elec: Yea it was quite obvious but I did set things up so that either Volletta or Lady's plot tied in with WAVEX. Lady could have been working for WAVEX just as easily as Volletta did I guess. Does she survive? She was whammed with a meat mallet: what do you think?

Yea I like this idea of not knowing who knows who and what about which. It develops over the rest of the fic. WAVEX is a powerful force, especially in a few chappies time.

Brooklyn is new to all of this. Luckily though next chapter Volletta gets OWNED.

Poor Liang! Originally Liang was going to get mauled by bullets in an intense WAVEX shootout but I think for someone as deep as him we needed more of a character-driven death. You'll see more to him in the future. I mean.....what would you do if you knew you had so long before you died?

The hippie lady will be seen again. I think she's going to be called Tai Chi or something awesome.

Lol you'll see by Ch44 that like every1 is excited Chris has returned. Seriously. Elec makes a few phone calls and suddenly millions come to see his match. How did Sneasel evolve? It all ties into Chris' motives and reasons for leaving TPML. I think instead of a flashback chapter, we'll have small glimpses that fit into a big picture over the next couple of chappies.

But I realize what an anticipated plot this has been so I won't tease you with surly emo-conversations. You'll learn next chapter what he's been up to in a big way.

The ChrisVChris match is cool! One I am writing r.i.g.h.t n.o.w. Its going to be a good one!

Sike: Hey! It was odd having it at the start. I would have normally placed it as a chapter-closer, but I liked the shift and the way it was done. Dawn's actions have consequences that come into play later on.

Originally I had a scene where Brooklyn got out the lift and ran to see Gordon. But its merged into Ch44's scene where Brooklyn finally confronts Volletta! It's so exciting.

The Liang/Amy thing turns into a tragic romance story. They've had a past and it seems now they can't have a future. How deep! Amy struggles to admit her feelings, especially when she knows she will have to say goodbye. But Liang's reaction to his death is surprising.

Chris' backstory will see him do lots of things. He's been to some surprising places, we'll meet some people we thought we'd never see and we'll see some different sides to him.

Narco Wobbo!

Yea I have too much time, hence TPML Extra! Haha. Like I said, they are just ways for me to….publicly announce my varying ramblings. Behold more!

Andrew: Yea because of the lack of a central influence I felt there was no need for a narrator.

No no DNA crap. Luna won't learn of her sisters actions......yet.

Don't worry, Brooklyn delivers the evidence to Gordon.

Girafarig is worried that he cannot trust many people. However they do reach out somewhat to other TPMLers. WAVEX, however, are set to make sure that Girafarig pays for his actions.

Hehe Siderous needed a little character development. You will see this character over the league. He remains optimistic he can win the league despite, well...being knocked out.

Yea that was a spontaneous thing but TBA and River seem like a nice couple. I'm not focusing much on romance because I suck at writing it, but I would definitely see them as a potential item. Liang and Amy will be focused on more however.

Hippie! Still naming her but she will pop up every now and then.

Chris: His emo streak culminated in a few things while he was away. We'll see a more central, focused, humerous Chris once he gets the skeletons out his closet about where he's been. Sneasel's evolution may have been the reason for his absence.

Chris 2.1

29th May 2007, 08:25 AM

After publishing this I did realize it contradicts the League Code for NY mentioned in a previous chapter. But this is the real one.

TPML Extra #3

How many TPML Battling Villages are there?

The first TPML was established in 1979. It was founded by four jaded Pokemon Trainers who were struggling to break into success in New York City. The entire city was a mass of competition and these trainers began to change the way leagues would work.

As with most official reigonal leagues, Gyms were situated in major cities and trainers needed certification from those Gyms in the form of badges to enter the league. New York had two Gyms - one in the hubub of the city life, and one on the outskirts of the state.

However in a dramatic shift from the conventional leagues, these four Pokemon Trainers established a league within the city. Word spread through trainers that a supersecret league was forming within the city itself.

Tamara Stone, Phillip Musgrove, Martin Eylbeck and Lucinda De L'Arc were the four trainers who began to create a league. They reffered to it only as TPML - the first letter from each of their names.

Soon, when it seemed many trainers (thousands) were involved in the training for this league event, many media outlets and businesspeople decided to cash in ont he frenzy and helped shape the league as it was to be known. Titling it The Pokemon Masters League, the intention was for trainers to train and compete in a League without having to leave NY.

It took two years of planning and training, but only a small number of the registered trainers decided it wasn't worth it. In 1981 the first Pokemon Masters League was won by Jack Forrestor.

Over the years, other countries began to emulate the way in which NY's TPML worked. London, England, came next, establishing a league in 1983. Toyko also housed a league in 1986 and so did Australia in the same year. These four were managed by each of the four original league creators: Tamara looked after London, Phillip helped build Tokyo, Martin stayed in NY and Licinda travelled to Australia.

The leagues were a success, but many of the benefactors from the NY TPML felt that expansion was the key. And so, in 1987, a mass expansion began.

Eventually, after the benefactors (who became known as The Board of Governors) plan was finished, there were a total of 50 Pokemon Masters Leagues in the world.

This included:
-23 in the USA (managed and carefully placed among the various states)
-5 in the Uk (London, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and one small league situated in the Lake District)
-8 in Australia (again, placed among the country with response to tourist locations, most financial cities and so on) - this included a league among the North and South Islands of New Zealand and one in Sydney itself
-2 identical leagues in Tokyo alone
-5 Leagues among Japan
-And single leagues formed in: Russia, Hong Kong, Canada, France, Italy, Spain and Germany

The last league to be built was the league in Germany. The TPML in the Lake District is the TPML the story revolves around and was one of the last leagues to be built (it is number 46). It was built in late 2001 in the Lake District, an area of North-West England not quite by Scotland. Following it was New Zealand, Spain, Chicago and Germany.

In 2001, when the 50th TPML was built, the Board of Governors created a system that would allow them to help distinguish between each league. They were given a League Code.

This was a 5-letter code that helped depict the league. The first three digits corresponded to the number of the league among the 50, ie: when it was built. The last two digits were actually a population ratio to depict how big the league was.

The smallest size TPML is a 1:1 village. An example is the TPML in Ireland (03911) - it was the 39th village built and has a population ratio of 1:1. It is run by a single person (with no need for moderators due to the size) and has approximately fifty people in the league.

This contrasts to New York, which is one of the largest leagues in existance. It's League Code is 00151 - it was the first league (001) and has the largest population ratio (5:1).

Population ratios go from 1:1 to 5:1. New York's TPML is run, not by a moderator like Grey or Amy, but by a Corporation built solely to help run and finance the league. There are teams of people who help run the financial aspects, the rules, and there is a large security team.

Some of the TPML League Codes:

New York: 00151
London: 00251
Australia: 00341
Tokyo: 00451
Tokyo2: 00551*

Ireland: 03911
Scotland: 04021

Lakes (Uk): 04621
New Zealand: 04731
Spain: 04821
Chicago: 04931
Germany: 05031

*Tokyo established two leagues that ran seperate from one another. The TPMLs exist in the same city and among the same places but there are different sets of stadiums and districts** than each other.

**TPML has Towers. Many of the larger TPMLs have districts, which are similar to retail parks. They are simply enclosed areas where the rules building, approval building, attack list building etc are found.

Next TPML Extra (#4): The beginning of 04621.
We know TPML started out in 2001, but who began it? Which characters have been there from the start, and what has changed since?

MeLoVeGhOsTs

1st June 2007, 11:42 AM

This extra really interested me. Some good background story for a well written fiction world, good job.

This also explains why MLG, being belgian, would come to the UK.

Chris 2.1

1st June 2007, 06:35 PM

Heh glad you liked it MLG. There's so much history to the fic as we'll see in the origins in next extra.

I'm always thinking of things I've never explained. Do you readers know of anything you'd like to be explained about the fic? Did anything ever confuse you?

Chris 2.1

2nd June 2007, 06:14 PM

Update:

Ch44 is still in the initial stages. Everything has been laid out but I just need to write it! We see the rest of the R1 matches and they are in more detail than the ones in Ch43. We also hear of other match outcomes through radio, tv and a WAVEX scene with recently revealled Thomas.

The intrduction of Thomas and the TV Crew open up a new medium for me to map out which matches have happened and which ones haven't so I think its been valuable!

We'll see a good portion of Thomas in her WAVEX and Reporter modes. She'll also surprise us right at the end of the Chapter as we learn a shocking secret about her organization!

Chris V Chris match takes some surprising turns.

Liang's storyline (after the revelation that he is not long for the world) will begin his new story arc as he struggles to hide his feelings for Amy. We'll also learn more about his life and his dead brother, Henry.

By the end of the fic, neither Grey or Amy will be running the league. I've been working on the end of the fic and the new Head character will surprise you, but at the same time it will make a lot of sense and seem like a good choice.

More people will learn about WAVEX from Crystal/Girafarig. They're beginning to learn they can't take them down on their own. The subject (ie: who WAVEX are working to fix the league for) is someone we know. Originally it was going to be The Green Lanturn but I wanted a more developed character. He'll be seen soon.

I'm also wrapping up character stories for the end of the fic, like sorting out where people end up and how they leave the fic etc.

Hopefully the final showdown of the league will span across two chapters. But it may not be the last chapters of the fic.

The Blue Avenger

2nd June 2007, 09:14 PM

Right, I'm here!

For starters, it's good to get cleared exactly what WAVEX. In the back of my head, I'm thinking that Ecks is somehow back from the dead and puling all the strings again. :P I'm glad Lady V's motives weren't bad, although having Dawn be her client, as well as Dawn killing her, came entirely out of left field. And then Brooklyn gets caught in an elevator. Y'know, I actually like Brooklyn as a character, so stop torturing him, dammit. :P I do have to say that, while I enjoyed the quick snapshots of the battles, you could have come up with a better name than Joe. Actually, scratch that, it's JoeJo, isn't it? Then I find it odd that Watarimono never called him that. :P No big deal, though. ...Heh, nice, damage to innocent bystanders. I dig the name of the hit dog vendor. Heh, nice cameo for Siderous, as well. An amusing character, to say the least, but man, that ref is spazzy. ...And now DD's in with WAVEX. I can't say it was much of a shock, honestly, given his character. Of course, I'm going to be biased about TBA's part. I liked that he won, and the River/TBA bit was a very "awwwww" moment. But then we hear about Liang, which is depressing... Poor kid doesn't ever get a break. And then Chris shows up in a total badass moment. I'm looking forward to seeing what's up with him. I wonder what he and his family did on the mountain. ...Pichu being Thomas? As I've said, that's something I really should have seen coming. :P

At any rate, I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Cheers!

Hyperness is a Good Thing

20th June 2007, 10:17 AM

Just caught up from about 10 chapters ago...
and would like to say...WHOA. I'm kinda glad that I got to read all at one shot (could immediately satisfy my curiousity, didn't have to wonder at cliffhangers etc)...but lost out a lot on the discussion and speculation that is part of what makes fic reading fun...but now that I've finally reached to the 'current' chapter....

Pichu as Thomas totally didn't cross my mind, so that was a surprise..
Liang never seems to be able to relax and enjoy himself it seems...he falls from one disaster to another. Poor boy.

now.. there's lots of stuff that I wanna know, but the most is the reason for Chris' absence, but I'll have to wait for that. *sulk*

oh, and I like the fact that you're posting up the TPML extras... It's always interesting to get a little background in. Very nice.

Chris 2.1

23rd June 2007, 06:52 PM

Chapter Forty-Four
Round One: Part Two
Chris 2.0 VS Chris Watarimono

Feizhi Outpost was a desolate lookout point in the middle of a sweltering jungle on the border of The Pokemon Masters League village. There were no pathways, no real way of navigation and a very large amount of wild, ferocious Pokemon. All these factors and more were enough for the majority of the village’s population to stay well away from it.

Despite this, when the news spread that Chris 2.0 had returned to TPML many people found their way to the jungle to see if the news was true. Amy Wolfsong and Aragornbird came to watch, Liang looking slightly pale. Amy was actually supposed to speak with Magnus Archer, who despite returning to the Board had a report on Callisto Thunder’s whereabouts ready. She chose to see Chris instead, gingerly holding Aragornbird’s hand.

The Missing Link, River and MeLoveGhosts, all part of the initial rescue team all went to see, too, while Gregg found himself in close company with Grey when it seemed both of them were overcome with intrigue about the boy’s arrival in the jungle. Also there was Pichu and her camera crew, hoping to catch an interview. Pichu eyed Dark Dragonite across the clearing and shook her head. Nearby they could both see Girafarig and Crystal Tears, the former seemingly bored with the match, the latter looking at the trainer with awe. All these people surrounded the outpost and the arena that the two Chris’ and Elec Man had made.

“I choose you!” Chris Watarimono cried, hurling a blue Pokeball forward. It burst open and gave shape to a colossal monster – his Swampert. A range of blues, with wide leering eyes and a big mouth, Swampert gave a roar and stood before his master. Chris 2.0 plucked a Pokeball out and released it, sending his slightly smaller Cacturne out to attack.

“Chris Watarimono has selected Taina the Swampert – one of his first Pokemon – while Chris 2.0 has selected his Cacturne. Let the battle commence!”

Elec Man threw his flags down and the match begun. Swampert raised his think arms up and slammed them down into the earth, causing a large tremor. Cacturne leapt up and blasted thick sharp needles into the wall of the outpost and clung to them as he avoided the tremor.

“Ice Beam!” Watarimono cried. Cacturne hung there innocently as Swampert charged up and released a devastating beam of frosted ice. It smashed into the cactus and knocked him from his perch.

“Revenge,” Chris 2.0 replied. Cacturne glowed white and leapt up, speeding along the arena and dealing a heavy punch-kick to Swampert. “And attack.”

Cacturne leapt up and fired off a bullet seed attack. The seeds exploded as they hit Swampert in the face, but he soon shielded his eyes with his large hands and swung his head up, headbutting Cacturne.

“Swampert! Mega Punch!” Watarimono shouted.

“Faint attack!” Chris countered. Swampert’s glowing fist swung at thin air as Cacturne curved and swept out of sight. The devilish Pokemon ran to the other side of the arena, arms held out as he fired off a barrage of sparkling, sharp pins and more little green bullets. The combo attack smashed into Swampert’s back as he staggered.

“Swampert use mud bomb!”

Swampert opened his mouth and sent a flurry of sloppish mud through the air. Cacturne tried to leap out of the projectile’s wake, but Swampert turned his head and redirected the mud right into Cacturne, who was forced right into the outpost wall.

“Chris isn’t faring so well,” Amy noted.

“It’s not that,” Liang pointed out. “It’s just that Chris Watarimono isn’t doing as badly as anyone anticipated.”

“I didn’t think Chris Watarimono was even that strong,” Becca noted. She had her VS Seeker out. “But he has a Swampert, Combusken, Grovyle, Butterfree, Haunter and Metang among others.”

“Certainly he has a more developed team than we knew,” Grey mused.

“Cacturne use faint attack to get out of Swampert’s way,” Chris said firmly. Cacturne nodded, sweeping around and out of the way as Swampert gave a colossal roar. Chris narrowed his eyes. He had to find a way to stop this giant.

*

Despite being a laddish type, and despite generally being quite calm and collected, Brooklyn Knight found himself stressed. Flustered. Irritated. He wound up flights of stairs manically, hand sliding up the banister as he got closer and closer to Gordon’s office.

He had awoke abruptly and found himself on the lower-ground floor of the Board of Governors’ building. His lip was bleeding and he was bruised all over, the elevator having crashed somewhat unusually at a strange angle. The doors were jerked ajar, allowing Brooklyn to heave them open and leave his prison.

Bypassing Aldo, the workman on LG, Brooklyn made a beeline for Gordon, the data clutched tightly in his hand.

“Brooklyn!” cried a voice. It was Cocoa Sting, who was coming down the stairs. Her sleek black hair was tied back today, hiding the graying areas that had come around from the increased stress the woman had suffered. She wore a black suit with a sharp white shirt and had an exhausted but sharp look in her eye.

“Hi,” Brooklyn gasped.

“Brooklyn…where have you been?” Cocoa asked. “Gordon has been expecting you all day!”

“I’ve been stuck in a lift,” he growled, not looking happy.

“A lift?”

“Excuse me, I need to see Gordon,” Brooklyn replied, walking past Cocoa and heading up to the top floor. Cocoa watched him, intrigued, before heading on down the stairs.

Gordon was staring out at New York City, enthralled by the scope of the land before him. He saw skyscrapers jutting out from the earth, ant-like people scrambling along the streets and even a plane flying high in the cloudless sky.

Yes, his journey to this place – Chairman of the Board of Governors – had been a long one. Gordon’s last three generations had looked after the Board, and when he received the place he vowed to pass it down to his son.

Unfortunately he had no son – only a daughter, Mary, who was now twenty years old. She was a Pharmacist and seemed to have no particular interest in taking over the Board. Gordon sighed to himself as he admired the land.

“Gordon.”

He turned to see Brooklyn Knight panting, his suit ripped as he gasped for breath.

“Good heavens Brooklyn!” he cried. “What happened to you?”

“I have concrete evidence on this disc that Volletta Kane has been working against the Board and collaborating to fix the Pokemon Masters League 04621,” Brooklyn said firmly.

“You do?” Gordon asked, confused.

“Yes sir,” Brooklyn replied. He handed the disc over to Gordon, who inserted it into his computer. “Emails, transcripts of phone conversations…she’s been talking with the leader, Thomas.”

“I see,” Gordon said wisely, looking at the content.

“She has passed on strict information to Thomas about WAVEX,” Brooklyn went on.

“How did this come to your attention, Brooklyn?” Gordon asked.

“Originally her behavior was perplexing,” Brooklyn recalled. “So I dug around for information. I heard snippets of conversations and had to discover the truth.”

Gordon nodded dolefully and picked up the phone.

“Hello Magnus?” he asked. “Get me security.”

*

The match raged on between Chris 2.0 and Chris Watarimono. Swampert turned suddenly and blasted a jet of water through the air; Cacturne leapt up and flipped back to avoid it, before firing off a swarm of sharp needles that stung Swampert hard. Swampert, however, shrugged off the damage and blasted a jagged beam of ice. Cacturne used a carefully executed faint attack to sweep around the dangerous attack and strike Cacturne.

As the large cactus leapt back to his trainer, it was evident he was weakening from the numerous scratches and bruises. Swampert bellowed loudly and fired off a mud bomb – Cacturne leapt left and right to avoid the exploding slops of mud, but after his leg gave an agonizing twang he staggered, making himself vulnerable. A flurry of attacks hit him and blasted him hard, knocking him over.

“Good work!” Chris Watarimono gasped, breathless. He had a habit of leaping around the arena with all the pent up energy. Cacturne clutched his knee as Swampert’s fist began to gather icy energy and frost. “Finish it off! Ice Punch!”

Cacturne gave a disappointed look back at his trainer, who just smiled, mouthing something. Cacturne considered this, before turning back and holding his thick arms out. They glowed bright, before the bright glow dimmed and darkened. Cacturne’s yellow, lamplike eyes were filled with glee as he opened wide and fired a series of short pins through the air. These pins, shrouded with a violent glow, soared up into the air as they extended to javelin-like proportions. They swept up and over Swampert, dangling above her head. They moved like a cloud of swarming flies as the beast charged.

“Wait,” Chris Watarimono said softly. “Destiny…”

He looked.

“TAINA DON’T HIT CACTURNE!”

Swampert turned to her trainer and, nodding, leapt to the side as her ice punch missed ever-so-slightly. Staggering, Swampert tumbled forward and allowed to attack - he smirked and blasted a bullet seed attack into Swampert’s back as she ran from the foe. The attack forced the large fish into the wall, where she gave a shuddering groan and slammed hard into the tower.

“Clever,” Grey said.

“How is that clever?” Amy asked.

“He’s forcing Chris Watarimono to stop attacking,” Grey explained. “That Ice Punch could finish Cacturne off. By using Destiny Bond Chris 2.0 evens the playing field – and if both Pokemon faint then Chris Watarimono won’t win any more than Chris 2.0.”

“Chris Watarimono’s been caught out with this before,” Becca said. “He battled Razor Leaf once, ages ago. Chris desperately tried pummeling Razor Leaf’s Banette but that just brought about Destiny Bond and nobody won. He’s worried that this match, with higher stakes, could go the same way.”

“Cacturne use needle x,” Chris 2.0 commanded. Arms crossed together, Cacturne charged after his foe, needles picking up energy. In a manic smash he dealt a double slam to the Swampert, who turned and slapped Cacturne with her mighty palm. Cacturne staggered back.

“Ice beam.”

“Destiny Bond!”

In an instant the swarm of needles arose again. The ice beam was instinctively blasted off to the skies, Swampert grumbling.

“You can’t bring that Destiny Bond up every time,” Chris Watarimono called.

“I can,” Chris 2.0 replied coolly.

“It’s very tiring,” Watarimono noted.

“Maybe if you’re inexperienced,” Chris 2.0 mused. “Cacturne learnt the attack from a competent Pokemon.”

“Swampert I’m sick of this,” said the boy. “Just do it! Blizzard, go!”

Chris 2.0’s eyes widened as a frosted cone of perplexed ice chips, frost and mist hurtled through the air. His Destiny Bond was a ruse; actually using it would make him no more successful than his opponent…and he had just wanted to con Watarimono into holding off his attacks. What to do?

“NEEDLE X! Into a low kick!”

Cacturne whipped up the glowing arms and raced across the arena towards the wild, ferocious attack. He groaned in agony as the attack ploughed into him, but using his energy from the needle x attack he charged on, shielding his eyes. With his last ounce of strength the cactus Pokemon dived, slid beneath the attack and dealt a heavy kick to Swampert, who flew up and over as the blizzard frosted over the outpost. As Swampert collapsed, Cacturne fell to the ground.

“DOWN!” cried Elec Man EXE.

“Who?” Chris Watarimono asked.

“Oh,” Elec Man said suddenly, noticing both Pokemon had collapsed.

“Cacturne was up longest,” Chris 2.0 declared.

“Not your call to make!” Chris Watarimono snapped. “Not your call!”

“Shut up, shut up,” Elec Man snapped. He tapped his head. “Now…let me think…”

“This is stupid!” Crystal Tears shouted. “Chris won!”

“Which one?” Girafarig hissed.

“Oh!” came a surprised cry. “2.0! 2.0!”

“LET CHRIS 2.0 WIN!” cried Charles Legend. A Munchlax was with him and his Magby. He was handing out t-shirts. “CHRIS WATARIMONO IS MADE OF GINGERBREAD!”

“I think Chris Watarimono was the victor,” Elec Man said finally.

“Hold it Nate,” Becca snapped. The woman moved out the pack and onto the arena. “You’re caving in to these people…or you’re making a decision based off what you’re hearing.”

She addressed everybody.

“The referee did not see the match result,” she called. “Therefore he is unable to make a fair, professional decision on the outcome.”

“No!” cried The Blue Avenger. River saw this.

“Err yea….NO!”

“You don’t have to agree with me to impress me,” TBA said kindly.

“Yea but it’s fun,” River noted. “I DON’T HAVE TO AGREE TO IMPRESS HIM!”

“SILENCE!” The Missing Link snapped. “We need to decide the outcome and there is only one official way.

“Sudden death.”

*

“Welcome to Revival Radio!”

As the DJ started off the Tournament show, many of the producers and assistants around the studio groaned and held their heads in their hands. The DJ was a stand-in while Chris Watarimono had his Tournament match, and she was showing utter incompetence about the overall situation.

“This is DJ Smiles reporting while Chris Wangamongo goes to his ‘Coming Out Party’! Tsch! The big pansy!”

“He’s having his round one match!” hissed Reece, the producer. “And you cannot insinuate his sexuality on national radio!”

“Whatever! I’m an ex-nurse, I know all about sex,” she scoffed. “ANYDOODLE it’s time to see how everyone is doing in the Pokemon Masters League!

“First off Dark Sage managed to defeat Tsuki Megumi today in a cataclysmic match across Skinny Dip’s Pond! Dark Sage used his Ludicolo against Tsuki’s Venomoth, and managed a pretty cool ice beam and bubblebeam combo to freeze the bubbles and use them as attacks!” the Nurse read. “Later today we have Amy Wolfsong and Dark Dragonite, as well as Luna Fw…Luna Few…how the hell do I pronounce that ridiculous name! I’m an ex-nurse not an ex-translator from SPAIN! – oh it’s Fuerte, I see! Well as we say in Spanish, pardonnez-moi! Ok so furthermore it seems The Arbiter managed to already win his match against Oakbark this morning. The scoop is that the match was at 7am and nobody could really be bothered to turn up! Grey apparently used a Salamence while Oakbark used…a Bayleef. The bloody idiot.”

She was getting a dirty look.

“SO ANYWAY! I’ve got a gigantic varuca on my….hand! Who knew they grew there?”

*

“What did you think I would say,” growled Gordon firmly. “When I learned a member of my Board was conspiring to fix a league?”

“Sir, -”

“Be quiet, and don’t you dare think for a moment you have the position to even try and justify what you did,” Gordon replied cruelly. Volletta stood before him as a set of bars divided them; Volletta was in a cell as part of the holding area. Security were monitoring everything but it was just Gordon and her. He spoke again.

“In light of the…indisputable evidence Brooklyn provided, I have no other option but to place you under arrest,” he said.

“Gordon!”

“SILENCE!”

He stared at the woman violently.

“You have been such a disappointment Volletta,” he said. “How long have you been here? Over five years. And you do this. You ruin your career. Yes, your career – I’m making sure nobody will want to hire you again.”

“But sir…”

“But nothing,” Gordon replied softly. “You are off the Board and your sentence is pending further investigation.”

He walked away furiously. Giving a nod, he allowed security back in as Rosie Cran joined him up the stairs.

“If this leaks out to the press, we are done for,” Gordon replied firmly. “Rosie, get all the paperwork signed. I want Volletta off this Board and someone else in before anyone can even blink.”

“Yes Gordon.”

“Thank you, my dear,” Gordon said.

“What about the plot in 04621?” Rosie asked. “Should we chase up this ‘Thomas’ man and see if we can try and stop them?”

“Yes,” Gordon began. “But…it’s a small village. It’s a small concern. My bigger concern is the future of a 2:1 village that causes more problems than New York, London, Tokyo and Australia together.”

“It’s been chaos,” Rosie noted.

“Indeed. Let’s see how the finances are. We need an excuse to close down 04621 and get rid of all the negative incidents that have accumulated from it. Their reputation is bad.”

“I have an idea sir,” Rosie replied. “If 04621’s league is abolished before the finals, than Thomas and WAVEX cannot succeed.”

This idea intrigued Gordon, who had paused, causing Rosie to stagger into him as she wrote down information.

“Agreed,” he mumbled. “Take the necessary steps.”

*

“Sudden Death,” The Missing Link said tentatively. “You each send out another Pokemon. Do that now.”

“Ok,” Chris Watarimono said, having recalled his Swampert. He gripped his Pokeball and released his Combusken, Roy, who emerged from the ball and landed powerfully. Chris 2.0 had two Pokeballs in his hand, musing.

“I choose you,” Chris said, sending out his choice. In a flash of light his Electabuzz emerged, beating his chest savagely as sparks crackled. He eyed Combusken.

“Sudden Death works on the principle that whoever deals the first successful attack wins,” Becca said, having taken over from a surly-looking Elec Man EXE. “Therefore everything you have worked towards comes down to a single attack. Agility and defense are just as important as attack power here.”

They both nodded.

“Ok then,” Becca said. “Begin.”

Combusken leapt high and gave a roar.

“Flamethrower!”

The jet of flame swept down fantastically, heating up the already warm clearing. Electabuzz leapt left and landed in the mud, firing off a blast of lightening that Combusken pounced away from.

“Come on Electabuzz!” Chris cried out. “Swift!”

“Good idea,” Crystal noted quietly. Girafarig didn’t respond. Electabuzz charged up and fired a flurry of sweeping, golden stars from his palms. They soared through the air at Combusken, who opened his beak and spewed a tornado of flames that cloaked his entire body.

Cries came from Combusken as he projected more and more intense flame, spouting it around him as a tough layer of protection. The swift attack zoomed straight for him, tearing through the fiery cocoon. Chris smirked, only to see Combusken tear up through the fire attack with a sky uppercut, evading the swift. Embers dancing around the Pokemon’s body, the fowl landed and span around, creating a ghostly sword that pumped up his attack.

“Electabuzz create a reflect shield!” Chris cried. Electabuzz began wiping the air, stretching as far as he could horizontally and vertically, creating a thick, sparkling window before him. He stood there as Combusken finished powering up.

“Electabuzz watch out,” the trainer said.

“This looks hard,” Liang said quietly.

“What’s better: offense or defense?” Amy wondered.

“This is too delicate a situation for one to prevail over the other,” Elec Man said thoughtfully, stuck with the other spectators as Becca observed the sudden death match. “I think either can work. But if you try and use both you’ll fail.”

Combusken leapt at Electabuzz, who quickly summoned up clones with a double team attack. The two clones were weak as the attack was not practiced well; Combusken darted through one as the clone and the original swung defensive punches.

“The two Chris’s need to decide what style they will adopt,” he went on. “Will they try and secure a win straight away, or will they wear their opponent out?”

“Combusken use fire spin again! Cloak yourself and charge!”

Electabuzz watched by his trainer as Combusken shrouded himself in flames once more. However this time, the flames grew and grew, encasing the fowl in a humongous swirling mass of molten embers. Suddenly, in a streak of fire, Combusken bolted out of the shield and straight for Electabuzz. Shocked, Electabuzz staggered back, but the fowl was moving far too fast, anger in his eyes as the white light trailed behind him.

Suddenly the fire type gave an irritating crack; Electabuzz opened his eyes to see the Pokemon had smashed right into the pink shield he had erected and was slightly dazed.

“Combusken!” Chris Watarimono cried, but his foe ordered an attack.

“Brick break!”

Electabuzz nodded, holding his arm back and swinging a chop. He smashed into the shield, shattering it completely as he also battered Combusken for the first hit in the battle. Combusken staggered back slightly.

“And the match –” Becca began.

“Iron tail!” Chris went on. Electabuzz pounced up, swung his tail around and smashed Combusken in the jaw, sending the Pokemon to the floor. Combusken got back up, ready for more, but Becca ran across the field with her flags raised high.

“Combusken was the first hit!” she cried. “The sudden death round and the match go to Chris 2.0!”

“He did it!” Crystal said happily. “GO CHRIS!”

“Combusken!” Chris Watarimono cried out. “Damnit.”

“Chris 2.0 goes on to Round Two!” Becca announced loudly. Chris gave his Electabuzz a quick hug as they smiled to each other. The onlookers of TPML watched keenly but, before they had time to speak to Chris, he promptly recalled his Pokemon and calmly wandered off into the overgrowth.

Chris 2.1

23rd June 2007, 06:53 PM

“HEY THERE FANS! DJ Smiles here with the latest on the league!”

She played a rather interesting sound clip as she sipped on a glass of smooth, chilled vodka.

“Chris 2.0 defeated his evil brother Chris Wattybono in his first round match! It was a bit confusing but basically Chris’s Cacturne evolved into Electabuzz and Chris Wottybinnett’s Swampert evolved into Combusken! And Elec Man EXE evolved into The Missing Link!”

“In OTHER NEWS The Green Lanturn defeated his opponent MTC
down BT Street! MTC, whose name apparently stands for MightTakeChildren, is a relatively new member of the league! But The Green Lanturn faced difficulty against MaybeTuesdayCombusts and his Gyarados! In an interview with a rival radio station that I managed to steal by running said rival radio station reporter over in my jeep, The Green Lanturn had this to say:

“Well really it was all about luck. My Ursaring was doing a great job with fighting off the gigantic serpent. We had a tough time. Really thoug- holy Christ watch out! Some madwoman’s driving a jeep towards us!”

“Oh my god! This is Tricia Manasan reporting for Radio Saturn and a black woman in a jeep has just run over my producer! GET LOST YOU WEIRDO!”

There was a lot of white noise and the clip ended.

“And….that was me poaching some GOOD JOURNALISM!” Smiles said proudly. “Coming up next: an interview with my old co-worker, Doctor Drummond-Bones!”

*

“Come on!” came Crystal’s weak cry. Her Weavile, Edea, got back up as the opponent; a hulking Aggron gave a barbaric cry. Her opponent, a thin, balding man named Wayne stood there proudly.

“Aggron use flash cannon,” Wayne croaked in his thin, rattling voice. Aggron nodded, blasting a fantastic glowing beam of molten metal through the air. Edea leapt up and tried to dodge but could not avoid the attack, which smashed into her and caused great harm.

“Ice beam!” Crystal shouted. Weavile, propping herself up, fired off the fantastic beam of pearly ice. It smashed into Aggron’s torso, freezing over slightly, but he stamped forward and blasted a flamethrower out from his mouth; the jets of flame flew right at Weavile but she managed to pull herself out the way.

Staggering, she turned to see Aggron swinging his thick, powerful tail around. Edea gave a primal scream as she was thrown up. Wayne ordered his Pokemon to swing a mega punch into the Pokemon, causing Weavile to simply collapse.

“Weavile is unable to battle,” said the referee promptly. “The round goes to Mr Vaxew and Aggron.”

“Thank you,” Wayne said softly to his Pokemon, shooting the Pokeball beam at the colossal giant. Aggron disappeared. Crystal felt a tear trickle down her cheek as she recalled her Weavile.

“You did great,” Girafarig said soothingly. Crystal simply sniffed. The two had been battling at the base of Trolgar Mountain.

“I stank,” Crystal snapped. “That guy was really powerful. I’ve never even seen him in the league before.”

“He seems familiar to me,” Girafarig mused.

“Have you met him before?” Crystal asked suspiciously.

“Never…he doesn’t look familiar…but his voice…his name, they just seem familiar,” Girafarig mused.

“Hey,” came a voice. Crystal turned to see Chris 2.0 walking towards the two of them. Wayne was being interviewed by Pichu and her team for the local TV station.

“Chris!” Crystal cried. Girafarig watched.

“I saw your match,” he said, smiling. “Tough break.”

“Yea,” Crystal said, not seeming particularly bothered. “It’s ok. The better trainer won. I saw your match. Well done.”

“I was kinda worried when we went into sudden death,” Chris replied, laughing. “But hey! Cacturne and Electabuzz are recovering at the Pokemoncenter and I’m going to start a new training regime before Round 2 starts.”

“That’s nice,” Crystal said. “I noticed you got your Sneasel to evolve…”

“Yea,” Chris said.

“How?”

“What?”

“How did you do it?”

“Oh yea, you caught Edea as a Weavile, didn’t you?” Chris recalled.

“That’s why I couldn’t help,” Crystal said, smirking.

“Sneasel evolved at midnight,” Chris explained, thinking back. “We were training late at night and he was starting to use more of his physical attacks in battle. In recent matches I’ve focused far too much on his elemental attacks, as specific ice type attacks rely too much on the environment. After learning some moves, at exactly 12:00am, Sneasel began to glow and evolve.”

“Wow,” Crystal said, awe-struck. “Cool!”

“Yea,” Chris smiled. He looked at Girafarig. “You got your match today newbie?”

“I already had it,” Girafarig said coldly. “I won.”

“Good for you,” Chris replied. “Anyway Crys great seeing you but…well, I’ve got to go. Training doesn’t stop!”

He turned to walk away. Crystal looked at Girafarig, who shook his head. Crystal decided to speak up.

“Why did you leave?” she asked.

Chris stopped. He started to turn back towards the two.

“Someone needed me,” he replied, before heading off. Crystal and Girafarig exchanged a significant look. Nearby, Pichu had finished her interview with Mr Vaxew and her crew was packing away their things.

“Good work Wayne,” Pichu said quietly.

“Thank you Thomas,” Wayne said. “It was easy enough.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied. “Now then there aren’t a lot of matches left. Tomorrow there are a few more and then we’re done. We’ll be able to draw up our plan for Round 2. Colton managed to beat a trainer called Mike Mysterio, so we’ve got a few guys past the first hurdle.”

“What are we going to do about them,” said a man named Logan, a dark skinned man with a rough unshaven look. Despite his aggressive appearance he was in an expensive suit as he assisted with the packing up of the little van.

“We are doing our other job right now Logan,” Pichu responded calmly, watching the two trainers wander away. “But we will take care of them soon. Steven is assisting us in eliminating their threat.”

“In what way,” Logan replied.

“In a way that will ensure the two of them are silenced without us being responsible,” Pichu replied, smiling. “Please, go back to HQ. Brink is there.”

“Yes Thomas,” Logan said firmly. Pichu eyed Girafarig as he disappeared, musing to herself.

*

“You ok?” said a voice.

Luna was nervously sitting with her friend, Hyperness. Hyperness was a girl of eighteen; she was often shy, but around friends had an oddly…hyper personality. She wore a yellow ‘I <3 Nerds’ T-shirt and had her Chimecho wrapped around her arm. Luna was about to battle Saffire Persian, a relatively close friend, for entry into Round 2. They were at Tranquil Shores in the sunny afternoon and many beach-dwellers were watching keenly.

“I just…I wish Lady was here,” Luna sighed to herself, fiddling with a Pokeball. Hyperness looked at her friend. “We…fell out.”

“What happened?” Hyperness asked.

“I argued…she…she did something bad, and I shouted,” Luna sniffed. “And she said to me ‘Luna, I’ll leave. I’ll just disappear’. And she did. Just like that…she disappeared.”

“Look, you’ve learned a lot from her, and now’s the time to put it to good use,” Hyperness said calmly. “Saffire is strong, you know that. She won’t back down.”

“Yea,” Luna said, getting up.

“Are your sisters coming to see you?” Hyperness asked.

“Dawn sent me an email,” Luna replied. “The three of them are all back at home. Eve was here…for the contest, and I heard Dawn was coming to see me but, well, she changed her mind.”

“Oh.”

“Could the battlers please make their way to the arena,” called a voice. It was a very tall woman with large hands. “Luna Fuerte and Saffire Persian.”

“GOOD LUCK!” screamed Hyperness.

“Thanks,” Luna smiled, dusting sand off and walking to the arena. Saffire stood there looking summery, in a large beach hat and a calm blue shirt.

“This match will be a one-on-one,” the woman boomed. “Battlers, sent out your Pokemon.”

“I choose Lapras!” Luna cried, hurling the ball into the air. Her Lapras burst out of the ball and emerged among the ocean waves, calling her name. Luna expertly released her sisters Espeon, who landed on the beach gracefully and eyed Lapras with careful intrigue.

“BEGIN!” barked the referee. Espeon darted along the shoreline as Lapras blasted a jet of water through the air. Leaping up, the feline Pokemon fired off a swift attack that zoomed across the sea and struck Lapras.

“Water gun!”

A jet of water shot through the air, but Espeon calmly teleported away, re-emerging a few feet away. She blasted a beam of rainbow energy, but Lapras disappeared by diving deep underwater.

“Espeon,” Luna said airily. “Just…just wait. We can’t act until Lapras re-emerges.”

“GO FOR THE THROAT!” Hyperness screamed.

“Do you mind?” quipped the calm, hippie idealist from Stones, Stems and Storks. “I am currently overdosed on banana painkillers and I need peace.”

“Who the ice cube are you?” Hyperness asked, whipping out her VS Seeker.

Tye Chee
A Cambridge graduate, Alexis Montande studied biology at University before becoming a strange, dirty hippy and running a pathetic shop in TPML. She changed her name by deed poll to Tye Chee, and smells faintly of grass.

Meanwhile Espeon was using calm mind to boost her mental concentration. Lapras was nowhere to be seen as the waves rippled softly. Luna quickly eyed her foe, Saffire, who stood very calmly as she stared out to sea.

Suddenly the rippling was happening more and more. A huge wave emerged from the sea and Lapras rose to its crest, leering powerfully as the slew of water drifted towards the shore.

“JESUS CHRIST THERE’S A GIGANTIC WAVE!” bellowed the ox-like referee. She grabbed a parasol. “Everyone either get out the way! But get me out the way too! I’m using this parasol as a shield! But I know in my heart it won’t work! But the effort is noted! I’ve never been kissed by a man! Oh my god…OK! I admit it was me who got Futurama cancelled! I hated it! But I didn’t mean for everyone to get upset! I’ve been in a threesome…and not the cool kind!”

“Espeon use a psychic attack!” Luna cried, cutting through the panicking woman’s rant. The large psychic attack was used to create a forcefield and hold the wave in place. Lapras leapt from the wave as it became suspended in time, smashing down onto the beach and blasting an ice beam at Espeon. Espeon was struck and thrown sideways, before the wave became reanimated and sloshed towards the shore.

*

Meanwhile, Amy was struggling under the strain of her battle. Her Beautifly, Hassan, was sweeping out of the way as Dark Dragonite’s Heracross powerfully ploughed into her with his large horn. The two were fighting in desolate Smith Street.

“Beautifly! Silver Wind!” Amy cried firmly. Aragornbird was watching from afar. Beautifly flapped fiercely and blasted a wave of silvery powder down that smashed into Heracross and stopped him from attacking. Driven back, the stag beetle tried holding the damage off, but Beautifly unleashed a swift attack amid the silver wind to bowl the bug over.

“Get up,” Dark Dragonite hissed. “Horn Attack!”

Wings popping up and out his back, Heracross flew through the air. Beautifly soared up like a delicate plane and curved around, firing off another silverwind. Heracross swerved under the attack and sped up, smashing Beautifly. She gave a shrill cry and fell to the ground.

“Hyper beam,” Dark Dragonite replied.

“Beautifly! Use….” Amy stumbled. “Get up! Use a…silver wind!”

Beautifly, who was weak and lying on her side, did not have the strength to use silver wind. She sadly looked into her trainer’s eyes as Heracross blasted the orange beam through the air. Supercharged, it smashed right into Amy’s Pokemon. She cried out as Beautifly disappeared beneath the annihilating attack.

“Good job!” Dark Dragonite cried. Heracross nodded, catching his breath.

“Beautifly try and get up!” Amy shouted. Beautifly flapped lightly and hovered above the ground. “Good! Heracross is recovering, use a stun spore!”

Nodding, the serene Pokemon flapped higher and began blasting spores from her wings. They scattered through the air at Heracross, who leapt back and took to the skies himself to try and evade them.

“Heracross use swords dance!”

Creating an army of ancient swords, Heracross commanded the ghostly apparitions to spin furiously around. He flew through the air as the swords danced around him, clearing the spores away swiftly. The swords started to disappear as Heracross’ horn glowed a bright colour.

“Beautifly that’s Megahorn! Dodge!” Amy cried. Beautifly swept out the way but Heracross sped up, slamming into Beautifly. As this happened he gripped her with his claws, span her and threw her to the ground, where she smashed into the cold hard floor and lay defeated.

“No!” Amy cried.

“Beautifly is defeated!” the camp referee said, the same one who reffed for Liang. “Dark Dragonite is the winner!”

“Oh well,” Amy sighed, recalling her Pokemon. Dark Dragonite congratulated his Pokemon and recalled him before speaking up to Amy.

“Well done,” he said.

“Thanks,” Amy mused. “Is that Pichu again?”

“Hey guys!” Pichu said. “Steve…you beat the head of TPML! Well done, that’s quite an accomplishment!”

“Shut up…” Amy mumbled as she walked off to meet Liang.

“Steve, why don’t you come to the village and we can interview you?” Pichu asked. He nodded and Pichu, along with two of her men, Logan and Colton, walked to their van and clambered inside. Colton started it up and they drove to the main square.

“Good work.”

“Thanks Thomas,” DD said. “Amy was easy.”

“Her heart is sore,” Pichu smirked. “We found some intriguing information about Liang…it seems he’s not long for this world.”

“Really?” Dark Dragonite asked. “He’s dying?”

“Pass the documents, Logan,” Pichu said dryly. The man passed her some files that she then gave to Steve. “Isabel helped us out with getting these.”

“Poisoned…” DD mused. “Jesus Christ.”

“Quite dramatic, isn’t it?” Pichu replied. “Anyway Amy’s just a bit…frazzled. Her mind is elsewhere. But we should be thankful for Liang’s continued streak of bad luck. That helped us. I wasn’t expecting you to beat Amy.”

“Nice to know you supported me,” mumbled Dark Dragonite.

“I support of The Subject,” Pichu rasped. “I might like to add The Subject is into Round Two, as we predicted.”

“Good,” Dark Dragonite replied.

“I do this because our Subject needs to win The Pokemon Masters League,” Pichu went on. “And having members of WAVEX compete in the league simply lets us have more control over what happens.”

“I know, Thomas,” replied Dark Dragonite.

“And two of my men got into Round Two, so everything is going smoothly.”

“Not everything,” Logan grumbled.

“What?” Pichu asked.

“Girafarig,” came the grunt.

“Oh,” Pichu thought. “Girafarig…and Crystal Tears. Both of them are a problem. Both of them could jeopardize the operation. Steve, have you decided how you’re going to dispose of them?”

“Not yet,” he admitted.

“Your match is done now, this is your priority,” Pichu explained. “Get it together.”

“I’m not a murderer,” Dark Dragonite sighed. “You’re…you’re asking more of me than when I started.”

“That is because we want you to earn your place,” Pichu replied. “And just for the record, I’m not a murderer either. None of us are, Steve. Just make it look like an accident.”

*

It felt good to be back. Me. Chris. As I walked down BT Street, the day winding down slightly, I watched a bit of a match taking place in a caged arena. A young boy with an eyepatch was battling against an old face I had not seen for some time. I decided to get my VS Seeker out and see what new information there was on him, as well as identify the boy with the eyepatch.

Ox.E.Moron
A poet, internet wine critic and Pokemon Battler, Ox.E.Moron is a staple member of TPML’s ‘Weirdo Trust’, comprising of some of the more alienated and socially dyslexic members of the community. He enjoys oxymoron’s but has recently turned to the dark side by naming some Pokemon after palindromes.

I remembered battling this guy and his Loudred quite some time ago. Today he had a Piloswine fighting for him; the large, furry mammoth had very inky black fur, making its white tusks look even more prominent.

“Hot Snow!” Ox shouted manically. I guessed this was the nickname of his Pokemon – a classic Oxymoron. I quickly moved my VS Seeker beam to scan the boy battling the Piloswine. He had a creepy-looking Banette out.

Blademaster
Blademaster battles in his first TPML this year, and has come all the way from the land of Donut Faeries and Robot Geese to try and win the title of League Champion. He does not specify in a particular type but has been known to try improvised and often suicidal battle strategies to secure victory. This has backfired many times.

“Interesting,” I thought to myself. Blademaster commanded his Banette, nicknamed Vivian, to sweep up to the rafters of the cage and fire off a Will-O-Wisp attack. The Piloswine leapt to the side, avoiding the attack swiftly. Banette swept down and created multiple copies, so that a swarm of the fiends were racing towards the foe.

“Hot Snow! Use icy wind!”

The blast of sweeping ice shards blistered on and depleted many of the clones. Banette disappeared completely, cloaking amid the ice and re-appearing behind the large pig. Curling periwinkle flames into a ball, Banette hurled fire at Piloswine and caused it to roar in pain.

I kept on going towards my flat, having not been there for some time. I wandered down BT Street, noticing two men in suits wandering suspiciously up to the village. I guessed that most people were watching Round 1 matches. Before I could think about the people I saw at my match, an Absol strayed across my path.

“Lyra?” I said softly, noticing the dusty coloured fur of the dangerous Pokemon. It belonged to Becca. The Absol, in a nonchalant manner darted back along the street. I looked up to see Becca standing by the old Hanada Gym. She had her arms crossed. Today she wore a deep red shirt under her black suit and had her hair tied back.

“Afternoon,” she said casually.

“What’s your Absol been doing?” I asked bluntly.

“Keeping an eye out for you,” Becca said. “It’s been a while.”

“Yea,” I replied.

“Where’ve you been?” she asked me.

“I’ve had to take care of something,” I replied firmly. Becca raised her eyebrows.

“You’ve been gone about a week,” she noted. “Nothing in the Absence Tower, no contact with anyone before you left…everybody here was worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” I explained calmly. Becca stopped leaning against the wall and sighed, looking at me right in the eye with her powerful gaze.

“For all our worries, concerns and fears, you should at least tell us why you left the village,” Becca told me crossly. “Were you taken by someone else? Why did you go up Trolgar Mountain? Were you actually planning on returning?”

“Look,” I snapped. “Becca.”

“Lyra, keep him here,” Becca said. The Pokemon’s demonic blade appendage glowed a vivid pink as she fired off a blade of energy. It slammed into the ground a few meters away and sped along like a train, carving a shallow circle around me and Becca. Absol then cried her name, and a pink energy filled the circle and bolted up into the air, surrounding us in a large tube of energy. Lyra leapt to Becca’s side, but I wasn’t willing to take this.

“I choose you!” I snapped. In a bright flash of light emerged a powerful Pokemon. His forelegs firmly smashed into the earth as his draconian head lifted and he roared. My once small Aron was now a big, beefy Lairon, and he eyed Absol carefully.

“Absol I think Chris wants a battle,” Becca said, smiling.

“I’ll fight you off if I have to,” I replied. “Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Chris…” Becca sighed. “What happened to you?”

“What business is it of yours?” I snapped.

“It’s not,” she said defiantly. “But…whatever happened to you seems harmless. You look healthy and you’re no different to when you left. Surely letting me in is harmless?”

I stood there, staring at her.

“It wasn’t harmless,” I said emptily. Flashes erupted before my eyes…I saw my mother staring at me with nothing but emptiness…I recalled myself standing before an empty grave, rain lashing against my face. I saw Jenny….

“I am different,” I snapped. “Just leave me alone Becca.”

I looked at my Pokemon.

“Dragon Rush.”

Lairon glowed a deep purple colour as steam rose from his body. His mouth opened and a snaking tongue of draconian energy burst through the force field Absol created. I ran through the space and recalled Lairon, leaving Becca to watch me go, confused.

Chris 2.1

23rd June 2007, 06:58 PM

“And in recent news, the woman who…‘gatecrashed’ the station earlier today has now been arrested in the newly constructed Constant Karma Prison, located down Smith Street,” said a voice.

“Chris Watarimono here, and you’re listening to Revival Radio! Keep that dial on 04621! Yes, I’m back with you now and taking the reigns. Despite losing out in my Round One Match I am here and able to keep bringing you good solid radio all day! Just a reminder of the latest Round 2 entrants:

“Luna Fuerte managed to scrape a victory against Saffire Persian today at Tranquil Shores. Saff, who had her colossal Lapras out, fell to Luna’s Espeon, who employed clever use of psychic to sculpt the landscape and create temporary barriers and dug-outs to help against impending attacks. This match was one of the most eventful, Lapras creating a tidal wave that threatened the entire shoreline’s existence. However the large sea Pokemon used ice attacks to help freeze the threat, tiring her out to allow Luna to strike. Luna, who tells us she is ‘fighting for her sister’, was the winner of the Winter Contest, held at the end of the Frontier Brain’s leaving ceremony.”

Meanwhile, Nurse Smiles sat in a cell, the radio sitting on the window ledge. She sighed to herself, chained to the wall as the day wound down once again. She was overlooking Tranquil Shores, noticing the water rippling softly as the sun went down.

*

The Round One matches were coming to a close. As veteran Syberia commanded a Charizard across the skies the dragon cast molten flame down upon a Granbull that deftly threw itself out of the way.

Chris 2.0 arrived in his flat, staring around at the darkening, empty room. As he unloaded his bag and took off his jacket, his eyes darted to an array of knives wedged into the wall. Curious, he walked forward towards them, wrenching one out and admiring it. Brow furrowed, he gripped a Pokeball and wandered through the house, wondering who the knives belonged to (and who would put them there).

Amy Wolfsong, saddened at her defeat, sat with Liang in a clearing of Ivy Lake. Liang’s team of dragons and birds mulled around Amy’s large team of smaller, petite Pokemon as the two held hands and said nothing.

Beyond the village, a figure clung to a Salamence as he flew on. The large dragon began to land softly at the summit of Trolgar Mountain, where the figure leapt off his Pokemon and looked around, staring to the little village below. Recalling the colossal Pokemon, he approached the keypad and the large metal doors.

Please enter passcode

“Let’s see,” the man mused. “7- 6-K…K is 5…3-6-6-6. Pokemon.”

Passcode accepted. Welcome to The Archives.

Wandering down the illuminated steps, the man took off his coat and managed to hang it on a wall-bracket. Standing in an old, exquisite library of sorts, he walked to a section entitled ‘Tournament Matches’.

Sitting down, he let out a sigh of relief, looking at a match entitled ‘Hanada Tattsu VS Twilight’ and inserted it into the player. On a TV screen Grey began to watch the match that had happened just recently, focusing as Wartortle dodged the Medicham’s attacks.

Being away from his student was odd; Grey found himself with little to do despite being Head of TPML. As thoughts of the day to come frothed in his head, he sighed, wondering what Gregg was doing.

Little did he realize, the boy was two floors below, sitting on his own and watching matches of his tutor fighting off different foes. The match, ‘The Arbiter VS The Missing Link, showed the two dueling fiercely in the town square amid a squad of cheering fans.

*

It was dark in a small, familiar room. Pichu was with various WAVEX members as they sat around computers and TV screens. Their day had been arduous, and the Round One matches had been difficult. Tomorrow was Rest Day – a day when the entrants were cut down following Round One and the information for the Round Two matches was processed and sent to TPML. WAVEX, however, were not able to rest at all.

“Have you heard from Steve?” asked Hage, one of the older agents. He was Scottish and had an aggressive look to him.

“Not since his match,” Thomas replied firmly. “Brink has gone to meet Isabel though. She’s been an asset to the operation.”

“Indeed,” Hage responded. A phone rang suddenly, alerting the attention of Wayne (who was the winner of his match against Crystal Tears), Logan, Colton and the other members of WAVEX. Pichu picked it up.

“Thomas speaking.”

“It’s me,” said a dark voice.

“Oh, you call me now?” Pichu scoffed. “That’s odd. Usually –”

“I have sent you the information you asked for,” came the voice, which was rapt and delicate with command and purpose.

“Good,” Pichu replied.

“It will take time to transfer, but you’ll be able to use it tomorrow.”

“Ok,” responded Pichu, trying to sound busy and certainly not able to talk. “Well thank you.”

“Before you go,” the voice began again. “Volletta Kane has been arrested.”

“Arrested?” Pichu stammered.

“Yes Thomas, she’s behind bars.”

“H-How do you know?”

“Because I put her there,” came the reply.

“Brooklyn,” Pichu snapped. “You comprised a member of WAVEX?”

“She gave me no choice,” Brooklyn replied defensively. “She did the job badly. She left trails…and if she kept on operating like that then she would have caught the attention of Jacques and Austin. Then we’d have chaos.”

“We have chaos!” Thomas shouted. “You are not in a position to do something like this!”

“She was bad at her job!” hissed Brooklyn. “I did what had to be done to keep this operation running!”

“Either way you’ve alerted suspicious activities to the Board! None of this is beneath the radar anymore!” wailed Pichu, pacing the room in anguish as her dream dissolved before her.

“I’m beneath the radar,” Brooklyn retorted.

“Look, none of us expected you to get promoted onto the Board,” Pichu said calmly. “When you did, we all agreed that you should keep a low profile and not stay as directly involved with WAVEX in case it looked suspicious.”

“So I kept a low profile and used my ears,” he argued. “I saw the mistakes Volletta made, the sudden phone calls, the rehashed excuses…and I acted upon it, earning the trust of Gordon and other members of the Board!”

Pichu mouthed a swear word.

“What has Gordon said?” Pichu replied.

“He’s been saying a lot of things,” Brooklyn murmured. “But tomorrow, 9am sharp: a select few are having a meeting to discuss what course of action to take about WAVEX.”

Brooklyn did not mention Gordon’s idea to shut the league down to Thomas, and carried on casually.

“Don’t try and ring me at all tomorrow unless I say,” he told her. “I’ll ring you when I’m out the meeting and when it’s safe to talk. You’ll compromise me otherwise.”

Pichu gritted her teeth in frustration, not particularly enjoying being told what to do. Brooklyn went on as the members of WAVEX listened in on the conversation.

“Volletta is gone, but she has diverted suspicion away from me,” he said calmly. “Be glad I’m a Technical Advisor, Thomas – I don’t leave tracks.”

Brooklyn hung up there and then, leaving a stunned Pichu to look around the room.

“Brooklyn has diverted suspicion from himself about any connection with WAVEX,” she explained. “Although in doing so he purposely got Volletta arrested.”

“Tricky little bastard,” grumbled Logan.

“He’s smart,” Pichu sighed. “And he’s in a powerful position at the moment. We know what he can do with a computer so let’s just carry on as we planned. He sent me the files for tomorrow. I suggest we get to work.”

Next: Chapter 45 - Blademaster
On Rest Day, TPML Battlers are training for the impending Round Two. The mysterious new addition to TPML, Blademaster, decides to postpone his training in order to meet with an important client.

Gordon wants to begin the depletion of 04621, but before he can do that he has to play dirty to pull the supports away from the quaint village.

WAVEX begin their plan to take care of Girafarig and Crystal Tears, but who can be trusted when WAVEX seem at odds with each other? After getting some information from Brooklyn, Thomas makes a bold move and introduces herself as the ringleader to a shocked TPMLer.

Liang and Amy’s relationship weakens as Liang begins to feel sicker, causing Amy to consider a tempting offer and think about her life in the long-term. Meanwhile, Elec Man EXE is one of the bystanders when Chris 2.0 finally breaks his silence and reveals exactly where he’s been, why he returned and what caused him to leave.

Quite a big chapter next! Please let me know what you thought!

Ultimate Charizard

24th June 2007, 04:35 PM

Ooh lotsa stuff going on though the thing thats got me thinking is who 'the Subject' could be. Obviously its someone in the second round and as of now we have....
Chris 2.0
Luna
Girafarig
Blademaster (assuming he won)
Grey
Greg
Darksage
Green Lanturn
Ultimate Charizard
Elec
TML
Andrew
MLG
Liang
TBA
At least 2 of Thomas's goons

I think thats all of them though i may be a little confused. Im sure MLG was in at least 2 Round 1 battles. Since theres 17 there and obviously not an even split i probably am.
Theres too many to go through them all but heres the thoughts ive had so far....

Chris: Maybe a little too obvious though it is odd He dissapears just as Wavex start to move into action but i think that it would be too simple...at least for this story ;). Though DD was at that battle (but then so was half the villiage) and he did recieve a little help (explained later)
Luna: Shes had alot happen already and since we've seen alot of her Background lately i dont think she would have had time to be officially approached. That is unless Wavex are doing this without the Subjects knowledge.
Girafarig: Possible. They do say the best place to hide something is in plain sight and if he is involved then the story he's spinning to Crystal will seem more beleivale that he's managed to overcome Wavex and thwart their plans when really he was part of it.
Grey & Greg: Im kinda expecting these two to be part of a sub arc and tie up their own stories with a Master vs the Student full circle battle at some point. Of course with Grey now trying to distance himself from Gregg he may be trying to avoid hurting the guy since hes been through so much when the truth is revealed.
Ultimate: Im not expecting him as anything more than cannon Fodder for one of the bigger chars in round 2 but since he is my Namesake i cant help but wonder. On a personal level id kinda like him to stand up as a psuedo-hero and make up for mistakes in the past. I didnt even expect to see him again at all untill that mention about the first through to round 2. For a 'minor char' to stamp his place so quickly is odd, especially as bigger charachters have already gone out but maybe im reading too far into it.
TML: Fast becoming one of my biggest suspects. Though only due to the battle between the Chris's. This is the help i reffered to in Chris's entry. She only stepped forward after TBA decided that Watermarino was the winner instead of as soon as he admitted he didnt know. Would she have spoken up if it had been 2.0 that was on TBA's mind.

Again thats just my initial thoughts on the bus on my way home from work so they may not be exactly Deep but despite everything else thats going on (which is great BTW Chris) i cant get this little puzzle out of my head.

Chris 2.1

24th June 2007, 04:50 PM

UC: What an interesting and comprehensive list. You've obviously put some thought into it which I of course love. Being able to think so much about something is good, and yet at the same time probably quite frustrating.

Obviously I'll not tick/cross your comments since that would be too easy :) But I'll tell you that you're asking the right questions: Is The Subject part of WAVEX or are they operating without The Subject's knowledge? Who has had the time to work with them, and WHY would WAVEX want a specific person to win the league?

Your point about Becca...well I'll be blunt: she isn't influencing anything, but I was trying to create a chaotic atmosphere by having onlookers shouting different opinions who won. So that's why she spoke after it climaxed. She's not evil :)

MLG was in a match in last chapter. You're thinking of MTC - He was a member in TPML a while ago. He had a Gyarados, Torchic, Castform and Ditto and was quite low-key. I never knew what his name meant, hence Smiles making up possible meanings.

Anyway next chapter delves into more of WAVEX's goings on......and you might just learn a whole lot about The Subject, too.

MeLoVeGhOsTs

25th June 2007, 09:28 AM

An interesting chapter, a lot of necessary talk and character supportive lines. Hopefully we'll see some more action! Chris 2.0 won, good, I wonder what happened on Troglar Moutain..

Hyperness is a Good Thing

25th June 2007, 09:40 AM

Hmmmm...Chris2.0 is being very mysterious about the things going on..
And WHY do Wavex want to control the outcome and let a specific person win?
Why why why..
oh, and here's my little conspiracy theory..the subject is actually Gregg... and somehow his mother is behind allll this. *nod nod* ^^U I'm probably wrong.

nothing much to say, only one small comment - I feel that Nurse Smiles is a tad overused.. she's starting to get really really old... Maybe you should give her a break for the next few chapters? ^^

Elec Man EXE

25th June 2007, 02:15 PM

Battle filled chapter, excellent.

The Chris battle was very good. Intense. Chris 2.0 is tricky. Vewy twicky indeed </elmer fudd>. I always like seeing Cacturne in action, cool pokemon. And Electabuzz.

*smacks TPML self* Pay attention, you. Jeez, what kind of a ref are you :P. Go back to yelling at wild pokemon...

I can't think too much on Wavex. Too twisty for me... Brooklyn? Tsk. That does raise some questions about the scenes in past chapters... did Voletta not know that Brooklyn was involved as well? Or did she just hate him getting into her business (enough to trap him in an elevator).

Even Chris doesn't know whats up with the knives in his wall? Hmm, mystery. Should be good to hear just where he was, though I have a pretty good idea from the little preview flashback thing with TML. Seems he's been quite busy... evolved Aron and Sneasel. Just how long WAS he gone, anyway?

Chris 2.1

25th June 2007, 02:45 PM

MLG: Trolgar was just the beginning....

Hyperness: Nurse Smiles is being overused? Noted. I'll try not to let her become stale. Gregg is the subject? Well I don't know if he'd want to be involved with anything his mother concocted. But as I said, he might not know.....but still, you're thinking along the right lines!!

Chris's mysteriousness seems like typical emoness. But after next chapter you'll see exactly why he's become so...different. It's guilt, more than anything.

Elec: Glad you liked; they're a bitch to write -_-;; I'm such a fan of Cacturne. And Electabuzz. And well all his team really. So it was good to see Buzz again. Chris has another big match in Round 2. I think you'll enjoy it!

The way Thomas and Volletta spoke....I don't think V knew Brooklyn was in on it. More in upcoming chapters.

Yea It's funny; the concensus was that Chris was the victim or user of said knives, but he doesn't seem to understand what happened. Did something occur when he left the house? Oh how you should speculate!!

Just so you know it's been about 8 days since the Dusclops scene. A lot of the chapters since have had 1 or 2 day gaps.

Next TPML Extra is coming soon. What do you want TPML Extra to focus on? Antyhing specific?

Sike Saner

8th July 2007, 12:24 AM

Apologies in advance for any accidental incorrect doubling of letters in the following post; the keys on this new board are a fair deal more sensitive than those of my old one, and I’m still getting used to them.

Anyway, it’s time for…

You-Should-Have-Been-There-to-See-My-Reaction Theatre

The excerpt:

“Weavile is unable to battle,” said the referee promptly. “The round goes to Mr Vaxew and Aggron.”

The reaction:

Me: “Mr. WHAT?” O____O

Yeah. XD

Anyway, speaking of something else that can be spelled with the five letters that comprise the above mentioned man’s surname *pauses to actually BREATHE*, OH SNAP. OH SNAP. Yeah, I can safely say I was not expecting Brooklyn to actually be with WAVEX, not at all expecting it. (Somehow I get the feeling that re-reading the chapter or chapters prior to this one would cause evidence that he is such to stand out through hindsight in huge neon letters—or, perhaps, that hindsight-paranoia on my part would cause me to see hints to that revelation in previous chapters regardless of whether any were there or not. XD) I just love unexpected developments like that, the way they enrich the circumstances and the characters involved… ^^

And oh yes, I must comment on Nurse Smiles and her little stint as a DJ—her mouth is a bountiful fountain of priceless quotes, I swear. And yes, I know that calling someone’s mouth a fountain probably sounds a little weird, but whatever. XD Oh, and also funny was that referree in the Luna vs. Saffire match. I wonder if we’ll be seeing more of her? I hope so—she’s hilarious. XD

Highlights:

Cacturne gave a disappointed look back at his trainer, who just smiled, mouthing something. Cacturne considered this, before turning back and holding his thick arms out. They glowed bright, before the bright glow dimmed and darkened. Cacturne’s yellow, lamplike eyes were filled with glee as he opened wide and fired a series of short pins through the air. These pins, shrouded with a violent glow, soared up into the air as they extended to javelin-like proportions. They swept up and over Swampert, dangling above her head. They moved like a cloud of swarming flies as the beast charged.

One of the things I particularly enjoy about your battles is that you consistently provide eloquently worded and visually awesome depictions of attacks. Cacturne’s attack here is a nice example of such; I especially like the description in that last line —“they moved like a cloud of swarming flies” = an awesome way to put it. ^^

“This is stupid!” Crystal Tears shouted. “Chris won!”

“Which one?” Girafarig hissed.

I loved that. What happened there displays a unique and highly amusing possible consequence of two competitors with the same name battling—I’m glad those lines there got the opportunity to be uttered. XD

“The referee did not see the match result,” she called. “Therefore he is unable to make a fair, professional decision on the outcome.”

“No!” cried The Blue Avenger. River saw this.

“Err yea….NO!”

“You don’t have to agree with me to impress me,” TBA said kindly.

“Yea but it’s fun,” River noted. “I DON’T HAVE TO AGREE TO IMPRESS HIM!”

XD

Well as we say in Spanish, pardonnez-moi!

“SO ANYWAY! I’ve got a gigantic varuca on my….hand! Who knew they grew there?”

“Chris 2.0 defeated his evil brother Chris Wattybono in his first round match! It was a bit confusing but basically Chris’s Cacturne evolved into Electabuzz and Chris Wottybinnett’s Swampert evolved into Combusken! And Elec Man EXE evolved into The Missing Link!”

Three more of the many examples of why I love the hell out of Nurse Smiles. XD

“Aggron use flash cannon,” Wayne croaked in his thin, rattling voice. Aggron nodded, blasting a fantastic glowing beam of molten metal through the air.

Another great depiction of a move in the form of Flash Cannon’s description as a “fantastic glowing beam of molten metal”. ^^

“GO FOR THE THROAT!” Hyperness screamed.

“Do you mind?” quipped the calm, hippie idealist from Stones, Stems and Storks. “I am currently overdosed on banana painkillers and I need peace.”

Ah, that hippy… She’s another great, hilarious character. ^^

Tye Chee
A Cambridge graduate, Alexis Montande studied biology at University before becoming a strange, dirty hippy and running a pathetic shop in TPML. She changed her name by deed poll to Tye Chee, and smells faintly of grass.

And she gets an equally amusing VS Seeker description, too. “Smells faintly of grass”… XD

Suddenly the rippling was happening more and more. A huge wave emerged from the sea and Lapras rose to its crest, leering powerfully as the slew of water drifted towards the shore.

“JESUS CHRIST THERE’S A GIGANTIC WAVE!” bellowed the ox-like referee.

Her line there… For some reason, it just makes me laugh myself half to death. XD Again, I really like that character.

I looked at my Pokemon.

“Dragon Rush.”

Lairon glowed a deep purple colour as steam rose from his body. His mouth opened and a snaking tongue of draconian energy burst through the force field Absol created. I ran through the space and recalled Lairon, leaving Becca to watch me go, confused.

And there’s yet another awesomely depicted move. ^^

Another solid chapter, there. More great battles, more great humor, and a plot that just gets better and better. I love this stuff. :D

Chris 2.1

10th July 2007, 10:59 AM

Sike: What an awesome post to return to! (I've been on holiday you see)

Thanks for all your kind words; Smiles will be AWOL for a while after her stint as a Radio DJ but we'll get to see her more before the fic ends. Tye Chee, similarly, willl be seen a little more as her role expands.

What can I say - Brooklyn's involvement was meant to be a big surprise and one that you'll find quite difficult to have foreseen. Building him up as someone determind to foil Volletta made us assume he was trying to foil her cause, not that he was someone higher up trying to make her take the fall.

More on Brooklyn next chapter; his involvement in WAVEX really changes the direction of things. The politics of WAVEX change more, too. Thomas is scared of Brooklyn's forced involvement.

The fic will exceed 50 chapters. I see us reaching between 50 and 55. There are 3 main plot points during the rest of the fic: we have the league's progression, WAVEX's involvement with the league and finally, a rather chilling plot that could end the story on a sad note. I'm talking about Gordon's idea in Chapter 44 to try and shut down the league to put an end to WAVEX.

It's a bold move by the Chairman but it does make a fair point - 04621 is a calamity of a village that's causing too much trouble. Now this plot won't rise properly for a few chapters, but you'll soon see a rather bold climax to the end of the fic.

In other news, while being on holiday and thus without computer, I've been developing ideas for the rest of the fic - it's saddening to admit almost everything has been planned and finalised for the future of the fanfic, but it's been a long running and sucessful piece of fiction that has been a pleasure to write.

Unfortunately due to the demands of the fic, I doubt I'll finish it before October/November time. This is going to be tough because I'm starting University in September and will be moving away from home. There is no doubt, however, that I will finish this fic. It's been a big part of my life.

Now on a bland, advertising and soulness note: the golden pen awards are nearly finishing nominations. Please, please, if you enjoy any aspect of the fic then please vote for us! This will most likely be TPML's last awards so let's go out with a bang!

If you need to look over different chapters or even things like the Ecks chapter where he was visited by the characters he killed, track back over some of the other pages and revisit some of the previous work!

I do hope we get more nominations, thanks guys!

Unsolved Puzzle

10th July 2007, 11:36 AM

i put u in for a nomination for best writing style.

the way you write your battle sences makes be picture it like a anime.

Chris 2.1

19th July 2007, 09:32 AM

I've had severe login troubles for TPM and it's meant that I've been absent for quite a long time.

I've been writing Ch45 and planning the fic. I'm a very picky planned, so my pc is littered with files all about the future of the fic, events, chapter-by-chapter breakdowns of what to expect just so I know where I'm going.

I think we will reach beyond 50 chapters. I'm going to guess 52 or 53. There is at least one chapter after the league.

Ch45 has been difficult; we do learn what happened to Chris when he was away, and it's been surprisingly difficult to write. I've been trying to get through it and it's been a very very hard task. I can't explain why without revealling the content so I hope, when you do see Ch45, you can see how it might be tough writing it.

But I'm overcoming it and the rest of the chapter promises to be a little easier to write. I'm also really looking forward to Blademaster's role in this chapter and the rest of the fic.

Also those with two eyes and a computer will be aware we have been nominated for the Golden Pens - in a lot of catagories! This could be our best year in the GP's so please don't forget to nominate!

....that is, of course, if you think we deserve to win.

.....you can nominate anyone you like, too. You know......oh I'm going to get some food.

[goes]

Chris 2.1

24th July 2007, 05:35 PM

Chapter Forty-Five
Blademaster

“Thank you all for being here.”

It was 8:55AM and the city of New York opened its sleepy eyes as, high up on floor 12 of the Board of Governors, Gordon addressed the 10 remaining members of his team. Volletta Kane was in the cell belowground, her lawyer, Larry J Lawyer, was trying to draft a plea.

“We have a crisis on our hands,” he said firmly. “Something small that will escalate and make a mockery of the leagues we work so hard to run. I’m talking specifically about 04621.”

“What now?” droned Jacques.

“Shut up,” Gordon said irritably. Jacques flinched and looked around rather embarrassingly. “This is important.

“A group known as WAVEX are operating somewhere around 04621. They are planning on fixing the league for ‘The Subject’, someone they want to succeed. Marilyn and I have been discussing our course of action against these people.”

“We feel,” said the elderly Marilyn. “WAVEX are a highly intelligent group. They need to be approached carefully.”

Marilyn was one of the oldest members of the Board. She had been on it for 15 years and, like Arthur Pacie, dealt with Legal matters. She was close with Gordon as they had worked together for so long.

“So what do we know?” asked Cocoa Sting.

“They are run by a person named Thomas,” Marilyn explained. “They are located around 04621 but not necessarily within it. They seem to be a small group, but powerful and influential. We know they had Volletta working for them, and it’s presumed some TPML battlers will be in on their plans.”

“Because the league means so much to people, WAVEX are able to encourage people to help them on the basis that they wouldn’t win the league anyway,” Brooklyn said. “If they help WAVEX out, however, they feel like they’re achieving something.”`

“It’s twisted,” Marilyn uttered bitterly.

“Obviously for us it is hard to determine if they are achieving their goal,” Gordon explained. “And even harder to pinpoint people who are involved. We do not know who The Subject is, if they are cooperating or unwillingly involved…there is so much uncertainty about this organization.”

He cleared his throat.

“The cleanest way to deal with this situation is to close down the league.”

“When?” Rosie asked cautiously.

“Anytime,” Gordon replied. “I will authorize it whenever we feel it should be done. But first, I would like to discuss our replacement for Volletta Kane.”

“Do you have somebody in mind?” Jacques asked.

“I do,” Gordon replied. “Amy Wolfsong.”

“From TPML?” Derek asked morbidly, head held up in one of his hands.

“She has accounting experience from working in the bank, and has held a position of authority in TPML,” Gordon explained. “She is honest and trustworthy. And with her gone, I think it will help TPML disintegrate into disarray much faster.”

*

I walked through the village square on a sunny mid-morning. It was such a nice day, and I was elated at my victory over Chris Watarimono…but I felt a bit heavy inside. I had picked Cacturne and Electabuzz up from the Pokemoncenter and saw Aragornbird and Elec Man sitting on a bench.

“If you’re sure,” Elec Man said sheepishly, pocketing something. “Thanks Liang.”

“Hey Chris,” Liang said warmly. I smiled. “How’s things?”

“Good,” I mused.

“Well done in your match,” he continued. “Quite a result!”

“I was a bit worried,” I admitted, grinning. “I think I deserved it though.”

“Definitely,” Elec Man replied. “So is it good to be back?”

“Oh…oh yea, yea definitely,” I said.

“We all wondered where you’d been,” Liang told me. I looked at him sourly, not approving of his needy attitude towards me. But then I felt a soft throb inside that told me I needed to let this out. Everything that happened. It was weighing me down.

“I’ve been…everywhere,” I sighed. “To be honest I’ve been a bit down. I’ve been in this league for months and months and months and yet I don’t feel I’ve got a single friend. There’s no ‘best buddy’ I hang out with. I’m just a bit of a loner.”

“That’s not true,” Liang replied. “We’re buds, right? You get on with Grey, Amy, Becca…”

“The thing is we’re all so busy battling that we don’t form friendships,” Elec Man explained. “But I’d say me and you are pretty good friends.”

“Can I talk to you?” I asked them. “I need to clear my conscience.”

The two looked at me deeply, perhaps wondering if they were going to learn what happened. I took a deep breath and sat next to Elec Man.

“It started when my Mum came to visit.”

*

“This is…” I said, shuddering with rage. “This is pathetic!”

“What is, Chris?” David argued, as our mother sobbed in front of us.

“This family,” I replied coldly. “I’ve got a perfect, honest, trustworthy father who kicks our own mother out the house who, by the way, never seemed to love me as much as her other son. The perfect, charming David Wilson! And the ironic thing is he is clever. Really clever. But obviously not clever enough to know that if you’re good at something then you bloody well DO IT!”

David looked at me.

“You smoke! You drink! You spend each night of the week with a different girl and I don’t think you even know where your University is! You could achieve so much – so much more than I ever could. And you still throw it away. And it’s not because you were never loved growing up – it was that the love wasn’t enough! So while I spend every night sitting in the imprint of your legacy, just wishing I could make the family as proud as you have, you drift through modules and lectures and will no doubt scrape a decent enough degree to mask up all the time you waste your life!”

He was bewildered. Standing there, shocked; his body was shaking slightly and I could see a tear in his eye, too. But David blinked it away and kept his face still. Mum had stopped crying and looked at us.

“Anything else?” David asked coldly. I nodded.

“I will never consider you anything more than David Wilson,” I replied softly. I changed my tone. “You can sleep in the room on the right. It’s mine. Mum, you can spend the night in the guest room.”

I walked to the closet where we kept spare duvets and blankets.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Hold on,” David said firmly. “We need to sort this out.”

“Chris has made it clear he doesn’t want to be involved with this family,” Bea sniffed.

“That’s right,” I snapped, tears streaming down my face. “I don’t. As soon as I came here I felt…happy. And glad. And proud. And as if I was achieving something. Leave me to feel like I’m accomplishing something, even if it’s never as good as what you do, David.”

*

In the end, Mum and David were bold. They told me they wouldn’t give up on me at all, and despite my comment about being happy here, on my own, they decided I was a social outcast and that they were going to stay and keep me company. They wanted us to get over the whole thing with Mum and Dad.

I hate to sound elitist, but even my family can take something as common as divorce and make it seem more dramatic. David was siding with Dad still, saying that he felt Dad wasn’t someone evil or manipulative; that he wasn’t a bad person. He was in love, and being honest about how he felt. I felt otherwise. My image of Dad had been completely shattered and I felt nothing but hot waves of guilt, disgust and upset. I was siding with Mum, who only took an interest in me when it became apparent that she could stay with me, repair a burnt bridge and talk to someone else in the family. It felt odd…but I really did empathize with her.

We had all gone to bed; it was not a late hour at all, but we were emotionally and physically drained from everything. David was interested in a Pokemon Battle (explaining he had caught a Swalot, some gigantic stomach Pokemon) even though his Pokemon generally seemed to be more like accessories than actual battlers.

I felt numb, like a layer of my skin had been peeled off and the flesh within exposed to the eyes of the world. Why did they come here? Why did they ruin everything?

Don’t worry about a thing

“What?” I whispered. I had distinctly heard a voice.

Shhhh[/i]

“David?” I asked, sitting up and peering into the darkness. “I-Is that you?”

[/i]I’m not your brother[/u], the voice whispered. It had a waspish quality. How on earth can you not recognize this voice?

“I…I’m just tired,” I replied, my voice cracking. “Just tell me who you are!”

As the words left my lips a sharp, mental anguish stabbed at my head. Screwing my eyes up, I curled into a ball as the pain intensified. I could not scream. I had to fight this. I bit my lip and let the pain jab me.

“S-s-stop this,” I hissed, turning my head to face the darkness. “Is this you?”

This is me… replied the voice. A wider spectrum of searing pain flooded my senses and I threw myself off the sofa, writhing on the floor in agony beyond words. No screams…no cries, no moans. I couldn’t even do it.

You are such a damaged soul, Chris! the voice told me. This is exactly why...

“This is all in my head,” I muttered. “All in my head!”

You could never create pain like this, I was told. You need to pay for what you have done.

“I – I haven’t done – anything!” I gasped, staggering to my feet and staring around. “Who are you? Where are you?

My hand smacked the wall where the light switch was. Fiercely I was close to finding who this was. But the light didn’t come on. I was still plunged in darkness.

I took the time to fiddle with the electrics, sneered the voice. But like I said…you need to pay for what you’ve done, Chris Wilson.

“Please…” I moped, writhing around in agony as small needles jousted at me. I felt hot…hotter than the roasted coals of hell as heat pulsated from my body. Hairs stood up all over me and I shivered, despite the torturing heat. Dry sobs shook me as I lay there, the darkness swimming around me and engulfing me from all sides.

Cold, cruel laughter filled my ears, shaking, ringing, crying, laughing…I clutched my searing head with shaking hands and tried to find the air to scream…

“M-M-Make it stop…”

Loose, my head swayed on my neck as I knelt up, trying to find strength. My vision was fading…various fizzles of light burst before my eyes as I blinked furiously, desperate to banish this endless misery.

“Make it stop,” I wheezed, draping myself over the sofa. “Just…”

I swallowed.

“Finish me off.”

*

Meanwhile, David lay in his bed, secluded in a deep sleep. Moments later a rupturing reverberation filled his body and he gave a sharp spasm. Eyes darting open he looked around. The entire bed was shaking and his body violently twitching.

“Wh-What the hell?” he gasped. “Chris? Mom?”

He tried to speak out, but a rattling cloud of cold air swathed around him, rendering him silent. His eyes wide with fear, David struggled against invisible restraints as something stirred inside.

Do not fight me.

Unable to stand up straight, he burst through the door into the living area, clutching the edge of the sofa to keep himself balanced. In vain, David hammered the light switch but the light did not come on; before wondering where his brother was, he wandered into the kitchen area, vaguely trying to organize his mind.

However a force grappled David and drove him against the fridge as he strained and groaned under the intense pain around him. One eye managed to open; he saw a knife hovering before him, ready to strike like a possessed snake. David ducked as the knife darted into the fridge, wedging into it; he grabbed a knife and hurled it into the darkness where it clattered into the wall.

I told you not to fight me, David.

Two knives span through the air; David did a stretching shuffle to the side of the fridge, finding it hard to move at all. By doing so a knife tore past his arm and he began to bleed. David leant over the counter as all he felt was sharp, intense waves of pain lashing over him and probing him from within. He sighed heavily, heart pounding as darkness poured in around him.

*

“Honey! Wake up!”

Chris awoke to the sound of his mother’s voice. She was dressed in worn combat trousers, firm trainers and a t-shirt, smiling at him.

“Come on! Get your clothes on, we need to leave now!”

“Wh…why?” Chris asked, rolling over. He felt a slice of pizza under his face and realised he was sleeping on the floor. Jerking up, he looked around, noticing that he was drenched in a cold sweat and he had rolled around a lot while he had been asleep.

“Morning,” grumbled David, entering the lounge. He was wearing his clothes already and, seeing this, Chris haphazardly got into his own.

“I thought we could go for a walk today,” Bea sniffed, holding out a booklet called ‘Scams for Tourists’. “There’s a nice bit up Trolgar Mountain.”

“You’ll love that,” Chris sneered to his brother. David pulled a face. Chris stared at his brother for a moment. “You’re so pale, David…do you even go out?”

“Get bent,” he snapped.

“Boys!” Bea shouted crisply. “Thankyou. You know David, you are looking peaky. Did you eat enough yesterday?”

“Yes,” he replied firmly. “I’m fine.”

“What do you think to a little walk?” Bea asked innocently. “I know last night was…stressful, and we all said things we didn’t mean –” she shot a look at Chris as she said this, before continuing, “So we should smell the crisp air, walk the lonely earth and talk about our feelings until we like each other again.”

The brothers agreed, and the three walked out the house to spend the day healing old wounds. Chris glared at his brother, who stared back blankly as Bea marched her sons through BT Street and towards Trolgar Mountain.

*

“You know, and I said ‘Oscar, I am your wife. You even married me in a church’ and he replied with ‘Bea, I’m still filing for divorce –’”

“Mum can we not talk about your impending divorce?” I snapped. “That’s the reason this family fell apart so I doubt it’s going to help.”

“Hm,” she mused. We made our way up the Mountain, but we had approached it from a different side. I’d been up here a few times for training or when I helped the two men find the summit to help draw up plans for the radio tower. This time, however, we were in a more cavernous area, and we had just stopped by a Pokemoncenter halfway up the mountain.

“You’re quiet, David,” Bea noted. He cocked his head arrogantly.

“Bored.”

“This is a nice view,” I said conversationally. “You can see the entire village from here.”

And I was right; I saw the six TPML Towers, black and rounded, jutting up from the main square. I could see people and Pokemon wandering south down BT Street – I could even see Grey’s theatre in all its glory. South-West from the main square was the mysterious, swathing Ivy Woods, not far from the desolate Crush Quarry in the west.

“It is quite pleasant,” Bea sniffed, apparently regretting her hostility towards the village. We both heard a rattling moan and turned suddenly. David was staggering wildly, his eyes half-shut and an odd expression on his face.

“Whoa, Dave!” I said.

“David?” Bea asked, bewildered. “What’s wrong?”

He shook wildly, his body jerking with spasms as he got paler and paler, all the life leaked from his face as the electric blue veins under his skin looked more and more prominent. David gave a groan as tendrils of steam began siphoning from his skin. I watched as the tendrils of steam all began to merge together and form the ghostly outline of my Dusclops. Horrorstruck, my hand reached for his Pokeball and I realised it was empty.

“No!”

“DAVID!” Bea screamed, as her son limply dropped to the rocky ground. My eyes were locked on my Pokemon hovering above him.

“What did you do!” I snapped.

I told you I would make you pay for what you did, Chris, came a rattling voice. Dusclops’ single eye throbbed powerfully as I heard these words. Last night I unleashed a heavy wave of sleep on the household. I entered your body and tried to possess you…but you were so angry, so hateful…it was painful being inside you. I wandered among the house and found David. He, too, was angry…but filled with such a love and satisfaction for himself I was able to meld into his body and occupy it.

He tried to expel me, but I was too strong. All your angst that you had…it fed me. Frustration allowed me to grow stronger from your rage and upset, and now I’ve become far stronger than anything you’ve ever seen. David eventually stopped fighting and had a heart attack due to the pressure of my presence. He died then and there, but I’ve been residing in his body since.

“So all this time we’ve been with David he’s been…dead?” I asked, shaking slightly. Mum was sobbing uncontrollably, exhausted with the lurches of emotion. My hand, trembling, gripped a Pokeball and I threw it forward firmly.

In a flash my Vibrava emerged; she gave a insect-like cry and flapped into the sky as Dusclops unleashed a shadow ball. My dragonfly swept to the left and blasted a sonic attack that did meager damage to Dusclops.

“Steel wing!” I snapped. Vibrava tore through the air as her wings sparkled with a metallic sheen. She slammed into Dusclops who angrily charged up a Will-O-Wisp attack, commanding the cluster of periwinkle-blue flames to sweep towards us. Mum screamed, but Vibrava blasted a whirlwind to stop the attack from coming close.

“We need to get David to an ambulance!” Bea cried. Even though he was dead, I agreed with her. He would be safe there, safe from Dusclops. Vibrava opened her mouth and spewed a streaming cannon of silky, violet flames through the air. They smashed into Dusclops and he was consumed by the draconian breath.

“Good one!” I told her. She nodded imperiously. I grabbed Dusclops’ Pokeball and held it out, ready to recall the beast. Unfortunately Dusclops’ materialized behind Vibrava, unleashing a powerful shadow claw attack. With sharp fingers raked across her back, Vibrava was hurled down to the ground, smashing into it painfully.

“RETURN!” I cried, blasting the recall beam. It failed to work.

Stop trying to recall me, came Dusclops’ voice. In your capture I still managed to murder your brother. Why recall me again? I might kill you…or your mother…

“Vibrava use silver wind!” I shouted again. Vibrava powerfully wafted a sparkling gust of wind at Dusclops as I racked my brains…I couldn’t leave Dusclops here on the mountain and yet…if I recalled him he’d likely cause havoc somewhere else. The intensity of the situation began overwhelming me as sweat crept along my forehead like an unwanted caterpillar. My hands were shaking, my mother was weeping, and Dusclops’ evil, evil face swam before me as Vibrava battled it.

I stood there, perplexed as Dusclops swung a punch into Vibrava’s brittle frame. She smashed into the ground just as a small orb arched over my head from behind; a loud cry and a siren alerted me as the ball exploded, smothering Dusclops in a sinister, white smoke. As thick tendrils of smoke ensnared my Pokemon, I instinctively used my Pokeball to recall him. As the beam brought the demon back to confinement, I turned to see a man standing before me. He was a paramedic, or dressed like that. David was put on a stretcher and rushed into a very pokey looking Ambulance that was parked midway down the mountain; looking down the road it was evident it could not climb up this high. Mum was being led away by the men.

“Are you coming with us son?” asked one of them.

“Yea…” I said solemnly, following them.

“That ghost Pokemon…is it yours?”

“Yea. What did you do to it?”

“Emergency services use these smoke balls to catch particularly troublesome Pokemon when a Pokeball doesn’t work,” he explained. “It’s a ball of compressed smoke, which latches around the Pokemon allowing us to capture it.”

I nodded, barely bothered about it anyway despite my curiosity. I recalled Vibrava and tucked her Pokeball away. The man gave me a large orb slightly bigger than a Pokeball. It was a Transporter, and he told me it would lock around my Pokeball to prevent Dusclops escaping. I snapped it shut over my Pokemon, thinking of all the people that had given me a warning. Grey, Kyle, Greta…they all saw trouble in this Pokemon before me. I pocketed the ball and sat with Mum before David’s body as the ambulance drove us away.

*

“Oh my god,” Elec Man gasped. “Chris…I…I had no idea.”

“That’s awful,” Liang noted, coughing throatily.

“Yea,” I mused.

“You seem so…at peace,” Liang noted, staring at me.

“Dusclops told me it was my fault, from within the ball,” I said. “And even when he was silent, my own mind told me what I knew wasn’t true.”

“Why did you come back?” Elec Man asked me. I stared at him for a moment before I was lost in thought…

“You’ve [u]got to go back Chris.”

“I…It was for the best,” I stammered, smiling at them both. Liang checked his watch and his eyes widened.

“I’ve got to go meet Amy,” he said, heading off. Elec Man sighed.

“I’ve really got to get training for the league…” he began. “Unless…Chris, you fancy a quick doubles match?”

“Erm, sure,” I said, getting two Pokeballs ready. Elec Man released a large, fiery Typhlosion, who gave a titanic roar as his collar burst into flame. Next to his Typhlosion was his Glalie, round and hard, thick and sturdy. Glalie hovered off the ground as Typhlosion readied himself.

“Right then,” I said airily, not expecting a Typhlosion. “GO!”

My Pokeballs burst open to reveal my choices; first was my Politoed, who sprang out heartily as he observed the two enemies. Politoed watched as my second Pokemon materialized before me. Large, purple, with tiny eyes and chubby hands, the most recent addition to my team let out a bellow.

“Swaaaalow.”

“You have a Swalot?” Elec Man asked, bewildered.

“It was my brothers,” I replied firmly.

Chris 2.1

24th July 2007, 05:36 PM

It was a quiet day – nay, quiet week – ah heck, it had been a pretty quiet MONTH for Oz’s C.O.R.R.U.P.T as the Australian sat in his seedy store. His two Mr Mime’s were sweeping up with their psychic prowess as a Delibird waddled through the aisles of stolen goods with a large, bulging sack.

“What did you bring?” Andrew barked, from behind his safety screen. The safety screen was, in actuality, 6 inches of pure titanium crafted from the fiery regions of Minnesota, with a mesh window for Andrew to sit behind and greet customers. Next to the desk was a round holder for 6 Pokeballs, designed rather like an egg holder and built into the safety screen. Delibird pulled out Pokeballs one at a time and lay three down on the holder, which had three spaces on either side of the large titanium screen. Andrew, from his side, span the holder so that the three Pokeballs moved around onto his side of the protection. This left the other three empty spaces for Delibird to put three more Pokeballs on as Andrew examined the three he had been given already.

“This is a Torkoal,” Andrew murmured. “Original Trainer was Unsolved Puzzle. Seems ok. I’ll claim it to be Flannery’s. Next we have….ooh, what’s this?”

Andrew released the Pokemon, and a gigantic, purple scorpion emerged, giving a loud, raucous cry.

“GIANTSCARYSCORPIONMON!” Andrew bellowed. The scorpion actually seemed quite docile, but looked ferocious. Andrew recalled it. “I’m keeping this one.”

As Andrew was identifying and labeling the Pokemon his Delibird had stolen, the doors opened and a figure entered. He was of an average height with spiky, messy hair, wearing a black t-shirt featuring a large dragon on the front. The young man, who was perhaps no older than 20, wore khaki shorts, his skinny ankles descending into well-worn sneakers. He stared straight at OzAndrew, his most noticeable feature (after the burn on his cheek) being a black eye patch on his right eye.

“Hello,” he said.

“Welcome, welcome,” OzAndrew stammered, locking the high-security door behind him. “How can I help?”

“I’m…looking for a new eye patch,” replied the customer. “This one needs changing.”

“Eye patch?” OzAndrew asked wearily. “Mime! Find me an eye patch. I’m sure we have them somewhere.”

One of his Mr Mime’s ran off down an aisle.

“So why do you wear an eye patch?” asked OzAndrew. “You’re only young.”

“Oh…well, I was in an accident,” the man said carefully. He eyed OzAndrew. “Some jerk threw a corked hat into my eye.”

“Hat, you say?” Andrew asked, beginning to sweat. “Jerk, you add? Eye, you mentioned? How…terrible.”

“Some…renowned veteran of TPML,” the man carried on. “Months and months and months ago, everyone waited to see him arrive at the train station when he came back to TPML. I suffered that day. You could say it’s affected me a lot. My psychiatrist, Dr Drummond Bones, thinks that it’s the reason I’ve stayed so quiet and ‘in-the-background’ all year.”

“Hmm, that would be a possibility,” Andrew replied. He sneakily scanned the trainer on his VS Seeker.

Blademaster
Blademaster battles in his first TPML this year, and has come all the way from the land of Donut Faeries and Robot Geese to try and win the title of League Champion. He does not specify in a particular type but has been known to try improvised and often suicidal battle strategies to secure victory. This has backfired many times.

“Interesting,” Andrew noted.

“Look Andrew, I KNOW it was you who blinded me,” Blademaster snapped. “And I’ve been going to self-help seminars to try and build up the courage to threaten you!”

“What do you want from me?” Andrew stammered. “I’ve already got a paraplegic ex Frontier Brain after me because I happened to frame an innocent old pervert for attempted murder!”

“I’m aware of that,” Blademaster replied. “I saw him trying to get in the store before. Did you purposely raise your shop so that you NEEDED to walk up steps to get in?”

“Yea,” Andrew smiled. “Didn’t want the wheely bastard to come in after me again.”

“That is so clever!” Blade smirked. “Listen, Andrew…I’m as sadistic and anti-everything as you are. But you have wronged me. However I would like to…try and smooth over things between us.”

“You’ve stormed into my thiefery and tried blackmail,” Andrew stated. “Bitch.”

“IF you let me work here at the C.O.R.R.U.P.T,” Blademaster began. “I’ll give you a multitude of rare Pokemon I captured in Sinnoh.”

“Who is Simmo?” Andrew asked.

“It’s a snowy region quite far away,” Blademaster said, smiling. “I went there to travel, win Gym Badges, and attempt to enter the league. It never actually worked and I cried for three days and forty minutes. Then I sold the Gym Badges for enough money to buy the training expertise of an Elite 4 member to help my Pokemon all evolve into their strongest forms. But anyway I also caught a lot of native Pokemon.”

He released a flurry of Pokeballs from a bag on his back. The balls exploded open to reveal a colourful array of Pokemon; there was a Chimchar, a Drifloon, a Snover, a Combee, a Piplup, a Starly and a Mothim. Andrew’s eyes widened.

“Oh.

“My.

“GOD! What the hell? First off-” he addressed Chimchar, “PG Tips. You look RETARDED. You’ve got a F-LAME coming from your BUTT. EEW! Next off, it’s the inflatable balloon! Well actually you’re quite endearing but still a bit disgusting. Hmm this pine-tree looks like a sort of wooden goblin. You’re disgusting and your very cold…I get the impression you might bludgeon me to death in the woods. Combee…well that’s the noise you make so I’m guessing that’s your name? THERE’S THREE OF YOU! Ok Dugtrio exists, and Magneton’s some freak of nature, and as for Dodrio…well, there’s a rumor the species is based off incest but you? YOU HAVE THREE FACES! Where do you go when you evolve? Maybe one goes in the armpit. Yea, that’s probably right. Hmm Pingu! You’re quite adorable. MEH! Grey bird. Sorry – BORING GREY BIRD. You’re so GENERIC and quite frankly depressing. Also you know that thing, that friend of yours, I think it’s called Bird Flu? Yea, don’t wanna get it so I’ll sell you cheap. Oh god I feel dizzy already just looking at your generic, pigeon-like face. And to finish it off we have a moth. Oh VenoMOTH wasn’t enough. Butterfree, Beautifly, Dustox….no! Let’s have another! Oh your so pathetic I want to cry.”

He paused.

“How much for the group?”

“Free,” Blademaster said. “IF you give me a job here working with you.”

“Sure,” OzAndrew replied. “You can be my assistant.”

“Cool!” Blademaster replied. “My name’s Dave –”

“Couldn’t care less Davemaster,” OzAndrew replied, bored.

*

Meanwhile, Amy Wolfsong sat, alone at Tranquil Shores. It was empty today, mainly because it had begun raining quite suddenly and heavily. Around Amy was her Marill, a recently captured Baltoy that enjoyed digging by spinning furiously; her Beautifly and Dustox, who fluttered lazily around (one had been a present from Aragornbird years ago while the other, as a Wurmple, latched onto her after smelling a rather intoxicating perfume Charles Legend had given her).

Amy didn’t notice a canoe gently gliding towards the beach. Her cell phone lay in the sand as she closed her eyes deeply and thought.

“Amy! Amy!”

Liang hurtled down the beach as fast as he could, sitting down besides her.

“I am so sorry for being late,” he said. “I was with Chris 2.0…me and Nate found out where he’s been! Turns out his Dusclops killed his brother, David…and they’ve been at home organizing the funeral and everything. It sounds really bad…”

“I got a call about five minutes ago,” Amy said bluntly, as if Liang hadn’t spoke. “From The Board of Governors.”

“Oh?” Liang asked, realizing that things were quite serious.

“Yea,” Amy breathed, staring back out to sea. “Gordon spoke to me officially. He…he offered me the position of Accountancy Advisor for the Board.”

“He…he what?” Liang asked, eyes widening. “You’ve got a chair on the Board? Amy!”

“Volletta Kane’s been fired,” Amy said, still speaking softly.

“You do realize you’d be earning thousands of pounds a year? You’d be one of the most exclusive people in the TPML network…oh my god!”

“He said…I had good experience with numbers after working in accounts,” Amy continued. “And good leadership skills – I’d have to look after the entire Accounts department.”

“When do you leave?” Liang asked, before two separate concepts finally met in his head and he looked at her. “Oh.”

“I have to give him two days notice,” said Amy sadly. “Two days? How am I supposed to make my mind up in two days?”

“It’s such a good opportunity,” Liang whispered quietly.

“I know,” Amy sighed. “But this is where I belong. This is my fourth year in TPML. And I’m so happy here. All my friends are here…you’re here…everything I could ever want is here, and yet I’ve been offered one of the most prestigious jobs in the world.”

“Amy…you can still keep in touch with everyone,” Liang explained. “And…you’ve been here a long time. You can jump into a bigger pond if you want…and in a few years time you might want to jump into an even bigger pond, and carry on going to great things.

“This job could set you up for life.”

“But what about you?” Amy said, sniffing.

“I’m not long left for this world,” Liang admitted. “In a few months I won’t be here. You know how I feel about you, Amy, and we’ve been dancing this dance for as long as I can remember. But you need to think about what you’re going to do after I’m gone. I’m not everything…I’m just a chapter in the book of your life.”

Amy turned to look at Liang. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she took deep breaths.

“I want you to be here for the rest of my life, Liang,” she said. “And you’re deteriorating. You need me. You’re getting sicker and sicker by the day and I can’t leave you…”

“If you want to, then you can,” Liang replied, hands on her shoulders, staring right into her eyes. “It’s your decision.”

Amy nodded, biting her lip. The canoe drifted onto the shore and a rather dazzled clown toppled out of it.

“Oh god,” he moaned. “Where am I?”

“You’re at Tranquil Shores, on TPML 04621,” Liang replied. No-Frowns the Clown smiled breathlessly.

“Home! At last!” he sighed, heading to the main village. Amy looked away from Liang, fighting her emotions.

“I don’t know what to do,” she sniffed. “Why did Gordon give me such little time?”

“Apparently Volletta was sacked under suspicious circumstances,” Liang replied. “He wants to fill her position quickly, and you’re the first person he contacted.”

“That’s true,” Amy thought out loud.

“Amy, do you want to be alone?”

“Please,” she replied, kissing Liang on the cheek. He nodded and turned to leave.

“Whatever you decide…let me and everybody know.”

He walked away, heading to the main village. Amy sighed, thinking of all the people she would need to say goodbye to if she chose to leave. Should she? What would her family think if they could see her now? A potential job in New York City for a high-ranking committee in charge of every TPML in the world…

It was almost worth taking the job just to see the look on her mother’s face. As Amy thought about it, she turned to see Liang walk away. She saw him in a week, walking slightly slower, hunched. In a month, shaking as he wandered, pale as snow and coughing mercilessly. In three months, barely able to walk, his voice a rattling croak…

Would she be able to watch Liang as he suffered his illness? Would she still be in love with him when she barely recognized his face, when venom ran through every organ in his body? When he was gasping for life, pleading to be killed…could Amy watch him suffer?

She bit her lip.

No.

*

“Look,” Girafarig snapped. “Bottom line Crys, if we want to stop WAVEX then we need more people! I feel like a character in a children’s detective novel.”

“Bottom like Johnathon,” Crystal replied angrily. “My sister’s too involved with that Blue Pirate. She wouldn’t be interested in helping us out.”

“They’re after us, I know it,” Girafarig replied. “And I just know that Mr Vaxew is working for WAVEX.”

“How?”

“VAXEW is an anagram of WAVEX,” he replied. Alarmed, Crystal got a pen out and scribbled the names on her hand. She drew lines connecting the letters and was alarmed.

“Oh my god you’re right!” she said, alarmed.

“Thomas obviously has his goons in the league, too,” Girafarig said. The two were walking down BT Street, and after a few close instances with Dark Dragonite, who quite frankly was a big annoying loser, and other suspicious people, they agreed that they didn’t know who to trust. They were searching for a good place to use as Anti-WAVEX HQ.

“We could use the old Trading Club?” Crystal suggested.

“No, that’s HQ for the ‘Bring Back Futurama’ Nerds,” Girafarig sighed. He stopped for a second, eyeing up the large, disused Hoothooters restaurant, which had been converted from the Chunky Clefable Café following the Antibodies war.

“What about Hoothooters?” Crystal said, thinking. “That would be good!”

“Yea, I think so, too,” Girafarig said. The two walked towards the doors, which had been boarded shut. The sign, which had peeling paint, showed two Hoothoot sitting comfortable in a large bra. “Xatu use a drill peck.”

He released the eerie looking bird, who jousted her beak forward and drilled a hole through the board. Crystal released her Rhydon, who pried the doors open with an almighty wrench.

“Looks secure,” Girafarig noted.

“Not anymore,” replied Crystal. The two wandered inside, finding themselves in the main eating area. Tables were covered in tablecloths, dust and debris littered everywhere. The coiling stairs at either end of the room lead up to another area. They decided to explode up the top, Crystal recalling her Rhydon and instead sent out her Pikachu. Girafarig, who seemed irritated by his distant Xatu, recalled her and instead released his Magcargo.

“What’s up with Xatu?” Crystal asked.

“One eye sees the past, and one the future,” Girafarig explained. “Stupid git can’t see anything in the present. So it’s useless really.”

“Oh.”

“Yea, I bought it from this…really seedy shop,” Girafarig said, murmuring. As they ascended up the staircase to the next floor, they didn’t notice a figure standing in the doorway of the restaurant.

The two noticed, upon arriving upstairs, that they were at more of a polite bar area. Here there were pretty glass tables and chairs on the deep red carpet, with a sleek bar containing all sorts of alcohol. The area had a balcony that overlooked the downstairs.

“Look! This place is stocked with booze!” Girafarig cried. “They never cleared it out! They’ve got Bruno’s Choice Whiskey – that stuff’s really expensive! And Lady Berlitz #52 Reserve – that’s the champagne of B-List Celebrities, maybe even A-List!”

The two scrambled over the bar to look at the different types of alcohol as, down below, the figure crept along the disused tables and, upon hearing the two voices on the next floor, pressed against the wall and continued towards the staircase.

“This place wouldn’t be good for HQ,” Crystal sighed. “Girafarig, come on. There’s a room at the end of this corridor. Maybe there’s a smaller, more discreet room.”

“Stop right there.”

The two turned to see Dark Dragonite standing at the top of the stairs. He had a gun in his hand and no smile on his face. He cocked the gun and aimed at Crystal.

“Steve!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Girafarig snapped. “Put the gun down you idiot!”

Dark Dragonite pulled the trigger and jerked the gun to the side, shooting a bottle behind the bar. It shattered into a million pieces and caused Crystal to leap in shock. He slowly turned his gun back on the two, staring at them.

“I’m not scared to use this.”

“Why would you kill us?” Crystal asked, beside herself. “Why?”

Girafarig spoke up.

“You’re with WAVEX, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Dark Dragonite replied. “On strict orders.”

“So they want us dead.”

“Not you,” Dark Dragonite said to Girafarig. “Just the girl.”

“What?”

“Thomas made it very clear that he wanted you alive,” he said. As he spoke to Girafarig, a bolt of lightening flew from Pikachu and struck Steve in the chest. He clutched his side and groaned, causing his captors to flee through the doorway at the end of the balcony. Girafarig led the way, finding themselves in a long corridor, also like a balcony. They noticed all the upstairs corridors ran around the building and all overlooked the floor below. They dashed away from Dark Dragonite but he re-emerged, firing another shot. It barely missed Crystal, who screamed as she turned the corner and found herself in a more upscale seating area. There was an old, disused fountain, with sleek furnishings here. Large, exotic plants along the edge of the balcony hid the lower-class diners from view. Crystal and Girafarig recalled their Pokemon and instantly ran under a large table, covering themselves with the table cloth.

Dark Dragonite ran into the room, looking around. He paced to the end of the dining area to a set of stairs leading back to the ground floor. They had not run down here. Coming to the conclusion they were hiding under the tables, Dark Dragonite kicked the nearest one over, revealing it to be empty.

He paced slowly, kicking another over but there was no-one beneath it. Two tables away, Crystal was sobbing and shaking wildly as Girafarig sat and listened to footsteps. Neither spoke; it would give up their cover. The smashing tables got louder and louder as Dark Dragonite got closer and in no time the table right by them was unearthed with a deafening thud. Crystal could make out Dark Dragonite’s shadow.

Then it happened. With one foot he kicked the round table over, revealing Girafarig and Crystal sitting on the floor.

“No!” Crystal cried. Both looked alarmed and scared. Pointing the gun down, Dark Dragonite took a steady aim at Crystal’s head.

“I am sorry for having to do this,” he said quietly. “It…is necessary. It has to be done. I am not a bad person.”

And he pulled the trigger. There was an empty click and a few moments silence. Crystal opened an eye and looked.

“What the hell,” murmured Dark Dragonite. He checked the gun. “Empty! Damnit!”

“You only loaded two bullets?” Girafarig asked meekly.

“Thomas gave me this…Thomas said…it was loaded,” Dark Dragonite said slowly. He suddenly realised. “Oh no.”

Windows smashed around them as two men leapt into the building. Girafarig recognized one as Brink, the man who attacked him. Brink charged at Dark Dragonite and smashed into him, driving him over the balcony and to the floor below. Colton also appeared, but as he did, Crystal and Girafarig had run along the room and down the long corridor leading to the bar area.

“It’s WAVEX,” Girafarig gasped. “That’s Brink. That broad man.”

“He pushed Steve off the balcony! That could break his neck!” Crystal cried out, tears still swimming down her face. They heard cries behind them as Brink and Colton followed them. “Why would they hurt one of their own?”

“They obviously didn’t trust him any more,” Girafarig mused as the two arrived back in the bar area among the sleek wooden tables and the funky glass seats. “But wee need to stop them,”

He released a Geodude and Magcargo. “Geodude, move some of these tables to block the arch. We can’t let them get through!”

“Go Heracross!” Crystal cried. “Q-Quick! Pile up some chairs!”

“THEY’RE TRYING TO BLOCK US IN!” Colton barked. Crystal gasped as she helped Girafarig and the Pokemon barricade the entrance. She looked over the edge and saw, for a brief moment, Dark Dragonite’s limp body sprawled in a sickening position.

“Tangela,” Colton said, releasing the Pokemon. “Razor leaf!”

“Quick! Let’s go!” Girafarig cried. They turned to leave when the barricade was broken apart by Brink and Colton. Colton’s Tangela was by his side, while Brink had a Forretress out.

“Tangela! Stun spore!”

“Magcargo, ignite the spores with ember!”

Tangela rustled and shook a thick spore through the air. It hung lazily, wandering towards Crystal and Girafarig when the large fiery snail spat a slew of burning pods through the air; they ignited the spore and caused a huge explosion, blasting both parties apart.

“Damnit!” Brink snapped. He had a heavy London accent. “Forretress spikes!”

“Magcargo use flamethrower!”

Magcargo blasted a burst of whooshing flame through the air. It smashed into the large steel shell and ignited a table. The table burned slowly, the flames growing higher and higher as Heracross swept in and tackled Tangela.

“Tangela get the table out of the way!” Colton barked. He had short, wiry hair and, with his thin figure and square jaw greatly resembled a terrier. Tangela gripped the flaming table by the legs with slender vines and hurled it away; it smashed into the bar area, where it ignited the dormant alcohol and caused a gigantic explosion. The entire bar area was blown apart, causing further destruction as more alcohol met the flames. Huge jets of flames spurted all around, setting the entire side of the restaurant alight. Brink and Colton looked around wildly as their victims were cloaked by a wall of fire; Crystal and Girafarig panicked as they looked around; the stairs were blocked off, everything was blocked off as the flames grew higher and higher.

“Oh my god oh my god!” Crystal cried. “Get a grip Crys, get a grip!”

She slapped Girafarig in the face.

“Hey!” he snapped.

“Oh,” she said. “Sorry, I can’t slap myself…it hurts.”

“Do you have any water Pokemon?” Girafarig asked, rubbing his cheek.

“No, do you?”

“No.”

“Crap!”

“We need to get out of here,” Girafarig said, his eyes resting on the floor. “I have an idea. Geodude! Mega Punch on the floor! Go! Magcargo, body slam the floor!”

His Pokemon used their fists and underbelly to smash into the floor they stood on; Crystal watched as the ground began to weaken already from the huge explosion. Among the tongues of flame Crystal could see Brink and Colton climbing down the balcony as gingerly as they could, before leaping down to safety, although Brink swore loudly when he landed.

“Heracross! Fury swipes at the ground!” Crystal cried. The Pokemon tore the earth apart until finally, it began to weaken, the carpet scratched off and the wood beneath wearing thin.

“Geodude use self destruct!” Girafarig cried. “Magcargo, protect!”

The two gathered around Magcargo, Heracross too as Geodude glowed white and exploded right there among the flames. The ground was ripped apart and they fell, protected by Magcargo, to the ground below. They found themselves in a kitchen-like area. As they looked around and ran for the exit, they already saw falling, flaming debris clatter down into the room they were at.

“We need to run before the fire spreads,” Crystal said, panicked. They ran out the kitchen and arrived in the main dining area. It was empty, quiet, and yet up ahead the fire had spread right across the bar area, down the staircase and among the corridor to the tabled area where they hid from Dark Dragonite. He was currently on the ground, looking in extreme pain.

“H-Help me,” he gasped.

“You stabbed us in the back,” Girafarig replied, kicking him hard in the face. “And you would have killed Crystal if we’d let you. You can get out yourself.”

“No, you don’t understand,” he mumbled. But it was over. As a large portion of the balcony tore from the side of the building and smashed across the restaurant below, Girafarig and Crystal ran to the doors of Hoothooters, bursting through into the outside and gasping fresh, clean air.

“We made it,” Girafarig whispered.

“Look at it,” Crystal gasped, turning and looking as the building became swathed in flames, rising higher and higher, creeping out shattered windows and bursting through the roof.

“What the hell happened here?” came a voice. Aragornbird ran forward, looking at the two. “Were you in there?”

“We’ve both got soot on our face and in our hair and we’re standing right outside,” Crystal snapped. “What do you think?”

“We were…exploring,” Girafarig said lightly. “And then these people came in and tried to kill us.”

“People tried to kill you?” Liang asked, bewildered. Girafarig looked slightly embarrassed.

“We know about a plot to fix this year’s league,” Crystal said, panic-stricken. “And people have been after us ever since.”

“There’s a plot to fix…” Liang began. “Who knows about this?”

“Just us two,” Crystal sniffed. Liang looked at them.

“Look…you’re ok now. Let’s get away from here before the press investigates. They’ll be hounding you and if police come it will look suspicious. Tell me everything you know about this plot and I’ll do everything I can to help protect you.”

Crystal and Girafarig nodded; they both knew Liang as a respected member of the community, and while being wary followed him as he led them slightly further up BT Street. As they sat down, wiping their faces from dirt and grime, a news crew arrived promptly at the scene as some of the villagers released water Pokemon to try and help douse the flames.

Chris 2.1

24th July 2007, 05:46 PM

“The fire department is on their way,” Pichu said to the camera. “As of yet is unknown how the blaze was caused here down BT Street but the villagers are flocking around to try and help subdue the flames.”

She cast her eye over the scene as the breaking news report ended. Logan helped her put the equipment away.

“I wonder if it worked,” she said emptily.

“That fire will kill anyone inside,” Logan told her calmly. “Brink and Colton radioed in. They’re both fine. Girafarig and Crystal will be dead.”

