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

[DarkestLight]

Alive! And with a short tale of a new buddy. Too much fun writing this piece.

Maybe it's...

With all their wins and losses today, one would think that the last thing Rapp and Mossjito needed was another battle. Surely, after the VelociGrovyles, the Lava Room and its intensity all the way to the Pond room and its immensity-one would THINK that Mossy would just force his trainer into just saying no.

He did. Vines stretched up and crossed in front of Rapp's visual range, forcing the humanoid to look down at his grassy partner. Moss made an angry face-imperceptible since looking through a Tangela's vines to see its face was akin to staring down darkness and asking for it to show you its goodies. Rapp reached out for the vines, in order to move them aside, but Mossy would not budge.

"This...is you telling me the Blizzard room is off limits?" Rapp asked nonchalantly, to which Mossy retracted its snakelike appendages and nodded. "That's fine. I'm getting really hungry anyway. Maybe we should go back to the other tower and investigate the restaurant?"

The notion of a large cup of tea was too appealing to pass up and Mossy gave Rapp an affectionate look. Rapp smiled as well, hoisting his Pokmeon up and setting him on his shoulder. The pair headed through the Center, and then outside, eager to walk back over to the East Tower.


---

It wasn't long before the door to the East Tower split apart, allowing entry for Rapp and Mossjito. Unlike their previous visit, they did not make a beeline for battle. Instead, the stairwell was reached, ascended and departed from, all in the quest to be encumbered by smells.

And smells they were! Food from all regions of Ulthuan was being served here, in nicely rationed quantities. This also was the most crowded room to their surprise as Pokemon and Trainers lounged around, enjoying stories of past conquest and current dreams, of future goals and present dilemmas. Choosing where to sit was not hard, as Mossy trotted away from Rapp in order to secure an open spot.

As the grass Pokemon wrapped its vines around a smaller table to hold it in place, there was a loud crash, followed by some strange hooting and hollering. An owl like Pokemon was flying and cawing quite irritatingly at something large and pink on the ground. The pink blob moved once, and started to pick up the plates that it seemed to have dropped.

"What's all the commotion about Moss?" Rapp asked, setting the teapot on the table and claiming the chair that Mossy was unraveling its vines from. Moss shook his head as it rose to stand on the table, whipping out its teacup and wafting the scent of the tea through its vines. Ahh stinging sensation of heat paired with the lively burst of peppermint. Mossjito couldn't be happier.

The pink blob however, came right over to Rapp and Mossjito's table, evidently hiding the tears that it seemed to be shedding after that disastrous fall. She wiped her bald head and looked at the pair, her mouth shut for the moment. In her hand was a small paper with a check list on it. Mossjito was confused, but Rapp was ...enthralled.

Her stunning shape was something rarely seen in the Pokemon world, a stocky creature that held herself well. There was something about her vacant stare that left Rapp spellbound, and he knew that he had to talk to her, or risk losing her forever. Heart rate began to elevate as he stammered out a sentence. "C-C-Can I have a chicken Cordon bleu sandwich?"

Mossjito stared back at Rapp, perplexed. The heck was going on here? He turned to the blob, and stared, unsure what Rapp was staring at so intensely. So what if she was a bit more fit than other Pokemon of her species, and she had a devilishly cute smile. So what if she always seemed to keep her poise -that mirrored a plus-sized fashion model?

In no time at all, Mossy was under the spell as well. The Pokemon, however, seemed completely oblivious to the both of them, and merely licked one of the boxes, before trotting away. Once out of sight, both Rapp and Mossy noted a quite warm sensation on their bodies. It grew from Rapp's hands, and Mossy's feet. Looking down upon the table, they realized that Mossy was still pouring tea into his cup. Both Trainer and Pokemon jumped back and Mossy set the tea down. That...that charlatan caused him to lose some of his precious tea!!!!

"Now calm down Mossy. You were just as enthralled as I was about her. It only makes sense we lost some concentration. I don't think she even knows what she's doing here." The explanation sounded reasonable, coming from Rapp, but Mossy couldn't quite piece it together. It wouldn't be long before they both sensed her return, mainly as jeers came from another section of the room. They turned, to see her being chased by a strange walking octopus who did not seem to approve of her at all. She ran back to their table, tossing the sandwich atop it and glaring at the tea spill.

Mossy and Rapp both backed away from the glaring waitress, who seemed to be quite frustrated at this new discovery. Without a blink, she waved her hands, forcing both Trainer and Pokemon to move from the table, Rapp lifting Mossy up just in case. Out flew a massive muscle from her mouth, which in one deft swipe, cleared the table. The cordon sandwich was balanced adeptly so as not to be touched due to the plate it was on. Mossy claimed it, and she nodded, before retracting said muscle and canting her head to the side as they sat back down, staring her her the entire time.

These two were exhibiting it as well, the strange eye goggling that she didn't quite welcome, but also didn't deny. It didn't work on those other jeering Pokemon, and she always got picked on because of it. But these two, this boy and this grass shoot, they had something about them that she liked. Backing away, she flashed them a smile-before a coarse voice shouted through the restaurant.

"HEY! PINKY! GET OVER HERE AND DELIVER THIS TO TABLE 7. AND DON'T DROP IT THIS TIME!"

Despondent sigh emanated from her form, and she tucked her head down, heading back to the kitchen. Once again, once she was far enough away, Rapp and Moss broke out of their trance.

"Oh wow, Mossy, that's a excellent Pokemon." Mossy nodded, and then turned to Rapp, who grew a stoic face, and stared directly at him.

" I don't know how else to put this. We gotta have her join us."

This took Mossy for a loop. He knew that at some point they would have to grow as a team, but the addition of a third team member was strange and new. It might make for more lively banter, and it would also NOT make him the sole focus for battles...

Great! Mossy gave an affirmative nod, before looking back to the kitchen window.

"PINKY. GO BACK TO THE WAITING AREA, AND DROP THAT APRON! YOU'VE DROPPED TOO MANY PLATES TODAY. No good Pokemon, it eats better than it serves!" "Pinky"-as she seemed to be called, seemed to be pleading to stay, but the chef seemed to have had enough. Some jeers came from the side of the room where she was and Pinky tucked her head down, feeling dejected. She made her way past other waiter Pokemon that flew or slid through the aisles and headed for the door.

"H-Hey. Hey...Pinky?"

Ugh. That name drove her crazy. She whirled around, ready to give the speaker a tongue lashing, and was surprised to see the nature boy and his grass shoot approach. The look in their eyes was wild, intense even, and she was not sure what to make of it. Canting her head to one side, that alluring aspect was created again, and Rapp took a deep breath in order to contradict it.

"I'm not sure what it is about you, but you are a very appealing Pokemon."

Immediately, people's head began to turn. What was this boy talking about with this Lickitung?

"I was wondering...if you wanted to join us. We're looking to become stronger and I figure you might make a great addition to our team." The pink blob stared at them both and then stared at her audience. She HATED the restaurant buisness, and always DREAMED about leaving here and making it to a big city. But, as she raised her hands, she was still awfully young, and not hardened by the energy of many battles.

"That's alright. Let Mossy here and I help you with that. You'll be amazing in no time."

The Lickitung thought about this offer, and waddled toward the door. Maybe she should? They seemed eager enough to have her, and there was nothing to visibly gain on their end, since she really didn't know too many attacks. Maybe these two would be a good fit for her.

As she debated, Moss tugged on Rapp's jacket. He raised some vines up, and formed them into heart shapes, before breaking them apart. Mossy nodded, whispering a reply.

"I don't know either Mossy. Maybe she doesn't know she's doing it. Maybe she's born with it..." He didn't finish his sentence as the pink Pokemon waddled over, glad to accept their offer. Her tongue flew out of her mouth and licked Mossy, as a sign of affection-and that was the kicker that threw Mossy completely off of cloud nine. Instantly covered in Licki saliva, he suddenly felt NO attraction to her whatsoever.

He pointed at Rapp, who wasn't sure what Mossy was so adamant about now AFTER being licked. Licki nodded and Rapp barely got a breath of objection out before he got tongued by this chick. Once the moment had passed, Rapp took three deep breaths, and looked down at Licki.

Yeap, no alluring mechanism at all. "It's as if your saliva shuts-Oooh that's why. Thanks Moss! Someday we'll get that under control." The Tangela bowed and Licki smiled for a moment. But when Rapp uttered her "name", she shuddered and glared at him, mouthing off a few times. Rapp turned to Mossy-who helped translate that she hates what she was called here, and she has a name which she'd love to have.

"Well then, what shall we call you, Miss?" as Rapp opened the door to the restaurant for them to exit." "Maybe--" Cut off, "Licky" and Moss would answer for him. Hearing it, Rap nodded, in complete agreement.

"...It's Maybelline."

[The Blue Avenger]

Speaking of, I'd like a 2 v 2 RBG from the UAC for Kiva and Anzu, please. *hands over 14 stamps*

Edit: Actually, let me ask a question. Would a 3 v 3 be possible? I'd like to get one for Groviglio, Kiva, and Anzu. If not, no big deal.

Just so this doesn't get lost at the end of the last page.

DL: Notes:
-I will fully admit that both Rapp and Mossjito getting head over heels for a Lickitung at first gave me a bit of the screaming heebies before I figured out what was going on. XD
-I approve of Mossjito's attitude for tea.
- "it would also make him the sole focus for battles..." How would a new team member lead to this? I'm afraid I don't follow.
- Tongue lashing! I get it.
- Hm, so the attraction wears off after being licked. I suppose I can see a certain logic in that.
- In regards to that last line, here was my thought process:
"Maybe..." he's not actually going to do it, he's not actually going to do it "...it's Maybelline." ...He did it. XD

Also, props for using a Tangela. Tangela trainers represent.

A stand-alone scene, with some good writing and a recruit... Let's say 7 stamps.

[Lady Vulpix]

OK, rules updated, so assuming you pay 21 stamps...

They're going to battle an Absol, Phanpy and Shuppet. I hope you know what you're doing.

[DarkestLight]

Thought I replied to this.

Jeff
.Screaming Heebies? YES! I was SO going for the freakout factor lol.
.Edited that little mixup there.
.The mere thought of a sexy Lickitubg came up in a convo at work, and I had to follow it up.

[Wolfsong]

I'd like an rbg for Jasmine my L.20 female winged dratini from the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency please *hands over 7 stamps leaving me with 23*

[Lady Vulpix]

Jasmine will battle a Kricketune.

[The Blue Avenger]

So, here's my 3 on 3 RBG, entitled "Action!"

---



What timing, Jeff thought. I suppose it comes with being promoted. Everyone expects you to do everything all the time. He was standing in front of the stadium that was set to be utilized for the Dragon Games – it was in the middle of being decorated. The message from Lady Ninetales had interrupted his thoughts, and he paced back and forth, deep in thought.

Then an idea occurred to him.

“Maza!” he said. The Alakazam appeared at his side, listening intently. “Get Groviglio, Kiva, Anzu, and Kurtzwick, and meet me back here in an hour.” Maza nodded and disappeared.

---

“What’s this about, Jeff?” Kurtzwick asked. “I was just about to go liberate some food from the grocery store.”

Anzu eyed him. “To give to someone less fortunate, right?” she said, grinning.

“Sure.”

Jeff shook his head. “I hate to ask this, Kurtzwick, but do you have a video camera? A good one?”

“How many? I’ve got, like, three.” Kurtzwick pulled each of them out to demonstrate the point. “I’ve also got a good microphone, a tripod, and a director’s chair.”

Jeff stared at the pile of ill-gotten goods in front of him. “Yes, you certainly do. And you’ve even got a little director’s hat.”

“Where was he keeping those?” Anzu mumbled out of the side of her mouth.

The stoic expression never leaving her face, Kiva replied, “You probably shouldn’t ask.”

“Right,” Jeff said, clapping his hands together. “Here’s what I brought you here for. We’ve been asked to do a spot for the Reward Center’s TM Corner. And, Grove, Kiva, Anzu, since the three of you have gotten some new TMs there recently, it seemed appropriate.”

“So you brought us around so the Pittsburgh Stealer here could film us showing off,” Groviglio said flatly.

“In a nutshell, yes.”

Groviglio crossed his arms. “So what’s the catch?”

“I’m sorry?” Jeff raised his eyebrows.

“You interrupt what was, by all accounts, a boring day with the ball of goo and Norma Bates to let me show exactly how awesome I am to the world at large? I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, here.”

“The ball of goo and…?”

Groviglio shook his head. “Norma Bates. Cam and Raini. Keep up here, man.”

“Oh. Well. Um. The catch. It’s not really so much a catch as…”

Jeff was interrupted as footfalls became audible on the dirt path leading to the clearing where they were waiting. The owner of the footfalls soon became readily apparent: he looked like he had been traveling for days, based on the state of his ruffled clothing, even though Maza had only been by to teleport him to Avelorn in the last hour. Even more surprising, the man somehow pulled the look off well, radiating an air of extreme calm and confidence.

“Good morning, Lord Porygon,” the man said with just the slightest touch of an accent.

Jeff nodded in acknowledgement. “Same to you, Lord Persian. Thanks for coming out on such short notice.”

Lord Persian laughed. “Think nothing of it. How can I refuse to help the newest Lord? It’s not every day that someone gets promoted up to our ranks. Besides, you helped out my assistant. So what do you need from me?”

“Did you bring the Pokémon I asked you to?”

“Indeed I did,” Lord Persian said. He palmed three Pokéballs and spun one on his fingertip for a moment before dropping them to the ground. They opened, and a trio of Pokémon appeared to face Groviglio, Anzu, and Kiva. “Here we are,” Lord Persian continued, “my Absol, Rhodes; my Phanpy, Ellis; and my Shuppet, Cue.”

Jeff smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Excellent. Here’s what I’m planning…”

---

A few days later found Jeff in the stadium’s manager office. It was currently vacated while the stadium was in use for the tournament, so naturally that meant that someone would have to take up residence – and Jeff felt like he would be a fine choice. He kicked back in the plush manager’s chair and pressed a button on a remote control in his hand. The widescreen TV mounted on the opposite wall flickered into life, displaying the start-up screen of the DVD player.

Jeff grinned. “Let’s see how this came out,” he said quietly as he pressed ‘play’. The surround sound speakers in the office hummed as the clip started.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Jeff’s voice said, sounding slightly tinnier coming from the speakers, “Call me Lord Porygon. I’m here today to convince you to take a trip down to the Dragon Tamers Reward Center. But I’m sure you see ads like that every day. No, what I’m going to do is show you why you should come down to see us! Here to help us out today is the imitable Lord Persian.”

“Hello, ladies,” Lord Persian said, giving a slight half-wave. He winked at the camera.

“Yes, thank you. Now, let’s introduce the stars of this production: playing for Team Porygon, we’ve got Groviglio, Kiva, and Anzu…”

Groviglio pounded a fist-analogue into his palm-analogue, while Anzu grinned for the camera and Kiva merely watched, the barest hint of a smile on her face.

“And for Team Amazing,” Lord Persian said, breaking in, “please enjoy Rhodes, Ellis, and Cue.” The Absol whipped her scythe around in a circle and the Phanpy trumpeted happily, but the Shuppet glared at the screen, his eyes glowing in a way that made Kurtzwick swivel the camera away.

“These six fine Pokémon will be demonstrating what they’ve gained from the Reward Center!” Jeff gestured to the middle of the clearing, and the two teams circled around it. “Let’s get ready to RUMBLE!”

STRIFE! Team Porygon versus Team Amazing!
Groviglio: “Your mom!”
Kiva: “You need to cool down.”
Anzu: “Let’s heat things up!”
~
Rhodes: “Bang, bang!”
Ellis: “We can take on ANYTHING!”
Cue: “…”

Watching the video, Jeff was extremely pleased with the way 99, in post-editing, had made that text scroll across the screen.

The six Pokémon all eyed each other for a moment. Groviglio and Rhodes stood front and center, staring each other down, while Kiva and Anzu flanked the former, and Ellis and Cue the latter.

Groviglio was the first to break the silence. “So you herald disaster, is that right?” He narrowed his eyes. “I can see why. At the first sight of you, people go running!” The ensuing laugh was abruptly cut short when Rhodes raked her claws directly over Groviglio’s face. He yelped and stumbled back.

“You really should have expected that,” Kiva said.

Anzu grinned. “Yeah, I’m surprised more people haven’t tried.”

Groviglio gave them a withering glare. “Oh, shut up.” He turned back to Rhodes. “As for you, I’m not taking that sitting down!” He gestured with both arms. “Come on, guys! Let’s give them all we’ve got!” He lashed a tentacle out and squeezed it tightly around Rhodes, glowing green, just as Kiva reared back and clapped her paws together. Anzu briefly flashed a brilliant yellow, the Helping Hand taking effect, and she rammed Ellis with a vicious Secret Power. The impact showered Ellis with a smattering of sparks, and Ellis whined, trying to rub them from his eyes.

“Oh, looks like Team Porygon’s taken an early lead, Lord Persian!” Jeff said. “That was Giga Drain, Helping Hand, and Secret Power, and Giga Drain is one of the many moves you can buy down at the Reward Center! Take on thine enemies and, physician, heal thyself!”

