¤Game¤ Dragon Tamers Battle Range version 21 (M.A. Pidgeot)

[AntiAsh Superstar]

anyways, since it's been seven days since my last request, I'd also like to ask for another RBG battle in the Free Range Corral, this time for Ryo-Ohki. *pays seven stamps*

I think this part of my last post kinda got overlooked, can someone tell me what my dear Pichu will be fighting?

[Wolfsong]

Sorry that i haven't been all that active but hopefully after things die down from vacation adn all i'll be active again. If no on else gets to the stories before me i'll try to get to them when i have time.

However, in the meantime, even though its one am, i can give you the rbg. Sorry about you getting skipped ^^; Ryo-Ohki will be battling a stantler.

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry, I did read that, but by the time I got to finish reading the story I forgot. -_- In my defense I can say it was quite late.

[Charizard04621]

Gabi, I read your Templa Taure scenario, and I'm not sure what to say. It was really long, but I kept reading to find out what was going on. It's obvious the amount of work you put into it. Although one problem I had was understanding references to history... like White Mountain, and who on earth Tsuyoi was. Overall, though, it was well written, and I think you'd break a new record in Stamps if you posted it early enough. ^_^;

[Lady Vulpix]

Wow, thanks!

I'll do my best to explain, though Ade can probably give you a much better explanation about who Tsuyoi is. He's been in Ade's stories since the Pegasus Games. He's half Ninetales and half Manachu (which is some kind of demon) and is awfully powerful. He used to be against pokemon training at the begining, but he's changed a lot since then as he got to know Ade and his group better. Now he lives with them and helps them make ends meet, and sometimes offers other kinds of help, though he prefers not to interfere most of the time. And as you must have noticed from the story, he and I don't get along well; he's anything but a nice character and I don't like his methods. And he doesn't like me much either, but we put up with each other when we're close. His 3 sisters are a lot more agreeable, though I haven't met them in the stories.

As for White Mountain, it's where the Pegasus Games were held. It has a stadium with its corresponding touristic complex for visitors, but the rest of it is quiet and beautiful, and I made it my sanctuary for a while. I went there when I needed to renew my energy and when I had trouble finding peace within myself (like the time when Charlie jumped off a cliff). A family of pegasi (according to some TPMers that's the plural of pegasus) live on that mountain, but they rarely show themselves. One of them once came to me and asked me to find a trainer for her daughter, who was a winged Ponyta. I gave her to Ryan for winning the Pegasus Games. Ryan had seen the pegasi too, during the tournament.

White Mountain also happened to be the place where I first felt Tsuyoi's presence. I caught him having a telepathic conversation with Ade before the second round of the Pegasus Games began, and back then I was worried about Ade, but he told me he could handle it.

But early last year a strange dragon who called herself Ÿsera settled on White Mountain and put Ryan and his team into a trance for a long time (a year to them), after which all the pokemon in that team changed their names and all of them started acting differently, as if an important part of them were lost. Shortly afterwards, they all left Ulthuan without a good reason. I haven't returned to White Mountain since then, so what's going on over there now is anyone's guess. Actually, it could be material for future stories or scenarios. Ideas are welcome. ^^

[Kirei]

I couldn't resist the obvious opportunity to rant a little more about Tsuyoi since Gabi's left me a clear opening. I kinda brought him in when I first joined Dragon Tamers as a random tie-in with some fics I was doing for an OL friend's site. He started off, as Gabi says, trying to raise pokémon against humans, but after encountering me and my team decided to tag along as a guardian angel/patron/pack leader. Gabi's covered all the major historical points about him, but I should point out his major traits, i.e. he's very much of a pack leader mindset, which is why he's settled for my team as his 'pack', he has no real care for anyone who isn't connected to his pack, so will use and abuse people as much as he sees fit (which I think is the main rift between him and Gabi - Gabi, I think, sees him as totally ruthless, devoid of feelings and generally not to be trusted since he tends to act wholly on his own desires and instincts, he sees Gabi as being way too soft and clouded by her emotions). Fortunately the most driving of his traits is that need to look after his pack, so he uses his 'one pokémon Mafia' skills to help for the most part. With regards to power, he's practically unrivalled, the talents he uses most are the ability to scan a person's entire mind with just a second of eye contact and a tendancy to turn people to stone if he's in a bad mood.

[AntiAsh Superstar]

Sorry, the above post was mine, the browser crashed and I forgot it seems to prefer Soo's cookies over mine. @.@

Post deleted by Gabi and edited in. Isn't it better this way?

I couldn't resist the obvious opportunity to rant a little more about Tsuyoi since Gabi's left me a clear opening. I kinda brought him in when I first joined Dragon Tamers as a random tie-in with some fics I was doing for an OL friend's site. He started off, as Gabi says, trying to raise pokémon against humans, but after encountering me and my team decided to tag along as a guardian angel/patron/pack leader. Gabi's covered all the major historical points about him, but I should point out his major traits, i.e. he's very much of a pack leader mindset, which is why he's settled for my team as his 'pack', he has no real care for anyone who isn't connected to his pack, so will use and abuse people as much as he sees fit (which I think is the main rift between him and Gabi - Gabi, I think, sees him as totally ruthless, devoid of feelings and generally not to be trusted since he tends to act wholly on his own desires and instincts, he sees Gabi as being way too soft and clouded by her emotions). Fortunately the most driving of his traits is that need to look after his pack, so he uses his 'one pokémon Mafia' skills to help for the most part. With regards to power, he's practically unrivalled, the talents he uses most are the ability to scan a person's entire mind with just a second of eye contact and a tendency to turn people to stone if he's in a bad mood.

[Wolfsong]

I'd like an rbg from the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency for Sugar my jolteon please. *hands over the stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

Alright, Amy.
Sugar will battle a Beedrill! The randomizer must like her.

[Charizard04621]

Lol! Well, that explained a lot. Thanks, you two.

Oh, Gabi, for your "weird" story, take 20 Stamps! ^^ It was really interesting albeit kind of confusing, but you exlpained it to me on AIM and it makes a lot more sense now. Will Golden Growlithe and his strange group make a future appearance in your stories?

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks, Karin!
Well, they're still around and working towards the same goal as we are, so they're bound to show up again. I don't think they'll be ready to go home until we solve the mystery, or at least a good part of it. They're working at the Dragon's Guild, so everyone's free to mention them in their stories, I'm not the only person they may come in contact with. Though I don't think they'll act so weird now that my team and I know their secret.

[AntiAsh Superstar]

Hehe, here's my next RBG battle, I think I'll take a break from them now to concentrate on my side fics. btw, if you thought Marius was weird, you'll freak out in this one...

-----

It was well past midnight, and Marius was having great difficulty in switching off for the night. Which wasn't an uncommon occurrence. The millions of thoughts and theories that swirled round the Dratini's head all the time were nigh on impossible to get rid of. Every time he managed to solve one question that would plague his mind, another three would pop up in its place. And sometimes not even tiredness could hope to banish all of this, sometimes his mind simply wouldn't let him switch off even when his body was close to dropping. It was during these moments that the Dratini would quietly slip away from the others, all draped in various positions around the darkened spare bedroom, and head downstairs to bury himself in some book or other until finally there was no choice but to succumb to sleep. Well, it was a better plan than just laying there staring at the ceiling, at any rate!
"Enough of this futility," Marius snorted quietly, finally reaching his limits of patience with the sudden insomnia. Without so much as making a sound, he rose from his position curled up besides a large cotton sheet that was covering up Milliardo and Pandora and headed towards the door, reaching up and opening it with his tail with well-practiced skill. Still noiselessly he let the door shut behind him and slithered down the stairs to the large, spacious lounge, seemingly twice as big when not filled with a noisy crowd of pokémon. As it stood now the only occupant of the room was Tsuyoi, slumbering peacefully on a sofa bathed in the flickering blue light of the television screen. Evidently he had dozed off trying to find something amongst the thousands of channels that was worth watching. Marius shook his head in bemusement. He had thought Tsuyoi was smarter than to fall for that one! There was never anything worth watching on television. Everyone was too busy racing to make the latest ratings-grabbing reality show to actually bother putting any thought into their schedules.
"I know that, but it beats sedation any day." A red eye opened to look at Marius sleepily. "If you can't sleep you ought to try watching this stuff. It'll be 'Celebrity Death Camp' next, just you watch... at least that one might be fairly amusing, though..." Still muttering to himself, the huge pseudo-Ninetales turned himself over and dozed off again, leaving the Dratini to finish his mission of moving over to adjoining room. To the study, and the bookcase that had, since he had grown old enough to read, started groaning under the weight of all the books he had requested I buy. He cast a critical eye over the spines, searching for a title that he was at least reasonably unfamiliar with. Stupid White Men... it had been a while since he'd read that one, but he had read it. The Complete History of Ulthuan, vols. 1-5... those he had practically worn out, so frequently he had pored through them in an attempt to find out exactly what the various Gates were actually gates of. Marilyn Manson ? An Unauthorised Biography... well, he was desperate but he wasn't THAT desperate! Disgustedly he turned away from the bookshelf. How had he managed to read every single book in the house? His eyes eventually came to rest upon the computer, sat innocently in the far corner of the room. Oh, what he would have given to be capable of using that! To have access to the vast quantities of information contained upon the Internet. He would never have to deal with this problem of running out of ways to occupy himself again. Making his way over to the computer, he turned it on with his tail and watched sadly as it booted up and asked for a password. That had been a necessary precaution, mainly against Beckham, who was blessed with paws capable of typing and using a mouse and would have probably wiped all the computer's data by accident had he been allowed to use it unsupervised. Unfortunately this didn't stop everyone else from knowing the password.
"Come on, think!" Marius told himself crossly, after a failed attempt to climb on top of the black computer chair and type with his tail. "There has to be some alternate way of operating this infernal machine! Maybe... no, that wouldn't possibly work. Or perhaps... that's an even stupider idea." Sighing in sheer exasperation, the Dratini finally resorted to his last ditch tactic for practically everything. He allowed his mind to clear, reaching an almost meditative state where the only thing that filled his thoughts was the vanquishing of this current obstacle. After a few moments of this he became suddenly aware of every little detail, every last movement of switches and pulse of electricity that pulsed through the machine. And what was more, he understood it. He understood how it all worked, the sixth sense that had been born of his learning Detect working in perfect harmony with the research he had already conducted on electronics. The only thing he lacked was the ability to manipulate its inner workings to his own needs.
"Come on, Marius, Dragons are supposedly mystic beings, surely willpower deserves to count for something! And ha, listen to me, I'm holding a conversation with myself. Probably a portent of insanity creeping in to my subconsciousness, but so long as nobody overhears my utterences I'm not really all that concerned. Now work, will you?" Concentrating hard, Marius willed the microchips within the computer to create the letter 'e' up on the screen, using every last drop of his energy to do so, until he could simply give no more and collapsed, exhausted, curled up upon the computer chair in defeat. "Sleep deprivation does ridiculous things to your mind," he sighed. "Who was I to think that I possibly possessed the strength within me to perform such an impossible task?" The Dratini glanced woefully up at the screen, convinced the world's greatest database of information was still closed to him. What he saw up on the screen made even him do a double take.

e|

"How???" This snapped him back into an alert state! Had he really just done that? It defied logic. But still, now this was crossing into the realms of the experimental, and Marius simply had to try again. And after about ten minutes of concentration, he managed to succeed. So he tried again. This time it only took seven minutes. And again, and again, until the Dratini was capable of producing a new character every thirty seconds, and the entire password was spelt out on the screen in front of him, the name of my old Hotmail account.

everlone60|

Hardly daring to believe it, Marius triggered the correct pulse that corresponded to 'Enter', and watched in delight as the computer finally unveiled its myriad secrets. For a while the Dratini just played about on games and the word processor, honing his skills until he was using the machine as quickly as anyone using a more conventional method of controlling it, now able to leave the actual effort involved in his methods to a far-flung corner of his mind. All of a sudden he could just think of what he wanted to happen, and it would. Well, empathy with circuitry wasn't a talent he had expected to find within himself, but it was certainly a useful one! Hesitantly he moved the cursor over to the icon that read 'Opera', the household's Internet browser of choice. Finally, his chance to learn even more, to explore new realms of information!
"Well then, Mr. World Wide Web," the Dratini smiled, his tiredness now completely gone in the excitement of this latest discovery, "Time to see if all of the hype is justified, hm?"

"MARIUS!!!" It had been a long time since I had last seen Pandora this furious, and never before had it been with her adoptive son. "WHAT do you think you're DOING?????" The day had started pretty much like any other. I had woken up long before Soo, went in to check on those pokémon who were awake, then made my way to the computer, where I intended on getting some writing done before Sindel called us all for breakfast. It was there that the trouble started. The last thing I had expected to see was Marius curled up on the computer chair, staring blankly at a screen filled with lines of text. Quite how he was operating the thing I had no idea, but what wasn't in doubt was what he had spent the night doing. And Pandora, it had to be said, seemed less than impressed. "Have you been doing that all night???"
"Oh, hello, mother," the Dratini said, turning to face us almost drunkenly. "Remarkable, isn't it? All of this data, all of these points of view, all accessible with the littlest of effort. I really think far too many people take the enormity of this for granted."
"That isn't answering my question!" came the snapped response. "What have you been up to all this time?"
"Well... first I had great difficulty in getting to sleep, so I decided that I would come downstairs and read for a while, but then it turned out that I had already worked my way through every book we own. So then I wandered over here, and... oh, it's remarkable, it seems that I possess a great affinity with machinery, sheer willpower can operate this thing if you simply know how! So anyway, I came on this for a little while and commenced some research into various tangents, and... oh my, I'm tired... I shall tell you one thing, however, I'm never eating another burger again." This seemed like a rather random comment to make until you noticed that the last site my Dratini had accessed had been PETA's homepage.
"Marius, you know it's not good for you to stay on a computer monitor for too long..."
"Correct, in fact health and safety regulations clearly state that you should take a ten minute break for every hour spent working on a VDU. However, it's so ridiculously easy to forget that, isn't it?"
"Well that's true," Milliardo cackled, following into the room behind us. I hadn't even noticed him wake up! "How does that old saying go? Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach him to use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks."
"Marius, you look completely shattered. Get to bed and get some sleep, would you?" Pandora had by now calmed down slightly, in no small measure thanks to her boyfriend's lightening of the mood, and her tone was more sympathetic than anything. "Take that as an order, too, or your dear mother is going to be seriously pissed off with you."
"As you like..." Marius reluctantly shifted from his position and made his way over to the door. "Sincere apologies, however. I got severely out of hand, but then even I'm allowed my moments of excitement, aren't I?"
"As long as they don't screw you up for the rest of the day! Now go on, clear off!" My Houndour jokingly batted Marius on his way, before turning to me with a weary expression on her face. "Sorry about him, Ade. We all know he's become a research addict."
"Yeah, and him figuring out a way to use the computer was bound to happen sooner or later, although I'd love to know quite how he managed it." I sighed deeply. "Anyway, that's me screwed, isn't it? I was hoping that he'd be up for some training with Gina today, but I'm not too sure that's such a good idea now."
"I'm sure someone else will jump at the chance, if nobody else is willing then Katnip will probably be more than happy to decimate her entire team."
"True," I conceded. "Anyway, you guys up for some breakfast?" I turned to my two Dark types, the only pokémon who seemed to keep the same hours as I did lately. "I know I'm no Sindel..."
"True enough," Milliardo snickered. "Last time you tried to fry an egg you managed to burn it. For all Thingy's many faults, I'll at least admit she isn't that bad a cook."
"...but I can heat up some croissants or something easily enough," I finished, trying to ignore my Umbreon for no other reason than he was actually quite correct. Unfortunately the temptation to stick up for myself was in the end too immense. "And I'll have you know that only happened because I had the heat up too high anyway and the bottom cooked in seconds, it's not like it's a mistake I'm ever going to repeat again!"
"Says he until the next time he ruins his breakfast..."
"Piss off, Milliardo." As crude as it was, it seemed the only way to end the conversation. Any actual arguments would have resulted in further comebacks anyway. "If you don't want to eat, you don't have to. I, on the other hand, am going to have my breakfast now, thanks all the same." Reluctantly my Umbreon followed me into the kitchen, being pushed along by Pandora. For the argument was nothing but a bluff, anyway. After all, I would have been worried if the day had gotten off to a peaceful start.