“I wanted Girafarig alive,” murmured Pichu. “But if it got rid of Steve…then…”

“Be glad we’ve eliminated knowledge of WAVEX,” Logan told her. She gave an empty nod. Her phone began to ring and she took it from her pocket, noticing that it was Brooklyn.

“Hello,” she said firmly.

“I’ve been in conferences all day,” Brooklyn replied, not sounding particularly apologetic. “It’s been difficult getting a moment to ring.”

“Right.”

“Gordon has made a decision. He’s going to shut TPML down.”

“Shut it down? When?” Pichu asked.

“As soon as he can,” Brooklyn went on darkly. “He’s furious that a group are fixing the league.”

“So what needs to be done in order for Gordon to shut it down?” Pichu asked.

“He has to run an assessment of the league’s history in the last year,” Brooklyn explained. “It’s been chaotic but he’ll have to go over everything from Amy Wolfsong’s disappearance to all the deaths…the Antibodies War, the change in Leaders…. Cocoa Sting moderated for a long period so I imagine she will also have to file a report. Then Gordon (or somebody from the Board) will visit 04621 to run a specific check on the league before it can be deemed unfit to operate.”

“So we have some time,” Pichu replied.

“Time for what?” Brooklyn asked.

“Time to retaliate,” replied the WAVEX boss. “Time to prevent this from happening.”

“Look…Thomas…”

“No,” Pichu snapped. “I will not bend, Brooklyn. I have a dream, and I have worked hard for a long time just to get here. We all want this. This is just a speed bump, and you can drive right over those.”

“Understood,” Brooklyn said. “What do you want me to do?”

“Listen and learn,” she replied. “Did the Board send the Round 2 pairings to Grey?”

“Yes,” Brooklyn replied.

“Good, that means we’ll learn of the pairings tonight,” replied the journalist. “Good. That’s good. Brooklyn I have to remind you how important this operation is. Things have become harder…WAVEX faces difficult odds.”

“What are you going to do?” Brooklyn asked.

“Firstly I’m going to meet our new friend,” Pichu explained, a smile on her lips. “And then I’m going to make sure that Gordon cannot shut down this league.

“I’ll speak to you tomorrow Brooklyn.”

Pichu hung up and turned to Logan.

“We have work to do. Get me the video now. I’ve got an appointment to make.”

*

My battle with Elec Man had been good practice; his Typhlosion was an absolutely fantastic battler, sleek and evasive one moment, firm and powerful the next. Politoed and Swalot had a hard time against him and Glalie because we had no real type advantage. Swalot was a versatile Pokemon, with really cool moves like Bullet Seed, Ice Beam, Shock Wave and Sludge Bomb to name a few. David hadn’t trained him really well, but he was a capable Pokemon and I welcomed him to the team.

Looking back, since my departure my team had changed greatly. Sneasel and Aron evolved (I put that down to my training; while I was away all I did was train my Pokemon) to Weavile and Lairon, and I had Swalot on the team.

The pairings for Round Two were going to be revealed tonight. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew that a lot of strong trainers had progressed to Round Two. I had to keep my team strong to ensure I had a wide choice of Pokemon to use against my next opponent. My only concern was Vibrava…she had the least battling experience but her aerial coverage was really good.

Sitting in the flat, looking around, I felt quite lonely still, but I wasn’t here to be popular. I was here to win the league. I had tidied up the place after the mess Dusclops had caused, and thought back to everything that had gone on…

…it felt odd being here.

*

It was winding down to the end of a very sad day. Chris sat sadly outside his house, fiddling with a Pokeball. Today had been tough…very difficult…but necessary. He had been home a few days now after his brother’s death, and today had been the funeral.

Saying goodbye felt strange, especially when Chris wasn’t too sure how he felt about David’s murder. Dusclops, his most powerful Pokemon, was secure in the high-security Pokeball, but it didn’t stop him speaking to Chris in his odd, rapt voice.

The days had been tough, with a voice whispering into your ear all the things you didn’t want to believe. Was Chris really responsible? He felt it, sitting alone on his step after the funeral, wondering what would have happened if he hadn’t fallen out with David. If he hadn’t caught Dusclops. If he had managed to stop his destructive Pokemon.

“Hey.”

Chris barely noticed as Jenny, his ex-girlfriend, sat next to him on the step.

“Hi.”

“What you up to?” she asked. Her hair was a tone lighter, and she wore a very sensible black dress with a white flower in her hair. She also painted her nails black, although that was probably because Kelly Clarkson also did the same thing.

“Just…sitting,” he sighed.

“I’ll sit with you,” she replied, staring at the sun as it dipped and dipped below the hills.

“Thanks.”

“It was a beautiful service,” Jenny said.

“Yea. David got a good send off.”

“It’s nice seeing you while you’re here,” Jenny added thoughtfully. “You know…while you’re home from the league.”

“Get used to it,” Chris mumbled. “I’m not going back to the league.”

“Why?” Jenny asked.

“It hurts too much,” Chris moaned. “I can’t face that place.”

“I know what you mean,” Jenny said to Chris. “I know what it’s like facing something daunting like that. But I never belonged at TPML. I never even signed up for the league…the only reason I went was because of you.”

“Don’t remind me,” sighed Chris, recalling Jenny’s horrific time while she was in the league.

“What I mean is,” Jenny added, “You belong there. The Missing Link selected you to enter the league because she saw something in you. You’ve trained there, you’ve grown as a person…and you need to finish what you started.”

“I don’t need to do anything Jenny.”

“You owe it to yourself, and your Pokemon,” Jenny said firmly. “You have been training for the league…and it’s starting soon. If you don’t hurry you’ll miss your match. The league destroyed me, Chris…I wasn’t the same for a long time.”

“You look ok now,” Chris murmured.

“I’m a different person,” she replied, smiling. “But it took me a long time to recover. Don’t let the league destroy you too, Chris. You’re better than that. You belong there.”

Chris gave a soft laugh.

“When Mum and David came to visit…I felt like they were invading my territory. Like…I had found my place and they were tarnishing it.”

“Exactly,” Jenny said, glad Chris understood. “You’ve found a place where you belong in TPML.”

“You’re right,” Chris replied, getting up. “You’re right…”

He checked his watch.

“I should really get a train back…tonight.”

“Tonight?” Jenny asked. “I thought you should go but…you’re going to leave tonight?”

“I need to make it back in time,” he said hurriedly.

“Well…good luck with everything,” Jenny said, looking at Chris sheepishly. Chris stared back, the two searching for something within each other. A spark of a smile crackled for just a moment.

“Thanks,” Chris said thickly. “I…well…I…bye.”

“Bye,” Jenny said, watching Chris dash inside. “…Chris.”

And with that she turned to walk back to her own house, silently heading to the life she made for herself out of TPML. Chris was in his house, sorting his clothes out. His mother wasn’t home, as she had been kicked out by Chris’ Dad, Oscar. She lived above the corner shop across the road.

“I’m getting the next train to TPML,” Chris said absently.

“Well it’s been nice having you around,” Oscar said warmly. His new girlfriend Tiffany, a thin, perky looking woman who worked at the Hospital, idled into the room.

“It’s going to be sad to see you go,” she sighed, even though she was smiling.

“Yea, ditto,” Chris grumbled. Oscar saw the tension and, as Tiffany went into the next room, and Chris hauled his backpack to the door, he ran up to his son.

“Listen, Chris…” he began. “I know…things have been a bit weird with you at home. Tiffany’s now living here and your mother…well, she’s moved on –”

“You kicked her out,” I snapped.

“That’s not quite what happened,” Oscar said, trying to choose his words. “But Chris I’m listening to my heart here. Your mother and I are no longer in love with each other and it’s become very difficult. It has no bearing on how we feel about you. You had nothing to do with it.”

“I know,” Chris replied shortly. “I’ve lost so much respect for you Dad. But you can probably live with that.”

And without another word, Chris opened the door and headed out onto the street. On his way to the train station he began to think about Jenny; he didn’t even ask what she was doing with herself now, if she had a new boyfriend…

He wished he had asked her to come back to TPML with him.

*

I sat on my sofa that night, thinking deeply. My VS Seeker let off a beep and I instantly grabbed it to see who was contacting me.

From: Administration
Please read this message carefully. It contains your information for Round Two, which begins tomorrow at 10AM promptly:
Opponent: MeLoveGhosts
Arena: Platform Stadium, Crescent Walk
Time: 1PM
~TPML Administration

My opponent was MeLoveGhosts. I didn’t know much about him at all but knew that if he had got into Round 2, then he’d be a tough opponent. I accessed his TPML profile and spent the night deciding who I’d use against him tomorrow.

I know one Pokemon I wouldn’t use…my mind took me back to my arrival at TPML only days ago, when a cruel rain lashed down against me as I wandered Grave’s Yard alone.

“You’ve been nothing but torture to me. You’ve tried to ruin me…but I’m not going to let you.”

I lay Dusclops’ Pokeball down in a freshly dug mound of earth not far from the grave of my Mankey.

“You’re trapped forever, deep under the earth. And I hope you never see daylight again.”

I had sacrificed the most powerful member of my team…I had said goodbye to Dusclops once and for all…but I had never felt stronger. I never felt so powerful, as if the match tomorrow was going to be ok.

I hope, somewhere, David knows that his life was not lost in vain. It shook me to do the right thing and sever the ties with Dusclops forever.

Thank you David.

*

Meanwhile, the fire at Hoothooters had been extinguished. Dark Dragonite had been found by the fire department and rushed to Jolly Japes Hospital as Thomas and WAVEX watched on fearfully. As Liang learned about WAVEX from Crystal and Girafarig, The Missing Link and Elec Man were among the crowd that watched the charred remains of the popular restaurant. Hanada Tattsu, who had lent his Croconaw, Wartortle and Quagsire to help extinguish the flames, was more than happy to take his Pokemon back and watch from the sidelines.

Amy Wolfsong sat in her small apartment, thinking deeply about her offer for the Board of Governors. Weighing up the pros and cons sent her around in circles, and the more she thought about it the more she saw Liang staring at her from afar.

OzAndrew sent Blademaster home for the day after his ‘hard’ work – the assistant did receive bonus points after using his Porygon2 to knock over wheelchair-bound Tucker in the street. Despite the one eyed boy’s usefulness and quirk, OzAndrew wasn’t entirely sure he could trust him, and entered the long, labored night in a state of worry. His VS Seeker flashed and he accessed his message:

From: Administration
Please read this message carefully. It contains your information for Round Two, which begins tomorrow at 10AM promptly:
Opponent: Wayne Vaxew
Arena: Open Stadium, Crescent Walk
Time: 3PM
~TPML Administration

“Hmm,” Andrew mumbled, having never heard such a stupid name in his life. He gave a soft laugh and spent the evening drawing absurd pictures depicting what this Wayne Vaxew could possibly look like.

Meanwhile Grey was heading back to Theatre Gris at the end of the day, tired from the days work. The Round Two pairings were all sent out to the entrants and he was looking forward to seeing who would manage to overcome who.

After noticing the large crowd accumulating down BT Street Grey decided to take a little short cut; he headed down an alleyway from the main square that took him right outside the theatre. It was a wide, spacious alley with graffiti on the wall; he saw a ‘VEEDP’ scrawl amongst the bricks and smirked.

There was a gentle drip of water from an old drain and a large skip full of overflowing rubbish. Grey carried on calmly, thinking about his own opponent; Tsuki Megumi, a girl with a small, concentrated team that was nevertheless deadly.

Just then, he looked up to see a figure standing before him.

“Hello Grey.”

“Good evening,” he said calmly, trying to decipher who it was.

“It’s nice to finally talk to you after all this time.”

“Excuse me?” Grey asked cautiously. His hand moved to a Pokeball on his belt; this person was unnerving.

“My name is Thomas,” the figure said calmly, standing there and staring right into Grey’s eyes. “And I run the organization called WAVEX.”

“Wavex?” repeated Grey. “And Thomas, why are you telling me this?”

“It is important that you know who I am and what I do,” Thomas explained, sweeping hair from her face. “WAVEX are a secret group that is directly attempting to fix the outcome of the Pokemon Masters League 2006.”

“I see,” Grey said calmly. “How are your ‘attempts’ going?”

“They are going well,” Thomas replied.

“Well I applaud your efforts, Thomas,” Grey said firmly. “But I run this league and I will not allow there to be any unjust goings on such as this.”

He held a Pokeball out.

“Are you going to come calmly, or do I need to fight you?”

“Neither,” Thomas said, smiling. From behind her a Doduo emerged with something in its mouth. “My Doduo would like to show you something. I assure you she is harmless.”

Doduo slowly walked between the two people, and Grey saw that it was had a handheld device in its beak. It placed the device at Grey’s feet and slowly plodded back. Intrigued, and keeping his eyes on Thomas, Grey picked up the item and saw it was a small digital video player; there was a screen on the left and a few buttons on the right.

“Press Play.”

Grey nodded, pushing the triangular button firmly. The video played, and after a few moments Grey’s eyes widened as he realised what it was.

He was standing there, holding a gun and shouting. Cocoa Sting emerged in the room and a split second later Grey fired the gun, causing blood to spill from Cocoa’s stomach as she collapsed to the floor.

“Oh my god,” he gasped. The video played again, and again, and again. He saw his own deeds on the video as Thomas smiled down the alleyway. “H-How did you get this?”

“I have a source on the Board of Governors,” Thomas replied. “They found this heavily damaged clip in the archives. My source tells me that Cocoa claimed Callisto Thunder to have shot her…this is new, startling evidence.”

“Callisto was the one I intended to shoot,” Grey said. “She got out the way as Cocoa came in…”

“Well the security camera is at a high enough angle so that you don’t even see Callisto,” Thomas explained. “And as for Cocoa…well anyone who saw this would assume she’d been in the room the whole time.”

“Cocoa will back me up,” Grey snarled.

“Cocoa is loyal to her job,” Thomas replied. “And she will stick to the story she gave her peers. You are treading on very thin ice, Grey. My source at the Board has this video. I have duplicates, too...I’ll let you keep that one though.”

“How kind,” he said sourly.

“I’m not a bad person, Grey,” Thomas continued. “And I don’t intend on showing this to Gordon yet, because you have something I need.”

“And what is that,” Grey replied coldly.

“Your going to be working for me and WAVEX,” Thomas explained. “My job has just been made a lot tougher than usual today and I intend on getting all the help I can.”

“What do I need to do?” Grey asked wearily, as Doduo came over with a small, square case.

“Anything I ask,” Thomas replied firmly. “Doduo is giving you some valuable items. Firstly is an earpiece; its clear and fits inside your ear lobe so it may feel as if you have water trapped inside. But it allows you to communicate with us and vice versa without you being detected.”

“Right,” Grey said.

“Put it in,” Thomas ordered. Grey pulled out the tiny earpiece and slotted it into his ear; instantly he felt uncomfortable, apparently aware of the foreign object lodged inside. It affected his hearing slightly and, as Thomas suggested, it did fell like he had water inside.

“My associate Logan is going to speak.”

“Testing, testing,” came Logan’s voice.

“I heard it clearly,” Grey sighed. “It was fine.”

“Good,” Thomas replied.

“So what’s my first job,” Grey said.

“We’ll leave that until tomorrow, Grey,” Thomas smirked. “Go home, go to sleep and don’t take that earpiece out.”

Thomas stood at the side slightly, leaving Grey to walk past and down the alleyway. Suddenly his mind was full of alarming possibilities; he was being blackmailed by Thomas and these mysterious people…one slip and he could end up in jail for shooting Cocoa.

When he and Becca invaded the Board to capture Callisto, Cocoa’s appearance had been startling. She had floated close to death when she was shot severely but she was fine now, and luckily when Callisto terminated the power supply, the data had been deleted. Until now. The thought that Board members were working for WAVEX was chilling, as was the idea that someone was out to win the league by unjust means.

Thomas spoke into her phone.

“We’ve got him.”

Next: Chapter 46 – Round Two (Part 1) Chris 2.0 VS MeLoveGhosts
Round 2 begins! The league heats up as the matches move to the League Stadiums. Chris goes against MLG in a frantic doubles match among a chasm of platforms, but can he beat the self-proclaimed Master of the UnderUsed? Amy says her goodbyes as she prepares to leave TPML for New York, but does her heart still remain at 04621? Liang, Girafarig and Crystal manage to locate WAVEX HQ, and Grey’s loyalties are tested when Thomas asks a startling request.

Greyfox

24th July 2007, 06:42 PM

Ah, wow. The chapter was nicely written, and I only noticed a few minor grammatical and vB code errors, but otherwise, it was great.

As far as "The Subject" goes, my original hypothesis was that you were gonna pull the "ultimate plot twist" cliche, and have Chris be it, especially because of his disappearance, and the fact that Chapter 44 never really explained it. But now that Chapter 45's out, I can throw that hypothesis away.

My new theory is that "The Subject" is Girafarig, though he doesn't know it yet. Wavex tricked him into believing that "The Subject" was someone else, then battered and beat him to the point of seeking revenge on them. Now he believes he has to save the day against Wavex, so he defeats anybody he can believing that they're "The Subject", when it was really him all along. That would explain why Dark Dragonite was ordered only to kill Crystal Tears, but not why he was given two bullets.

Meanwhile, the Chris flashback was good, though it did end rather unfortunately. It ended rather abruptly; Chris goes from "My brother was killed by my Dusclops," to "Welp, that's the end of that chapter" way too quickly. There could've been more explanation towards Chris' training, and what he was going through his mind during the escapade, but oh well. I really did enjoy the closure to it though - having Dusclops burried alive seemed to be a fitting end. I like that in sacrificing his most powerful pokemon, he himself became a bit stronger.

And that last tidbit with Grey and Thomas - I'm surprised Grey didn't recognize Thomas as Pichu - I mean, wouldn't she have interviewed him at one point? Either way, I figure that Grey is actually toying with Thomas, and not really intending on following through with Wavex's plans. Even if the video leaks, I'm sure that Grey, Becca, and Cocoa will be able to explain it to the populous.

All in all, it was a great read and I'm eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

-Grey

Lune the Guardian

24th July 2007, 09:03 PM

So, after an absence from TPM for a year, I come back and see a ghost of someone who has been dead since the beginning of the story. Interesting. Though I have to admit it was rather eerie to see her in a silver dress talking about expensive clothes. Especially when she was saying these things along with her prediction of Ecks's death. Really creepy. I did like her line when Ecks was shot, proving she was right all along. Nice touch. I'm curious, though, the thought just occurred to me, strange though it may seem - when she died, whatever happened to Karin's pokemon? Did they leave 04621?

Another thing to note.

I have a problem with the way Destiny Bond and other self-destructive attacks have been treated here. Surely, if there is no remaining pokemon, the person who had ordered this last desperate attack would be pronounced the loser? I understand using Destiny Bond to take out an early attacker; it was a common tactic of mine in 3v3's to send out my strongest, take out the first opponent, deal significant damage to the second, finish it off with my second, Baton Pass to my ghosts, and Perish Song/Destiny Bond the last opponent into submission.

However, if Destiny Bond is used as a final resort, meaning nobody else is left to take the bonder's place, the loser would be the one who is bonding. I cannot see how it is a draw (a tie is when both end up in a winning position together, draw is when both end up in a losing one). The finishing blow would have been performed by the bonder's opponent. The bonder would fall first, proceeding to take its opponent along. The same applies for methods such as Explosion and Self-destruct; the loser is the one who initiated the self-destructive attack.

I understand that this is just a fic, but if you would like to have some similarity to the rules of the game, I suggest you look into this. To force a pokemon to initiate Destiny Bond, you would usually have to be in the winning position and drive the final attack through. This means that the bonder was always in the losing position, never evening the field, and ultimately, due to falling first, should always be pronounced the loser.

As for the rest of the story, I'd like more information on Dark Dragonite. What is it that he meant when he said "You do not understand?" Perhaps he has a secret that both the TPML community and Pichu do not know about. Grey's theory about Girafarig seems to fit. Brooklyn's involvement came as a surprise. That's the main reason I keep reading your fic, you have a knack for introducing plot twist over plot twist which makes me curious to find out how things eventually end up.

Glad to see that Chris 2.0 finally got rid of Dusclops, he had it long coming. I knew that the voice that he heard preceding his sudden disappearance belonged to Dusclops. Such an unhealthy relationship, I disagree that Dusclops was the most powerful member of his team. No pokemon that disobeys its trainer, no pokemon that does not share a mutual understanding devoid of all hate with its trainer can truly be strong. It's good to see that Chris 2.0 has buried the troublemaker once and for all. Hopefully the paramedics were correct when they said that the ball is unescapable.

I'm rather surprised at the preview that Amy took the offer to leave 04621. Perhaps she will change her mind, who knows. But then again, I was surprised about Razor Leaf as well. People lost, confused, leaving behind all they ever cared about - their home - in order to find something better. The grass isn't always greener. I suspect Amy left (if indeed she did leave) more to escape Liang's deteriorating condition than because she believed she had better opportunities on the Board. What opportunities could it offer, what prestige? How much destruction has been caused because of members of the Board - how much of it could have been avoided if these people had never come to power? Seeking power rarely provides happiness... but we will see if Amy makes the right choice. I am hoping to see a bit more of Razor Leaf as well, although his story may very well not fit into this one from now on.

The Blue Avenger

24th July 2007, 11:05 PM

I missed replying to the last chapter, so I figured I'd reply extra fast to this one. :P

Anyway, starting off... The Board is very... calculating. I'm impressed at their strategy: it's solid, it's efficient, it's vaguely underhanded - overall a good "not-quite-evil-but-still-not-good" plot. I also really want to see where Brooklyn in particular goes from here.
I expected Dusclops to be behind Chris's disappearance, but actually killing his brother through possession blindsided me. I suppose I should have seen it coming, though, what with what happened to Mankey.
And oh geez, the exchange between Blademaster and Oz was priceless. Especially the latter's evaluation of the Sinnoh Pokemon. Also, Davemaster. XD
The random appearance of No-Frowns was... unexpected too. Especially during the uber-serious discussion at the time. I love how he barely gets acknowledged too. Poor guy; he's so abused. XD
The 'big reveal' of Vaxew working for Wavex... nice, man. Especially Crystal's reaction. I also dig the description of Xatu; it was something I had wondered myself. Also, I'm liking the relationship between Crystal and Girafarig; they're two characters that just seem to work really well together.
Wasn't expecting to see Jenny again, nor was I expecting her to be a voice of reason. It worked well, though; her evolution over the story has been interesting to watch.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for effectively killing off Dusclops. Good step for Chris.
Thomas is also proving devious; good job there. I didn't expect Grey to give in quite so easily though.

All in all, a good chapter. I'll be here for the next one. :)

Chris 2.1

25th July 2007, 09:44 AM

Grey: It's strange because even though Chris is the main character, he isn't particularly prominent in the WAVEX story. Or the Ecks arc; if you think about it he only became affected when Morpheus killed herself. But even though Chris wasn't working with WAVEX when he was away, he could still be the subject. Like I said last chapter....they might be working towards the subject winning without the subject knowing.

Hmm Girafarig? Makes sense...but they did pay Girafarig to lose his first match...were they assuming he'd fight back against the cause; not collapse under pressure and therefore seek a way to win, whatever the cost? Perhaps. I like that theory.

Agreed; Chris's flashbacks weren't consistent and I did leave out a few scenes that I felt didn't really serve a purpose. But I think the overall arc of Chris being away has been tied up quite nicely. Thanks for the honest critiscism there.

It's a good point about Thomas being Pichu but when Pichu was interviewing people for the league, she wasn't able to find Grey to interview him (he was watching Grey's match). Pichu was also in the league this year (you'll remember she was a mod in the early chapters) but this was while Grey was living in the Playhouse.

By the time Grey was a more prominent member of the league, Pichu had been sacked by Cocoa Sting for being bad at her job. But in a small community such as this, I think Grey will piece everything together.

You're right with Grey; he's a strong character and I don't think he will obey Thomas initially. He's going to push the boundaries in Ch46. But ever since the Board has become vigilant about TPML 04621, I think they would revel at the oppertunity to arrest or at least fire Grey and Becca.

The problem is while Cocoa is on the Board, she has told everyone the cover story; that Callisto shot her in the stomach and fled, destroying the power at the Board in the process. This story was given to eliminate any knowledge of Grey/Becca sneaking into the Board and pretty much kidnapping Callisto.

But now with this new information, the two of them might be in danger. Will Grey tell Cocoa they could be comprimised? Or will he keep it to himself for fear she is the 'contact on the Board' that Thomas mentioned?

Karin: Hey! Nice to see you again. I'm really glad you read the chapter where we saw Karin again; throughout the fic I have chosen characters to kill which I feel would add to the tension and drama of the story, escalate everyting and, most importantly, chose characters that will be missed. Why kill someone if they're not liked? Knight of Time and Karin04621 were both killed before they really reached their potential and it's always a shame to leave them in the lurch. Obviously with Solia she was quite a small character whose death greatly developed Luna's, so that was ok. And Henry...well, wedidn't know him.

So obviously I like to bring these deceased characters back or mention them at any point possible; the chapter was a great chance to show our characters who have died. I liked Karin's exit; a big, theatrical show - and I'm glad you liked the scene.

Re: Destiny Bond. You're absolutely right, I understand the way they work completely. What you need to understand, though, is that Chris Watarimono isn't as clever as you :) He's seen Destiny Bond take down his Pokemon instantly and wanted to avoid it all costs. Chris 2.0 was just tapping into his insecurities to ensure any devestating attacks missed.

In my expirience destiny bond will only cause the battler to lose if their Pokemon faints from it. But if they are not hit, then the bond fades. I imagine the 'bond' created only lasting for a few moments before it is rendered useless, similar to how it only lasts for a round in the games.

I agree it's unlike Amy to leave but she's trying to escape Liang more than anything. The job has good networking, good pay, probably quite good holiday play etc. Amy could probably find it leads to some great oppertunities. But she does like the life she leads now...so why change?

I wouldn't say the Board are 'bad' - some like Rosie, Austin, Arthur, Cocoa...they're good people. But I think Gordon is using the Board's power for the wrong things.

As for Razor Leaf....well his story was pretty much tied up when he left. But I think it would be insightful to see if he is happy with the Frontier Brains...if he's as respected as he was in TPML or if he made a mistake leaving the village.

TBA: Hey! Yea The Board have begun what I think is an interesting story arc. They're not bad people....but they're not good. What the hell are they!? Dusclops was an evil bastard. I envisioned having him evolve into Dusknoir but to be honest I think the Pokemon looks a bit stupid.

Heh glad you liked the Oz scene; Blade had a way bigger part and originaly it was going to be revealled at the very end that he was the victim of Andrew's hat-in-the-eye. But he's going to be a member of the cast till the end of the fic and is involved in a very humerous story arc ^^

No-Frowns! Yes he's back; I wondered if anyone remebered he was left with the Dopplegangers so I had him stumble into the 'uuber serious discussion' (i like the way you put it haha) As for Vaxew....you didn't know!? Erk. I sort of hinted majorly in Ch44 and Sike left a comment that also hinted at what I had hoped was obvious; I'm glad I had that in there.

At present WAVEX goons include:
-Brink (broad londoner, aggressive, goonish)
-Colton (tall and terrier-like, has a Tangela)
-Logan (older than most, late thirties, beard, has a deep, aggressive voice)
-Wayne (aka Mr Vaxew, very thin and pale, has a hoarse, rattling voice. Has an Aggron)
-Deatley

There's a few more I haven't written in much. Umm I'll go read my notes -_-

But I agree; the Xatu thing always confused me so it's being portrayed as basically a slightly braindead Pokemon. And I'm glad you like the Crystal and Girafarig dynamic. It just seems to work and it's been a very organic, natural thing for me. I think it's really helped develop Crystal's character.

Ahh it was good to see Jenny again; I had to cut a lot out (the chapter was bigger than both the League ones so far and it was getting cluttered) and we did learn a bit about her. Her journey's been incredible. I'm incredibly fond of her character and what its done to Chris.

I did toy with her coming back but....no.

Grey won't give in so easily. He's going to have to realise where the line is when he crosses it in Ch46.

Charles Legend

25th July 2007, 11:10 AM

well it is Interesting to see how your plot is working out....

LOL at Duskclops being buried alive, I wonder if thats the last we well see of it? truth be told I was expecting Duskclops to Evolve into Dusknoir...

is it just me or do you Show all Ghost types as being Evil demons?

also nice use of the Smokeball... ;)

~Charles Legend

The Blue Avenger

25th July 2007, 04:38 PM

As for Vaxew....you didn't know!? Erk. I sort of hinted majorly in Ch44 and Sike left a comment that also hinted at what I had hoped was obvious; I'm glad I had that in there.

Er, no, no, I had it figured out - it wasn't terribly subtle. ^^; I just meant I liked the way the 'big reveal' was done in the story - and how the characters reacted.

Chris 2.1

25th July 2007, 05:56 PM

Charles: I think Ghosts are bitter. My impression is that ghost Pokemon are dead - they were once other species but when they die they can come back as a ghost [Pokemon]. Generally most ghost Pokemon are bitter.

I've got a lot of backstory about Dusclops. I'll publish it in a TPML Extra sometime, it's quite interesting.

TBA: Ahh I see. Sorry for underestimating your intelligence :p

The Blue Avenger

25th July 2007, 07:01 PM

No worries, Chris, you're not the first. ;)

Andrew

26th July 2007, 10:18 PM

It'd be funny if it came down to the Grand Finale and The Board Helicopters in, shuts down the league and imprisons everyone. Still, I hope Amy takes the job.

Still, I'm confused as to why Chris just randomly chose Liang and Elec Man to go and have a D&M with. Why wouldn't he go and tell someone he barely knows, like the hippy? because now, the entire place will know.

Still, the death of David. Ouch. Poor guy, no-one deserves it. I'm surprised evil Dusclops just didn't go and try kill mum too. Why didn't Chris just send all of his Pokemon at once to kill Dusclops?

Oz's Corrupt! Hoorah! I have to admit, that's exactly how I would've behaved to Blademaster, "Whatever!" Still, I don't particularly like any of those DP Pokemon either lOl.

Also LOLING at the fact Amy could be earning THOUSANDS!? What do people in the UK earn? Hundreds at the most? Lol.

Plus I Loled at Crystal having to write out WaveX and figuring out the simple anagram. Still, I enjoyed them going into Hoot Hooters, where's the main cafe now? Admittedly, I like their whole little escape. I wonder who else they'll recruit or try and tell about WaveX? OzAndrew next episode who'll probably fob them off?

I wonder what'll happen to Dark Dragonite? Or why, the Ghost Pokemon aren't using a rotting army of the dead to take over TPML. I don't think it's the last we'll see of Dusclops.

Also, good to see Jenny again. To see she cared. Will David's death bring Bea and dad back together? Probably not, that's sad.

I wonder what will happen next?

Chris 2.1

27th July 2007, 11:34 AM

Andrew: Haha well that would be a slightly dissapointing and anticlimatic end to the fic. Even better: Ch46 begins, the Board shuts the league down and goes home. And then I've finished the fic! Oh how i love cop-outs. That doesn't happen btw. The fic will be 50ish chaps.

Well Chris knows Liang and Elec a bit, so I guess he wanted to let them know. The whole trek into Ivy Woods to kill Ecks must have made them friends? Lol at your suggestion. Tye wouldn't really know what to think.

I think Dusclops wanted to specifically kill David because that would destable Chris the most. Chris began wondering if his own hatred for David was a catalyst for his death. I don't know if killing Bea would have been as effective. She's a bit of an emotional wreck at the moment; husband filing for divorce, lonely, crap house, sons raging, son dead.....Dusclops couldn't posess her. I could imagine all the despair causing him to fizzle away or something.

Blademaster works in the C.O.R.R.U.P.T now. However we only saw his Porygon2. Blade sent me his bio over PM and it included an all DP Team. But I need to work it into the plot :p

Re: the amy thing. Shut up :P Basically I was torn because she might not earn 'hundreds of thousands' so that would sound TOO amazing. Thousands can be a lot ... if you think what she'd be earning in TPML :P. On a serious note, I expect (to begin) she'd earn about £50,000? That's pretty good really but she'd earn more as she progressed. I can see a more ... expirienced member of the BOG like Cocoa earning £70,000+.

The main cafe is OmastarBucks, its in the main square. They serve Davvy Jone's Latte's.

You'll see more of Grave's Yard but not in the way you think. Dark Dragonite is in the next chapter and we'll see a lot more of him in different ways. I think he will also help you figure out who the Subject is.

Liang's on the anti-wavex front next chapter. I've actually drastically edited a pretty cool scene from Ch46....to make it even better! Actually it was because I knew it'd get complaints from you guys :p

Next Chapter: lots goes on! More battles as we enter round 2.....we'll see about 4 or 5 matches. And then 4 or 5 in the next chapter. Round 3 and Round 4 will NOT be 2-parters but will not be consecutive.

Sike Saner

4th August 2007, 06:35 PM

DAMN. O___O All right, now that Dusclops became cooler than ever in that chapter. :D Finding out that it had killed David in and had been using his corpse as a puppet… wow. o.o That definitely has a place among the most incredible moments in this story so far. Anyway, after all that it’s done, Chris had better hope that thing stays buried and gone, especially since that ghost would probably have an even lovelier personality after being buried in its Poké Ball. XP So yeah, hopefully for his sake nothing’ll dig it up. :D

Another really awesome scene was the one at…Hoothooters (CANNOT say the name of that place without laughing, especially after being presented with the image of the two Hoothoot sitting in a BRA. XD). Loved the initial suspense when Dark Dragonite showed up with a gun, and loved the chaos that erupted when those WAVEX guys burst onto the scene.

There were some great dramatic scenes, most notably a.) the one involving Amy and Liang after the former was offered a place on the Board and b.) the flashback involving Chris and his family. Interactions among members of Chris’s family were good and strong, just like last time. His farewell to Jenny was handled well, too, and was furthermore just a nice little moment. And then on top of that, the poor guy realized that he could have asked her to come with him and regretted not doing so at once. My reaction: “Aww… ;-;”

OzAndrew’s scenes were glorious. XD I especially enjoyed what he had to say about those Sinnoh Pokémon. XD

And oh yes, I must squee at the presence of a Glalie (which is my favorite Pokémon) in that chapter. ^^

Comedic Highlights

It was 8:55AM and the city of New York opened its sleepy eyes as, high up on floor 12 of the Board of Governors, Gordon addressed the 10 remaining members of his team. Volletta Kane was in the cell belowground, her lawyer, Larry J Lawyer, was trying to draft a plea.

… The lawyer’s name… XD

“This is a Torkoal,” Andrew murmured. “Original Trainer was Unsolved Puzzle. Seems ok. I’ll claim it to be Flannery’s. Next we have….ooh, what’s this?”

Andrew released the Pokemon, and a gigantic, purple scorpion emerged, giving a loud, raucous cry.

“GIANTSCARYSCORPIONMON!” Andrew bellowed. The scorpion actually seemed quite docile, but looked ferocious. Andrew recalled it. “I’m keeping this one.”

I love his reaction to that Drapion. XD

He released a flurry of Pokeballs from a bag on his back. The balls exploded open to reveal a colourful array of Pokemon; there was a Chimchar, a Drifloon, a Snover, a Combee, a Piplup, a Starly and a Mothim. Andrew’s eyes widened.

“Oh.

“My.

“GOD! What the hell? First off-” he addressed Chimchar, “PG Tips. You look RETARDED. You’ve got a F-LAME coming from your BUTT. EEW! Next off, it’s the inflatable balloon! Well actually you’re quite endearing but still a bit disgusting. Hmm this pine-tree looks like a sort of wooden goblin. You’re disgusting and your very cold…I get the impression you might bludgeon me to death in the woods. Combee…well that’s the noise you make so I’m guessing that’s your name? THERE’S THREE OF YOU! Ok Dugtrio exists, and Magneton’s some freak of nature, and as for Dodrio…well, there’s a rumor the species is based off incest but you? YOU HAVE THREE FACES! Where do you go when you evolve? Maybe one goes in the armpit. Yea, that’s probably right. Hmm Pingu! You’re quite adorable. MEH! Grey bird. Sorry – BORING GREY BIRD. You’re so GENERIC and quite frankly depressing. Also you know that thing, that friend of yours, I think it’s called Bird Flu? Yea, don’t wanna get it so I’ll sell you cheap. Oh god I feel dizzy already just looking at your generic, pigeon-like face. And to finish it off we have a moth. Oh VenoMOTH wasn’t enough. Butterfree, Beautifly, Dustox….no! Let’s have another! Oh your so pathetic I want to cry.”

There is so much awesomeness in that excerpt… I especially love his referring to Starkly as a “BORING GREY BIRD” and his remark about Chimchar’s butt-flame. XD

“What about Hoothooters?” Crystal said, thinking. “That would be good!”

“Yea, I think so, too,” Girafarig said. The two walked towards the doors, which had been boarded shut. The sign, which had peeling paint, showed two Hoothoot sitting comfortable in a large bra.

THAT SIGN. XD

“Oh my god oh my god!” Crystal cried. “Get a grip Crys, get a grip!”

She slapped Girafarig in the face.

“Hey!” he snapped.

“Oh,” she said. “Sorry, I can’t slap myself…it hurts.”

XD

Dramatic Highlights

I told you I would make you pay for what you did, Chris, came a rattling voice. Dusclops’ single eye throbbed powerfully as I heard these words. Last night I unleashed a heavy wave of sleep on the household. I entered your body and tried to possess you…but you were so angry, so hateful…it was painful being inside you. I wandered among the house and found David. He, too, was angry…but filled with such a love and satisfaction for himself I was able to meld into his body and occupy it.

He tried to expel me, but I was too strong. All your angst that you had…it fed me. Frustration allowed me to grow stronger from your rage and upset, and now I’ve become far stronger than anything you’ve ever seen. David eventually stopped fighting and had a heart attack due to the pressure of my presence. He died then and there, but I’ve been residing in his body since.

Whoa. O__O Again, that was severely frelling awesome.

Would she be able to watch Liang as he suffered his illness? Would she still be in love with him when she barely recognized his face, when venom ran through every organ in his body? When he was gasping for life, pleading to be killed…could Amy watch him suffer?

She bit her lip.

No.

My favorite excerpt from that scene.

“Well…good luck with everything,” Jenny said, looking at Chris sheepishly. Chris stared back, the two searching for something within each other. A spark of a smile crackled for just a moment.

“Thanks,” Chris said thickly. “I…well…I…bye.”

“Bye,” Jenny said, watching Chris dash inside. “…Chris.”

Aww. ^^

And without another word, Chris opened the door and headed out onto the street. On his way to the train station he began to think about Jenny; he didn’t even ask what she was doing with herself now, if she had a new boyfriend…

He wished he had asked her to come back to TPML with him.

And again, aww… ;-;

“You’ve been nothing but torture to me. You’ve tried to ruin me…but I’m not going to let you.”

I lay Dusclops’ Pokeball down in a freshly dug mound of earth not far from the grave of my Mankey.

“You’re trapped forever, deep under the earth. And I hope you never see daylight again.”

I had sacrificed the most powerful member of my team…I had said goodbye to Dusclops once and for all…but I had never felt stronger. I never felt so powerful, as if the match tomorrow was going to be ok.

I hope, somewhere, David knows that his life was not lost in vain. It shook me to do the right thing and sever the ties with Dusclops forever.

Thank you David.

A memorable moment, and the last three lines really bring out the sentiment and significance in Chris’s actions there.

That was one of my favorite chapters to date. Superb work, there, and congratulations on your success in the Golden Pens! ^^

Chris 2.1

5th August 2007, 03:16 PM

Sike: The Dusclops story was tied up in a bundle of maliciousness. Thanks to those flashback scenes (particularly the Dusclops ones) it took a month to write that Chapter. It was very difficult, I'm not sure why; either way, I'm glad I've managed to get it done!

Glad you liked the raid. It was an exciting scene....but a lot of mysteries. Why was DD only given two bullets? Why was he attacked? Is he ok!?

This chapter [46] doesn't draw on Amy and Liang much, despite the build up in Ch45. But you'll understand why when you read the chapter :) However we will get some nice developments to the story soon. So look out for those! Thanks for commending the scenes; I worked hard to ensure the balance between emotional and funny scenes. More on Oz and Blademaster in Ch47!

Anyway I must be quick cos I'm posting Ch46!!

Chapter Forty-Six
Round Two (Part 1)
Chris 2.0 VS MeLoveGhosts

Amy Wolfsong was staring fondly at a picture of her and Henry, taken a couple of years ago. She put the framed picture in her suitcase and zipped it shut, looking around the slightly emptier office. Grey, Becca, Elec Man, The Blue Avenger, River and Liang watched her prepare to leave.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Becca asked, looking somewhat strained at losing her friend. “Amy…you just got the offer!”

“I’m sure,” Amy replied, smiling. “Would you turn down a place on the Board?”

“Yes,” Becca said firmly.

“Well…I’m not,” Amy said airily, trying not to sound argumentative but to emphasize that she had made her decision. “This is a great opportunity.”

“The Board of Governors is a bunch of corrupt bastards!” River said. “Don’t join them, Amy!”

“They’re not corrupt,” Grey said firmly. “Although they are very elitist.”

“And they are jerks,” The Blue Avenger added. River nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m sure they’re nice,” Amy said. “Cocoa Sting seemed nice in the end…after the tyranny and bitchiness. And I’ve spoken to Rosie Cran, and Austin Myers…and they’re lovely people.”

“So what did Gordon say when you accepted the offer?” Becca asked.

“He was very pleased, he seemed excited to have me join,” Amy replied, smiling.

“Well do keep in touch,” Grey said fondly, giving her a hug. “We’ll give you all the updates on the league.”

“Thanks,” Amy said, shaking River’s hand. “And thanks for all saying goodbye.”

“Think nothing of it,” TBA said, smiling but seemingly unhappy he had to stop holding River’s hand in order to shake Amy’s. “It won’t be the same without you.”

“Yea, what are the monsters going to kidnap now?” Amy replied, laughing. She embraced Becca tightly. “Take care Bex.”

“I hope you enjoy it,” Becca replied, although it was clear she wished her friend to stay. “Me and Grey didn’t really do much sightseeing when we went to New York.”

“Becca,” Grey snapped. He was thinking of their capture of Callisto, which nearly cost Cocoa Sting her life, and the documented evidence that Thomas currently had. His earpiece was firmly in his ear.

“Goodbye Liang,” Amy said. Liang leant in for a kiss but Amy simply pulled him into a tight hug. “Try not to get into too much trouble.”

“Yea,” he murmured, holding tightly onto Amy and taking in her scent, the feel of her hair against his cheek and the last moment he would spend with her. “Ok.”

She stepped back, smiled and got her suitcases ready.

“Wait a minute,” River said. “Amy do you have anywhere to live?”

“Gordon’s put me in touch with somebody, yes,” Amy said. “I’ve got somewhere to go when I arrive, but for the next few weeks I won’t have my own place.”

“Take care,” Grey said solemnly. Amy nodded and gave a final wave before releasing a little Baltoy and Ralts. Together they teleported Amy’s suitcase to hr car outside, but after a slight blunder the suitcases burst open and a multitude of clothes, possessions and items all soared into the air.

“No!” Amy yelped, opening the window as she stared out. “Beutifly! Dustox! Go help!”

She hurled two Pokeballs from the window, and her two insect Pokemon fired off silky string to snag any items that flew away. Beautifly then used a whirlwind to blast the array of possessions down to the ground, where Baltoy and Ralts used their psychic attacks to gently pull the objects back into the case.

“Oh dear,” Amy mumbled. “Well I’d better go…bye guys!”

“Bye!” River said glumly.

“Take care Amy,” TBA replied. Everybody cried farewell as Amy raced down the stairs to repack her suitcase. The group watched at the window as Amy looked around, clearly humiliated as people walked past and saw her stash her knickers away.

“There goes one of our best members,” Grey said firmly. Amy, zipping the suitcases tightly, grabbed them and pelted towards her car beyond the Battle Park. “People…Amy’s leave is sudden and unexpected.”

“Damn right it was,” Becca said. “Why didn’t she tell us?”

“She only found out yesterday,” Liang replied. “Gordon gave her two days to make a decision.”

“Why?” Elec Man asked. “Seems a bit…sudden.”

“A member of the Board, Volletta Kane, was fired under very suspicious circumstances,” Grey replied gravely. “Gordon didn’t want to root through the application process for her job as it is a long and arduous one, perhaps lasting months. The Board is so high-up and there are so many people working in the Board’s departments that even promoting someone would be difficult since they’d need to ensure the best person got promoted.”

“But Amy would make a good Accountancy Advisor,” TBA said. “It’s not like they picked her because they couldn’t find someone good.”

“True,” Grey replied. “All we know is they needed a replacement. I daresay they had other people lined up for the job. But we need to get back to work and carry on. Liang, I believe you have a match today?”

“Yea,” Liang replied. “Against Syberia.”

He double-checked his VS Seeker. The match was at 1pm.

“I’m going to go and heal my team up,” Liang said promptly, giving a lurching cough as he left the office. He was shaking slightly…shaking with anxiety and pain. Amy was the only person who knew about the venom inside him…she was the only one who knew of his impending death. Now she was gone, there was a constricting feeling inside him…his deep secret was hurting more than the poison.

As he left the tower he saw Crystal Tears and Girafarig waiting for him.

“See, this is why I don’t like new people,” Girafarig said rudely. “They’re late.”

“Give me a rest,” Liang sighed. “Amy Wolfsong just got promoted to Board member. We were saying goodbye.”

“This is why I keep my social circle small,” Girafarig went on. “No emotional attachments.”

“Your social circle is small because you smell funky,” Crystal rasped, turning to Liang. “Thanks for coming Liam.”

“It’s –”

“We know you’ve got a match, but we were hoping you might have built an army by now,” Crystal mused.

“No,” Liang said earnestly. “I haven’t.”

“Damnit!” Crystal said. “Gira I owe you an ice cream.”

“Damn right,” he said.

“We’ll talk about WAVEX after my match,” Liang replied. “Oh, it’s against Syberia, by the way. Who do you think WAVEX want to win?”

“Hmm that’s tough,” Girafarig said. “Both Vets, Both Threats’.”

“Huh?”

“We’re going under the assumption that The Subject is a member of the league who couldn’t win the league under normal circumstances,” Crystal explained. “So we think WAVEX want the strong members out of the way early on. They’ll see veteran trainers more of a threat.”

“But if your assumption is wrong…” Liang said.

“Then last night was a complete waste of time,” Crystal sighed. She cleared her throat. “We stayed up all night having a Post-Fire-Party and drew up suspicion plans for WAVEX. Anyway Girafarig has his match soon…and I got knocked out so when your match finishes, we’ll discuss our plans.”

*

Meanwhile, in Jolly Japes Hospital, Dark Dragonite lay in bed, a bandage on his head and with an IV drip going into his veins. His eyes flickered open and he looked around. Taking a deep breath he felt an odd, cloudy pain and coughed. He was in a double room, with UuberFred lying in the bed opposite. A Nurse walked over to Fred. She looked to be in her mid 30’s with curly blonde hair and pale skin.

“Now Fred,” she replied. “Do you see what happens when you try to drown yourself in seawater?”

“Yes Nurse,” the boy sighed. He was revealed to have large, bloodshot eyes, eyes that were wide open and alert.

“I’ve got you a Pokemon to help guide you,” the Nurse said, showing a Smeargle that ambled into the room. “He’s your Guide for three days.”

UuberFred, whose eyes were so sore his vision was impaired somewhat, stumbled out the bed. Smeargle used his tail to draw a rope, which glowed brightly before becoming real. Smeargle tied the rope around his collar and handed the other end to Fred.

“Thanks Snoopy!” UuberFred said jubilantly. “Can you take me to the Pokemoncenter? I think Ladyffet is ready to pick up.”

Smeargle looked at UuberFred and wandered out the room. The Nurse signed Fred’s discharge form and went to see Dark Dragonite. She did not see Smeargle lead UuberFred into the Quarantine Ward.

“Are you ok Steve?” she asked gently. “I’m Isabel, and I’m looking after you.”

“I’m fine,” Dark Dragonite whispered. “My throat…”

“You inhaled a lot of smoke,” she explained. “Your throat and lungs are very damaged. But we are doing everything we can to make you feel comfortable.”

“Thank you, Isabel,” Dark Dragonite murmured.

“I also have a message,” she replied. “From Thomas.”

Dark Dragonite’s eyes widened in shock.

“T-Thomas?”

“He asked me to inform you that you have a match this morning. And it is imperative that you win it,” Isabel said firmly, all friendliness and pleasantry void from her voice. “You are facing Elec Man EXE, but ‘luckily’ you are on the Water Field, so Elec Man will have to rely on his weaker team members.”

“I’m…too…” wheezed DD. “I can’t…”

“Elec Man cannot proceed further,” Isabel said firmly. “He is a threat.”

“Are you…with WAVEX?” Dark Dragonite spluttered, looking at the woman. She turned her nose up.

“I work for Thomas,” she replied firmly. “Now I’ve signed your discharge form and prescribed you some medicine which will help sooth your throat. Doctor Wernham suggested you have another day or so…but I see no reason to keep you when you have work to do.”

She walked to the door.

“I will be back in five minutes. Be ready to leave.”

*

Only thirty minutes later and the atmosphere had changed. Crowds cheered in celebration as the first match of Round Two was about to begin. Now the matches were held just out of the village; up the pleasant hill called Crescent Walk; this very gentle, curving walkway led up to the flat area where the five different stadiums were built. Not far from here was Sunshine Fields, the beautiful golden fields that overlooked the village. It was there that Chris 2.0 beat OzAndrew amid his Bouncy Castle.

At Crescent Walk, the Imperial Stadium was where Tucker held his Battle Dome Matches when the Frontier Brains visited. This stadium was also where the finals were held for The Pokemon Masters League. Tucker, who was wheelchair bound and still haunting the village, was rolling along past his old battleground while everybody else filed in to see the match.

“It’ll cheer me up,” said River, sitting in the seating with The Blue Avenger. “I feel glum after Amy leaving.”

“Yea, I know what you mean,” TBA replied, holding her hand and kissing the top of her forehead. “Hey! Is that No-Frowns the Clown!?”

He glanced at a morbid looking clown wandering among the aisles; a large, muscled man was sitting in his seat, and showed no signs of wanting to move. No-Frowns glanced around nervously.

“Oh that guy,” River replied. “You know when my sister was a con artist –”

“Crystal Tears used to be a con artist?” TBA said wildly. River frowned and poked him in the eye. “Ow!”

“Don’t interrupt,” River snarled, sounding like her sister. “Anyway that Clown guy trashed Crystal’s stall and threw a mushy banana on her conwoman suit! AND THEN he smeared the banana in, applying medium to heavy pressure! It was ruined!”

“Excuse-moi,” came a stringy, emphatic voice. “Could you not shriek so loud?”

The elongated London accent belonged to a beaky woman behind River, who had a very curved nose, very plain looking hair and, upon further inspection, looked about 8 months pregnant.

“I am with child,” she rasped, her hand smoothly gliding over her belly so fast she might have been buffing it. “If you shriek too loud you’ll addle her brain and she’ll become a suicidal.”

“Right,” River murmured.

“Sorry,” TBA said emptily. Through his one remaining good eye he saw the arena; a deep, broad pool set firmly into the arena ground. The ground around the arena was rocky and dark; the pool was white marble and, filled with the aquamarine water, looked positively exquisite as the sun sparkled on the surface.

Amongst the arena were a number of marble platforms that, instead of floating on the surface, were actually built up from the bottom of the pool, like small columns that rose up to the water level. Around the edges of the arena were large screens; one was an ‘Underwater Cam’ which showed beyond the surface of the water; two others showed close ups of Dark Dragonite and Elec Man (the latter looking cool an collected in a crisp white shirt, while his opponent, pale and shaky, looked ready to collapse). The fourth screen, while scrolling along members of the audience, showed adverts for various places in TPML; ‘Come to Veracity by Stan for all your Boating needs! Now with Customer Service!’ ‘Stones, Stems and Storks – The only place in TPML to sell elemental stones, herbal remedies and stork plush dolls under one roof!’ ‘Omastarbucks – Come in and try our new Hetzel Mocha: 20,000 Chocolate Sprinkles under the Cream!’.

“Is everybody ready?” came a voice. The broad-shouldered, ox-like referee raised her flags as she stared at both. “This is a doubles match for entrance into Round Three. Only two Pokemon can be used on each side, and a winner is decided when a trainer has no remaining Pokemon. On my whistle.”

Elec Man smiled at Dark Dragonite, who have a cough and looked around. He saw Thomas in the audience, watching him…he gulped and blinked numerous times, trying to swallow a lump in the back of his throat that had nothing to do with the match…

The referee blew her whistle and Elec Man, gripping two Pokeballs in one hand swung it forward and gave a cry.

“I CHOOSE YOU!”

The balls burst open; one pouring fall of light fell into the water and formed into the long, elegant, sinewy form of Huntail. The Pokemon was a shade darker than the water itself, with perfectly round, orange circles over its body. With an orange crest atop its wide-jawed head, the Huntail stared out at the arena with blank eyes. The second ball of light formed into a smaller Pokemon – a Mawile. Mawile had a long, slightly curved jaw on a horn atop her head, with innocent eyes and a very coy nature. She stood on her square platform and looked at her trainer, apparently frightened.

“Go, Pokemon,” Dark Dragonite said confidently, clearing his throat as, a ball in each hand, he hurled his Pokemon forward. One, like his opponents, splashed into the water, releasing a haughty-looking Seadra, while the other released a wise looking Noctowl. Seadra’s sharp eyes scanned the area and Noctowl, high in the air, looked down on the two foes in a similar manner.

“Elec Man has selected Huntail and Mawile. Dark Dragonite has selected Seadra and Noctowl. BEGIN!” the Ref boomed.

“Huntail, aqua tail!” Elec Man cried. Huntail darted under the water, leaping out and sweeping his tail around. It smashed into Seadra, who flew out the water, but the Pokemon splashed back under and wriggled away. Seadra darted back up and blasted a jet of water at Mawile, who staggered back and leapt onto the platform behind.

“Mawile use sludge bomb!” Elec Man cried, pointing to Noctowl. Mawile opened her maw and large, sloppy pellets of sludge were blasted through the air; Noctowl flapped to the left and began circling the arena; Mawile corrected her aim, following Noctowl until she struck him repeatedly with the attack. Noctowl fell towards the water, spiraling down and smashing into a platform. “Now use thunder fang!”

“Seadra blast Mawile out of the way! Water gun!” Dark Dragonite cried. He gave a large cough, watching Seadra leap up out of the water, only for Huntail to sink his teeth into his Pokemon and wrap his tail around the Pokemon’s body. However, Huntail gave a cry as his flesh sank into one of Seadra’s poisonous spikes. As Huntail swam off, Seadra prepared to fire the attack, only to find Noctowl among Mawile’s jaws, crying as electricity pumped through him like an electric current. Mawile looked like a large animated crocodile clip as she held her prey high, victorious. Her shy façade was peeling.

“Seadra! Twister!” Dark Dragonite yelled. Seadra nodded and summoned a curling gust of wind; it brought the water to a choppy speed as it swirled and gushed; Mawile, sensing danger, hurled Noctowl into the twister and leapt to the edge of the arena as Huntail emerged from underwater, having used a refresh to cure himself.

“Mawile fire a shadow ball at Seadra! Huntail use ice beam at Seadra.”

“Noctowl get up!” Dark Dragonite cried, as his owl barely got to his feet. “You need to use silver wind to keep your foes away! Can you do that?”

Noctowl sighed, nursing himself on a marble platform as, feathers ruffled, blood dripped into the pool, siphoning away and blending in amongst the darker water. He held his wings open as he flapped hard, blasting a silvery sheet of wind against Elec Man’s side of the arena. The shadow ball burst in a fantastic show of swirling shadow and darkness; the ice beam simply dissolved under the slight heat as Noctowl, dizzied, staggered on his platform.

“Now, use psychic on Mawile!” Dark Dragonite said, pointing at the scowling Pokemon. Noctowl charged psychic energy up into a beam and fired it through the air; Mawile took a running leap and leapt to the next platform, managing to disappear completely in the process. Noctowl watched, disheartened, as the psychic attack smashed into the corner of the arena, which crumbled away into the pool. Noctowl’s eyes searched for the opponent.

Mawile re-emerged right behind Noctowl, who was raising his wings and readying to take flight. In a swift chomp Mawile’s jaws clamped around Noctowl’s waist and once again, the bird was held high.

“Now use charge beam,” Elec Man said firmly. Noctowl’s eyes widened as Dark Dragonite took a step forward; his eyes scanned Thomas and an associate in the audience, deep in conversation. The match wasn’t going well…he needed to win this, but he felt so weak, like his poor Noctowl. Mawile’s mouth brimmed feverishly as a thick beam of light and sparks burst up and engulfed Noctowl completely; a shrill, incomplete scream was heard as the column of light glided up into the skies like a beacon.

“NO!” Dark Dragonite cringed. “Seadra! Bubblebeam!”

Seadra blasted a stream of thick bubbles at Mawile, which peppered the young Pokemon and drove her across her platform. Sensing danger, Mawile leapt over onto another one, hurling Noctowl into the water as she did so. Noctowl was stiff and aching, resting on the surface of the water as he gasped for release.

“Noctowl…” Dark Dragonite sighed. He had no choice. Noctowl was beaten already. He held a Pokeball out and blasted the beam at his Pokemon. “Return.”

He gave a dry sob as he stared at the Pokeball, feeling the cold, smooth surface. Seadra could still claim victory…but as he watched his opponents, he realized that he had no idea which had taken the most damage. Deciding that Huntail was easier to attack, he began his plan of action.

“Seadra dive underwater, and use agility,” he said firmly. His Seadra dropped below the water level and began a sharp burst of speed; however, a mere second into sweeping around underwater, Seadra gave a sharp gasp and slowed right down as Huntail zoomed ahead with sudden speed and slammed into Seadra.

“What the hell!?” Dark Dragonite gasped, before realizing. “Of course, Huntail used snatch to steal Seadra’s agility.”

“Huntail use crunch on Seadra’s tail,” Elec Man replied. “Mawile, use solarbeam!”

Huntail crunched down on Seadra’s curled tail; the Pokemon gave a grumble and swung around sharply, causing Huntail to swing along, too, and smash into the wall of the surprisingly deep pool. Above the ripping water on the surface, Mawile charged up solar energy, creating a bulging orb of powerful sunlight.

Seadra swept forward and jousted Huntail, who slithered through the water and turned, blasting an orange hyper beam through the air. Seadra was struck, driven back and this time being the one who was smashed into the wall; the audience watched on the big screen as Huntail crept under Seadra and dealt a smash, propelling the Pokemon out of the water. Mawile turned and fired off the solarbeam, sending the sweeping, glowing beam of radiant solar energy right into the seahorse Pokemon, who flew left of the arena and was ploughed fiercely into the side of the stands.

“MATCH!” bellowed the referee, holding her spade-like hands high. “Seadra is unable to battle! Dark Dragonite has lost and Elec Man goes on to Round 3!”

“YES!” Elec Man replied, unable to keep up the ‘cool guy’ façade. “Mawile! Huntail!”

Mawile ran over as Huntail swam to the edge of the pool. Elec Man patted them both, smirking and turning to look up to the audience.

“That was brilliant!” Charles Legend cried from the stands. During the match he had changed his t-shirts, scribbling out ‘Chris 2.0’ to read ‘Elec Man EXE’. It looked poor quality and very roughly done. His Pokemon, including Magby, Mucnhlax and Charmeleon were all wearing the cheap t-shirts.

Dark Dragonite recalled Seadra and headed to the outside of the stadium, where he worried what Thomas would say.

Continued Below

Chris 2.1

5th August 2007, 03:18 PM

Meanwhile, Girafarig was having his Round Two match against Grey. Grey had put Becca in charge for the brief time he was battling. The two were on the rock arena, giving Girafarig something of an advantage. He had his Magcargo and Rhydon out, while Grey released Blastoise and Snorlax.

“And Girafarig is being ploughed in this battle of the giants,” Called Chris Watarimono. “Magcargo feels out of place as three colossal Pokemon battle on.”

“Rhydon! Mega Punch!” Girafarig cried.

“Take it head-on, Armada!” Grey cried. His Snorlax stomped forward and grappled with Rhydon, whose Mega Punch lost its power. The two wrestled on the arena as Blastoise fired off two thick jets of water right into Magcargo, sending him flying into a rocky spire, where he shattered it.

“I got here as soon as I could,” Liang said clumsily, sitting next to Crystal Tears. “I won my match against Syberia.”

“That’s good!” Crystal whispered. “Wait…Syberia? He was in the Antibodies!”

“Some Vets got preferential treatment,” Liang explained. He looked down at the arena. “How is he doing?”

“Rubbish,” Crystal replied. “Well…he’s doing ok, but Grey has a really good team, so you know…”

“He has types covered excellently,” Liang noted. “He has a very good team.”

“His Snorlax is like…blocking Rhydon, while Blastoise finishes Magcargo off,” Crystal replied. Magcargo surprisingly got up, firing off molten rock at Blastoise while Armada smashed a punch into Rhydon. Blastoise then tackled Rhydon into the ground.

“I’ve managed to find a way for us to fight WAVEX,” Liang replied breathlessly. It was evident he had wanted to say this since he arrived. He looked around just to check no goons were around (although he reminded himself he had no idea who was in WAVEX) and, seeing only a heavily pregnant lady crooning and Ox-E-Moron, he continued. “Now, it’s a simple –”

“Shhh,” Crystal replied firmly, pointing to the arena. “Match? Silly science later.”

“It’s not science,” Liang replied. “It’s more of a clever use of computer tech-”

“Shut – up!” Crystal hissed. “Match!”

“Fine,” Liang grumbled, folding his arms. He felt a powerful, searing pain in his chest and screwed his eyes shut, trying to block it out. Eyes focusing back on the match, he saw Rhydon swing his tail around and hit Blastoise, dealing good damage as the large water Pokemon groaned. Snorlax blasted a hyperbeam through the air at Magcargo, but Rhydon got in the way, straining under the attack. Magcargo slid along, firing a flamethrower at Snorlax from under the hyper beam. Snorlax gave a groan as his foot was singed; he toppled backwards and sat down, nursing his injury. Blastoise sent a weak shower of bubbles over the burn to cool it off, giving a thumbs up and firing a hydro pump to hit Magcargo and finally defeat the Pokemon.

“Damnit,” Girafarig murmured. “Rhydon use an earthquake.”

Rhydon nodded, slamming his feet into the ground and sending a furious tremor through the earth. Blastoise staggered back as Snorlax grinned, apparently finding the feeling quite pleasurable through his thick skin. Rhydon charged, tucking his head in slightly and driving his horn into Blastoise’s chest; Blastoise, however, had a durable shell and gave a hearty smirk. Rhydon drove the horn in deeper, twisting it slightly and causing the shell to crack. Blastoise, seeing this, swung a fist and slammed a dynamicpunch into Rhydon’s skull.

“They’re both fighting physically,” Liang noted. “Although Blastoise can use water attacks. I wonder why Rhydon isn’t using any elemental attacks?”

“Because his Rhydon is a physical fighter,” Crystal replied absently, eyes still fixed on the match. “Mine is a bit more elemental since he learnt a lot of elemental attacks from my team. Girafarig’s team isn’t well developed though.”

“Ah,” Liang replied, almost wishing he hadn’t asked. Rhydon swung his tail around again, aiming it at the ground; Blastoise jumped it and leapt back, blasting a hydro pump from his cannons and striking Rhydon in the chest. Rhydon groaned as Armada got back up, leaping forward and using a focus punch right to the skull. Giving a large cry, Rhydon tumbled back; Blastoise swung an ice punch round and smashed into the Pokemon’s body, causing him to fall.

“Rhydon,” Girafarig said suddenly. “Can you keep going?”

He turned and stared at his trainer; his skin was cracked and he looked weatherworn. Rhydon cast a glance at his foes and shook his head.

“Ok,” Girafarig replied firmly. “Return. You did a good job.”

Rhydon was pulled back into the Pokeball beam and the referee, the thin, camp man who reffed Aragornbird’s Round 1 match, ran forward and, with a flounce, curved his flags up.

“Girafarig forfeits!” he cried joyously, as if war was over. “The Arbiter goes on to Round 3!”

The crowd cheered, and the referee, tucking his flags away, gave a coy smirk.

“That’s it, Sinbad,” he told himself. “They love you…they absolutely love you…”

“Thanks for the match,” Girafarig mumbled to Grey, who walked over with both Snorlax and Blastoise.

“My thanks,” Grey replied calmly, shaking Girafarig’s hand. A voice spoke in his hear, a voice he knew to belong to Thomas.

No Grey, I should thank you. Girafarig wasn’t supposed to make it to Round Two. Thank you for taking care of him.

Grey narrowed his eyebrows as Thomas’ words. He wanted to know when he was going to be called upon to do ‘jobs’ for WAVEX – the idea unnerved him to no end, but he was more concerned about how this would affect his job. With Amy gone he had all the workload to take care of himself.

Casting his eyes around, he decided to get back to his office before he could come into contact with Thomas. He stormed past onlookers who wanted to congratulate him. Meanwhile, Girafarig met Crystal and Liang outside the stadium.

“Hey,” he said glumly.

“You did your best,” Crystal sighed.

“They put me up against Grey on purpose, I know it,” Girafarig said firmly. “They were angry that I beat Charles.”

“Why would it bother them?” Liang asked.

“Because they obviously wanted Charles to get to a certain point,” Crystal replied. “So by eliminating him early they’ll have had to re-plan everything.”

“Can they really decide what the pairings are?” Liang asked skeptically. “Usually that’s done by the Board.”

“Well they must have arranged it,” Crystal replied.

“Does that mean they want me to win?” Liang asked.

“I doubt it, you’re strong,” Girafarig replied. “Although maybe…”

He trailed into a train of empty thought as the three discussed the matter. Liang, remembering why he wanted to speak to them, changed the subject.

“Anyway, I have an idea,” Liang explained. “A way for us to find out where WAVEX HQ is. Girafarig, did WAVEX send you any messages when you were in contact with them?”

“I was only ever in contact with Brink,” Girafarig explained. “I never spoke to or met Thomas. But he sent me one message…let’s see…”

He scrolled through his archived messages, managing to find the recent message. He opened it up.

From: Brink
The money has been sent into your account

“Right,” Liang replied firmly. “Guy’s, we need to head to my office at the Bank. I’ll explain everything when we get there.”

In a bright flash of light, Crystal’s Weavile, Edea, emerged and watched Liang, her eyes locked onto the boy’s throat.

“You tell us now,” Crystal told him. “I’m sorry, but I’m not falling into any trap. Tell us why we need to come with you.”

“Because I can…” Liang began, taking a deep breath. “Ok. You told me last night that only two members of WAVEX – Wayne and Colton – are entering the league. That means they are the only two registered members in the village. They are the only two who have VS Seekers. Everyone else in WAVEX won’t communicate with VS Seekers since they aren’t members of the league, therefore they’ll use computers to send VS Seeker messages. When I was opposing Ecks, he sent my messages on a computer that had the VS Seeker program installed, so he could send messages from a computer under the illusion that they came from another VS Seeker.”

“Geek,” breathed Crystal.

“I’ll look at the encryption on this message and find out the coordinates of the console that sent it,” Liang replied. “And we can figure out where WAVEX HQ is.”

There was no response.

“So what do you say?”

“Geek,” Girafarig replied glumly.

*

Dark Dragonite was sitting on a bench in the battle park. He could see, in the distance, Chris 2.0 practicing his double battle techniques; his Weavile and Lairon were battling his Politoed and Magmar. Weavile leapt over a curling mass of fire and dealt a thick slash to Politoed.

He felt quite down since he lost his battle; his shoulder hurt where it had been dislocated (despite being fixed, the joint ached longingly) and the smoke from last night’s fire really irritated his lungs. Luckily there had been no permanent damage. What should he do now that the league was over?

Well there was no use in staying around; WAVEX would want answers from him and he didn’t want to face his peers. Before he could even think though, he saw a WAVEX man named Rolph walking towards him. Rolph was young and had tanned, smooth skin; his black hair was tied in a small ponytail and his green eyes were powerful. He sat down next to Dark Dragonite without saying a word. Steve’s eyes looked at Rolph’s hand; one hand had the ring finger missing completely.

“Thomas is angry.”

“I understand,” Dark Dragonite replied. “I failed. But I’m not well.”

“You have a commitment to attend to,” Rolph explained. “And you neglected it. Elec Man was blisteringly powerful. Do you think The Subject would win against him? Because Thomas doesn’t. Thomas wanted you to lose against The Subject in Round 3.”

“I know,” Dark Dragonite replied. He screwed up the courage to ask Rolph the question burning in his mind. “Are you here to kill me?”

“We are not killers,” Rolph replied calmly.

“Brink threw me from a balcony,” Dark Dragonite told Rolph sourly. “And Thomas only gave me two bullets.”

“Thomas…felt you were a hindrance,” Rolph explained. “She ordered you to take care of Girafarig and Crystal Tears with the sole purpose being to take care of you, too.”

“Well if that’s the case, why did she get angry when I lost my match?” Dark Dragonite snapped. “She wanted me dead!”

“Thomas knew there was a win in either situation,” Rolph went on. “If you perished in the fire, then you were taken care of. If you survived, you could help WAVEX advance in the league.”

He stood up again.

“It doesn’t matter. But do not pass on what I told you – I only let you in on everything because I know what it’s like to not earn the respect of Thomas.”

“Is that how you lost your finger?” Dark Dragonite asked. Rolph said nothing and adjusted the collar of his dark shirt.

“Your best bet is to run,” Rolph replied. He turned to look at Steve. “You could stay…WAVEX will not seek to murder you, and I know you won’t help anybody take us down.”

“I believe in everything WAVEX is doing,” Dark Dragonite explained. “That’s why I joined.”

“You do not join WAVEX,” Rolph said. “You are accepted. Until we meet again, Steve.”

And despite being only young, Rolph walked away on a mature and spiritual note, not like the rough, tough WAVEX men Thomas hired. Dark Dragonite also wondered about Isabel, the mysterious nurse. In his time with WAVEX he had only ever seen men working for Thomas, but the introduction of this woman intrigued him greatly.

*

“Ok,” Liang said casually, slotting the VS Seeker in a port on the computer. Crystal Tears and Girafarig were mulling around behind him as Liang scrolled through the options and began a grid search.

“You know, after the league’s first year, Karin, who was in charge back then, decided that it would be a good idea to get a map of the entire area we owned,” Liang recalled. “So the security Pokemon; Alakazam working in the towers and Metagross and Metang patrolling the Archives, all set out and used their psychics to map out the landscape for us, translating it onto graphs and charts. That’s how we first discovered places like Ivy Woods and Crush Quarry. They made a digital grid of the league and every year we update it. So I’ve hooked up the VS Seeker and it’s now showing us where the message came from.”

“Geek,” Crystal sighed. Girafarig gave a heavy sigh, half-heartedly holding his hand up for a half-hearted high five. Crystal returned it slowly. The two seemed utterly perplexed.

“The Old Village.”

“What?” Crystal replied, looking over.

“The Old Village,” Liang repeated, looking at the map. “It’s coming from a shop.”

“They’re operating in a shop?” Crystal cried.

“I wonder what shop it is?” Girafarig asked.

“Maybe a candy shop?” suggested Crystal.

“Or like a shop where you –”

“Guys,” Liang replied firmly. “Let’s just go.”

“We’re…going now?” Crystal replied.

“Well…yea!” Liang replied.

“As in, now?”

“Yup.”

“Right – this – second?”

“Not if you keep repeating yourself!” Liang said hotly. Crystal’s eyes widened.

“Ooook.”

“There’s loads of them, though,” Girafarig replied. “We can’t take on WAVEX!”

“We need to,” Crystal replied, looking at Girafarig. “We can’t hope to expand our army in time. They’re acting now, as we speak! And we need the element of surprise.”

“But there’s like…six of them!” Girafarig replied. “At least!”

“Wrong,” Liang replied. “Some are battling. This is time to do it. Who’s with me?”

“You’re right,” Crystal said firmly, before pausing. “We need a name.”

“How about Cagili?” Girafarig suggested. “Ca – Gi – Li – it’s the first two letters from our names.”

“I love it!” Crystal said. “Or something like…WONTVEX? Like WAVEX…WONTVEX…you know?”

“I certainly don’t,” Liang replied, bemused. “Come on guys!”

“Team Cagili Wontvex are GO!” Crystal cheered.

*

Meanwhile, following his victory against Girafarig, Grey was sitting at his desk, currently in a call with Gordon of the Board. He was feeling low and ebbed; he spoke calmly and quietly to Gordon, missing Amy.

“Amy is on her plane to New York,” Gordon replied. “I must say I was surprised she accepted the offer so quickly.”

“She knew you were poaching her,” Grey replied emptily. “She knew you were pressuring her into making a decision she should have had weeks to think about. It was nothing but cruel.”

Gordon cleared his throat.

“Be that as it may, we have more pressing matters to be dealing with,” he continued. “Grey it is time for 04621 to be shut down.”

“Shut down?” he said, surprised. Keen not to miss a thing he pressed the warm phone further against his ear. “Gordon…”

“It is a bold and surprising move,” Gordon explained firmly. “But given the depth of the league’s problems –”

“Problems?” Grey interrupted. “What problems?”

Gordon cleared his throat a second time; Grey got the feeling he did it only for effect as he did not sound hoarse at all.

“Amy Wolfsong was dragged under a lake by a large Dragonite. She was kept in a glass coffin and submerged underwater while being interrogated. The underground bunker was later blown up by Aragornbird. The moderation system has been swapped around multiple times; you are constantly changing who is in charge. There have been multiple murders including Karin 04621, Knight of Time, Solia Princess and Henry Elitos, Cocoa Sting was poisoned when she was in charge, before Ecks rallied a group to overthrow the village and attempt to kill Cocoa in Hospital, instead only wounding her in the arm. Aragornbird was held hostage in the Old Village when this happened, being subjected to torture, while the Bank was fitted with an EMP bomb that erased many of the member records. Shall I continue?”

“No,” Grey replied.

“Well I’m going to continue anyway,” Gordon snapped. “There is a renegade group named WAVEX operating under your nose, Grey. They are fixing the league by blackmail, kidnap and murder.”

“I see,” Grey said calmly, trying not to overreact.

This group sounds terrible, don’t they Grey? came a taunt from Thomas in his other ear. Grey ignored it.

“These people are led by a man named Thomas,” Gordon went on. “And are growing increasingly dangerous. You have failed to even learn of their existence before us, Grey – a very bad sign!”

“I understand, Gordon,” Grey went on.

“When Amy arrives and the Board is back to full capacity I will begin the process of closing the league,” Gordon explained. “I will be doing a portion of the paperwork, and will also come to the league to give an official inspection and evaluation. We want to shut the village down before the league is over, to stop this WAVEX from succeeding.”

“I see,” Grey began cautiously. “Gordon, I can see why you need to do this. Unfortunately though closing the village down before the league ends will really dishearten trainers.”

“I am aware,” Gordon said lazily. “I will not tolerate people trying to manipulate this competition, Grey.”

“If that is what you wish,” replied the head of the league. Gordon tore into his words suddenly.

“Wish? You think I want to close down a league Grey? You are wrong, I want no such thing, but this is not a financial decision, this is a decision and battle of morals. I do not want people to tarnish any single league in TPML, Grey, because it is an insult to what we have created over the decades.”

“I agree,” Grey said quietly.

“Good. I will contact you tomorrow about the inspection and what date we will arrive. How is the league progressing?”

“Round 2 is commencing well,” Grey replied calmly.

“Good,” Gordon replied absently, as if he didn’t care whatsoever. He hung up and left Grey sitting there in his office, deep in thought about the conversation. So the league was closing…after this, the sixth year of 04621, the league was going to be closed. How would Thomas react when she found out?

Don’t discuss that conversation with anyone, came the voice of Thomas. Grey jumped slightly and heard Thomas laugh.

Just listen, continued her voice. Gordon wants to shut the league down, well he won’t do it. Don’t worry about the details; all you need to do is contain the plan on the Board. People will panic. And they won’t want it. So we are keeping the league open. Now I know what you’re thinking…can WAVEX take on the Board of Governors?

She paused.

Of course we can. Now then we need to attend to a more pressing matter, Grey: three members of your league are on their way to our HQ and I don’t want them to get here. They are currently heading to Feizhi Outpost in the east and are coming to The Old Village. Stop them.

“How am I supposed to stop them!?” snapped Grey.

I don’t care how you do it; your own freedom depends on you stopping them. If they get to us, Grey, and you fail to carry out this task, I will send the tape to my contact on the Board and the skeletons will fall out of the closet. You’ll definitely be arrested – for how long, I’m not sure.

“I’m not falling down for you, Thomas,” Grey stated calmly, having worked out that Thomas could hear him, too. “I refuse.”

Refuse? All I’m asking you to do is scramble a radio signal…that’s all you need to do to avoid jail and expulsion, Grey…or send Liang an urgent message…make him come back. You’re really defying this?

“Yes,” Grey said firmly. He pulled the earpiece from his ear and dropped it to the floor. “I have work to do.”

*

My heart was hammering wildly. I was in the indoor stadium, the platform arena. I waited calmly as I sat in the locker room. I had decided who I was going to use…sort of…obviously I had to fit around what MLG selected. I

thought about what I told Liang and Elec man yesterday…how letting go of my frustration and bitterness had cleansed me almost. I spent the night thinking about Jenny, which was unusual; she was walking along a set of train tracks, calling my name…I had no idea how relevant it was.

“Ok Chris,” said a friendly voice. A PA-type girl walked towards me. “Head out on to the arena.”

“Thanks…erm…”

“My name’s Jenny,” she replied.

“ARGH!” I screamed, leaping into a corner.

“What?” the girl asked cautiously.

“Scary coincidence,” I said warily, wondering if she was a robot.

“What…is your name Jenny, too?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “Anyway, if you can head onto the arena please.”

“K.”

I walked through the tunnel-like corridor, wondering if this psycho woman was going to steal my fingers. I walked out to the arena amid a roaring crowd; a good 85% of the seats were full…was I this popular? I took a deep breath and stared around; the arena was indoors but the same size as any other. It had dark walls and floodlights even though it was the middle of the day. I stared across a vast, larger than usual arena comprised entirely of large columns forming from a very deep, dark pit that rose to ground level, creating an arena of platforms over a gaping chasm. The square platforms were pewter gray.

I walked to the marked area as I looked at a large screen showing clips of MeLoveGhosts’ Round 1 match. I saw a Miltank swinging a thick tail at a spinning Hitmontop. Looking through the crowd, I saw Charles Legend sitting admirably next to Elec Man EXE, while The Missing Link watched with River and The Blue Avenger.

Across the arena, far away, was MeLoveGhosts. He seemed to be keeping in his ‘stylishly untidy’ look, but smartened slightly; he had black jeans on and a thin hooded jacket.

“This will be a doubles match,” came a voice. I looked to see a rather pompous and scary referee standing there. He had a little French moustache and a very sharp nose. “Between…Chris 2.0 and MeLoveGhosts,” he cleared his throat and added to himself “Tsch...such terrible grammar. I love ghosts. Calm down Theodore…we didn’t all come from such prestigious backgrounds.”

I saw the screen (which had a slow-motion clip of Electabuzz VS Combusken) change to show me and MLG – I was blue while he was red. We had two Pokeballs under our picture (and my picture was awful. I sneezed when they took it), both lit up.

“Call forth your Pokemon!” cried the referee, waving his flags majestically.

“I CHOOSE YOU!” cried MeLoveGhosts, hurling two Pokeballs forward. I was impressed with how far he threw them; they arched up into the air and burst open, revealing a large, pink Slowbro and a sturdy, clumpy looking Forretress respectively. I gave a brief smile and gripped two Pokeballs.

“Go!”

In two bright flashes my Magmar and Weavile emerged, landing on separate platforms. Weavile cast a wary look at the platforms, which were about 3 feet apart from any other platform. Magmar’s tail burned as they looked down at the opposition. Weavile could take on Slowbro and Magmar could take on Forretress. Perfect.

“Commencement Beginulate!” cried the referee. I turned to look at him, confused. “…begin.”

“Athene!” MLG cried. “Psychic on Magmar now! Ammit! Zap Cannon!”

“Weavile use night slash,” I said firmly. “Magmar, fire spin at Forretress.”

Slowbro’s temple glowed a deep blue as he concentrated hard. Magmar felt his muscles constrict and spasm as he was slowly lifted up in the air from meters away. Weavile saw this, leaping across to Magmar’s platform and slashing a blade of dark energy horizontally through the air. It smashed into Slowbro, hitting his brow and causing him to lose his grip. Magmar landed and leapt forward, blasting a swirling cone of flame that smashed into the platform near Forretress and swirling up like a blistering inferno. Forretress was blocked, cornered in by the attack. The zap cannon fizzled away.

Weavile and Magmar both recuperated by leaping back nearer to me. Slowbro glowed blue again and, from the flaming tornado, Forretress span around, sweeping through the air like a demented weapon. As he was elevated by the psychic attack he fired off volleys of spike cannons that peppered down upon my Pokemon. Weavile gave a cry as he was struck in the facial area; he staggered and fell from the platform.

“WEAVILE!” I screamed, leaping onto the first platform. A volley of pins flew at me and I retreated, protecting my face. “Magmar! Stop him!”

Magmar nodded and span around, leaping up and turning 360 degrees in the air. As he did this he spewed a thick trail of flame that spiraled around and caught Forretress, dealing good damage and knocking him from the air. Forretress landed on a nearby platform and Magmar, feeling particularly angry, slugged him with a fire punch. Slowbro fired a jet of water into Magmar from behind, causing him to stagger forward and lose his balance.

I turned to the large screen which showed a close up of Weavile from the chasm floor; I could now see every column had a long steel ladder leading down to the bottom of the large gap; upon falling Weavile had grabbed onto a ladder with a thick claw and was muttering to himself. Was he planning something? Words similar to subtitles popped up on the screen:

‘Nasty Plot – Raises Special Attack’

Weavile was boosting his own stats to help sweep the match. MeLoveGhosts had not seen this, so I kept it a secret as long as possible. Magmar had to fly solo for now.

“Athene! Use psychic slalom!” cried my foe. Slowbro became shrouded in that mystical glow and rose up on the point of his shell; I watched as he sat back in the rim of his own shell and, using his psychic powers, balanced the tip of the shell on the platform. He looked as if he was wobbling a bit, but with no further ado bolted forward, using his psychic attack to hop from platform to platform and speed through the air, blasting a water gun dizzily.

Magmar leapt to the next platform as Slowbro chased after him, speeding along with his psychic abilities. As Magmar leapt away Forretress re-emerged from nowhere and smashed into Magmar; my Pokemon flew back towards Slowbro, who leapt up and swung his shell around, the spiky, rough shell cutting into Magmar and throwing him to the ground.

“Keep going!” I urged my Pokemon. “Come on…”

“Use another water gun,” MLG said firmly. Slowbro blasted the foamy blast into Magmar, who turned irritably and leapt to his feet. As he did so, Slowbro lifted Forretress with a psychic attack and used him like a large weapon, sweeping him into Magmar’s face. Magmar, seeing Forretress get close, blasted out a fire blast from his mouth, the ornate symbol of fire crashing into Forretress and setting him alight.

“Athene! Extinguish the fire!” MLG ordered. Slowbro nodded, placing Forretress on the ground and spraying another water attack. As this happened I suddenly saw a gray streak; Weavile leapt up and high into the air, speeding like a bullet using agility to sweep across the platforms like a low-flying bird. Claws glowing an eerie purple, Weavile gave a manic cry as tendrils of this mysterious, ghost-like energy burst into sharp, pointed fingers that expanded from his paws. He raked the shadow claw into Slowbro’s back, dealing excellent damage. Slowbro staggered forward, Weavile leapt back and, crouching down and holding his paws ready, created a small orb of dark energy. He cried out; a pulsating beam burst from the orb and struck Slowbro again; Slowbro turned and saw Weavile looking as bad-ass as he was the day I caught him as a Sneasel.

“Athene! Go for dynamicpunch!” snapped MLG. “Forretress! Use rapid spin and spike cannon combo!”

Forretress leapt into the air, spinning fantastically and spraying a barrage of thick, pointed spikes. Both Weavile and Magmar covered themselves from the attack, watching as the spikes rained down and jousted into them. As this happened Slowbro leapt up over Forretress, paw glowing a bright white and as the energy merged down his fist he swung it into Weavile and smashed him right in the face. Weavile flew back and smashed into a platform, but Slowbro evidently wasn’t done.

“Brine!”

Clapping his paws together the large pink bear soon raised them above his head as a wild foamy mass of water bubbles swept from his mouth. The attack slammed into Weavile and succeeded in bowling him off the edge of the arena. Magmar leapt after Weavile but Weavile fell, instinctively digging his claws into the edge of the column (the ladder was on the other side) and digging in tightly as he fell to the ground below. Slowbro devilishly levitated, sweeping down after his injured foe.

“Magmar,” I said weakly. I saw, on the jumbo-vision, Slowbro pick Weavile up and smash his face with a brick break. Should I concentrate on saving Weavile or try and take out Magmar first? I panicked as the double battle soon split into two separate matches. What should I do?

Chris 2.1

5th August 2007, 03:23 PM

Meanwhile, Pichu was sitting at WAVEX HQ. With her was Hage, a hulking Scottish man with a rugged, auburn beard and messy hair. He was gripping a Pokeball with his thick fingers, muttering. At a computer was Brink, who had brushed off last night’s fire. He was typing away at a computer. Rolph walked into the dark, cold room.

“I delivered the message to Dark Dragonite,” he replied in a very different tone to the one he used when he spoke to Steve.

“What did he say?” Pichu asked.

“He seemed dissatisfied,” replied the youngest member of WAVEX. “He still believes in everything we are doing and wants to offer his full support.”

“You cannot join WAVEX,” Pichu said firmly. “You –”

“…are accepted, I know,” Rolph said.

“Brink get the van ready. We have to do more league coverage in an hour,” Pichu said, yawning. “Rolph, log onto our network. Check where Girafarig is.”

“Yes Thomas,” Rolph said, sitting down in a chair at another computer. From a long, metal corridor, Deatley and Logan walked into the room, down the few mesh steps towards the area were Pichu and the others sat. Deatley also acted as a presenter for the station that Pichu worked for – on the news he went by Declan, his first name. He had an athletic build with a buzz-cut and swimming blue eyes. He was a handsome man in his mid thirties, charming and intellectual, but as he descended down the steps he looked stony-faced and serious. Logan, at his side, was shorter and not as handsome; like most of the men he worked behind-the-scenes on camera work.

“Thomas,” Deatley said. “We have a problem.”

“Colton,” Logan snapped irritably. “Lied.”

“He lied?” Thomas asked wildly.

“He didn’t even get registered for the league,” Logan went on, his sharp teeth prominent. “He didn’t register Thomas!”

“He told us he was in Round 2,” Thomas replied, pacing forward suspiciously.

“Lies!” Logan cried.

“Rolph!” cried Thomas, not staring at the boy. He got up, looking shocked. “You were ordered to watch Colton’s Round One match and tell me how it went.”

“I couldn’t find it!” Rolph protested. “I got lost in Feizhi Outpost. So when Colton told you he got in…I…agreed because I didn’t want you to know.”

Thomas turned wildly and stared at Rolph, who was standing up and pale in the face, but otherwise calm.

“So instead of having Dark Dragonite, two of my men and The Subject…” Thomas replied. “I have Wayne and The Subject. Steve lost to Elec Man so he’s out…and Colton never even fucking registered!”

She gave a roar and banged her fist against the table.

“That’s pathetic!”

“Thomas,” Hage called deeply. “The Subject is ok. Everything thus far has gone smoothly. We may have other problems but everything with The Subject remains untarnished.”

“That’s true,” Thomas said calmly. She turned to Deatley and Logan. “Where is Colton? And how did you learn this?”

“He told us,” Deatley replied quietly, looking somber. “And shot himself.”

“What?”

“He was ashamed, Thomas. Ashamed of deterring the Cause.”

“That was cowardly,” Brink said flatly. “He killed himself because he knew someone else would kill him if he was caught.”

“Where is the body?” Thomas replied to Deatley.

“We left it alone, because for all we know it didn’t happen,” Deatley went on. “Thomas we need to keep our hands away from Colton. Someone will find him and we needn’t be involved with hiding any dead bodies.”

“One is enough,” Hage said, and although it was a light-hearted comment, he seemed to take it very seriously. Thomas gave a nod.

“Hage, go next door,” she asked. Hage nodded, grabbed a jacket and headed up the small steps and out the room. “Rolph, what’s the status on the satellite.”

“They’re entering the Old Village,” Rolph said, eyes fixed on the screen. “They’re close, Thomas.”

“Right,” Pichu said firmly. She picked up a phone. “I’m not going to be able to do the next league report. Deatley, you have to do it for me.”

“Right,” Deatley replied, giving a clean smile as he turned to leave. Brink got up and headed off to collect equipment. The two made their way out the room.

“Hold on,” Thomas said, eyeing the screen Rolph was at. “You need to both do something for me before you head off to do the report. I’ll have to contact Isabel, too,” she added, evidently not happy about this. She dialed a number in her phone and pressed it to her ear.

In his office, Grey picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Grey it’s Thomas,” she said. “How are you?”

“Fine.”

“I might remind you that Aragornbird, Girafarig and Crystal Tears are getting nearer and nearer,” Thomas continued. “And the time to do the right thing is quickly running out.”

“I have made my decision,” Grey replied simply. “You do not scare me.”

“Very well,” Thomas replied lazily. She hung up and put the phone back down for a moment, giving a soft laugh. “WAVEX, get ready.

“We have guests.”

*

“WEAVILE!” I screamed, making my decision. “Faint attack!”

I was on the edge of the arena, watching my Pokemon snake between some of the columns and get away from Slowbro. The big psychic Pokemon did the psychic-shell-sit again, and span along on his whirling shell as he chased my Pokemon.

My decision was to take out Slowbro; if Magmar took out Forretress now, Slowbro could finish off Weavile. That would leave me with Magmar VS Slowbro and I couldn’t win that. Weavile dashed off and as Slowbro followed, my dark Pokemon turned suddenly and slashed away at the Pokemon’s face. Weavile leapt onto the ladder and clambered up to the top of the arena, where Magmar was leaping away from spike cannons and pin missiles.

“Slowbro! Fire a thunderbolt at the ladder Weavile is climbing!” MLG cried from his end of the arena. My eyes widened as Slowbro blasted the electric attack. Weavile saw this and leapt up, using an agility in mid-air to sweep up and clutch onto the edge of the arena desperately, his big, curved claws scraping for survival. Magmar helped Weavile up, and the two shared a platform as Forretress blasted a sludge bomb through the air.

Magmar was struck, staggering back and pulling off a hasty leap back to the platform behind him.

“Flamethrower at Forretress!”

A blast was issued and Forretress was struck. I could see it was looking weak. As I looked, Slowbro bolted up from the chasm like a rocket, skull embedded in psychic energy. In mid-air, almost like a compass point, Slowbro span around so that his skull was pointing down, conch tail pointing behind; the beast swept through the air like a bullet and went for Weavile.

“That’s Zen Headbutt,” I murmured, noticing the attack description on the jumbo screen. A psychic headbutt. I assumed the psychic prowess was what was propelling Slowbro.

“Magmar, get in the way! Protect Weavile. Weavile get ready to fire off a dark pulse,” I cried. Magmar leapt over Weavile and spread his arms out, Weavile dashing behind and charging up a dark orb of pulsating energy, beating at a steady pace. Slowbro smashed into Magmar and he was thrust backwards, slamming into the ground as Weavile blasted the pulsating beam through the air. It smashed into Slowbro and he moaned in pain.

“Magmar-booster,” I ordered. Slowbro gripped Forretress with a psychic attack and thew him up into the air, where he span rapidly and blasted a barrage of sharp pins down on Weavile and Magmar. Facing down, Magmar blasted a flamethrower and propelled himself through the air; as he swept up he swung his tail around and smashed into Forretress, sending him crashing into Slowbro.

The match was winding down. I knew we could win it…Weavile was weakening but Magmar was still going strong. Slowbro and Forretress seemed to both be at similar, waning levels of health. However as I devised a plan, MLG acted.

“Detonation!”

“Detonation?” I muttered. Forretress began to glow a bright white, steam filing out from his cannons. Slowbro picked his ally up with a psychic attack and hurled him towards Weavile and Magmar; Forretress got brighter and brighter and I realised what was happening only when it was far too late…

Magmar and Weavile stood there as the Pokemon exploded, sending blast upon blast of destructive power all around them; both were flung to the ground as the arena became swathed in smoke. I heard crumbling and assumed at least one or two platforms were destroyed.

I heard the announcer ramble on about smoke and I watched it clear; it didn’t take as long as it does in movies. I slowly saw the smoke fade, and Forretress, charred and shell-like, lay motionless. Weavile and Magmar were both covered in dust and rubble, both evidently done for.

“Magmar!” I cried. “Weavile!”

Magmar ignored my call, lying there as his slow breathing indicated he was no longer able to fight the battle. Weavile, however, slowly crawled up and staggered, looking around.

“Please can you both return your fallen Pokemon,” rasped the upper-class referee. I recalled Magmar and MLG recalled his Forretress. My stronger Pokemon had fallen…Weavile was weak. Could Slowbro be taken down?

“Weavile, use a shadow claw,” I replied quickly. Weacile nodded, running through the air and holding his claws out. They sparkled and brimmed as long tendrils of ghostly energy formed into spindly fingers and awaited their prey. Leaping from platform to platform, Slowbro just stood there dazedly, looking as pristine and bruise-free as if he had just been sent out his Pokeball.

Weavile raked his claws into Slowbro’s stomach, causing the pink pokemon to cry in pain, before swiping a fist into my Weavile’s stomach. Falling back, Weavile landed on a platform which was on the border of the arena.

It was then that my attention was diverted to something peculiar. Among the pit of the arena was a pink creature, sitting quietly with his eyes closed. It was a Slowbro, in very bad condition, with cuts and welts all over his bruised body. I looked back up at the fresh-looking Slowbro standing before me and began to wonder…

MeLovesGhost must have ordered his Slowbro to create a Substitute during the explosion before hiding at the bottom of the arena to recover his health. MLG looked at me; evidently he felt he had caught me out with his trick.

“Weavile! Down below! Use Night Slash now!” I cried, pointing. Weavile saw this and nodded, leaping up and speeding down towards Slowbro with an agility. Like sonic the hedgehog he raced down the vertical plane of the column edge, speed engulfing him as his claws crackled. He dashed along the floor, where Slowbro looked up to see Weavile nearing. He cried out in alarm (I could see from Jumbo Vision) and BANG, Weavile raked his claws across Slowbro’s face, before flicking his claws up and summoning another shadow claw. The fingers tore across Slowbro’s torso, and he moaned in pain as he tumbled over. Weavile leapt back, charging up a Dark Pulse and, landing, blasted the pulsating beam forward, which slammed into Slowbro and drove him into the wall of the arena, where he smashed the surface and toppled over.

As this happened, the substitute Slowbro flickered and began to fade away as the crowd let out a loud cheer. I threw my hands up high and gave a cry as Weavile celebrated down below. The match was over…

“And the winner is Chris 2.0!” cried the announcer. “Chris goes on to Round Three!”

*

Meanwhile, far away in the Old Village, Liang was holding Girafarig’s VS Seeker and was tracking the signal they picked up. They walked on through past old shops with boarded up windows, a ‘breeding center’ whose smashed, broken shop window allowed a group of Raticate and a swarm of baby Rattata to take up shelter, and a number of other disused places.

“I can’t see anything like an HQ,” Liang mused. “But we’re not far into the village. WAVEX will want to be in the epicenter of this place.”

“Yea,” Girafarig replied, feeling slightly emasculated by an older, more mature boy who also had more arm hair than him. Girafarig kept his sleeves rolled down as the three pressed on. “Epic-center…”

“So why can’t we release our Pokemon?” Crystal asked.

“If we do, we give ourselves away,” Liang replied. “Everyone just keep an eye out for anything suspicious. As soon as you see people, release your Pokemon.”

They turned a corner and found an old building standing before them. It was a prison. Edging forward, they walked to the crooked door and Liang checked the VS Seeker.

“This is it. Dead on.”

“This is where they’re hiding?” Crystal asked quietly, as they peered inside. The lobby area was desolate; newspapers scattered the area and the barred screen separating the lobby from the cells was torn apart.

“Move quietly,” Liang whispered. They walked around inside, seeing a door on the other side of the room. Leading the way, Liang walked towards it, both Girafarig and Crystal peering around in case Thomas suddenly leapt out at them. Liang’s fingers slowly ensnared the door handle and with a jerk he pulled it open. They were looking inside a large, open room, spacious and wide, with a table in the center on top of which sat a computer.

Not saying a word, they approached the computer. On the way in they had discussed what to do if nobody was here; after all, there were battles today and WAVEX were more than likely away. If that were the case, Liang wanted to take any information he could, and naturally seizing the hard drive full of WAVEX information would be ideal.

“This is it,” he said, approaching the computer. The log-in user’s name was displayed; Brink. It had a variety of files; Liang saw ‘Round 2 plan’ and ‘Volletta Kane Transcripts’. Why was that name familiar to him? As he stooped over the computer, however, there was a loud bang.

The door burst open and men flooded inside; Pokemon were released and a vine whip swept out and smacked into Girafarig. He staggered back instantly and collapsed. Liang and Crystal looked around as they saw an Ivysaur, Muk, Kingler and other Pokemon at their trainer’s side. Brink, Rolph, Deatley and Logan were among the men that attacked, releasing Pokemon and subduing the three.

“What’s going on? Liang asked wildly. “Dragonite…!”

But he was stopped. A thick, gaseous pollen filled the air and as he inhaled, his eyelids drooped; he felt Crystal’s breath as she collapsed before him, thumping to the ground. He wanted to fight it…wanted to attack the black-clad men around him…but his body was so tired, so exhausted….and all he knew was falling.

*

It was with some trepidation that Grey packed everything up that night, ready to go home and get some sleep. He half expected, after his rebuttal of Thomas and WAVEX that the renegade group would do something reckless and appear in person, perhaps blow up a Tower or go on a mass killing spree. He was closing down a report he was writing when his phone rang and, with a pang of regret, Grey thought he knew who it was.

“Hello,” he said firmly.

“Good evening,” Thomas replied softly.

“What do you want,” he snapped. “Are you punishing me for failing?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Thomas replied, and Grey heard clicking in the background, as if Thomas was at a computer. “Look at your computer.”

“Why?” Grey asked, sitting down and staring at his desktop. “There’s nothing that –”

In a brief flash a video feed appeared on the screen; his eyes widened and Grey suddenly saw Crystal Tears, Liang and Girafarig, tied up and gagged, each on a chair and sobbing quietly. Thomas stood behind them, a phone to her ear, as Brink, Hage and Logan stood around them, knives ready.

“I was disappointed when you refused to cooperate today,” Thomas explained. “Because we staged the entire thing, Grey. It was a test to see just how well you’d collapse and help us out.”

“A test?”

“Our HQ is not at The Old Village,” Thomas replied. “Brink sent Girafarig’s message through a remote transceiver; the message went through the transceiver in the old village from us before reaching Girafarig’s VS console. So when anyone checked it, it would appear that the message was sent from The Old Village. We planned an ambush outside once they entered.”

“So I failed the loyalty test,” Grey snarled.

“Now listen to me carefully, Grey. I may have given you a perfectly good, 14-second long reason for you to work for us last night, but it seems I need to fight for your cooperation. Perhaps you think I don’t have the tape? Perhaps you wonder if I actually have an associate on the Board? (How else, I ask you, would I have obtained the tape? I digress.) Nevertheless despite the threat hanging over your head you persevered and defied me.

“Now you have three more reasons to listen to me and give me your time and presence. If you disregard an order or request of mine again, I will slit the throat of one of these people.”

Crystal squirmed as tears leaked down her face; Brink wrestled her into her seat and pulled her hair menacingly. Girafarig took deep breaths, trying to be calm. Liang was unconscious.

“I will do what I need to for your cooperation,” Thomas continued. “And I will kill these people if you try to ignore me. Can you live with that?”

Grey said nothing, the phone pressed against his ear as he shook in fear. Thomas clicked her fingers and Hage took a knife and held it close to Girafarig’s neck; he tensed and screwed his eyes shut as the blade snuggled deeper into his flesh; a tear of blood wept from where the knife was pressed.

“Ok!” Grey gasped. “Thomas, please, don’t hurt them. Please leave them alone.”

“Stay back,” Thomas said firmly. “Rolph cut the feed.”

The video link disappeared completely, leaving Grey staring at his background again. Missing the video, he quickly panicked.

“No!”

“They’re fine,” came the voice of Thomas in his ear. For a moment Grey was shocked; he felt like he had been there, watching them…not seeing their pictures worried him. “Now put your ear-piece back in so we can talk more openly and I will contact you in an hour. We need to discuss which members I want battling each other in Round Three.”

Next: Chapter 47 – Hanada Tattsu VS Luna Fuerte
One of Thomas’s captors manages to escape WAVEX HQ, but can they spread word to the other villagers and rally an opposing force? Amy arrives at the Board and ready to work, but her discovery of the plot to shut down 04621 stirs up rebellion within her. OzAndrew faces WAVEX’s last soldier, Wayne, but the C.O.R.R.U.P.T faces a coup d'état when Blademaster is left in charge. Hanada and Luna face off in Round Two – who will win? Becca, TBA and The Green Lanturn also have their Round 2 matches as Grey, working for Thomas, accidentally learns who The Subject really is.

A big plot-based chapter in Chapter 47! We'll find out who the Subject is, we'll see some more frantic R2 matches and we're going to see a surprising .... *shuts up* even giving a mere clue could ruin everything!

Let me just say.......KEEP READING!

Also let me know what you think!

MeLoVeGhOsTs

5th August 2007, 04:37 PM

Good chapters, I forgot to reply to the previous one.

I'm interested in Grey and Wavex relationship. The league is proceeding nicely, I'm interested. The funny thing is, in our MLG vs. Chris match, I won ;)

Keep writing, I'll keep reading.

Ultimate Charizard

5th August 2007, 04:55 PM

Dude seriously. Did you start drinking halfway through or were you posessed by the spirit of charles?
"Afraid she wanted to steal your fingers?"

Either i missed something or its sleep deprivation.

Other than that awesome. The plot thickens as they say. Guess the Girafarig being the Subject idea has been blown out of the water.
Although u plan on revealing the identity next chapter anyway ill try and figure it out as i read it. Though im guessing it now wont be whoever Elec is drawn against.
To be honest with the way the Rpg has gone its either gona be one of the REALLY big ones (like Chris himself) or one of the obscure fringe chars like TBA or Andrew. I forget who else is left.

Sike Saner

6th August 2007, 03:14 AM

Damn, that WAVEX… it doesn’t matter if one’s in a hospital bed; if they expect one to fight, then one will fight. Yikes, I would not want to be with WAVEX (well, for that and other reasons XD), that’s for sure… o_o; Poor Dark Dragonite.

Loved the Chris vs. MeLoveGhosts battle, particularly because it kept me guessing. Throughout the battle, each of the two competitors had moments where it seemed that he would win, only to have the tide turn the next minute. Battles like those are very fun to read. ^^

And there was another chapter containing one of my favorite Pokémon; Magmar, in this case. ^^

Comedic Highlights

Cocoa Sting seemed nice in the end…after the tyranny and bitchiness.

XD

“Take care,” Grey said solemnly. Amy nodded and gave a final wave before releasing a little Baltoy and Ralts. Together they teleported Amy’s suitcase to hr car outside, but after a slight blunder the suitcases burst open and a multitude of clothes, possessions and items all soared into the air.

“No!” Amy yelped, opening the window as she stared out. “Beutifly! Dustox! Go help!”

She hurled two Pokeballs from the window, and her two insect Pokemon fired off silky string to snag any items that flew away. Beautifly then used a whirlwind to blast the array of possessions down to the ground, where Baltoy and Ralts used their psychic attacks to gently pull the objects back into the case.

“Oh dear,” Amy mumbled. “Well I’d better go…bye guys!”

“Take care Amy,” TBA replied. Everybody cried farewell as Amy raced down the stairs to repack her suitcase. The group watched at the window as Amy looked around, clearly humiliated as people walked past and saw her stash her knickers away.

I love comedic psychic mishaps. :D The bolded part respresents an especially funny consequence of this particular psychic mishap. XD

“This is why I keep my social circle small,” Girafarig went on. “No emotional attachments.”

“Your social circle is small because you smell funky,” Crystal rasped, turning to Liang.

“You smell” comments always crack me up. XD

“We know you’ve got a match, but we were hoping you might have built an army by now,” Crystal mused.

“No,” Liang said earnestly. “I haven’t.”

“Damnit!” Crystal said. “Gira I owe you an ice cream.”

“Damn right,” he said.

Hee hee, bets where ice cream is at stake are awesome. And winning such bets is even more awesome. :D

“Oh that guy,” River replied. “You know when my sister was a con artist –”

“Crystal Tears used to be a con artist?” TBA said wildly. River frowned and poked him in the eye. “Ow!”

“Don’t interrupt,” River snarled, sounding like her sister.

Punishing someone for doing something rude in a way that’s even more rude—I like her kind of manners. XD

Anyway that Clown guy trashed Crystal’s stall and threw a mushy banana on her conwoman suit! AND THEN he smeared the banana in, applying medium to heavy pressure! It was ruined!

*gasp* A mushy banana? Medium to heavy pressure?! Good heavens! XD

“Excuse-moi,” came a stringy, emphatic voice. “Could you not shriek so loud?”

The elongated London accent belonged to a beaky woman behind River, who had a very curved nose, very plain looking hair and, upon further inspection, looked about 8 months pregnant.

“I am with child,” she rasped, her hand smoothly gliding over her belly so fast she might have been buffing it. “If you shriek too loud you’ll addle her brain and she’ll become a suicidal.”

…Wtf? XD

‘Come to Veracity by Stan for all your Boating needs! Now with Customer Service!’

“Now with Customer Service!”—I love that. XD

“That was brilliant!” Charles Legend cried from the stands. During the match he had changed his t-shirts, scribbling out ‘Chris 2.0’ to read ‘Elec Man EXE’. It looked poor quality and very roughly done. His Pokemon, including Magby, Mucnhlax and Charmeleon were all wearing the cheap t-shirts.

Lol at the cheap shirts… XD

“You tell us now,” Crystal told him. “I’m sorry, but I’m not falling into any trap. Tell us why we need to come with you.”

“Because I can…” Liang began, taking a deep breath. “Ok. You told me last night that only two members of WAVEX – Wayne and Colton – are entering the league. That means they are the only two registered members in the village. They are the only two who have VS Seekers. Everyone else in WAVEX won’t communicate with VS Seekers since they aren’t members of the league, therefore they’ll use computers to send VS Seeker messages. When I was opposing Ecks, he sent my messages on a computer that had the VS Seeker program installed, so he could send messages from a computer under the illusion that they came from another VS Seeker.”

“Geek,” breathed Crystal.

“I’ll look at the encryption on this message and find out the coordinates of the console that sent it,” Liang replied. “And we can figure out where WAVEX HQ is.”

There was no response.

“So what do you say?”

“Geek,” Girafarig replied glumly.

“You know, after the league’s first year, Karin, who was in charge back then, decided that it would be a good idea to get a map of the entire area we owned,” Liang recalled. “So the security Pokemon; Alakazam working in the towers and Metagross and Metang patrolling the Archives, all set out and used their psychics to map out the landscape for us, translating it onto graphs and charts. That’s how we first discovered places like Ivy Woods and Crush Quarry. They made a digital grid of the league and every year we update it. So I’ve hooked up the VS Seeker and it’s now showing us where the message came from.”

“Geek,” Crystal sighed. Girafarig gave a heavy sigh, half-heartedly holding his hand up for a half-hearted high five. Crystal returned it slowly. The two seemed utterly perplexed.

I liked how she kept calling him “geek”. XD

“My name’s Jenny,” she replied.

“ARGH!” I screamed, leaping into a corner.

“What?” the girl asked cautiously.

“Scary coincidence,” I said warily, wondering if she was a robot.

“What…is your name Jenny, too?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Funny stuff, especially Jenny’s last line there. XD

I saw the screen (which had a slow-motion clip of Electabuzz VS Combusken) change to show me and MLG – I was blue while he was red. We had two Pokeballs under our picture (and my picture was awful. I sneezed when they took it), both lit up.

I sympathize; Lord knows I’ve had my share of bad pictures. Still, the image of Chris’s bad picture is pretty frelling funny. XD

“This will be a doubles match,” came a voice. I looked to see a rather pompous and scary referee standing there. He had a little French moustache and a very sharp nose. “Between…Chris 2.0 and MeLoveGhosts,” he cleared his throat and added to himself “Tsch...such terrible grammar. I love ghosts. Calm down Theodore…we didn’t all come from such prestigious backgrounds.”

“Commencement Beginulate!” cried the referee. I turned to look at him, confused. “…begin.”

Lol… I love how he criticizes MeLoveGhosts’s name but then later goes and says something that isn’t even a word. XP “Beginulate”—wtf? XD

Battle Highlights

“Seadra blast Mawile out of the way! Water gun!” Dark Dragonite cried. He gave a large cough, watching Seadra leap up out of the water, only for Huntail to sink his teeth into his Pokemon and wrap his tail around the Pokemon’s body. However, Huntail gave a cry as his flesh sank into one of Seadra’s poisonous spikes.

Actually getting to read Poison Point in action was cool. :)

Noctowl sighed, nursing himself on a marble platform as, feathers ruffled, blood dripped into the pool, siphoning away and blending in amongst the darker water. He held his wings open as he flapped hard, blasting a silvery sheet of wind against Elec Man’s side of the arena. The shadow ball burst in a fantastic show of swirling shadow and darkness; the ice beam simply dissolved under the slight heat as Noctowl, dizzied, staggered on his platform.

Perhaps I’ve mentioned this before, but I LOVE it when Shadow Ball is used in fiction because that move lends itself very well to cool descriptions. ^^

“Seadra dive underwater, and use agility,” he said firmly. His Seadra dropped below the water level and began a sharp burst of speed; however, a mere second into sweeping around underwater, Seadra gave a sharp gasp and slowed right down as Huntail zoomed ahead with sudden speed and slammed into Seadra.

“What the hell!?” Dark Dragonite gasped, before realizing. “Of course, Huntail used snatch to steal Seadra’s agility.”

Snatch is a move I rarely get to read about, so it was cool to see it used there. That was a pretty clever usage of it, too. :)

Mawile turned and fired off the solarbeam, sending the sweeping, glowing beam of radiant solar energy right into the seahorse Pokemon, who flew left of the arena and was ploughed fiercely into the side of the stands.

Cool description of Solarbeam there. ^^

Rhydon nodded, slamming his feet into the ground and sending a furious tremor through the earth. Blastoise staggered back as Snorlax grinned, apparently finding the feeling quite pleasurable through his thick skin. Rhydon charged, tucking his head in slightly and driving his horn into Blastoise’s chest; Blastoise, however, had a durable shell and gave a hearty smirk. Rhydon drove the horn in deeper, twisting it slightly and causing the shell to crack. Blastoise, seeing this, swung a fist and slammed a dynamicpunch into Rhydon’s skull.

I just really like the way that part ends, with Blastoise punching Rhydon right in the head. POW! :D

I turned to the large screen which showed a close up of Weavile from the chasm floor; I could now see every column had a long steel ladder leading down to the bottom of the large gap; upon falling Weavile had grabbed onto a ladder with a thick claw and was muttering to himself. Was he planning something? Words similar to subtitles popped up on the screen:

‘Nasty Plot – Raises Special Attack’

I like that depiction of Nasty Plot. ^^

It was then that my attention was diverted to something peculiar. Among the pit of the arena was a pink creature, sitting quietly with his eyes closed. It was a Slowbro, in very bad condition, with cuts and welts all over his bruised body. I looked back up at the fresh-looking Slowbro standing before me and began to wonder…

MeLovesGhost must have ordered his Slowbro to create a Substitute during the explosion before hiding at the bottom of the arena to recover his health. MLG looked at me; evidently he felt he had caught me out with his trick.

Substitute’s another move I rarely see in fiction. Very cool to see it used there. :)

Dramatic Highlights

Thomas turned wildly and stared at Rolph, who was standing up and pale in the face, but otherwise calm.

“So instead of having Dark Dragonite, two of my men and The Subject…” Thomas replied. “I have Wayne and The Subject. Steve lost to Elec Man so he’s out…and Colton never even fucking registered!”

She gave a roar and banged her fist against the table.

“That’s pathetic!”

DAMN. O_O Her displeasure makes for some powerful reading material.

“That’s true,” Thomas said calmly. She turned to Deatley and Logan. “Where is Colton? And how did you learn this?”

“He told us,” Deatley replied quietly, looking somber. “And shot himself.”

Wow… o.o

Grey said nothing, the phone pressed against his ear as he shook in fear. Thomas clicked her fingers and Hage took a knife and held it close to Girafarig’s neck; he tensed and screwed his eyes shut as the blade snuggled deeper into his flesh; a tear of blood wept from where the knife was pressed.

Very nice choice of words. ^^

Other Highlights

Smeargle used his tail to draw a rope, which glowed brightly before becoming real. Smeargle tied the rope around his collar and handed the other end to Fred.

“Thanks Snoopy!” UuberFred said jubilantly.

I like the idea of Smeargle being able to literally draw things into existence. ^^ I also like that UuberFred opted to call that Smeargle “Snoopy”. :D

Boss work as usual. :) And oh snap… next chapter, we find out who “The Subject” is. o.o Man, I still have no clue who it’ll turn out to be. I look very much forward to finding out who it is…

Greyfox

6th August 2007, 03:35 AM

Damn... Sike got everything I was gonna talk about and put it into a nicely-knit package. Though there is one thing in his conglomeration of comments that I have a qualm with--

Lol… I love how he criticizes MeLoveGhosts’s name but then later goes and says something that isn’t even a word. XP “Beginulate”—wtf? XD

"Commencement Beginulate", from my recent Google search of the word "beginulate", is a reference from The Simpsons; Prof. Frink said it in one of the episodes, and he's no stranger to making up words that sound smart and sophisticated.