Not about to be outdone, Lord Persian began mugging for the camera too. “Rhodes’ most excellent Shadow Claw is similarly a move available for purchase. Strike fear into your foes’ hearts!”

Rhodes frowned and pressed her forelegs against Groviglio’s vine. She opened her mouth wide, and with a sickening noise, she bit down hard. Groviglio howled and retracted the vine quicker than a tape measure before backing up. Ellis took the opening and curled into a tight ball, spinning in place for a moment before tearing across the clearing. He bowled down Kiva and was making a reasonable attempt at hitting Anzu before Anzu, with some deft footwork, gracefully darted out of the way. She responded in turn by spitting out a giant burst of flame. It nailed Ellis in the back and, as it expanded into five gouts, it knocked him out of his spin.

“A nice Rollout from Ellis,” Lord Persian said, “and a magnificent Crunch! Both are fine TMs to pick from.”

“But an even better Fire Blast!” Jeff said, smirking. “Top of the line move, right there.”

In the resulting confusion, nobody seemed to notice that Cue had disappeared. With little fanfare, he reappeared behind Kiva and unleashed a headbutt right in the back of her head. She stumbled forward and whipped her head around. “That was uncalled for,” she said quietly as a scowl crossed her face. She backed up a step away from Cue and opened her mouth wide; Cue didn’t have a chance to move before a pressurized stream of water blasted forward and sent him spinning.

“Ohhh! What a Faint Attack!” Lord Persian crowed. “She never saw it coming!”

Jeff crossed his arms. “That Water Gun wasn’t bad either.” He glanced out over the field and watched as Groviglio raised his arms. “Wait, is that…?” Two boulders lifted with them, rising straight out of the ground with an ethereal light. “It is! That’s Ancientpower!” The rocks soared over Kiva and Anzu’s heads and rolled straight for Ellis and Cue, the latter of whom had returned to his side of the field.

Rhodes hissed. “You’re attacking my teammates? My much weaker teammates?” She lashed out with the scythe on her head, and the rocks fell into pebbles before reaching their targets. “Let’s see how you like it!” Rhodes raised her head and began to pulsate with a dark aura.

“Oh, hell,” Groviglio said quietly.

With a resonating bass note, Rhodes exploded with a dark wave that spread out from her in a circle. It passed through Ellis and Cue without harming them, but Groviglio suspected that it wouldn’t have the same effect on Kiva and Anzu. Jeff grit his teeth as the wave seemed to move in slow motion.

Lord Persian laughed, obviously enjoying Jeff and Groviglio’s consternation. “Looks like that Dark Pulse – available for a bargain price of 25 stamps – is about to knock some Pokémon out of the game! Well done, Rhodes!”

Groviglio sighed. If he wanted to have any chance of winning, then he needed Kiva and Anzu – if nothing else, they would help draw some of the attacks away from him. He lowered his center of gravity and stretched his arms out as far as they would go. The Dark Pulse hit, prompting a grunt, but Kiva and Anzu, both in the umbra of the attack, escaped it unscathed.

“Good show, Groviglio!” Jeff said, pumping a fist. “Let’s start wrapping things up!”

Groviglio nodded. “You got it.” He glanced back a moment at Kiva and Anzu. “Let’s try out the combo attacks!”

“But we’ve never tried them,” Kiva said, less complaining and more pointing it out for the sake of argument.

“Excellent!” Anzu said immediately after. She smiled. “That’s going to make it more fun!”

“I’ll start us off!” Groviglio crackled what amounted to knuckles. The ground underneath Rhodes began to rumble, but before she could react, the dirt gave way, bursting upwards in an explosion of sharp-edged grass and leaves. The blades lacerated Rhodes on the way up and littered the ground. “Now, Kiva!”

Kiva sighed. “I hope this works…” She shut her eyes and a column of water exploded out of the same entrance the grass had made. As soon as it appeared, the water spread out over the ground, mixing with the leaves and the dirt until they formed a miniature murky swamp. Rhodes pulled a foot out of the mire, but it quickly sucked at her as she lowered it again.

“I can’t move, Rhodes!” Ellis cried, up to his mouth in the mud.

Rhodes growled. “Keep it together. We’ll brave this well enough.” But this proved to be the wrong thing to say. Cue, the only member of the team not coated in mud, nonetheless found himself being blasted by another pillar of water. This time, Anzu also summoned a gout of fire – the fire evaporated the water after Cue was sent spiraling down, and a shimmering rainbow appeared in the battlefield between them.

Anzu smiled. “How pretty!”

“Dunno what that’s supposed to do,” Groviglio said under his breath.

“A rainbow? Is that the best you can do?” Rhodes called.

Groviglio leered. “Brave words from someone who can’t even move to attack me! Anzu, now!”

Anzu nodded and threw out another blazing column. This one caught Ellis squarely, and Groviglio joined her with another leaf explosion. The leaves caught and fell around the battlefield, neatly framing the swamp with a ring of fire.

“Oh yeah!” Jeff clapped his hands and whistled appreciatively. “That was an excellent demonstration of Grass Pledge, Water Pledge, and Fire Pledge! Brilliant – and for only 15 stamps apiece!”

“Oh, Team Amazing’s not done yet,” Lord Persian said gravely. “Come on, show them your Hidden Power! 10 stamps!”

Rhodes shut her eyes. A faint, black Absol appeared behind her and floated across the battlefield. It locked eyes with Groviglio, who could only stare at it for a few moments before backing up, shuddering.

“Don’t let it affect you, Groviglio,” Kiva said. “It’s a ghost – nothing more.”

“Says you,” Groviglio said, grumbling.

The Absol disappeared, and Rhodes opened her eyes. Beside her, Ellis and Cue were also focusing. Behind Ellis, a stone pillar was rising out of the ground. It carved itself into the shape of a hand, and with altogether more flexibility than one would expect out of a stone, it reached over and squeezed Kiva in its grip. She yelled, and began panting when the rock finally let go. The hand dissipated as well.

Cue’s move was nothing quite so dramatic. He merely floated to Anzu and began delivering several well-placed tackles and body blows, those being the most effective fighting moves the Shuppet had at his disposable. With each hit, Anzu grunted, and when Cue finally backed off, Anzu winced, glancing down at where she would undoubtedly have many bruises soon.

“There, Team Porygon,” Lord Persian said. “Now the tides have turned.”

Jeff laughed. “Not hardly! Guys, you show them yours! Let’s finish ‘em off!”

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Groviglio looked at Rhodes and squinted. “You’re going to get it now, you titanic clod!” He raised a tentacle, and water began condensing out of the air, drying the immediate area out and making the swamp recede. The water formed into a giant bubble, and it surrounded Rhodes easily. The inside of the sphere suddenly jutted inwards with several improbable-looking blades formed from the water, and the bubble began to spin with a noise not unlike a buzzsaw. Each blade nipped at Rhodes, who greeted each hit with a yip. Eventually, the bubble popped, but Rhodes obviously couldn’t take any more. As soon as the bubble disappeared, she collapsed.

Anzu stepped up next and smiled. “My turn!” Her fur crackled with electricity, and a bolt leaped out and struck one of the spare cameras sitting in a pile where Kurtzwick had left them. A “what do you think you’re doing?!” sounded from behind the active video camera, but Anzu didn’t seem to mind. The electric bolt hurled the camera, now charged, at Cue, who took the blow directly in the face. The camera hit, and it sent sparks traveling all over Cue’s body, shocking him and sending him to the ground too.

“And that leaves me.” Kiva stood up, her tail sweeping elegantly behind her. The condensation from the water was still in the air, and it glittered and shone as it passed over Kiva’s skin. She opened her mouth, and a tongue of flame jumped out. The lone spark twirled and spun through the air for a moment, deftly avoiding the ever-present water, but before long, it expanded. As it grew, it took on a form: something four-legged, with a long, finned tail… Anzu gasped with surprise and smiled when she recognized the form of Kiva in the flame. The fire-Kiva jumped through the air, leaving a trail of steam, and opened its jaws. Ellis’ eyes widened, but he didn’t move as a jaw of fire closed down on him. The Hidden Power sizzled and disappeared, but Ellis simply slumped over.

Another line or two of text rolled across Jeff’s TV screen.

Victory!
Groviglio grew to level 19! Groviglio learned Vine Whip!
Kiva grew to level 7!
Anzu grew to level 7!

Lord Persian sighed. “Well done, Lord Porygon,” he said as he recalled his Pokémon to their Pokéballs. “That was a wild match.” He turned to the camera with a gleam in his eye. “And the only thing wilder is the Reward Center’s prices!”

Jeff shut the TV off and smiled. The Reward Center was going to love it.

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry for the delay, it's been a sad and busy week for me, only improved by my birthday and the puppies.

It was strange to see Lady Ninetales getting involved with the Reward Center. It's usually run by the Dragon Tamers. Unless someone mistakenly contacted her about it and then she re-routed the message to you?

"Where was he keeping those?" Anzu mumbled out of the side of her mouth. <- I was wondering the same thing.

Maza's teleportation is really powerful! Can he go all the way from Caledor to Avelorn like that? Hero would be really jealous if he found out (and would immediately start working on improving his own, even though he'd probably never make a hundredth of that distance).

So... Jeff gets to choose who shall occupy the vacant office? And he conveniently chose himself.

I wonder if Lord Persian noticed he was called "imitable".

The idea of having a battle to advertise the Reward Center was quite original. And yay for 99's video editing skills. But the commentaries were as annoying as all other ads during sport events. Come to think of it, it was quite reallistic. But annoying, nonetheless.

Groviglio's opening line was funy too. And I liked the tape measure metaphor.

Rhodes had a point about Groviglio attacking Ellis and Cue. And it's interesting to see he thinks of Kiva and Anzu as flesh shields. O_o

I like the different ways in which Kiva and Anzu reacted to the idea of using the combos.

The phrase "rainbows for everyone" came to my mind, but that only makes sense if you've read DMFA.

3rd different use I've seen of Ghost-type Hidden Power. I've said this before, but I like the way it works differently for each user.

[...]most effective fighting moves the Shuppet had at his disposable? You probably meant disposal.

The final combo was quite interesting.

So let's count the stamps... the supermarket ticket says 19. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Yes, I wrote the rating on a supermarket ticket. It seemed appropriate.

[The Blue Avenger]

We'll say that your explanation re: Lady Ninetales getting involved is what happened. It makes more sense than anything I could come up with. XD

The way I expect Maza is Teleporting is that he's not going from point A to point B in one shot; he's hopping from place to place along the way. He's just being expedient about it.

Well, he chose the vacant office for the duration of getting the video made, at least.

When I wrote Groviglio's line about drawing attacks away, I didn't mean it to sound quite so self-serving - it's more along the lines of that Groviglio knows he won't win if all three opponents focus their attacks on him.

Thank you for the stamps.

[DarkestLight]

Let's catch Maybelline up

I like it when she tongues me.

With Maybelline as a part of the team, the trio eagerly stepped out of the dining establishment and headed down the nearby stairwell. Mossy and Maybelline stayed side by side, as Rapp walked ahead of them. Looking back t see if they were keeping up, Rapp noticed that Mossy was actually quite ok with having a new team member. It did seem better, having another person to talk to. He also realized that now he had a stronger base. There was one key difference.

Rapp stopped walking, and both Pokemon instantly turned to note. Mossjito looked around warily, while May raised her hands up close to her lips, as if ready to expel her tongue. Rapp walked over to her and in one swift motion, lifted the heavier than expected girl up. May gave off a startled yelp, as Rapp quickly set her back down.

"Ok...its doable...but I have to be running faster." May backed away from Rapp for a moment, and Mossy gave him a strange look.

"Huh? Don't worry about it guys. I just needed to make sure of something. But I also need to remember I can't always do that."

Mossy and May looked to each other, and then back to Rapp, whom was heading back to the Center. They followed after, but Mossy's mind was at work, trying to decipher what that meant.

---

The East Tower was exited once more, and Rapp looked to the West Tower again. There was still one room he had not dared walk into with Mossy. Looking at Maybelline, she seemed just as ill-prepared. But he knew that in order to test her limits, She was going to have to go in there. He sighed and kept moving, knowing they'd follow. Mossy and May did, jabbering all the way.

--

Rapp held open the door for both May and Mossy, before shutting it behind himself. The lobby was not packed today, and people were tending to their Pokemon. A Spinarak skittered past and Maybelline stepped backwards, disapproving of the arachnid. The small spider stopped in front of her and raised his front appendages in a friendly manner. Maybelline freaked however, and her tongue came flying out of her mouth. The Spinarak stared at the pink mass with a confused but terrified look, as it completely enveloped him for a moment, before flicking him clear across the center.

The Trainer of said spider immediately stood up and stomped over, tightening his hand into a fist. "Hey! Hey guy! Why's your Pimplemon hitting my Cruise?" Rapp-slightly bemused at the situation, turned to the much larger fellow and pointed to May. "She's a little nervous around spiders. It was an accident."

"She ought to be a little nervous about THIS!" he shouted while snapping his fingers. All at once, three purplish Pokemon came over. One was a large gaseous bag of filth, with two heads. Two were land bound, but they left trails of sludge behind them, and they smelt to high heaven. Rapp nervously stood in front of Mossy and May-who was plum terrified now-and kept his cool. Social situations weren't a strong point for him, but he wasn't about to let his Pokemon be cannon fodder for these ruffians.

"Come on tough guy! Battle me! Right here and now!"

"I'm not battling you. She's a baby, just like your Spinarak." As he said that, "Cruise" as it was named, came skittering back over. He seemed not hurt at all, aside from the small lump on his head. It raised its front arms again at its Trainer, who looked over and attained a sigh of relief. Lowering one hand, the Spinarak, skittered into it, and up his arm, resting atop his shiny bald head. Maybelline watched as the large man gently tickled the little spider, before turning his attention back to Rapp.

"You're lucky, punk. But we'll see how long that luck lasts, right boys?" From behind him, a bunch of laughter could be heard. There was a table full of people who seemed to have unscrupulous pasts sitting there, tending to all sorts of evil looking Pokemon. Rapp took a deep breath and nudged his left foot back. Mossy understood and began to back away, coiling vines around Maybelline so she would not be caught in the crossfire.

Rapp stood up as tall as he could, which was a little above the average male. He still was a good 4 inches shorter than the heavy set muscleman in front of him, but that didn't matter. Rapp twisted his lips, trying to find a comeback to state. When one didn't come, he sighed and took a large step back.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding Cruise. You just startled her." Rapp stated, before taking a step to the side, making sure not to step on the sludge pile left by those hideously smelling Pokemon. The large male looked on with a menacing stare as Rapp calmly but quickly moved away and toward the stairwell. His entourage also kept watch, a few getting up to talk to the large man after Rapp was out of ear shot. Rapp noticed that one fellow kept pointing to him as he talked to the bald headed spider trainer, and the large man nodded in approval.

Knowing this may not turn out well, Rapp looked for Mossy and May. They were-as he predicted-by the stairwell. May was already pulling the handle of her door with her tongue, allowing Rapp to calmly walk in. Once he reached the hallway, and Mossy skittered in, he shut the door, and bolted up the stairs, 3 at a time. Mossy and May followed as fast as they could and the trio then ran down the landing, and skidded to a stop in front of a large set of doors. Rapp sat down, and buried his head into his knees, arms cradling his legs so they didn't fall to the sides. Mossy just watched Rapp for a few moments, and turned to Maybelline, whom also seemed down. She kept patting her head, and looking at Rapp, then patting her head summore.

"Don't worry guys. I'm just calming myself down." Rapp said. Mossy nodded, and May sighed. Mossy and May turned to look down the hallway, and May sighed again.. Mossy ran over to May and looked up as May sighed a third time. Each time, there was a release of steam! At least, it looked like steam! Mossy reached up with a few vines as May exhaled again, to try and feel it. Nope. Not hot. But the tips of his vines felt the slightest bit wet.

Rapp looked up to see those two playing with air? and shook his head in quiet wonder. Taking a deep breath, he instantly began to cough. Why was the air so sharp and col..! He looked across the hallway at the massive double doors, and noticed the small coating of a crystalline form around their edges. He was here.

"Ok guys. We're going to make a dash for the cabin."

Mossy and May walked back over, unsure what he was talking about. Rapp looked to Mossy, and then to May, who kept patting her head. "The brochure Mossy. I remember reading something in it." Mossy whipped it out to May's surprise, and Rapp quickly opened it. Finding the section on the Blizzard room, he pointed to the cabin - a small lodging amidst a field of snow. "We gotta get in there, before we can battle around."

Mossy definitely approved of this idea, and May nervously agreed. Rapp nodded, and gave the brochure back to the little planimal before heading to the door. Steeling his thinly clothed body, the doors were pushed open and a horrendous blast of icy wind struck all three. Mossy jumped behind May to reduce the hit as much as possible, and Rapp quickly darted in. The Pokemon followed, but Mossjito was not liking this at all.

Rapp quickly spotted steam rising in a different direction than the wind, and he shuffled his feet in that direction, making a path for May and Mossy to follow. It only took them three minutes to reach and enter the cabin, but it felt like an eternity to Mossy. When that door was finally closed, and warmth overtook the trio, Mossy fell over.