"So, who wants to do the battling for us today?" It was a quite wonderful day today, and hence breakfast was taken outside in the considerable expanses of the garden Tsuyoi had acquired for us. Where we could all sit around, Soo, myself and all of our pokémon, without feeling in the least bit crowded, the warm sun on our faces and the scents of a most delicious breakfast filling our nostrils. "Marius has decided he's kind of ill, so someone else will get a chance to train."
"Dude, I'm always up fer trainin' ya know that!" Katnip grinned broadly.
"Yeah, but I was thinking more someone who hadn't had a chance to train recently... as far as I know, that basically comes down to Lucky, Pandora, Ryo-Ohki and Brandy, doesn't it?"
"Umm... sorry... d... do you mind if I don't j... just yet?" Brandy stuttered, clearly worried about drawing attention to herself in front of so many. Not that she need have worried. Not even Milliardo was so mean as to pick on such a painfully shy creature. But that shyness would have to be overcome at some point.
"Alright, Brandy, if you're not ready then you don't have to. What about you others, then?"
"Sorry, Ade, Lucky's mine for the day!" Kirei grinned broadly, leaping upon her Meowth boyfriend. "I've done enough sensible things lately, now it's time for the magic Espeon of doom to get all hyper!"
"And embarrassing to boot," Lucky complained in mock annoyance, rolling his eyes. "Do you mind getting off me for ten seconds?"
"Yeah. I do." The Espeon sat herself down on Lucky's chest, pinning him to the floor. "So who's left, Pandora or Ryo-Ohki, huh?"
"I'll fight for you!" Ryo-Ohki suddenly piped up, hopping from paw to paw. "C'mon, it'll be fun! I know how to fight and everything! Pretty please?" This was said more at Sindel than anyone else, the Alakazam having taken it upon herself to look over the Pichu. Fortunately, out of the stress of the kitchen Sindel was a remarkably reasonable sort. And three pairs of babyish eyes ? Ryo-Ohki, Celeste and the childish side of Rhiannon ? staring up at her pleadingly was more than she could take, anyway.
"Well... I suppose, just make sure you look after yourself, okay?" she said finally.
"Yay!" the Pichu cried, leaping up in the air for joy.
"Yay!" cried Celeste.
"Yay!" chipped in Rhiannon.
"Yay!" cried Beckham, before noticing that everyone was staring at him. "What? Am I not allowed to side with the kids now? I'll have you know that I happen to like acting like a three year old, and this is a good thing, because you're only as young as you feel, so I expect to live to the ripe old age of at least three thousand because I'll be damned if I start feeling old before then!"
"Great logic, Becks," Milliardo commented. "Still, now you've said that I'll have to live to three thousand and one now, purely so I can still say I was the most tenacious of the team, even in clinging on to life."
"Hard to do bearing in mind the average ages of both the Squirtle family and Eeveelutions, you know," I commented.
"That's just me, Ade," my Umbreon grinned. "I even have to break the laws of nature." I opened my mouth to respond, but by that time my brain had finally registered the fact that this could well have been the most nonsensical argument Milliardo had drawn me into yet.
"Well, good luck in your quest for immortality, is all I can say," I finally replied, hoping to put an end to the conversation once and for all. "Now, does anybody feel like coming along and accompanying me and Ryo-Ohki on our training session?" I nodded to my Pichu, who as if on cue nimbly hopped up onto my shoulder in time-honoured fashion.
"Sure, as long as you don't use the phrase 'I choose you!' at all," Soo giggled. "I've had as much of that as I can take after that Ashley Davenport guy."
"Do you honestly think I would?" I grinned. "I'm not that lame, honest! Now, if I had a baseball cap to put on and then twist back to front, however..." I dodged a jokingly thrown cushion. "Okay, okay, no Ash impressions!"
"Good, then I'm coming with you." Soo stood up, still holding Kassandra. It was a great debating point amongst my team as to how long it would take for the Charmander's leg muscles to waste away given how little walking she ever had to do. "I'm not having you going off with strange women without my supervision! And if you ask me, Gina definitely qualifies as 'strange'."
"Bitchy, but true." I had to admit, Soo did have a point. I had never known anyone with as many contrasts as Gina. Both sharp-minded and yet at times incredibly forgetful, deceptively intelligent yet the most carefree person the world had ever seen... only Rhiannon had more conflicts within her persona, and at least my Eevee was excused somewhat on account of having split personalities! "She's good for a laugh, though, and do you know of any other trainers around willing to spar with any of my team?" As soon as I said that several pairings sprung to mind, although it would have never have done to let Soo know that. Katnip could have probably spent all day with Gabi's Ninetales, Hero, trying to outdo each other's Quick Attack. Danny's Thunderblast would have quite happily trained Kasumi seriously for all of ten minutes before my Growlithe managed to seduce her. And that wasn't even mentioning the sparring couples that could be made out of my team and Soo's, even if most seemed a little mismatched.
"Hey, I'll spar with any of you! Just bring it on!" Kassandra shouted, squirming free of Soo's grasp and standing in a fighting position in full view of everyone. In the end it was Katnip who decided to shut the Charmander up, suddenly darting forward with a Quick Attack that stopped a fraction of an inch short of her face, whereby he poked the startled Charmander in the forehead with the lightest of taps. "Gyah!!!! What did you do that for?"
"Train a little harder, Kass, then we'll talk sparrin'," my Raticate grinned broadly. "Right now I reckon yer mouth is way ahead of yer abilities."
"Hey!" Ryo-Ohki suddenly blared. "Can we, like, go do this battling thing? C'mon, c'mon, I wanna try my luck against Gina, I never got a chance to when I was with Marcus."
"Why's that, then?" Katnip asked, genuinely curious.
"Uhh... 'cause he'd only just caught me, really," the Pichu admitted. "He taught me a trick or two but I never used any of them, I'd always go off to play with Megan and then he'd get mad at us. I like it better here, I can play all I like and not get told off."
"The only trouble being that nobody around here does anything but play," Scratchy grumbled, rolling his eyes. All the Paras ever seemed able to do was criticize! All of a sudden it seemed like an awfully good idea to head him off before he truly got started on one of his many rants. "Now if we could just work like other teams..."
"Then we wouldn't be us, and half of us would have found a trainer who does do things like this," I interrupted.
"Besides, it's lousy timing on your part to start having a go at him for not training the instant he actually decides to do something." Milliardo stuck his tongue out at my Paras. "Anyway, have fun, kiddies. Call me weird if you like but I've had enough of Gina to last a lifetime."
"Suit yourself," I shrugged, turning my attentions to those members of my team who would keep me company on this latest training session. Which, rather disturbingly, seemed to amount to Soo, Kassandra, and Sindel. At least this time I wouldn't be overly distracted by too much bickering! "Okay, guys. Let's go get this over with."

"Hi, Ade! Hi Soo!" Gina was in a much less messy state than the last time I had laid eyes on her, it had to be said. The last sparring session had been a real eye-opener, the mercenary revealing an office that looked as if a bomb had hit it. But today when I called in it actually seemed to be in something approaching a state of order. Gone were the huge piles of papers and toys littering the floor, and the empty coffee cups sat on practically every surface. Gone, too, was all the random junk that covered every available inch of floor space. And although Gina's desk was still piled high with papers, it was no longer in the disarray it had been before. Gina, too, was looking a lot more presentable, dressed in a white short-sleeved blouse, short denim skirt and sandals, her dark blue hair tied back in a ponytail. "Come on in, guys, I won't be a minute, I'm just in the middle of getting my office sorted. It finally got to the stage where even I had to admit it was getting a bit of a mess! I can't deal with all this paperwork, though, I really let it mount up."
"How much paperwork can be involved in being a mercenary trainer?" Soo wondered aloud, notably tightening her grip on Kassandra for fear of the Charmander getting loose and undoing all of Gina's hard work.
"More than you'd imagine," came the despondent response. "Every battle has to be properly accounted for. In the case of the displays I usually deal with there's a billion bills for food, wages of any helpers we take on, plus about three billion expenses forms to fill in. The whole thing's a nightmare." All of a sudden Gina's face seemed to light up. "Hey, enough of this, you came just at the right time. I was just about ready to throw all these papers through the window, but now I have an excuse to take a break! So what's it to be, training, coffee, or both?"
"Ooh, I'd love a hot chocolate!" Soo grinned.
"Make that two!" Kassandra nodded in agreement. "With loads of cream on top! And chocolate shavings! And a cherry! Yeah!!!"
"Looks like we're all heading down to the coffee house after this," Gina noted, unable to suppress her laughter. "What about you, Ade? The same?"
"Actually I was kind of hoping for a battle. I think it's about time Ryo-Ohki here got some training." I patted the Pichu that was still clinging to my shoulder, causing him to break out into a broad grin.
"Yeah, we're going to fight you, Gina, cool or what?"
"Yeah. Should be interesting," Gina replied, looking rather bemused as my Pichu hopped up and down excitedly on my shoulder. Neither of us had seen the little pokémon this excited in a long time. "You should calm down, though, you'll lose if you get overexcited."
"Aww, I don't care, I just wanna give it a try!" The Pichu finally hopped off my shoulder and began running round in circles around my ankles. "Pretty please?"
"I think we're being asked to get on with it," I chuckled, returning my attention to Gina, as hard as it was to tear myself away from the spectacle of my over-excited Pichu. "So, what do you say we do as we're told, huh?"

"Okay, you all know the score now." Finally the battle seemed about to commence. We had made our way over to the immense battling hall that had been the scene of Pearl's comeback battle, its giant-like proportions every bit as fearsome as they had been the last time. I really had no idea how anyone could possibly want to work in a place like this. It was far too sinister for my liking with all its weird statues and atmospheric lighting. "Gina scans your pokémon for strength, Gina announces which pokémon she used, Gina tells you the rules, yadda yadda, then we get down to the battle." The mercenary trainer grinned broadly before jogging over to the far end of the hall where, presumably, the house trainer would always position themselves. "But seeing as you're you and you're using Ryo-Ohki, who used to belong to one of us anyway, we can skip the rules and scanning parts. Your opponent for today, guys, is..." Here she gave a shrill whistle, and a large Stantler trotted obediently through a side door to take his position in front of her. "Meet Sasha."
"Interesting..." I mused. Although the pokémon seemed to dwarf Ryo-Ohki, which certainly gave Sindel cause to worry, I couldn't say I was that disheartened. Size counted for little in a pokémon battle, anyway. What intrigued me most was the look in the pokémon's eyes, the look of anticipation before battle that only a few select creatures seemed to possess. "She seems unusually eager to battle for a Stantler. Or maybe I'm just judging her against the only other Stantler I've had any experience of, who could hardly be described as a typical pokémon."
"Eh?"
"Never mind. Just thinking aloud." I grinned sheepishly, turning my head to look at my Pichu, who was sat in front of me expectantly. He may have been just a kid, but sooner or later we were going to have to find out what he was capable of. And age rarely counted for anything, either. "Okay, Ryo-Ohki, ready to show us what you can do?"
"Sure I am!" the Pichu squealed with excitement, scampering forward to his starting place on the battlefield. "I'll show you what I can do, just you watch!"
"I'm sure you will. Let's do it, then."

FIGHT!!! L5 Pichu v L5 Stantler!

Ryo-Ohki darted forward almost immediately, determined to prove to all that he was just as good a battler as the older members of the team. Unfortunately he had still yet to learn the age-old tactic of staying back and trying to size up your opponent first, so when the Stantler reared up to stomp him under her hooves he only just managed to avoid the attack, dodging quickly before he was crushed.
"Yikes!" the Pichu whined, tumbling over onto the floor as he was brought down by his own momentum. "That wasn't fair, we're fighting, not playing 'squish the Pichu'!"
"It's your own fault for not thinking before you rushed in," the Stantler scoffed, a wry smile upon her face. "You're going to get that every time unless you learn to pay more attention to what your opponent actually is. Now, I'm giving you a chance here. Get back up again, and come at me properly."
"Okay! Here goes nothing!" Again my Pichu ran at his opponent, who this time dodged skillfully, spinning around on her front hooves and smacking him in the back with her tail as it lashed around. Once again Ryo-Ohki found himself stumbling, only this time to find a useful handhold to prop himself up with. Unfortunately this handhold turned out to be one of his opponent's antlers, the Stantler known as Sasha having already caught up with him and positioned herself right in his way. With a deft flick of her head she tossed the Pichu a short way across the room, enough to earn him a few painful bruises but nothing like the damage that she could have inflicted had she been trying. Was the Stantler toying with my pokémon?

"What's going on with that Stantler of yours, Gina?" I asked, watching as Sasha practically allowed Ryo-Ohki to get a free hit in. "It seems to me that she's not even trying."
"I'll let you in on a little secret, Ade," Gina grinned, wandering over to where I was watching the unfolding battle. "She's not. Sasha's been trained for a very specific purpose, in fact she's kinda been trained to train others. If any of us end up sparring with a pokémon who's never battled before, we use her. She's kind of more like a training tool than a battler. And besides, she's plenty of experience with infant pokémon like Ryo-Ohki. If anyone can help him with his first steps towards being a properly trained pokémon, she can."
"I see." I mused on Gina's words for a moment. "So does that mean he's never battled before, not even with his old trainer?"
"Nope," came the reply. "He'd only just really started his preparations when... well, you know, when all that fiasco with Team Rocket occurred." Gina looked pained, as if having to simply mention the events that had taken the life of my Pichu's old trainer brought back too many memories. "Poor little tyke. Still, he's got you now, and I've never known him so happy."
"I just assumed he was always that happy-go-lucky, to be honest." I had to admit that I'd never even given though to the fact that my Pichu had his fair share of problems. Even watching him now, skipping ineffectually around his opponent, it was hard to imagine that this was a pokémon who had any cares or worries at all. Well, only time would tell what kind of secrets lay within his mind. Right now I had to concentrate on supporting the Pichu rather than getting distracted by yet another potential tangent.

"You have better attacks than those you're using at the moment." Ryo-Ohki was beginning to seriously lose his patience. Every time he tried to leap, every time he tried to hit his opponent, the Stantler would either dodge or throw him right back to the spot he was originally standing in. The whole process was getting rather tiring, really, especially seeing as his opponent seemed to want to keep up a running commentary through the entire battle. "Why don't you use them?"
"I would but I don't know if I can!" The Pichu was close to tears. "I never tried before!"
"Then why don't you try now?" The Stantler lowered her head and began pawing at the ground. "You'll have to, little one, if you want to stop me!"
"I... I..." It was quite clear what was going to happen. Sasha was planning on trampling Ryo-Ohki into the ground. And the Pichu was scared, more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. He couldn't even speak. The words would just freeze up in his throat. Was this what battle was all about? All of a sudden he found himself wishing that he had just stayed at home. This was simply too frightening for words!
"Do it now, or lose!" the Stantler roared, rushing forwards at full speed. "Give in to your instincts, little one! They won't serve you wrong!" Something within her words struck a nerve with Ryo-Ohki. All of a sudden the Pichu understood what she meant. There had been a tingling within his cheeks for a while now, a distracting sensation that he had been doing his best to ignore. But all of a sudden he began to wonder if ignoring it had really been the right thing to do. Concentrating hard, his little fists bunched with a supreme effort, he began to do what felt right, to expel the strange sensation from his cheeks. As Sasha drew ever nearer sparks began to fly from the Pichu, more and more sparks, until his every hair was stood up on end with the sheer power of the electrical charge that was running within him. And then...
"Take THAT!!!" All of a sudden Ryo-Ohki expelled the energy stored up within him, sending a large blast of electricity towards his opponent that was enough to stop her in her tracks. But still the tingling was there, a single Thundershock not being nearly the end of the charge that had been building up within him for so long. Well, now that he knew how to get rid of that charge the solution was obvious, wasn't it? "And THAT!!!" Yet another blast of electricity came jolting out of the Pichu. "And THAT!!!" Another blast, and finally the tingling sensation stopped. Finally Ryo-Ohki was free to see what his attacks had managed to achieve. "Whoa, did I do that?" Sasha seemed totally disorientated - well, she had just taken three consecutive Thundershocks, after all - and was now staggering forward rather than galloping. It appeared that the Stantler wasn't really aware of her surroundings any longer. "Cool!"
"Yeah, now go in and finish the job, Ryo-Ohki!" I called over, the urge to advise my Pichu growing too great to ignore. "One more decent attack ought to do it, just try something you've actually been taught rather than rushing in, you've got time to prepare whatever you have up your sleeve properly. Now quick, do it, before she recovers!"
"Oh!" The Pichu seemed rather stunned, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him. "Right!" Frowning in concentration, Ryo-Ohki tensed his muscles, ready to spring at his opponent. And all of a sudden he did so, taking a quite tremendous leap towards the Stantler and diving in hind paw first in a clumsy imitation of a jumping kick. The attack struck home admirably, my Pichu catching the Stantler in the face and sending her crashing to the ground, the combination of attacks seemingly too much for her to withstand. It made for a surreal sight, really, to witness a creature so small bring down a Stantler with a single kick. But then, I had seen far stranger sights than this. In fact, it was a positively unremarkable sight compared to some of the strangeness I had found myself involved with in the past. But none of that was strictly relevant. What really mattered was that my brave little Pichu had won his first ever battle, and done us all proud.

Ryo-Ohki wins!
Ryo-Ohki grew to L6!
Ryo-Ohki learned Tail Whip!

"Wow, what can I say?" Gina exclaimed, clearly taken aback by Ryo-Ohki's performance. "That little guy's sure tougher than he looks!" She grinned winsomely, recalling the collapsed Stantler. "Of course, there's still a lot of work to do, you know that as well as I do, but for a little one who's just had his first proper battle I reckon he did pretty well for himself."
"Yeah, he's a clever one alright!" Soo grinned, looking as if she would have picked up my Pichu and given him a congratulatory hug if she hadn't had her arms full with Kassandra. Ryo-Ohki just blushed at all this sudden praise, looking suddenly bashful for once. I couldn't help but find him even more endearing than ever, and the compulsion to go over and give him that hug on behalf of everyone was far too strong to ignore. Unfortunately I found that my Alakazam had beaten me to it.
"You're a clever boy, you are," Sindel grinned, holding the Pichu high in the air and gazing at him fondly. "You did really well there. We're all proud of you."
"I did?" Ryo-Ohki asked, looking perhaps even more embarrassed than ever. "Aw, shucks..."
"Yeah, you did." I finally moved over to pet the little pokémon. "Give it a little time and I reckon you'll be giving even Katnip a run for his money." I turned to face Gina suddenly. "So then, I'd say 'same time next week' like usual, but I'm not too sure if I'll have the time, the Unicorn Games finals are getting scarily close and we have to prepare for that!"
"Hey, that's okay," the mercenary replied with a slight shrug. "I fully intend on being there myself to cheer you on! So then... how does the week after next sound?"
"Sounds good, actually," I smiled. "We'll see you then."

[Cheesey]

I'd like an RBG for Caledor's Nature Protection Agency, please. ^_^;; It'll be for Athena, my level 7 Swablu. Every day she wants to become an Altaria more and more. x_x *forks over 7 Stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

Hey, Chris!
Athena's going to battle a Torchic. Good luck!

I WANT A WORKING COMPUTER THAT CAN PRINT AND TIME TO READ EVERYTHING I WANT TO PRINT!!

Sorry about the outburst.

[Wolfsong]

Sorry if this sounds rushed, but my mother is instisting that she needs my help so i'm probably going to be gone after i post this, and make one other post. Anyway Shonta, take 9 stamps. I like how you described teh cold, and how you handled Trinity'. She looks like she can be a handfull when she wants to be. I liked it. ^^[/color

[*Murkrow]

Hey guys, could I possibly have an extension please?
Everything else around me has kind-of been intruding into my writing time, and with my holiday next week, and then all the school work I've neglected so far in the holidays....meh, you should get the idea^_^ I think I'd be able to work better knowing I'd have the extra time an extension grants, even if the scenario doesn't change soon.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ok, Hannah, you have it. And I'll ask for one too, just in case. I'm leaving for Salta on Thursday and returning on Sunday evening.

My computer's finally working, but my printer isn't. -_- I went to my uncle's house yesterday and managed to print the Unicorn Games battles and chapter VI of Ade's fic, but not his RBG battle. I'll see what I can do about that, I still seem to have more things to do than I can handle (-_- again).

[Charizard04621]

My POV:

“Tell me what we’re doing here again?” Switchblade asked me. It was the first time in a long time that he had voluntarily come out of his ball. Élan now was a shadow in the past, lost but not forgotten.

“Ryu wanted some last minute training,” I replied.

The Porygon beeped irritably. “You know, you spend more time with him now than with me.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that accusation. Of course, what Switchblade said was true. But he made it sound so horrible. Like, I purposely didn’t want to spend time with him. Or something like that…

“How come you never have time for me?”

Now that was easier to answer. “Switch, you know I always have time for you. The past few months, you’ve been keeping to yourself, like you didn’t want to be bothered. I just thought that I’d leave you alone, because we all need our space, and it looked like you needed yours.”

He was silent for a bit. “I guess. But still, you do spend a lot of time with Ryu.”

“Yeah, but it’s because of the tournament. I need to give him my full time attention because if I don’t, he won’t be able to do the best he can.”

“Yeah… I know… I don’t even know why I brought that up. I’m just not feeling myself, I guess.”