But I digress - it was another great chapter, 2.0, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next.

-Grey

Chris 2.1

8th August 2007, 08:02 PM

MLG: You won Hoothoot VS Pichu but I won Lickitung vs Slowbro :p hope you didn't mind being cannon fodder! MLG is still around even though he loses. So don't worry! Hmm Grey and Wavex.....what would you do in his position?

UC: Sleep Deprivation. You missed nothing :D

Yea it was a great theory on Gira. WAVEX are keeping him alive for a reason...well, they're probably going to change their minds now. You'll understand it all next chapter.

Yea I think you'll be surprised when you learn who it is; the hints last chapter (or Crystal's speculation) were that strong foes were a threat. Does this indicate that a weak character is The Subject? Perhaps, but the subject is more than capable as a Pokemon Trainer.

Sike: Indeed, Isabel is a powerful adversary to WAVEX. But who is she, exactly? How did she meet Thomas, and why does she work for Thomas and not WAVEX? Why I could make a TPML Extra on her alone! :p But seriously you'll meet her more over the next couple of chapters.

Glad you enjoyed it! I don't like simply pairing main characters with others and painting a target on them; MLG is a good trainer, both in ASB and the Fic. I had to do his character justice!

As for Amy; she IS leaving the village but we will see her own story on the Board; the nice thing is she hasn't technically left and she has stuff going on. So why not make it lighthearted? Hehe

The pregnant lady! Well she's a sort of mildly recurring role. You'll learn about her roots and why she's here but basically she is heavily pregnant and wants everyone to know! Her name is Mrs BrandonBauer-Berg.

Hehe the geek thing was like, my way of adding Liang into the dynamic. Crystal and Girafarig have a great character relationship and adding Liang I needed to make sure it would work. Liang's kinda the geeky older brother and his role has made Gira a bit more lighthearted (although emasculated slightly).

Yea Theodore. I've got a bit of character background for him. The refs will all have small stories like the big butch woman and the camp man. You'll learn all about them!

Glad you're liking the drama! Next chapter we learn about THE SUBJECT! Who is it? Well in the first draft of the story LIANG found out who it was, but that was changed since Liang finds something pretty damn twisty next chapter...

Also a tidbit of information: in the first draft Girafarig didn't get kidnapped, just Liang and Crystal. I soon changed it to just Gira and Crys since Liang's gone through hell. In that draft he escaped from WAVEX, THEN I changed it to Liang being left by WAVEX since he was dying anyway (which they seem to be aware of), and at the last minute I changed it AGAIN to all 3 being kidnapped :p

Oh and next chapter also features.....something....AWESOME!

I haven't written much of next chapter but it's well underway. I've done a rough sketch of TPML in black and white and have already omitted several key places -_-;;

So I'm marking them on, places like Oz's C.O.R.R.U.P.T and Chris's Flat and the STADIUMS. Man I suck. But the entire place, all sketched out looks.....cool!

After realizing how few chapters left we have (6 ish?!) I am feeling sad! I also warn you that Liang isn't the only main character who will perish. I have already had plans that one additional character would die, but now thoughts of a second additional (and therefore third) character to 'kick it' have begun materialising.

So watch out :p

It's still not concrete; two will definitely perish (including Liang). The third, though....hmm.

Luckily most the future of the fic is planned out though! How sad!

Andrew

9th August 2007, 03:49 AM

Hehe to Amy's goodbye. I'm surprised there wasn't a big meeting to see her off.

Also, Uuberfred trying to drown himself? Is the poor boy suicidal?

STill, I loved the preggers lady, and the medium to heavy pressure!

I really did enjoy reading about Mawille. It's a rad Pokemon. I also doubt Charles would stop supporting Chris too!

With Chris' battle, pretty darn good. Weaville still looks retarded and flamboyant with it's headdress. But, Slowbro is scary now. Will Electabuzz/Magmar evolve?

Still, I'm really looking forward to next episode!

Chris 2.1

10th August 2007, 02:39 PM

Andrew: Isabel probably misunderstood; Uuber probably wanted to try and look underwater and thus shoved his head under face-down. The pregnant lady will be around for a few chapters. I quite like her.

Yea I was looking at Elec Man's team; Chris has an electabuzz so I didn't want to use that; his Glalie and Breloom have been seen quite often and so I chose Huntail and Mawile. I was going to use his Corphish. I think I'll write that one in soon, I like it :D

Charles decides Elec Man is like, super-cool, and sort of abandons the 2.0 camp for a while. It's humerous :p I'm glad you liked the match; doubles are really cool to write and there's a lot of frantic stuff. I'm working on some of Chapter 47's matches, too.

As for Elec and Mag....will they evolve? Hmm I'm not entirely sure. At their current stages the two are very mobile AND powerful. I might evolve one....hmmm....

Lune the Guardian

15th August 2007, 08:15 AM

Hahaha, this whole WAVEX thing is hilarious. I knew the real Pichu from ASB, a complete idiot that kept changing gender, whatever. I like to refer to Pichu as DRWS's personal variation of he/she/it, or rather s/h/it. Accused me of plotting to destroy ASB with some sort of terrorism when I quit. Heh.

The real Pichu wouldn't have the brains to organize attack orders on a regular pokemon battle. Which is why this one amuses me so much. I'd like to see what this fictional Pichu is up to, it's quite funny. Especially when she gets mad at things not going according to plan. WAVEX is creepy, seems like a cult.

I'll keep reading.

Chris 2.1

15th August 2007, 07:46 PM

Karin: Artistic license at its best. Although it would be nice if you didn't just reply to the fic slating members of ASB.

TPML Extra #5 - Tidbits [2]

The Geography Extra will be at a later date. Just so you know.

Liang - One of the first things that made me even consider an ASB fic was the diversity of the ASB teams; Hanada Tattsu had an all-water team, Liang had a dragon/flying team, Pichu had a flying team too and MLG chose underused ones.

Hanada was always going to be in TPM; more on that later - and Liang was also a staple member of the cast from the get-go. We met him in Ch2 briefly, and I'd built him up from there.

Originally Liang was going to be Chris's closest TPML friend, and together they discovered the hidden, elusive Ivy Lake. They made it into a hangout, trained their Pokemon there etc. But when the Monster plotline accelerated, Liang's role was the antagonist, percieved as the bad guy. Even when he was cleared Chris was always doing other things.

So the two have never had their friendship, something Chris noted in Ch44. But they are good friends I think.

Liang is a strong character; he has shown many sides to him through his struggle to overthrow Ecks, his feelings for Amy, his various displays of peril and, of course, his grasp on dying. One thing people have asked is....why does he get into so much trouble? So many near-death expiriences?

It's never been planned, he always ends up there! Because he is one of the core characters Liang has been propelled into danger. I felt his death was to be fitting; dying any old way would just be 'another peril' to Aragornbird so I took a different approach; he knows he is dying, that he will die. How does he respond to that? How does he change? It's a declining state. It is, in my opinion, the best way to send Liang off.

I think he is a heroic character. One of my favourites.

Grey/The Arbiter - Intended to be a comedy character, I envisioned Grey being a bit mad. Loopy. Locked up in his Theatre against his own will. The idea was scrapped and despite him being in his mid-twenties he has been established as a mature, wise man.

He's the sort of mentor in the fic. He taught Razor, he's influenced Chris and he's taken Gregg under his wing. But who taught him? Who did he look up to? I think we'll explore that in future chapters.

One thing to note is that in an early draft Grey was going to die in The War; I knew he was a key character, as was Kyle, and wanted one of the two to die. Kyle was going to have another chapter planned before I made the decision to have him die at the hands of Ecks; it was more of a character development chapter. But in the end I chose Kyle; he had been in the fic long enough for the death to be significant. Gregg's learning of Kyle's death (who, if you recall, helped him train up Trolgar Mountain) at the hands of his father would further deepen the relationship between the two, and that was key.

If Grey had died, surely Kyle would have tutored Gregg instead? I don't think so. Kyle was an independant character, and he helped Gregg train against Chris after seeing what Chris did to Gregg's Pokemon. However, I think Kyle was an independant man and he did express to Chris that he was wrong in jumping to conclusions when he returned to the village. Furthermore he did not have as dark a past as Grey; Grey began helping Gregg so he could steer away from the life Grey had. Kyle was more privelaged in his upbringing and therefore may not have seen the significance Grey did.

Amy Wolfsong - Another staple character. Amy was introduced straight into the Monster arc and we didn't really see what she was like until well into the Ch20's. Her religious aspect is present, but not a defining element of her personality. When the fic begins TPML is small as it has been 'relaunched' and Amy sort of works as Becca's aide. She is not a moderator as they were not introduced yet, but she was an assistant. Her team was small and I didn't give her either Vaporeon or Espeon because of the Eon Sisters; Blaziken was owned by Razor Leaf and Absol by Becca. Her team is Marill, Sandslash, Mightyena, Ralts, Baltoy, Dustox, Beautifly and a few others. Beautifly was a present from Liang, while Dustox a present from Charles. He wanted to catch her an even more beautiful Beautifly but instead a Dustox emerged.

Despite Liang and Amy's flirting before the fic's timeline, and Amy's relationship with Henry, I always envisioned Charles having a schoolboy crush on her and always failing to actually make himself noticed.

I thought about Amy running the league on her own, but felt with Grey she might do a better job. I mean they did an ok job.....but since she's left, it's just Grey.

Amy also was quite close to Karin; she was Amy's 'emergancy' contact. I envisioned a sort of older sister vibe coming from her.

More of these in the future. I've also got a bit on Ecks' family that is trivial but still worth knowing; a WAVEX Extra which will tell you things about the members, Thomas in general....etc (this one may have to wait as I need to decipher which parts of the extra will make it into the fic) the beginning of TPML 04621 and the annotated map of the village.

I'm also excited to announce a future chapter will have an 'Ecks [2]' theme, rather like the chapter where Ecks met all those he had killed. It is similar in that sense but completely different:

"What would have happened if Jenny had gotten into TPML instead of failing her initiation?"

A lot. That question is the stimuli for an entire chapter I am very excited to write! Not sure when it will be, though. Soon.

Charles Legend

16th August 2007, 02:01 PM

I always envisioned Charles having a schoolboy crush on her and always failing to actually make himself noticed.

Interesting Extra Chris and oddly enough I really did have a small chrus on Amy... :sweat2:

*Gets blasted off Team Rocket Style by all of Amy's Pokémon yelling "Foreword the Dragonbreath!" before crashing in to a brick wall...*

~Charles Legend:dead:

Chris 2.1

31st August 2007, 05:58 PM

Chapter Forty-Seven
Round Two (Part 2)
Hanada Tattsu VS Luna Fuerte

The day started, for some, on a terrible note. Grey, who had a difficult sleep involving dreams of a trapped, helpless Crystal, came to the Rules Tower the next day to find a call from Gordon. Thinking of WAVEX, Grey let out a sigh and wondered what could be the problem.

He was to discover, by answering the phone that Gordon had announced that OmastarBucks and Theatre Gris would be completely closed. They were taking up too much money. Grey nodded, feeling slightly ashamed that the theatre he built, magnificent and luxurious as it may appear, was dead inside, unpopular and unperceived by any. It was with a sad note in his voice that Grey agreed, and sent Elec Man, the Head of Business, to close them down.

Gordon explained that, since the League was to close, shutting down businesses now would save time, and told him the contest hall was going to be next. Grey said nothing, absorbed in pure emptiness as he saw the slow deterioration of a league that was almost thriving.

“We are beginning the report,” Gordon explained calmly. “The report that we need to write that accompanies the redundancy procedure. When it is finished, we will send people to officially shut down all league operations.”

“What about the people in the village?” Grey asked. “Will they be evacuated?”

“They will be given one week to collect their belongings and leave,” Gordon replied stiffly.

“Ok.”

Grey sighed. Hanada Tattsu was battling today – something he was keen to see, so he was trying to finish a write-up of the league’s progress during round two. However he knew, in the back of his mind, he had to stay lenient and flexible for WAVEX, in order to be useful and do what was required of him.

After all, lives were at stake.

*

“Here we are folks!” came a cry. “The first match of the day has gone off to a blinding start as The Missing Link and Blademaster vie for a place in Round Three! We’re hosting double battles today on the ice arena, comprised of large spindly ice structures and a long, skatable field!

“Becca is using her Alakazam and Hariyama while Blademaster is using his Piloswine and Lickitung! Becca’s Alakazam is rumored to be the sole leader of the entire Alakazam and Kadabra security force in TPML, and we’ve already seen some of its prowess today! Hariyama, a recent capture, is faring well, using the ice as a form of momentum to give its punches more power!”

“Yoob!” Blademaster yelled to his Lickitung. “Shadow Ball at Alakazam! Mastodoom use take down on Hariyama!”

They nodded and Lickitung instantly charged up the shadow ball, shaping and molding the orb of deep, putrid feeling. It was launched through the air towards Alakazam, but Hariyama used its large hands to block the attack before racing along the air like a hockey player as Piloswine charged.

Piloswine gave a guffaw and leapt; Hariyama held his palm forward with arm thrust and smashed the docile pig. Alakazam, from afar, blasted a psybeam to strike Piloswine, who fell down quickly. Lickitung blasted a water pulse towards a curving ice sculpture; it swept around and smashed into Hariyama, giving Lickitung a chance to leap forward and use Zen Headbutt, forcing Hariyama back into an icy mound.

“Alakazam use teleport, then dynamicpunch on Lickitung,” Becca said crisply, wearing a coat as she battled on the cold arena. There was a small crowd. Alakazam leapt up and disappeared completely. Lickitung, having heard the order, turned and looked for Alakazam, but could not see the foe. As he sighed, Alakazam materialized behind him and swept a rushing, glowing fist into the back of his head.

“Now Hariyama use stealth rock,” commanded Becca. Hariyama threw something from his palm; it was a small stone that split once, twice, again; the small rocks grew and grew into thick columns of rock that slammed down across the arena like pegs. Hariyama gave a smirk as Alakazam blasted a zig-zagging beam of psychic energy that wound up slamming right into Piloswine.

“Ice Beam!” Blademaster cried. The frosty beam of condensed ice swept through the air and again, Hariyama took the blow for Alakazam, who levitated above the stone edge and pulled Lickitung forward with psychic. Lickitung slipped on the ice and smashed into a column, giving a yelp of dissatisfaction.

“Now sweep in with thunderpunch!” Becca shouted.

“Shadow ball!”

The large, bulbous shadow ball swirled up and exploded into Alakazam, blowing him back; he slammed into a stone pillar, letting out a moan but recuperating, wielding his spoons like weapons and blasting a psybeam at Lickitung.

*

Today was the start of my training regime; I knew that Round 3 would be tough after seeing who had already progressed; Liang, Grey and Elec Man were already definitely in, as well as myself. Competition would be tough. Very tough.

I asked The Blue Avenger if the matches were already archived; he told me they were, so I had planned on spending the later half of my day in the Archives, researching a bit on those three and their attack strategies. I knew Elec Man had eventually gotten 6 of the 7 Frontier Brains during their stay, and knew he would be fierce competition. However, he had a small and concentrated team; four or five main players with other, slightly weaker supporters. I thought he seemed easy…until I realized the similarities with my team.

Weavile, Electabuzz, Magmar, Cacturne, Politoed, Lairon, Vibrava. The latter two were the weakest; the two I feared using the most. Generally my team were small but powerful, with Weavile, Electabuzz, Magmar and Cacturne proving their worth in my two League matches thus far.

Still, there were plenty more people to consider facing. Becca, Andrew and TBA had matches today. I also heard Hanada Tattsu and Luna had a match – knowing fine well I could tackle both if I needed to (despite losing to Luna in the contest…she got lucky) – I focused on the stronger foes.

“Weavile is still a bit weak,” the Nurse told me calmly. “Magmar is feeling much better, though.”

“Thanks,” I replied, taking his Pokeball. In the corner of the Pokemon Center I saw Elec Man, chatting rather awkwardly to Charles. I inched over on the pretence of reading a plaque on the wall – said plaque explained how the Center had recent passed an inspection or something.

“….and I decided to name him Elec Kidd,” Charles explained, showing Nate the stubby Elekid standing before him. “You see it’s a pun on Elec Man and it’s also his name anyway.”

“Sorry…who are you?” Elec Man asked wearily, clearly confused.

“Charles L Charles,” explained the 25-year old trainer, wearing his classic lab-coat over a black t-shirt bearing the legend ‘Elec Man is EXE-llent!’ in jazzy, yellow writing.

“Your…second name is also Charles?” Elec Man asked, bewildered.

“Mario’s surname is Mario,” Charles said seriously. “That man taught me a lot…but anyway I digest, back to the topic of my new Elekid.”

“Digress.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Yea so I caught this guy in Crush Quarry incidentally it was the same time I sold Magby to Oz’s Friendly Poke-Place. You know that’s the codename for C.O.R.R.U.P.T his generically evil factory for Pokemon.”

“So basically you’re my #1 fan?” Elec Man said, looking at Charles’ Pinsir, Charmeleon, Mucnhlax and a rather withered, mottled green Sunflora, all wearing the black-and-yellow t-shirts.

“Yes that’s right I think you could win the league!” Charles exclaimed. “He turned melodramatically. “You know after losing against Girafarig and also dropping my sandwich in a surprisingly deep puddle I thought all was lost…but seeing you in your match VS Dark Dragonite made me realize I can leech off your success if you win the league, so basically Elec Man EXE or should I say Michael? No, I shouldn’t since that isn’t your name, its Nathan or Nate for short although you don’t like to be called it…”

“Can we sort of…get to the point?” asked the veteran.

“Can I be your apprentice?” Charles asked.

“Charles you’re….six years older than me,” explained Elec Man. “What do you want me to teach you?”

“Maybe I could have some of your Pokemon,” Charles mused. “I do like Typhlosion…”

“CHRIS!” cried Elec Man jovially, seeing me pretending to examine the wall. “Hey! Hi! Do erm…come over! Yea! Now….?”

“Chris you dieatrolical spy!” rasped Charles. “I KNEW IT!”

“Hey Charles!” I said cheerily.

“Don’t play nice to me!” he snapped furiously.

“Wait what did I do?” I asked Nate.

“Dunno mate, the guy’s a nutter,” he replied calmly.

“Well done yesterday,” I said, clapping him on the back. “I heard you did well.”

“Same with you,” Nate replied. “I didn’t see it, but…”

“I wanted a MENTOR! And what did you do? Take me to a graveyard and get your Mankey killed by an EVIL GHOST! AND I WET MY PANTS THAT DAY…”

“Well hey I was going to check your match out in the Archives,” I said, thinking. “You could come with me, we’ll watch both. Sound good?”

“…It’s not my fault I have Wandering Bladder Syndrome!…”

“Yea! Ok!” Nate said, and with him I headed out of the Center, up BT Street and East towards the base of Trolgar Mountain. Charles continued to rant and get the anger out his system as he stomped around, shaking his head and crying out.

*

Meanwhile, Pichu was at WAVEX HQ. She walked down a cold, thin corridor, her footsteps echoing off the firm, metal floor as she saw Brink standing outside a room. He looked at her blankly.

“Everything ok?”

“Fine.”

“Good,” Pichu said. “I am going to send you and Rolph to visit Grey. I want you to keep an eye on him while he does some work for me.”

“What sort of work?” Brink asked her. Thomas surveyed the man before her.

“I am giving him our desired match-ups for Round Three,” she said softly. “And I don’t trust him one bit.”

“Isn’t that why we took the hostages?” Brink asked her, seemingly missing something.

“They are no good to us if they are all dead,” Pichu answered. “Liang is doomed anyway and Crystal is expendable. Girafarig must stay alive. It is of paramount importance.”

“Agreed,” Brink said firmly.

Within the room he was guarding, Liang awoke, splayed in the corner of the small, square cell. A brick of light shone in from the door and he could hear voices. Wondering where the other two were, he got to his feet and barely had time to register that his jeans were ripped beyond style as he staggered into the wall. Gasping for air, he felt a tight metal band constrict inside his lungs…his breathing was slower and more labored as his eyes widened…what was wrong with him?

Holding a hand out, Liang saw it shaking wildly and brought it back down. He was sweating, sweating heavily…he blinked rapidly and felt a very powerful, heavy pounding inside of him. His stress and anxiety at being kidnapped had seemingly awoke him to the torture his body was going through as he felt uncharacteristically weak.

What was he to do…he was…he was so weak, shaking - his body; the core of his life was ruthlessly cracking and faulting as he failed to even stand up, instead simply melding against the wall and failing to keep his eyes open.

“Jesus Christ,” mouthed Brink, who had peered through the small window into the cell. Liang barely saw the deep eyes from the light of the window. “Thomas. Thomas get back here now.”

Thomas, who was at the end of the corridor, stopped and turned to look at Brink.

“Aragornbird is going crazy,” replied Brink. “He’s…flailing and I…I…”

“Is he dying?” Thomas asked.

“I don’t know, how can you tell if someone is being riddled to death by venom cursing through their veins?” asked Brink wildly, eyes pressed against the glass as Liang suddenly jerked into the corner and sank to his knees. Thomas strode over firmly, and despite her ally being bigger and broader she moved him aside with ease.

“We need to help him,” Brink said firmly. “Give him something to stop his spasms.”

“Those spasms are what will finish him off,” replied Thomas scathingly. “They’re doing what we cannot!”

“What will we do if he dies, Thomas?” Brink asked weakly. Thomas did not look at him; she stared at Liang’s rolling body as he collapsed to the ground, writhing back and forth.

“Burn the body,” she whispered. “I need to go. I’m reporting.”

Thomas stalked away down the corridor, leaving Brink to watch the prisoner flailing around. Was he going to let Liang die? No. He couldn’t. Recalling Thomas’s words months ago, Brink felt lost.

We will not let anybody die. We are not killers.

But they were. Liang was dying and Brink watched him helplessly, thinking. Would he let his daughter die like that? It was impossible, it didn’t bear thinking about…heart racing Brink grabbed his keys and jammed them in the cell door, unlocking it and stepping inside.

“Liang,” he whispered. “Liang I’m here to help you.”

As he stepped forward he felt a sudden, sharp pain in the back of his head. Brink fell to the floor abruptly, gasping as he was knocked out. Standing over him was a woman in a pinstripe suit. She had lank, greasy hair, knotted with what looked like blood and her makeup was dragged across her face with dirt, cuts and bruises. The suit, while masterfully tailored and fitted to the inch was ripped and torn, uglied and tattered. The woman gripped Liang’s hand and helped him up.

“Come,” she said blearily, no beauty in her voice. “We need to leave this nightmarish place.”

*

“My name is Pichu and this is East Coast News!” Thomas said excitedly to the camera, gripping the microphone like a large, delicious lollipop. “Time for a round up of Round Two!

“So far Elec Man EXE has thrashed Dark Dragonite in a match on the Luxury Water arena. Elec Man told us earlier that he was ‘thrilled’ to be in Round 3 and looked forward to the next stages of the league. Elec Man was sorely missed last year, as he did not compete or register. However he is back this year and is doing a fantastic job!

“Chris 2.0 has also commenced into Round Two. Beating MeLoveGhosts on the platform arena yesterday, he used his recently evolved Weavile and Magmar against Slowbro and Forretress. Great work, Chris! Chris was unavailable for comment, and his ten-day absence before the beginning of the league is fuelling speculation he might not be winning on pure talent! Tune in to Conspiracy in the League, an hour-long show tonight with a very special guest – Dr Drummond Bones, a psychology expert who will be deducting just who could be getting assistance in the league!

“The Arbiter and Aragornbird also commenced to Round Three; Dark Sage, who lost out to Liang in a frantic double battle on the Grass Arena exclusively revealed to East Coast News the battle was a blessing, win or no:

‘It was a fantastic match. I mean….Aragornbird? He’s one of the high-profile trainers in this competition and his team is fantastic. My Ludicolo and Shiftry did a great job against Liang’s dragons and it was such a great experience. Winning did not matter.’

“Meanwhile Girafarig, who lost out to Grey, has been unable for comment, although my sources suggest he has stormed off after his humiliating defeat. Come on Girafarig, take a leaf out Dark Sage’s book! Haha! Today we have two people already through to Round Three; The Missing Link, another one of the high-profile trainers, beat Blademaster narrowly in her doubles match on the ice arena. Becca’s strength was hindered by the arena, but she managed to defeat her foes Lickitung and Piloswine! The other match, which was The Blue Avenger against The Green Vindicator, was a real clash of the colours as respective fans cheered Blue or Green! The Blue Avenger won fantastically! Here’s Chris Watarimono with a blow-by-blow account!

‘Pichu what a match!,’ Chris called excitedly. ‘This is Chris Watarimono giving a special report for East Coast News! It looked to be over for The Blue Avenger when his Vespiquen fell gallantly to Ursaring and Grumpigs double assault, but Jeff’s Gengar managed to not only defend against two Pokemon, but proceeded to defeat them and earn TBA a place in Round 3! TBA did not want to interview, but strongly urged everyone to buy a very odd hat! Chris out!’

“Turn over to East Coast Direct in an hour, where you’ll see live coverage from OzAndrew VS Mr Vaxew, which will feature interviews with both contestants beforehand! Tune in now for coverage of Round 1 matches!”

“Nice work,” Deatley said smoothly, wearing his smartest black suit and a crisp white shirt. He walked over as the report ended.

“Chris Watarimono is the local DJ,” Thomas explained. “He’s talented, friendly…naïve. He’s going to be helping us out with something in the next couple of days.”

“I see,” Deatley replied. “Have you sent anyone to go and see Grey?”

“No,” Thomas replied. “I’m going to wait until tomorrow. He can’t effectively sort the matches out until we know who else gets into Round Two.”

Chris 2.1

31st August 2007, 06:00 PM

Liang stared at the woman before him. There was an aura of absolute ice around her…she seemed so cold, with blue lips and a chilled face. Her breath; mist. Liang’s eyes flickered as he staggered into the wall again.

“W-What is going on?” Liang gasped, clutching his chest.

“Heart attack.”

Liang looked at her; she barely had the capacity to speak. Without another word she turned to the door and walked, revealing a huge, gaping hole in the back of her head. Blood was glazed over the cracked fragments of her skull as hair and shards of ice lay matted within.

“Your head!”

“I feel nothing.”

“W-What is your name?” Liang asked suddenly, feeling a rushing relief in his body. “How did you get here?”

“My name is Lady,” she said, her brittle hand clutching the door frame. “I woke up here.”

“There are two more of us kidnapped,” Liang explained.

“No.”

“What?”

“We need to use the time we have,” she uttered. There was a bite in her voice that, if Liang had not noticed her limbs had been bludgeoned, suggested she was displeased, although the boy knew otherwise. “We need…”

Lady gasped, wandering into the dim corridor. She pointed to the right.

“Thomas…exit…”

“Don’t say anything,” Liang replied testily, leaving his cell as Brink lay on the floor in the doorway. He walked to the next cell-like door and peered inside. Girafarig was unconscious on the floor. He knocked on the small pane of glass, hoping the boy would wake up.

“Girafarig!”

“Shhh,” Lady hissed. “Now. Go.”

“Crystal?” Liang asked, moving to the next cell. He instantly had an idea, running to the door and finding the key to his cell still jammed in the door. He wrenched it out but noticed it was different to the locks for the other two cells, meaning he would not be able to free the other two even if he wanted to.

“Liang!”
Crystal’s shining, hopeful face pressed against the glass.

“Crystal, me and Lady are escaping,” he whispered. “We’re going to find out how to escape and get help. It’s ok. Stay calm, you’ll be fine.”

“Don’t! No!” Crystal wept, tears streaming down her face. “Li! Don’t leave me!”

Liang saw Lady already walking up to the cold metal steps leading out the corridor and turned back.

“I have to, but I’ll come back soon,” he promised, panic spreading across his face. The girl looked distraught at being left alone. “Please, hold on. I’ll return.”

“Liang!”

“Now,” Lady said raptly, at the top of a small flight of metal mesh steps. Liang tore his gaze away from Crystal’s powerful, saddened look and ran after Lady, who walked stiffly and uncomfortably as they went. Atop the stairs, the corridor turned sharply to the right; it was narrow and empty, with lights above flickering ominously.

“So what exac-”

“Outside.”

Liang was irritated by Lady’s cold, calculating way of addressing him, particularly because he had so many questions burning inside him. Who was she, exactly? Why was she here…how on earth was she alive? He sighed as he felt a stabbing pain in his body, one that went as soon as it came. He was tired after his attack; was his heart attack brought on by the poison inside him? Did this signal the beginning of the end? Whatever it meant was not good.

The corridor was oddly deserted. The only sounds were their footsteps as they proceeded on. Liang wondered where everyone was, and came to the conclusion that they were monitoring matches.

“That man, Brink…” Liang said. “He said he would help me.”

“He is with them,” Lady said coldly, as they came to a large, winding metal staircase leading up to a large hatch in the ceiling. Liang looked around and noticed the corridor spawned into three separate ones, each going in different directions; they had come from the left.

“But he seemed…sincere…” Liang said, but Lady hushed him and began up the staircase. As her bare foot stepped onto the first step, however, the hatch above them was wrenched open and figures emerged from above. Lady grabbed Liang and they ran around a corner, watching.

“…had to be done, really, she was almost dead when we found her.”

“I know, but freezing her? It’s so inhumane!”

The broad, meaty looking man named Hage was stomping down the stairs as a thinner, young man named Rolph followed. They were deep in discussion as Rolph shut the hatch to the aboveground.

“It would be inhumane to let the woman die,” Hage said in his thick, Scottish accent. His tone was dark. “If Luna Fuerte sees her mentor again, it will make her happy…”

“But will she?” Rolph asked, tagging along after the much older man. “Her match is today…she’s battling Hanada Tattsu. Will she even see Lady?”

Hage did not answer, making his way down the left corridor. Liang’s heart hammered wildly against his chest…once Hage saw the empty cell, he would know that Liang was not there…Liang’s eyes looked at the hatch; it had a circular lock like the top of a submarine, and he wondered if he had the strength to wrench it open. He waited until Rolph’s legs whipped around the corner before hurriedly rushing up the stairs and examining it.

Luckily Rolph, who had a very thin, boyish physique, had not closed the hatch properly and Liang had less difficulty than he had originally thought. He turned the wheel and it gave a lurching screech; Lady turned to the corridor as voices rang from far away.

“Did you hear that?”

“Sounded like someone else is here.”

“Hage, look! Aragornbird isn’t in his cell! Brink!”

Liang drowned the conversation out as, with a gigantic heave, he threw the hatch open and clambered out into broad sunlight. He held a hand out to Lady and wrenched her up, feeling her cold fingers stinging his palm. They were in sweltering heat, and judging by the high stone edge around them, and the dusty earth, they were in a very distant corner of Crush Quarry.

“We need to hurry,” Liang said to Lady. “Come on.”

“They ran through the Quarry, seeing a parked van nearby which Hage and Rolph must have arrived in. As they ran, footsteps could be heard from the mesh steps. Liang pushed on, feeling his heart ache and his lungs sting. They had to get to the village…to people, away from emptiness and solitude…

He had no Pokemon or his VS Seeker; they must still be at the HQ, but he knew he would return there soon. On and on they ran as voices called out from behind them.

“HEY!”

It was Hage, evidently angry. Liang did not turn around – he daren’t – but as they ran, he cast a glance at Lady, who was exhausted. Sweat dripped down her face…her clothes…dripping from her body… was it sweat? Liang looked to see the ice and frost melting from her body, sliding down strands of her hair and face, so that she gained a bit more colour in her face.

“I’m soaked,” she gasped, as they continued to run, Lady in her bare feet. Liang noted it must be very uncomfortable. The drips of water, however, were soon mixed in with splashes of watery crimson. Blood. Horrified, Liang saw the gaping wound in the back of her head reanimate, slowly trickling as the ice around it melted away and became active once more. A thick, fleshy something pulsated in the back of her head. Liang felt sick.

“Lady!” he said, rushed. “Y-Your head?”

Tearing across the vast quarry, Lady’s hand dabbed her head and her eyes widened as she gave a lurching gasp. Her fingers felt the cracked segments of her skull and she gave a lurching sob.

“My god.”

“Keep going!” Liang called. “We’re nearly out of the quarry…we’re nearly at the main square…we’ll get help…”

Even though he tried to sound confident he knew there was little hope; blood was pouring from the back of her head and even multiple cuts on her body leaked blood once more. She was fumbling more, staggering as she ran.

“I don’t think I can make it.”

“Yes you can,” Liang said furiously, grabbing her arm and running on across the wasteland, his heart hammering wildly as his lungs called out for a rest. There was a powerful engine behind roaring them and Liang gave a quick glance to see the blue van chasing the two.

“This won’t work!” cried Lady as they hurtled along. “Liang! You need to do something for me.”

The van drove on, speeding past them, overtaking them…was it leaving them alone? Liang listened as Lady continued, although her voice was cracking with fear.

“Don’t…-”

The van had pulled in front of them and with a lurching rev it sped forward at them; Liang leapt to the side and fell to the ground as Lady was smashed into by the van. Dust and debris pressed into his face, Liang heard Hage swear as Lady’s limp body fell to the ground.

“LADY!”

“…Luna…” Lady said softly. Her eyelids closed as she left the quarry, Hage leaping from the van and looking at her. From the other side of the van, Liang saw Rolph was not with him, and grabbed a large, knobbled rock, holding it ready for when Hage turned to see him.

“Jesus Christ,” he sighed to himself, pressing his hand to his forehead and lifting his hair. As his foot stepped out and he turned around, Liang hurled the rock at his face, where it gave a resounding crack and spurted blood. Liang ran to the van, pushing Brink to the ground, who was nursing a red, swollen nose. Having not driven a car for some time (he had abandoned the idea of getting a license) it was with some trepidation that Liang pressed his foot hard on the pedal and span the vehicle around, gripping the wheel tightly before speeding towards the village, the last few moments pressed into his mind.

*

Despite the new spring range of swirling bow-ties and funny hats, it was a grim atmosphere in the C.O.R.R.U.P.T. Blademaster swept the floors miserably as OzAndrew sang a song about Mr Vaxew and his absurd name.

“Oh cheer up Davemaster,” he said irritably, as Blade fumbled with a Pokeball. “So you lost against Becca! Big Whoop! Who gives a Doodle? Gabba-gabba-hey!”

“It’s easy for you to say,” mumbled the boy. “You’ve not had your R2 match yet.”

“I’ve never lost to Becca, either,” OzAndrew replied smugly.

“Actually, I’ve been in the archives,” Blade retorted. Eyes widening, Andrew blinked slightly.

“Mental note…burn archive.”

“Look I’m not that bothered,” Blade said. “I mean, I’m still eligible for my 98% discount on all items in the C.O.R.R.U.P.T with ‘O’ or ‘Z’ in the names.”

“How true!” Andrew said, beaming; he had recently renamed all the items so that none carried said letters, thus making Blade’s discount useless. The Bidoof they were selling was now called ‘Bid-Zero-Zero-F’, thanks to the clever use of a marker pen, while Zangoose was now called ‘AnZeroZerose’. OzAndrew was a genius. However, he could sense Blade was somewhat upset.

“Look,” he said, walking over. “Seeing you stand there holding that broom is touchingly pathetic. And I admire touchingly pathetic people because they make me realize how unpathetic and social I am. So here’s what you can do. You can be in charge of C.O.R.R.U.P.T for the afternoon…while I’m gone. How does that sound?”

“Cool!” Blade said, smiling. “Can I have my wallet back?”

“…not yet,” rasped his boss. “I’ll be back later. Take good care of this shop – I did a lot of wheedling to obtain it!”

Before Blademaster could comprehend what ‘wheedling’ was, OzAndrew had bustled out of the shop merrily, ready for his match. Blademaster continued sweeping absently, noticing how quiet it was in here. He could hear the free-range-children crying for their parents in the storage room. Deciding to ignore it, Blade was pleased when the shop door opened.

“Excuse me?”

It was a powerful yet pathetic voice. The person had not yet entered the shop. Blade wandered over to the door to see Tucker, wheelchair bound and pathetic, trying to ride up the step into the shop.

“Uhh…hi,” Blade replied meekly.

“Is there a disabled ramp?” Tucker asked, shamed. “I really want to come in.”

Blade surveyed the man and pondered. Andrew had explained the obvious blatant child-eating evilness of this man, and how anyone in a wheelchair was definitely evil. After thinking, though, Blade recalled his Battle Dome challenge being cancelled due to Tucker’s accident, and figured this golden meeting would be compensation for his lack of battle against the flamboyant ace.

“My Kirlia will bring you in,” Blade said, releasing his Pokemon. The Kirlia leapt gracefully from the Pokeball, landing like a ballerina and giving a soft, crooning cry. Pressing her thin, delicate limbs to her temple, she concentrated hard as Tucker’s wheelchair slowly rose from the ground and moved across into the large, spacious shop. Kirlia placed Tucker down and he looked, intrigued.

“Thanks,” he said emptily. He was slightly bewildered.

“That’s fine,” Blade replied. “Kirlia, clean the aisles with psychic.”

He released a Lickitung.

“Help out.”

Tucker wheeled along the Pokeball aisle, his eyes firmly fixed on Blade, who was whistling a tune pleasantly. Kirlia and Lickitung helped clean up airily while Tucker pondered his words.

“You know…” he said, pretending to be interested in an ‘Amazering Ball – 100% catch rate! It’s AMAZERING!’, “I hear OzAndrew was the one who blinded you.”

“Technically,” Blade murmured, his hand subconsciously touching his eye patch. “Who told you that?”

“The wind…” Tucker hissed. “No, seriously I was eavesdropping the other day.”

“Oh.”

“Did you know he was the one who paralyzed me?” Tucker asked Blade, who looked shocked at the remark. “It’s true!”

“He did?”

“Yea, dressed in yellow spandex.”

“Not yellow!”

“It’s all true,” Tucker replied, enjoying the reception. “Lost his Frontier Challenge. Hurled me off the side of Crescent Walk.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Oh,” the ex-brain said. “No reason.”

“You want me to get back at him,” Blade said firmly. “You want me on your team, don’t you? That’s why you waited until he left for his match.”

“Maybe I should just go, Blade…I mean, I’m sort of aching…I should really go. I’ve got enough to be getting on with.”

“You do that.”

Tucker wheeled off back down the aisle, Blade watching him intently. He was holding his broom as Kirlia whizzed around, blasting debris away with a psychic attack. Blade saw Tucker’s aching arms force the wheels to move, pushing himself on as his lifeless legs simply existed beneath his body.

“Hey.”

Tucker stopped before the door, a smile on his face. He shed it as he turned around. Blade stared him in the eye.

“Is…it true? Did he really do that to you?”

“Yes.”

Gulping, for that was what he had feared, Blademaster walked towards Tucker, taking his apron off and leaving his broom. He held his hand out, which Tucker shook firmly as they exchanged a knowing look together. Outside the C.O.R.R.U.P.T, The Green Lanturn clenched his fists as he waited for his accomplice.

*

Meanwhile, the unsuspecting Oz-tralian was in a stadium facing off against Mr Vaxew, aka Wayne from WAVEX. The thin, wispy man was pale and had a clammy face; his hair was receding and his jaw prominent, giving him a slightly creepy look. He wore a luxurious smile as he ordered his Pokemon, Aggron and Flygon, to attack.

Flygon tore through the skies, blasting a flamethrower down at Venusaur and Starmie. As this happened, Aggron charged beneath the flamethrower, the attack acting like a veil, stopping his foes from reaching him.

“GET AGGRON!” screamed OzAndrew. “VenusOz! Vine Whip!”

Lashing his vines out, Venusaur gripped Flygon around the neck and slammed him into the ground; Starmie leapt in front of Venusaur and blasted a strong water attack into the colossal beast, stunning it. As Aggron clutched his chest Venusaur unleashed a spinning flurry of sharp leaves into Flygon, who was flapping back up to attack.

“Flygon use flamethrower,” whispered Wayne. “Aggron, go for brick break.”

Flygon tore through the air, its mere flight beautiful. As it soared overhead, spiraling flames burst from its thin jaw and rocketed towards Venusaur. Aggron ran along the arena, preparing to deal damage, but Starmie got in the way. Her core pulsating magnificently, she manipulated the flamethrower, sending it swerving around and smashing into the oncoming Aggron.

The colossal beast gave a roar as he fell back; Flygon flapped in mid-air, clearly confused as Starmie leapt up and blast a fantastic hydro pump into the gigantic dragon. Taking the damage, Flygon spiraled into the ground with a crash. Starmie leapt up into the air like a vertical Frisbee as Venusaur stamped into the ground and damaged both opponents.

“OzAndrew is clever,” Deatley said in his smooth voice.

“Oh he’s a good trainer,” replied Thomas, her arms folded. “Certainly knows how to fight…

Deatley looked at Thomas, intrigued. His cool blue eyes took in Thomas as she took time choosing her words.

“However.”

She watched as Starmie landed, blasting a swift attack as Aggron leapt up and fired a flamethrower that struck Venusaur firmly in the skull area.

“He panics.”

“Panics?”

“OzAndrew cracks under pressure much easier than others. When he is doing well, and he is on form, he is very powerful. But when the tables begin to turn he finds it difficult fighting back. This is our window of opportunity.”

“I see,” Deatley replied, evidently impressed. Thomas smiled.

“Last year OzAndrew challenged the entire TPML Community to a Battle Royale in Springwater Mall, an old shopping center in the Old Village. Seventeen trainers, past and present, all took part, releasing one Pokemon each. Initially Andrew was winning because everybody seemed to end up attacking themselves…but when they banded together against their single foe, he was overwhelmed. Anyone would be. But it was the quirk and complexity of the challenge that intrigued Andrew. I seem to recall him losing quite badly, becoming quite a laughing stock in the village.”

“Which is why he left?” Deatley asked.

“Precisely. He left TPML last year about a fortnight before the league was due to start. He only returned at the start of this year’s tournament…leapt off the Rules Tower, would you believe it…”

They continued to watch the battle. Aggron dealt a double edge to Starmie, sending the powerful yet small Pokemon staggering back. Flygon, having flapped back up and taken to the skies, was about to unleash an iron tail when Venusaur used a power whip to send two thick, leathery vines right into the foe and keep it at bay. Starmie then blasted a hydro pump again, but Flygon darted out of the way with ease.

Wayne surveyed the skies, noticing the pulsating sun in the sky.

“Flygon, use solarbeam on Starmie. Aggron, fire blast on Venusaur.”

Instantly a beam of fantastic, white-hot energy hurtled through the air, materializing and taking form as it sped along like a brilliant train. Aggron sent a ploughing, ornate symbol of destruction, swathed in flames, shooting across the arena. The two attacks flew right into the respective targets; Starmie was flung across the arena due to the force, but the bulky Venusaur stayed where he was, simply absorbing the flames and the heat as he took excessive damage.

“Starmie! Teleport behind Aggron and use Hydro Pump!” OzAndrew cried out.

“Pursuit.”

Starmie glowed brightly before disappearing completely; Flygon darted suddenly to the left and sped around the arena like a racecar around a track; as Starmie re-appeared behind Aggron, Flygon darted along and smashed into the purple Pokemon, causing her to collapse as the dragonfly tore into the sky and blasted a flamethrower into Venusaur, Aggron doing the same.

“And a combined flamethrower deals super effective damage to Venusaur!” came the cry. Chris Watarimono was commentating on the match. “Starmie lies on the ground, clearly weakening as Mr Vaxew’s onslaught commences!”

“Aggron go in for a focus punch,” Wayne croaked. “Flygon, solarbeam into Starmie.”

Aggron raced at Venusaur, who had a faint green glow. Two thin tendrils of green energy rose from the ground like a quickened plant sprouting; they crossed over and formed a small knot, creating a little loop that Aggron’s foot was caught in. The beast tripped and smashed into the ground, allowing Venusaur to blast a solarbeam from the large, looming flower right into the iron Pokemon, causing good damage. Meanwhile, Starmie had managed to create a psychic barrier around herself, which repelled the solarbeam and fired it off in seven different directions. The crowd cheered for OzAndrew.

“Venusaur! Frenzy Plant!”

As the sun began to become shrouded by a collection of airy, fluffy clouds, Venusaur raised his front legs and slammed them forcefully into the ground; a strip of large, thorny vines burst up from the ground and ensnared Aggron, lifting him high into the air as he became tangled.

“Starmie! Blizzard!”

Starmie leapt through the air, avoiding a dragonbreath from Flygon and unleashing a sweeping mass of ice and crystal. The collection of cold winds and freezing moisture struck Aggron among the frenzy-plant-tree and the entire sculpture became frozen over, melding together under diamond shine. Starmie leapt to Venusaur’s side as Flygon saw his comrade frozen amid a mass of sparkling vines.

“And OzAndrew shows his contest flair by using a clever combo to take Aggron out!” Chris Watarimono cried, evidently shocked.

“Mr Vaxew, Aggron is unable to battle,” the burly referee said. “Please recall him.”

Snorting, Mr Vaxew grabbed the Pokeball and blasted the red beam at Aggron, pulling the creature out from the depths of the frozen mass. Flygon flapped up and blasted a beam of energy through the air; it smashed into the icy thorns and shattered them to mere debris as Starmie and Venusaur faced Flygon.

“I don’t like the look of this,” Thomas said raptly. Deatley said nothing.

“Venusaur use leaf storm! Starmie, psychic to encase Flygon in the attack!”

Venusaur looked tired but persevered; glowing green he blasted thick, sharp leaves from his flower, the leaves sweeping up and swirling towards Flygon in a cyclone. Starmie used her psychic powers to send the leaves sweeping around Flygon like a swarm of buzzing insects; Flygon flapped away but Starmie kept the leaves attacking their target.

“Flygon blast them away with gust!” Wayne snapped. A blast of air sent the swarm reeling, but Starmie’s powers allowed the leaves to regroup and attack again. Flygon, clearly irritated, gave a roar, irritation seething inside him.

“Venusaur! Relax! Starmie! Psychic then ice beam!”

Venusaur regained his energy as he stood there, gasping; Starmie gripped Flygon with a psychic attack and constricted his muscles, causing him to shake and wither in mid-air. Hurling the large draconian Pokemon to the ground, Starmie blasted a concentrated beam of icy energy that smashed into the beast and knocked it out.

“YES!” OzAndrew cried. Flygon made no attempt to get up. The crowds cheered as Thomas angrily got to her feet, storming across the stands to the exit, apparently in no mood to explain to Deatley where they were going.

“He lost,” she snapped, heading down the steps. “That’s all our people out the competition already, Deatley.”

He said nothing; he knew better. They walked out of the stadium and along the beautiful Crescent Walk, the sun once again peering from out of the clouds. A cluster of Jumpluff sailed across the skies as trainers flocked around the stadiums, watching matches on the large screens or chatting about upcoming matches. Hanada Tattsu, whose match was later today, was practicing his water attacks with his Quagsire.

“The Subject is still able to win the league,” Deatley reminded her.

“That could change,” snapped Thomas. “I need to go back to HQ and check on the hostages.”

She gave a long, irritated groan with her teeth tightly clenched together.

“Calm down,” Deatley said softly. Thomas suddenly felt her phone ring and picked it up, noticing that it was from Hage. She answered it, pressing the phone to her ear and having a sudden craving for nicotine.

“Yes.”

“Liang escaped.”

“How?”

“It’s complicated,” Hage said tentatively. “Lady Vulpix has also been taken. She…cooled off, so to speak, and managed to leave. She began to get feeling back and seemed to have helped Liang out.”

“We needed her,” snapped Thomas. “WE NEEDED HER!”

“I know, I know.”

“Get her back. She is more important than Liang.”

“Isabel has gone to get Liang; she has the case with her so I imagine we can put him out of our minds.”

“He will talk,” Thomas replied. “But we both know that if the Board is aware of our actions, it doesn’t matter who else knows. Just get Lady back and keep her until I arrive. I want the reunion to go smoothly.”

“That won’t be possible,” Hage said lightly. “She died.”

Thomas dropped the phone. It smashed to the ground and she stood there, her left eyebrow giving a sudden twitch.

“Get me a gun.”

“What?” Deatley asked.

“I said,” Thomas replied firmly. “Get me a gun.”

“What about –”

“Forget what we said,” she snapped. “Hage has let me down. Get me a gun. Now.”

Chris 2.1

31st August 2007, 06:12 PM

“Thank you,” Luna said softly, tears sparkling in her eyes. “Thank you for telling me this, Liang.”

“I had to find you…it’s what she wanted,” Liang explained. They were sitting on a bench in the park; Liang had just broken the news about Lady’s death. Luna sniffed and dabbed her eyes, remaining quite calm about it but nevertheless upset.

“I…just don’t understand how it all happened,” Luna replied. “She left last week…after we argued. She left the village…and now, you tell me she’s been found partly frozen covered in wounds…what happened to her?”

“I had never met her before,” Liang said. “I have no idea.”

“I don’t think I really knew her at all,” Luna summarized. “That’s why it doesn’t hurt as much as I expected.”

She sighed.

“Liang…I really have to go; my Round two match is in half an hour.”

She got up from her seat.

“It’s imperative we meet after my match, so you can explain to me about the people that took you.”

“I will.”

Luna gave a nod and turned to walk away, off towards Crescent Walk for her Round Two match. Sighing, Liang got out his phone and dialed River’s number. He waited patiently, before suddenly realizing that WAVEX would be looking for him. Getting up, he raced through the village as he heard River’s voicemail.

Hi! I’m not here. Obviously. Leave a message after the beep!

“River it’s Aragornbird,” Liang said, colliding with a rather angry MeLoveGhosts. “Sorry – erm yea, I’ve got to meet you ASAP. Your sister is in danger and you can help. Please…get in touch.”

He slipped his phone in his pocket and headed to Jolly Japes. He needed to get something for his heart…maybe he could get some medication…he had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he remembered Amy, and how much he missed her. The attack before unnerved him…did he even need to bother taking any medication?

Halfway along the forest trail to the hospital, he began to wonder if he should just pass on the information on WAVEX to River before he did finally succumb to death. As he thought, a figure slinked out of the shadows. Eyes darting towards the inky darkness of the trees, Liang ran, turning and speeding back towards the village. He collided again into a figure and fell to the ground, looking up to see The Blue Avenger staring down at him.

“Jeff!”

“Howdy.”

“River!”

“Hey!” River said, looking over Liang’s shoulder. “Who was that in the trees?”

“I don’t know,” Liang replied, musing. “I…I don’t…but they’re gone. They’ve disappeared. Erm. Look we need to talk. Now.”

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Did you not get my message?” Liang asked.

“I never check,” she said, smirking.

“It’s true!” The Blue Avenger replied. “She never checks!”

“I never check,” River chortled.

“Listen,” Liang said suddenly. “Your sister needs our help.”

“What? Crystal? What happened?” River asked urgently.

“WAVEX. They’ve got her.”

“Who is WAVEX?”

“WAVEX is a group of people intending to fix the league,” Liang said, flustered. “Girafarig found out…and told Crystal…and they were in that fire at Hoothooters. I rescued them…sort of…and they let me in on everything. We went looking for the HQ but they captured us…”

“Oh my god,” River said. “This was in my horoscope!”

“What?” Liang asked blankly. River looked for something in her pocket and pulled it out. TBA looked on keenly.

Aeries – Today you will face difficult trials. Money may be a problem. Also I think you’ll probably have a sick friend. Your sister has also been kidnapped by a group called WAVEX. The colour green is important to you today.

“Wow,” TBA said. “Who wrote it?”

“Oh, it’s this new column written,” River said absently. “The Wise Woman.”

“Oooh. What does mine say?”

“Virgo – You will beat The Green Lanturn in your Round 2 match today. Also River will want to go for a picnic. Money will probably be a problem. A close figure of authority will get off her plane to New York at 2:34PM to begin her career on the Board of Governors. The word ‘schizophrenic’ will hold some significance today. Do not talk to the left-handed. It will bring doom. – wow!”

“That’s cool,” TBA said.

“Guys!” Liang snapped.

“Sorry.”

“Crystal and Girafarig are being held hostage at WAVEX. They’re used as bait to encourage…”

Liang paused. He suddenly realised something he had never even considered before…they had not been kidnapped to be killed…

“They’ve got Grey.”

“No, GREEN is important to me to-”

“Grey?” TBA asked, suddenly serious.

“It all makes sense,” Liang replied. “They’ve got captors…and they’re using them to threaten Grey to help re-arrange the matches. Oh my god…”

“So who do they want to win?” TBA asked.

“Oh like that even matters!” River snapped. “They have Crys! We need to leave now, we need to get her back!”

“Now?”

“Yes!”

“Not now Riv,” TBA said soothingly, holding her hand tightly. “We need to think about this first.”

“She could die!”

“Grey won’t toe the line,” Liang said rationally. “He won’t. Look, we need to keep this between us since I know WAVEX have people working for them in the league. We can’t shoot our traps off.”

“Why?” River asked. “Why does it even matter?”

“Because –”

“If we tell everyone we can build an army to go and take this group down!” River said, building momentum. “What will WAVEX do? Fight us all? They know you escaped, Liang. They’re expecting you.”

“River…” Liang said slowly.

“It does make sense,” TBA thought. Liang sighed.

“Well…ok.”

And with that, River began typing out a message on her VS Seeker. Liang saw the fiery determination in her face and knew that she didn’t care about the league; who won, who lost, whether it was fixed or not. All she wanted was her sister.

*

Meanwhile, in the stadium that Elec Man and Dark Dragonite battled in only yesterday, Luna Fuerte and Hanada Tattsu were battling for entry into Round 3. Luna and Gregg both felt odd; the fact that one of these two inexperienced trainers would progress to the halfway point of the league was quite odd; each felt the other would surely prevail. As the sun pulsated, Luna’s Solrock and Roselia were out, the latter standing on one of the firm, marble columns level with the water. Her thorny assistant, whose head only came up to Luna’s knee, was a recent capture; she had fantastic, beautiful attacks for contests and a flail in battle. Solrock was Solia’s old team member, one of the few Pokemon Luna felt could handle this arena. Her Espeon and Umbreon were certainly out – Lunatone was an option but Solrock was stronger, and as for her Natu and Murkrow…Luna nodded to herself. Roselia and Solrock was a good choice.

Gregg had his Wartortle out, who was standing on a platform hardily. He also had a Whiscash out, who was in the water with a devilish look on his face. Gregg’s team was mainly all water types; Wartortle, Croconaw, Kingdra, Poliwhirl, Quagsire and Whiscash. He was finding the double battle particularly hard.

Was anybody here, cheering him on? Perhaps Grey had taken the time from his busy schedule…Gregg snorted. The idea was ridiculous. Not because Grey wouldn’t turn up, no; Gregg knew that his friend would always be here if the choice were his. No, it was the sheer workload he knew Grey to be burdened with since Amy Wolfsong left the league. All ownership and command of the village was Grey’s, and he had twice the work to do.

Little did Gregg realize that his opponent was just as lonely, just as confused as she swam in a sea of faces, yearning to find one she recognized? Unfortunately for Luna, the people she really wanted to see would never be back; Solia and Lady. Granted Lady and Luna were never particularly close…but they developed some sort of bond. The bond people forge when one helps the other. As for Solia…it had been roughly two months since Solia’s passing…and Luna had never felt more independent. Not having her sister, her best friend…her soul mate around really was difficult. But Luna knew Solia was there, somewhere, watching her sister and feeling so proud.

Was it not nearly a year ago that the two sisters decided to register for the league, amid rumors that teen heartthrob Robin Robinson was a member also? On a whim they booked an initiation, meeting Amy Wolfsong in their home city of Washington. Amy was battling and testing entrants while The Missing Link had other duties, but she was friendly, meeting them in the disused Washington Gym. Espeon and Umbreon VS Amy’s Bayleef and Miltank.

Luna jerked out of her memories as she pointed ahead; Roselia leapt up and blasted a powerful stream of swirling leaves, razor sharp and deadly. The attack smashed into Wartortle, who tucked into his shell as he plopped into the crystal clear water. Whiscash leapt up, his whiskers ensnaring Roselia and slamming her into the ground. She gave a soft cry as Solrock blasted a psybeam into the catfish, sending it back into the water. Wartortle leapt out, running at Solrock and firing off a pulsating orb of water. Solrock was struck, taking the damage hard.

“Roselia! Sweet scent!” Luna cried. Roselia nodded, spinning on her pointed feet and releasing a powerful, wafting scent that lingered on the air. Wartortle and Whiscash sighed pleasantly, enjoying the scent. Roselia meanwhile blasted a bullet seed through the air, peppering Wartortle in the face.

“Whiscash! Spark!” Hanada yelled. His Whiscash unfurled his whiskers, creating a fizzing orb of sparks between them as it was flung towards Roselia. Struck, her body arched back through the air as she splashed into the water.

“Solrock! Psychic!” Luna commanded urgently. In no time Roselia was lifted out by psychic prowess, landing on a platform in the pulsating sun. Solrock fired a psybeam into Wartortle, who blasted back an ice beam to cause a small explosion in the middle of the arena.

“Wartortle! Hydro pump on Solrock! Whiscash use ice beam on Roselia!”

Roselia, still dripping wet, wasn’t able to get out of the way and the frosted beam of ice slammed into her, causing a crisp layer of frost to form as she flew back. Roselia hit the water again and instantly Whiscash leapt in after the prey, using a zen headbutt to sweep in and smash into her.

“Solrock! Get Whiscash out of the way!” Luna cried. Solrock hovered above the water, using a psychic attack to try and stop the greedy catfish. However as Solrock executed the attack Wartortle leapt up and slammed Solrock with an ice punch, causing him to fall back, clattering against a platform like a flipped penny.

“Wartortle, use ice beam on Solrock! Whiscash keep Roselia underwater!”

Roselia tried unleashing a leaf storm underwater, hoping to spin out of the water. However she did not manage; the leaves, limp and wet, floated to the surface of the water as Roselia lost her oxygen. She swam up, her large buds pushing through the water, leaping up into the air and landing on a platform. Instantly she blasted a bullet seed at Wartortle, sending the exploding seeds into the side of the water Pokemon and causing him to fly off his platform and into the arena. His ice beam flew off at the wrong angle into nothing.

“Come on,” Luna said quietly. She saw an advertisement on the large plasma screen, and a trainer was hugging his Vulpix tightly and warmly. The Vulpix cried out in happiness. Luna thought about Lady Vulpix…

Clear your mind, came an oddly familiar voice. Luna turned to see Lady Vulpix standing there. You need to clear your mind or you will fail.

“R-Roselia! Stun Spore! Solrock use fire spin!” Luna cried out, trying to divert her attention. Roselia leapt up and span frantically, sending a thick cloud of spores all over the arena. Wartortle and Whiscash stayed underwater to wash away the effects. Solrock spewed a thin snake of flame, which hit the spores and caused an explosion that devastated the arena. In a huge, bowling crash, Solrock and Roselia were hurled backwards and the platforms crumbled as Whiscash and Wartortle were forced against the pool floor by the explosions.

Luna, listen to me –

“You’re not real!” Luna hissed, turning wildly to the ghostly woman standing before her. She clutched her head. “Roselia! Solrock! Wait for the foes to emerge and bombard them!”

You need me, whispered a voice. Luna…I can help you…

“PSYCHIC!”

Solrock nodded and blasted a psychic attack towards an emerging Whiscash; the Pokemon gave a groan and sank beneath the water once more as an emerging Wartortle was struck by a razor leaf from Roselia.

“Wartortle use dive then ice punch!” cried Gregg, ordering his Pokemon to leap under the waves, littered with debris and rubble. As he stared at the smooth watery pool he recalled his match in the old pool down BT Street…his match not long after he registered in TPML…

“Horsea! Try and use a headbutt to escape!” Horsea hammered his head against the roof of ice but it hurt just too much. Horsea, from what the strangled cries told suggested, seemed to be suffering immense pain by trying to free himself. Sneasel skidded along the ice, digging his claws into the ice to slow down. He stared down at the dazed Horsea through the icy glass sheet, a smirk on his face.

He shook his head wildly; he needed to clear his head. Wartortle broke the surface of the water and swung his fist into Roselia, causing her to cry out in pain. In retaliation she swung her bud at Wartortle, smashing him in the face. He swung around and dived in the water.

Luna was sweating uncontrollably as she panicked, hearing Lady all around. What was going on? Why did Lady have to die today? Luna felt tears leaking down her face as she struggled to stay balanced. Solia stared at her from Hanada’s side of the pool, sadness in her eyes as Lady continued to whisper advice and warnings.

Suddenly, all became black. Luna collapsed in the battlefield, the cries and shouts of surprise from those around drowned out by a gentle buzzing.

*

“Hm. Wha?”

Luna’s eyes opened blearily. She could hear a lot of noise all around her and took in the obscure blue-ish light filtering around her. Was she in the archives? No. She was in a small square tent, with blue and white stripes. Luna got up from the bed, her hand to her head, and was about to get up when a hand forced her back down.

“You sit now,” came a thick rasp. A large woman was standing over Luna with a box of plasters; she was very broad and had thick blonde hair tied in a tight bun. She was evidently a nurse. “I am to be applying the bandy-dage to your arm.”

Evidently German, she grabbed a bandage and wrapped it tightly around Luna’s left arm which, she noticed, had been grazed badly. The woman had an aggressive manner, winding the bandage quite tightly and not seeming to notice the pain it caused.

“My name is Nurse Bituch,” she continued airily. “And I am being Chief Nurse of Tournament Injuries. You did have collapse during tournament. It is true you go ‘plonk’ against ground.”

“Oh,” Luna said, thinking. “So did Hanada Tattsu win?”

“Who are you to be thinking I am?” she snapped, peeling a plaster and slapping it on Luna’s forehead forcefully. “Chief Tournament Know Everything? Your Hand-Andy Tatter friend is outside of the tent. I gave him much injury because he wanted to be entering tent.”

Luna nodded. Her head was sore and her clothes torn. She had tried so hard…but Lady’s death had overwhelmed her so much…Luna looked around and was surprised that Lady was not around anywhere.

“You are more plaster than modern house,” Nurse Bituch said, chuckling. Luna did not understand. “I am to be joke, I am to be joke…now go out of tent and go to meet Hand-Andy Tatter. He is much worry. You go. Go.”

Slightly confused, Luna walked out of the tent, emerging in the bright, level area of Crescent Walk.

“I am to be love my job,” purred Nurse Bituch, as a seemingly blind UuberFred wandered in. “Sit down!”

Luna walked outside; people were still leaving the stadium and reporters were everywhere. Standing there was Gregg, pale in the face and looking utterly appalled.

“Hi,” he said anxiously.

“Hey,” Luna said.

“Err…sorry,” Gregg mumbled. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Luna sighed, smiling. “There’s no need to apologize. I’ve just had…a rough time.”

“Yea, I know what that feels like,” Gregg said. “I won but only by default. I’m going into Round Three.”

“Well you were beating me,” Luna said, thinking. “So it’s fair.”

“I was overwhelmed, too,” Gregg explained. “My father has been in my dreams lately. I saw him when I was battling.”

“Oh.”

Luna stared across the ridge at the village below them.

“I guess…philosophically…” Gregg pondered, watching the village with Luna. “…until we confront them we can’t get these people out of our lives.”

“Yea…” Luna said, thinking. “You’re right.”

*

“Explain.”

Thomas was at HQ. Hage, Rolph, Wayne, Deatley, Logan and Brink stood there in silence.

“Brink. I told you not to open the door to Liang’s cell and you did. Why.”

“He was having a heart attack!” Brink protested.

“I gave you a direct order,” snarled Thomas. “And we NEEDED him to die, Brink! That was the point!”

“I don’t want innocent people dying,” he said calmly. “You said, when we started this, nobody would get hurt!”

“Well thanks to your incompetence we might have to bend that rule,” Thomas replied, delving into her pocket. She drew a gun and pointed it at Brink’s head, right in-between his eyes. “This is your own fault.”

In a sweeping move, Brink knocked the gun away and gripped Thomas, twisting her arm into a half-nelson and pressing her against the wall.

“Don’t try and threaten me, Thomas. I could kill you with my bare hands if I wanted to.”

“But you don’t want to,” Thomas said calmly. “Now get off me.”

Brink relinquished his hold and stepped back; Thomas turned, moving her aching arm and giving him a steely glare.

“Hage. Logan. Take Brink to Liang’s cell and lock him in.”

“What?”

Brink stepped away hastily, eyeing up his allies. Hage was a similar bear-like build, while Logan had an athletic build himself. Brink eyed them, pacing around, not allowing them to get close. As he tried to run and turn away, Isabel appeared out of the shadows of the darkened room and jabbed him in the neck with a needle, pressing the fluid into his body calmly and quietly. She withdrew the needle, threw it aside, and counted to five very slowly as Brink began to stagger and fall to the floor.

“Give the key to me when you’re done,” Thomas replied, as Brink wad dragged off. “Brink is spending time in a cell until he realizes the errors of his ways. When he has finally realized that he was wrong, I will kill him.

“We are entering a drastic change in our methods. The Board of Governors wants to close the league down. Since Isabel was discovered before she could take care of Liang, he will no doubt be telling others of his experience –”

“Thomas?”

“What is it, Rolph?” Thomas asked. The handsome, youthful teenager ran over to his computer. “Wayne’s VS Seeker received a message. From River.”

“What does it say?” Thomas asked. Wayne looked cross that he could not look himself as Rolph read it out.

From: River
ATTENTION. You are being sent this message from me as a desperate plea for help. A renegade group by the name of WAVEX are infiltrating the league this year and are desperately trying to make sure that they can decide who wins. It is unclear why, but they are obviously showing interest in a specific person for a specific reason. Our own leader could be compromised by WAVEX, but we have no concrete proof. However I know where the HQ is. They are located on the outskirts of the village. We need to fight back and rescue Crystal Tears and Girafarig; two trainers who they have kidnapped, possibly to put pressure on anybody working for them. Please, I need your help. We are meeting tonight at midnight by Hoothooters and we will not return until those captured are safe. Thank you. This message was brought to you by The Crystal Syndicate..

“There you go,” Deatley said. “They’re coming.”

“There are more of them than us,” Wayne noted, his rattling voice rippling around the room. “And that was before Brink was jailed and Colton killed himself.”

“Thank you Wayne,” Thomas snapped.

“What are we going to do?” Rolph asked, as Hage and Logan returned from the cells. Thomas was deep in thought, processing everything that had happened already today. There was something she could do…

“Thomas?” Wayne asked fearfully.

“We do nothing,” Thomas said firmly, crossing her arms and sitting down.

*

Andrew was tired after his match. He was walking along down the mysterious Falken Street, savoring the fact that he was in Round 3. Venusaur and Starmie were quite hurt, but he need not worry; he had stolen the healing machine from the old Pokemoncenter and had it in the C.O.R.R.U.P.T, and would much prefer that he took matters into his own hands.

However as he neared the large, square building of Oz’s C.O.R.R.U.P.T, he saw streams of red and gold flame fire into the air like fireworks. A Charizard and Salamence were on the roof, blasting the attacks as flocks of Starly and Staravia swept into the darkening sky. A Fearow also took flight, as well as a few small Hoppip and a Skiploom. Aghast, Andrew raced towards the doors to find all the Pokemon he was selling tearing out into the great outdoors, back into the wild or, perhaps, back to their trainers.

“WHAT THE HELL!?” he screamed, furious; Tucker flew out of the front doors in his wheelchair as Blade leapt after him, a new, blood-red patch covering his eye. The Green Lanturn, in his green spandex, also stood by the wheelchair-bound trainer, a Pokeball in hand.

“Tucker!” Andrew snapped. “Blade?”

“Tucker told me everything,” Blade explained firmly.

“We’ve taken over your crappy little black market,” Tucker replied smoothly.

“You bastards!” Oz cried, grabbing a Pokeball. Tucker eyed Andrew up and wheeled forward, pointing a finger.

“Swampert!”

“Go Mr Mime!” Andrew cried, sending his Pokemon out as the large swamp creature stamped his feet powerfully. “Magical Leaf!”

Mr Mime swept his hands across with a flourish; a sweeping storm of brilliantly bright leaves tore into Swampert, who crouched down to avoid the attack. He leapt up and slammed his fist into Mr Mime, sending the clown flying back. He was good at psychic attacks, but physically very weak; this was a big disadvantage.

“Bouncy Castle! I choose you!” OzAndrew shouted, hurling a Pokeball forward. A gigantic bouncy castle popped up, and Andrew clambered aboard. The Pokeball returned to his hand and he smirked.

“Swampert get on there and attack!”

“Mr Mime! Bounce out the way then use psybeam!”

Swampert leapt at Mr Mime, who bounced to the left and dodged the attack. As Mr Mime landed he blasted a psybeam, sending the bright, sweeping beam of fluorescent neon energy into a wall, where it ricocheted off and slammed into Swampert, dizzying the beast.

“Charizard! Salamance! Whirlwind!” Tucker cried jubilantly. “Swampert! Retreat!”

“Two against one!?” Andrew cried. “You’re a dirty battler!”

“Fighting fire…” Tucker said, wheeling back as his Swampert leapt to his side. A frantic, swirling gust tore through the arena; Blademaster watched with The Green Lanturn as the bouncy castle was pulled up by the frantic winds and flung high into the air.

“Bye-bye Andrew,” Tucker said waspishly, as the bouncy castle flew up high. He turned to his comrades. “Let’s go.”

*

Meanwhile, in BT Street, River, TBA and Liang stood before a large group of onlookers. The night was descending on them now; lamps burst into light all down BT Street, illuminating the disused Theatre, the peeling walls of the Contest Hall and the charred remains of Hoothooters.

“Thank you all for being here,” River said shakily, addressing the small crowd of perhaps ten people. Among it was Dark Sage, Charles Legend, Elec Man EXE and Chris 2.0. “I…I assume you all got my message.”

“Where are they?” called Dark Sage.

“They are located in a research station in the corner of Crush Quarry,” Liang replied. He had heavy bags under his eyes and a graying tinge to his skin. He was not well.

“How do you know?” Dark Sage barked.

“Because I was held there, too,” Liang explained calmly. “But I escaped.”

“What’s the plan?” Luna asked.

“We are going to go there in large numbers,” River replied. “With our Pokemon out. I think we will divide into three teams and…and take it by force.”

“Hear, hear,” Elec Man cried.

“These people have…made a mockery of everything we, as battlers, stand for. It’s time to fight WAVEX and rescue those kidnapped,” River cried out. Cheers filled the air as the group all hailed River.

“Let’s go.”

And together, the group walked on through the village, heading down BT Street towards Crush Quarry. River led the way, with her boyfriend The Blue Avenger by her side. She felt nothing but fear, bubbling over her head like a devilish fizz. Crystal and Girafarig needed her, but would they save the captives? Would they need to kill anyone to get what they wanted?

Grey watched the group from his office. Becca stood by his side, her arms folded tightly.

“So why didn’t you go?” Grey asked conversationally.

“I’m staying away from anything suspicious,” Becca said. “How can I believe this conspiracy about the league? You know River even thinks you’re in on it.”

Grey said nothing, thinking about Gregg and his battle today. Luna was oddly weak…he had seen her battle before and she was very talented, but why had she crumbled so much in the match? Grey thought about Solia…the deceased sister of Luna, and wondered if it was affecting Luna more than she let on. Grey heard a voice in his earpiece and sighed.

“Not fighting…” said Thomas softly. Her playful, coy voice was the little red devil sitting on Grey’s shoulder, making him do the wrong thing for the right reasons…for the greater good. “How brave.”

Grey said nothing, for Becca was still here.

“I’m going over the pairings for Round 3 tomorrow,” Grey explained calmly and professionally.

“Ok,” Becca said. “I hope we’re not facing each other this soon, Grey.”

She gave a laugh and got up, bidding a farewell as she headed off down the staircase. Grey sat there testily, watching as the group continued on towards Crush Quarry. Thomas continued to speak in his ear.

“As you can see, we are expecting guests,” Thomas explained. “Tomorrow I will be coming over in person with Hage and Deatley to oversee the Round 3 pairings.”

“Fine,” Grey snapped.

“Oh Grey,” Thomas said lightly. “Cheer up, please.”

Grey said nothing.

“Why do you hate us so much, Grey? I was hoping this whole experience would help us…bond.”

“I hate you because you are doing horrible things to the integrity of this league,” Grey snapped. “You are making somebody win the league for whatever reason, and you are holding me prisoner in my own office!”

He got to his feet, so angry that the heat in his blood was filling him full of energy. Thomas took some time to choose her words.

“We have more in common than you think,” Thomas said slowly.

“Oh?” Grey asked wildly. “And what might that include?”

“We both want Hanada Tattsu to do well in the league,” Thomas replied. Grey’s eyes widened as he digested the information. Thomas said nothing. Grey looked out the window at the anti-WAVEX group, shocked that, after all this time, he finally learned who the Subject was.

Chapter 48: Charles Legend (Part II)
As the newly reformed Crystal Syndicate set out to Crush Quarry for a confrontation with WAVEX, Thomas flees and confronts Grey. Has Grey found new reason to stay loyal to the enemy? Amy arrives at the Board of Governors to begin her new job, but is too late to stop the report being completed by Gordon and the other Board members. Will TPML be shut down for good? Liang reveals news of his impending death to River when it becomes clear he is on his last legs. Thomas takes a powerful step to save TPML.

Whoa Ch47 took forever to write. It's a massive chapter, had to cut loads, too, but it jus seemed to take up loads of space! Ch48 should be interesting; I've been debating WHAT to have this Chap be and it was nearly a WAVEX centered chapter. But that will come soon I think. First, however, I need to drop a couple of names and spend a bit more time developing Thomas.

Anyway let me know what you think!

Charles Legend

1st September 2007, 05:48 AM

“….and I decided to name him Elec Kidd,” Charles explained, showing Nate the stubby Elekid standing before him. “You see it’s a pun on Elec Man and it’s also his name anyway.”

“Sorry…who are you?” Elec Man asked wearily, clearly confused.

“Charles L Charles,” explained the 25-year old trainer, wearing his classic lab-coat over a black t-shirt bearing the legend ‘Elec Man is EXE-llent!’ in jazzy, yellow writing.

“Your…second name is also Charles?” Elec Man asked, bewildered.

“Mario’s surname is Mario,” Charles said seriously. “That man taught me a lot…but anyway I digest, back to the topic of my new Elekid.”

“Digress.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Yea so I caught this guy in Crush Quarry incidentally it was the same time I sold Magby to Oz’s Friendly Poke-Place. You know that’s the codename for C.O.R.R.U.P.T his generically evil factory for Pokemon.”

“So basically you’re my #1 fan?” Elec Man said, looking at Charles’ Pinsir, Charmeleon, Munchlax and a rather withered, mottled green Sunflora, all wearing the black-and-yellow t-shirts.

“Yes that’s right I think you could win the league!” Charles exclaimed. “He turned melodramatically. “You know after losing against Girafarig and also dropping my sandwich in a surprisingly deep puddle I thought all was lost…but seeing you in your match VS Dark Dragonite made me realize I can leech off your success if you win the league, so basically Elec Man EXE or should I say Michael? No, I shouldn’t since that isn’t your name, its Nathan or Nate for short although you don’t like to be called it…”

“Can we sort of…get to the point?” asked the veteran.

“Can I be your apprentice?” Charles asked.

“Charles you’re….six years older than me,” explained Elec Man. “What do you want me to teach you?”

“Maybe I could have some of your Pokemon,” Charles mused. “I do like Typhlosion…”

“CHRIS!” cried Elec Man jovially, seeing me pretending to examine the wall. “Hey! Hi! Do erm…come over! Yea! Now….?”

“Chris you dieatrolical spy!” rasped Charles. “I KNEW IT!”

“Hey Charles!” I said cheerily.

“Don’t play nice to me!” he snapped furiously.

“Wait what did I do?” I asked Nate.

“Dunno mate, the guy’s a nutter,” he replied calmly.

“Well done yesterday,” I said, clapping him on the back. “I heard you did well.”

“Same with you,” Nate replied. “I didn’t see it, but…”

“I wanted a MENTOR! And what did you do? Take me to a graveyard and get your Mankey killed by an EVIL GHOST! AND I WET MY PANTS THAT DAY…”

“Well hey I was going to check your match out in the Archives,” I said, thinking. “You could come with me, we’ll watch both. Sound good?”

“…It’s not my fault I have Wandering Bladder Syndrome!…”

“Yea! Ok!” Nate said, and with him I headed out of the Center, up BT Street and East towards the base of Trolgar Mountain. Charles continued to rant and get the anger out his system as he stomped around, shaking his head and crying out.

now that funny I mean Charles with a a rather withered, mottled green Sunflora sounds so just so bizarre to me...;)

to him?

“Bouncy Castle! I choose you!” OzAndrew shouted, hurling a Pokeball forward. A gigantic bouncy castle popped up, and Andrew clambered aboard. The Pokeball returned to his hand and he smirked.

Ha now we Know where Andrew keeps his castle but where dose he keep the OZMines where he forces his slaves to dig in at? some where in Crush Quarry maybe? ;)

Also Hanada Tattsu being Subject was a good Idea, it's not as Cliché as having Chris 2.0 being the Subject... ;)

speaking of Hanada Tattsu well he and Luna Fuerte start going out anytime soon? ;)

I am sorry Chris I did not mean for it to this to sound like I was trying to tell you how to write your own fic, but I seem to recall you telling me how to write my own fic, yes I had plans to explain that the TPML in my Fic was not the same as the one that appears in this fic, in fact in my fic it is called the Kingdom of TPM which host a League, I was being lazy by just saying TPML...

Like you said OoT and TP are not the same but have some things in common, Like wise are fics have some things in common even if they don't take place in the same Dimension, but an altered Dimension...

~Charles Legend

The Blue Avenger

1st September 2007, 10:19 AM

Elec Kidd. Wow. That is... special. As is Charles' full name. That conversation on the whole was gold (and not entirely undisturbing - Wandering Bladder Syndrome *shudders*).

...It's good to see that Brink has a heart, at least. Too bad getting clubbed in the back of the head was his reward. >_> I wonder who that woman is...

...Wait, the Green Vindicator followed them back to the main TPML? I wonder if that means that other Islanders came back as well. Maybe the greasy, blood-stained woman is the Weakest Link. :P

...oh, well, that shoots my theory down. Lady Vulpix. Heh, shoulda seen that one coming. I wonder if that exchange means that Luna is the Subject... it's what it seemed to imply, at any rate.

OzAndrew is more clever than I gave him credit for. Granted, the image of him that sticks most strongly with me is the drunken Ozzy on the boat, so I guess being more clever than that isn't terribly difficult. It's good to see Tucker back as well; I suppose it wasn't entirely unexpected that he should want some revenge on Ozzy. I also dig the reference of the All v Oz match; those were good times. And, wow, with all that talk of Oz panicking, I completely expected that to happen. o_o Instead, he just walks all over Wayne.

This bothered me, though:

“I don’t think I really knew her at all,” Luna summarized. “That’s why it doesn’t hurt as much as I expected.”

For someone who was crying not two lines earlier, this line, particularly the second part, sounds really unnatural.

I dig the horoscope column too. On a related note, have you watched Blackadder? That's what the Wise Woman reminds me of.

Nurse Bituch scares me. o_o I loved the choreography of the matches between Luna and Gregg; the fact that they were both going through the "reliving the past" bit made for an interesting read. P:

...and the Subject is Gregg. I didn't see that one coming; definitely thought it was Luna. Good way to end a chapter, I think.

Looking forward to the next chapter!

Chris 2.1

1st September 2007, 11:19 AM

Charles: Magby returning is a definite possibility; next chapter focuses on Charles quite a lot. He's trying to convince people he is strong. He's been portrayed as a bit of a crazy lunatic but next chapter shows a more heroic side to him, I think.

Maybe it's because its summer but I found Gregg and Luna quite nice, in a River/TBA way they just seemed to compliment each other. I'm not sure; I don't think we've the time to even try and build a relationship up between them but we'll see.

TBA: Heyho! A blow-by-blow reply then?

Charles' full name is a nod to Monkey Island 4. Heh. And glad you enjoyed the Charles scene. Chris didn't do much this chapter, huh?

Brink has a bit of compassion...but he's going to pay for it, I think. No it was The Green Lanturn - aka Green Lanturn, the person who Vindicator is a doppleganger of. He was introduced in Ch34 as a friend of Tuckers who tried helping find out who Quackman was. I may have typo'd and called him the Vindicator. But seeing him reminded TBA that this person CAUSED the entire trek-to-the-island.

Aha red herring! I was worried that the reveal of the subject would be worked out so I slipped in some subtle clues it COULD be Luna. And I think, when you read Ch48, it could very much have been her instead of Gregg. However here is an explanation behind the Lady story:

-WAVEX found Lady near-dead, bleeding loads. Isabel, being a nurse, helped stem the bleeding but it was proving unsucessful.
-Thomas realised she was a tutor to Luna and had her frozen to seal her wounds and postpone her death.
-When they learned Luna was going to be against Gregg in Round 2, they wanted to defrost Lady and have her meet Luna. Luna would be overcome with confusion, happiness etc at seeing the woman who left her and, when Lady would inevitably reveal Luna's sister dealt the attack, Luna may be emotionally unfit to battle.

However as you saw things turned out differently but still WAVEX got what they wanted.

He did a great job against Wayne but now all the WAVEX goons are out the league. With just the subject remaning, what are the odds WAVEX can suceed?

I got the name from Blackadder, the wise woman is a character we might meet, it's quite an odd reveal really about what she's like. Originally Nurse Smiles was going to be writing horoscopes from prison (she got arrested for breaking into the radio station). "She is.....a woman!" cracks me up XD

Nurse Bituch is like the anti-smiles! Very amusing contrast. I originally had a Nuse be introduced called Nurse Phat, based off a gigantic woman who was my nurse when I had to go to hospital. But it was a bit boring. Now we've got a sort of scary battle-axe of a woman. Fun!

I've always wanted to pair those 2 up in a match; I think what I wanted to show was that both of them have been pretty traumatised by registering for the league. Both have endured hardships but Gregg, ultimately, has confronted his and managed to come out stronger. Luna, however, is haunted by the recent passing of Lady, despite what she may have claimed.

Which brings me to your irk with Luna's line; she's a sensetive girl. The thought of Lady being in the village all this time upset her a bit since she thought Lady had fled. I think the news anyone you knew had died would be saddening. But it hasn't hurt her in the sense that Luna won't miss Lady, she feels a bit detached from her since she actually knew so little about her....if that makes sense :-s

Whew I'm so glad the subject wasn't cliched! Well done to those who guessed it previously though :)

The Blue Avenger

1st September 2007, 11:26 AM

Which brings me to your irk with Luna's line; she's a sensetive girl. The thought of Lady being in the village all this time upset her a bit since she thought Lady had fled. I think the news anyone you knew had died would be saddening. But it hasn't hurt her in the sense that Luna won't miss Lady, she feels a bit detached from her since she actually knew so little about her....if that makes sense :-s

I think you may have misunderstood: I get completely what you're saying here; rather, it's the line itself that just strikes me as sounding weird. I'm not quite sure how to say it, though...

Also, thumb's-up on the Blackadder reference, then. :P I love that series.

Chris 2.1

1st September 2007, 11:28 AM

Oh, ok. Yea I can sorta see what you mean, it's a bit of an odd thing to say.

MeLoVeGhOsTs

3rd September 2007, 10:55 AM

Finally got a chance to read this. Good chapter. The league is progressing bit by bit and the Subject has proven to be quite interesting. I wonder what motives WAVEX has. An Ecks spin-off?

I'm hoping that Chris gets some work out before he gets a new match. Becca vs. Chris, hmm, now that would bring some tension. Hoping for some good action.

Becca vs. Blade was an interesting match for sure, I liked the way Becca was portraited. Blade proved to be a good opponent, and stabbed Andrew in the back. Oh Andrew, when will you stop being such an ass.

My own character didn't do much aswell, besides being grumpy, but Chris didn't do much either, I'm hoping for a good Chris moment in the next chapter.

Good chapter though!

Chris 2.1

3rd September 2007, 06:07 PM

Thanks MLG: you know I hate it when Chris is absent from chapters but he was 'researching'. Who knows who he'll face? Becca, Grey, Liang, TBA, Hanada or Oz. All quite good battlers, I think you'll agree. His main team is strong but Vibrava and Lairon aren't as good yet. Can Chris train them up, or will he rely on his stronger ones?

WAVEX means something. But it's not related to Ecks, except for Hanada being the subject.
I had to cut the Becca/Blade match a bit (and had to completely cut the TBA/TGL match) but I'm glad you liked it. Becca's a great battler and I love her team. Expect Blade's team to.......expand, for lack of a better word.

Andrew's beginning to realise the truth about what he's like. It's a poignant arc for the oztralian as we enter the end of the fic. It's the wake-up call he needs, but what will he do about it?

We'll see MLG and Chris next chapter, which is shaping up to be quite big and cataclysmic!

I can also OFFICALLY confirm that the fic will end on Chapter 53.

Andrew

4th September 2007, 09:31 PM

Closing OmastarBucks and the Theatre aren't very financially viable options. Why not burn the village and claim it was the result of nature and claim insurance? When does the 1 week begin?

With the battle between TML and Blademaster, interesting, I wanted to see Blademaster want an advantage because he has only 1 eye.

Chris' training. Will Electabuzz and Magmar evolve? Seeing dear old Charlie boy was entertaining. I was amused by his Mario Mario reference. Not to mention I fear for ugly Magby's safety in CORRUPT. But poor Elec Man EXE, I feel for him. And Wandering Bladder Syndrome... lol.

I still find Pichu in WaveX perplexing. Are they a boy or girl? What do they look like? I reckon Callisto's in charge of it all but. It's kind of Gross they froze Lady G and didn't really... you know.. try and help her more with some band-aids... Or perhaps more ... skull.... ugh... will Luna's sister pay for that really gross smackdown?

Her death.. oh god... graphic... sent chills down my spine. Very unsettling and quite a horrific death. I never liked Lady G, but, jeeze... she doesn't deserve that. Still, well written.

Moving onto the OzAndrew sideplot (Obviously one of the best ones there is). I didn't totally understand the 98% discount... whilst a really good idea... lol. Plus the burning of the archives... I'd like to see him attempt that.

However, the free-range children. Hillarious. Absolutely loving hilarious.

The battle with WaveX, I was expecting him to lose horribly, but you're absolutely right about fighting back. I generally don't recover well. Lol. I'd also love another all vs Me battle. To see how that goes.

But! The showdown against those three assholes! :( At least falling on a bouncy castle he won't be hurt. Now CORRUPT is gone, what will Oz do!? At least he has his Mimes and Bitchdreavus to help out.

Hanada no nads vs Luna. Wow, he did fairly well, didn't he. Luna's spaz out was a bit lame. Why wouldn't she have fainted about Solia but... LADY G? :s On the plus-side, German Nurse' language skills are fully awesome.

Finally, everyone vs Wave X! HOORAH! Time to kickass charlie boy!

A good chapter, can't wait to see what happens next! Especially in a Charles Legend chapter.

Chris 2.1

5th September 2007, 06:59 AM

Since this is a big, succulent reply I'll quote+comment it:

Closing OmastarBucks and the Theatre aren't very financially viable options. Why not burn the village and claim it was the result of nature and claim insurance? When does the 1 week begin?

Well you're right, neither generate LOADS of money, but I think you missed the point; Gordon is just shutting down some of the weaker financial stems early so he doesn't have to do it later. The bastard.

With the battle between TML and Blademaster, interesting, I wanted to see Blademaster want an advantage because he has only 1 eye.

He would have bad depth perception...

Chris' training. Will Electabuzz and Magmar evolve? Seeing dear old Charlie boy was entertaining. I was amused by his Mario Mario reference. Not to mention I fear for ugly Magby's safety in CORRUPT. But poor Elec Man EXE, I feel for him. And Wandering Bladder Syndrome... lol.

Well its likely Magby escaped when Tucker etc all released the Pokemon. But as for Magmortar of Electrivire.....I'm torn really. I doubt we'll see them since the two are really strong in their respective forms. And I don't want to portray Chris' team as stronger than it actually is. I may evolve one, however. I will see.

I still find Pichu in WaveX perplexing. Are they a boy or girl? What do they look like?

This has been explained, in the earlier chapters when we first met Pichu and also in Ch43 when she returned as a reporter. But here is a basic description:
-SHE is around 22/23 years old
-She had auburn/gingery hair either in a ponytail or more commonly in pigtails.
-She has a few freckles around her nose and looks quite haughty and stubborn
-Normally she wears basic clothing, like cargo trousers and a hooded jacket. When she's reporting Pichu often wears a shirt or something slightly more formal, although her news reports are quite casual and fun, so she doesn't try to be too serious
-Why is she called Thomas? Is that her actual name, or a nickname she gave herself ala Ecks? It's more rooted into her past expiriences. You'll learn more regarding that.

I reckon Callisto's in charge of it all

Well the last we saw she had desperately tried to connect with her child before fleeing to London. Is she back in TPML? Would she dare come back, now that Liang's death is coming to light? Hmm I'm sure she would like her son to win this. Check the next chapter for more info on WAVEX's origins.

It's kind of Gross they froze Lady G and didn't really... you know.. try and help her more with some band-aids... Or perhaps more ... skull.... ugh... will Luna's sister pay for that really gross smackdown?

Her death.. oh god... graphic... sent chills down my spine. Very unsettling and quite a horrific death. I never liked Lady G, but, jeeze... she doesn't deserve that. Still, well written.

I thank you :) As for Dawn's attack, it was sort of accidental. All three senior sisters are at home in Washington so I don't know if she will get payback for what she did.

BUT

If you notice, Lady began saying 'Dont...' and ended with 'Luna'. I think, if Liang hadn't been distracted by Hage, we may have heard the truth: that Lady didn't want Luna to know she was in the village all this time. That, in turn, could have kept Luna fighting.

Moving onto the OzAndrew sideplot (Obviously one of the best ones there is). I didn't totally understand the 98% discount... whilst a really good idea... lol. Plus the burning of the archives... I'd like to see him attempt that.

However, the free-range children. Hillarious. Absolutely loving hilarious.

It was just OzAndrew trying to give Blade a good discount. A parody of all those AMAZING LAST MINUTE 100% OFF DEALS BUY NOW! things. I hate them.

The battle with WaveX, I was expecting him to lose horribly, but you're absolutely right about fighting back. I generally don't recover well. Lol. I'd also love another all vs Me battle. To see how that goes.[/qupte

Hmmm well you could always try it!

[quote]But! The showdown against those three assholes! At least falling on a bouncy castle he won't be hurt. Now CORRUPT is gone, what will Oz do!? At least he has his Mimes and Bitchdreavus to help out.

Where will Andrew end up, though? You'll see him fight back in a damaging parody of one of my own fics.

Hanada no nads vs Luna. Wow, he did fairly well, didn't he. Luna's spaz out was a bit lame. Why wouldn't she have fainted about Solia but... LADY G? :s

She accepted and allowed Solia's Death. But what I was trying to explain is Lady's position as mentor, coupled with the woman's sudden and cryptic death. That's what was freaking out Luna.

A cut part showed Gregg being approached by Ecks, who was telling him what to do, but Gregg overcame it; this sort of tied in with his sentiment about facing your demons or your problems head on. He's come out strong, but Luna hasnt.

On the plus-side, German Nurse' language skills are fully awesome.

It could get old, fast so I'm using Nurse Bituch carefully! Smiles will return before the fic ends.

Finally, everyone vs Wave X! HOORAH! Time to kickass charlie boy!

A good chapter, can't wait to see what happens next! Especially in a Charles Legend chapter.

I like the next chapter because its just a good time for me to change peoples perceptions of Charles. I haven't begun writing it yet though!

Sike Saner

6th September 2007, 03:14 AM

DAMN. Lady's death scene was one of the most unforgettable things I've read in a very long time. O____O The unflinchingly graphic detail given to her final moments was amazing. Absolutely awesome.

Loved the Luna vs. Gregg match. That scene really did a great job of getting into both their heads. Futhermore, Luna's hallucinations of Lady made for some seriously good reading.

When I learned that Gregg was the Subject, I took a moment to consider his role in this story, to think of who, specifically, he's been connected to through the course of this story and how, and quickly came to the conclusion that the decision to make him the Subject was a severely frelling good move on your part. o_o This development has incredible potential where the plot and characters are concerned; much moreso than if, say, Chris had been the Subject.

There was some nice humor in that chapter too, courtesy of Charles, Andrew, and--oh, Lord--the incomparable Nurse Bituch. XD Man, I love that character.

Oh, and yay for an Alakazam appearing in battle. :D

Comedic Highlights

“Sorry…who are you?” Elec Man asked wearily, clearly confused.

“Charles L Charles,” explained the 25-year old trainer, wearing his classic lab-coat over a black t-shirt bearing the legend ‘Elec Man is EXE-llent!’ in jazzy, yellow writing.

“Your…second name is also Charles?” Elec Man asked, bewildered.

Another of Charles's "quality" fan shirts, I see. XD And the "Charles L. Charles" thing is great, too.

“Yes that’s right I think you could win the league!” Charles exclaimed. “He turned melodramatically. “You know after losing against Girafarig and also dropping my sandwich in a surprisingly deep puddle I thought all was lost…but seeing you in your match VS Dark Dragonite made me realize I can leech off your success if you win the league, so basically Elec Man EXE or should I say Michael? No, I shouldn’t since that isn’t your name, its Nathan or Nate for short although you don’t like to be called it…”

One, something about the "dropping my sandwich in a surprisingly deep puddle" part amuses me a fair deal; I think it's the phrase 'surprisingly deep puddle". XD Two, "or should I say Michael? No, I shouldn't since that isn't your name, its Nathan or Nate for short although you don't like to be called it..."--that was funny, too. XD

“I wanted a MENTOR! And what did you do? Take me to a graveyard and get your Mankey killed by an EVIL GHOST! AND I WET MY PANTS THAT DAY…”

“…It’s not my fault I have Wandering Bladder Syndrome!…”

Both of those are just... XD

Despite the new spring range of swirling bow-ties and funny hats, it was a grim atmosphere in the C.O.R.R.U.P.T. Blademaster swept the floors miserably as OzAndrew sang a song about Mr Vaxew and his absurd name.

XD Ah, that song was glorious, I'm sure...

“Oh cheer up Davemaster,” he said irritably, as Blade fumbled with a Pokeball. “So you lost against Becca! Big Whoop! Who gives a Doodle? Gabba-gabba-hey!”

“It’s easy for you to say,” mumbled the boy. “You’ve not had your R2 match yet.”

“I’ve never lost to Becca, either,” OzAndrew replied smugly.

“Actually, I’ve been in the archives,” Blade retorted. Eyes widening, Andrew blinked slightly.

“Mental note…burn archive.”

Ha, Blade sure caught him on that. XP

“Look I’m not that bothered,” Blade said. “I mean, I’m still eligible for my 98% discount on all items in the C.O.R.R.U.P.T with ‘O’ or ‘Z’ in the names.”

“How true!” Andrew said, beaming; he had recently renamed all the items so that none carried said letters, thus making Blade’s discount useless. The Bidoof they were selling was now called ‘Bid-Zero-Zero-F’, thanks to the clever use of a marker pen, while Zangoose was now called ‘AnZeroZerose’. OzAndrew was a genius. However, he could sense Blade was somewhat upset.

Both the discount and Andrew's way of undermining it amused me. XD So did the line "OzAndrew was a genius." XD

“Did you know he was the one who paralyzed me?” Tucker asked Blade, who looked shocked at the remark. “It’s true!”

“He did?”

“Yea, dressed in yellow spandex.”

“Not yellow!”

Indeed, no spandex is more terrifying than the yellow variety. XD

“WAVEX is a group of people intending to fix the league,” Liang said, flustered. “Girafarig found out…and told Crystal…and they were in that fire at Hoothooters. I rescued them…sort of…and they let me in on everything. We went looking for the HQ but they captured us…”

“Oh my god,” River said. “This was in my horoscope!”

“What?” Liang asked blankly. River looked for something in her pocket and pulled it out. TBA looked on keenly.

Aeries – Today you will face difficult trials. Money may be a problem. Also I think you’ll probably have a sick friend. Your sister has also been kidnapped by a group called WAVEX. The colour green is important to you today.

“Wow,” TBA said. “Who wrote it?”

“Oh, it’s this new column written,” River said absently. “The Wise Woman.”

“Oooh. What does mine say?”

“Virgo – You will beat The Green Lanturn in your Round 2 match today. Also River will want to go for a picnic. Money will probably be a problem. A close figure of authority will get off her plane to New York at 2:34PM to begin her career on the Board of Governors. The word ‘schizophrenic’ will hold some significance today. Do not talk to the left-handed. It will bring doom. – wow!”

“That’s cool,” TBA said.

“Guys!” Liang snapped.

I loved those horoscopes. XD

“They’ve got Grey.”

“No, GREEN is important to me to-”

And that instance of referring back to said horoscopes was equally great. XD

“My name is Nurse Bituch,” she continued airily. “And I am being Chief Nurse of Tournament Injuries. You did have collapse during tournament. It is true you go ‘plonk’ against ground.”

“Oh,” Luna said, thinking. “So did Hanada Tattsu win?”

“Who are you to be thinking I am?” she snapped, peeling a plaster and slapping it on Luna’s forehead forcefully. “Chief Tournament Know Everything? Your Hand-Andy Tatter friend is outside of the tent. I gave him much injury because he wanted to be entering tent.”

Luna nodded. Her head was sore and her clothes torn. She had tried so hard…but Lady’s death had overwhelmed her so much…Luna looked around and was surprised that Lady was not around anywhere.

“You are more plaster than modern house,” Nurse Bituch said, chuckling. Luna did not understand. “I am to be joke, I am to be joke…now go out of tent and go to meet Hand-Andy Tatter. He is much worry. You go. Go.”

Slightly confused, Luna walked out of the tent, emerging in the bright, level area of Crescent Walk.

“I am to be love my job,” purred Nurse Bituch, as a seemingly blind UuberFred wandered in. “Sit down!”

Nurse Bituch is glorious. :D I loved that scene there. I think my favorite of her lines is, "It is true you go 'plonk' on ground." XD And yay for the UuberFred cameo there at the end! Lol, I wonder what he did to screw up his vision... XP

“Bouncy Castle! I choose you!” OzAndrew shouted, hurling a Pokeball forward. A gigantic bouncy castle popped up, and Andrew clambered aboard. The Pokeball returned to his hand and he smirked.

I just love the image of him summoning the Bouncy Castle in such a way. XD

Dramatic Highlights

Within the room he was guarding, Liang awoke, splayed in the corner of the small, square cell. A brick of light shone in from the door and he could hear voices. Wondering where the other two were, he got to his feet and barely had time to register that his jeans were ripped beyond style as he staggered into the wall. Gasping for air, he felt a tight metal band constrict inside his lungs…his breathing was slower and more labored as his eyes widened…what was wrong with him?

Holding a hand out, Liang saw it shaking wildly and brought it back down. He was sweating, sweating heavily…he blinked rapidly and felt a very powerful, heavy pounding inside of him. His stress and anxiety at being kidnapped had seemingly awoke him to the torture his body was going through as he felt uncharacteristically weak.

What was he to do…he was…he was so weak, shaking - his body; the core of his life was ruthlessly cracking and faulting as he failed to even stand up, instead simply melding against the wall and failing to keep his eyes open.

That part shows what he was experiencing there very well.

“We need to help him,” Brink said firmly. “Give him something to stop his spasms.”

“Those spasms are what will finish him off,” replied Thomas scathingly. “They’re doing what we cannot!”

“What will we do if he dies, Thomas?” Brink asked weakly. Thomas did not look at him; she stared at Liang’s rolling body as he collapsed to the ground, writhing back and forth.

“Burn the body,” she whispered. “I need to go. I’m reporting.”

Thomas stalked away down the corridor, leaving Brink to watch the prisoner flailing around. Was he going to let Liang die? No. He couldn’t. Recalling Thomas’s words months ago, Brink felt lost.

We will not let anybody die. We are not killers.

But they were. Liang was dying and Brink watched him helplessly, thinking. Would he let his daughter die like that? It was impossible, it didn’t bear thinking about…heart racing Brink grabbed his keys and jammed them in the cell door, unlocking it and stepping inside.

“Liang,” he whispered. “Liang I’m here to help you.”

As he stepped forward he felt a sudden, sharp pain in the back of his head. Brink fell to the floor abruptly, gasping as he was knocked out.

I liked that part, liked seeing Brink faced with his own conscience there.

Liang looked at her; she barely had the capacity to speak. Without another word she turned to the door and walked, revealing a huge, gaping hole in the back of her head. Blood was glazed over the cracked fragments of her skull as hair and shards of ice lay matted within.

“Your head!”

“I feel nothing.”

The graphic imagery there is great, and the fact that she is unable to feel such grievous injury adds an additional kind of potency to it. Very cool. ^^

Liang did not turn around – he daren’t – but as they ran, he cast a glance at Lady, who was exhausted. Sweat dripped down her face…her clothes…dripping from her body… was it sweat? Liang looked to see the ice and frost melting from her body, sliding down strands of her hair and face, so that she gained a bit more colour in her face.

“I’m soaked,” she gasped, as they continued to run, Lady in her bare feet. Liang noted it must be very uncomfortable. The drips of water, however, were soon mixed in with splashes of watery crimson. Blood. Horrified, Liang saw the gaping wound in the back of her head reanimate, slowly trickling as the ice around it melted away and became active once more. A thick, fleshy something pulsated in the back of her head. Liang felt sick.

“Lady!” he said, rushed. “Y-Your head?”

Tearing across the vast quarry, Lady’s hand dabbed her head and her eyes widened as she gave a lurching gasp. Her fingers felt the cracked segments of her skull and she gave a lurching sob.

“My god.”

Those last two words sum that part up perfectly. I loved that scene, loved the horrific imagery there... a mortal wound suspended in time, gruesomely reawakening. I'll not forget that scene anytime soon, if ever. Fantastic work. ^^

“Liang escaped.”

“How?”

“It’s complicated,” Hage said tentatively. “Lady Vulpix has also been taken. She…cooled off, so to speak, and managed to leave. She began to get feeling back and seemed to have helped Liang out.”

“We needed her,” snapped Thomas. “WE NEEDED HER!”

“I know, I know.”

“Get her back. She is more important than Liang.”

“Isabel has gone to get Liang; she has the case with her so I imagine we can put him out of our minds.”

“He will talk,” Thomas replied. “But we both know that if the Board is aware of our actions, it doesn’t matter who else knows. Just get Lady back and keep her until I arrive. I want the reunion to go smoothly.”

“That won’t be possible,” Hage said lightly. “She died.”

Thomas dropped the phone. It smashed to the ground and she stood there, her left eyebrow giving a sudden twitch.

“Get me a gun.”

“What?” Deatley asked.

“I said,” Thomas replied firmly. “Get me a gun.”

“What about –”

“Forget what we said,” she snapped. “Hage has let me down. Get me a gun. Now.”

Another example of just what a powerful presence Thomas has as a character. I really like that.

Gregg had his Wartortle out, who was standing on a platform hardily. He also had a Whiscash out, who was in the water with a devilish look on his face. Gregg’s team was mainly all water types; Wartortle, Croconaw, Kingdra, Poliwhirl, Quagsire and Whiscash. He was finding the double battle particularly hard.

Was anybody here, cheering him on? Perhaps Grey had taken the time from his busy schedule…Gregg snorted. The idea was ridiculous. Not because Grey wouldn’t turn up, no; Gregg knew that his friend would always be here if the choice were his. No, it was the sheer workload he knew Grey to be burdened with since Amy Wolfsong left the league. All ownership and command of the village was Grey’s, and he had twice the work to do.

Little did Gregg realize that his opponent was just as lonely, just as confused as she swam in a sea of faces, yearning to find one she recognized? Unfortunately for Luna, the people she really wanted to see would never be back; Solia and Lady. Granted Lady and Luna were never particularly close…but they developed some sort of bond. The bond people forge when one helps the other. As for Solia…it had been roughly two months since Solia’s passing…and Luna had never felt more independent. Not having her sister, her best friend…her soul mate around really was difficult. But Luna knew Solia was there, somewhere, watching her sister and feeling so proud.

Was it not nearly a year ago that the two sisters decided to register for the league, amid rumors that teen heartthrob Robin Robinson was a member also? On a whim they booked an initiation, meeting Amy Wolfsong in their home city of Washington. Amy was battling and testing entrants while The Missing Link had other duties, but she was friendly, meeting them in the disused Washington Gym. Espeon and Umbreon VS Amy’s Bayleef and Miltank.

Luna jerked out of her memories as she pointed ahead; Roselia leapt up and blasted a powerful stream of swirling leaves, razor sharp and deadly.

I love the way their thoughts, feelings and memories are examined there.

“Come on,” Luna said quietly. She saw an advertisement on the large plasma screen, and a trainer was hugging his Vulpix tightly and warmly. The Vulpix cried out in happiness. Luna thought about Lady Vulpix…

Clear your mind, came an oddly familiar voice. Luna turned to see Lady Vulpix standing there. You need to clear your mind or you will fail.

“R-Roselia! Stun Spore! Solrock use fire spin!” Luna cried out, trying to divert her attention. Roselia leapt up and span frantically, sending a thick cloud of spores all over the arena. Wartortle and Whiscash stayed underwater to wash away the effects. Solrock spewed a thin snake of flame, which hit the spores and caused an explosion that devastated the arena. In a huge, bowling crash, Solrock and Roselia were hurled backwards and the platforms crumbled as Whiscash and Wartortle were forced against the pool floor by the explosions.

Luna, listen to me –

“You’re not real!” Luna hissed, turning wildly to the ghostly woman standing before her. She clutched her head. “Roselia! Solrock! Wait for the foes to emerge and bombard them!”

You need me, whispered a voice. Luna…I can help you…

Luna was sweating uncontrollably as she panicked, hearing Lady all around. What was going on? Why did Lady have to die today? Luna felt tears leaking down her face as she struggled to stay balanced. Solia stared at her from Hanada’s side of the pool, sadness in her eyes as Lady continued to whisper advice and warnings.

Suddenly, all became black. Luna collapsed in the battlefield, the cries and shouts of surprise from those around drowned out by a gentle buzzing.

Wow. o.o That was some potent stuff there, what with her being haunted by hallucinations of Lady and the effects that had on her.

“Wartortle use dive then ice punch!” cried Gregg, ordering his Pokemon to leap under the waves, littered with debris and rubble. As he stared at the smooth watery pool he recalled his match in the old pool down BT Street…his match not long after he registered in TPML…

“Horsea! Try and use a headbutt to escape!” Horsea hammered his head against the roof of ice but it hurt just too much. Horsea, from what the strangled cries told suggested, seemed to be suffering immense pain by trying to free himself. Sneasel skidded along the ice, digging his claws into the ice to slow down. He stared down at the dazed Horsea through the icy glass sheet, a smirk on his face.

He shook his head wildly; he needed to clear his head. Wartortle broke the surface of the water and swung his fist into Roselia, causing her to cry out in pain. In retaliation she swung her bud at Wartortle, smashing him in the face. He swung around and dived in the water.

The effects that Gregg's memories had on him during the battle also made for good reading.

“Explain.”

Thomas was at HQ. Hage, Rolph, Wayne, Deatley, Logan and Brink stood there in silence.

“Brink. I told you not to open the door to Liang’s cell and you did. Why.”

“He was having a heart attack!” Brink protested.

“I gave you a direct order,” snarled Thomas. “And we NEEDED him to die, Brink! That was the point!”

“I don’t want innocent people dying,” he said calmly. “You said, when we started this, nobody would get hurt!”

“Well thanks to your incompetence we might have to bend that rule,” Thomas replied, delving into her pocket. She drew a gun and pointed it at Brink’s head, right in-between his eyes. “This is your own fault.”

In a sweeping move, Brink knocked the gun away and gripped Thomas, twisting her arm into a half-nelson and pressing her against the wall.

“Don’t try and threaten me, Thomas. I could kill you with my bare hands if I wanted to.”

“But you don’t want to,” Thomas said calmly. “Now get off me.”

Another great Thomas moment.

Battle Highlights

“Now Hariyama use stealth rock,” commanded Becca. Hariyama threw something from his palm; it was a small stone that split once, twice, again; the small rocks grew and grew into thick columns of rock that slammed down across the arena like pegs.

First time I've ever seen Stealth Rock used in fiction, unless I'm mistaken. Cool. ^^ And I like the way you depicted the attack there.

Flygon tore through the air, its mere flight beautiful. As it soared overhead, spiraling flames burst from its thin jaw and rocketed towards Venusaur. Aggron ran along the arena, preparing to deal damage, but Starmie got in the way. Her core pulsating magnificently, she manipulated the flamethrower, sending it swerving around and smashing into the oncoming Aggron.

Not only was Flygon being cool there, but what Starmie did with the Flamethrower was awesome. ^^

Wayne surveyed the skies, noticing the pulsating sun in the sky.

“Flygon, use solarbeam on Starmie. Aggron, fire blast on Venusaur.”

Instantly a beam of fantastic, white-hot energy hurtled through the air, materializing and taking form as it sped along like a brilliant train. Aggron sent a ploughing, ornate symbol of destruction, swathed in flames, shooting across the arena.

Great imagery. ^^

“Venusaur! Frenzy Plant!”

As the sun began to become shrouded by a collection of airy, fluffy clouds, Venusaur raised his front legs and slammed them forcefully into the ground; a strip of large, thorny vines burst up from the ground and ensnared Aggron, lifting him high into the air as he became tangled.

“Starmie! Blizzard!”

Starmie leapt through the air, avoiding a dragonbreath from Flygon and unleashing a sweeping mass of ice and crystal. The collection of cold winds and freezing moisture struck Aggron among the frenzy-plant-tree and the entire sculpture became frozen over, melding together under diamond shine. Starmie leapt to Venusaur’s side as Flygon saw his comrade frozen amid a mass of sparkling vines.

More great imagery. ^^

“Solrock! Get Whiscash out of the way!” Luna cried. Solrock hovered above the water, using a psychic attack to try and stop the greedy catfish. However as Solrock executed the attack Wartortle leapt up and slammed Solrock with an ice punch, causing him to fall back, clattering against a platform like a flipped penny.

I like that little part there; I just do. ^^

Great work as always. :D

Charles Legend

6th September 2007, 02:30 PM

You know, I recall reading that Gregg had a sister, who I think you were going for Misty, now that would mean the Ecks and Colisto had a doughter before Gragg. I think Tomas/Pichu is Gragg older sister. It kind of makes since to have both his parents and his sis use him as a Pawn...

~Charles Legend "Foreword the Dragonbreath!"

Chris 2.1

6th September 2007, 05:06 PM

Sike: Glad you....erm, appreciated Lady's death (enjoyed is the wrong word) I guess I was focused on making sure I got across how detailed and specific her wounds and ailments were; I'm so glad it got through.

As I've said, all the matches (except Oz's) had been majorly cut and edited so I was sure that they wouldn't have the same impact; I'm glad they did!

You know Gregg is a favourite character of mine; one, anyway. He's so subtley pivotal in Ecks' storyline and Chris' early time in the league, his training with Kyle - In Ch34 he was the one who told Grey Callisto was married to Ecks, something that was unknown by anyone. He's been a catalyst for so many events. I really like writing for him. But how would HE react to the news he's the Subject?

Bituch sounds like Bitch. It's clever :) And I really lke how, every chapter, you LOVE a Pokemon that's featured. I dread the day you don't like any of the Pokes in a chapter :-|

I want to write more of these painstakingly accurate horoscopes. You'll never guess who pens them!

Brink is sort of drifting away from WAVEX. Will we ever meet his daughter? I wanted to explore some of the members background, but there are a lot of members so we'll see glimpses into each one. Rolph is particularly interesting, I always wanted a young, enigmatic man.

Oh and Isabel. She's cool. If you haven't noticed, she seems to be targetting Liang for some reason.

Charles: You're right; early on it was hinted that Gregg was related to Misty. This was before I had planned the depth of the fic and before Gregg was a developed character; as a result this piece of information no longer fits in with the direction of the story.

The problem with writing chapter-by-chapter is you can't edit things in previous works. This is a small occurance I'd like you all to look the other way at :)

Chris 2.1

17th September 2007, 08:58 PM

I wrote at least half of this chapter today o_0;;

Chapter Forty-Eight
Charles Legend (Part II)

It was around midnight in New York City and, amid a sleepy metropolis there was a single, piercing skyscraper awash with bright lights. The twelve members of the Board were not all present; however the vast majority of the workers were still in the building, working overtime as the night rolled on.

Gordon sipped a coffee as he looked out of the large window in his office. The door knocked and Amy Wolfsong entered. Her hair was tied back into a sensible ponytail and the former Moderator wore a very flattering deep navy suit jacket. Slightly timid, she walked in.

“Amy,” Gordon said absently, turning. “Do take a seat.”

She obliged, sitting down. Gordon sat down opposite her behind his sleek desk and looked at her.

“Is everything ok?”

“Oh yes, fine,” she said, smiling.

“I know you have just started here,” Gordon said calmly. “And that you probably want to get home after the last couple of days. But I ask that you stay into the night just like everybody else, Amy. The Board needs the help of everyone.”

Amy nodded. She shortly bid farewell to Gordon and headed off to her department; as the new Head of Accounts Amy was commanding an entire floor of staff. Gordon left his office, locking it securely and wandering down the small corridor that led from his room to the rest of the floor. On his right was a small office which was currently being inhabited by Magnus Archer, who was typing out a report on his computer. Gordon stood in the doorway.

“How is progress?”

“Slow,” Magnus snapped irritably. Magnus was head of Field Operatives; a physically fit man he was not used to spending time in an office typing out a report. His thick, masculine hands slowly punched at the keys on his keyboard as his eyebrow twitched.