"Oh no!" Rapp yelled, as two people turned to spy the new arrivals. Rapp quickly grabbed a spare parka and put it on, before lifting Mossy up and sticking him in the furry hood section. Mossy shivered in there, but it was obvious that he was just dealing with the rapid drop in temperature, rather than having being completely knocked out by the cold. May however, seemed none the worse for wear. She did however, stretch her legs out in an effort to get the chill off them.

The male trainer in the room seemed to stare, and Rapp smirked, knowing what was happening. But the Female trainer came over, concerned about the Tangela. "Hey! You sure your buddy's gonna be alright in here? This is no place for a Tangela."

"He's ok. I'm not using him for this area." Rapp replied, pointing to the Lickitung who somehow found a mirror and began posing in front of it. "My prima over there is." The girl nodded and pointed to the table. "Well, he can stay in here. My Pokemon aren't going out there for a while, we just finished and I need a few hours of warming up."

Rapp looked to Mossy, who gave him a singular vine pointing upward. "That's his version of a thumbs up." Both the male and female trainer looked to each other, and then laughed. "Name's Jules." The fellow stood up, his furred coat draped over him as if it was a robe. He had a beard and a polished handlebar mustache that still had evidence of frost upon it. His eyes stared at Rapp intently, as he walked over to inspect the Tangela. Mossy stared right back at the older man for a moment and then closed his eyes to rest.

"Yeah. Poor little grasser ain't built for this weather yet. Still got a while to go. But your pink princess'? She's built better than a mountain for this place."

"Jules has an eye for seeing Pokemon potential." the girl chimed in. Rapp turned to look at May, who now seemed ready to check out the snowy area. Rapp looked out the window, and noticed the winds had died down a bit. "Well, I better go see what's what out there then, while I still have time. Mossy. Stay here...and have some tea!"

Mossy hopped out of the hood at the mentioning of the word "tea" and whipped out his teapot and his cup. The older fellow gave out a chortle and walked over to a stove. "I see this one is prepared for anything. Well, I'll join you-little guy." Rapp smiled as Mossy vined his way up the wall and onto the stove, to get his teapot a brewing, the older man dragging a chair near the stove to sit down on and start talking to the viney one.

May and Rapp headed for the door and Rapp threw on the hood. "Be back soon!" Mossy waved, and watched them leave. The second the door shut, Mossy noticed there was a crack the ran along the base of the cabin, into the corner. Stuffed into the corner was an object! Yay! But before Mossy could hop down and pilfer the item...his teapot was whistlin'! The older fellow grabbed the pot first and poured them both glasses. Offering the girl yielded no response, as she was content eating a sandwich and talking to her Pokemon, whom Mossy still didn't see. The old man rocked back and forth in his chair, silently watching the winds and the two figures make their way from the cabin.

[May Lv 9 vs Sneasel lvl 15]

The pair didn't have to walk very far in the room before they realized that they created no real way to get back. Turning around, Rapp could barely see the billowing smoke that left the cabin chimney. "No good. I think we should stay close to the shelter May, never know what could be out here." May looked up to him and nodded, as the winds died down.

Grateful for the winds to have stopped their blowing, Rapp lowered the hood off of the borrowed parka, and took a look around. There was snow everywhere. Although the expanse was white, there were small dotted parts of the area that were black and brown and green. One such black spot was right in front of May. She smiled thinking it would give her steady footing, but when she stepped on it, it lurched! May fell backwards as something poked out of the snow. A single plume was visible, brilliant red in this white backdrop.

Rapp took a step back as this red feather moved backwards in the snow, its whole body hidden away in the midst of the dune. "May, I don't think its some--" His statement was never more wrong. The Pokemon lunged out of the snow in one bound, dark as the midnight sky. Glistening blades for fingers came across May's face, leaving thin red marks in a crisscrossed fashion. May fell backwards from that Scratch and held her face in anguish. As she reeled, the speedy Pokemon took advantage to dash in again and slash the chubby girl across her chest as well.

May fell back, obviously taken back by this things' speed. One hand dropped to the ground to help right herself, and Rapp quickly thought up the only strategy he could. "May, hold your tongue out. It'll hafta dash into it in order to get close to you!" May did exactly that, lowering her left hand and flinging her tongue around in a semi circle around her self. The Sneasel landed on a patch of snow, its light weight allowing it to run atop the fresh powder without sinking in. With May halfway stuck, the black weasel though a few more strikes to her face should do it.

But that thick pink muscle was weird. Too weird. So weird in fact, that he was caught off guard by it as it whipped around and wrapped him up! Pulling her tongue inward, the Sneasel began to struggle against it! He didn't want to go like this, eaten by a living palate! One arm freed itself and he kept it raised as May reeled him to within arm's length. Sneasel reached out to scratch her face up again, but May's eyes turned from carefree to angered. Her hand went up and grabbed Sneasel's arm, a grip affixed so strong that Sneasel cried out in pain. Using both her tongue and her own arm, she Hammered the Sneasel into the snow and used her arm's weight to mash the offensive scratcher on his back.

Rapp stood there, confused, and now cold. The winds began to pick up. Throwing the hood back up on the parka, he looked for a better vantage point. There seemed to be a small mound of snow that fidgeted every few moments, but right now, Rapp had to focus on the battle at hand. He tried to yell a command but he couldn't get in a comment edgewise. Partly becasue of the winds, but mainly because May was on a pure rage filled attack. She whipped her tongue back and forth, Slamming the Sneasel into her fist again. Upon the third whip, she released the Pokemon mid swing. Sneasel's body went flying, and he landed in a snow drift. May cried out her name, and went plodding after him, even as the Sneasel showed that it was in no condition to fight, by its wobbly stance.

"Hey May, I don't think you need to attack--" No. May wasn't hearing it. That ...charlatan slashed her face! HER! BEAUTIFUL! FACE! He was going to pay. Step by slow step, she plodded over to Sneasel, who pushed himself to a standing position. He shook off the pain of the last few attacks, and looked at the incoming Lickitung. Jumping back a step, May huffed as the Sneasel seemed to prepare another series of strikes. She whipped her tongue out and stood ready to lash it at the speedy beast. Just then teh winds decided to lull, but Rqapp knew they were right about to pick up.

"May! Wait! Lick the Snow! Trust me! Then use that Hammer Arm attack!"

May lost her focus on the Sneasel, and considered Rapp's option. Sneasel took that opening and swiftly zipped own the drift toward her. May turned to spy this black bullet heading for her, and she decided to give it a try. One heavy slathering of saliva went on the snow, and with the winds being as chilling as they were, ice formed all over the area near May. Sneasel's feet claws weren't ready from the switch from snow to ice, and he wound up having to adjust his balance. That's what May needed-a moment of unfocused movement. She swung around to her right side, forcing Sneasel to have to stretch his gangly arms to strike the Lickitung.

May however, was inside Sneasel's arm radius, and her Arm went careening into his gut. Sneasel doubled over the force of the opposing motion and went flying the way he came. Flying through the snow bluff again, only his body imprint could be seen from Rapp's position.

"Wow May...that was really impressive!" He said as he took large steps to reach May. May stood in the radius of her last attack, noticing she wiped a good swath of snow away. As Rapp made his way over, she patted her head, feeling something odd about it. As Rapp finally reached the area where Maybelline stood, he noticed there was a groove headed their way.

[May reached Lv11!!
May Learned Zen Headbutt!!]

"Whoa May. You up for another battle. We may have one more before we can get out of here." May turned to look at him. What was he even talking about. She didn't notice the small mound of snow rippling toward her until it was too late. Out flew a brown ball of fury, that smashed into her chest and forced her to take a knee. Almost immediately after flew a green mass, that landed with a sizable thud. Rapp immediately stared at this creature with an immense interest. He never saw something like it before. The creature paid both Rapp and the ailing May no mind. She growled at the small shivering triangle, obviously angered by it.

[Zent lvl 5 vs Snorunt Lvl 8]

Rapp took a step closer, kneeling down to cover May with his parka. May appreciated the gesture and wrapped her tongue around Rapp's head in her version of a big hug. Rapp immediately fell backwards, trying to release that muscle from his view. As he regained sight, the Larvitar had run toward the Snorunt, only to run through it! Rapp looked around spying 4 more Snorunt's in this wind, all laughing at the poor Larvitar. This seemed to piss her off even more, but she was on the losing side of this battle.

Rapp pondered how she even got in here, but he wasn't going to leave her in this place. Taking of his parka so May could stay warm, he stood back up, now in full view of the Larvitar. Rapp pointed to the Snorunt to the left, the one that didn't have snow flying through it in the midst of all this wind. "Hit that one!" Larvitar looked up at the human, then to the Snorunt. True to the human's observation, there was snow atop that Snorunt, and not on the others. She plodded forth, and grabbed the surprised Pokemon with both arms. A hefty bite was taken out of its hide, and she went for another, only to get a mouth full of snow. It was too cold for her and she backed away, holding her head.

"Oh that's cheating, an ice headache!" Rapp exclaimed. May waddled over, the coat dragging on her small frame. The Larvitar grunted a few times, as the Snorunt rushed over, eager to topple her. Against his better judgment in this wild Pokemon match, Rapp moved closer, creaming. "Hey watch out, its coming!"

Larvitar looked up and managed to fling its body to the left as Snorunt zipped in close to try and cover it in snow. As the weather built up and the wind started to take its toll on all parties, the Larvitar righted herself and tried that move again. She spun around the Snorunt, who seemed to be trying to use the wind to aid its own small ice attack. As the Snow blew past Larvitar, she darted in, having regained some warmth from dancing around. Her next bite was a pretty large one, as the Snorunt seemed to flinch from its strength!

Larvitar didn't stop, a second Bite severely crippling the Snorunt's ability to battle. The icy beast backed away, as Larvitar wobbled backwards toward Rapp. Rapp watched as the Pokemon grunted again, obviously hampered by this weather. The Snorunt seemed alright with it, even though it wasn't moving. Rapp couldn't tell what the Pokemon was planning, but after a few tense seconds, Snorunt spat out a slew of barbs from its body! Larvitar lost her glaring focus, and clapped in glee. Rapp took a step back as the Pokemon ran towards one of the Spikes. Grabbing it with her left hand, she opened her mouth and threw the 4 pronged barb right in. A few loud chomps followed, leaving May and Rapp perplexed. Was that all the Larvitar wanted?

"Hey you! It's gonna hit you! Bite it again!" Larvitar turned to see the Snorunt right behind her. She didn't even think, instead following what Rapp said to the letter, and diving right into the Snorunt. Snow covered her body, but she found the top of his triangle head and bit down. Snorunt cried out, before fainting in a heap.

[Larvitar is Lv6!]

Rapp stood in dumbfounded stupor, as the little Larvitar walked around the battlefield, gobbling up the Spikes left behind by the Snorunt. She seemed to be such a peaceful creature, idly eating all the little barbs in this nasty weather. A heavy shiver ran down Rapp's spine, snapping him back into reality. "M-M-May! Where are you." He said through clenched teeth.

She rubbed his leg with her coat covered arm, allowing Rapp to kneel down and grab his coat. As he threw it on in a hurry, May began to head back. Rapp nodded, realizing that May must be exhausted. But this little ..rocky Pokemon...he wanted to learn more about it. So, he did what any self respecting Trainer would.

He grabbed a bunch of the spikes, and laid them out in a line as he headed back with May. In the distance, he could see the small spire of the Pokemon following the food trail. When he ran out of the Spikes, Rapp quickly reached for the ground, and dug up mounds of dirt. Though hard, he was able to construct rudimentary dirt spikes that he hoped would work. Reaching the cabin in no time, May trotted inside, proud that her head stopped hurting. Rapp however, stayed by the door, watching as the green monster came closer and closer.

Upon gobbling down the last spike, The Larvitar spied Rapp standing by a large set of wood. She waddled over, obviously tired from her battle with the Snorunt, and her eyes were already critically analyzing Rapp's intent. Rapp just stared down at her, and rubbed his arms-even though he still wore that coat.

"Do...you want to get some rest with us?"

The Larvitar stared at him, and then felt the warmth radiate from the house as Rapp opened the door. Rapp walked in, and the Larvitar followed! Mossy and Maybelline both turned to spy the newcomer, and Mossy waved from the corner. Larvitar stared at all the people in this place, and immediately grabbed the floor. She was pretty powerful, splintering the wood floor and eating the strip like a piece of jerky.

[Lady Vulpix]

Eh? What was that? I'm sorry, but Mossy has already battled twice at the Lava Room. You weren't supposed to go there again. O_o

[DarkestLight]

o.O Yeah. Not May though. :O

Unless it was one visit per person. :/

[Lady Vulpix]

-_- It's two opponents per room, per team. Not per pokemon. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

[DarkestLight]

Ahhh! No problem. ::Erases a few thousand letters.:: Nu prob. Damn I wish I asked that. No worries, I'll just edit that story with something new.

[Lady Vulpix]

You can get an RBG for her if you want.

[The Blue Avenger]

I'd like an RBG for Lady Bow, please, from the UAC.

*hands over 7 stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

Lady Bow will battle a Scraggy.

[The Blue Avenger]

Making Headlines
---
“Coming up next on Channel 5 News! Who exactly is this Sydney Cross person anyway? We talk to our special guests after the break.”

The newsflash was more than enough to send Sydney choking on her morning cup of coffee. Mercandos, also in the kitchen to get an apple for breakfast, gently thumped her on the back – not that Sydney knew, but this had become a part of his procedure every morning. As it turned out, Jeff tended to choke frequently as a result of having a team composed entirely of Pokémon that liked to burst into rooms unexpectedly. “Mime, mister,” he said soothingly as Sydney finished coughing. Sydney, with an exasperated expression written clearly across her face, mopped up the spilled coffee and turned her attention back to the TV.

“Welcome back,” the anchor said. She smiled and turned to the man sitting next to her, a bony figure with a shiny head and a grey goatee. “So, Dr. Horvat, as we all know, Sydney Cross is the olive branch that the Dragon’s Guild has extended in order to start building an office here in Tor Achare. What do you make of it?”

“Well, Linda,” Horvat said, “this is only my personal opinion, you understand, but I think the Dragon’s Guild is laughing at us right now.”

Sydney raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” Linda asked.

Horvat clasped his hands in front of him. “If you could please roll the tapes I’ve prepared…” Behind him, the screen began displaying a blurry video. Sydney was able to identify it as one of her entering Broz’s school. “This is a video of Cross visiting the Trainer’s School in downtown Tor Achare,” Horvat said.

Linda tilted her head. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“Please, let me finish.” The video jumped to a montage of Sydney’s battles, most of which, she was mortified to see, clearly showed her incompetence at battling. “I’d like to also draw your attention to how she battles. Cross obviously doesn’t know a thing about Pokémon, and this is the person that the Dragon’s Guild chooses to send to us? It’s clear that they just wanted her out of their hair, so they sent her as far away from them as possible.”

“But, Dr. Horvat, does a representative charged with negotiations and playing politics really need a background in Pokémon training?”

Horvat sniffed. “Ordinarily I would agree with you. Cross’ job wouldn’t necessarily require an extensive amount of Pokémon knowledge. However, this inexperience is just one more nail in her coffin. There’s one more video.” The screen behind them changed to a clip of Sydney entering Miro’s house.

“For the benefit of our viewers, Dr. Horvat, where is Ms. Cross entering here?”

“Cross is visiting Miro Milic in this video, Linda.”

Linda nodded. “Thank you, Dr. Horvat. I think that’s all that needs to be said.”

“No it’s not!” Sydney said. She thumped a fist on the table. “Why is visiting Miro bad? What did he do? How does that damn me?”

“And now, let’s have a chat with mayor Piers Lagrange about the situation,” Linda continued, the smile never leaving her face. The camera panned to the right, revealing a short, stocky, but moderately handsome man, dressed in a well-creased suit. His buzz-cut hair was graying at the roots. And, if Sydney hadn’t already known that this man seemed to absolutely despise her, his smile would have won her over.

“Good morning, Linda,” Lagrange said in an oozing voice.

“Now, Mayor, what are your thoughts on what Dr. Horvat has said?”

Lagrange looked straight into the camera. “I strongly believe that the Dragon’s Guild should not be allowed to make a mockery of our proud town as they currently are. And quite flagrantly too, I might add. Not only have they sent us a novice who doubtlessly couldn’t find her head with a map, but they have now directly tied her to ex-governor Milic, who, as you may recall, eats straight out of their hands.”

Sydney’s second coughing fit was forthcoming. “Ex-governor?!”

“It’s obvious that the Dragon’s Guild plans to undermine the rightful government of Chrace from the shadows with the help of the disgraced Milic,” Lagrange said. “But there is a way to defend ourselves, Linda.”

Linda perked up. “Oh yes?”

“We know that Cross is a novice. I strongly encourage the peace-loving citizens of Tor Achare to challenge her to a battle. I should emphasize here: do not be violent. That is not what Tor Achare is about. But show her that we, the people of Tor Achare, will not tolerate this sort of disrespect.”

Sydney set her head down against the table and groaned.