“I’ll give you time, Switch, as much time as you want. Would you rather we did something different? Something crazy? Have a battle? I don’t know. Whatever you think would help you feel better.”

“I think I’ll just need some rest. I’ll go back into my ball; it’s too hot here. I don’t like volcanoes.”

“Hehe, okay. Rest well.”

“I will.”

Something in the back of my mind told me he would be fine, that I shouldn’t worry anymore. And I trusted that feeling, because if I couldn’t, then I didn’t know Switchblade at all.

“Okay, Ryu, we’re here.”

“Ryu”, the male Trapinch’s POV:

I came out to find a vast arena buried in the heart of a volcano. The area was flat, rocky, and scorching to the feet. Perfect for my training. An environment I hadn’t experienced before. “Hmm… Do you see anyone I could battle?”

We scanned the area, noticed several Torchic that were too weak, and a Camerupt that was too strong. Just as we were about to move to another area to look, a Magmar emerged from the lava.

“Hi! Looking for an opponent?” he asked.

“Whoa!” Karin jumped. “You surprised me… Didn’t expect that.”

The Magmar grinned goofily. “Sorry, I always do that. I don’t mean to, it’s just that I’m so clumsy that I can’t come out gradually… It’s always jerky and sudden.”

I smiled in response. “You seem like a pleasant pokémon. I’d be glad to be your opponent. My name is Ryu.”

“Volkanis, nice to meet you.” He extended his hand, then realized that I didn’t have any to receive his. I wouldn’t have shaken it even if I did have a hand… especially after he’d just come out from that lava. That was asking for a burn.

“So, battle start?”

I nodded. “Sure.”

“Ryu” the LV31 male Trapinch vs. Volkanis the LV35 male Magmar

Earthquake won’t work… I realized. It would be too dangerous in here. Although I knew this was the simulation, who could really guarantee that seismic tremors wouldn’t cause a greater disturbance? I, for one, did not want to take that risk.

While I was thinking, I got a fistful of flames in my face. Great, just great. I thought too slowly. If I fought like this in the finals, I would lose. Which is exactly why I’m training now… Better to knock out the imperfections before the real battle starts.

The arena filled with black smoke spewed from the Magmar’s mouth. Coughing, I wondered what he was hiding for. To buy himself time? To throw me off? Or to conceal an attack that would be devastating if he took me by surprise…

I decided not to leave an opening for that possibility. Fading into invisibility myself, I hid behind a nearby rock. What to do, what to do? If Volkanis kept hitting me with elemental attacks, I could wear him down faster. Otherwise… I’d have to see. Indecision was unfamiliar to me. Why was I unprepared like this?

Suddenly the atmosphere changed. It was still full of smoke, except… “Ugh… Ack!” I gagged. Smog… It had to be. Well, that was unexpected. Unless he was trying to poison me, that move had no purpose, except maybe reveal where I was. I quickly moved away from my previous location.

Surprisingly, no attack came. The smoke cleared and I found the Magmar standing with no apparent plan on mind. Huh…?

When he saw me, he turned and tried to torch me with a jet of fire. Slowly. I dodged it with ease and even had time to redirect my momentum for good impact against his body. The heat that met my skin was tremendous. Immediately, I was scarred with burns. Not smart… But how else could I deal damage?

This time Volkanis attempted a Fire Blast, which was even slower than his Flamethrower. All right… Beat him with speed. I repeated my previous maneuver, pulling off faster this time so that I would be in contact with his burning body for a shorter period of time. It hurt less, so I assumed it was working.

The battle went on for a few more minutes like this, him throwing seemingly random attacks at me and me dodging and returning a shot. After a while, I got tired of the repetitive sequence. It was boring and pointless; both sides had achieved quite little. I came out of the exchanges slightly better off, however, so I was in the position to change tactics.

Lately Volkanis was attempting melee attacks, so I decided to take a chance. I moved to a cluster of rocks and hoped he would follow me, which he did. I waited until he got closer. Then, as he charged, fist outstretched, I got out of the way. He managed to halt before the rocks, but he had fallen into my trap.

With a gesture I moved them upon him and sealed him underneath. I was ready to direct bug energy at him, but I heard a muffled cry of defeat.

“Get me out of here,” he said. “I’m claustrophobic. I give, you win.”

“Ryu” won!
“Ryu” grew to LV33!
“Ryu” learned Crunch!

“Oops, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that,” I apologized.

“It’s all right… You would have won the battle without Rock Tomb anyway, I think,” he admitted. “You see, I haven’t really battled much on my own. I usually have someone around that helps tell me what to do. It’s my first time without a trainer or friends that can point things out to me.”

“Ah, well, you did well. You had me frightened for a bit. Like when you pulled that Smog out of nowhere. I was taken by surprise.”

“Oh… That. Yeah, actually, I just did that because I panicked. I thought I was being all smart using that Smokescreen, then I realized I couldn’t see you at all. That was bad. I didn’t know what to, so yeah. That’s what came out. Hehe.”

I chuckled. “That’s all right. Especially if it’s your first time on your own; it takes getting used to. Well, I wish you good luck in the future. We’ve got to go, right, Karin?”

“Yes. Pleasure battling you, Volkanis.”

“The pleasure was mine.”

[classy_cat18]

I guess I should finish the Training Grounds scenario. Here’s the first half of the Desert Room Scenario.

Shonta’s POV

“For Lily’s a mighty strong battler, for Lily’s a mighty strong battler, for Lily’s a mighty strong battler…” we sang.

“And nobody can deny!” Moriko finished.

“They better not, or they’ll have to face all of us,” Trinity said proudly. “You did so great in the Unicorn Games!”

“Even though you didn’t win, you grew enough to learn Poison Powder!” Swoop said.

“And you have, what, four more levels to go before you evolve?” Beacon asked Lily.

<Even I think you did well. How you got that Snorlax infatuated puzzles me to no end,> Jewel sent.

Lily stood in the middle of our circle, tears of joy streaming from her eyes. “Wow, guys! Thanks so much! You wouldn’t happen to have any presents for me, would you?”

We shook our heads. “Good TMs are hard to come by,” I said. “I guess I could get you Hidden Power later. But now I could get you another battle. That way you could learn another attack.”

“Isn’t Sleep Powder next?” Athena asked.

“Either that or Stun Spore. I hope it’s that!”

Lily jumped up and down. “Let’s go already!”

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

Lily, Swoop and Moriko went with me to the Desert Room while the others relaxed in their pokeballs. Swoop wanted to get her L10 free TM, and Moriko made it pretty clear that she was Lily’s biggest fan. She carried with her a flag with Lily’s picture on it. “I’m going to get me a T-shirt with her name on it too!” she told me on the way there.

“What are you going to do when she evolves?” Swoop asked.

“She can get one when I evolve to a Vileplume,” Lily answered.

We entered the Desert Room and gaped. “I know I’ve said this before, but they really outdid themselves with these rooms,” Swoop said breathlessly.

“I just have this strange urge to sing ‘Home on the Range’,” Lily said.

“Fight it,” I told her. I followed them into the room. There were small cacti dotting the landscape and there were buttes drawn into the painted sky.

“I see some chalk in the shape of a Pokemon battle field,” Swoop reported. “Straight ahead. Not too far.”

We walked straight ahead until we found the field that Swoop mentioned. On the opponent’s side sat a girl on a rock, petting her Sandshrew.

“Ground Pokemon, eh? I better not get into this. It won’t be very rewarding if I fight,” Swoop muttered.

“Okay! Then I take your place!” Moriko said happily. “When it comes to getting stronger there’s no time like the present!”

“Are you here for a battle?” the girl asked as we approached her.

“Yeah. Two on two. Are you ready?”

“I was born ready!” she said enthusiastically as she shot up. “Go Sandshrew!”

“Shrew!” Shrew said as he went onto the field.

“You’re up, Moriko!” I shouted.

“Hold my flag,” Moriko told me.

A mysterious voice spoke up. “This match will be between Shonta and Sandy.”

“I guess it’s too hot for a referee to just stand out here,” I commented.

Lily snickered. “Sandy.”

L6 Female Heracross (Moriko) vs. L8 Male Sandshrew

“Sandshrew, Scratch attack!” Sandy commanded. Sandshrew galloped forward with claws ready to attack.

“Moriko, give him a Leer!” I said. Moriko’s eyes flashed red, and Sandshrew stopped in his tracks. “Follow it up with a Horn Attack!” She flew and swung her massive horn at Sandshrew, knocking him aside. She skidded to a stop and rushed toward him again.

“Sandshrew, Defense Curl NOW!” Before Moriko could make contact with her Tackle attack, Sandshrew curled up into a ball. Moriko sent the ball flying and it landed at my feet. “Good. Now Sandstorm!”

“No, not here!” I shouted at Sandshrew. Sandshrew looked at me and scampered a few feet away from me. He lifted his arms to the sky and gave a battle cry. Sand from all around the field flew toward the sky and clouded the sun. I closed my eyes and tied the bandanna that I was wearing on my head over my mouth.

“Oh, this is great!” Swoop shouted from my shoulder.

How can I tell Moriko what to do in this sandstorm? “MORIKO! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The sandstorm finally died down. At the center of the field, standing in place and looking badly scratched up, was Moriko. Sandshrew stood in front of his trainer, waiting for his final orders.”

“Sandshrew, keep Moriko from moving by using Dig,” Sandy instructed calmly. Sandshrew dove underground.

“Moriko, take flight!” I told her. Moriko struggled to open her wing case, but she looked too weak to fly. She looked at me as her legs disappeared beneath the sand. “Oh boy. Um, use Mimic!” Her eyes flashed for a split second.

Sandshrew’s head popped out of the hole that he first dug. “Finish that Heracross off with Cut!” Sandshrew once again dashed for Moriko, who was waist-deep in sand and struggling to get out.

“Moriko, Dig!” Moriko dug at the ground and was able to take the attack in the back as she buried the rest of her body. She popped up and opened her wing case. “Nice. Use Aeroblast!”

Her wings vibrated and shot out blades of light that hit Sandshrew directly. Sandshrew landed on his back and rolled up into a ball. Sandy ran to him and picked him up. “He does that when he’s knocked out,” she explained to us.

Moriko won and grew to level 7!

I pulled out Moriko’s pokeball to return her, but she held up a hand. “I want to cheer on Lily,” she said.

“Do you even have the energy to do that?” Swoop asked her.

She stood up and snatched the flag away from me. “Girl, I would cheer on Lily if I was stuck in the ER!”

[The_Missing_Link]

<My POV>

“Ok, why are we going there again?”
I sighed and shook my head as Orion asked the incredibly stupid question for the sixth time.
“Dude, why are you asking this when you know what type of team you’re on?” Shade said. “Don’t be a moron.”
I stretched as I realized that Orion needed more training than just the Battle Tower. All of the levels he gained were by that and even though he was part of the Dark Forest trip, he had no experience in the real world, only controlled environments. But this place would do the trick for him – all of them, in fact. They didn’t realize it yet but they would soon participate in the upcoming battles, not just two of them. Some of them had forgotten what battling in other environments aside from the Battle Tower was like and I knew a few were eager to battle, mainly Lee. I was ashamed for not letting him battle recently and I promised myself I would make it up to him. Training Orion was the other thing that slipped my mind and basically, it made me think I was a bad trainer at times.
“Are we there yet?” Nightshade’s whiny voice slipped through my thoughts.
“We’ll be there in an hour.”
I had decided that instead of flying to the training grounds, we would walk. I thought it would be good exercise, since we used to walk around a lot back when most of them were unevolved. Some of the Pokemon even liked the idea, mainly Lee, Aries, Blade and Drake; the former having longer legs and used to strenuous exercise and the latter having the ability to fly. Meanwhile, others like Nightshade, Shade and Orion hated walking long distances, with their stubby, unused leg muscles and all.
“This blows,” Orion huffed.
“Shut it,” Lee said and cuffed him hard.
I had to hand it to the Hitmonlee; he knew what he was doing with the young kid. He was strict, yet fair. If he had been with me from the start, he would’ve made a fine leader. Now, he was like a Hiei or Vegeta, minus the cockiness.
“You only like it because you like doing anything that has to do with your legs,” Orion muttered while massaging his bone exterior.
“And if we ever had to do anything with digging, you would be ecstatic to do it, I’m sure,” I said.
Of course, I couldn’t see his face hidden beneath the mask but I knew he was blushing in embarrassment.
“How about we stop chattering and focus on moving faster,” Lyra rasped. I’m made for the water, not the road.”
“She’s right, you guys. The faster we move, the faster we get there.”

After about an hour and a half later (we had to stop for Nightshade’s supposed hunger pangs), we came upon the building. Actually, it wasn’t really a building at all. It looked like a one story deal and it was decked in plain gray stone but it jutted out noticeably.
“Drake, fly above the building and tell me what you see.”
He nodded and pushed himself upwards before spiraling above the sky.
“It looks like a humongous hexagon,” he called down to us.
Why would it be a hexagon? I wondered. I know that everyone will be able to fight but besides that, I’m clueless. Maybe the design holds a key to the training grounds.
“Well, there’s no point in wasting time pondering this while we’re right outside the doors,” I said aloud. “Let’s go inside.”
The inside was actually quite different than what I thought it would be. Instead of posters of Pokemon hanging on whitewashed walls, the walls were solid colors, one for each side. It was yellow, blue, red, green, orange and purple (the sixth side was the entrance, which was white), all done tastefully in that none of the colors clashed. The floor surprised me the most – pure black carpeting. No design, just a fluffy, comfortable carpet. And it seemed like it was a hit as various Pokemon were taking naps on the floor, their trainers sitting on sofas against the various walls. As I thought, hanging TVs were set up to show battles from various locations, from the Johto League to the Orange Islands. And as always, an information desk was set up with a Nurse Joy manning the station. A restoration machine was set up beside her but Chansey/Blissey was absent.
“I’m going to ask Nurse Joy a few things,” I said to them. “You guys can look around but be prepared to come back when I’m done.”
They nodded and headed off in different directions, only Lyra and Lee chose to come with me.
“Hey, Nurse Joy?” I asked as soon as I got close enough, “is there any special reason for the color coordination in this place?”
“Aside from looking nice, the colors essentially represent a rainbow, which is the theme to these training grounds.”
"How so?”
"Instead of the normal dirt arenas you see, the arenas are vastly different and have their own pros and cons. That’s why this building is a hexagon; one side is for the entrance and the other sides are the arenas.”
“They must be huge though,” I gushed. “How long did it take to make this?”
“Well, the whole project was in the hands of Gabi and her crew but they made a point to make this place as efficient as possible, with the best simulation technology possible.”
“Simulation?”
“For the weather, and whatever comes down from above,” she winked.
“Well, thanks for answering my questions,” I said and walked away.
“Five arenas, each a different type,” Lee mused. “One definitely has to be a water room – almost every training building has one. There also has to be grass, ground, maybe fire, but there are numerous possibilities.”
“Well, we won’t know until we go through those doors,” I said.
I looked for the rest of my Pokemon and beckoned them over once I caught their eye.
“Ok, since there are five arenas in this place and up to two Pokemon can battle in each one (generally, three but not in our case), everyone will have a chance to battle.”
They all murmured in approval before I went on.
“Two of you may go twice but maybe not, I don’t know. I also don’t know who’s going to be battling in which arena since I haven’t seen any of them but if it’s an obvious one like water, Lyra will definitely battle. It’s a possibility that Drake could battle but only if he can fly around with enough room. Even then, it would be risky.”
“Which one first then?” Aries asked.
“I guess we’ll try the second one from the left and see where it takes us.”
We all started to walk diagonally upwards towards our first battle arena. The only visible recognition on the door once we got there was a V, obviously a roman numeral number. I guess it went in a clockwise fashion. Turning the knob on the plain door, I opened it to reveal an arena that didn't take me by surprise…

The water arena. Not even an arena, just a big pond. There were thin but solid floats placed around the edges for people or Pokemon to stand on but there were few open, one being taken up by a ref. A few other people were around, two girls on one float talking and another one standing alone with his Sharpedo in the water. Other water Pokemon were in the pond also, relaxing.
“Anyone want a 2 on 2 battle?” I called out.
The girls on their float stared at me before going back to their conversation but the boy with his Sharpedo looked up and nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll battle you,” he said in a strong voice.
The ref, who was looking at his sleeping Golduck in the water, straightened up before recalling his Pokemon and blowing on the whistle.
“All trainers recall your Pokemon except those that are battling.”
I saw the girls mumble in low voices and reluctantly recalled their Pokemon but sat down on their float to watch the battle.
“The name’s Alan,” he said.
For a rather bland name, he was kinda good looking. He looked about a year or so younger than me but was decidingly taller. His blond hair was matted against his forehead, as if he completed the mile run five minutes ago. I couldn’t see his eyes clearly but his complexion was pale and he was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt. All in all, not bad.
“Rebecca,” I replied.
“Nice team you have,” he pointed behind me.
I looked back and realized that my whole team was crowding the doorway. I had to recall Shade and Drake and let the others find their own places. Blade, Nightshade and Aries ended up on a float near the ref and Lee and Orion shared my float. Lyra jumped into the water, her Everstone floating on top of the water. She glanced at it before putting it on the edge of my float, making sure it would be protected.
“I’m assuming you’re going to use her first?”
“As much as I assume you’ll use your Sharpedo.”
“And you’re right.”
Our Pokemon swam up to the center of the pond as the ref drew up his flag.
“This is a 2 on 2 battle. You know the rules so no cheating. You may now begin.”