“Then hurry up,” Gordon replied lazily. As part of the documentation that accompanied the closure of TPML 04621, Gordon, as the Chairman of the Board, needed two references from other members of the Board to prevent bias. Cocoa Sting, who had temporarily been placed in charge of TPML many months ago, had to write a small report; Magnus Archer, who had traveled to 04621 in order to apprehend Ecks, was also chosen. He had failed to bring Ecks in after the man was shot by his wife, Callisto; when Magnus pursued her, he failed at that, too. A gunshot wound to the shoulder left Magnus unable to properly wield a firearm and his position on the Board was waning. Gordon wanted to ensure he could to the right thing before he was potentially dismissed from the Board.

“I will be done by tomorrow,” Magnus said. His report was crucial in allowing 04621 to be shut down, since Cocoa Sting’s report was much more applauding of the integrity and charm the village had.

“Good. I need the league shut down as soon as possible. Grey shows no signs of being able to stop WAVEX,” Gordon replied, sounding somewhat panic-stricken. He left the room as Magnus continued to type.

*

Meanwhile, within Crush Quarry, Thomas was zipping up her jacket as she put her phone down. Isabel the nurse stood behind her, wearing a coat, while Rolph continued to study the village from the electronic map.

“Chris Watarimono has agreed to meet,” Thomas explained.

“Good,” Isabel said in floating tones.

“What about the villagers?” Rolph said, eyes fixed on the screen. “They are leaving the main square right now.”

“Can you tell how many there are?” Thomas asked.

“No,” Rolph replied. “But I’ve hacked into the VS Database. Seven people replied to the message confirming they would participate.”

He showed Thomas a list he had printed off.

“This can’t be all of them, though, many more will be on the way.”

“Thank you,” Thomas said to Rolph. Deatley returned with Logan, entering the room and stopping to look at Thomas and Isabel. Logan looked angry, while Deatley looked smoothly intrigued.

“It isn’t that warm,” he replied.

“We are heading out,” Thomas replied coldly. “We are going to meet Chris Watarimono to begin the next part of the plan.”

“I see,” Deatley said.

“So are we staying here to defend your castle?” Logan asked sharply. “Do you want us to risk our lives while you slip out the back door, Thomas?”

“No, I would not,” Thomas snapped back. “Logan I want everybody to come with us. We need strength in numbers.”

“Why evacuate the HQ?”

“Everything has been emptied,” Thomas replied. “Everyone knows where we are running things now. It is unsafe. All data we cannot bring has been destroyed. Lady’s body is in Brink’s cell. The prisoners have been knocked out.”

Isabel smirked, holding a needle between her fingers.

“I told the other men this before you and Deatley arrived,” Thomas explained calmly. Hage and Wayne emerged from the staircase, both ready to leave.

“The van is ready,” Hage said. “We should leave now.”

“So…what about the prisoners?” Logan asked, sounding almost offended at this new plan. “The people we captured. Our leverage against Grey.”

“We still have the tape, and so does Brooklyn,” Thomas told her associate, not intimidated whatsoever. “But in a few hours time we won’t need Grey anymore. Now is the best time to let the prisoners have a chance of freedom.”

“We worked hard to capture them,” Logan replied crossly. “And we’ve had them two days before you go and decide it wasn’t worth the hassle!”

“Fine,” Thomas replied, as if giving in to a stubborn child. “Stay and fight.”

“I will,” Logan said, slumping himself down into a chair. “And I’ll kill as many people as I can who try and get those prisoners out.”

“Ok then,” Thomas said. “I’ll expect a call over the next 24 hours if you are alive.”

She got up and walked out the room. Isabel followed behind and Hage, Wayne, Rolph and Deatley also followed their leader. Footsteps rang out across the cold mesh steps as the group made their way outside to safety. Logan sat there calmly, grabbing a gun and loading it as he paced around the room.

*

Meanwhile, the newly reformed Crystal Syndicate made their way across the village, heading down towards the Quarry. As the smooth pavements disintegrated the group clambered across rocky ledges and boulders as they approached the slightly more flat quarry.

“It’s sort of exciting,” River said to TBA. “If my sister’s life wasn’t at stake, I’d totally be loving this right now.”

“You know this reminds me of the final battle against Old Man Cow,” Charles said loudly, slipping on a rock somewhat. Nobody said anything until Dark Sage began a conversation about a legendary Pokemon.

Charles stared at the disinterested group, musing.

I was with Elec Man; after spending the day watching archived matches we were pretty good friends. Liang hobbled alongside us with the energy of a teabag; eyes baggy and bloodshot, skin tinged an unhealthy gray.

In no time Liang gave a lurching gasp; his hand clutched his chest as he staggered forward and collapsed in front of our eyes. Screams filled the air as Liang coughed and wretched, throwing up blood and bile before us.

“Liang!” River cried, leaping down beside him.

“Give him some room!” I shouted, as Dark Sage peered intently. “Back off!”

“Liang are you ok?” Nate asked precariously.

“Yea Nate he’s just fine,” Dark Sage rasped, from the sidelines.

“Shut up DS,” I snapped. Liang rolled over, gasping as he curled up tightly, face contorted with pain. “Liang, mate…”

Elec Man released a small Bulbasaur; judging from the way she stood, as well as her cry, I guessed she was a girl. The Bulbasaur sent out a fume of wafting fragrance around us; Charles sneezed loudly as we all stood in anticipation. Liang stirred, smelling the fragrance and his tight, curled posture began to uncurl, like a flower forming from a bud.

“Liang,” River cooed, kneeling beside him. The moderator gave another cough of blood and sniffed. “Liang what’s wrong? What just happened to you?”

He wiped his face on his sleeve, tears forming in his eyes from the retching. A sky of faces peered down on him uncomfortably. Liang got up steadily.

“I’m not feeling well,” he said, indifferently. He staggered slightly and fell back down. River bent down and looked at Liang firmly.

“You are dangerously unwell,” she said. “And I won’t let you come with us.”

“I’m coming,” Liang snapped, getting up; he gave a wheezing moan and clutched his stomach. I saw this and rushed to his side, supporting the waning moderator. “I need to rescue Crystal. I made a promise.”

“I’m leading these people to danger,” River told him crossly, louder this time, so that everyone could hear. “I won’t take you knowing you could damn well die without the enemy even laying a finger on you.”

“This isn’t your decision, River!” Liang cried, angry. “I’m coming!”

“No you aren’t,” I said suddenly, turning my gaze on my friend. Liang looked at me, aghast, ready to make an argument when I talked over him. “I won’t let you.”

“Chris, shut up,” Liang replied. I took a step forward. Liang held his fists ready. I looked at him and, sweeping under his punch I got him in a headlock suddenly. Liang was drained, definitely not in good shape and wasn’t able to get out of my grip. I held him there tightly, looking down at him.

“We’re going back to yours,” I said sharply. “River, sorry I can’t come. I need to get Liang back.”

“Get off me!” Liang snapped. I gripped him and led him away back up towards the village. “CHRIS!”

“I’ll let go when you admit something’s wrong,” I said crossly.

“Fine,” Liang snapped, feeling his legs buckle slightly. “Let’s get back to mine. I’ll…fill you in, or something.”

*

Thomas clambered into the front seat of the van. Hage got into the drivers seat and squirted water from the wipers onto the screen in an effort to wipe away some of Lady’s blood.

“Hang on,” Thomas said. She looked around and noticed something. “Wayne isn’t here.”

“I thought he was with you?” Deatley asked Rolph, who shook his head solemnly. Isabel, who was just getting into the van, saw the hatch of the HQ shut.

“He is staying,” she said in her mysterious voice. “He must want to fight.”

“He wants to kill OzAndrew,” Deatley said casually. “Because he’ll get put into Round 3.”

“Then so be it,” Thomas replied gravely. “Now, Grey isn’t at work at the moment so I’m assuming he is at home. Drive me to Falken Street and I will meet you later on at the foot of the archives.”

“Yes Thomas,” Hage said, starting the van and driving off.

*

Meanwhile, on the Board of Governors, Amy Wolfsong was sitting in the Relaxation Room. As gentle music rippled through the atmosphere a pleasant scent was released from a variety of big colourful flowers.

“Hey,” came a voice. Amy saw Cocoa Sting stride into the room, making herself a coffee. When Amy first saw Cocoa Sting, she saw a powerful, beautiful black woman with jet black hair tied tightly. Her lipstick was a candyfloss pink and her brown eyes warming. Today she looked so much wiser and older; gone was the millennium style and fashion as Cocoa wore a graying tweed suit jacket that made her look much older. Her hair was slightly lanker and limp, with an odd gray streak searing down it. The stress and shock of the attempt on her life in TPML brought a change in the woman.

“Cocoa,” Amy said warmly, smiling. “How nice to see you.”

Cocoa shook Amy’s hand diligently before tending to her coffee. Amy watched from the squishy sofa she was on.

“How good it is to work with you professionally,” Cocoa said, taking a seat opposite Amy. “When did you start?”

“This morning,” Amy sighed. She checked her watch. “I’ve been working for…14 hours now.”

“The hours can be a bit irrational during busy times,” Cocoa said. “I think around this time of the year…there’s so much work to do, you know…”

“Yea…”

“…still, it must be strange for you,” Cocoa said airily, casting her illustrious eyes over Amy. “Leaving everyone behind.”

“In a way,” Amy said indifferently. She thought of Liang and the letter she wrote…when would he finally read the words she had longed to speak? The words she could never speak? Was the young man even alive right now…or had he succumbed to the poison?

“The thing is,” Cocoa said, thinking. “Pokemon training is a sport. A hobby, like everything else in life. You cannot really build a life from it.”

“I agree,” Amy said.

“I suppose you left at the right time, though,” Cocoa went on. “At least you have nice memories to hold on to.”

“…what do you mean?” Amy asked, bewildered. Cocoa stared at her for a moment before realizing that Amy knew nothing of Gordon’s plan to shut down TPML. Calmly, Cocoa explained about WAVEX and how her predecessor, Volletta, had been arrested after working with WAVEX and passing on information about the league. Amy listened, horrified, as the truth began to uncurl and she learnt of the shutdown plan. When Cocoa finished, telling Amy that Gordon’s report was almost finished, the girl leapt to her feet.

“We need to stop him!”

“We can’t just stop him,” Cocoa said calmly.

“Well we should tell someone!” Amy cried. “People need to know!”

“Gordon already told Grey,” Cocoa sighed. “He clearly hasn’t passed the information on to anybody else.”

“Why not?” Amy asked. “I would tell people.”

“But it’s his call,” replied Cocoa. “Grey has obviously decided not to tell anybody.”

“So what…the village is just going to shut down?” Amy asked.

“Probably by tomorrow,” Cocoa answered.

“Oh no,” moaned Amy, slumping. “TPML…it’s going to just…die out.”

“Gordon has been on the warpath for months,” Cocoa told Amy. “The village has attracted so much negative attention, and this entire WAVEX thing has…well, broken the camels back, as it were.”

“I’ve never been to a more beautiful place,” Amy sighed. “I come here holding onto so many memories of my time there…of my friends…”

“I fell in love with it, too,” Cocoa told Amy. She laughed. “Around here people think 04621 has a curse on it – people just can’t help but like the place. Karin quit her job on the Board to go and run the league when it opened…I stayed longer than I should have because it is such a refreshing change from the dirty, industrial city we work in. Callisto Thunder ran there and never came back and…well, who can forget Ecks?”

“Why can’t you do anything?” Amy replied sadly.

“Because it rests with Gordon,” Cocoa said. “And he has everything in place.”

*

Meanwhile the newly formed Syndicate walked on across Crush Quarry towards WAVEX HQ. With Chris and Liang now gone, the group was in low spirits, particularly regarding Liang’s ominous health. River led the way, refusing to hold TBA’s hand in an effort to look brave and independent. A confused TBA donned his snazziest pirate hat and walked on. Charles Legend tagged after Elec Man EXE, wearing his awful, home-made t-shirt saying ‘Elec Man is EXEllent!’, bringing with him his new Elekid. The Elekid was thin and had odd eyes.

Behind them was Dark Sage, who had a burly Machoke at his side. Luna followed DS with her Espeon and Umbreon out, looking slightly nervous as she walked across the night. The small group got closer to the HQ as Charles began to speak.

“You know I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars in the sky,” he noted. “Except that time when I went to the Land of the Unflipped Coin.”

“Land of the Unflipped Coin?” Luna asked, a girl not familiar with Charles.

“Yea, it all happened when I dropped my money down the drain…” Charles explained, but before he could continue, Dark Sage cut in.

“…SO ANYWAY,” he boomed. “RIVER! WHAT – ARE – YOU – UP – TO?”

“Shut up you idiot!” River hissed. “This is a sneak attack!”

“I’m trying to drown out Charles Legend’s depressing story,” Dark Sage replied, chuckling. “Charlie-boy, why don’t you just stop telling these pathetic stories?”

“Look Dark Mage,” Charles said seriously. “I know you’re my truest and best friend and also my sidekick in the mini-screenplay I wrote for a competition but later burned after scathing reviews from everything that read it. But anyway cut me some slack!”

“You know River, Charles might be too immature to come with us,” Dark Sage noted. “I mean…come on; we’ve all heard the stories.”

“Seriously Mark Sage I’m warning you! Stop being mean!” Charles snapped. “You’re my soulfriend!”

“What’s my first name?” Dark Sage asked coolly.

“Erm.”

Charles thought for a moment.

“Spencer William Cladmere VI?”

“No. It’s Brian.”

“Damnit. I was so close.”

“DS leave Charles alone,” TBA quipped. “Charles we respect you and we want you on this mission.”

“Thanks Jeff,” Charles replied. He released his Charmeleon. “King don’t be afraid to scare Spencer if he tries being mean. But don’t actually use fire. That’s how I got arrested on suspicion of terrorism remember? You know? The time when we set the orphanage on fire by accident? King? Do you remember the time? I joked that you should use flamethrower because they said I wasn’t allowed to live in the orphanage because I was 24? And you used flamethrower? Yea? And it burned to the ground? Well? King? Do? You?”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” Luna snapped, turning wildly. “JESUS CHRIST CHARLES!”

“Sorry.”

Charles stared at the ground solemnly as Luna’s fierce gaze pierced into him, bursting his enthusiasm as if it were a small balloon and she a sharp pin. River clutched her hair wildly as she marched on, TBA catching up. The group followed on. The quarry was cold at this time. Sandshrew and Diglett alike were beneath the crusty earth, sleeping. The night was entirely silent and the villagers were making good time.

“We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes,” River replied, not looking back. “Our priority is to get Crystal and Girafarig out safely. Use your Pokemon to help. I don’t know the layout, but Liang told us that the cells were down a left path so we’re going to go that way.”

“Ok,” Elec Man said calmly. He released his Glalie. “We’ll get your sister out ok, Riv.”

“I hope so,” River said sadly.

*

Meanwhile, Grey was in his small house at the end of a tiresome day. He was dressed in a t-shirt and lounging pants and was drinking a glass of water as he prepared for bed. Before one foot touched a step of his staircase, however, the doorbell gave a shrill cry and Grey turned.

“Coming,” he groaned, wondering if Becca or Liang wanted him for something. He opened the door, however, to see Thomas standing there, smirking. She walked forward and bustled into Grey, causing him to unwillingly let her in.

“Thomas…” he said slowly. “How nice to see you.”

“I’d say the same,” she replied, giving him a scathing look. “But I’m a woman of integrity.”

“Why didn’t you just ring me?” Grey sighed, shutting the door and locking it. Thomas took off her jacket and ran a hand through her gingery, auburn hair.

“I was on my way through and thought I’d stop by.”

“I see.”

“Hm.”

“Well,” Grey said, pacing the room. “I wanted to talk to you about our conversation yesterday.”

“Oh yes?” Thomas said, smiling. “I thought you might. You must have dropped the phone after I told you about The Subject.”

“Is it really Gregg?” Grey asked.

“It is, yes,” Thomas said firmly.

“So then, you must be working for Callisto,” Grey stated, having come to this conclusion quite quickly after hearing the revelation. “She paid you to fix the league.”

“No,” Thomas said, in a light voice. “I have never spoken to Callisto or Ecks. Or Gregg, in fact…”

“No?”

“Not once.”

“Then why Gregg?” Grey asked Thomas, his voice losing composure and calm. Instead of replying Thomas took a deep breath, closed her eyes momentarily and looked at the man.

“Before I answer,” she said, taking time to choose her words. “Ask yourself why you decided to help train Gregg up before the league,” Thomas said crisply. Grey, who was not expecting this, stood and thought for a moment.

“I…wanted to reach out and help the boy,” Grey said, thinking. “He’d just lost his father, he was worried about the league…he needed help.”

He paused, thinking about his love, Emma…

“…I knew, first-hand, what could happen if he went off the rails.”

“Exactly,” Thomas replied. “And this is exactly why we are helping Gregg. The boy needs this victory to help him recover from everything that has happened. I, too, know what it is like to veer off track, to delve into the dark depths of the other side and I won’t have this boy go through the same.”

“You could pick any dysfunctional trainer,” Grey said suddenly. “Why Gregg?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Thomas replied smoothly.

“Gregg was…easily the most troubled person in the village,” Grey answered.

“Exactly. The boy could end up as dangerous as his father if he isn’t kept on the right tracks. You see, Grey…we have a lot in common. It was on a mere whim we chose to use you instead of Amy – both of you were in charge at the time. Thank goodness we did choose you; Amy is now on the Board and you have ended up sharing our aspirations.”

“You,” Grey snapped, surprising Thomas. “Are wrong. I trained Gregg, I taught him a few things…I want that boy to do as well as he can. I am not doing everything I can to ensure he wins. That is where we differ.”

“Then I wasted a visit,” Thomas replied airily, heading towards the door. “I came wondering if you wanted to…make everything official among WAVEX. But I see no reason to change our system now.”

“Agreed,” Grey replied grumpily.

“It’s a shame,” she replied.

“You do know that Gordon has almost finished the report on the league?” Grey asked, trying to irk Thomas before she left. “He’ll be done in mere hours.”

Thomas smiled.

“We will have accomplished far more than Gordon in mere hours,” Thomas replied airily. “And when we do…we’ll be unstoppable.”

And on that ominous note, Thomas left the room, shutting the door behind her. Grey walked to his window, watching her walk across the street, wondering what on earth she had planned. Instead of heading to bed, the head moderator walked to the kitchen and made himself a coffee.

He did not want to be asleep during the next few hours.

Chris 2.1

17th September 2007, 09:00 PM

The Crystal Syndicate could see the dome-like structure of the WAVEX HQ getting nearer and nearer. Now everyone had at least one Pokemon out for protection, their friends aiding them as they walked on. It was well past midnight now, the stars winking from overhead as the evenings chill set in.

“Ok,” River said, as they approached the hatch. The rest of the group watched with trepidation. “I’ll open the hatch…”

“Wait,” Luna said, stepping forward. “River…don’t open it yourself. You are open to attack.”

“What do you mean?” River asked.

“You said WAVEX have members in the league,” Luna said. “If that is the case, then members of WAVEX will have gotten your message since they will have VS Seekers. They could be expecting us.”

“Well we need to open the hatch, Luna,” TBA said earnestly.

“I know,” Luna told them. “Everyone stand back.”

She also took a few steps back with her Umbreon and Espeon. Pointing forward, Luna issued a psychic attack and her Espeon gave a soft cry. The hatch wheel span around frantically, undoing the lock and allowing Espeon to peel the hatch door back to allow access down into the lab.

However as soon as the hatch was opened a fantastic streak of fire rocketed out at an angle and tore through the sky. Shocked, the group heard voices and a beast roaring out loud as another jet was released.

“They knew!” River said.

“Look we need to regain control,” The Blue Avenger said, looking at his Exeggutor. Nate, who had recalled Glalie and had his Typhlosion out, nodded. “Numeron! Blast a stun spore into the hatch.”

“Volcanst, use flamethrower to ignite the spores,” said Elec Man, exchanging a smirk with TBA. The flames hit the spore cloud and a huge explosion rang out into the HQ; there were roars and cries of shock as the explosion blasted down the stairwell.

“Now!” River cried, her Electrode at her side. “LET’S GO!”

She leapt down the hatch and landed on the stairwell, leaping down the stairs as she scanned the arena. A thin, weak looking man was on the floor as an Aggron covered its eyes in pain; River recognized him as the man Andrew battled yesterday. Acting fast, she ordered Electrode to roll into him, smashing him against the wall as Elec Man and Typhlosion leapt in, with TBA and Exeggutor following.

“Put this guy to sleep,” River ordered her boyfriend, racing ahead with Eexggutor. “Nate, stay and battle that Aggron. Charles, Luna, DS, come with me!”

“Charles just wait outside,” Dark Sage said, smirking.

“Shut up Spencer,” Charles snapped. “I’m just as good as you.”

“Ok we need to go down to the left,” River said, heading down that way. “Jeff and Nate are going to handle that Aggron, we’ll get Crys out.”

She led the four of them away; behind them the sleep powder dissolved around a green aura surrounding Wayne. He smirked and leapt to his feet, ordering his Aggron to use dragonbreath to strike Typhlosion.

“What happened?” TBA snapped.

“A Pokemon is transmitting a safeguard through the building,” Wayne said playfully. “I’m protected from any cheap tricks you might pull. Speaking of which…”

A huge gust of wind picked The Blue Avenger up and slammed him into a wall. A Flygon stamped forward from the right corridor. Typhlosion sent a flame wheel spinning towards the beast but he stood there, blasting another strong gust to send the flaming spiral into Exeggutor. Elec Man helped The Blue Avenger up as River and the rest ran towards the cells.

*

I wasn’t sure what I expected when we went back to Liang’s flat. Firstly I didn’t expect that he, too, lived in BT Street, in a slightly pokier apartment above an old disused building called ‘The Lucky Carp Casino’. It had peeling walls and a faded logo of a Magikarp with a dollar sign in its eyes. Liang and I walked into his main room, which had an odd, spicy scent, and Liang collapsed in a sofa.

I looked around; it was a very cozy room with a student vibe; canvas prints hung from the walls and everything seemed sort of quirky. I guessed Liang got a lot of his furniture second hand, such as the rather erotic lamp stand and the mouldy-looking rug.

“Help yourself to a drink,” Liang groaned.

“I’d rather hear about you,” I said seriously. I saw Liang look slightly more alert momentarily as he explained to me about his illness; how he was poisoned way back during the Frontier Brains leaving ceremony, before I’d even left the village to visit home. Liang told me how the poison was spreading so fast it was deteriorating his organs and it was beginning to really affect him. Amy had learnt of this, but Liang seemed more guarded since she left, anxious to ensure nobody else heard of it. When I asked him when he was dying, Liang told me something chilling; that he probably wouldn’t see the end of the league.

“I’ll be able to battle in Round 3,” he promised me. “But…Chris…I’m so tired. So weak…”

"I can't believe you've battled with this for so long," I said mournfully, gazing down at him. "Why didn't you tell anybody?"

"Ehh...I don't know..." he sighed, rolling his eyes. "I always felt like people see me as some hero. I'm always told I'm one of the best battlers, I've always been reccomended for moderation - they even wanted training gyms to be introduced next year, and guess who they want as the leader?"

He moved his position so that he was sitting, his head in his hands.

"...to admit to everybody that - against my own will - I'm dying and I'm helpless...I couldn't do that."

"Hm," I said absently. "Well it's quite hard to digest."

I was thinking about the people of TPML; Liang's friends, family, all crowding around him in his final moments. The very idea made me sick.

"Do you want something to eat?" I asked him, hoping for some sort of distraction. "I could make you a sandwich or something."

"No, I can do it," he grunted, heaving himself up and staggering into the kitchen. "Do you want anything?"

"No..." I called vaguely, looking around the room. “Hey...there’s a letter here.”

“Hmn.”

Liang’s grunt told me he wasn’t particularly bothered, but I got up and walked to the door, yanking it from the letterbox and glancing at it. It was in a powdery-blue envelope. I brought it back over to my seat. I didn't want to open it; not when Liang was in the other room. I sat patiently, hoping it was something more exciting than a doctor's bill or a mysterious business card. The poor guy couldn't solve mysteries while he was clinging on for dear life.

“It’s just addressed ‘Liang’,” I said, as the moderator entered the room with a snack. I found this odd. Liang’s eyes flickered and he took the letter from my grasp.

“Amy,” he said suddenly, sitting down and ripping the letter open. “It’s her handwriting. I know it…the way she loops her letters…it even smells like Amy.”

His eyes scanned the letter frantically, his thin, trembling fingers clutching the paper so tightly he was starting to puncture it. I walked around and peered over his shoulder, keen to read what Amy had penned:

Dear Liang,
I am writing to let you know why I didn’t say goodbye to you when I left the village. I have to explain myself because I owe you that. As I sit here, waiting for my flight to New York I cannot contain the sadness inside me; the ache in my heart that tells me I may have made the wrong decision. But I love you, Liang…and that is what hurts the most.

After you told me of your condition, and how long it had been since you were made sick, I did the maths. I figured out you would die during the league. And I knew, as head moderator of the league I would have to watch you die. I would witness you lose everything you are to that dreadful poison and I could not take it.

The work on the Board seems fantastic; I’m very excited. So you must understand I did not leave purely out of fear. I also want to further my career, especially since this is a fantastic opportunity working with these people. I have just grown so accustomed to your quirks, your charm, your smile…to every single thing about you so watching them slowly fade away would be devastating.

I know we may never speak again. And I know I want my last memories of you to be happy. I wish you all the best luck in the league, and in everything else you do. I love you, Liang. I love you.

Amy.

Liang blinked furiously to hold back tears. I scooted back to my side of the seat as he re-read the letter again, scanning the words and taking in everything Amy had said.

“She was…brilliant,” Liang said sadly, breathing in deeply.

“Yea,” I murmured.

“Always liked Henry, though…” Liang mused, thinking about his deceased brother. “He was a bit more…rugged. I was a bit of a geek.”

“I…never got to meet him,” I mentioned.

“You’d have liked him,” Liang told me. “He was…bursting with energy. Only had four Pokemon. We both came to the league together, back in 2003. Our parents had a…messy divorce and the two of us needed some space. Well this village was so green and verdant, so quiet…it was perfect. Henry stayed for a year, before he went up to Scotland to do some training in more rural areas. I stayed on; I’d made a few friends and wanted to try and get in the top 4 of the league.”

“Cool,” I said warmly, feeling slightly more invited. I sat with Liang as he regaled me with his past. We sat in the living room as the night rolled on, blissfully unaware of anything else going on in the village.

[center] * [Center]

River was walking down a long corridor with Dark Sage, Charles Legend and Luna Fuerte behind her. She turned right and raced down the corridor that led towards the cells. As she ran, there was a long moan and a Gastly appeared before them. A beam of energy was blasted towards the group and River took the brunt of it; she flew back and the group toppled down.

“Louie! Thunderbolt!” she shouted, getting up as her Electrode blasted the attack through the air. Gastly phased out of the atmosphere and re-emerged behind them, blasting a shadow ball into Luna. She had her Umbreon use dark pulse, but Gastly evaded a second time.

“Ok someone stay here and battle it!” River said, staring down the corridor. She ran off with her Electrode and Dark Sage looked to follow; Charles pushed him over and tore after the leader as Luna had her Umbreon fire a hidden power, manifesting into a water attack that soaked the gaseous form.

“Now use psybeam and dark pulse!”

Espeon fired off the rainbow beam of psychic light; it sped through the air, its bright colours shining around the cold, narrow corridor; Umbreon blasted a fizzing beam of crackling energy that pulsated wildly and the two attacks connected with Gastly, striking it.

“Good job,” the trainer said encouragingly. Her Pokemon ran to her as Gastly sped off. However before they advanced, Dark Sage felt a cold, cruel pair of hands materialize and throttle him. Luna cried in shock as the bony, purple hands clasped around his neck.

“Brian!”

“Hlkp..kk…”

Dark Sage groaned and gulped as his face turned purple. His eyes widened and before he could do anything he was raised from the ground. His Machoke stared helplessly as Dark Sage was dragged through the wall, melding through it as if liquid. Luna race forward and hammered her fists against the solid metal wall, furiously shouting after Dark Sage.

“NO!” she screamed. “Espeon, scan the area. Is there a room on the other side?”

Espeon closed her eyes for a moment and thought. Her red gem was pulsating softly and she examined the surrounding area.

Espeon nodded.

“How did that happen?” Luna cried wildly. “Machoke, can you break through the wall with your fists?”

Machoke traced the wall with his hand but, after feeling it, shook his head, apparently of the opinion that the wall was far too thick. Luna stood there, worried, wondering what on earth she could do.

Leave the building, came a rapt voice. And we will let this boy go.

*

Meanwhile River and Charles arrived at the long corridor of cells. Peering through the brick-like window of the first one they could see a figure sleeping in the far corner. River banged on the pane of glass but they did not stir; Charles continued to bang weakly as River walked down all the three cells, checking who was in them all.

“Right,” she said firmly. “I’m just going to blow it up.”

“With your shoe?” Charles prompted.

“No, Charles, with my Electrode,” River snapped, rolling her eyes. The two of them ran to the far end of the corridor, where a small set of steps led further down the lab. They stood there, Charles keeping only his Elekid out as Electrode prepared to roll down the corridor and explode simultaneously.

“I’d stop that if I were you,” came a voice from behind them. They turned as a blast of lightening smashed into them from the steps. River was hurled across the floor, Electrode watching, bewildered. Charles saw Logan walk up the staircase with a Magneton and a Corphish.

“Attack him!” River cried. Charles ordered an electric attack from his Elekid, but the thin rope of sparks was siphoned away as Magneton span around frantically. Logan said nothing as his Corphish blasted a bubblebeam at Charles, peppering the boy with the thick, exploding pellets. Charles fell to his knees in agony as Magneton blasted an electric attack towards River.

“Louie! Use a rollout and explosion combo now!” River called to Electrode as she released her Spinda. He leapt at Corphish with a glowing fist as Electrode began to heat up and speed along the line of cells, exploding brilliantly as smoke and flame snaked behind. River raced after her Pokemon as the doors from the cells were literally shattered, and the walls of the building also taking considerable damage. An odd, gas-like energy burst into life from the doors.

Charles ordered Elekid to use mega punch, but Corphish swung a crabhammer and knocked the Pokemon out. Charles recalled his Pokemon and was about to select his Charmeleon when Logan grabbed him by the hair and slammed him into the wall.

“Just admit its over,” Logan snapped, turning Charles around and kicking him down the staircase he himself had emerged from. Charles smashed his face off a step and blood burst out; he rolled the rest of the way and out of sight as Logan followed with his Pokemon.

“Crys! Crys!” River cried. She ran to a cell and peered in, seeing her sister sitting in the corner.

“Oh my god!” Crystal cried weakly. “River!”

She ran forward to hug her sister but before she reached Crystal the girl let out a scream. Standing in the doorway was Dark Dragonite, a gun held out. He looked menacing in the doorway, but as he pulled the trigger he was smashed over the back of the head and collapsed to the floor. Behind him was Brink, who had an awful, decaying smell lingering on himself.

“Quickly,” Brink said. “Get up and let’s go.”

“What about Girafarig?” Crystal asked her sister. “Is Liang ok?”

“Liang is ok,” River assured her sister.

“Girafarig is with me,” Brink said, showing the young boy looking irked and somewhat bitter. “I’ll explain everything on the way out.”

“Ok,” River said. She turned to the corridor. “Where’s Charles? He was fighting that man before.”

“They might be down the corridor,” Brink said, pointing to the small staircase. “River, we’ll go and look. Logan is dangerous.”

“Ok,” River said, recalling her Electrode and Spinda an racing after Brink. They ran down the corridor, Crystal and Girafarig going to meet Luna. The corridor smelled faintly of smoke and embers; they turned right and stared down the set of stairs. Logan was shuffling down them, gun held.

“I’ve got this gun,” Brink said, loading it. “I don’t know where everybody is…”

“Why is Dark Dragonite with them?” River asked.

“Logan must have roped him in at the last minute; Thomas is done with him,” Brink said, thinking. “That must mean Thomas isn’t here…or anyone else.”

“So WAVEX have abandoned this place?” River whispered. Brink silenced her and they crept down the stairs, coming into a low-ceilinged, spacious room with a variety of books and desks out. It looked like a research station. Graphs and charts littered the room. Charles lay on the floor, face bloodied, while Logan walked towards him effortlessly.

“Use thunder wave,” he told Magneton. Magneton blasted a web of crackling thunder into Charles’ body, but it rippled off a green shield that suddenly surrounded him. Logan looked severely irritated.

“Damn you, Wayne,” he growled.

“Fine.”

He got the gun out and pointed it towards Charles. The boy looked up at the gun pointing right at him and, with all his strength, leapt up and ran towards Logan in a flash; the gun was fired, the bullet firing into Charles’ leg and causing him to howl in pain; in a sweeping tackle Charles ploughed into Logan and rammed him into a desk, where he fell back and onto his head.

“Charles!” River cried, running down the steps. Brink followed and Charles fell back, giving an aching moan. Logan got up, nursing his neck and getting his gun but Brink intervened. With a bang Brink shot Logan in the chest; he staggered into the wall and screwed his face up as blood burst from his wound.

“Are you ok?” River asked Charles. She helped him up; his jeans had soaked up the blood from his wound and he looked pale. He was breathing in quick, short gulps, staring across at Logan’s dying body and gasping louder still.

“Come on,” Brink said, giving his ex-co-worker a fleeting glance. He led River and Charles towards the stairs, and when they got to the top they darted down the long corridor where Crystal and Girafarig had been imprisoned. Smoke still uncurled from the smoldering mass among the doors. They ran down this corridor and up the stairs, finding themselves near where Luna and Dark Sage had previously been battling the Gastly. However there was nobody here.

“They’re up ahead,” River told Brink, and the three continued on their way. River’s heart was hammering wildly; was everyone ok? She wondered if The Blue Avenger and Elec Man EXE had managed to take care of Wayne. As they walked towards the main hub of the HQ and the exit they saw Elec Man and The Blue Avenger talking with Girafarig and Crystal Tears.

“Oh sis,” River said, hugging her sister tightly. Girafarig gave Brink a cautious eye as TBA instantly worried about Charles’ bloody leg. He had tears in his eyes; the pain was evident as he struggled to hold it in.

“Are you ok?” Elec Man asked.

“Fine,” River said. “Brink took care of Logan…he nearly killed Charles.”

“Why?” Elec Man asked firmly. “Why did you help us?”

“It was me who unlocked Liang’s cell,” Brink explained. “I was feeling guilty and wanted to help. But I was found out and as a result, I’ve been disowned by my people. They locked me up in Liang’s cell. They also kept a dead body in there. I’ve had a horrific few hours.”

“Well if you’re on our side…” River said warily.

“I shot Logan,” Brink told her. “I’m with you.”

Girafarig said nothing; Brink had been his boss when he was working for WAVEX; this was the man who frequently hit him whenever Girafarig considered backing out of the deal.

“Where is Luna?” TBA asked.

“We thought she had caught up with you guys,” River said. “Where is Wayne?”

“He fled,” TBA said, shrugging. “Climbed out of the hatch and ran.”

“But where are Luna and Dark Sage?” asked Charles weakly.

“Brink, where do these other corridors go to?” River asked the man. He pointed to the right corridor, where Flygon had emerged from.

“That one leads to our communication center,” Brink said. “Our databases, computers, maps…the one straight ahead leads to the beds.”

“Where would the other two be?” TBA asked. Brink looked lost, trying to think.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted.

“Maybe that Gastly hurt them,” Charles thought.

“Gastly?” Brink said suddenly. “You saw Gastly?”

“Yea, Luna and Dark Sage were battling it,” River told Brink. He looked horrified. “Why?”

“We have a Slowpoke that is used to erect a safeguard shield,” Brink told them. “And that safeguard is projected across the entire HQ. Thomas installed it before you arrived. The Slowpoke has other functions. It keeps the cells locked even when you have the key; after I let Liang escape they wanted to make sure the prisoners couldn’t be released, and so Thomas took the keys and had Slowpoke keep the locks shut with its mind. When the cell doors exploded, a sort of purple energy was released; that was Slowpoke’s control over the locks. It also kept the prisoners asleep by projecting sleep waves into the cells. It is very important. So important that we kept it in a sealed-off room, a room with no doors.”

“What does that have to do with Gastly?” River asked.

“Wayne, before he joined WAVEX, lived in a small town in the countryside. He bred ghost Pokemon like Gastly because he was fascinated with the breeding process among gaseous forms. He had hundreds of them, and brought a lot of them with him when we recruited him. Because of his exposure around such dense creatures, his own build has deteriorated; he’s thin, frail, very white…anyway, that was one of his Gastly you battled. They usually patrol the corridors around here, or act as lookouts in the village because they can phase out of the atmosphere when spotted. These Gastly’s can also phase through the walls to gain access to the Slowpoke room and, using their telekinesis, the stronger ones can extend the field of phasing to foreign objects, like food. The Gastly deliver the essentials to Slowpoke because we cannot.”

“So you think the Gastly have taken Luna and Dark Sage to the Slowpoke room?” River asked wearily.

“Perhaps,” Brink said.

“I’ll come with you,” Elec Man said.

“We cannot go there,” Brink said stiffly. “Nobody can.”

“What do we do?” River asked, bewildered. “How can we save them?”

*

Meanwhile, on the Board of Governors, Jacques was sitting at his desk and admiring a photograph. The door knocked and Amy Wolfsong entered.

“Ah,” Jacques said crisply. “To what do I owe this…pleasure?”

“Are you Jacques?” Amy asked.

“I am.”

“I was wondering if you could help me with some computer troubles,” Amy asked, looking extremely embarrassed. “My computer doesn’t have the latest filters on so I’m getting loads of unwanted data streaming into my system and –”

“Amy, Amy, Amy,” Jacques said soothingly. “I’m not a part-time worker at ‘PC World’. I’m not getting paid to twiddle with computers and sort this or sort that so if you could kindly save that tidbit of information under the ‘Things I should already know’ folder and not bother me again that would be superb.”

“Well,” Amy said haughtily. “Seeing as your also not getting paid to sit on your buttocks and stare into space I would have assumed you’d be asking for slightly more to do. So unless you want me to ask Gordon to request that you send him half-hourly reports on IP Access or write up the minutes for every meeting in the last year I suggest you get up and help me out for five minutes because once you update the filter it won’t need updated again and you can come back here and think about what you’re going to have for dinner.”

Jacques stared at Amy, who was slightly red in the face. Her chest rose and fell quite fast. She looked angry.

“Right then,” he said, getting up. “So you said you had a problem with your filter? That can sometimes happen. I know Volletta moved offices down to Technical…mainly to help with all that illegal spying…so she never used her own PC very often. I happen to know that if you go beyond the regulated filter level you can usually get better results…show me to your office.”

And, surprised, Amy led Jacques to her office on Accounting, glad that, despite just arriving, she had sorted out the rudest man on the Board.

Chris 2.1

17th September 2007, 09:04 PM

Luna Fuerte was having less luck. She was sitting in a perfectly square room as Dark Sage lay collapsed at her side. Gastly idled in and out through the walls. Luna’s arms and legs ached longingly; she recalled the odd feeling as she was lifted up and slowly pulled through the wall by a pair of bony, purple hands; the wall melded almost, rippling as she passed through, but it was very uncomfortable. After the wall she passed through a dark, empty space, before passing into the wall that surrounded this room.

What could she do? Espeon and Umbreon had finally succumbed to exhaustion after Luna defied the weak, raspy voice that told her to leave. She fought off the Gastly as best she could…but she had lost.

Luna turned her head to look at the curious Slowpoke, sitting sadly on a cushion. He was glowing faintly as the entire room throbbed with energy. Dark Sage was very white and shook slightly. He did not look well.

“Slowpoke?” Luna whispered. The creature did not look at her. “Slowpoke? Can you hear me?”

The Slowpoke said nothing. Luna blinked rapidly and saw Lady sitting down, lighting up a cigarette.

Looks like you’re going to have to find a new hobby, Lady joked.

“Go away,” Luna snapped. “You cost me my league match!”

You have weakened since we last spoke, said the lady. That is why you lost.

“Why can I see you?” Luna cried. “Why are you here!?”

Because you have not accepted my death, Lady told her.

“How can I accept what I cannot understand?” Luna asked, pleading with the ghostly apparition. “How did you die?”

You need to find that out, Lady told the girl. I cannot tell you, for I am a manifestation of your suppressed grief. I know what you know.

“Just leave me alone!” Luna cried wildly. “Please!”

As she said this, there was a resounding boom; the walls shook and the Slowpoke looked around for the first time since Luna was brought here. The walls shook and suddenly there was a smash; part of the wall nearest Luna crumbled away and Elec Man stood there with his Breloom and Typhlosion. Brink had a Graveller out with him.

“Nate!” Luna cried, running towards him and embracing him tightly.

“Are you ok?” Brink asked, walking towards Dark Sage. He looked slightly damaged as he lay there. Brink helped him up as Luna explained all about the Haunter bringing them into this room.

“Let’s go,” Nate said firmly, walking out. Before they did, however, Luna got a small, pink Pokeball from her pocket and maximized it. She walked towards the Slowpoke eagerly.

“Slowpoke?” she said. “If you want…I can take you away from this place. I’ll be your friend.”

The Slowpoke, without looking at her, gave a slow nod. Luna smiled and opened the Pokeball up; the Slowpoke turned to a pink energy gel and was slurped into the balls lower half. The ball snapped shut and Luna gave a chuckle.

“Yay!”

“How did that work?” Elec Man asked.

“Pokemon can choose to leave their owners if they want,” Brink said. “If they are treated extremely bad…Slowpoke obviously prefers a life with Luna than a life where she is exhausted due to extension of her powers.”

“I got a new Pokemon!” Luna said happily, putting the ball on her belt. The four walked out of the Slowpoke room, and down the long corridor that linked the sealed-off-room to the rest of the lab. As they walked, nothing but silence filled the room. Nobody spoke. Dark Sage seemed to have perked up slightly and released his Girafarig, who walked alongside him. The group emerged in a corridor just off from the right one, and could see the spiraling mesh staircase up ahead.

“We’re meeting River and everyone in the village square,” Elec Man told the group. They arrived at the central hub of the WAVEX base and Elec Man helped Luna up the stairs, holding her hand and leading the way. The Pokemon were recalled as the group walked up the spiral steps, and Elec Man wrenched the hatch open as the group headed out into the late night.

As they clambered out, the group took in the invigorating, crisp air of the night. Elec Man and Luna got out first, and Dark Sage was helped out by Brink. They shut the hatch and began their walk across the quarry to the village.

“So where is everyone in WAVEX?” Dark Sage asked Brink keenly.

“They probably fled before you arrived, and have relocated,” Brink said calmly.

“So will you be helping the investigation into shutting WAVEX down?” Elec Man asked. “I imagine people will be very keen to hear what you have to say.”

“I think, seeing as I was…deserted by the group, I think it’s only right,” Brink told Nate.

“Charles’ Leg looked quite bad,” Elec Man noted.

“What happened?” Dark Sage asked.

“He was shot by Logan,” Brink told them. “He’s ok, though. I imagine he’ll be absolutely fine after a few days of recovering.”

“He is brave, Brian,” Luna quipped.

“Being shot does not make you brave,” Dark Sage replied calmly. “But…maybe Charles is more competent than I first thought. Maybe.”

“He’ll be glad to hear that,” chuckled Elec Man. Suddenly a Flygon appeared from the skies, shooting flames from its mouth; with a cry Luna dived to the ground and Dark Sage leapt out of the way. Elec Man ordered his Typhlosion to tackle the beast. Flygon gave a screech and swung his tail around, smashing Typhlosion in the jaw. Elec Man pointed and directed the battle. Brink turned suddenly to see Wayne standing before him, looking gaunt and angry.

“Traitor,” he rasped. Brink gave a cry as Wayne leapt at him, hitting him in the face; Brink grabbed Wayne’s frail frame and hurled him to the ground. Standing over Wayne Brink got out the gun he had taken before and aimed it at the weak man.

“If you’re going to try and kill me,” Brink said firmly. “I’m going to have to intervene.”

Wayne dived for Brink’s legs, grabbing him and pulling him to the ground. In the frenzy the gun slipped from Brink’s grip and landed a few feet away from Luna. Elec Man was battling Flygon furiously, his Typhlosion firing jets of flame at the large dragon.

“Are you willing to spill the secrets you worked so hard to keep?” Wayne spat, grabbing Brink’s neck and slamming his head into the ground. Brink broke free and punched Wayne once, twice, three times, the man’s bony face spurting more and more fountains of blood as he twitched and writhed around on the floor. Brink got up and ran towards the gun, clutching it tightly and turning to take aim. Wayne, from the ground, got a switchblade from his pocket and got to his feet, racing at Brink…

Brink took aim between Wayne’s eyes and his fingers squeezed the trigger tightly.

Wayne’s eyes widened in shock; he leapt forward, plunging the knife into Brink’s stomach and feeling the firm, solid knife sink into the man’s stomach…

…there was a squelch followed by a bang; Wayne was flung back to the ground, a bullet between his eyes that seeped a crimson river. Brink staggered as his blood dripped elegantly to the ground, wrenching the knife from his stomach and dropping it to the floor effortlessly. Luna got to her feet and backed away as Brink’s eyes slowly lost their focus and slid into the back of his head.

“No! Brink!” Luna cried. He fell back and hit the floor, dead. Luna was shaking with shock and turned back to see Volcanst get dealt a heavy blow. “Oh this is stupid! Espeon go!”

Her late sister’s Espeon emerged, giving a soft purr. Dark Sage stood there as Luna commanded a psychic attack; Espeon gripped Flygon with a tight, telekinetic hold as Typhlosion dealt a brick break.

Flygon, however, suddenly eyed its master, dead on the ground. Fury etched into its face, the beast reared its head and broke free of the attack, sweeping down low towards the trio. Luna ducked down and Elec Man grabbed Dark Sage; the streamlined Pokemon shot above them and bolted into the sky, turning around and heading back for them.

“It’s furious!” Elec Man noted. “Volcanst, send a fire blast at it!”

“Fire attacks aren’t working,” Luna said. “Flygon are used to intense heat.”

“Well what can we do?” Elec Man barked.

“Espeon! Use psychic to slow Flygon down!” she cried, pointing. Using a psychic attack Espeon applied more and more forced manipulation so that the beast was becoming slower and slower in its attack. Before long it was levitating in mid-air, constricted by the psychic Pokemon.

“Send out that Bulbasaur,” Luna said, thinking. “Get it to put Flygon to sleep.”

Elec Man nodded, sending out his Bulbasaur. She emerged daintily and, on his request, blasted sleep-inducing spores up into Flygon’s face. The large creature inhaled deeply, its eyes trying to fight the wonderful aroma but, second by second, slowly succumbing to the scent and falling asleep. The clawed arms and hind legs drooped slightly as the beast, still suspended in mid-air, fell asleep.

“Espeon, lower it to the ground,” Luna said softly. Espeon carefully lowered Flygon, so that the dragon was laid out near its trainer.

“I think we should head to the village square. Now,” Elec Man said hurriedly.

*

About twenty minutes later, the group met in the village square, illuminated in the space of the moon. Many of the rescuers were drained and exhausted, but happy; Crystal and Girafarig looked tired and hungry. River was taking the two prisoners back to her house for some food. Elec Man explained all about Brink and Logan finishing each other off, and how they had to sort out the angry Flygon when it realised its master was dead. Luna also praised Charles and shot Dark Sage down, noting that he was as useless and awkward as he had made Charles out to be.

“You are a brave soul,” River told Charles. He had the bullet removed and his leg had been bandaged up.

Everybody peeled off, agreeing to talk in the morning about WAVEX and their plans. Charles, however, felt a swelling pride in his chest after the operation and, although his leg hurt slightly, he was wide awake from the excursion. Charles saw, as he lingered in the village square, a shady figure hanging around one of the TPML Towers. Who was it? When one of the tower lights went on, Charles decided to investigate.

*

Grey shut his computer down. It was no use. He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t work…he couldn’t do anything. He was restless. He got his coat back on and turned the light off in his office; coming out all the way to the Towers was a bad idea. He gently ambled down the staircase, wondering how Amy was doing on the Board, before he was out of the front doors and into the night. He turned and locked the tower doors as a figure leapt at him.

“I WILL STOP YOU!”

“Get off!” Grey snapped. “Charles? Is that you?”

“Err sorry Grey,” Charles mumbled. “I thought you were a crook.”

“Well I’m not,” Grey said calmly. “Are you…back from the mission?”

“Yea, I got shot in the leg, oh yea the prisoners are safe too…” Charles said, sticking his leg out.

“Good, I will…speak with River tomorrow,” Grey said, walking past Charles. “Good night.”

“Where are you going?” Charles asked.

“I have to go,” Grey replied, as his cell phone rang. It was Thomas. “This is urgent.”

He burst past Charles Legend, pressing the phone to his ear.

“What.”

“Meet me at the base of Trolgar Mountain,” Thomas said calmly. She hung up. Grey sighed and pressed on through the night, feeling his fast pace rustle his hair. He wondered what she wanted, what she was doing…if all the prisoners were now safe, the only leverage they had was that damned tape. Grey thought back to that fearful moment when he snapped, pulling the trigger and firing at an unsuspecting Cocoa Sting…

…was it really that bad? Surely when it was brought to attention it would be a shock, but would the consequences really be so terrible? Grey gave it some thought as he wandered through the moonlit path and wondered just how bad the consequences would be.

Before he knew it, he was walking along the side of Trolgar Mountain. The WAVEX van was parked up, but only Thomas and Rolph were there, Rolph sitting at a fold-out desk with a laptop.

“Hello, again,” Thomas said lazily, leaning against the van while Rolph worked away. “Lovely midnight, isn’t it?”

“Hello.”

“Grey this is Aaron Rolph, one of our younger members,” Thomas said.

“Hi.”

“Rolph has a finger missing,” Thomas pointed out. “It’s a wonderful story.”

“I see,” Grey said tensely. “Is this about the Round 3 pairings?”

“They have been sent to you,” Thomas said. “In my haste I thought there were no matches tomorrow. I was wrong. I did not realize Round 3 commenced tomorrow afternoon.”

“Well it does,” Grey replied. Little did he realize he had been followed the entire time. While Grey and Thomas talked over Round 3, Charles Legend peered in from around the corner, shocked at what he saw.

“The stronger trainers are Becca and yourself,” Thomas said. “The Blue Avenger and OzAndrew are two easier opponents. I would say Chris and Elec Man are mid-way between difficult and easy.”

“And Liang?”

“I really can’t see him being a problem. He’s strong enough to get far in the league but his health has really deteriorated,” Thomas said. “Anyway Grey, everything has been sorted. You just need to send out the messages to the competitors. The reason I called you here was because I wanted you to witness something.”

“What?”

“The next step in our plan,” Thomas said. “Grey, when we spoke earlier, you made the very good point that Gordon will have the report finished in the morning. He has his people working through the night so he can shut this league down ASAP.”

Astonished, Charles felt the pain in his leg throb. He was distracted…but he was enthralled by what he was hearing. He knew he should run and tell River what he had heard, that Grey was involved…

“And what can you do to stop it?” Grey asked rudely.

“Rolph,” Thomas prompted.

“This is TPML’s electric grid,” Rolph said, showing Grey the image on the screen. “An electronic map of the village.”

“I know what a grid is,” Grey replied.

“Well we’ll cut the explanation,” Thomas replied, getting a radio out. “This is Thomas speaking. All systems report.”

“Hage here. Everything is fine.”

“Deatley reporting. Ready to go.”

“DJ. I’m ok.”

“Ok then. Commence shut-down.”

Thomas turned to look at Grey as Hage could be heard on the other side of the radio. The grid on Rolph’s screen flashed suddenly as the red lines dotted throughout the map all faded to black. As this happened, the blue lines flashed, too, and slowly began fading. Grey watched as only the green lines were left; they, too, flashed and faded away. Now all that could be seen was the yellow current flashing up among all electrical spots.

“What did you do?” Grey asked fiercely.

“Rolph, explain,” Thomas said idly. She got up and walked off into the wilderness as Rolph turned to look at Grey.

“We’ve manually shut down all means of external communication,” he said. “Hage shut down the phone lines, Deatley crashed internet access and Chris Watarimono jammed the signal at the radio tower.”

“Oh my god,” Grey said. Thomas walked back, Charles Legend in tow. He was complaining as Thomas threw him to the ground.

“Charles!” Grey cried. “I told you not to follow me!”

“I heard everything!” he protested.

“Listen…”

“No!” Charles snapped. “I heard it all! You’re one of the people trying to shut the league down, aren’t you? Aren’t you! You’re bad!”

“People aren’t split between good and bad, black or white…there are…gray areas…” Grey explained.

“How blissfully ironic,” Thomas said rudely, interjecting. “Grey is not good or bad…he is the gray area that is oh so hard to distinguish. Charles, you shouldn’t have come here.”

Thomas grabbed Charles and forced him up onto his knees. His head was turned around at Grey, but he was still talking incessantly about what he had just witnessed.

“I looked up to you Grey! You’re the leader of us all. You’re the good guy!”

“Shut up Charles,” Thomas said thickly, getting a gun and pressing it against the back of his head. Grey, giving a moan of grief, turned and took a few steps away from the scene, screwing his face shut.

“…how can you work with these people? These…criminals! Grey!”

Grey shook his head slowly, tears in his eyes as the boy suddenly stopped talking. There was a silence lingering in the air as Grey stared ahead at the overgrown foliage, a small insect burrowing underground. The scene was pure silence, every little sample of noise siphoned away.

And then it happened. An echoing bang rang out from the area just feet away from where Grey stood; he bit his finger tightly as he felt the force of the blast push Charles’s body to the ground. There was a slump and then silence again. That lingering silence hung in the air like a potent spore, sucking up any noise and creating this world of nothing.

Grey turned slowly, seeing the limp body face-down in the earth.

“You killed him…,” he whispered sadly, almost as if saying it out loud would cement it into reality. “Like that.”

“He was a threat,” Thomas said airily, almost as if she had trodden on a worm. “And he knew about your involvement.”

“I didn’t ask for you to kill him!” Grey snapped, feeling the emotional pressure push against the boundaries in his body; like an immense package crammed to the sides, threatening to tear…

“Things have been elevated to a new level,” Thomas responded curtly. “It needed to be done. And so did the lock-down.”

She paused, giving the body a quick glance.

“In short; nobody outside of the league grid can contact us,” Thomas replied smoothly. “VS Seekers and other means of internal communication are fine. But nobody can contact anyone outside of the village. The internet is down, phone lines are down and the radio is off.”

She laughed.

“Gordon cannot shut down a league that he cannot find.”

Next- Chapter Forty-Nine: Round Three
Chris and OzAndrew go head to head in the third round of the Pokemon Masters League! Can Chris overcome the quirky australian? A league favourite is eliminated earlier than expected as the league reaches past its halfway mark!

River is concerned when Charles fails to show up the next day, while one ASBer is unfortunate enough to meet The Fanfic Guild - TPML's resident writers! Grey takes a powerful step against WAVEX to ensure his freedom, but at what cost?

Finally, Gordon, after failing to contact the league, decides to fly down to 04621 himself and confront WAVEX.

Don't miss it!

The Blue Avenger

17th September 2007, 10:35 PM

...Old Man Cow. Do I really want to know what that's about? Thank god DS interrupted that monologue. o_0 That scene in general made me feel more sorry for Liang. The kid wants to help, he's also poisoned, and then he gets put in a headlock. Don't get me wrong, I know why it had to be done, but geez. Poor guy.

...and once more Dark Sage kills Charles' story. I'm starting to like that guy. P: Especially his complete lack of subtlety.

Wow, didn't see that coming. WAVEX's mission is actually pretty cool. I'm not gonna say 'good', because as Grey pointed out, they're going at it entirely the wrong way, but cool nonetheless. And it fits well with what we know of WAVEX so far - the idea of 'absolute justice', keeping the peace no matter what gets in the way. (Thank you, One Piece... P:)

Hmm. In Liang's apartment. The discovery of the letter seems a bit forced. Liang spills his guts, and Chris completely changes the subject with a "Hey look, mail's here!" That seems rather off to me.

I didn't expect Charles to actually be effectual. That was a nice change. Good to know he can keep it together when it counts. And I'm glad that his death wasn't in the raid; that would have been very predictable. Instead, he got a rather touching death scene, complete with a degree of seriousness I'm not at all used to seeing from Charles.

Everything else turned out good, but it's late and I don't have any specific comments on them. P: I'll be waiting for the next chapter!

Charles Legend

18th September 2007, 03:24 AM

Charles got Owned by Tomas, and thus making Charles into some what of a Tragic hero... XD

It 's true that I may not like the fact that Charles died, However I can see why it was needed for the plot, and just how long had you had his death planed?

~Charles Legend

Chris 2.1

18th September 2007, 08:02 AM

TBA: Well yes it's a shame we never heard the rest of the story. Now Dark Sage got a lot of showtime here. I've portrayed him as quite a confident, rude, clever, logical person. I had more of a backstory for him but it has never blossommed. I think he's the one person who wasn't polite enough to listen to Charles' stories :p

Thomas is sort of an interesting character....doing this for all the right reasons....and yet, the way she's doing things is a bit chaotic. I don't think Grey's going to work for her much longer.

After re-reading that scene with Liang I am horrified at the absolute indiscretion of the scene. I'm probably going to write a bit more in there. Dear god it's awful 0_o;;; remember I did write the majority of the chapter in one day....

Well ever since I decided that Charles was going to die during the fic's last moments, it's been quite hard actually depicting his death. He's a funny, calm, innocent character. I'll go into more detail about it below but basically the raid went through a LOT of edits.

Glad you liked the chap!

Charles: I hope you liked the chapter. As you may know I announced three main characters would die before the end of the fic; one is assumed to be Liang, and there were two more. Charles is one of those characters. It has been planned for some time; I would never do something like this sporadically or without thought.

I think the chapter was perhaps a tribute to him. We got to see a different side to him and that was good for his character. I hope you still share the same enthusiasm for the fic as you always do, even without a doppleganger in the story!

Also for the rest of the fic I'm running a sort of author Q&A. If there's anything you want to know about the fic, please, fire away! Origins, favourite characters, scenes, locations, information about smaller things in the league, anything you feel you would like answered, do not hesitate to ask!!

Charles Legend

18th September 2007, 01:58 PM

it was ok I guess, anyways I have a few Quetions for you Chris..

1. Ok so am I right in thinking Charles had the following Pokemon at one point or another in the fic? Charmeleon, Pinsir, Magby, Farfetch'd, Aipom, Sunkern, Houndour, Clamperl, Rattata, Larvitar, Munchlax, Sunflora and Elekid. and he wanted to catch a Murkrow, and then he ether gave Amy Perfume that attracted a Wurmple or he gave her a Wurmple along with the Perfume…

2. Now besides Feraligatr, Munchlax which he traded for Charles Larvitar what other Pokemon did Charlie Legendary have?

3. Where was Charles Living in the village?

4. why did not Charles fight for his life?

5. Well Charles Ghost come back to hunt Chris, Grey, River or Tomas at all?

6. Also well anyone miss Charles at all?

~Charles Legend

Chris 2.1

19th September 2007, 05:10 AM

It was ok? Charles I know you might be feeling sad that a fictional character with your name has perished but please try to review my work a little better than by saying 'it was ok'.

To answer your questions:

1: Yes he had those Pokemon. He caught a Wurmple and wanted to raise a Beautifly for Amy since Liang had done the same. However it evolved into a Dustox. He still gave it to her and she liked it very much.

2: Charlie had a Sceptile, Charizard and Feraligatr, as well as a Munchlax that he traded for Charles' Totodile.

3: Charles rented a room from a bed and breakfast, much like Chris did in the early portion of the fic.

4: Charles had a gun pressed into the back of his head and, like most of us, it's easier to talk about fighting back than actually doing it when your life is on the line. You saw his heroism in the raid; I think, however, the general shock of finding out Grey was working with WAVEX was confusing and difficult to digest.

5: Grey will be somewhat troubled by the event but I don't think his ghost will appear.

6: Yes, I imagine a lot of people will miss Charles when the news emerges.

Please don't feel too sad about his passing; it was a creative decision and was, as any other characters death, entirely for storytelling and not personal.

Andrew

19th September 2007, 09:42 PM

So how many members are left in WaveX?

Still, the little band going together was cool, poor Liang throwing up blood. Gross. Why did they send Chris, one of the stronger members of the group back with Liang? Why not Elec or DS?

Cocoa on the other hand, I've really grown to like her. Surprisingly enough. She's great. I hope she doesn't die and finds someone who has teh hots for her.

Also, Callisto not being behind WaveX, who?! BUT WHO?!??!? And the reason for Greggles being the subject. Lameo. Why not just chuck him into involuntary therapy? I don't know why you would manipulate an entire league to give one wanker a power trip?

Liang spilling his guts, I can see he has nothing left to lose now, he's totally up for doing that.

Also, Brink betraying them.. who is Brink? Plus, Pichu whom is a girl being known as THOMAS - CONFUSING.

Also, does Luna not have more than Espeon and Umbreon? If those two got tired, doesn't she have a aHEAP of others to use? But it was nice of her to get the Slowpoke.... surely she will find Lady's body soon... right?

Also, Charles. He was quite brave, loyal and smart in this episode. Quite a turnaround. But, what a death. Poor fellow. Didn't deserve that! That's for sure! But wow... who's going to be our favourite ... charleslike character?

Chris 2.1

20th September 2007, 07:45 AM

Andrew: Wavex is smaller now; much smaller. Thomas, Isabel (the Nurse), Deatley, Hage and Rolph remain. But do they have any more help? Nobody 'sent' Chris away; he's Liang's friend and knew that Liang needed to be taken home. It was his decision.

Cocoa's a character I like, too. :D She's married, though, so no chance of finding lusty office romance I'm afraid!

There's bits of WAVEX I can't quite explain; over the next couple of chapters we will find out that there is more to this league then wanting to help Gregg feel better about himself. The basic idea is, though, that Thomas wants Gregg to overcome everything he went through with his father's death and his mother being a psycho. Things stretch further than this league.

Who is Brink? He's a WAVEX goon. He was the first glimpse of WAVEX. When Girafarig was paid money to lose his Round 1 Match, he was in contact with WAVEX through Brink alone. When he backed out, Brink beat him up bad. He has been one of the longer-standing members of WAVEX. He is in his late thirties and has a rugby players build; quite stocky. He has a young daughter named Molly.

Brink was recruited into WAVEX initially doing bodyguard work; as the project grew, however, he developed into a full-on WAVEX agent.

Luna has:
Espeon, Umbreon, Solrock, Lunatone, Roselia, Slowpoke, Natu
Her Murkrow doesn't obey her since Solia died since it was originally hers, so Luna sent it back home. Solia's Pokemon (Solrock, Espeon) are not as strong as Luna's. Luna is under the impression that they will take longer to grieve than humans because they understand less about their trainers death.

After Lady was run over, Thomas locked her corpse in Brink's cell as a reminder of what his mistake resulted in. I don't think she'll be going back there anytime soon, but if anyone does, I expect WAVEX will ensure that the body is not found.

Her story at the moment is revolving around her learning about her mentor's death. Next chapter will see her overcoming Lady's conscience.

I think UuberFred takes the crown! Hee.

Ok so the next TPML Extra is actually a small chapter. Only a few pages long I believe. It's content that doesn't work with the current storylines but will be integral in solving some of the cryptic factors of the fic.

It is entitled Dr Stone. I will write it in paralell with Ch49 but will post it beforehand, hopefully.

Charles Legend

20th September 2007, 09:23 PM

2: Charlie had a Sceptile, Charizard and Feraligatr, as well as a Munchlax that he traded for Charles' Totodile.

because I want back and reread it and this is what I found...

“Thanks for the Larvitar!” Charlie Legendary cried.

“What is my new Pokemon called again?” Charles asked, running.

“MUNCHLAX!” Charlie shouted, as the two parted company.

But yeah whatever Chris it's your fic After all, and my point was that I was confused as to why you were conflicting your own canon...

another Question for you is where did you get the Idea for Quackman from?

~Charles Legend

Sike Saner

24th September 2007, 12:57 AM

Again, I say, poor Liang. :( That he's suffering is very clear, that's for sure. His getting ill in front of the Crystal Syndicate was a memorable moment, as was the poignant scene at his apartment.

The late Charles also stood out in that chapter. I'm glad that he got a nice amount of time in the spotlight and a chance to deliver a few more classic moments before his permanent exit from the story. In addition to those last, priceless Charles-isms, other facets of his personality really shone through in that chapter, which was cool. I think I got a better sense of just who he really was as a character from that chapter than from any other.

It's a curious thing, the way one can expect something and still be shocked by it. o.o The moment Thomas discovered Charles there, I knew he was certainly a goner because someone in his position very likely would be in mortal danger--but still, when it happened, it was very much a "HOLY SHIT! O_O" moment. Amazing work, there.

More terrific action this time around, most notably in the fight between Brink and Wayne--the outcome of which was incredible, by the way. Definitely another "HOLY SHIT! O_O" moment--I love those. :D

The thing about the Slowpoke and what she was used for was certainly interesting, particularly with regards to the role of Wayne's ghosts in that equation. Still, it was indeed a nasty load of work to expect of a single Pokémon; I'm glad that Luna freed her from those responsibilities. ^^

And I really lke how, every chapter, you LOVE a Pokemon that's featured. I dread the day you don't like any of the Pokes in a chapter :-|

Well, that day's been delayed once again, because that chapter contained my favorite Pokémon of all:

“Ok,” Elec Man said calmly. He released his Glalie.

Yay. ^^

Oh, and my brain's been being weird tonight. O.o It kept corrupting the name "Deatley", reading it one time as 'Deathly" and reading it another time as "Deadsy". XD

Comedic Highlights

“You know this reminds me of the final battle against Old Man Cow,” Charles said loudly, slipping on a rock somewhat.

...Old Man Cow? O.o XD

Charles Legend tagged after Elec Man EXE, wearing his awful, home-made t-shirt saying ‘Elec Man is EXEllent!’, bringing with him his new Elekid. The Elekid was thin and had odd eyes.

Ah, but the fact that it's an awful, home-made t-shirt is much of what makes it so awesome. :D And I liked the mention of how his Elekid "was thin and had odd eyes"; I mentally pictured that and the resulting image was quite amusing. XD

The small group got closer to the HQ as Charles began to speak.

“You know I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars in the sky,” he noted. “Except that time when I went to the Land of the Unflipped Coin.”

“Land of the Unflipped Coin?” Luna asked, a girl not familiar with Charles.

“Yea, it all happened when I dropped my money down the drain…” Charles explained, but before he could continue, Dark Sage cut in.

“…SO ANYWAY,” he boomed. “RIVER! WHAT – ARE – YOU – UP – TO?”

“Shut up you idiot!” River hissed. “This is a sneak attack!”

“I’m trying to drown out Charles Legend’s depressing story,” Dark Sage replied, chuckling.

Land of the Unflipped Coin? Nice. XD And I love the way Dark Sage VERY LOUDLY cuts into his story like that. XD

“Look Dark Mage,” Charles said seriously. “I know you’re my truest and best friend and also my sidekick in the mini-screenplay I wrote for a competition but later burned after scathing reviews from everything that read it. But anyway cut me some slack!”

Too bad he burned it; that mini-screenplay intrigues me... XD

“Seriously Mark Sage I’m warning you! Stop being mean!” Charles snapped. “You’re my soulfriend!”

“What’s my first name?” Dark Sage asked coolly.

“Erm.”

Charles thought for a moment.

“Spencer William Cladmere VI?”

“No. It’s Brian.”

“Damnit. I was so close.”

So close, indeed... XP

“DS leave Charles alone,” TBA quipped. “Charles we respect you and we want you on this mission.”

“Thanks Jeff,” Charles replied. He released his Charmeleon. “King don’t be afraid to scare Spencer if he tries being mean. But don’t actually use fire. That’s how I got arrested on suspicion of terrorism remember? You know? The time when we set the orphanage on fire by accident? King? Do you remember the time? I joked that you should use flamethrower because they said I wasn’t allowed to live in the orphanage because I was 24? And you used flamethrower? Yea? And it burned to the ground? Well? King? Do? You?”

Uh... that was certainly an interesting little anecdote there. XD Set the orphanage on fire, hmm? XD

“Charles just wait outside,” Dark Sage said, smirking.

“Shut up Spencer,” Charles snapped. “I’m just as good as you.”

Calling him "Spencer" again... XD

I wasn’t sure what I expected when we went back to Liang’s flat. Firstly I didn’t expect that he, too, lived in BT Street, in a slightly pokier apartment above an old disused building called ‘The Lucky Carp Casino’. It had peeling walls and a faded logo of a Magikarp with a dollar sign in its eyes.

I like that image. XD

I guessed Liang got a lot of his furniture second hand, such as the rather erotic lamp stand and the mouldy-looking rug.

The what? XD

Meanwhile River and Charles arrived at the long corridor of cells. Peering through the brick-like window of the first one they could see a figure sleeping in the far corner. River banged on the pane of glass but they did not stir; Charles continued to bang weakly as River walked down all the three cells, checking who was in them all.

“Right,” she said firmly. “I’m just going to blow it up.”

“With your shoe?” Charles prompted.

“No, Charles, with my Electrode,” River snapped, rolling her eyes.

That made me imagine what it might have been like if River had intended and attempted to blow it up with her shoe. XD

“I was wondering if you could help me with some computer troubles,” Amy asked, looking extremely embarrassed. “My computer doesn’t have the latest filters on so I’m getting loads of unwanted data streaming into my system and –”

“Amy, Amy, Amy,” Jacques said soothingly. “I’m not a part-time worker at ‘PC World’. I’m not getting paid to twiddle with computers and sort this or sort that so if you could kindly save that tidbit of information under the ‘Things I should already know’ folder and not bother me again that would be superb.”

“Well,” Amy said haughtily. “Seeing as your also not getting paid to sit on your buttocks and stare into space I would have assumed you’d be asking for slightly more to do. So unless you want me to ask Gordon to request that you send him half-hourly reports on IP Access or write up the minutes for every meeting in the last year I suggest you get up and help me out for five minutes because once you update the filter it won’t need updated again and you can come back here and think about what you’re going to have for dinner.”

Jacques stared at Amy, who was slightly red in the face. Her chest rose and fell quite fast. She looked angry.

“Right then,” he said, getting up. “So you said you had a problem with your filter? That can sometimes happen. I know Volletta moved offices down to Technical…mainly to help with all that illegal spying…so she never used her own PC very often. I happen to know that if you go beyond the regulated filter level you can usually get better results…show me to your office.”

And, surprised, Amy led Jacques to her office on Accounting, glad that, despite just arriving, she had sorted out the rudest man on the Board.

That part was great. I love how she put him in his place there. XD

He turned and locked the tower doors as a figure leapt at him.

“I WILL STOP YOU!”

“Get off!” Grey snapped. “Charles? Is that you?”

“Err sorry Grey,” Charles mumbled. “I thought you were a crook.”

Good ol' Charles. :D

“This is TPML’s electric grid,” Rolph said, showing Grey the image on the screen. “An electronic map of the village.”

“I know what a grid is,” Grey replied.

I love Grey's response; I just do. XD

Dramatic Highlights

In no time Liang gave a lurching gasp; his hand clutched his chest as he staggered forward and collapsed in front of our eyes. Screams filled the air as Liang coughed and wretched, throwing up blood and bile before us.

Damn. o.o No doubt about it: that's got to be a brutal experience for him.

River bent down and looked at Liang firmly.

“You are dangerously unwell,” she said. “And I won’t let you come with us.”

“I’m coming,” Liang snapped, getting up; he gave a wheezing moan and clutched his stomach. I saw this and rushed to his side, supporting the waning moderator. “I need to rescue Crystal. I made a promise.”

“I’m leading these people to danger,” River told him crossly, louder this time, so that everyone could hear. “I won’t take you knowing you could damn well die without the enemy even laying a finger on you.”

“This isn’t your decision, River!” Liang cried, angry. “I’m coming!”

“No you aren’t,” I said suddenly, turning my gaze on my friend. Liang looked at me, aghast, ready to make an argument when I talked over him. “I won’t let you.”

“Chris, shut up,” Liang replied. I took a step forward. Liang held his fists ready. I looked at him and, sweeping under his punch I got him in a headlock suddenly. Liang was drained, definitely not in good shape and wasn’t able to get out of my grip. I held him there tightly, looking down at him.

“We’re going back to yours,” I said sharply. “River, sorry I can’t come. I need to get Liang back.”

“Get off me!” Liang snapped. I gripped him and led him away back up towards the village. “CHRIS!”

“I’ll let go when you admit something’s wrong,” I said crossly.

“Fine,” Liang snapped, feeling his legs buckle slightly. “Let’s get back to mine. I’ll…fill you in, or something.”

A great scene. Lots of good, strong emotion in the argument, and Chris putting Liang in a headlock was unexpected (as well as priceless :D).

"I can't believe you've battled with this for so long," I said mournfully, gazing down at him. "Why didn't you tell anybody?"

"Ehh...I don't know..." he sighed, rolling his eyes. "I always felt like people see me as some hero. I'm always told I'm one of the best battlers, I've always been reccomended for moderation - they even wanted training gyms to be introduced next year, and guess who they want as the leader?"

He moved his position so that he was sitting, his head in his hands.

"...to admit to everybody that - against my own will - I'm dying and I'm helpless...I couldn't do that."

Aww... :( And that last line is especially poignant.

Dear Liang,
I am writing to let you know why I didn’t say goodbye to you when I left the village. I have to explain myself because I owe you that. As I sit here, waiting for my flight to New York I cannot contain the sadness inside me; the ache in my heart that tells me I may have made the wrong decision. But I love you, Liang…and that is what hurts the most.

After you told me of your condition, and how long it had been since you were made sick, I did the maths. I figured out you would die during the league. And I knew, as head moderator of the league I would have to watch you die. I would witness you lose everything you are to that dreadful poison and I could not take it.

The work on the Board seems fantastic; I’m very excited. So you must understand I did not leave purely out of fear. I also want to further my career, especially since this is a fantastic opportunity working with these people. I have just grown so accustomed to your quirks, your charm, your smile…to every single thing about you so watching them slowly fade away would be devastating.

I know we may never speak again. And I know I want my last memories of you to be happy. I wish you all the best luck in the league, and in everything else you do. I love you, Liang. I love you.

Amy.

Liang blinked furiously to hold back tears. I scooted back to my side of the seat as he re-read the letter again, scanning the words and taking in everything Amy had said.

“She was…brilliant,” Liang said sadly, breathing in deeply.

One of my favorite parts of the entire chapter. I'm glad that Amy was able to put her feelings into words like that and that Liang was able to read those words before it was too late. The letter itself definitely comes across as thoroughly heartfelt (and its first paragraph is especially potent), and Liang's response is very moving.

Luna blinked rapidly and saw Lady sitting down, lighting up a cigarette.

Looks like you’re going to have to find a new hobby, Lady joked.

“Go away,” Luna snapped. “You cost me my league match!”

You have weakened since we last spoke, said the lady. That is why you lost.

“Why can I see you?” Luna cried. “Why are you here!?”

Because you have not accepted my death, Lady told her.

“How can I accept what I cannot understand?” Luna asked, pleading with the ghostly apparition. “How did you die?”

You need to find that out, Lady told the girl. I cannot tell you, for I am a manifestation of your suppressed grief. I know what you know.

“Just leave me alone!” Luna cried wildly. “Please!”

More Luna-and-hallucinated-Lady awesomeness. ^^ I especially like how the Lady-clone that Luna's mind has generated actually indicated itself as a manifestation of her suppressed grief. I wonder if this is a sign that Luna is becoming more properly aware of her struggle in accepting Lady's death, and thus perhaps a sign that she may be on the road to recovery from her grief...

Grey shook his head slowly, tears in his eyes as the boy suddenly stopped talking. There was a silence lingering in the air as Grey stared ahead at the overgrown foliage, a small insect burrowing underground. The scene was pure silence, every little sample of noise siphoned away.

And then it happened. An echoing bang rang out from the area just feet away from where Grey stood; he bit his finger tightly as he felt the force of the blast push Charles’s body to the ground. There was a slump and then silence again. That lingering silence hung in the air like a potent spore, sucking up any noise and creating this world of nothing.

Grey turned slowly, seeing the limp body face-down in the earth.

Wow. Just... wow. o__________o Not only was that part commendably shocking, but the atmosphere crafted around it, the silence broken by the gunshot and then filling the air once more... amazing.

Battle/Action Highlights

“Look we need to regain control,” The Blue Avenger said, looking at his Exeggutor. Nate, who had recalled Glalie and had his Typhlosion out, nodded. “Numeron! Blast a stun spore into the hatch.”

“Volcanst, use flamethrower to ignite the spores,” said Elec Man, exchanging a smirk with TBA. The flames hit the spore cloud and a huge explosion rang out into the HQ; there were roars and cries of shock as the explosion blasted down the stairwell.

Neat strategy, there. ^^

However before they advanced, Dark Sage felt a cold, cruel pair of hands materialize and throttle him. Luna cried in shock as the bony, purple hands clasped around his neck.

“Brian!”

“Hlkp..kk…”

Dark Sage groaned and gulped as his face turned purple. His eyes widened and before he could do anything he was raised from the ground. His Machoke stared helplessly as Dark Sage was dragged through the wall, melding through it as if liquid. Luna race forward and hammered her fists against the solid metal wall, furiously shouting after Dark Sage.

The capture by the ghost was a great surprise. Furthermore, it's just really cool to see someone pulled through a wall as if it weren't solid like that. :D

Charles recalled his Pokemon and was about to select his Charmeleon when Logan grabbed him by the hair and slammed him into the wall.

“Just admit its over,” Logan snapped, turning Charles around and kicking him down the staircase he himself had emerged from. Charles smashed his face off a step and blood burst out; he rolled the rest of the way and out of sight as Logan followed with his Pokemon.

Ouch... o_o; Nice and unexpected, with a good, effective depiction of the fact that that surely hurt like hell.

“Use thunder wave,” he told Magneton. Magneton blasted a web of crackling thunder into Charles’ body, but it rippled off a green shield that suddenly surrounded him. Logan looked severely irritated.

“Damn you, Wayne,” he growled.

Ha, I love how their own defenses worked against them there. XP

He got the gun out and pointed it towards Charles. The boy looked up at the gun pointing right at him and, with all his strength, leapt up and ran towards Logan in a flash; the gun was fired, the bullet firing into Charles’ leg and causing him to howl in pain; in a sweeping tackle Charles ploughed into Logan and rammed him into a desk, where he fell back and onto his head.

“Charles!” River cried, running down the steps. Brink followed and Charles fell back, giving an aching moan. Logan got up, nursing his neck and getting his gun but Brink intervened. With a bang Brink shot Logan in the chest; he staggered into the wall and screwed his face up as blood burst from his wound.

Lots of nice action in those two paragraphs there, and again there's that great quality of making it possible for me to appreciate how much those hits hurt simply by reading about them. o.o

Brink turned suddenly to see Wayne standing before him, looking gaunt and angry.

“Traitor,” he rasped. Brink gave a cry as Wayne leapt at him, hitting him in the face; Brink grabbed Wayne’s frail frame and hurled him to the ground. Standing over Wayne Brink got out the gun he had taken before and aimed it at the weak man.

“If you’re going to try and kill me,” Brink said firmly. “I’m going to have to intervene.”

Wayne dived for Brink’s legs, grabbing him and pulling him to the ground. In the frenzy the gun slipped from Brink’s grip and landed a few feet away from Luna. Elec Man was battling Flygon furiously, his Typhlosion firing jets of flame at the large dragon.

“Are you willing to spill the secrets you worked so hard to keep?” Wayne spat, grabbing Brink’s neck and slamming his head into the ground. Brink broke free and punched Wayne once, twice, three times, the man’s bony face spurting more and more fountains of blood as he twitched and writhed around on the floor. Brink got up and ran towards the gun, clutching it tightly and turning to take aim. Wayne, from the ground, got a switchblade from his pocket and got to his feet, racing at Brink…

Brink took aim between Wayne’s eyes and his fingers squeezed the trigger tightly.

Wayne’s eyes widened in shock; he leapt forward, plunging the knife into Brink’s stomach and feeling the firm, solid knife sink into the man’s stomach…

…there was a squelch followed by a bang; Wayne was flung back to the ground, a bullet between his eyes that seeped a crimson river. Brink staggered as his blood dripped elegantly to the ground, wrenching the knife from his stomach and dropping it to the floor effortlessly. Luna got to her feet and backed away as Brink’s eyes slowly lost their focus and slid into the back of his head.

“No! Brink!” Luna cried. He fell back and hit the floor, dead.

A truly awesome and brutal fight scene, with an astonishing ending. I didn't know whether Brink or Wayne was going to win that fight (again, I love fights whose outcome is not obvious until the very end ^^)-- and I definitely wasn't expecting the answer to be neither of them. That was... wow. o.o

Other Highlights

Liang hobbled alongside us with the energy of a teabag; eyes baggy and bloodshot, skin tinged an unhealthy gray.

"With the energy of a teabag"--I like that phrase. ^^

Elec Man released a small Bulbasaur; judging from the way she stood, as well as her cry, I guessed she was a girl. The Bulbasaur sent out a fume of wafting fragrance around us; Charles sneezed loudly as we all stood in anticipation.

Nice attention to detail there.

Luna Fuerte was having less luck. She was sitting in a perfectly square room as Dark Sage lay collapsed at her side. Gastly idled in and out through the walls. Luna’s arms and legs ached longingly; she recalled the odd feeling as she was lifted up and slowly pulled through the wall by a pair of bony, purple hands; the wall melded almost, rippling as she passed through, but it was very uncomfortable. After the wall she passed through a dark, empty space, before passing into the wall that surrounded this room.

I love the description of how it felt to pass through the wall like that. ^^

“Let’s go,” Nate said firmly, walking out. Before they did, however, Luna got a small, pink Pokeball from her pocket and maximized it. She walked towards the Slowpoke eagerly.

“Slowpoke?” she said. “If you want…I can take you away from this place. I’ll be your friend.”

The Slowpoke, without looking at her, gave a slow nod. Luna smiled and opened the Pokeball up; the Slowpoke turned to a pink energy gel and was slurped into the balls lower half. The ball snapped shut and Luna gave a chuckle.

“Yay!”

“How did that work?” Elec Man asked.

“Pokemon can choose to leave their owners if they want,” Brink said. “If they are treated extremely bad…Slowpoke obviously prefers a life with Luna than a life where she is exhausted due to extension of her powers.”

“I got a new Pokemon!” Luna said happily, putting the ball on her belt.

That was very nice of Luna, liberating that Slowpoke like that. ^^

“No!” Charles snapped. “I heard it all! You’re one of the people trying to shut the league down, aren’t you? Aren’t you! You’re bad!”

“People aren’t split between good and bad, black or white…there are…gray areas…” Grey explained.

“How blissfully ironic,” Thomas said rudely, interjecting. “Grey is not good or bad…he is the gray area that is oh so hard to distinguish. Charles, you shouldn’t have come here.”

Thomas's quote there is classic.

That was an especially exciting chapter. Boss work once again. :D

Chris 2.1

11th October 2007, 01:32 PM

Sike: Thanks :)

Again, I say, poor Liang. That he's suffering is very clear, that's for sure. His getting ill in front of the Crystal Syndicate was a memorable moment, as was the poignant scene at his apartment.

Poor Liang :( He's really deteriorating, and you'll get a bigger sense of that in the future chapters.

The late Charles also stood out in that chapter. I'm glad that he got a nice amount of time in the spotlight and a chance to deliver a few more classic moments before his permanent exit from the story. In addition to those last, priceless Charles-isms, other facets of his personality really shone through in that chapter, which was cool. I think I got a better sense of just who he really was as a character from that chapter than from any other.

It's a curious thing, the way one can expect something and still be shocked by it. o.o The moment Thomas discovered Charles there, I knew he was certainly a goner because someone in his position very likely would be in mortal danger--but still, when it happened, it was very much a "HOLY SHIT! O_O" moment. Amazing work, there.

You see he's a brave guy, he always wants to do the right thing......he has so many commendable charactristics and I'm glad they shone in this chapter. I also felt it was particularly touching if a character used for character relief almost solely was killed off. OzAndrew and TBA were other candidates, but I felt some time ago that Charles's story had been told.

More terrific action this time around, most notably in the fight between Brink and Wayne--the outcome of which was incredible, by the way. Definitely another "HOLY SHIT! O_O" moment--I love those.

Tsch WAVEX are dropping like flies. But it just doesn't phase Thomas.

The thing about the Slowpoke and what she was used for was certainly interesting, particularly with regards to the role of Wayne's ghosts in that equation. Still, it was indeed a nasty load of work to expect of a single Pokémon; I'm glad that Luna freed her from those responsibilities. ^^

Slowpoke is going to be spoiled rotten by Luna :) She'll also help Luna ward off Lady's spirit.

Ch49 is going ok. Chris faces an extremely difficult battle, Liang surprises people as he fights his illness and battles a particularly tough foe. Grey confronts Thomas and WAVEX, managing to catch them out with his sharp logic and intuition. But how do they respond? Gordon finishes the report and prepares to close the league......but something's wrong....

I know for a fact a certain scene will please many people :)

Chris 2.1

25th October 2007, 01:09 PM

Another update - no new chapter YET.

Ch49 is being written among complex lectures and seminars, tutorials and essays. I've written about half. The chapter focuses almost entirely on one of the four battles in R3, which is, as I'm sure you could guess, the Chris VS Andrew one. One match doesn't take place (shock?) while another is quite a meaty installment and the fourth quite small.

This is because the Chris/Oz match takes up a LOT of the chapter. I have written a lot of it so far and am very happy with the way its come out. Its such an intense match, so much is at stake, and you'll see some team members that Chris hasn't used for a while. It showcases some fantastic character development for our hero.

I hope you're all doing well. Any questions regarding the fic?

Chris 2.1

7th November 2007, 07:17 PM

HERE IT IS!

Chapter 49, after weeks and weeks and weeks of slaving. I think it's taken about 7 weeks to do. And it's been hard. I do hope you enjoy this installment. Please please let me know what you think of my work, whoever you are - I need cheering up :D

Chapter 49
Round Three!
Chris 2.0 VS OzAndrew

A brimming storm of conversation, noise and chatter filled the offices of the Board of Governors the next day. Panic flittered among the workers as Gordon angrily paced around, Magnus Archer by his side.

“Austin,” Gordon snapped. “Update.”

“Still no connection with 04621,” Austin said meekly. “Phone and internet communications are down. We’ve also tried making contact through the VS Seekers in 04621 but we have had no confirmation that the messages have been received.”

“This is no coincidence,” Gordon said to himself. “This is Grey.”

“You cannot be sure it was Grey,” Amy said suddenly. Magnus gave her a piercing glare as she looked thoroughly embarrassed at standing up for herself.

“Grey is the only person who has clearance to the communications,” Gordon told Amy. “And I believe he has decided not to tell anybody about the league’s closure.”

“Anyone can obtain Grey’s clearance information if they wanted to, that’s all,” Amy said firmly, walking back to her office. Gordon watched her go, deep in thought. Magnus said nothing as Jacques, shutting his door, approached the Chairman.

“Perhaps this is WAVEX,” he suggested. “After all, shutting down the league directly clashes with what they want to achieve.”

“It…is possible,” Gordon replied.

“Perhaps we should interrogate Volletta more intently,” Jacques said. “She is still going through de-briefing so we have her here.”

Gordon nodded, looking at Magnus.

“Get as much information as you can,” he told his subordinate.

“Are you not coming?” Magnus asked.

“No,” Gordon replied. “I’m getting on the next plane to England. I’m going to 04621 myself.”

*

I hadn’t felt this nervous for a long time. I mean….I’ve had two matches in the league, and I’m into Round 3...but today I feel scared. It’s a mixture of things, really. The fact that I’m at the halfway point in the league is exhilarating, considering that many of the new trainers are being rooted out and, yet again, the vets are vying for that goddamn trophy. Feeling like cannon fodder for a stronger opponent sucks.

My opponent was OzAndrew. I wasn’t that worried about him, really; I’d beaten him once before, although I was quite sure he was a lot stronger than he had been then. Furthermore we’re having a 3-3; things aren’t as sporadically decided as singles or doubles matches; we have a long battle to determine the winner. And here comes the worst part.

We’re battling on the water arena.

Okay, so I have Politoed (and thank god I do), but no other members of my team are that good around water. Magmar is a no-no, Electabuzz and Lairon are far too heavy, Weavile has a slight fear of deep water after Hanada Tattsu’s Kingdra basically drowned him when he was a Sneasel…Cacturne could work, as could Vibrava (although she is a ground type) and Swalot…well, I haven’t battled with him that much.

Here I was, standing opposite OzAndrew on the water arena early in the day. He had a corked hat on and a rather sad look on his face. He was gripping a bright blue Pokeball as he stared across the vast blue pool; unlike the luxurious and tax-free marble pool located in Crescent Walk, this arena contained two foam floats, red and yellow respectively, on each side of the arena. It was tiled badly. But it was a nice day, and the sun shone.

“When you -” began the large, beefy woman refereeing for us, before being cut out by the audience’s continual chattering. She looked around, angry. “*Ahem* When you are ready, Chris, please -”

The noise did not subside, despite the woman raising her voice slightly. She looked irked as I stared at her, a Pokeball clutched firmly in my hand. I wasn’t using Politoed first; I needed him for later.

“When you are ready to send out - OH FOR CHRISTS SAKE WILL YOU ALL SHUT THE HELL UP SO WE CAN START THIS BLOODY MATCH!”

The audience fell silent. Our referees sharp eyes scanned the area for a small signal of noise or rule breaking, but found none. In the audience, Blademaster was reading something.

“This was in my horoscope!” he cried.

“What?” Tucker asked, who was parked at the end of the row of seats due to his wheelchair. Unfortunately Blademaster and the Green Lanturn were sitting a few seats in, meaning Tucker had to talk past a woman and her children. A man sitting beside him looked inquisitively. “No…not you, I’m talking to my friend, next to…no not you either, madam, or your odd children…”

“Yea, my horoscope,” Blade told The Green Lanturn, who was sitting quietly in his green spandex. “Look - ‘Today you face many challenges. The flavour ice cream you want will not be available. If you want to know why choosing Mint Choc is a bad idea, call my helpline on 07662344566. Money will be a problem today. Also you’ll get shouted at when you go to see OzAndrew VS Chris 2.0 in the third round match. Look out for the man in red..”

“Where’s mine?” The Green Lanturn asked, trying to mask his growing intrigue. “Wait, I’m Virgo too…does that mean mine’s the same?”

“No, look,” Blade said, pointing to the piece of paper. “The Wise Woman lists them by member, not by zodiac sign.”

“So she basically tells every single member of TPML about their day ahead?”

“Yep. Read!”

“Fine. ‘Your day will be boring. I foresee you have little to say or do. Money will be a problem. You will have an increasingly pointless role over the next five chapters...”

“How brutally honest,” TGL sighed. “Oh, wait!”

"…actually, you’ll be in Chapter 51 quite a lot..”

Meanwhile the match had begun; OzAndrew had released his pink, sturdy Corsola onto the yellow float and I hurled my Pokeball forward and summoned David’s Swalot. The large, wobbly being span out his ball and landed on the float, causing it to wobble as he re-arranged his structure to a standing position. The crowd cheered loudly at his showmanship. I smirked, seeing something of my brother in his showing off.

“Corsola! Water Pulse!” Andrew cried. Corsola charged up an orb of glowing energy before leaping up and spitting it down. It smashed into the pool and sped across towards Swalot, gaining size and power as it pulsated wildly.

“Destroy it with bullet seed!” I shouted, watching Swalot purse his lips and send a flurry of golden yellow seeds through the air; they peppered the oncoming orb of fizzing energy frantically and it burst, sending water flying through the air.

“Corsola! Spike Cannon!” my opponent shouted. I realised now, looking across the arena, that I had made a grave mistake in selecting Swalot. With only one float each, Swalot had no way of moving around the arena and was, to use an old phrase, a sitting duck. Corsola, from her float, pointed her coral ridges forward and fired off searing white-hot pins of energy that soared into my Pokemon and stung him badly.

“Ok,” I said frantically. We needed more mobility but I wasn’t sure what to do. “Swalot…fire another bullet seed at Corsola.”

“Corsola get into the water and evade. Then use a high-speed tackle!”

Corsola nodded, leaping into the pool and tearing towards Swalot. My eyes widened. Corsola was off her float. I needed a way to get that float to my side of the arena and wondered what Swalot, sitting on his own float, could do.

Memories of a similar water match flashed before my eyes. Hanada’s Gym….Cacturne…

“Swalot! Turn to me and fire a bullet seed at the edge of the arena!” I cried. Turning, Swalot blasted the attack at the edge of the arena, chipping it slightly but propelling him across towards OzAndrew’s side of the arena.

“Whoa!” said Crystal Tears, watching in the stands. With her was a mildly intrigued (but happy) River, a slightly bored Girafarig, and an annoyed Dark Sage. “Chris! What are you doing?”

“What are we doing,” Dark Sage rasped. “We were supposed to meet in the village and talk about WAVEX.”

“Shut up,” Crystal snapped, whipping out a small fan and smacking him across the head.

“Hey I saved your life,” Dark Sage said. River, Crystal and Girafarig all laughed.

“You were abducted by ghosts,” River told him. “Crystal wants to watch this match before we discuss WAVEX.”

“Why?” Dark Sage asked. “Do you fancy Chris or something?”

“Glurk!” choked Crystal. Girafarig saw this.

“Do you?”

“No….no! No no…no no no….no…no…no no….*ahem* no…”

“Hmm,” Dark Sage murmured.

“You do fancy him, don’t you!” Girafarig cried.

“No! Drop it,” Crystal hissed.

“I won’t!” Girafarig protested.

“Why, do you fancy Crystal?” Dark Sage sneered.

“Glurk!?” Crystal gasped, looking at her friend. Girafarig glowed red but effortlessly hit Dark Sage in the face.

Swalot was speeding towards the other side of the arena, so I commanded him to slowly fire a bullet seed at Andrew’s side of the arena to slow him down. The circular float began to stop next to the other big one on Andrew’s side of the arena. Corsola, near me now, looked thoroughly confused at what just happened.

“Corsola don’t let it get that float!” OzAndrew cried. “Spike Cannon! Power Gem!”

Corsola tore back towards us as Swalot grabbed the large float and raised it above his head. A flurry of needle-like spikes flew through the air and tore through the float, reducing it to shreds as a large, thick diamond of glowing energy ploughed into the core of the float and destroyed it. Swalot looked mortified as Corsola kept coming towards him, leaping up and firing off more spikes.

“Stockpile!”

Swalot nodded, opening his mouth wide and stretching up, catching the spike-like needles and closing his mouth/

“Spit up!”

Swalot gave a smirk and blasted a white orb of energy that seemed to be the digested remains of the spike cannon. The glowing, misty orb smashed into Corsola and sent her flying. She disappeared under the waves momentarily.

“Get back to our side of the arena!” I called to Swalot. He nodded, facing the arena wall and blasting the seeds at OzAndrew’s side; he was propelled back across the arena, tatters of our opponents float littering the water. My strategy hadn’t worked…now we needed a new way to try and claim the territory.

“Now!” I heard OzAndrew cry. I looked at Swalot to see a pink blur racing underwater and, in a flash, Corsola burst up from underneath Swalot, sharpened spikes puncturing the float and sending my Pokemon flying up into the air. I knew Swalot was quite dense so wanted to use this sudden setback to our advantage.

“Rollout! Ice Beam! Go!”

Swalot tucked into a ball shape and span wildly in mid-air, blasting off the ice attack that flew down around the arena, encasing small parts of the water’s surface with ice. Swalot then fell back to the arena and, his normal float now shredded, fell into the water with a splash.

“When he emerges from the water, get him!” Andrew cried. But he didn’t need to bother. Swalot’s large, doughy hands were vainly trying to overcome the water but he was failing; he just couldn’t master the art of treading water since he had no feet. I watched sadly as my brother’s prized Pokemon splashed around helplessly before realising this had been the worst thing to do to him.

“Swalot,” I said gravely. “Return.”

I felt eyes pressing against me as the red beam blasted across the arena and saved Swalot. He was still so strong, having taken hardly any damage at all. But he couldn’t survive on here; something I should have known. Now, with a barely scratched Corsola still raring to go, and two more Pokemon after that, I had to send in something good to balance out the competition.

“Politoed!” I cried., grabbing his Pokeball. “Get out there!”

*

Elec Man was due to battle The Missing Link today, but before his match, he was inundated with problems from a number of battlers. His peaceful picnic in the village square was a calamity as Luna Fuerte, Hyperness is a Good Thing and Silencer pestered him for information.

“I can’t call anyone from my phone,” Luna said anxiously. “It says the service is down temporarily, but it’s been down all day!”

“I tried sending an external message on my VS Seeker to my brother but it won’t send,” Hyperness cried.

“Look, look,” Elec Man said testily. “I’m really sorry but I can’t deal with your problems. It’s a routine communication glitch and I’m sure it will be sorted out soon.”

He walked off, his Breloom carrying the remnants of his lunch while the Glalie gave dark looks to anyone posing questions. Bustling along the street Elec Man saw Becca, coolly leaning against the wall. She was watching him.

“Morning,” she said, smiling.

“Hi,” Nate said.

“So…we’re battling later,” Becca said.

“A 3-3.”

“I cannot wait,” Becca replied.

“Me neither.”

“Do you think you can win?”

“Yes,” replied the 19-year old.

“Good. Because so do I,” Becca replied. “Have you seen Grey today?”

“No.”

“Oh. He has his match soon, that’s all. He’s facing Liang.”

“He’ll walk it,” Elec Man said calmly. “Liang’s not strong enough at the moment. He’s not up to the challenge.”

“I suppose we’ll see if you’re right,” Becca said cryptically.

*

“Politoed, mega kick!” I cried. Corsola flew in with a tackle but Politoed swung his foot around, kicking the coral Pokemon and sending her flying back into the water. Politoed gave an aching cry at his pain in his foot but fired off a bubblebeam at the foe. Corsola felt the force of the exploding bubbles burst across her face but dived beneath the waves, tearing along underneath Politoed.

“Now! Power Gem!” Andrew cried. Corsola sped up and flew out the water, charging up the chunky diamond of glowing energy that flew down at Politoed. My Pokemon tucked his head down and endured the blast, leaping up and slamming Corsola with an ice punch before blasting a shadow ball to throw her back down.

Politoed let himself fall into the water and recovered from the attacks. I saw his head bob above the surface of the water as Corsola popped back up; she smiled happily and I heard OzAndrew whisper something inaudible. Corsola nodded and blasted a thin jet of water up into the air, where it wound itself into a halo of fizzing water that slowly revolved around the pink Pokemon. As it slowly moved, a fine, sparkling dust fell from its grace and sprinkled over Corsola, glowing as it was absorbed into her body.

I wasn’t sure what the attack was, but it was obviously healing Corsola over time. Politoed raced forward and delivered a brick break, but Corsola responded by sharpening her coral horns and jousting him painfully. Staggering back, Politoed used his psychic prowess to collect droplets of water from the pool and hurl these orbs of water into Corsola.

Unfortunately the ring, which was a few feet in the air, was still providing this healing and we knew that attacking the coral Pokemon was useless.

“Politoed, aim an ice beam at that water ring,” I commanded. Politoed nodded, opening wide and blasting the icy beam of frost up towards the attack. However the beam jetted off to the right slightly, missing the right of water entirely. I looked to see Corsola, who apparently had some psychic control, re-directed the attack. Corsola then blasted a series of long, sharp spikes through the air towards us. No problem.

“Politoed, psychic.”

Poltioed concentrated hard and the spike cannon stopped inches from the Pokemon’s face. Politoed then clapped his hands and the spikes dropped into the water, becoming lifeless and still. Corsola looked angry, firing another power gem from between her horns. Politoed was too slow and was struck in the head, causing him to give a garbled yelp of confusion.

“Corsola he’s dazed! Bubblebeam now!” OzAndrew yelped. “Also use a flash to blind him!”

Corsola cried out happily as an intense light burst from her body; she fired off a stream of powerful bubbles that reflected and shimmered the light she produced. Politoed suddenly closed his eyes and, concentrating hard, summoned the spikes that lay on the floor of the pool. They burst up from the water’s surface and Politoed manipulated them into a wall of pointed pins, bursting the onslaught of bubbles that were on the way.

He then pointed forward and directed the swarm of pins to sweep across and strike Corsola. She flew back and Politoed leapt up, firing an ice beam across at the swirling regeneration ring. It began to frost over, allowing Poltioed to draw a hand back and shatter the iced ring of healing power. As Politoed fell back down into the water, he was followed by sparkling shards of ice that meant he had destroyed the healing attack.

“Good job,” I said. Corsola raced along the arena at us, speeding through the water as her horns glowed vividly. A torrent of spikes soared through the air, but Politoed leapt under the water and dealt a tackle to Corsola from beneath. He leapt up and turned, blasting an ice beam down and striking Corsola in the head. She gave a cry and turned, charging up a shadow ball and blasting the swirling ball of complex shadow.

As the attack burst across Politoed he clapped his hands and used his psychic powers to manipulate the water in the pool. He created a large wall of water, like a reverse water fall, and held it in place as he blasted an ice beam and focused on freezing this wall of ice to prevent Corsola from reaching him. I watched in amazement at his progress with both elemental and psychic attacks; an entire sheet of ice was erected before us, and a loud thwack told me Corsola had slammed into it mid-tackle.

“Excellent,” I told my Pokemon.

“Jesus frikkin Christ!” Tucker spat.

“He made a huge solid wall of ice?!” Blademaster quipped.

“That ice won’t stay erect for long since the base is not frozen,” The Green Lanturn noted.

“Politoed! Fire a wide-range blizzard to freeze the surrounding water,” I said proudly. Politoed seemed to have lost some of his proficiency with stronger attacks like blizzard and hydro pump; focused attacks, such as water gun and ice beam were easier to control but often he let the attack run away with him. Despite this, I needed to freeze the surrounding water to help support the giant ice wall so Politoed blasted away. As he did, sending layers of thick ice across the pool, it became glazed over, frosted and sparkling. The ice was not incredibly durable, but it was almost like a ‘quarter-pipe’ of ice on my side of the arena. I saw Corsola’s shadow from the other side of the icy wall.

“Use psychic to slam her into the ice!”

Politoed nodded, preparing to grapple Corsola and pull her towards him, slamming her into the large wall in the process. However, before we could do that, cracks began to form in the ice and I could see, from one of the jumbo screens, Corsola was using her own psychic attack to attack the ice.

“Politoed! Bounce and bubble beam!”

Politoed nodded; he leapt up high, flipping over the ice wall and firing down pellets of blue, ice-cold energy. They soared down as Politoed did, peppering Corsola and inflicting damage on the little pink Pokemon. She blasted a spike cannon up into the air, overpowering the bubbles and causing Politoed to fall onto a flurry of spikes shooting up.

“Politoed!” I shouted, unable to see the match due to the…well, huge ice screen. The jumbo vision showed Nurse Smiles, wearing an orange prison uniform, screaming loudly as someone jabbed her with a stick. Politoed swung a chop, smashing Corsola in the head; she skidded back, leaping up and firing a power gem attack. The think, chunky diamond smashed into Politoed but he swung his tongue around, wrapping around Corsola’s coral horns and swinging her into the large ice wall; he then flung her up high and leapt up after her, dealing a dynamic punch to knock her right out.

Politoed flipped over the wall and skidded down towards me as I smiled broadly. OzAndrew recalled Corsola and the scoreboard flashed up, showing that, after a big brawl, we were finally even again. Politoed was covered in scratches and cuts, looking worn out but ready for more. I knew that OzAndrew had a good team, but how many of them could survive on water?

*

“Thank you for coming here today,” River said, to a group of people. “This meeting is top-secret and potentially potent so we need to keep quiet and tell nobody we’re here.”

“This is stupid,” Dark Sage grumbled.

“I agree,” Crystal replied.

“Why?” River asked.

“AND HANADA TATTSU TAKES DOWN THE BLUE AVENGER’S EXEGGUTOR WITH EASE!” cried a reporter.

“Because you’ve brought the meeting to the seating in A LEAGUE BATTLE!” Dark Sage cried.

“AND we weren’t allowed to have the meeting in the stadium where Chris and Andrew were battling!” Crystal cried. “Why move to a whole different stadium?”

“Because Jeff and I are Geometrically Ostracized in Numerous Groups, Often Upsetting (and) Tiresome. In other words, we are G-O-I-N-G O-U-T.”

“That makes sense,” Girafarig replied calmly. “Unlike YOUR reason, Crys.”

“Hey! I…erm…” Crystal muttered, trying to justify her wanting to watch Chris’s match. “Look, if you…but….ahh heck, I got nothing.”

“So Crystal and Girafarig were rescued,” River narrated dramatically. “And we saw 3 WAVEX people die.”

“Which means they are getting smaller and smaller,” Luna noted. She had her Slowpoke on her lap, affectionately feeding her big, plump grapes from the stalk.

“But we don’t know who WAVEX are, who their leader is…” Crystal noted.

“All we do know is we accomplished what we set out to achieve,” River said. “Rescuing my sister and GirafamaJohnothon.”

“But they’re still at large, plotting to fix the league!” Crystal retorted.

“I wish they’d fix it for TBA to win,” River said, musing. She watched her boyfriend release a Persian who leapt towards Hanada’s Octillery with sharp claws. The two battlers were both on their second Pokemon.

“You are a mod, sis!” Crystal cried. “You need to spread the word!”

“We tried,” River replied. “When we arranged to rescue you, I sent a message to every member in the league. Nobody responded...except us.”

“Why isn’t Charles here?” Dark Sage noticed. “Babbling about Mr Bicycle and Oliver the Toothless CheesePlant. Or Sir Oinks-A-Lot, or that big Magikarp he saw once. I hope my efforts to whittle away his cheer, spirit and youthful optimism didn‘t cause him to break down.”

“He’s probably watching Elec Man take on Becca, that starts in like, an hour,” Luna noted. “He’s maybe been training with Nate…he did want to become stronger…”

River nodded. TBA’s Persian leapt up and released a crackling bolt of lightening through the air; it smashed into Octillery, who gave a long cry of pain and anguish. The octopus blasted a sludge bomb at the vain Pokemon, but she dived elegantly across the arena to evade the attack.

Hanada was having a difficult time; Octillery was mobile but slow; Persian was blindingly fast with an array of attacks at her disposal. She pounced again, turning and blasting an electric attack towards Octillery, but he managed to fire a blizzard to push the lightening away. Sensing his red Pokemon was beginning to tire, Gregg feared for the match.

*

Meanwhile Grey was sitting in the old, closed Theatre. Theatre Gris, looming and magnificent, stood proudly in BT Street, chains on the doors as if it were some forbidden ornament. Grey was not stupid, and picked his way into the theatre through the side door. As he wandered along the aisles of the old, slightly dusted navy blue seats, he felt a presence. An entity in the area. As he saw Razor Leaf’s old Haunter glide through the walls, he recalled some of the Pokemon Daniel left him; they, as well as many of his own, wide team, spent a lot of their time in Ivy Woods. Grey only carried his black Charizard, Blastoise, Snorlax, Tyranitar, Dragonite and Salamence with him at present; with his match against Liang occurring that evening, he needed to ensure Victory, even if it was what WAVEX wanted.

It was not about opposing WAVEX; the job was, he told himself, to do what one intended to do - win the league. If that meant, for a while, anyway, that his goals coincided with those of Thomas and her group, then so be it; but it would not last forever, and he needed to remember that.

“I never did like Theatres.”

Grey turned to see Thomas walking down the main aisle; with her was Isabel, the pretty, young nurse, as well as Hage, the large, beefy Scottish man with very little neck. The three stopped a few metres away from Grey.

“Then I suggest you leave,” Grey said coldly.

“I came here to see you; not because I wanted to visit this place,” Thomas replied.

“I have nothing I want to say to you,” Grey responded. “Please leave me alone or I will have you arrested.”

“Arrested?” Thomas asked quizzically.

“For conspiring to fix the league,” said Grey.

“I think you’ll find that you have a part in this, too,” Thomas argued.

“Actually, since nobody in 04621 is aware of it, I’m going to deny the whole thing,” the man said simply. “Tell them you stole my access codes and system information. That’s all you really needed.”

“Well if you recall, your freedom as a man is at stake,” Thomas replied. “We have video evidence of you shooting Cocoa Sting. That directly clashes with the story the Board was told; they were told Callisto shot her.”

“I vaguely recall that.”

“Then you should listen to what we say, Grey, or else I will ring my contact -”

But Thomas froze. The realisation of her actions hit her as it dawned on her that, with communications cut, Gordon could not contact the Board to shut it down. But similarly, she could not contact Brooklyn and have the video exposed to the Board. She had shot herself in the foot.

“You have realised exactly what a mistake you made,” Grey said sternly. “Without communication outside of this society, what the Board say and do is irrelevant. So if you would kindly leave this Theatre now, and stop talking to me. I will take necessary action otherwise.”

Thomas took a step back.

“Hage, shoot him.”

Grey’s eyes widened as he turned to leap behind the row of seats. He dived, hearing a loud, echoing shot fly past him. Scrambling to the ground, Grey kept low and ran along the row of seats as Thomas and Isabel stayed still, Hage racing after him. Grey ran up onto the stage, but even as his feet frantically conquered the steps, he knew it was too late; he saw Hage fire again and there was a second smoking bang. Grey clutched his side as he staggered back and collapsed on the stage.

“Good,” Thomas said firmly. “Hage, Isabel, let’s go.”

*

My eyes widened in fear as OzAndrew released his Pokemon; an Alakazam. The golden Pokemon, still partially obscured by the huge ice wall separating the arena, used telekinesis to sit, cross-legged, above the water’s surface.

“OzAndrew has chosen Alakazam,” the referee said stiffly. Her deep voice boomed across the arena. “BEGIN!”

“Politoed, just chill out,” I said worriedly. Politoed nodded as I heard Andrew’s command.

“Psycho cut!”

Dear god. The name scared me. I saw, from my side of the icy wall, Alakazam using his mind to carve down the middle of the ice wall, causing both sides to topple over and smash into the water, shattering into smaller, but still large bergs of ice. Alakazam sat there merrily above the waves.

“I see you!” OzAndrew cried. “Alakazam! Energy Ball!”

Nodding, Alakazam held his hands out and charged up his spoons. He created a small, citrus-green globe of throbbing, powerful entity; the ball was blasted through the air and it smashed into Politoed, hurling him across the arena. He landed on an ice float and shook the damage off/

“Bubblebeam!”

Politoed blasted the pellets from his mouth; Alakazam flicked his hand lazily and the bubbles swept up above the arena, forming a star-shaped cluster. Alakazam then crossed his spoons over, creating an x and firing a psybeam from the cross-over. The glowing beam of neon light soared into the bubble-star and energy burst out in all directions.

“WHO’S INCOMPETANT AT CONTESTS NOW?!” he cried to the audience, who applauded the clever attack combo. “Alakazam! Psychic!”

A strong, sudden surge of power hurled Politoed back; he arched over and smashed against an ice float again. Now he was right at the edge of the pool, looking tired. OzAndrew had two completely healthy Pokemon left. This was too hard.

“Politoed get up! Ice Beam!”

Politoed nodded. He leapt up and fired the beam of pearly ice; it jetted through the air but Alakazam gave another lazy flick and the beam soared upwards; it exploded in a shower of frail, delicate flakes of ice all across the arena. Politoed clenched his fists…I suppose it was quite frustrating. Alakazam was just protected completely as he re-directed attacks and such. Politoed had some fighting spirit left, but I think I needed him later. My eyes scanned the arena, littered with chunks of ice. I knew they’d melt soon so I couldn’t rely on them to support my Pokemon. I had only one choice.

“Politoed, get some rest for now. Recall.”

I shot the beam at Politoed, which hit him and dragged him back into his capsule. The Board showed I recalled Politoed, and his picture was still in colour, unlike Swalot’s, which was blacked out. I grabbed the Pokeball on the far right of my belt - it was a special, black Pokeball I remember stealing from Girafarig.

“I choose you, Vibrava!”

In a bright, cool flash, my Vibrava emerged; she gave a cackle as she flapped above the arena, her eyes scanning around keenly to see all the different and exciting sights. Andrew pretended to puke at the sight of my dragonfly, but I didn’t care. The problem was, direct attacks were a real bitch. Physical attempts could be stopped, as could any projectile. So I was going to use the arena as much as I could.

“Alakazam! Psychic!”

“Vibrava, use sonic boom!”

Vibrava flapped back and blasted a stream of wind across the arena. Shockwaves struck Alakazam as he focused his energy, but the swirling wind was distracting his concentration and he was thrown back. As he arched through the air, Alakazam used a psychic attack to levitate above the water’s surface, looking flustered.

“Vibrava! Use silver wind!” I cried. Vibrava nodded, flapping as her wings glowed majestically. Two twisting columns of sparkling silver wind whipped up around the watery arena, sending chunks of ice flying around everywhere. Alakazam, still levitating, summoned huge chunks of the thick ice to fly around him and band together, encasing him in a thick, icy shell. The attack smashed against the shield. Alakazam then sent the thick plates of spiked ice to fly through the air and smash into Vibrava, causing great harm to my Pokemon.

“Are you ok?” I cried. She took the damage well, flapping back. Alakazam used his psychic levitation to sweep up through the air like a superhero, causing his fists to glow with frantic, icy powers.

“Vibrava! Get away with quick attack!” I cried. Vibrava nodded and sped across the skies as Alakazam swept up after her, moustache flapping as his gripped fists sparkled. My Pokemon was fast; she tore along, pulling sharp turns and diving down towards the arena, pulling up, searing right…Alakazam propelled himself with his telekinesis. I formed a plan.

