We had returned to Sector Alpha for a while, just so Shonta could get some proper rest in her own bed. She barely left her room for a while. The poor girl was devastated by the results of the Second Round.

“And now for the results of the Second Round of the Dragon Games!”

Ali changed the channel immediately. “Ugh, we already know this. Why torment us with it again?” she grumbled.

<That was for the public,> Jewel explained. <They tend to show it for days, along with interviews of the finalists and such.>

“No wonder Miss Shonta’s so bummed out,” Bo said. “At least we still got the Consolation Round.”

“Why do they have to give it that name? Might as well call it the Loser’s Round,” Ali said.

“Uncle Bandit ain’t a loser!” Ken shouted.

Katana looked at me. “How do you feel about this?” she asked me.

“Me? I dunno. A part of me is disappointed, but the rest of me is relieved that it’s almost over. After this battle, you guys can take over for a while. No battles for me period.” We both looked down at Nama. The Slakoth had been either in her pokeball sleeping or sitting quietly away from us. “Hey Nama, we can still score two Rare Candies for you.”

She slowly shook her head. “Don’t forget we’re still up against the top scorer of the First Round,” she reminded me.

“Oh crap, I did forget that.”

“That’d make this victory all the sweeter!” Moriko said happily. “In fact, better than winning the Dragon Games!”

Several of us turned our heads to the Heracross. “I’m sorry, could you clarify for us?” I asked her curiously.

“That top scorer used to be the champion! It doesn’t matter if we’re in the Final Round or the Consolation Round; beating the former champion will still be a big accomplishment!”

Katana got a small smirk on her face. “That makes a lot of sense.”

“Of course it does! So let’s not throw in the towel!” She picked up Nama and shook her. “And put a smile on that face! We will make you a Vigoroth, darn it!”

“O-Okay…” Nama said shakily. She gave Moriko a lazy smile.

Shonta walked out her room and looked at us strangely. “What are you all talking about?” she questioned.

“Oh, just plotting the downfall of the former champion,” Moriko said with a devious smile.

Our trainer blinked twice before shrugging. “Okay. As long as I don’t have to dispose of the body.” Then she laughed at her own joke.

“So now what? Where is the floating stadium going to be?” I asked her.

“You didn’t hear the news? That stadium is undergoing repairs so the Consolation Round is going to be at Wing Stadium.”

There was a long stretch of silence, then Lily said what was on our minds. “Isn’t that at White Mountain?”

“Yeah.”

“Where—“

“Yeah.” She didn’t lose her casual attitude.

“But—“

“It’s safe now; otherwise we wouldn’t be having it there.”

“Should any of us be writing our wills right now?” Trinity snarked.

“We can always chicken out and get nothing for this round. I’m down for whatever Bandit and Nama want, but I want to finish this.”

I sighed heavily and raised my hand. “I second that.”

“The cheer squad votes to go on as well!” Moriko said cheerily. The cheer squad consisted of the three Fighting types, Lily, Ken and Bo. Actually, more than half of the team could be called a cheer squad. Even though Destai only barked and howled, and Rose did little more than shake her bouquets like pompoms.

No one went against the cheer squad, especially when Moriko was leading.

“Great, now we have to go,” Trinity groaned.

“We leave for Ellyrion in the morning. Sleep well!”

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

We were surprisingly early to our train, with good reason. During the Dragon Games, the trains were always full with passengers. If we were late to the train, we would miss out on the ride and would have had to wait later. That would’ve meant a tougher time finding a room.

Our earliness didn’t help things.

“What do you mean, there’s no room? It’s the Pokemon Center for crying out loud! You ALWAYS have room!” Shonta said in panic to the Nurse Joy at the Sybyll Pokemon Center.

“I’m very sorry for the trouble,” the nurse apologized. “There has been a surprising number of trainers here for the Dragon Games, as well as exploring the area around White Mountain.”

I walked with her, Katana and Lily out of the Pokemon Center. “Well, this was the cheapest and nearest place to stay. Too bad everyone else got the same idea,” Shonta grumbled.