Lyra (Lv. 34 Female Wartortle) vs. Dyna (Lv. 35 Female Sharpedo)

<Lyra’s POV>

I quickly swerved to the right as Dyna came right at me, jaws bared with shiny, sharp teeth.
“I see you like to keep hold of your men,” I said casually.
“I sure do,” she replied in a light Australian accent.
“oh, caught off of the Great Barrier Ref?”
“You’re smart, Sheila. Look more so than your male teammates.”
“You’d be surprised. The Scizor is a strategist, though he is a bit of a hothead sometimes.”
“Oh yeah, hot,” she grinned.
“C’mon Dyna, attack her already,” Alan yelled. “No time for conversations.”
“He’s right, Lyra. Make friends afterwards.”
“I’m afraid they’re right, Sheila. Let’s get it on.”
“Fine by me,” I replied and sprayed water at her face, pushing her backwards a few feet.
I knew it wouldn’t stop her and watched as she sped back, fins glinting. I immediately dove underneath and started to outrace her but as everyone knew, sharks could outpace turtles in the water anytime they wanted to. Stopping immediately, I withdrew into my shell and watched as she slashed my shell, creating sharp marks. I lurched from within, feeling myself getting jostled around a lot. I tried to release more water from the inside but it hit open water and only propelled me away from Dyna.
Damn, just realized that all my non-water attacks are ineffective against her. My only choice is to knock her out with high-powered attacks and perseverance.
“Can’t hide in there all day Sheila,” she crooned. “If you won’t come out, I’ll get you out with force.”
She’s right.
“Alright, but you won’t like it.”
Still inside, I slightly opened my mouth and let a cobalt sphere form on the outside. She was waiting impatiently, swimming in circles. I guess she gave up as she started coming at me, a green aura surrounding out. Closer and closer she came, vaguely aware of the light blue beam shimmering from my shell.
A little bit more…
Every second, she came closer and before I knew it, she was on top of me, ready to slam me into the wall.
Now.
I emerged quickly and released my beam, slamming into her face. She collided with it but pushed through before knocking me backwards. I felt a stinging feeling as I flew head-over-heels but straightened myself out before crashing into the wall. Pushing off with my feet, I sped towards the ice-ladened Sharpedo and slammed into the ice. Causing it to crack, I felt my head pulse in pain. I guess that stunt wasn’t such as good move after all. Aside from hurting my head, I also was able to break the ice, another smooth move.
“Thanks, Sheila,” she said. “Don’t know if I could’ve gotten out without your help.”
“My pleasure,” I replied dryly.
Still grinning, Dyna opened her mouth this time, only to reveal an arctic blast of ice. I cringed as the coldness swarmed over me and only withdrawing into my shell prevented anymore freezing.
“You know, I really do hate it when you go in there,” she sighed. “Good thing I know a move that can bring you right back out.”
I started to wonder what it was but then I heard the most awful noise possible. It was like a dog whistle, just ten times worse. I emerged but gave a weak grin.
“You’re wrong,” I mouthed to her and waved my arms in front of me.
Something white glistened in front of me and I sighed as my protective barrier rose all around me, blocking out the sound.
“Blissful silence,” I smiled.
Apparently noticing the glint in the dome, Dyna promptly stopped and charged forward, jaws open again. With the sound dying out, my protection died with it, leaving me defenseless.
“Well, not defenseless, just in a bad situation with a crappy move set,” I muttered. “Better resort to spinning.”
I withdrew once more and pushed myself into a clockwise manner, slowly spinning. It soon became faster and faster before a whirlpool swirled around me, slowly dragging in anything that was close. Dyna wanted to be dragged in though and plunged right through before releasing another screech, causing me to instantly stop and come out of my shell in pain.
“Got you now, Sheila,” she hissed and lunged at my arm.
Crunching her teeth in my skin, I cried out in pain, trying to shake her off. It made it easier for the blood to come out though, which drove her into a bigger frenzy. I couldn’t see it but I felt tears running down my eyes. This must’ve been what humans felt when sharks got them.
“Let go of me, damnit,” I sobbed and swam upwards.
Dyna didn’t fight me as I swam upwards but it was hard enough pulling something four times your own body weight. The top wasn’t far but every second felt like an hour. I looked back as I saw more blood gush out, giving me less time to battle her. Pushing the last few feet, I gasped as I broke through the top, glancing around in fear. The others gasped as Dyna came up, latched onto me.
“I can’t stand blood, Cindy,” one of the girls squealed and looked away.
“Keep quiet,” I heard Rebecca yell. “Lyra, are you ok?”
“Does it look like I’m ok? My arm is being torn off by a shark and I’m getting dizzy,” I snapped.
<Why haven’t you used Mirror Coat then?> I heard Nightshade psychically tell me.
Mirror Coat? Damnit, I totally forgot about that move.
“Get the hell off of me, Dyna,” I warned.
“No.”
“Then I guess I’ll force you off.”
Concentrating, I felt a thin blue outline cover my body and shaking my bloody arm fiercely, I threw her into the air and watched her crash into the water.
“Bloody hell,” she exclaimed as soon as she surfaced. “How did you do that?”
“Magic,” I replied sarcastically. “I’m a real Copperfield.”
Knowing that she had been mocked, Dyna opened her mouth, this time to blast me with a vast amount of water. Glowing again, I took the blast and with difficulty, pushed forward to send the attack right back at her. Crashing into her, the Sharpedo flew back into Aries, Nightshade, and Blade’s float, causing them to move to the edge. Even I knew that it was a hard blow as the floats were made of solid stuff.
“It’s over, Sheila,” I said and concentrated once more, but not on my reflection attack.
Water gurgling all around me, I felt myself rise into the air, supported by the water below me. Raising it upwards of about thirty feet, I glanced down at Dyna, who was still recovering from the blow. I took a deep breath and let go of the wave, letting it fall down on her. That also meant Aries, Nightshade and Blade but they knew well enough to get away and escape before being flooded. I dove into the water before slamming into the wall and let the attack do the rest. Solemnly watching the pressurized water crashing into her, I felt kind of sorry for Dyna, who would’ve been a good friend if I didn’t have to battle her. Liking Blade though kinda creeped me out and it felt good to dish out payback.

After the onslaught died down, I quietly nodded as I saw Dyna lying on her side, clearly down and out. As Martha Stewart said, “winning is a good thing”. Or in her case, losing is a bad thing. Either way, I won.

Lyra wins and grows to Level 36!

<My POV>

I grinned as I looked upon Lyra, who was floating in a pool of blood. I picked up her Everstone necklace and fingered it before throwing it over to Blade.
“Blade, put this on Lyra before it’s too late!”
He caught it and looked at it quizzically before Lyra was enveloped by a bright light. Cursing to himself, he sped over to her and threw it over her neck, despite being blinded by the light. Immediately, the light dimmed to reveal and relieved Wartortle and a blind Scizor.
“I can’t see,” he groaned.
“You’ll get over it,” Lyra replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get healed.”
I nodded and recalled her before giving the Pokeball to Blade after he could see again.
“Take it to Nurse Joy and come right back. Shade is going to battle next.”
“Shade? Why him? Drake and I can battle easily enough from the sky.”
“Neither of you have many ranged attacks and Drake could be at risk if he falls into the water. Besides, he’s the only other one that can pull off attacks while swimming.”
I could tell that he was angry but did as he was told and opened the door to the main room. I looked back over at Alan with Dyna already gone and a Lapras in front of him.
“Who are you going to use to battle Miroku?”
“I’ll use Shade,” I replied and hurled his Pokeball into the water.
With a red flash, the Venusaur looked around before settling his gaze on his opponent.
“Shade,” he rumbled.
“Miroku,” he said in a light Australian tone, much like Dyna's.
He must vacation in Australia a lot, I thought.
I heard the knob click and turned around to see Blade with Lyra.
“Quick work,” I said offhandedly.
Lyra stepped around me and looked at Shade and Miroku.
“He’s battling? And against a Lapras? I don’t like it but they’re both on even ground so it should be a good one.”
“Trainers, take your positions,” the ref called out. “The final round of the 2 on 2 will begin now.”
Turning around, I watched the ref throw down his flag for the final time.

Shade (Lv. 38 Male Venusaur) vs. Miroku (Lv. 45 Male Lapras)

<Shade’s POV>

It wasn’t long before Miroku fired off a cobalt beam at me, intent on taking me out quickly.
I shouldn’t be here, I sighed to myself as the ice grazed my leaves. I can swim fairly well but I’m outclassed in every which way. Then again, everyone else except Lyra would be worse off.
“And I still have a chance, right?” I muttered.
Trying an old tactic, I released bright purple powder at him, trying to get him to sniff it. Maybe he would be stupid enough to go for it. That Snubbull was anyway.
“Nice try, but I’ve had many grass opponents try that before,” he quietly said.
Concentrating intently, stars started to appear in front of him and began to rotate in a clockwise motion. Thinking I was seeing something, I blinked a few times but the stars were still there. They eventually faded away but not completely; just visible if you squinted hard enough.
“Safeguard.”
I certainly heard of it before but never saw it being performed. Rebecca made sure that we knew almost all of the attacks in the Pokemon world and try to memorize their effects. If I remembered correctly, safeguard protects the user from stats attacks but it didn’t last long. Right off the bat, it gave me an idea but it could've easily succeed as much as fail.

Lost in my thoughts, I barely noticed Miroku coming at me, horn down. I looked straight at it and tried to swim away but it was like outracing a Pontya: pointless. I groaned and let him jab me, pushing me back through the water. I countered with my sharp leaves and let him get scratched but he just shook it off and fired off a thin, greenish flame that seared my body. I brought my whips out and slapped him a few times before restricting his neck and around his shell. Firing off another volley of leaves, they again grazed his soft area, this time opening thin cuts. I could see him wince as water lapped up against his wounds. Curious, I dipped my head down and lapped up a bit of the water, despite groans of disgust from my teammates.
“Tastes like salt water but not as…salty.”
If I had a weakness, it was analyzing things too much and Miroku noticed it quickly enough to use it towards his advantage. As soon as I brought my head up, a red beam washed over my whole body. Immediately, I began seeing doubles of my opponent but after shaking my head, I still saw two of him…and two of everyone else for that matter.
“I guess everyone used double team,” I grinned stupidly.
It was obvious that I was confused but that didn’t prevent me from splashing around, acting like a Bulbasaur again. Those were the days.
“Easy as pie,” Miroku smirked and fired off an ice beam, hitting me square in the flower, freezing the hole that allowed me to use my powder attacks. I frowned but didn’t realize what was happening.
“I wanna play,” I sighed and brought my vines out with ‘play’ with my opponent/friend. Only my version of playing was wrestling and only when I tried to sink Miroku with my vines and body did he cry mercy and submerged, angry.
“This is getting boring now. Let’s end it.”
Opening his mouth, I expected another blue beam but what came out was the beginning of a haunting song. Fortunately, that snapped me out of my confusion.
“Perish Song,” I gasped.
I immediately snaked my vines and clapped his mouth closed, preventing him from finishing the song. I remembered watching Apollo battle a Jigglypuff who used the same move and he barely won after socking her with electric punches in the ocean.

As I tied him up, I looked back at my flower, fuming. I was stupid for letting him get the best of me but now it was time for me to strike. I looked back at him and squinted, unable to see the stars anymore.
Better let him go in case so he won’t remember his protection is gone.
Releasing him from my bind, I brought out my other vines and started to slap the ice viciously, trying to break the two feet-deep covering on it. I also concentrated on bringing the toxins up from within my flower, to try and burn the ice from within. It was painfully clear to Miroku as to what I was doing but it gave him an opportunity to strike again, this time to jostle my plans by slamming me furiously, again and again. I grimaced as sharp pain raced all over my body but I kept on slapping/melting the ice. Using a spare vine, I tried to fend Miroku off but I found that wasn’t such a good idea as he bit it with no remorse.
“Damnit,” I seethed, which brought up a gasp from my team.
I was known as the level-headed one and few things got me upset. This though, did. I glanced back again and smirked for the first time since the beginning of the battle. I could see the purple acid spring up from the diminishing ice block and run down my back. Miroku was still trying to knock me off balance, not focusing on the big picture. All he could see were my bruises and cuts but not the toxin spilling into the water. He probably thought I was another Barney. He was wrong.
“It’s a shame the battle is going to end so quickly now,” I said to Miroku, “it was a good one.”
“Yeah, same,” he smirked.
“Oh, so you know you’re going to lose then?”
“So cocky for one who’s trying to break ice off their back while defending himself.”
“So, I guess you didn’t notice you were floating in a pool of poison then?”
He looked down and gasped as a wasteland was floating all around him, slapping against his body. I smiled as I broke off the last piece of ice from my flower and took aim.
“Better do it once more for good measure.”
This time, a bigger glob of poison flew into the air and as I expected, plopped down on top of Miroku’s head. He groaned and tried to shake the vile substance off but we all knew it was pointless. It soon disappeared into his body and it was a short matter of time before he would faint.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Miroku sneered. “You’re still in worse shape than I am and I will see to it that you won’t finish this fight!”
“Big words for someone who has five minutes left.”
Shrieking in rage, he powered up an ice beam quicker than I thought was possible and shot it off. Anger clearly controlled his accuracy though and it missed, clashing with a wall and freezing a portion of it over.
“Clearly misguided,” I sighed.
Before he could set his safeguard up again, I released handfuls of bright pink powder. Glistening under the artificial light, it settled upon Miroku, making him sneeze and breathe it in. Before anyone could snap their fingers, he was out like a light, lightly snoring. Everyone cheered as I held out a lone vine, pulsating with a minty green glow. Resting it on Miroku’s head, the green aura spread as an outline around the Lapras, giving him a healthy glow. I slowly smiled as I drained precious health away from him and renourished my own. It only took a minute more before his head drooped almost to the water, clearly showing that he fainted in his sleep. At least it was painless.

Shade wins and grows to Level 40! For a free TM, he learned Sludge Bomb!

<My POV>

Although I knew he was ok, I recalled Shade as there was no way he could make it onto a float on his own. I watched Alan recall Miroku and gave him an amiable nod, which he returned. We all shuffled out of the room and into the main hall, which somehow was filled with more trainers. A line was formed at the restoration center and I reluctantly placed myself at the end, eager to get onto the next room.
“Still can’t believe Shade pulled it off,” Nightshade said. “That was a tough one.”
“All things considered though, Lyra’s was tougher. She had no super effective moves against Dyna and only one attack saved her from defeat,” I replied.
“And they’re probably going to get tougher also,” Lee commented, which brought silence to the group.

[Wolfsong]

Apologies for taking so long. Been trying to catch up on my writing and barely making any progress. I couldn't sleep, and its now 1:40 Am as i type this so apologies if it comes with typos galore also apologies if there isn't many comments to boot ^^; I think i'm going to try and get some sleep after this..

Ade: Interesting use for hidden power steel. I wouldn't have thought of somethign like that. I liked the idea of the stantler being used to help train young pokemin. Take 12 stamps.

Karin: a claustrophobic Magmar, interesting concept. Nice to see Switchblade again, even if it was a breif appearnace. Take 11 stamps

Shonta: Nice. I enjoyed reading that and the description of the desert room was rather interesting. Are we going to be seeing more of Moriko in the future. I kinda like her personality ^^ Take 10 stamps.

Becca: Hope Lyra feels better soon. That battle did seem rather difficult for her, but she did a great job. Nice job of describing safeguard and Shade's confusionn as well. Take 20 stamps ^^

And i think that everything is caught up now. If i missed anyone let me know please

[Crystalmaster Mike]

Well, I'll at least have finished 2 out of the 5 Rooms by the end of the summer vacation... That is, if I write my next battle during the next 18 days... At least my Eggy has finally hatched. Now to find a good moment to name him... (That will need preparation, I'm planning on a long full name.)

~ Nemo's POV ~

I got back on all fours, stretched my front legs, and yawned. Watching the hatching had been fun the first half hour, but it was now losing its attraction. Just a few, spread pieces of Egg shell were left attached to the glowing white form of the pre-hatchling, yet they refused to speed up their detachment. If you had to compare it to anything, it was like watching a whole bunch of popcorn-balls… pop. Sure, in the beginning it was intriguing, but after you saw one hundred of those pops, you'd seen them all.
It was as if my act of boredom had triggered the second faze of the hatching: all of a sudden, all the egg shell pieces that were left jumped off, pulsing with an electrical force. When they touched ground, grass, tree or stone (or fur, I might add), they momentarily sizzled and vanished into thin air. Since I'd been watching from so close, I got the lion share of the sizzles. It didn't really sting, or annoyed, though… it tickled slightly, that was all.
Now the whole glowing Egg shape was uncovered, the true spectacle began. Imagining that I heard a slight zooming sound, I watched as the Egg shape grew ears, a tail, four paws… I watched as the top of figure changed into a head… As the lower part of the egg shifted shape to a feline body… And finally, I watched as the head and body were connected by a newly-formed neck, which was covered in an obviously furred ruff, resembling a lion's. And as the glow finally faded, I saw that the newborn Eevee was royally furred everywhere else too, but certainly not in a bad way, no. I immediately saw that this Eevee's hair would be quite a bother to comb. And from the look in his eyes, I could tell we now had a licensed trickster in the team… From the look of his fur, I could tell he was a licensed trickster with something extra to show off. His fur was black, pure black; yet, each time he moved, it seemed as if the moon peeped from behind a cloud: little stars seemed to shine momentarily, before they appeared elsewhere on his fur. Somehow though, I foresaw that he'd be almost impossible to see in the dark. Luckily, he would have his rings to keep him from disappearing completely (though I figured he'd think of a solution for that in due time). His rings, by the way, were a solid blue; they still sparkled with the electric force that had been behind his hatching.
Mischievously, he'd watched while I took in every detail of his young body, but now that I was done… play time had arrived. He started chasing his tail for a while, with me watching him, chuckling. He was quite good (or his tail was longer than usual for Eevees); it didn't took him very longer to bite in the tip of his tail. After a while (longer than I had expected), he grew bored, and wanted to chase my tails instead. We had a ball doing that, but all of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks. His ears twitched; he had picked up a sound.
"What is it, boy?" I asked, but he didn't answer. The look in his eyes changed; he looked dreamily excited, but also happily naughty. He turned around and sneaked up to the closest edge of the clearing, his ears lying flat on his head. And let me tell you this: if my eyes didn't deceive me then, he became invisible the moment he had entirely entered the shadows!

