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

[Lady Vulpix]

It is done! Sorry for the delay. Comments below.

* Very creative dream. Was it real?
* I'd find it scary just to know that Tsuyoi has a project. Having heard as much as he has said would be very worrying. And only now you understood why so many people hate him?
* Nice explanation of Soo's current status. And sensible way to decide to show your face.
* Everyone's getting into the Guild's files! Hmm... that gives me an idea. Anyway, it's curious how our branch of the Guild is receiving subtle attacks (or at least infiltrations) from different sources at about the same time.
* Paraphrasing Angua Von Uberwald (one of my favorite Discworld characters), it is sometimes dangerous to let your mind do the thinking for you. I think that applies in Thunderblast's case.
* I liked the summary of Pandora's and Milliardo's developments, and the result.
* It looks like Pearl and I think alike again.
* You said: "in my experience the faster you completed your work the faster other people seemed to invent jobs for you to do." That's too true. I learned that lesson a bit too late.
* The story overall was very real, and wll placed within the historical continuity. I must commend you for all the loose ends you've picked up!
* The experiment was scary. It reminded me of a certain TR member who's been keeping a low profile since the failure of the Singlehorn project.
* This is just a detail, but if you're planning to archive it, you may want to add an 'a' to 'dmage'. Are you still archiving, or am I the only one who's doing so now?

Great story, Ade! It was worth the wait. Take 21 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[The Blue Avenger]

I would like an extension on the current scenario, please. P:

[Lady Vulpix]

As if it was going to change when no one is posting.

You get it, anyway.

[The Blue Avenger]

Well, I move back to college soon, so I know I'm going to be busy, and I wanted to be prepared just in case. ^^; Thanks.

[classy_cat18]

Can I have one too?

[The Blue Avenger]

Extension granted.

[AntiAsh Superstar]

Gabi: as to your comments (sorry I haven't picked up on them before), yes, the dream was real and really left me scratching my head, and if you can officially pick up the archiving I'd really appreciate it. I'm awful at doing this kind of stuff, tho to make up for it I've a few plans for my webspace's allocation towards DT that would make more sense that what I'm using it for atm. ^^;;

Oh, and just to be on the safe side can I have an extension too?

[The Blue Avenger]

Extension granted. Also, hi Ade.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ok, I'll officialize my archive, then.

It's nice to see you around, Ade. I actually dreamed about you on Thursday night... it was weird. I was entering a theater to watch a play and I saw you, and the seat next to you was empty but you were waiting for Soo who had gone to the restroom, so I had to find another seat but the only free one I could find was very dirty and all the seats looked as old and uncomfortable as the ones at university... and basically that was it.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

How long has it been since the Pegasus Games?

Too long. In fact, I've always wanted to tie up the loose ends I left by not posting while the scenario at the time (Training Grounds for the Pegasus Games) wasn't finished. I had a lot of ideas to let my Pokémon battle at the time, and it seems I can't let go of them.

As such, I'd like to post the following, without trying to make you rate it or give me stamps for it. In fact, I won't even have my Pokémon level up.
It's more of a "get this thing off my chest and out of my mind"-thing, really.
Plus, for those that always wanted to hear why Dylan was a Totodile in dislike of anything reptilian (particularly dragons), or why Nora the Aron was so afraid of Fighting types to begin with, I'm intent on writing that out as well.
Better now than ever, seeing as school will start on Tuesday... -_-''

For the best reading experience, I shall post here below the exact data on my Pokémon as I recovered it from a floppy disk (between then and now, our computer crashed... apparently the hard disk was messed up, but I'll always wonder if me installing new drivers had anything to do with it...)

Plus, may I request a battle for my black Eevee at the Free Range Corral, please, so as to reduce the spamminess of this post (as it has nothing to do with the current scenario).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dragon Tamers Adoption Center
Electric Shutdown Retirement System
Rays (Chinchou) (LV7) (f)
05-18-2003
Bubble, Thunder Wave, Supersonic, Thunderbolt

Universal Adoption Center
Verne (Larvitar) (LV6) (m)
05-30-2003 (lvl.5)
Bite, Leer, Ancientpower

Free Range Corral
Shane (formerly Sasha) (Whismur) (LV6) (m)
06-10-2003 (lvl.5)
Pound, Uproar, Extrasensory

Nemo (Espeon) (LV7) (m)
(Note: his fur is a light blue coloration, as a result of me using a special Potion on him)
06-14-2003 (lvl.5)
Tackle, Tail Whip, Helping Hand, Wish

Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency
“ ‘Cada“ (Nincada) (LV6) (m)
06-10-2003 (lvl.5)
Scratch, Harden, Leech Life, Aerial Ace

Professional Sports Breeding System
Bruce (Machop) (LV7) (m)
06-19-2003 (lvl. 6)
Low Kick, Leer, Rolling Kick
Focus Energy

Aron (LV6) (f)
This rare Pokémon was stolen from its cage prior to release to the public. Dragon Tamer Staff have resolved the situation, but the Aron was badly damaged in the incident. Dragon Tamer Staff may or may not release this Pokémon up for adoption, but there is a waiting list for all those that are keen.
07-19-2003 (put on waiting list)
07-21-2003 (got assigned with) (lvl.5)
Tackle, Harden, Body Slam

Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency
Dylan (Totodile) (LV7) (m)
06-25-2003 (lvl.5)
Scratch, Leer, Crunch
Rage

Arthus (Spheal) (LV6) (m)
07-10-2003 (lvl.5)
Powder Snow, Growl, Water Gun, Yawn


PokéZoo Adoption Center
Gordon (Mudkip) (LV7) (m)
Ready to start out with a trainer
06-05-2003 (lvl.6)
Tackle, Growl, Mud-Slap, Refresh

Hanna (Carvanha) (LV7) (f)
She was found injured by a Gyarados, but is 110% now
06-07/10-2003 (lvl.6)
Leer, Bite, Ice Beam
Rage

Tony (Trapinch) (LV10) (m)
He wants to grow into a strong Flygon
06-29/30-2003 (lvl 9)
Bite, Sand Attack, Quick Attack
Double Team

Liam (Ninetales) (LV6) (m)
He has an attitude, and will need tough training
07-11/12-2003 (lvl 5)
Ember, Tail Whip, Faint Attack


Pocket Monsters Breeding Center
Skyler
-=Pokémon Egg=-
Winged Male Bagon
Lv.5
Trait: Rock Head
Rage, Bite
Flamethrower as the Bred-on from Alucard, as well as his mutation gene, Congrats!!
He will learn Fly naturally at Lv.28
Mother: Espeon12’s (Christina’s) Mara

Unnamed Black Eevee ((Spoiler:) soon-to-be-nicknamed Ashketh (or Ash) in place of his 'real' name)
-=Pokémon Egg=-
Male Eevee with black fur and electric blue rings
Lv.5
Trait: Run Away
Tackle, Tail Whip, Helping Hand, Hidden Power: Ghost (lv.5)
Parents: Angel Blossom’s L'Arcobaleno and Dark Dragonite’s Nave

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

How many years has it been since the Pegasus Games?

I could check the Archives on it, but I won’t bother. Fact is, it has been years. During that time, I strayed from being a Dragon Tamer. Hiding in the shadows, sometimes I came back to these realms, lurking, plotting a comeback, but not finding the courage.
Now, one of my most valiant attempts has been made. In less than a week, school will start once more, and I may still be lured away from Ulthuan, from this entire world of Pokémon training and admiring.
To prove to myself, now, that I still have some of what it takes, I will try to describe the events of what came to past so many months ago…

~~~ Mike’s POV ~~~

It was during our time at the Training Grounds our group of sixteen split up into 5.
Bruce, Hanna, Gordon, Dylan and me went into the Ice Room First, the Pool Room after that.
Three of them fought courageous battles each; I don’t recall Bruce’s opponent, but the other two defeated were a Slowpoke and a Totodile, respectively.
But when it came to Dylan, he… Well, he… lucked out.
Something in Gordon’s confrontation with the Totodile had hit a weak spot. Retreating into himself, it seemed he had found it “unforgivable” for a Totodile to use a Dragon-type attack, Hidden Power, if I recall correctly.
Maybe some background info is needed. Dylan, as some strange Don Quichote, had taken up a strong dislike of anything remotely Dragon-like. Before Skyler had hatched, his stabs had been pointed towards Hanna, I take it in great part because of her pronounced jaw. Though I do believe Verne sometimes fell pray to his ‘attacks’ as well.
Gordon had been his unwilling underling… Literally, as Dylan had used his four-footed friend as a horse.
But during the half-time between their respective battles, Gordon had been recast as the stronger one of the duo, as Dylan was babbling in himself.

Suddenly, however, the battle arena changed appearance.
The pool after which the training room we were in was named, was divided into two distinct halves by a row of boulders running from one long end of the pool to the other.
In both halves, at the bottom, a collection of statues had seemingly been tossed in randomly.
However, it would appear at least some of these were connected to an underground chamber (the ‘alternate’ pool, maybe), in which the different Pokémon you could battle against roamed free.
After Gordon’s battle, his little croc’ opponent had been sucked in (through the mouth of a anthropomorphic Milotic, no less), after which the whole pool (both halves), had been sucked dry of water.
To our amazement, as if some higher being had been watching us (though it could’ve been the Dragon Guild security people), a Mudkip, larger than our own Gordon, appeared next on the field, dropping out of one the statues on the other side of the boulder row than which Gordon had battled at.
Snapping out of his self-contempt, Dylan raced into battle, risking a death-defying jump (more than 3 meters down is even risky for a human) from the boulder row on top of which we had been watching the change in surroundings.
Taking no heed of our warnings, he madly tossed and threw himself and his paws at his adversary, taking little advantage of the Double Shield he was weaving.
Appearing defiant, bored even, the Mudkip eventually tossed him aside like a cat does with a ball of string it has run tired of.
Taking a critical hit against one of the statues on the bottom of the pool, Dylan crumbled into a heap. Before I had time to gasp for air, however, he pulled himself together and leapt back onto his feet, albeit teetering back and forth. Yet he still refused to succumb. Taking his opponent by surprise, he filled his lungs with air, before releasing a powerful but draining Water Gun. Surprised, the Mudkip took a direct hit in the jaw, before retaliating with its own Water Gun, which was more effective only because he was bigger and more experienced than Dylan.
Being forced against a statue of a courageous Machop-prince yielding a sword, it looked as if Dylan would still not faint from the effort. He readied himself against the continuous spray of water, seemingly preparing a counter-attack, but alas… He passed out, not having uttered a coherent word the whole battle.

“I’ll save you!”
“Gordon, no!” Before I could grab him, Gordon leapt off of the boulder he had been crouching upon. Using the scattered statues as jumping platforms, he ended up jumping right in-between Dylan and the Mudkip that was nearing in on him.
“Out of the way, shortie”, it hissed with a deep, raw voice.
Gordon raised his back “You’re toast, fatso”, came the reply.
Snarling, the foe readied itself for a Tackle. Surpassing him in speed and reflexes, Gordon threw himself at full speed, Tackling the other Mudkip in the lower belly as it was raising itself onto its lower paws to jump.
Caught off guard, the Mudkip had all the air pushed out of its lungs. Its eyes bulging, it quickly fell backwards, its head connecting with the pedestal of a non-anthropomorphic winged-Dragonair statue. The cross-eyed look in its eyes, as well as the pulsating mark on its head where it had fell onto, made it clear that this round was for Gordon.

“I won!”

Wasting no more time in the Pool Room, I took Dylan into my arms and carried him with me into the Jungle Room.
Euphoric cries immediately filled my ears, but I could not pay enough attention to 5 of my other Pokémon that had now joined our little group. I did hear about Liam’s short appearance with the others. It appeared he had spent a small moment with our newest addition to the team, the black Eevee that had only recently hatched, before retreating to places his ‘cool guy’ additute didn’t stand a chance of breaking… the Desert Room, no doubt. It made me wonder where Skyler might be off to… perhaps his dragon heart had lead him into the Volcano Room.

But for now, Nora would have to keep her story of how she got made ‘Queen of Hide-‘n-Seek’ to herself, and Rays and Arthus’ story of how they defended ‘lil’ black Nemo’ (= black Eevee) from a ‘vicious’ Surskit and Chikorita to themselves.
I didn’t register Tony or ‘Cada, Shane or Verne’s presence at the time… I would go see later where they were hanging out.
For now, I only wanted to hear… Dylan’s story.

I found a quiet spot, close enough to yet isolated from the rest of our group, under a thick-branched swamp tree with branches hanging low into the neighbouring pond. As the artificial sun rose on the fake sky, dark green chadows and sharp yellow light fell onto the unconscious reptile in contrasting stripes. When the frown on his forehead disappeared, I let a few drops fell onto his tongue to awaken him. His eyelids twitched, his ears peaked as he regained consciousness.
My face was the first thing he saw as he awoke, and as he yawned the last bits of sleep away, I sternly said: “Dylan… we need to talk.”

[Lady Vulpix]

Welcome back, Mike! Wow, I think it's been at least 5 years since the Pegasus Games. Has it been that long since you last posted?

Interesting recount, though I didn't quite get the anthropomorphic Milotic part. Was that a statue... or what? You changed the names of 2 of the rooms (they were Pond Room and Lava Room), but I liked the decorations you came up with.

Your Eevee will battle a Meowth.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

Welcome back, Mike! Wow, I think it's been at least 5 years since the Pegasus Games. Has it been that long since you last posted?

Interesting recount, though I didn't quite get the anthropomorphic Milotic part. Was that a statue... or what? You changed the names of 2 of the rooms (they were Pond Room and Lava Room), but I liked the decorations you came up with.

Your Eevee will battle a Meowth.

Oh, it might have been less, I may have mis-remembered the name of the Games, as well as the training rooms. And thanks for the comments, I'll change the references if I talk about those rooms again. Yes, it was supposed to be an anthromorphic Milotic-statue, one of the many I pictured the bottom of the pond to be filled with.

[DaRk MeWtWo]

Hi guys.

Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency x2 pokemon

Using~
Sirius, LV40 Charizard for both

Hope everyone is doing well, greetings Ade, Gabi, and hi to new faces.

[Lady Vulpix]

Welcome back! I feared for the future of this topic... and this subforum as a whole. At least there'll be some new material soon, it seems.

Delibird+Sharpedo=Interesting combination.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

I interrupt my report on times lost, in favour of a report on the given times of present. I shall tell you how… a Basketball joined my team, and an Eevee left it.
(In case you're wondering, the actual battle-ish starts around where my POV ends and Eevee's begins.)
(And, if you’re wondering – the name game reflects how I went about it IRL, thinking of fitting words for the acronyms, only we’re talking months instead of minutes here before I got to the eventual outcome you see here)

~~~ Mike’s POV ~~~

Since he hatched, Eevee has grown a lot. …

Boy, I feel weird calling him Eevee.

You see, I have this folder with files.
Actually, it’s more like one large Word document, containing each and every report I’ve filed with the Dragon Tamers, and even some I’m not quite sure DT HQ ever received.
Actually, it’s more like two documents… I started a new one in light of my recent ‘time off’.
And in the very first lines on the very first page of the very first report in the first document, I introduce my very first Pokémon, who are much the same as the ones I have today. Only difference, since then 2 newborns have joined, and each and every one of my Pokémon has been nicknamed. … Except Eevee, of course, and in a way, ‘Cada as well.
And during the very first ‘mission’ I went on with any of my Pokémon, I went to a pool… With Nemo, my then-Eevee. He was young, enthousiastic, and during those first actual battles discovered a fondness for water he’s passed onto A--, I mean, to Eevee, who’s taken over this fondness and boosted it. Heh, you’ll understand in a little while why I’ve started to laugh at the mentioning of such seemingly unrelated items as a basketball and the verb ‘to boost’.
Anyway, every time I look at him, at Eevee, now I get reminded of the Espeon that always tries to keep up with him.