---

“Hello. You have reached the voicemail of Lord Persian. Please leave your name and number after the tone and I’ll get back to you in a timely fashion. If this is Lady Lapras wondering why I never told you who Miro Milic was, rest assured I thought it’d be better if you found out for yourself. Politics and all that, you know.”

Beeeeeeep!

“Damn it, Lord Persian.”

---

“Hello! Miro Milic’s not here right now, but if you leave me a message, I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Oh, and if this is Sydney, please rest assured that I would have told you, but Lord Persian thought it would make for more impact if you found out on your own, and I decided to play along. No hard feelings, darling. Ta!”

Beeeeeeep!

“Damn it, Lord Persian.”

---

Sydney hung up the phone and sighed. “Well, if I go outside now, I’m going to get mobbed. What to do, what to do…”


It had only been in the cradle for a minute or two before the phone rang again. Sydney picked it up. “Hello?”

“Cross.” The clipped tones of Javor Broz were unmistakable. “See me.” He hung up.

Sydney stared at the phone for a moment. “Is he going to do that often?”

Mercandos shrugged.

“…I guess there’s nothing for it. I suppose I just have to make it there quickly and hope nobody watched the news this morning.”

As it turned out, that was precisely the opposite of what had actually happened. It seemed to Sydney that the entire town had watched the news that morning: only by ducking down several convenient side streets did she manage to avoid the bulk of it. She arrived at the back entrance to the school, panting, but with a minimum of incidents; several people challenged her, but she didn’t stick around for any of them.

Javor was waiting for her on the other side of the door. Sydney flinched and almost backed away when she saw his somewhat-imposing form looming, but Javor placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “Cross. Follow me.” He led her through the corridors of the school, and they ended up in what Sydney assumed to be the auditorium. Rows of seats faced a large stage, which was currently illuminated with a spotlight.

“Mr. Broz, what are we – ”

“You will find out briefly.” Javor led her on stage and clapped his hands twice. A purple cat-like Pokémon, the name of which Sydney was blanking on, appeared without fanfare on the stage. The gem on its forehead began to gleam, and to Sydney’s alarm, the floor began to rumble, and soon after, Sydney realized that the entire stage was slowly grinding upwards. The ceiling above them slid away, and the stage took its place; from the roof of the school, Sydney could see through the clear, crisp air for miles around. What she was focused on, however, was the crowd of people surrounding the school. Several of them began jeering and yelling when they saw her appear from the building.

“People of Tor Achare,” Javor said, his voice needing no amplification, “and especially Mayor Lagrange…”

Sydney looked around. Sure enough, Lagrange’s shining smile was quite visible in the crowd.

“…I have taken Mayor Lagrange’s words to heart, and I plan to battle Sydney Cross for our city.”

WHAT?! Sydney’s eyes widened, and she stared at Javor with a frozen plea on her face.

“I intend to do it in front of all of you so that you may serve as witnesses.” He turned to her. “Cross. Select your Pokémon.”

Sydney whimpered. She fumbled at her belt for Ridder’s Pokéball, but her hand, shaking more than she would have cared to admit, accidentally tapped the one next to it. It dropped to the ground, revealing a white, smoky specter. Lady Bow glanced from her to Javor with an aloof expression on her face.

“Very good, Cross. Starting with a Gastly. Then, allow me to retaliate.” Faster than Sydney’s eyes could follow, Javor whipped out a Pokéball and threw it into the center of the stage.

Sydney screwed her eyes shut. She knew that when she opened them, Zmey would be staring back, and mostly likely also would be in the middle of launching some apocalypse attack or something. So it came as a complete surprise when, instead of hearing Zmey’s screeching roar, she heard a high-pitched voice saying “Scraggy!”

She opened her eyes, and fought back the urge to laugh. Facing down Lady Bow was a small lizard wearing its shed skin like a sagging pair of pants. It hopped back and forth in front of Bow and Sydney, balling its tiny fists in what it likely thought was a threatening manner.

“What are you playing at, Broz?” Lagrange called from in the crowd. “Don’t go easy on her!”

Javor crossed his arms. His sunglasses gleamed in the morning light. “I am not. However, sending a Pokémon out who drastically outpaced Cross’ own would not be in the spirit of fair play. Which is, as I recall, something we Tor Achare citizens celebrate. Hence why I sent out Bauk.”

Lagrange considered this. “Good call, Broz. Then embarrass her at her own game.”

“Indeed, Mayor.”

STRIFE! Sydney Cross versus Javor Broz!

Lady Bow: “Gast.”
Bauk: “Scraaaag!”

That’s a Scraggy. It’s a Dark and Fighting type, Sydney thought. Or, to be more specific, the thought appeared in her head, even though Sydney knew she had never before heard of a Scraggy. She looked across the field, and Javor stared back stoically. Oh well, she thought, if I can match my types up, maybe Bow will listen to me.

“Are you not going to make the first move, Cross? Very well. Bauk. Swagger.” Bauk strutted up and down in front of Bow, making a show of pulling up his pants as far as they would go. He stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry. Bow’s eyes crossed, and she shook her head slowly.

Be careful. That attack confuses. Maybe a bit of his own medicine is in store.

Sydney looked around again, but seeing nothing, she shook her head. She tried to visualize Bow’s page in her notebook. “Bow! Strike back with Confuse Ray!”

The words managed to make their way through the fog of confusion, and Bow’s eyes glowed a brilliant white as she leered at Bauk. The area around the stage darkened, and a cone of bright light flashed around Bauk, who blinked and rubbed his eyes, staggering. The lighting turned to normal as both Pokémon stumbled back and forth.

Javor grunted. “Less than ideal. Bauk. Work Up.”

Bauk nodded, his eyes still spinning, but instead of pumping himself up, all the Scraggy managed to do was trip over his own loose skin and fall flat on his face.

That worked well. Let’s go on the offensive.

“Okay, now, try Thunderbolt!” Sydney said.

A loud crackling signaled Bow’s attack. Electricity flickered over her incorporeal skin, but at the last minute, the electricity fizzled out as Bow let out a yelp. Looks like her confusion got the better of her. Sydney blinked. That was obviously what had happened, but she hadn’t thought that.

Across the field, Bauk was climbing to his feet. Judging by the way he was shaking his head, it seemed that the confusion was short-lived. Thankfully, Sydney realized, Bow was doing the same.

“Now, Bauk, I leave this to you. Take your best judgment.”

Bauk grinned. Apparently this was what he had been waiting for. He took a step back and charged at Bow. As he approached, his head began glowing, and he slammed it into Bow with a resounding crunch, despite all the questions that raised in Sydney’s mind about Bow being a ghost. Bauk recoiled, apparently stunned from the heavy hit, but he still grinned.

Head Smash. A rock move, which is why it can hit ghosts. I might try a way to disable the foe…

“Bow! Try Hypnosis!” Sydney said. Bow let a small smile slip, but whether that was because she finally liked the moves Sydney was making or for some other arcane reason entirely, Sydney wasn’t able to discern. Whatever the reason, Bow locked eyes with Bauk. Her irises widened, but her pupils shrank, creating an unnerving effect that had Bauk and more than a few crowd members mesmerized. After only a few moments of this, Bauk’s eyes fluttered and he toppled over, snoring.

Bow smirked. “Gast, gastly,” she said quietly. It was one of the only things that Sydney had heard her say, and judging from the tone, it sounded… well, at least slightly less frustrated than normal.

Good. Bow’s looking a little bruised. Maybe she ought to get healed a bit.

Sydney smiled. “Excellent! Now, Mega Drain!”

With a sudden extension of her fangs, Bow floated over to the sleeping Bauk. Though she didn’t actually bite him, it looked for all the world like she did, and a green glow surrounded both of them. Bauk’s snores became slightly more ragged as Bow floated back, any signs of injury from the Head Smash gone.

Excellent. Almost done. Any move will finish it off.

“Let’s end this, Bow! Try your Hidden Power!”

This was a move that Sydney had to ask Javor about earlier. According to him, Hidden Power was a move that could do pretty much anything, based on the Pokémon that used it. By way of demonstration, he had shown off Zmey’s Hidden Power, which had let the dragon create a nearly-indistinguishable facsimile of itself. When attacked, though, the copy dissolved in a puddle of acid. Bow’s Hidden Power, Javor said, wasn’t a Poison move, so it would naturally be quite different.

This turned out to be an understatement.

Bow once again locked eyes with Bauk, who was just beginning to wake up. As soon as he saw her, though, he froze. A shiver ran up his spine as the stare continued. A crack at Bauk’s feet prompted him to look down, and he started as shackles of ice began to appear around his ankles. The ice coating continued upwards, forming a pillar around Bauk; his teeth began to chatter, but he couldn’t move. Soon, Bauk was entirely encased in a block of ice that was only vaguely Scraggy-shaped.

With another faint smile, Bow sent one final bolt of ice arcing from her eyes at Bauk. It shattered the frozen prison, leaving Bauk to collapse to the stage.

VICTORY! Bow wins! Bow grows to level 8!

Wonderful!

Sydney looked around one final time. This time, her eyes alighted on the cat-thing that had moved the stage up in the first place. Its gem was twinkling, and it and Javor were wearing very similar expressions of very, very slight amusement.

“I concede,” Javor said. “A good match, Cross. To the people of Tor Achare, perhaps we were wrong about how unskilled Cross supposedly was. More thought may be in order.”

“Th…” Sydney started. “Thank you.” She looked down into the crowd. People were dispersing, the excitement over. Lagrange was staring up at the stage, an expression of smoldering anger very evident on his features. But he didn’t say anything, and he, too, walked away.

The stage began to descend. Sydney joined Bow in the middle of the stage. “That was excellent, Bow!” she said, grinning widely. “You may have just saved our mission here!”

For a brief second, Sydney could have sworn that she saw a smile on Bow’s face. But just as quickly as it appeared, it had gone.

“Well done, Cross,” Javor said.

Sydney shook her head. “I wouldn’t have done it without your help.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” He recalled the cat to a Pokéball and began walking towards the auditorium’s exit. “Please make sure you keep our training appointment tomorrow. You may see yourself out.”

Sydney looked from him to Bow, shrugged, recalled the Gastly, and made her own way out. She was quite pleased to see that much fewer people accosted her on the road.

[Lady Vulpix]

Did you make the background of the image to match the background of the archive?

I chuckled at Mercandos having made a habit of thumping Jeff on the back.

Did Lord Persian also tell Miro to leave a message for Sydney on his answering machine? It's weird that they both did it. Also effective, but rude.

The flow of the story felt like a comedy/action movie. That was a smart solution, by the way.

Take 11 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

And now, on to my story. Note: this story takes place at the end of February. I was just too busy to finish it earlier! Apologies in advance for the verbosity, I think it was a consequence of spending too long without writing and different plotlines coming up all at once once I finally got down to it.

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

<Gabi's POV>

As a part of my team headed for the Lava Room, I decided to do some research, reasoning that if I couldn't watch Hero and Tsunami train, I might as well use that time to do something useful. I took the Dragon's Gate tour which provided some curious trivia about the Gate but no information I could actually use. As soon as the tour was over, I asked the guide why it was called Dragon's Gate, and the answer was less than satisfying: it was because all gates were named after creatures that have played an important role in Ulthuan's history, either by their actual involvement in key events or by being used as symbols; no particular reason why the name of Dragon was assigned to that gate specifically. I asked the guide if she had ever seen a dragon, and the answer was negative.

"There's always talk about Dragons, but you won't find many people who claim to have seen a real, living one, and those who do are bound to be lying. Unless you're talking about Dragon-type Pokemon. In that case yes, I've seen quite a few."
"OK, thanks," I told her. "Maybe real dragons wouldn't be very interested in this gate in spite of its name."
The guide gave me a weird look. "It would be hard to imagine what a real dragon would be interested in. I wouldn't think they're attracted by the same things we humans are."
"It depends..." I began, but I realized I didn't know how to finish the sentence without turning it into a monologue which would be at least partially wrong. Fortunately the guide didn't seem to care about what I was thinking.
"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" she asked.
"Not much. I was just wondering what other important or sacred places can be seen in Avelorn."
"Oh, that's easy. Go to the tourist information booth and pick the Whispers of the Past brochure. It has a list of all the major temples and ruins you can find in Avelorn."
"Oh. Thanks."
"Anything else?"
"No, thanks, I think that's it."
"Alright, then, enjoy the rest of your vacation!"

With that, she left to meet the next group of tourists. I didn't bother telling her that I wasn't on vacation, let alone that I had seen two dragons in the past... three if I were to count Lagi's silver dragon form during our mind-boggling trip to Bei. But no, I was sure Lagi didn't count, even if that meant that Glyph, Orknye, Arim, Lavy, Glice and Linyi didn't really count as Pokemon. "OK, enough with that line of thought," I told myself. "It won't lead anywhere useful." I went to the designated spot and picked the brochure the guide had recommended. It had a list of the top 147 sites in Avelorn you just couldn't miss if you were interested in history and/or architecture. Do I need to say that it was way too much? And also, in a way, too little. There were so many shrines and ruins... but did any of them have anything the Black Dragon could want? The whole province looked like a magnified version of Templa Taure, but I couldn't find anything in the brochure that really stood out among everything else. And the Black Dragon had been trapped in Templa Taure. Wouldn't he rather be in a place that didn't look anything like it? And if what the guide has said was true - and Ventura's and Amber's versions seemed to support it - no one in the area had heard of him, except perhaps for that old news report from Templa Taure. I had the growing feeling that the Black Dragon wasn't in Avelorn at all. "OK," I thought. "That's 147 fewer places to check. Fortunately the stadium we'll be using can be moved from one province to another. We may find him in Sapphery or - please forbid it - Ellyrion. Or even Caledor, but if he were so close to home we would have heard of him by now, wouldn't we? And we defeated Yssera in Ellyrion. He may want to move in, but if he does, we're bound to get news from either Sybyll or White Mountain itself. Let's check Sapphery next."

Most of my team gathered at the restaurant at noon. All except Hero, who was still at the Pokemon Center. I was surprised to find that my friends were not alone. Eliot - no double letters - and Aaron - or Randy, as I learned he preferred to be called - were joining us for lunch. It's always nice to have non-demanding company, but he had some worrying news about one of his colleagues from the MTU. Selene and Helios, the Houndoom and Flareon from Ian's team had gone missing. According to Tsunami, Hero had the theory that their disappearance and Flame's were connected. It was a possibility, but without a suspect or a motive we didn't have much to go by. All we could do for the time being was keep our eyes open. I was so distracted by these thoughts that I never noticed Randy only ever spoke to me or Eliot. It was later, after we'd left the restaurant that Tsunami pointed it out, and Lagi explained that he had trouble understanding everyone else, although he'd been making an effort to follow the conversation. It felt weird, after having spent so much time with Jeff, Shonta and Amy, all of whom could easily understand everyone in my team. Jeff could in fact understand all Pokemon without the aid of any artifacts, and yet he hadn't shown signs of having any other unusual abilities. I'd always found that weird, but then again, who could really claim not to be weird one way or another? Not that there was anything wrong with that. I'd learn to accept my own weirdness a long time ago.

We stopped by the Pokemon Center to check on Hero and Ares, before Randy and Eliot returned to the Lava Room and the rest of us headed for the West tower. That would be it, our final visit to the current incarnation of the Training Grounds. After that... no, I didn't want to think of what would come after that. It would be too much work, I could tell the upcoming month would go by without giving me a single break. But that would come later, now it was time to visit the Jungle Room. I placed my hand on the doorknob, turned it, pulled and... became overwhelmed by the breathtaking sights and sounds.

Not only was this room even larger than the previous Jungle Rooms we'd visited, but it had countless trees the likes of which I'd never seen before. Some of them even seemed to glitter in the artificial sunlight. The stream was there too, fresh and transparent, providing the background music for the choir of birds whose song came from all over the treetops - now there, then here, suddenly everywhere. Walking into the Jungle Room was diving into a symphony of beautiful sounds and images. It reminded me a bit of other places I'd visited, yet it wasn't quite like any of them. And then, as I was taking everything in, I stumbled into a bush and nearly tripped over it. I regained balance and turned around to see Caledor chuckle, Tsunami look away quickly, and Sylvan direct a cautious look towards the bush. Yes, it was that bush. I didn't even know its name, but they had managed to find it and plant it on that corner of the room.

"I think we'd better stay clear of this part of the room," Amber suggested.
"I second the motion," Sylvan agreed. "This place is wonderful. I'd rather not ruin my stay here by getting stuck in that thing again."
"I think you're too big to get stuck in it now," Tsunami remarked. "But it might still hurt you. Better leave it alone. Shall we check out the stream? We could have some fun in there before someone comes looking for a battle."
"That sounds like a good idea," I agreed.
"Good! I shall claim the stream in the name of Group B. Last one there is a Slowpoke."

With that, Tsunami rushed towards the water, followed by Pidgeot and Caledor, the latter of whom issued a complaint about Tsunami favoring his training team over one of his best friends. The Espeon released a Thundershock while he ran and shouted, but the concurrency of those three tasks was not well handled, and Tsunami didn't even have to worry about dodging. Caledor did, however, get to the stream first, claiming the right to call Tsunami a Slowpoke. Pidgeot and Lagi were in next, and I released Water Angel as soon as I got there. Sylvan, Ventura and Iael weren't interested in playing in the water and, naturally, neither was Amber, although she did comment that the stream looked pretty.