~ Mike’s POV ~

"*snivel* *snort* Ah!!"
"It feels good to be out of there!"
"I'll say!" It had took us still a surprisingly long hike through the snow to get to the outer door of the Blizzard Room (as with the inner door, you had to enter and exit a trainer lounge first), but it was worth every minute! The summer sun was shining outside, and I couldn't exit my winter clothes fast enough. Soon enough, I was enjoying the warm touch of the sun rays on my face and arms; I was so happy I'd put away a T-shirt and shorts along with my winter clothes. In the back of my mind I knew that by changing so drastically from polar to subtropical clothing, I'd probably end up with a cold too, but I really couldn't care less.
Suddenly…
"Hey dude! Dù-ùde!!"
"Eh?" I turned around to see who'd called me. I had been too preoccupied with my clothes to notice that there were white plastic tables and chairs shattered everywhere around, with trainers and their Pokémon sitting on, up and under them (and sometimes floating/Levitating above them). The table nearest to me was occupied by a tall, blond, (Nordic?) guy, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, and with his long hair in dreadlocks. He was accompanied by an intimidating (and meditating) Scizor, a Torkoal whose shell seemed… mossy, and a Pikachu that was practicing its Surfing skills on a small, pink surfboard. Oh, and a Donphan was snoring under the table, it's trunk longer than usual. Blondie was enjoying a liter glass of blond beer, and he had a moustache of froth which he hadn't bothered to wipe off yet. Because his voice was surprisingly deep and booming, he'd attracted the attention of many a trainer to us, and I was rather hoping no-one would mistake us to be friends, to be honest.
"Dude, did you just leave the Blizzard Room?!"
"Uh… yeah, why?"
"Dude…!!"
"*-_-''*"
"… That Room's like, the coolest Room in the world! Don't ya agree, dude?"
Stop calling me dude… "Uh, yeah!" And it's a Blizzard Room, so it's supposed to be cool!
"Me and Toot are going to get in in five minutes! We're gonna kick some Icy butts, ey Toot?!"
He kicked his sleeping Pokémon, who didn't seem to mind; instead, the Donphan got on all fours (which meant the table he was under was now balancing on his back) and trumpeted in agreement, even though he couldn't have heard a word his trainer had just said. The Scizor, who was meditating in lotus position in one of the other chairs standing around the table, frowned (his eyes were closed), but didn't say a word. He did, however, start glowing an eerie blue, after which he started to levitate. The Pokémon was practicing some hidden psychic power he possessed, and making quite the impression whilst doing so, but his trainer didn't seem to notice. All his attention was directed to his elephant-like Pokémon.
"Yeah, you heard me, didn't you, Toot?! We're gonna get in there and wipe those Ice-Types off their feet, ey?! They won't even get one attack in!!"
Sùre. "Umm… Nice talking to you, uh …?"
"The name's Barry!!", he boomed. "Barry Black!!"
"Uh, okay… I'll see you around, Barry; but now I've got to… Uh…"
"Go!!", Hanna whispered from the corner of her mouth.
"… Go! Yes, go; I've got to go! See ya!!", I shouted, as I turned around and ran off. Bruce followed closely behind, dragging Hanna behind him in her aquarium.
"Sure thing, dude!!" came the rumbling response.
And just as I disappeared out of his eye sight: "Dude!! What's your name, dude?!!"
As if I'd tell you, wannabe-Black Berry…

~ Nemo's POV ~

"… Hey!! Where did you go?!" I'd been so shocked by which I had (or thought I had?) seen; it took me a minute or two to realize that that Eevee had only just hatched; I couldn't let it run off like that!
Just as I was started a run towards the bushes he must have disappeared behind, I heard a noise coming from exactly the opposite side of the clearing (meaning: right behind me!).
I turned around, just in time to see…
"Rays? Arthus?!"
Surprised, I watched as the Chinchou and Spheal stumbled into the light (Rays was carrying Arthus' Beach Ball); I really hadn't expected to see them here, as I had seen them enter the Pond Room. Similarly, they clearly hadn't expect me to see them either; they were giggling like pre-scholars caught red-handed with their hands in the cookie jar.
"Oh, hello Nemo!"
"Yeah, hi!", squealed Arthus, grinning from ear to ear.
"I don't understand!! What are you… ?!"
But before they could explain their presence in the Jungle Room, two more of my team mates stumbled onto the clearing. Well, Nora did, anyway; Skyler slowly floated down from the branch he'd been sitting on, until his feet touched the ground. They too were grinning sheepishly; I noticed the four kept looking over their shoulders (or looking behind them for those that didn't have any shoulders), as if they were expecting someone to show up.
"… !!*O_O*!! …"
"Hello Nemo!!"
"… Surprised to see us?"
"You bet I am!! What are you doing here?!"
"Isn't that obvious?", the tiny Aron asked.
"We were spying on you, of course!", Skyler 'explained'.
"I see.", I merely said.
"What Skyler meant," Nora corrected Skyler while giving him a meaningful glance, "was that we were curious about our new teammate, and because you wanted to keep the experience of seeing the baby hatch all for yourself, we…"
"… followed you in here …", "… and watched you while we hid under a bush!", Arthus and Rays cut in.
"… or in a tree!, Skyler added.
I suddenly remembered what I was going to do before the four of them suddenly exited the bushes and tree they were under/in.
"All good and well, but the baby ran off just now, and I can't…", I started.
"Oh, but he's still around!", Nora quickly spoke. "He scared the living daylight out of me doing his appearance act!"
"Huh?", I asked, puzzled.
"Well, he appeared right in front of me, outta nowhere…"
"…, yelled 'Boo!!', …"
"…, stuck his little tongue out, …"
"…, gave me a cute winky, …"
"… and pushed you into the open before you knew it." I concluded.
"How did you know!!" came the unanimous response.
"I thought so, the way you stumbled into my eyesight like that… But say!" I added quickly, "If he'd heard you, and went to find you, why hasn't he come back yet?!"
The answer came almost instantly. From behind another bush on the clearing's edge, suddenly came uncontrolled laughter.
“*hiccup* *sniff* No-ho-hoh, please no!! I-I-I-ay-ayayah!! I surre-hender, whaha!!!"
"If I didn't know better…" I murmured, before sneaking towards the aforementioned bush, and taking a peak through it…
"Liam!!" To my greatest surprise, my ears hadn't deceived me. Before my eyes, the most unlikely scene unfolded itself: Liam was lying on his back, his fur messed up, crying tears of joy!! On his belly, the mysterious young Eevee-toddler was holding Liam down with a most effective battling strategy: he was tickling Liam in every soft, unprotected spot he could find. Liam was trying to hold him off, but it was no use: he had nothing to protect himself but his bare paws, and those were ticklish too!
It was such an unusual event to see Liam laughing without a harsh undertone, that after my initial shout, I was left baffled. Since they'd been too caught up in their game to take notice of it, it wasn't until the others caught up with me that they discovered they weren't alone anymore.
"Nemo!! Wha-OH!!"
"Liam?!"
“Huh? Oh!! Oh, no…" Seeing us watching him, Liam's muscles tensioned, his body stiffened. Noticing his tickles no longer had any effect on his victim, the little scamp stopped and looked at us, his eyes full of curiosity.
"Liam? What are you…?" I started, but was caught off in the middle of a sentence.
“Um, I took a wrong turn…" he mumbled, his look fixed on his paws. He scrambled to his feet, sending the tiny black fox on his belly flying through the air. Luckily for him (and for Liam I might add! Or else, I might have seriously hurt him…), he landed safely in a small field of clover. “Um… I gotta go now…"
And without another word, Liam dashed off in between trees, leaving his ex-playmate yearning for their following encounter.
"What was that all about?"
"I'd like to know myself…" I whispered, before ripping my glance away of the place Liam had just been lying on, and shifting it to our youngest teammate. "Time for a proper introducing, I'd say. Nora and Skyler? Arthus and Rays? There's someone here you'll like to meet from up close, I think."

~ Mike’s POV ~

We had found our way to the Pond Room's outer entrance. The door that gave way to the Room was large, as it had been for the Blizzard Room. This one was made of a strange, thick, crystalline material, which you couldn't see through. The substance could've been mistaken for an unknown form of lava, had it not been azure and marine blue. The carvings made in this door showed a busy underwater scene to the attentive observer. As could've been suspected, there were the huge, beautiful, mermaid-tailed Vaporeon, accompanied by the giant siren that was Milotic. One could effortlessly make out a huge Wailord near the door's 'surface', as well as an oversized Octillery on it's 'bottom'; yet, if you didn't pay more attention, you'd think that was everything the talented carver had carved. But I took the time to investigate the strange material of the door, and as a result, I discovered more in the work of art…
"Bruce, could you come here for a minute?"
"What is it, Mike?" Bruce slowly made his way to me, shaking his head to clear it. He'd refilled Hanna's aquarium with the water from a nearby fountain and had seized the opportunity to refresh himself, the result being that the inside of his ears was slightly filled with water. But it had done him good: the majority of his cold seemed to have been washed away.
"Could you come and take a look at this here carving? Either I'm delirious or I've found out something…"
"Well, I looked at before I went and took a dip, and I didn't saw anything worth discovering about it…"
"Well, could you stand here then," I said, laying my hands on his shoulders to make sure he was standing directly in front of me, "and tell me if you notice something… 'fishy' about these underwater streams?"
"Well…" he said, weighing his words carefully, "if I didn't know better…"
"Yes?" I said anxiously.
"Well, if I didn't know better, I'd think that those streams are made of fishes!"
"Exactly what I saw!" I yelled out relieved.
"Well, if you've started to see things… can you show them to me?"
"Sure thing, Hanna!" I took the lid from her m.a. and took her in my arms. Careful not to let her drop, I held her on Bruce's eye level (my shoulder level, some what), and let her examine the door from up close.
"Hmm, yeah… I see it too… That is one heck of a fish school, ain't it?"
"I'd even call it a submarine university; it's equally diverse! I can see normal fish …"
"You mean those of the Sushi Type?"
"…, as well as Fish Pokémon…"
"Yeah; hey, there's me!"
"…, and not too mention other aquanautic Pokémon!"
"You mean like that drowning Psyduck?"
"Hey, there's even some fish in there I'd expect to see in extraterrestrial waters! Look at those!" I pointed at a collection of Frankensteinish fish, some of which had three eyes (the Simpsons' type), others which had enormous gills, and even others which had awkward appendixes I wouldn't normally expect a fish (or squid, or shrimp) to have. Maybe the artist that had made this scene had wanted to make fun of people he knew in real life, since some of the fishes seemed to have humanlike faces and bodies. Yet he'd been smart enough to carve those caricatures on such a small scale you'd almost had to have a magnifying glass to see them… Like in a museum, you could spent all day and night trying to look at every little detail of the carving… But that wasn't what I'd came here for…
"What d'ya say we get in this Room and see how our friends are doing in there, ay?"
"Good idea! I can't wait to get in that pool/pond/whatever big body of water there's in there!!"
"… So I won't hold you off any longer. In we go!"

We had barely closed the door behind us (in fact, we had barely opened it), when a hurricane of words tortured our ears.
“… But WHY??" Despair.
“WHY?? I told you! You don't even know the first thing of battling!!" Unreasonability.
“Because I've never even battled before!!" Anger.
“So…: how are you ever wanting to become a pro at anything if you have had no practice!!" Mockery.
“But that's just why I want to start battling: to practice!!" Exasperation.
“You'll never be able to fulfill such a preposterous dream." Grumbling.
“Just because you think YOUR dream's honorable, that doesn't mean anyone else's is preposterous, Dylan!!" Bitter offendity.
It was at this point, with the mentioning of that name, that I linked what my ears and eyes told me, but what I had refused to believe at first. For what I saw seemed unbelievable to me: two of my Pokémon were standing in front of each other, face-to-face, enveloped in a bitter argument, in which deeply buried, deeply rooted emotions were dug up and slapped in the other's face.
On one side: Gordon 'Mudkippa', in general extremely enthusiastic to start (out) with something new. Recently, he'd started hanging out with Bruce. From what I'd gathered, through short sightings of the pair in the Eevee House, Bruce taught his boxing skills to Gordon, who was trying to memorize it for when he himself would be able to use his front legs as arms; for when he would have evolved, that is.
On the other side: 'Don'/'Sir' 'Knightly' Dylan, in general refined, sometimes sneering, but always with a dream in the back of his mind: to be a knight, what ever that meant. This had led him to be suspicious about anything that somewhat resembled a dragon. In our team, that had meant Hanna, the Carvanha (who herself despised the Dragon-like Gyarados), though lately, he'd abandoned trying to fake-attack her: with a glass aquarium window between them, it was too much of a bore. Strange enough, he'd never tried to evoke Verne (a Larvitar)'s rage, but that might have been because the type-advantage meant he was rather poor a challenge. Even stranger was that he'd been fully behind the idea of having a real Dragon on the team; even if the coming of Skyler had meant he might one day have a true opponent, for the time being it meant he'd have to wait until the winged Bagon possessed enough power.
All the time during his carrier as wannabe-knight, Dylan had used some of his teammates as a noble steed. Nemo had proven to be too slender for his liking, and Liam had… too much character. So he had ended up riding his fellow-Water-type Gordon most of the time. But now, with aforementioned Water type having his own dreams in life, Dylan turned to behave not really knightly but more… well, chauvinistic, egocentric. Acting as an aristocratic, spoiled Pokémon, he claimed that only his dreams really counted. And Gordon couldn't just have him claim that…
So there I was, with Hanna and Bruce accompanying me, witnessing the scene helplessly, and not knowing how I could ever set things right between the two of them…
"You guys…", I started weakly, but I cut off my sentence. Whether or not they had heard my voice, Gordon's and Dylan's eyes were now locked upon each other in a daring glaring competition: the first one to blink, would automatically lose. And I could not interfere: if I made either of them lose his focus, he wouldn't have forgiven me…
So I had to find a way around that problem.
"Hanna, if you could do the honors?"
She obeyed without asking further specifications; she knew what I expected from her. With a small Splash, she jumped into the pool water, momentarily disappearing underwater. When she came up, she looked relieved having exited her cramped mobile 'home'. That look on her face didn't last long, however: soon enough, she was one bundle of concentrated… uh, fish. Her cheeks inflated as the water she had inhaled, had partly swallowed, came rushing up again. Then, she spit it out, performing a move that was not meant to be an attack as much as it served as a cold shower for the two glare-competitors. And it did its job wonderfully: Dylan and Gordon looked like having just snapped out of a trance; they looked more like the Pokémon I had once adopted than they had before.
“MI-IIKE!!", Gordon said in protest. “We were in the middle of something?"
"I know, we've been for a while already." I told Gordon, and continued on a somewhat bitter, sarcastic tone: "You were sharing quite the moment here."
“Yes." Dylan said, without the smallest trace of sarcasm in his voice. “And it was a rather personal moment."
"Really?", I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I would have thought that every last Pokémon in this Room had by now heard you shouting at each other!"
As I said this, I looked further into the Room. Compared to the small platform made out of wooden poles all of us barely fitted on (I had given up trying to maintain my balance and was now leaning with my back against the wall, close to the door), the rest of the Pond Room was gigantic. On the other side, in the distance (maybe as far as the distance between the two goals of a soccer field), another platform was visible (accessible from the inside of the Room Dome), but for the rest, there was nothing really decorative about the Room: cold, white walls, without a single window, and an open ceiling, showing a azure blue sky devoid of any clouds. Though the boring appearance of the Room might end on the other side of the water frontier, that was impossible to make out, for the water was as featureless as the rest of the Room: it could have reflected the sky above, but it could just as easily have been mixed with a chemical, so that the once clear water was now filled with a mysterious blue mist.
Either way, I was certain we were not the only ones here: the Dragon Tamers must have put some Pokémon in (or some Pokémon must have found their own way in), so that this Room was not to become a trainer-battle-only arena.
As I looked, Gordon followed my eyes, and he snorted loudly. “Who cares if anyone heard us? The things we had to tell each other couldn't have been left unsaid much longer… or I would have exploded out of sheer stress." He really looked like he had meant what he had said… I started observing my up-to-now-still-inexperienced-in-battle Pokémon, who in turn was observing the ground, his face a mask of sadness.
Dylan interrupted my thoughts with a snort as loud as Gordon's. “I would have been much happier if they'd been left unsaid… for that would have meant I would not have known what I know now."
“And what do you know now, Dylan?" uttered Gordon fiercely. “Still too little to my liking, that's what! You still haven't realized that…"
"That what?!", Dylan interrupted. “That my own dreams are as preposterous as I'm saying yours are?"
This question Gordon hadn't expected, and it distracted him. “Well… yes!"
"Ridiculous.", Dylan stated. "You have diverted me from my goals once before… Gordon," - it took Dylan a visible exertion to not call Gordon by his name, and not use anything offensive or degrading - "when you talked about a knight's purpose, before the dragon-in-flight" - his nick for Skyler - "was born. But I won't have you meddling with my businesses any more, subverting my believes, twisting my words… If a knight has to defend the innocent, then the faulty he must punish: meaning the venomous Dragons as well!"
“But Skyler is innocent!! Don't you see it?!" exclaimed Gordon. An underwater movement caught my eye, but I was focused on the ongoing discussion; Dylan's stubbornness worried me - it reminded me of myself when things didn't go my way: I followed a logic understood only by myself to explain my misfortune. “He was born amidst us, raised amidst us, and he lives amidst us. He-Is-Not-Evil!!"
Dylan shook his head, disbelievingly. "So he was born and raised by a noble creed, and lives amongst them as one of them… You'll see that one day: he'll turn and give us a toxic bite in the back. Dragons…"
“… can be as much in error as any other specie of living beings." Gordon continued his sentence, talking slowly, and with the exhausted difficulty that came when one has almost run out of things to say, and was tired with saying things. “If you don't start to face that, you might wake up one day, having snapped out of your little dream world, and see a face in the mirror that will make you shudder in disgust." He hopped into the pool water demonstratively, and looked Dylan in the face, worn out but feeling strong. “And if you don't mind me leaving you… I have a battle to fight."
"… And to lose and to regret having fought." Dylan murmured softly, the look on his face invisible as he was looking at his feet.
That final stab took down the fragile wall of self-control Gordon had managed to build up since we had entered and ended the initial argument between him and Dylan. He looked Dylan in the face, trembling, and did a huge effort to neglect slapping him in the face. Instead, he turned his back on him, the expression on his face now invisible too, and muttered dark words to the pocket monster behind him.
“Enough… You are so set on your pitiful little dreams, Dylan… You want to Defeat the Dragon, while you yourself are nothing more than a …, a … ENOUGH!!!" he yelled suddenly, making me jump in surprise. Gordon shouted, screamed at the calm, waveless pond stretching out in front of him, his words tossed back at him as echoes: “I want a battle, and I want it now, you hear?!? I'll challenge the first self-satisfied jerk I see in here, and will tear him limp from limp!!!" This exclamation left him catching his breath, and the sudden silence was suddenly interrupted by a challenging voice:
"You called?"

~ Hanna’s POV ~

Gordon twisted around, fully expecting a defiantly posing Dylan to be smirking at him, answering his challenge to the pond inhabitants. But the last-mentioned was looking to his left in surprise. Gordon (and I) followed his example… and gasped in shock. For standing next to our arrogant companion was a Pokémon that could've been his twin. A Totodile as Dylan, it was still dripping slightly, indicating it had only just climbed out of the pool, while we weren't looking. It had taken on the defiant pose Dylan had been standing in while Gordon was screaming his lungs empty at the pond, just a moment ago. But something was different: in the newcomer's eyes, an amused light shone I had only seen a few times in Dylan's eyes. 't Had always been during the spare moments he was in battle and was enjoying himself; like on Dark Island, while he was riding that Crawdaunt like a fully-trained rodeo star.
… But for this 'Dile, it seemed that look was always in his eyes; this made me believe it had only mimicked Dylan's pose in mockery.
Mockery or no mockery, that didn't matter to Gordon. For he had found the perfect opponent: a Pokémon on whom he could easily project his frustrations involving Dylan's stubbornness and arrogance, and through whom he could 'practice' battling Dylan, should the day ever come they'd really become each other's nemesis.
“Yeah, I called. … Come on." And with that, Gordon duck underwater. The Totodile jumped in behind him (quite stylefully, I might add), which left Dylan, Mike and Bruce on the unstable platform. The look in Mike's eyes was determined, his hands were in his pockets and his body pose suggested 'tense awaitance + abidance'. He gave me an almost neglectable nod, with which he meant I could (and should) follow the two while they battled. Bruce was standing there rather helplessly (he couldn't exactly swim), and so was Dylan (who was obviously able to swim). I believe Dylan was making out for himself whether he should follow Gordon while trying to not seem interested, or whether he should stay out of the water and risk missing a great battle, and a great opportunity to observe Gordon in battle. I didn't await his decision and dove underwater.