Lately, keeping up with Eevee has been a drag. From day 1, he’s been full of energy. If you didn’t know better, you would have thought his parents passed on an Extremespeedy move or a Speed Boosting trait to him. But none of that: it’s in him like a holy fire, that abundance of energy.
It wasn’t until he discovered his Hidden Power that things got really tricky. You see… it’s of the Ghost Type. And Eevee’s the child of DD’s Nave, from whom he inherited the gene that provides the Umbreon with that pronounced black fur and electric blue rings.
As a result, once he got the hang of it, he could literally disappear into the shadows, from which he would sneak up on and jump onto his unsuspecting victims. His traitmark ‘Boo’ has gone on to been his unofficial nickname among my Pokémon. Though you don’t really think Boo could be a real nickname, or it would be for a Pokémon you could never take seriously, wouldn’t it? Heh-heh, though at this moment, he is such a Pokémon…

Anyway, the problem of giving him a nickname was something really nagging at me. I nicknamed Skyler myself, but the rest of my Pokémon had chosen their nicknames out of their own accord. And I felt that ‘Eevee’ may have been a too general name, like nicknaming someone you don’t know or understand ‘Joe’ or ‘Bob’. Nemo didn’t seem to be wanting to force him to do anything, except listen to him and learn his lessons and love him and let his take his siesta when he so craved… which Eevee hardly ever was able to do together on any one given day, except the loving part. Eevee loves everything, period, carriage return, new line.

So, it seemed to be up to me. But the last time I tried… I was scared to go near him for nearly a week.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It happened in the park I had brought everyone to.
I had collected the courage to touch this for-all-I-know-sensitive subject with Eevee. I also had asked Nora to accompany me for backup. She acted as the tiny mother of our team when occasion called for it.
Nudging me at ankle height, she forced me nearer to him. He was sitting on the basketball field, nudging an appropriately resized basketball, while listening to Tony, who seemed to be concluding an epic story. ‘Cada, Eevee and Skyler were gazing ecstatically at Tony, as he vigorously animated the ending of the Tale of Tony the Triumphant Trapinch, Part DCII.

“And that’s how Tony saved the Gible village from the angry Golem troll.”
“Wauw.” Skyler said while gasping his breath, unknowingly twitching his leathery wings.
“That was awesome.” ‘Cada said in awe.
“Yeah…” Eevee agreed. “But… I still don’t understand what the robot did.”
“Well, I’d love to tell you… But it will have to wait for Part DCIII.”
“Aww…”
“Eevee? Are you busy?” I asked, drawing the attention of the group.
“Hmm? Oh no, Mike.”, he squealed. “Tony was telling a story, to… con- core- because he lost.”
“He dunked me at basketball again.”, Tony grudgingly explained. Eevee grinned; basketball could’ve been his middle name. Beside, it was unfair competition: he was far more flexible than his sand-crawling friend, albeit one with 4 times his experience level.
“I swear, one day you’ll turn into a basketball.” I couldn’t have been closer…
“Not before I join the Goldenrod Golducks!” At that moment, they were leading in the NBA statistics.
“Well, you still lack a beak, you know.” He had been trying to grow one two days before, resulting in a sore mouth for him and painful laughing spasms for the spectators, among which myself.
“I’m getting there… Nemo said I was getting better at the doggy swim.”
“Well, I won’t keep you up for long, then. I know you were planning on swimming with him.” Actually, it was time for their weekly obligatory swim that afternoon.
“What did you want to talk about, Mike?”, he asked as we strolled into the away from the other guys, as they started round two of the match.
“Well…” I hesitated, before deciding to cut to the case. “Do you want to be given a nickname?”
He frowned, though his eyes lighted up as if he was smiling. “Don’t I have one already?”
“I don’t think ‘Boo’ is gonna look good on any Pokémon license, Eevee.”
“Everyone would notice it.”
“Yes, and I know you’d love it. But please, can’t you come up with something… normal?”
“I’m Normal enough as it is… I don’t feel like behaving like it as well.”
I sighed. “Look, I’ll tell you what we do… I give you till tomorrow morning, and you come up with something decent, okay?”
“Oh, okay.”, he reluctantly agreed.
“Thanks. Now, just tell it to me, in a normal way, when I ask it.”
“Hm-hmm… When you… ask it.”, he nodded as he walked away, seemingly lost in thought already. I shook my head as I saw him go, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

So, there I am, the following morning. I sit by the carpet he’s sleeping on, waiting for him to wake up. His ear twitch, he stretches his paws… and I see his endearing eyes open up to take in the first light of the day.
“Hey Mike,”, he said as he stood up, shaking his rear to cast away the last of Morpheus’ grip on his body. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Your name.”, I said grimly.
”Yorrenaim? Is that a new type of cereal?”, he quasi-innocently asked.
“No.” I sternly answered, determined not to let the conversation stray.
“No?”, he repeated, eyes twinkling.
“No-hoh.” I repeated, this time with feeling.
“No-hoh-hoho?” he asked back, tongue in cheek.
“Eevee, I told you to tell me, with no bizarreties, what-your-name-would-be-when-I-would-ASK-IT.”
“Ask it.” he snapped back, enjoying every minute of mocking me, it seemed.
“I-just-did.” I stressed, feeling more flustered every passing moment.
“Aaaask iiiit.”, he mocked me.
“Eevee!!” I strained to keep myself from shooking him thoroughly, though somewhere I was starting to see the absurdity of the whole thing. If he couldn’t seriously decide on his own name, why try forcing him?
“Ask-it, ask-it, ask-it!!!” he started chanting, thoroughly reminding me of an ambulance wagon.
“Okay, I get it.”, I said, admitting defeat. “You’re just not ready.” I sighed as I got back on my feet.
“Nah, not… not ready, Mike.” he grinned. “Just not serious.”
“Yeah…” I said, as I went downstairs, having learned another lesson regarding my newest AP: never go into an argument with him, you’ll never win. In fact, I had learned another one: if anything, Eevee definitely wasn’t a serious natured Pokémon.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several weeks passed, and Eevee got so hyper that I started getting requests from neighbours to keep his off the caffeine, to which, at first, I replied he never drank the stuff. I gave up on trying to convince them the day he’d been up a tree for one whole hour shouting “Pidgeys, pretty Pidgeys, won’t you play with me??”, for all to hear.
That was also the day I decided to take him to some training area for Pokémon, preferably one specifically facilitated for hyperkinetic Eevees.

“Where’re we going Mike? Will it be nice, huh? Will there be Pidgeys? Will there, huh, huh?”
I winced. “Eevee, you can drop the whole I’m-on-caffeine,-look-at-me!-thing now. We’re out of the neighbourhood, you know.”
“But I like acting that way! It comes so… natural.” he grinned.
“I know, but if nothing else, think of me, okay. I don’t like getting people’s attention drawn on me, and as your Trainer, I’m with you in the center of attention.” I said as we walked down a tree-bordered lane. At the end of the lane, I began to see the gate to the training area I had chosen – one that was apparently free for Pokémon to stroll around in, independently from their Trainers. As such, I could keep an eye on Eevee without him automatically being associated to me. Not that I didn’t appreciate his wackiness sometimes… but I preferred to be wacky with friends, or indoors, not in plain public sight!
“Okay then, I won’t talk about the Pidgeys anymore…”

Five seconds later: “… Hey, Spearows!!”, he cried out, scaring a flock of the creatures out of the tree they’d been perched on. Lucky for us, they ignored us; apparently they were more docile than the average Spearow.
I sighed. “Ee-vee…” I said warningly.
“Whaat?” he asked sweetly.
I sighed once more, and started rubbing the back of my neck. Ever since the past conversation about his nickname, I had noticed I started having this aching throb in the pack of my neck every time Eevee exasperated me, like now.

We walked another ten seconds in silence, nearing the front gate of ‘The Free Range Poké-Corral’, before he started again.
“So, Mike… I thought about a nickname again.”
“And?” I asked, simultaneously dreading an answer.
“I decided. My nickname’s gonna be… Basketball.”, he said, dropping the bomb.
I couldn’t help myself. I tripped and crashed on the ground, which, lucky for me, was made out of beach sand. At this moment, we had neared the front gate of the Corral close enough. We were on the other side of a hedge, which lead up to the front gate, and apparently there was some sort of lake on the other side: I could hear splashing and growling, and the occasional Gyarados roar.
I took my time to recover, shake the sand out of my clothes and off my hair, put my cap back on… I turned to face Eevee, who’d been awaiting my reply, and calmly asked:
“WHAT?”
“It’s an acronym!”, he proudly ‘explained’.
“Basketball? An acronym, for what?”
“You ask.”
“Okay… B stands for?”
“Boo!”
I winced. “A stands for?”
“Ask-it!”
“S stands for?”
“Ask-it!”
“K st--? Oh, I get it. K, E, T stand for ‘asket’ too, right?”
He nodded, obviously feeling proud of himself.
“Now, do B, A, double L each stand for something, or are they short for something, or so?”
“Or so.”, he grinned.
“So, ‘Ball’ stands for?”
“Hullabaloo!”
“Yeah… It’s that your such a party animal.”
He nodded.
“Look, this conversation could take a while. Why don’t we… get inside, find me a bench to sit on, and continue from there?”

As was said, as was done. We, or better said, I found me a bench to sit on in a relatively quiet zone. There was a grass field leading up to the hedge boarding the domain behind me, and a hedge in front of me. Apparently, there was some sort of maze behind the latter hedge, as said a sign close to me.
“Right.” I started.
“Left.”, Eevee retorted.
Ignoring him, I searched my backpack for a pen and paper, and was surprised to find both.
“So…”, I said as I started writing, “if your nonsense is going to make sense…” I blinked at the stupidity of my comment, but continued nontheless, “than your name would look like… so.”, I finished, showing him what I had written down:

B. Ask-it Ball

“Pretty much.”, he quasi-indifferently replied.
I neighed my head. Don’t go into any argument here… you’ll lose either way. “Fine,” I said to his surprise. “But on one condition: we de-abnormalize this gibberish.”
“What!”
“Sorry buddy, but I won’t register anyone with ‘Boo’ for a first name, and ‘Ask-it’ for a middle name.” And as for Hullabaloo…, I thought.
Apparently, I looked convincing enough that I wouldn’t budge to him. “ Fine…”
“Okay… First up’s… Boo.”
“What’s wr—“, he started to say, but I cut him off.
“Boo is no goo-d. The only person I ever knew went by that name was a character in Monsters, Inc. And she was a girl.”, I added.
That held him from commenting.
“So… Boo, Boo… Bool… Boor… Boos… Booster! An alien from a Disney cartoon I used to watch.”, I explained, to lift Eevee’s puzzlement.
“Go on.” , he urged me.
“Okay… So, ‘Ask-it’ has a nice ring to it, but not in this current spelling.”
“I don’t care about rules, so play around with the letters, if you want.”, he replied tongue-in-cheek.
“Hmm… Maybe something with a mystical feel to it… As-ket… Asketh… Ashketh! ‘And the world will turn to Ash!’”
“Sounds almost Egyptical.” he winked.
Encouraged, I went for the biggest challenge. “Okay, now we’re left with ‘Ball’.”
“Hey, don’t touch ‘Baloo’! That’s my favourite name of the three!”
“Yes, and the most nonsensical, too… but that’s probably the reason it’s your favourite. I mean, I won’t argue over that ‘Baloo’ could stand for ‘Hullabaloo’ – though I’ve seen it written as Hullapalooza somewhere, I think -, but ‘Ball’? Tell you what, keep it ‘Hullabaloo’, but change ‘Ball’ to ‘Baloo’.”, I concluded, changing the text on my note sheet, which had begun to look severely battered.
“Hmm… ‘Kay, I guess ‘Baloo’ can pwn ‘Ball’, but then the whole idea is lost!”
“What, ‘Basketball’?” I asked half-seriously. Eevee nodded, and I checked for myself. Indeed, if you’d read what it said now, and ignored some pronunciation issues, it would still say ‘Basketballoo’… and if I could choose, I wouldn’t be called a ‘basketball loo’ either.
“Hmm, point taken. So? Any ideas?”
“I liked it better first.”, he said cross-eyed.
“Hmm…” If I was going through with changing what he wanted to be named (and it’d be a cold day in hell if I would let him call himself ‘Ask-it’), then…
“We have to extend your name.”
“Extend?”
“You know, paste something behind it… so that this gibberish at least becomes coherent.”
“…”
“Point taken. So… ‘Basketball’ is here to stay…”, I said to his joy, “and thus… ‘Loo’… Loo… Loor… Loon… Luna-”
“Lunatic!” , he cried out. I winced under the weird looks from passers-by this earned me – even the Spinda seemed overly confuzzled.
“’Kay…” I agreed, much to his and my amazement… “But then, what will represent ‘-natic’?”
This had us stumped for a while, until I had a bright moment.
“Nate! You know, short for Nathan?”
He wrinkled his nose. “That’s no name for me… I’m twice has hilarious!”
“No argument there…”
“But ‘Nate’… That sounds cool… Nate. Naaay-th. Nai-d. … Nade!”
“Short for ‘Lemo-Nade’?”, I joked. To my angst, he actually seemed to consider this seriously. What came next surpassed even this fear:
“Nah… More like ‘Gre-Nade’!”
Though I fear fainting any second, I wrote ‘Nade’ behind ‘B. Ashketh Baloo’. Underneath, I vertically wrote down what each of this acronyms (excluding Ashketh) stood for so far: Booster, Hullapalooza, and (gulp) Grenade.
I opened my mouth to speak, when I was hit by an idea. “I don’t think any legal organ is gonna accept ‘grenade’ for a name, Eevee. But,” I continued without stopping, “if we just… change ‘e’ to ‘i’, and add ‘n’… Grenadin!”
“Grenadin?” , he asked unsure , raising an eyebrow.
“You know, sounds like ‘Aladdin’… or ‘Gremlin’!” I added more enthousiastically.
“Fine.”, he conceded finally.
Mentally wiping the sweat from my forehead, I turned to “‘Ic’”, and hit a writer’s (or name rater’s) block.
“You’ll have to help me with this one…”
“Ic… Ics… Ics?”
“If we say ‘Ics’, that’ll add up to ‘Basketball Lunatics’. Don’t know for sure, but I think ‘Lunatics’ a valid word.”
This prompted him to continue. “Okay… so what sounds like ‘Ics’… remotely? ‘X’?”
“And ‘X.’ is short for?”
“Hey, I can’t think of anything! X-Calibur?”
“Hm, nice, but then we’d have ‘lunaticsk’. That’s not English, or even Scandinavic!”
“So, mister I-am-a-critic Mike, your suggestion being?”
“Hmm…” Name starting with ‘X’. Feels like I’m trying to solve a crossword puzzle here… “Xavier? No, Xander! That brings back memories…” I added, momentarily lost in good memories of the Buffyverse television series.
“Sander?”
“No, ‘Xander’. Starts with ‘X’, pronounced as ‘Zan-dur’.”
“But then, Xander’s short for…”
“Alexander, yes. Like the emperor!”
“Cool… But it needs a touch of ‘Ashketh’.”
“What, still not exotic enough for you?”, I laughed. “Remember, you’re going to have 5 names anyway, if we’d go through with this.” Which we’d probably have to, or I will have no peaceful moment for the rest of my days together with him.
“Hmm… Xandros! Well, Alexandros!”
“Ale—what?!” I wrote it down to complement what he’d said. “Oh, a mixture of…”
“Xander, and Alejandros!”
“Or Alex and Andros, depending how you look at it… ‘Kay, deal! This is the point final”, I added, contemplating the end-result:

B. Ashketh Baloo Nade X.

• Booster --> B.
• Ashketh --> Ashketh
• Hullabaloo --> Baloo
• Grenadin --> Nade
• Alexandros --> X.

