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

[Shai]

Eh, well, everyone else is getting an extension. I think I will too, just in case... still thinking on my wording for the next battle.

[Lady Vulpix]

Sure, you can have it. I guess the next scenario can wait a few more days. After all, everyone has other things to do.

[The Blue Avenger]

It took me a while, but I'm done. Here's Mona and Bobbery's RBG, entitled "White Mountain." Cheers!

---

“Okay, so we’re at White Mountain,” Kurtzwick said, a note of impatience in his voice. He gazed up at the mountain in front of the party, which was, as its name implied, fairly pale. “Now what?” he continued, turning to face Previsiona. The two were sitting on the back of a Pidgeot, as was Mona. The Pidgeot had a band of some kind strapped around its leg, attached to which was a lone Pokeball.
“Well… um…” the Castform stuttered, “the Guild said that we’d know what to do when we got here… and why are you asking me? I was talking to Gabi when they were sorting out transportation.”
“Why’d you assume I was listening?” Kurtzwick countered. “I figured we had transportation settled, thanks to Cam.” Cam grinned.
“Well, so what now?” Previsiona frowned. “I mean, with as few teammates as we have here, we’re in no shape to go try and find this evil dragon by ourselves.”
The Pokeball around Cam’s leg burst open, revealing a bulky Snorlax. Bobbery yawned, lumbered over to a nearby boulder, and sat down, leaning on it. “I’m all for just chilling and saying that we didn’t find anything,” Bobbery said, just before falling asleep.
“Awww…” Mona whined. ‘Do we really have’ta stick around here?” She glanced around eagerly. “This place looks so cool!”
“Hmph,” Kurtzwick grunted, “why’d we have to bring her along?”
Cam made a shrugging motion. “She wanted to come. And at least she’d be more useful in a battle than Mr. I Zap Things With My One Useful Attack.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is?” Kurtzwick replied, scowling. He slithered away from Previsiona, nearer to Cam’s wing, and gazed into the sky, frowning.
Previsiona floated down near Cam’s head. “So, how do you want to approach this?”
“Honestly?” Cam replied. ‘I’m not sure. I guess I figured things would seem clearer once we got here…. But they aren’t, really.”
Cam did not get a chance to finish that sentiment, because at that moment, a voice broke into their conversation: “Hey, there!” Cam and Previsiona looked up and saw a very familiar group of people and Pokemon alike walking towards them – Gabi, some of her Pokemon, and another man and some Pokemon that Cam and Previsiona both had seen in the Guild before.
“Ahh! Hi! It's good to see someone we know here,” Previsiona said with a smile.
Cam sighed. “I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't find anyone.”
Gabi’s Pidgeot glanced at Cam, asking, “Cam?” Cam replied in the affirmative. “Cool. You look good as a Pidgeot,” Pidgeot grinned.
Cam smiled back. “Heh, thanks. I'll admit... it's quite helpful to be able to fly.”
Gabi walked up behind her Pidgeot. “Hi, everyone! We've just been to one of the weirdest places around, but we have good news for you.” Cam and Previsiona spoke up at the same time, greeting her and asking what she had to say. “We met a detective who works for the Dragon's Guild, and a reporter who travels with him. We told them about the situation in Happy-Happy Village, and they said they would head over there to investigate.”
Previsiona beamed. “Awesome! Thank you!”
“Though I'm not sure how helpful they will be. The guy was wearing a lampshade as a hat when we met him. Then again, he might be of help, and everyone else around him seemed serious enough…” Tsunami said, almost as much to himself as anyone else.
Cam turned to him and paused a moment before asking “...Lampshade?”
“He said there was a portal in it or something,” Tsunami replied with a semi-dismissive wave of his paw.
Gabi sighed. “I really wish we could do more, but as soon as we get back home, we'll hold another meeting and see what we can do to help.”
The somber tone the conversation was taking was interrupted by an “Oh! Hey! When did you guys get here?” from Mona, who had finally glanced in their direction.
Tsunami stuck out his tongue and grinned. “When you weren't looking, obviously.”
Mona began to wave her arms around in what she hoped was a sinister-looking manner. “Hey, watch it, mister! I have…” here, her voice became almost unnaturally deep, “psychic powers!”
“Really? Well, I could talk to Caledor telepathically when no one else had figured out the way,” Tsunami countered. “No one else without Psychic powers of their own, I mean.” He grinned and puffed out his chest. “And besides, I'm the King of Waves! I don't need psychic powers!”
This seemingly defused the argument, as Mona replied, “Ooh! Maybe I'll get to Sketch Surf next!”
One of the Pokeballs Gabi was holding burst open suddenly, revealing her Ninetales, Hero. He glanced at Tsunami. “All these years and you're still using that stupid nickname?!”
Previsiona greeted him with a calm “Hello, Hero,” but Tsunami interrupted her.
“It's a classic! If you have problems with it, I'll gladly show you why I still hold the title.”
Hero ignored him. “Hello, Previsiona. Long time no scare.” Previsiona blushed slightly, but remained silent. Hero grinned and turned to the rest of the group. “So, when does the action begin?”