While Pidgeot, Water Angel, Tsunami, Lagi and Caledor were having fun in the water in different ways, a nearby bush began to rise, along with the earth and rocks around its root. I was startled, until a head appeared a hole beneath the lifted earth and I realized it was a Torterra who was waking up from a nap. It yawned and stretched its neck forward and than to either side. Then it looked in my direction and looked at me from feet to head, and then at the Pokemon around me and those playing in the river.

"Um... large group," the Torterra finally said. "I suppose one or two of you are here to battle, but who?"
"That would be me," Sylvan stepped forward. "And Lagi, the Dragonite. I'm not sure which one of us is a better match for you."
"We can check that easily," I said, starting to search my bag for the good old PokeGear.
"That won't be necessary," said the Torterra. "I've always wanted to test myself against a Venusaur, and this young lady looks strong enough to make it an interesting challenge."
"Just let me make sure it's not a lopsided battle," I insisted, still searching.

I have to admit it, my backpack was a mess. It took me a while to find my PokeGear, which was from some reason lying under Caledor's rubber ball. I tossed the toy ball at the Espeon who welcomed it with a joyful, open-mouthed smile, and then scanned the Pokemon in front of me. I shared the result with Sylvan.

"It'd be a tough challenge," I told her. "It's your call."
Sylvan thought for a moment. "This is just a practice match," she noted. "I'd be fooling myself if I believed we won't be fighting tough opponents in the future. And some of those battles will have much higher stakes. If I shy away from this challenge, I may not be ready to face the next real threat. I will do my best."
"Whoa, you got so serious all of a sudden!" exclaimed the Torterra. "I'm just looking for a friendly battle, nothing life-threatening here. I just thought it would be interesting to battle a Venusaur. Because, you know... your kind has a reputation for being tough. I like battling other strong Grass Pokemon. There's this Meganium at the MTU who always manages to beat me, but maybe one day I'll be able to beat her. That will be one tasty victory. But I'll have to work hard to get strong enough to stand a chance against her. So, what do you say? Are you up for some training?"
"Sure," Sylvan smiled. "Sorry if I bothered you with my concerns. I wish I could be carefree and only battle for the sake of improving myself. We've all been through so much, though... Nevermind, this is meant to be a good moment. I won't let my worries ruin it. Let's have a friendly battle in this wonderful garden."
"We could also lie down and discuss poetry if you'd rather keep your mind off those violent thoughts."
Sylvan chuckled. "Oh, I do like poetry, but I won't waste a chance to train by leaving the Jungle Room without a battle. Maybe some other time."
"As you wish."

Both Grass Pokemon walked towards a more open space and assumed their battle stances.

Level 56 Venusaur vs. Level 70 Torterra

The Torterra was strong, but slow. Sylvan was able to use Sunny Day before her opponent could make a move. The heat made the environment become less comfortable, but I knew how advantageous it was for Sylvan, so I put up with it without complaining. In any case it was still nothing in comparison to the heat of the Lava Room, the only place in the Training Ground where I couldn't stay for over a minute without getting sick. I still nearly fell over, however, not because of the heat but because the earth started shaking after the Torterra stomped on it. Sylvan took a strong blow from the shockwave, but her 4-Leaf Clover protected her from taking too much damage. Those of us who were standing nearby felt the ground shake beneath our feet, but we weren't close enough to get hurt, and we all managed to regain balance more or less efficiently.

Then Sylvan released a Solarbeam which, I admit, I was expecting, knowing the way she liked to battle. The Torterra countered it with a second Earthquake, for which Sylvan was better prepared this time. Then she shot another Solarbeam. At that point the Torterra seemed to decide he'd had enough, and used the same solar energy which had been used to hurt him in order to heal himself. Sylvan let out a sigh and did the same.

"It looks like we have reached a stalemate," the Torterra remarked.
"I'm not much of a chess player," Sylvan replied, "But I think that if we did this again either of us could claim a draw due to threefold repetition. Is that how it works?"
"If this were chess, it would work that way. But Pokemon battles have no such rule. Still, it would be extremely boring to go like that for hours on end, and the battle would still end in a draw. Unless..."
"Unless what?"

No sooner did Sylvan formulate her question than a volley of flames was shot at her, singeing her leaves and petals. Sylvan's face suddenly changed into a serious frown. She took a look at her leaves. Luckily the fire was already gone, but the damage it had done was evident. She then shook her petals and released a cloud of Sleep Powder. It worked wonderfully: her opponent fell asleep like a rock. Sylvan took the chance to shoot one last Solarbeam before the weather went back to normal. She then used Synthesis to restore her scorched petals - only a few dark spots remained, plus a few holes on her leaves.

Luckily, the Torterra wasn't showing any signs of waking up. Sylvan shot a Sludge Bomb at him, splashing him with a dark purple ooze. I gathered she didn't want to use Sunny Day again, in case the Torterra woke up and decided to use his Hidden Power once more.

She was able to drop 2 more Sludge Bombs before her opponent began to stir in his sleep. Not wanting to give him a chance to get back on his feet, she launched a barrage of seeds at him. Then the Torterra stopped moving.

Sylvan grew to level 58!

<Lagi's POV>

Sylvan had won, but she didn't feel so good about it. I asked her what was wrong.

"I did it again," she replied. "I couldn't control the situation and had to resort to the same old tricks."
"You were facing a strong opponent," I told her. "And one with a Fire type Hidden Power to boot. If by 'old tricks' you're referring to Sunny Day, Solarbeam and Synthesis, I can't think of any way you could have won if you hadn't used them."
"I know but... nevermind. I think I expected to learn something new about myself or something. As it is, the only think I've learnt is that I'm not good at improvising. And come to think of it, I knew that already."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," I insisted. "You did very well. And if you're worried about what may happen when the stakes are higher, don't be. You won't be alone when trouble comes knocking."
"How can you know that? What if I get separated from everyone else for some reason?"
"You worry too much, sunshine, and it's taking a toll on you. The worst case scenario hardly ever becomes real, and even if it does, I have no doubts that you'll come through. We can surpass our limits when the need is dire."
"I hope you're right... just... did you call me 'sunshine'?"
"Did I?... I guess I may have. I wasn't paying attention to the way words came out, I was focusing on what I meant to say. Still, if you were to have a nickname, 'Sunshine' might be a fitting one."
"I strive in the sunshine," Sylvan smiled, but only for a moment. "And burn in it too. We'll be back home before my leaves and petals are as soft and shiny as they used to be."
"You know we're going home tomorrow and only said that to make it sound like it would be a long time. It didn't work. I know how much you like your leaves and petals, and how much work you put into keeping them healthy and beautiful. Just like you do with our garden, and your efforts really show. But Sylvan, there's a lot more to you than that. You should learn to look at yourself under a different light. It's hard for everyone to see their true worth, but trust me when I tell you that everyone in our team cares for you and appreciates you just the way you are, and a few spots and burns will make absolutely no difference. Some outside our team too. I won't go into detail out of respect for the disrespectful, but you are regarded with high esteem."
"What do you mean? Where did that all come from, and what was that about respecting the disrespectful?"
"That was just me letting my tongue roll of its own accord," I said, unwilling to explain my words any further. "We all have our defects. I hope you'll forgive mine. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude or to imply anything... about anyone."
I see, a foot in mouth situation..." Sylvan deduced. "I know you and I can't blame you for doing what's in your nature. I know you care for me and everyone else in our team... What am I saying?, you probably care about everyone, period. And you seem to know me better than I know myself, which doesn't really come as a surprise. So I'll listen to you and try to be more positive. But if someone out there 'regards me with high esteem', I would really appreciate to hear it straight from the source. Respect and affection are pointless if they never reach their target."
"Or if they do but the target is not receptive to them," I added.
"True... if anyone says something nice to me, I'll make sure to show my gratitude."

She smiled. At least I managed that much. For a moment, I tried to imagine what it would be like to live my life unaware of what others were feeling. I couldn't go very far with that train of thought: it wouldn't have been my life at all. I let the conversation end: I wouldn't be able to make Sylvan understand what I really meant without messing up even further. Perhaps it was best that she didn't know. I couldn't see her returning his feelings. Respect and gratitude, yes, but that wouldn't be enough for him and it would make him feel ashamed. Some problems need a long time to be solved.

I was distracted from my musings by the arrival of a trainer. I realized she was a trainer before I saw her because of the distinct sensation of a group of Pokemon waiting inside their pokeballs. I turned to look, and saw a slim figure with an enormous amount of black hair. It fell all the way down to her hips, which by itself isn't saying much since Gabi's was just as long. But hers was much thicker, giving the impression that she could wrap herself in it if she chose to. And it had a purple glint under the light. Other than that, she looked normal: she had brown eyes and her skin had the color of milk tea. She wore a mini skirt on top of her tights, a yellow tank top, and a yellow headband which did little to hold back her jungle of hair.

"Hello," the newcomer said. "My name is Donna. I was told someone was looking for an experienced trainer here."
"Oh, hi," Gabi approached her. "I'm Gabi, pleased to meet you. I didn't exactly call for anyone, I only said I was coming to this room to train Sylvan and Lagi."

She pointed at us as she spoke.

"I see," said Donna. "I believe I was called because none of the Pokemon who were in the room at the time were strong enough to face them. Is that right?"
"Well, there was this Torterra," Gabi pointed at Sylvan's fallen opponent. "He challenged Sylvan and lost. But we haven't found an opponent for Lagi yet. I bet that must be why they called you."
"Oh, him!" Donna looked at the Torterra. "He was sleeping last time this room was checked. Not much of a change as far as I can see. I think it'll be best to leave him here, this room has special lights which can help him heal and he'll be more comfortable here than at the Pokemon Center. As for your Dragonite... Lagi, right? I can see why she needs a strong opponent. I think Amazon will be the best choice. She's been waiting a long time to battle someone like her."

Donna was hiding something. I wondered what it was, but she released her champion before I could think of the right questions to ask. Amazon turned out to be a beautiful Meganium with a bright red flower around her neck. She reminded me a bit of Diana... way to bring back old memories. I couldn't help but wonder how my old friend was doing now that Yssera was gone. And, of course, Edie, my daughter and Diana's teammate. I had no way to know where they were. I just hoped they were OK.

Amazon approached me slowly. "Are you OK?" she asked. "You look worried."
"I'm fine," I assured her. "I do have something on my mind, but I won't let it interfere with our battle."
"How can you do that?" asked Amazon. "How can you focus on battling when something's troubling you?"
"Years and years of practice," I explained. "There's always something. This isn't even such a bad thing, it's just that..."
"Come on, you can say it," said Amazon. "If you want to share, of course. Talking about your problems can help. We can always battle later."
She was honest, she wasn't trying to trick me. I decided to get it off my chest. "It's just that my eldest daughter used to be under Yssera's influence. Now she should be free, but I still haven't heard from her. And I have no idea where she is."
"Oh... I'm sorry. But it hasn't been so long since Yssera was defeated. She may have to sort some things out before she can get back in touch with you. And she may need some time alone to come to terms with what happened. I'm sure she's fine."
"I hope you're right," I told her.
"Some problems need time to be solved," she continued. Then she said something about Templa Taure, but I was too shocked to listen.
"What did you just say?" I asked her.
"I said that some Pokemon in Templa Taure are still dealing with the emotional after-effects of being possessed by demons."
"You said some problems need time to be solved."
"I did, and they do. But sometimes time is all that's needed."
"Oh," I nodded.

I was starting to think it had been just a coincidence that we'd both had the same thought within just a few minutes. But then I noticed Gabi was directing a curious look at Amazon and was a bit confused.

"Is anything going on?" I asked Gabi.
"I'm not sure," she replied. "I just had a familiar sensation, but it only lasted for a moment and I can't tell what it was. It may have been nothing."
"Those little hunches usually mean something," Donna commented. "Hard to tell what, but you still shouldn't disregard them."
"Have you felt anything?" Gabi asked her.
"Not right now, but sometimes," Donna said. "Like having deja vu and then, if you concentrate hard enough, you can tell what was going to happen next and then it happens."
"Wow, it's good to know I'm not the only one," said Gabi.
"Are you kidding? I'm sure half the trainers in Caledor have had some kind of psychic experience at least once. Haven't you noticed how there are many trainers who can understand all Pokemon after spending just a couple of hours with them? And many people can sense energies or know when something important happens to someone they care for, or when someone is thinking of them... or many other things, really. It's a lot more common than people think. But most people tend to ignore those things and pretend nothing has happened, so they convince themselves that they just can't do it, or that it was a coincidence."
"Like when someone says something you thought moments ago?" Gabi and I asked in unison. We looked at each other and laughed.
"Or like that," Gabi said, still laughing.
"Did you two just say the same thing at the same time?" Donna guessed.
I nodded while Gabi tried to stop chuckling.
"Yes, something like that," Donna smiled.
"In that case it was something, but not something important," I stated.

My statement got an "eh?" and a "huh?" from Gabi and Donna respectively.

"Amazon said something I'd just been thinking," I explained. "About some problems needing a long time to be solved."
"I'm sorry if I borrowed your thought," said Amazon. "But it's also what I think. I'm glad we agree on that."
"That's... obvious!" Gabi couldn't stop herself. "No offense meant, but are we having this whole discussion over something anyone could have said?"
"I thought we were talking about ESP," said Donna. "But I'm afraid I've lost track of the point I was trying to make."
"I don't think there was much of a point to begin with," Amazon commented. "Just your regular idle talk about psychic abilities."
"Oh, yes, that's a typical elevator conversation topic," Gabi ironized.
"Can I join?" Caledor hopped over to where we were standing. "I hear laughter and talk about psychic powers. One of the two is my specialty. I demand the right to participate in this conversation."
"Er... I'm afraid the conversation was running out," said Gabi. "I saw what you did there, though. Nice one."
"Thank you," Caledor grinned.

Donna was surprised when she saw Caledor. She stared at him for a while, examining him. After a few moments he noticed, and began to feel uncomfortable.

"Do I have Mankeys on my face or something?" he asked.
"What? Oh, no," said Donna. "Sorry for staring. It's just that... you're Caledor, right? My uncle Gene told me about you. He works at the Pokemon Research and Training Department."
"Gene? I don't remember meeting him, but... why does that name sound familiar?" Caledor wondered.
"Wasn't he the one who was attacked by a Team Rocket member a few years ago?" Gabi recalled.
"That was over 5 years ago," said Donna. "But yes, that was him. He was assigned to a new location after that. He won't even tell me where he works, but we talk from time to time and I know he's doing well. He even gave me a cool computer when I graduated from university, but I donated it to the MTU with his permission, to give others a chance to make use of it."
"That's good to hear," said Gabi. "I'm glad to know he's doing well, even though I've never liked all that secretiveness within the Guild. There's nothing I can do about it, though. I'm only middle management in there."
"I know," Donna nodded.
"What did your uncle tell you about me?" asked Caledor.
"Could you repeat that, please?" Donna requested. "I didn't quite get it."
"He wants to know what your uncle told you about him," Gabi translated.
"Oh. Well... you know... just the basic details. That he was created in a Guild's lab and given the ability to learn lots of moves, and then he was given out as a prize for the first Griffon Games. Then he provided a few surprises, but he didn't want to talk much about them. I only got him to reveal that he took longer than expected to evolve, and that his glow had not been a part of the plan but it appears to be harmless. All in all they're very happy with how he turned out."

Caledor was so shocked he couldn't speak.