“The man at the registration board is going to look so strangely at me...”, I concluded.
“I thought these days the Pokémon had to tell the bureaucrats in person their nickname?”
“They do? Well, good heavens then!”, I cheered.
“Yeah, something about the right to have a nickname you consent with, as well as your trainer, and the administration doesn’t have any objections against!
Kudos to the legal guy that thought that up!, I thought.
“So, Mike… If you agree with this, shall we?”
I looked at my notes one last time before putting them away. No sense in spending too much time contemplating – or trying to fight – the general non-sense of it all…
“Okay then, let’s go find some sparring partners.” I said as I stood up, stretching good to prepare for the upcoming events.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ Ashketh’s POV ~

Now we had stopped playing the ‘Name Game’ – as I would continue to call it from now on - , we made our way through the labyrinth. Does that seem pointless to you? Well, it wasn’t, really. I bet you hadn’t noticed the sign saying “THIS WAY TO THE BATTLE FIELD ==>” –sign, huh? Oh, you say that’s because Mike didn’t mention it before? Well then, you should have asked! … Beauty, knowledge and humour all lie in the details, my friend.
The journey through the maze was long and uneventful – or so Mike would have reported. In my report, however, it should be noted that we came across five dead ends – for with the way leading to it in a straight lines, one as a spiral. We also ran into two loops, and even a glass wall – good thing we didn’t literally ran into it. Or at least, I didn’t.
But in the end, we made our way through – didn’t even have to spend the night there, which I sort of regretted.

And what would you know: we immediately stumbled onto the battle area upon exiting. Unfortunately, a battle between a Ursaring and a Metagross was going on, so we smartfully – and gracefully – stumbled back off the field, taking seat between the spectators. In my day dream, there was a popcorn vendor aloof, strolling between the seats selling bags o’ popped corn, but alas, that remained but a day dream. Knowing Mike, he would have preferred some spiced potato chips, anyway.

After a battle or three, it was our turn to fight. It was hard to tell, because there seemed to be some sort of roll call in the way the battles and combatant followed each other up, but I thought that our opponent, a pampered-looking school girl, had been the one with the Ursaring.
Now don’t hold me for a coward: I would have loved to put my teeth into such an overgrown teddy bear! But, you know, with the fangs and the razor claws, and the fluff… Besides, I didn’t even know how to attack with Bite yet. Or did I? Anyway, it may have been for the best he would turn out not to be my opponent later on – and I mean for his best, of course. Ahum.
“Three-on-three sounds good for you?”
“Sure,” said Mike jokingly, “but I only have the one.”
“Oy.” , came the reply, accompanied by a wrinkled nose. “Never mind than. Go, Felicia!”
She threw a Luxury Ball onto the field, which made me wonder what sort of chibi fluff ball my opponent would turn out to be…

The Pokémon materializing from the ball was tiny. A first stage, white mammal. Female, I could tell. An oval jewel sparkling on top of her forehead. Since she had whiskers, a curled tail with a brown end and was feline, you’ll probably have realized by now I wasn’t referring to a Miltank, for instance, but a Meowth.
“Interesting.”, I commended. Let’s see what this beauty can do.
“Felicia…”, said her trainer, pausing dramatically, “you know the drill.”
The only reply she got was a nod, and as I started to run towards her, she braced herself firmly, grinned maliciously, and… started to evolve?
Her entire body, down to the last bit of hair, started glowing a spectacular white. But she didn’t shape shift, nor did the glow diminished… Instead, the light seemed to intensify a thousand times! I started to frown, as I didn’t want to close my eyes and be caught off guard, and momentarily made out the Meowth’s trainer, who wisely had put on some shades, before I had to close my eyes still. The glow didn’t stop at my eyelids though. It came piercing through, rattling my skull and severely disorienting me. Then I realized what Mike had begun shouting at me:
“She’s using Flash! You can’t let her confuse you!”
Easier said than done, Mike., I growled internally. But there isn’t anywhere to hide here, ya know.
And as I was thinking that, I was slammed backwards and fell on my side. She had tackled me upfront, and now I could feel her scratching and swiping away at me.
Of course I fought back: I rolled onto my back, and kicked and whipped my tail in all directions, but she simply had to sit back and strike whenever she saw an opening, as I was still blinded.
“Quick Ashketh!” shouted Mike, and I couldn’t help but think to myself ‘Kudos to me for choosing that name!’. “Get up and get away from there!”
Didn’t sound like much of a plan at the time, but lying around wasn’t doing me any good, so I went ahead and did it. Luckily, I still had somewhat of an idea of the general layout of the battlefield, so that I didn’t run head-first back into the maze, or into a hedge, for that matter.
I didn’t hear her come after me as I sprinted away in an erratic pattern, but the moment I stood still I could hear her trainer:
“He’s still blinded! Quick Felicia, Body Slam!”
Oh great. Of all the fuzzy fluff balls out there, I get the one on steroids and with an arsenal of special moves.
I could hear her, as she sprung up on the other side of the field – she must have been sitting down all the down as I was trying to evade her by running around in all directions. I felt and heard her paws rattling on the ground, followed by a sudden stop, her snarling, a sound as if she came loose from the ground, and then… nothing?
The audience gasped, drums rumbled (or so I imagined)… And then the best thing happened. My hair had been standing on end from the tension, but now my muscles where relaxing, and I knew what was happening.

You see, I have a gift. Call it a Hidden Power if you’re so technical, but it’s the most wonderful thing.
My fur is already coal-black you know – that came with the blue-ringed gene I inherited. If I lay still at night, in the shadows, no one can see me, except for maybe my eyes.
But when I activate my gift, oh boy. I’ve heard the others I just disappear into the shadows. I’ve talked about it with Nemo, and I like to call it more like ‘blending / melting into the shadows, like a Vaporeon into water’.
Of course, there are few shadows really black, but it’ll still seem as if I’m not there. I can watch you, talk to you if I’d like (though I’ll prefer jumping you most of the time – hence my other name, Boo), but you won’t see me until it’s too late. Sometimes, I even go from one place to another by melting into the shadows – one moment I’m here, the next, upstairs. And no one saw me, and I didn’t went up any stairs. It’s creepy, but I suppose that’s what you’d expect from a Ghost-type HP, as mine apparently is.

Now, from what I felt at that time during the battle, I could deduce that I was standing in a shadow – my body prefers the dark, I’ve noticed. I felt invigorated, and energy was returning instantly to me. To all others, only a split second passed, but to me, tens of minutes. My eyesight healed, and my hunch was proven: ‘Felicia’ was hanging above me, blocking the rays of the sun, her paws stretched as a lion leaping at the rabbit.
That gave me an idea. As time began to flow normally again, I agilely rolled onto my back, with my tail in her direction. As she came down, I triggered my ability. You should have seen the confusion rise in her eyes! Were she to have fallen on all fours before, I had distracted her enough to transform the gracious leap into a lot less graceful fall.
But I couldn’t let her drop smack-dab on the ground, now could I? I awaited her fall with all paws stretched out to her, caught her middle with my lower paws and her front paws with mine. Her face came very close to me, and I used that split second to become visible again, freaking her out some more. Then, I used the momentum of her fall to catapult her away behind me, straight into the hedge. If you’ve seen the Lion King, think of how Simba lauched Scar at the end.
The crowd roared as I stood up and took a look for myself: she was hanging between the leaves in an extremely ungraceful position, and as she was returned to her PokéBall, I lamented the goofy, cross-eyed, tongue-out-of-mouth look on her face.

Needless to say, her trainer used the minimally required amount of words to get away from there. As she run off, I thought of doing some kind of victory dance, but seemed a little too crude, even for me.
“Well, you’ve embarrassed that jet set society girl enough, haven’t you?” , asked Mike.
“Yup.”
“Anything to add to that?”
“Uh… Mission accomplished?” I asked sheepishly.
“I suppose…”, Mike sighed. “Any sights you want to see before we go back and ‘introduce’ ‘Basketball’ to the others?”
“The burrito bar.”, I said unshaken.
“Fine, I’ll get one too.”
And as we finished our little cholesterol bomb, which would come back to haunt us in three and a half hours with unpleasant toilet breaks, I couldn’t help but feel fond with myself for a day well spent.

[Lady Vulpix]

What a long and complicated way of choosing a nickname! And I think Basketball sounds more normal than the final result.
Interesting description of a Ghost-type HP... And interesting character too. Take 15 stamps and thanks for posting. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[Crystalmaster Mike]

What a long and complicated way of choosing a nickname! And I think Basketball sounds more normal than the final result.
Interesting description of a Ghost-type HP... And interesting character too. Take 15 stamps and thanks for posting. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

You're welcome. Speaking out-of-character, it was a long and complicating way of coming up with that name in the first place, too. But it started something like... "Okay, so he likes to play basketball, and is somewhat of a joker... Hey, why don't I have him want to be named Basketball? But, what would be the background story/info on that name? ...", and so on. And I'll tell you, once I decided "he's going to be named Basketball... -ish", he was going to be named that way, even if it take all my gray matter to come up with a "decent" de-acronymed name for it. Heh.
And yeah, it would have been "more normal" to simply have him be called that, but it was a battle of wills, too... I couldn't and wouldn't pull the shortest end! Though I have a feeling this will be one of the few times I can put my foot down in front of him.

[Orange_Flaaffy]

Okay, I am going to try my best . I can't promise my stories will mix at all well with with everyone elses, I am pretty hard headed when it comes to my writing style ...

Saltine LV 8
One random pokemon from the Free Range Corral please :3!

[The Blue Avenger]

Well, it's good to see some activity at all here.

Saltine will fight a level 8 Ditto.

[Sheik]

I would like to train Sabrina, my lv. 5 female Abra, in the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency. Two opponents, please.

[The Blue Avenger]

I'm afraid you can only get one random battle per week, unless you want to make it a double battle. Could you clarify before I roll up the Pokemon?

[Sheik]

Oh. Okay. Then let's do this.

A double battle at the Jungle Deforestation Agency, except with this battle, I would like to use Auric, my Umbreon, and Anna, my Espeon. Both are at level 5.

[Lady Vulpix]

They're going to battle a Tropius and a Spinarak.

How many stamps do you have, by the way?

[Sheik]

Honestly... I have no idea. In fact aside from the two Pokemon Earrings, I don't even know what my items are...

[classy_cat18]

Shiek? Oh man, how long has it been? I hope this is a sign that the forum is coming back from the dead.

But didn't you have a webpage with all of your TPM stuff? Or did it expire from not being modified for so long?

[Lady Vulpix]

You once bought a custom juice for your Feebas Rain, who you evolved into a Milotic on 30th June 2003.

Your old site said you had 54 Stamps (17 Stamps from the Battle Range) and the earring, but that was back in 2003.

[Sheik]

Classy_cat18: It's been... let's see.... June of 06? So nearly two years. I'm hoping I'll stay. As far as the web page... not entirely sure what happened, but all personal records of all my prior pokemon were lost, including that website. However, with the help of Gabi, I have been able to get that data back, and I now have it in a word document.

L_V: As far as the site goes... Is it really valid for me to take up the amount of stamps that I had back then (54) when I hadn't been here in so long? As far as Rain the Milotic... I didn't even know I had one, and obviously the stats for that would be practically non-existent.

[Lady Vulpix]

Quoting our IM conversation...

"That's old information, there's no way to know how many you earned or spent after that, so I wouldn't trust it. But on the other hand, you brought the forum back to life, so I guess you can keep them as a reward."

[The Blue Avenger]

Hey, could I get an RBG from the Sports Breeding Center for Groviglio? *hands over 7 stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

He will battle a Makuhita.

And I've made my choice. This being the first scenario in a long time in which you can break brackets, I'll request a double battle from the Universal A.C. for Pidgeot and Ventura!

[The Blue Avenger]

They will fight a Sharpedo and a Ninetales.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ninetales at Universal? Not that Ventura would complain, she likes battling fire-types. But as far as I know (and I should know since I wrote that code) there are no Vulpixes or Ninetales in that area. Maybe the randomizer went back to Caledor by default.

[Edit: I have now fixed the randomizer so that it doesn't default to Caledor after each roll.]

I'll take it as it came, though. As I said, Ventura likes that.

[The Blue Avenger]

Oh, whoops, that's probably what happened, yeah. My apologies.

[The Blue Avenger]

Here's my scenario and two RBGs. Cheers!