“I’m sure there are other places to stay,” Lily assured her. “Let’s ask around.”

Two small hotels and a bed and breakfast later, we were sitting at a café with depressed looks all around. “This town is kinda small,” I commented. “And that last place was kinda expensive.”

“Well, it did offer a Parisian-style breakfast,” Lily tried to rationalize.

“I don’t even know what people in Paris have for breakfast,” Shonta said. “Just give me some bacon and eggs and I’ll be happy.”

“WE CAN HELP YOU!”

“Hoooooly crap!” I howled before falling out of my seat.

Two familiar, identical faces stared down at me. “Hiiiiiiiii!” they said together.

Katana glared at them. “You two again?” she growled.

Lavender (don’t tell me how I can tell them apart) glared back at the Zangoose. “If you don’t want our help, you’re more than welcome to sleep in the forest,” she sneered.

“With the hanging corpses,” Magenta added.

“Now now, there’s no need to get violent like last time,” Lily said soothingly.

“Do you share a mind with our trainer or something?” I asked the two Kecleon while still on my back, remembering Shonta’s remarks on White Mountain.

“Silly billy! We’re not psychic!” Magenta said.

“Then how did you know where I was?”

They looked at each other. “They said on TV that you’d be battling here!” Lavender answered.

“Not here, but at Wing Stadium! Sybyll is the closest town to Wing Stadium!” Magenta said.

“But we weren’t looking for you!”

“Not at first!”

Neither of them had noticed that they were now pushing down on my chest. “Can’t… breathe,” I gasped.

“Ooops!” they said together, taking a few steps back from me.

“Thanks.” I sat up. “You said something about getting us a place to stay?”

“Oh yes! We live here!” Magenta chirped.

“You didn’t mention that before.”

“We didn’t?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“We apologize!” Lavender told me. “Our trainer can give you a place to stay! She always has an extra bed available!”

I tugged on Shonta’s sleeve. “These two say that their trainer can give us a room for the night.”

“Is that okay with the trainer?” the human asked, her eyes brightening.

I relayed Shonta’s question, and the twins ran into the café without another word. Shonta put her head in her hands while she waited. I got back in my chair and glanced at a table near us. The Machoke at that table glanced back and smirked. I gave him a nervous smile, not really knowing what the smirk meant although I started to regret giving him any attention when he stood from his seat and went over to me.

“Haven’t I seen you somewhere?” the Machoke asked in a gruff voice. He snapped his fingers before I could answer and laughed. “Dude, you’re the Kecleon in the Dragon Games!”

“What makes you think he’s the Kecleon and not just a Kecleon?” Katana questioned. Machoke pointed at Shonta. “Lucky guess. We could have two Kecleon.”

“Yes, I’m the Kecleon,” I clarified before the two got into an unnecessary argument.

“This is just awesome!” Machoke exclaimed. He got a small notebook and ink padfrom the table he was sitting at. “Can I get your print?”

“Sure.” I pressed my hand down on the ink pad and then pressed it down on an empty page, right next to one marked “Usagi”.

Is that the Whismur from the Second Round?

“Thanks man. Good luck with your battle; I’m gonna be rooting for you.” He left, probably to tell his teammates about his meeting. Right after he left my sight, the twins returned with a tall girl with black hair.

“So you’re the trainer. I’m Violet.” She shook my hand.

“The name’s Shonta.” I grinned.

“And we already know Bandit. We’ve become big fans.”

“Yeah, we’ve noticed,” Katana whispered.

“The twins told me you needed a place to stay. Follow me.”

She led us to a nice-sized house in an open area. A farm was close by, and a store was next to them. A small herd of Tauros grazed in the fenced-in field. “This place is beautiful!” Lily squealed.

“My family owns this land. We breed Tauros and also help rehabilitate other grazing Pokemon people find injured. We also sell art supplies.”

“Wooooow, that sounds so wonderful!” She tugged on my pants leg. “Shonta, I wanna do that too!”

The team looked around the property, half of them breaking off to the art store to buy supplies. By the end of the day, we had eaten dinner and sitting on the porch.