… The first following thought to cross my mind was… Atlantis. For beneath the pool surface, the featurelessness of the Room ended completely, making way to art of unknown origin, mystical, and mythical. The wall's were covered in mosaic pictures, the characters inhabiting them not entirely unlike those on the doors to the Room. But I only briefly examined them, because there was more to see. A whole lot of statues were spread across the floor of the pool, their subjects again aquatic Pokémon/animals/mythical personae. A small number of statues were even floating between top and bottom floor of the water, the materials they were made of lighter than brick and stone. The rest of the statues seemed to have been tossed into the pool without a thought: some were standing upwards, some were lying on their back, some on their side, on their stomach… A select few even were standing upside down! Though they could've been overthrown by attacking Pokémon, it seemed to me they had been specifically put like that to create the image of a destroyed civilization.
At first sight, it seemed the only Pokémon down here were me and the two combaters. As it had been in the Blizzard Room, the other Pokémon in the pool preferred to stay hidden from curious eyes, though I must add I could see only a part of the underwater Room: big boulders, with seaweed growing out of the floor in front, obscured a part of the pool bigger than half of it. On this side of the boulders, white fluorescent lines marked the edges of a battle field. They marked the visible edges of the field, divided it in half, and marked the centre point. (In the shape of a PokéBall, what else?) Each on one side, Gordon and the Totodile had placed themselves onto the field, waiting for a to me unknown signal to begin.
Just as I perceived someone (Dylan?) jumping into the water above me, the signal was heard: the low sound, coming from afar, of a large bell or gong. The battle… was on.

Gordon (Mudkip) (lvl.6) (m)
VS
Totodile (lvl.5) (m)

I looked up: as I had expected, I saw Dylan slowly falling through the water. I swam a little to the right, until a statue was between us; I needed none of his comments or reactions on this happening. I watched the two fighting monsters again, and lost eye for everything else.
Upon the striking of the gong, they'd ducked towards each other. The Totodile had his mouth wide open; his teeth were glittering grimly inside. Gordon was able to evade the attack and avoided being bitten, while scoring a Tackle in the 'Dile's side. Because of the water's thickness, their movements were slightly slowed (yet still fast enough to deal damage; they were still Water Types, in the end), temporarily giving me the idea I was watching an underwater ballet. But that illusion was broken when the battle grew more serious, and sneaky. Both Pokémon were floating in mid-water, trying to lower the others Attack power. The Totodile was Leering around, while Gordon was Growling dark words under his breath. I felt a weak movement near me, and eyed Dylan. He was watching the other Totodile intensively, grasping his Double Shield for support. He was looking rather pale around the cheeks, but for what reason, I could not see.
The battle had progressed already when I looked back, as Crocodile-Totter and Mudskipper exchanged Scratches and Tackles, respectively. They seemed to be even-matched, and the battle could continue like this for a long time. Gordon seemed to realize this, as well, for he pushed his opponent back, and immediately Tackled him hard in the stomach area. The Totodile gasped for air, his eyes widened in temporal shock… and then they narrowed, his anger building. Now he also started battling more ferociously, Scratching at Gordon's most vulnerable spots, like the fin on his forehead. But Gordon managed to block and/or evade many of his attacks, and he courageously endured those that did hit. And suddenly, I realized something: neither of them had spoken a word since they'd duck under. Okay, I admit that because of certain elements (air bubbles etc.), speaking underwater wasn't always pleasant/advisable/comprehendible, but still… The two of them seemed to be focused on fighting, focused… on winning.
Now it was the Totodile's turn to push Gordon back, but he didn't swam nearer again, no he seemed intended on creating more space in between the both of them. But Gordon didn't want that, so he swam after him at top speed. He didn't even slow down when the 'Dile made a 90-degrees corner, upwards. He didn't even slow down, when the 'Dile jumped out of the water; he followed him right out of there. And I was right behind him.
I jumped out of the water too, as fast as I could, just to make sure (that what, you ask? I couldn't say.) And I had been right to do so, for it was a sight I saw!
I was looking directly at the platform I had left Mike and Bruce on… but they weren't there anymore! That didn't fully sink in, though, because there were more urgent things to worry about. I was flying in mid-air, though it felt as if I was almost standing still, for my jump was close to reaching its highest peak; water drops were falling from my still-wet fins. It was the same for Gordon and the Totodile, but they didn't notice. And for a good reason: the Totodile was floating a meter above Gordon, and he was holding something in his front paws. I looked more attentively: it was an electric yellow-black orb, sparkling from the power sealed within it. I thought it was a Zap Cannon… before I realized it must've been the 'Dile's Hidden Power. Gordon was watching the orb carefully - not frightened, but determined. As we reached the highest peak of our respective jumps, the Totodile threw the orb downwards with such strength, that he started tumbling around, head over heels. I watched the orb fall, while the three of us came to a full stop. It hit Gordon on the forehead, and he immediately was enveloped in a mini-sized, blistering inferno of electricity. Gordon flinched, he looked to be on the verge of fainting, he fell down, head first… And then it happened.
Below him, maybe half a meter from the place where Gordon would fall back into the water, Dylan was floating in the pond water. His Shield was floating aside him, and he was patting it. Patting it!! As if to say: A knight like me wouldn't have that much trouble surviving such an Electric attack… thanks to my trustworthy (as opposed to you, Gordon!) Double Shield!
Gordon's eyes narrowed, and though he was still flinching, and his face was still twisted in pain, he didn't seem to be suffering any more damage from the charges still surging through his veins. No, he seemed even capable enough to brace himself from the impact of falling back into the water as semi-dead weight. And as this electric Hidden Power-attack had temporarily drained the Totodile from all his might, I knew I could let myself drop back into the pool without having to worry about another surprise attack on Gordon from him.
The battle didn't recommence immediately when we're all back in. The jump had been tiring enough, and for the two combatants, it had been combined with the performing and undergoing of a powerful attack. The Totodile needed to catch his breath, and Gordon needed to recover from the blow. Lucky for him, the charges which hadn't been neutralized by his electro-organic nerve pulses had been absorbed by the enormous neutrality of the pool's water. Only his paralyzed muscles still bothered him. And he knew how to Refresh them… Sure enough, after he'd mustered enough strength, Gordon was enveloped by a soothing blue aura (lighter blue than the pool's color), and I could see him relaxing under its healing influence.
When the aura faded, the Totodile had recovered as well, and the battle could continue, this time right below the surface of the water.

I knew it couldn't last much longer; it had been going on long enough, and the two of them were getting tired. Gordon seemed to realize this, for he immediately went in offensive mode, Tackling and Tackling from all possible angles. The Totodile was driven into defending himself, and for a short while, he seemed incapable of thinking of a good strategy; he looked to be trapped behind bars of painful Tackling. Yes, I could see him growing anxious of escaping; maybe the whole situation made him claustrophobic. He needed to escape, to attack, to match Gordon's attacking power…
Suddenly, during the short moment the Totodile was completely hidden from my eyes because Gordon was Tackling him still…
Several things happened, seemingly all-at-once. But if I describe them in slow motion, their order will become apparent, and logical.
Gordon yelped, but ever so slightly; he controlled himself before the yelp grew into a yell. His back was turned on me, but I could see him make effort of slowing down before he collided with the Totodile. A light began to shine, intensifying ever so quickly. No… it were two lights, both between the Totodile and Gordon; one was on the left side, one on the right side. I saw what they were coming from when Gordon managed to swim backwards, away: the 'Dile's front claws! They were glowing mystically, with a light similar to Gordon's Refresh, but appearing more… ancient. The expression on the Totodile's face had changed dramatically: no longer helpless, he seemed to have mastered the situation. He grinned darkly; every last one of his teeth was visible. I could imagine Gordon looking as desperate now as he'd made his opponent look before.
Just as I began wondering what attack the Totodile was on the verge of performing, I heard another yelp, uttered by another voice. I looked downwards: Dylan had let himself sink further down the pool, his toes almost touching the floor. He was staring at the claws intently; their very appearance engulfing him in despair. He didn't seem capable of comprehending that the Totodile was using such an attack… And then it fitted: blue light, claws, mystery… It was the Dragon's Claw! The Totodile was using an attack his mirror image Dylan wouldn't ever have thought of using, of a type the last-mentioned despised… The Dragon's Type.

And then things sped up again. Gordon had created quite the distance between the both of them, but the Totodile was now catching up with him. Still swimming backwards, the Mudkip bumped into the floating statues, unable to stop looking at the lit-up claws chasing him, horrified as well as fascinated by them. When he bumped into a solid structure that didn't gave way, he at first didn't notice. And by the time he did, it was too late: the Totodile had caught up with him, and Gordon had trapped himself in a tiny niche in one of the pool's wands!
I could only imagine his helpless suffering, as the mystical energy tore at him, slashed, and cut wounds in his flesh. A mystical mist, maybe coming from the unleashed Dragon energy, hid Gordon from our eyes, while the 'Dile still struck hard, uncompassionate but horrifyingly handsome; a true, blue Dragon for a short while.

Then, his ferocious beating-up ceased. He pulled back his claws, and from out of the dissipating mist, Gordon, severely beaten, fell forward, onto the ground. The Totodile turned around, raised his arms, and with out a sound, started to take in the imaginary applause of an imaginary public. What he failed to notice, however, was that Gordon hadn't been defeated; he was just dazed from the continuous assault on his person.
And now that the Totodile had turned his back on him, he was able to surprise him with a quick Tackle in the back (after he had sufficiently recovered from his dazed state).
Coincidently, (or not?), he tackled the Totodile right into the lower part of one of the floating statues (this one resembling an anthropomorphic Wailord, how strange that might sound). This caused the statue to start rolling around on the spot. The Totodile in turn fell down on the ground, he too now dazed. Slowly, I saw the statue fall down, towards the bottom of the pool, and the Totodile. I waited to see what would happen next: the statue hitting the Pokémon, or the Pokémon evading the statue.
It turned out to be the first option: before the Totodile had recovered enough, the statue hit him on the head. Even though the impact and weight of the falling object weren't so big because of the thickness of the water, the Totodile was still knocked out, meaning the battle had ended. (Though whether the Room would become its once peacefully quiet self again…)

Gordon (Mudkip) won!
He grew to level 7!

[classy_cat18]

Here the conclusion to the Desert Room scenario and more of Moriko's cheerleading.

Shonta’s POV

I handed Moriko her flag and looked down at Lily, who was panting heavily. “Are you okay?”

“Too dry. I’m thirsty,” she said.

Sandy looked over at us. “Your Oddish looks hot. Do you want to take a break?”

“Does she have to ask?”

“She says yes,” I told Sandy. “We can take five in the lobby.”

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

I returned Moriko and gave her pokeball to Nurse Joy. “Could you heal her? Oh, and can I get some water for my Oddish?”

“Sure.” She took Moriko’s pokeball and took a good look at Moriko’s flag. “What’s that for?” she asked me.

“My Heracross is my Oddish’s biggest fan,” I said. She nodded and went in the back room.

Swoop got down and started chatting with Lily while I rummaged through my backpack. My hands brushed the Aerial Ace TM that I bought for Swoop. “Swoop, got a new TM for you.”

“Really?” She flew back to my shoulder.

“Aerial Ace. I didn’t want to wait until you learned it naturally.” I activated the TM and smiled as Swoop’s body shone for a second and faded.

Nurse Joy came to me with Moriko’s pokeball and a canteen. “I could see you need some water too.” She went back in the other room for a minute and came back with a bowl and another canteen. “This is for your Heracross. It’s full of sap.”

“Clever,” Swoop said.

“Thank you,” I told Nurse Joy. Sandy gave her Sandshrew’s pokeball and left us for the Desert Room with a canteen of her own.

I sat down on a bench and poured some of the water in the bowl. Lily and Swoop came and lapped it up with gusto. “Is it cold enough?” I asked them. They nodded. I let out Moriko and handed her with the other canteen.

“Water?” She opened it and sniffed inside. “Sap! Cool!” She turned the canteen bottom up and gulped heavily.

Lily stepped away from the bowl and gave a sigh of relief. “Okay, now I’m ready!”

Moriko waved her flag enthusiastically. “I’m ready too!” We returned to the field and told Sandy that we were ready.

“Yeah! Go Tiny!” She threw another pokeball. A Phanpy jumped out, eager to battle.

“The next round between Shonta and Sandy begins!” the invisible loudspeaker rang.

L14 Female Oddish (Lily) vs. L15 Phanpy (Tiny)

“Tiny, Tackle attack!” Sandy cried.

Lily stood her ground even though the Pokemon was charging. At the last second her leaves shone and she sidestepped, scratching Tiny’s with her razor sharp leaves. She spun around to face him, releasing the leaves and scratching the same side.

“Wow, that was graceful,” Swoop commented.

Moriko waved her flag even harder. “Dance around him, Lily! Do that victory dance!”

“Lily, Toxic!” Lily swished the toxic spit around her mouth and spit it out. Tiny jumped aside and dodged it. He lifted his trunk and trumpeted in defiance.

“Tiny, Earthquake!” Sandy yelled. The little Pokemon stamped at the ground with all of its strange. The ground beneath me shook a little, but then a giant tremor knocked me on my butt. Lily was bouncing on hers (or what qualifies as a butt for her), and another giant tremor sent her flying. Her four leaf clover went in another direction: towards Tiny. It landed at his feet and he picked it up.

“Oh no! There goes my quadruple defense!” Lily said in despair.

“Got you now! Tiny, Rock Tomb!” Sandy commanded.

The Phanpy launched itself in the air and landed on all fours on the ground. A large column of rock shot out of the air and in front of Lily. “Run, Lily!” I told her. Lily ran back but was stopped by another column of rock.

“Again, Tiny! Trap it!” Sandy yelled.

“No! Don’t let her!” Swoop cried out.

Moriko kept swinging her flag. “Don’t give up!”

Lily ran in different directions but was hit by a column of rock wherever she ran. It wasn’t long before she was surrounded by a tight ring of rock. She screamed at the top of her lungs. “Lily, calm down,” I told her calmly. The screaming stopped. “Use Sunny Day first.” There was another scream, and the already intense desert sun got more intense. I gulped and reached for my canteen, gulping the water. Moriko took her canteen and drank. “Now, use Solarbeam to get yourself free.” Tiny flecks of light traveled down to the center of the ring of rocks. A few rocks to my left of the field crumbled into dust as Lily’s Solarbeam blasted them.

“Good job, Lily!” Moriko cried.

“Absorb, Lily!” I commanded. She pointed her leaves at Tiny, who panted as particles of his energy flew to Lily’s leaves. “Another Solarbeam!” She bowed her head at Tiny and shot out another Solarbeam. Tiny dove behind one of the rocks and curled up in a ball in an attempt to shield itself, despite watching the others rocks crumble under it.

The Solarbeam hit, illuminating the whole room with a bright flash. I was blinded by the light. “What happened?” My vision cleared, and Tiny was lying on his side, knocked out.

Lily won and grew to level 16! She learned Stun Spore!

“Great battle,” Sandy said as she returned Tiny. “I hope we can battle again.” She handed me Lily’s four-leaf clover.

“I hope so too!” Lily said happily.

“Lily will whoop everyone she comes against!” Moriko shouted as she still waved her flag.

“Aren’t your arms tired?” Swoop asked her.

“No! This thing’s as light as a feather.” She twirled the flag with one hand.

“Introducing Moriko, the world’s strongest cheerleader!” Lily shouted.

[Lady Vulpix]

Shonta gets 4 stamps. The story was compact, but nice. ¢¢¢¢
Mike gets 13 stamps. Congratulations onyour new Eevee's birth! There were several grammar mistakes, especially verbs in past tense following "didn't", but the story was good and the descriptions were great, and original too. Only that the Totodile was supposed to be level 8, not 5. But I guess that was just a typo. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Wow, all battles have been rated now!

[classy_cat18]

Gee, thanks. I find it harder to write for you than for anyone else. Even mr_pikachu. Can I just have a rgb battle for my L9 Taillow Swoop? I guess from the Free Range Corral?

[Lady Vulpix]

Write for me? I'm sorry if you feel that way. Maybe someone else should rate your battles, if my responses make you uncomfortable. This isn't a test or anything like that, and I don't know how you've ended up writing for mr_pikachu, but here you're writing for yourself and everyone who wants to read, not for me/Amy/Karin. Anyway, next time I'll ask one of the opther workers to rate your post.

*Takes 7 stamps and clicks on the RBG.*

Swoop is going to battle a Spearow. I hope you enjoy writing this battle. Games only make sense when the players enjoy them.

[classy_cat18]

I do enjoy writing them! I just don't enjoy the reviews. You just told me that this battle did worse than that typo-ridden battle I wrote for the Unicorn Games. My battles may not be long, but I thought they were at least adequate. At least, to me they were.

EDIT: How about we call a ceasefire?

[Lady Vulpix]

It did not do worse, I liked it better, but it contained less events and descriptions, so I couldn't give stamps for what wasn't there. What I did find in your story was good. As I said, I liked it more than the last battle you wrote for the Unicorn Games. But if my ratings measured only how I felt about the story, they'd be too subjective and vary with my mood, and I don't think anyone would want that. I hope I've made myself clear enough.