---

“Uh-uh. No way. This sort of thing… well, it just won’t fly, you hear me?”
“What are you talking about, Bobbery?”
“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about, Jeff. Oh, no, wait; I can’t really call you that, can I? After all… you most certainly are not Jeff!”
The scene: a modest house at the corner of Tycho and Kepler. In the house’s spacious kitchen, a trainer is standing in a corner, his only routes of escape blocked off by the Snorlax in front of him. Behind the Snorlax stand a Mr. Mime, a Tangrowth, an Alakazam, and a Metang.
Jeff swallowed nervously. “I assure you, Bobbery, I am Jeff! I swear!”
“You underestimate me,” Bobbery replied, a smirk crossing his face. The Snorlax began to sniff the air, eventually homing in on Jeff. “It’s as I suspected,” he said, turning to his audience. “This Jeff… I can tell from using Odor Sleuth that he is, in actuality…” Bobbery whipped back around to face Jeff. Without a moment of warning, Bobbery slammed his fist into Jeff’s face. As the Snorlax had predicted, Jeff began to glow white and change shape. When the glow subsided, the figure that stood there no longer bore any resemblance to the trainer. Bobbery took a bow. “A Ditto, as I thought.”
The Ditto nursed its face and scowled. “Bah! Too smart for your own good, Snorlax. I should have taken care of you like I did your PorygonZ…”
Bobbery grinned. “Ironically enough, it’s what you did to 99 that aroused my suspicions. Jeff may be smart, but there’s no way he would be able to predict that me and Maza would force 99 to the Pokemon Center. That’s when I began to notice all the other weird stuff that’s been going down here recently.
“The first was the creepy stalker Cranidos Pogo that Groviglio fought. When Groviglio came back from the barracks, he happened to mention his fight to Maza, and I overheard.”
Groviglio clenched the vines serving as his hands and glared at the Ditto. “I’ll tell you what, you little punk, I’m going to make you pay for humiliating me! Nobody makes me confide in anybody, ever! Unless it’s me! I’m going to hit you so hard, your grandchildren will look up in a hundred years and think, ‘Oh geez, it feels like I was just punched very very hard in the gut!’”
“As you can see,” Bobbery continued, “your little ploy to undermine Groviglio’s confidence had precisely the opposite effect of what you intended. However, that’s not really relevant. As I was saying, I didn’t think too much of it then, because, really, Groviglio had it coming to him.”
Groviglio scowled, but surprisingly said nothing.
“The next weird thing? It was Rookie. More specifically, his visit to us. He warned Kurtzwick that a psycho thief named Pitt was planning to attack him. Again, I didn’t think too much of it, because Kurtzwick has a tendency to make people angry. Looking back, I wish I could have asked Rookie some more questions, but he fled almost immediately after warning Kurtzwick.”
“And what does any of this have to do with me?” the Ditto said, frowning. “You haven’t got any--”
“I’m not done yet,” Bobbery said, holding up a hand. “After I heard about all this from Kurtzwick, I ended up talking to Mona, who needed a shoulder to cry on. With Previsiona having her own problems at the time and Cambiamente out of the house almost constantly, she decided to come to me – I guess I was her third choice. Sorry, Maza.”
Maza sighed almost silently. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Apparently, the charmer who she had met in the park – a Smeargle named Leon – broke her heart. Pretty seriously, too. Of course, this is when things started seeming out of place for me. A painter named Leon falling for a girl named Mona? Too much of a coincidence.”
“Hey, that sort of thing can happen, you know--” the Ditto started.
“Let me finish. Like I said, it seemed too perfect, but I didn’t really pay it much heed, because, as you said, it could happen. And Mona is just naïve enough to fall that hard for somebody she barely knows. No offense meant to her, of course. Now, here’s where I started to put everything together: I was soon after called upon by Previsiona for comfort as well. Apparently, she had been having some awful nightmares, and it was completely wrecking her.”
Groviglio stepped forward. “Hey, hey, lemme tell this part. I’m proud of it. So I happen to be walking past the living room when they’re talking about this, right? And I stay and listen for a bit, because Previsiona… well, I don’t really want anything bad to happen to her. Then she starts describing the nightmares she’s having, and I realize it sounds familiar! They sound exactly like the sort of nightmares someone gets if someone uses Nightmare on them. Dreams designed to hit exactly where it hurts, you know?”
Bobbery nodded. “Right. After I ensured Groviglio had nothing to do with it--”
“Ol’ Blubberboy threatened me within an inch of my life, that’s what he means.”
“…I decided to look into this a bit further. That night, when Previsiona went to sleep, I kept an eye on her room. And lo and behold! I see a certain brown-haired, bespectacled trainer use a certain move on her – a move that should only be able to be used by Pokemon. Odd. Then I realized that, when Rookie met Pitt, when Mona was with Leon, and when Groviglio was with Pogo, you, the fake Jeff, weren’t here! You were nowhere to be found.”
“Huh! Exactly like how Clark Kent and Superman are never seen in the same room!” Mercandos said, perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary.
“Exactly. Then I remembered what 99 was trying to warn us about – that you were still reporting back to Happy-Happy Village. It all seemed to fit together too perfectly to not be true. But then I thought to myself, ‘Bobbery, Jeff passed all of the Guild’s brainwashing tests! How could this be his fault?’”
“See, I told you I’m innocent!”
“Hold it!” Bobbery exclaimed, arm outstretched. “The answer came to me after I noticed that you had a scent on you that was similar to Cambiamente’s. I theorized that if you were in fact a Ditto who could turn into these different Pokemon, you would be able to easily pass a brainwashing test. How? By Transforming partially into a Hypno or a similar Pokemon and hypnotizing the examiner into thinking you passed!”
The Ditto bit his lip. “But… but…!”
“Thus, I had all the proof I needed! You, Ditto, tried to infiltrate our team under the disguise of our trainer! You, Ditto, tried to collapse our team from within by destroying our teammate’s mental health! You, Ditto, tried to beat us for the sake of your master, one Cooper Bartholomew! You, Ditto, tried to beat us… but you failed!”
“Nooooooooo!” the Ditto howled, holding his head.
“One last thing. When you try to create multiple personalities to disguise yourself, it’s a pretty bad move to make them all have four-letter names. Most people can identify patterns, you know.”

---

A continent away, in a small village in the heartland of a cozy country, a young man was painting the side of a building, humming contentedly to himself. He wasn’t the only one: many other people in the town were also out on the sunny, seasonably warm day, painting the buildings in the town. Unlike what had been going on in previous months, however, they were not painting the scenery blue. Instead, everything was being painted to its original color, restoring the town to vivid, colorful life.
The town was Happy-Happy Village, in the middle of Eagleland, and the young man was none other than Jeff Azure. Although he had made some alterations to his wardrobe (a blue dress shirt, dark slacks, a black tie with the number 6 on it), Jeff was still easily recognizable for his large, nearly opaque glasses, his thick brown hair, and his trademark metallic boots. He stepped back from the wall he was painting – one of the walls of the village’s drug store – and looked it over.
Before he could take it in, however, a bright flash lit up the village. As suddenly as the flash had appeared, a quartet of Pokemon stood in the center of town: an Alakazam, a Tangrowth, a Snorlax, and a Mr. Mime.
The Mr. Mime pointed to the Alakazam. “Maza! You scope out the caverns! Groviglio! Search the minor buildings! Me and Trezzatura will go through the meeting hall!” It was then that Mercandos actually looked around. As he and the rest of his team took in the new look of the village, a more and more sheepish expression crossed his face. “Err. Does this place look… not threatening to anyone else?” he mumbled, biting his lip.
Jeff’s face lit up, and he ran to the group. “Guys! You finally showed up!” he called, grinning.
“Jeff! You’re all right!” Maza called right back. “But… what happened here? What’s with all the… not blue?”
“That’s the interesting part,” Jeff said, scratching the back of his head. “Bartholomew up and disappeared from here not too long ago. When he left, so did all of his cultists. All of the people who lived here but weren’t a part of the Happy-Happyists were able to finally retake their town.”
“Well, why didn’t you let us know?!” Groviglio fumed. “We could have come here a lot earlier if we had known you were still here.”
Jeff shrugged. “I felt like I should stay here for a while and help make things right… it was, after all, partially my fault that this happened to their town.”
“That makes sense,” Trezzatura muttered.
“Plus, Bartholomew and his goons made off with my wallet and cell phone, so I didn’t really have any method of getting in touch with anyone. I just sorta kept faith that you guys would figure it out eventually.”
Maza shook his head. “Well, do you think you’ve made enough amends? Can you come back home?”
Jeff smiled. “I think I can, yeah. Let’s go.”
As the white flash once again lit up the area, some of the residents heard a voice saying, “So, Groviglio, what’s it like being a hulking behemoth?” followed by an “Ow!”

---

A week later, Jeff found himself once again in the laboratory in the Dragon’s Guild headquarters. The Guild had given him a thorough checkup (as well as ensuring nobody was under hypnosis for the test) and determined that he was, in fact, the real McCoy. As a result, Jeff was quickly allowed back in to his day job – scientist and researcher for the Guild.
As he put some papers – detailing how certain water Pokemon’s water conducts electricity better than others’ – on his desk, Jeff noticed an envelope sitting on the keyboard of his computer. It was plain white, with his name written in block letters on the front in black ink. He opened it to find a similarly simple letter inside.
To all members of the Research and Training Department, it read, The Mercenary Trainers’ Union has opened up its facilities to expedite training of the Dragon Tamers and the Mercenary Trainers, in order to prepare them for their trip to White Mountain. If you fall under either of those two categories, you are allowed a free training session at the Union. It would be advisable to take this opportunity. Lady Ninetales.
Jeff frowned. “White Mountain, huh? I wonder what’s going down there… Ah well, I can look it up in a bit,” he muttered as he picked up the receiver to his desk phone.
At the house, the phone rang exactly once before Mona picked it up. “Hello, you’ve reached the house of Jeff Azure and his loyal band of teammates, each member stronger than the last, and each with their own particular strengths, like Bobbery, who’s a good chef, and Maza, who’s psychic, so he can read minds, which is kinda creepy when you get right down to it, because what if I know something that I don’t want anyone else to know? That’s just downright rude, although I suppose Maza never reads my mind anyway, so it’s not--”
“Gimme that,” Groviglio said, swiping the phone from Mona’s paws. “Yeah, Azure residence, etcetera, what’s up?”
Jeff sighed. “Hi, Groviglio. Thanks for that. I thought she’d never stop. Anyway, I have a request of you guys.”
“Shoot.”
“The MTU is opening up their doors, and we get a free training session. Can you take some teammates and go train? I’d go with you, but apparently my double didn’t do a lot of work, so I have a lot to catch up on. It apparently has something to do with White Mountain, if that helps you guys out.”
“Got it, dude, no problem. We’ll head over there soon.”
“Thanks. Later.”
Groviglio hung up the phone and looked over the living room. Including himself and Mona, the only other Pokemon in the house seemed to be Mercandos, who was practicing some sort of martial art with the help of a video tutorial in front of the TV, and Kurtzwick, who was hauling a big burlap sack to one of his hiding spots around the house.
“Why did it have to be me that goes with them?” Groviglio muttered under his breath, then turned to the three other Pokemon. “Okay guys, we’re going to the Mercenary Union thing. Free training session. So getcher butts in gear; I don’t wanna have to wait on you.”
Mercandos eagerly shut off the TV. “Huh! You don’t have to tell me twice!” he exclaimed as he dashed out of the door. Kurtzwick followed, saying nothing, but the sullen expression on his face telling all. Mona was the last out of the door, following a grumbling Groviglio.

---

Mona was the first one to choose a room. Picking at random, she decided on the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency and rushed in before anyone else had a chance to object. The room itself felt similar to how you would expect a deforestation recovery room to look: it was swathed with greenery of all kinds, it was significantly more humid than the outside hallway, and there was even a small river running through it. The room was filled with grass-type and bug-type Pokemon, although the attendant normally supposed to be manning the room was conspicuously absent.
“Hehe! I like this place!” Mona said, not exactly quietly. “It’s so green and pretty… Although, I suppose if I had my way, it wouldn’t be quite so humid in here, since that would make things a lot more bearable… I guess the Pokemon here wouldn’t like that though, huh? They probably like the humidity they way it is--”
It was here that, like a bolt from the blue, Mona was struck by… a bolt from the blue. Rather, not from the blue, per se, but from a Budew. The Budew waddled over to her, a frown plastered across his normally-cheerful face. “Look, there’s another Hidden Power in store for you if you don’t keep the jabbering down to a minimum, you hear?”
“Hey now, that was just uncalled for,” Mona said, pouting. “You know, you could have just asked, and I would have been quiet. There’s no need to bring violence into it; that just shows your relative immaturity. Huh, for some reason, I think Groviglio would be saying that he finds that statement ironic, though I don’t know why--”
“That’s it!” the Budew cried, charging at Mona.

Time to brawl! Mona versus Budew!
Mona – “All RIIIGHT!”
~
Budew – “Shuuuuut UP!”

The Budew dove at Mona, but she neatly sidestepped it. “You’re going to have to do better than that, you know?” she said, slightly snidely. Mona smiled, grabbed her tail, and began tracing patterns in the air. The pink paint on her tail left trails in the air as it gradually turned to yellow. “Now, let’s see how you like it when you’re shocked, Mr. Rude!”
“I am awed by the magnificence of your repart—uuuurgh!” the Budew cried as Mona sent a Hidden Power: Electric coursing through its body. He stumbled back, but regained his composure quickly, smirking. “Heh, you’re not bad. But seriously, how dumb are you? No electric attack’s gonna do much against a grass Pokemon!”
Mona frowned. “Hmph! You’re just like a miniature Groviglio! Let’s see how you fare against this!” Glowing a faint pink, Mona pointed at the Budew, who quickly found himself enveloped in a similar aura and rising into the air.
“Izzat the best you can do?” the Budew spat. Before Mona could finish the Psychic attack, he pitched an oozing ball of black sludge at the Smeargle, nailing her directly and causing her focus to shatter. The Budew dropped to the ground and bum-rushed Mona again, this time scoring a direct hit on her as she attempted to clear the sludge from her face.
“Ooh! You fight dirty!” Mona yelped, stumbling back. “I’ll just have to fight dirty right back!” She dove at the Budew face-first, fangs glinting in the light. The Budew tried to take a step back, but did so too late: Mona latched her teeth in and shook her head, flailing the Budew around.
The Budew growled, and before Mona knew it, another series of volts was coursing through her body. He dropped the Budew and stumbled back. “You can’t handle the heat, ah?” the Budew said, smirking. “Then get outta the jungle!”
“No way!” Mona cried. She glowed pink again, but this time, the Budew couldn’t react in time: a wave of faintly pink energy emanated from her, pushing the Budew back and slamming him into a wall.
Slumping over, the Budew weakly waved an arm. “I give…”

This game’s winner is… Mona!

“Hmph. These guys need to take better care of their Pokemon,” Mona muttered as she exited the room. “I wonder how many other Pokemon in there would have attacked me just for talking.”

---

While all this was going down, Kurtzwick made his way further past the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Room towards the rest of the training rooms. However, he didn’t get very far before something caught his attention.
“I… I sense…” Kurtzwick muttered, slithering towards one of the open doors, “something valuable…” He darted through the door, completely unseen.
Once inside, Kurtzwick was greeted by a blast of cold air, but he plowed through regardless. “Okay… I think it’s in this direction…” Kurtzwick mumbled, focusing on the back of the room, where a smallish lake, partially frozen over, lay. Something small in the lake was glinting in the light. Kurtzwick grinned and zipped towards it faster than one would think possible. He pounced on the small shiny object, smiling greedily.
“Ooh, this is a Pokemon Earring…” he said. But what Kurtzwick failed to realize was that the Earring was attached to an ear. The ear was attached to a Pokemon, and that Pokemon was rapidly rising above the surface of the water. It was a large, blue, plesiosaur-like Pokemon with a spiky shell on its back.
“Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?” the Lapras asked indignantly.
“Err… um…” Kurtzwick stuttered. “I don’t suppose you’d believe I’m polishing your earring?”
“Nope. Not in the slightest.”
“Any way I’m going to get to leave without you beating me up?”
“Nope.”
“Shoot.”

Time to brawl! Kurtzwick versus Lapras!
Kurtzwick – “Hack, slay, and haul it all away!”
~
Lapras – “Own up to it!”

“Well then,” the Lapras said, “let’s start this off simply.” He reared back and spat a beam of frost and snow at Kurtzwick, who ducked out of the way just in time. Nonetheless, the Ice Beam nicked his tail, sending a chill up through the Dratini’s body.
“Gah!” Kurtzwick grunted. “Let’s see how you like a taste of your own medicine!” He closed his eyes and focused. Almost immediately, a cold wind began to blow through the room, circling around the Lapras. As it began to whip more and more harshly, Kurtzwick grinned.
The Lapras, however, merely laughed. “What do you think that’s going to do to me? This is like a mild tropical breeze! I could relax in this all day.”
“I suppose it’s a good thing I have more than one trick up me sleeve, then,” Kurtzwick said. He released a cloud of Haze, completely obscuring himself from view. When the Icy Wind finally faded, so too had the Haze, but as the Lapras noted, Kurtzwick was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did you go, huh?” the Lapras muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Unfortunately for him, that question was about to be answered.
“I’m over here!” Kurtzwick called from behind his foe. The Lapras turned, only to be met by a large orb of electricity to his face. The electricity coursed through the Lapras’s body, leaving it somewhat smoldering and absolutely furious.
“That’s it! No more Mr. Nice Sea Monster!” the Lapras howled. Like Kurtzwick had done earlier, he closed his eyes and focused, and as before, a chill wind picked up in the room. This one, however, was harsher than before and significantly colder: even some of the ice Pokemon in the room were shivering. Before long, visibility was reduced to nearly nothing, but the loud laugh of the Lapras could be heard over the whipping wind. “How do you like that, you spaz?” the Lapras crowed.
No answer came, but the Lapras was not very concerned… at least not until the Blizzard began to die down. As the snow and ice receded, the Lapras caught a glimpse of something shiny. Unlike his earring, however, this was significantly larger. Finally, the Blizzard was completely gone, and the Lapras saw it for what it truly was: a Protect shield.
“I see how you play,” Kurtzwick said as he dropped the shield. “Well, have a taste of my ultimate attack.” His eyes began to glow red, and flames began to lap at the sides of his body. “OUTRAGE!” Suddenly, a blast of flames enveloped the Lapras, melting the surrounding ice. When the flames finally died down, the Lapras was panting heavily.
“Okay, okay, you win. Just get outta here before I sue ya,” the Lapras mumbled.