“Vibrava, use a wide-spread silver wind!” I shouted. Vibrava stopped, span around and blasted a sweeping wind of sparkling, silver energy that whipped around viciously. Alakazam was struck by the attack but powered on, pressing through the sheet of force. “Now! Cloak among it with quick attack!”

Amid the glittery winds, Vibrava darted in and around, sweeping across and perplexing Alakazam. Floating among the arena’s sweeping cloak of sparkle, Alakazam looked around, trying to see where my Pokemon was.

“Siphon away the wind into your own silver wind attack!” OzAndrew shouted. Alakazam nodded, gripping his two spoons and focusing hard. The winds curled into two twisting columns of sparkling energy, but this much focus caused Alakazam to begin to drop from mid-air; it appeared he needed to focus all his energy on one thing; he could not levitate and manipulate the wind together. As he fell lightly, Andrew cried out and ordered him to balance out. Alakazam nodded.

“Vibrava, reveal yourself!” I cried. “Use Steel Streak!”

Our combination of steel wing and quick attack was pulled off immediately; wings tucked back slightly, sheened over and sharp, Vibrava tore towards Alakazam and shredded past him, spinning around and tearing back. The telekinetic Pokemon was not fast enough to see the attack coming and, above the arena of thick, icy floats, Alakazam was continuously slashed into by the bullet-like speed and precision of my Vibrava’s attacks among the fading, silver sky.

“Alakazam!” OzAndrew cried. “Land on an ice float. Save some energy. Then use psychic to slam Vibrava into the water!”

“Quick attack! Evade! Then use sonic boom!”

Alakazam lowered himself gently down through the arena. Vibrava watched and, instead of shooting away, she opened her mouth and charged up an eerie teal orb in her mouth. I wasn’t sure what the attack was, but I hadn’t ordered it.

“HEY!”

Vibrava paid no notice, instead waiting until Alakazam was about halfway down towards the largest slab of ice leftover from Politoed’s attack previously. Only then did she aim her head down, widen her jaw and blast a huge, pulsating beam of flaming energy down towards the PSI Pokemon. It struck Alakazam head-on, sending him smashing into the ice float, causing it to crack and submerge the spindly, powerful being underwater.

“Alakazam! Use psychic and siphon away all the water from the arena into a gigantic attack!” Andrew yelled. “Lob it!”

The surface of the water rippled and bubbled. Droplets rose up from the water before a curling, twisting column of water rose up. Soon the entire contents of the water were forming into a gigantic column. Alakazam was seen standing in the corner of the now empty, slightly damp pool. The water rose up and the tendril formed into a huge, gigantic ball of water, Alakazam using his psychic attack to pad and hold the water together as it dripped off and around.

“Vibrava we need to stop that attack from hitting,” I said, noticing that Vibrava could probably drown if the attack struck. “Use a gust attack against the oncoming water.”

Huge planet of water above his head, Alakazam pointed a thin, bony finger at Vibrava and the water shook and juddered. But as it began to rise (slowly, I noticed), Vibrava extended her wings and flapped hard, sending blasts of air swirling down at the arena. Alakazam growled, forcing the attack through the air like a bowling ball. It soared up towards my dragonfly, who was beating her wings frantically and not managing to achieve anything.

“Try a sonic boom!” I suggested. Vibrava had a better idea, her wings glowing silver as if she were using steel wing. Next thing I knew she was darting through the air straight for the huge orb of water, blasting a dragon breath out in front of her. The swathing green flames engulfed Vibrava and trailed behind her, making her look like a speeding entity of flame as she smashed right into the water attack, bursting out the other end as her penetration tore the attack apart. Appearing out the other side and speeding around the arena like The Human Torch, Vibrava turned and looked to see huge spits of water lashing down against the arena.

“Jesus,” I gasped.

“DAMNIT!” OzAndrew snapped.

“Vibrava! Now use that…green…beam…”

She nodded, powering up the pulsating orb and taking aim. However this time she swept down at Alakazam, the attack sweeping into him too. Alakazam deflected the attack with a flick of his arm and the beam smashed into a corner of the arena. Rising up out of the arena, Alakazam met the oncoming dragon with a sweeping Ice Punch. She spiralled back, cold.

“Right,” I said. “Use silver wind again.”

Nodding, she commanded two spiralling columns of vicious, sparkling wind to sweep around and smash into Alakazam. He fired off a swift attack, the golden stars tearing into my Pokemon and causing her to flap back, irritated.

“Dragonbreath!”

“Psychic! Create a cocoon!” Andrew spat. The oncoming entity of teal flames, the same colour as the wild, pulsating beam, flew down towards the foe, but he used his psychic manipulation to greet the fire, welcoming it in long sinews to surround him in a thick, wild cage of flame, making him indistinguishable.

Vibrava flapped above the pool, which was now really a large, empty pit. Alakazam stood on the edge of this pit, surrounded by the green flames. Suddenly, with a roar, Alakazam commanded the flames to rise and snake through the air like a deadly serpent. Vibrava pulled off to the left and sped away, but Alakazam’s attack wound after my Pokemon and she was struck hard, screeching as the powerful, draconian flames engulfed her.

“Now! Fly up and use ice punch, Alakazam!”

Alakazam soared up telekinetically, his fists sparkling with icy prowess. Vibrava saw this and flapped up, blasting a sweeping whirlwind down to try and hold Alakazam off. But the psychic Pokemon powered through the harsh winds and slugged Vibrava again; she gave a screech, weakened.

“Vibrava get up into the sky!” I said, unsure of what to do to combat the Alakazam. Again, however, he soared up and at us, fists glowing with ice and frost as he planned another double ice punch. I then came to a warming conclusion as the Pokemon sped through the air, throbbing with energy. Now he was at his weakest.

“Quick attack!” I cried. Vibrava nodded, speeding up and pulling sharply to the left, high above the arena. Alakazam turned around and ploughed through the air after my Pokemon. We needed to get a bit more distance…

“Now! Dragon Pulse!”

Vibrava span around wildly and blasted the draconian beam of pulsating, green energy. It smashed right into Alakazam’s face and for a moment he was suspended in mid-air, the remnants of the echoing green energy on his face. Slowly, though, he plummeted, having lost the psychic momentum. Andrew was yelling at his Pokemon, ordering him to levitate, but the Pokemon seemed to be unconscious as he fell, hitting the cold, tired floor of the empty pool. Vibrava watched from above. Alakazam was defeated.

“OzAndrew, please recall your Alakazam,” the referee called. Andrew nodded, grabbing the Pokeball and shooting the beam at his fallen Alakazam. This was it. One Pokemon left…but against my two weakening ones. What would Andrew use? Before I could ponder any further, the referee stepped forward.

“Please allow a thirty minute interval while the arena is restored to its…natural state.”

I nodded, recalling Vibrava. The screen showed my three Pokemon: Swalot, who was blacked out completely, and Politoed and Vibrava, profiles backed by a yellow light. On Andrew’s side, both Corsola and Alakazam were blacked out, but his third Pokemon was a complete mystery.

Chris 2.1

7th November 2007, 07:24 PM

“Persian! Use slash!” The Blue Avenger shouted. Hanada Tattsu gasped as his Octillery was knocked out by the powerful strike. He gave a gulp and recalled the red octopus, fumbling on his belt and finding his next choice. Who to use? Quagsire and Octillery had both fallen. The Blue Avenger had another Pokemon left after Perisan…so he needed to pick something good…something strong…

“Wartortle!”

The Pokemon burst out from its ball and emerged. This was Gregg’s first - and best - Pokemon, and he knew Wartortle could help him overcome the odds. Persian instantly crackled with power as her gem turned yellow; a bolt of lightening was fired at Wartortle, but he tucked into his shell and span frantically, sweeping up and out of the way. In mid-air, the turtle popped out his shell and fired a hydro pump down to smash into the elegant Pokemon.

“Go for pay day!” The Blue Avenger cried. From the tunnel leading to the lockers, Thomas stood with Rolph.

“What is the situation?” Thomas asked.

“The Subject is on his last Pokemon,” Rolph explained. “Persian is weakening and TBA has a single Pokemon left after that.”

“Did you do as I asked?”

“I knocked into him on the way into the stadium and took some of his Pokemon,” Rolph replied. “I thought his electric types were kept on the left, but they weren’t all - I got his Electabuzz and his Tangela, but I didn’t get his Exeggutor, which he ended up using.”

“I see,” Thomas replied. “Ok. Well we will hope for the best.”

“Did you see Grey?” Rolph asked.

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“That is none of your concern,” Thomas told the 19 year old boy. He looked at her crossly.

“But I am concerned,” he said. “Thomas, I’m only a few years younger than you. Let me in.”

“Hage shot him,” Thomas replied.

“Is he dead?”

“I do not know, but it is irrelevant,” Thomas said lightly. “It means he will be unable to battle tonight and Liang will go on to Round 4.”

“Ok.”

“Grey was useful,” Thomas replied. “But by the end of Round 3, most the pieces will be in place. We did not need him any longer.”

“So what about Chris and Andrew?” Rolph asked.

“I want Andrew through,” Thomas said. “He has more experience and if he uses the arena properly, he can trounce Chris. Chris won’t survive on that arena, he hasn’t got the Pokemon for it. As for Elec Man and Becca, it’s either/or. Both are strong, both are problems, but both have weaknesses.”

“Right. Thanks for…keeping me in the loop.”

“You’re not a bad person,” Thomas told him. “And I don’t forget the things you have done for me…”

She paused, looking at the boy’s hand.

“…sorry about your finger.”

“That’s…fine,” Rolph said airily, wiggling the stump. “I’m used to it now.”

*

Meanwhile, Becca was watching as she stood on the Platform Arena. Elec Man had just released his Masquerain, who had deep, blood-red wings and was larger than most. Becca saw this choice and released her Charizard, Drake. The large, orange dragon landed on the platform and blasted a jet of flames high up into the air.

“Keep cool,” Elec whispered. “Hidden Power!”

The little bug Pokemon charged up white orbs of glowing energy; they turned a dull yellow and fizzed as Masquerain beat them towards Charizard. They smashed into him and blasted lightening out, hurting the large dragon. He flapped back, firing a ball of fire that smashed right into the Pokemon and caused great harm. She flew high into the air and whipped up two twisting columns of silver wind; Charizard soared into the skies and pulled away from the attack, whipping a ferocious wind down to split the silver wind before blasting a fireball down through the air.

“Combat it with hydro pump!” Elec Man cried. Masquerasin fired off a powerful jet of water that smashed through the fire and struck Charizard hard. He flew around and drew his claw back, charging it with vibrant, purple energy that crackled and snaked into long claws. Racing down at the foe, shadow claw poised, Charizard swiped manically across the Pokemon’s body.

*

Not long after, I was back on my side of the arena facing a pool filled with crystal water. There were two foam floats again, one on my side and one on Andrews. Andrew was grinning as he gripped his third Pokeball.

“Chris 2.0, please release your Pokemon,” the referee barked. I nodded, deciding that Vibrava should probably carry on for now. I sent out the dragonfly, who eagerly flew above the arena, buzzing. The audience cheered loudly, apparently impressed with her performance against Alakazam. She scanned the arena, taking in the pool, the floats and the bright sky.

“Ok then!” Andrew cried. “I choose you! OzStar!”

Bursting from the spinning Pokeball was his chunky, purple star-shape Pokemon. Landing on one of the floats, the Pokemon gave an odd, watery crooning noise. Vibrava stared at the foe, apparently not pleased with the choice of opponent.

“BEGIN!” screamed the referee.

“Vibrava! Dragon Pulse!” I shouted, recalling the green attack she had used earlier. Vibrava nodded, blasting the pulsating beam down at Starmie. Starmie was struck-head on, flipping back and sinking underwater. Vibrava gave a cackle in happiness. However, Starmie flew up from underwater like a spinning ninja star; she collided into Vibrava, knocking her out of the sky, before blasting a beam of frosted ice down, striking her and sending Vibrava smashing onto the red float.

“Get up!” I urged my Pokemon. She stood there on the platform, gasping for air as Starmie flew down and dealt a rapid spin. Flapping back up, Vibrava dodged a water gun and fired a sonciboom, the attack smashing into the purple Pokemon. It did little damage.

“Ok try a gust, aim it into the water!” I said, trying to think of something evasive. Vibrava flew up and blasted the winds down at the pool, causing them to swirl viciously and whip up. Starmie’s core pulsated strongly and in an instant, Vibrava was dragged down like a plane and dunked into the water. There was a gurgle as Starmie held Vibrava down, before then throwing my Pokemon back up into the air and blasting an ice beam at her, freezing her joints stiff. The Pokemon was placed on the float by Starmie. She was not moving, frozen solid.

“Vibrava…” I said sadly, looking at her. “You have been…amazing.”

I recalled her, pulling the Pokeball back and selecting Politoed’s ball. I gripped it tightly and hurled it out, summoning my last Pokemon. In a flash of light he burst out, landing on the platform and wobbling slightly as he stared ahead at the faceless foe.

“Get ready…” I murmured.

*

Meanwhile, Magnus Archer was in an interrogation room with Volletta Kane. She was being questioned about WAVEX after The Board could not find sufficient evidence to help catch them.

“…I told you…” Volleta gasped, exhausted. She was sitting in a chair, Magnus prowling around her like a big security dog. “I never met Thomas. I only spoke on the phone - and that was rare in itself.”

“How did you come into contact with them?” Magnus asked.

“A man called Colton…he was the man I worked through,” Volletta admitted. “I just started doing menial tasks for a bit more money…soon they asked me to divulge information about the Board. How it worked, how the departments operated.”

“You idiot,” Magnus snapped. “You’ve betrayed this board, signed away our integrity. You’re a mess.”

“I did what I had to do to survive, you can’t just say ‘no’ to these people!” Volletta snapped. She crossed her arms over her large chest and let out a puff of air. “I’m not saying another word until my lawyer arrives.”

Watching all of this was Brooklyn Knight, who had tapped into the surveillance with his computer. Sipping a cup of coffee, he observed everything on his screen with a smirk. Gordon arrived in his doorway, prompting the young man to shut off the screen and look up calmly at the elderly chairman.

“Hello Brooklyn,” Gordon said calmly.

“How are you?” Brooklyn asked.

“Very well,” Gordon replied testily. “Yes, I am well.”

“When are you leaving for the UK?” Brooklyn asked.

“Soon,” he replied. “I want you to come with me, Brooklyn.”

“You do?” Brooklyn asked suddenly.

“I need a Technical Advisor to help us understand why the communication was shut down,” explained Gordon. “Jacques irritates me…and Austin is just not an impressive man. You are the one I want to assist me.”

“Sir…I am very flattered,” Brooklyn explained. “But my department…”

“Without you there are still two other Technical Advisors on the Board. The department will be fine.”

“Who is looking after your chair?” Brooklyn asked quizzically.

“Cocoa is going to hold onto the steering wheel while I am away,” Gordon said. “But we will be away for a couple of days, no more. Please, Brooklyn. Will you join me?”

“Ok then,” Brooklyn said calmly, getting up and shaking Gordon’s hand.

“Excellent,” Gordon said briskly. “We leave in an hour.”

“I’ll get ready,” Brooklyn replied airily, as Gordon left. He went back to his computer and began creating shields, temporarily blocking any content he did not want to be viewed while he was away. The last thing he needed was his cover being blown. Knowing that he was heading straight into the fray was going to be interesting…

As he packed his things, he wondered. When all of this was over, would his true loyalties be revealed? Would he be back at this Board again?

Perhaps not, depending on whose orders he took.

*

Finally, Charizard was down. Elec Man gave a small cheer to himself as his Typhlosion powered up the flames on his back. Masquerain had been taken down relatively quickly, and Typhlosion had taken some real damage. Becca gave a smirk as she gripped her next Pokeball and hurled it forward, revealling her Starmie, Chiron. The Pokemon gave a deep, powerful cry and span its back segment as the next round began.

Typhlosion instantly leapt forward, flames curling into him and causing him to merge as a huge ball of flame tearing towards Starmie. Like a powerful gymnast, Starmie twirled up and over Typhlosion, landing, spinning and firing off a hydro pump that smashed into the creatures back, extinguishing its collar flame and hurling it to the ground.

“Thunderpunch!” Elec Man cried.

“Pscyhic,” Becca replied curtly. Typhlosion’s paws sparkled with lightening and he raced at Starmie a second time. Starmie’s core glowed and Typhlosion swung both fists into his own jaw, giving himself a shock and collapsing due to the shock.

Furrowing his brow, Nate continued to think of a strategy as his Pokemon quickly evaded another rapid spin onslaught.

*

The final match up. Starmie VS Politoed. One, healthy, barely damaged and fresh; the other, slightly worn, slightly bruised. OzAndrew never looked so confident as I blinked furiously, trying to focus.

“Starmie! Swift!” Andrew yelled. Starmie blasted tiny golden stars from her star tip; they grew and enlarged as they swept through the air towards Politoed.

“Underwater! Now!” I shouted, as my green Pokemon leapt under the water and swam to safety. He could have propelled them away with telekinesis, but he was getting tired, and we needed to save that for later. Politoed stayed underwater, looking for the Starmie shadow.

“Use psychic to find Politoed! Get him up!”

Starmie’s core glowed and, soon, so did the water. The pool sloshed around and the water got choppy as Starmie pulled Politoed out of the water and flung him high into the air. He gave a bellowing croak of dissaproval as he spiralled up; Starmie then blasted a thunderbolt from her tip and zapped my Pokemon good. Politoed slammed into his float, exhausted.

“NO!” I cried, staring out to my Pokemon. He wearily got up, shaking his head and staring across at the formidable Pokemon. Starmie was giving a delicate spin as she blasted bubbles up into the air; obviously Andrew wanted to entertain the crowd while Poltioed recuperated.

“Politoed use ice beam!” I yelled. Poltioed blasted the beam of frosted ice through the air; it struck Starmie and her core was somewhat frosted over. She leapt back up and fired off a bubble beam, but Politoed leapt under water again. He popped back out just before Starmie tried locating him; this time, however, due to the icy glaze over her core, Starmie had more difficulty in using her psychic powers.

“Politoed! Another ice beam!”

Politoed nodded, firing off the beam of ice. It sped through the air and slammed into Starmie again, who had attempted to use a psychic attack to weave the projectile in another direction. Glittering prettily, Starmie was slightly laboured as her joints, in addition to her large, chunky gem, were tightly frosted.

“Good work!” I told Politoed.

“Starmie rapid spin!”

Starmie nodded and span around wildly, but the ice did not fly off. Landing back on the float, Starmie looked somewhat distressed.

“Politoed, use a psychic to propel your float towards Starmie!” I cried. Politoed nodded, looking like a miniature surfer as he sped along at Starmie. “Go into dynamic punch!”

Nodding, Poltieod’s fist glowed a bright white, soon engulfed in the warming light. As the float got towards Starmie, Andrew ordered Starmie to use a psychic attack and propel the float back towards me; the ice began cracking under the strain and the coating of ice shattered; Starmie managed to send a quick blast of PSI energy outwards; the float fired back but Politoed aptly leapt up, sweeping down and socking Starmie in the core with the blisteringly powerful dynamic punch. Reeling, Starmie gave a crooning weep as her core shattered amid red shards.

“Jesus christ!” I mumbled. Starmie’s red core was now a dull red shatter. She was doubled over slightly and OzAndrew looked worried.

“Starmie!!” he bawled. “Use a thunderbolt!”

Damn.

Starmie’s star tip glowed and she blasted a jet of lightening through the air. It smashed into Politoed and he gave a long, disapproving croak as he fell into the water, plopping ungracefully.

“Now drag him up with psychic!”

Starmie nodded but as she glowed, the light dimmed almost instantly and she looked around, confused. Obviously this core was the central area for her psychic prowess; with the core shattered, she could not focus and therefore use her PSI powers.

“Politoed use a brick break!” I shouted. Politoed leapt at Starmie and slugged her with two precise chops. Starmie crackled with yellow lightening and I knew she was about to attack. “Bounce!”

Politoed crouched down and sprang high into the air, spiralling around and firing down a bubble beam as he went; Starmie was peppered by the attack as her own missed wildly; on her masters command she leapt up and span through the air like a ninja star, slamming into Politoed multiple times and hurling him to the ground.

“Fire a water gun down at the float and push yourself back up!” I yelled. Politoed, opening his mouth, blasted a stream of water that struck the float and created a powerful force that expelled him back up into the air. He swung around and dealt a mega kick to Starmie, She fired off a thunderbolt as she fell and zapped Politoed. Shaken by the sparks coursing through his body, Politoed drooped back and collapsed on the float as Starmie did likewise.

Starmie got up. Politoed carefully got to his feet and was met by a rapid-fire bubble beam that flipped him over completely. He blasted an ice beam, but Starmie evaded; she crackled with lightening again but this time it was a more intent buzz.

“Thunder!” Andrew yelled jovially.

“Politoed!” I cried. The attack burst forth like a rumbling cannon of sparks. A howling rush of wind swept around as the attack whipped across the water. Hands glowing a wild blue colour Politoed focused hard and stared ahead at the attack. He forced against the attack, pushing hard, focusing…the attack began to jitter and the odd trail of sparks broke away and popped into existence, but still the attack swept at him like a runaway train. Politoed grunted and groaned as he orchestrated the attack away; soon his entire body was engulfed in the powerful telekinetic aura. Giving a long bellow he pulled his hands up; the thunderous attack swept up and whipped around, smashing straight into Starmie and ploughing the Pokemon right into the wall. Giving a beautiful moan of pain, Starmie clattered against the ground, lost. Politoed, meanwhile, gasped and staggered as the overwhelming power of his attack overcame him.

“Announce it…” I hissed, hoping Starmie would be declared down before Politoed collapsed; he was swaying heavily and I suspected he would have quite a sore head from all that.

“Starmie is defeated. The winner of the Round 3 match is Chris 2.0.”

I couldn’t believe it. Cheers filled the stadium as people cried my name; Andrew dejectedly recalled his Starmie and turned swiftly, walking off through to the locker area. By now Thomas and WAVEX had gone; he ran through the tunnel, hiding his face, feeling numb and hurt by the battle.

But I was somewhere else. I was cradling my Politoed, who was defeated and needed some rest. After putting him back in his Pokeball I put the ball on my belt; I won. I had beaten Andrew with (practically) two Pokemon. Oh my god…

…I was in the semi-finals!!

I left the stadium and went to the small Healing Kiosk, where a rather triangular Pokemon Nurse took Swalot, Vibrava and Politoed and went to take care of them. I thought I would see Andrew healing his team, but he was nowhere to be found. However, I did see Liang, pale and empty-looking, walking over with Crystal Tears, Girafarig, River and The Blue Avenger.

“You won!” Liang said, his voice rattling and hoarse. “Well done!”

“Is your match later on?” I asked him.

“It got cancelled,” he replied. “Grey was in an accident.”

“Is he ok?” I asked suddenly, worried for his wellbeing. I liked Grey, even though he had issues. “What happened?”

“It’s being covered up, whatever it was,” River explained. “None of the mods got let in on it, just Becca.”

“So what happens?” I asked.

“I got put into the semi-finals,” Liang replied.

“So whatever happened to Grey must have been quite serious then,” I said. “I’m going to go and see him.”

“Nobody is allowed,” River told me. “Becca is the only one who has seen him.”

“Anyone feel like this is a repeat of when Amy got kidnapped?” Crystal said. “And Becca covered it all up?”

“Good point,” I muttered. I didn’t notice, but Crystal, after my compliment of her theory, seemed to be hyperventilating. Girafarig watched.

“Are there any matches on?” I asked. “Or have they all finished?”

“Becca is still battling Nate,” TBA told me. “She’s beating him pretty easily. And I lost to Hanada Tattsu.”

“What?” I cried. “He beat you?”

“Yep.”

“But I never really felt he was a powerful trainer,” I muttered.

“He is stronger than I think any of us gave him credit for,” TBA said. “He handles his water Pokemon really well. I just wish I’d used my Electabuzz.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked.

“I…” TBA began. The idea of telling people he ‘lost’ his electric and grass types during the match, only to have found them moments later in the locker rooms, seemed daft. “I wanted more of a challenge.”

“Silly,” River said lightly, giving her boyfriend a light hit. “That’s why you lost out, Jeff.”

“Now it’s really serious,” TBA said firmly. “Hanada, Chris, Becca and Liang. Round 4 begins tomorrow afternoon.”

“Tomorrow?” I cried. “For real?”

“Yup,” explained the pirate. “The first match tomorrow will be at 1pm. They go on into the evening.”

“Holy crap,” I said, turning to head off. “I need to train!”

*

“COME ON!” Becca cried. The crowd cheered loudly as Elec Man’s Glalie smashed into a thoroughly weakened Scizor. The crimson warrior staggered back as Glalie created a number of identical clones. With all his strength Orion swung his metal claws around, but the clone dissipated into thin air. Glalie blasted a shadow ball into the weakened steel type Pokemon, and he fell to his knees.

“Glalie he’s weak!” Elec Man said. “Fire another shadow ball!”

Glalie charged up the swirling orb of plunged shadow, but Scizor had unleashed a blistering razor wind. The sweeping shards of fierce air slashed away at the clones and the real Glalie was revealed. Scizor sped along and dodged the attack before summoning all of his strength into a powerful metal claw, smashing Glalie’s skull with immense power. Glalie fumbled in mid-air, allowing Scizor to blast a hyper beam through the air and plough the Pokemon into the ground.

“Glalie!” Elec Man cried. Scizor was gasping for air, exhausted, but Glalie still managed to get up. “Use a double edge!”

“Iron Defence!”

Tensing his muscles, Scizor caused his body to sheen over with a metallic sparkle. Glalie smashed into his frail body and he groaned in pain, but took some satisfaction when he saw the pain it caused the huge ice skull Pokemon. Spinning back up, Glalie shuddered.

“Reversal.”

Scizor nodded, flapping up, holding his claws out and swinging them into Glalie with all his strength. As this happened, and Glalie fell back, Orion swung his legs around and, once Glalie was smashed into a second time, Scizor finished by bashing into the foe with his skull, knocking Glalie out.

“Glalie is defeated!” cried the exuberant referee. “The winner is The Missing Link!”

“You had me worried,” Becca told her Pokemon, laughing. He flapped down and, exhausted, kneeled down. Becca looked around at the audience, at the disappointed Nate, and simply nodded.

*

OzAndrew had gone straight to the Pokemoncenter down BT Street; he didn’t want to hang around the stadiums where reporters and other members of the league were. His face was throbbing red with humiliation. He had victory right there…staring right in his face…and it had gone. But that wasn’t why he was upset.

“Thanks,” said the young, male nurse, taking Andrew’s Pokemon. “Starmie will need to spend a few days here, in order to fully heal. Her core is quite badly damaged. The other two will be ready in a few hours.”

“K.”

Andrew wandered over to a seat and sat down, but as he did, and as he eyed a particular juicy magazine, a set of wheels rolled up to him.

“Hey OzDick.”

Tucker sneered from his wheelchair, bumping into Andrew’s shin. Next to him was The Green Lanturn, clasped in green spandex with bright yellow gloves. He said nothing. Blademaster, wearing a black eye patch with the McDonalds logo on it, tried to look menacing as he flexed his knuckles.

“What do you want.”

“Just thought we’d totally sneer at how crap you were in your match,” Tucker rasped. “That kid was PATHETIC and he still beat you! In fact, I’ve beaten you, too! The only people who HAVENT beaten your sorry ass is The Green Lanturn here and Blademaster. I think they deserve a chance, don’t you?”

“Doubles,” The Green Lanturn snapped. Blademaster watched, slightly uneasy, as TGL grabbed Andrew and wrenched him up.

“Piss off,” Andrew replied moodily. “Leave me alone godamnit.”

“But Blade has some new Pokemon!” Tucker said jovially. “Show them Dave.”

Blade nodded and released a flurry of Pokeballs; bursting showers of bright light spilled across the Pokemoncenter as huge creatures emerged. The first was a big, bulky mammoth with huge, white tusks and deep blue eyes. Next to it was a bizarre blue and pink creature, rounded with a duck-like bill and odd, swirling eyes. It jerked and spasmed in mid-air, giving an odd warble as its tail span around. Also appearing was a large, glutinous pink Pokemon who had a big, thick tongue; it had white markings and small eyes, looking utterly stuffed with food but gasping for something else to swallow.

“What the hell?” Andrew cried.

“Mamoswine, PorygonZ and Lickilicky,” Blade said proudly. “Tucker helped me evolve my Pokemon to their strongest forms.”

“It’s true,” Tucker said calmly. “Green Lanturn…send a Pokemon out to fight Andrew with.”

Blade motioned for his Lickilicky and PorygonZ to go outside as he followed, giving Mamoswine a pep talk. TGL released a huge, hulking Ursaring and walked outside, too. Andrew watched them before suddenly pulling out a Pokeball and hurling it forward.

“Mr Mime!” he cried. His Pokemon gave a happy call and grabbed Andrew’s hand. “Teleport!”

In a bright flash, the two disappeared completely. Tucker turned as he was wheeling out of the Pokemoncenter, seeing the foe disappear completely.

“GET BACK!” he cried, spinning around to see the space Andrew occupied. His wheelchair toppled and he collapsed in a heap. TGL and Blademaster ran back to their leader, Pokemon alongside them.

“Are you ok?” Blade asked.

“I hate that bastard,” Tucker snapped.

*

Meanwhile, Andrew landed face-first on the ground, feeling his face smash against the earth. His Mr Mime was staggering to his left, dizzied by the teleportation. Slowly, Andrew got to his feet and wiped the dirt from his face. Mr Mime started peeling an invisible banana.

“Where am I?” Andrew asked, looking ahead. He saw the entire village before him, spread out below like a fantastic view on the most precious postcard. The towers, thick and black, jutted up out of the ground in the village square; he could see the thick trees of Ivy Woods shielding lost souls beneath the night sky, and could make out Feizhi Outpost among the thick overgrowth leading towards The Old Village.

He was at Sunshine Fields, the beautiful meadows overlooking the village, and as the sky darkened around him, felt isolated and trapped. Lost. Confused. Sad, even, that the notion of the village being off limits to him was too real to pay attention to. Did he really have anyone? No friends, no love interest…not even anyone to talk to sincerely.

“I’m alone,” he whispered to the night.

“We all are,” came a low voice from behind him.

*

Hanada Tattsu was elated at his victory against The Blue Avenger. His Pokemon (Octillery, Quagsire and Wartortle) were being healed as Gregg battled with the rest of his team and trained against the wild Pokemon. His Croconaw aptly dodged attacks from a Nuzleaf; his Polwihirl flipped over a string shot from a nearby Metapod and blasted a bubble beam down at the foe; Mudkip leapt left and right as a Fearow bore down.

Unfortunately, after coming to seek Ivy Lake, Gregg was upset to find the large lake was devoid of any water. The large, muddy crater was now devoid of any water ever since Liang blew up the maze beneath it, so he was unable to train his Kingdra and Whiscash.

He thought of his late father, and the Golduck that had been left to him, but was glad he had never accepted it. Gregg wondered about his mother, if she was doing ok, if she had a new name or even a hew husband. He missed her, but enjoyed being his own person.

On the walk home through the dark forest, Gregg kept his Poliwhirl out for protection. There were crickets clicking and birds cawing…it was a nasty place to be. Gregg wondered about how far he had come; Round 1, against the pretty girl, Twilight…Round 2, battling Luna Fuerte, and just now, beating The Blue Avenger to make it into the semi-finals.

But what awaited him in Round 4? He knew Liang, Chris and Becca were through, and hoped he would face Chris to earn his place in the finals. That would be somewhat easier than Liang or Becca, two of the strongest trainers in the village.

Would he manage? His team flashing before his eyes, Gregg considered their status. Mudkip was definitely not going to compete; depending on the arena he really wondered if he could use Kingdra or Whiscash, while Poliwhirl, Croconaw and Wartortle were quite small compared to behemoths like Alakazam and Venusaur.

His thoughts were interrupted when a figure stood before him, blocking his way. They were staring at him.

“Good evening,” mumbled the boy politely.

“It is, isn’t it,” the person said airily. They took their hood down. “It is very nice to meet you, Gregg.”

“Excuse me?” he said, turning, for he had walked past the small figure already.

“My name is Thomas,” replied the girl. “And I’ve really been looking forward to meeting you.”

*

He awoke with a beeping going off. It was no alarm, as usual, but in fact the gentle beep and buzz of a hospital corridor. Grey awoke and looked around at his surroundings; he was in a bed, in a very nice, spacious room with a velux window sending in beams of moonlight.

He had a horrible, heaving pain in his chest every time he tried to breathe; Grey sighed and slumped into his bed. How did he get here? Who brought him? He vaguely remembered running from Hage…and recalled being shot in the torso. He slumped onto the stage as Thomas led Isabel and Hage away, muttering something…

“Hello?” Grey asked wearily. “Erm…hello?”

A nurse popped his head around the door. She was large, beefy, you might say, with very waxy hair and large eyebrows.

“You are wake,” she stated. “I am to be glad for you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I am Nurse Bituch,” the mumbled dryly, helping herself to a chocolate on the table. “I am having your results here.”

“My chest hurts,” Grey told the woman.

“The ecks-ray is showing me that the min-ee-a-ture bullet hit your atypical rib on side of right,” the nurse told him. “Further-to-the-more we were to have learn that little kill capsule was already removed when you were brought in to Hospikal. Unfortunately you will enter much difficulty during the breathing so I advise of you to start saving oxygen now and ration it, like little winter squirrel, so that you may use stored oxygen in the coming weeks. In my country, squirrels die if they do not save nuts.”

“How did I…get here?” Grey asked.

“I am assuming you are to have enter through doors,” explained the nurse. “Oh. Jess. I am also deliver message - apparently the please-men from downstairs want to quiziz you on the events with little silver bullet but they are currently waiting of downstairs. They will to be visit later.”

“Nurse Bitch?” a woman said. “Phone call from downstairs.”

“Is Bee-touch,” the nurse corrected. “Bee-touch. Say it with me Valerie.”

“Bee…touch…” she said absently. “Anyway, Iyma, it’s on line 2 when you’re ready.”

“Black-And-White-Makes-Grey I am terrible sorry,” Nurse Bituch replied. “I have communicate with a man about a dog. No pun intended! Ahk Ahk. No to be one hundred and one percent honest with you I do need to go, my huss-band, he needs money. Byegood, bye good.”

She walked off and out the room to the phone. Grey’s eyes scanned the clipboard she had left on the table, and grabbed it instantly. His eyes scanned across it, flipping through sheets until he found what he was looking for: the patient admission form.

“Come on…” he murmured, scanning the list. “Aha.”

He looked at his name, the time he was admitted and the severity, before looking at the signature of whomever it was that had brought him in. The signature was familiar…too familiar to him…

“Dome Ace Daniel,” he read aloud.

He paused, staring at the curled lettering.

"It can't be..."

Chapter 50: Round 4! Chris 2.0 VS The Missing Link
Chris begins to train for his huge 5-5 match against Becca for entry into the finals of the league, but a dissatisfied team member threatens to unbalance everything. After coming face to face with Thomas, Gregg learns of the plan to help him win the league and, when, facing the weakened Liang in their semi-final match, is shocked when the veteran shows a display of power unlike anything he‘s ever seen. Grey, dismissed from Jolly Japes, tries to find Razor Leaf, who he believes is somewhere in the village, but does Dan even want to be discovered? OzAndrew’s depression is lifted when he meets people worse off than him, and plans a big confrontation with Tucker, while Crystal is adamant that Charles is hurt, and plans to try and find him. Meanwhile, Gordon and Brooklyn journey to 04621 to shut the league down for good.

-This is probably one of my favourite league chapters, alongside Chris VS MLG. I loved writing it.

-We'll learn more about WAVEX soon. I promised a mini chapter with background information on Thomas; this will be posted as a TPML Extra and thus won't fit into the chronology of the fic, but still has relevant information. We will learn important information, but in general a lot of the clues about how WAVEX formed will be revealled over the last few chapters.

-Rolph losing his finger is not significant, but I wanted something rather brutal showing in this otherwise young pleasant boy.

-TGL's mention about appearing in Ch51 is quite important.

Anyway let me know what you think! As we are reaching the end of the fic, I'm sort of doing an open interview thing. If you have ANY QUESTIONS you want to ask me about the fic, characters, locations, ideas, stories, themes, names etc, PM me (chris 2.1. not chris 2.0) and when I post Ch51, the penultimate chapter, I'll merge them all into a big page of answers.

Thanks guys!

Sike Saner

8th November 2007, 03:01 AM

That chapter had an Alakazam AND a Glalie. HELL YES. :D

Anyway, lots of great battle scenes in that chapter. The Alakazam vs. Vibrava match was especially cool; it was my favorite out of all the battle scenes, I'd say. ^^ Lots of great visuals in there, especially due to some of the moves Alakazam made (e.g. the HUGE ORB OF WATER that Alakazam made with the water from the arena), and Vibrava's performance in that battle was terrific--I didn't know how or if she would beat Alakazam, but she pulled it off. I thought that was pretty darned cool.

There was quite the "holy frell!" moment when Grey was shot, that's for sure. o.o Looks like he's going to be all right, though.

And NURSE BITUCH APPEARED AGAIN. I'm sure I've at least said something along these lines before, but I'll say it again: That character is awesome. :D

Comedic Highlights

“When you -” began the large, beefy woman refereeing for us, before being cut out by the audience’s continual chattering. She looked around, angry. “*Ahem* When you are ready, Chris, please -”

The noise did not subside, despite the woman raising her voice slightly. She looked irked as I stared at her, a Pokeball clutched firmly in my hand. I wasn’t using Politoed first; I needed him for later.

“When you are ready to send out - OH FOR CHRISTS SAKE WILL YOU ALL SHUT THE HELL UP SO WE CAN START THIS BLOODY MATCH!”

The audience fell silent.

Damn right, they fell silent after THAT. XD

‘Today you face many challenges. The flavour ice cream you want will not be available. If you want to know why choosing Mint Choc is a bad idea, call my helpline on 07662344566. Money will be a problem today. Also you’ll get shouted at when you go to see OzAndrew VS Chris 2.0 in the third round match. Look out for the man in red..”

Another one of those great horoscopes. I love those. :D

‘Your day will be boring. I foresee you have little to say or do. Money will be a problem. You will have an increasingly pointless role over the next five chapters...”

“How brutally honest,” TGL sighed. “Oh, wait!”

"…actually, you’ll be in Chapter 51 quite a lot..”

...And that right there would be my favorite horoscope to date. XD

“Crystal wants to watch this match before we discuss WAVEX.”

“Why?” Dark Sage asked. “Do you fancy Chris or something?”

“Glurk!” choked Crystal. Girafarig saw this.

“Do you?”

“No….no! No no…no no no….no…no…no no….*ahem* no…”

“Hmm,” Dark Sage murmured.

“You do fancy him, don’t you!” Girafarig cried.

“No! Drop it,” Crystal hissed.

“I won’t!” Girafarig protested.

“Why, do you fancy Crystal?” Dark Sage sneered.

“Glurk!?” Crystal gasped, looking at her friend. Girafarig glowed red but effortlessly hit Dark Sage in the face.

There were several awesome things about that part there: Crystal's reaction to being accused of fancying Chris; Girafarig then being accused of fancying Crystal; and my favorite thing about it of all, the fact that the whole thing ended with someone getting punched in the face. XD

The jumbo vision showed Nurse Smiles, wearing an orange prison uniform, screaming loudly as someone jabbed her with a stick.

That image... XD

“Why move to a whole different stadium?”

“Because Jeff and I are Geometrically Ostracized in Numerous Groups, Often Upsetting (and) Tiresome. In other words, we are G-O-I-N-G O-U-T.”

Yay for acronyms. :D

“Why isn’t Charles here?” Dark Sage noticed. “Babbling about Mr Bicycle and Oliver the Toothless CheesePlant. Or Sir Oinks-A-Lot, or that big Magikarp he saw once. I hope my efforts to whittle away his cheer, spirit and youthful optimism didn‘t cause him to break down.”

Alas, if he only knew... But lol at "Oliver the Toothless CheesePlant". XD

“Well if you recall, your freedom as a man is at stake,” Thomas replied. “We have video evidence of you shooting Cocoa Sting. That directly clashes with the story the Board was told; they were told Callisto shot her.”

“I vaguely recall that.”

“Then you should listen to what we say, Grey, or else I will ring my contact -”

But Thomas froze. The realisation of her actions hit her as it dawned on her that, with communications cut, Gordon could not contact the Board to shut it down. But similarly, she could not contact Brooklyn and have the video exposed to the Board. She had shot herself in the foot.

Wah-wahhhhhhh... Nice one, Thomas. XP

“The ecks-ray is showing me that the min-ee-a-ture bullet hit your atypical rib on side of right,” the nurse told him. “Further-to-the-more we were to have learn that little kill capsule was already removed when you were brought in to Hospikal. Unfortunately you will enter much difficulty during the breathing so I advise of you to start saving oxygen now and ration it, like little winter squirrel, so that you may use stored oxygen in the coming weeks. In my country, squirrels die if they do not save nuts.”

Good ol' Nurse Bituch. I especially liked it when she started talking about squirrels. XD

“Nurse Bitch?” a woman said. “Phone call from downstairs.”

“Is Bee-touch,” the nurse corrected. “Bee-touch. Say it with me Valerie.”

“Bee…touch…” she said absently.

Ah, the awesomeness that can result from someone haivng a name like hers... XD

“Black-And-White-Makes-Grey I am terrible sorry,” Nurse Bituch replied. “I have communicate with a man about a dog. No pun intended! Ahk Ahk. No to be one hundred and one percent honest with you I do need to go, my huss-band, he needs money. Byegood, bye good.”

God, I love the way she talks. XD

Dramatic Highlights

“You have realised exactly what a mistake you made,” Grey said sternly. “Without communication outside of this society, what the Board say and do is irrelevant. So if you would kindly leave this Theatre now, and stop talking to me. I will take necessary action otherwise.”

Thomas took a step back.

“Hage, shoot him.”

Grey’s eyes widened as he turned to leap behind the row of seats. He dived, hearing a loud, echoing shot fly past him. Scrambling to the ground, Grey kept low and ran along the row of seats as Thomas and Isabel stayed still, Hage racing after him. Grey ran up onto the stage, but even as his feet frantically conquered the steps, he knew it was too late; he saw Hage fire again and there was a second smoking bang. Grey clutched his side as he staggered back and collapsed on the stage.

“Good,” Thomas said firmly. “Hage, Isabel, let’s go.”

Oh damn. O__O

Battle Highlights

Corsola nodded, leaping into the pool and tearing towards Swalot. My eyes widened. Corsola was off her float. I needed a way to get that float to my side of the arena and wondered what Swalot, sitting on his own float, could do.

Memories of a similar water match flashed before my eyes. Hanada’s Gym….Cacturne…

“Swalot! Turn to me and fire a bullet seed at the edge of the arena!” I cried. Turning, Swalot blasted the attack at the edge of the arena, chipping it slightly but propelling him across towards OzAndrew’s side of the arena.

Nice move. ^^

Swalot looked mortified as Corsola kept coming towards him, leaping up and firing off more spikes.

“Stockpile!”

Swalot nodded, opening his mouth wide and stretching up, catching the spike-like needles and closing his mouth/

“Spit up!”

Swalot gave a smirk and blasted a white orb of energy that seemed to be the digested remains of the spike cannon. The glowing, misty orb smashed into Corsola and sent her flying. She disappeared under the waves momentarily.

Yay for attacks involving barf. XP And nice use of those moves there, too. ^^

“Psycho cut!”

Dear god. The name scared me. I saw, from my side of the icy wall, Alakazam using his mind to carve down the middle of the ice wall, causing both sides to topple over and smash into the water, shattering into smaller, but still large bergs of ice. Alakazam sat there merrily above the waves.

There's three things I like about that: 1.) Chris's reaction to the name of that attack, 2.) the description of the attack itself, and 3.) Alakazam being described as sitting there "merrily". ^^

Politoed blasted the pellets from his mouth; Alakazam flicked his hand lazily and the bubbles swept up above the arena, forming a star-shaped cluster. Alakazam then crossed his spoons over, creating an x and firing a psybeam from the cross-over. The glowing beam of neon light soared into the bubble-star and energy burst out in all directions.

“WHO’S INCOMPETANT AT CONTESTS NOW?!” he cried to the audience, who applauded the clever attack combo.

Yeah, that did look pretty cool. ^^

Politoed nodded. He leapt up and fired the beam of pearly ice; it jetted through the air but Alakazam gave another lazy flick and the beam soared upwards; it exploded in a shower of frail, delicate flakes of ice all across the arena.

Alakazam is effing awesome. :D

“Vibrava! Use silver wind!” I cried. Vibrava nodded, flapping as her wings glowed majestically. Two twisting columns of sparkling silver wind whipped up around the watery arena, sending chunks of ice flying around everywhere.

I don't care how flakey I sound saying it: that was pretty. ^^

Alakazam, still levitating, summoned huge chunks of the thick ice to fly around him and band together, encasing him in a thick, icy shell. The attack smashed against the shield. Alakazam then sent the thick plates of spiked ice to fly through the air and smash into Vibrava, causing great harm to my Pokemon.

A definite "ouch" moment for Vibrava. o.o Still, that was a pretty cool move on Alakazam's part. ^^

“Alakazam! Use psychic and siphon away all the water from the arena into a gigantic attack!” Andrew yelled. “Lob it!”

The surface of the water rippled and bubbled. Droplets rose up from the water before a curling, twisting column of water rose up. Soon the entire contents of the water were forming into a gigantic column. Alakazam was seen standing in the corner of the now empty, slightly damp pool. The water rose up and the tendril formed into a huge, gigantic ball of water, Alakazam using his psychic attack to pad and hold the water together as it dripped off and around.

O__O Yep, that was cool. ^^

Alakazam stood on the edge of this pit, surrounded by the green flames. Suddenly, with a roar, Alakazam commanded the flames to rise and snake through the air like a deadly serpent. Vibrava pulled off to the left and sped away, but Alakazam’s attack wound after my Pokemon and she was struck hard, screeching as the powerful, draconian flames engulfed her.

I liked that move, too. ^^

“Thunder!” Andrew yelled jovially.

“Politoed!” I cried. The attack burst forth like a rumbling cannon of sparks. A howling rush of wind swept around as the attack whipped across the water. Hands glowing a wild blue colour Politoed focused hard and stared ahead at the attack. He forced against the attack, pushing hard, focusing…the attack began to jitter and the odd trail of sparks broke away and popped into existence, but still the attack swept at him like a runaway train. Politoed grunted and groaned as he orchestrated the attack away; soon his entire body was engulfed in the powerful telekinetic aura. Giving a long bellow he pulled his hands up; the thunderous attack swept up and whipped around, smashing straight into Starmie and ploughing the Pokemon right into the wall. Giving a beautiful moan of pain, Starmie clattered against the ground, lost. Politoed, meanwhile, gasped and staggered as the overwhelming power of his attack overcame him.

Very cool, how he turned that attack back on Starmie. ^^

Glalie charged up the swirling orb of plunged shadow

My favorite of all Pokémon, using one of my favorite attacks to see in text. Awesome. :D

Other Highlights

He walked off, his Breloom carrying the remnants of his lunch while the Glalie gave dark looks to anyone posing questions.

That's one of the things I love about Glalie: they're very good at making that sort of face. :D

She had her Slowpoke on her lap, affectionately feeding her big, plump grapes from the stalk.

Cute. ^^

Mr Mime started peeling an invisible banana.

I like that imagery. ^^

Boss work yet again. :D

MeLoVeGhOsTs

10th November 2007, 06:02 AM

Well a very good chapter if you ask me. Alot of battling, which I absolutely adore, alot of different pokemon, and so much different scenes that are going through my mind for next chapters.

I'm really looking forward to the end of the fic. It'll be sad to see it finished, but then everything is going to be worked out.

Af first, I thought Grey was dead, but I hope he'll play a big part to the end.

I'm REALLY interested in the Liang match. <3

Dan is back? That surprises me. Why? What will he do? So many questions.

Don't keep us waiting that long for next chapter ;)

-MLG

Chris 2.1

11th November 2007, 02:28 PM

Sike: Hey hey! I'm glad you liked Vibrava; I never found myself able to use her much in battles; she never sparked much creativity. But she did herself proud VS Alakazam! Originally she was going to evolve but I'm glad she hasn't. I also have to say she ignored Chris's orders mainly because she was the ringleader of her swarm; she thinks she knows better and does, in her defence, know about her capabilities and attacks.

Grey survived! I teased you with three deaths for the fic; one was Charles, and Grey was going to be the second death. In the original outline, after Charles' death Grey angrily confronted Thomas, who knocked him out and kept him prisoner in the Rules Tower. At the end of the chapter we were going to see Razor return to the village as Grey's corpse, bloodied and bruised, was hurled off the tower and crashed to the ground. But in the end I felt like he has a lot more to do and I wanted him to see the end of the fic through. This is the second time his character has gotten a reprieve; initially he was going to die in The War but instead that was Knight of Time.

Grey's role is.....important over the next chapters. He will do so many things for the village.

Bituch is back! Haha. Glad you liked her. I love writing her speech!

Oh and PS: next chapter we will meet the author of the Horoscopes!

MLG: Next chapter, despite being R4, is also choc full of character scenes. We have Gordon trying to close the league, Thomas meeting Gregg, Grey searching for Razor....and where Razor is, you can be sure the Frontier Brains will be close behind. It's all coming together!

We also have two very exciting matches: Chris VS Becca and Liang VS Hanada Tattsu!

This is a great chapter because both matches should be explosive! Chris gets some very intense training in before his match while Gregg crumbles beneath Liang's dragon team!

The end is really heating up and I promise a great end to the fic. An unconventional but memorable finish, I think. Dan's return (is he really back!?) will be interesting. Initially, when I wrote him out, that was going to be it; but I brought him back for a reason, one we will learn next chapter.

I can also confirm some Brains return to the village to look for Dan. So a certain 'Fred' might want to hold onto his stolen Pokemon.....*hint*.

MeLoVeGhOsTs

12th November 2007, 10:19 AM

Looking forward, looking forward.

Charles Legend

14th November 2007, 10:13 PM

“I choose you, Vibrava!”

In a bright, cool flash, my Vibrava emerged; she gave a cackle as she flapped above the arena, her eyes scanning around keenly to see all the different and exciting sights. Andrew pretended to puke at the sight of my dragonfly, but I didn’t care. The problem was, direct attacks were a real bitch. Physical attempts could be stopped, as could any projectile. So I was going to use the arena as much as I could.
Good Old Andrew pretending to puke at the sight of a Dragon... XD

“Try a sonic boom!” I suggested. Vibrava had a better idea, her wings glowing silver as if she were using steel wing. Next thing I knew she was darting through the air straight for the huge orb of water, blasting a dragon breath out in front of her. The swathing green flames engulfed Vibrava and trailed behind her, making her look like a speeding entity of flame as she smashed right into the water attack, bursting out the other end as her penetration tore the attack apart. Appearing out the other side and speeding around the arena like The Human Torch, Vibrava turned and looked to see huge spits of water lashing down against the arena.

That was a cool trick Vibrava did.

“What are we doing,” Dark Sage rasped. “We were supposed to meet in the village and talk about WAVEX.”

“Shut up,” Crystal snapped, whipping out a small fan and smacking him across the head.

“Hey I saved your life,” Dark Sage said. River, Crystal and Girafarig all laughed.

“You were abducted by ghosts,” River told him. “Crystal wants to watch this match before we discuss WAVEX.”

“Why?” Dark Sage asked. “Do you fancy Chris or something?”

----------

“Why isn’t Charles here?” Dark Sage noticed. “Babbling about Mr Bicycle and Oliver the Toothless CheesePlant. Or Sir Oinks-A-Lot, or that big Magikarp he saw once. I hope my efforts to whittle away his cheer, spirit and youthful optimism didn‘t cause him to break down.”

“He’s probably watching Elec Man take on Becca, that starts in like, an hour,” Luna noted. “He’s maybe been training with Nate…he did want to become stronger…”

I love the Part where Crystal wacks Dark sage with a fan. XD

I also love the fact that River, Crystal and Girafarig all laughed at him and then River telling him that he was abducted by ghosts, and the fact he a clueless...

Mr Bicycle and Oliver the Toothless CheesePlant... now thats a new one on me... XD And yeah for the mention of Sir Oinks-A-Lot, and that big Magikarp, but I sill think Dark sage should shut up, or some one should Punch him..

Mr Mime started peeling an invisible banana.
LOL XD

She had her Slowpoke on her lap, affectionately feeding her big, plump grapes from the stalk.
I do agree that seen is Cute even if I dislike Slowpokes in general, and I Am not just talking about the Pokemon ether... ;)

“Hello Brooklyn,” Gordon said calmly.

“How are you?” Brooklyn asked.

“Very well,” Gordon replied testily. “Yes, I am well.”

“When are you leaving for the UK?” Brooklyn asked.

“Soon,” he replied. “I want you to come with me, Brooklyn.”

“You do?” Brooklyn asked suddenly.

“I need a Technical Advisor to help us understand why the communication was shut down,” explained Gordon. “Jacques irritates me…and Austin is just not an impressive man. You are the one I want to assist me.”

“Sir…I am very flattered,” Brooklyn explained. “But my department…”

“Without you there are still two other Technical Advisors on the Board. The department will be fine.”

“Who is looking after your chair?” Brooklyn asked quizzically.

“Cocoa is going to hold onto the steering wheel while I am away,” Gordon said. “But we will be away for a couple of days, no more. Please, Brooklyn. Will you join me?”

“Ok then,” Brooklyn said calmly, getting up and shaking Gordon’s hand.

“Excellent,” Gordon said briskly. “We leave in an hour.”

“I’ll get ready,” Brooklyn replied airily, as Gordon left. He went back to his computer and began creating shields, temporarily blocking any content he did not want to be viewed while he was away. The last thing he needed was his cover being blown. Knowing that he was heading straight into the fray was going to be interesting…

As he packed his things, he wondered. When all of this was over, would his true loyalties be revealed? Would he be back at this Board again?

Perhaps not, depending on whose orders he took.

Now I under stand that Brooklyn is a double agent, and it sounds as if his true loyalties are with Tomas, but then again you could pull a fast on on us. just like some of us thought the monster in Ivy lake was a Lapras/Blastoise, and it turned out to be some of Liang's Pokemon ;)

~Charles Legend

Chris 2.1

16th November 2007, 08:17 PM

Thanks for the reply Charles! Brooklyn is working for Thomas, but I think he feels confused since he cannot openly show his loyalties in front of Gordon. It gets interesting when they set foot in 04621 - how do you think Thomas will react to Gordon's presence?

TPML Extra #5
Maps!

These maps are drawings and sketches I have done of the village layout for you. These are rough and crudely drawn so don't expect anything great.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/mandle89/scan0004.jpg

This is a basic drawing of Chris/Jenny's flat, down BT Street. It's a small, single floor flat above a small newsagents just off the main street,

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/mandle89/scan0001.jpg

This is the main village. Obvious corner-cutting such as there are actually 6 towers (The Bank, The Approval Tower, The Absence Tower, The Rules Tower, an old disused tower which was formally The Communications Tower and The Hall of Fame. The COM tower was where all the electrics and phone lines linked up to etc all, but it was shut down and there is now a COM station underneath the main square. This was where WAVEX shut the communication down.

Jolly Japes Hospital is just north of the main square.

Smith Street runs to the left of the main square and this is where you will find the C.O.R.R.U.P.T. There is also a small Park, where you will find Skinny Dip's Pond, named after ridiculously thin fisherman Dip Thong. He was convinced he would catch a big Magikarp but his efforts to flush fish out the water (his Koffings poison gas) ultimately ended in most of the lake being devoid of any life. Charles caught his Totodile in the bushes near the pond.

If you keep going on East you'll get to the Old Village; I did not draw this in since it's basically a medium sized village etc all. But Hancock Harbour is situated beyond The Old Village, where TBA's brother Stan works.

Ivy Woods and Feizhi Overgrowth/Outpost are both HUGE, but I didn't want to draw all the trees =/ basically they stretch all across, Ivy Woods towards Tranquil Shores and Feizhi to the end of BT Street and Crush Quarry.

There is a lot of old construction equipment at Crush Quarry but nobody really knows what it was for. This was initially where The Board were constructing the bunker used to monitor the village; eventually they moved to a more secluded area: the bunker in Ivy Woods. A lot of animals live in around the cranes. WAVEX HQ is located in the bottom right corner. That was an old abandoned medical facility.

Despite the picture, the Stadiums location (Crescent Walk) is a very big, large area that has about 7 different stadiums, in differing sizes, some outdoors, some indoors. There is also a small Pokemoncenter that runs concurrent with the tourney matches. Grey has the keys to the stadium doors.

Sunshine Fields, where Chris battled Andrew and where Andrew subsequently teleported to at the end of Ch49, is sort of near the stadiums, more to the right and slightly more north, overlooking The Old Village. It was omitted from the map.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/mandle89/scan0007.jpg

A more in-depth look at BT Street. Obviously Hoothooters is a burned wreck, and Hanada Gym is old and unused. BT Street has faded back to a slightly less used place, after Gordon closed down Grey's Theatre. The Contest Hall is also being threatened with closure (well, if the league shuts, contests will end, too) and the street is beginning to fade back into dissarray.

Initially I was going to do more with Gyms, and have Gym Leaders, but that didn't seem good having regular members be Leaders, and I wanted to focus on the Tournament. So I had the Frontier Brains kinda fill in that role.

Ps: Brain locations.

Tucker: Stadium at Crescent Walk
Annabel: COM Tower
Lucy: Grave's Yard*
Greta: An old Gym down Smith Street, the small street leading to the Station.
Brandon: The summit of an unnamed mountain north-west of Trolgar
Noland: An old steelworks factory on the border of 04621
Spenser: A majestic old palace not far from Jolly Japes. It was found through a place called Oriental Gardens, a sort of japanese style garden that one walks to on the way to the Hospital.

*Graves Yard is past Oriental Gardens. It is off the map.

+also

Here is a breakdown of the whole fic!

Act I
Chris enrols at The Pokemon Masters League, meeting many of the other battlers and making more enemies than friends. Chris' suspicions about a mysterious lake are confirmed when a girl is kidnapped beneath a layer of fog.

Chapter 1: The Missing Link
Chapter 2: Girafarig (Part 1)
Chapter 3: Girafarig (Part 2)
Chapter 4: Razor Leaf
Chapter 5: OzAndrew (Part 1)
Chapter 6: OzAndrew (Part 2)
Chapter 7: The Arbiter
Chapter 8: Aragornbird VS Pichu
Chapter 9: Hanada Tattsu

Act II
Chris' rivalry with Razor Leaf escalates as the boy is caught between The Arbiter and Razor Leaf's ancient feud. Jenny finds her boyfriend and registers under the username FabuLass, irritating our hero as her fiery personality causes more conflict in the village. A mysterious businessman arrives at the village.

Chapter 10: Wolfsong (Part 1)
Chapter 11: 04621 (Part 1)
Chapter 12: 04621 (Part 2)
Chapter 13: Crystal Tears
Chapter 14: FabuLass
Chapter 15: Knight of Time
Chapter 16: Razor Leaf (Part 2)
Chapter 17: Razor Leaf (Part 3)
Chapter 18: Razor Leaf (Part 4)
Chapter 19: The Blue Avenger
Chapter 20: The Weakest Link

Act III
A member of The Board of Governors, Cocoa Sting, takes the reins and Becca is forced from her office. A renegade group called The Antibodies emerge to take on this new authority. Chris undergoes a new persona in the village. The Battle Frontier - a group of seven powerful trainers - arrive in the village and stay for a few weeks.

Chapter 21: Cocoa Sting
Chapter 22: Girafarig (Part 3)
Chapter 23: Wolfsong (Part 2)
Chapter 24: Chris 2.0
Chapter 25: Salon Maiden Annabel
Chapter 26: Charles Legend
Chapter 27: Pike Queen Lucy (Part 1)
Chapter 28: Pike Queen Lucy (Part 2)
Chapter 29: Hanada Tattsu (Part 2)
Chapter 30: Dome Superstar Tucker

Act IV
Tempers flare in TPML. Relationships with his son are tested when Ecks unleashes his army upon the village and kills several people at his expense. Amy and Grey struggle to lead TPML together, and the latter soon leads Becca on a mission to New York City in a desperate bid to finally catch Ecks. Skeletons begin to fall out of Jenny's closet.

Chapter 31: The War
Chapter 32: Palace Mavern Spenser
Chapter 33: Christian Cronus
Chapter 34: The Green Lanturn
Chapter 35: Pyramid King Brandon
Chapter 36: Arena Tycoon Greta
Chapter 37: Callisto Thunder
Chapter 38: Factory Head Noland
Chapter 39: Razor Leaf (Part V)
Chapter 40: Luna Fuerte
Chapter 41: Bea Wilson (AKA Queen Bea)

Act V
The league is about to begin, but Chris has been missing for over a week. The Blue Avenger leads a team to Other Island in order to fulfil a bizarre dream. A group named WAVEX arrive in the village with mysterious goals, fronted by a veteran-turned-enemy. OzAndrew's feud with Tucker escalates as Grey turns down a familliar, dark path.

Chapter 42: The Blue Avenger (Part II)
Chapter 43: Round One (Part 1): Girafarig VS Charles Legend
Chapter 44: Round One (Part 2): Chris 2.0 VS Chris Watarimono
Chapter 45: Blademaster
Chapter 46: Round Two (Part 1): Chris 2.0 VS MeLoveGhosts
Chapter 47: Round Two (Part 2): Hanada Tattsu VS Luna Fuerte
Chapter 48: Charles Legend (Part 2)
Chapter 49: Round Three: Chris 2.0 VS OzAndrew
Chapter 50: Round Four (Part 1): Chris 2.0 VS The Missing Link
Chapter 51: Round Four (Part 2): Aragornbird VS Hanada Tattsu
Chapter 52: Catherine Lyst
Chapter 53: Impasse

Extra
Chapter 38.5: Christian Cronus - Demons
[i]Ecks struggles to face his demons as he lies awake in his cell. Memories from his father's death haunt him as he meets the victims of his own acts.

Chapter 48.5: Dr Mark Stone
Unreleased
Dr Mark Stone, a psychiatrist, begins a new rotation trying to assist on a patient named Thomas. But he quickly learns the dangers of his field when the patient shows a sudden aggressive side.

*The Thomas mini chapter, above, won't be used as an Extra but the information is conveyed over the next few chaps. It fits in well :)

Chris 2.1

11th December 2007, 08:19 AM

[b]Update[/b

Chapter 50 is about 1/3-to-halfway done. It's a massive chapter, with a lot of different plots going on. If the end result is far too big, I'll split the chapter into two parts since we do have 2 5-5 matches, and they're both quite full-on.

We also see more on a lot of the current storylines ie: Wavex, The Board, Charles' Death, and the question of Razor Leaf being in the village or not is answered.

Ch50 is entitled "Round 4: Chris, Rebecca, Liang and Gregg" because the chapter focuses a lot on these four, not only in their battles but also their personal lives.

Keep the faith - it will be here eventually. Before christmas, I am sure :)

darktyranitar

31st December 2007, 09:43 AM

Whoo! I'm finally here, after I've gone for... approximately one year, ehehe.

Wow. So much have happened since I last read this fic. The twist! Suspense! Humour! Reminds me why I like this fic so much :)

To sum it up what had happened since the last time I read (list may be incomplete, mind you):

Jenny apparently shot herself --> Then it turns out to be a Ditto --> Later, Jenny broke up with Chris --> The hunt for Ecks --> Ecks is captured --> Ecks is killed --> --> Enter WAVEX - Pichu = Thomas and Brooklyn = member of WAVEX --> Chris' Dusclop killed his brother --> Grey is blackmailed into joining WAVEX --> Lady Vulpix turns out not to be dead... until now --> 'The Subject' = Gregg --> Charles is killed --> Now

And what do you know... Blademaster was that random guy who got stabbed in the eye by Oz's hat ages ago... Man, I still remember that scene, and it was hilarious. I think it is fitting that Blademaster was that random guy (random being Blademaster's theme, after all ^^)

The last chapter was exciting. Chris 2.0 beat Oz - and what an awesome battle that was. I kinda pity with Oz... well, on second thought, not really. It'd be entertaining to see him being beaten, hehe.

And what was that voice behind him? WAVEX, perhaps?

You write the next chapter, and I'll keep reading this :)

Oh, and while I'm at it: happy new year!

Chris 2.1

9th January 2008, 08:35 PM

I'm alive. But VERY BUSY. Exams looming and I'm petrified, spending the entire day tomorrow doing a big essay amid revision. I realise it's been 2 months since Ch49. I'm so sorry!

Ch50 is coming along great. The battles are both almost finished and I'm so so pleased with them. Some great pair-ups, some Pokemon fighting we haven't seen for a while, some odd Pokemon duking it out and we might even see an evolution!

I've also been working on attacks, making some new combos and utilising some attacks in new radical ways. The storytelling is also picking up: as you may recall Ch49 ended with Thomas about to rope Gregg in with WAVEX, Razor Leaf seems to have apparently arrived in the village, and OzAndrew has found himself surrounded by strangers. Crystal is desperate to find out what has happened with Charles Legend since the WAVEX raid and Gordon is adamant to shut the league down before WAVEX can win.

I will endeavor to get it all together asap. Trust me on this one: it's worth the wait :)

Chris 2.1

19th January 2008, 03:35 AM

Another update but still no Ch50. I'm writing the climax to one of the league matches and it's looking fantastic but the chapter alone is going to be massive. As a result, once it is finished I will chop it into two seperate chapters. One will have Chris VS Becca, the other Gregg VS Liang. I will also distribute the story arcs over the two pieces, which should help as there is loads of new things going on.

Luckily this means that the two parts will be up within about a week of each other :). I will get it finished soon!

darktyranitar

19th January 2008, 06:42 AM

Cool :) I'll look forward to it.

MeLoVeGhOsTs

19th January 2008, 10:47 AM

Posting to aggree with above user ^.

The Blue Avenger

21st January 2008, 09:46 AM

I'm still here too, dude. ^^ As dt said, I'm looking forward to it.

Andrew

22nd January 2008, 04:43 AM

Sorry for replying so late, I'm a lazy bastard. The amount of times I've had this reply window open too.

The ref yelling is unexpected, they're usually such WILTING flowers! Also for the horoscopes to be so personal, gosh, where does she get the time?!

The Corsola vs Swalot Match - INterestingly done, poor Swalot never had a chance, did he? I liked the fact he used past tactics to try and lay the smackdown. It was good to see Chris' team really isn't that versatile for a lot of arenas. I hope that comes into play in the future.

Politoed - The Ice Wall, a very nice move. Reminds me a megaman and Bass move. Alakazam was a nice and unexpected choice! Vs Starmie, Politoed did really well to withstand all the attacks.

Vibra - I was wondering when we'd see this thing. Super 'Zam was nice. But is Becca wanting this Zam back in the tower? Not to mention the giant ball of water being a potentially suicidal move that was good. I must say, I did like it's end by Starmie.

Perhaps the 30 minute rest saved Chris' team eh?

Greggles vs TBA - So TBA's Pokemon were stolen?! Poor thing.

Becca's Battle - Oh Jeeze, poor icky flying bug thing.

River's Meeting. Very odd. Lol. I liked Dark Sage's comment.

Question - Why did Razor leave his Haunter behind?

The evil trio vs Andrew - Gosh, 3 on 1... I can see Tucker's hate, but the other two are just lackies now. Lol But I wonder who that person is that he's found.

Finally, Nurse Bitch. I enjoy saying her lines aloud.

So... next...? Lol.

Chris 2.1

22nd January 2008, 01:16 PM

Dan could only take 6 Pokemon on his team for the Frontier Brains. He took Blaziken, Zangoose, Lunatone, Walrein, Ariados and Victreebel (IIRC, although Crobat or Slowking may have been on his final roster. It has slipped my mind atm) and since he wouldn't have the time to raise his smaller members, he left a lot of his team with Grey, and Grey lets them stay in the playhouse.

I don't think Becca has noticed this Alakazam was taken from the towers. Becca's Alakazam, Nightshade, is the cleverest of the Alakazam used to work in the league. It is considered the 'boss' or leader and is not used in battles much due to its workload. The same applies for Grey's Metagross, who patrols the Archives.

Re: TBA - Thomas had a goon steal the electric/grass types on TBA's team (bar Exeggutor) so he couldn't SKO Gregg's water types. They were left in the lockers at the stadium so TBA was under the impression he left them there himself, and didn't want people noticing his stupidity.

Andrew has stumbled upon an interesting bunch of characters. He will also encounter the author of the horoscopes next chapter, who has some compelling advice.

Next chapter VERY SOON. I will put it in 2 parts, as promised. The first part will be up soon.

Chris 2.1

22nd January 2008, 04:24 PM

Christ, here it is o_0;;

Didn't expect it QUITE so soon after my announcement. Here is part one of Chapter 50....I guess?

Look for more extras between the final chapters, including:
-An extra on Dusclops (??)
-An extra on Isabelle (of WAVEX)
-An extra on Ecks (...that guy...)

This chapter focuses on Chris and Becca. Their battle is huge. We also see part of some interesting development for Becca, as well as Grey and Andrew storylines. What to expect in part 2 follows this chapter.

Previously....

-Charles Legend was shot by Thomas after intruding onto WAVEX plans. The league was sealed off from all forms of communication to prevent Gordon closing it down.

-Grey confronted WAVEX in the Theatre but was shot. Waking in hospital, he was shocked to discover Razor Leaf had signed his admittance form, proving Daniel was in the village.

-Chris beat OzAndrew to get into the semi-finals, where he discovered he would be facing Becca.

-Andrew, facing a difficult confrontation with Tucker, teleported far away by accident, arriving on the outskirts of the village and hearing a mysterious voice.

Chapter Fifty
Part [1]
Round Four: Chris 2.0 VS The Missing Link

The next day, fireworks shot up into the sky and banged loudly. Celebrations were rife as it was the beginning of Round 4 - the semi-finals. Chris 2.0, Hanada Tattsu, Aragornbird and The Missing Link were the four people who had made it this far. Hanada Tattsu and Aragornbird were battling during the evening, while Chris and Becca’s match was scheduled for the afternoon.

In the Rules Tower Becca was typing up some work. Elec Man was also doing a report on the business situation in 04621; the Board, after shutting down OmastarBucks and Theatre Gris, were also attempting to close down the Contest Hall, on the basis that contests were not held often enough. Nate was doing his best to argue the case, despite being oblivious to the fact that the league was being shut down.

“What time are you battling?” he asked.

“One,” she said back.

“How do you think you’ll do against Chris?” he continued, taking a break from his report. “Honestly.”

“Honestly?” Becca asked. “I thought I’d walk all over him. But I watched his match with Andrew, and…he was really good. I remember when he began here, he had four small Pokemon…and now he’s got a good, solid team. We’ll just see.”

“What about Grey?” Nate asked. “Apparently you’re the only one who has seen him since he was sent to hospital.”

Becca paused, looking up.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh come on,” Nate snapped, rising to his feet. “Everyone knows Grey has disappeared. And you give the same story you gave when Amy disappeared. He’s ill. What’s really wrong with him, Becca?”

Becca looked at him firmly.

“Everybody knows you’re covering something up,” he went on. “Spill it.”

“Spill what?” came a voice. Nate turned to see Grey walk in the office, looking quite pale but otherwise cheery. “Is everything ok, Nathan?”

Elec Man stared blankly as Grey took off his suit jacket and hung it on the back of a chair.

“Yea…” Nate mumbled. Becca looked across at Grey and gave a smirk, mouthing the words ‘thank you’ to him. Shortly after Grey returned, Nate left to meet up with a friend; once he had gone, Grey was quick to fill Becca in on the signature he had seen at the hospital, and his theory that Razor Leaf was back.

“But why would he be back?” Becca asked. “Unless he hates being a Frontier Brain.”

“Maybe…” Grey said thoughtfully. “Why didn’t he stay at the hospital with me, though? Why wouldn’t he want to check to see if I was ok?”

“Maybe he was in a hurry,” Becca mused. “I’m going to head to the woods to train before my match this evening. I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

“I will do the same,” Grey said. He looked across at Amy’s empty desk and sighed. “I wonder how Amy is.”

“I miss her,” Becca said softly. Grey walked to the window of the tower and looked out across the main square. He could see a number of people hanging around and wondered what it was like to have a free life. To wonder about nothing but the tournament. After his brief meeting with Thomas yesterday, and the resulting bullet wound in his chest, Grey feared Thomas may come back and try to finish him off.

His thoughts were ruptured, however, when three figures stood out particularly to Grey. One, a short, squat man with curly hair and a Hawaiian shirt, slipping on a pair of sunglasses. The other, a slim, pretty woman with lilac hair and a Jynx in a suit. The third, a grim looking man in a long white coat. Annabel and Noland, two Frontier Brains, and Scott, the chairman for the Frontier Brain Challenge Faculty.

Now he wasn’t the only person looking for Razor Leaf.

*

I was in Ivy Woods, at a large, spacious clearing, with my entire team out of their Pokeballs. I wasn’t fighting in the tournament until later, so I was planning on having a massive training session. Weavile, Electabuzz, Magmar and Cacturne were having a sort of elemental-punch seminar, and by practicing together they were beginning to learn different elements to their own. Cacturne, being a grass type, was a perfect conductor for electricity, and was learning thunder punch from Electabuzz. Magmar was also trying to do the same, but was finding it much harder. Politoed was practicing his blizzard attack, and was also helping Swalot improve his ice beam. Vibrava was firing off swift attacks for the elemental troupe to hit, and Lairon was head butting a tree. Unfortunately, that wasn’t part of his training regime, he was just being grumpy.

“Cacturne! Try thunder punch!” I yelled. A flurry of golden stars swept down at my cactus; he swung his arm back as sparks coursed through it and, racing forward, socked the first star with a blistering punch. Lightening burst out and drove the stars away; the team all watched the impressive attack, Electabuzz applauding.

“Nice going,” I said, smiling. “Weavile, help Politoed with a blizzard attack; he’s not quite got the focus yet, it’s a bit haywire. Magmar, help Electabuzz learn fire punch and Cacturne, I want you and Vibrava to help Lairon improve his speed. Use projectiles to aim for him and see if he can avoid them.”

The group split into their separate teams. Swalot blasted a perfect ice beam into a tree, the joy of which seemed to bring him to tears. He bounced around happily, making an odd, digesting noise. I patted him on the back, thinking about my brother, David, and how hard it must be for him.

Magmar swung a flaming fist around and smashed the frozen tree; Electabuzz began his punches but found that summoning the fire element was difficult. Politoed and Weavile worked on blizzard as Vibrava fired off a swift attack and Cacturne a pin missile. Lairon stood stock still as the attacks flew towards him, before surprising us all by blasting a flamethrower through the air to tear into the attacks.

Cacturne stared at the silvery dragon as Lairon gave a snort.

“Hey,” I said, walking over. “Lairon, you’re supposed to work on your agility.”

Lairon gave a sickening screech and turned away. It sounded like two metal blades slashing amongst each other.

“What’s wrong with you?” I snapped. Lairon gave a shrug and whipped around, smashing Cacturne with an iron tail. Cacturne staggered back and looked up, angry. He fired a bullet seed that cracked against Lairon’s hide, doing little damage. Lairon fired another flamethrower, which Politoed negated by firing a hydro pump to extinguish the oncoming attack. Vibrava saw this and blasted a sonic boom down, hitting Cacturne and Politoed. Weavile created a thick shard of ice from between his claws and deftly hurled the chip through the air, where it smashed into Vibrava.

“HEY!” I snapped. “Guys! Stop fighting!”

Lairon gave another roar. Cacturne raced forward again and unleashed a brick break, cracking Lairon’s steel plates slightly. I grabbed a Pokeball and recalled Cacturne promptly.

“No fighting,” I said firmly. “Lairon, why are you being like this?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” came a voice. Girafarig stepped out the overgrowth, his Xatu by his side. The Xatu’s eyes were shooting in different directions; one side of her face looked in utter shock and revulsion; the other looked immensely satisfied. Overall the bird looked like it had suffered a stroke. “Lairon is jealous.”

“Have you been spying on me?” I asked, bewildered.

“No, he’s been spying on me,” came a crack of a voice. Crystal got up from the opposite end of the clearing, dusting herself off, a Pikachu and Bayleef with her.

“But Crystal’s been spying on you,” Girafarig sneered.

“I HAVE NOT BEEN SPYING ON HIM, GIRAFAMATHIG[I]!” screeched Crystal.

“Well you were in the bushes,” I noted.

“[I]ANYWAY STOP SPYING ON ME GIRAFATHONG, I HAVE STUFF TO DO!”

“Like what? Fawn over Chris?” Girafarig snapped.

“Glaak!” cried the girl. Her Bayleef whipped out her two vines and slapped Girafarig from across the clearing. “Shurrup!”

“Ever since Dark Sage said I had a crush on you, you’ve been avoiding me,” Girafarig told Crystal. “And that is so not fair.”

“Why would my Lairon be jealous?” I asked him.

“Erm it is fair! Because I thought you were my friend, Gira! But you like me in a romantic way and that means we can’t hang out! Every interaction…a key to unlock some potential new love! You will never be satisfied with just being my friend!”

“…because it’s the only Pokemon you haven’t used in a tournament match,” Girafarig said, turning to me. He turned to Crystal. “And I never admitted I had a crush on you!”

“But you do!” Crystal replied.

“So? You have a crush on Chris!” he replied.

“You really think he’s jealous tha-” I began, before digesting the news. “Wait, what?”

“Noooo!” Crystal moaned, running towards Girafarig and pushing him over. “Bad idiot!”

“You do?” I said, smirking.

“Err…” Crystal said. She turned to Girafarig and kicked him. “Bad! BAD! ARGH WHY ARE YOU SO BAD!?”

“It’s definitely - OUCH! - jealousy,” Girafarig moaned, from amongst the bushes.

“Is that what it is, Lairon?” I asked. Lairon turned his nose up. “Look, mate…it’s not that I have purposely benched you. It’s that I haven’t needed you yet. I mean I need you for specific things, and I don’t want to use you at the wrong time for the sake of using you. Like Swalot, yesterday. Didn’t go well, did it pal?”

Swalot, still crying, shook his head wildly.

“I’ll need you tonight,” I told him warmly. Lairon looked at me meaningfully. “Come on. Magmar will help you focus your fire attacks.”

I said this, looking to see Electabuzz summon a weak fire punch.

“Weavile, Politoed. Help Electabuzz with ice punch while Magmar helps Lairon.”

I looked to see both Crystal and Girafarig had gone. Odd. Electabuzz was learning ice punch off both Weavile and Politoed, while Cacturne was practicing his thunder punch. Magmar and Lairon shot fire attacks high into the sky as Swalot tried his accuracy and precision with rollout, leaping up, spinning into a ball and tearing across the arena like an animated glob of jelly. Vibrava took a rest, watching the training eagerly.

*

Grey was walking through the village, waving amicably to Houndoom Lover, a young girl with a big, black demonic dog who looked utterly awe-struck at her canine’s power. Grey was determined to find Razor Leaf and, clutching his chest where he was shot, wandered on.

“Winden,” he told his large Salamence. “Search the village.”

Winden nodded and flapped up into the sky, leaving Grey to continue his search during the streets. He had a shrewd idea of where Daniel might be if he was indeed trying to hide. As he made his way south from the towers, however, a familiar troupe stood before him.

“Good afternoon,” Scott said firmly. The round, short man did not look happy as he stood with Annabel and Noland. Annabel had a Jynx by her side, who wearing a navy suit-skirt combo and clutching a briefcase. Her hair was now a caramel colour.

“What are you doing here?” Grey asked the group.

“Daniel,” Noland replied gruffly.

“He abandoned a match in London and fled the city,” Scott explained. “We’re here to get him back.”

“How do you know he’s here?” Grey asked.

“Annabel’s psychic Pokemon read the boy’s mind. He misses this village and wanted to come back,” Scott said. “Have you been in contact with him at all?”

“No,” Grey replied. “Our communications have been severed by criminals, we cannot make contact with anyone.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Annabel said, her Jynx staring intently at Grey.

“So you haven’t seen him in the village since he left with us?” Scott asked.

“No,” Grey replied honestly, feeling a stinging in his temple. He was sure Jynx was scanning him for traces of a lie. “Not at all.”

“Where do you think he would go?” Annabel asked Grey.

“I’m not sure,” Grey said. “But if he is indeed back in the village, I would very much like to find him.”

His eyes travelled down BT Street towards his illustrious theatre, boarded up and fenced off. Razor Leaf was surely hiding in its confines. As Grey thought this, Annabel gave a smile.

“The Theatre,” she told Scott. “Let’s go.”

“What?” Grey said suddenly. Jynx seemed to be transferring what she found in his mind to Annabel, and the slim lady raced off with Scott in tow. Noland did not follow them, instead giving a firm nod and heading off towards Crescent Walk.

“No…” Grey sighed. “I’m sorry, Daniel.”

He had rumbled his friend. And there was no way he could get to the Theatre before Annabel and Scott. Standing there emptily, he wondered if there was anything he could do. He sighed to himself, clutching his chest.

Meanwhile, back pressed against the Approval Tower, Razor Leaf watched the Frontier Brains head down BT Street and, seeing Grey, darted off towards Feizhi Outpost.

*

In the stadium that we fought in, there was a small common room where battlers, friends, etc all hung out. Corridors spreading left and right led each competitor around to their side of the arena, where we would be fighting soon. I sat in a comfy chair, drinking from a bottle of water and thinking about the match ahead. I had my Pokemon safely tucked in their Pokeballs after a heavy training session well into the afternoon. Electabuzz was able to use ice and fire punch now, as well as being expert in dynamic punch, brick break and other forms of combat. Magmar was now able to use thunder punch, as was Cacturne, and these two also worked on their physical combat skills (although Cacturne’s strength was in his projectiles, I still wanted him capable). Weavile’s speed was at its peak, but we honed his blizzard attack. He seemed pleased to have done less improving than the other team members. Politoed was learning how to control his blizzard attack, but I think he deserved something of a break after his intense match yesterday. I felt the same for Vibrava, even though she was getting so strong. Swalot wanted a chance to redeem himself, but Lairon also seemed to need a battle; he was using fire attacks well and even managed to produce a discharge similar to some of Electabuzz’s attacks.

Becca said nothing as I sat there. A PA called Jenny was racing around wildly, taking calls, organising crowd control etc. Security were patrolling the stadium, usually with a fighting Pokemon and a psychic type to help keep people in line. One man simply kept a Medicham, fulfilling both roles.

“Ok guys, head out through the tunnels and onto the arena,” Jenny said anxiously. “Good luck!”

“See you on the other side,” Becca said, walking left. I nodded and headed to the right, walking down the empty corridor with nothing but my thoughts. What was the first Jenny up to, the girl whose heart I broke? I wonder if she was still at home, working at the job I never fully understood. Had she met someone new? Or…maybe she was in the crowd, waiting to see my face. Well I was waiting to see hers.

I stepped out onto the fresh, green battlefield to notice this stadium was bigger than the one I fought Andrew in yesterday. Becca was already there, arms crossed coolly and looking amused. I stood on a square area devoid of grass, for me to stand in. I noticed that there was a bench designated for family or friends to sit and support me and, as I turned, I saw Crystal Tears and Elec Man sitting down, smiling at me.

“Hey,” I said quietly.

“Good luck!” Crystal said, smiling.

“We thought we’d take advantage of the front-row-seats,” grinned Nate. I stared at them both, touched that someone was here to support me.

“…thanks,” I murmured, glowing red with pride and embarrassment as a surprisingly short man, refereeing the match, talked through the rules. I barely listened. Becca had a curvy looking girl sitting on her bench, looking as if she did not want to be there. Who was she?

“When you are ready, Chris, please release your first Pokemon,” muttered the ref. I turned quickly, nodding and gripping my first choice, whispering a quick word of thanks and hurling the ball up into the air. The ball burst open and expelled a swooping mass of light that moulded into the form of Lairon. He gave a roar and stamped his feet.

“I choose you,” Becca said, hurling her Pokeball high into the air. It burst open to reveal a Gengar, plump and purple, with big, swollen red eyes and pointed ears. It floated above the ground, wearing a big grin at the sight of Lairon. I don’t know if this was a good choice.

“BEGIN THE SEMI-FINALS!” cried the ref, going hoarse from the high level of shouting required. Instantly Gengar swept high up into the air, pointing his stubby claws down and shooting a dark jet of shadow that smashed into Lairon.

“Flamethrower!” I cried. Lairon gave a surprisingly sprightly leap to the side and blasted a silky smooth jet of flames at Gengar. As the fire struck his torso, the ghost swept to the side and charged up a shadow ball. Lairon, however, gave a loud roar and tucked his limbs into his body. The shadow ball, when released, smashed into Lairon’s rocky hide and dissipated.

“Dragon Pulse!”

Lairon charged up a pulsating orb of green energy; it hovered before his mouth as he aimed at the demon, but Gengar melted into the atmosphere and disappeared. Just as the beam was launched, it faded away, its target gone. Gengar re-appeared behind Lairon, flames curling around his palms as he unleashed thick ropes of powerful fire down on my Pokemon.

“Lairon!” I cried. “Shock wave!”

Shaking wildly, Lairon focused and expelled a wide blast of fizzing blue sparks; they attacked the oncoming flames and broke them up into mere dancing embers. Gengar narrowed his eyes and soared above the arena.

“Gengar fire a thunderbolt down,” Becca commanded. Gengar nodded, clapping his hands and firing off a long arc of electrical power. It soared down and smashed into my Pokemon’s steely body and he gave a sharp cry. He sparkled silver and fired off a silvery beam of energy that swept up and collided directly into Gengar.

“What…” I murmured, looking at the attack. My eyes flickered to one of the large jumbo screens, showing a frame-by-frame clip of the attack, labelling it as ’Metal Burst’. Observing the screen, I saw Lairon produce the attack in the same moments he was being struck by Gengar’s thunderbolt. Obviously it was a form of retaliatory strike. Like a reflex, when he was under a certain amount of damage. This could be useful.

“Will-O-Wisp,” Becca ordered. Gengar swirled up into the air, little periwinkle flames popping up and dancing around him. He gave a cackle and held his arm up, the flames span around his outstretched arm until he pointed his appendage down and the flames rocketed down like a flamethrower. Lairon opened his mouth and fired his own gold and scarlet flames that shot up and smashed against the purple-and-blue will-o-wisp. The attacks created a glowing curl of flames in the centre of the arena, but Gengar was getting the upper hand. He melded into the air and swung a shadow punch at the huge ball of flames, sending them smashing right into Lairon. He skidded back, scorched.

“Lairon!” I shouted. “Use a shock wave.”

Lairon nodded, clenching his muscles and expelling the burst of crackling sparks. They shot out and zapped Gengar, who gave a displeased stare as he shook wildly. Charging up a shadow ball, he flung the attack at my Pokemon, who used iron defence to gain a solid layer of sheen. Lairon roared and stamped the ground angrily.

“Calm down,” I called. “Keep a cool head. Use another dragon pulse.”

Lairon nodded and powered up the attack; Gengar was sweeping left and right, and flew left just as the pulsating green beam smashed into his body. He screwed his eyes up in pain and landed on the ground, charging up and blasting a flamethrower from his right hand. Lairon blasted a shock wave in retaliation, juddering powerfully as he expelled the sparks from all around.

“Use a roar,” I commanded. Lairon gave a sharp cry, trying to scare Gengar. Looking nonplussed, Gengar clapped his hands together and Lairon suddenly gave a huge cry of fear. I looked at him, confused, for Gengar was stood stock-still. Why was he frightened?

“What the hell?” Crystal asked.

“Gengar scared Lairon by creating an illusion, I think,” Nate said thoughtfully. “Ghosts do that a lot.”

“Lairon, calm down,” I said. “Go for metal claw.”

Lairon gave a nod, running along at a high speed. He got closer to Gengar, who was standing as he fired off small pops of flame and fire. Leaping left, leaping right, Lairon dodged them and dived towards Gengar as he raked his claws across the demon’s face. Gengar was struck but floated up out of the way with ease. From above Lairon he fired a thunderbolt.

“Hit him!” I shouted weakly. I wasn’t sure how…I just wanted him to attack. Lairon stamped his feet and fired a flamethrower, hitting Gengar but dealing light damage. Gengar charged up a shadow ball between his claws, hurling the swirling energy into Lairon’s face. He skidded back and snapped his jaws.

“Fire blast!” Becca shouted.

“Evade!” I cried, Lairon diving to the left and spitting a flamethrower as Gengar released swirling flames up his arms. Holding his right arm down, a sweeping canon of bowling flame jetted down at Lairon, forming into an ornate symbol of devastation. Lairon tried dodging again but was struck heavily, flying up and smashing into the arena. He rolled over, dazed, sizzling as Gengar floated above him.

“Lairon,” I called. “You’ve had enough. Get in your Pokeball.”

Adamant, my Pokemon got up and took a step forward, firing off a dragon pulse that wobbled and lost its core as it left his mouth.

“Lairon,” I replied. “You need rest. Take a break.”

I looked at him.

“I know you wanted to prove yourself. You did. You’ve dealt a lot of damage to Gengar, but you need to let someone else step in. Ok?”

Lairon gave a slow nod.

“Good work,” I said, returning him into his Pokeball. Gengar floated inches off the ground, flames licking up his sharp claws as one of my Pokeball symbols faded into darkness. Luckily I could select a Pokemon that would beat Gengar, and I knew enough about him to deduce who to use. Weavile would have been great, but Gengar has some pretty good fire attacks and that was no good. I pulled a new Pokeball out and hurled it forward.

“Erebuu!” cried my yellow Pokemon, as sparks fizzled across his body.

“Ok!” I cried. “Let’s go!”

*

*

Since he had teleported accidentally to Sunshine Fields, OzAndrew had found himself surrounded by a group of slightly odd looking people. There were tents littering the beautiful, fragrant fields. Mr Mime looked on, stupefied.

“Who the frick are you all?” Andrew asked.

“We are the Tertiary League,” came a dribbling, poetic voice. A rather pompous man strode forward. “A group of people who are not deemed ‘cool’ enough to hang around in the main portion of the village. My name is Oxwald Edgar Moron, or Ox.E.Moron as I often go by.”

“Oh, I remember you,” Andrew mumbled.

“I was a poet of the highest level,” he moaned, in his tragic groan of a voice. “I had a fantastic life, friends, food, even a cloud shaped after me…and one day…my newest piece of work, ‘Sharp As I Am Blunt’, was slated by local critic Mr Pikachu. After that, my credibility dropped…I lost to Blademaster in the Tournament quite early on…and refuse to show my face down there.”

“Right,” Andrew replied. “The rest of these people seem quite…miserable.”

“Well you can see No-Frowns the Clown in the corner,” Ox.E told Andrew.

“Oh, hey Clowny!” Andrew cried. “Remember the time I got absolutely FRITTERED on Peach Schnapps and you were like, in a swan boat, and we went somewhere…it was FUN!”

“He cannot hear you,” Ox.E said. “No-Frowns has entered a state of frozen stillness wherein his mental state has blocked out every action. He is in a sort of self-inflicted coma.”

The clown sat on a rock, looking at he ground. He did not move.

“Wow,” Andrew said.

“This is Penelope Brandon Bauer-Berg,” Ox.E said formally. A heavily pregnant woman in her late thirties strode over, her hands clasping her large belly. She had a beak-like nose and a dissatisfied look.

“Hello,” she murmured.

“Eeew,” Andrew cringed. “Placenta Baby.”

“Psch,” Penelope rasped, grabbing a bottle and squeezing a hefty amount of gel onto her hand, before slapping it onto her stomach and gently massaging it in. “Don’t be opinionated or my child will be born as a politician.”

“What the frick?”

“And don’t sub-swear. I don’t know what a ‘frick’ is, but it sounds dangerous and possibly loud.”

“My god,” Andrew blurted. “You’re like, the most anal person ever.”

“I have a life form expanding inside me,” she rasped. “What the hell do you expect!?”

Andrew got out his VS Seeker.

Penelope Brandon Bauer-Berg
While not a registered member of TPML, Miss Brandon Bauer-Berg has purchased a VS Seeker for her unborn child’s use and/or enjoyment, thus registering her on the database. Although said unborn child will not be able to use this VS Seeker until they are ten years old, in possession of a legitimate Pokemon Trainers Licensing Card License, and of sufficient experience to pass an initiation exam - well, you get the point. Mrs Brandon Bauer-Berg is also known as ‘The Wise Woman’, who writes horoscopes for TPMLers after spending her days spying on them.

“Get that away,” Penelope snapped, batting Andrew’s hand. His VS Seeker clattered against the floor. “Those computering doo-gods give off radiation. I don’t want my child to have cancer!”

“So you do the horoscopes?” Andrew asked keenly.

“I do,” she replied coldly.

“What is mine? Tell me or I’ll blast your unborn bastard child with rays of cancer,” Andrew said rudely. Penelope stared haughtily, hands pressed against her belly as if she were trying to physically protect the baby.

“Go and buy a bloody paper and find out!” she snapped.

“Maybe I will!” Andrew snapped. He stormed off through the fields towards the path that led back down to 04621. His confrontation with the incredibly irritating pregnant lady reminded him that if he needed something done, he had to go and do it himself. He had to try and face the things that were in his way in order to get results. And he liked owning the C.O.R.R.U.P.T. He liked being in the village and he loved ridiculing Tucker. It was time to take him on and show him who was boss.

*

“Gengar, use shadow ball!” Becca cried. Her demon charged up the orb of swirling darkness among his claws, firing it down at Electabuzz, who was racing forward with a quick attack. Leaping up, he swung an iron tail around and smashed the attack, landing and continuing his assault. He ran, fists surging with powerful sparks and he threw himself up, smashing Gengar in the face with two deftly executed attacks. Gengar flapped back irritably. Electabuzz flipped back and blasted a thunderbolt into the spectre.

“Go in for a fire punch,” Becca barked. Gengar nodded as flames burst upon his palm. He swept over the arena as the flames soon grew and took over his entire fist; travelling lower and lower, he drew his arm back and aimed his attack.

Electabuzz was struck by the fire punch, not evading in time. Staggering back, clutching the burn on his chest, Electabuzz was met with a long, ghostly tongue sliding up his face and disorientating him somewhat.

“Shock wave!”

Nodding, Electabuzz clenched his fists and expelled a great rush of electricity. It smashed into Gengar’s doughy frame and he was hurtled back. The spectre looked angry as little flames popped up in his hands – one, two; they were thrown viciously through the air at Electabuzz, who leapt to the left and fired off a thin, needle sized dart of lightening from his fingertips to eradicate the flame. Three, four, five; more flames were hurled down from above, several striking Electabuzz in the chest, where he staggered back in pain. I could empathize with him; having been attacked by Will-O-Wisp before, and as my hands traced the distant violet burns on my neck, I knew how painful it could be.

“Sweep forward with iron tail, now!”

After training with Weavile, who used quick attack and metal claw to form his Quick Clawz combo, Electabuzz refined a similar technique combining his quick attack with iron tail. I had no name for the combo, but it was very intricate and difficult to pull off, and he had not had much success during the day. Tearing across the arena in a blazing streak, he swept up, hurtling himself up into the air as he whipped around and sent his shimmering steel tail right into Gengar’s side.

“Gengar!” Becca shouted. She looked at her Pokemon, who had taken some serious damage, but still retained some fight. “Sprague.”

“What did she say?” I muttered. “Sprig?”

“S-Prague?” Crystal said thoughtfully. “South of Prague? OH NO!”

“What?” Elec Man asked.

“Well it sounds scary,” Crystal replied. Gengar rose high into the air, hands out by his side, cackling mercilessly. This code word was obviously some type of strategy Becca had planned.

“Fire a thunderbolt into it!” I shouted. Nodding, Electabuzz held his palms forward and blasted a jet of lightening through the air; just as it homed in towards Gengar the purple Pokemon phased into the atmosphere and disappeared from sight. Watching his sparks dissipate into the atmosphere, a precarious Electabuzz looked around for the foe.

“Keep an eye out,” I told him. “When Gengar appears, strike.”

Moments passed and nothing happened. Electabuzz concentrated as sparks juddered across his body, coating him in golden fuzz. No sign of Gengar at all. We stood and waited as time slipped by…what on earth was Becca’s plan, and when was it going to come together? I stood in anticipation, fists clenched, looking for the faintest sign of an attack.

Suddenly it happened. Speeding down through the air was Gengar, re-materialising as a bright, glowing red beacon. Electabuzz blasted a weak attack just as his opponent detonated, sending a blast of energy sweeping into Electabuzz and engulfing him in the detonation’s wake. White light obstructed my vision as a yellow jet of sparks flew into the air. A howling wind bowled into me and I felt my hair ruffle and blow, my footing falter and my ears sting as a horrific fallout ensued.

“ELECTABUZZ!” I shouted. I opened my eyes blearily to see Gengar on the floor, exhausted. He lay there, defeated, having exploded as a final ploy to take out Electabuzz. My soldier was hanging on, looking weatherworn but nevertheless healthy and ready for some more fight.

“Gengar! Return!” Becca called, shooting the Pokeball beam and pulling back her Pokemom. She put the Pokeball away.

“That’s odd,” Elec Man said.

“Why?” Crystal asked.

“I’ve never seen Becca employ such…brutal tactics,” he replied. “She always fights and fights, but using explosion…it seems like something a quirkier trainer would do.”

“You study people way too much,” Crystal sighed.

“I choose you!” Becca cried, sending out her Absol. The Pokemon burst from the ball and materialized before Electabuzz, looking up into the sky and giving a soft call. Electabuzz clenched a fist and I knew he was keen to try some of his new punches out on this thing. Absol stood with its legs close together, in a sort of polite, calm manner. I recalled fighting this thing with Sneasel on my way to my initiation match. It was not difficult.

“Lyra, slash!”

“Electabuzz, ice punch!”

Lyra leapt at Electabuzz with her blade; he felt it tear across his chest and he roared, hammering his fist around and connecting with Absol’s skull. Frosted particles encasing his fingers sent a shooting sensation into Absol’s head and she staggered back. Electabuzz toppled over, a wound across his stomach, bleeding.

“You’re ok!” I told him. “Thunderbolt!”

Electabuzz nodded and charged up, but the sparks caused him to cry in pain and the attack fizzled into nothing. Looking at him, I saw him clutch his wound and I realised that, with his open cut, the electricity was literally attacking his insides and he would not be able to expel electrical attacks. This was going to be tricky, but he had the strength to persevere.

“Cross chop!” I shouted. Electabuzz nodded and ran across the arena, both arms held ready as he prepared the double chop he learned from my old Mankey. Absol raced at my Pokemon and, from her mouth, began to gather icy crystals to unleash an attack. This was bad.

“Agility!” I yelled, wondering if he could manipulate quick attack into a stronger dash of speed. Electabuzz tore along, soon becoming a glowing phenomenon as a silvery streak blazed behind him and he pounced towards Absol. The ice beam was blasted in a hurry and tore off at just the wrong angle as Electabuzz dealt a devastating blow to Absol. Leaping back, she fired another ice beam and struck Electabuzz in the chest.

“Hey!” I shouted to him. “How’s the chest?”

Electabuzz groaned; the ice seemed to have numbed the pain and he looked slightly better for it.

“Thunderpunch!”

Nodding, Electabuzz held his fists out and they surged with volts and sparks. This was better for him than to expel electricity from all over his body, for it did not affect his large gash. He stood there, sparks almost blazing up into the sky as he watched Absol.

Absol was both a direct and distant attacker and was switching her methods to suit Electabuzz’s assault. Electabuzz could not go in to the fray every time. We needed to coax Absol.

“Try expelling your thunderpunch,” I told him. Electabuzz parted his feet to better his balance. Both fists were surging with sparks, but by opening his fists and subsequently moving his fingers around the volts, Electabuzz managed to manipulate the orb of lightening among his outstretched hands. He laughed, feeding the buzzing ball with more fuel.

“Fire!”

Flinging his palms out, Electabuzz hurled the two plasma balls through the air, where they swept into Absol and gave off a small explosion of sparks. She was bowled over, giving Electabuzz the chance to run over and deal a furious fire punch right in the side.

“Razor wind!”

Howling suddenly as her pupils turned an opal tone, Absol unleashed a swirling wind all across the arena. Electabuzz, unable to fight the wind, was lifted up and flung across the arena and high into the air. Spinning wildly, he could not fight against the two blisteringly strong strips of energy that sped into him, smashing him down into the ground. Giving a long groan, he struggled to stand up.

“Electabuzz, try another plasma ball,” I said, naming this new variation on thunderpunch. Electabuzz nodded, crackling the energy into his open hands and soon clasping his fingers around the building energy, shaping the balls and hurling them through the air. Absol dived to escape one but the second zapped her across the side. She cried out and swung her blade, sending a blade of energy into Electabuzz.

“Keep fighting!” I told him. “Iron tail!”

“Quick attack, slash,” Becca rasped. As Electabuzz leapt up and charged his tail with a shimmering metallic sheen, Absol dashed across the arena and charged up energy in her blade appendage. Swinging his tail around, Electabuzz missed Absol, who dealt a powerful slash to throw Electabuzz to the ground.

“Ice beam!”

Nodding, Absol blasted the beam of frosted ice down and it ploughed into my Pokemon resolutely. He lay in the dirt, trying to summon a crackling plasma ball but it was no good. I looked at him and gave a nod. Another one down.

“Return,” I said, feeling that Absol would not pose too much of a problem. I put Electabuzz’s Pokeball away and selected my next, containing someone who had beaten Absol once before but, over time, had become one of my strongest Pokemon.

Chris 2.1

22nd January 2008, 04:26 PM

“Weavile!” I cried, sending him out onto the arena. Applause rang out across the arena and I looked, briefly, to see footage from my double battle against MeLoveGhosts on the jumbo vision. I wonder if he was here today, watching my match.

“Lyra use a future sight,” Becca told her Pokemon. Lyra nodded and stared up into the sky as Weavile began to charge up with a swords dance. As pale swords hung around my Pokemon, he sharpened his claws. Lyra turned her attention back to us, the arena, and she raced towards Weavile as her blade glowed white.

“Let’s make this interesting,” I said softly. “Weavile. Quick Clawz.”

Nodding he tore along the arena as his claws sparkled a shimmering silver. Searing along towards Absol, the two Pokemon raced at each other like two trains about to collide. Weavile slashed across Absol’s blade and the two were pushed back; Weavile flipped into the air and Lyra skidded along as they prepared to try again.

“Ice beam!” I ordered. Weavile charged the beam up between his paws and fired it forward; Absol was struck in the neck area and thrown back. Weavile did not give his opponent time to recover, and drew a claw back as it sparkled with dark, demonic power. Thin, rattling claws of energy curved out from Weavile’s claws and he leapt at Absol, unleashing the shadow claw across his opponent’s side.

“Lyra get up! Use iron tail!” Becca called. Bounding up, Absol flung her tail around and smashed Weavile across the face; he was hurtled back, collapsing on the ground after the shock and intensity of the steel-type attack. “Go in for X-Scissor!”

Weavile looked up as Absol leapt high, sweeping her head down twice and sending two long, sinewy blades of energy at him. The two blades snaked around each other, forming an X as they smashed into Weavile, tearing his body and speeding off in different directions. Gasping in pain, Weavile blasted another ice beam but Absol avoided any damage.

“Lyra get ready!” Becca shouted, as the sky rumbled overhead and both Absol and Weavile looked up. I was intrigued, but noticed that, despite the thorough brawl he had been through, Weavile looked hardy and ready to take this challenge on until the very end. I was so proud of his strength and his determination. There was an odd noise as, suddenly jets of light burst from the clouds and tore down towards the arena. Weavile watched as Absol blasted a barrel of flames from her mouth, cutting through the path the jets of light were to take. Emerging through the flamethrower were the flaming jets of light that exploded and struck Weavile.

“Weavile!” I shouted. He was leaping left and right but it was futile. The futuristic spears were raining from above and he had no way of evading them. Weavile blasted weak ice beams that lost their power within moments as his concentration was ebbed away, my Pokemon beaten and socked by the attacks.

Suddenly as his eyes glimmered with hope, Weavile stood and took the attack as more and more jets of light shot down, burning bright. Weavile gave a loud roar as he fired a blizzard attack from his mouth, commanding the swirling wind of ice crystals to battle the furious future sight and fend it off. The sheer strength from Weavile was incredible as he summoned this holy wind as the future sight, and even the flames were eliminated like a candle in a gale. Weavile re-directed the attack and the blizzard bowled into Absol, hurling her across the arena amid snow, ice, frost and chunks of debris. Absol, weakened against the ground, whispered her name as she struggled to fend off the assault.

“Ok!” I called. Weavile ended the attack, leaving the remnants of swirling ice to fall on the arena floor. Panting from the sheer output of energy, Weavile looked happy, pleased that Absol was weak and almost ready to fall. “Now use an ice punch to the side!”

Nodding, Weavile raced across the arena at Absol, who was charging up a blade of energy. Firing it off, Absol stayed standing where she was. Weavile pounced over the blade of energy and kept on going, slamming the Pokemon in the face with a glitzy fist of crystal.

“Absol is defeated!” noted the referee as the Pokemon rolled across the ground. “Weavile wins the round!”

The crowd cheered loudly and I felt something soar in my stomach. Two Pokemon down. Three to go. After one side lost three Pokemon there was a small break while the arena was fixed and the battlers could enjoy a quick drink and relax. I was eager to see what Becca unleashed next.

“Ok,” Becca said, grabbing a new Pokeball. “Scizor! GO!”

Bursting from the Pokeball was a tall, well-built warrior in crimson armor. Shimmering powerfully beneath the sun, Orion clenched his powerful clamp-like arms and stared at Weavile. Weavile, smirking, sharpened his claws against each other as the referee threw both flags up into the air. We were off.

And what a face-off it would be.

Scizor instantly took to the skies, flapping his wings at an alarmingly fast pace. Weavile blasted an ice beam at Scizor and struck him in the chest, but he recovered from the damage and continued his streak up into the sky. Weavile leapt back and clashed his claws together; he generated an army of ghostly swords that sprang to life around him, swirling around and boosting his already impressive attack.

“Metal Claw!” Becca shouted. Her Pokemon sped down as both his claws crackled with sparkling snaps of energy. Yikes.

“Dodge! Ice Shard!”

Weavile darted off to the left but wasn’t fast enough for Scizor, who smashed into my Pokemon with his thick, heavy claws. Weavile flew awkwardly up into the air, freezing moisture between his two claws and hurling the thick chip of ice down at Scizor, where it cracked into the back of his head.

Upon landing, Weavile charged and blasted a shadow ball at Scizor, but with a swipe of his powerful claws the attack was diminished, splitting into frail wisps of shadowy energy. Catching his breath, my dark Pokemon looked bemused. How could we defeat Scizor? I was completely bemused how, since our attacks were just not working, and I knew Scizor’s steel attacks were fatal to my Pokemon.

“Scizor use a razor wind,” barked Becca. I noticed the girl sitting behind her looked displeased. Who on earth was she? Scizor flapped his wings powerfully and let out a roar; a blistering wind picked up and Weavile, being light on his feet, felt the force drive him back. Suddenly glowing strips of energy flew along the arena and smashed into Weavile, hurtling him back to the ground. I stared down at him. He had strength left in him, but Scizor was leeching it all away.

“Come back,” I said suddenly, shooting the beam at Weavile. By holding the Pokeball upside down, you signaled to the referee that you intended to use this Pokemon again. The referee saw this and gave a brief nod. On my status screen Lairon and Electabuzz’s silhouettes were blacked out, while Weavile’s remained a dim orange color. Becca’s side showed Gengar and Absol blacked out. She watched me carefully as I slipped Weavile away for later and hurled out my next Pokeball.

“Go!”

In a bright flash my Magmar emerged, his swathing orange and yellow body powerfully flickering. His tail burned bright and his eyes narrowed at the foe. Becca frowned, and I knew why.

“Chris has substituted Weavile for Magmar,” announced the referee. “Begin.”

“Magmar use a fire blast!” I cried loudly. Magmar nodded, opening his mouth and blasting a furious blend of fire. The flames licked across the arena, forming into a powerful symbol of destruction. Racing at Scizor, the Pokemon began flapping another Razor Wind as he fought hard to defend against the attack. The pure wind rammed into the oncoming flames and peeled away renegade embers as they trailed into the atmosphere. Focusing all his energy, Scizor managed to force out an impressive gale that burst the flames into small wisps of weak heat. From behind the flaming attack, however, my Magmar leapt up and over Scizor, who looked up as he caught his breath.

“Now!”

Magmar swung a fire punch that connected with Scizor’s skull. He staggered back and Magmar followed up with a cross chop, whacking the Pokemon across its thin, streamlined body.

“Orion! Bug Buzz!” Becca shouted. Nodding, Scizor began flapping his wings but Magmar leapt over him and the fizzing shockwave sped up into the air, disappearing. Magmar blasted a flamethrower into Scizor’s back and bowled him over, where he fell forwards onto his knees.

“Blaze kick!”

Scizor turned just as Magmar swung a flaming foot down and smashed the foe in the jaws. Staggering to the ground the Scizor simply collapsed, and Magmar, feeling powerful, leapt over him in a blaze of fire and landed back on my side of the arena. I stared in disbelief at how quickly Scizor had fallen. Was he really that weak to fire attacks? The referee held the flag up.

“Scizor has been defeated.”

The crowd roared in excitement and I heard my two supporters cheering from behind, but there was a sour look on Becca’s face as she recalled the crimson Pokemon who, in my opinion, had done very little except force me to switch out Weavile. Suddenly the announcers voice came over on the PA:

“One side has lost 3 Pokemon. There will be a brief, twenty minute interval for the battlers to relax before the latter part of the match. The arena will also be getting tidied and cleared after damage from the first portion of the match.”

I looked around to see adverts and commercials appear on the screens instead of the match progress. I headed towards the doors that would take me to the common room with Elec Man and Crystal, and as a three we made our way out.

“Great work so far,” Nate told me. “Becca’s quivering in her boots.”

“That’s not true,” I scoffed, before I was reminded of her face when Scizor fell. “…really?”

“Really,” he replied. “Magmar took Scizor down in no time.”

“But they are extremely weak to fire,” Crystal noted. “Mine is.”

“You have a Scizor?” I asked wildly, as we followed the corridor round towards the common room.

“I think using Lairon set you back a bit,” Nate said. “He wasn’t that great.”

“But he must have done something right,” I protested. “Gengar did that Sprague thing quite soon into the match with Electabuzz.”

“He mightn’t have been weakened,” my friend told me. “He might just have wanted to eliminate Electabuzz, since he was powerful.”

“Pity Absol shredded him up,” Crystal mused. We arrived in the lounge area, and I immediately got a drink from the vending machine. Crystal released her Pikachu and a little Cyndaquil and petted them contently. I spent a couple of minutes sitting in silence, slurping my drink, thinking far too much. I needed to stay in the moment. This break was irritating.

“…every single year you show the same hostility towards me! It’s ridiculous!”

We looked up as Becca strode through her side of the corridor, having exited from the other side of the arena and following it around. The other, slightly younger girl, who was around my age, hurried to keep up with Becca. Becca looked furious.

She gave a curt nod, which ended up looking like a lethal neck spasm, and jabbed the vending machine with her finger. A canned drink clanked down the chute as the other girl stood there, apparently angry. She was curvy with sleek hair but looked hurt.

“Can you blame me? You turn up out of the blue AGAIN and you start yapping and snapping about me and my life! Rachael, I don’t want you here.”

“How dare you!” the girl called Rachael cried in alarm. “Becca it is Mum’s birthday. You know that. So why are you surprised I came?”

“Because last year you tried to come up to the village and yell at me I lost my nerve,” Becca responded curtly, pulling the ring on her can threateningly. “And I thought you might have taken the hint.”

“You are coming home,” snapped Rachael. “This is an important day!”

“You know I’d be there for Mum if I could!” Becca argued. “But the past two years the league has been in the same week as her birthday and I’ve had to stay up here.”

She paused.

“Maybe if I wasn’t such a good battler I’d get eliminated quick enough to come home…”

Becca gave a laugh at her own remark.

“…but then I have Moderator duties,” she thought.

“Oh forget all that,” snapped Rachael. “This isn’t a proper job and these aren’t real duties! This is all crap. You fight Pokemon like some savage…they can be used for more than beating each other up, Bex.”

Becca became aware for the first time that Crystal, Nate and myself were watching. She turned around suddenly, jerking her head back to the woman I assumed to be her sister.

“The restroom is just down there,” she said automatically. “Go, before the interval finishes.”

Her sister took the hint and went to the toilet. Becca walked over to me.

“Hey,” I said casually. “Good match so far.”

“Cut it out,” she said firmly.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“That was a cheap tactic sending Magmar out,” she snapped. “Scizor’s greatest flaw is its vulnerability to fire and as soon as you started losing you had to just whip out your fire type and blast right through me.”

“Hey,” I argued back, getting to my feet. “There’s nothing wrong with using type preferences to your advantage. It was stupid to keep Weavile out on the field, he wasn’t landing any hits.”

“If Weavile couldn’t handle Scizor, then you let it down as a trainer,” Becca argued back. She paused for a moment, bathing in the heated acceleration of the argument, before letting out a sigh. “Chris, this is a semi-final match. You are the trainer with the most potential this year - I’ve seen you come so far since I battled you in your hometown. And I think you owe it to yourself not to rely on rock-paper-scissors to get you into the finals.”

Were those tears in her eyes?

“Look,” I replied. “I did nothing wrong.”

Becca gave a nod.

“Then expect my rock to come out and make your scissors blunt.”

*

After the brief interval I was back on the arena, refreshed, ready, but slightly mystified by what my opponent was going to be like in this, the latter ‘half’ of my semi-final match. Magmar was out, looking ready to fight, while Becca gripped her next Pokeball readily. After Magmar I had Weavile, who still had a bit of fight in him, as well as my final Pokemon…I think I would be fine against Becca’s final two Pokemon.