[SilverMachop]

[All in my POV]

“So guys, which one do you want to train in? Lava, Blizzard, Jungle, Pond or Desert?”
“I half expect the next three to be Blood, Sweat and Tears!”
“Ooo! Ooo, I know this one! I know the answer! Pick me, pick me!”
“Hmmmmmmmmmmm...”
The three Pokémon in front of me seemed to be having a lot of fun with the simple situation. As their trainer, Silver to all those who know me, I always allowed them to take part in the major decisions. Sometimes this was a mistake, for they were not the most passive of Pokémon; quite the opposite, really.
Seung Mina, my slender Scyther, was just like the video game lass she was named after: flirty, battle-hungry, a little scatterbrained, and an all-around fun-loving gal. She was a tad picky, and her sharp eyes kept darting from giant door to giant door. I noticed a small scowl every time she looked at the Lava Room, to no great surprise.
Anion was the rambunctious Minun who was jumping up and down at the moment. He was the excitable, joyful creature I had ever seen. Anion was a gift given to me by a friend at Dragon Tamers a long time ago. I wonder if the gal who gave Anion to me still remembers me, for she felt certain that Anion would love being in my party. He did, as he seemed to especially enjoy hanging out with my other two Pokémon.
Kung Pow has been with me the longest. I’ve always had a love for Fighting-type Pokémon, and Kung Pow is no exception. The little warrior, a great thinker with a sharp wit, liked to battle. When he did, he became an entirely different being than the soft-spoken, joke-telling Meditite he was normally. Come to think of it, I am the only one who’s seen the metamorphous he goes through, and not even Mina and Anion have seen it.
“How about Jungle Room?” I asked them, hoping to start training soon. “Looks like a good place to battle first off.”
Seung Mina shrugged, “Sure, fine.”
Anion nodded a great many times, flopping his ears around. “Sounds great!”
Kung Pow nodded very slowly once, then blinked for about four seconds. “That plan of action sounds reasonable.”
“All right, then! Let’s head off into the unknown!”
After those pathetically chosen words, I opened the doors to the Jungle Room, and my Pokémon were right behind me.
“Well, I feel at home now,” were Seung Mina’s first words.
The Jungle Room was like stepping in virtual-reality. The sounds of Pokémon cries echoed throughout the extremely tall trees. Many plants and trees, all of them exotic to me, grew to enormous sizes. The ones I did recognize seemed to be twice the normal size and much more healthy; Green Peace would love it here. After roaming throughout the jungle for several minutes, Kung Pow was the first one to become bored of nature.
“How does one get into a fight here?” he asked outloud.
Anion shrugged, still smiling contentedly. “You’ve got me, Kung. I don’t mind not battling though, for it is just so loverly here!”
Seung Mina nodded and added, “Yeah, I gotta agree that this is the first time that I prefer to not battle, but to just enjoy my surroundings for the time being.”
Kung Pow blinked for six seconds, then replied calmly, “This place may be great eye candy but we all know that some very strong Pokémon lurk deep within the shadows of the trees.”
A smile started to creep across Seung Mina’s face, then exploded into a wide grin. “You have turned into a poet on us, dear Kung Pow!”
Kung Pow’s face, like Seung Mina’s, erupted into a smile. His was smaller though, a quaint one that conveyed wisdom without having to have an elder’s beard. “Ah, but I saw the paths that I would trod down,” he started.
Motioning to the junction in the pathways, he continued to talk in his wise, British accent. “I saw two paths before my eyes, two paths which led to my goal. And I...”
He rested his arm on the tree gently and concluded, “I chose the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference.”
Cracking sounds could be heard just then, and I watched in horror as the tree split where Kung Pow was leaning against it. He backed away, but the damage was too great. In what seemed to be slow motion, the great tree toppled to the side with an earsplitting crash. The right pathway was blocked now, and the landing of the tree seemed to echo again and again, never letting up on us.
Kung Pow stood there in horrified silence for a couple seconds, then said, “Damn. I keep forgetting my strength.”
“Wow!” gushed Anion, looking far too thrilled. “Is that really what Pure Power does?”
Seung Mina shook her head, smirking a little. “Kung Pow, you old fool. When that tree fell in the forest, everyone heard it!”
A Grovyle then came skittering down the trunk of the tree, and he looked down at us, a mixture of amazement and anger on his impish face. “Hey, what the bloody hell was that for?” he chattered, his words harsh and high-pitched.
“I’m terribly sorry,” Kung Pow spoke up. “I was reciting poetry when-”
“Oh blast it!” exclaimed a Tropius as she swooped down and landed next to Grovyle. “Another poet! They cause so much damage in this Jungle Room!”
More and more wild Pokémon came scurrying over to the collapsed tree, all of them ones that would commonly live in such a tropical location. Strangely enough, they all had terrible British accents.
“That is one bleedin’ feat of strength, dear chap!” an Ivysaur loudly congratulated.
“Yes, jolly good!” a Ludiculo agreed.
“Is there any reason,” exclaimed Seung Mina, interrupting all of them, “why you all have really bizarre British accents?!”
“We’ve been watching Monty Python, old horse!” hissed an Arbok.
“In the jungle?” I asked, perplexed.
“Oh, yeah! ‘Tis really hard to get enough electric attacks to get our TV running!” an Ursaring exclaimed. “I mean, it’s bloody ridiculous.”
“Say, you have an electric Pokémon, old beast!” a Seviper exclaimed, looking at Anion. “Let us borrow him for the TV, don’t you know?”
“Hey no way!” Seung Mina shouted. “If she uses up her electricity, she won’t have enough energy for battle!”
“We’ll fight for him then!” a Masquerain declared. “We’ve only seen have of the episodes, and I don’t want to have to wait longer for the bleedin’ Pokémon we use for power to get done resting!”
A wise, old-looking Sceptile stepped up. “Tell you what, human trainer,” he said, looking at me in the eye. His words were calm, deep, and gave me a sense that he meant well. “How about we have a duel? If one of your Pokémon loses against one of us, you can make the choice whether or not to use your Anion for our TV. If you lose, we get to watch Monty Python, don’t you know?”
“Blimey!” Anion exclaimed. “I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition!” He then rolled on the grassy ground laughing, as did several of the other wild Pokémon.
“I will fight the blighter!” a Surskit said, skittering up in open defiance.
“I’ll have a go-” Seung Mina started but Kung Pow interrupted her.
“No, the responsibility is mine, dear Mina,” he said, walking up to the Surskit. “After all, I owe them a tree.”
“Is it a larch?” Anion asked innocently.
Surskit had a wicked grin all over his face. “Prepare to be mashed into spam, Meditite.”
“I do not think so, Mr. Surskit.”

Level 5 Kung Pow Meditite

VS.

Level 8 Monty Python-Crazed Wild Surskit

Kung Pow sat there, cross-legged with his feet on his knees. He refused to budge, yet I could feel the energy of the land being drawn to him. The Meditite’s Meditation was a medium-powerful move, mastered by the muscular and mindful monster.
Surskit would have no more of the inertia. He sucked in air deeply, then blew out a stream of large, solid bubbles. The aquatic spheres smacked into Kung Pow but apart from the moments of his body when he was hit, he did not seem to notice the attack.
Surskit was becoming frustrated. Snarling, he dashed towards the meditating Pokémon and leapt at him headfirst. Slamming his cranium into Pow’s only seemed to give the Bug/Water Pokémon a headache, for Kung Pow gave no movement to the attack. That is, if you don’t count the red mark that was left on his forehead.
“Is he just going to sit there all day?” Seung Mina shouted, also upset by the lack of action.
“You have to give him a little time before telling him to attack,” I explained to her.
“Well, you’d better tell him to attack soon, or he’s just a living punching bag!”
“Very well then. Kung Pow,” I called to my statue-imitating Pokémon, “use Bide!”
The Meditite’s eyes sprang open, but they could not have been Kung Pow’s; these eyes were crazed, letting out an aura of bloodlust. The Fighting/Psychic Pokémon, who two minutes ago was peacefully reciting poetry, leapt to his face and bellowed.
“YES, SILVER!!!” he roared. Dashing at Surskit, fire and plasma started to form around his body like an erupting volcano. “CRUSH THE OPPOSITION!”
Surskit as well as every Pokémon there, including Seung Mina and Anion, looked horrified. Kung Pow charged forward, screaming like a crazed barbarian as he headed for his opponent, fist ready.
The bug Pokémon panicked, wondering where to run to. He tried skittering to the side but he had reacted too late. Kung Pow, with a shout of, “CHOKE ON THIS, BUDDY!” slammed his super-powered shoulder into Surskit’s face. The Bug/Water Pokémon went flying back and crashed against the fallen tree.
Noticing the opponent was not beaten yet, I cried out, “Kung Pow, use Dynamic Punch!”
Yelling out like a crazed, stereotype samurai, Kung Pow pulled his fist back. Fiery explosions burst forth from his knuckles, and he hammered the poor bug with the uber-strong punch. Another deafening explosion echoed throughout the jungle as Surskit went flying back again. Slamming into another tree, he had barely enough strength to pick himself up. This seemed useless though, as the insect was wobbling on his tiny legs, as if drunk and/or delirious. He was mumbling unintelligent things to himself.
“Ooo wow, man, Windows is such a fine computer company...” he slurred before he collapsed to the ground.
The old Sceptile approached the fallen Surskit, and to make sure he had fainted, poked him. “Yep, he’s down. Victory goes to the human’s Meditite.”
Then, as if the mere mention of his species cured him, Kung Pow’s eyes went back to their normal, calm state. “Ah, that was fun,” he said pleasantly. “I do enjoy a good battle, don’t you know?”

Kung Pow Meditite advances to Level 6!

Seung Mina and Anion were staring at Kung Pow, jaws open almost as wide as their eyes. “What... what...,” was all that came from Seung Mina’s mouth.
“That was... cool!” Anion exclaimed, snapping out of his amazement instantly. “Do it again, Kung Pow!”
The female Scyther reclaimed her wits with a shake of her head. “Holy cow, Kung Pow! What on earth was wrong with you?”
“That is always how I battle,” said Kung Pow intelligently. “I fight in a different manner than I normally behave to throw off the opponent.”
“Ya threw me awf, ya great poof,” slurred Surskit.
“Well, even though we won, I’ll gladly power your TV for you all!” said Anion. “I happen to love Monty Python!”
“Me too!” I agreed.
Seung Mina shrugged with a smile. “It’s okay, I guess.”
Kung Pow nodded slowly, moving his finger over the mark on his forehead. “An honor worth fighting for, it is.”

***

“I’m just curious, how many of these rooms come with TVs?” Seung Mina asked me.
“You got me. Sometimes I wonder how Pokémon could adapt to nature without the aid of humans,” said Kung Pow.
“Me... tired...,” droned Anion, sound exhausted but happy.
Anion had powered the TV for about four hours as the wild Pokémon and us watched the British comedy show. Everyone was in fits of laughter, and Anion lost the connection a couple times when he threw his head back and cracked up.
“Men sure look funny wearing dresses,” Seung Mina chuckled, then looked my way.
“Nope, not gonna do it,” I replied.
“Darn.”
Just then, a pack of Chikoritas leapt from the bushes and blocked our path. “Hold it right there!” the leader shouted.
“No, it’s the Knights who say Ni!” said Anion.
“We saw you guys helping that pack of morons with their TV!” continued the lead Chikorita. “Do you have any idea how sick we are of that show?”
“Oh great,” I groaned. “We caught ourselves in a rival war of Pokémon!”
Kung Pow raised an eyebrow, although he had started this feat when the Chikoritas made their sudden entrance. “My dear Chikoritas, what is so wrong with Monty Python?”
“We are sick of it!” roared the leader, who would have been more intimidating if she wasn’t three feet tall and sporting a squeaky voice. “Now we shall rip you to pieces!”
Anion squeaked in fear, and hid behind my leg. This remark, as well as the vicious looks in the Chikoritas’ eyes, was most unsettling. It was actually a little scary, for they did look like they wanted to cause us some serious harm.
“What is with this unnecessary violence?” Kung Pow asked them gently. “Surely we can talk this over!”
“No, we can’t!” bellowed a Chikorita in the ground, and leapt at Kung Pow. His leaf on his head whipped around, ready to slash Kung Pow unprepared. However, the flat side of a natural scythe knocked him aside. Crashing into the bushes, the snarling grass Pokémon crawled out, glaring evilly at Seung Mina.
“Don’t. You. Dare,” said Seung Mina, emphasizing each word.
The leader of the Chikoritas stepped forward. “You want to die too, Scyther? Are you part of this little band?”
“You’d better believe it,” the green mantis replied. She set herself up in her favorite battle pose, not letting her eyes off of the Chikorita.
“Very well then. You will die first,” said the Chikorita, whipping her leaf around. It sliced through a twig that was protruding from a bush, and lopped it clean off.
“Let’s see what you’re made of!”

Level 8 Seung Mina Scyther

VS.

Level 15 Hostile Wild Chikorita

The Chikorita immediately launched a blizzard of slicing leaves at Seung Mina. “Quick Attack!” I shouted to her, and she gave a little nod before zipping off.
Moving faster than my eyes could follow, Seung Mina darted from tree to tree, dodging the leaves that the grass Pokémon continued to fling. One or two caught Mina, yet she was moving too fast for me to see if she was in much pain.
When Seung Mina closed in on her prey, the Chikorita created a magic barrier in front of her. Seung Mina’s scythe-like arm slashed the Reflect, and she leapt away, wincing in pain.
Growling, the Chikorita released a foul-smelling powder from the pods around her neck. I recognize the smell: Poison Powder.
“Blow it away, Mina!”
Mina’s thin but firm wings kicked up, and the powder was sent back to its owner. However, the nimble opponent jumped away just in time. Leaping at Seung Mina, the grass Pokémon caught her off guard and tackled her in the stomach. The mantis recovered quickly but looked very upset.
“I’ll get you for that!” she hissed. Launching another Quick Attack, she slammed the Chikorita with her shoulder. The Chikorita looked a little fazed but not hurt.
“Don’t make me laugh, fool,” the grass Pokémon hissed. She let out a particularly loud Growl, yet Seung Mina was not intimidated by it; Anion was, and wrapped his little arms tightly around my leg.
Seung Mina glared right back at Chikorita with an off-putting Leer, and the little leaf Pokémon looked nervous. Maybe challenge the living weed whacker was not such a good idea...
I called out to Mina to do another Quick Attack, and the Bug/Flying Pokémon obeyed without hesitation. Charging forward, she rammed her foe back, harder than ever this time.
The fear that had struck Chikorita was gone now. Bruised and furious, she was taking deep, angry breathes. “I will kill you, you... foul beast!”
It was just then that I noticed she was standing in front of the pack of bloodthirsty Chikoritas, and that Seung Mina was lined up perfectly for a certain move. “Seung Mina, use your specialty!”
The green-skinned Pokémon smiled back at me, obviously pleased with this decision. She whipped her head back to her opponent as her wings starting beating rapidly.
“Try dodging THIS!!” she cried out as she thrust her body forward. The air became thin, piercing, glittering blades, and blew all over the pack of Chikoritas. The Silver Wind sliced through the small herd, mainly into the leader of the pack, who collapsed from the numerous strikes of wind blades.
Seung Mina smirked coyly at her opponents, who were shaking their heads and muttering in pain. “Who wants more?” she asked them, a wicked grin on her face.
“Stop!” One of the Chikoritas bounded forward, holding up one foot to gesture his word further. “We surrender! I have no clue why we behaved like that!”
“Come again?” Seung Mina asked, looking confused.
“Well, it all started when some suspicious humans came into the jungle. They... they just wandered around, as if they just wanted to see what was going on!”
The other Chikoritas were aiding their fallen leader, working with the utmost care. It was touching how much they tended to Seung Mina’s opponent, a complete change from the murderous attitude they had seconds ago.
“Suspicious humans...,” said Anion, taking cautious steps towards the Chikoritas. He stuck close to Seung Mina, who had relaxed. “What did they look like?”
“I... don’t remember...,” the grass Pokémon admitted. “It’s hard to remember what happened a few hours ago. All I know is that when we all were upset about how loud Monty Python was being played, and that little anger just seemed to multiply in a matter of seconds!”
Kung Pow drummed his fingers together in a leisurely manner. “Sounds like you either have great impatience, or these suspicious characters are responsible for the inflammation of anger you had.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised; we’ve never felt such anger before. I guess that Silver Wind from your powerful friend here smacked some sense into us.”
Seung Mina started to smile. “Thanks.”
Kung Pow looked back at me. “If the Pokémon here have been affected by these shadowy beings, then maybe they are still here. We should stop them, Silver.”
“No, they left, I remember that,” the Chikorita informed him. “They said something... about... some kind of device that was kept in one of the rooms. That might be the case.
“Ah-HA!” exclaimed Kung Pow. “They must be using this device to increase hostility in the wild Pokémon! The fiends must keep the device in one of the rooms! Which one could it be?”
“Not this one, obviously,” I said, tapping my cheek in thought. “Think you can help us, Chikoritas?”
The leader, who had stood to her feet by now, answered that question. “We’d love to, but we can’t. Us grass Pokémon cannot stand the heat from the Lava and Desert Rooms, we cannot swim in the Pond Room, and the Blizzard Room would be the death of us.”
“ ‘Tis okay,” chirped Anion, who seemed content now. “We’ll find those jerks and get back at them for you!”
“Oh, before you go,” the female Chikorita motioned to one of her companions, who ran into the bushes, “the humans that were responsible dropped this TM on their way out. They had made the mistake of insulting Monty Python in front of a Scizor, and were chased out. They dropped it in their retreat.”
That Chikorita came back, pushing the round TM. He nudged it towards Seung Mina, and smiled up at her. “You would put good use to this, Miss Scyther.”
Seung Mina grinned back at him, and lifted it up delicately with her scythes. She handed to me, and I read the label on it: “TM47 - Steel Wing.”
After a quick activation of the machine, there was a flash of silver-and-gray light. Seung Mina blinked, then grinned widely. Her wings buzzed as she said, “Not bad, not bad...”

Seung Mina advances to Level 10!

Seung Mina learned Steel Wing via TM 47!

“We had better go now and explore the other rooms,” I said to my Pokémon.
After saying good-bye to the Chikoritas and receiving their apologizes, we headed for the exit. As Anion and Seung Mina chatted, Kung Pow courted me into a conversation.
“Shadowy humans do not belong to the Dragon Tamers,” he said to me.
“Think it may be Team Rocket?” I asked him; the idea had crossed my mind several times.
“On our turf? Not likely, but still a possibility,” he sighed and crossed his arms. “I have a bad feeling about this, Silver.”
“Me too. Where should we continue the search?”
“Let us discuss that when we have exited this room.”
He then looked up, drinking in the sight of the tall, proud trees. Looking around, he admired the wild life and exotic plants. “A pity,” he finally said, “I would’ve liked to stay and relax here in the Jungle Room.”

END OF PART 1.

[classy_cat18]

*hangs head* I'll be good. Even I have to admit that this battle isn't good.

Swoop’s POV

I sat frozen on the branch. My blood was frozen, and so were my wings. I felt the presence of them all around me but I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t see anything at all. They were waiting for me to move.

Maybe if I go quickly and quietly they won’t get me. I raised my wings and froze again. Close to me was a pair of glowing red eyes, burning with hatred. More eyes opened and glared at me. I opened my beak and called out for someone to come save me. “Mama,” I whispered. Mama didn’t come. I had to get out of there. I threw caution to the wind and launched myself off the branch and into the darkness. Immediately there was the rustling of many wings as a whole flock of Spearow took after me. Their awful screeching hurt my ears.

I raced through the trees to try to escape them. I heard their wings get closer and closer. I couldn’t go any faster! “Gotcha!” one of them cried as he flew above me and sank his talons into my back. The pain was too much! I was falling, falling…

“AAAH!” I screamed. I wasn’t in the forest anymore, but in Shonta’s room. I lay on my back, panting and staring hard into the ceiling. I had fallen off of my perch. It was just a nightmare. No red eyes. No wings beating. No screeching. No pain. “Just a dream. No, it wasn’t a dream.” This was a memory.