This game’s winner is… Kurtzwick!

“I don’t suppose there’s any way I could still make off with your earr--”
“GO AWAY!”

---

Mercandos stepped warily into the Universal Adoption Center. Today’s training seemed to be going in full blast: the room seemed more fit to be the Professional Sports Breeding Center, as all the Pokemon in the UAC today were playing some kind of sport. “I don’t like jocks,” he murmured to himself. “They’re too full of themselves, and what do they know about real combat? They wouldn’t be able to handle themselves.”
“Hey there, stranger,” a voice called from a corner of the room filled with Pokemon playing soccer. “I hope you’re not saying that without seeing us in action.” Before Mercandos could register it, a soccer ball came flying out of nowhere and nailed him in the head. As he regained his balance, the source of the voice – a smug-looking Shieldon – marched over to him. “I propose that we put your skills to the test if you’re gonna challenge ours. What do you have to say to that?”
Even though he was still nursing his head, Mercandos grinned. “I accept. You won’t stand a chance, son.”

Time to brawl! Mercandos versus Shieldon!
Mercandos – “Ten-hut!”
~
Shieldon – “Get ready to ruuuuumble!”

Hmmm… He’s a steel and a rock type, Mercandos thought. That means that all of my attacks are going to be ineffective. What can I do first…?
“You’re being too slow!” the Shieldon called. “Try this on for size!” He charged at Mercandos, his metallic head glinting in the light.
“Gyah! Not so fast!” Mercandos replied, seemingly surprised. He wound up a Dizzy Punch and intercepted the Shieldon’s Iron Head with it… or, at least, that was the plan. In reality, Shieldon’s head proved just a little too hard, and Mercandos pulled his hand back sharply, yelping.
“I see you’re not all you’re cracked up to be, eh, mate?” the Shieldon chuckled.
“Grr… Now I’ll show you!” Mercandos cried, taking a step back. He began to wiggle his fingers back and forth in an almost hypnotic manner. There was an audible ‘click’, then Mercandos began to do an odd two-step, a red aura surrounding him. “Haaah!” he grunted. “That was great! I feel supercharged!”
“W-what are you doing?” the Shieldon asked, slightly unnerved.
“It worked so well, I’ll do it again!” Mercandos said, grinning. Once more, he began the Metronome. As before, there was a clicking noise, but this time, a bright light began to shine from behind him. “I may not have a tail, but Tail Glow still works great!”
The Shieldon grimaced. “Two can play at that game, buddy,” he said, adopting a defensive pose. An iron coating seemed to surround him: it shimmered in the light, then disappeared.
Mercandos smirked. “That’s what I was waiting for!” he said, putting his hands out. “GUARD SWAP!” Twin beams of light spanned the distance between Mercandos and the Shieldon for a split second, then disappeared.
“What did you do?” the Shieldon fumed. “I feel… drained.”
“Guard Swap is a useful move, I think,” Mercandos said, waving a finger. “It swaps our defensive stat boosts between us.”
“But… you haven’t used any…”
“Exactly.” Mercandos began waggling his other finger. “Now, let’s see what we get this time…” The Mr. Mime opened his mouth, emitting a loud squeal, like two pieces of metal scraping against each other.
The Shieldon covered his ears. “Ugh! Not Metal Sound! That’s horrible!”
“True as that may be, I think this stat war has gone on long enough,” Mercandos said. “Even though it’ll be non-very effective, I think this should still work…” He raised his hands and closed his eyes. A bright white light filled the room, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind. The sounds of several impacts, followed by grunts of pain from the Shieldon, followed soon after. When the light cleared, Mercandos hadn’t moved an inch, but the Shieldon looked battered and bruised.
“I… hope you don’t think you’ve beaten me…” the Shieldon muttered, slowly staggering to his feet. He let loose a howl and charged at Mercandos again.
“So sorry, but this’ll be it,” Mercandos said. As the Shieldon charged, a glowing, orange dragon arose from the ground behind Mercandos. The Shieldon skid to a stop, blinking in astonishment at the figure. This, unfortunately, left him wide open for the gout of orange flames that the dragon spewed at him, leaving the Shieldon charred on the ground.
“O-okay… you’re the real deal…” the Shieldon murmured.

This game’s winner is… Mercandos!

Mercandos shook his head. “I apologize too. Your skills are definitely better than I assumed.”

---

The last of the group to find a room, Groviglio wandered halfheartedly into the Professional Sports Breeding Center. Much like the UAC, the PSBC was filled with Pokemon of all kinds training and working out. Groviglio muttered something under his breath; he was about as fond of jocks as Mercandos was, but for completely different reasons.
“Hey! Everybody! Look at the hulking blue monstrosity!”
That was one of those reasons. Groviglio focused in on the source of the call – a Makuhita – and walked over to him. “Do you have a problem with the way I look? You, you overweight Pikachu mockery?”
The Makuhita bristled. “Hey, hey, it’s not my fault your face scares small children!”
“At least children can get close enough to me to be scared of it! Your putrid stench repels anybody in a fifty mile radius!”
“Look, do you want to make this physical?”
“If it gave me a chance to beat your ugly face in? Certainly.”

Time to brawl! Groviglio versus Makuhita!
Groviglio – “You fight like a cow!
~
Makuhita – “Eat it!”

“Let it never be said that I don’t fight to the best of my ability,” Groviglio said, sounding like he would be smirking if his mouth was visible. He pulled a comically-oversized die from behind his back and rolled it on the ground. “Let’s see how you’re going to be impeded today…”
The die spun on one tip for a moment, then fell, revealing the face that read “Special Defense.”
“Excellent.” Groviglio rubbed his ‘hands’ together. “Now, for step two…”
“You won’t be getting that chance!” the Makuhita hollered. “I’ll take you down first!” He threw himself at Groviglio and began pelting the Tangrowth with a series of open-palm smacks. Groviglio crouched down and weathered the blows as best as he could.
“Heh. You’re a fool if you think that did much. Of course, I’d argue that you’re a fool anyway.” Groviglio shook his head. “Now, as I said, for step two…” He spun his arms in a circle, releasing a cloud of purple spores. The cloud quickly blew in the Makuhita’s direction, and the unfortunate fighting type had little recourse but to inhale them. The Makuhita coughed and turned slightly purple.
“You… fight dirty…” the Makuhita said, hacking.
“Incorrect,” Groviglio replied. “I fight smartly. Honestly, even someone like you shoulda figured that one out.”
“If you were fighting smartly, you wouldn’t have poisoned me…” the Makuhita said, a hint of triumph in his voice. “Because I can do this!” Once again, he charged at Groviglio, but this time, his fists were glowing a bright purple. Faster than Groviglio could comprehend, the Makuhita barreled into him with a barrage of punches. The Makuhita then bounced back, seeming as if he had regained some of his vigor. “Façade, as I’m sure you know--”
“Boosts power when you’re poisoned, yeah, yeah, I gotcha,” Groviglio muttered. “Geez, I’m not some little kid, ya know. Besides, this is all still part of my plan.” He closed his eyes and focused. Suddenly, a bubble of water appeared around the Makuhita.
“What is this?!” the Makuhita exclaimed, his voice echoing slightly through the water.
“You’ll find out shortly, dunce,” Groviglio replied. He raised one arm, and the bubble began to constrict. A look of panic crossed the Makuhita’s face as he realized his air supply was rapidly diminishing. The bubble finally popped, and the Makuhita fell to the ground, panting.
“That was cheap…” the Makuhita said, obviously tiring. “Looks like I’ll have to go for the cheap shots too.” As was standard by that point, he charged at Groviglio. However, Groviglio was hardly prepared for the attack that the Makuhita launched: it was a serious of punches, kicks, and chops that came so fast and so brutally that he had no hope of defending against them. After what felt like an eternity, the Makuhita stepped back. Both combatants were panting heavily; the Close Combat had taken their toll on both of them.
“Haah… haah… you think that’ll be it?” Groviglio said. “I still have an ace up my sleeve…” He closed his eyes and focused once more. This time, orbs of green energy began to flow between the two fighters. With each orb that went from Makuhita to Groviglio, the former looked more and more exhausted and the latter looked more rejuvenated until eventually, the Makuhita collapsed.

This game’s winner is… Groviglio!

“Let that be a lesson to all you jocks,” Groviglio said, looking up around the room. “Nobody insults me like that without getting a taste of their own medicine.”

---

Later that evening, Jeff walked into the house and began putting away his bag. As he did, he glanced at the living room and noticed Mona, Mercandos, Groviglio, and Kurtzwick sitting quietly, watching a TV show.
“So, hey, guys! How was the training?” Jeff asked, smiling widely.
Nobody answered, but he got more than one stony glare.
“…was it something I said?”

[classy_cat18]

I asked for two opponents for Circe for this scenario, but I would like to change it so that both Nama and Rose can battle. Can I do that?

[Lady Vulpix]

Well, the rules say nothing about that, but I guess you can.

[Lady Vulpix]

Alright, here I am. Sorry for the late reply, I've been busy.

It was a long story with many battles and scenes, so I'll write my comments as a list.

• Hey, the training wasn't so bad!
• I like your amusing writing style.
• Nice way of wrapping things up by bringing up the details of your previour stories.
• How did the Ditto use Nightmare while in Jeff's form?
• How did you/Jeff survive for so long with no money? And if you did get some, wasn't there a phone booth available in the whole village?
• Groviglio's perfecting himself! His insults are better when he's angry.
• "Unlike what had been going on in previous months, however, they were not painting the scenery blue." <- That sentence made me laugh. I was thinking about that just before I read it.
• So you're Jeff "Blue" Azure McCoy now?
• I liked Mona's greeting. She should record it on an answering machine.
• Nice description of the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency!
• It's good to know Mona can get serious when necessary.
• Does Kurtzwick have an internal radar for valuable objects?
• The Lapras deserved to win that one. (Or should I say the Sea Monster?)
• Interesting use of Haze. I guess being transparent has its advantages.
• Yes, it's amazing what Metronome and similar moves can do.
• I've just realized I don't know much about Mercandos. I'd like to see more of him.
• Wow, Groviglio's found a rival!
• I'd never thought of a connection between Pikachu and Makuhita before.

Take 28 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[The Blue Avenger]

• How did the Ditto use Nightmare while in Jeff's form?
• How did you/Jeff survive for so long with no money? And if you did get some, wasn't there a phone booth available in the whole village?
• So you're Jeff "Blue" Azure McCoy now?
• The Lapras deserved to win that one. (Or should I say the Sea Monster?)

Point by point:

-He morphed partially into a Pokemon that could do Nightmare, but not entirely - hence why Bobbery could recognize him.
-He survived off of the kindness of strangers. And there were phones, but he didn't have the money to call long distance, and he absolutely hates causing people to spend money on him - living off of other people was bad enough for him.
-Let's just add a few more last names in there while we're at it.
-Totally agreed. And, yes, Kurtzwick has a radar. He calls it his 'swag-dar.'

Thank you.

[Lady Vulpix]

This took MONTHS to get done, and I've just stayed up after 1 AM to finish it, but it's done! Behold... my free random battles! Plus a bonus retelling of one of my oldest battles, predating the archives. (Story posted in 2 parts due to its length.)

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸, ø¤º°`°º¤ø ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

<Tracker's POV>

I was glad to be useful, especially in a situation that involved neither endless intrigues nor physical violence. In other words, something so different from my everyday job. Still, the whole thing did feel awkward, and I wasn't quite sure of what I was getting into. I tried to give myself confidence by reminded myself of why I had agreed to this: I was doing it to help Hero and Tsunami attain peace of mind, but most of all I was doing it for Kiva: someone I didn't know, but a young and confused, and probably scared soul, who needed comfort and words of experience. Someone who needed my help. And, after all, helping those who needed it was the main reason why I kept putting up with the most nasty aspects of being a police pokemon. Knowing I could make others' lives better was the best reward. But still, how could I sort out such a mess? How could I help my boyfriend apologize for making his best friend's daughter pregnant? And how could I help her feel better? I was so glad we weren't human. Otherwise the whole situation would have been a lot worse. Or wouldn't have happened. Either or.

The house looked like many others provided by the Dragon's Guild. At least from the outside. I was mildly surprised when a Snorlax came to open the door. Then again, it was a Dragon Tamers household, so I admitted it shouldn't be so surprising for pokemon to perform the tasks that were normally assigned to humans in most other places. But I couldn't help but wonder... Where was the trainer? He'd certainly been in the house at one point, I could smell it, but the smell was so dim... as if no humans had been in the house for a long time. "Don't be rude," I scolded myself. "They've called you to help, not to pry into their private lives. They're friends, not criminals. Even considering the recent reports - yes! Even considering them. It wasn't their fault. Stop bringing your job here, they need an adult female, not a CSI." Fortunately, I managed to keep my inner dialogue to myself. Tsunami did ask me if I was alright, but he accepted "Yes, I'm fine" for an answer. Hero didn't seem to notice a thing.

Tsunami asked for Kiva, and we were led to a room towards the back of the house. The Snorlax knocked on the door.
"Hey, Kiva, you have visitors," he announced.

The young Vaporeon opened the door. She had the look of someone who had just woken up, bits of her dreams still lingering in her mind, moving slowly, her eyes only partially open, her mouth neutral and relaxed. Her expression changed, however, when she saw us. She looked at her father and Hero first, then at me, and her eyes opened widely.

"Oh... hello..." she said in the slow, deep tone of someone who's trying to shake sleep away.
"Hi..." said Tsunami. "Sorry to drop in on you like this. We didn't have much of a chance to talk last time and then we had to go and... I think we should sort things out somehow. Hero needs to talk to you, and I asked Tracker to come too so she can help if he says something wrong."
"Or if you do," Hero stroke back.
"Okay, granted..." Tsunami lowered his head before turning to look at me. "Have you two met before?"
"I don't think we have," I answered politely, trying to make Kiva feel comfortable. "I would remember such a beauty."

The female Vaporeon blushed lightly, but said nothing. I began to question the wisdom of my last words, and my presence there.

"Perhaps it wasn't a good idea for me to come after all," I concluded.
"N-no..." Kiva stammered, "you're okay. If Father trusts you, th-then I do too."
"All set, then," Tsunami decided. "Hero?"
This seemed to catch Hero by surprise.
"What? Like that? In front you all?"
Tsunami nodded vigorously.
"You'll pay for this," Hero promised. "But later. Ok, Kiva... I know this will sound stupid, but... I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you, I wouldn't have done it if I'd known."
He stopped to gather his thoughts, and then continued.
"Actually, I feel quite miserable about it, and this awkward situation is only making it worse."
"I'm sorry too, Hero," Kiva apologized. "I d-didn't really know what I was doing." She looked away, but continued speaking. "And I'm sorry it made you miserable."
"It's not your fault, you didn't have enough experience to make that judgement," Tsunami told her. "In that sense, I am sorry. We should have talked more. I promise I'll try to spend more time with you from now on."
"I'd like that," said Kiva.
Her father smiled.
"And if you need to talk about female stuff, Tracker will be willing to help you," he added. "She knows about that, she's even managed to get someone as thick-headed as Hero to notice her!"
"Hey!" complained Hero.