“BEGIN!” cried the referee. Becca hurled the Pokeball forward and released a large, solid Pokemon. Instantly I knew I was in trouble. It stood at around 6 feet in height and was a dark blue, with thick, steel wings and an odd set of three horns leading from its beak, framing its face and forming into three prongs. This was obviously a water Pokemon, and a strong one, but I had absolutely no idea what it was.

“What the hell?” Crystal asked, bewildered.

“Search me,” Elec Man muttered.

“This is your weapon?” I said. “Magmar, go for a fire spin.”

Nodding and opening his beak-like mouth, Magmar blasted a stream of flames that whipped up into a tornado that engulfed the strange penguin-like creature. I watched as the fire licked higher, creeping into the atmosphere and swirling crimson with bold gold, and soon, I could see no Pokemon within.

“Right,” I said to my Pokemon. “That should subdue it for a few moments.”

Instantly, however, the whirling inferno was ripped apart and the Pokemon pounced through the attack, wings glimmering with steel sheen. Landing deftly the Pokemon pounced again, blasting an array of large, exploding bubbles in Magmar’s face. Staggering back, my Pokemon attempted to fire off a smokescreen to confuse the foe, but he replied with a swift smash in the face from one of his wings.

“Fire flamethrower!”

“Aqua Jet!”

As a geyser burst from the ground, the penguin Pokemon was encased in the water and bolted up and darted across the arena like a torpedo, water gushing behind. Magmar felt the Pokemon smash into him and he was hurtled into the wall of the stands, past myself, past Crystal and the other spectators. Magmar gave an aching groan as his opponent leapt back and unleashed another myriad of bubbles to smash into his damaged frame.

“Ok, ok!” the referee cried, running over. “The Missing Link: Please bring the battle back to the designated arena markings.”

“Empoleon, come,” Becca said raptly. Her Pokemon, whose steely armour resembled a tuxedo, leapt back effortlessly and landed before his trainer. So it was called Empoleon.

“Magmar,” I said, running to my Pokemon. “Get up buddy. Back onto the arena markings, go on.”

“Empoleon, prepare a projectile attack for when Magmar gets back onto the markings,” said Becca. I narrowed my eyes as Magmar hobbled onto the battlefield. As he walked, he saw the menacing boss staring ahead, charging up a bubble beam. Magmar gave a sigh.

“Ok,” I said, about to order an attack. I suddenly saw Empoleon’s strategy. “Flamethrower down at the ground! Hurry!”

Magmar nodded and blasted the attack down, propelling himself up into the air. Not used to this, he spiralled out of control and flipped up, limbs flailing slightly as Empoleon just missed the target. Not content, he leapt up after my Pokemon, his jumps reaching incredible heights.

“Steel wing!”

Wings glistening powerfully Empoleon swung them at Magmar, but my Pokemon corresponded with a thunder punch in mid-air, slamming them into the steel wings and using them as a conductive medium. Blitzed by the surging electricity, Empoleon fell to the ground and gave a dull thud. Magmar landed slightly more gracefully and swung a punch into the Pokemon’s face.

“Drill peck!”

Swatting Magmar away Empoleon lunged forwards, but he leapt out of the way and, upon landing, turned and blasted a quick jet of flame to distract Empoleon. As Empoleon felt heat scratch across his face, he held both his wings out and they began to glow with a devilish energy, crackling like menacing sparks. Thin, bony claw-like tendrils formed from the energy and Empoleon swept his shadow claws at Magmar, who was slashed mercilessly and hurled back. Magmar responded by blasting a flamethrower again, striking Empoleon but dealing meagre damage.

“Magmar,” I said, as Empoleon struck him with a flurry of bubble beams. “I think you need to come back into your ball. This isn’t working.”

Magmar got up and shook his head slightly. He charged up a thunder punch, and as the sparks coursed through his fist he slugged Empoleon hard. Staggering back the Pokemon focused and blasted a hydro pump, which smashed into Magmar and drove him back across the arena and, for the second time, into the wall. There was an empty crack as he broke some of the plaster and fell onto the floor.

“Please allow Magmar to re-enter the arena,” called the referee. Magmar narrowed his eyes as the flaming tail suddenly grew in size. He began walking back towards the arena and, with each stamp of his foot, gave a hungry grunt that told Empoleon he was not finished.

He stood on the verge of the arena’s markings, meaning Empoleon could not quite attack, and held his head high as he blasted a fountain of molten flame up into the air. As dancing embers fell around him, Magmar was encased in a swathing glow, a fantastic brightness spurred on by the warmth and energy of the flames that pooled around him. My eyes widened. Magmar was evolving.

“No way!” Crystal cried. “Is Magmar evolving?”

“I didn’t know it could,” Elec Man gasped.

I saw Becca watch with shock as Magmar grew slightly among the flames, his arms becoming bigger, thicker, and his legs becoming sturdier and more powerful. I saw flames flicker from within the scorching cocoon he created, but they were dying down. His arms were powerful and yellow, like thick clubs, with claws on the end and big empty spaces in each palm. His shoulders were broad and flaming like two torches, flickering lazily in the wind. His body swirled with flame patterns and his head squirmed into a flaming quiff, similar to his previous form’s double flame. In his eyes was mischief and menace, but he looked ready. I stared at the big thick spikes protruding from his back.

“CHRIS 2.0 HAS TAKEN THIS FACE-OFF TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL! HIS MAGMAR HAS EVOLVED INTO MAGMORTAR, A RARE, NATIVE SPECIES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SEEN IN THE HISTORY OF THIS TOURNAMENT!”

“Magmortar?” I said weakly. The beast turned slowly and smirked, waving a thick arm. He took one step onto the arena and awaited Empoleon’s attack. The penguin blasted the bubble beams but Magmortar, by crossing his heavy arms across his torso, blocked the majority of the attacks. He swept his arms away and held an arm out, narrowing his eyes and blasting an immense fireball that exploded upon contact. Knocked over from the intensity, Empoleon leapt up, encasing himself in a torpedo of rushing water and tearing towards Magmortar with an aqua jet.

Magmortar was struck, staggering back but swinging his thick tail around and slapping Empoleon. He followed up with a devastating dynamic punch, slugging the foe. Empoleon leapt back powerfully. Magmortar gave a grimace and took a moment to relax.

“Empoleon strike with another hydro pump!” Becca cried. I looked in alarm as Empoleon fired the devastating jet of water that smashed right into Magmortar. He was forced back, although he fought hard to keep his footing. I saw Magmortar, screwing his face up in retaliation as he tried warding the attack off, but it was proving difficult, I feared. He then surprised me when he held an arm out and blasted a snaking tendril of lightening that smashed into Empoleon, conducted through the water attack. Noticing the foe was distracted, Magmortar leapt up and, with both arms, blasted a double thunderbolt into Empoleon, causing a big burst of sparks to erupt around Becca’s Pokemon.

“Aqua Jet! Into Drill peck!”

Riding the geyser and allowing the water to encapsulate him, Empoleon sped along down towards Magmortar. He blasted huge balls of fire but the water surrounding Empoleon dissolved the flames, protecting the carrier. Empoleon gave a sharp cry as his beak glowed. He smashed into Magmortar and, while driving himself into my Pokemon, caused devastating damage. As the water fell to the ground Magmortar swung a punch into Empoleon’s skull and threw him off wildly, blasting lightening from his two arms and shocking Empoleon wildly.

“Shadow Claw!”

“Try a Will-O-Wisp!”

I wasn’t sure if my Magmar’s new form could handle the ghost-like attack, but after seeing his mastery of electricity, I was sure asking would do no harm. As Empoleon charged up shadowed energy into the form of two brutal claws, and began racing along the arena, Magmar aimed one arm like a gun and blasted a series of ghostly fireballs at Empoleon. They struck head-on, forcing themselves onto my foe to prevent his attack. His shadowy attack faded into nothing as lilac embers danced to the ground. Magmortar was exhausted, and I recalled a similar thing happening before…

“Rika, double team. Spread out and prepare for the grand finale,” said my opponent. In another bright flash, eight copies of Rika circled around a weary and exhausted Magmar.

“Eliminate them! Fire spin!”

But it seemed Magmar was too exhausted to perform a fire spin. I reminded myself exhaling a flaming tornado was an arduous task.

It was imperative I didn’t waste this power by over doing things. Magmortar leapt back as Empoleon’s slashing attack missed; Empoleon stumbled, allowing Magmortar to blast a ferocious fire attack down to hit the penguin straight on.

“Empoleon use a hydro pump,” Becca told her Pokemon firmly. Nodding, Empoleon blasted the immense attack and my Pokemon was damaged greatly as the ice-cold water soaked his flaming body. The heat emanating from his flame sac caused an odd steam to filter into the air whenever he was hit by water. It reminded me of his smokescreen and, before I knew it, my strategy for finishing off Empoleon was set.

“Magmortar use a smokescreen!” I shouted. Giving a gruff nod, Magmortar spewed out thick curls of dark, blackening smoke. It was blasted at Empoleon and began spreading, distorting the area. Magmortar spluttered and coughed as he released the harmless smoke, obscuring the vision on the field. Becca looked insulted.

“Filter it away,” she said firmly. Perfect. Empoleon cried his name and a sudden whirlwind picked up; I soon saw he held his thick, steeled wings out horizontal and was spinning on the spot like a spinning top. The smoke billowed around him like a sudden gust, and it was pulled from around the arena by the sheer force.

“While it’s spinning! Fire spin! Will-O-Wisp!”

Another firm, throaty call of his name and I knew Magmortar understood. With flames coming from his flame sacs and from his palms, he was able to mix his attacks together. From his mouth, a snaking train of flame sped along the ground and, due to Empoleon’s spinning around, the attack was whisked up and soon engulfed the helpless penguin. My Pokemon’s flames grew higher and higher as his palms fired off violet balls of devils fire, which exploded into the main tornado and fused the gold and scarlet with periwinkle-blue and a frightening violet.

“Empoleon blast a hydro pump directly up,” Becca called. I expected her to use a strong attack in order for the water to fall down and extinguish the flames easier. As Empoleon held his head up my Magmortar leapt powerfully up into the air, scaling the spinning flames and holding both arms down, wildly firing off jousting arcs of lightening that, after speeding into the oncoming hydro pump, smashed into Empoleon amid a horrific explosion of sparks. The flaming tornado was blown apart by the impact, causing embers of varying colours to shoot out along the arena. A beaten Empoleon collapsed in the centre of the arena as Magmortar landed, the ground around him buzzing with renegade sparks and runaway embers.

“Bloody hell,” I said, noticing Empoleon gasping for breath. Furiously, Becca whipped her Pokeball out and recalled the Pokemon, now down to just one. I had Magmortar and Weavile, both tiring, and then my last choice, so I wasn’t really doing too badly at all. Magmortar clutched his side as he panted heavily.

“Becca’s down to her last Pokemon!” Crystal cried. “I can’t believe this!”

“But who will she use?” Elec Man pondered. “Hitmonchan? Alakazam? Venusaur? She has so many good Pokemon and she knows Chris needs to use Weavile, so she could w-”

“You won’t find out if you keep talking,” hissed the young girl.

I decided Magmortar would stay out for a little bit longer. Becca playfully took her last Pokeball out and held it forward. I wondered who was inside. Would I be facing an Alakazam again? The ball was hurled out and exploded in a fantastic shower of light; emerging from the collective energy was a Charizard. It had a thick orange neck, powerful green inner-wings and looked utterly ferocious. I wasn’t aware Becca had a Charziard; rumours were that Grey, Liang and her all raised Charizard during their ‘early days’ but since I had rarely seen them on the formers teams, I assumed the same for Becca - she no longer had one. Perhaps this was, in fact, her best Pokemon.

“Magmortar blast a thunderbolt at it,” I said sternly, knowing we had very little time and I needed to take this thing down fast. Aiming both arms forward, bolts of lightening burst out and sped at Charizard. He was hit, staggering as he clutched his chest - we scored a hit! Charzizard flapped up and unleashed a collection of powerful swathing flames in a green tinge; they roared as the fireball smashed into Magmortar. I thought this would be harmless, but Magmortar looked to be in a lot of pain.

It must have been a dragon attack, I mused. I noticed Charizard continuing to fly along the arena, firing off huge balls of dark fire. Magmortar leapt to avoid a second and stumbled, smashing into the ground. He was exhausted.

“Ok,” I said, getting my Pokeball out. “Aim another thunderbolt and I’ll bring you back.”

Nodding, Magmortar held both arms forward and the jazzy sparks blasted out, arcing up but being forced back by another tremendous fireball. The attack diminished the sparks and caused an explosion in mid-air, sending strong yellows and dull purples speeding around.

“You’ve had enough,” I said to him, shooting the beam and recalling Magmortar. The gigantic molten Pokemon was pulled back into his ball and another light dimmed on the screen, although it still showed Magmar’s picture for obvious reasons. Lairon, Electabuzz and Magmortar were now defeated. Weavile had some strength left, and I had one more Pokemon after this. I think Charizard would be easily dealt with. My initial hopes to use Cacturne in this match were thrown out of the window upon the revelation of the orange dragon. I gripped Politoed’s Pokeball and hurled it forward.

“Come on out!” I shouted, throwing the ball forward. Weavile wouldn’t be able to face this giant well so it was my plan that Politoed could douse its flames and beat it up before Weavile finished the job off. Politoed received a fantastic reception, as footage flashed up of him against Andrew just yesterday. I watched briefly as his psychic attack forced Starmie’s thunder attack back into itself and couldn’t feel prouder.

“Charizard stop using outrage,” said Becca. “Go in for flare blitz.”

Flare Blitz? Wondering why she used a fire move, I saw Charizard burst into flame like a phoenix, sweeping through the air as embers trailed behind him. He looked like a comet, speeding down towards the ground as Politoed watched, confused. In seconds Charizard had hurtled into Politoed and pulled back up, flying into the air as a scorched Politoed fell over.

“Hey!” I said, looking at him. “Get up Politoed, fire a bubble beam!”

Nodding he opened his wide mouth and fired a flurry of big bubbles up into the air; they hit the flaming Charizard, who dived down again at Politoed, firing off balls of fire that barely missed. Leaping from the attack, Politoed did a roll and fired off a jet of water that hit an oncoming fireball and put it out. Charizard flapped down and landed on the ground, giving a loud roar.

“Hydro pump!” I ordered. Politoed blasted the intense jet of water, but Charizard gave a deftly powerful blast from his wings and scattered the oncoming attack, causing it to lose its shape and form water droplets all around. Charizard blasted more wind from his wings, but Politoed expected it.

“Go into flight,” Becca said promptly. Charizard nodded and took to the skies suddenly, flames forming between his powerful jaws already. These flames didn’t do much damage, but I noticed a few burns on Politoed’s body already. He was being thrown off attacking by these flame assaults. Charizard burst into flame again and sped down towards Politoed.

“Use psychic,” I said firmly. I wasn’t sure why; I almost hoped Politoed could repel Charizard or the flames surrounding him. Focusing and holding his hands out, Politoed gripped the oncoming bullet of fire and the flames snaked and swirled off him as if they were glorious fireworks. Trying to keep his concentration, Politoed commanded all the flames to sinew back, forming a collective attack that smashed into Charizard’s back, forcing him hard into the ground.

“Yes!” I shouted. “Blizzard, now!”

Politoed gave an eager cry and leapt up above Charizard, blasting the intense ice attack down upon the lizard. He watched, woebegone, as the ice blasted over his body and limited his flexibility. Sparkling with frost and cold, Charizard lay on the ground, trying to twitch his claws or his tail but to no avail. Politoed clapped his hands merrily.

“Bubblebeam!”

He opened wide and fired off the sudden blasts of exploding bubbles that burst on contact and caused immense pain for Charizard. He again wrestled against the thin layer of ice pinning him down to the arena floor but could do nothing. Politoed blasted an arcing jet of water in the air to appease the audience. Groaning, the dragon suddenly powered up the flame on his tail and released a strong, emanating wave of heat that swept outwards and melted the ice binding him. Heat Wave? Politoed looked as Charizard swung round, his whip-like tail cracking against my Pokemon and hurling him across the arena. Rolling along the ground Politoed fired a hydro pump at Charizard, who took to the skies and summoned powerful energy into a dragon claw as he tore down.

“Bubblebeam!” I ordered. Bubbles swept out my Pokemon’s mouth, glistering under the sun, but Charizard’s assault tore through them and he slashed into the frog with immense power. Staggering back, Politoed immediately bounced up high into the air, firing an ice beam down and striking Charizard.

“Fire spin!”

Turning his head, Charizard blasted a sweeping tornado of flames which sped up and grew. Politoed staggered back as the flames grew closer and closer, firing off a water gun to try and douse the flames. Unfortunately, the size, roar and fuelled hunger of the fire was not simply put out by a jet of water. Concerned, my Pokemon looked for an alternate solution.

“Use a psychic attack,” I suggested. Nodding, Politoed expelled a psychic entity rather like a force field, and managed to subdue the oncoming flames. Charizard flapped his wings to direct the flaming tornado Politoed’s way, but he was fighting back with telekinesis and doing a great job. Powering up, and firing a strong blast of psychic energy to smash apart the flames, Politoed then sprayed a jet of water to quell the weakened fire. He was panting, forcing the water against the flames and steadily dousing them. As he finished, however, Charizard swept in with an aerial iron tail, sending Politoed flying. He rolled over backwards, getting to his feet as a fireball exploded and sent him to the floor again.

“Politoed,” I said worriedly. His face was badly burned, but he held his hands out and fired off a sudden volley of sludgy mud, sending the pellets smashing into Charizard and obscuring his vision. Charizard held his clawed hands out to try and stop the onslaught, but Politoed’s odd mastery of the muddy attack was proving to work well.

“Charizard!” Becca cried, looking up slightly. “Optimal position. Use solar beam!”

Noticing the sun was out from behind the clouds, Charizard took a step back and I suddenly realised what was going on. Small speckles of glowing energy materialised in the dragon’s mouth. We had to fight this. Politoed would take a lot from this.

“Mud bomb! Hit Charizard in the stomach!” I cried. Politoed nodded and held his hands out, firing off the pellets of mud that slammed into Charizard’s tummy. Doubling over, Charizard gave a lurching roar as he felt winded. The solar beam lost the momentum and fizzled into nothing. Charizard winced in pain and fired off multiple fireballs, Politoed using his psychic to fling them up into the air and out of the way.

“Hydro pump!” I ordered. Politoed fired the jet of water and smashed Charizard in the face. He was blasted back and fell over as the devastating force behind the attack simply overwhelmed him. With an angry snap, Charizard got back up and flapped into the air.

“Charizard use solar beam,” said Becca. Charizard charged up the energy in his jaws, quickly materialising it into a collection of radiant energy. Politoed blasted a jet of water but Charizard dodged, holding his head up as the energy collected and throbbed powerfully. “NOW!”

The blistering attack tore down through the air like a speeding train; Politoed saw it, white-hot, race at him and in no time he was hit, thrown up into the air and spinning frantically like a manic sports ball; his eyes shut slightly as he fell back down to earth, slamming into the arena floor and knowing no more. I stared wildly at Politoed, who was clearly defeated. No…

“Politoed is defeated!” the referee cried. “Chris 2.0, send out your last Pokemon!”

Damnit. My last choice was Weavile, due to sending him out earlier. He had taken damage from Absol and Scizor, but the rest may have helped. Although, facing a Charizard…. Could Weavile honestly take down a Charizard? Thinking of my other team members Swalot, Vibrava and Cacturne, I wished I could use them. Well, not Cacturne, but Swalot and Vibrava would surely take on Charizard better than Weavile.

Nevertheless I gripped my Pokeball and released Weavile, who leapt out in a bright flash and faced the Charizard. Magmortar and Politoed had both whittled down the big, orange dragons health and this was evident in his weatherworn appearance. I knew, however, that with fire attacks at his disposal, this would be a short round.

“Charizard VS Weavile. Final round. Begin!”

“Fire blast!” Becca yelled wildly. Her pointing finger directed Charizard to my small Pokemon, but he was recovering from the solar beam previously. He gave a panting nod and collected flames from his belly, firing them out in a large, ornate symbol of destruction. It swept forward, but it looked small and weak, not as powerful as Magmortar’s flames. Was this a sign of Charizard’s fatigue?

“Agility,” I hissed. Weavile dashed along the arena in a blur, and the fire attack simply smashed into the wall of the stands behind me. Racing along at a blistering speed, Weavile, on my orders, charged up a pulsating orb between his claws and, leaping up into the air, blasted the dark pulse down, where it struck Charizard and forced him down into the ground. Landing, Weavile dashed back towards me like Sonic the Hedgehog.

“Charizard use fire punch,” Becca commanded “Aerial strike!”

Flapping up into the air, Charizard summoned flames to engulf his claws and swathe down his arms as he flew along the arena at Weavile, descending slightly to unleash his attack. Weavile used his speed to leap over Charizard and hurled a shadow ball at the Pokemon’s back, where it exploded loudly, sending swirling colours all around. Charizard did a quick turn and bolted back at Weavile, who couldn’t run fast enough. The two punches encased in fire slammed Weavile and he flipped over, landing awkwardly on his tailbone. He saw Charizard fly overhead, flames curling around his jaws as he prepared another attack.

“Ice shard!”

Nodding, Weavile knelt down and began freezing the moisture between his two claws on his right paw. As the frozen chip grew bigger, Weavile got up and hurled the speeding shard, where it cut Charizard and lodged in his arm. Howling in pain, Charizard’s flaming attack was released sporadically, with no real aim, where it escaped as a spasm of crimson fire. Weavile raced along the arena, his claws brimming with energy.

“Night slash!”

With a war-like cry Weavile slashed both his claws into Charizard, causing him to give another vicious roar. He swung his tail around in retaliation and caught Weavile in the ribs. Weavile staggered back but charged up another dark pulse, sending the beam of vibrating energy colliding into Charizard. The beast gave an angry flap of his wings, but Weavile stayed put.

I decided that we needed to unleash true power. No evading, no hiding. Pure strength. Weavile always sought out power, and we needed to utilise this to win the match. Size and type were irrelevant. A barrage of powerful attacks would surely finish the huge beast off, who breathed flames over the ice shard to melt it instantly and cauterize his wound.

“Charizard use fire blast,” Becca asked calmly. Charizard pulled his head back and fired off the big, star-like symbol of fire. Weavile stepped back hesitantly but, on my orders, summoned a swords dance. The big, ghostly swords span around wildly, and when the fire blast smashed into the attack, it was swept up in the whizzing swords, creating a beautiful, melding crimson and orange blur. The flames eventually dissipated, leaving a powered-up Weavile ready to fight. Charizard gave another loud roar, evidently displeased at the failure, and fired off another jet of flames that struck Weavile head-on. Weavile collapsed, gasping from the intense heat from the attack. He narrowed his eyes, getting back up and creating a pulsating orb of darkness between his claws. It crackled with devilish power.

“Keep powering it up,” I said to him. “Bigger.”

Nodding, he contained the orb as it grew and grew, gathering in power. I wanted this dark pulse to hurt, and this determination was being channelled into Weavile, who strained to hold the big orb as it grew and grew.

“Charizard use swift and ember combo,” commanded Becca. Charizard fired off an array of stars and ignited them with his flames, causing the glowing, orange stars to streak through the air like fireworks. Weavile was sweating profusely, his claws moulding and keeping the orb in its spherical shape. The stars soared across the arena, and would shred the dark pulse apart if we didn’t release the attack now…

“GO!”

In a flash Weavile blasted a pulsating, fizzing beam from the huge ball, which ripped through the stars and sent them spiralling in different directions. They exploded with little pops as the big, dark beam, cold and as ominous as the night sky, rocketed fast into Charizard and forced him back. His own physical strength was not enough to fight back, and he was ploughed into the wall, giving a long groan as he smashed against the brick. The blackened tones faded, and as Weavile gasped for breath, Charizard fell onto his knees, reeling from the devastating attack.

“Charizard,” Becca called. He rose, spectacularly, to his feet, shaking the damage off and narrowing his eyes at Weavile.

“Weavile,” I whispered. “We’ll need to evade and strike again. Be ready.”

Weavile nodded.

“Go for a flamethrower,” Becca said, pointing. Charizard took a step and opened his jaws, and a weak jet of flame snaked out. Weavile effortlessly ran around it and kept on going, speeding faster and faster as one claw glowed wildly.

“Focus punch!” I yelled. Weavile slugged Charizard with the furious punch. Charizard collapsed effortlessly, like a goliath beaten by little David. Weavile leapt back and watched the opponent as he lay there, defeated. Weavile took a deep breath, feeling himself tire extensively.

“Hang on,” I called to Weavile. “Focus. We’re nearly there.”

“Charizard is defeated,” the referee called. Becca looked shocked at the announcement, and the sight of her fallen Pokemon, but smiled. “The winner is Chris 2.0, who goes on to the final of The Pokemon Masters League 2006!”

“YES!” I cried. Weavile walked over; I was so happy I wanted to hug him. As he got near, however, he gave a simple nod, and pointed to his Pokeball. I smirked and recalled him, looking as my profile was enlarged on the jumbo screens. I didn’t care that my picture made me look like Bjork. I didn’t really noticed Becca’s abrupt departure from the field. I just saw Crystal and Elec coming over as cheers filled the air. I had beaten Becca. One of the strongest trainers in the league. And now, I was in the finals, where the trophy and prize fund awaited.

“Well done!” Nate said, shaking my hand.

“Thanks,” I said happily. I needed to celebrate!

*

Meanwhile, Becca was sitting in a room. She said nothing as she lit some varying candles, letting the darkened room light up somewhat. Letting out a sigh, she thought about the tournament, and the result that had left her ultimately devastated. Yes, she had fought a good fight. Chris had done a fantastic job, and he deserved the place in the finals. But…

“You haven’t said a word,” came a voice. It was her sister, Rachel, who sat on a chair behind Becca, looking sombre.

“I’m thinking,” Becca mused. She stepped away from the mantle piece.

“I know that,” Rachel replied.

There was a silence hanging in the air.

“You still…did really well,” Rachel said quietly.

“Oh don’t act like you know anything about Pokemon,” Becca growled, turning to glare at her sister.

“You want me to leave, I get it,” Rachel replied. “And I will. But it is Mum’s -”

“You think I don’t know?” Becca snapped. “I get it, Rach, but I can’t go home. You know I can’t face up to everything. Let me stay here. Let me heal.”

Rach got up.

“Look, seeing you today, wielding those Pokemon on the battlefield…I know Mum would have been proud of you. She never liked Pokemon, and neither did I, but we can appreciate what it means to you.”

Blinking back tears, Becca bit her lip and took a deep breath.

“I really miss her.”

“Five years today,” Rachel sighed. “Can you believe it…”

“Nope…” replied Becca.

“I know you turned to this place to heal,” Rachel said. “Following Mum’s death. And I know you view your strength and aptitude as a symbol of how far you’ve come since then. But you need to put your feelings for me aside. It is the day marking, not only her arrival in the world, but her departure, too.”

“Seeing you just makes me remember how shattered I was when I first came here,” Becca told her sister. “You look so much like Mum.”

“Let’s get along,” Rachel said, putting a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Just for one day. We will pay respects to Mum here, and then I promise I’ll go.”

“Ok,” wept Becca, looking at the candles on the mantle. A photograph of a beautiful woman lay amid the holy light, a photo of a woman smiling powerfully. The two sisters stared hopelessly at the beacon of power amid the lazy darkness, for it was the only source of strength they could find.

Next:

Part [2] follows on from here. After her talk fails to spur Gregg on, Thomas reveals some dark secrets to coerce the boy into cooperation. Where did she adopt the name 'Thomas' from? Grey stumbles across Razor Leaf. Can Grey find a way to bring his old student back to TPML permanently? Andrew's horoscope ignites new passion in him, while Noland finds UuberFred and demands his Pokemon back.

And then there's the 5-5 between Gregg and Liang. Dragons and birds fight against the elements of water and ice, and Hage and Rolph's dangerous mission is uncovered.

Also:
Next TPML Extra: Dusclops

Chris's most ferocious Pokemon is now well and truly gone, buried in Grave's Yard within an inescapable Pokeball. But who, or what, was Dusclops before Chris found it?

darktyranitar

23rd January 2008, 04:57 PM

Whew, what great match! I kinda predicted that Chris will use Weavile to wrap it up, but to see him taking down a Charizard? Way cool.

An Empoleon... didn't see that coming. Although – as a certain ASBers would say - it goes well with Becca (hehe). I'm rather surprised that Scizor could go down in a short while, as well as Magmar's evolution - I actually forgot that he could evolve - but the most awesome feat would have to be Politoed diverging the Future Sight with a Blizzard. I really liked that particular move.

Heh, so it is 'TPML's outcast' that greeted Andrew... No harm then.

Ox. E. Moron was a poet, and he was destroyed after his work was reviewed by mr_pikachu. Must have been quite a harsh critic, eh?

The horoscope writer is a pregnant woman, who also spies on TPMers... well, that'll explain the rather scarily accurate horoscope. The woman - Penelope Brandon Bauer-Berg… sounds kinda German-ish to me – surely must have something more to write such accurate horoscope before any upcoming events. Maybe clairvoyance plays a part as well?

So, that was why Becca was a bit emotional when Chris wiped Orion off in such a short while… I earlier assumed it was a dysfunctional family case, but it turns out to be something else. I guess we can see how much the match means to her; it's something like a dedication for her deceased mother, I guess. I quite like the ending paragraph there, on how it contrasted with Chris’ celebration.

The bit on the extra of Dusclop captured my attention. You mean that he could potentially be something more than merely a Pokemon? A spirit of some evil individual? An apparation of demons? It'll be interesting to find out.

Good job; I'll be seeing you in the next, uh, part then :)

The_Missing_Link

24th January 2008, 02:40 AM

I was rather disappointed that you used a family issue to interfere with Becca's concentration. I mean, if you had to lose a battle, at least it should be with no strings attached. The introduction of Rachel was out of the blue and seemed somewhat forced into the chapter, as if you needed to create another stressful situation for her (I don't think I've ever seen her battle with nothing else to think about). I also didn't like the evolution midway through battle. It's cliche and the evolved form always wins

I was curious as to why you didn't put Allakhazam in there. I never particularly grew fond of Absol myself so I'm interested to know why her instead of someone else (and yes, I'm still aware this is loosely based on me but I want to know anyway)

Overall, probably not one of your best, and it's not because my namesake lost (I would've been surprised if she won). The battle was ok but the scene with Crystal and Girafarig seemed awkward and Andrew's scene was just weird. I'm sure it'll perk up next chapter

Edit: Ah, I forgot to mention a few things

- I have two cousins named Rachel. Bound to have a Rachel in any Jewish family
- I love Empoleon (really good choice there)
- I do hate type advantages

MeLoVeGhOsTs

24th January 2008, 02:45 AM

Good chapter! I really liked the battle and it was nice seeing Becca fight with her full potential atlast. Chris did a good job, but I thought it was Magmortar who would finish the job, as it's normal being an evolved pokemon and saving the day, lol.

'even a cloud shaped after me..' this cracked me up. Seriously.

Speculating about next chapters..It's going to be worth while reading I guess:)

Keep up the good work, even with your giant workload.

~MLG

Chris 2.1

24th January 2008, 09:06 AM

Hey guys thanks for the replies. Just nipping on quickly so I'll talk about stuff better when I have time.

Becca thanks loads for the feedback. Sorry I fell short of what I can only assume are high expectations. Becca's sister, and that storyline, wasn't to distract or justify her loss at all; I was trying to do the opposite. She didn't lose because she was upset. She didn't let the 'family issue' interfere with her battling (and, if I may be honest, when writing the battle I felt she should really have won.).

I wanted to show some development and insight into her life before the end of the fic since she isn't embroiled into the wavex storyline. But I wanted to do it discreetly and not some big explosive thing because it would be a bit ott.

She didn't use Alakazam mainly due to Andrew using one in the previous league chapter, although I did toy with the idea initially, since it could be an entirely different battler. But like Liang's Dragonite, Alakazam is one of Becca's older fighters and I imagine, since it looks after a lot of management in TPML, she mightn't want to use it.

Absol was mainly because it's one of her strong ones on her team and I really like the Pokemon. Since we saw it briefly in Ch1 I liked using it as one of her core battlers. I also was going to have Venusaur instead of Charizard because I really find it hard writing Charizard battlers, I've no idea why. This is why Grey and Liang never use theirs. But I thought it would be good since, again, its an ultimate 'Becca' Pokemon.

Interesting with your take on the result. Writing it, I kept asking myself if Chris could feasibly beat Becca? After seeing his Pokemon, and hers, it seemed that Becca should be the victor.

But you need to remember this is part of Chapter 50. The next part is STILL part of Ch50, it's just the latter half. I didn't want the two parts as SEPERATE chapters since they have ongoing stories. Andrew's story and Crystal's seem tangled because more is featured in the next half of Ch50. This was like the size of a normal chapter though, so I took the decision to chop them up and distribute the storylines across two parts. The next part will be up soon hopefully.

I love Empoleon too. Fantastic movepool and great to write about!

DT: As I mentioned, towards the end I thought "should Chris win this?" but Weavile is one of his strongest and did fantastic. I think symbollically, beating the woman who accepted him into the league was quite important.

Empoleon is such a cool Pokemon. It suits Becca in ASB and in TPML. It's surprisingly fast, bad-ass, really cool moves like aqua jet. Magmortar did a good job! I think I should have had Magmar evolve in the training session at the beginning of the chapter....

Andrew bonds with some of the rejects. It's quite weird. And the Ox.E.Moron part refers to an initial plan for a sequel of TPML but revolving around the Fanfic community. Who knows if it will ever see the light of day.

Penelope has a Pokemon for her unborn child. But she's generally really nosy. Andrew's horoscope is so important to the end of his storyline in the fic.

Becca, in the fic of course, trains so hard because she wasn't allowed Pokemon as a child. This is a chance for her to do what she's always wanted to. But obviously she has come to terms with her mothers passing, since it was five years ago. The sight of her sister though, makes her think back a bit.

Dusclops has a big backstory. It's something I forgot about. Initially we were going to learn more during his part in the fic but I thought I'd just edit it out since it was irrelevant. I've revised the facts and we'll sort of see my take on ghost Pokemon and how they come to be.

MLG: Thanks for the feedback!

Sike Saner

27th January 2008, 05:57 PM

Penelope is a very funny character, I must say. XD And holy crap, she's the one who's been writing those horoscopes? o.o Well, I reckon that explains why they were so amusing. XD

I liked how Lairon's personality really shone through in that chapter. I always like to see a Pokémon really given character like that. ^^

And holy crap, Magmar evolved. O.O That was certainly unexpected. Loved the Magmortar vs. Empoleon section. ^^ Another favorite part in the Chris vs. Becca match: the scenes involving Gengar. Plus, there were once again a lot of great visuals in the battle scenes, which I always enjoy. ^^

The scene at the very end of the chapter was another highlight; I found it rather moving. Nicely done. ^^

Comedic Highlights

“But Crystal’s been spying on you,” Girafarig sneered.

“I HAVE NOT BEEN SPYING ON HIM, GIRAFAMATHIG!” screeched Crystal.

“Well you were in the bushes,” I noted.

“ANYWAY STOP SPYING ON ME GIRAFATHONG, I HAVE STUFF TO DO!”

“Like what? Fawn over Chris?” Girafarig snapped.

“Glaak!” cried the girl. Her Bayleef whipped out her two vines and slapped Girafarig from across the clearing. “Shurrup!”

GIRAFATHONG?! XDD And Crystal's reaction to being accused of fawning over Chris is great, too. XD

“So? You have a crush on Chris!” he replied.

“You really think he’s jealous tha-” I began, before digesting the news. “Wait, what?”

“Noooo!” Crystal moaned, running towards Girafarig and pushing him over. “Bad idiot!”

“You do?” I said, smirking.

“Err…” Crystal said. She turned to Girafarig and kicked him. “Bad! BAD! ARGH WHY ARE YOU SO BAD!?”

XD Poor Girafarig.

“Don’t be opinionated or my child will be born as a politician.”

“What the frick?”

“And don’t sub-swear. I don’t know what a ‘frick’ is, but it sounds dangerous and possibly loud.”

Penelope cracks me up. XD

“So you do the horoscopes?” Andrew asked keenly.

“I do,” she replied coldly.

“What is mine? Tell me or I’ll blast your unborn bastard child with rays of cancer,” Andrew said rudely.

XDDDD In my opinion, that was the funniest moment in the entire chapter. XD

“Gengar!” Becca shouted. She looked at her Pokemon, who had taken some serious damage, but still retained some fight. “Sprague.”

“What did she say?” I muttered. “Sprig?”

“S-Prague?” Crystal said thoughtfully. “South of Prague? OH NO!”

“What?” Elec Man asked.

“Well it sounds scary,” Crystal replied.

XD

Dramatic Highlights

Blinking back tears, Becca bit her lip and took a deep breath.

“I really miss her.”

“Five years today,” Rachel sighed. “Can you believe it…”

“Nope…” replied Becca.

“I know you turned to this place to heal,” Rachel said. “Following Mum’s death. And I know you view your strength and aptitude as a symbol of how far you’ve come since then. But you need to put your feelings for me aside. It is the day marking, not only her arrival in the world, but her departure, too.”

“Seeing you just makes me remember how shattered I was when I first came here,” Becca told her sister. “You look so much like Mum.”

“Let’s get along,” Rachel said, putting a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Just for one day. We will pay respects to Mum here, and then I promise I’ll go.”

“Ok,” wept Becca, looking at the candles on the mantle. A photograph of a beautiful woman lay amid the holy light, a photo of a woman smiling powerfully. The two sisters stared hopelessly at the beacon of power amid the lazy darkness, for it was the only source of strength they could find.

Wow... ;-; Powerful stuff, there.

Battle Highlights

Gengar re-appeared behind Lairon, flames curling around his palms as he unleashed thick ropes of powerful fire down on my Pokemon.

“Lairon!” I cried. “Shock wave!”

Shaking wildly, Lairon focused and expelled a wide blast of fizzing blue sparks; they attacked the oncoming flames and broke them up into mere dancing embers.

Nice move, and some nice imagery as well.

Gengar swirled up into the air, little periwinkle flames popping up and dancing around him. He gave a cackle and held his arm up, the flames span around his outstretched arm until he pointed his appendage down and the flames rocketed down like a flamethrower. Lairon opened his mouth and fired his own gold and scarlet flames that shot up and smashed against the purple-and-blue will-o-wisp. The attacks created a glowing curl of flames in the centre of the arena, but Gengar was getting the upper hand.

More cool visuals. ^^

“Use a roar,” I commanded. Lairon gave a sharp cry, trying to scare Gengar. Looking nonplussed, Gengar clapped his hands together and Lairon suddenly gave a huge cry of fear. I looked at him, confused, for Gengar was stood stock-still. Why was he frightened?

“What the hell?” Crystal asked.

“Gengar scared Lairon by creating an illusion, I think,” Nate said thoughtfully. “Ghosts do that a lot.”

Yeah, I imagine that outscaring a ghost is indeed not easy to do. X3

Moments passed and nothing happened. Electabuzz concentrated as sparks juddered across his body, coating him in golden fuzz. No sign of Gengar at all. We stood and waited as time slipped by…what on earth was Becca’s plan, and when was it going to come together? I stood in anticipation, fists clenched, looking for the faintest sign of an attack.

Suddenly it happened. Speeding down through the air was Gengar, re-materialising as a bright, glowing red beacon. Electabuzz blasted a weak attack just as his opponent detonated, sending a blast of energy sweeping into Electabuzz and engulfing him in the detonation’s wake. White light obstructed my vision as a yellow jet of sparks flew into the air. A howling wind bowled into me and I felt my hair ruffle and blow, my footing falter and my ears sting as a horrific fallout ensued.

I liked the suspense of waiting to see what Gengar was going to do and when, and what Gengar did end up doing was pretty darned cool. o.o

“Agility!” I yelled, wondering if he could manipulate quick attack into a stronger dash of speed. Electabuzz tore along, soon becoming a glowing phenomenon as a silvery streak blazed behind him and he pounced towards Absol.

Nice depiction of Agility. I especially like the use of the phrase "glowing phenomenon" there. ^^

“Razor wind!”

Howling suddenly as her pupils turned an opal tone, Absol unleashed a swirling wind all across the arena.

Yet another cool image: that of the Absol with her eyes having changed like that.

Weavile did not give his opponent time to recover, and drew a claw back as it sparkled with dark, demonic power. Thin, rattling claws of energy curved out from Weavile’s claws and he leapt at Absol, unleashing the shadow claw across his opponent’s side.

And there's a nice depiction of Shadow Claw. ^^

There was an odd noise as, suddenly jets of light burst from the clouds and tore down towards the arena. Weavile watched as Absol blasted a barrel of flames from her mouth, cutting through the path the jets of light were to take. Emerging through the flamethrower were the flaming jets of light that exploded and struck Weavile.

“Weavile!” I shouted. He was leaping left and right but it was futile. The futuristic spears were raining from above and he had no way of evading them. Weavile blasted weak ice beams that lost their power within moments as his concentration was ebbed away, my Pokemon beaten and socked by the attacks.

Suddenly as his eyes glimmered with hope, Weavile stood and took the attack as more and more jets of light shot down, burning bright. Weavile gave a loud roar as he fired a blizzard attack from his mouth, commanding the swirling wind of ice crystals to battle the furious future sight and fend it off. The sheer strength from Weavile was incredible as he summoned this holy wind as the future sight, and even the flames were eliminated like a candle in a gale. Weavile re-directed the attack and the blizzard bowled into Absol, hurling her across the arena amid snow, ice, frost and chunks of debris. Absol, weakened against the ground, whispered her name as she struggled to fend off the assault.

Very cool. o.o

Magmar nodded, opening his mouth and blasting a furious blend of fire. The flames licked across the arena, forming into a powerful symbol of destruction. Racing at Scizor, the Pokemon began flapping another Razor Wind as he fought hard to defend against the attack. The pure wind rammed into the oncoming flames and peeled away renegade embers as they trailed into the atmosphere.

Very nicely worded. ^^

“Magmortar use a smokescreen!” I shouted. Giving a gruff nod, Magmortar spewed out thick curls of dark, blackening smoke. It was blasted at Empoleon and began spreading, distorting the area. Magmortar spluttered and coughed as he released the harmless smoke, obscuring the vision on the field. Becca looked insulted.

“Filter it away,” she said firmly. Perfect. Empoleon cried his name and a sudden whirlwind picked up; I soon saw he held his thick, steeled wings out horizontal and was spinning on the spot like a spinning top. The smoke billowed around him like a sudden gust, and it was pulled from around the arena by the sheer force.

“While it’s spinning! Fire spin! Will-O-Wisp!”

Another firm, throaty call of his name and I knew Magmortar understood. With flames coming from his flame sacs and from his palms, he was able to mix his attacks together. From his mouth, a snaking train of flame sped along the ground and, due to Empoleon’s spinning around, the attack was whisked up and soon engulfed the helpless penguin. My Pokemon’s flames grew higher and higher as his palms fired off violet balls of devils fire, which exploded into the main tornado and fused the gold and scarlet with periwinkle-blue and a frightening violet.

“Empoleon blast a hydro pump directly up,” Becca called. I expected her to use a strong attack in order for the water to fall down and extinguish the flames easier. As Empoleon held his head up my Magmortar leapt powerfully up into the air, scaling the spinning flames and holding both arms down, wildly firing off jousting arcs of lightening that, after speeding into the oncoming hydro pump, smashed into Empoleon amid a horrific explosion of sparks. The flaming tornado was blown apart by the impact, causing embers of varying colours to shoot out along the arena. A beaten Empoleon collapsed in the centre of the arena as Magmortar landed, the ground around him buzzing with renegade sparks and runaway embers.

Clever use of moves, and once again, nice visuals. ^^

Weavile stepped back hesitantly but, on my orders, summoned a swords dance. The big, ghostly swords span around wildly, and when the fire blast smashed into the attack, it was swept up in the whizzing swords, creating a beautiful, melding crimson and orange blur.

And there's some more cool imagery. ^^

Other Highlights

Swalot blasted a perfect ice beam into a tree, the joy of which seemed to bring him to tears. He bounced around happily, making an odd, digesting noise.

Heh, cute. ^^

“Lairon,” I called. “You’ve had enough. Get in your Pokeball.”

Adamant, my Pokemon got up and took a step forward, firing off a dragon pulse that wobbled and lost its core as it left his mouth.

Aww, bless his heart... Again, his personality really shone through in that chapter, especially there.

She gave a curt nod, which ended up looking like a lethal neck spasm, and jabbed the vending machine with her finger.

Nice. X3

Politoed gave an eager cry and leapt up above Charizard, blasting the intense ice attack down upon the lizard. He watched, woebegone, as the ice blasted over his body and limited his flexibility. Sparkling with frost and cold, Charizard lay on the ground, trying to twitch his claws or his tail but to no avail. Politoed clapped his hands merrily.

And now Politoed's being cute. ^^

Congrats on another great chapter. ^^

Chris 2.1

19th March 2008, 10:05 AM

Hey all. Sorry there is not a new chapter yet although it is coming very soon! I've been working hard at Uni and I've had exams so the fic has taken a temporary back seat but I'm home for 4 weeks and writing loads.

So much so I am writing this half of Ch50 and Ch51 at the same time!

Remember the upcoming fic is the latter half of Ch50, the first part having been posted on January 22nd. So re-reading it may help as a lot of the storylines arc over.

-Grey and Razor meet in a very symbolic place for them both.

-We'll learn a little bit about WAVEX but most their history is explained in Extras. During the content of the fic, however, you will learn what you need to.

-Charles death is discovered

-Gregg has his 5-5 against Liang!

-Andrew prepares to face Tucker

And loads more! It's coming soon I promise :)

Chris 2.1

7th April 2008, 03:16 PM

You've all been very patient in waiting for the next chapter. As you may recall, Ch50 was to be called Round 4 and have Chris VS Becca and Liang VS Gregg. Since this got to be so much, I split the chapter into Ch50 and this: Ch51. So we technically have an extra chapter...!

Just to remind you.....

Part I:

-Chris beat Becca. His Magmar evolved
-Andrew met the horoscope woman and decided to find out what his said, and if it would help him thwart Tucker
-Razor Leaf was seen (by us) in the village. The Frontier Brains arrived and seemingly want to find him but are having no such luck.
-Gordon, Brooklyn and 5 security men are nearing England.
-Thomas confronted Gregg at the end of the chapter. Hage and Rolph are on a very special assignment.

And now................here it is...................Chapter 51!

Chapter 51
Round 4 (Part 2)
Aragornbird VS Hanada Tattsu

In Ivy Woods, beneath the star-strewn sky, Hanada Tattsu stared at the young woman before him. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail and wore a dark jacket and jeans. She looked serious when she addressed him.

“Your name is Thomas?” Gregg asked wearily. She nodded. “But…”

“I wasn’t christened ‘Thomas’,” she explained. “I chose it.”

“Why?” asked the boy.

“You’ll understand soon enough,” Thomas replied airily, apparently in a different state of mind. She turned to look at Gregg. “But you need not be concerned about the origins of my name. I wanted to talk to you.”

“Why?” Gregg said precariously.

“Because you are special,” Thomas replied calmly. “You are a strong, competent battler, and you’re fighting your way through the ranks.”

“I’m not going to make it much further,” replied Gregg, dismally. “I got my match status. I’m facing Aragornbird. And even if I did beat him, I’d still have to take on Chris or Becca to take the title.”

“You can beat Liang. You will,” Thomas told him passionately.

“You can’t know that,” Gregg said rudely.

“I know it to be true because we’ve been helping you get through the last three rounds, Gregg, and we’re going to help you win the entire tournament.”

Gregg stared at her.

“What?”

“The Blue Avenger could not use his electric and grass types in your match. Luna Fuerte was struck by the death of her mentor hours before her match. Circumstance has been tweaked to enable you to progress.”

Gregg looked at the woman, who was standing there simply, arms folded across her chest.

“You’ve been…fixing it?” Gregg asked.

“Fix is not the right term, Gregg,” Thomas said. “Nothing was ever set in stone. It was your own strength and power that enabled you to tip the scales. We just gave the first nudge.”

“Why do that?” he asked.

“It was a personal plight,” Thomas told him. “I began this operation on my own after learning of your fathers death. We are not as different as you would first think; we have both suffered loss, confusion, doubt. My teenage years were awash with misery and I soon went off the rails. I lived my life thinking that maybe, one day, a stranger would approach me and tell me they were going to look after me, protect me. It never happened, but just dreaming it was wonderful.”

She looked at the boy.

“I have lost a lot of my men in trying to get you to the finals,” Thomas said coldly. “You are facing Aragornbird in the morning and you will beat him.”

“And what about when I go into the finals?” Gregg asked.

“We have that sorted, too,” Thomas replied.

*

The village was quieter than usual. Many people had gone to see the battles up at Crescent Walk; Chris had beaten Becca in their 5-5, and now Gregg was about to battle Liang. Having met the ‘Tertiary’ members of the league, who all seemed too boring to actually be liked by anyone, Andrew was pacing the streets, anxiously searching for a newspaper so that he could check his horoscope. Penelope Brandon-Bauer-Berg, the heavily pregnant psychic, told Andrew if he wanted answers to find them himself.

“What the hell,” growled the Australian. “I need a frikkin’ newspaper!”

He came across UuberFred, who was playing charades with his entourage of stolen Pokemon. Wobbuffet, Manectric, Quilava, Eevee as well as his own Swinub and the dirty looking Murkrow that Andrew was sure once belonged to Sushi McPrawn.

“Fred!” he snapped.

“Erm…second word…sounds like…” murmured the boy, as his Wobbuffet pointed to a Caterpie crawling along. “Caterpie? Insect? Close…bug!”

Wobbuffet nodded.

“Sounds like bug: fug, schmug, ugg, plug, mug, Electric Mug?”

Sighing, the blue Pokemon held both arms above her head and kept her body tucked in.

“Y? Oh! Buggy! Electric Buggy. Ok. Third word -”

“Listen to me you little frick!” snarled Andrew, pushing the Wobbuffet over. The Wobbuffet glowed and swung back, countering the attack and smashing into him, sending him flying. As he rolled over, Andrew got back up and walked towards Fred, whose Wobbuffet was flying left and right like a punching bag. As he walked, Andrew saw an intriguing building just ahead.

’The Deux XP Machina Newsagent.’

“Perfect!” he said, running over to the newsagent. Fred continued to play with his Pokemon as Andrew walked into the odd-smelling newsagents. It was completely empty inside, with a lone counter displaying a single newspaper on its surface. The walls were bare, the floor plain…

“Welcome to the bubbly, bouncy, fun-a-rific Deus XP Machina Newsagent!” came a cry. Andrew looked to see Nurse Smiles behind the counter, beaming at him.

“Hey, didn’t we judge a contest together once?” Andrew asked.

“We did! It was so much fun!” said the Nurse. “Fun fun…funfunfun, la laaa, fun! FUN! It was f.u.n.”

“Anyway can I get a newspaper?” asked Andrew, only to have the single newspaper in the store thrust into his arms. “How much?”

“Free pounds and free pence!” said the lady. “I’m saying ‘free’, not ‘three’ with a cleft palette.”

“You’re selling newspapers for free? What gives?”

“It’s part of my community service,” Smiles explained, her eyes displaying a manic amount of enjoyment. “If you found my service to be helpful contact Officer Pearson!”

Andrew gave a nod and walked out the shop, rifling through ‘The Chapter 51 Chronicle’ to the horoscopes page. He soon found it, right opposite an article suggesting The Blue Avenger and River were planning a TPML Wedding.

“Ok…horoscopes…” he murmured, rummaging among the many pages detailing the future of almost every member of the league. “Chris 2.0...beware a figure from the past…boring…UuberFred…Noland is back in the village and wants his rental Pokemon back…duh…aha! OzAndrew!”

He keenly looked at the article only to see a single line.

You’re going to become a celebrity.

He read it again.

You’re going to become a celebrity.

Eyes wide in anticipation, he read the horoscope again and again, his eyes scanning each word on its own and with the others in the sentence. Breathing fast his fingers clutched the paper tightly.

“Oh.

“My.

“FRIKKINJESUSELECTRICBUGGYTOCHOCOLATEGOD!”

*

I was glad to have won against Becca, but had no sleep that night. I was buzzing with anticipation and adrenaline, somehow unable to think properly. I was exhausted. My Pokemon all got healed up, and I took them the next day to Sunshine Fields, a nice meadow overlooking the village to have a big training session. This was where I first battled OzAndrew, Poliwag against Mr Mime, and subsequently where Poliwag evolved into Poliwhirl. It was a nice place to train.

I released my entire team; Politoed leapt out his ball and did a forward flip. Weavile leapt out and looked out across the village quietly. Cacturne gave a cackle as he emerged, and Vibrava took to the skies to stretch her wings. Lairon gave me a ‘friendly’ nudge as Swalot burst into tears and Electabuzz beat his chest wildly. However, all of my team turned around when Magmortar was released, none of them having seen his form.

The gigantic, towering lava Pokemon landed with a thump and grinned widely. Electabuzz stared with his mouth hanging open; both Swalot and Politoed shared nervous glances as Weavile stared, horrified, at this large friend. Cacturne looked pleased.

“This is Magmar…except he’s Magmortar now,” I explained. Cacturne strode forward to try and high-5 the colossal beast, but his spiny arms coupled with Magmortar’s large, cone-like canons didn’t really allow for this to go easily; instead, a fireball burst out from Magmortar’s palm and nearly set Cacturne on fire.

“Guys I’m in the finals for the league,” I explained, barely able to believe my own words. “I don’t know who it’s against yet. If I face Gregg, then Electabuzz and Cacturne you guys are definitely up. If it’s Liang, then I’ll definitely need Politoed and Weavile. The rest of you will all be a great help regardless, although Magmortar I am slightly worried about your ability to handle water types.”

He gave a grave nod.

“So Electabuzz, Cacturne, Weavile, Politoed - you guys can have a bit of a rest up since I won’t know outright if I’ll need you tomorrow or not. The rest of you, we’re going to focus on three things. Agility, Attack and Defence.”

I decided to go for a very direct training method today, pitting two Pokemon against each other and having the rest watch. First I was trying to build on Vibrava’s agility, hoping she could improve the accuracy of her attacks whilst using quick attack. This meant she could be agile and ferocious at the same time. So she was soaring through the skies, speeding along in a white streak as she blasted a dragon pulse down at Swalot, who was focusing on his defence.

“Curl up tight,” I reminded him. He did so, using a form of rollout to spin on the spot and repel the oncoming, pulsating attack. Swalot was still a Pokemon I wasn’t too familiar with; I decided that, since I didn’t want to use him after my match with Andrew, it was time to unlock what he was capable of.

“Vibrava, take a break. Electabuzz get up here.”

Electabuzz strode up. At mention of his friend’s name Magmortar gave a cheer and fired fireballs into the air like gunshots. Cacturne looked perturbed and sat slightly further away. Politoed enjoyed the fiery display. Electabuzz stood in the space we made, facing Swalot.

Electabuzz, whenever an attack gets close, use protect. Evade only when necessary, ok?”

He nodded.

“Swalot, show me what you can do. Ice beam!”

He gave a crooning cry and blasted the ice attack from his big, round lips. The ice streaked through the air towards Electabuzz, who crossed his arms and created the barely visible shield curving across his front. The ice attack smashed into it and dissipated quite easily. Swalot panted. I was impressed with the ice attack; it was on par with Politoed and Weavile’s execution of the attack. I wondered if David had taught the attack to Swalot, although given his dislike for training his Pokemon, I imagine he simply bought this creature for a price.

“Go for a sludge bomb,” I said. Swalot leapt up with a spin, blasting down pellets of thick sludge down at Electabuzz. He again erected the protect shield and the pellets melded into thin air. Swalot then landed and fired off a bullet seed, sending the green pellets towards the target. Electabuzz had brought down the shield and was struck by the attacks, caught off guard.

“Not bad!” I told him. Swalot began sobbing with joy at my words. “Electabuzz go in for a thunder punch. I want to see Swalot’s evasiveness.”

Nodding, Electabuzz burst from his position, fists crackling with lightening. Swalot pounced to the left and curled into a ball, using rollout to speed along the arena like a sloppy tyre. Electabuzz swung his fist but missed, turning and looking perplexed. Swalot leapt up out the attack and fired an ice beam that struck Electabuzz in the chest. Igniting a fire punch, Electabuzz raced towards Swalot, who fired a bullet seed into the ground to fly up into the air. He flipped over, firing a sludge bomb down into Electabuzz and keeping him at bay.

“Nice work!” I cried, really impressed with his evasive, almost clown-like approach to battling. Angered, Electabuzz summoned another fire punch, this time encasing both fists in swathing flames. He then used quick attack to propel himself through the air at Swalot, determined to land a hit.

“Electabuzz!” I said nervously. Swalot stood there innocently as the fuming Electabuzz got closer. As he swung both fists, Swalot leapt up and span suddenly, causing Electabuzz to run through where he stood. As Swalot landed, he turned on the spot and drew his fist back, pointing a finger out and jousting Electabuzz in the ribs with an ominous purple glow. Instantly Electabuzz froze, twitching as he fell over.

I ran over to see what had happened. Swalot was looking at his glowing finger, and upon further inspection, a steady poison was being secreted.

“What the hell?” I asked wildly. Swalot began welling up as he saw Electabuzz twitch on the floor, eyes wide in alarm. His side was turning a greenish tinge.

“It’s poison jab,” came a voice. I turned to see Becca walking over with a Venusaur at her side.

“Poison jab…” I murmured, feeling the attack sounded very familiar.

“That’s the attack Callisto had her Gengar use on Liang,” Becca reminded me. “But Gengar’s fist phased into Liang’s body and managed to internally poison him. Electabuzz has been poisoned but it’s easily treated.”

Venusaur stamped over and a vine slowly emerged from within the large, blooming mass on the Pokemon’s back. The vine touched Electabuzz’s stomach and glowed brightly. Venusaur murmured. Becca looked across at my team, sprawled across the grass, looking mildly interested. Politoed was comforting Swalot, who was in floods of tears.

“Swalot didn’t seem to realise it had that much power,” Becca noted. “Most poisons are a self-defence mechanism. Maybe the poison is only secreted when Swalot is scared.”

“If I could train him up for the finals, so he can release it at will,” I said, thinking. “Swalot would be incredible.”

“I agree,” Becca said. I smiled and turned back to the battlefield, where Electabuzz’s odd, poisoned wound had eased in size and proportion, looking much better. Venusaur gave a nod. As my electric Pokemon got to his feet he cast a suspicious look at Swalot.

“I can help,” Becca said suddenly, alerting me to the fact she was still here. “If you want.”

“Yea,” I said thoughtfully. “Yea, could you?”

“No problem,” she replied, recalling Venusaur and releasing her Absol, Ariados and Starmie. “Ariados is good with secreting poison so you can watch some of his moves. But the best way to learn this is for Swalot to recall the feelings he has when he is scared; he will need to summon those feelings to access this power. From there, we will keep working on it until he can control the secretions.”

Swalot looked alarmed. Electabuzz went to sit down. As Becca joined us, she showed Swalot her Ariados performing other moves such as Gunk Shot. As he learned about the poisons, I was using Starmie and Absol as training utensils. Cacturne swept along the arena, his needled arms crossed over and glowing brightly. Absol darted to the left and slashed a blade of energy; as a mode of self defence, Cacturne unleashed his signature Needle X attack to block and destroy the slash attack. Absol then blasted a flamethrower towards Weavile, who darted out of the way and fired an ice beam towards the dark Pokemon. Upon seeing the big training fray, Becca playfully tossed three more Pokeballs out onto the field; Charizard, Empoleon and a Hitmonchan emerged to help out. Starmie used a psychic attack to hold Vibrava down while Empoleon delivered a hydro pump; in no time Magmortar leapt in and blasted a thunderbolt to scare the water Pokemon away. Vibrava clicked happily as she took to the skies, firing a razor wind down towards the enemy Pokemon. It was pure chaos.

Meanwhile, Ariados was using its contorted face to frighten and terrorise Swalot. As he did so, Swalot felt a throbbing in his fingers and looked down. A fine secretion was on his tips and he nodded to me briefly, darting forward with a prod. Ariados was struck, but due to being a poison type, the damage was light.

“This is working well,” Becca said, noticing Magmortar fire a flurry of fireballs at both Absol and Hitmonchan, keeping both at bay. “Your Pokemon are all having to think on their feet.”

“Why are you helping me?” I asked, with no discretion or subtlety whatsoever. Becca thought over her words before she spoke. I hated it when she did that.

“Why not?”

*

Meanwhile, at the stadiums, Gregg was ready. In Round 4 there was a small spectator area behind each battler, for friends or family. After his discussion with Thomas in the woods, Gregg was pleased to have support in the form of Thomas, Deatley and Isabel.

He understood what they had told him; that they were working towards him seeking redemption for his father and mothers actions. He had to help them achieve what they wanted, because it would, in turn, benefit him. So many people avoiding him because they knew what his father and mother were like. Aragornbird would not be a problem. He was very ill.

Similarly, after taking some medication, Liang’s mood was lifted. He was smiling broadly, although his eyes had sunken into his face, his skin was sagged and greying, and his overall appearance was somewhat diminished. His hair was more wispier and ghost-like, beginning to fall out in clumps. He looked like a small man. Liang spent a lot of his time simply recovering; he found exercise and walking around taxing. He was secretly glad when his Round 3 match was cancelled, because it gave him time to sleep, to think of happier days.

“Now,” the referee said firmly. “The match is a 5-5 for a place in the TPML 2006 finals. Aragornbird, you are to release your Pokemon first.

“BEGIN!”

Cheers filled the air instantly as Liang gripped a Pokeball and hurled it through the air. He staggered slightly as he did so, watching his ball burst open to reveal a proud and handsome Swellow that flapped high into the sky. Video footage showed Swellow beating a Shiftry in last year’s league. Hanada Tattsu saw this and selected his first Pokeball carefully.

“Quagsire!”

The Pokemon leapt out his ball and Gregg deftly caught the round ball and put it away. Quagsire stood and looked up at Swellow, who was surveying the area.

“Swellow! Steel wing!” Liang cried. Swellow nodded, speeding down through the air as his wings glowed a powerful silver. Quagsire braved himself as the bird swept into him, smashing into his thick body and speeding upwards.

“Ice Beam!”

Turning, Quagsire blasted the beam of ice at Swellow. It hit him right in the back; Swellow swerved slightly and teetered as Quagsire fired another quick jet of frost that caused good damage. Swellow flew back around to face the opponent.

“Use sludge bomb!” Gregg called. Quagsire ran forward, firing pellets of thick sludge through the air. Swellow deftly summoned a sweeping whirlwind to whip up and blast away the projectiles; as Quagsire stopped in his tracks, the swallow Pokemon summoned a flock of blue jays, all surrounding the water type and bearing down upon him.

“Ice beam again!” Gregg shouted.

“Mirror move!”

As Quagsire blasted the attack, and subsequently destroyed a clone, the fleet of Swellow all summoned their own ice beams, although only one was solid. The beams of ice all swept down at Quagsire who, in his fear, dived to the ground; as he dived, a beam of ice smashed him in the back of the head.

“Good!” Liang cried. “Brave Bird!”

As sweeping, golden energy engulfed Swellow, he tore down through the air, his clones disappearing as Quagsire got to his feet. He looked up, gave a smirk, and clapped both his hands together. Thick chunks of rock pierced the arena floor all around Swellow before falling gently down and swatting the bird down. Swellow fell to the ground and lay beneath the slabs of rock, which met at their tips, forming around the bird in a circle, pressed in, encasing him in a tomb.

“Use an ice beam to seal the cracks!” Gregg ordered. Quagsire ran around the outside of the arena, firing his attack to seal up any cracks or spaces between the thick slabs of rock. Swellow lay within, looking for some way out, but it was impossible. Quagsire doused the tomb with water to aid the freezing process.

“Swellow!” Liang shouted. Quagsire gave a chuckle and settled himself down.

“Rules state that if a Pokemon does not attack within five minutes, it is eliminated,” Thomas told Deatley, who nodded smoothly. Isabel said nothing. The three of them watched from the sidelines, intrigued. Hage and Rolph had been sent away on a very important mission the night before, and were expected to return today.

“So what was The Subject like?” asked Deatley.

“He’s on our side,” Thomas replied calmly. “But he isn’t one of us.”

“Grey won’t be happy when he hears the news,” Deatley said.

“The Subject is beyond Grey’s tragic influence,” Thomas said firmly. “He knows he is going to win the tournament.”

“What about the Board?” Deatley pointed out. “Gordon will do everything he can to shut the league down.”

“He cannot shut it down from New York,” Thomas retorted.

Meanwhile, Quagsire was performing water stunts to engage the audience as Swellow lay trapped in the large, icy tomb. Aragornbird was sweating profusely as he tried to think of something to do…but could not think of anything.

This is easy, thought Gregg. Liang is weaker than I thought.

Swellow, on the other hand, had charged up a steel wing from within the tomb and was slicing his sharpened wings across the rock like a blade, trying to hack through the prison, but it was simply not working. Panting, frustration growing, the handsome bird swung his wings mercilessly against the interior of the rock tomb.

“Come on,” Liang gasped, feeling his heart beat furiously. With each beat came a longing groan from his insides. He did not like the pressure. “Swellow! Steel wing!”

Swellow moaned as he swung his bladed wings, smashing apart the tomb but still doing no damage. Looking around wildly, Liang tried to think of a way to stop his foe, but it was useless. The timer ticked on and got closer and closer to DQ time.

“Quagsire, just relax,” Gregg said, a fierce sparkle in his eyes as the referee suddenly whisked a flag up.

“Swellow is inactive and must therefore be recalled. The round goes to Hanada Tattsu and Quagsire.”

The audience booed loudly, many outraged at the way the match had begun. Liang gripped his Pokeball and aimed roughly at the centre of the tomb, shooting the beam and bringing his Pokemon back. Sighing, he whispered something to his Pokemon and put the ball away, before selecting another one and hurling it out across the arena. In a bright flash of light a new creature emerged; long, thick and powerful, with a chunky head and heavy set jaw. Thick, blunt spikes jutted out from shimmering segments as the Steelix gave a domineering roar.

“Steelix VS Quagsire,” the ref said. “BEGIN!”

“Quagsire use a mud bomb,” Gregg commanded. Before Quagsire could attack, a sweeping tail swung around and smashed into the Pokemon’s ribs. Rolling along the ground, the doughy water Pokemon staggered to his feet, clutching his aching stomach. Steelix gave a bellowing roar and blasted a dragon pulse; the beam of draconian flames sped through the air, swooshing down and hurtling right into Quagsire who, from the impact, flew up and flipped, landing on his side.

“Get up! Use hydro pump!” Hanada cried. Quagsire blasted the attack out from his wide mouth, but Steelix applied a rapid spin to his lower two segments, creating a drill-like tail he used to dive in and siphon the water away. Looking shocked, Quagsire had no time to avoid the second, low-sweeping iron tail that thwacked him in the side and hurled him across.

“Good work Steelix,” Liang said calmly, surveying the battle.

“Very nice work,” said MeLoveGhosts from the audience.

“That was a dirty tactic of Hanada Tattsu,” said Luna mildly. She was again with her Slowpoke, who was draped over her lap and was having a tummy rub. “He wants to win this badly.”

“Quagsire, get up,” Gregg told his Pokemon. The Pokemon staggered to his feet and blasted a weak water attack. It struck Steelix in the side, who shimmered a silvery shade as he fired a large ball of metallic energy high into the air. A few feet into its ascent it sparkled and bolted straight down for Quagsire, who saw it coming and blasted an ice beam to try and prevent the attack. The gyro ball span right through the attack and smashed Quagsire across the head, knocking the Pokemon out.

“No!” MLG cried, surprised. “Quagsire went down no problem!”

“Good on Liang,” Luna said firmly. “Gregg isn’t playing fair.”

“I thought you liked him?” MLG asked.

“I do,” Luna replied. “But he’s different. Look at him. He’s battling furiously. I’ve never seen such drive in him before, not even against The Blue Avenger.”

“He’s realised he has a chance,” MLG murmured.

It seemed many of the audience were rooting for Liang to win, seeing as he was a crowd favourite, a well known member of the community and a friendly person. Gregg’s passion was driving him through the match, but as he recalled Quagsire, he knew that he had to work harder to secure a victory. Thomas, Isabel and Deatley sat behind him, sharing frowns.

*

Grey, however, was locking the rules tower as he went for lunch. He stopped as he saw Annabel and Scott walking over, Annabel’s Jynx by her side. Grey thought it looked familiar in its expensive suit, carrying a briefcase.

“He was not in the Theatre,” Scott said bluntly.

“Tell us where he is,” Annabel said in an exhausted, bored voice.

“I have no clue,” Grey replied coldly. “He has not contacted me and you acted too fast assuming he was at the Theatre.”

Annabel stared back.

“But the fact that you cannot find him is just…delicious,” he added, turning to leave. He heard Scott suggesting they search Ivy Woods, but Annabel spoke up.

“We want to borrow you, Grey.”

He turned back around.

“Excuse me?”

“You employ a team of Alakazam to operate the logistics of the league, yes?” asked the woman.

“We have five, yes,” Grey replied. “Becca’s Alakazam, Nightshade, is the coordinator of those five. We also have five Metang that patrol the Archives, and my Metagross coordinates them.”

“Then use the combined power of those psychic Pokemon to rifle through the entire village,” Annabel requested. “They can narrow their search to height, gender, hair colour…”

“No,” Grey said firmly. “They are not a ‘Google’ search engine. The village needs these Pokemon for protection and they have jobs to do.”

“This is important,” Scott snarled. “Do I need to get The Board of Governors to force you into this?”

“The Board cannot contact us due to a loss of communications,” Grey replied. “This is my town and I decide the rules. Now leave.”

He walked back through the main square and away from Scott and Annabel, wondering where on earth Noland was. As he walked, he thought about Gregg and how his battle was going - and how WAVEX were planning the next step in their operation.

“Hey.”

Grey turned to see, pressed against the back of the Bank Tower none other than Razor Leaf. He was wearing a black zip-up top and dark jeans. His hair was slightly longer.

“Daniel!” Grey hissed, alarmed.

“Meet me in The Archives in ten minutes,” he said discreetly. He turned to where Annabel and Scott had been, and Grey similarly looked back, noticing them walk off to Ivy Woods. When he looked back, he saw a flash of the boy disappear within a psychic glow. He had teleported. Grey gripped a Pokeball and hurled it forward. In a flash his black Charizard emerged, giving a roar; Grey pointed to the summit of Trolgar Mountain - it was important he entered the Archives from the top entrance, as if Annabel and Scott saw him near the ground entrance (which they had entered before) then they would investigate. In no time he was soaring through the skies towards his destination.

*

“Brick Break!” shouted Gregg. He had released his Poliwrath against Steelix, but the Pokemon was not faring well at all. The frog, smooth and muscular, leapt to the side and rolled from an iron tail, but was unable to get close enough to chop the sinewy serpents body. Steelix gave a roar and dived down at the tadpole, who leapt up and fired a hydro pump down into Steelix’s skull. Giving an irritated moan, the steel-type shook the water off and blasted a dragon breath at Poliwrath.

“Steelix, swing an iron tail around,” Liang commanded firmly. Steelix whipped his tail around and smashed it into the stout Poliwrath; the Pokemon rolled along the ground and the snake dived. “Thunder fang, go.”

Fangs crackling with sparks and lightening, Steelix swept at Poliwrath with surprising speed. Poliwrath sprinted across the arena but was snapped up by the large steel behemoth, subjected to horrible torture as the electric attack coursed through his short body.

“Hyper beam!” Liang cried. Poliwrath gave a groan as, between his foe’s jaws, he was blasted out by the powerful, orange beam. Flipping up into the air, Poliwrath slammed into the earth, defeated as Steelix stared down.

“POLIWRATH HAS BEEN DEFEATED!” shouted the referee. “SEND OUT YOUR THIRD POKEMON PLEASE!”

Gregg recalled Poliwrath, crestfallen. Steelix was still fighting strong, Liang’s second Pokemon, while Gregg was already on his third. He needed a strong fighter to take down Steelix, and hurled his Pokeball forward.

“Liang is doing really well,” commented Deatley. “He seems very together.”

“I know,” Thomas replied firmly. “It bothers me.”

“If Liang is not as ill as we had expected, then he will be focused enough to beat The Subject,” Deatley told Thomas.

“The Subject will win,” Thomas told Deatley. Gregg combated and sent out his third Pokemon, a Marshtomp. The light-blue Pokemon leapt onto the arena and stared up at the intimidating Steelix. Steelix grumbled; his thunder fang would be useless here.

“BEGIN!” came a cry.

“Steelix use dragon pulse,” Liang said suddenly. As he spoke he felt a sudden aching pain in his heart and his eyes widened in fear. He really wasn’t feeling well. Steelix blasted the pulsating beam of green draconian energy down at Marshtomp, The blue Pokemon gave a long dive to the left and rolled along, avoiding the attack, before firing an ice beam up and striking Steelix. Roaring, he swung his tail around and smashed into Marshtomp. Although he flew back, Marshtomp flipped and recovered from the attack, landing deftly on the ground and narrowing his eyes.

“Hydro pump!” Hanada snapped. Marshtomp ran along the arena, his long, fin-like arms flying at his side. Steelix dived towards him but the Pokemon leapt up, over the Pokemon’s spiky tail and pounced high into the air, opening his wide mouth and blasting a stream of water that smashed into Steelix’s face. He was forced down and he crashed to the ground suddenly, allowing Marshtomp to land and fire an ice beam into his side.

“Steelix use a double edge,” Liang ordered. Steelix nodded and went for Marshtomp, tackling into the small Pokemon and hurling him through the air. Marshtomp fell over, and as he did, Steelix raised his tail and brought it down in a slam attack. Suddenly Marshtomp fired off an impressive ice beam and struck the oncoming tail, halting it as he continued the onslaught. Steelix looked surprised. Marshtomp then leapt up and unleashed an ice ball; the huge ball of ice crashed right over Steelix’s head and he fell back, defeated.

“Whoa!” Luna cried.

“That was an instant ice ball,” MeLoveGhosts noted. “They usually get stronger and stronger…but Gregg brought out the strongest ice ball in an instant…”

“Grey taught him well,” Luna said absently, looking for Grey in the stands.

After losing Steelix to the devastating ice ball, Liang was musing over which Pokemon to use, learning the hard way how powerful Gregg’s ice attacks were on his team. Luckily he was only just on his third Pokemon while Gregg’s third, Marshtomp, would not last too much longer. It’s small size was actually a strong point, meaning it was a harder target. Liang decided he would chose a Pokemon of a similar small size, but one of his most versatile team members.

“Go!” he yelled, hurling the ball through the air. In a flash, his pink-and-blue Porygon2 emerged, giving off a series of beeps as it floated eerily in mid-air, staring at the opposing Marshtomp.

“Easy!” Gregg yelled. “Marshtomp go for a hydro pump again.”

Nodding, Marshtomp opened his wide mouth and fired off a colossal jet of thick, foamy water. Porygon2 suddenly zipped into the air at an alarmingly acute angle, darting into the air and subsequently observing the foe from further down. Not bothered in the slightest, Marshtomp aimed again, firing the attack straight up. Liang, however, had an idea.

“Conversion.”

Porygon2 beeped and the pink portions of its body glowed white, melding into an odd, liquid-blue colour that shimmered like water; it was as if the Pokemon was comprised entirely of liquid. The water attack struck Porygon2 (and subsequently caused ripples all over its body) but the attack didn’t phase the Pokemon at all.

“He used Conversion to become a water type,” noted Girafarig from the stands. He was watching with Crystal, River and The Blue Avenger. Girafarig and Crystal seemed to have buried the hatchet regarding their previous argument, and the casual Crystal Syndicate members cheered Liang on.

“That’s really clever,” River mused.

“Liang is clever,” Crystal said, with determination. They watched as Porygon used sharpen to meld its nose into a beaky, drill-like point, before sweeping through the air and angrily attacking the foe. Marshtomp threw a punch, smashing Porygon2 in the face, but the Pokemon glowed brightly and then became encased in a steel sheen, converting to the steel type and making physical attacks painful to execute.

“Psst.”

Crystal jumped as she heard a hiss in her ear. She turned to see a boy behind her, a boy with ruffled black hair beneath a baseball cap. He looked about seventeen years of age, with a hooded top and a pair of jeans. This was Chris Watarimono, the DJ of TPML’s radio station.

“What?” asked Crystal. “

“I need to speak with you about something,” he said, in a low voice.

“Well I am trying to watch the match,” Crystal snapped back. River turned around and whacked Chris over the head with a fan. “Thanks, sis.”

“No problem,” River replied absently. Chris, however, spoke again.

“It concerns Charles Legend.”

“What?” Crystal asked wildly, turning around. “You know where he went?”

“I do,” Chris replied. “But I can’t tell you here. We need to speak somewhere quiet.”

Crystal cast a look at the match; Porygon2 swept up through the air and blasted a psybeam at Marshtomp, who gave a stagger back. He charged up and released another large, full-sized ice ball in no time. Porygon2 began to glow to change to a different type, but the attack struck before he was able to change.

“Meet me in the tunnel,” he said, getting up to leave. Crystal turned to Girafarig.

“Did you hear that? He has information on Charles!”

“I heard,” Girafarig murmured. “Are you going to see him?”

“I think so,” Crystal said.

“This might be a set up,” Girafarig said to her. “I’m coming with you.”

The two shared a knowing look and together they got up. Each grabbed a Pokeball from their belt and ran down the steps towards the tunnel leading out of the stadium, ready to meet Chris Wararimono. Meanwhile, Marshtomp’s beam of ice rocketed through the air, but in a flash, Porygon2 had teleported behind the water Pokemon and given a sharp drill with his sharp, elongated beak. Marshtomp staggered forwards, attempting to turn and deliver a punch, but Porygon2 blasted a psybeam into him and knocked him out instantly.

Gregg looked in alarm as his Pokemon fell at his feet.

“MARSHTOMP IS DOWN!” shouted the referee. “HANADA TATTSU HAS LOST 3 POKEMON. THERE WILL BE A BRIEF INTERMISSION WHILE THE ARENA IS CLEANED AND THE BATTLERS CAN REST UP!”

*

Chris 2.1

7th April 2008, 03:17 PM

My training was coming along in leaps and bounds; Becca was being a great help, with out Pokemon now going up one at a time and duking it out for five minutes at a time. At present, Cacturne was against Scizor. My Pokemon sat around one side of the arena and Becca’s, the other.

“Scizor use metal claw,” called Becca. Claws crackling with metallic sheen, Scizor sped through the air.

“Meet it with thunder punch!” I yelled. Cacturne had learnt this from Electabuzz and was now really good with the attack; he sped along towards Scizor as his fists fizzed with lightening and volts. Scizor swung at Cacturne, smashing him in the face. Cacturne swung his arm into Scizor, however, managing to deal as good as he got. Both Pokemon leapt back; Cacturne fired off a flurry of glowing pins as Scizor span around to deflect them; Becca’s watch beeped and she raised her voice.

“CHANGE!”

Cacturne ran off and Scizor did, too. Electabuzz got up and ran onto the arena, while Becca’s Starmie entered with a cartwheel motion. At that moment, Magmortar gave a long, loud bellow and stomped alongside Electabuzz. Upon seeing this, Empoleon leapt forward.

“Ok!” I said. “Doubles match…that’s…that’s cool! Electabuzz go for a thunder attack. Magmortar, fire punch to Empoleon!”

Electabuzz nodded; as he clenched his fists, sparks coursed across his fuzzy torso and his antenna sparkled with life. A shooting cannon of lightening bolted from his body and flew at Starmie; the Pokemon’s core glowed and she began to repel the attack with a psychic attack. I was reminded of Politoed doing the same against Andrew’s Starmie. The thunder was inches from Starmie’s body, with rogue sparks jutting up left and right, breaking from the pack. The main entity of the attack, however, was just paused. With a deep grunt, Starmie managed to fling the attack up into the air, where it burst into a showing rain of yellow fractions.

Becca did not order her Pokemon; she allowed them to use their own instinct to fight. This meant I had no idea what was going on. As Magmortar’s entire arm was cloaked in flames he raced towards Empoleon, but he suddenly dodged to the left and blasted a hydro pump into Magmortar’s body. Staggering to the left, Magmortar fired off duel thunderbolts from within his palms. They struck Empoleon and shocked him to the core. Dazed, Empoleon fired a flurry of bubbles, but Electabuzz destroyed them with a shock wave attack.

“Electabuzz use a plasma ball,” I ordered, recalling the attack we perfected before our match the day before. Electabuzz charged up electricity in his hands and began manipulating his fingers, shaping the attack into a collective ball of sparks in his palm. He did the same in the other hand, flinging both orbs through the air. They struck Starmie, who responded by leaping up and sweeping along the arena like a ninja star. Seeing this, Magmortar spewed a hurtling fire spin before him, something that Starmie flew right into.

“Ok, Starmie, change,” ordered Becca. The scorched star hobbled off and Absol raced onto the field.

“Electabuzz,” I said. “Take a break. Get on the arena Swalot!”

Rolling along, Swalot pounced onto the scene and blasted a flurry of sludge pellets at Absol. Absol responded by firing a blade of energy towards Magmortar; without the agility to dodge, Magmortar simply fired off a multitude of fireballs that destroyed the slash and subsequently smashed into Absol, causing her knees to buckle and her to collapse. As she got up wearily, Swalot fired off a bullet seed at Empoleon, who crossed his steely wings over his face and blocked it.

“Magmortar,” I said. The large holes in his hands were glowing white. “Magmortar what are you doing?”

He looked confused as his palms throbbed with white energy. It was an attack…I thought. A confused Swalot was an easy target for Empoleon, who was encased in a jet of water as he bolted through the air like a torpedo. Swalot was struck and fell back to the edge of the field. Empoleon grimaced. Magmortar gave a long, rumbling groan as the energy in his left palm faded and the energy in his right intensified; he held the right arm up like a weapon as a brilliantly bright beam of green energy blasted forward, searing through the air and striking Empoleon. The penguin was sent to the ground instantly as Magmortar wielded the intense power.

“W-Was that a solar beam?” Becca asked wildly. Magmortar’s eyes were wide as the giant stared at his arm.

“No way,” I muttered. “He learnt the most powerful grass attack?”

“Empoleon, get up,” Becca said. “Absol go for Swalot.”

Swalot was ready. He leapt up and blasted an ice beam down at Absol; Absol leapt to the side and pounced up, raking Swalot across the face with her blade appendage. Swalot landed with a splodge as Absol touched the ground with grace. Absol then darted through the air towards my purple Pokemon. Empoleon, meanwhile, fired an ice beam at Swalot, but Magmortar dived into him with a fire punch and slugged him in the side, ruining his aim.

“Empoleon, change,” Becca said quietly. Empoleon hobbled off and watched as Alakazam telekinetically floated onto the stage, looking calm. I gulped. This Alakazam was literally one of the strongest around. As Absol attempted to strike Swalot, he opened wide and blasted a jet of dirty poison from his mouth; Absol was struck and slammed back. Swalot bounced after her, fingers throbbing with a seeping poison. He jabbed Absol deftly and the Pokemon gave a long cry.

“Good work!” I yelled. He had mastered gunk shot from Ariados and controlled his poison jab. His abilities were really improving. “Go for ice beam!”

Nodding, Swalot fired off the bright beam of frosted energy through the air. Absol was lying there, aching and in pure agony as the beam got closer and closer. All of a sudden, the beam sped up and turned around; Alakazam was focusing the beam back into Swalot. In no time the beam smashed into my Pokemon and he gave a lurching gasp.

“Do you have to use such a strong Pokemon?” I asked jokingly. Becca smirked.

“Your opponent might!” she said back. “Let’s change this up a bit. Politoed, use a bubble beam. Starmie, Weavile, freeze the bubbles with blizzard.”

My Pokemon trusted Becca and they agreed to her requests. Politoed fired off the wide spectrum of bubbles and soon Empoleon assisted. Weavile and Starmie unleashed icy waves to freeze the bubbles into solid, chilled capsules glittering in the sun. They fell from the air, but with a lazy flick of his spoons Alakazam had them all hovering above him like an elegant winter chandelier.

“Now these are our weapons,” Becca told me. “Magmortar can melt these easily, so use different Pokemon for this exercise.”

“Ok,” I said, motioning for Magmortar to leave the field. Cacturne and Vibrava got up and prepared to dodge the onslaught of icy balls.

*

Grey got off his Charizard atop Trolgar Mountain, staring across the vast plateau. He recalled his large dragon and instead released a Lunatone - it was one of Razor Leaf’s Pokemon he did not take with him to London, as there was a limit on how many he was allowed to take.

“If Scott or Annabel approach these Archives, let me know,” he said. Lunatone gave a crooning purr. Grey walked towards the steel doors of the archive, set into the stone ridge around the side of the mountain. He saw the familiar screen and entered his username.

At once the thick metal doors parted and each of the steps were lit up by an underlying light, spelling out the way before another set of metal doors. Grey calmly walked down the steps, hearing nothing but his own thoughts bouncing around his head. As the doors slammed shut behind him, the ones ahead opened to the ancient splendour of the archives. Large TV’s set into the walls, bookcases containing DVD cases of big, archived battles. A large chandelier in the centre of the room was bearing down upon the elegant, twisting staircase to the lower floors. Grey examined the board.

DIRECTORY
YOU ARE CURRENTLY ON G.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE ARCHIVES HAVE BEEN UPDATED AND THE ARCHIVED DATA FOR THE 2001 LEAGUE IS NOW LOCATED AT THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS, FLOOR B/G. CONTACT JACQUES CERVANTES FOR INFORMATION.

YEAR 2006: FLOOR -1
YEAR 2005: FLOOR -2
YEAR 2004: FLOOR -3
YEAR 2003: FLOOR -4
YEAR 2002: FLOOR -5

Grey smiled, but was unsure where to go. He walked to the staircase and descended to the floor below, containing 2005’s material. There was nobody here at all. Not even Razola, who often liked to lurk in the archives. Grey walked around the floor, when he suddenly saw something startling.

Right ahead of him on a large screen was the footage of the league match last year; Grey VS Razor Leaf for a place in the finals. Grey had his Metagross out while Razor Leaf was using his Combusken. Combusken fired off a jet of flames that struck Metagross, but the Pokemon rose up and span around, repelling the embers. He stayed levitating, causing Combusken to race along the ground and leap up with sky uppercut. As Combusken rose up, Metagross suddenly free-fell from the air and crushed Combusken, squashing the Pokemon beneath his colossal weight.

Grey smiled from across the arena, “Super-Objective.”

Metagross then rose up and fired a hyper beam, smashing Combusken hard and rolling him across the arena. Devastated, Razor Leaf recalled his Pokemon and stared at his old mentor. This was after Razor Leaf had defied Grey’s teachings, and was eager to prove his own methods above the super-objective of Grey.

“Remember that?”

Turning, Grey saw Razor Leaf behind him. He was looking at Grey meaningfully.

“Of course,” Grey said, watching as the student sent a Zangoose out against Metagross for the next round. “You beat me.”

“One of my prouder moments,” replied Razor Leaf.

“Why did you ask me to come here?” asked Grey. “Why did you come back here?”

“I can’t do it anymore,” Razor Leaf said suddenly, turning and walking along to the balcony of the archives. He stared down the large, curving stairwell towards the floors below and sighed. “I’m not staying with The Frontier Brains.”

“Well they don’t know that,” Grey told him. “They came here.”

“I saw them,” grumbled Razor Leaf.

“Tell me what happened,” Grey asked. In the background the match carried on; Grey’s Metagross was defeated and thus he sent out his Salamence to cheers from the crowd.

“It’s just the sheer pressure,” sighed the young man, zipping his jacket down. “I feel like a celebrity. People are coming up to me in the street wanting my autograph, asking which Pokemon I’ll use next…it’s weird. I have no secret weapon or no privacy. The other Brains are used to it…they enjoy it. But the more I feel like a celebrity the more I feel…alone.

“I spoke to Scott about how I felt. He assured me we would sort something out, but day after day, with each mention of my unhappiness he told me the same things. I grew frustrated. Nobody cares about me. So I thought back to the one place I was actually happy…and it was here. I remembered thinking that I could be making a bad decision when I got on the bus with the Brains…and everything I feel just confirms it. So one night when everyone was ending their day I left. I grabbed my Pokemon and left.”

“You just ran?”

“I teleported across the country,” Razor Leaf explained. “Solrock was finding it exhausting to take me directly to TPML, since he’s been battling so extensively and training to improve his psychic powers so much. We teleported across London and eventually up through the midlands. It’s been arduous.”

“Lunatone is keeping an eye out for anybody up the top,” Grey noted. “So, when you came to TPML…”

“…when I came, I wanted to go to the Theatre, but I found it locked,” grumbled the trainer. “I made my way inside; it wasn’t hard, since the door had been tampered with. I saw you lying on the stage, bleeding, and rushed to help.”

“So that’s why you signed me into the Hospital,” Grey mused.

“So what has been happening to you?” Razor Leaf inquired. “Why were you shot?”

“I…well,” Grey struggled. “That is a big story.”

“I’m all ears.”

Grey sighed as he stared at Razor Leaf, who was concerned with his teacher’s condition. On the screen, Salamence flew up and blasted flames down at Zangoose. He dived left and right, firing off a water pulse that struck the large dragon, shocking a younger Grey.

“TPML is under attack,” Grey began. “There are powerful forces at work. The Board of Governors are directly trying to shut the league down due to all the accidents, the recent murders, the way Cocoa was treated and even Ecks’ reign of terror. However there is a group called WAVEX who was set up by ex-mod Pichu. She emerged during the end of the Frontier Brains ceremony as a news reporter, with a group of men behind her. She is doing everything she can to ensure Hanada Tattsu emerges from the league as winner. She doesn’t want Gordon to close the league because that will directly affect her plans to help Gregg win.”

“Why does she want Gregg to win?” asked Razor Leaf. Grey looked surprised at the use of the boy’s first name.

“She knows a lot about his past…she knows he lost his father to Callisto and seems to think this is the only way to help him get over everything. Like this event can override what he feels.”

“That’s interesting,” Razor Leaf said. Grey gave him a quizzical look. “Before we were given the Moderator positions, back when Becca was in charge, we had to get health checks, you know, physicals. And Pichu had some complications.”

“What like?” asked Grey.

“I don’t know, I just know they made her see a therapist,” Razor Leaf replied. “I mean she checked out. She got a Moderator position in the end. But she might know how to help someone recover from something traumatic. Maybe that’s why she was referred - to help her get over something.”

“You might be right,” Grey mused. “Unfortunately though, she has a spy on the Board, and she gathered footage of me shooting Cocoa by accident when I was in New York. She took hostages and made me arrange the league set-ups.”

He banged his fist against the wall.

“I’m so corrupt,” he snarled. “Turn that damn TV off.”

Razor Leaf turned the match off just as Grey’s Salamence was defeated by Zangoose. He looked at his old mentor.

“You did the right thing, letting Pichu walk over you.”

“Did I!?[I]” cried Grey.

“Of course you did,” Razor Leaf said curtly, walking over. “You made sure those hostages stayed alive. Can you imagine if you didn’t, and they died? Would it be ok just because the league could run uninterrupted? No.”

Grey stared at his protégé.

“This is just a Pokemon League,” he explained. “Important, yes, but no more than a tournament. You can’t put too much of your life before it. It isn’t healthy. I chose to leave here because I started thinking about my life, and how much I had put on hold while I stayed and competed here. I had nothing else to say about myself, you know?”

He let out a sigh.

“Then I got the chance to become a Frontier Brain…to travel and battle with experienced people. I took it because I had nothing to show for my own life outside this village…outside my ‘Razor Leaf’ persona. I wanted to see what the outside world had to offer.”

“And what did you find?” Grey asked. Razor Leaf walked along the corridor slightly, settling down on a chair and thinking.

“I realised I’m not actually happy unless I’m…here,” he said. Grey gave his student a glance, unsure what to say to him. Daniel looked so fragile, so uncertain, but as the two were immersed in the silence, three figures emerged from the staircase. Scott, Noland and Annabel.

“Found you,” Scott purred. Daniel whipped out a Pokeball at the sight of his old allies. Noland had a Kingler out and Annabel sent out her Jynx, clad in a pinstripe suit and skirt. Grey furrowed his brow at the sight.

“Leave me alone,” Daniel said, releasing his Zangoose, Rika. Rika’s claws crackled with energy as Kingler scuttled forward. Grey’s hand subconsciously reached for a Pokeball.

*

After a brief break, both Gregg and Liang were readying themselves to get back on the arena. Gregg was speaking with Thomas while Liang sat on his own, drinking from a bottle of water. His hands were shaking slightly. Luna and MLG walked up to him.

“Hey Liang,” Luna said meekly.

“Hey,” he croaked, his lips breaking into a smile.

“You’re doing brilliant!” MeLoveGhosts told him, clapping him on the back.

“Thanks,” Liang replied.

“How are you feeling?” Luna asked; the two knew of his ill health after he collapsed before the raid on WAVEX HQ.

“Very poorly,” he said with another raw cough. His skin was a smeared, pale tinge and his hair light and wispy. His eyes looked sunken and eyes red.

“Well you’re doing really well, Gregg doesn’t stand a chance,” Luna commented. She cast a gaze across the room, where Gregg was discussing things with Thomas.

“Who are those people?” MLG asked.

“WAVEX,” Liang murmured. “I recognize them from when I was kidnapped. That woman talking with Gregg is Thomas.”

“So he must be the Subject,” Luna said. “He’s the one being manipulated into winning.”

She paused.

“Lady Vulpix died just before my match…”

“I was thinking about that,” Liang said, standing up. “I think they wanted you emotionally torn before your match. They didn’t intend for Lady to die the way she did, but…I can’t help but feel it’s very coincidental.”

“It’s all been staged,” Luna snapped, looking furious. She turned to confront Gregg. “How could he?”

“Wait,” MLG said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m beating Gregg,” Liang said deftly. “Remember?”

“Liang is like…the strongest trainer in the league,” MLG reminded Luna. “He will wipe the floor with Gregg and WAVEX will have failed.”

“But…” muttered Luna.

“Leave it to me,” said Liang with a smirk. “I have to go. The match is starting up.”

*

And sure enough the referee held his flags up and the latter part of the semifinals was underway. Liang released his Porygon2 out onto the field again, who gave a bleep and nod. Gregg gripped a Pokeball tightly, arced his arm back and released the ball, where it spun up, burst open and poured his Pokemon onto the field.

Nobody had quite expected the form to be so large, but when the light died down, and the gigantic Blastoise stood there, Gregg received a surprising cheer from the crowd. His Wartortle - one of his first Pokemon - had finally reached its final form, and was looking very deadly. Two thick, powerful canons and a stocky frame. Blastoise grinned.

“Porygon2 use conversion,” Liang told his Pokemon. Porygon2 nodded, glowing white and then turning a vivid yellow colour where it used to be blue. Where it was pink, it now had thin black stripes. It had converted to the electric type.

“Blastoise use ice beam,” Gregg ordered. Two beams of ice were fired from the canons but Porygon2 teleported out of the way, re-appearing above the Pokemon and elongating his beak, sharpening it and speeding through the air.

“Withdraw!”

Blastoise tucked into his shell and Porygon2 struck the hard outer protection, bouncing off and spiralling across the arena. Popping back out, Blastoise leapt through the air and slugged Porygon2 with a dynamic punch.

“Thunderbolt!” Liang ordered.

“Mirror coat!”

The bolt flew through the air like a guided arrow; it struck Blastoise, who staggered back and shimmered with an odd sheen. In no time a focused beam of mirror-like liquid sped at Porygon2, colliding into the Pokemon and bowling it over. As Porygon2 collapsed, his conversion faded and he became a normal type again.

“Blastoise, go for hydro pump!”

Blastoise leapt up and focused his canons down, blasting two intense jets of water down, deluging Porygon2 in sharp, heavy-hitting water force. The Pokemon gave a confused buzz as he was attacked, floating up into the air to try and recuperate.

“Porygon2, Aquire Target,” Liang told his Pokemon. Giving a nod, Porygon2’s eyes turned a red colour as his pupil flew around the socket, trying to locate Blastoise. Being a big, bulky Pokemon, he was easy to find, and Porygon2’s pupils then began to flash on and off. “Now launch!”

As electricity coursed through Porygon2’s body, the Pokemon focused the energy into a large orb of collective sparks floating just in front of his body. In no time the Zap Cannon was launched, searing through the air at Blastoise. The Pokemon smirked as the familiar, mirrored sheen covered his body. Liang looked in shock. It was too late.

Blastoise was struck by the colossal attack and fell to his feet, sparks shooting all along his body and torturing his insides. He moaned in pain as he clenched his fists, summoning a field of energy using mirror coat. Blastoise fired off another shimmering beam, this one larger, faster, much deadlier. Porygon2 was struck in no time and, being so small was hurtled right into a wall.

“Porygon2!” cried Liang. His Pokemon was done. Blastoise stayed on his feet, sparks still jolting him with paralysis. Liang shot his Pokeball beam at Porygon2 and brought him back, astonished by the sheer power of Blastoise. Nevertheless, he had two Pokemon left.

“I choose you!” Liang yelled, hurling a ball into the air. In a bright flash of light his Dragonite emerged, flapping in the air and shooting a jet of flames into the air. The crowd went wild; the screens showed Dragonite fighting Becca’s Charizard in an old tournament match, while another showed it faring against OzAndrew’s Misdreavus.

“Dragonite!” cried MeLoveGhosts. “Yes!”

“Dragonite stretch your wings,” said Liang coolly. Nodding the Pokemon flapped into the air, using extreme speed to streak along the stands and wow the audience. Gregg watched with confusion, having no clue how to react. Dragonite spiralled up into the air, shooting back down and as close to the arena ground as he could.

“Thunderpunch!”

Blastoise had no time to react as Dragonite charged up a potent fist of sparks and slugged the turtle spectacularly. Blastoise leapt back to retaliate, but Dragonite was high in the air, shooting glowing stars up to entertain the audience.

“Blastoise use ice beam!” ordered Gregg. Blastoise nodded and fired a beam of ice from his mouth, but Dragonite simply flew to the left, blasting a thunderbolt from his body and hitting Blastoise dead-on. Frustrated, Blastoise gave a long, loud roar; Dragonite responded by firing his own, much stronger ice beam forward along the arena.

“Dragonite is just messing around,” Luna commented. “I think he’s trying to just play with Blastoise’s temper.”

“I agree,” MLG said. “If Blastoise and Gregg are frustrated, they can’t focus. If they can’t focus, they won’t win.”

Dragonite spiralled up into the air again and flapped his wings hard, releasing a deadly whirlwind down on the arena. Bracing himself against the strong gale, Blastoise kept his footing as he waited for the attack to subside. His wings glowed and Dragonite summoned a razor wind, unleashing sharp strips of energy down upon the water Pokemon.

“Blastoise!” hollered Gregg. “Use refresh.”

Blastoise clenched his fists and closed his eyes. His shell began to sparkle very discreetly; he was purging his own body of the paralysis that Porygon2 had caused. As the winds began to die down, Liang saw his Porygon2’s final act lost as Blastoise was free of the excruciating electrical impairment.

“Dragonite use an extreme speed,” ordered the boy, clearing his throat. In a white blur Dragonite tore across the arena, but Blastoise was ready; the moment Liang opened his mouth, Gregg had ordered a blizzard attack. From the canons on his back a series of frosted wind, big, thick crystals and icy particles swept across the arena, meeting Dragonite as he went in to attack. Dragonite was bowled back by the intensity of the onslaught, unable to fight off the biting cold. Dragonite fell from his speeding attack and felt the cruel ice wash over his skin.

“Fire spin!”

Dragonite was unable to unleash any flame from his mouth due to the fast sweeping winds extinguishing any hope. Blastoise stood over him, sending more chunks of snow and ice upon him and covering the arena in ice.

*

“Do you really think this is necessary?”

Chris Watarimono looked slightly nervous. He was standing with Dark Dragonite, and was alarmed to discover Crystal and Girafarig surrounded them with an assortment of their Pokemon. Girafarig had his Rhydon, Pupitar, Graveller and Magcargo out, while Crystal had her Bayleef, Ninetales, Pikachu, Scizor and Cyndaquil out. The Cyndaquil was small and very young; Crystal found it when Tucker and Blademaster released all the Pokemon from Oz’s C.O.R.R.U.P.T. Little did she realize it was actually the Cyndaquil Charles sold to OzAndrew just before his death.

“Yes,” Crystal mumbled, her small Weavile Edea at her side. “Girafarig and I have been in a lot of scrapes in the past and neither of us trust you.”

“You have to understand we both worked for WAVEX,” Dark Dragonite began. “But we were not members of the company.”

“Why not?” Girafarig asked.

“Thomas chose the members of WAVEX very selectively,” Dark Dragonite explained. “And she would always say that you cannot simply join WAVEX. You are selected.”

“What sort of things did she pick people for?” Crystal asked.

“Hage and Brink were both quite big, muscular men. They were for protection. I understand they both worked for her father at one point. Rolph is excellent with computers. Isabelle is a trained Nurse and can work as both a spy and a medic for the team. She is not technically a member of WAVEX. She is more of an assistant to Thomas. Deatley is a smart, handsome man. He is the face of the local news station and an excellent front man.”

“The point is, I was selected to work for them because I worked for the Radio Station,” Watarimono added, cutting in. “They needed me to promote the league matches. I had to often say good things about some people and bad about others…and when we cut the communication, they needed me to turn off the radio signal.”

“Why did they pick you?” Crystal asked Dark Dragonite.

“They needed someone else in the league,” he said quietly, not particularly interested. “Brink approached me, like he did with you, Girafarig.”

“I had the common sense to back down,” Girafarig replied.

“They needed me more once you backed down,” Dark Dragonite said. “The plan had to all change once you threw in the towel.”

“The plan?” Crystal asked. Girafarig looked confused but angry.

“They had such a clever plan,” Dark Dragonite recalled. “They worked backwards. They knew who the wanted The Subject against in the finals. Then they worked back to the semi finals. Then Round 3 and Round 2. The idea was you were going to fall to Charles in Round 1. He was going to fall to Luna in Round 2 and she was going to fall to The Subject in Round 3. But once you fucked everything up they had to rethink things.”

“Talking of Charles,” Crystal said. “What the hell happened to him.”

“He’s dead,” replied Watarimono coldly.

“No,” Girafarig mouthed. “No…”

“He died?” Crystal asked wildly. “How?”

“Thomas shot him,” Chris said, with the same empty, lifeless words. He seemed slightly more troubled. “When we were shutting down communications he stumbled upon us. He needed to be taken care of.”

Crystal had tears in her eyes but she blinked them back.

“What did you do with the body,” she asked.

“Chopped it up and disposed of it,” grumbled Dark Dragonite. “You won’t see him again.”

Girafarig looked across at Crystal; she struggled to come to terms with the news. Chris looked upset but Dark Dragonite had a steely determination on his face.

“Is it worth it?” she asked. “All this hurt and pain…for The Subject to win?”

“Well we aren’t as passionate about The Subject as WAVEX are,” Chris said. “We did the jobs we were paid to do. We’re the bottom tier as far as Thomas is concerned. The tier they remove when it suits them.”

“We need to tell your sister,” Girafarig told Crystal. She nodded. They turned to Chris and Dark Dragonite.

“We’re going to stop this,” Crystal said to them. “Squall, use a razor wind attack.”

Scizor’s claws glowed and he unleashed a spiralling wind that sped along the tunnel and bowled Chris Watarimono and Dark Dragonite over. The two young trainers recalled their Pokemon and ran up the steps towards the seats.

“Don’t bother following us,” Girafarig muttered.

*

Dragonite rose from the icy arena after Blastoise stepped back to relax. Spewing a mouthful of flames from his mouth, Dragonite melted part of the glazed floor and clenched his fists. Blastoise stepped forward again and fired a hydro pump, but Dragonite leapt out of the way.

“Hyper beam!” Liang cried. The blizzard had severely weakened Dragonite, who was already quite a frail Pokemon. The orange streaked beam of intense, hot energy burst from Dragonite’s mouth, smashing into Blastoise and causing him to stagger back.

“Blastoise go for a tackle,” shouted Gregg. Blastoise charged like an angry bull, before leaping forward and smashing into Dragonite, who staggered back as he gave a long cry.

“Iron Tail!”

Dragonite nodded and swung his thick, powerful tail around as it shimmered silver, catching Blastoise in the stomach and knocking the breath out of him. Blastoise fell back, allowing for Dragonite to slug him with a thunder punch before he could react.

“Skull bash!” cried Gregg. Blastoise tucked his head in and charged but Dragonite soared high over the turtle and unleashed a thunderbolt attack down on the Pokemon, whose knees buckled as he collapsed on the floor. Dragonite flapped down and watched Blastoise, who was getting back up and giving a heavy sigh.

“Dragonite, are you ok?” Liang asked. The Pokemon looked exhausted already; he gave a sorrowful look at his trainer but turned back to the battle.

Dragonite was about to launch an attack when Liang pulled his Pokeball out from off his belt and shot the beam at the large creature. Blastoise looked on, astonished, as Dragonite, while perhaps being hurt, was still relatively strong.

“I know you need to recover,” Liang whispered. “You’re like me…”

“What is he doing?” River asked The Blue Avenger.

“When Liang was trained under Ecks, some of his Pokemon took special diets to multiply their growth hormones,” TBA explained. “That’s why Liang’s Dragonite is so huge - it’s been tested on. But the drugs didn’t work so well in the long term and they aged Dragonite tremendously. His Dragonite has very little stamina.”

“That’s awful,” River said. “His Dragonite does look quite tired.”

“”I think I know who he’s going to use next,” TBA said, noticing Liang pluck his last Pokeball from his belt.

“I choose you!” Liang cried, hurling a Pokeball out and releasing his Sceptile. The large Pokemon stood proudly, with sharp leaves around his wrists and elbows. His bushy fern tail stuck out behind him as the Pokemon observed the arena. Gregg looked worried.

*

“Again! Nightshade release!” yelled Becca from across the field. A swarm of icy orbs sped through the air at different speeds and angles towards my Lairon and Cacturne. Lairon arched his back and tucked in, creating a shimmering iron defence, while Cacturne used growth to increase the size of the large spikes all over his body. He subsequently began to spin around frantically, destroying any oncoming orbs.

“Nice work Cacturne,” I said to him, following the onslaught. “Vibrava, replace Cacturne.”

Vibrava flew onto the arena as Cacturne walked off, smirking to Electabuzz as he did so. Alakazam used psychic as Politoed and Weavile created the bubbles and froze them together. They were unleashed again, speeding through the air like bullets. Vibrava flew up into the air. Cacturne practiced evasive manoeuvres, but after dodging a slew of orbs with faint attack, he collided with three and fell to the ground as they smashed into him, shattering on impact. Cacturne fell back each time he attempted to get up while Vibrava swerved between the orbs, shooting jets of flame and swift stars.

“Alakazam focus on Vibrava,” Becca muttered. Cacturne got to his feet, feeling very dizzy. Flicking his spoons up, Alakazam directed the freshly-created baubles of ice towards Vibrava, striking her in the face. She dropped from the air slightly but recuperated, sweeping around the arena in a curving motion as the cold objects sped after her.

“Whirlwind!” I yelled. As she tore along Vibrava then pulled upwards, spiralling around and blasting a heavy gust. The icy orbs were blasted back, falling from the sky and shattering as they crashed into the ground. As Alakazam levitated the next instalment of orbs, Vibrava blasted a dragon pulse down through the air right towards the PSI Pokemon. It looked to be an instant hit, but Alakazam flicked his arm and the icy orbs all formed a collective shield that blocked the attack effortlessly, causing them all to shatter into tiny fragments.

“Nice try,” Becca smirked. “Ok take a quick break - everyone.”

“That Alakazam is immense,” I muttered. “Why didn’t you use him against me?”

“Because he is not really a battler for the team,” Becca explained. “Nightshade leads the Alakazam in Logistics just how I used to lead the members of the village. He cannot be damaged or hurt by any big tough matches.”

“How do you think my training’s going,” I asked her.

“If Gregg is in the finals, you can handle him no problem,” Becca said. “If you’re up against Liang…you’d better hope his health deteriorates before the match. Because even though he’s physically weak, his brain is still working all the time and he can think himself through [I]any situation.”

“Has anyone ever beaten him?” I asked.

“Two people,” she replied. “Grey. And Karin.”

*

Chris 2.1

7th April 2008, 03:23 PM

“You need to come back with us, Daniel,” said Scott. “You are upsetting the end of the London visit. We need to close up and head to America next month. Please come back.”

Zangoose leapt up and unleashed a crush claw on Kingler, knocking the crustacean back.

“No,” came his empty reply.

Kingler scowled and spat a slew of bubbles through the air, but a spinning slash from Rika eliminated all the oncoming bubbles. Daniel narrowed his eyes, ordering his Pokemon to use a double team. She glowed, spreading out and creating a number of identical copies.

“In case you are wondering,” Scott said to Grey. “We did not come in from the top entrance; we came in through the ground entrance, the one many people are unaware of. The Blue Avenger took us this way when we initially learned of Daniel’s exceptional talent. You had no Pokemon guarding this entrance.”

“Come back with us,” Annabel urged Daniel. Her Jynx fired a beam of ice at a Zangoose but it was merely a copy; the real thing appeared behind the psychic Pokemon and gave a deadly slash across the neck. Jynx toppled over, Zangoose leapt over and turned sporadically. In a flash, she fired a shadow ball right into Kingler.

“You have an 18-month contract with us,” Scott boomed to Daniel. “And you must uphold it. You can’t just run away like this!”

He turned to look at Annabel, who seemed tense. Scott gave a brief nod.

Kingler leapt up and smashed into Rika with his huge claw; Rika’s claws faded and she rolled back. Daniel smirked slightly; he had been evading and dodging enough to figure out how he would take Kingler down properly. The Pokemon, due to having a large, heavy left claw, was slightly heavier on its left side. Its right side was its weakest point.

“Rika finish it off,” scowled Daniel. The Zangoose tore across the arena with her claws sparking up with electricity. Leaping up, she tore down and slashed mercilessly at Kingler’s side, toppling the Pokemon over as he struggled to balance. All of a sudden, as Dan tried to execute the final attack, he suddenly took a step back and reached for his Pokeball.

“Calm down,” Annabel said soothingly. Daniel nodded and held the Pokeball forward, pulling Rika back into her Pokeball. Noland smirked as his Kingler scuttled back. Jynx looked preoccupied. “That’s better…”

Grey saw Jynx, then Annabel and finally Daniel and suddenly realized what was going on. They were trying to use psychic persuasion to coerce Daniel into going back to London. In one swift movement Grey hurled a Pokeball of his own out; Umbreon leapt forward and unleashed a shadow ball, striking Jynx directly in the face. Losing her concentration she fell back, shrieking. Annabel watched as Umbreon then unleashed a hidden power, one with a powerful, silvery sheen. It struck the banshee and she collapsed.

“Grey!” hollered Scott, looking furious. Before Grey could say anything, a stunned Razor Leaf grabbed another Pokeball, looking scared at the sight of those around him, like an animal in captivity. Releasing his Solrock, he whispered something inaudible as the Pokemon glowed brightly.

“Dan!” Grey cried, turning to his student. “Don’t!”

But in those few seconds the boy teleported away, disappearing and leaving a burning space of light in his wake. As Annabel recalled Jynx, shocked at Umbreon’s sudden and fantastic power, Scott walked up to a hurt looking Grey, whose Umbreon stayed alert.

“When he realised what you were trying to do,” Grey said coldly. “He knew I wasn’t a safe person to be around.”

“Why did you stop us,” asked Scott, with a bitter, dark edge to his voice. The portly man’s jolly nature had long since faded.

“You were possessing him,” snapped Grey. “That is immoral. Can’t you see how badly this boy wants to be left alone?”

“He signed a contract,” Noland reminded Grey. “He is one of us.”

“Well good luck finding him,” Grey replied, turning to leave. “Because he’ll be staying far away from me now.”

Grey walked up the staircase towards the top of the Archives, where he would recall Lunatone and teleport back to the village. He felt so useless, having not been able to even help Daniel with his problem…but he reminded himself that as long as the boy stayed hidden, the Brains would have to leave him to continue their tour across the country.

Walking up to the metal stairs leading outside, Grey felt himself sadden more and more as WAVEX and Gregg filled his head. How was Gregg doing against Liang? He initially assumed the boy would be losing, but Liang’s ill health, coupled with Gregg’s ice attacks on Liang’s birds and dragons led him to wonder if the boy actually had a chance.

As he left the archives, little did he realise that Daniel had only teleported to a higher level. Immersed among the shelves of DVDs, each with battles from the past, Daniel pulled one out and set it down as part of a large pile of existing boxes. He then continued to look closely for another, very specific battle, making sure nobody could see him as he collected.

*

Dragonite could not have taken much more. It was obvious to Liang, the boy who had trained him. Many were confused why the veteran had recalled the large dragon when it was still fit to fight; the fact was, had the Pokemon tried to go on any more, it could have seriously damaged his health. Liang watched as his Sceptile stood proudly on the arena, its thin body covered in big, prominent leaves and curved blades of foliage. A thick tail covered in fern trailed behind the green Pokemon.

“You can win this for me,” Liang whispered. A nod from Sceptile told him all he needed to. Blastoise, weak but still ready for a fight, flexed his muscles threateningly.

“Liang’s last…” Luna said, looking at the large electronic scoreboard. Swellow, Steelix, Porygon2 and Dragonite all had panels blacked out. The same was true of Quagsire, Poliwrath and Marshtomp.

“Sceptile, go for an agility,” Liang nodded. Blastoise aimed an ice beam but Sceptile raced away in no time, leaping into the air and charging up energy in the leaves on his wrists. “Bullet seed. Go!”