“We were just talking about that,” Cam said. “We weren't exactly sure where to go from here.”
“We don't have much of a lead, but Ryan did say he found Yssera in a cave on the mountain, so we could either start climbing and see what we find, or go to the town or the stadium and see if anyone knows anything. Though at the Pacing Ponyta resort they didn't seem to know more than we do,” Gabi responded.
Cam thought for a moment. “Hmmm. I would be inclined to think that the town would be the best place to start. We should try and get more information before we set out.”
The other man with Gabi turned to him. “That sounds like a good idea. We don't know what's up there.”
Previsiona looked at him with a questioning eye. “Hmmm? Excuse me, I don’t believe we've met.”
“Oh, sorry, I was so used to seeing you all moving around at the Guild's building that I forgot we'd never been formally introduced. I'm Golden Growlithe, but you can call me Ivan. My friends here are Glyph, Glice, Arim and Linyi,” Ivan said, gesturing to each of his Pokemon in turn.
Previsiona smiled. “It's good to meet you. I'm Previsiona, the clear Dratini is Kurtzwick, the Smeargle is Mona, the Pidgeot is Cam, and the Snorlax over there is Bobbery.”
“Pleased to meet you all, and sorry to learn about your trainer. We too will do what we can to help,” the Espeon following Ivan replied.
“Thank you. It's very much appreciated,” Previsiona said, a relieved smile beginning to cross her face.
Once again, the somber tone the conversation was beginning to take on was broken when the Smoochum, Linyi, asked the Clefairy, Arim, “Can I hug them?”
Arim shrugged and said, “You can ask them, but don't hug anyone's faces.”
Linyi squealed and turned to Previsiona. “Can I hug you?” she asked excitedly.
“Sure, sweetie.”
Once more, the Smoochum squealed and immediately hugged Previsiona. Cam turned to Arim and asked quietly, “What's up with her?”
“She's been like that all week. I'm afraid this whole situation may be putting too much strain on her,” Arim sighed. “And she's spent too much time away from home.”
Cam sighed too. “Poor girl. I'm rather glad I can get home easily; I can imagine how hard it must be.”
Arim nodded. “We've been away for just as long, but she's so young and has gone through so much... I understand it's especially hard on her.”
A brief pause followed Arim’s words, which in turn was followed by Cam asking, “Where are you from?”
A silence fell over Ivan’s team as each of the Pokemon turned to look at the trainer, who was looking at Glyph. “I don’t think you’ve heard of that place,” Glyph finally said.
Cam blinked. “Okay, fair enough,” he relented.
“You guys are digging your own grave. Everyone here is friendly anyway... luckily,” Tsunami chastised.
Ivan sighed quietly. “It's called Bei... More precisely Arinim.”
“Ooh…” Mona replied, “that sounds cool.” And just like that, the situation was diffused.
“It is!” explained Linyi. “It has beautiful flowers and sweet fruits and a river! And there are caves too, but sometimes there are bad things in caves. But they say there are bad things in caves here too.”
“I wanna go!” Mona said, turning to Previsiona.
“Be careful what you wish for. You may get it. I ended up there a few times and I don't even know how,” Gabi responded.
“Right, that was weirder than the Pacing Ponyta hotel,” Caledor pointed out.
Cam took the opportunity to ask what he perceived as an obvious question. “...Did I miss something? How did you end up there without knowing how? Were you unconscious?”
“She was unconscious the last time, and under a lot of stress the first time. She gave those of us who stayed here a big scare,” Tsunami explained.
Cam nodded. “Ah, okay, that makes more sense.”
Gabi, however, shook her head. “It still doesn't make sense to me; that's why I rarely talk about it. But it may mean something. I just don't know what... And right now I must admit I'm more concerned with the more immediate crises.”
“Right, right. Okay. So we're agreed on going to the town, then?” Cam said.
Gabi agreed, while everyone else nodded.
Mona jumped down from Cam’s back and began poking Bobbery. ‘C’mon, Bobbery, it’s time to go.”
Bobbery awoke with a start, yawned, and greeted everyone. “Right, I’m good,” he eventually said, prompting everyone else to begin walking off.
The trip to the town began in relative peace and quiet, until Cam asked, “So what's the name of this town?”
Kurtzwick snorted. “Maybe you should have done some more research before coming here.”
Cam angrily opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Hero broke in. “I assume you did, right?”
“'Course I did,” Kurtzwick replied with a glower. “Tor Elyr, right?”
Gabi shook her head. “Tor Elyr is further north. This is...” She consulted her map. “…apparently not on my map! How helpful this is. Then again, a similar publication once said there were no cities in Eataine save for Lothern, just fishermen villages. Either this is all ridiculously outdated, or awfully biased.” Mona stuck her tongue out at Kurtzwick, who scowled and looked away.
Bobbery scratched the back of his head. “So... we don't know what this place is?” he asked nervously.
“Sorry,” Gabi apologized, “we should ask when we see someone.”
Ivan frowned. “And someone should update the maps and brochures; this speaks really badly of the Guild.”