I tried to stifle a chuckle, but had to let it out when I saw Kiva do the same. It was relieving to see her smile. Hero sighed. I felt a bit sorry for him, but only a little. After all, he was responsible for this mess. But Kiva felt responsible too, and apologized again.

"After what happened, I'll have to admit he's right," Hero conceded. "But once I'm out of here he's sushi."
"Remember you're talking about her father," I reminded him. As much as I loved him, I often found his lack of tact disturbing.
"So? Everyone likes sushi!" he tried to joke. "She knows I don't mean it literally."
"I don't like sushi..." Kiva muttered under her breath.
"It's ok, I don't like it much either," I sympathized, obtaining another smile from her. "How are you doing?" I asked her.
"I'm... okay. I can't imagine how I'd be if I didn't have Anzu to help, though... It's been hard, though... everyone else around here seems to be having their own little problems too. While it doesn't have much to do with me, it's still unsettling."

My curiosity was piqued, but I didn't want to interrupt her. I let her go on, and listened.

"Like 99 being stuck at the Pokemon Center... I never thought anything was wrong with him... but then, you don't know any of these guys, do you? I'm sorry."
I wished I did know them. I'd only heard vague references.
"99 is in the pokemon center?" asked Tsunami. "What happened to him?"
"I'm not sure specifically, but from what I hear, he got admitted as a preemptive thing," Kiva replied. "I think there are supposed to be problems with the upgrade itself that turns a Porygon2 to a Porygon-Z."

My instincts kicked in again. Something was going on. I'd felt it, but I hadn't expected it to tie in with my current investigations. Now I had to know more.

"I've heard about that," I told her. "There were reports of some malfunctioning upgrades, and Lady Ninetales told the police she'd received an anonymous e-mail saying they'd been tampered with and offering a way to fix them in exchange for a sample."
"A sample?" asked Kiva.
"A pack of upgrades," I explained. "To experiment, it said."
"That sounds... er, decidedly suspicious."
"That's what I thought. Sadly, my tracking skills aren't so good when it comes to digital data, and the only one I know of who could identify the source without a doubt is currently unavailable... Or at least I can't walk into his house without causing problems, and I don't think it's worth it for just an e-mail. We're investigating it."
"I guess it's obvious now, but Tracker works for the police," Tsunami provided the late introduction.
"That's cool," Kiva said. "Erm, if you find anything else out about the upgrade thing, can you let me know? I'm worried about 99..."
"Don't worry, I will," I promised.
Kiva thanked me with a smile.
"Evolution items are not as reliable as they're cracked up to be," interjected Hero. "I hope 99 is alright. If he ends up looking odd or something... Well, I think Porygon-Z look odd anyways, so that shouldn't be a problem."
"Well, I don't think there was anything wrong physically... but Jeff was worried about 99's mental health," explained Kiva. "That's all I could get out of him, though."
"Oh, that's bad," Tsunami commented. "I hope it's just a false alarm."
"I hope so too," Kiva agreed. "Bobbery and Maza are beating themselves up over it; they help get 99 to the Center - against his will - and now they don't think anything was wrong."
"I'm sure he'll be fine," I assured her. "If the problem's caused by the upgrade, there will be someone who can fix it. And if it's just a false alarm, then he'll be home soon."
"Thank you. That's reassuring... If only that was the only problem around here..."

What came after that was mostly a lot of gossip. I ended up offering my help trying to track a thief, which sounded hypocritical even to me considering that I knew a thief lived in that same house and I was letting him off. But Kurtzwick seemed more a kleptomaniac than a criminal; there was still a chance that his team would be able to handle him without getting the police involved. I did make it clear that I would pursue him if he showed any signs of becoming dangerous. Everything else was just rumors about Kiva's friends and even one of Hero's teammates, which I shall not report because no good may come out of spreading them. At least, the most immediate crisis seemed to be averted.

As for the other crises, a long time went by with little to no success on our behalf. I didn't find the Skitty thief named Popple; although I must admit that looking for him was not among my top priorities. I tried to find information about him in-between missions, but all the trails were cold. He had probably left Sector Alpha long before I started looking for him. Still, I believed he'd show up eventually. Either that, or he'd stop causing trouble, which was just as good. It was the e-mail that occupied most of my thoughts while I was at work. After that one, two more came, addressed to different members of the Pokemon Research and Training Department of the Dragon's Guild. A few weeks passed between an e-mail and the next, but it was clear that whoever was sending them was not planning to give up. The computer geeks at the station tried to trace the mails back to their source, only to meet a dead end on each attempt. I made an effort to understand and memorize as much as possible of their explanation, and as I thought about it, an idea came to my mind. More than an idea, it was the beginning of a theory. But it was just that: a beginning. I still lacked too much information. I had no choice but to ask for help. Luckily enough, by this time Lord Umbreon and his team were back in business, which meant that the help I needed was likely to be available.

--------------------------SHAMELESS SCENE CHANGE--------------------------

<Gabi's POV>

The street looked empty. The only sound was the constant murmur of the wind, occasionally carrying a few dry leaves. The sky looked dusty... a shade of grayish yellow, like an old book left in a library for decades. It felt abandoned... I felt abandoned, standing motionless before that scene... before those empty streets, and stores, and homes, that used to conform the liveliest part of Sector Alpha. I felt desolate.

Behind me was the park, where we'd shared so many walks, picnics and even battles. Its image formed in my mind but I didn't dare look at it... I knew nobody would be there. We had waited for too long. Yssera had won.

I felt a tear wet my cheek, and then, much in contrast with everything else, a warm feeling that seemed to come from behind me. It felt like light, and hope; and it had an extra component that I couldn't quite describe but I'd felt many times in years past. So soothing... it seemed like it could heal a broken spirit. And it had healed mine more than once. I turned around... and felt the resistance of the sheets. I moved my arms and shoulders, carefully turned my head this was and that, and slowly opened my eyes. I was startled to see Lagi looking at me. I wondered how long she'd been there.

"Good morning," she said. "Sorry I startled you."
"That can't be helped," I reply without much thought. "Good morning."

The scenes of my dream still occupied my mind, as I tried to adjust to the new day and the world it brought with it. Then I Lagi's presence by my side suddenly made sense.

"Were you worried about me?" I asked as I sat up.

Lagi placed her arm behind my back to help me up without a thought. It was the customary ritual whenever I didn't feel well in the mornings. Then, perhaps in response to my question, she placed a 'hand' on my chest.

"Did you have a nightmare?" she asked me.
"Of the worst kind," I answered. "The kind in which the worst has already happened and there's nothing you can do... and it seemed scarily close to reality. But then..."
Lagi looked at me expectantly.
"I had that feeling again. I hadn't felt it ever since Yssera first stroke close to us."
"So did I," Lagi confirmed.
"What do you think it means?"
"I'm not sure. If I have to guess, I'd say it's related to White Mountain and the pegasi. I would dare say it means hope. But how exactly... I'm not sure."
"We do have to go there. Before it's too late. I'm afraid we may be taking too long and giving Yssera the time she needs to amass her army."
"Yes... I believe we must," Lagi sighed. "A part of me has been trying to postpone it as much as possible, but I know that's the worst thing we can do. Just..."
"Just what?"
"I'm having that feeling again. It's not on White Mountain, but closer. I would like to investigate it before we go. The others can train in the meantime, so that we as a team are better prepared for the confrontation."
"Are you suggesting that we take the MTU up on their offer?" I asked, remembering the invitation to a free training session I'd received for being a member of the Pokemon Research and Training Department of the Dragon's Guild.
"Is there any reason not to?"
"I don't know... I wish we didn't have to linger here any longer. But you're right, this may be too important to miss it. And it won't hurt if the rest of the team trains in the meantime."
"Does that mean you're coming with me?"
"Everyone here knows the way to the MTU building, and trainers are not required to be present in these sessions. Besides they've all been battling without me for a long time, I doubt I could be of any help."
"And that's all just an excuse to justify your absence because you're as eager as I am to find out what's going on," Lagi grinned.
"Wow, you do have a sarcastic streak to you! I didn't think you did. But of course, you're right."
"Oh, I do have it," Lagi smiled. "I just don't normally let it out for fear of hurting others. But I knew that wouldn't hurt you. Not in your current mood."
"You're right, you've cheered me up more than I thought possible at a time like this. Caledor may have to watch out for you!"
"No, I don't stand a chance against his silliness," she laughed. And so did I.

[Lady Vulpix]

<Pidgeot's POV>

Everyone except Water Angel converged into the kitchen that morning. It became so crowded that I felt an urge to get out, but I stayed because the conversation had caught my interest. Gabi tried to begin on a serious note and told us about her dream, but Caledor couldn't take the gloom and told us about his dream, which involved a street made of jelly, with ice-cream cones lined up on each side, and which reminded him that he hadn't had an ice-cream in months. Then everyone started asking each other about their dreams. Dome didn't remember theirs. Amber said hers was something about a sheet of paper with arrows drawn all over it, but she couldn't remember what it meant, only that she was supposed to do something with it. Ventura said she had dreamt about battles, but claimed not to be good enough with words to describe them, and said the details were fuzzy anyway. Tsunami said his dream had been about a vacation in Glacier Peak, to which Hero questioned whether that had been an actual dream or a subtle request. Then came my turn to answer, but I'd had the spark dream again. Nothing new... to me, at least. It turned out I hadn't told many of the others about it yet, and they started asking me what the spark dream was.

"It's a recurring dream I've been having every now and then for as long as I remember," I told them. "First there's complete darkness... a seemingly endless darkness. And then a tiny spark of light, which grows bigger and brighter until it envelops everything. And then I wake up. You could try analyzing it, but I doubt you'll find much."
"I don't think anyone can get any useful answers out of analyzing someone else's dream," Gabi voiced her opinion. "Does it mean anything to you?"
"I don't know," I answered. "I usually have that dream when I'm worried, and it makes me feel better. But I'm stumped as to what it means. For a while I thought it might be related to my Hidden Power. I had that dream the night before I discovered it. But it would make no sense to have that dream again and again just because I have a Hidden Power of the Electric type, would it?"
"Oh, I don't know about that," said Hero. "I've had some fun dreams connected to my Hidden Power. Then again, mine's a lot more fun than yours."
"You just dream about the things you would like to do," I told him, having heard a good share of Hero's dreams in the past.
Hero smirked.
"It could be something you're trying to remember," Iael brought the conversation back to me.
I was surprised to hear him speak. He hadn't said anything since he'd entered the kitchen, making him go unnoticed among the noisy crowd. I thought about his words.
"I suppose it could be," I reflected. "There are still too many things I don't remember about my childhood. I guess I may have forgotten them because it was painful to remember what I'd lost, or maybe because something terrible happened to my parents, I don't know. But now I wish I could remember."
"If you're sure that you want, keep trying," Iael advised me. "Just be sure not to stop when the painful images come. Be strong and go beyond them. The good memories are on the other side."

At that moment I saw the Stantler under a new light. Despite living together, he and I hadn't spoken much. Especially not about personal issues. We knew about each other's stories, but there had always been a tacit agreement not to bring them up. Until now.

"I'm sorry," I said. "You must have had to deal with too much on your own. You're always so quiet..."
"I'm barely noticed among the crowd, I know," Iael finished my sentence. "It's my fault, I don't speak unless I know what to say."
"Just like me," Gabi noted.
"Then you must know what to say all the time," Tsunami teased her.
"Look who's talking," Hero remarked.
"As old as this answer may be, look who's talking too!"
"Besides," Iael continued, "there are others who crave for attention much more than I do."
Hero and Tsunami suddenly stopped their squabble and fixed piercing glares at Iael. But just for a moment. Then Tsunami grinned.
"He's right!" the Vaporeon exclaimed. "I'd like some attention. Wouldn't you, Hero?"
"Of course! The more the better!"
They both burst into laughter.
"Clowns," I shook my head.
"Hey, what about me?!" Caledor demanded. "I want some attention too. Look, I can glow!"
"You've been glowing since we met you," Tsunami spat out. "Get a new trick."
"Ok, I can... I can..."

Caledor's glow switched to a black aura for a moment, and then he disappeared. All seriousness gone, I decided to go with the flow.
"That's not new either," I told him. "I've been doing that since I was born."

To illustrate my point, I disappeared into the shadows as well. But, somehow, when I reappeared, he managed to land right on top of me, making me lose balance and land with my stomach on the floor.

"I can do that," he concluded.
"Amazing!" exclaimed Tsunami. "Caledor's psychic powers are not completely useless after all! Now he may be only the second most inept psychic pokemon in the world."

I stepped back and let Hero, Tsunami and Caledor do their thing. I'd long since learnt that it was best not to be in the middle of an argument among them once the name-calling began. I wasn't hurt anyway, and they stopped paying attention to me the moment I stopped talking, so I'd have gained nothing from getting involved.

"See what I mean?" Iael said to me. I think he was smiling, but it's hard to tell with a Stantler.
"What you mean about... what?" I asked him. "I'm sorry, I lost the thread of the conversation."
"About attention."
"Attention? Ah, attention, of course! Yes, they can easily draw it away from anything or anyone else. Why don't we go somewhere quieter... like the MTU building."
Iael chuckled before accepting my offer. "Sure."
"Hold on a second," Ventura interrupted us. "No sneaking into the MTU building without me. I want to battle too."
"Okay, don't be so rude!" I told her. "I'm sure there must be room for the three of us."

We waited to see if anyone else would join us, but the terrible trio were still deeply engaged in their argument and wouldn't interrupt it for anything we said. I think Tsunami turned to look at us for a moment, but it was just a second before he got another retort from Hero and returned it with one of his own. As for the others, they preferred to stay and get everything ready for our next mission. So, we went on our own.

Luckily, by that time there were several members of the MTU who could understand Pokemon speech, thus allowing Pokemon like us to battle while our trainers were busy. We were not the first ones to do so, and hopefully wouldn't be the last ones either (we most likely wouldn't be, but you never know). We had a little trouble deciding which section to go to. We all wanted to see each other's battles, but didn't quite agree on where to have it. I wanted to go to the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency or the Free Range Corral, because I'd heard they had wide open spaces in which I could fly freely. Ventura wanted the Caledor's Nature Protection Agency because that was where most Fire types went to and she hadn't battled one in a long time. As for Iael, he said he didn't mind either way, but after some prodding to get him to say what he really wanted, he confessed that he'd like to go to the Universal Adoption Center because it was the most varied environment. That's what he had heard anyway, as none of us knew exactly what it was like inside. I doubt many would have known, with all the rebuildings and remodellings the building had gone through. That was until Ventura stepped in, metaphorically speaking.

"Wait a moment," she told us. after a few seconds, she continued. "You know what? I think going to Universal may be a good idea after all. And we're the majority, so let's go."
"I thought we were trying to come to an agreement, not voting," I pointed out. "I don't even know what that place is like."
"I could fix that," Ventura offered.
"I'd rather find out by myself, thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Tsk. Just tell me this, is there enough flying space for someone my size?"
"There's enough flying space for a Dragonite," Ventura informed me. "There is a roof, but it's quite high. And there's a large swimming pool too. And a large space for Iael to run. It reminds me of the Eevee House."