An onslaught of green pellets flew from Sceptile’s mouth; they exploded upon contact with Blastoise and he staggered back from the impact. Sceptile landed on the ground, swinging his tail around and smashing the large turtle in the face.

“Ice punch!” roared Gregg. Blastoise froze the moisture around his fist; in a swing he belted Sceptile in the jaw. Sceptile was hurt, but countered by swiping his blade-like arms across Blastoise, raking the Pokemon along the face.

“Now! Thunder punch!” Liang yelled. Sceptile swung an electrified fist into Blastoise and he fell down, beaten. The large Pokemon crashed to the ground after receiving a string of hits from the speedy grass Pokemon.

“BLASTOISE IS DOWN!” came the announcers cry. The audience cheered loudly at the defeat of another of Gregg’s Pokemon. He frowned as he got his Pokeball out, recalling his warrior and preparing for the last round. As he tucked Blastoise away, he turned to see Thomas watching him. Isabelle gave a soft nod.

*

“Here I go…” Gregg muttered. He was in the tunnels by the stadium, about to walk out onto the field for his match. Thomas, Isabelle and Deatley were with him.

“Remember Liang is not well,” Thomas said absently. “He is disillusioned. You will beat him.”

“Thanks,” Gregg muttered. Isabelle reached into her pocket.

“Use this,” she whispered, holding a plain white Pokeball out. “It belongs to me.”

Gregg looked at the perfectly snow-white Pokeball.

“This is…her, isn’t it?” he said. The Nurse gave a nod,

“You’ve seen what she can do,” Isabelle reminded him.

“Do you think I’ll need it?”

Isabelle gave a discreet smile.

“I think having this Pokemon with you could prove useful.”

“I would listen to Isabelle,” Thomas told Gregg. Reaching out, the boy took the cold Pokeball in his hand and gave it a brief tap with his finger, minimising it into a smaller form. Gregg slipped it onto his belt, nodding to Isabelle as he headed for the arena.

*

Pulling the small Pokeball from his belt, Gregg maximised it and held it ready. In a swift motion he hurled the ball forwards; a blue light burst forth and spilled onto the arena, beginning to take the form of a small, fox-like creature. Catching the ball as it flew back, Gregg looked to see the light blue Pokemon solidify; she had a smooth body and dark eyes. It was Glaceon, Isabelle’s strongest Pokemon.

“Glaceon,” murmured Liang. He had never even seen one of these Pokemon in real life. It was only recently discovered that Eevee living in specifically cold climates had evolved to handle the temperature. The Pokemon had an airy grace as she stalked forward, her short fur as brittle as ice. She looked beautiful.

“GLACEON VS SCEPTILE! THE FINAL ROUND IS UNDERWAY!” came a cry from the referee. The flags were thrown down and the match begun.

“Leaf blade!” shouted Liang wildly, straining to get the first order in. He gave a lurching gasp as he spoke, clutching his throat momentarily as he struggled to clear it. After a few moments he spluttered, watching as Sceptile sped along with his wrist-leaves glowing and curving into deadly blades. Glaceon dashed along towards the foe, firing off an ice beam in Sceptile’s direction. The Pokemon deftly leapt over the attack and dealt two cruel slashes across the lithe Pokemon’s body, before spinning around and dealing a hard-hitting iron tail, sending Glaceon across the arena.

“Glaceon!” Gregg cried. He had never trained Glaceon before, but understood what she was capable of doing, having seen her with Isabelle. “Ice Fang!”

Nodding, the Pokemon raced along again. Sceptile watched from his side of the battlefield as the foe got closer. Her jaws open, the Glaceon’s fine teeth were encased with an icy breath. Liang smiled.

“Sceptile! Agility!”

Sceptile leapt high and over the offending Pokemon, charging up energy in his mouth that formed into an orange orb. Looking down, Sceptile blasted a hyper beam down through the air, where it smashed into Glaceon and ground the Pokemon down into the earth. As the extreme heat from the hyper beam caused smoke to curl from around the site of impact, Sceptile landed.

“Glaceon use an ice beam,” Gregg muttered. He blinked rapidly, struggling to see through the sheer power of his opponent. Liang looked woebegone as he commanded his Sceptile, but the two moved with liquid fluidity; Liang’s commands barely left his lips before Sceptile was executing them to the letter. The trust and compassion between the two was overwhelming. Gregg guessed, from the mutters behind him, that Thomas was similarly impressed with the opponent’s composure.

Despite being struck by Glaceon’s rapid beam of ice, Sceptile gave a quick flex of his joints and the majority of the ice cracked off. The narrow, dark eyes of Glaceon stared ahead; she did not look happy. Sceptile blasted a bullet seed from his mouth; the green seeds exploded as they rocketed into Glaceon. She leapt gracefully to the left and blasted an ice beam that struck Sceptile right in the chest.

“Flex,” Liang muttered. As Sceptile stretched and flexed his body to loosen the ice frosting over his front, Glaceon suddenly sped along the arena like a rocket. Turning to defence tactics, Sceptile leapt out of the way as Glaceon charged, narrowly avoiding her frosted jaws. As she turned, Glaceon unleashed a sweeping blizzard attack; the curling mass of icy shards swept into Sceptile and the sheer force bowled him over; frost covered his green body and the large, yellow seeds on his back; a look of horror was upon his face as the Pokemon struggled to move under the intense frost.

“Wriggle free!” cried Liang, his voice cracking. Liang gave a cough and felt blood splatter up onto his waiting hand. He quickly wiped it on his jacket, glad he wore black today. His vision flickered as he felt light and full of ease.

“Glaceon go for an iron tail,” rasped Gregg. The Pokemon ran and leapt up, rolling in mid-air and bringing her thick, steely tail crashing down upon Sceptile’s head. The Pokemon collapsed on the floor instantly.

“No!” Luna cried. The grass Pokemon lay on the ground and the referee watched closely, counting. Liang was jerked to his senses by a sudden lurch forward and saw the battle ahead.

“SCEPTILE!” he shouted. “False swipe!”

Glaceon suddenly felt sharp pain in her knees as Sceptile, from the ground, slashed at the Pokemon in the only way he could. Falling to her knees, Glaceon gave a cry. Liang watched his Pokemon slowly get to his feet, dusting snow from his body as he charged up a leaf blade. Arms crossed, blades forming, the reptile roared his name as he fired the double blades, watching them smash into Glaceon and toss her effortlessly across the arena.

“Glaceon!” yelled Gregg. He turned back to share a glance with Thomas. When he turned, all he saw was his father, standing there with his arms crossed. He was glaring with disapproval. Eyes wide, Gregg turned back to the battlefield to see Glaceon fire off an ice beam to battle Sceptile’s onslaught of bullet seed. Turning back again, Gregg only saw Thomas, Isabelle and Deatley.

“I’m going crazy…” he murmured to himself. “Glaceon, dodge!”

Glaceon leapt back as Sceptile brought an iron tail slamming down to the ground. Unleashing a swift attack, Glaceon struck the grass Pokemon with the onslaught of shimmering golden stars. As she landed, she fired another powerful beam of cool ice right into Sceptile’s chest. Angry, Sceptile charged an orb of glowing green energy in his mouth, firing off the energy ball that was wound with glorious power. It fizzed as it bowled along through the air. Seeing this, Glaceon calmly unleashed a shadow ball of immense power. The large collective ball of swirling mist and shadow smashed into the energy ball and a huge bang filled the arena; the crowd cheered as squirts of seeping darkness curled around flashing sparks of citrus sunlight.

“That is beautiful!” Luna cried. “Shadow ball…energy ball…I am so integrating that into my next Contest.”

As Luna planned to have her Roselia and Espeon in a double appeal, on another side of the stadiums River and The Blue Avenger watched the match keenly. Crystal and Girafarig ran up the stairs and back along the seats.

“Crys!” River said. “Where have you been?”

“Yea, someone ate all your popcorn,” The Blue Avenger said absently. His hand was diving in the popcorn bucket, fishing out the last kernels. “All your popcorn.”

“We need to go. Now,” Crystal said urgently. “We spoke to two people who have dealt with WAVEX. Gregg is the subject. He’s going to win this match and he’s going to win against Chris in two days time. It’s all been fixed and…..and….”

She cleared her throat.

“…they killed Charles the night we raided the HQ. He found them cutting communications. They sh-shot him.”

“Oh my god,” River whispered.

“We need to go to Grey,” Crystal said. “He can stop this.”

“I don’t trust him,” River said.

“Grey doesn’t run the place as actively as Wolfsong and The Missing Link did. He runs it from behind the scenes. I haven’t seen him for ages,” added The Blue Avenger. “We should tell TML.”

“Now,” Girafarig prompted. TBA and River nodded, and the four all left the stadiums as the match raged on. Glaceon staggered back as Sceptile aimed a slash attack; the blue Pokemon swung her tail around but Sceptile caught it in his claws, turning and throwing the Pokemon through the air.

“Another hyper beam!” Liang shouted. “Go!”

The orange beam hurtled through the air like an express train. With streaks of light tearing across, the beam swept into Glaceon’s path. She leapt to the left and blasted an ice beam but it missed. Panting from executing the hyper beam, Sceptile gathered his energy. Glaceon surveyed the area.

“Ok Glaceon,” Gregg muttered, as the Pokemon leapt back to the trainer’s side. He was relying on a very basic arsenal of attacks here but it was evident Sceptile had the power and agility to overcome him no problem. What else had Isabelle done?

“Go for Frost Bite,” he said, recalling the agility and ice fang combo. Tearing through the air, a blinding silver light trailed behind Glaceon as she raced at Sceptile. Overwhelmed, Sceptile did nothing as the blue Pokemon tackled her and sank her teeth in, crunching down with a freezing bite. Sceptile gave a sudden shake and threw the Pokemon off; as Glaceon fell back Sceptile swung his tail around with a shimmering silver sheen and caught the ice type in the face.

“No!” Gregg shouted. Glaceon staggered as she stumbled back. An energy ball whooshed through the air and exploded down on her face she gave a cry, firing a weak, stringy jet of ice to try and fight for survival. Sceptile leapt over the icy attack and blasted an onslaught of bullets through the air, each snapping and popping upon contact. Glaceon screwed her eyes shut as she fell to the intense, overpowering grass barrage.

“Glaceon…” Isabelle murmured.

“Sceptile!” Liang cried, his Pokemon leaping to his side. The referee stared at Glaceon as she curled up on the floor, unwilling to take any more. The flag was raised.

“GLACEON IS DEFEATED! THE WINNER OF THE SEMI-FINAL MATCH IS ARAGORNBIRD!”

*

Meanwhile I was walking through the village after a great days training. The team were in their Pokeballs relaxing; Lairon had managed to perfect thunder, which was an amazing feat, and worked even harder on his defensive capabilities. I was still concerned with Politoed’s general performance and wondered if he had peaked too soon. Magmortar’s grasp on solar beam was impressive and the team in general all worked so well. I was excited to use Swalot in the finals after his lack of spotlight in Round 3.

I bid goodbye to Becca and headed for the flat, ready to chill out and think about the big battle ahead.

*

Luckily they had found Elec Man EXE and Dark Sage on the way. Crystal now led the way to the Towers with 5 other members of the syndicate. Elec Man had been hanging out with an ecstatic OzAndrew, who was trying to figure out just how he was prophesized to become famous. Dark Sage had been reading ‘The Pokemon Masters League - A History’ by an author by the name of Mr Pikachu.

“I can hear cheering,” River said absently, looking back to the stadiums.

“Oh, Becca! Hey!” TBA said suddenly, seeing her as she bid goodbye to Chris. “Becca!”

“How are you,” she said calmly.

“Becca we need to talk,” River said urgently. “It’s about WAVEX.”

River and Crystal began rapidly telling Becca about what they had heard. They explained about WAVEX and confirmed that Pichu was the person known as ‘Thomas’. They mentioned the matches Gregg had been in and how Chris Watarimono and Dark Dragonite both confirmed he was The Subject. Becca nodded as they told her everything.

“Look,” she said suddenly. “I…believe you. Riv, when you sent everyone VS Messages about the WAVEX situation I ignored it. I chose not to believe it. But ever since then I’d been getting more and more suspicious.”

“You say it like you aren’t suspicious any longer,” Dark Sage murmured from beneath his book.

“I just got a message from Grey,” she explained. “Gregg has just lost to Liang in the match. Liang’s going through to the finals.”

“Oh my god!” River gasped.

“He won?!” Girafarig spluttered.

“That’s fantastic!” Crystal said happily. “He…he beat Gregg! The Subject’s out!”

“Once we fix the communications problem we can get WAVEX sorted out,” Becca replied. “Come on. I’ll get Grey and we can apprehend them.”

*

It took Gregg some time to register what had happened, but he left the stadium and strode past WAVEX before they could have a say on anything. He stormed through his side of the tunnel, past the lockers and the recess room.

“Gregg!”

Looking, the young water trainer saw Liang coming from his tunnel; the two paths had wound around the stadium and met at the front. He looked poorly but extremely happy; he was beaming as he stood at the end of his corridor. Gregg felt awkward.

“Hey Liang,” Gregg murmured.

“Nice work out there!” Liang called. “Gave me a run for my money!”

“Thanks,” replied Gregg. He was so ashamed, so embarrassed for trusting Thomas and WAVEX, leading himself to humiliation. What would everyone say? Who knew about his role in all of this?

“I just wanted to thank you for such a good match,” Liang went on. Gregg blinked as he saw, from behind Liang, Thomas standing calmly. Isabelle was with her, advancing on an unsuspecting Aragornbird. Gregg froze with fear. Isabelle moved without a sound.

“It - it - it was no…”

Gregg didn’t even have time to finish his sentence; Isabelle, from behind Liang, pulled out a long needle and jabbed the boy in the neck. He began to turn around as Isabelle plunged the needle and filled the boy with a serum. In no time Liang’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he shook wildly. Isabelle stepped back swiftly and Thomas walked to catch up with her. The two walked towards Gregg.

“You cannot be seen here,” Thomas said curtly. Liang had collapsed and was thrashing around on the floor, foaming wildly at the mouth as his back arched. Shocked, Gregg looked panic struck and began to run over to the boy. Thomas grabbed him and wheeled him back around.

“What did you do to him?!” Gregg asked weakly. He couldn’t keep his eyes off the boy’s spasms.

“When we kidnapped him and his two friends, we noticed that the poison was destroying Liang at a slow rate. Isabelle has been developing a serum to act as a catalyst, speeding up the toxins in his body. And from the looks of things, it is working.”

“Is this…my fault?” the boy wondered. Tears filled his eyes as he saw Liang on the floor. “Is he dead?”

Thomas sniffed.

“Not yet. But when he is, you‘ll go right through to the finals.”

She disappeared with Isabelle out the stadiums. Gregg felt himself shaking with fright as he backed away from the sight before him. What should he do? Where should he go? Why did he not want anything to do with the league anymore? He turned and sped out the stadiums side door, running along Crescent Walk and not looking back.

*

Thirty-nine miles from the village was a small public airstrip. It was here that Gordon and Gordon landed from their long NY flight. A car was waiting to pick the two of them up. They departed the jet and walked across the strip, Brooklyn with his laptop.

“I’ve managed to study the communication systems,” he explained. “I can restore the settings no problem.”

“Good,” Gordon said firmly. Brooklyn looked back to the plane.

“What about the Security Team?”

“They will be following behind us,” Gordon said, of the five men hired to assist in the closure of the league. “But this car is for us. Come, Brooklyn.”

He was tired and seemingly not in the mood to talk much. Brooklyn nodded and clambered into the back of the car, as did Gordon, and the man drove them up the narrow road which would lead them to TPML by the evening’s end. The security left the plane and simply waited for their car to come for them. Many of these men usually served under Magnus Archer, but since he was not on the operation, they acted on their own.

“We are in the middle of nowhere, aren’t we,” murmured one man.

“It’s so quiet here,” added another. Crickets chirped as they sun sank lower and lower beneath the hills and the afternoon would into the evening effortlessly. There was a rustle in the bushes but it was a gentle, breezy shake; nothing to be concerned about.

“What happens with the plane?” asked Neil, one of the guards.

“I think the pilot is waiting for Gordon,” noted Alex. “He’ll set it down in the hangar down there. There’s probably an overnight room for pilots inside, you know.”

“Isn’t it funny, though,” began Neil. “How the plane -”

There was a sudden bang and Alex was shot in the neck. He slumped to the ground as the four remaining guards looked down in alarm. Staring directly ahead, to the source of the previous rustle, the guards got their guns out and stood around. Alex’s eyes drooped shut.

Another echoing bang rang out and Mike felt his knee buckle; he clutched it, screaming into the night as the bullet lodged deep into his kneecap. The loud scream gave the assailant plenty of time to run to a different part of the overgrowth and aim two clean shots into Neil’s chest; as blood burst from his wound he staggered to the floor and collapsed.

“What the hell is going on?” Jake hissed to Duncan. There was a silence in the air. The bodies of the three dead men lay around the plane. The last two guards nodded and advanced, holding their guns ready. It was time to approach the figures in the bushes. Jake nodded and Duncan swept in through the overgrowth, holding his gun out ready. He swung left, right, left again and right before deducting that there was nobody there.

“Clear?” hissed Jake.

“Nobody’s here,” Duncan muttered. “They shot Neil from the left. They must have run over there.”

Jake followed Duncan. They trawled through the bushes. As Duncan turned to look for whomever was responsible for shooting Mike, Neil and Alex, he heard another echoing bang and turned around suddenly. Jake had been shot in the back and fell forward into the bushes, blood seeping out. Panic-struck, but knowing to keep quiet, Duncan stayed still, gun poised. He had to be ready. Crunching footsteps could be heard somewhere in the distance as he struggled to decipher where the attacker was.

In a flash, headlights blinked open. Duncan saw a large, muddy-coloured van staring at him from within the bushes. Moments later, the van sped forward. Duncan shot wildly at its tyres but did nothing to the oncoming vehicle. It smashed into the athletic young man’s body and drove on, bursting from the large overgrown foliage and onto the narrow road. Duncan’s bloodied body rolled off the front of the van.

“Are they dead?” came the voice of Hage from behind the wheel. Rolph, sitting in the passenger seat, looked out the window, which was wound down.

“Y-Yes.”

“Good,” Hage replied, putting his gun away. “What a nice surprise on the way back from our mission…and how ironic that those hired to protect Gordon and Brooklyn were gunned down so easily.”

“All dead,” whispered Rolph. Hage ignored him.

“We need to return to Thomas,” Hage told the young boy. He turned to a figure in the back of the van. “Now are you going to stay quiet, or do we need to tape your mouth shut?”

“I’ll be good,” came the shaking whimper of Jenny Jackson-Smith, tied with rope in the back of the WAVEX van.

Next: Chapter 52 - Catherine Lyst
What if Chris never got into TPML? What if Liang was never poisoned? What if Becca never ran the league?

In a what-if scenario, Chris is late for his initiation and only his girlfriend, Jenny, is accepted into the League. Accompanying her, Chris meets a mysterious woman named Catherine on the train, whose very presence leads the way for an entirely different set of events.

Would Gregg be lured into manipulation? Would Chris even make it to the finals of the league? And might everything have worked out entirely different?

Information on Ch52 will come in a few days. The preview doesn't seem to great but I've been working on it and it's going to be a great chapter. Please let me know what you think - you all know how long this has taken me! A quick comment would be great, thanks!

Ultimate Charizard

7th April 2008, 04:28 PM

That was brutal. The match itself was awesome but damn how ruthless was Thomas at the end.
Even though you knew something was going to happen something that cold and pre-prepared is plain creepy.

Makes me wonder if shes actually sloppy enough to ever get caught.

MeLoVeGhOsTs

13th April 2008, 09:39 AM

This Thomas is just crazy. I'm not big on words right now, but that was an amazing chapter. Good battle, the ending was real coldhearted with Liangs 'assasination'.

I'm actually certain that Gregg will come out of this fixed league with even more trauma's, a lack of confidence and probably new enemies, or atleast people.

On a personal level, I'd like to go in there and rid TPML of Thomas myself. Which means that the chapter (and the fic as a whole) is very nicely written, really realistic.

I'm very tired and that's all I could manage to comment right now, my apologies.

Also, question, is chapter 53 resuming from the end of 51 or does 52 have some current plot in it?

Chris 2.1

14th April 2008, 12:20 PM

UC: Thanks. Brutal is such a good summary of the lengths Thomas will go to protect Gregg. Next chapter you'll see that it is Thomas's empathy for Gregg (and I suppose her passion) that drives her to do the worse thing possible. See below for a useful Extra on Thomas. Particularly on the 'sloppy' side we might see.

MLG: Crazy? Hmmmm. What an interesting angle, particularly with Razor's mention of a therapist. I'm glad you liked the battle; originally it was a bit longer but I made it a bit more succinct. Liang was always going to surpass Gregg in terms of power. WAVEX is dangerous to Gregg. Trauma is certainly a possibility.

Since posting the chapter I've decided to cancel the What If? Chapter since it distracts too far from the focus of the fic. If I was still able to churn chapters out in a fortnight I'd do it, but I want to press on. So this is the penultimate chapter, and the next, is the last.

Since we're going right to the finale, there is, of course, a new preview:

Next: Chapter 52 - Empasse
The Board of Governors have been adamant that Village 04621 be shut down. As WAVEX struggled to sever communication with the outside world, Gordon made his way to the village himself in order to close it. Now he has set foot in TPML, but does his fate rest with the loyalty of his fellow Board member, Brooklyn Knight?

In such a clash of agendas, can peace truly be found? How can Grey quell the war on his hands when both sides victory leads to despair? The leader of the village takes drastic measures to protect the most important person involved. Razor Leaf aligns himself with another TPML-er in order to kill two birds with one stone.

As Liang lies in hospital, Becca urges to let Amy know of his fate. Meanwhile, Gregg faces a dilemma about whether to fight Chris in the finals. Will the last match even take place? Meanwhile Jenny, held captive in an old bunker, finds her oppertunity to escape when tempers flare among WAVEX, who captured her in order to coerce Chris to lose to Gregg.

The fic is titled Empasse because I wanted a title fitting all the storylines together. The match title wouldn't be big and grand enough. It's going to be an explosive finish to the fic, which I have already begun writing. I hope you enjoy it!

Before that, though, we have the final TPML Extras.

TPML Extra #6
WAVEX

Since the mention of the mysterious name, WAVEX had perhaps been the most perplexing aspect of the last part of the fic. Founded by TPML vet Pichu, under the alias Thomas, the group has been focused on getting Hanada Tattsu to win the league.

First, the members.

Pichu is the leader. Her real name is Alexis Monroe, and she is from Manchester, Uk. She has lead a troubled life, having seen her mother, Fiona, murdered at the hands of her father, Thomas, when she was 12. Psycologically, Alexis suffered when she was young, becoming disorientated with her parents and disconnected from her peers. She was sent to a psychiatrist named Mark Stone, who summised that the ordeal had literally torn the girl's heart in two; she had her mothers powerful empathy and compassion, which clashed with her father's bitterness and violent behavior. Despite this, she was never schitzophrenic. She was prescribed medication during her teenage years from Dr Stone, which often helped calm her violent side. When she left puberty, she had developed more control over her emotions. She was renowned in TPML for having small, cute Pokemon (like her Pichu and Cyndaquil) and a variety of bird types, and was generally cheery and pleasant, although ordeals had left her with a rare, sardonic side. She often asked to be called by Tom – using her fear of her own father and projecting that into others.

When she was fired as a Moderator by Cocoa String, Alexis worked for East Coast News behind the scenes, and upon learning of Ecks being shot by Cocoa Sting, immediately came back to the league to see how it had affected Gregg, recalling how she went off the rails after a similar experience in her own life. She has connected with Gregg on an impersonal, one-way level, knowing that, after seeing him train with Grey, all he wants is to forget his fathers death and concentrate on the league.

Isabelle is Pichu’s right-hand-lady, the two having met when Pichu was in Hospital having therapy. She is young, pretty and dangerous, having trained in chemistry before transferring to pharmaceuticals and becoming a nurse. She is the only person Pichu really trusts, and as a result has a higher position in WAVEX. She is often used to infiltrate the Hospital, for example, when Dark Dragonite was admitted, in order to deliver news.

Hage worked mainly as a bodyguard for Pichu and WAVEX. He used to work for Pichu’s father, the original Thomas, who dealt in minor criminal activities. When Thomas (Snr) was imprisoned, he told Hage (and Brink) to look after Pichu at whatever cost. When collecting her people together to form WAVEX, Pichu plucked these two from their jobs and asked them to work for her, which they did with obligation. Hage is from Glasgow and has a thick, burly accent. He is trained with a gun and is also used a lot as a driver. His moral compass is very wobbly, with him following orders to a tee.

Brink[b] (now Deceased) had a similar role to Hage, but he was slightly more inclined to follow his intuitions. He wanted to save Liang when he had a small heart attack at their HQ; he has a lot of compassion for his young daughter, and his wife, which often clouded his judgement. He was used to liaise between Girafarig, Dark Dragonite and Chris Watarimono before they were officially used for WAVEX business, but was killed by Wayne as he fled the HQ.

[b]Rolph is a young boy of 19. He works mainly in IT and computers, and was the only boy who talked to Pichu when she was at school. He is a naïve, weak-minded person, easily swayed by the older, stronger members of the group, and is good with technology. His personality is complex; he is rarely open minded but quite spiritual and dream-like when he wants to be. He has a missing finger, a result of refusing an order set by Thomas, which serves as a reminder of his negligence.

Wayne[b] (now Deceased) was involved with security in a slightly different way. A skilled trainer in his own right, he was a scientist, and was fascinated with gaseous Pokemon and their breeding capabilities. As a result, he lived along with a fleet of ghost Pokemon, which some say may be the cause of his unnaturally pale skin and empty eyes. He was hired to help infiltrate the league as well as use his Gastly to spy in the village; their ability to phase into the atmosphere was highly sought after, and Wayne’s odd control over the spectres proved highly useful. He had a Flygon, Aggron and Gengar and was very loyal to WAVEX. He was 39 when he was killed; in a violent confrontation with Brink in Crush Quarry.

[b]Logan (now Deceased) was another scientist used primarily for research but was also a competent battler. He also worked on camera crew for the news station, under a different name. He is a very sarcastic, angry man, but does not command the same power Brink and Hage seem to. Logan was killed by Brink in the raid on WAVEX HQ, after he failed to kill Charles Legend. He had a Magneton, Corphish, Numel and Buizel.

Colton (now deceased) was also used to infiltrate the league, having a good, strong team. He was known to use an Ivysaur, Raticate, and other small but powerful monsters that helped him gain a reputation. Unfortunately he lied about getting into Round 2, only to satisfy Thomas. Rolph also lied about witnessing the victory, having missed the match and to coincide with Colton’s lie. Deatley informed Thomas that Colton shot himself in the head after spilling the news; the fact is that Deatley killed him – he snapped his neck upon hearing of the betrayal.

Deatley[b] is a handsome man of 35, wearing expensive suits and with a set of perfect white teeth. He presents some of the news shoes, under the name Declan, and is an integral part of the WAVEX team since its numbers have fallen recently. Thomas places a lot of trust in him. He is a con artist by nature, and enjoyed the ability to work in television. Thomas hired him after losing a lot of money from him in a scam. While there was initial distrust among the two, they have grown dependant on each other and work as a team.

[b]Brooklyn Knight is perhaps the most vague, ambiguous WAVEX member. What is known is that he worked on the Technical Department on the Board of Governors before being promoted to a Board position. He was working for WAVEX before his promotion. As for Volletta Kane, she was never used as a spy for WAVEX. Rather, Thomas and Brooklyn set her up in a meagre position (similar in tier to DD, Chris W or Girafarig), asking her to report on meetings and give information which was never really needed. Brooklyn was then to step in with evidence of this betrayal, which Volletta could never deny. She is still in prison. Brooklyn, however, has now allied closely with Gordon thanks to his framing of Volletta. But the main details of Brooklyn’s story will be conveyed in The final chapter 

Since the HQ was raided, WAVEX have been using The Cronus Industries Bunker for their operations.

Sike Saner

25th April 2008, 01:00 AM

Nice, there was a Steelix in that chapter, and furthermore I got to see said Steelix in action. Very cool. :D And speaking of Pokémon that I really, really like, I loved the part where that Wobbuffet used Counter on Andrew. XD

And I am really liking Swalot's personality. He's just so adorable! ^^

I enjoyed this chapter's battles, particularly due to how much ass-kicking the aforementioned Steelix got to do--I frelling loved that--and the particular sort of awesomeness that is seeing a Porygon2 and its type-changing abilities employed in a battle. And the Sceptile vs. Glaceon match was also awesome, very intense. ^^

And oh man... I feel sorry for Liang's Dragonite, considering what the tests that performed on him have done to his health. Poor guy. :(

Speaking of Liang... damn. What WAVEX did to him looked pretty damned brutal. o_o I knew they'd do something terrible to him if he won that match, but wow... that was even more terrible than I'd expected. o_o

Also memorably brutal was the scene in which Gordon's and Brooklyn's Security Team were all killed. Especially memorable was the part where Duncan was mowed down by that van. o_o

Comedic Highlights

Having met the ‘Tertiary’ members of the league, who all seemed too boring to actually be liked by anyone, Andrew was pacing the streets, anxiously searching for a newspaper so that he could check his horoscope.

That made me laugh. XD

“Listen to me you little frick!” snarled Andrew, pushing the Wobbuffet over. The Wobbuffet glowed and swung back, countering the attack and smashing into him, sending him flying.

This is why directly attacking or otherwise being needlessly rough with a Wobbuffet is very often a bad idea. XDDDD Again, I loved that part. :D

“Welcome to the bubbly, bouncy, fun-a-rific Deus XP Machina Newsagent!” came a cry. Andrew looked to see Nurse Smiles behind the counter, beaming at him.

“Hey, didn’t we judge a contest together once?” Andrew asked.

“We did! It was so much fun!” said the Nurse. “Fun fun…funfunfun, la laaa, fun! FUN! It was f.u.n.”

Good ol' Nurse Smiles. XD

“How much?”

“Free pounds and free pence!” said the lady. “I’m saying ‘free’, not ‘three’ with a cleft palette.”

XD

“This is Magmar…except he’s Magmortar now,” I explained. Cacturne strode forward to try and high-5 the colossal beast, but his spiny arms coupled with Magmortar’s large, cone-like canons didn’t really allow for this to go easily; instead, a fireball burst out from Magmortar’s palm and nearly set Cacturne on fire.

XD Oh dear.

“Well I am trying to watch the match,” Crystal snapped back. River turned around and whacked Chris over the head with a fan.

XD

“Yea, someone ate all your popcorn,” The Blue Avenger said absently. His hand was diving in the popcorn bucket, fishing out the last kernels. “All your popcorn.”

Lol, "someone". XP

Dramatic Highlights

“I just wanted to thank you for such a good match,” Liang went on. Gregg blinked as he saw, from behind Liang, Thomas standing calmly. Isabelle was with her, advancing on an unsuspecting Aragornbird. Gregg froze with fear. Isabelle moved without a sound.

“It - it - it was no…”

Gregg didn’t even have time to finish his sentence; Isabelle, from behind Liang, pulled out a long needle and jabbed the boy in the neck. He began to turn around as Isabelle plunged the needle and filled the boy with a serum. In no time Liang’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he shook wildly. Isabelle stepped back swiftly and Thomas walked to catch up with her. The two walked towards Gregg.

“You cannot be seen here,” Thomas said curtly. Liang had collapsed and was thrashing around on the floor, foaming wildly at the mouth as his back arched.

...Holy crap... o_o

“Isn’t it funny, though,” began Neil. “How the plane -”

There was a sudden bang and Alex was shot in the neck. He slumped to the ground as the four remaining guards looked down in alarm. Staring directly ahead, to the source of the previous rustle, the guards got their guns out and stood around. Alex’s eyes drooped shut.

Another echoing bang rang out and Mike felt his knee buckle; he clutched it, screaming into the night as the bullet lodged deep into his kneecap. The loud scream gave the assailant plenty of time to run to a different part of the overgrowth and aim two clean shots into Neil’s chest; as blood burst from his wound he staggered to the floor and collapsed.

O_O And again I say, holy crap!

Jake followed Duncan. They trawled through the bushes. As Duncan turned to look for whomever was responsible for shooting Mike, Neil and Alex, he heard another echoing bang and turned around suddenly. Jake had been shot in the back and fell forward into the bushes, blood seeping out. Panic-struck, but knowing to keep quiet, Duncan stayed still, gun poised. He had to be ready. Crunching footsteps could be heard somewhere in the distance as he struggled to decipher where the attacker was.

In a flash, headlights blinked open. Duncan saw a large, muddy-coloured van staring at him from within the bushes. Moments later, the van sped forward. Duncan shot wildly at its tyres but did nothing to the oncoming vehicle. It smashed into the athletic young man’s body and drove on, bursting from the large overgrown foliage and onto the narrow road. Duncan’s bloodied body rolled off the front of the van.

O_O And for a third time, holy crap...

Battle Highlights

Swalot pounced to the left and curled into a ball, using rollout to speed along the arena like a sloppy tyre.

I like that choice of words. ^^

“Use sludge bomb!” Gregg called. Quagsire ran forward, firing pellets of thick sludge through the air. Swellow deftly summoned a sweeping whirlwind to whip up and blast away the projectiles; as Quagsire stopped in his tracks, the swallow Pokemon summoned a flock of blue jays, all surrounding the water type and bearing down upon him.

Those were some cool techniques used by Swellow, especially with regards to that second technique that he used. o.o

As sweeping, golden energy engulfed Swellow, he tore down through the air, his clones disappearing as Quagsire got to his feet. He looked up, gave a smirk, and clapped both his hands together. Thick chunks of rock pierced the arena floor all around Swellow before falling gently down and swatting the bird down. Swellow fell to the ground and lay beneath the slabs of rock, which met at their tips, forming around the bird in a circle, pressed in, encasing him in a tomb.

“Use an ice beam to seal the cracks!” Gregg ordered. Quagsire ran around the outside of the arena, firing his attack to seal up any cracks or spaces between the thick slabs of rock. Swellow lay within, looking for some way out, but it was impossible. Quagsire doused the tomb with water to aid the freezing process.

Those were certainly some memorable moves used against Swellow there.

“Get up! Use hydro pump!” Hanada cried. Quagsire blasted the attack out from his wide mouth, but Steelix applied a rapid spin to his lower two segments, creating a drill-like tail he used to dive in and siphon the water away.

That was a very smart move. Very cool. ^^

“Thunder fang, go.”

Fangs crackling with sparks and lightening, Steelix swept at Poliwrath with surprising speed. Poliwrath sprinted across the arena but was snapped up by the large steel behemoth, subjected to horrible torture as the electric attack coursed through his short body.

Awesome. I do enjoy the hell out of watching a Steelix kick ass like that... ^^

“Conversion.”

Porygon2 beeped and the pink portions of its body glowed white, melding into an odd, liquid-blue colour that shimmered like water; it was as if the Pokemon was comprised entirely of liquid. The water attack struck Porygon2 (and subsequently caused ripples all over its body) but the attack didn’t phase the Pokemon at all.

I really like the way you described Porygon2's Conversion into a Water-type. ^^

Marshtomp threw a punch, smashing Porygon2 in the face, but the Pokemon glowed brightly and then became encased in a steel sheen, converting to the steel type and making physical attacks painful to execute.

Similarly, I like how you described it becoming a Steel-type. ^^

Electabuzz nodded; as he clenched his fists, sparks coursed across his fuzzy torso and his antenna sparkled with life. A shooting cannon of lightening bolted from his body and flew at Starmie; the Pokemon’s core glowed and she began to repel the attack with a psychic attack. I was reminded of Politoed doing the same against Andrew’s Starmie. The thunder was inches from Starmie’s body, with rogue sparks jutting up left and right, breaking from the pack. The main entity of the attack, however, was just paused. With a deep grunt, Starmie managed to fling the attack up into the air, where it burst into a showing rain of yellow fractions.

That was a nice move from Starmie there, as well as one that resulted in some nice visuals. ^^

Empoleon hobbled off and watched as Alakazam telekinetically floated onto the stage, looking calm.

First of all, I'm always glad to see an Alakazam make an appearance. :D And I like the way that that one made his entrance there. ^^

“Your opponent might!” she said back. “Let’s change this up a bit. Politoed, use a bubble beam. Starmie, Weavile, freeze the bubbles with blizzard.”

My Pokemon trusted Becca and they agreed to her requests. Politoed fired off the wide spectrum of bubbles and soon Empoleon assisted. Weavile and Starmie unleashed icy waves to freeze the bubbles into solid, chilled capsules glittering in the sun. They fell from the air, but with a lazy flick of his spoons Alakazam had them all hovering above him like an elegant winter chandelier.

NICE. I love the image that that puts in my mind. ^^

“Porygon2 use conversion,” Liang told his Pokemon. Porygon2 nodded, glowing white and then turning a vivid yellow colour where it used to be blue. Where it was pink, it now had thin black stripes. It had converted to the electric type.

My favorite of Porygon2's type-changes--I like its color scheme in that form. ^^

As Alakazam levitated the next instalment of orbs, Vibrava blasted a dragon pulse down through the air right towards the PSI Pokemon. It looked to be an instant hit, but Alakazam flicked his arm and the icy orbs all formed a collective shield that blocked the attack effortlessly, causing them all to shatter into tiny fragments.

Another smart move. ^^

Glaceon leapt back as Sceptile brought an iron tail slamming down to the ground. Unleashing a swift attack, Glaceon struck the grass Pokemon with the onslaught of shimmering golden stars. As she landed, she fired another powerful beam of cool ice right into Sceptile’s chest. Angry, Sceptile charged an orb of glowing green energy in his mouth, firing off the energy ball that was wound with glorious power. It fizzed as it bowled along through the air. Seeing this, Glaceon calmly unleashed a shadow ball of immense power. The large collective ball of swirling mist and shadow smashed into the energy ball and a huge bang filled the arena; the crowd cheered as squirts of seeping darkness curled around flashing sparks of citrus sunlight.

“That is beautiful!” Luna cried. “Shadow ball…energy ball…I am so integrating that into my next Contest.”

That was beautiful, indeed... o.o

Other Highlights

“Vibrava, take a break. Electabuzz get up here.”

Electabuzz strode up. At mention of his friend’s name Magmortar gave a cheer and fired fireballs into the air like gunshots. Cacturne looked perturbed and sat slightly further away. Politoed enjoyed the fiery display.
I liked what Magmortar did there. ^^ And I also really liked Cacturne's reaction to what Magmortar did there. XD

“Not bad!” I told him. Swalot began sobbing with joy at my words.

A cute reaction from Swalot there. ^^

“What the hell?” I asked wildly. Swalot began welling up as he saw Electabuzz twitch on the floor, eyes wide in alarm.

Swalot is seriously adorable!

“You employ a team of Alakazam to operate the logistics of the league, yes?” asked the woman.

“We have five, yes,” Grey replied. “Becca’s Alakazam, Nightshade, is the coordinator of those five. We also have five Metang that patrol the Archives, and my Metagross coordinates them.”

“Then use the combined power of those psychic Pokemon to rifle through the entire village,” Annabel requested. “They can narrow their search to height, gender, hair colour…”

“No,” Grey said firmly. “They are not a ‘Google’ search engine. The village needs these Pokemon for protection and they have jobs to do.”

I like that line. :D

“If Scott or Annabel approach these Archives, let me know,” he said. Lunatone gave a crooning purr.

And I like the noise Lunatone made there. ^^

Awesome chapter, and great extra, too (very cool to have gotten such a chance to get an in-depth look into characters, and also cool to know now why Pichu chose the name "Thomas" for herself). ^^ And wow... it's incredible to think that this story is so very near its conclusion. I'm very excited to read the last chapter--I'm always happy to see one of my favorite fics make it to its completion, and I get the feeling that this finale is going to be a damned good one. ^^

Chris 2.1

2nd May 2008, 08:34 PM

Sike: Hey for the penultimate time! Glad you liked the inclusion of Steelix; I originally intended for MLG to use one in Round 2 (and envisioned it snaking beneath the columns that they battled on) but it never came to light and I've been itching to use one since. I gave Liang my Onix in ASB and am going on the assumption its evolved by now :p

Thanks about Swalot. He's a big-hearted monster really. I thought about how he might feel if his original trainer (David, Chris' brother) died; I came to the conclusion the Pokemon would be a pretty emotional, needy type, hence the bawling and general harmlessness. It's sorta funny Swalot can inject poison at will ^^

Also worth mentioning; due to David's personality it was heavily implied he may have simply purchased a Swalot from a qualified trainer. This is why he knows ice beam and bullet seed, due to his well trained original owner.

The real difficulty with this match was setting the tone. Liang is obviously stronger than Gregg. But he is very ill. How much has that impaired him mentally? Not enough, I thought, to mean Gregg's freshly trained Pokemon can trounce these veteran fighters, who have beaten many, many trainers in TPML. At the same time WAVEX were pulling the strings slightly. So I had to let Steelix really shine and dominate a portion of the match, and at the same time, fu*k Poliwrath over in terms of screentime...

Liang's death was barbaric but it's always been planned that way. The next chapter is going to be very poetic and beautiful as we see him in his last moments. As for the last scene; it was improvised generally and I was never 100% sure how it was going to pan out. But I'm happy with the reaction.

The WAVEX extra was veeery important. Do things make a bit more sense? The next extra (which will go up before the finale) is a short UuberFred story that has not made it into the last 2 chapters. Not altogether relevant to the plot, but it is a rather humerous encounter with the Frontier Brain that good old Fred has duped twice already ^^

Chris 2.1

18th May 2008, 08:48 PM

This is a small extra that was initially supposed to be in the last chapter. Since I didnt put it in I got the chance to flesh it out a little and make it into a complete piece. It's about UuberFred and the Noland/Fred rivalry that happened before the Brains left. With Noland back in the village I thought it was a good oppertunity to tie up this storyline.

So let me know what you think!

TPML Extra #7
UuberFred VS Noland (Round 3)

“We’re all in this together…” sang a disturbed young boy. 13 year old Pchestfrederunk, also known by his username, UuberFred, was calmly sitting in the village square with his team of Pokemon. There was Jake, his flea-ridden Murkrow that had joined him when its original owner, McPrawn (from The King Prawn Pawn Shop) was falsely arrested after Tucker’s spine was broken. Jake was a good battler but clearly ridden with disease. Also with him was Swinub, a Pokemon that Fred’s father had captured for him in their home town of Augusta, Michigan. Then there was Wobbuffet, Lickitung, Quilava, Manectric and a small, young Eevee, which was initially intended for Noland’s daughter, Maisy.

“Come on guys! I know we lost out in the First Round but the next league is not long away! And we need to train up!” he cried to the team. “Ok this sounds really crazy but Lickitung I want you to fire a hyper beam into Manectric!”

Lickitung stared at his trainer, deeply confused.

“Trust meeee!” he cried out. Lickitung nodded, charging up a beam of orange energy in his mouth. Manectric watched apprehensively. Eevee looked up at Quilava, who put a paw on the young Pokemon’s head. The hyper beam was fired off but it was weak and stringy, barely contained at all. Manectric was struck and stumbled to the floor temporarily.

“Good work!” the trainer said. Manectric sulked off to join Quilava and Eevee. “Lickitung I believe in you so much!”

Just then, Fred turned to see a familiar figure talking in the village square; it was Factory Head Noland, with Annabel and Scott. If Noland saw Fred again, he would demand the Pokemon back that Fred stole when the Brains were staying in the village. Knowing that these well trained, obedient, stolen Pokemon were all he had, Fred whipped out all the Pokeballs he could, pulling Manectric, Quilava, Eevee, Lickitung, Jake and Swinub into their homes. As he prepared to recall Wobbuffet, the young boy saw the large blob-like Pokemon wander towards her old trainer.

“Ladyffet!” Fred moaned, reaching out to stop his Pokemon. He ran and prepared to tackle the Pokemon to the ground; seeing this, she glowed a nutty brown colour and Fred, upon contact, was hurled back across the village square, causing Ladyffett to swing back and forwards like a punching bag. The Brains turned to see the commotion as Fred knocked someone over.

“Sorrysorrysorrysorry!” he muttered, getting to his feet. The lady; a large, square woman in hospital uniform, dusted herself off.

“Eees nothink, ees nothink,” she blurted. “I am to be Nurse, I am to be capable in dealink with inju-maries.”

Ignoring Nurse Bituch, Fred looked up as Noland’s lips curled into a smirk. He grabbed a Pokeball of his own. Noticing his team was at stake, Fred turned and ran through the village, Ladyffett now gone from his roster as she stood with Scott and Annabel.

“Come here,” murmured Noland, racing after the boy. “YOU LITTLE BASTARD!”

“Argh!” Fred wept, running past The Missing Link. She looked at him quizzically, but pressed on towards the towers. Noland collided into Becca as he gave chase, knocking her to the ground.

“Watch out!” she snapped. Noland carried on, and the chase continued.

“Scyther!” he yelled, hurling the ball into the air. His Pokemon emerged, tearing into the sky and bearing his deadly scythes. Following Fred, Scyther led out a manic cry, wings buzzing. Noland released and clambered upon a Rapidash and, giving it a light kick in the side, strode on past the village square.

“I don’t like this game anymore,” Fred wept, heading along the quiet, spacious walk towards Tranquil Shores. Sweat was pouring down his forehead as he stashed the Pokeballs in a backpack, thinking wildly about how he was going to end up getting out of this one.

“YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM ME!” Noland roared, hurtling along on his Rapidash.

“Jake!” Fred said, hurling the ball into the air. “Fight that freaky bug!”

Jake swept through the air. Fred failed to catch the ball as it flew down and it hit him on the head. Jake the Murkrow sped through the air and drove his beak into Scyther’s stomach; the bug flapped back, slashing wildly, but the young, agile crow darted high and darted low, avoiding the slashes and unleashing a barrage of pecks.

“Good work!” Fred said, trying to watch the fight as he ran. He tripped and fell to the ground suddenly, giving a yelp of pain. Two Pokeballs burst open, revealing Eevee and Swinub. Noland’s eyes widened at the sight of the young Eevee. He came to a halt on his Rapidash, bearing down on young Fred. Meanwhile, Scyther slashed Murkrow across the throat; giving a scream, the Pokemon fell to the ground in a heap of feathers and blood.

“JAKE!” screamed Fred. Swinub blasted an icicle spear through the air, sending streaming spikes towards Noland. Rapidash blasted a stream of flames from her mouth and melted the oncoming attack effortlessly. Fred looked at Jake, who was panting softly, and back to Noland, whose Scyther made no attempt to wipe the blood from his scythes.

“Hand over my Pokemon,” snapped the man. The fury in his voice cloaked him. He was engulfed in bitterness and hatred. “I have a Chansey with me. She can heal Jake’s wounds, Fred, but only if you hand over the Pokemon you stole from The Battle Factory.”

Fred’s lip was trembling as the thought of losing his Pokemon began to sink in. It was an obvious choice for him to hand over his stolen Pokemon…he couldn’t let Jake die. Crying as he stood before Noland, Fred saw Eevee walk calmly towards the battered Murkrow, whose eyes were shut. Eevee let out a small whimper and placed a paw to Jake’s large, thick wound. Noland watched curiously, while Fred continued to cry.

A faint glow engulfed Eevee, causing Swinub, Rapidash and Scyther to watch on, heavily intrigued. Noland made an attempt to speak up about the phenomenon, but could not find the words. The intense glow caused Fred to look at his Pokemon, the baby Eevee, who was gently pressing her paw to Jake.

“Wh-What’s going on?” Fred sniffed, blinking away tears.

“Eevee is using Wish…” Noland murmured. “She is channelling her power into Jake to heal his wound…”

“You’re healing him?” Fred asked faintly, seeing a shimmering, silvery star in Eevee’s eyes. She concentrated completely on attending the wound. Noland looked almost sick at the display, seeing the blood slowly siphon away from the wound and the gash slowly, gently close up.

“Eevee,” Noland said crisply. “Eevee. Come to me.”

Eevee continued to heal Murkrow, ignoring Noland’s commands. Giving a slight nod of his head, he understood. Fred was amazed, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. Jake opened his eyes blearily, looking around.

“Jake!” Fred said happily. “I thought you’d died and gone to Sinnoh!”

Jake gave a sigh, seemingly exhausted. Similarly Eevee looked absolutely drained, curling up at Fred’s feet.

“She is yours,” Noland sighed. “I bred this Eevee for my daughter, Maisy. But since you took her at such a young age, she has grown to see you as her trainer. She didn’t even respond to my commands, and tried a very exhausting move to ensure your Murkrow’s safety.”

He cleared his throat.

“I am still demanding my other Pokemon back off you, Fred. Manetric, Quilava and Lickitung. They belong to The Battle Factory.”

“Ok,” whispered Fred, throwing his bag to Noland. Noland bent down, unzipping the childish backpack and rummaging for the three balls; they had the species engraved on the top, so it was easy enough for him to tell which was which. Noland put the Pokeballs away and gazed down at Fred, who was looking after Murkrow with Swinub as Eevee slept.

“Take care of Eevee for me,” Noland ordered, not particularly pleasant or kind. It was a command. He climbed onto Rapidash and steered her around; Scyther took to the skies, looking slightly unhinged that Murkrow had survived. Noland rode off back towards the village square.

“Goodbye, Ancient Man Sage Noland,” Fred murmured, imagining that was the man’s true title due to his mysterious nature. He felt quite deflated, despite getting to keep the little Eevee. But he would miss his team - particularly Ladyffet, who he was developing rather disturbing feelings for.

Deciding to wander towards Tranquil Shores, Fred recalled his team members, who seemed stressed, tired and generally in need of some comforting. Along the way, Fred saw a rather odd looking clown sprawled over a tree stump, a newspaper lying on the ground. Intrigued, Fred decided to wander over. The clown was in a terrible state; he rolled over and hit the floor, seemingly unconscious. Fred saw his horoscope page was open and decided to read it:

Mr Crappy Clown-Man
Money will be a problem. If you want to know why you are an unloved, pathetic attempt of a clown, call my Zodiac Line on 01226234234 and follow the instructions. You are unfunny, you’re a waste of space, and my unborn child already hates you. You suck.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say,” Fred murmured. The clown had a Pokeball belt. Fred’s eyes darted to it, before looking back. No…it would be wrong to take this suicidal clowns Pokemon, wouldn’t it? But then, what if he were to kill himself (and quite frankly, do society a favour), what would happen to the Pokemon?

“This is for your own safety guys,” Fred said absently, picking two Pokeballs from the clown’s belt. He casually looked at his own horoscope:

UuberFred
I forsee a visit from your family. Your entire family. Money will be a problem.

Thanks guys! The finale is coming along really well - shaping up to be a great end to the fic!

There is going to be another extra before then which is basically just condensed snippets of information like history behind Dusclops, a bit on Ecks, some small things here and there! Then by then I will have the final chapter up.

Charles Legend

19th June 2008, 06:38 PM

LOL @ TPML Extra #7 UuberFred VS Noland (Round 3) Sheer brilliant Chris as always, I like the fact that Fred got to keep Eevee. ^_^

Oh and yeah I did notice your map of the village you posted ages ago, you know if could have used the Tile Sets From FR/LG or D/P to make it, or better yet use an RPG maker to make your fic into a game, LOL Just kidding Chris. ;)

~Charles Legend

Chris 2.1

20th June 2008, 03:54 PM

Charles: Thanks; I'm glad you liked the extra. The moment where Eevee protected Jake was touching; one draft had Eevee fight Noland off, another had her evolving into an Espeon, showing her bond with Fred. But we have a very prominent Espeon already and I like the little Eevee.

As for an RPG....I think not ^^ although a tile-based map is a great idea! A project over the summer, perhaps?

You've all been very patient waiting for Chapter 52 but I will have to ask you to wait for some time before it is finished. I've been busy with exams and the summer is busy too, but I am working hard on making this a dynamic, ground breaking chapter and it will be the perfect end to the fic.

It's huge, too; much larger than the normal size. Not only is the final battle pretty cool, we'll see a lot of action from all the characters; OzAndrew and Razor Leaf form an alliance to get Oz onto the Frontier Brains, Thomas tries to prevent Gordon closing down the league, Brooklyn's true alliance is shown and we see just how important Liang was to the entire village.

Please feel free to speculate and discuss until the chapter is up!

Sike Saner

27th June 2008, 04:04 PM

That had UuberFred, Nurse Bituch, and some horoscopes and thus made me quite happy indeed. :D

I also thought it was nice that Fred got to keep the Eevee, though I also can’t help but hope that Noland or someone else is able to procure another one to give to Maisy—if she’s anything like her father (who proved fairly frightening at times while chasing after Fred X3), she could possibly react pretty scarily (or at the very least very loudly) if she were to find out that she missed out on an Eevee. X3

And I thought it was very sweet when the Eevee used Wish to heal Jake. ^^

Highlights

“Trust meeee!” he cried out.

In my mind, I heard him say that in a very whiny voice, and that amused the heck out of me. XD

“Ladyffet!” Fred moaned, reaching out to stop his Pokemon. He ran and prepared to tackle the Pokemon to the ground; seeing this, she glowed a nutty brown colour and Fred, upon contact, was hurled back across the village square, causing Ladyffett to swing back and forwards like a punching bag.

Again, directly attacking a Wobbuffet is often a BAD IDEA. XD

“Come here,” murmured Noland, racing after the boy. “YOU LITTLE BASTARD!”

That put such an entertaining little piece of mental cinema in my mind… XD

Fred’s lip was trembling as the thought of losing his Pokemon began to sink in. It was an obvious choice for him to hand over his stolen Pokemon…he couldn’t let Jake die. Crying as he stood before Noland, Fred saw Eevee walk calmly towards the battered Murkrow, whose eyes were shut. Eevee let out a small whimper and placed a paw to Jake’s large, thick wound. Noland watched curiously, while Fred continued to cry.

A faint glow engulfed Eevee, causing Swinub, Rapidash and Scyther to watch on, heavily intrigued. Noland made an attempt to speak up about the phenomenon, but could not find the words. The intense glow caused Fred to look at his Pokemon, the baby Eevee, who was gently pressing her paw to Jake.

“Wh-What’s going on?” Fred sniffed, blinking away tears.

“Eevee is using Wish…” Noland murmured. “She is channelling her power into Jake to heal his wound…”

“You’re healing him?” Fred asked faintly, seeing a shimmering, silvery star in Eevee’s eyes. She concentrated completely on attending the wound. Noland looked almost sick at the display, seeing the blood slowly siphon away from the wound and the gash slowly, gently close up.

Again, this was a great moment, very sweet. ^^

“Goodbye, Ancient Man Sage Noland,” Fred murmured, imagining that was the man’s true title due to his mysterious nature.

“Ancient Man Sage”… XD

Mr Crappy Clown-Man
Money will be a problem. If you want to know why you are an unloved, pathetic attempt of a clown, call my Zodiac Line on 01226234234 and follow the instructions. You are unfunny, you’re a waste of space, and my unborn child already hates you. You suck.

DAMN. XD

UuberFred
I forsee a visit from your family. Your entire family. Money will be a problem.

Seems like money’s always a problem… XP

So yeah, that was a fun little bit of reading there. I enjoyed it. ^^

Chris 2.1

15th July 2008, 03:10 PM

The final chapter is really coming along well, and we have what I hope is the perfect end to the fic. I am also writing the Dusclops Extra which has been in the back of my head for quite some time.

Please remember to consider us during the Silver Pencils - Re-read some of the last chapters to remember just how brilliant this fic is! (*Ahem*)

I must say a lot of my plans for the final chapter have blown out of the window in a surge of artistic lustry. I'm surprising myself with just where all our characters are ending up!

Chris 2.1

24th August 2008, 05:04 PM

Silver Pencils

Guys we won two awards!
-Best Emotional Moment (Becca and Rachael's talk at the end of Ch50)
-Best Battle Scene (Gregg VS Liang (Glaceon VS Sceptile) in Ch51)

Thanks so much if you voted. We've nailed some awards at every Silver Pencils/Golden Pens since the fic begun and its a fantastic feeling, after my initial worries we'd be left out.

So here's another 'nearly done with the finale!' post - I'm nearly done with the finale! Honestly this time. 4/5th's done, I swear! I've done loads this last week, and everything is just feeling amazing. This sense of completion is almost overwhelming.

It will come soon. Thank you for all being so patient.

Lune the Guardian

15th September 2008, 12:52 AM

/comes back from the dead

Wow. I just finished all the chapters I missed. I can't believe it's up to the final chapter! Razor Leaf just came back and now disappears again, what's going to happen to him? Poor Liang wins, just to be murdered - I was hoping that someone could have cured him. Still hoping that Liang is somehow miraculously saved! And we finally see Jenny again... guess we know how the last match is "taken care of". I'm worried about how all these events are going to affect Hanada, I mean I think it was a bad decision to let him know the battles were fixed - because when he lost to Liang and then Liang was murdered, it's obvious he didn't make it to the finals fair and square. Telling him that events were fixed, in my opinion, is detrimental more than helpful to his confidence. And then there's the last battle itself... Can the last chapter really tie all the questions together? Judging from the time you're working on it, I expect it's going to be massive.

[EDIT]: Oh whoops, Pichu's story is in the extra.

What's going to happen to Gordon? Brooklyn is with him o_O

By the way, you wrote that "Gordon and Gordon" stepped off the plane, you meant Gordon and Brooklyn right?

And oh yeah, nurse bituch is hilarious XD

Chris 2.1

22nd September 2008, 05:11 AM

Lune: Hi there! Thanks for catching up. I know what you mean - certainly an exhilirating (sp!?) journey over the last few chapters. First off, I have to explain - Liang is not dead yet. The serum worked as a catalyst to speed up the poison in his body, causing him to sort of overload and collapse. He is in a coma at the beginning of the chapter, but, in true Liang style, has an impressive impact during the final chapter.

Razor Leaf returning was never planned....but I always wanted to. He is one of the core characters in this story, and I think we all knew he wasn't going to enjoy where he was going. Again, like Liang, he plays a surprising role.

WAVEX's plan to blackmail Chris with Jenny's life seems perfect. But how do you lose a match on purpose?

Gregg is being manipulated by WAVEX and in doing so, it is slowly destroying him mentally. The revelation was important for his character because it showed him he doesn't need to follow Grey's righteous training to win the league. He is worried about facing Chris, but when he knows the league is fixed for him to win, he can relax slightly. But the journey he has taken in the fic has been astounding.

The final chapter is MASSIVE. I will cut unecessary parts but it is about 60 pages. A normal chapter reaches between 30 and 35. I am almost finished, tying everything up (resentfully - I cant believe its the end!) but love what I have got so far. Quirky scenes, giving loads of the cast time to shine. And, in true form, unexpexted twists littering the chapter, pulling the audience in different directions throughout.

As for Gordon and Brooklyn.....well, as you note, fate sucks. Brooklyn sent to work against the people he is working against the people he works for. Needless to say, when Thomas learns her agent is arriving, she will be overjoyed.

Not long to wait for the finale. Thank you all for being so patient.

Charles Legend

22nd September 2008, 04:24 PM

Chris you were always one to built up for the Final Chapter. Btw did you ever get around to making a few maps, Just asking... ^_^

~Charles Legend

Chris 2.1

7th October 2008, 09:15 AM

Wow. The final chapter. It took months, months and months after that. It's a big chapter - a HUGE chapter. But I am very very proud of it. It's an unusual end to the fic.

I'd like to thank you all for reading over the last 3 years. You've made this work come alive with characters and quirks and I always work hard to meet the standards my readers expect. I endeavour to shock, surprise and entertain all of you, and this chapter is the best way to do so.

There are 2 extra's, which are deleted scenes I couldn't fit into the chapter. They will come in the weeks following the final chapter.

Here it is. The final chapter of my proudest work in TPM.

Thank you.

The Pokemon Masters League

Chapter 52

Empasse

Everything in my year at The Pokemon Masters League was flashing before my eyes as I aroused from sleep that morning. Battles with old faces, from league matches to casual fights in the streets; characters from the village, both friends and foes. I begun to realise on this day that all of the people, and all these moments in my life had been precious, good or bad.

I was not the nostalgic type; I didn’t turn up to my own high school reunion. I felt, at the time, that portion of my life was over. It had been, it had gone. Why revisit the past and wallow in what was? It was because of this state of mind that the waves of memories flooding my senses was disturbing, not comforting.

In my minds eye I saw The Missing Link and Wolfsong in this very living room, recalling that fateful night I found Amy Wolfsong alive in the woods, struggling to fend off Mr Ecks. Beckoning Becca to meet me, I demanded to know how she, Amy, was still alive - the rumour being, at the time, that she was dead. I remember Cocoa Sting, the stern lady from the Board of Governors.

This was also the place where ‘Jenny’ shot herself in the head, leading to the discovery she was a ditto posing as my girlfriend while the real thing lay trapped underground. As I peeked into the spare room, I saw that pool of blood that had forever stained the carpet.

Walking past the dresser, I nudged eight Pokeballs off the edge; as I walked into the kitchen they burst open around the living room; Cacturne, Electabuzz, Weazile, Politoed, Swalot, Vibrava, Lairon and Magmortar. The eight mulled around, Cacturne sitting down in, and subsequently impaling himself on my sofa.

As I arranged food in the kitchen area, I saw the numerous knife marks set into the fridge and was taken back to the chilling night Dusclops murdered my brother. A quivering unease sped down my spine and I dropped the fork in my hand, causing it to clatter against the floor. I continued to prepare food, toasting four slices of bread at a time and slamming them onto a serving platter, all the while making more. I had eight Pokemon and knew Magmortar could effortlessly wolf down an entire loaf of bread, so had a lot of work ahead of me.

“Hey,” I shouted through. “Magmortar. Come through here and help me keep this toast warm will you?”

Holding the plate in one of his big clawed hands, Magmortar’s natural body heat warmed the toast through as I chopped up some slices of ham and chicken for the breakfast. Weavile came through to watch as Politoed used a psychic attack to pour big glasses (or, for Lairon and Vibrava, it was bowls) of water.

Soon breakfast was ready; my team all crowded around the big assembly of food and tucked in. I stared ahead at all the money this food cost me quickly digesting down the drain.

“Big match today, guys,” I said bracingly. “Liang. He’s one of the big guns.”

Nobody said anything, instead wolfing down the food.

“Yea...” I murmured. “Aragornbird. I think it means dragon....bird.”

Swalot looked at me quizzically; he sprayed acid over a slice of toast, dissolving it in a fizzy mess, before gulping down the foamy substance and starting again.

“...I feel a bit nervous. Does anyone feel a bit nervous?”

Cacturne scowled at me, swinging his arm down and causing numerous pieces of food to be stuck to it. He then used his mouth to nibble small scraps of food from the pins all over his body.

“It’s just...well, he’s always been one of the big guns in the league, you know? And...I don’t think I’m good enough to beat him yet. He has such big Pokemon, and some of you guys are -”

The doorbell rang suddenly. I jumped out my skin and rushed over to answer it. None of my Pokemon looked up, all apparently pleased I had stopped talking about the impending match. I opened the door to see The Blue Avenger standing there, today wearing what appeared to be his favourite pirate outfit. He held his three-cornered-hat in his hands, wringing it subconsciously.

“Morning Jeff,” I said. He was avoiding my eyes.

“Chris, I have some news to tell you,” he murmured.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, noticing for the first time I was wearing no trousers.

“Liang is in hospital. The poison in his body has induced a heart attack, and he passed out after his match.”

“Oh my god,” I said. “Is he going to be ok?”

“No,” Jeff said suddenly. He looked awful. Dismayed. “He’s been put into a coma in order for his body to help ward off the poison, but it’s too severe. He won’t get better. He’s just laying there now. Hooked up to machines.”

“No...” I muttered, feeling a tear in my eye.

“I know,” Jeff said. “But I came to tell you that Hanada Tattsu has been put through to the finals instead. You’ll be battling him today.”

“Oh,” came my empty, ghost of a reply. “Ok.”

“I’m going to meet River at the Hospital,” Jeff said. “Do you want to come?”

“Yes,” I said promptly, turning to grab a pair of jeans. I slipped a polo shirt on and some shoes. I walked back towards the door when Jeff stopped me.

“Hang on,” He said. “Take a couple of Pokemon with you.”

“Why?” I asked.

“We still think there are bad people at work,” Jeff murmured darkly. I took two Pokeballs from the dresser, shot them at Weavile and Magmortar and pulled the Pokemon along into the small metal balls, before slipping them in my pocket and leaving the flat, the rest of my team still eating away.

*

Meanwhile, in the depths of Ivy Woods, Thomas was sitting at her desk. Since abandoning the HQ in Crush Quarry, she was lucky that they had managed to find a suitable place to set up. The abandoned bunker partially under the lake, constructed by Cronus Industries prior to the opening of the league. Upon finding this place, Thomas asked for Deatley and Isabelle to help her move any old pieces of equipment from the Quarry HQ here; she was unable to call upon the help of Hage or Rolph, as they had been capturing Jenny Jackson-Smith for her.

After the move, which was effortless due to the lack of equipment they could still use, Thomas took a good walk around the mysterious bunker; from opening the two large doors she was taken down a set of steps; these led her to a long corridor with a room both on the left and on the right, although she noticed that the room on the left was completely destroyed, the walls covered in scorch marks. A new door had recently been fitted, as the last was merely hanging from the walls. In the door on the right was a long, bare room, with a metal spiral staircase at the far end. Down here, after endless clanks against the cold steps, there was a big metal door that was battered open, now dysfunctional and with no sheen. This led into the main room.

Full of disused monitors and broken glass, this room was what Ecks had used to spy on TPML 04621. Now it contained a lot of sensitive information on The Subject; the last working monitor showed the Stadiums where today’s final match was to take place. Thomas also had pictures of the deceased WAVEX members on the wall - Colton, who shot himself after lying about a victory in the league, as well as Brink, Logan and Wayne, who all died in the attack on the HQ.

At present, Rolph was working on a personal laptop as Hage loaded up a gun. They had returned from their mission to capture Jenny Jackson-Smith, and has also managed to kill the five men sent to protect Gordon from the Board. Upon returning, Hage surprised Thomas with the revelation that Gordon was accompanied by Brooklyn Knight, her own secret agent. While the news was welcomed, it did not help the circumstances which they were under; upon being led into the bunker, Jenny was overcome with hysterics, and instead of being stored within the large, iron woman they had found, she was locked up in the scorched room upstairs.

“Hi Jenny,” Rolph said meekly. He came in the door, shutting it behind him. In the square room, which had a desk and a chair, Jenny sat quietly. She looked timid. Rolph edged over, looking around the blackened walls. “M-My name is Aaron Rolph. I’m here to talk to you.”

Jenny nodded.

“Thomas asked me to find out a bit more about you. We were concerned when you came over in hysterics.”

“I’ve been here before,” Jenny said softly, staring at the floor.

“You have?” Rolph asked, already assuming this.

“I won’t talk about it,” she said firmly. “I’ve spent a long time recovering from everything that happened here. I’m not well. Don’t force me to bring this back up!”

“Sorry,” Rolph said, backing away.

“And then you break into my house in the middle of the night,” Jenny said coldly, turning to stare at Rolph. “And you drag me from my bed....who the hell do you think you are?”

“We need you as leverage to get your boyfriend to lose in the finals today,” Rolph said, trying to be calm. Tears filled Jenny’s eyes.

“Chris and I...are not going out anymore...” she said. “A-And he doesn’t answer me when I ring him. I’ve tried so many times.”

“We severed the communications,” explained the boy. “He can’t receive calls from you.”

“Oh,” she said softly. A spark ignited in her and she looked back up. “Oh!”

“We won’t hurt you. All you need to do is cooperate,” Rolph explained calmly.

“Fine,” Jenny said sadly. “Just leave me alone.”

As Rolph left Jenny’s room, he headed back to the main portion of the HQ. On the way, he bumped into Thomas and Deatley.

“What did she say?” Thomas asked.

“She was closed off, but it sounds like she really suffered when she was down here,” Rolph explained. Thomas looked displeased at his words.

“Fine. Send Hage to go and talk to her. I want to know who, or what, caused that reaction. We can threaten her with it,” Thomas replied.

“What are you doing now?” Rolph asked.

“Deatley and I need to see the extent of the COM surge. I don’t think it should reach Feizhi Outpost, but Intel suggests otherwise. If that is the case, people could have been sending communications from there and I know that people suspect what is going on.”

She stormed ahead up the staircase.

“That is unacceptable.”

Deatley followed behind, smooth and silent, as Rolph made his way to the main room to see Hage and Isabelle.

*

Through a sheet of glass I stared at Liang Armithwaite. There he lay, having been induced in a coma to block his body off from the deadly toxins tearing him apart. Wires snaked from blocky machinery into his body, piercing his skin and drowning him among cables and connections. He was silent, his hair now wispy and grey instead of its usual, brilliant-black sheen.

I was not the only person here. It seemed, from the log at the Nurse’s station, many people had come to pay their respects to Liang and get a good luck at him one last time before he inevitably passed away. As I watched, I saw many people come and go; some, like Luna and Becca, stayed for some time. Others, like Grey, merely had the time to come in, nod their head and disappear again. I was also surprised to see Frontier Brain Annabel hang around for half an hour, before she swiftly departed. She never looked at Liang once.

“We’ll need to think about going,” River murmured. “The Moderators have to be present at the ceremony before the final match.”

“You’re right,” Jeff rasped, looking displeased. Crystal and Girafarig were adamant that this was WAVEX’s doing, but with the evidence of Liang’s bad health, nobody listened to them talk. I thought about the conversation I had with Elec Man and Liang after I came back following David’s funeral. It reminded me that I had always had Liang there in some form, all the way back to when me and him stumbled across the monster in the lake. It felt strange that he was here with us in the hospital, but at the same time, somewhere completely different.

“So what’s happening with him,” I asked.

“They put him in the coma to shut his body down and prevent the poison from spreading any further; soon it will damage his heart and lungs, even his brain, permanently, and that will kill him ,” Becca told me, her arms folded. “But we can’t really do anything one way or another. Nobody here has the right to decide Liang should be taken off life support.”

“Or brought out of the coma,” I added, thinking. “Can we contact -”

I answered my own question. None of his family could be contacted due to the communications being severed. Any other day, and I’d go to the tower and fix it myself, despite having the main problem of not knowing a thing about advanced telecommunications.

Eventually, we had to go to the stadiums. Becca explained there was a lot of work to do before the match. I nodded, and wandered with River, The Blue Avenger and Becca out of the hospital, River bidding goodbye to her sister. I took a look at Liang one last time as we left, wondering if, when I visited him next, I would be the Champion of the 2006 Pokemon Masters League. Along the way, we saw Hanada Tattsu walking towards us.

“Hey Gregg,” I said calmly. The young boy flinched.

“Hi,” he said.

“See you on the field,” I added, giving him a thumbs up.

“Yea,” came his uninterested grumble, as I walked on with my entourage of moderators. Gregg continued to walk along the corridor, getting nearer to Liang’s room, when a figure suddenly stepped out from a room and knocked into Gregg.

Staggering back, Gregg looked flustered, before he met eyes with Isabelle. She was dressed in her nurse’s outfit and looked sourly at the boy.

“Why are you here,” she said sternly.

“I-I came to see Liang,” Gregg explained. He suddenly found a reawakened confidence in his voice and narrowed his eyes. “I can do whatever I like.”

“I have no doubt that you can,” Isabelle replied. “But you need to remember that we are doing everything we can in order to ensure you win this tournament. And that is usually helped by going to the bloody stadium on time. Go now.”

“I want to see Liang,” Gregg said. “Get out of my way.”

Isabelle grabbed the boy and led him into the room she had just entered. When the door was shut she pressed him against the wall and gripped his throat tightly. Her other hand withdrew a needle and she held it towards him menacingly.

“You listen here,” she hissed. “I work for Thomas. I do what she asks because I work for her. I get absolutely nothing from it, but I do it, because that is my job. My role. To see someone like you effortlessly getting something from all my hard work is fine, but to see you purposefully going against our wishes...that really pisses me off, Gregg.”

Isabelle turned and threw the boy across the room, where he stumbled and turned to see her put the needle away.

“I am stationed here until the match begins,” Isabelle told him. “You leave here now.”

Gregg took a look at the fury burning powerfully in her eyes and he grabbed the door handle, before Isabelle suddenly spoke up. Instead of the booming fury in her voice, there was a mild, curious tone she used. As if she was almost scared by her own words.

“Do you know anything about the large iron cabinet shaped like a woman?”

Gregg stared at her.

“My father locked me inside it,” he said sadly, turning to leave. He made his way out and Isabelle watched him leave the corridor, and head towards the stairs. She scribbled down some notes and slipped them in her pocket before leaving the room and patrolling the corridor that Liang’s room was in.

*

The slip of paper had been torn carefully from its full page, and folded into a small square, where it was slipped into a wallet. But often the paper was coerced out, opened, and smoothed flat again for the owner to read and re-read.

You’re going to be a celebrity

“Squeeee!” Andrew whimpered, eyes locked firmly on the horoscope he had seen for himself. What a horoscope to read! Celebrity... the one thing he has always wanted. Fame, recognition...maybe a picture in a glossy magazine?

While initially he was very confused, it had taken only a mysterious meeting with an old ally to bring the dream towards a reality. Razor Leaf had sought out OzAndrew in the middle of the village square to ask for his cooperation in his plan.

“What do you want from me?” Andrew asked weakly.

“I want Scott and the Frontier Brains to replace me with you,” Razor Leaf told Andrew calmly. “I can’t do this anymore Andy, I hate it. I hate the life I’m signed up to. But you will thrive off the attention and glory...you’re perfect for it.”

“It’s true,” Andrew replied. “I ooze some sort of awesome-loving awesome.”

“You have quirk,” Razor Leaf noted.

“Yea, some sort of quirky, awesome thing...”

“Enough,” snarled Razor Leaf. Andrew narrowed his eyes.

“So how are we going to do this,” he asked. His friend smiled.

“I spent time in the Archive looking for some of your best matches...and found the footage of your 10VS10 match in The Old Village all that time ago. It shows your quirk and capability as you command ten different species of Pokemon to deal with Pokemon belonging to ten different trainers.”

“But towards the end I get my ass handed to me,” Andrew mentioned quietly.

“I edited that part out,” smirked Razor.

“Oh thanks Dan,” Andrew replied, grinning.

“I’m hooking the footage up to the main plasma screens in the village square. I’m tipping Annabel off that I was seen trying to withdraw money from the Bank, so hopefully they will congregate around there and see your footage. Then, when the notion of having you as the 7th brain is in place, you will stage a battle in the main square.”

“Against you?”

“No, I cannot be involved,” Razor Leaf replied. “It might look suspicious. Find someone else that you can battle. Someone who will challenge you.”

OzAndrew thought to himself. There was one man, with two legs and two wheels, who would be perfect.

Tucker.

*

In order to determine the communication status, Thomas took Deatley across the village. Walking through the quiet square, she noticed that most people were making their way up the winding trail to Crescent Walk, where the stadiums lay. Street vendors sold balloons, t-shirts (“I saw the Monster from Ivy Lake!”) and other memorabilia. Clicking her tongue, Thomas pressed on.

“How do you feel about this,” Deatley asked casually, the two not even making eye contact as they walked down BT Street. She glanced at Grey’s Playhouse, and the closed Contest Hall, OmastarBucks and Trading Center.

“BT Street has died, again.”

Her comment did not drift on the wind; it sank to the ground and rooted, laying in Deatley’s mind.

“Again?”

“This street is like a phoenix; perpetually dying and bursting back to life,” she said simply.

“And what if Gordon shuts this league down?” Deatley asked. “Will the phoenix die?”

“The phoenix never dies; it leaves a newborn in the ashes of its life,” Thomas mused. “There will be another 04621. Somewhere.”

They journeyed through the wilder route past BT Street. This led to the thicker, more ferocious trees and plants that would cause Feizhi Overgrowth and, somewhere among it, Feizhi Outpost. This was the route that Ecks and The Antibodies flooded the village through; going around the parameter of defence to attack. Deatley held a device in his hand that showed a white screen; blips and zips coincided with beeps and vibrations, indicating the strength of radio waves and other forms of communications.

“How are we doing?” asked Thomas. They walked across the overgrowth, Deatley eventually releasing his Scyther to help slash away the vines and creepers.

“There is a low signal blocker,” Deatley mused. He did not know much about electronics, but had since learnt a few choice things. “That means that communications are still blocked by what we put in place...but it is weaker. Strong radio waves could penetrate our defences.”

“I want it boosted,” Thomas murmured. “I want this entire area cut off just as strongly as the centre of the village. Deatley, go to the Communications Tower in the Village square.”

“Communications tower?” he asked curiously. Thomas smiled.

“This is no ordinary tower,” she told him. “It is a well kept secret, an abandoned tower in the square. It is the one next to the Bank, but has no door on it. Go to the Rules Tower, and down the steps towards the cells. Where the stairs reach a landing and then continue left, you will see a steel door set into the wall. Open it - you may need to apply force. Follow the dark tunnel and you will go under the Village Square and up a small flight of steps leading into the interior of the Communications Tower.”

Deatley looked on, intrigued.

“It’s the best kept secret in the village,” she said softly. “The COM Tower never needs to be tampered with, naturally. So it was sort of sealed away, for the secret entrance in case of emergencies. We broke into it when we closed off phone lines, radio waves and communications.”

“And you think I can do it?” Deatley asked.

“It is a case of boosting the signal; it is simple,” Thomas replied. Deatley stood for a moment, his blue eyes set with determination. Thomas gave him an uncomfortable nod and he turned to walk back through the overgrowth, his Scyther recalled in its ball. Thomas watched him go as she continued walking ahead slightly, until she saw the signal die completely. The device she had taken from Deatley told her that, at this specific point in the village, their signal blocker did not work. Shocked, Thomas got her phone out and began to dial a number. She frantically flicked through her address book, and found a number in her phone that did not belong to someone in the village.

As it rang, she pressed the phone to her ear tight, feeling the heat from each ring pound at her ear gently. A voice came from the other end.

“Alexis??”

It had worked.

“Sorry Doctor Stone,” Thomas murmured. “I just needed to check something.”

And she hung up, turning her phone off as she did so. Her old psychiatrist, Mark Stone...the man that showed her there was something beyond suffering and pain. She forced back tears as she recalled what she had done to him on their last encounter...when the alias ‘Thomas’ lost control and reared its ugly head...

Turning, she prepared to catch up with Deatley when she felt a searing pain flood her senses. Staggering forward, she felt the back of her head, and saw a rock had been hurled at her. Shocked, and feeling her eyes well up with tears at the sudden pain, she span around wildly to try and identify the attacker.

“SHOW YOURSELF!” she spat, narrowing her eyes and keeping a hand on her head. A gun fired somewhere and the bullet pierced the spot her foot had barely left. Thomas gulped.

“W-Who is there?” she stammered. Slowly, from the overgrowth, the figure emerged, clutching the gun tightly and keeping his eyes locked at Thomas.

“Grey,” she gasped bitterly. “What are you doing.”

“Something I should have done a long time ago,” he said coldly. He was still patrolling towards Thomas, the barrel of the gun getting closer and closer to that gap between her eyes. She backed away slightly, but he ordered her to stay put.

“Oh, so you’re going to kill me?” she asked. “Is that it?”

In a swift move, Grey swung his arm up and the gun whipped Thomas in the jaw. She gave a lurch and spat a mouthful of blood to the side, clutching her face in agony. Grey pressed the gun right into the bridge of her nose.

“Yes.”

“What the hell took you so long,” Thomas said rudely. “Why didn’t you bend earlier?”

“Because until now I have not been a monster. I am not normally capable of this - I never was. But you and your blackmailing, your threatening...you have twisted me into a ferocious, unstable man,” Grey hissed. He jerked the gun to the right and fired a shot over Thomas’s shoulder. She flinched before Grey pressed the gun back between her eyes. He spoke again.

“I loathe you. And I’m actually going to enjoy doing this.”

He loaded the gun and smiled a dark, twisted smile. Thomas’s eyes daren’t flicker away from the cold metal aimed right at her as she begin to lose control. She was panicking. Her breaths short and sudden, like a drumbeat, all smoothness and calm melting away...

In a sudden, it happened. Grey was about to squeeze the trigger when a loud voice rang out through the woods.

“Put the weapon down, Grey!”

Gordon’s voice reverberated around the clearing and Grey slowly turned to see the man standing before him, a suited assistant with him. His assistant held a gun ready at Grey, and looked ready to use it.

“Let that girl go.”

“No,” Grey snapped, turning back to Thomas. “Gordon I am doing important work here.”

“Brooklyn,” Gordon whispered. Nodding, the smart man took a brief step forward. Grey saw this and his hand shook slightly, trembling.

“Gordon this is -” Grey began, before suddenly feeling a heavy blow to the back of his head. He collapsed to the ground as Brooklyn grabbed Thomas, leading her away from Grey and towards Gordon, taking away Grey’s weapon. Blinking rapidly, feeling his head spin, Grey clung to the wild grass he lay upon, struggling to focus.

“My name is Alexis Monroe,” Thomas said innocently. “Please...I am a reporter for East Coast News, and I am here with my partner Declan Deatley. This man...The Arbiter...he just attacked me.”

“Brooklyn, can you verify this?” Gordon asked quietly. Pulling out a PDA, Brooklyn began tapping onto the touch-screen with a stylus, entering the name into a database. Grey was sitting up, feeling the lump on the back of his head.

“This is Alexis,” Brooklyn confirmed. “There’s a photo on the database.”

Gordon looked at the screen and nodded. Grey got to his feet.

“This is the head of WAVEX, the very group trying to fix the league!” he shouted. “I cornered her because she has been working to stop you from shutting the league down!”

“Is this true, Alexis?” Gordon asked. Alexis shook her head.

“Of course not Sir.”

“Sir, it does have a profile on Miss Monroe,” Brooklyn noted, examining the screen. Gordon nodded.

“Alexis, you have my sincere apologies for the distress this man has caused,” Gordon said, staring at the girl’s cuts and bruises. “There will be a compensation cheque in the mail once my assistant and I have left the village.”

“You are too kind,” Thomas simpered, as she swept off through the forest and out of sight. Grey made a move to run after her, but with the sound of a gun being cocked, he froze. Gordon and Brooklyn were still standing there, the latter holding a pistol at Grey.

“You are not going anywhere, Grey,” Gordon said firmly. Grey turned to look at him. “We come here to shut the league down. We find you holding a reporter at gunpoint. What sort of place are you turning this village into[i]?”

Grey said nothing. He had no idea what to say. He felt a curious evil with every heartbeat; he truly was turning into a monster, all because of the pressure and blackmail from Thomas. And she was walking away...in fact, as he looked ahead, Grey could barely see Thomas as her heels whipped ahead, among the dense overgrowth. She had escaped. Oh how she must be laughing.

“Brooklyn, contact Duncan and the Security Team,” Gordon ordered. Brooklyn dialled the cell phone number for Duncan, whose team was following him and Gordon in a van. It continued to ring as Grey stood there, thoughts rumbling through his head like an impending thunderstorm.

“No answer,” Brooklyn murmured. Gordon gave a curious look.

“Why on earth would there -”

In a sudden gasp, he fell to the floor, a dart in his neck. Brooklyn turned to look towards the bushes as Thomas emerged coolly, stamping over vines and thick creepers to show her face.

“[I]You!” Grey shouted. Thomas pulled a pistol out and fired at Grey; the bullet narrowly grazed his shoulder, causing him to flinch and recall the last time he was attacked, in his very own theatre. He had been lucky to survive.

“Grey, I will shoot you in the head if you linger,” Thomas growled. “I need to use the services of this Board employee so I am ordering you to leave right this second. Stay out of trouble. You already have a lot going against you.”

“I am not scared of you,” Grey replied angrily. He suddenly, bizarrely, felt an odd pain from the gunshot wound on his chest. When he was left for dead by WAVEX in his playhouse. When Razor Leaf had found him...

...it then dawned on Grey that it was not foolish or cowardly to leave this scene. He took a step back as Thomas spoke to Brooklyn, pointing a gun at him and demanding some work off him. He looked perplexed, confused, but not frightened; Grey turned and left the scene, flustered, breaking into a run as he fled through the forest.

“Don’t come back,” Thomas barked, pointing her gun at Brooklyn Knight.

“I think he’s gone,” Brooklyn said coolly. Thomas nodded, pulling the gun from Brooklyn’s face.

“Sorry about all that,” she said.

“Not at all,” he replied. Thomas stared at the young, suited man; his face well-defined and his skin smooth. His straight nose reminded her of a powerful roman soldier.

“After all this time...it is nice to meet you, Brooklyn,” said Thomas.

“And you,” Brooklyn replied. “What are we going to do with Gordon?”

“I’m going to keep him held up in our HQ,” Thomas told her spy. “But it is important he believes you to be held as well. Then you can retain your cover on the Board following today’s events.”

“Ok,” Brooklyn said.

“Deatley, my associate, has gone to the Communications Tower to help strengthen the signal blocker. This will ensure that nobody interferes while the final match is taking place. I want you to assist him - he is not as skilled a technician as you.”

Brooklyn nodded, typing into his personal computer. It showed a map of the 6 towers, similar to a blueprint, and he nodded as he turned to the path leading back to the main square.

“You know how to get in?” Thomas asked.

“The Board of Governors knows every little secret,” Brooklyn teased, before nodding and heading off to the COM Tower. Thomas watched, intrigued, as she grabbed Gordon’s body and enlisted in the help of a Gligar and Delibird to move the man to the HQ.

Chris 2.1

7th October 2008, 09:16 AM

Part 2

The stadiums were beginning to fill now. I was sitting in a green-room style area with Hanada Tattsu and a woman called Jenny, who was a PR-sort who ran around backstage during the stadium matches. I grabbed a drink from the vending machine and took a seat. Gregg was pale - shaking, even. Jenny soon introduced us to the two nurses working at the stadiums today; our Pokemon Nurse, a rather triangular lady called Nurse Bituch, and an elegant, young woman named Nurse Rowland. She stared at Gregg intently.

“Nurse Bitch and Rowland will be here if you need anything,” Jenny said calmly.

“Oh, please,” Nurse Rowland said calmly. “Just call me Isabelle.”

“Ok then,” Jenny nodded. “Isabelle.”

“And my name ees not Bitch, ees Bee-touch,” the other said in a thick, Russian accent. “Say eet with me, Jennyfur.”

“Nurse Bituch,” Jenny mumbled, before nodding and rushing away. Nurse Bituch went to a small Pokemoncenter-style area around the corner, while I decided to have a wander down the Hall of Fame. Since Grey had to give a speech, and he stood in a special area with the four remaining moderators for the final match, there was a lot to be covered, and I had loads of time to kill, which wasn’t helped by Gregg’s nervous sweating and the rather pristine, scary nurse.

The corridor I walked down had displays set-into the walls of the previous winners. In each box-like section within the wall, there was a photograph of the winner and their team. In the first section, I looked to see a photograph of Razor Leaf standing with his Pokemon on the arena I was about to enter. Combusken, Mightyena, Slowking, Victreebel, Magneton and a Piloswine stood around him, all looking surly and quite serious. I was surprised at his team, since it had expanded a lot since then, in size and strength. I wondered whether I would have fought Dan in the league if he never left for the Frontier Brains.

On the next display, for 2004’s league, I saw a photograph of Karin, known as 04621. She stood with Blissey, Dragonair, Gengar, Alakazam and Scyther. I frowned - only five Pokemon?! She looked smug, yet there was clearly a smile on her face as she stood, surrounded by her Pokemon, with slightly longer hair than I was used to. I smiled and walked to the next window, which was 2003, and saw it belonged to a trainer I had never seen before called Elitos. I looked at the boys messy, jet-black hair and put two and two together, remembering his name mentioned. This was Henry - Liang’s brother.

“Wow...” I murmured, looking at his team. There was a Vaporeon, a Machamp, a Steelix, an Arcanine, an Ampharos, a Meganium and a Seviper. He was giving a daft grin, and his resemblance to Liang was uncanny. I basked in this warm moment, wondering if, in a few years time, someone might look at my picture in this place.

Meanwhile, Gregg was speaking with Isabelle, who informed him that nobody was monitoring Liang any longer.

“He’s a goner,” she mused, staring around. “So I’m here reporting on you instead.”

“What about -” Gregg paused. “Jenny.”

“I will be informing Chris before he goes onto the arena,” Isabelle said crisply.

*

Meanwhile, at WAVEX HQ, Rolph and Hage were keeping an eye on everything. Rolph was delivering food to Jenny, who was in the locked room upstairs. Arriving with a bowl of rice, Rolph saw the girl sitting in the corner, tears in her eyes.

“I got you some rice,” he muttered, setting the bowl down on the desk.

“Let me go,” she said firmly. Jenny had no sadness in her voice.

“Jenny...we have to keep you here,” Rolph explained. He heard a noise outside; Thomas had arrived with Gordon, who had been knocked out, and was asking Hage, who was on the other side of the door, to help store him in the Iron Maiden.

“Your only other associates have gone downstairs, to the room with the iron lady,” Jenny noted smartly. “Let me go. Please.”

“I can’t,” Rolph said desperately.

“Do you agree with keeping me here? Threatening Chris with my life to ensure he loses?”

“I - Hm. Look, my opinion is completely invalid here,” Rolph told the girl.

“Your opinion should be valued,” she explained. “Why work for someone who doesn’t value you?”

“Thomas and I go back a long way,” Rolph told Jenny. “I knew her from school.”

“Why is she called Thomas?” Jenny asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” Rolph replied. “But I have been one of the only consistent parts of her life. I can’t leave her side.”

“She left your side a long time ago,” Jenny pointed out. “You’re not kept in the loop, or given any help, and you are clearly being unappreciated. Please, it’s not fair to keep me here! Chris won’t care if my life is at stake!”

“Why?” Rolph asked.

“We’ve both...moved on,” she muttered. “I just want to leave here. And I know you do, too. You know it’s the right move.”

Rolph looked at Jenny, into her shimmering eyes, and took a deep breath. He signalled her with a nod, and turned towards the door. She slowly got up from the bed, ignoring the bowl of cold rice, and walked to the door with the boy, who was only a few years older than her. Rolph’s hand moved to the doorknob, and his three remaining fingers clasped around it.

“What happened to your finger?” Jenny whispered, astonished.

“Thomas happened,” Rolph replied dully, yanking the door open and staring across the passageway. Nobody. He paced across the corridor, gun ready, as Jenny ran with him. They got to the long, lit staircase leading to the doors of the bunker, and Rolph led the way, wondering what Thomas would say if she knew he was breaking Jenny out, and running away himself.

They nipped up the stairs and arrived at the large metal doors. With a heave, Rolph opened one of the double doors. It swung forward and gave a CLANK. Creeping into the sunlight of the new day, Rolph held his hand out for Jenny to take. She held on, running up after him. The two shared a brief moment where they stared into each others eyes, searching, perhaps, for a shadow of each other.

“Come on,” Rolph said. “It’s a short run to the Village. Then we’ll grab a train out of here.”

“What about Chris?” Jenny asked. “We need to let him know I escaped!”

At that second, there was a sudden roar. Rolph screamed as a purple claw clutched at his throat and he was forced back to the ground; Jenny looked to see Thomas walking up the steps from the bunker, her Gligar attacking Rolph and squeezing the boy’s life in his thick pincers.

“What are you doing?” Thomas asked calmly. Jenny took one look at the girl and ran through the forest, not even looking back at the injured Rolph. His neck was bleeding as Gligar pinched tighter and tighter, his stinger-tail hovering over the boy’s heart.

Rolph could only gasp in thick breaths.

“Aaron, you took a prisoner, and she left you. Fled. Does that not show you why you were so wrong in trusting her?”

Face turning a flushed red, Rolph continued to wheeze and splutter.

“Gligar, do not sting him,” Thomas said simply. Gligar flapped back in a swift glide, catching an air current and gliding right into the bunker’s door, towards the lower levels. Thomas grabbed Rolph by the collar, hoisting him to his feet; he was swaying with dizziness, and blood dripped from punctured marks on his neck. Leading the boy back along the few steps he made outside the HQ, Thomas literally threw him down the staircase. Groaning, Rolph smashed against many of the steps and rolled as he hit the floor. The WAVEX Leader took a swift look around the forest for Jenny, wondering how best to resolve this. She walked to the door to the hatch, slamming it shut, and found a thick branch lying nearby. Wedging it across the two doors, she ensured that Rolph could not escape. Thomas then ran a different way to the exit of the woods, hoping to cut Jenny off.

*

“Maybe we should stay for the final match,” Scott pondered. Annabel and Noland were with him, in the village square, packed and ready to leave after failing to find Razor Leaf. “We may have a potential Frontier Brain there.”

“I doubt it,” Annabel murmured. “I beat Hanada Tattsu with ease. Chris 2.0 did fight well against Lucy, but lost against Greta.”

“I remember that,” Noland added. “He used a Dusclops. But was furious when he lost. Completely absorbed.”

“Then I suggest we leave,” Scott reiterated.

“I got word that Razor Leaf was heading to the Bank,” Annabel reminded him. “We should stay and see if it holds water.”

Scott drifted away momentarily to grab a hotdog, while Noland was examining a Wobbuffet, Quilava and Manectric - some Pokemon he had recently re-acquired from UuberFred. On one of the large plasma screens mounted to the Rules Tower, footage was being shown of OzAndrew in the streets of the Old Village, standing before an angry crowd.

“Well I wasn’t quite expecting such a turn-out,” he stammered. Before him stood The Blue Avenger, The Missing Link, Ultimate Charizard, Elec Man EXE and many other battlers.

“You told us this was an all-versus-OzAndrew battle,” Ultimate Charizard called. He had his Charizard at his side, ready. The Blue Avenger released his Exeggutor, Becca had her Absol out, and Elec Man EXE had his Glalie released.

“Yes, yes it is,” Andrew muttered, watching as Knight of Time sent forward his Raichu. “Err Kyle did anyone tell you your Pokemon SUCK? Raichu? Eeeew jailbait mascot mouse thing!”

“It’s never lost to you before, Andy,” joked Kyle, arms folded as he watched the Australian twitch. Even Charles Legend joined in the match, sending out a Charmander with a flourish. Soon Andrew counted ten opposing Pokemon, and, instead of trying to pick specific Pokemon for the fray, he whipped his belt from his trousers whimsically and, with an Indianna-Jones-snap, released ten Pokemon at once.

“Scott...” Annabel murmured, transfixed. “Have you seen this?”

“You call this a hotdog?” Scott fumed, staring at the limp sausage.

“There’s a trainer here battling against ten trainers,” Annabel noted. Andrew’s Mr Mime, Misdreavus, Weezing, Ninetales, Aerodactyl, Corsola, Alakazam, Starmie, his Jynx, Miss Justice, and a Primeape. The ten Pokemon stared at the opposition. Noland watched, intrigued.

“Charizard, flamethrower!” Ultimate shouted. In a flash, Mr Mime banded together with Jynx and Starmie to create a psychic attack so powerful it grabbed the flamethrower and split it into three different streams of flame; they flew back towards Becca’s Absol, TBA’s Exeggutor and Elec Man’s Glalie, the attacks weak but nevertheless effective.

“AerodactOz, use hyper beam on the foes!” yelled Andrew. His giant prehistoric Pokemon blasted an intense, orange beam of heightened, heated energy down from the skies. As all the foes were in a similar place, they were a perfect target. Instantly, Becca’s Absol sped along and leapt upon the roof of a small shop. Charles Legend’s Charmander leapt out the way easily, firing off rogue embers into the fray. With ease, Misdreavus phased through the hyper beam to re-materialise and blast a shadow ball down upon a protecting Glalie.

“He’s not sweating it, is he?” Scott noticed. His disgusting fast-food was ignored in his pudgy hand as he stared. OzAndrew gave a spin on the spot; Starmie swept across the field, tackled by Knight of Time’s Raichu, who was using his fizzing, electrifying tail like a sword. Swiping it left and right, dispelling sparks and bolts of electricity, the muscled Pokemon was forcing Starmie into an intricate dance, dodging left and right, leaping up and down. Raichu gave a grin as his fists crackled with lightening and he swung both at Starmie’s weakened core - only to find himself held steady by Miss Justice, who then used her psychic prowess to hurl him high into the air.

Jynx blasted an ice beam at an oncoming Absol, but she pointed her mouth down beneath the shop she ran along. A beam was fired herself, aimed at the pavement, and the Pokemon deftly leapt from the way of the siren’s ice attack and onto her own, frosted runway, where she bolted along at impressive speed.

“Now slash!” Becca cried. Primeape was overwhelmed as Absol attacked, slashing deeply into the Pokemon’s arm. Primeape gave a shriek and swung a punch, but The Blue Avenger’s Exeggutor invaded the scene, firing off large eggs that exploded upon contact with anything. The manic look on its coconut-faces was never so apt.[/i]

“These are some of the top-trainers in the league,” Scott noted, having visited the Archives the last time he was in the village. “OzAndrew is doing superb.”

“He is not the strongest,” Noland noted; Aerodactyl, while roosting atop a house, was attacked by Ultimate’s signature Charizard and Elec Man’s Glalie, knocking it out relatively quickly. OzAndrew recalled his Pokemon.

“I’m thinking he could be good,” Annabel said. “Think of an endurance-based Facility at the Frontier.”

“I like that idea,” Scott mused, continuing to watch. In the shadows, Razor Leaf and OzAndrew were observing.

“They’re buying it!” OzAndrew said jubilantly.

“We’re not conning them, Andy,” Razor Leaf said testily. “We’re just showing this to them. Your history is impressive, don’t deny yourself that.”

“What do we do now?” OzAndrew said weakly, looking to Razor Leaf like a young child introduced to a scary, new world.

“Let them see the video. Then when they have done that, meet Tucker for your match. Battle him as well as you can - he’s a lot weaker since he was paralysed, I’ve noticed - but nevertheless he’s a strong opponent. Even if you lose, if you demonstrate the abilities you possess I think everything will go smoothly.”

Razor Leaf cleared his throat.

“I have to go,” he said. “I don’t want to look too suspicious, floating around here. Good luck.”

“Hey,” Andrew said, as Razor turned to leave. “Dan....thanks for all of this.”

He paused, looking slightly touched.

“No problem.”

And with that, he walked off through the village, trying to be discreet and lay low. OzAndrew stared, perplexed at the veteran trainer, and turned to look at the Frontier Brains from the shadows, making sure he was ready for his cue. Little did he realise, a figure clad in green spandex was watching. The Green Lanturn.

*

Meanwhile, at the WAVEX Bunker, Rolph was lying in a corner of the room, defeated. He had blood around his face and neck, his wrists, and it seemed another finger was missing. The boy’s face shone with sweat and tears as Thomas and Hage glared at him.

“Let me ask you a question, Aaron,” Thomas said to the boy. He quivered. “Do you think of me as a cruel woman? An impulsive lady, perhaps?”

He said nothing, gasping, his heart beating fast. Hage just stared at him, disappointed, but with a hand seemingly ready to grip a gun.

“Because I am not. I am, if anything, too kind.”

Again, the silence was punctured by Rolph’s gasps and stammers. His eyes darted momentarily to a few feet away, where a familiar index finger lay alone in a pool of blood.

“You have lost us Jenny Jackson-Smith. Without her, I have had to send a message to Isabelle asking her not to threaten Chris with her life. Because you see, Aaron, Chris 2.0 seems the type to test us. To say to us that, until we give proof we have his girlfriend in custody, he will not believe a word we say, nor adhere to our demands. And what would we do then?”

She paused.

“What could we do then?”

Rolph’s hands clutched his stomach as he blinked rapidly, trying to dispel shimmering tears from his eyes.

“We could do nothing. Expose our weakness and lose our chance at helping The Subject win today.”

Thomas turned to the Iron Maiden, containing the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Gordon. He was locked inside, and had exhausted himself from hammering within. He was far away enough not to hear their quiet conversation. She turned to Hage and nodded, walking away through the dark room. Hage followed.

“This is it,” Thomas said emptily. “We lost.”

“Thomas...” Hage said testily.

“What?” she asked, as they reached the foot of the twisting staircase, leading towards the upper layer of the hideout.

“Why give up on everything at such a crucial point in the operation?” he asked.

“Because we lost Jenny,” she said bitterly. “Rolph betrayed us.”

“We have The Chairman of the Board locked inside the Iron Maiden,” Hage reminded her. “He is the one who stands in our way.”

“But we cannot force Chris to lose to Gregg,” Thomas pointed out.

“Then we will have to change our plans, not abolish them,” Hage pointed out. “When I worked for your father, he was always adamant to see a plan through, and you must do the same.”

“You’re right,” Thomas said breathlessly, seemingly overwhelmed by the entire thing.

“We have Gordon. So the League won’t close until the Finals are over,” Hage reminded her. She nodded, taking the information in. “Jenny is too scared to be a liability. We can leave her alone.”

“We will have to make sure Gregg is ruthless,” Thomas muttered.

“Yes,” Hage confirmed. “Play dirty.”

“I want you to keep an eye on Rolph,” Thomas told him. “And Gordon. Gordon is harmless really, so I shouldn’t’t worry about it.”

“What about you?” Hage asked.

“I’m going to the stadiums,” Thomas replied fiercely, walking up the stairs. “To see everything for myself.”

As she went on up the staircase, she gave a nod to Hage, perhaps thanking him for his loyalty. Hage nodded back and walked into the room where Rolph lay, injured for his betrayal. Thomas pulled away a loose part of floorboard, revealing a plethora of Pokeballs. She stashed them into a satchel-style canvas bag, looped it over her shoulder, cocked her gun and left the HQ up the cold, metal steps.

*

OzAndrew was wearing his best corked had. He wore his newest aftershave and had his teeth whitened in The Deus Ex Dentistry prior to his arrival in the Village Square. The finals between Chris and Gregg was irrelevant, he believed, as he was about to casually bump into the Frontier Brains after they saw footage of his intense, 10-VS-10 match in The Old Village.

However, as he was wandering alone, he felt a sudden surge of pain in the back of his knees as something rammed into him. Falling flat on his face, Andrew cursed loudly as Tucker’s sneer emanated from behind him.

“YOU BASTARD!” OzAndrew snarled. “You chipped my tooth!”

“You lost me the use of my legs,” Tucker spat back. “Andrew I want to end this feud once and for all. Right here, right now.”

In the corner of his eye, Andrew saw Scott, Annabel and Noland looking on.

“Fine!” Andrew said, reaching for his Mr Mime’s Pokeball. Tucker held a hand out.

“We’re playing by different rules,” he said coyly. “Since I know how much you love quirk.”

In a flash, The Green Lanturn and Blademaster appeared. The former had his green and yellow spandex suit on, while Blademaster was wearing a fruity tuxedo. His eyepatch had a question mark on it. They each appeared at Tucker’s side and gripped a Pokeball.

“3 on each side,” Tucker said. “Salamance! GO!”

“I choose Ursaring!” yelled The Green Lanturn.

“Mamoswine!” cried Blademaster, hurling a ball through the air. Three bright flashes burst into life, illuminating the village square as the huge, purple dragon was soon aided by the hulking great bear and the thick, woolly mammoth. Tucker beamed.

“Send your Pokemon out, Andrew!” he sang jovially.

“Ok,” Andrew murmured to himself, thinking about which three would do best. He needed a good mix of brute strength, agility, and, as Tucker said, a dash of Quirk was always good. As he reached for the Pokeballs on his belt, he noticed one missing. Curious.

“Ok!” he yelled. “Mr Mime! Venusaur Aerodactyl! GO!”

The three balls exploded like the opponents; in a tripled shower of light Mr Mime materialised, chuckling merrily. Next to him emerged the hulking, warted creature Venusaur, with a gigantic flower on its back. Last was the prehistoric creature, Aerodactyl, who OzAndrew had swiped from Charles Legend years ago.

“LET’S GO!” Tucker shouted. OzAndrew nodded, and the match began instantly. Mamoswine stamped his feet and, from his mouth, a colossal beam of ice hurtled straight for Aerodactyl. In a sweeping motion the rock-type flew high into the air, gathering a mouth of flames to send down towards Ursaring.

“Ursaring use hammer arm!” The Green Lanturn bellowed. Racing through the air, Ursaring’s arm was glowing with charged energy. Venusaur whipped out two thick, slender vines and they bolted through the air, lashing across at Ursaring and striking him in the chest. Staggering, Ursaring was gripped and constricted by the two vines, which coiled around his left ankle and right arm respectively. From this position, Venusaur raised Ursaring into the air, where Mr Mime blasted a psybeam into the bear’s torso.

“Ursairng use crush claw!”

With a slash, Venusaur’s left vine was struck and the Pokemons grip loosened. Now holding Ursaring by one vine, Venusaur proceeded to slam the Pokemon into the ground, causing great pain to it. Salamence flew overhead, firing off a fire blast that formed into a great, ornate symbol as it raced towards Venusaur.

Mr Mime used a psychic attack to slow the firedown, allowing for Venusaur to run to the left. Aerodactyl then soared down and used a whirlwind to blast the attack up into the air, where a trail of embers burst into life. Seeing this, Salamence charged energy in his claws and soared through the skies. Aerodactyl flew to avoid the oncoming attack, blasting an ice beam at the foe. Salamence used impressive speed to avoid it.

“Mamoswine, megahorn!” cried Blademaster. His giant Pokemon raced across the village square, hoping to tussle with Venusaur. Venusaur fired a barrage of sharp leaves through the air, but the Pokemon ploughed through; with an almighty smash, Venusaur was hurled back several feet.

“Mr Mime! Psybeam!”

A bright, multicoloured beam was blasted from Mr Mime’s palm; it struck Mamoswine between the eyes and dazed the behemoth, who looked slightly quizzical. Salamence was dealt a strong blow by Aerodactyl, who whipped his tail around and thwacked the foe. Salamence dropped in the air momentarily, but sped along, now seeking to attack Venusaur. The grass Pokemon saw the oncoming foe.

“Mr Mime! Initiate Fun House!” Andrew ordered. Mr Mime nodded and began sprinting around the arena at a ridiculous, near blinding pace.

“Ursaring! Hyper Beam!” The Green Lanturn cried. From the gold ring on his stomach, Ursaring blasted an intense orange beam of pure, accelerated energy. Streaked with gold, it was heading right for Mr Mime, who was flailing around pathetically. OzAndrew looked calm.

The beam smashed into, and was thus halted by, an invisible force field. Ursaring, gasping for breath, watched as Mr Mime waved, a few feet from the point of impact. Tucker saw this as he commanded Salamence.

“He’s used barriers,” muttered the man. “WATCH OUT GUYS. BARRIERS EVERYWHERE!”

Nodding, Blademaster asked Mamoswine to use a blizzard attack. Giving a gruff wheeze, the beast unleashed a cold wind upon the arena. The attack, a biting collaboration of frosted ice shards and crushed snow, swept along the arena and froze some of the barriers, which were erected sporadically around the arena. Now covered in sheets of ice, the barriers were distinguishable, glittering in the day’s light. OzAndrew looked cross.

“Look,” Annabel noted. “He’s good, isn’t he?”

“Does anyone else feel like this is all set up?” Noland asked. Nobody answered.

“Very good,” Scott said. “Let’s see how he does.”

Razor Leaf was watching all this from the shadows, happy that his plan was falling into place. Just then, as he stood calmly, he heard a familiar voice in his ears.

“Daniel!”

Turning suddenly, and preparing to teleport away with his Pokemon, Razor Leaf saw Jenny staring at him with sad eyes. Her clothes slightly torn, her hair messy, she stared at him with hope.

“I need your help.”

*

On and on I paced the stadiums waiting area. Why weren’t we starting yet? I looked to see a screen showing Grey speaking to the audience; the moderators sat behind him looking bored. I went to collect my Pokemon from the small Pokemoncenter area down the corridor, noticing Gregg was trying to avoid looking at the icy nurse.

“Hey,” I said casually.

“Halloo,” Nurse Bituch said briskly. “Aren’t we the weather to be having nice?”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“The weather, she is being kind, is she not?”

“I don’t really know...is she?”

“In my country, weather kill many people. If she was real person I eggspect she go to prison! Ack ack!”
“Who killed what?” I asked, completely bemused.

“Ahh is joke! Is Joke! You no need to worry about it. Your Pokemon are in top-hat shape, like Russian Athlete. Here you go.”

I took the 8 Pokeballs and put them on my belt. The match today was a 6-6, so I had to think about Pokemon that would not fare well. My first thought was Magmortar, but after perfecting thunderbolt and solarbeam yesterday, I was actually of the opinion he could give some of Gregg’s team a run for their money. Lairon was, unfortunately, probably not up to the job. Vibrava was also a risky choice.

I sat back down opposite Gregg.

“You ok?” I asked.

“Yea,” he murmured. “Just can’t stop thinking about Liang.”

I saw Nurse Isabelle Rowland stare at us from a distance.

“It’s a tragedy,” I said sadly, thinking of the image I had of Liang, trapped and drowning among all the wires, drips, and tubes. Gregg looked, noticing Nurse Isabelle was busy talking with Jenny the P.A

“What if I told you,” he whispered quietly. “That Liang ending up in hospital wasn’t due to his health?”

“What?” I asked wildly.

“The whole WAVEX thing...you know about it, right?” he added cautiously.

“I know of it,” I said. “I don’t know what to believe.”

“Well it’s true,” Gregg replied. “They want me to win, at any cost.”

“So they’ve been helping you?” I asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to alert Isabelle.

“Here and there,” Gregg muttered. “But I only just found out about it myself.”

“Who is behind it?” I asked.

“Pichu, that ex-moderator,” Gregg told me. “She’s weird. I think she’s been stalking me or keeping a close eye on me or something. She’s done a lot of bad things to make sure I’m here.”

“Are they responsible for the phone lines being down? And the radio?” I asked. Gregg nodded. “So that means they want you to beat me today, right?”

Again, he gave a furious nod.

“But I’ve got a lot of Pokemon and attacks that can tackle water types no problem,” I mused. “They can’t just expect a standard battle...”

All Gregg did was simply stare.

“...so they have something planned to make sure you win today.”

He said nothing.

“Am I right?”

“Yes,” Gregg hissed, as Isabelle came over. “They have ‘collateral’.”

“What is it?” I asked. Were they going to steal my Pokemon? Infect them with a virus? At that moment, Isabelle tapped Gregg on the shoulder and he span around, fast.

“I do hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she simpered. “Gregg your Pokemon are ready to pick up. Nurse Bituch has them for you.”

“Ok,” Gregg gasped, his voice cracking as he got up and went to get his Pokemon. I wondered if Gregg was being given stronger Pokemon...I had never seen that Glaceon before yesterday. Just then, Jenny, the P.A woman, came over, speaking to someone on a headset.

“Chris,” she said calmly. “It’s time. Follow me please and we’ll make your way to the arena.”

Chris 2.1

7th October 2008, 09:18 AM

Part 3

Meanwhile, Jenny was making her way back out the village with Razor Leaf in tow. After bumping into one another, Jenny had explained to Daniel everything that had happened to her - the kidnapping, being held hostage, and her narrow and lucky escape of the HQ by the lake. She told of Rolph, who risked a lot to get her out, and how she was certain they had to go back and save him.

When mentioning her room, Jenny told the ex-moderator about the Board member that Thomas and Hage dragged into their HQ. She did not have a name, but the mere fact a Board member was in TPML meant that it was going to suffer some changes. Maybe even closure.

“It depends which member it is,” Razor Leaf mused. He hoped the league wasn’t going to be shut down - especially given what he had sacrificed to get back here in the first place. The two decided that it was important to rescue this Board member and, if he was alive, Aaron Rolph. After entering Ivy Woods, and releasing Pokemon (Razor Leaf sent his Blaziken, Haf, while Jenny released her Flaaffy, which had only just recently evolved), they pressed on towards the bunker.

“So what do you know about Thomas?” Razor Leaf asked.

“It’s a codename. She’s a girl,” Jenny said. “About my height, freckles, her hair’s sort of medium-light and she uses a lot of bird Pokemon.”

“Bird Pokemon?”

“Yea. I heard a Delibird help her when she brought the Board member into the HQ. She used a Gligar against Rolph, and throttled him with it. And she sent a couple of messages with Pidgey.”

“It sounds like Pichu,” Razor Leaf thought. “She was an ex-mod, but was fired by The Board of Governors.”

They walked on. A beck trickled alongside them, the water slapping and crackling as it poured over rocks and slabs of stone. The trees overhead blocked out what little sun there was, creating a cool ambiance in the forest. Chirps and cries echoed through the space they walked in.

“They won’t tell Chris,” Jenny said suddenly. “Not if I’m not held captive any more. It could ruin everything.”

“He might already know,” Razor Leaf reminded her. “And if that is the case, WAVEX will be doing all they can to getting you again. In fact...”

Razor Leaf grabbed another Pokeball and hurled it up into the air. It burst open, revealing his Magneton, Pinball. It gave an odd, metallic scraping noise as it was released.

“If WAVEX appear, we can disarm their guns with Magneton,” Razor Leaf said coyly. Magneton followed the group, using its three eyes to look out for anything suspicious. They walked on past the dirt path, across overgrowth and more unfamiliar territory. Razor Leaf was slightly unsure of the way there, having only been when he and a group of veterans raided the forest to capture Ecks. Nevertheless, Magneton used its Magnet Rise to cause small metal objects, like watches or keys, to stick firmly to its metal surface. Jenny was impressed. Razor Leaf was wondering how Andrew was doing against Tucker, Blademaster and The Green Lanturn.

Soon the trees grew further and further apart; the two were leaving the vast forest and came to the secret lake in the middle of the woods. Razor Leaf walked brisker, running to the edge of the once beautiful lake, eager to see it again. When Liang rebelled against mastermind Ecks, he detonated explosives beneath the lake, causing the caves to crumble and leaving the lake empty and drained. Now, the once muddy crater was filling again, with rainwater causing the water level to ride almost back to the top. A Bulbasaur was testily drinking from the lake, while a school of fish swam under the water’s surface.