"I think you broke him," said Tsunami, who had quietly joined us while Donna was speaking.
"Did I say something wrong?" asked Donna. "I thought everyone knew everything I've said."
"We didn't know your uncle had been involved in Caledor's creation," Gabi told her. "We weren't even sure if he'd been created in the lab or had just been tampered with after he was born. We didn't know he wasn't expected to glow either."
"Oh. No, it was genetic engineering, that's all I know," said Donna.
"And the phrase 'it appears to be harmless' doesn't exactly inspire much confidence," I added.
She seemed to understand me better than she did Caledor. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. If they'd found it to be a threat to him or to anyone else they would have done something about it. I'm sure they ran lots of tests to make sure he wasn't radioactive or someting."
"I feel so much more reassured now..." said Caledor, finally able to talk again. "It seems I owe those guys my life, but putting that aside... what's their need to be meddling with things they can't control or even understand?"
"They do it because they want to understand them and control them," said Gabi. "But I see your point. Their actions can and have proven to be dangerous."
"They're not doing those things anymore," Donna assured us. "At least that's what he said; I know he has to hide things, but he wouldn't lie about something like that. He says they're not creating unusual Pokemon anymore. Just doing things that can help Pokemon. He won't say which ones, of course, but I trust him."
"I really hope he's telling the truth," Gabi told her. "And Caledor... this doesn't have to change anything. We know something we didn't know before, but..."
"I know, I know," said Caledor. "We now know I'm so amazing that I've surprised even my own creators! Umm... Why do those things sound so much better when Hero says them? Don't tell him I said that. Now, really, that could be a bummer, but I've gone through this scenario in my head so many times it's practically lost their meaning. So I didn't come into this world in the traditional way... who cares? It's our actions that define us, not our origin. And they didn't expect me to glow? That only means I'm more than just their creation. Only a part of me was designed. They couldn't foresee my glow, nor that I'd wait until I got my Psychic powers before I evolved, and I'm sure they couldn't predict what my personality would be like either. So I will treasure my unpredictability and keep enjoying every moment like I always have. And unless something awfully important happens or someone else needs some words of wisdom from an unlikely source, this is the last time anyone will hear me saying something this deep. So I hope you all enjoyed it while it lasted."
"So no more serious Caledor moments?" Tsunami tried to confirm.
"Serious Caledor is an oxymoron," said the Espeon. "It can only last for a moment while the universe isn't looking."
"I see things are back to normal," Gabi noted.
"What just happened?" asked Donna.
"Caledor says he can deal with the news," Gabi told her. "He had already come to terms with most of it, even though he didn't know the details until now. He's a very special Pokemon, and not because of his moveset or his glow."
"I can see that. He started playing with your Vaporeon as soon as he finished monologuing."
"Yes, that's Caledor for you. Though you wouldn't want to hear the things they say to each other most of the time."
"Why? Do they fight a lot?"
"Only comeback fights," Gabi explained. "It's all in fun. Those two and Hero - the Ninetales - are always trying to come up with the best retorts. It gets annoying after a while, but it seems to be their favorite game."
"Where is your Ninetales now?"
"He's at the Pokemon Center. He had a hard battle at the Lava Room earlier today."
"Oh. Then maybe we should finish this fast so you can go and see him."
"Even if we'd got in and out of the room without a fight, he'd still complain that we took too long," said Tsunami.
"Maybe," Gabi laughed. "Nevertheless, I don't want to make him feel neglected. This is the most beautiful training room I've ever seen, but we do have to leave before it gets too late. We're going back to Sector Alpha tomorrow morning. I have a lot of work to do at the Reward Center. Some new TMs have just arrived."
"Oh! Are those only for Dragon Tamers or can anyone buy them?" asked Donna.
"Any license trainer can buy them, but there's a discount for Dragon Tamers when buying in bulk."
"Oh... I may check them out when I get back home."
"That would be great," said Gabi. "We need to show some activity so that people know we're still on business. Things have been too quiet since Yssera's attacks began."
"Don't remind me," said Donna. "No one was coming to challenge us either. We had to organize events specifically to help trainers who wanted to go and fight Yssera's minions. And in the end we had to go there ourselves. I was afraid we might have to close the building and go back to doing events and challenging people on the streets. Luckily the Training Grounds have helped us return to our former glory. More for the publicity than for the income, since setting up the Grounds cost a fortune. But now we're getting trainers from all over Ulthuan and everyone can see what the MTU is capable of. So I guess I should thank you for deciding to run the Dragon Games again."
"You're welcome. I think we all needed them. Though it's my first time doing the Dragon Games. I've only done the Pegasus, Griffon and Unicorn games before."
"Oh, right, the Unicorn Games."
"What's up with the Unicorn Games?" asked Gabi.
"Nothing... Nevermind. Shall we start the battle? Amazon's ready."
"And so am I," I stepped forward.

I decided not to ask her why the mention of the Unicorn Games brought her bitter memories. I reckoned it might have something to do with her uncle being attacked by Team Rocket around that time period, but I couldn't be sure. In any case, she'd chosen not to talk about it and I didn't want to intrude. I decided to focus on my battle. Gabi suggested using no healing moves so that we could finish before sunset, and Donna agreed with the condition that I didn't use any Flying type moves. I had no objections, and so, the battle began.

Level 75 Dragonite vs. level 85 Meganium

Amazon quickly set up a Reflect wall before I could make a move. However, that did not protect her from my Thunder Wave. That gave me the chance to use my Hidden Power before Amazon could move. Then my opponent try to spit a poisonous fluid at me, but I was able to react fast enough to avoid it. I didn't feel the need to finish quickly, nor did I want to cause Amazon any unnecessary pain, so I used my Dragon type Hidden Power again.

"Why are you... holding back?" Amazon complained.

Her paralysis was making it hard for her to talk, but her frustration was coming through quite clearly.

"This is just a practice battle," I explained. "There's no need to go all out."
"I want to... see... what you can do. I can... hold my ground."

As she spoke, the earth began to tremble and a set of rocks was shot upwards at a high speed. I stopped them from hitting my head or my chest, but their impact against my arms and legs was strong. Still, it wouldn't have felt right to use an attack like Ice Beam or Fire Blast. I tried getting closer and hitting her with a Dragon Claw, but her Reflect wall was still up and the light scratches only contributed to her frustration.

"Don't pity me," she said as she took advantage of my proximity to topple me and land on my stomach. I had to roll over to get her off me.

"It's not what you think," I said, pushing her away from me with an Icy Wind.

I had a faint hope that my use of a Super Effective move would please her, but I was wrong.

"It is... exactly... what I think," she insisted. "Get... over it!"

She released a pleasant fragrance which had the added bonus of curing her of her paralysis. Then she used Ancientpower again, and this time it hurt me more than before. I could tell that she wanted something I was not giving her, but I didn't know what to do about it. Not if Icy Wind was not enough. Then Donna helped make things clearer.

"She wants Lagi to use some unusual move," the trainer explained. "Something we don't get to see everyday. I was looking forward to a nice show myself. Her Hidden Power is pretty, but we've seen so many of those! We'd like to see something new. Something spectacular."
"Is that what you want?" I asked the Meganium.
Amazon nodded. "Give me your best shot. I'm ready for it... Are you?"

So she wanted something spectacular. I could do that. No time like then to test a move I'd never tried before. I focused on the space around the Meganium and on opening a breach in it. I could feel Amazon's astonishment as the air parted ways around her and was replaced by a cold, empty darkness. I tried not to hit her with full force, but the gap eventually reached her and I stopped feeling her. I closed it immediately and took a look at her. She was unconscious, but she had a smile on her face.

I grew to level 77!

Donna was impressed. Even Gabi and my teammates were. And, to be honest, so was I. The sensation of controlling space itself is a powerful feeling. One that can't be easily explained... or contained. I knew I still had to work on the latter. But it had worked quite well for a first attempt.

"The battle's over," said Donna, recalling Amazon. "That was quite a move. But there's still one more move I'd like to see. Please... show me your Tempest."

If I'd had any doubts that Donna knew more about us than she let out, now it was quite obvious. I hadn't used that move in years and I'd never met her before, so she had either read my files or talked to others about me. Perhaps about my whole team. It was a bit unsettling, but her request felt sincere and devoid of hidden intentions. Unless she'd found a way to fake her own emotions, I had no reason to doubt her.

I took to the air and shook my wind, raising the winds around me. Then I danced gently in the wind until thick drops of water began to fall. At that point, my movements became faster and the rain poured down harder carried by strong gusts of wind. I danced to the combined melodies of the storm, and then the rhythm changed and the rain froze and turned to ice. Mere moments later, thunder rolled through the clouds and impacted on the ground, playing the last vibrating note in the symphony of the elements. Then the storm was over, but I continued dancing in the air, for no reason other than to enjoy the release. I hadn't let myself go like that in a very long time.

My mind was brought back to the present when Donna started clapping her hands in excitement. I landed and bowed. It felt like something I ought to do after my performance.

"That was amazing," said Donna.
"It was," I concurred. "It's not very useful in battle: it takes a long time to execute, doesn't do that much damage and most Pokemon are resistant to at least a part of it. But it feels great to be there, directing the storm and dancing to its music."
"I couldn't get every word, but it sounded poetic," said Donna. "Something about the mood not being good in battle but feeling great?"
"That was the gist of it," Gabi nodded. "Now, if I may ask, how did you know about that move? It's been a long time since Lagi last used it."
"I heard about it from my Mismagius, Gina," Donna told her. "She saw her use it at the Dark Cave - back when she was a young Misdreavus - and was so impressed she decided to go to the city and start learning more about trained Pokemon. In the end she found me and, while she didn't trust me much at first, she got to know me better and ended up joining my team."
"There's a Dark Cave Pokemon in your team?" now it was I who was impressed. "Is she with you now? Can I see her?"
"She's supposed to be somewhere in this room," said Donna.
"I'm here!" a voice called out from within the leaves of a nearby tree. "I found myself a good seat to enjoy the view."

The Mismagius descended and showed herself. She was a happy Ghost Pokemon.

"Hi, Lagi, I'm Gina. I don't think you remember me... or that you even saw me before, but it's great to see you again. Everyone at the Dark Cave will always be grateful for what you did for us. I still go there from time to time and talk to Gail and the others. They told me you visited a few times, but I was never there at the right time. Oh, and our Reborn Forest is looking great now! The trees are blooming, and some are already bearing fruit. It really honors its name these days!"
"I'm really glad to hear that," I told her. "I should pay them another visit soon."
"Maybe you can use the chance to take a look at Templa Taure on the same trip," Gabi suggested.
"Why? What's going on at Templa Taure?" asked Donna.
"Hopefully nothing," said Gabi. "But it doesn't hurt to make sure. You seem to know many things. You've heard about the Black Dragon, right?"
"Yes," Donna replied. "I saw the news reports of his attack to Templa Taure, but that was years ago. And the Guild has lost track of him since then, from what I've heard. Not that the Orders of the Dragon and the Griffin would share any relevant information with the MTU. Do you think he could have gone back there?"
"I don't know, I just think it's worth checking. I'm just wondering... it sounds like you've been around for quite some time, right? How come I've never met you before?"
"I spend most of the time working at the MTU building," Donna said. "I only go to events when I need a change of scenery, like now. I'm sure there are many of us whom you haven't met before, just like I've never met most of the people you work with. You know... if you want to know more about me, you can just ask your Kingdra. She's spent long hours playing with our special computer."
"She has?" Gabi looked at Water Angel, who was still playing in the water and pretending nor to hear her. "She never told me anything about that. How did she get there?"
"I don't know, but I see her in our indoor fountain almost every weekday. Your Pidgeot's with her sometimes."
"I guess that's one mystery solved," said Tsunami.
"What do you mean?" asked Gabi.
"I was wondering where they went after we left them at the Guild's fountain every morning. There were many times I went back to the fountain and didn't find them. I'd started to think of staying with them and following them, but they'd have complained if they'd found me out."
"You could have asked if you were so curious," Pidgeot flew over to our side. "Asking's less rude than stalking, you know. There's a tunnel that connects our fountain with theirs. I'm sure that if you're a good boy the MTU will let you play in their fountain and use their computer."
"How long have you two known about that tunnel?" Gabi asked Pidgeot.
"Water Angel discovered it a few months ago," he replied. "The entrance is hard to notice at first glance, but you can find it if you know what to look for. I'm sure there must be many other secret passages among the Guild's buildings. That one's just the only one we have found. We meant to tell you about it, but things kept coming up and... we kinda forgot to mention it."
"I see, today is a day of revelations," Gabi said, not too pleased. "So you've met Donna before?"
"A few times, yes," Pidgeot answered. "We didn't talk much, but she let us stay and use the computer as much as we wanted. It's neat if you like computers. It recognizes some commands in Pokemon speech, and has large keys which can be pressed with almost anything. But it gets boring after a while. For me, at least. Water Angel likes to surf the web as if it were an ocean. She keeps finding things in there. I prefer to wait for her to give me the report, can't just stand in there watching her search and browse."
Gabi could hardly believe what she was hearing. "I really need to focus less on work and start paying more attention to you guys. And here I was thinking I could only expect such surprises from the terrible trio."
"You worry about us too much," said Tsunami. "We're noisy enough that if we ever make such a discovery, you and everyone else will know about it immediately."
"That much is true," Caledor agreed. "We're super noisy. We can beat anyone else's noise if we set ourselves to the task."
"You make it sound like that's a good thing," Gabi shifted her eyes.
"But of course! If you need some noise made, we're the ones to call. Come to think of it, we're one member too quiet. Let's go back to the Pokemon Center and fetch Hero so we can make some proper noise."
"You're not making noise at the Pokemon Center," Gabi warned him. "The Pokemon in there need to rest."
"Don't be silly, that's my job," said Caledor. "We go to the Pokemon Center, fetch Hero, and then the party begins."
"I didn't know he was so... excitable," Donna commented.
"They encourage each other," Gabi told her. "Hero, Tsunami and Caledor. If you're with one of them alone... he will still say some silly things, but he won't be nearly as loud. It's interesting because they all have distinct personalities and skills, but when they get together they're just this big mass of noise."
"Hey!, that's... actually quite accurate," Tsunami admitted.
"OK, we'd better go back to the Pokemon Center," Gabi said. "I guess I'll see you again some other time, or at least they will."
"Wait, before you go, there's something I wanted to ask you," Donna stopped her.
"What is it?"
"I heard you're good with computers. Can you tell where an e-mail mesage came from? Which computer, I mean."
"There are ways to trace them," Gabi replied. She then said something about servers performing checks, and proxies and webmail providers, which I can't recall well enough to report it here. "Why? What do you need that for?"
"Sorry, I'm afraid you lost me there," said Donna. "Is there any way to tell if an e-mail has been sent from inside a computer, without using an e-mail client?"
"You mean using SMTP directly?"
"I mean like the user being literally in the computer."
"I don't think there's a way to check that. But why do you want to? What are you looking for? Do you know anyone who can get inside a computer and send e-mails?"
"I think I know someone who may be doing it," Donna replied. "He probably doesn't mean any harm, but he may end up causing trouble. He's never had anyone to guide him and help him tell right from wrong. I can see why he'd send those e-mails, but they're coming out wrong and I heard the police is already trying to trace them. I tried to reply, but it bounced back saying the address doesn't exist. I'm worried about him... if it is him. He helped me when I was in trouble. He's not bad, he's just stuck with the wrong crew."
"Who?!" asked Gabi.
"His name is Terabyte," said Donna. "He's a Porygon 2 whose trainer worked for Team Rocket. They kidnapped me once, just before the Unicorn Games, but he helped me escape. I've never seen him again, but a few days ago I got this cryptic e-mail asking me for help finding a Dubious Disc."

A day of revelations indeed.

[The Blue Avenger]

I expect Lord Persian was behind it, yeah. I may do some things for rule of funny, but even then that's stretching suspension of disbelief a bit.

Re: your post:
- Sounds like tracking down a giant dragon may be harder than we thought. :[
- Ha, Caledor can't walk, attack, and yell at the same time. XD Poor guy.
- Sylvan battles pretty intelligently. I did like how she was expecting a revelation of some kind. XD Those do seem to come out of the woodwork.
- Sunshine isn't a bad name for her.
- Interesting introspection with "the disrespectful."
- I will admit, Donna and Diana threw me for a bit. Was the similarity intentional?
- The bit about Caledor's origins just makes me like him even more. Especially this part: "this is the last time anyone will hear me saying something this deep. So I hope you all enjoyed it while it lasted." I was marveling up to that point about how deep he was sounding. XD
- I liked Lagi's battle! Especially how the Meganium really just wanted to see something new. What was that move at the end? Spacial Rend?

So, 2 battles, with a lot of story in between. Let's go with 23 stamps.

[lvl100mewtwo]

FINALLLLYYYYY, after so long, I finished a battle... it's rushed, it's not the greatest, but I really needed to get this battle out of my hair so I could concentrate on better things... aka, the training grounds finally...

This isn't my greatest work, and I didn't get a chance to really give it a second look at... so bare with me... but here we go...

Where It All Began...

<Macedon>

Alex had decided to get a move on after our little rest and rush through the town to get out as fast as possible. On our way out though, he decided to make a stop into the local shop, selling off a few of his possessions in exchange for some items for the trip.

“Well I guess if you guys are gonna stick around me, we might as well get you guys in shape and train you a little bit better, don’t you think?” he said, looking down on us. “Yeah, I’ll take those TMs, that little collar, some yogurt and a bit of chocolate please”

Rex’s ears perked up at the word. The biggest grin could be seen on his face.

“Alright boys, let’s get out of here, we got a long road to go!”

As we started to walk out, Alex saw some papers on the bulletin board just outside. Alex slowly approached the board and was intensely looking at the big posted right in the middle of it.

“Dragon Games...” he muttered under his breath. Something didn’t seem right with him. Something wasn’t hitting the right cord with him at this point. He took a long look at the poster and then looked down to Rex and me. I think some dust may have gotten in his eye, as it seemed to be watering up.

“What’s his problem?” Rex said, looking at me

“Beats me. I can’t read so whatever that thing is, doesn’t seem like it’s making him too happy at the moment” as I shot another glance at my trainer. He reached into his backpack, took out a photo and then put it back into the bag and finally pulling out his lucky hat. He put the bill of the hat low on his face as he turned to face us.

“We are going North boys. We are gonna get out of town and we are going to be training on our way up to a little competition I remember.” His voice was cracking at this point, something was seriously not right. Rex and I just looked at each other then back up to Alex, nodded and smiled.

Alex took his little machine in his hand, took the strings that dangled off one end, and placed one of the bulbs at the end of the string into his ear. Noise could be heard coming out of the little bulbs, as he looked down at us and started to walk. Rex and I followed suit.