I thought about it for a moment. It sounded spacious enough. And the swimming pool meant I could probably take a dip and refresh myself after the battle.

"Alright, let's go," I accepted.

Ventura was right, it did look a lot like the Eevee House, except for the paintings on the walls and ceiling, which resembled a clear evening sky, splattered with stars over a blue background with shades on indigo and dark purple. The floor combined carefully flattened earth and small rocks. "Rock and Ground Pokemon must feel at home here," I thought. "It shows that it's still morning. In a few hours this is bound to be a mess."

I kept looking around, trying to find out who our opponents would be. The trainer who led us to the room had left us alone as soon as we entered. I spotted a few prints and places where the earth was disturbed, clear signs of a previous battle, and gathered we were probably the second team to use the room that day. But where were our opponents?

"Hello there," Ventura's voice distracted me from my thoughts.
I turned to see who she was talking to and noticed a partially covered hole on the ground.
"Get out, I'm hiding," a voice came from inside the hole. It sounded like a female Ninetales, but not one I knew.
"Who are you hiding from?" Ventura asked.
"The MTU."
"Really! Isn't the MTU building a rather bad place to hide from them?"
"You don't get it. There's a rule... There's a stupid rule that states what types of MTU pokemon are allowed to battle in each of the sections. I've heard so much about this section and I wanted to come here, but they won't allow any fire types! I mean, if you're an outsider you can battle here regardless of your type, but for us MTU Fire pokemon, this place is off-limits. Isn't it stupid? That's typism!"
"I'd never heard that word before," Ventura remarked. "I'm sure they must have a reason to make it that way. Don't they let you battle here if you pay like outsiders do?"
"Well, duh. If I pay, I can battle in any section, but I don't have any stamps to pay with, and my trainer's already used his free battle voucher to train two of my teammates and doesn't feel like paying for a battle."

I thought of asking whether she'd tried talking to him, but I didn't want to interrupt. Besides, either she had and it hadn't worked, or she hadn't and her relationship with her trainer was even worse than it looked. It was a stupid question. By the look of things it seemed the Ninetales and Ventura would end up battling sooner or later, but before a challenge could be issued, the door opened and a human walked in.

He was a young man, with short, wavy brown hair, who wore a loose shirt and brown trousers. Or pants, these days in Ulthuan everyone uses different words for the same thing and it's hard to know which one is expected.

"Hey there," he greeted us. "So... how d'you like the room?"
"Eh... it's nice," Iael replied, seemingly startled.
"I've been sent to battle you," he said, disregarding Iael's answer, "but since you don't have your trainer with you I might as well stand here and watch while my Pokemon do the battling. It would be fairer."
"Fairer, sure, but fairer for whom?" Ventura wondered as she turned to face the newcomer.

She hovered around the human for a while. He followed her with his eyes and looked like he was beginning to get dizzy by the time she stopped.

"I know you!" she finally stated.
"You know me?" he repeated, looking at her carefully. "Where do you know me from?"
"We battled once before. A long time ago."
"Sorry, but I can't remember you," the human said. "I've battled many people and Pokemon. I've been with the MTU for years, since before we had a building of our own."
"I know, you didn't have a building when we met. You were travelling around, looking for trainers who wanted to battle."
"It was that long ago? And you remember me? How is that possible?"
"There was something about you... You were a young trainer, but you knew type advantage wasn't everything, and your dedication to training your Staryus was... impressive? Something you don't see everyday."
"My Staryus! That must have been about the time when I started training! I wanted to be a specialized Staryu trainer. It's been a long time since I've expanded to Water Pokemon in general, but I still have my old Staryus with me. Most of them have evolved by now."
"Really? So Alpha's still with you?"
"Was it Alpha you battled? Yes, I have Alpha, Chara, Diadem, Orion, Beemin and Dubhe. Only the last two are still Staryus."
"Orion, that was the other! I knew it wasn't the name of a star."
"I know, I had this big plan of having Staryus named after different stars, nebulae, constellations and galaxies... It would have been impossible to find that many, let alone train them! But I can't complain, I have a nice team now. But what is your name? I still can't remember you."
"Ventura. I was a Venonat when we battled. My friend Sylvan battled Orion, she's a Venusaur now but she was an Ivysaur back then. We were both beginning our training, we're much better at battling now."
"You were a Venonat and you expected me to recognize you now?"
"I never said I expected it."
"So you battled Alpha and your Ivysaur friend battled Orion... Who won?"
"We did."
"Hmm... You... Were you the Venonat who had never lost a battle?"
"I probably hadn't. I had a good start."
"I think I may remember you. You had that strange item that poisoned your opponents, didn't you?"
"Yes, that's me. I rarely use it these days, but I still have it at home."
"That was unfair, I didn't know that item existed! What is it anyway?"
"Magical Glass Koffing Sculpture. Bought in one of those mysterious shops that open for a few days and then disappear forever. Of course, we didn't know that until the day we passed by the place where the shop had been and couldn't find it."
"And you trust that thing?"
"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't rely on it, but it's never had any side-effects."
"Okay... So you have no items with you now?"
"I haven't brought any."
"And you want to battle. Would you like a rematch with Alpha?"
"Sorry, I think I've already found my opponent. But Alpha can battle one of my friends."
"What do you think you've already found your opponent? Where?"
"Right there," Ventura shot a Signal Beam at the earth under which the Ninetales had hidden herself.

"Hey!!" the Ninetales yelled as she came out, all covered in earth and shaking herself. "That wasn't nice, you know. What are you trying to do, bury me alive or have me kicked out of here?"
"A Ninetales?" commented the trainer. "Wait, that's one of ours, isn't she?... Fiamma, right? What's she doing here? And where's her trainer?"
"Yes, she wants to battle and so do I," explained Ventura, ignoring most of the questions. "So if you'll please let her stay until the battle's over, we'll... be very grateful."

I wondered whether Ventura would always be struggling with words. She was doing far better than when I'd first met her, and Water Angel had helped her a lot, but there were still many times in which she had trouble putting into words what she meant to say. Maybe she was marked by her past too, only in a different way. Maybe everyone was.

"This is... odd," the trainer concluded. I wished I could remember his name. "What does her trainer say about this?"
"Her trainer doesn't have to find out, apparently he hasn't even noticed her absence," Ventura said.
"I said I was going out for a walk," the Ninetales clarified. "I can always say I picked up a friendly battle while I was outside if I get a bruise or something."
"I won't fight to the death, of course, but if you're counting of coming out of your battle with nothing more than a light bruise you have picked the wrong target," Ventura warned her.
"Oh, come on! How hard can you hit me? Even if we ignore the type advantage, your body's not made for heavy hitting."
"Who said I was going to hit you with my body?"
"Oh, special attacks! This is beginning to sound more interesting now. Can I battle? Please, Eric?"

Eric! That was his name!

"What did she say?" Eric asked Ventura. "I'm afraid I'm not very good at understanding pokemon who don't have psychic abilities. Except the ones I know well, of course."
"She's begging," Ventura told him. "Please let us battle. We won't hurt anyone else."
"Ok, if you both want it so badly. Just don't ask me to take responsibility for this if anyone finds out."
"I won't. Thank you," Ventura said. "That leaves the two of you. Which one of you wants to fight Alpha the Starmie?"
"Shouldn't we find out who's more evenly matched with Alpha?" I pointed out. "None of us likes unfair battles."
"Good point," Ventura conceded, and explained my point to Eric.

Eric took out one of those advanced gizmos professional trainers have and scanned both me and Iael, and soon determined that Iael would be the best match for Alpha.

"I'm afraid I don't have any good matches for you, though," he told me. "Orion's been training so intensively, its fighting level is now above most of the opponents I find. And the others are still quite low, I'm trying to train them, but making them face such an experience pokemon wouldn't help them. I do have a pokemon that's evenly matched with you, but he's a Sharpedo."
"And what's wrong with that?" I asked and Ventura translated.
"It's obvious, isn't it? Sharpedos can only move freely in the water. They can't fly or run."
"I've battled in the Pond Room before," I said. "I don't mind battling in the water, as long as I can breathe."

Eric looked surprised when Ventura reported my answer. He wasn't the first one, but I still didn't understand what was so strange about my taste for being in the water. Surely there must be other Pidgeots out there who like taking baths too.

"As you wish," Eric shrugged. "So that's 2 battles for my group and one for Fiamma. She is Fiamma, right? I hope I'm not mixing her up with another Ninetales."
Fiamma nodded.
"Ah, cool," Eric smiled. "It would have been embarrassing otherwise. It's hard to remember all the pokemon around here, they keep coming and going. It's even hard to remember all the trainers around here these days! You don't see the same faces you could see when I started."
"Yes, it's all very nice, but can we get on with the battles?" Ventura requested less than subtly.
"Of course," Eric conceded. "Who goes first?"
"I think Ventura should go first since she's so eager to battle," I suggested. "Besides that way Fiamma can go back home and let her trainer stop worrying about her."
"As if!" Fiamma snorted. "As long as I'm home for dinner, he doesn't care where I run off to."
"I think your relationship needs a lot of work," I commented.

Fiamma shrugged as noticeably as a four-legged pokemon can. I wondered whether she was blaming her trainer for her own faults. She didn't seem to have any interest in sorting things out in any case. I dropped the subject. You can't help those who don't want to be helped.

"Have you decided yet?" Eric asked.
"Yes, we have," Ventura informed him. "Fiamma and I are going first."
"Ok, I'll send out my pokemon so that they can stretch out a little before their battles," Eric decided.

He made a gesture I hadn't seen in a long time, taking two pokeballs out of his belt and shooting two red beams at the swimming pool. The popularity of pokeballs had been receding in Caledor for the last few years, and now most skilled trainers used them only for emergencies, or for transportation when the size and weight of the pokemon became a problem. But some pokemon needed their pokeballs to move from one place to another; pokemon who couldn't fly or walk, like Water Angel or Eric's Sharpedo. I felt sorry for them. I was happy to be able to move freely and travel by my own means. Then again, I had to admit I was a bit claustrophobic myself. Water Angel didn't seem to mind. And there I was, thinking about her again. Would she had wanted to come and battle with us? Or at least to watch us? No one had asked her, and now that I saw the two Water pokemon swimming happily, I felt terrible for not having invited her. I'd have to find a way to make it up to her. But later, I had to focus on my battle first. Maybe watching Ventura battle would help me get back in a battling mood.

Level 55 Venomoth vs. Level 55 Ninetales

Fiamma was quick to begin. Once she and Ventura had occupied her positions, she didn't hesitate to shoot a stream of flames at the Venomoth. Ventura couldn't help but squeal. It felt warm from where I was standing, so I had to admire her for having the strength not to scream. My friend was audibly panting when the flames died out. But she didn't waste time either. She flew fast until she was positioned on top of the Ninetales, and sprinkled one of her powders at her.

Before Fiamma could realize what Ventura was doing, she inhaled the powder and yawned. She then reacted and tried to shake the dust away; she may have even held her breath. But it was too late. As much as she tried to fight it, she ended up falling asleep, enveloped in a cloud of Sleep Powder.

Ventura sighed with relief.

"She's not a good sport," she remarked. "That is no way to start a friendly battle. Now I have no choice but to go all-out on her."

It wasn't like her to stop in mid-battle and speak to the spectators. I wondered why she'd done it. Was she subtly asking for our approval? Excusing herself for fighting dirty? She needed no excuses, it was clear to me that Fiamma had left her no choice. I nodded to Ventura, just in case.

I wondered whether she would try to heal herself with Morning Sun, but she didn't. It made sense. Not only were we in an enclosed space, as large as it might be, but a partial heal wouldn't save Ventura should Fiamma use her fire against her once more. All she could do was act fast and hope that the Ninetales wouldn't wake up too soon. She hit Fiamma with a large beam of pink light, but the Ninetales didn't seem phased. She tried again, and Fiamma began to stir a little. She took a few seconds to recover, or perhaps to think; it was impossible to read her expression. Then she tried once more. The Ninetales squealed, and all her muscles seemed to go tense. Ventura examined her.

"Not what I was going for, but it'll do," she determined. "She's quite strange."
"What do you mean?" asked Iael, but Ventura hushed him and went back to work.

I couldn't see what she did, as everything seemed to be happening inside Fiamma's mind. The Ninetales grimaced, but didn't wake up. When Ventura stopped what she was doing, her opponent's muscles relaxed, and her neck and legs stretched out to rest limply on the ground.

I could hear Ventura's breath then, but wasn't sure of whether she was panting or chuckling. Maybe a bit of both.

"And now she lets down her guard?" she said. "Let's end this."

I assumed she had sent a quick psychic pulse when Fiamma's muscles suddenly tensed up, only to fall again. Ventura hovered above her, examining her. Then she looked at Eric.

"She won't wake up for a while," she told him. "You can check her yourself. I'd say the victory's mine."

Eric examined the Ninetales, and agreed with Ventura. The Venomoth sighed, and found a rock to rest.

Ventura grew to level 56!

"Just what exactly happened?" I asked Ventura once she was no longer panting.
"Fiamma has a very strange mind, that's what happened," she replied. "First she tried to avoid the sleep powder but she shook so much she ended up taking a full dose when she finally had to breathe in. Then she fell asleep, but was still aware that there was a threat, so she strained her mind to protect herself. That wouldn't do much good against physical attacks, but I couldn't do much damage with them anyway. Whether she thought of that or not, I don't know, but I had to work hard to lower her mental barrier. I used Luster Purge three times against her. I assume you've heard what they say about that move and how effective it is at lowering special defenses. But it didn't work in this case. I managed to strike a nerve or something the third time and did more damage than usual, but Fiamma's defenses were still up and I was getting tired. So I examined her and decided a change of strategy would be best. I switched to Psychic in order to do more damage and guess what."
"She lowered her defenses?" I guessed.
Ventura nodded.
"I heard your remark," I explained. "I wasn't sure of what you meant, but now I get it."
"Right. I knew you would. So one more blow was enough to take her down."
"I see. I couldn't get much of what was going on while you were battling, but now... It's a wonder how someone can put up that much of a fight while sleeping, without snoring or sleep-talking."
"All she could do was defend herself. I bet she'll want to learn one of those moves now."
"Maybe the rest of you should too. I'm the only one in the team who knows one of them," I pointed out.
"Maybe," Ventura considered it. "We'll see when we have the chance. I wonder what she'll tell her trainer when she gets home."

"Does anyone need to go to the Pokemon Center?" Eric interrupted us.
"Fiamma didn't take any physical damage," Ventura stated. "She'll be fine once she wakes up. And I'll be fine once I can gather enough sunlight to heal myself."
"Would you like to wait outside?" offered Eric.
"No, thanks," she answered. "I want to watch my friends battle."
"Ok, who's next?" asked the trainer.
"Can I go next?" Iael requested.
"Sure," I accepted.

Iael approached Eric, who instructed him to walk to the edge of the swimming pool where Alpha was waiting for him. Iael complied, and I followed him to get a better view of the battle.

Level 46 Stantler vs. level 46 Starmie

Alpha was ready for Iael. When my friend got close to the pool, he was met by a massive wave which fell right on top of him. He was probably caught by surprise, but he didn't waste time contemplating the events. He retaliated immediately with a Headbutt, sending the Starmie away from the edge of the pool and into the water. Alpha used the force of the blow to gain speed and emerged from the water quickly, shooting a Water Pulse at Iael while still in the air.

Iael shook himself to get rid of the water that was soaking him, and tried to calm down. He was good at it. After a few seconds, he looked composed and prepared for anything. Alpha tried another Water Pulse, but didn't manage to bring Iael down. Instead, it ended up in a perfect position to receive Iael's next attack: Crunch.