“Wow, this Ostentatious Aurum looks great on black paper,” Trinity complimented as she dipped her paw into the paint and pressed it on the banner we were making for Bandit.

“We gotta use bright colors for this,” Moriko reminded her.

Violet sat on the front steps with her Kecleon. “How do you manage such a big team?” she asked in awe.

“It hasn’t been easy,” I replied, feeling embarrassed.

“I used to be in the Dragon’s Guild. I had a team of ten, but then I had to release most of them when my mom fell ill. She was the one who started the art store, and I didn’t want it to close.”

“How long have you been raising Tauros?”

“Thirty years. It was Dad’s idea.”

“Those Pokemon are grumpy! They didn’t let us play with their tails!” Ken complained.

“We have plenty of people to work here. The problem is that I can’t leave Mom when she’s this sick,” Violet continued.

“I understand,” I said.

The twin Kecleon climbed off of Violet and helped the team with the banner. She giggled and stood up. “I gotta get ready for bed. Got a Girafarig coming here in the morning and I want to be ready for it. You’re welcome to stay up a little longer.”

The sun was still setting but I didn’t argue. “Have a good rest,” I told her as she went back inside the house.

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

“That looks great!”

“We worked really hard on it!” Bo said proudly.

The team’s banner really did look fantastic. The twins even drew a good picture of Bandit that stood out against the black paper.

I had found out that my battle was first of the day, so I ended up hurrying to Wing Stadium. Violet helped me find an express lift up the side of the mountain, and left Lavender and Magenta with me so they could enjoy the battle.

“No, you can’t stand in the trainer’s box with us!” Katana growled at the two Kecleon.

“Come on, let’s go,” I said to Katana. She was dragged away before she could get into another fight with them.

For our first battle of the day, we have Shonta facing off against Skye!

“Here we go.” We boldly stepped into the trainer’s box and hung onto it as it rose a few feet above the ground. On the other side, a blond boy rose with us. “Good luck!” I called out to him.

He didn’t say anything, but he did give me a thumbs up before throwing his pokeball. “Go, Iron!” he yelled.

“Hey, it’s a Porygon2,” I commented with a smile as the Pokemon materialized.

“Too bad we haven’t seen 99 in action,” Katana said. “Then we would’ve known what we were up against.”

“I’m getting excited. Dunno why. Go, Bandit!” I threw my pokeball.

The strange Pokemon stared intensely at Bandit before his eyes flashed twice. “TrAcE cOMplEte. AbiLiTy CoLoR ChAnGe acQUireD.”

“Oh crap,” Katana and I said together.

This will be a tough battle. At least the guy is more stable than GLaDOS, although he sounds just like her. I nervously looked at the Porygon2. “So… your trainer seems pretty quiet. He called you Iron, right? Your name is Iron? Really? You mean like the metal?” My eyes darted to the huge screen where our pictures and names were displayed.

L16 Male Kecleon (Bandit) vs. L16 Porygon2 (iRon)

“That’s your name? Your trainer really named you that? HAHAHAHAHAHA!” I fell on my back and rolled around.

“Bandit! Battle!” Shonta snapped.

I stood only to be knocked back by a Zen Headbutt to the gut, tumbling backwards until I hit the trainer’s box. Ugh. One of these days I’ll remember to not push my opponent’s buttons.

Skye and iRon take initiative with a Zen Headbutt! Will Shonta and Bandit step up their game?

I got to my feet and raised my hands for a Psybeam but stopped.

He’s pink?

“It’s Conversion, Bandit! He’s a Psychic type too!” Katana told me.

“Pay attention to the match!” Shonta told me.

“This would be a lot easier if I had watched 99 battle before,” I grumbled.

“Shadow Ball!” Skye shouted.

“Sucker Punch!” Shonta shouted at me.

I rushed in and smacked iRon before he could finish charging his attack. Heh, that Conversion doesn’t seem like a good idea now—

“Signal Beam while he’s up close!”

A bright beam of light knocked me back again.