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

After walking for what seemed hours, Alex decided to stop as he saw a clearing just ahead. I looked back to see how far we had come at this point, only to notice that the town could still be seen. And here I thought we had just travelled halfway across the land.

Alex eyed around the area looking for a place to lay down his backpack and remove his sweater. It was getting rather warm as we were nearing peak sun time. He took in a large breath, exhaled loudly and turned to Rex and I.

“Alright guys, I know I haven’t been the best trainer as of late, but I guess we should start to get to know each other. I’ve been out of the game for a while now, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t know every one of your moves, especially you Rex. “He darted a look at the dog, giving him a faint smile.

“So while we were at the center, I was able to download an App for my iPod that acts as a Pokedex of sorts. So I know most of your moves at this point Macedon, but we should probably start learning about what Rex here knows and what we can teach him too.”

Alex took some little device out of his pocket and started to play with it. He kneeled down and showed us the machine, as it had a picture of Rex on it.

“It says here that you should at least know Quick Attack, Foresight and Endure. By my guess, you’ve probably already learned Counter too at this point, if that fight with the Sandshrew was any indication. So now my question is, what’s the move your dad gave you?”

Rex looked at me with a confused look, trying to figure out what our trainer was talking about.

“So... do you know Cross Chop?” he said, looking down at Rex, who just gave him a confused look. Rex rose up his arms and made them come down on Alex’s knee, with as much force as possible.

“Okay, that was pretty weak, I’m gonna guess not.”

Rex didn’t appreciate that, as he kicked Alex in the shin and then turned to me.

“I think he’s talking about your fast glowing punch move, only move he hasn’t asked about yet you dumb dumb!” Rex didn’t appreciate my tone as well, as he gave me a kick as well.

“Hey guys! No fighting between you two! It’s gonna be a long road if you’re both like this! Now let’s try to figure out this last move of yours Rex!”

Rex looked up to Alex, pointed to his mouth with a big grin on it.

“So you’re trying to blackmail me now? You want chocolate just so you can show me your last move? You drive a hard bargain there bud...” Rex was shaking his head up and down very enthusiastically as Alex brought out a piece of chocolate and gave it to Riolu.

His hands started to glow with a bright aura, as he planted his feet into the ground and took off like a speeding bullet towards a tree, hitting it multiple times with good force.

“Rex, I already know you know Quick Attack!” Alex screamed. Rex perked his ears up and came back walking towards Alex, his hands still glowing. He gave a light tap on his leg with his fist, and Alex understood immediately that this was not a regular attack.

Our trainer fiddled around with his little machine and spoke out the words “Bullet Punch!” Rex’s ears perked up again.

“He’s talking about your fast glow punch again I think kid! Now we have a name for it”

“Buwett Punch! I like the sound of that! Makes me seem like I’m fast and dangerous. It’s just like my nickname, Mr. Dangerous!”

“Well that’s a half decent amount of moves there bud, but I think we are gonna have to teach you a few new ones, how’s about it Rex?” Alex said, looking at the dog, as he reached into his backpack and brought out his big video machine with some move learners. “These are Technical Machines bud, I’m gonna get you to sit down and we’ll teach you a few moves to help you out in your fights, ok?” Rex just gave a confirming nod, as Alex set up his computer with his first move to learn. He then turned to me as Rex sat down and started to watch intently at the screen with moving pictures.

“Macedon, come with me big guy, we’ll let Rex watch his videos.” He said as he walked towards the clearing.

“Alright bud, so we are going to go for a long trip up north to my old stomping grounds. Hopefully we are gonna be able to get some decent training on our way up there. I’m gonna have a pretty big assignment for you bud when we get there. Do you think you are ready for this?” His tone was pretty serious, even the look in his eyes had me a little spooked. I calmly nodded with a smile and gave a small fist pump into the air, showing I was ready for whatever Alex wanted to put me through.

Alex seemed to be pleased that I would eagerly accept such a request, yet something seemed to be troubling him about this assignment.

“Look, Macedon, I think its time I come clean atleast to someone about what these games mean to me. I know we’ve only been around each other for a few weeks now but I feel I can trust you pretty well at this point to give you at least this much.” Alex took a pause and looked up to the bright blue sky. With a long breath and sigh, he looked back down at me.

“9 years ago, I met my first teammate around these parts of Caledor. Mystique.” Another pause.

“He was my first friend in these parts of the continent. He and I did everything together back then. Trained together, ate together, and slept together. Our first challenge together was the Dragon Games, where he even knew that to succeed, he had to evolve before even entering the competition. He made a sacrifice for me so that we could have a chance to win this competition. And wouldn’t you know it, me and Mystique did it, we took down some of the best trainers the Dragon Games had to offer us, and one by one, they fell to our teamwork and chemistry.”

Talk about unwanted pressure at this point... Can I even compete at that level? Can I even do those kind of sacrifices for my new friend to help him reach his goal once more? I thought to myself

“Mace...” He said in a very soft voice “I don’t want you to feel any pressure about this. I just want you to go in there with me, give it your best and show them what you are made of, what we are made of. You have no idea how much I miss Mystique, especially in times like these, but I can’t let the pass hold me down, which is why I need to do this with you, I need to enter the games and give it another shot. I lost my trainer’s edge so many years ago and I need to get it back and I feel doing this will only help me get back in the game.” Alex once again, glanced up and looked into the blue sky, this time, a single tear crawling down his cheek.

“So Macedon, what do you think, you still want to give it a shot?” He asked me.

I looked up at my new trainer, my partner, my friend. I owed it to him to at least try. Yet doubt was slowly creeping in the back of my mind. I did not want to let him down... but what if I did?

With a thumbs up and a small cry, I again reaffirmed my stance that I would participate in these games, because I knew how much this meant to him.

“Good, that’s what I want to see!” A smile finally came across his serious face. “Let’s go check up on Rex, see how his teachings are going.” He turned around and walked back towards the clearing where we had left the blue pup.

Rex was still attentively looking at the screen as the last little bit of the Technical Machine was finishing up:

“...And be careful not to miss your target, you’ll be coming down with a lot of force. Injury is very much possible. Thus concludes this tutorial on the move Hi-Jump Kick. Silph Co. thanks you for choosing us for your Technical Machine needs. Good bye!” And a small outro music played as the screen went blank.

Rex turned back to us, eagerly wanting to try out the new moves that he had just learned

“Hah, these moves are for amateurs, I could probably take you down with ease from now on.” He said with a cocky smirk.

“Here, how’s about you try this one out for size?” With that, he cocked his hand back, attempting to take in the moisture and the cold air. “ICE PUNCH!”

With a lunge, Rex came at me, hand thrusting forward. I put my hand up, stopping the punch in my fist. Rex looked at me with a perplexed look on his face. His hand started to steam as the ice melted off the fist and a slow burn started to creep up.

“OOOWWWW!” with a yelp, he backed off, as he tended to his now burnt hand.

“GUYS!” Alex bellowed, Rex and I both turned our attention to him. “Alright, enough with this playing around. Macedon, apologize to Rex for burning him.” He said, with a serious tone.

Why should I even apologize to this pup? He’s the one who came to me!

“I’m sorry...” I said, half-heartedly...

“Yeah, that’s right, you better say sorry, it’s your fault I’m burnt!” he retorted... The nerve of that pokemon!

“You know, with your pokemon fighting like that, I’m gonna assume you’re new at this whole training thing aren’t you?” a voice said from the distance.

Alex turned around to see another human walking towards him, alot smaller and somewhat younger by my guess. The kid seemed to be holding a few pokeballs in his hand, seemingly wanting a battle.

“What do you want kid, I’m not exactly in the mood for a battle right now” Alex told the other human.

“And why is that, are you chicken?” The young boy started to make this odd noise, as if he was choking on air or something. He was also flapping his arms around, walking in circles. “With those weak little pokemon, I can see why you would be afraid.”

Alex seemed to be getting irate at this point. “Look kid, any other day, I would have no issue battling you, but not right now, I’m just trying to relax with my pokemon.”

“Yeah, thats what I thought... CHICKEN!!!” and he was back at doing his odd gestures.

“Alright! Enough, kid! Macedon, Rex, you guys up for a little battle?” He looked down at us, as Rex and I both nodded in agreement, itching to get back on the Ponyta and get into a battle. “Alright, I guess my pokemon want to battle then, and how’s about I make this interesting and show you how ‘weak’ my pokemon are? I won’t throw a single command, I’ll leave it to my team to figure out what to do, should give you enough of an edge?”

“Hah, yeah right old timer, but you know what, an easy battle is an easy battle and my pokemon need the practice, so you are on!” He released 2 of his pokeballs out in the clearing ahead of us.

A tall plant like thing and a floating arm popped out. “Lileep! Beldum! Show them what you 2 are made of!”

Alex took one quick look down at us, then a quick stare at me, giving me the nod, the proverbial green light as one would see it, as we walked into the clearing.

“So Alex won’t be saying a word in this?” Rex said, looking at me as we walked.

“That’s my guess? I think he has enough faith in us to do this on our own. Just make sure you listen to what I have to say and we should be fine Rex.”

“I’m not listening to you, you almost got me beat the other night against that fire turtle. What makes you think I’m gonna listen now?” He said with a glare.

Rex planted his feet in the grass, put himself in an offensive stance and prepared for battle. There wasn’t much else I could do at this point. I took my own stance, body heat slowly creeping up.

“Go”

With that, Rex jumped into action before I could say a word, aiming himself straight for the floating arm. He went in at blinding speed, attempting to catch the other team off guard with some quick attacks to start off the match. The first punch landed upon the Beldum, and it barely moved back. He went in for a second shot and again, was met with resistance from his opponent. He raced in one more time, but was stopped by one of the vines of the plant, as it grabbed him and wrapped its vine tightly around the pup’s body, tightening its muscles and constricting with every breath that Rex took.

“Mace... Help... Me...” were the muttered words I could hear coming out of rex.

I took one step back and took in as much air as possible, picking up as much mucus as I could in my insides. I launched a few mucus balls that were enflamed at the giant plant, as a cry of pain could be heard from it. Who knew plants could make noise? Rex was released from the death grip he was in and slowly walked back towards me.

In usual Rex Fashion, he did not pay attention to the battlefield as the Beldum launched himself in the air for a Take Down.

“Rex, behind you!” I screamed, as Rex spun around, planted his feet and waited for connection. The body blow of the opposing pokemon was met by Rex’s hands, as he used his opponent’s kinetic energy and hurled it to the ground. A perfect counter.

Before I could even get in a word to Rex, green goo was projected towards me, coming from the plant. I jumped to the side, narrowly missing me. I turned around to see the goo eating away at the patch of grass that it had hit and giving off a foul smell. I looked up only to see green goo being launched my way again. I reacted once more and jumped out of the way. This time I wasn’t going to get caught once more, as I released a thick black smokescreen.

I turned to my left to see that Rex was engaged with the Beldum. His body started to glow a black aura, his eyes turned a pitch black as he launched himself at his opponent, jaw wide open. As he neared the floating arm, the dark aura dissipated. His jaw locked itself on the pokemon, yet it didn’t seem to have the desired effect. I guess this was one of the attacks Alex was trying to teach Rex with the technical machines while we were having our chat. Rex released his grip on his opponent, and he reared back once more, through the black smoke, making his way back to me.

“Look, this let loose strategy isn’t working right now and you clearly don’t know how to work your new attacks, so we are gonna do this my way!” I said with authority

“You do what you gotta do, I’m gonna do what I gotta do.” Rex said, once again, sending himself in the pitch black smoke at high speeds, this time, going after the plant. At least at this point he was going against the opponent I wanted him to go against.

I turned around to see that the floating arm was coming straight at me at high speeds, glowing in an odd purple aura. With no time to react, I couldn’t get myself out of the way, as the psychic type connected with his full force. I latched on for dear life as we both went for a ride. Holding on, I could dig my hands into its steel skin, giving him a nice burn. He suddenly stopped due to the pain, yet with all that energy going backwards, I was propelled into a nearby tree, hitting it at full force.

I shook it off just in time to see Rex launch himself at the plant with a flurry of bullet punches. Each one that connected seemed to be doing an immense amount of damage towards his opponent, who seemed to be unable to retaliate from the attacks. A grey aura came over the plant, as a loud screech could be heard throughout the clearing. The force of the screech propelled Rex backwards, a good 10 feet.

My ears were still ringing as I looked at the Beldum, seeing him concentrate, his steel coat getting shinier and shinier in the sunlight. Either he was healing himself or preparing for an attack, which meant that I had to react fast and get some good hits in.

With a jolt of speed, I ran in for a Mach Punch, connecting once, twice, three times, with little effect. My opponent looked at me with its eye and launched himself into a takedown. The sheer force propelled us both backwards, as I took the blunt of the damage. Beldum did seem to have taken some damage.

“Rex, we are gonna finish this now, give your guy a good hit, should be enough to finish this!” I barked at my partner. I turned to the steel type, wincing as I stood up from the last blow.

I took in a deep breath and a step back. I launched a full on assault of embers at my opoonent, some missing, a few connecting onto its target. The Beldum was sent propelling backwards, in the direction of the Lileep.

I saw Rex crouch and launch himself into the air, screaming like a mad dog, leg fully extended. The plant was too well grounded to be able to move out of the way of the attack, as the kick connected with it’s full force, un-rooting the plant and sending him crashing into a nearby tree. As soon as the pokemon connected into the tree, the Beldum followed suit, crashing into it and the tree. Both pokemon were visibly knocked out.

“What the hell? Unbelievable, beaten by an amateur and his baby pokemon, how does this even work?” The young human exclaimed, as he returned his pokemon to his pokeball and walked away, head down in shame.

Alex walked up to both of us and kneeled, chocolate bar in hand. Rex’s eyes lit up, seeing the tasty treat.

“Great job you two! Here, have a treat.” He said, breaking off a piece for Rex and I. Rex devoured his piece in 0.2 seconds flat and started to beg for more. “Wo greedy, we gotta keep this for the long walk up north, or else you won’t have any energy once we get there.”

Alex turned to me, with a smile “I think I made the right choice with you, you definitely will make me proud once we get there!”

A sigh of relief came over me.

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

It only took a few days, but finally in the distance, we could see giant gates, towers and loud noises. We had arrived; we were at the Dragons Games.

Alex looked ahead. It seemed like he didn’t know what to think at this point, what to feel. He gave one last glance down to Rex and I and smiled. “Last one there is the loser!” he said, as he started to run towards the training grounds...

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

Rex (Lvl 9) and Macedon (Lvl 10) battled Lileep and Beldum (Lvl. 9 & 10) and won.

Rex grew to lvl 10 and Macedon grew to lvl 11

Rex will be learning a new TM in his next battle

[Lady Vulpix]

In response to Jeff: first of all, thanks a lot for rating my post and for the stamps. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Diana was Lagi's best friend back at the time of the Pegasus Games (late 2001, Alex might remember it). She was a Meganium, and she had empathic abilities just like Lagi. Her trainer was Ryan. Later, when Lagi's first child Edie was born, she also joined Ryan's team. But they all left Ulthuan shortly after meeting Yssera. When I realized Lagi was going to face a Meganium, I immediately thought of Diana. But I knew it couldn't be her, so I tried to come up with something different while still giving a wink to that association. That's how Amazon and Donna came to be. Also, Donna has turned out to be quite plot convenient in more ways than one. I hadn't planned all the things she said in advance, she practically wrote herself. In fact, Gina was led to her because of a coincidence too. I'll expand on that some other time.

As for Caledor, I'm really glad you liked his reaction. Caledor's an interesting character to write because he's layered, but most people only get to see the silly and cheerful image he wants to be known for. This isn't the first appearance of deep/serious Caledor. He certainly hopes it's the last, but the truth is that it's as much a part of him as the other part with which he's a lot more comfortable. He's given the question of his origin a lot of thought over the years, and he's gone through a wide range of emotions inluding self doubt and anger which he tried to hide, but bottling up only caused him to explode in front of his largely clueless friends. He regretted that immediately, but he couldn't just erase what had happened. It took some conversations with Lagi and Tsunami, Kiara's support, a visit to the lab and an unexpected revelation from Thunderblast for him to come to terms with the little he knew and everything he didn't know about his past. So, when Donna gave him these new details, she did drop a bomb on him, but it was one he was prepared to deal with. In a way, it brought some kind of closure for him. Of course, now he'll continue acting silly and cheering everyone up because that's what he enjoys the most. (And if he'd heard you he might start trying to learn to shout, attack and yell at the same time just so that no one pities him for failing at it, but he'd be glad to hear that you like him.)

Sylvan is always trying to improve herself. It's largely a case of elephant tied to a stake, she doesn't realize she's already pretty strong and capable of dealing with the things that were serious threats to her when she was younger. Her first experiences with war and evil in general have left a mark on her. She wants to do something to change that, but she can't see a way to end it all for good. And she has the (probably erroneous) impression that she'll never be as capable of holding her ground as Amber, whom she admires for being so good at dealing with whatever comes to her and for always being there to help her and protect her. I don't know... maybe one day she'll get to realize that she's already good and that if she didn't learn something from a battle it's not because she missed the lesson but because there was nothing to be learnt from it. But she'll probably need some help to realize that.