The Starmie struggled to free its appendage from Iael's jaws, and only eventually managed it by reducing its own size. Iael took the chance to use Astonish before the Starmie got out of range. Alpha shrieked. It looked like the odds were on Iael's side. But then both pokemon stared at each other for a moment... and Iael collapsed!

Alpha grew to level 47!

"Nice work, Alpha!" Eric congratulated the Starmie.
"Did you get what happened?" I asked Ventura. "Was it a psychic attack again?"
"It was Psychic, precisely," Ventura confirmed. "This makes two battles in a row ended with the same move."
"It may become more popular than Quick Attack," I joked, but couldn't laugh much. "Poor Iael. I hope Alpha didn't bring up some of his most painful memories."
"We all have painful memories," Ventura stated plainly. "We must learn to deal with them or else we'll spend our lives as slaves to our pasts which, oddly enough, don't exist anymore."
"I know what you mean, but it's not so easy. And Iael's young."
"He's not quite as young as he was when he joined the team. He's younger than the rest of us, yes, but he's an adult now. And more mature than Caledor if you ask me. He'll be fine. He knows that no one can always win, and this was just a friendly match. He did quite well, too. Alpha was good when we battled, and has improved a lot since then. Starmies in general have a dangerous arsenal of moves, and Alpha knows how to use them. There's no shame in losing to a professional."
"I wasn't talking about the shame of losing."
"Then what were you talking about?"
"Life," I sighed. "It's complicated."
Ventura moved her wings up and down. "Life's always complicated. Pokemon battles? Not so much. If it makes you feel better, I'll look after Iael while you battle and make sure he's alright."
"I would appreciate that, thank you," I said.

"So that leaves you and Crusher," Eric addressed me.
"Crusher?" said Ventura, giving Eric an odd look.
"I got him in a trade," Eric explained. "He already had that name."
"You didn't strike me as a pokemon trader," Ventura remarked.
"It's a long story," said Eric. "I trained a Horsea for a while, but after he evolved into Seadra he became restless and said the pool we had was too small for him and all the others. I tried taking him to the lake and even Glacier Peak, and he seemed to relax there, but whenever we got back home it was the same old story. It's not that he was too big because he wasn't, but for some reason he seemed to require plenty of exercise, and one day he said he wanted to go out and see the world. I had a job here in Sector Alpha, so I clearly couldn't do that. In the end I found a sailor who seemed nice enough and was interested in trading his Carvanha who was eager to battle but couldn't find enough sparring partners while sailing with him. So that's how I got Crusher."
"Interesting. So Crusher loves to battle," I noted. Eric didn't seem to understand me, but Crusher nodded.
"What about you?" the Sharpedo asked me.
While he spoke to me, I examined him and noticed he was wearing a collar of some sort, but it was not the ever-so-popular Pokemon Collar. It was more like a ribbon with an egg-shaped locket, probably a container for some item like the ashes I carried.
"Just don't poison me and we'll have a good battle," I told him.
"Poison? Why poison?" he wondered, puzzled.
"I've had some really bad experiences with a Wheezing," I said. "I'd much rather not feel that particular kind of pain again."
"Ok, I won't poison you," Crusher agreed. "That still leaves plenty of moves for me to use."
"Is there anything you don't want me to do?"
"Yes... don't be boring," the Sharpedo grinned, showing a set of white, pointy teeth.
It might have been intimidating, but I found it rather funny. That mouth didn't look like it was made to smile, but he was trying.
"Ok, let's get started, then," I said.

Level 63 Pidgeot vs. level 63 Sharpedo

By the time I made it to the pool, Crusher was already concentrating on his first move. For a moment, it looked as if he were getting bigger, but that was just an optical effect. I realized he was using Focus Energy, which probably meant he wanted to end the battle quickly. It suited me, since I was not Tsunami, but it meant I'd have to act really fast. I tried to gain an advantage by using Agility and hovering around the pool at increasing speed, but Crusher caught up with me. The only choice I had was to attack before he reached me, and try to do it without touching him - I'd never battled a Sharpedo before but it was well known that their skin could hurt you if you hit them with your own body. I turned around quickly to face the Sharpedo and hit him with an Aeroblast.

The wind caught Crusher and lifted him up, throwing him on his back against the mud by the edge of the pool. I must admit I hadn't expected my attack to be so strong. Crusher managed to turn over quickly and pressed his teeth against the locket he was wearing, opening it. A polyhedron with multiple sides came rolling out of it, and shone with an eerie light when it landed into the mud. I recognized it as a Stat Modification Die. We had a few of those at home. I wondered whether the result would affect me or Crusher, and was somewhat relieved when the light from the die the enveloped my opponent. I knew it would help him, but at least I wouldn't be hindered.

Crusher grinned. Again. I gathered he'd got something useful out of his roll. He jumped back into the water with a grace I wouldn't have thought possible in a pokemon with his shape, and emerged with another jump, catching one of my legs in his teeth and pulling me into the water. I resisted the urge to shake my legs, as it would have only caused his teeth to sink deeper into my flesh. I made use of my wings to remain on the surface.

Until then, I'd been keeping my Hidden Power in my mind as a last resort, the proverbial ace under the sleeve should everything else fail. Now I realized that, soaked as I was, I wouldn't be able to use it without causing myself some serious damage. My options were very limited. I tried an Air Slash in order to put some distance between me and Crusher, but he barely moved. It wasn't hard for him to reach me again, except this time instead of crunching my leg he slashed my right wind with his fin.

I felt a sharp pain, and it hurt more when I tried to move my wing. I knew I wouldn't have time to open the bag where I kept my ashes and scatter them on my wound while trying to stay afloat and to avoid getting hit again, but I wouldn't be able to fly out of the pool and remain airborne for any length of time with a wounded wing. Luckily, I had recently learnt a new move which might get me out of that sticky situation. I made for the edge of the pool and used my beak and legs to get out, then sat down and took a deep breath.

I had to trust that it would work, as I'd never used Roost in battle before. I tried to think only of healing myself, but only when I closed my eyes did the pain begin to recede. And then, as soon as I was ready to open my eyes again, I was smashed against the floor by the full force of a raging tsunami, no reference to my friend meant.

I stood up with effort, gaping for air. I didn't put the thought in words at that time, but I felt that if I didn't win the battle then, I wouldn't win it at all. My body was still heavy with water, but I managed to lift myself up enough to get a good view of the pool - particularly Crusher's location - and use Aeroblast once more. The attack hit home and Crusher was turned on his back, but wasn't carried as far away as before. I understood the reason for his grin: the die had given him some resistance to my special attacks. I thought of using Quick Attack to finish the job, but stopped myself before trying, realizing that I was in no shape to get away with throwing myself at a Sharpedo. Luckily, that turned out not to be necessary. Crusher did not turn over, and thus the retaliation I was expecting never came. I had won after all.

I grew to level 64!

I was still soaked and exhausted, and had the general feeling of having flown around with a mature Onix on my back. Needless to say, I didn't pay much attention to Eric's and Ventura's conversation. I looked for a dry rock of the right shape and size to perch on, shook my wings in order to get as dry as I could, and then sat down to rest. Fiamma was already up and about and speaking in an annoying tone of voice, but I ignored her too. I did, however, clearly identify Ventura's words as she firmly suggested that the Ninetales left the room. Once I felt ready to go, I helped Iael up. I looked for Crusher but it turned out Eric had already sent him and Alpha back into their pokeballs. Once the human made sure we could all move by our own means, he said he was going to the Pokemon Center and asked us if we wanted to come along. Ventura said all she needed was some fresh air and sunlight, but Iael needed some help and I knew it wouldn't hurt to get my wing looked at just in case its healing wound turned out to be more than a superficial cut.

I ended up getting a simple routine check and some warm cream applied on my slash wound and right leg (my leg still had a few bite marks, but they didn't hurt anymore and I was sure they would fade away soon). Iael and Crusher were put in that mysterious machine most pokemon centers have, where all you can see is a white light and you get a warm and somewhat ticklish feeling (although some have reported to feel cold rather than warm, which just adds to the mystery) and somehow you feel much better when you come out, at least physically. I figured it had to be some form of energy therapy, but I was stumped as to how it worked.

They both did look fine when they came out, but I was still worried about Iael. It might have been a misplaced paternal or fraternal instinct, or who knows what, but I felt the need to know if his battle had affected him in any way... If Alpha had caused him excessive suffering, perhaps unknowingly. I couldn't ask him that, however. All I felt free to ask was whether he was ok, and he said he was. I chose to believe him.

We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. So that was done. Now came the hard part: going back home and finding a way to apologize to Water Angel and make it up to her. I kept thinking about that as I flew back home. I finally came up with an idea, but I had to talk to her first and I knew I wouldn't be able to think of the proper words until I was face to face with her.

<Water Angel's POV>

I must admit it wasn't my best morning. I was left at home while a part of the team went to the Dragon Tamers headquarters, another part went to the MTU building to get free training and a third group went to the Dragon's Guild central to catch up with friends. They did ask if I didn't mind, and of course I said I didn't. They offered me to go too, but I chose to stay and wait for the training party to return. They wouldn't want to return to an empty home after their battles. So it was mostly my fault and I had no valid reason to complain... but I did feel lonely and I couldn't help it. I didn't lie when I said I had nothing against pokeballs. I didn't even mind being confined to limited spaces most of the time; not as long as my mind could stretch its wings and fly freely. What I did mind was being unable to share most of the 'group moments' with my friends; I felt I was missing out on too much. Of course there were times when we were all together and I really felt I was a part of the group, but there were some other times, like that morning, when they did things together and I just couldn't join them. And those were the times I resented the most.

My mind kept going back to that topic no matter how hard I tried to distract myself with fantasy stories which would never be written. Sometimes even your own mind conspires against you... which would have allowed an interesting philosophical analysis had I been in the mood for it. I couldn't remember being so upset in a long time, even if at first glance that morning didn't seem so different from many others. It took me a while to realize what it was that bothered me so much... and once I did I felt stupid for not having realized it either. I wasn't just mad because everyone else had left: I was mad because the first group had left without saying goodbye. I felt ignored. Even if I consciously knew it was impossible, a part of me was afraid that my loved ones might forget about me, or at least stop caring for me. Especially Pidgeot, as much as I hated to admit it. I feared that, now that he'd found the inner strength to confront his demons, he wouldn't need me anymore. Of course it took me several minutes to reach that conclusion, and a few seconds to regard it as ridiculous. But that didn't deny the fact that he had left without saying goodbye, and I was hurt because of it.

I kept swimming in circles and thinking in analogous patterns until Pidgeot's shape was outlined in the sky. At that point I stopped swimming, and looked ahead, expectantly. When he descended, we looked at each other for a while. It looked as if each of us were waiting for the other to speak. I decided to break the cycle.

"Where are the others?" I queried.
"They should be arriving soon, I came ahead," he replied. "I think Ventura's teleporting Iael inside, but I've told them not to come here."
"Why not?" I asked, intrigued.
"Because... because I owe you an apology and it would be embarrassing to give it with them around."
"So you did notice," I smiled.
"Yes, I did... but too late. I was already in the training room when I did. I was so excited at the chance to get free training that I just... didn't think. I'm sorry, I should have offered you to come with us."
"Go with you?"
Now that was something I hadn't thought about.
"Either to battle or just to watch. I should have given you the chance. They had a big swimming pool in there."
"I was thinking that you all should have come to say goodbye before you left," I told him.
Pidgeot looked at me guiltily.
"Ok, I forgive you," I half-sighed, half-smiled. "And Iael, because we all know he becomes a different pokemon when battles are involved. Ventura should have known better, though. I'll have a word with her when she shows up. But now that you mention the swimming pool, perhaps I could go and see it one of these days. Maybe after we return from White Mountain."
"Maybe, but I've thought of a place where we can go right now," he revealed.
"Really? Where is it?"
"It's a surprise."

He would have grinned if his beak had been flexible enough. I could see the smile in his eyes. I was impressed by how expressive those eyes were, and the reactions they could cause in me. It was as if they had a direct link to my emotions... even to my soul. I let him send me into my pokeball and waited, comforted by the sound of his wings above me. I laughed at myself. A few minutes earlier I'd been so angry that I couldn't even think clearly, and now I felt calm and even excited. Was that normal? I didn't know... it wasn't common in me, but I didn't believe there was anything wrong with me. Perhaps it happened to everyone once in a while. Or perhaps I just couldn't stand the look of guilt in Pidgeot's eyes. It was like a reflex: I felt compelled to comfort him, just like in the old days when he was afraid of what he might become. Or maybe I was just overanalyzing things, in which case the best choice would be to let things flow and see what happened next.

I heard a soft splashing sound and felt the embrace of cool water on my scales. Cooler than the pool at home, but not nearly as cold as the sea where I'd spent my childhood. I looked around to see where I was. It looked like a lake, or at least a lagoon. There were trees in the distance. I turned around and noticed I was very close to the shore. Pidgeot was standing on a carpet of green grass, in front of a wall of trees.

"It's the park!" I realized.
"Yes," he confirmed. "It's the park. How long has it been since we've last been here?"
"Too long," I sighed, realizing I couldn't remember the exact number of years. "Years! How is it possible? It's not far from home."
"We've been too busy... and too distracted. Do you remember the first time we were here?"
"That... I will always remember," I said with a smile.

It had been a long time earlier... So long that Tsunami had been an Eevee, and there'd been only 4 pokemon in our team. We had come to the park to relax, and I was attacked by a Gyarados. We never did find out where he came from, nor what compelled him to attack; no one recalled seeing him in the lake before, and he wasn't seen again after that day. I was still a Horsea then, and was no match for such a strong and mad pokemon, so I was terribly scared. Pidgeot didn't hesitate, and immediately came to my rescue. He was more evenly matched with the Gyarados in size, if not in strength and experience. For a moment, I thought he could win, but I soon realized he stood no chance either. Despite his impressive looks, he was basically a Pidgey in a Pidgeot's body. Only then did I become aware of his fragility, and I had the first hint of what his life was like. I knew it had to be very hard... but somehow he didn't show it. He seemed to have an unbreakable resolve. And still, that was not enough to win every battle. Not on his own. I was worried, and even a bit guilty. He was getting a hard beating... for helping me! I don't remember all the details of the battle, but I do remember clearly what I did then: I shot an Aurora Beam at the Gyarados. From that moment on, his attention was divided, and with effort and coordination we managed to bring him down. Others might have seen this as an ordinary battle, or at most a slightly unusual one. For us, it was a turning point.

"This was the park that changed our lives," I said.
"For the better," he added. "Sometimes I wonder if I ought to thank the Gyarados."
"We can laugh at it now, it's like ancient history, but back then it was quite scary."
"That much is true. But we've been through far scarier experiences and come out on top. Some of our friends have said we're invincible when we're together."
"Right... About that... I think I may have been at least partially responsible for spreading that rumor."
"Feel free to keep spreading it," he told me. "That's the one rumor I enjoy hearing."

We hugged, we played in the water, we made a point of ignoring any odd looks from outsiders, and we had a great day. The future was still uncertain, as we still had to face an enemy whose strengths and weaknesses were largely unknown, but as far as mental preparation went, it couldn't get better than that. The threats had grown, but so had we: both individually and as a team, couple or whatever we were. And there were some moments in which I thought my own made-up rumor might be right. At the very least I'd do my best to make it true. And, if I knew him, so would he.