Both of them knew that the bunker was just around the corner. As they followed the ridged hill that ran around the lake, they came to the Cronus Industries Bunker. Due to its use, the crumbled moss had all fallen away, and the bunker was relatively easy to notice, if one were to come to this area of the lake. Razor Leaf made sure Jenny stayed back as Magneton hovered towards the doors.

“Go on,” Razor Leaf commanded. Throbbing slightly, very illusive, discreet rings of energy were released by the magnetic Pokemon. Straining slightly, Magneton used its magnetic powers to gently lift the doors open. They swung round and rested on the other side of their hinges. The looming darkness into the bunker was discomforting for Jenny. Razor Leaf saw this, and took the first steps.

“We go down to the basement, attack anyone we see, and get the Board member out, right?” Razor Leaf said. Jenny nodded. Blaziken’s wrists flared up and they ran down the steps. Arriving in the first corridor, Jenny had Flaaffy head butt the door where she was kept; it opened, revealing an empty room. They burst into the door on the right, which led to the spiral staircase. Jenny kept close to Razor Leaf, who was slightly less afraid of the place than Jenny was. He could hear her shaking and mumbling with apprehension.

“Are you sure you want to come?” he said, as they stopped at the descent down the stairs. “Jenny, you’re shaking.”

“I’m fine,” she murmured. “Absolutely fine.”

Razor Leaf’s hand lightly gripped the rail and his first foot left the ground and hovered to the step below. Quietly, he made his way down the steps, Jenny close behind, giving no look back to the still-open hatch door. A square of light penetrated the corridor. As Razor Leaf moved down, noticing a variety of red lamps hanging amongst the yellow lights, he heard a voice. And it seemed Jenny heard it too.

“That’s Hage,” she hissed meekly. “He kidnapped me!”

Razor leaf nodded and continued slowly down the steps, Jenny and Flaaffy close behind. Blaziken found difficulty manoeuvring down the steps. As they wound further and further down, Razor Leaf recalled the moment he and Becca burst in on the battle between Ecks, Chris 2.0 and Aragornbird; if it weren’t for Absol’s perish song draining the life of the Pokemon, someone could have been killed.

After reaching the final step, the two felt they would be happier if their descent was slightly longer. With Haf’s flickering wrists casting furious orange light across the corridor, they calmly walked to the edge of the large, broken doors which opened onto the circular room full of monitors and computers. In one step, they would be visible to the people inside.

“How can I ever trust you again?” barked Hage, from the other side of the door.

“P-Please!” Rolph wept.

“You betrayed this organisation,” Hage said. Rolph moaned in agony. “Aaron...you’re like a nephew to me. You are a good boy. But I will not have you turn your back on your mission! It is not allowed!”

The images in the two trainers heads was unnerving. Jenny thought of the brave boy, reduced to a mere wreck before the beefy, powerful man.

“STOP!” she shouted. Jenny stepped out into the doorway and stared at Hage. “Flaaffy thunderbolt!”

A let of lightening flashed through the air and zapped Hage’s foot. He gave a cry and staggered to the left, falling into the desk, as Rolph lay bloodied and bruised beneath him. Razor Leaf ordered Blaziken to create a fall of fire and hurl it across the room, where it gave a bang and ignited a chair. Hage looked horrified, eyes wide.

“You came back,” he said, reaching for his gun. In no time, Magneton’s intense magnetism caused the gun to fly from Hage’s hand and press firmly against one of his three units. Hage also lost his watch. He stared blankly as Jenny and her Flaaffy ran towards the Iron Maiden.

“Stay where you are,” Razor Leaf said coldly. Hage gave a slow nod. Magneton hovered over through the thin corridor to the Iron Maiden chamber, where the large, carved woman sat, her front hinged and ready to open. Jenny placed her fingers inside the grooves and pulled, wrenching one side open.

“NO!” Hage yelled. He ran to catch up with Jenny, despite Blaziken hurling a ball of fire. He missed it, grabbing Jenny from behind and slamming her into the wall. Flaaffy unleashed another crackling discharge of energy, which smashed Hage in the stomach and caused him to collapse in agony, inducing a sort of muscle-cramp in his diaphragm.

“Jenny!” Razor Leaf cried. He ran to help the girl, who got up, as the figure from inside the Iron Maiden broke free. Gordon staggered out, his suit soaked from sweat, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light. Hage was gasping slightly; with his diaphragm paralysed, he was unable to expand his lungs and lay there, gasping.

“Gordon,” Razor Leaf said. “Jenny, this is the Chairman for the Board of Governors!”

“W-Who are you?” Gordon asked.

“I used to be a Moderator here,” Razor Leaf said hurriedly. “This girl was also held here by WAVEX, and heard you were being taken hostage. We came to break you out.”

“Thank you,” Gordon said. “My associate...Brooklyn, is he here?”

“We haven’t seen anyone,” Jenny said. “We’ll talk when we get you out. Come on.”

“But he was with me when I was kidnapped...” Gordon said, but was nevertheless swept away by Jenny and Razor Leaf. Hage began to stand, gaining some strength, but Haf sent a bowling orb of fire right at him. He staggered to the left slightly. The man gave a long groan as he clenched his stomach in agony. Razor Leaf had an idea.

“Come here,” he said angrily. He grabbed a weakened Hage by the wrists and drove him into the Iron Maiden, sitting him inside and slamming the two doors shut. Razor Leaf locked the front and stepped back, hearing a feeble hammering inside.

“Daniel!” Jenny cried.

“That is not necessary,” Gordon pointed out.

“It is,” Razor Leaf replied. “You will want this man arrested when this is all over. He can’t escape now.”

“You make a good point,” Gordon mused. They ran to where Rolph was, lying in the corner. Jenny bent down to examine him.

“Are you ok?” she asked. Rolph nodded.

“I’m okay,” he said softly.

“Thanks to you, we managed to get Gordon out of here,” Jenny said, smiling. “You saved us.”

“Get out while you can,” Rolph said, getting to his feet. He collapsed instantly, banging his head on a console as he fell. Jenny gave a scream and bent down to look at him, as his eyes drooped slightly.

“Don’t die!” she cried. “NO!”

“Excuse me, miss,” Gordon said softly. He was examining his phone. “It appears my assistant Brooklyn has resorted the communications to the village. We can communicate again. I will send for police and ambulances to seal this place off. Your friend will be dealt with, and our assailant arrested. But right now we need to hurry to the stadiums. A lot of work needs to be done.”

“Okay...” Jenny said, looking back at Rolph.

“He will be fine,” Razor Leaf reassured her. Jenny was led away by Razor Leaf, who was reassuring Gordon and making sure he was ok. The man seemed shaken but nevertheless confident and stable. He began calling a number as Razor Leaf led the way, Blaziken and Magneton with him. Flaaffy was brimming with sparks after discharging so much electricity.

*

I couldn’t believe I was this nervous.

Standing in the stadium, facing Hanada Tattsu on the other side of the arena, I was waiting as the crowd roared in anticipation. I was thinking hard about my Pokemon for the match to come, and knew that, as my key anti-water Pokemon, Cacturne and Electabuzz would not go out first. I also suspected Gregg would want to steal the lead quickly, and would send his Blastoise or another large Pokemon out.

His Whiscash and Kingdra were useless on this, the long plain field. It was slightly sandy and a few blades of grass were visible. A light wind ruffled my hair as footage from old matches was shown on the screens. Like a sort of video montage of the journey we had made to the finals. This happened in every match, and I was almost sick of seeing the stock footage of Cacturne against Chris Wararimono’s Swameprt...yea, this was the bit where Cacturne dodged ice beam....god the people that work here were lazy. I shot a dark look at The Blue Avenger - I knew he made this.
Next, Magmar and Weavile fought bravely against MeLoveGhosts and his team of Slowbro and Forretress; a shot of Weavile’s ferocious shadow claw was seen as he dashed at the psychic Pokemon. Yawn. The Blue Avenger caught my eye and looked sheepish. He was sitting with Becca, Elec Man and River, the other mods (Liang being in Hospital - was it just me, or was there NEVER all 5 mods together at one time!?), while Grey stood before them at a podium, in a special seating area halfway up the middle of the stadiums. It was like a miniature stage, with a tunnel leading to a set of steps down to the corridors of the stadium.

My fingers drummed against a Pokeball, but I had to make sure I didn’t release a Pokemon. Gregg looked lost. As footage of Vibrava tearing through a giant orb of water was on the screen, I thought about my first match with Hanada Tattsu, in the abandoned Swimming Pool down BT Street. I used Elekid and Sneasel, in which Sneasel’s blizzard froze Horsea underwater. My savage Pokemon sliced into the ice and dragged Horsea out, pummelling her ruthlessly. My eyes drifted to a shot of Gregg’s Octillery firing a thunderbolt at The Blue Avenger’s Persian.

“I can’t believe he beat you,” Rived sighed, trying to discreetly eat her pretzel. Becca watched the crumbs fly into her direction.

“I think Chris just gave me an evil,” TBA sighed. “Is...is he implying my video-editing is sub-par?”

“You know, I think he is,” River quipped.

“The swine!” TBA roared. Elec Man shrugged at Becca, who calmly observed Grey.

Now simultaneous clips from the Round 4 matches took place. I noticed that TBA had edited Gregg’s video badly; the scene between Glaceon and Sceptile showed the former getting thoroughly bashed in by the latter. I wondered about Liang...and how he felt that, despite his victory, he could not fight for the title. How did Gregg feel? Did this cause his uncomfortable state?

Nevertheless, I swelled with pride seeing Magmar evolve into Magmortar, and watching as Empoleon held his thick steel wings out like blades and span on the spot, dispelling the smokescreen we had whisked up. I was so proud of my big colossal powerhouse, although his keenness to embrace and high-5 me led to concerns over burns. As I held my left hand out, faint, but still detectable, violet burns flittered across my hand. From Ecks and his Gengar, back when I challenged Gregg for the second time, again at Hanada Gym. Flashes flickered in my head, as one of Cacturne’s proudest moments lingered in my mind. Smashing floats onto his arms and using them as shields against ice attacks...truly he is a brilliant Pokemon.

“The match,” Grey said calmly, standing over the battlefield as the video montage faded to the leaderboard. “Will be a 6-6. Switching is allowed three times only, after that, recalling a Pokemon results in a K.O. This match is Round 5 of the 2006 Pokemon Masters League, and thus the match to determine the League Champion and the winner of the cash prize and trophy. I am The Arbiter, Referee and overseer of the entire match.”

He cleared his throat.

“When the buzzer sounds - and only when the buzzer sounds - release your first Pokemon. Good luck.”

I nodded and felt for the right Pokeball on my belt. I quickly scanned the audience, noticing MeLoveGhosts, Silencer and Darktyranitar watching keenly. SaffirePersian and her Smeargle were cheering for Gregg, with a big banner held up. Hyperness (Is A Good Thing) was yelling louder than anyone else. Crystal Tears was split from Girafarig and Dark Sage by the arrival of UuberFred and all of his blood relatives, who had arrived this morning.

BUZZ.

“BEGIN!” roared Grey.

And we did. I hurled my Pokeball forward as Gregg did likewise; duel flashes of light burst from the capsules and gave form to our Pokemon. As Gregg must have moved slightly quicker, his Pokemon materialised from its ball quicker, and in no time I was staring at the formidable Octillery. My Swalot emerged, giving a crooning sob of delight and rubbing his poison-filled fingers with glee.

“Octillery! Ice beam!” Gregg yelled. Using its suction cups to root itself firmly into the ground, Octillery’s round mouth blasted off a beam of frosted, glass-like ice. The cool beam hurtled through the air, but Swalot, on my command, tucked into a ball and used rollout.

“Go!” I yelled. watching Swalot speed along like a tyre possessed. A sharp turn pulled Swalot towards Octillery and he smashed right into the Pokemon, bounding off it and whizzing into the air. I guessed Octillery’s anchorage meant that, while it took damage, it was rooted to the spot. In mid-air, Swalot sped along still. I ordered a bullet seed, and the big stomachy entity pulled out the roll mid-air as he aimed his mouth down, began blasting glowing green seeds like gunfire, and sped down to the ground, tucking into his wheel form.

The result - a spinning wheel of ammunition. Firing off the attack and spinning around gave Swalot similar firepower to a machine gun. Octillery carefully and diligently pulled a suckered tentacle from the ground as the intense barrage struck him. He felt each seed pop as it connected with his skull, and upon rapid succession, this dealt great damage.

“Back into rollout! Again!” came my cry. Swalot hit the ground, revving and speeding along again. “Slow, and into poison jab!”

Swalot grunted. He understood. He leapt up out of the ball and flew across the air, his chubby fingers throbbing with thick, glooping poison. Gregg knew this attack well - Pluto the Gengar used it, and inevitably caused the fall of Liang. Octillery leapt slyly to the right, firing off a bubblebeam as he did so. Swalot felt the piercing bubbles smash into his side, ruining his aim somewhat. Octillery then used a psychic attack; eyes glowing with burning blue ripples of steam, Octillery focused on Swalot, who was hurled telekinetically across the arena. He hit the ground hard.

“Get up, hurry!” I said. “Sludge bomb!”

Turning in a flash, Swalot blasted pellets through the air. The sludgy bombs battered Octillery and exploded upon impact; groaning, Octillery unleashed a water gun, breaking through the sludge and destroying the oncoming attack. Leaping to the left, Swalot avoided the rest of the water attack as I furiously recalled his training.

We worked so hard on poison jab...but we couldn’t do that unless Swalot was close. The same went for his mediocre thunderpunch. Ice beam, bullet seed...sludge bomb...I then recalled the unique characteristics of a poison sac Pokemon.

“Octillery! Combination time,” Gregg cried. “Bubblebeam! Go!”

Pointing his snout in the air, the red octopus fired off a multitude of sparkling bubbles. They flew high into the air, where Gregg ordered a Blizzard attack. Sweeping ice crystals soared into the sky, meeting the bubbles and creating a series of glittering orbs. I was reminded of my training session with Becca, and wondered if Gregg had been watching. As Octillery’s eyes glowed with the blue glow from before, the frozen orbs darted down and swept along the arena like a weaving snake. From his snout, Octillery unleashed a quick bolt of lightening that conducted through the moisture in the orbs and created this fizzing train of ice and lightening.

“Swalot, swallow!” I ordered. His mouth gaping open wider than I have ever seen, Swalot made a long ‘ahhhhhh’ noise as if he were at a dentists. The orbs flew into the Pokemon’s glowing mouth, sparks brimming around his thick, full lips, but Swalot was able to digest the attack easily, with no pain whatsoever.

“Spit up!” I shouted. Octillery dived out of the way, but acted too fast, giving Swalot the opportunity to open wide and unleash a white orb of warm, glowing energy; it sped through the air, ploughing into Octillery and hurtling him across the arena. Gregg looked on as I clenched my fist tightly. I didn’t want to waste those recalls...

*

All was quiet in Jolly Japes Hospital, for the first time that day. Many staff enjoyed a prolonged tea break as they took advantage of the finals at the stadiums. However, a figure was walking down a corridor towards Liang’s room. There was something floating with the figure.

“Oh Daisy,” chuckled the girl at her lazy Slowpoke. Luna watched as her latest Pokemon, nicknamed Daisy, used its psychic powers to lazily float off the ground, her eyes half shut in a dreamy gaze. Luna was holding a bunch of flowers tightly to her chest as she appeared in the Larch Ward, noticing the commemorative plaque dedicated to the life of Knight of Time. Larch Ward...this must have been where Cocoa was kept when Ecks took an attempt on her life.

It was not long before Luna stopped by Liang’s room, carefully walking in and being as quiet as she could. After telekinetically floating into a wall, Daisy, with four paws on the ground, slowly waddled inside. Luna held the flowers proudly.

“Hello Liang,” she said. “It’s Luna. Um. I brought you carnations.”

She set the flowers on a side table, sad she could not find a vase to put them in. Pulling up a chair, Luna stared at the boy. His chest barely rose up and down to breathe. Despite being in a comfy bed, and having his eyes closed, Liang did not look particularly at peace.

“I know we were not close...” she murmured. “But I knew everyone would be busy watching the match...and it’s always nice to have a guest, isn’t it? I got you carnations because they’re healing plants. They calm you. Someone got them for us when Mum died.

“Oh...listen to me rabbit on about my Mum - talk about a morbid conversation!” she joked. Luna looked deflated at the lack of a response from Liang. “I suppose I wanted to thank you. For telling me about Lady, I mean. From what I gathered, nobody really knew her all that well. It’s like she wasn’t really involved in this community like you or I. So I don’t think I could have found out any other way. The thing is though, I kept seeing her. Like visions. She taunted me, and scared me, and made me feel so insecure...but since I rescued this Slowpoke, she’s been able to help me out. Daisy uses dream eater to dissolve any apparitions of Lady Vulpix for me. So I never really get that scared. Daisy’s such a great Pokemon - we rescued her from WAVEX HQ, you know when you had to go home?”

Luna paused. Daisy was, without the trainer realising, using her psychic powers to bring a glass vase from another patient’s room. With a pop, the vase appeared on the drawers. Daisy used a water gun to fill it up, and moved the flowers out their wrapping and into the vase with her mind. Luna was thinking to herself.

“Everyone’s at the match,” Luna said. “Gregg VS Chris. There’s been all these rumours of the league being fixed, and I finally believe it now. They say Grey was behind it. And I believe that, too. It all makes sense. Manipulation and twisting people’s lives to coincide with victory for Hanada Tattsu. It’s vile. And Hyperness Is A Good Thing’s adamant that Charles Legend found out some of the plot...and that’s why he’s been taken into hiding, for his own safety.”

She gave a hollow, defeated laugh.

“I thought I knew Gregg. I thought I understood him...and I even began to let my guard down. But I know now how vigilant you have to be. I mean...your own life, Liang, is hanging in the balance because of his greed.”

Luna looked up at Liang. His messy, almost whitened hair looked ravaged and wild. The monotonous beeps indicating Liang’s weak heartbeat began to cause tears to fill in Luna’s eyes.

“You have suffered so much,” she said softly. “But...at least you can meet your brother soon.”

Luna got up, deciding to leave Liang in peace. Slowpoke slowly walked after her. Luna paused in the doorway briefly, turning to look at Liang.

“If you see my sister...” she added, hoping the boy could hear her. “Give her my best.”

And with that, she left the ward, thankful that she was able to say goodbye to a subtle influence in the league.

Chris 2.1

7th October 2008, 09:19 AM

Part 4

Swalot bounced high and charged a shadow ball from between his paws. The mysterious, swirling umbra was hurled clumsily through the air, where it swirled around and down at Octillery, who destroyed it with a bullet seed of his own. As the tiny glowing explosives burst the misty orb, Swalot was zooming along the arena with a thunderpunch, slugging Octillery in the face and knocking it out. As Chris 2.1 cheered loudly, Swalot burst into tears and ran around the arena in an adrenaline-fuelled state. Hanada Tattsu recalled Octillery as he lost a light on the leaderboard.

“Keep alert for WAVEX goings on,” The Blue Avenger reminded River.

“Oooh good tip,” River nodded.

“WAVEX are hardly going to be selling hotdogs now, are they?” Elec Man grumbled. River was flushed with embarrassment, thinking momentarily of a way to smite the rude moderator. She got out the Ribbon she won in the first Pokemon Contest, and jabbed him in the neck with the back.

“Ouch!” he yelled hotly. “Riv!”

“Oops,” she said coldly. Becca looked disturbed by the display, when her phone suddenly let off its ring. Gasping, the other moderators looked on, knowing full well communications were down. Grey watched with apprehension. What exactly had happened with Thomas?

“My phone,” Becca said, accepting the call. “Hello?”

“Becca this is Amy,” came Wolfsong’s familliar voice.

“Oh Amy!” Becca cried. “Hi! Oh it’s so good to hear from you! We’ve had a lapse in communications -”

“I know about it,” Wolfsong said. “Gordon has just been on the phone to me. He’s in the Village. And he’s asked me to put him through to The Pokemon Resources Dept - it’s an area of the Board dealing with utility Pokemon. It sounds serious.”

“What is he doing?” Becca asked, although in her heart she knew exactly what this meant.

“Closure,” Wolfsong replied solemnly. “But since he’s intervening with League Security he has priority over the security team in place. That means Grey’s Metagross and the other four in the Archves and your Alakazam and the other four in the Approval Tower. He can wield them as he sees fit.”

“I understand,” Becca said. She did not bother telling Amy, and would not inform Gordon, that OzAndrew ‘borrowed’ an Alakazam from the Towers months ago. She didn’t let Andrew know she knew - the Australian's antics were, after a while, exhausting, and she gave him the benefit of the doubt.

“Who was that?” Elec Man asked, when the call had ended. Instead of responding to Nate, Becca looked to Grey.

“Amy tells me Gordon is here in the village,” she said softly. “To officially close the league down.”

Grey stared back, not saying a word. River, The Blue Avenger and Elec Man EXE watched on keenly.

“Did you know about this?” Becca asked.

“Yes,” Grey replied.

“And you felt it was not important to tell us?” came Becca’s furious query.

“No I did not,” Grey replied calmly.

“Well I would have done differently,” Becca replied.

“That,” Grey said coldly. “Is irrelevant. You asked what I would do, and how I would proceed, and this is my answer. To isolate the problem away from people like yourself - people who don’t need to know the truth. I am handling this situation as I - the leader - see fit.”

“And what about your involvement in WAVEX?” Becca sniped.

“Nonsense, all of it,” Grey replied firmly.

“Someone would need to give WAVEX access codes for them to manipulate the league match-ups,” explained Becca.

“They have the technology to block our communications; they can crack codes,” The Blue Avenger pointed out.

“Do you know where Charles Legend is?” River asked. Grey’s eyes widened slightly. He gulped without meaning to; he looked as if he was about to vomit, but trying with all his strength to hold it off.

“They blackmailed me,” he said quickly, suddenly, as if answers were bursting from a wound like crimson blood. “With evidence that would incriminate us -” He stared at Becca significantly, not willing to explain to the others about the incident at the Board of Governors “- far more than any of this will. And with that information they tested me. Mortgaged my soul to fuel their ambitions.”

“What did you do?” Becca asked.

“I let them tweak circumstance,” Grey explained. Becca looked cross. “And I saw them take Gordon hostage earlier.”

“But if he’s on his way, he’s escaped them,” Becca noted. “Good.”

“Although he is here to close the Village down, to stop Gregg winning through cheating,” Grey explained. “It’s the only way, in his eyes, to stop this.”

“Amy said Gordon is relinquishing control over our Security,” Becca informed Grey. “My Alakazam, your Metagross, and their respective armies will be under Gordon’s control.”

“Why will he need them?” River asked. Nobody knew the answer.

*

Meanwhile, the group consisting of Jenny, Razor Leaf and Gordon ran through the beautiful Crescent Walk. Gordon had listened to Jenny’s plight about her kidnap and her trauma surrounding Ecks. Razor Leaf remained tight-lipped about his past with the Frontier Brains, deciding Gordon should not be involved.

“I have asked for the Pokemon to be transported to me at the Pokemoncenter at the main stadium,” Gordon said. “I will be able to carefully contain what I can only assume will be an explosive situation.”

“Why are you doing this?” Razor Leaf asked. “You’re the Chairman of the Board of Governors.”

“My five men who I brought with me never made it to the village,” Gordon explained. “I believe they were killed by WAVEX. And I have no idea where my agent Brooklyn is. I fight WAVEX alone.”

As they arrived in the lobby of the stadiums, Gordon walked to the small Pokemoncenter area, where a Russian nurse was talking to Tsuki Megumi. She was wearing all black, Venomoth perched on her shoulder like a baffling parrot, while a Banette sat on the counter.

“Banette has a sort of blistering mark on its chest,” Tsuki said, in her eerie, cryptic voice. “He was struck by a thunderbolt in battle.”

“Ahh, is electricky burn,” Nurse Bituch said, proud with her diagnosis. “I am to have specialty in electricky burns. It is special salve I make from cocoa butter, Diet Pepsi and oregano.”

The woman turned to her cupboard, looking for the key ingredients for the ominous salve. Gordon cleared his throat loudly. At the transport machine, behind the counter, a multitude of Pokeballs were arriving; the security Pokemon. Razor Leaf released his Zangoose and together they kept an eye out for danger as Jenny stood still. Nurse Bituch pulled out a pestle and mortar, sprinkling some oregano inside and splashing some Pepsi in. She added a generous dollop of cocoa butter and mashed it all together.

“Excuse me,” Gordon said irritably.

“Oh forget this,” Jenny murmured, leaping over the counter and heading to the Pokeballs. There were ten - the gold ones contained Alakazam’s and the silver, Metagross. Jenny brought them over to Gordon and he minimised them all, pocketing them and leading the way through the stadiums. Meanwhile, Banette gave a terrified screech as the salve was applied; Nurse Bituch similarly screamed in horror and staggered back into a table, where she promptly fell backwards amid a flurry of rubber gloves and gauze.

“The Moderator’s box is up the stairs,” Razor Leaf informed them, Guuzu running alongside him. Jenny and Gordon followed, running through the tunnels in the stadiums. Jenny glanced at a screen, showing a muscular Feraligatr blasting thick, piercing jets of water at a rolling Swalot.

*

The match was furious. Swalot, leaping left and right, was exhausting himself trying to get close to Feraligatr, who was like an armoured tank. Gregg was grinning stupidly as sweat soaked my forehead.

“Get back!” I yelled to my Pokemon. Spinning like a discoloured sonic, Swalot appeared back at my side. Feraligatr stamped the ground, guffawing happily. I mouthed a suggestion to Swalot, who nodded at me. He leapt up into the air and blasted an ice beam through the air; Feraligatr did a lumbering stagger to the side and blasted his own towards my Pokemon. Swalot was struck and fell to the ground, but shook the damage off and sped along in what I liked to call his ‘rolly-polly’ technique. Feraligatr prepared to blast another jet of water to hurl my Pokemon out of the way, but with a leap, Swalot flew through the air, his fingers glowing with an odd glow. I smiled. Our secret technique.

Giving a blubbering yell, Swalot jousted into Feraligatr’s neck with his seeping poison. Feraligatr swiped his claws and slashed Swalot, who flew back and smashed into the ground, defeated. I grabbed his Pokeball but eyed the wound we left in the foe’s neck. We poisoned him.

“You did a good job,” I said, recalling him and tucking his Pokeball away. I grabbed Cacturne’s Pokeball and hurled it forward, watching the ball burst open, shed its glorious light and form into the burly cactus. Thinking back, Cacturne hadn’t had a good battle for some time now. This was an opportune moment.

“Ice Beam!” Gregg bellowed. Cacturne used a faint attack to blend into the atmosphere, before racing along the arena towards the enemy. The ice beam wasted as it soared through the air, Feraligatr closed his big jaws and turned his head left, right, trying to spot the enemy. If only Gregg knew Cacturne’s favoured angle of attack.

From above, Cacturne re-formed, needles glowing brilliantly across his big arms. In a lunging swipe, Cacturne whipped his arms across Feraligatr’s face and the beast fell back, stunned. In a brief moment I stared at one of the plasma screens and saw, to my delight, a freeze frame of the attack, and the words ‘Special Combo - Needle X’. Yes! The name had finally caught on! As he got back up, Feraligatr created frosted ice in his paws, swinging them around. He failed to hit Cacturne, who re-appeared a few metres away and blasted a barrage of spiked pins through the air. Covering his eyes, Feraligatr gave a long groan as his wound was irritated. Excellent.

“Cacturne go in for a thunderpunch,” I said. Nodding, Cacturne sped along as his arms crackled with electricity. He had mastered this from Electabuzz in our training and it looked great. I was so pleased for my cactus, who I had met as a little Cacnea so long ago. Cacturne lunged, but Feraligatr swung his tail around as it gave a shimmering glow. Caught in the stomach, Cacturne flew back and hit the ground. He was about to get up when a blast of ice struck him in the torso, causing him immense pain as the deep freeze penetrated his body.

“COME ON CACTURNE!” yelled Crystal Tears from the stands.

“Please don’t support that boy!” came a cry. Crystal was whacked over the head by a lady sitting behind her. Turning around, Crystal gasped. UuberFred was sitting in the stands with an entourage of pale, pasty people of differing ages - the men all had pudding bowl haircuts, from the thin man that must be Fred’s father, to the violent looking grandfather.

“Crispy Tears, we support Hanada Tattsu,” UuberFred said clearly. “Oh, have I introduced you to my family? This is UuberMum, UuberDad, UuberGreatGrandfatherHorace, UuberSister, and UuberHalf-AuntBernice.”

“Valerie, I want the toilet!” screeched the elderly lady. She had a stuffed Chatot with her - this was apparently the item used to hit Crystal with.

“Again?” cried the mother in a slight German accent. “But mother, I have just taken you!”

“WELL I NEED TO GO AGAIN!” she screamed.

“I want fancy moderator seats,” grumbled Crystal, folding her arms.

“Don’t swear!” grumbled UuberGreatGrandfatherHorace, a decrepit old battleaxe.

“I didn’t!” Crystal hollered back.

“Don’t lie!” he spat. Crystal felt her temper rising, so she said nothing.

“Don’t ignore me!” raged the man. Crystal turned around and gave him a hearty push, causing him to tumble over his seat and into the heavily depressed clown behind him. There was a yell of shock as the pregnant woman moaned in agony. The UuberFred clan all clamoured to help as the old lady fled towards the toilet with no help at all, her stuffed Chatot tumbling down the steps. Crystal leapt from her seat and ran to go somewhere else.

With a spinning jump, Cacturne leapt away from Feraligatr’s grasp. He then unleashed another barrage of pins at the Pokemon’s poisoned wound; giving an almighty roar, Feraligatr swung his skull up and whacked Cacturne heartily. As he skidded back to our side of the arena, Cacturne looked at me fleetingly. Feraligatr was weakening...slowly...

*

After finding the staircase to the higher tiers of the stands, Gordon, Razor Leaf and Jenny proceeded on. As Razor Leaf brought up the rear, a flurry of stars swept through the air and smashed into his back. Collapsing to his knees, he turned to see Isabelle walking over, Glaceon at her side.

“Daniel!” Jenny cried.

“Go on! I’ll fight,” Razor Leaf replied. Nodding, Gordon and Jenny went up the stairs, Jenny looking concerned. Guuzu leapt up and dealt a crush claw to Glaceon, who sped along to the left and blasted a beam of ice towards the Zangoose. In a flash, Zangoose created a circle of identical clones. Glaceon narrowed her eyes at the predicament, preparing to fire off an attack in succession to wipe them all out. Razor Leaf clicked his fingers and all the clones began leaping around the corridor. They jumped high, ducked low and ran rings around Glaceon like a wild pack of animals.

Isabelle narrowed her eyes; she was not good at battling. What she needed was to momentarily stop Razor Leaf long enough to catch up to Jenny and Gordon. But seeing the copied clones acting of their own accord, moving like real creatures...Isabelle was bitterly impressed with Razor Leaf’s skills. Guuzu swung a punch and socked Glaceon right in the face.

Meanwhile, Gordon and Jenny arrived in the small box where the Moderators were viewing the match from. River gave a cry in shock as The Missing Link stared at Jenny with intrigue. Both of them looked worn, their clothes ripped in places, sweat and blood fusing down their faces.

“Jenny!” Becca said.

“Grey,” Gordon said firmly.

“I know why you are here,” Grey said simply.

“Then you know I have to cancel this match,” Gordon said promptly. Grey nodded and, almost symbolically, stepped away from the podium to allow Gordon room. The moderators and Jenny watched as Gordon took to the stage and spoke, his voice booming across the entire arena.

“STOP THE BATTLE.”

*

I turned to look up at the top box. The man standing at the podium looked awful. Ill, almost. Despite his order to stop, Feraligatr ran at Cacturne, his jaws wide. Cacturne leapt to the side, but all of a sudden, an Alakazam popped onto the middle of the arena and cast its arms out. With a telekinetic force, both Cacturne and Myself were hurled through the air and pinned against a wall of the stadium. I saw the same happen to Gregg.

“Many of you will know who I am,” Gordon proclaimed powerfully. “For those of you who do not, we meet at a difficult time.”

Crystal, who was hiding from UuberFred and his family, found Tsuki Megumi and her Banette in the corridor. They watched the announcement on the screen. OzAndrew, fighting Tucker, The Green Lanturn and Blademaster, looked at the match footage in the village square, shocked at the appearance. As he did this, Mr Mime was struck by Ursaring. Salamence blasted a flamethrower into Aerodactyl and Venusaur narrowly avoided an attack with a wall of thick creepers. Having gained access to communications in TPML, Amy Wolfsong was helping broadcast the feed to the Board members. She watched the monitor fearfully.

“I am the Chairman of the Board of Governors. And I have travelled here from New York city to personally ensure this league village is shut down. That means that the finals of the 2006 Pokemon Masters League is a tie.”

Outraged members of the audience shouted and booed. Hyperness Is A Good Thing yelled angrily, while Houndoom Lover stroked her Hellish dog menacingly. MeLoveGhosts stared with his arms crossed, apparently unhappy with the news. As the telekinetic hold loosened slightly, I saw Gregg watch with fury.

“This is due to the group WAVEX, who have been conspiring to fix the league in order for an individual to win,” Gordon continued calmly, staring before the sea of horrified faces. “As Chairman, I will stamp out anybody who tries to meddle with my business. Added to that the recent deaths of league members, the frequent changes in moderators and the general destruction that has been called, we have no other option but to close this League village for good.”

He paused to let the news sink in. As he did so, there was a sudden shriek from the skies; looking up, Gordon saw Thomas on a huge Pidgeot, flying through the air at impressive speed. From the winged creature, Thomas dropped Pokeballs down to the moderator’s platform; a Quilava and Raichu emerged, shooting flame and lightening from their respective bodies. Gordon was struck in the back by a bolt of lightening and fell to the ground; Grey gripped Pokeballs on his own belt and Becca did likewise; River grabbed Jenny and led her to safety as Elec Man and The Blue Avenger stared on.

“What the hell is going on?” Gregg shouted. I didn’t say anything; I had no idea.

“SEND THE AUDIENCE AWAY!” Gordon cried. He hurled Pokeballs through the air, which exploded with gold and silver showers of sparks. Alakazam’s flew out like superheroes, while Metagross levitated in the space above the stadiums. Gordon staggered to the microphone.

“THESE POKEMON WILL SEND YOU BACK TO THE VILLAGE SQUARE. PLEASE STAY CALM.”

He turned to the Moderators.

“Please help me,” he gasped. Instantly, River and The Blue Avenger ran to assist the removal of the crowd; the Alakazam’s were flying laps around the stadiums, encasing the seating in a protective dome to ensure attacks did not harm anyone. The five Metagross were teleporting people away by spreading PSI waves through the atmosphere.

“Wrong move Gordon!” Thomas yelled, gripping onto Pidgeot as it blasted an intense gust through the air. Jenny fell back, Elec Man EXE holding her, as Becca released her Empoleon and Grey sent out his Umbreon.

“Get on one of the Metagross!” Becca shouted. “Use the Pokeball to get its attention. Get out of here!”

Gordon gripped a silver Pokeball and shot from it a silver beam of light. As he did so, Quilava rolled into a ball of fire and sped along towards him. Empoleon tackled it off the edge of the box, where it fell to the seats below. Raichu swung a thunderpunch into the penguin’s head after dodging Umbreon’s attacks.

Gordon clambered atop a Metagross and it began to hover up to the air slightly, leading him away from the fighting. Umbreon fired a hyper beam into Raichu as Empoleon raked a metal claw across its face. Thomas ordered Pidgeot to unleash a hyper beam from his beak; the impressive, orange beam smashed right into Metagross and Gordon was dislodged from his seat, landing awkwardly among the seats in the rapidly clearing audience. Metagross turned and angrily throbbed a pink tinge; the large X on its face glowing, Thomas was hurled from her Pokemon and similarly landed among the seats. She cocked her gun, signalled to Pidgeot in the sky and ran towards the Chairman, who fled down a set of steps leading to the tunnels.

“We need to protect Gordon,” Grey said. Raichu ran down the steps to find his trainer.

“How can I trust you?” Becca asked coyly.

“You have no choice,” Grey said coldly. “Come on.”

Chris 2.1

7th October 2008, 09:20 AM

The grip around my throat stopped. I fell to the ground, for I was pinned up quite high, and checked Cacturne was ok. He was. The results screen was turned off. The seats were pretty much empty, the remaining spectators filing out through the tunnels leading to the exit, like flesh-coloured smoke in reverse, coiling back to the single point of flame. Shimmering domes shone around the seating. A Pidgeot was flying through the sky, crying shrilly, while a Metagross, which had fallen from the sky, was pulling one of its large metal claws from a pile of destroyed chairs.

“Gregg,” I said, rushing over. “Are you ok?”

“Fine,” he gasped, massaging his throat. He recalled Feraligatr, who was acting irrationally and slightly violent. Gregg explained that his Croconaw evolved slightly hurriedly, and has a lot of testosterone building up. It is, he added, an angry Pokemon. We both discussed the goings on, and how we should probably get out of here while we could. The two of us ran through the archway and along the tunnels.

“I can’t believe this,” I said hurriedly, as we took a left. I saw River helping an elderly German lady down the stairs. “The league’s over?”

“They didn’t want you to win,” Gregg said casually.

“You knew about this…” I recalled, looking at him.

“They approached me before Round 4. Explained what they were doing.”

In a flash Gregg was pinned against the wall, Cacturne’s spiked arm against his throat. I stared at him.

“You knowingly went ahead with this?

“Get off me, Chris,” choked Gregg.

“No, hang on a second,” I said. “You knew the league was being fixed in your favour, and you did nothing to alert people?”

“There are more people involved in this than you could imagine,” Gregg said darkly, staring at me with nothing but pure malice as the blood rushed to his face. “This was the right thing to happen. I am supposed to win this league.”

“No you are not,” I argued back. “There’s no set route! No planned way for this to end. We all enter. We all fight. And one of us takes the crown!”

“And you think that you deserve it?” Gregg wheezed. I punched him in the face then and there, watching blood spill from his nose onto my knuckles. Cacturne let go of Gregg, so that he fell to the ground in a heap. I stared at the boy, angry at his arrogant streak. He wiped blood from his nose and grabbed a Pokeball; I pointed at him to Cacturne. Gregg hurled the ball forward and released his Marshtomp.

“This won’t end well,” I told him. Cacturne’s needles already began glowing brightly as he prepared to take on the mudfish. “Nobody to fix this for you, Gregg.”

There was a sudden rumble and we both looked around. A yell was heard from above us but I had no idea whose voice it was; Gregg and I exchanged a glance at each other as, without warning, Marshtomp launched itself at me. I ran back and Cacturne took the Pokemon on, firing a bullet seed into its side. Peppered, Marshtomp fell back, and Cacturne promptly unleashed a needle arm to deal devastating damage. Marshtomp gave a long cry of anguish, scratches all over his face, but fired a jet of water that Cacturne took with ease.

I got the impression my last words left an impression in Gregg’s mind; he looked nervous as Marshtomp was hit by another bullet seed. The Pokemon collapsed instantly, defeated by the string of potent grass attacks. Gregg recalled the small Pokemon.

“That’s it?” I asked. Gregg said something about type matchups, which made me laugh out loudly. “Gregg, do you really think you deserve to win?”

“I have other Pokemon,” he growled, pulling another from his belt.

“Then bring it on. I have all day,” I said calmly, despite the chaos all around us.

*

Meanwhile, Gordon was running through the stadium. He was signalling for the security to help him, but they were helping move the villagers back to the main square, and would not see him in this, the labyrinth of tunnels around the main arena. Gunshots were heard, prompting the man to run back up a set of steps and back to the east wing of the stadium. He looked out and saw the empty seats, the broken steps and the general mess of a stadium and felt saddened. But he had no time to be nostalgic. As he took a step, Quilava emerged, giving a hiss and shooting off embers towards him. Turning sharply left, and running along the row of chairs, Gordon wished he had taken the time to train Pokemon of his own. In the sky, a Pellipper and Gligar swooped down on him.

Arms covering his head in a blind panic, Gordon sprinted as fast as he could, stopping only when he heard a shrill cry and an order from a trainer. He turned to see Becca wielding her Empoleon, using it to send a freezing blast through the air and strike Gligar. Spinning around, Empoleon sent a flurry of bubbles exploding in Pellipper’s face, while the part-steel type blocked a barrage of flames with its thick, sheened wings.

“Sir!” Becca cried. “Are you ok?”

“Fine,” he lied.

“Grey has blocked Thomas off,” Becca explained. “But we need to get you out of here. To finish what you started.”

“I couldn’t agree more!” he cried. Becca turned as Quilava burst into fire again, racing across the stands and causing the seats to catch fire. Empoleon was ordered to use aqua jet. Jumping and bursting into life with water, the penguin darted through the air, as fast and deadly as a torpedo. Striking Quilava, Empoleon then turned and blasted a whirlpool up through the air; the snaking column of twisting water doused any nearby flames. Becca released Starmie for protection while Empoleon went off to fight Gligar, who was zooming around dangerously.

“We need to get to the exit, but it’s on the other side of the stadium,” Becca noted. She called Empoleon to her side, as they raced along the seats. Empoleon leapt up through the air and joined the two humans and the rigid, purple star.

*

Meanwhile, Raichu was with Thomas as they scoured the corridors for any signs of Gordon. Thomas was frantically trying to find out where Brooklyn was, for the communications had been restored. This meant that either Brooklyn was betraying the group, or, perhaps worse - he had been killed. He was unreachable by his phone number.

Suddenly Raichu gave a cry of pain and was hurled to the ground by a speeding silver blur. Whipping around, Thomas saw Grey walk into view as Umbreon leapt to his trainer’s side. Raichu unleashed a frenzy of lightening that whooshed through the air; Umbreon leapt out of the way, causing the electric attack to scorch the corridor.

“Leave me alone Grey,” Thomas said coldly. “I have work to carry out.”

“That work you speak of is murder,” Grey replied emptily. “I will not let you take another life.”

“You have no choice,” Thomas told the man.

“I watched you kill Charles,” Grey mentioned. “And I have not slept since. It eats at me like a parasite. I can’t let you kill Gordon. I won’t allow it.”

Thomas grinned stupidly, reaching for her gun. Raichu’s pouches brimmed with fantastic light.

“Then I will spare you the horror of watching,” she said, before suddenly looking down at her side. Her gun was not there. She felt her other pocket. Nothing. Scanning the area, she attempted to detect the weapon but it was nowhere to be seen. At this lapse in attack, Grey gave a hollow laugh. Thomas saw this and grumbled, ordering an electric attack from her Pokemon. Raichu blasted a volley of sparks through the air as Thomas fled through the corridors. Umbreon was struck by the attack and gave a cry of pain as sparks coursed through his body. Grey ran after Thomas.

“Umbreon, use confuse ray!” Grey yelled. The light was beamed from Umbreon’s rings, but since Thomas was not staring at them, the attack failed, and Thomas took a sharp turn up a flight of stairs. As Grey gave chase, he felt a sudden surge of ice hit him in the back and he fell to the ground in agony. Isabelle stood over Grey, her Glaceon tackling Umbreon in a frenzied rage. Isabelle stared at Grey with loathing and, noticing her boss up ahead, pulled out a needle and held it to the man’s neck, as he lay face down on the ground.

As she plunged the syringe, a force lifted her up off the ground and flung her across the corridor. With a crunch she smashed into the concrete wall, giving a lurching gasp and hitting the stone floor as Razor Leaf ran over, Solrock and Lunatone at his side. Isabelle lay unconscious on the ground as her Glaceon continued to wrestle with Umbreon, biting it, scratching it and hissing all the while. Solrock hurled Glaceon from the other Eeveelution while Lunatone helped Grey to his feet.

“I’ve been reuniting with some of my Pokemon,” Razor Leaf said merrily to Grey. Grey nodded, feeling an intense pain from the attack previously. The two stared at Isabelle’s limp figure.

“Will she be ok?” Grey asked.

“I don’t care,” Razor Leaf replied. “We’ve been fighting pretty hard back there. She knocked me back then ran after Thomas. It’s getting really crazy.”

“Thomas isn’t armed, so our only worry is her Pokemon,” Grey noted. “Elec Man EXE has taken Jenny to safety. Becca is with Gordon, I think. River and Jeff are evacuating Crescent Walk.”

“What about Chris and Gregg?” Razor Leaf asked.

“I haven’t seen them,” Grey noted. There was a scream and a bang as a body was hurled down the nearest set of steps. Razor Leaf gasped as he saw Becca’s body, worn from battle, smash into the ground and twitch slightly.

“Becca!” Razor Leaf yelled, rushing to her side. She opened her eyes, looking up at him.

“Daniel?” she said quizzically. “Am I really seeing your face?”

“I’m here,” he said. “What happened?”

“Thomas attacked me, she has loads of her Pokemon out,” Becca noted. “She used Gligar’s thief to steal the security Pokeballs and used my own Alakazam against me. She has two or three of the Pokemon under her control, I think.”

“What about Gordon? Is he safe?” Grey asked. Becca shrugged.

“I was leading him to safety when Thomas struck,” she said. “I don’t know if he’s ok or not.”

“Daniel, have your Pokemon send Becca to the Hospital. She’s not looking good,” Grey told the ex-moderator. Nodding, Razor Leaf ordered his Solrock and Lunatone to circle Becca, casting an odd, mystical glow down on the girl’s frail body. The Pokemon slowly faded into the air along with that among the glowing perimeter; in mere seconds, they existed at the stadiums no more. Razor Leaf and Grey shared a knowing look.

“It’s important we get to Gordon, fast,” Grey urged Razor Leaf.

*

Gordon was running like never before, through the dark corridors of the stadiums to the open, vulnerable seating outside. As he arrived in another wing of the seats, he saw a fleet of Metagross, limbs tucked into their bodies, sweeping through the air like sentry bots. Now with none of the Pokeballs, Gordon had no way of controlling these creatures, and needed to desperately get away from the stadiums before he was killed. To his left, a duelled bolt of lightening and flame told him Thomas was nearby; and the screeches of her Pidgeot high above also told him being in the open was a foolish idea. Running back down the stairs, Gordon looked around for a way out. The way to the exit.

After hearing a loud bang, Gordon flinched and ran along the corridor. He saw a much wider corridor leading to his right, and wondered if it was the way to the exit. He jogged down it, the excessive racing around causing him much exhaustion at his age. There were a set of metal doors ahead which, leaning into them as he ran, Gordon forced open. On and on he ran, thinking of his wife, his children, and his newest grandchild, Oscar. His family…would he see them again?

Another set of doors presented themselves, and Gordon promptly pushed into them, running a little longer as he felt the cool sting of air against his hot cheeks. He gasped. Here he was, on the arena where the final match took place. The grass rustled in the breeze as Gordon looked up, around, at the tiers of seats destroyed by all the fighting. In the sky, Pidgeot circled around, while Metagross and Alakazam were also patrolling the seats. There was no other place which Gordon was more visible. Standing on the markings, he realised he was a sitting duck, and turned to leave.

“Going somewhere?”

Gordon looked at the figure standing on the other side of the pitch. It was none other than Thomas. Raichu at one side and Quilava at the other, Thomas was grinning happily at her prey.

“Gordon, far me it from me to tell you what to do,” she said boldly. “But I think you should stay right here. I think we should chat.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” Gordon replied hoarsely. “I have shut this league down. Crucial members of the local authority and the Board are in place, empting bank accounts, assisting in transport and so on. Your own HQ has been swept by the Police. The village is being shut down.”

“Oh I know you ruined my plans,” Thomas said casually. “I know there is no winner to this league. But I have long since parted with the luxury of Hanada Tattsu winning this tournament. I need closure, though, which involves your death.”

“You do not need to kill me,” Gordon said simply. “Please, this is ridiculous. You will be a wanted lady.”

“I have the resources to disappear,” Thomas replied.

“Speaking of resources,” came a rapt voice. Thomas looked to see Brooklyn Knight pacing towards them from the middle of the arena. He walked calmly, his suit barely ripped or torn, his hair barely out of place. He walked with purpose, but also a sense of loss. He stood a few metres away from the two, at the side of the arena, so that the three were in a triangle formation, each staring at the other two.

“Brooklyn!” Gordon said breathlessly. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I’ll tell you where he’s been,” Thomas said. “He has been working against you to help further our goals. Brooklyn has been a part of WAVEX for a very, very long time.”

Gordon, shocked, looked at the Technical Assistant for some sort of argument. Some reaction. But Brooklyn’s well-defined face was calm in the shock. He nodded slowly.

“I have used Board resources to aid WAVEX,” he said simply. “Helped provide information they could not get otherwise.”

“Good lord,” Gordon said. “But you turned Volletta Kane in. Why would you do that?”

“I was never instructed to by WAVEX,” Brooklyn admitted. “But she did not know of my involvement. I was hired indirectly to assist WAVEX so contact was minimal. I could see what a bad job she was doing, and blew her cover, thus gaining some trust from you.”

“So you’ve been playing my own people against me,” Gordon said to Thomas.

“Where is Deatley?” Thomas barked. Brooklyn smiled.

“I killed him,” he replied. Thomas’s eyes were wide as Brooklyn stood there, the suspicious side of this triangle. “I also restored the communications to the Board, allowing the shut-down to commence.”

“Why would you do this?” Thomas asked angrily. Brooklyn’s left hand wandered to his right hip. His right hand wandered to his left. In on swift action he gripped two pistols, whipping them from their holsters and pointing the barrels squarely at Thomas and Gordon’s heads respectively.

“Because my loyalties lie with neither of you,” he murmured, giving each trigger a satisfying squeeze. Bullets rocketed into Thomas and Gordon’s skulls simultaneously, and as blood sprayed Brooklyn from both angles, the two victims collapsed to the ground with a single thud.

Chris 2.1

7th October 2008, 09:21 AM

Part 6

Cacturne and I were fighting with Gregg and his Blastoise when a loud bang echoed around the stadiums. Gasping, we looked around for some sign of a casualty. Gregg looked scared. I suppose the death of his father might have made him jumpy around some things. As we ran back along the tunnels trying to trace the source of the noise, my mind was racing. It was a gun firing, for sure. But it sounded so thick, so heavy…was the league about to lose another member?

“It sounds like it came from the pitch,” I said to Gregg, who was not listening. We ran across the field, seeing two bodies sprawled across the grass in a puddle of blood. As we ran towards it, I could see Grey and Razor Leaf running from the other side of the arena. The closer we got, the more I was able to see. Along with two bodies, there was the Raichu and Quilava from before, both with shots to the head.

“Oh my god,” Gregg gasped. I looked down.

Thomas, or Pichu as she was known, lay opposite Gordon, both clearly dead. The sight of the two bodies, whilst unfamiliar to me, still brought a shuddering lurch through my own body. Seeing the dead Pokemon was even more harrowing. Grey and Razor Leaf looked down solemnly at the bodies, the silence in the air lingering like an intruder. It soaked all sounds or thoughts, creating a still, almost peaceful vacuum.

Then Grey spoke up, saying something that I have never got my head around to this day.

“If these two are both dead, who was it that shot them?”

*

Six hours later, the atmosphere was still ugly. The sun was beginning to set as police and ambulances swarmed the village square. Low-down workers from the Board of Governors, who were stationed in the UK, arrived to help liquidise the village. The bank was shut down, with everyone receiving a cheque with the amount they were owed. I was astonished to learn my account help a measly £28.

Many of the villagers mulled around the main square, particularly since it led to the train station. I saw a flash of MeLoveGhosts as he sped off in a rickety carriage, perhaps on his way home. A lot of people had decided to leave now. There was no point in staying around the slightly haunting surroundings. I hadn’t seen Gregg since we were at the stadiums, and presumed he had fled from the spotlight somewhat. After all, he was in cahoots with Thomas, and that looked dodgy.

I had packed my things up and moved out of my small flat. As I walked up BT Street, I took a fleeting glance at the shabby, but comfortable, flat. Jenny had let me use it after she left, which was very kind of her. As I walked past a team heading up to the Radio Tower to shut it down for good, I saw Razor Leaf, who was looking awkward in the village square.

“Shouldn’t you be hiding?” I asked him. “The Frontier Brains -”

“They are a Seven again,” Razor Leaf replied. He pointed to the square, where OzAndrew was being hailed as the new Dome Ace. There was a muffled applause as Annabel, Noland and Scott proudly announced him replacing Daniel, who was apparently only ever intended to be a temporary member of the team. Razor Leaf gave a sarcastic laugh as OzAndrew boarded an elaborate tourbus.

“I’d just like to thank Jesus,” he waffled. “Umm, Mr McPrawn for taking jail so well, Tucker, Blademaster and The Green Lanturn for totally losing! And Razor Leaf for…erm…oh shit….erm Razor Leaf for being absent since I last saw him which was like, ages ago, and I don’t even remember who his face looks like cos its been so long. Also, Horoscopes rock!”

“I’ve never felt so sick,” came a sour, rasp of a voice. Tucker was watching sourly from his wheelchair. The Green Lanturn and Blademaster were next to him, talking in hushed voices about leaving the village to fight crime, something which Tucker seemed unhappy about.

“…and like, cool costumes and stuff,” Blademaster muttered excitedly. “Our Pokemon can help us out. Cos there’s loads of villains that exist, maybe.”

“Indeed, evil is more evil than the twenty-dollar-bill,” mused The Green Lanturn, playing with a yo-yo as he thought.

“I know THE coolest golf course,” Blademaster rambled. “Like, who would suspect we’d use a GOLF COURSE as our hiding spot?”

“Golf is an evil we may never eradicate,” The Green Lanturn murmured. He was hiding his enthusiasm well.

“So what, you guys are totally leaving now?” Tucker asked.

“Pretty much,” Blademaster said, shrugging. “You’re a nice person, Tucker. But being crippled has really destroyed you mentally.”

“I agree, Tucker, that your life has revolved faster than the wheels in which you sit upon to help you move,” The Green Lanturn said.

“What does that even mean!?” asked the ex-Frontier Brain.

“It means I am leaving,” said the superhero. And with that, the two joined forced and walked away, ready for a life of fighting crime and solving mysterious clues on the back of business cards.

I ignored the oddity of the crime-fighting guys, and turned to see The Blue Avenger lead River away somewhere. I wondered what was going on, and it seemed Crystal did, too, for she snuck after them. UuberFred and his entire family of depressing looking Germanic-Americans clambered inside a gigantic campervan, leading me to wonder if they were heading back home already.

“A new adventure!” the boy yelled. “29-hour-bus-journey! YAY!”

“Chris,” Razor Leaf said suddenly. He pointed up ahead, where Grey was talking to a police officer.

“You need to take me away,” Grey said to the man.

“Why is that, sir,” the officer asked sincerely.

“I have been a reluctant - but nevertheless salient - factor in the corruption of this league,” he explained sadly, staring the man right in the eyes. “I have betrayed my role as Head of this league, and have known of a number of deaths without reporting them.”

At this confession, the officer pulled out a gun and held it to Grey.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to come with me,” he said firmly. Grey nodded, hands raised in surrender, as I struggled to calculate what he was doing. Razor Leaf had already strode over purposefully. Grey was being led into a police car.

“Grey?” I asked weakly. “W-What’s going on?”

“This man admitted to being a part of the WAVEX conspiracy,” the officer said, slapping the handcuffs on Grey’s wrists. “We have to take him in for questioning.”

“Grey!” Razor Leaf yelled. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I have to own up to what I did, even if it was not under my own influence,” Grey replied calmly, from inside the car. “I need to be led away from all of this. All the chaos.”

“You’re innocent,” Razor Leaf said firmly to his friend. “You could go away for years!”

“I’m safer behind bars,” Grey muttered to us. “Goodbye Chris…Daniel…”

“No!” Razor Leaf yelled. But too late. The vehicle slowly revved up and was pulled away from the square, leaving me with yet another lurching feeling in my stomach. Grey throwing himself behind bars to protect himself…protect himself from who?! It seemed he was saving himself from himself. I wondered if Grey’s manipulation by WAVEX had caused him to break down slightly. Without another word to Razor Leaf, with the imminent feeling of violent emotion flooding through my body, I took off through the streets, away from everyone around me.

*

As beeping filled the air, Becca’s eyes opened softly. She was in a hospital bed, nursing a few broken fingers. The girl smirked, recalling the painful throw down the stone steps by Alakazam. That could have ended a lot worse. As she began to understand her surroundings, Becca was aware that the beeps were becoming more and more frequent. More urgent, perhaps. She suddenly looked out her window, across the ward, to see an ill Liang in bed.

Liang.

Ignoring the rules, Becca got her phone out and scrolled through the address book. She ran out her room and across the corridor, hearing the phone ring out of sync to the intense beeping from the heart monitor. Soon, the phone was answered.

“Amy Wolfsong speaking.”

“Amy it’s Becca,” she said quickly.

“Becca? Is everything ok at the village?”

Becca didn’t really know how everything had ended, so she ignored the question and got to the point.

“It’s Liang.”

“Liang?” Amy asked. “What about him?”

“I haven’t been able to tell you, but the poison made him worse. He’s in a coma. But I think he’s dying, Amy.”

“Oh Liang!” Amy moaned. Becca felt her eyes well up.

“It’s ok,” she said sadly. “He was well looked after, and has been fine. But you need to speak to him. These are his last moments.”

Becca marched into the room, noticing a rather nice bouquet of flowers, and pressing her phone to Liang’s ear. She stood at the doorway.

“Hello?” Amy said. “Liang, it’s me. Amy. I know you can hear me.

“This is so weird…but I think I know that the time has come for me to say goodbye. I‘m not good at these sorts of things…not this suddenly…but I‘m always going to miss you. Thank you for making me so strong, and being there for me. I‘ve really taken some of your resilience away with me…people really listen to me, I have a voice!”

She sniffed, wiping tears on her sleeve and staring at them as they glistened in the light.

“I wish I could see your face again one last time. But I’ve begun to accept that I was destined to lose you. G-goodbye…Liang…”

Becca looked up as the beeping stopped. A tragic moan from the machine told her everything she needed to. Silence filled the room as Liang lay there, his chest failing to rise or fall anymore. From the phone, Becca could hear Amy’s sobs, and gently took the phone from beside the boy.

“H-He’s gone,” she sniffed.

“Thank you Becca,” Amy wept.

“He’s been waiting to hear your voice,” replied Becca emptily.

And with that, Becca stared across at the boy, who lay perfectly still in his bed. The machines had all fallen silent, with no job left to do. The legendary trainer Aragornbird passed peacefully into the afterlife, finally defeated by the venom coursing through his veins. And at that time, it seemed everything, including the chaos and frenzy in the world outside, was put on hold for just a few special minutes, as Liang made his way to a different place.

*

It was like an out of body experience. I was just standing in the middle of the street, Falken Street, leading up towards the station from the towers. Everything was too much right now. News was spreading that Liang had passed away, and there couldn’t be an uglier feeling of sorrow snaking through the village. Like a dirty serpent it wound around friends and allies, plaguing them with despair and worry. It was revolting.

Soon, this place I knew as home felt like a gangrenous limb ready to drop off from my body. My team long recalled into their Pokeballs, I thought about all the people in this wonderful place. Becca was apparently recovering from injuries, Grey was arrested, The Blue Avenger and River snuck off somewhere private…as for Liang, his fate was sealed some time ago. OzAndrew was moving onto fame, fortune and apparently an autobiography, while Razor Leaf might have to slink into the shadows since his plan to return was abolished.

I saw Luna Fuerte earlier, but she looked really well. Almost satisfied. She was with her Slowpoke, and had both her Espeon and Umbreon out with her too. Lost in thought, I couldn’t help wonder what was going to happen to Gregg, and if he was going to be ok.

“I’ve been looking all over for you.”

I span around at the voice and was confronted with Jenny, my ex girlfriend. She stood ahead, looking exhausted, upset, but determined. I stared quizzically, feeling a tingling through my body.

“I saw you from the Top Box, but Elec Man EXE led me away for my own safety. I saw you in the village square, with Razor Leaf…but you ran away…”

“Yea,” I muttered. “Not feeling so good right here.”

“Do you realise I was kidnapped in the middle of the night?” she asked. I furrowed my brow; shocked by the news, but realising that it made sense. I nodded slowly. “I’ve been through hell.”

“I’m so sorry,” I told her, taking a step closer as I was overcome with a nurturing persona. I wanted to keep Jenny safe, but as I made eye contact with her, I felt a horrific, sharp stab of something in my head. Freezing on the spot, I blinked rapidly; I was full of some kind of pain.

“I was rescued…and I got out…” she muttered. Jenny gave a long sigh, tears filling in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, somewhat bewildered. “Y-You’re ok, aren’t you?”

“I was helped by a boy, called Rolph,” Jenny explained shakily. “H-His name was Aaron, really…he understood what was troubling me, and knew I was being held captive…and he helped break me out the headquarters.”

“Right,” I said.

“…he was only our age, roughly. Maybe older. He took a lot of pain from Thomas as we escaped, and distracted her while I fled.”

“That was very brave of him,” I noted. My words didn’t comfort Jenny, who was shaking slightly. “Jen?”

“He just died,” Jenny moaned. “In hospital.”

“Oh my god,” I said emptily. I never knew the boy, but the fact that so much death and misery was sweeping along the village brought a horrible bile to the back of my throat. Jenny was saved by a dashing prince, only to lose him…

“I’m so sorry,” I said, taking another step towards her, feeling a desire to comfort, to protect…until another familiar stab jousted at my insides and I froze. What was wrong with me? Jenny was weak, upset, in a village full of horrible memories, and I was keeping a distance from her. Afraid, almost, to get close…to become vulnerable…

All of a sudden my innate behaviour became clear. I was trying to keep a distance from Jenny, because everything that happened with Morpheus had scarred me inside. I didn’t want to fall into a trap; to get close to someone so soon. She was too busy drowning in her tears that she didn’t notice my surge of understanding. I couldn’t be near her.

“Your mum isn’t well,” Jenny sniffed, edging closer. “She’s taken the divorce from your father really badly.”

I said nothing. I processed an image of my mum, sitting in a small flat above a corner shop, thinking of the times when she was married, with two children. I thought of my brother, David, and the image of his face stung my insides. My mind conjured up my father, starting a new family…

“She really needs you, Chris. I need you….”

“And what about what I need, Jenny?” I asked wildly, staring at her lost gaze. “I…I don’t know what everybody wants from me. What am I able to do, exactly?”

“Lend your support! Everyone needs you to be strong!”

“Well I’m weak right now,” I snarled, turning from her. Staring ahead as a train rattled into the station. “I need to heal.”

“Chris?” Jenny asked.

“Everything I liked about this village has crumbled away,” came my admission. “Friends have died, strangers have died, people have suffered…and…and I can’t quite deal with that.”

“Come on home,” Jenny said softly. Her hand reached for my arm; the mere intimacy hurt like an electric surge from Jenny’s fingertips.

“No.”

My body was working without my telling it to; foot after foot, foot before foot; in a blink I realised I was walking away from Jenny. To the station. I couldn’t stand the painful pressure of having to look after her and my mum, while trying to look after myself. Still devastated over my brother’s death, the horrific events in the village today were replaying before my eyes. I saw flashes of Gregg fighting me in the corridors; Thomas flying into the stadiums with her Raichu and Quilava attacking innocent people; those same Pokemon lying dead next to their trainer, bullets lodged in their heads.

I ran up the steps to the station, my small suitcase with me, and felt Jenny’s cries in my heart. I saw a train, doors open temptingly, and hurriedly made my way to its doors. To sanctuary.

“Excuse me,” came a female voice. I turned to see a woman a few years older than me at the platform, observing me get on the train. “My name is Sike Saner. I‘m a reporter covering the events that have just unfolded, but don‘t know my way around…. Do you know where The Chairman is?”

I stared into her eyes; they brimmed with energy and atmosphere. I felt lifeless in comparison.

“I don’t know,” I lied. She nodded calmly, turning a Dictaphone on.

“Er, well, might you give me an interview? An inside-scoop, perhaps?”

“Please,” I said simply, boarding the train. “I need to be left alone.”

And with that, I shunned the reporter and took a seat, my suitcase by me. With a hearty gulp I looked at the station platform; Jenny was walking up Falken Street towards the steps. Sike Saner was currently talking with that crazy pregnant lady about what had gone on today, while I sat immersed in my own thoughts. The train steadily filled - I caught the eye of Chris Watarimono, but we both knew neither of us wanted to say anything.

What would I do with myself? The Village had been an anchor; something firm and secure, a place for me to get away from my distressing family life. Now that my anchor was hoisted up, would I drift among the isolated ocean, unable to make peace with the land? I feared I would always wander, trying to get away from my life and forgetting my problems merely by turning a blind eye. As the train rolled away from The Pokemon Masters League, I looked directly ahead to the destination - one I did not even know. There was no need taking a final look at the village as I left.

It wasn’t home anymore.

*

A car was haphazardly parked outside a log cabin fifteen miles from the TPML border. The log cabin was basic, with simple furnishings and nobody inside. Nobody except Brooklyn Knight, who was pacing up and down as he put his gun on the table. He sat on a maroon sofa for mere moments, getting back up and walking the length of the room. There was silence. A pungent odour lingered in the room.

There was no remorse for Gordon or Thomas; everything had, admittedly, gone smoothly. Brooklyn heard the sound of a car pulling up and felt his heart beat fast; the meeting was about to take place. He sat down, his hand resting on his gun, thinking of nothing but the vast wealth he would soon have in his possession. A car door slammed, and three knocks echoed around the room from the door.

“It’s open,” Brooklyn called. The door was opened up, and Callisto Thunder entered the small room, looking striking in a stone-coloured trench coat wrapped around a midnight blue dress. Her jet black hair straight and glossy, she shook it back as she closed the door behind her, giving Brooklyn a sly grin as she walked over.

“Hello Callisto,” Brooklyn said.

“Good to see you,” Callisto said softly, as Brooklyn stood to greet her. She planted a generous kiss on the man’s lips and stared into his eyes for a mere moment. She broke apart, walking around the back of an armchair. “Give me the statistics.”

“The league was shut down before Gregg won the competition,” Brooklyn recited. “The village is being cleared now. Rolph is dead, Deatley is dead, Hage is in jail, Isabelle broke a considerable amount of bones but is presumed alive and Liang died from the poison in his body. “

“A lot of blood has been spilled,” the woman noted calmly. “But it was imperative to stop that underhanded scheme. My son does not deserve to be used like that. As much as I disliked the man, Grey was right; the boy will be corrupted if he wins by any means other than true skill.”

“I agree,” Brooklyn said.

“How did things work with WAVEX and the Board?” she asked.

“They played off each other perfectly,” Brooklyn noted. “Both believed to have my full loyalty.”

“And how did they react to your betrayal?” inquired Callisto.

“I didn’t give them time to register - I shot them both,” explained the handsome spy. A pencilled eyebrow was raised in question, but it seemed the woman knew what to expect.

“Thomas does not deserve this life,” she replied coldly. “That evil, twisted little girl tried using my boy to conquer her own grief. She is a mess. When you alerted me to the presence of her group, I knew we were facing difficult odds. I appreciate your work throughout all of this. You have set up Volletta Kane, earned the trust of Thomas and Gordon, and effortlessly carried out a great deal of work. You have my thanks.”

“It was worth the fee,” Brooklyn said, smirking.

Callisto let out a sigh.

“But unfortunately I am not one hundred percent relieved, Brooklyn.”

“Why is that?” he asked.

“I didn’t want Gordon to die,” she explained. “It was inevitable, once your waning loyalty was revealed…but his death will send shockwaves across the Board.”

“Cocoa will most likely get the position of Head Chair,” Brooklyn noted. “I will keep you informed of everything.”

“How will you do that?” Callisto asked.

“We keep a low but steady level of communications,” Brooklyn noted. “I’ll be able to let you know everything that goes on, just like before.”

“You are in no fit state to return to the Board, not after today,” Callisto said. “Despite your swift work, once you return to the Board it will be clear that you were heavily involved in the unravelling of the events that took place today. Think about everything that happened.”

Brooklyn noted that Deatley’s death at the tower where the Communications were restored, and the dead bodies of both Thomas and Gordon looked suspicious. Hage and Isabelle may also drop his name into things. For the first time in his life, Brooklyn Knight felt a mysterious angst fill his insides. He was worried.

“I can tell what you’re thinking,” Callisto said simply. “But there is no need to worry about being a wanted man. Since my husband Christian’s death, Magnus Archer has made it his business to bring justice and have me caught. He has yet to even find out where I am, and I’m right under the nose of 04621. I have a contact in Westminster who can get you a new name and identity. Even employment. I , for example, currently go by the name Daphne Lockhart.”

“What sort of work do you do?” Brooklyn asked.

“I have no need for a job,” she said calmly. “I collected my husband’s small fortune following his death.”

“Right,” Brooklyn replied. “Speaking of which…there is my fee.”

“Your money is in the boot of my car,” Callisto said simply. She turned to walk to the door, her heels making decisive clicks as she walked across the wooden floor. As her hand reached for the door handle, she paused for a moment. Turning, she looked into Brooklyn’s eyes.

“You did a fantastic job at fitting in Gordon’s pocket,” she said simply. “But since you killed him, your power on the board has died too. Like me, you would be subjected to hearsay and heavy interrogation. That is why you must adopt a new identity.”

“I understand,” Brooklyn replied calmly. Callisto beamed at him.

“But you don’t understand,” she replied. “You have no value now that Gordon is dead. I cannot keep in with the Board of Governors now that my spy has been exposed, can I?”

Brooklyn began to understand what this was about and reached down for his gun. As he did, however, he saw Callisto bring out a small, jewel-studded lighter and create a lingering flame from it. Brooklyn’s attention suddenly turned to the room; each corner shining slightly with an ominous damp. The unhealthy stench was explained. The perimeter of the wooden cabin was soaked…in….

Without another word, Callisto tossed the lighter towards the corner of the room and slammed the door behind her. Brooklyn saw her run to her car as the flame caught the fluid and a long, snaking trail of embers burst across the room like a drag racer. In another moment, as Callisto’s car sped along the forest path, the entire log cabin burst into a blistering inferno, the fire curling into a ravaged fireball that engulfed the entire clearing. The flames carried on high into the sky, as thick, unruly fumes filled the air and everything within the cabin was incinerated.

THE END

Please let me know what you thought :)

mistysakura

7th October 2008, 06:16 PM

I don't read this, but a big congratulations for reaching the final chapter! It's not often a fic accomplishes that at all, and it's really special for a fic with such high acclaim to be completed. Today marks the end of an era... :P

The_Missing_Link

7th October 2008, 07:05 PM

God, what a mind fuck. It seems like no one ended up happy in the end except Andrew

I actually dislike endings where the main characters are miserable but with everything that has happened in the village, it's probably appropriate. I honestly didn't expect where the Brooklyn thing was going and thought the championship battle would have gone through all the way but yet again there was another twist

I honestly didn't know how well this fic would turn out and in the beginning, I didn't even want to read it because I thought it would be bad but I'm glad I was wrong. This is one of the best Pokemon fics I've ever read and the fact that you used ASB members (albeit loosely based) made it that much more interesting to read. I'm sorry to see it end but at least it was finished

The Blue Avenger

7th October 2008, 10:11 PM

Good lord, that was, as TVTropes would put it, a Thirty Xanatos Pileup. Everybody had their own schemes and this chapter was, simply put, all of those schemes colliding. Reminded me a lot of Death Note. XD As Becca said, the bit with Brooklyn completely blindsided me, and I was surprised also that Gordon managed to stop the match.

I was expecting things to end happily, but again as Becca pointed out the fic was really leading up to this ending - it fit the story very well. Excellent job, man; this story was awesome to read. You've done fantastically. Congratulations on finally managing to wrap it up. :)

Gavin Luper

8th October 2008, 04:34 AM

Just stopping in to say congratulations again, mate.

It must be such a weird feeling to be "on the other side" now.

I never really read this in depth, but it will be odd to not have it around anymore. It's like LTL is losing it's dinosaur twin or something.

Anyway, good on ya for persisting with this and finishing it all off. It's a seriously great effort from a seriously great writer. Enjoy basking in the glow of your success!

Cheers man!

Lune the Guardian

9th October 2008, 12:02 PM

Wow, that ending certainly surprised me. I'd forgotten all about Callisto, so I didn't even factor her into the equation when I was wondering whose side Brooklyn was really on.

Liang's death scene was sad and yet comforting. Although I felt frustrated for Liang that he couldn't respond, at least I'm satisfied to know that he was aware.

I really felt for Grey and Razor Leaf... Their reunion was so short and interrupted. And Grey's punishment for himself seemed unfair, though appropriate.

Speaking of Razor Leaf, I wonder where P_X is hanging around right now, I haven't talked to him in years. The fact that this fic has ended makes me nostalgic... even though the content didn't really have to do with the stuff I'm remembering. I miss SilverSuicune, I miss DRWS, I miss being a part of the ASB community. And I'll always regret dumping the place onto Becca when I'd had enough, I thought ASHarris would stay and didn't think she would leave too, I was only thinking of myself... I was so selfish... I haven't spoken to Becca for such a long time, and I think she hates me now, for a good reason.

But enough of my nostalgic ranting, congratulations on completing this work! It must be a great feeling to finally have your story told, even if there is a little tinge of loss that it's finally come to an end. I think the story had a fitting sense of closure, with a lingering feeling of some characters' stories left untied. I'm looking forward to the Extras that you mentioned, perhaps they will explain some questions that were left unanswered.

The_Missing_Link

9th October 2008, 10:48 PM

Charles Legend

10th October 2008, 10:36 AM

O_o I was not expecting Callisto to kill Brooklyn Knight by burning him alive A + (http://blog.orly.ch/files/lolz-you-fail.jpg)

but yeah all in all it was a grate chapter and a grate fic, btw did you ever get around to doing any tiled maps?

~Charles Legend

MeLoVeGhOsTs

11th October 2008, 06:34 AM

Although I found the end a bit too dramatic, it was a good chapter and a good end. I was glad being a part of this, by reading and being somewhat of a character. The battles were good, although I really missed a league finals.. It was more of a novel than a trainers fic, although not intended, I was hoping for it I guess.

Good job with finishing it, alot of plot twists and betrayel, which I like. You really did a fantastic job with keeping your word about finishing it and the likes.

Thanks for writing a good story, I enjoyed it.

Chris 2.1

11th October 2008, 07:32 AM

Becca: Hey! Yea, the ending was not particularly happy. A scene that was removed might have swayed it though; I took it out because it was too big and a bit awkward among the other scenes at the time. It was a proper glimpse at what The Blue Avenger, River, Elec Man, Luna, and a lot of other characters were going to be doing and where they were etc. That was slightly funnier, and in retrospect I should perhaps have put it in among the other parts to create a happier ending. Originally Andrew was going to get arrested for breaking Tucker's legs....but I don't think Tucker deserves a break!

I'm glad you enjoyed everything. I agree this premise was shaky...but it turned out better than I expected. Basing the fic on the ASB community in terms of character ideas and locations was something that I think took this up another level. Thanks so much for taking the time to be a part of this and reading my fic.

Mistysakura: Thanks MS :)

TBA: Hey! You're maybe wondering where TBA ended up. There's an extra detailing some of those things! I'll put it up this week hopefully. The fic was taking an odd turn, really; we had the good guys and the bad guys, but the Board then brought about this sort of middle-antagonist. They were doing the right thing but it was having a bad consequence.

Again, thanks for reading; I always like writing piratey-nautical things in through your character, and he's been great. You've been a great reader and good luck with ASB etc!

Lune: Hey. Thanks for reading. Grey's self-punishment was following this redemptive pattern I wanted where he needs to start looking after himself for himself, not through the medium of other people. He focuses on Daniel, Chris, Gregg - who knows who else before that? I also think he knows he is safe in prison, but I don't think he will be in there for long.

Actually, an earlier draft had Callisto send Brooklyn to break Grey out, and hire him, but it lacked enough weight to really work and I wanted things tied up, as opposed to leaving new ideas. Razor and Grey's reunion was indeed cut short - sad, I know.

You're also right in that, really, not a lot of stories ended indefinitely. Where does everyone go? I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about a second fic, but it would be tough to match up to this fic. I also have other projects I want to work on first.

Charles: No plans to make tiled-maps. And yea, Callisto's 'disposal' of Brooklyn was quite cold and ruthless. Just what we expect from her. Thanks so much for reading.

MLG: Hey! You're character was a cool one. I wish we could have seen more of him but I really enjoyed the Round 2 battle VS Chris. Glad you liked the fic - I agree a full league battle would have been a great end, but the chapter just couldn't take much more going on. And, if I'm being honest, I think Chris could have beaten Gregg with few problems. Gregg couldn't control his larger Pokemon very easily. But thank you for being such a geat reader and helping contribute to the fic.

The Pokemon Masters League
Extra #7
The Death of Declan Deatley

Meanwhile Deatley worked in the COM Tower. Old and worn, this was the least glamorous of the Towers due to its lack of use. Once entering through the secret passageway, the dusty, stone steps led to a stone floor. The large circular room was full of computer consoles and pieces of equipment, all covered in a thick sheet of dust. There were no windows; only thick lamps hanging from the walls.

Declan Deatley was working away at a computer terminal. As the handsome face of East Coast news, the charming man was feeling that he was in slightly too deep with the current situation. Working with WAVEX was fine; after a childhood of repressed misery, he enjoyed the sly, almost spy-like lifestyle he had working for Thomas. It was adventurous. And it certainly beat the monotonous job presenting the news. Keeping in Thomas’s good books was also advantageous following a sexual harassment suit she filed four months ago; since this, Deatley learned that Thomas was not like other women. She was more ruthless. Deadly.

Unfortunately, despite his passion for the job, he was without a gun and fiddling with complicated computer programming that safeguarded the communications for the entire village and thus, was integral to the plan. Deatley worked away as he thought about the five of them left. The five forming this organization.

Before Deatley could begin to continue adding another blocker to the system, an ebb of exhaustion hit him and his face drooped slightly at his desk. Rubbing his eyes, blinking, he was shocked when ghostly apparitions of his deceased colleagues wandered out from the consoles. Some pulled themselves out from the solid screens; others formed from the shadows that the dusty lamps created. The muscled man Brink, still with a dagger in his stomach; Wayne, the thin, balding man who had an unusual fascination with ghosts joined him. Next came Logan, the scientist. He looked disgruntled with the gunshot wound in his stomach. Finally Colton stepped out. He had a segment of his head missing.

The ghostly apparitions were silent; Deatley stared at his former team mates, feeling apprehension at the large gaping hole in Colton’s head. When Colton lied about making it into Round 2, Deatley had informed Thomas that he killed himself. The sad truth was that Deatley had led the man to The Old Village and shot him in the head, furious at his lie.

Why could he see these people? Was the end of this torturous mission looming and this, perhaps, a nod to exactly what the job had cost? Deatley furrowed his brow and concentrated. The ghostly forms faded slightly, weaker and losing power.

“You’re not real,” hissed the man, as he concentrated at the screen. He accessed a security panel and began recalling his instructions, including the login details they coerced from Grey. As he typed, Deatley gave a gasp as a pair of eyes blinked at him from the electronic grid of TPML. A pair of unfamiliar eyes, alone except for each other. They gave a blink.

“Do you remember what these eyes saw?” came a voice Deatley instantly recalled as that of Charles Legend. In a flash, the man got up from his chair and walked back as, from the monitor, Charles merged into the room. His head was leaking blood like a water feature; it continued to spill down his head and even down into his eyes, trickling down the bridge of his nose and curving along his lips. With a blink, Charles’s eyes were filled with his own blood as he paced across at the WAVEX agent slowly.

“You’re dead,” Deatley stammered. “All of you! DEAD!”

“Do you remember what these eyes saw?” echoed Charles again. His blood-red pupils were eerie. The WAVEX ghosts said nothing. Deatley took a deep breath and faced the 26-year old Charles. Swinging a punch, Deatley smashed Charles in the face, causing the trainer to explode in a deluge of dark blood. Deatley felt it slosh against his face, his suit, his hands...Charles’s screams of protest rang out in his head . Staggering into the wall, Deatley tried in vain to wipe the blood from his face and eyes, which stung with guilt, begging for redemption.

All Deatley knew was Charles, from his blurred, red vision, began to emerge from the other side of the room.

“Stay away from me,” gasped Deatley, the pain in his eyes too much to bear. “I’M SORRY FOR WHAT I DID!”

“Grey! Grey stop this!” came the shouts of Charles Legend, echoing his last words before Thomas shot him. “You’re one of the good guys...why are you working with them?”

Colton was laughing somewhere; the ghosts were clambering around the equipment like children on a climbing frame. Thomas and the other, living members of WAVEX disappeared from Deatley’s mind as he was possessed by insanity and devoured by confusion and guilt. As Charles wandered across the room, Deatley turned to the console. Wayne was sitting, cross-legged, next to a long metal bar. He was pointing at it.

As Charles cried out to Deatley, his hand strayed to the bar and he gripped it. This apparition would disappear upon being struck. This was all in his head, he reminded himself. But this blood, this blood soaking his clothes...it felt so real...he could smell its stench...and Charles was truly crying as he wandered across the room...and these ghosts, of the people he had seen die...they were so much more than just spirit. They were solid. Fixed.

“STOP THIS!” Deatley roared, grabbing the metal bar and swinging it at Charles. In a flash, Charles was no longer where the bar had swung; he was gone. Deatley looked to see the ex-WAVEX members leaping from their perches and lunging towards him.

Swing, swing, swing...Deatley tried defending himself with his metal bar, until one swing, which was aimed towards a particularly boorish Logan, connected with something solid. Logan’s face widened in shock and he vanished straight away. The other ghosts began to fade and slowly the blood from Deatley’s face and clothes was being siphoned off. Struggling to see, Deatley gasped as he felt a pair of hands grip his neck. Smooth, wide hands, that jerked .whilst gripping his neck, and in an instant, everything was gone.

As the man lay twitching on the ground, his neck broken, Brooklyn Knight dusted himself off, nursing the immense pain in his leg. Upon entering the communication room, Brooklyn had seen Deatley dazedly staggering at him, screaming for mercy and redemption. Brooklyn had done his best to avoid the agent, but at every turn, dodge or evade, the man lunged once more until finally, when striking him in the leg with a metal bar, Brooklyn had to fight back. Staring at the now dead body, Brooklyn took a deep breath and limped to the computer. Easing into the chair, he looked at what Deatley was accessing.

“You have no idea what you are even trying to do, do you?”

The comment lingered on the air, for the body could not respond. Brooklyn began typing away, loading screens and fiddling with the COM systems, wondering what implications there were for killing Declan Deatley.

*

This was something I was fond of; a brief throwback to Ecks's torment, but more a feeling of Deatley literally going mad with sorrow and confusion. I took this out mainly because I liked Brooklyn turning up in the stadiums having been absent a while. This also led us to believe he was in fact going to betray Thomas.

I'll put the next Extra up soon. It is called Goodbye.

The_Missing_Link

11th October 2008, 12:15 PM

I'm kind of glad you took it out. I don't remember if Deatley expressed any guilt beforehand but now all of a sudden conjuring his colleagues (and Charles) and going insane would seem kind of out of place. Nicely written, but unnecessary to the plot

I just remembered something. The scene where Brooklyn kills Thomas and Gordon reminds me of Reservoir Dogs, except that Brooklyn doesn't die. I wonder how long he was practicing with his guns

Chris 2.1

12th October 2008, 07:33 AM

Yea that was exactly it - many WAVEX people hadn't been elaborated on a great deal so, really, why would anyone care? As for Brooklyn, I never developed his background toom much because I was always unsure what to do with him. My feelings were, though, that his father was high up in the army and his mother was a doctor. He has had mixed wealth, and had careers in business and marketing before. I liked his character. But...well, with Gordon gone, Callisto didn't need him. It was nice showing the crafty guy get outsmarted.

Lune the Guardian

13th October 2008, 01:10 PM

Interesting, I was wondering why on earth Brooklyn would need to kill Deatley to restore communications - seemed like threatening the guy at gunpoint would have sufficed. Now that part makes sense.

The Goodbye extra might be more what I was looking for as far as explanations to the characters' "endings" goes. The final chapter left this frustrating feeling that everything went wrong and everyone's lives were shattered so much that there was no way to recover from it... I want to see what the other characters are doing in the aftermath.

Sike Saner

13th October 2008, 08:21 PM

Nice as always to see Glalie and Alakazam appear in a chapter, first of all. ^^

I rather enjoyed the scene in which Jenny and Razor Leaf went into the bunker to rescue Gordon. There was a nice air of suspense about that part, which I liked.

The cancellation of the match between Chris and Gregg took me by surprise... for that matter, though, I think it would have also taken me by surprise if it had been allowed to continue on to its conclusion with a winner decided among them. In a nutshell, what I'm saying is that I went into reading this chapter not knowing what to expect when it came to the final match and how (or if) it would end--or indeed, what to expect when it came to anything in this chapter--and that's one of the main things I loved about this chapter. ^^

And holy shit, the scene with Brooklyn and Gordon and Thomas... damn. o_o I remember watching Brooklyn standing there with those two, wondering which side he would choose--and then he went and chose neither. o_o I did not see that coming at all. Definitely an HSM ("Holy Shit!" Moment) there.

I liked the way Liang's death scene was done, with Amy saying goodbye to him over the phone. That scene was as lovely as it was sad, I thought. Very nicely done. ^^

The scene with Chris and Jenny there near the end was terrific, I thought. ^^ Nice, potent drama there, plus a great view of Chris's mind and character at that point in the story.

And thanks for the cameo! :D

The ending... wow. o_o That was definitely another HSM. I got a sneaking feeling that Brooklyn was screwed before the figurative hammer came down, from the moment Callisto said she was "not one hundred percent relieved", but wasn't quite sure that he was screwed until Callisto made her move--and the way she took him out definitely exceeded any expectations I had regarding how she might deal with him. o_o What an awesome and memorable note on which to conclude: the image of something going up in flames. And I liked the way that a hint of what she was going to do to him--namely the smell mentioned early in that scene--was placed in the text before the fact to stand out in hindsight Brooklyn--and I along wih him--realized just what that smell was. Great use of detail there. ^^

And oh man, that extra was effing awesome. o_o Very freaky, very intense. I loved it. ^^

Comedic Highlights

“Morning Jeff,” I said. He was avoiding my eyes.

“Chris, I have some news to tell you,” he murmured.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, noticing for the first time I was wearing no trousers.

XD

The slip of paper had been torn carefully from its full page, and folded into a small square, where it was slipped into a wallet. But often the paper was coerced out, opened, and smoothed flat again for the owner to read and re-read.

You’re going to be a celebrity

“Squeeee!” Andrew whimpered, eyes locked firmly on the horoscope he had seen for himself.

Literal squeeing! XD Awesome.

“I want Scott and the Frontier Brains to replace me with you,” Razor Leaf told Andrew calmly. “I can’t do this anymore Andy, I hate it. I hate the life I’m signed up to. But you will thrive off the attention and glory...you’re perfect for it.”

“It’s true,” Andrew replied. “I ooze some sort of awesome-loving awesome.”

“You have quirk,” Razor Leaf noted.

“Yea, some sort of quirky, awesome thing...”

Very amusing, especially with regards to the phrase "some sort of awesome-loving awesome". XD

“Nurse Bitch and Rowland will be here if you need anything,” Jenny said calmly.

“Oh, please,” Nurse Rowland said calmly. “Just call me Isabelle.”

“Ok then,” Jenny nodded. “Isabelle.”

“And my name ees not Bitch, ees Bee-touch,” the other said in a thick, Russian accent. “Say eet with me, Jennyfur.”

“Nurse Bituch,” Jenny mumbled, before nodding and rushing away.

Such an awesome character, that nurse... XD

“Scott...” Annabel murmured, transfixed. “Have you seen this?”

“You call this a hotdog?” Scott fumed, staring at the limp sausage.

Lol at Scott there. XD

“Hey,” I said casually.

“Halloo,” Nurse Bituch said briskly. “Aren’t we the weather to be having nice?”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“The weather, she is being kind, is she not?”

“I don’t really know...is she?”

“In my country, weather kill many people. If she was real person I eggspect she go to prison! Ack ack!”
“Who killed what?” I asked, completely bemused.

“Ahh is joke! Is Joke! You no need to worry about it. Your Pokemon are in top-hat shape, like Russian Athlete. Here you go.”

Again, that nurse is an awesome character. XD

A light wind ruffled my hair as footage from old matches was shown on the screens. Like a sort of video montage of the journey we had made to the finals. This happened in every match, and I was almost sick of seeing the stock footage of Cacturne against Chris Wararimono’s Swameprt...yea, this was the bit where Cacturne dodged ice beam....god the people that work here were lazy. I shot a dark look at The Blue Avenger - I knew he made this.

“I think Chris just gave me an evil,” TBA sighed. “Is...is he implying my video-editing is sub-par?”

“You know, I think he is,” River quipped.

“The swine!” TBA roared.

The bits regarding TBA's video-making skills amused me. XD

It was not long before Luna stopped by Liang’s room, carefully walking in and being as quiet as she could. After telekinetically floating into a wall, Daisy, with four paws on the ground, slowly waddled inside.

XD Cute.

“Keep alert for WAVEX goings on,” The Blue Avenger reminded River.

“Oooh good tip,” River nodded.

“WAVEX are hardly going to be selling hotdogs now, are they?” Elec Man grumbled. River was flushed with embarrassment, thinking momentarily of a way to smite the rude moderator. She got out the Ribbon she won in the first Pokemon Contest, and jabbed him in the neck with the back.

“Ouch!” he yelled hotly. “Riv!”

“Oops,” she said coldly.

XD Nice one. X3

“Ahh, is electricky burn,” Nurse Bituch said, proud with her diagnosis. “I am to have specialty in electricky burns. It is special salve I make from cocoa butter, Diet Pepsi and oregano.”

That's certainly a... creative use of Diet Pepsi on her part. XD Hmm, I wonder if Diet Coke would have "worked" just as well in that formula...

Meanwhile, Banette gave a terrified screech as the salve was applied; Nurse Bituch similarly screamed in horror and staggered back into a table, where she promptly fell backwards amid a flurry of rubber gloves and gauze.

Someone being startled and falling over (backwards, no less!): a classic source of comedy. XD

“Crispy Tears, we support Hanada Tattsu,” UuberFred said clearly. “Oh, have I introduced you to my family? This is UuberMum, UuberDad, UuberGreatGrandfatherHorace, UuberSister, and UuberHalf-AuntBernice.”

Lol at UuberFred referring to Crystal Tears as "Crispy Tears" and at the name "UuberHalf-AuntBernice". XD

“Valerie, I want the toilet!” screeched the elderly lady. She had a stuffed Chatot with her - this was apparently the item used to hit Crystal with.

“Again?” cried the mother in a slight German accent. “But mother, I have just taken you!”

“WELL I NEED TO GO AGAIN!” she screamed.

“I want fancy moderator seats,” grumbled Crystal, folding her arms.

“Don’t swear!” grumbled UuberGreatGrandfatherHorace, a decrepit old battleaxe.

“I didn’t!” Crystal hollered back.

“Don’t lie!” he spat. Crystal felt her temper rising, so she said nothing.

“Don’t ignore me!” raged the man. Crystal turned around and gave him a hearty push, causing him to tumble over his seat and into the heavily depressed clown behind him. There was a yell of shock as the pregnant woman moaned in agony. The UuberFred clan all clamoured to help as the old lady fled towards the toilet with no help at all, her stuffed Chatot tumbling down the steps. Crystal leapt from her seat and ran to go somewhere else.

UuberFred's family is frelling hilarious. XD

The bank was shut down, with everyone receiving a cheque with the amount they were owed. I was astonished to learn my account help a measly £28.

*insert "wah-wahhhhhh..." noise* XD

“I’d just like to thank Jesus,” he waffled. “Umm, Mr McPrawn for taking jail so well, Tucker, Blademaster and The Green Lanturn for totally losing! And Razor Leaf for…erm…oh shit….erm Razor Leaf for being absent since I last saw him which was like, ages ago, and I don’t even remember who his face looks like cos its been so long. Also, Horoscopes rock!”

XD Especially great is the part about Razor Leaf there. XD

“…and like, cool costumes and stuff,” Blademaster muttered excitedly. “Our Pokemon can help us out. Cos there’s loads of villains that exist, maybe.”

“Indeed, evil is more evil than the twenty-dollar-bill,” mused The Green Lanturn, playing with a yo-yo as he thought.

“I know THE coolest golf course,” Blademaster rambled. “Like, who would suspect we’d use a GOLF COURSE as our hiding spot?”

“Golf is an evil we may never eradicate,” The Green Lanturn murmured. He was hiding his enthusiasm well.

...XD

UuberFred and his entire family of depressing looking Germanic-Americans clambered inside a gigantic campervan, leading me to wonder if they were heading back home already.

“A new adventure!” the boy yelled. “29-hour-bus-journey! YAY!”

Yay! XD

Dramatic Highlights

“I want to see Liang,” Gregg said. “Get out of my way.”

Isabelle grabbed the boy and led him into the room she had just entered. When the door was shut she pressed him against the wall and gripped his throat tightly. Her other hand withdrew a needle and she held it towards him menacingly.

“You listen here,” she hissed. “I work for Thomas. I do what she asks because I work for her. I get absolutely nothing from it, but I do it, because that is my job. My role. To see someone like you effortlessly getting something from all my hard work is fine, but to see you purposefully going against our wishes...that really pisses me off, Gregg.”

Isabelle turned and threw the boy across the room, where he stumbled and turned to see her put the needle away.

“I am stationed here until the match begins,” Isabelle told him. “You leave here now.”

Holy shit, Isabelle is a scary, scary lady... o_o;

“I know we were not close...” she murmured. “But I knew everyone would be busy watching the match...and it’s always nice to have a guest, isn’t it? I got you carnations because they’re healing plants. They calm you. Someone got them for us when Mum died.

Aww... ;-; That was really thoughtful of her.

Luna looked up at Liang. His messy, almost whitened hair looked ravaged and wild. The monotonous beeps indicating Liang’s weak heartbeat began to cause tears to fill in Luna’s eyes.

“You have suffered so much,” she said softly. “But...at least you can meet your brother soon.”

Luna got up, deciding to leave Liang in peace. Slowpoke slowly walked after her. Luna paused in the doorway briefly, turning to look at Liang.

“If you see my sister...” she added, hoping the boy could hear her. “Give her my best.”

And with that, she left the ward, thankful that she was able to say goodbye to a subtle influence in the league.

Aww again... ;-;

He paused to let the news sink in. As he did so, there was a sudden shriek from the skies; looking up, Gordon saw Thomas on a huge Pidgeot, flying through the air at impressive speed. From the winged creature, Thomas dropped Pokeballs down to the moderator’s platform; a Quilava and Raichu emerged, shooting flame and lightening from their respective bodies. Gordon was struck in the back by a bolt of lightening and fell to the ground; Grey gripped Pokeballs on his own belt and Becca did likewise; River grabbed Jenny and led her to safety as Elec Man and The Blue Avenger stared on.

That was certainly one hell of an entrance on Thomas's part. o_o Caught me by surprise there.

“I can’t believe this,” I said hurriedly, as we took a left. I saw River helping an elderly German lady down the stairs. “The league’s over?”

“They didn’t want you to win,” Gregg said casually.

“You knew about this…” I recalled, looking at him.

“They approached me before Round 4. Explained what they were doing.”

In a flash Gregg was pinned against the wall, Cacturne’s spiked arm against his throat. I stared at him.

“You knowingly went ahead with this?

“Get off me, Chris,” choked Gregg.

“No, hang on a second,” I said. “You knew the league was being fixed in your favour, and you did nothing to alert people?”

“There are more people involved in this than you could imagine,” Gregg said darkly, staring at me with nothing but pure malice as the blood rushed to his face. “This was the right thing to happen. I am supposed to win this league.”

“No you are not,” I argued back. “There’s no set route! No planned way for this to end. We all enter. We all fight. And one of us takes the crown!”

“And you think that you deserve it?” Gregg wheezed. I punched him in the face then and there, watching blood spill from his nose onto my knuckles. Cacturne let go of Gregg, so that he fell to the ground in a heap. I stared at the boy, angry at his arrogant streak.

A memorable moment. ^^

“Brooklyn!” Gordon said breathlessly. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I’ll tell you where he’s been,” Thomas said. “He has been working against you to help further our goals. Brooklyn has been a part of WAVEX for a very, very long time.”

Gordon, shocked, looked at the Technical Assistant for some sort of argument. Some reaction. But Brooklyn’s well-defined face was calm in the shock. He nodded slowly.

“I have used Board resources to aid WAVEX,” he said simply. “Helped provide information they could not get otherwise.”

“Good lord,” Gordon said. “But you turned Volletta Kane in. Why would you do that?”

“I was never instructed to by WAVEX,” Brooklyn admitted. “But she did not know of my involvement. I was hired indirectly to assist WAVEX so contact was minimal. I could see what a bad job she was doing, and blew her cover, thus gaining some trust from you.”

“So you’ve been playing my own people against me,” Gordon said to Thomas.

“Where is Deatley?” Thomas barked. Brooklyn smiled.

“I killed him,” he replied. Thomas’s eyes were wide as Brooklyn stood there, the suspicious side of this triangle. “I also restored the communications to the Board, allowing the shut-down to commence.”

“Why would you do this?” Thomas asked angrily. Brooklyn’s left hand wandered to his right hip. His right hand wandered to his left. In on swift action he gripped two pistols, whipping them from their holsters and pointing the barrels squarely at Thomas and Gordon’s heads respectively.

“Because my loyalties lie with neither of you,” he murmured, giving each trigger a satisfying squeeze. Bullets rocketed into Thomas and Gordon’s skulls simultaneously, and as blood sprayed Brooklyn from both angles, the two victims collapsed to the ground with a single thud.

In my opinion, that scene is one of the biggest HSMs in the entire story. o_o

The closer we got, the more I was able to see. Along with two bodies, there was the Raichu and Quilava from before, both with shots to the head.

“Oh my god,” Gregg gasped. I looked down.

Thomas, or Pichu as she was known, lay opposite Gordon, both clearly dead. The sight of the two bodies, whilst unfamiliar to me, still brought a shuddering lurch through my own body. Seeing the dead Pokemon was even more harrowing.

The poor things... ;-;

Becca marched into the room, noticing a rather nice bouquet of flowers, and pressing her phone to Liang’s ear. She stood at the doorway.

“Hello?” Amy said. “Liang, it’s me. Amy. I know you can hear me.

“This is so weird…but I think I know that the time has come for me to say goodbye. I‘m not good at these sorts of things…not this suddenly…but I‘m always going to miss you. Thank you for making me so strong, and being there for me. I‘ve really taken some of your resilience away with me…people really listen to me, I have a voice!”

She sniffed, wiping tears on her sleeve and staring at them as they glistened in the light.

“I wish I could see your face again one last time. But I’ve begun to accept that I was destined to lose you. G-goodbye…Liang…”

Becca looked up as the beeping stopped. A tragic moan from the machine told her everything she needed to. Silence filled the room as Liang lay there, his chest failing to rise or fall anymore. From the phone, Becca could hear Amy’s sobs, and gently took the phone from beside the boy.

“H-He’s gone,” she sniffed.

“Thank you Becca,” Amy wept.

Aww once again. ;-; That right there was a very sweet moment as well as a sad one.

“I was rescued…and I got out…” she muttered. Jenny gave a long sigh, tears filling in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, somewhat bewildered. “Y-You’re ok, aren’t you?”

“I was helped by a boy, called Rolph,” Jenny explained shakily. “H-His name was Aaron, really…he understood what was troubling me, and knew I was being held captive…and he helped break me out the headquarters.”

“Right,” I said.

“…he was only our age, roughly. Maybe older. He took a lot of pain from Thomas as we escaped, and distracted her while I fled.”

“That was very brave of him,” I noted. My words didn’t comfort Jenny, who was shaking slightly. “Jen?”

“He just died,” Jenny moaned. “In hospital.”

Another "aww" moment. ;-;

“I’m so sorry,” I said, taking another step towards her, feeling a desire to comfort, to protect…until another familiar stab jousted at my insides and I froze. What was wrong with me? Jenny was weak, upset, in a village full of horrible memories, and I was keeping a distance from her. Afraid, almost, to get close…to become vulnerable…

All of a sudden my innate behaviour became clear. I was trying to keep a distance from Jenny, because everything that happened with Morpheus had scarred me inside. I didn’t want to fall into a trap; to get close to someone so soon. She was too busy drowning in her tears that she didn’t notice my surge of understanding. I couldn’t be near her.

I loved that look into his head there. ^^

“Your mum isn’t well,” Jenny sniffed, edging closer. “She’s taken the divorce from your father really badly.”

I said nothing. I processed an image of my mum, sitting in a small flat above a corner shop, thinking of the times when she was married, with two children. I thought of my brother, David, and the image of his face stung my insides. My mind conjured up my father, starting a new family…

“She really needs you, Chris. I need you….”

“And what about what I need, Jenny?” I asked wildly, staring at her lost gaze. “I…I don’t know what everybody wants from me. What am I able to do, exactly?”

“Lend your support! Everyone needs you to be strong!”

“Well I’m weak right now,” I snarled, turning from her. Staring ahead as a train rattled into the station. “I need to heal.”

“Chris?” Jenny asked.

“Everything I liked about this village has crumbled away,” came my admission. “Friends have died, strangers have died, people have suffered…and…and I can’t quite deal with that.”

“Come on home,” Jenny said softly. Her hand reached for my arm; the mere intimacy hurt like an electric surge from Jenny’s fingertips.

“No.”

My body was working without my telling it to; foot after foot, foot before foot; in a blink I realised I was walking away from Jenny. To the station. I couldn’t stand the painful pressure of having to look after her and my mum, while trying to look after myself. Still devastated over my brother’s death, the horrific events in the village today were replaying before my eyes. I saw flashes of Gregg fighting me in the corridors; Thomas flying into the stadiums with her Raichu and Quilava attacking innocent people; those same Pokemon lying dead next to their trainer, bullets lodged in their heads.

I ran up the steps to the station, my small suitcase with me, and felt Jenny’s cries in my heart. I saw a train, doors open temptingly, and hurriedly made my way to its doors. To sanctuary.

Powerful stuff, there. o.o

What would I do with myself? The Village had been an anchor; something firm and secure, a place for me to get away from my distressing family life. Now that my anchor was hoisted up, would I drift among the isolated ocean, unable to make peace with the land? I feared I would always wander, trying to get away from my life and forgetting my problems merely by turning a blind eye. As the train rolled away from The Pokemon Masters League, I looked directly ahead to the destination - one I did not even know. There was no need taking a final look at the village as I left.

It wasn’t home anymore.

Another great look into his mind, and furthermore those last three lines have this really nice potency to them. ^^

“I understand,” Brooklyn replied calmly. Callisto beamed at him.

“But you don’t understand,” she replied. “You have no value now that Gordon is dead. I cannot keep in with the Board of Governors now that my spy has been exposed, can I?”

Brooklyn began to understand what this was about and reached down for his gun. As he did, however, he saw Callisto bring out a small, jewel-studded lighter and create a lingering flame from it. Brooklyn’s attention suddenly turned to the room; each corner shining slightly with an ominous damp. The unhealthy stench was explained. The perimeter of the wooden cabin was soaked…in….

Without another word, Callisto tossed the lighter towards the corner of the room and slammed the door behind her. Brooklyn saw her run to her car as the flame caught the fluid and a long, snaking trail of embers burst across the room like a drag racer. In another moment, as Callisto’s car sped along the forest path, the entire log cabin burst into a blistering inferno, the fire curling into a ravaged fireball that engulfed the entire clearing. The flames carried on high into the sky, as thick, unruly fumes filled the air and everything within the cabin was incinerated.

Again, this was amazing, and one hell of an awesome image with which to conclude the story. o_o

Battle Highlights

Primeape gave a shriek and swung a punch, but The Blue Avenger’s Exeggutor invaded the scene, firing off large eggs that exploded upon contact with anything. The manic look on its coconut-faces was never so apt.

I liked that. ^^

“Mr Mime! Initiate Fun House!” Andrew ordered. Mr Mime nodded and began sprinting around the arena at a ridiculous, near blinding pace.

“Ursaring! Hyper Beam!” The Green Lanturn cried. From the gold ring on his stomach, Ursaring blasted an intense orange beam of pure, accelerated energy. Streaked with gold, it was heading right for Mr Mime, who was flailing around pathetically. OzAndrew looked calm.

The beam smashed into, and was thus halted by, an invisible force field. Ursaring, gasping for breath, watched as Mr Mime waved, a few feet from the point of impact. Tucker saw this as he commanded Salamence.

“He’s used barriers,” muttered the man. “WATCH OUT GUYS. BARRIERS EVERYWHERE!”

An interesting technique...

Nodding, Blademaster asked Mamoswine to use a blizzard attack. Giving a gruff wheeze, the beast unleashed a cold wind upon the arena. The attack, a biting collaboration of frosted ice shards and crushed snow, swept along the arena and froze some of the barriers, which were erected sporadically around the arena. Now covered in sheets of ice, the barriers were distinguishable, glittering in the day’s light. OzAndrew looked cross.

...And an interesting counter to that technique.

“Go!” I yelled. watching Swalot speed along like a tyre possessed. A sharp turn pulled Swalot towards Octillery and he smashed right into the Pokemon, bounding off it and whizzing into the air. I guessed Octillery’s anchorage meant that, while it took damage, it was rooted to the spot.

Nice way to take the suction-cupped tentacles into account. ^^

“Octillery! Combination time,” Gregg cried. “Bubblebeam! Go!”

Pointing his snout in the air, the red octopus fired off a multitude of sparkling bubbles. They flew high into the air, where Gregg ordered a Blizzard attack. Sweeping ice crystals soared into the sky, meeting the bubbles and creating a series of glittering orbs. I was reminded of my training session with Becca, and wondered if Gregg had been watching. As Octillery’s eyes glowed with the blue glow from before, the frozen orbs darted down and swept along the arena like a weaving snake. From his snout, Octillery unleashed a quick bolt of lightening that conducted through the moisture in the orbs and created this fizzing train of ice and lightening.

Cool. o.o

“Go on! I’ll fight,” Razor Leaf replied. Nodding, Gordon and Jenny went up the stairs, Jenny looking concerned. Guuzu leapt up and dealt a crush claw to Glaceon, who sped along to the left and blasted a beam of ice towards the Zangoose. In a flash, Zangoose created a circle of identical clones. Glaceon narrowed her eyes at the predicament, preparing to fire off an attack in succession to wipe them all out. Razor Leaf clicked his fingers and all the clones began leaping around the corridor. They jumped high, ducked low and ran rings around Glaceon like a wild pack of animals.

That puts a cool image in my mind. o.o

“Umbreon, use confuse ray!” Grey yelled. The light was beamed from Umbreon’s rings, but since Thomas was not staring at them, the attack failed, and Thomas took a sharp turn up a flight of stairs. As Grey gave chase, he felt a sudden surge of ice hit him in the back and he fell to the ground in agony. Isabelle stood over Grey, her Glaceon tackling Umbreon in a frenzied rage. Isabelle stared at Grey with loathing and, noticing her boss up ahead, pulled out a needle and held it to the man’s neck, as he lay face down on the ground.

As she plunged the syringe, a force lifted her up off the ground and flung her across the corridor. With a crunch she smashed into the concrete wall, giving a lurching gasp and hitting the stone floor as Razor Leaf ran over, Solrock and Lunatone at his side. Isabelle lay unconscious on the ground as her Glaceon continued to wrestle with Umbreon, biting it, scratching it and hissing all the while. Solrock hurled Glaceon from the other Eeveelution while Lunatone helped Grey to his feet.

Damn, that was a close one. o_o

Other Highlights

Swalot looked at me quizzically; he sprayed acid over a slice of toast, dissolving it in a fizzy mess, before gulping down the foamy substance and starting again.

That was an interesting look at the eating habits of Swalot there.

“I spent time in the Archive looking for some of your best matches...and found the footage of your 10VS10 match in The Old Village all that time ago. It shows your quirk and capability as you command ten different species of Pokemon to deal with Pokemon belonging to ten different trainers.”

“But towards the end I get my ass handed to me,” Andrew mentioned quietly.

“I edited that part out,” smirked Razor.

“Oh thanks Dan,” Andrew replied, grinning.

Heh. X3

“Oh Daisy,” chuckled the girl at her lazy Slowpoke. Luna watched as her latest Pokemon, nicknamed Daisy, used its psychic powers to lazily float off the ground, her eyes half shut in a dreamy gaze.

Cute name for a Slowpoke. ^^

I suppose I wanted to thank you. For telling me about Lady, I mean. From what I gathered, nobody really knew her all that well. It’s like she wasn’t really involved in this community like you or I. So I don’t think I could have found out any other way. The thing is though, I kept seeing her. Like visions. She taunted me, and scared me, and made me feel so insecure...but since I rescued this Slowpoke, she’s been able to help me out. Daisy uses dream eater to dissolve any apparitions of Lady Vulpix for me. So I never really get that scared.

Interesting and neat use of Dream Eater there. ^^

The seats were pretty much empty, the remaining spectators filing out through the tunnels leading to the exit, like flesh-coloured smoke in reverse, coiling back to the single point of flame.

Quite an interesting choice of words there. I rather liked that. ^^

The two stared at Isabelle’s limp figure.

“Will she be ok?” Grey asked.

“I don’t care,” Razor Leaf replied.

I have to admit, I loved Razor Leaf's response there. X3

News was spreading that Liang had passed away, and there couldn’t be an uglier feeling of sorrow snaking through the village. Like a dirty serpent it wound around friends and allies, plaguing them with despair and worry. It was revolting.

Another neat choice of words. ^^

Sike Saner was currently talking with that crazy pregnant lady about what had gone on today, while I sat immersed in my own thoughts.

Talking to her? Oh my... X3

Highlights from the Extra

Before Deatley could begin to continue adding another blocker to the system, an ebb of exhaustion hit him and his face drooped slightly at his desk. Rubbing his eyes, blinking, he was shocked when ghostly apparitions of his deceased colleagues wandered out from the consoles. Some pulled themselves out from the solid screens; others formed from the shadows that the dusty lamps created. The muscled man Brink, still with a dagger in his stomach; Wayne, the thin, balding man who had an unusual fascination with ghosts joined him. Next came Logan, the scientist. He looked disgruntled with the gunshot wound in his stomach. Finally Colton stepped out. He had a segment of his head missing.

Ooh... Freaky stuff, there. o.o

As he typed, Deatley gave a gasp as a pair of eyes blinked at him from the electronic grid of TPML. A pair of unfamiliar eyes, alone except for each other. They gave a blink.

“Do you remember what these eyes saw?” came a voice Deatley instantly recalled as that of Charles Legend. In a flash, the man got up from his chair and walked back as, from the monitor, Charles merged into the room. His head was leaking blood like a water feature; it continued to spill down his head and even down into his eyes, trickling down the bridge of his nose and curving along his lips. With a blink, Charles’s eyes were filled with his own blood as he paced across at the WAVEX agent slowly.

“You’re dead,” Deatley stammered. “All of you! DEAD!”

“Do you remember what these eyes saw?” echoed Charles again. His blood-red pupils were eerie. The WAVEX ghosts said nothing. Deatley took a deep breath and faced the 26-year old Charles. Swinging a punch, Deatley smashed Charles in the face, causing the trainer to explode in a deluge of dark blood. Deatley felt it slosh against his face, his suit, his hands...Charles’s screams of protest rang out in his head . Staggering into the wall, Deatley tried in vain to wipe the blood from his face and eyes, which stung with guilt, begging for redemption.

Oh damn. o_o Awesomely gruesome stuff, there.

All Deatley knew was Charles, from his blurred, red vision, began to emerge from the other side of the room.

“Stay away from me,” gasped Deatley, the pain in his eyes too much to bear. “I’M SORRY FOR WHAT I DID!”

“Grey! Grey stop this!” came the shouts of Charles Legend, echoing his last words before Thomas shot him. “You’re one of the good guys...why are you working with them?”

Colton was laughing somewhere; the ghosts were clambering around the equipment like children on a climbing frame. Thomas and the other, living members of WAVEX disappeared from Deatley’s mind as he was possessed by insanity and devoured by confusion and guilt. As Charles wandered across the room, Deatley turned to the console. Wayne was sitting, cross-legged, next to a long metal bar. He was pointing at it.

As Charles cried out to Deatley, his hand strayed to the bar and he gripped it. This apparition would disappear upon being struck. This was all in his head, he reminded himself. But this blood, this blood soaking his clothes...it felt so real...he could smell its stench...and Charles was truly crying as he wandered across the room...and these ghosts, of the people he had seen die...they were so much more than just spirit. They were solid. Fixed.

“STOP THIS!” Deatley roared, grabbing the metal bar and swinging it at Charles. In a flash, Charles was no longer where the bar had swung; he was gone. Deatley looked to see the ex-WAVEX members leaping from their perches and lunging towards him.

Swing, swing, swing...Deatley tried defending himself with his metal bar, until one swing, which was aimed towards a particularly boorish Logan, connected with something solid. Logan’s face widened in shock and he vanished straight away. The other ghosts began to fade and slowly the blood from Deatley’s face and clothes was being siphoned off. Struggling to see, Deatley gasped as he felt a pair of hands grip his neck. Smooth, wide hands, that jerked .whilst gripping his neck, and in an instant, everything was gone.

Very intense stuff. o_o Again, that extra was awesome. ^^

That was one hell of a finale there--fantastic work there. ^^ Definitely not a happy ending, I'd say, which I liked--I think I've always had a preference for the less-than-cheerful endings, or damn near always have. :D

I've enjoyed the hell out of reading this story, and am very glad to see it having attained its completion. Many great chaptered fics aren't seen though to an ending--I'm very glad that this one was one of those that was completed. ^^

Congratulations on writing and completing a great story (and while I'm at it, congratulations on your most recently-won awards in the latest Silver Pencils! ^^), and thank you for sharing it! ^^