I'm glad you liked Lagi's introspection about 'the disrespectful'. It was a delicate issue.

And yes, the move was Spacial Rend.

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

Comments for Alex:

I'm sorry the Dragon Games had such an effect on you (your character). But I liked the conversation you had with Macedon about them.

I like the idea of a Pokedex iPod App. Not that I coulduse it since I don't have an iPod, but I still have my (t)rusty old PokeGear with me.

I understand Rex getting mad at being called weak and dumb, but did he have to (try to) attack you to test whether or not he knew a move?

I didn't know you had some old stomping grounds up north. Unless you meant the Training Grounds, regardless of their location.

The battle was nicely done. I also liked the conclusion.

Typos which shall be fixed in the archived version:
"Alex slowly approached the board and was intensely looking at the big posted right in the middle of it." <- I think you meant 'poster'.
"finally pulling out his lucky hat."<-"pulled"
"Rex didn’t appreciate my tone as well, as he gave me a kick as well."<- First "as well"="either"
"atleast"<-"at least"
"I can’t let the pass hold me down"<-"the past"
"alot"<-"a lot"
"opoonent"<-"opponent"

Take 16 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[lvl100mewtwo]

Haha, late night and no revision will do that... Training grounds have been planned out so hopefully I'll be able to get around to writting the first 2 rooms sooner then later, maybe this weekend? As for the stomping grounds bit, technically this is my 3rd Dragon Games, haha, so I'm a little used to this area... Or my character atleast...

Yeah, the iPod app was just something to add a little comic relief / real life spin to it... Glad to know you liked it...

Now hopefully I get my revisions done on the next few battles... Also, after the first training room, feel free to use my character once more in your bits Gab

[Lady Vulpix]

Alright. But I don't like writing other people's characters, I don't trust myself to do it properly. Maybe we can have an IM conversation to roleplay our encounter one of these days.

The Dragon Games used to be held in Caledor, this is the first time the Dragon Tamers as a group have been to Avelorn. But you should be familiar enough with the Training Grounds themselves. They're similar to the Eagle, Griffon, Pegasus and Unicorn Games Training Grounds. I arranged to set these up because (in story as well as in reality) I knew more about them than about the old Dragon Games Training Grounds, so it was easier for me to describe them.

[lvl100mewtwo]

Haha, we all remember my fiasco at the second Dragon Games, I didn't mean you taking over my personality, but more along the lines that I'm back in the area... Haha, never doing someone else's POV like that again, I promise Gabi

[mario72486]

Looking to start leveling up. I recently joined this RPG by adopting a Level 6 Chimchar, whom I shall call Inferno. He has Thunderpunch bred into him.

We'll enter the Jungle Room to start off.

[DarkestLight]

Ok.

This has been edited with Blizzard battle

[Lady Vulpix]

Comments for DL's story:

Poor Cruise. Both for the incident with may and - especially - for the trainer he has.

It was interesting how the group reached the Blizzard Room without knowing it. And Rapp's way of calming himself down was weird but cute (still not as weird as the tree-hugging, though).

Why is it that I had the same reaction as Mossy at the mention of the word 'tea'?

Interesting way to introduce the Sneasel. But what statement was wrong? "I don't think it's some--"?

I liked your descriptions during the battles.

"What was he even talking about." <- Was that a question or a statement? I've also fixed some typos for the archived version.

Rapp covering May with his parka was cute. I also liked the way he started giving Zent instructions in order to help her when he didn't even know who she was or what she was doing there.

Did the Snorunt cause Zent a brain freeze? >_< And did she go into the Blizzard Room just to eat some ice?

The ending was nice.

Take 19 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[DarkestLight]

Thanks for the rating, and to explain that statement. Rapp was going to say "I don't think it's something to worry about"

I'll also need a RNG battle..for...Zent. I believe its 7 stamps-where's the info about that btw-its not in the FAQ...can't find it.

I'm glad you like the ending, but it was really rushed. I wanna finish up this little arc before we go on and do cooler stuff.

[Lady Vulpix]

I believe you're looking for the random battle rules on the first post of this thread. You need to choose a section to get your opponent from. Sections determine the possible types of the opponents.

Caledor's Nature Protection Agency: 80% Fire, 15% Dragon, 5% Ground.
Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency: 60% Water, 40% Ice.
Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency: 35% Grass, 25% Bug, 25% Poison, 15% Flying.
Professional Sports Breeding System: 85% Fighting, 15% Rock.
Electric Shutdown Retirement System: 95% Electric, 5% Steel.
Free Range Corral: 100% Normal.
Universal Adoption Center: 20% Psychic, 20% Ghost, 15% Rock, 15% Ground, 15% Steel, 15% Dark.

Dual types have a higher chance of turning up, as they can be selected by either of their types. By the way, we use the same randomizer to determine which Pokemon will be put up for adoption.

[DarkestLight]

Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency.

[Lady Vulpix]

Zent will battle a Scyther.

[DarkestLight]

*Cashes in 7 stamps*

Penguin egg!

The strip of wood Zent has pulled up was full of what seemed to be the things a growing Larvitar needed. She stared up at the nice fellow that seemed to be genuinely interested in her, and at the varied types of Pokemon in the room. One was over in the corner, seemingly fishing? It seemed to be made completely of grass.

The other one she saw walking with the bat-eared fellow she followed. The..female pink blob was really agitated, as she kept looking into the reflective surface of the stove. What was wrong with her face?

Zent shrugged, and took another bite of the wood as Rapp turned to the older gentleman. "You must like it in here. But where did..."

"I reckon' she took off for parts unknown. Her Pokemon reappeared in a flash, an' they left in a hurry." Rapp nodded, and turned to the new conundrum. Had he just acquired a new Pokemon? The little green Pokemon seemed docile enough. But what was she doing here, and why was she alone. She couldn't have been left here, could she?

Zent walked right up to him, still chewing on a piece of wood and stared up at him. Rapp knelt down so he could try and pat her head. Her eyes watched his hand, and her gaze changed. No longer was it carefree, but now adamant. Her small teeth started to show as Rapp's hand moved closer, and he stopped in response. The Larvitar stayed still, watching that hand, until Rapp retracted. When it was a safe distance away, Zent lost the focused gaze and assumed the carefree gaze she adopted when eating.

"I guess you're not trusting of me. Wonder if it has anything to do with you being left here? Yer not a snowy Pokemon...right?"

Zent shook her head, and chomped down again, as Maybelline came over. Her face was still marred, but she had come to terms that the scratches would heal in no time. Zent looked over and eyed the female carefully, before turning around.

The weird mass of vines was behind her. She took a wayward step back as Mossy started to move in an irregular manner. His vines shot up and held up the object he had saw awhile ago. Rapp took his focus from May's face to see what was it Mossy found.

"Jeez Mossy, yer a living Itemfinder! Another TM?" Rapp laughed at the new "present" given to him by Mossy, and turned to the old cowboy, whom had rested his feet on the windowsill, and pulled his hat over his eyes.

"Oh...he's prolly asleep. We should probably leave." May and Mossy agreed, and Mossy was quick to make sure he had all of his newly acquired items while heading for the hood of the parka that lied on the floor. Zent however, eyed him again. She wasn't completely sold on this human-he seemed a bit...off. But he did feed her. And this place was warm, and he was nice.

Mossy and May trotted over, carrying the parka over their bodies. Rapp scoffed, and grabbed the article of clothing from their grasps. "Alright. I guess we're heading out. You're welcome to join us...if you want." Rapp extended his hands to make sure the parka wasn't bunched up on his body, before zipping it up. Mossy was lifted and tucked in the hood, and May rubbed her arms to arm up.

Zent's attention snapped from the three folks in front of her, to the door, and her gaze snapped into focused mode. Rapp noted this and turned to the door, only to be greeted by a nasty blast of wind! The snow was blowing hard, and he crossed his arms to brace himself against him. The older gentlemen stayed put, unphased by the cold. Rapp pushed toward the door, but his motion was stopped by a pair of hands that grabbed him! Peering up from his crossed arms, he made out a slightly familiar face.

"Well now, where do you think you're going?" Rapp took a step back, but the hands that grabbed him pulled him close, and then slammed Rapp into the cabin door, shutting it. Rapp struggled against the grip being affixed on his arms. His problems increased however, as May was on the ground, holding her head.

"May! May! What's wrong?" May could barely stand, and Rapp noticed Zent was looking left and right, from the door to the window.

"Why are you worried about your punk Pokemon, chump? My Bruiser just took care of her, and now I'm going to take care of you! No one humiliates my Pokemon! Bruiser, lets take Penguin and get out of here!"

[Zent lv6 vs Scyther lv7]

"Penguin?" Rapp shouted as he broke free of the larger man's grasp, and quickly slid behind the table to give himself space to think. As the door was free, it opened and in strode a large green mantis. Its weaponry was impressive, blades right on its arms! Wings stopped flapping, and the bug used that left blade very carefully to shave the snow off of its head.

"I used Bruiser to scope the place out and take out Fatty over there. You only have that green piece of trash left, and that guy's no match for Bruiser here. Then I saw you found Penguin!"

"Penguin?" Rapp repeated. He wasn't understanding any of this at all, until Zent walked to his feet, and stared at him. Rapp looked down, and then to the muscleman. "You mean, you think I stole your...uhh.." It dawned on Rapp that he didn't know the species he had made acquaintances with. "No..NO! I found her! She was wandering this place, freezing. How do you just FORGET a Pokemon?"

"Shut up kid." He pointed to Zent and then nodded to Bruiser. "Grab her, and then we'll get out of here." Bruiser walked towards them, hopping on the table and sneering. Zent took another step back, her gaze still focused on the Scyther. The bug stepped down and leaned in, one blade pointed right in front of her. Zent stayed focused as the other appendage wrapped around her.

"Yah, I didn't think the egg survived, so I chucked it while we ran through this snow. Then I was told what was to hatch from it, and well, I decided I wanted it back. S'why I call it Penguin. Punks like you can't handle Pokemon like that."

Rapp however, had just about enough. This "Bruiser" had managed to lift Zent up, and it was obvious she was very riled up, not to mention heavy? Scyther looked visibly vexed that this little Pokemon was so heavy. So why not try to get her trust this way? "Hey, Bite it."

"Wha? It's a baby, it can't fight, stupid kid." the man said. Bruiser however, was in full disagreement as Zent dropped her wood in favor of the green mantis' forelimb. Her little teeth sunk in and caused Bruiser to jump backwards. The weight of Zent forced Bruiser's left arm to drop right to the ground with a thud. The sudden shock woke the cowboy, who set his chair on the ground properly and raised his hat to see what was happening.

"Wha? That thing's already that fiesty? Fine. Bruiser, give it a Quick Attack!" Bruiser snapped his arm out of her mouth and began to fly, to Rapp's dismay. This place was far to small to conduct a battle, and the cowboy was visibly irate this happened during his nap. Taking a chance, Rapp dove over the table and used his body to ocver May, as Bruiser streaked down and snaked around the table Zent was struck and hit right in the pile that was May, Mossy and Rapp. Due to the large parka and May's own girth, Zent wasn't hurt too bad, But she was pissed. She pushed off of Rapp's chest and stood in front of them, arms open.

Rapp coughed, feeling the impact of her weight on his chest. That Pokemon WAS heavy for its height! But that was neither here or there. He had to help her. May crawled to the side, recovering finally from that strike from earlier. "Mossy, take care of May, and as for you little one...do that strange dance thing you did before."

The cowboy watched as Bruiser ordered the Scyther to Focus before putting her out of her misery. The bug hovered in place, and seemed to attain that same focus the little Pokemon could at any given time. But this also gave the little one time to dance under the table. In fact, she did the dance twice, and somehow got enough momentum going to quickly knock the table over, at Bruiser! Bruiser sliced the table tin two and screeched at her, before speeding in for another quick Attack. But her body seemed more than able to take hits from those blades.

"Oh...she's part Rock? I get it now" Rapp murmured, as he watched Zent take a first blade strike, and grab it so she could try and bite through the steel. Although rock, those hits were still hurting her, but her Bites were really pissing Bruiser off. The mantis backed away after a trade off of Quick Attacks and Bites and waited for his trainer to give another order. The larger man was furious, his head sweating with anxiousness.

"You gotta be kidding me. That worthless egg hatched into that, and you got it! Bruiser, knock it out!"

"Hey be careful! Its gonna speed at you again, Do you know any other moves?" The little Pokemon shook her head, never losing her focus on Bruiser, who flew up and back to the far corner of the cabin. He held both blades out and began to rotate like a spear, before shooting forth at her. But the little Pokemon was pretty fast when she needed to, and she jumped as the Scyther drilled along the ground, impaling its blades in the back wall. Bruiser planted its feet, and tried to pull his arms out, but Zent wasn't having it. She ran over his back-and bit the back of his head!

The big guy had enough of this, and ran over to Bruiser. However the cowboy stood up and stood between him and the two fighting Pokemon. "I reckon' you let this battle finish, since you started it."

"But they're both MY Pokemon!" He shouted, putting his hand on the cowboy's shoulder. The man calmly looked to his shoulder, and then to the fellow. Bruiser cried out as he freed one scythe; only to be bit again on his head by Zent-who was intensely vicious with her strikes. He tried to hack her away, but she kept ducking or jumping over his strikes. As the ornery man looked to see how Bruiser was faring, his hand was grabbed and twisted clockwise, forcing him to kneel as the older fellow now had the upper hand.

"The way I see it, you threw out an egg because you are a crass trainer. This boy found the hatched Pokemon, fed it and helped it. Methink's you didn't lose a Pokemon, you just didn't want it. And now..." He turned to look at Rapp, who was staring as Zent stood atop of the Scyther's head.

"...now you just lost. That probably grates on your nerves the most, this kid beating you." The cowboy released his grip on the man, and pointed to the door. "Young feller', I reckon' you and your crew should git a move on. I think the gal' here needs some help."

Rapp nodded, and looked to Zent. "How about it? Do you want to join up with us?" The small Rocky Pokemon hopped off of the Scyther's head, and waddled over to Rapp again. Rapp tried to extend both hands, and Zent immediately glared at them.

"I'm not going to throw you. Rather, I'm going to attempt to pick you up." Zent watched as the hands got closer, closer..and then they were on her sides. She raised her hands a bit as Rapp knelt down in order to lift her. "Gawd...yer heavy...but I can manage."

Zent however, didn't like it, and sank her teeth in Rapp's hands. Rapp almost dropped her, but instead flexed his arms to hold her tighter. Zent saw teh visible pain Rapp was willing to go through in order to lift her..and released her toothhold on him. Rapp stared at her with a mix of scorn and confusion, but that gaze faded for a smile. "Guess you just have your ways of building trust." he stated, as he brung her in close. "May, can you walk?"

The wet slap of a tongue on his face was affirmation enough, and Mossy already took his spot in the hood. "Then we're out of here." A glare went to the muscular fellow, who glared at him the whole time.

"...Don't worry. I'm sure I'll raise her to be swell." he remarked as he headed for the door. As Rapp headed out, he heard the man shout one final threat.

"I'm going to find you, and we're going to see about that, punk! This isn't over!"

Rapp didn't care. He was the lucky one today. He acquired a new Pokemon, a Rock one at that. What a series of events today held! As he marched toward the exit, he could only smile at what else was in store for him here! This journey was turning out to be much more intense than he could imagine.

[Zent is Lv7!]

[The Blue Avenger]

I'd like a double RBG for Kurtzwick and 99 from the UAC, please.

DL:
- So Zent's an Adamant Larvitar. Awesome.
- Bruiser's trainer really wants to make me punch him in the face.
- Glad to see Zent's weight being taken into account. Those things are surprisingly hefty.
- Looks like Rapp has a rival.

Stamps: An intro and a battle... let's call this 10.

[Lady Vulpix]

Yes, nice work, DL. And now I'm really wondering how an ecounter between Kurtzwick and Mossy would play out.

Speaking of Kurtzwick, he and 99 will battle a Munna and a Klink. Wow, two more new Pokemon.

Edit: behold the power of procrastination! OK, it wasn't as powerful as I expected.

[DarkestLight]

Thanks. Yeah we'll be seeing more of that Trainer.

As for Kurtzwick, Mossy needs a few more months of practice, lol.

[The Blue Avenger]

Actually, not really. Kurtzwick is level 7. XD

[Lady Vulpix]

I think he means thieving practice.

[The Blue Avenger]

Oh, well, true enough. XD Kurtzwick is kind of all over that.

Edit: Also, I didn't see those sprites earlier. Kickin'. Thanks, Gabi.

[Lady Vulpix]

You're welcome.

DL: just wondering, but if Zent is so young, what was the base of her judgement that Rapp seemed a bit off? Was she comparing him to anyone she'd met before, or was she just wary because no one else had tried to approach her like that before? At first I had thought she'd felt he was different from other humans, but then I realized she couldn't have met many humans in her lifetime.

This is where I discuss other people's stories because I don't have enough time to keep writing my own for now. Ahem... But also because I'm interested, of course.