His trainer was using my advantage to his advantage. This was going to take a bit more effort.

“Aerial Ace!” Skye commanded.

The black iRon rose high, did a loop and dove for me. I stood my ground as well as possible on shaky feet. Trying to dodge would be useless.

“Bandit, meet his attack with Brick Break!” Shonta told me.

I braced myself and rammed him with a headbutt. While I was just knocked on my butt, iRon was sent back several feet but stayed floating. “Ugh, that did not tickle,” I complained.

“Use Recover!” the two trainers said together.

Oh, come on! We can’t both have this move! I sighed and healed myself, trying to finish first. It was tough to speed up since it was my first time using the attack and I didn’t even really know what I was doing.

iRon finished first. “Use Thunder,” Skye instructed calmly.

Crap! I looked up at the growing thunderclouds above me.

“Stop healing yourself and dodge!” Katana yelled.

I clumsily rolled forward to avoid the lightning that rained down on the spot that I was standing seconds before, then kept running as soon as I heard more rumbling. After two more failed attempts, iRon was able to predict where I would go and aimed another Thunder in front of me. “Psybeam!” I called out as I raised my hands and shot iRon with a quick multicolored beam of psychic energy. His focus was broken, and the clouds in front of me dissipated.

“Good move!” Katana cheered.

“Go for a Faint Attack!” Shonta told me.

“No, wait!” I said back. If I tried to get in close, iRon would just blast me again. I stayed at a distance and raised my hands again. Glowing orbs swirled around and slammed into the Porygon2.

Nice Ancientpower from Bandit!

Both of us were panting (although it was hard to tell with iRon). We were both exhausted; Recover took a lot of energy to use. We would probably drop after another couple of attacks.

Skye looked like he was sweating bullets. “Time for drastic measures. Use Lock-on,” he told iRon.

“TarGeT LoCKed,” iRon confirmed. One red eye was locked on me.

Oh boy. That did not sound good.

“Bandit, use Conversion!” Shonta yelped while leaning a little too far over the railing.

I changed color, turning a blazing red.

“CHarGinG ZaP CaNNoN,” iRon said next.

“That REALLY does not sound good!” I squeaked. I wasn’t going to be able to dodge!

“Use Metronome!” Shonta said.

“WHAT!? ARE YOU INSANE?” Katana roared.

I was already doing it, probably because we were both feeling lucky. Something kicked in when it was almost ready. My body temperature was rising… something was fighting to get out…

“FIRE!” Skye ordered.

I couldn’t hold it back! “FWOOOH!”

A giant beam of electricity! And a humongous pillar of fire!

Ladies and gentlemen! It’s Zap Cannon versus Sacred Fire!

The two attacks collided and set off a big blast!

“Is he okay?” I asked as I strained to look through the smoke and dust.

Katana growled and punched my hip. “You idiot! If Bandit loses, I will kick your ass until I drop!”

The arena started to get clearer. Everyone was quiet. Then…

I can’t believe it! Both Pokemon are still standing!

“WHAT!?” Katana and I said together.

Both Bandit and iRon were still standing!

“What the hell?” I squeaked.

“iRon—“ Skye started. His voice died out immediately. The Porygon2 had made a weird whirring-and-clicking sound and dropped to the ground. Bandit’s knees were shaking but he still managed to stay standing and conscious.

Bandit won! He grew to L18!

I jumped over the railing and ran over to Bandit. The poor Kecleon was having trouble just standing, let alone walking anywhere. “It’s okay, Bandit! You won! You don’t have to stay awake!”

Bandit glared at me. “Hell no. I did that bit in the first round. This time I’m staying awake.”

“Fine. At least lemme give you a piggyback ride.” I kneeled and let him climb on.

Katana ran over to me and kicked me in the shin. “You got lucky! You shouldn’t have done that! You could’ve done an Ember or a Fire Punch! Why the hell did you use Metronome?”

“I dunno,” I replied lamely.

“YOU DON’T KNOW!? IDIOT!”

I heard Bandit chuckle. “That was awesome though.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.