“Swoop?” I stood up to find Lily looking at me with a troubled expression. “Are you okay?”

My heartbeat finally slowed down. “Yeah.”

She came closer. “Are you sure? You were close to the ceiling when you fell.”

I was about to repeat my answer, but noticed that she was old enough to know better. “No, Lily. I had a bad dream.”

“What was it about?”

“When I was a hatchling I wanted nothing more than to leave the nest. I wanted to fly. I was the most ambitious one among my siblings. I practiced every day. Then came the day to leave the nest. The first night I accidentally flew into Spearow territory. At first it was okay, but then the Spearow woke up and noticed me. I could feel their eyes burning in me. I knew if I stayed I would attacked.”

“But if you tried to leave, you would’ve been attacked anyway,” Lily whispered in awe.

“Exactly. I thought I could try to escape them, but they were faster than me. One of them got above me and sank his talons into my back. I fell and…”

“And what?”

“I can’t remember. I woke up the next morning wrapped in a blanket in someone’s home. A human nursed me back to health and took me to the Adoption Center. That’s where Shonta found me.”

Lily looked at me with awe. “That hasn’t stopped you from wanting to travel, huh?”

“No. I’ll just be wiser next time I go by myself.” I lifted my wings to fly back up to my perch but Lily stopped me.

“You should sleep down here. I don’t want you falling again.”

“Thanks, Lily.”

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

I winced as sunlight reached my eyelids. The rest of the night was a dreamless one. It felt like I didn’t get any rest. But Lily stayed next to me whether she was asleep or awake, and that made me feel comfortable. “I don’t wanna go to school today,” I groaned.

“Sorry, but I don’t want my buddy sleeping through a nice day like this,” Lily said. She rubbed her leaves against me until I woke up unwillingly.

I didn’t feel like flying much today, but hopping tired me out. I took off for the living room where the rest of the team slept. Everyone but Trinity slept on blankets and pillows. Trinity slept on the couch, something she was not allowed to do. “Why do you keep on trying Shonta’s nerves?” I asked her as she struggled to get up.

“I’m much too good for the floor,” she said dreamily. “That floor is much too hard for my delicate body.”

“If she finds another piece of your fur on the couch you’re going to be complaining about the rain.”

She rolled off of the couch and walked to the kitchen, incidentally rubbing her tails in my face as she passed me. I sneezed and went to check up on the other Pokemon. Moriko was clutching her Lily flag tightly as she snored her cares away. Athena was getting up and Beacon looked like she was having a nightmare. She was growling and sparking, so I kept my distance.

“Beacon, wake up!” I yelled.

Beacon’s eyes jerked open. “Swoop, why did you have to do that? I was having a wonderful dream!”

“What could you have possibly been dreaming about?”

“I was having a battle. I was an Ampharos!” She groaned. “I haven’t battled in a long time, Swoop. I’m getting antsy.” She slowly walked to the kitchen.

Moriko opened an eye. “She’s been like this for days. I think she has too much energy bottled up inside her. That and electricity. That wool’s about to come over her eyes.” She carried her flag to where the others sat.

I was about to wake up Athena when Shonta came in. “Time for breakfast, Swoop. Athena will wake up soon.”

I flew to the bowl labeled with my name and started to eat. For a while no one said anything. Then Shonta spoke. “Swoop, how about a training battle? You haven’t battled in a while and I’m scared you got rusty.”

I stopped eating. “Have not. Schedule the battle and I’ll mop the floor with my opponent!”

Trinity snorted. “I would pay to see that.”

“You don’t have money!”

“Okay then. If you don’t get creamed by this opponent of yours before you actually win, then I’ll…stop sleeping on the couch.”

Everyone looked up. “You’ve been sleeping on the couch again?” Shonta asked her.

“I told you the floor was too hard! Besides, I’m hypoallergenic. Back to our little bet. If you pull one of those ‘come from behind’ victories, you’ll have to stop bothering me about the couch thing. And that goes with all of you.”

Everyone stopped eating. Even Moriko, who never stops drinking her sap until she’s finished. They were all looking at me. “You’re on,” I told Trinity.

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

I sat on Shonta’s shoulder as she stood at the front desk, filling out yet another form. The worker took it and walked in a room in the back. I had my feather slightly puffed in confidence.

“Are you ready for this?” Shonta asked me, grinning.

“I was born ready!”

Lily was standing beside us. She looked up at me with a troubled expression on her face. “Swoop, you should’ve taken this day off. Especially after that rough night.”

“I’m fine. Stop worrying about me.” I flapped my wings in impatience. I wanted to go ahead and win this. Lily will give Trinity the play-by-play and wipe that smile off her face.

The worker came back. “Your opponent is through those doors.” She pointed the way. “Good luck.”

We entered the training arena and faced our opponent, a young girl. “Before you ask us, we’re ready,” Shonta told her.

“Okay. Go Birdy!” She threw a pokeball containing…

“Oh no,” I heard Lily said. She noticed the shocked look on my face.

My blood was back to being frozen. The dream flashed before my eyes. The falling… “AAAH!”

Lily’s POV

Shonta shook Swoop hard, pinning her wings to her sides. “Snap out of it! It’s just a Spearow! Just give us a second,” she told the girl and Birdy.

“Exactly why she doesn’t want to battle him!” I told her. “She had a dream last night about her being chased by Spearow!” I waved my leaves and released my Sweet Scent. Swoop’s screams slowly got quieter and she stopped struggling. “Be calm.”

Swoop took a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m ready now.” She flew out to the arena and faced the Spearow with bravery.

L9 Female Spearow (Swoop) vs. L9 Spearow (Birdy)

“Birdy, Peck!” the girl shouted. The Spearow took off and headed for Swoop with his sharp beak.

“Stay where you are and use Counter!” Shonta commanded. Swoop stood on the ground as her body was surrounded by a red aura. Birdy was flung back and was on his back. “Use Quick Attack while he’s down!”

“Birdy, evade and use Quick Attack!” Birdy shot up just as Swoop dove to sink her talons in him. He hovered above her, seemingly enjoying her fright as she stood there, frozen. Birdy circled around a couple of times and suddenly dropped with talons outstretched.

She’s remembering the dream again. “Swoop, snap out of it and use Counter again!” I yelled. She wouldn’t move. Luckily Birdy withdrew his talons and was content on bashing her with his head. I winced as Swoop cried out in pain. “That should snap her out of it.”

“She’s gotta get back in the game. Try Aerial Ace!” she told Swoop.

Swoop got up. She had this depressed look on her face, like she gave up or something. I wanted to do something, but interfering would get her disqualified. I had to say something. “Swoop, you can’t give up. I know you want to go places but there are some people that will just get in your way. That’s why you have to get stronger! If you ever accidentally take a wrong turn you’ll be strong enough to get back on track!”

Swoop looked at me and her face hardened. She lifted her wings to the sky. Birdy flew in place, unsure of what to do. “Birdy, Peck!” his trainer cried.

“Quick Attack!” my trainer retaliated. Swoop swiftly plowed into his enemy and sent him flying backwards. He stopped himself, dazed but still in the air. Swoop then rose high into the sky, circled around Birdy, and darted right into his right wing. Birdy spun in midair and crashed to earth, defeated.

Swoop won and grew to level 10! She got Substitute as her free TM!

[Everoy]

Just in case this scenario ends sometime soon, could I have an extension?

[Charizard04621]

Sure you can.

[SilverMachop]

I guess I'll ask for an extension as well. I'd hate to have to cut my story short. I'll be posting the second part once the first once is rated.

That is all.

[Wolfsong]

SilverMachop: That was a good story. Take 19 stamps. I enjoyed reading it. The battles were well described, and fun to read. You may have the extension and i'm looking to see what happens next.

Shonta: The intro was really good and well written. It was interesting to see some of Swoops background. *chuckles at Trinity* The battle was a bit short and kinda rapetitive, but i know how that can be with low leveled pokes and a shortness of attacks. I liked Lily's little speech and that is very true. Take 7 stamps.

Now i'm off to work on my stories some more ^^;

[AntiAsh Superstar]

Hehe, call me a sucker for punishment if you like but now that I've finished with the Unicorn Games I'd like to give Marius a RBG battle in the Universal Adoption Centre, please, just so I can get a rather silly idea I've had for him out of my head. ^^;; *pays seven stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

I was thinking of having an RBG battle myself one day (if I get the time).
Ok, Marius is gong to battle a Sableye! h:
Good luck!

[Wolfsong]

Not many ideas for this particular room, plus a case of writer’s block. *shrugs* I need to come up with a better description of aeroblast. I didn’t feel up to color coding ever comment this time either ^^;

(Jas’s POV)

It felt weird not having Amy with us, but I was glad that I was finally going to be able to battle. Sweetie had gone inside her pokeball for the flight. As usual, I perched myself around Talut’s neck. When we finally got there, at first the receptionist didn’t want to let us in. I was about to burst into tears, when Sweetie asked her to take a closer look at the name. The lady was about to say something, but she did take a closer look at the note. When she did, she gasped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand the circumstances. You may go in.” I rolled my eyes, but I was very much relieved.

Talut gently picked me up, and I curled myself around his arm, as we were to the pond room. I smiled up at him. Talut was like a brother to me, and since I haven’t seen Dad in ages, we had gotten even closer. “You’ll do fine.” he whispered. “Worse case scenario, I have your pokeball. <We won’t let anything bad happen to you.> Sweetie added telepathically. “You’re all so cheerful.” I said as the receptionist opened the door.

I gasped in amazement at the sight that greeted me. Except for the wooden platform that led from the doorway, there was nowhere else to stand. The platform would barely hold our entire team if they were here. However, it was rather roomy with just the three of us. As I looked down at the water, I realized that it was the same crystal blue color as Sinopa’s eyes. I wish she was here, I found myself thinking. “So where are our opponents?” I asked. “Just be patient, and keep an eye open. They’ll eventually make their presence known.” Sweetie answered. No sooner had she spoken than I saw the shape of a crocodile swimming towards us. When it reached the wooden platform, the croconaw surfaced. “Looks like you get to battle first.” Sweetie stated matter of factly. “I’m too strong for him.” I nodded, as I folded my wings in and dived into the pool. The croconaw waited until I was in the water, before he nodded.

Jasmine L.18 F Winged Dratini VS. L.25 M Croconaw

Once the croconaw nodded indicating that he was ready, he charged. He was faster than he looked, and had crunched down on my tail before I could even react. I gritted my teeth, as the gem on my head, crackled with electricity as three rings shot from it. They hurtled over to the croconaw and as they drew closer, they enlarged before ensnaring him. After a few minutes, they disappeared but the damage had been done. The croconaw was now paralyzed.

I immediately pulled my tail out of his mouth, as I wrapped myself around his neck and began to squeeze. That wasn’t the brightest idea I ever had because as soon as his muscles had loosened allowing him to move, he grabbed me and with surprising strength he hurled me across the arena. Landing with a loud splash, I shook my head trying to gather my bearings. Once I felt ready, I concentrated on the water underneath me as I willed it to push me high into the air. I grinned, as I surfed towards my opponent who was just sitting there. I thought that the paralysis had overtaken him, and that he was unable to move out of the way. However, I was wrong. What I didn’t notice was the smirk that he was wearing. Just when I though that the wave that I was surfing on was about to hit him, it just went flat, causing me to crash into the water. I was stunned and unable to figure out what had happened. “I see that I’ve surprised you with the power of my hidden power.” the croconaw said, speaking for the first time. “Water?” I asked. <Careful, don’t let your guard down.> Sweetie warned, but she was too late. “Yeah, and here’s another little surprise.” The crocodile continued, before spraying me with a toxic sludge. “Ew…” I said as I ducked underwater, trying to wash it off but I wasn’t fast enough. I groaned as I felt the toxins slowly eating away at my health.

The croconaw began swimming towards me, but froze midstroke as the paralysis took over. I looked him straight in the eyes, as my eyes began to glow red. “Big deal. I can use leer myself. See?” he said as his muscles unlocked, allowing him to perform the exact same attack that I had just used. However, when he did it, he looked so intimidating that I shrank back. “Thought so.” He said, briefly glowing yellow and soon there were four croconaws instead of just one. “Just try and hit me now.” he gloated. “All right,” I said, as my gem began crackling once more. “Thunderbolt now has a three in four chance of missing.” he gloated. “Who said I was using thunderbolt?” I answered enigmatically, shortly before releasing the wave of electrical energy. I smiled with satisfaction as the shock wave attack tore through the clones before slamming into the croconaw. “See?” I said sticking out my tongue.

So you have a super effective move. Big deal. I have one too. Anything you can do, I can do better.” He said opening his mouth revealing a glowing white orb. Crap, ice beam. “Hidden power, don’t fail me now I whispered, as I dug down deep inside contacting it. Almost immediately, I felt a wind stirring and I opened up my wings. The air filled them and lifted me up just in the nick of time as the ice beam sailed harmlessly beneath me. Almost immediately the wind died and I plummeted back into the water. I quickly swam to the surface and gasped for air. By now, the poisons were doing a number on me.

<Quick, behind you!> I looked behind me and saw the croconaw with his arm raised about to scratch me. I tried to swim out of the way, but I wasn’t fast enough and I was getting tired. I felt his claws bite into my skin, and then they stuck! In a panic, I used extreme speed, and as I bolted forwards, I heard a dry crackling sound. When I looked back, the croconaw was staring puzzled at what looked like a purplish snake skin. It was about that moment that I realized that it was mine and that I was no longer poisoned. I grinned. I needed to end this fast, and since the croconaw was distracted it was the perfect time. I concentrated on my aeroblast attack, and was soon watching the beam of flying energy racing towards my opponent. He looked up just in time to see the attack a split second before it hit and, soon, he was out like a light. Talut flew over and picked me up bringing me back to the wooden platform.

I won!
I grew to L.20!
I learned Double Team as my free TM

(Sweetie’s POV)

When Jas was safely out of the water, I nodded at Talut before jumping in. Taking a deep breath, I dove under thoroughly drenching myself before surfacing again. Once I emerged, I looked around but didn’t see anything. Closing my eyes, I focused on my other senses which kept telling me to turn to the left. When I did and opened my eyes, I saw an enormous shape emerging from the deep. Soon, the mighty behemoth surfaced and I was facing a humongous specimen of a lapras. He was by far the largest that I had ever seen.

“Hello.” He greeted me, his booming voice echoing all around. “My name is Jonah.” I grinned, and the lapras noticed. “And yes, that’s where my trainer got the idea to name me. What’s your name?” “Sweetie.” “Well, nice to meet you Sweetie.” “Nice to meet you too, Jonah.” He bowed his head. “Shall we start?” “I’m ready when you are/” “Then let’s go.”

Sweetie L.45 White F Espeon VS. Jonah L.45 M Lapras

Jonah began by taking in a deep breath, before starting to sing. It was a beautiful song, too. Immediately, I began to feel sleepy, and I knew that I had to do something. I tried growling loudly in hopes of blocking out the effects of the song, but unfortunately, it didn’t work. My eyes grew heavier. It was as if my eyelids had turned to lead, and soon I was fast asleep.

(Jas’s POV)

I watched in horror, as the lapras began to sing. For some inexplicable reason, neither Talut nor me fell asleep. “Why?” I asked him. “Safeguard.” he replied. “Oh, okay.” When I looked back over at Sweetie, she was fast asleep floating in the water. “Why didn’t you use safeguard on her?” “Because she wouldn’t have wanted me to interfere in her battle, and I’m not supposed to. Besides, she’ll be fine.” “You sure?” He smiled reassuringly. “I’m sure that she will be.” I turned my attention back to the battle, though, now it appeared to be rather one-sided. The lapras’ horn began to crackle with electrical energy before it arced out in the shape of a lightning bolt at Sweetie. She stirred, but remained fast asleep. Jonah then swam backwards a few feet before stopping and lining Sweetie up in his sights. Then, he charged forward at surprising speed for such a large creature. When he slammed into Sweetie, his momentum carried both of them into one of the legs of the wooden platform, with Sweetie taking much of the impact. I curled myself tightly around Talut’s leg in order not to fall of from the shaking of the platform. The only good thing in my opinion about that attack was that it served to wake Sweetie up.

(Sweetie’s POV)

“Ow,” I muttered, as I woke up. My whole body was aching. Jonah was shaking his head, trying to get his bearings back. I couldn’t let that happen. I closed my eyes and concentrated. “Wow.” I heard Jas comment, before opening my eyes. I saw the ruby gem on my forehead glowing a violet color. As I watched the glow intensified to a point where it could no longer be contained any longer and launched itself in a beam towards Jonah. The luster purge slammed into Jonah with such intensity that he was sent hurtling backwards as he cried out in both pain and surprise. His horn began spinning around as he tried to jab me with it. I barely managed to get out of the way just in the nick of time, and I sighed in relief. “You’re good.” Jonah remarked. “So are you.” I complemented him as I concentrated. As I did so, an orb of ethereal energy began forming in the air in front of me. Once I was sure that it contained enough energy, with a flick of my paw I sent it hurtling forwards. It slammed into Jonah with surprising force. He shook his head, before his horn began sparking and crackling with electricity. I watched his every move carefully, and even though I was hit by the thunderbolt I was positive that I could perfectly mimic that attack. As soon as the sting had faded away, my fur began crackling with electricity as it stood out from my skin. Next, the gem on my forehead took on a golden glow as the electrical energy surged from it and slammed into the lapras’s long slender neck. To my surprise, he remained conscious though anyone could see that he was on the verge of fainting. Jonah began to since again, though this time it wasn’t a peaceful lullaby. It was something much more sinister. The daunting song sent shivers down my spine. I quickly focused once more on my psychic powers and sent a beam of psychic waves in his direction. This time, Jonah sank into the realm of unconsciousness.

I won!
I grew to L.47!
I learned Psychic

I used my psychic powers to lift myself up and out of the pool. Once I was safely on the platform, I shook myself dry, and in the process soaking both Talut and Jas. “Sorry.” “It’s quite all right.” Talut reassured me. “Shall we go outside and see if Amy and the others have arrived yet?” he asked. “Sounds good to me.” I answered, though I had a feeling that they were indeed in the lobby waiting for us. Sure enough, ten minutes later, I heard Darin exclaim. “Am, there they be!” I had to chuckle at him. He was a cutie. “How were the battles?” Amy asked. “Tiring,” I replied. “Can we go back to the hotel and get some rest?” “Sure thing.” Amy answered, as our little group slowly made their way back to the hotel room.

[*Murkrow]

Can I have a random battle for Xol, my L13 female Sneasel please?
*Forks over the 7 Stamps*
And to make this interesting, I'd like her opponent to be from the Caledor's Nature Protection Agency.

[Wolfsong]

*takes stamps* Xol will be battling a Houndour

[classy_cat18]

Um, can I have an rbg for Athena, please? From the Universal Adoption Center?