Previsiona looked shocked. “These are Guild maps? You'd think they'd be a little more specific... especially if they're sending people out to these areas.”
“It's probably an old map they had lying around,” Gabi replied dismissively. “I doubt they had time to print new ones.”
“If ya need new maps... I can "procure" some when we hit town,” Kurtzwick chuckled.
“Sure you can. You don't have to remind us,” Tsunami replied, rolling his eyes.
“Did I miss anything?” Ivan asked, confused.
“Nothing you’d rather know, really,” Gabi said. Kurtzwick scowled again at this, but kept his mouth shut. After a few moments of silence, Gabi spoke up again. “Maybe we should try to find a bar or something? Or we could try asking someone on the street, but that would be awkward and I must admit I'm not good at it.”
“Not to mention it might be sort of intimidating. I mean, someone walks up to you in the street with some 10 Pokemon... I'd think I was being mugged,” Cam pointed out.
Bobbery pointed at a building on the road near them. “Well, there's a bar right over there, so should we head in?”
“That could work,” replied Glyph, “I don't see any better place to start right now.”
“Well then,” Bobbery said, walking over and holding open the door. “After you.”
A white blur shot past him, and Bobbery heard hero saying “Before you.”
Tsunami rolled his eyes again. “And he complains about me sticking to old habits? Let's just go in.”
Cam transformed back into a Ditto, unknowingly causing both Kurtzwick and Mona to fall off of his back and glare at him. “Ahh. Much better,” he said as he blobbed his way through the open door.
As soon as everyone got inside, Kurtzwick suddenly showed up beside Bobbery. “Right-o, I got some maps,” he said, handing them out. “According to this, we're in Sybyll.”
Previsiona raised an eyebrow. “...Where did you get those maps from, Kurtzwick?”
“The travel agency across the street had 'em out for free.”
“...Okay, I guess that's fine,” Previsiona said, sighing.
“Sounds feasible. So now what?” asked Gabi.
Cam thought for a second. “I guess we try and ask one of the people here where this dragon is... I think that would be a task better reserved for the humans in our group.”
Gabi lowered her head. “I was afraid so.”
“Well, they won't understand us,” Cam said.
“What are you afraid of?” Ivan asked. “We won't get hurt by just asking. I've heard you've done far more dangerous things in the past.”
Gabi sighed. “This is different. I just don't know what to say. Danger I can deal with, as long as I know what to do.”
Ivan looked amazed for a moment. “Who would have thought so? I guess I'll ask, then.”
“You should try asking the bartender... it'd probably be less awkward than randomly asking one of the patrons,” Bobbery suggested.
“Maybe we should have something to drink or eat; that would make him more willing to answer,” remarked Amber, to which Bobbery responded with a large grin.
Ivan nodded. “Alright, I can do that too, I always end up fetching drinks for others anyway. What does everyone want?”
“Pink stuff!!” Mona cried.
Previsiona tried to calm her down. “Mona, dear, I don't think they have that.”
“Water will be fine,” Kurtzwick said, ignoring Mona.
“I'll pass. Thank you, though,” Cam said, nodding amiably.
Bobbery continued to grin widely. “I'll have root beer... and a couple a' sandwiches. Maybe a salad too.”
Gabi turned to Ivan. “I don't want to abuse... but if you don't mind, I would like some...”
Tsunami interrupted her. “…tea?”
“We all know you know, ok?” Gabi sighed.
Ivan smiled. “Sure. A cup of tea for you.”
Amber put a claw to her chin in thought. “I guess I could have one too.”
“And I'll have some water since we're at it,” said Tsunami.
“Ok, there I go,” Ivan said, walking towards the bartender. After a few brief moments of chatting with him and receiving the food, Ivan returned to the sight of two tables pushed together to accommodate the large party. Amber met him halfway back and helped him carry the meals. The food had scarcely touched the table before Bobbery uttered a quick ‘thank you’ and, in true Snorlax form, tore into his sizeable meal.
Gabi handed an order of water to tsunami before turning to Ivan. “Thanks,” she said, “how did it go?”
Ivan sat down. “He didn't seem to know much more than the others, but he seemed glad that someone was finally going to do something. He said some Pokemon had been attacking travelers apparently at random, and there are rumors that something strange is going on at the mountain.”
“Well, we pretty much knew all that, didn't we?” Kurtzwick interrupted.
“I hadn't heard of the random attacks,” Gabi replied, “but they always seem to happen when something goes wrong.”
Kurtzwick frowned. “Hm. I just assumed that since there's a crazy dragon and a fanatical following, there were probably some attacks.”
“Yes, but what is it that she wants? Besides tainting White Mountain, what's her goal? And why hasn't she done anything to achieve it yet?” Amber asked thoughtfully.
Gabi turned to her. “That's something we'll try to find out. Maybe if we meet some of her followers, we can get something out of them.”
Bobbery took a moment to look up from his meal. “But as far as we know, they're just somewhere on the mountain?”
“Yes, that's what all the sources seem to agree on,” Ivan confirmed.
“And I would have to agree as well,” Glyph said. “All this time I've been picking up strange vibrations from the mountain. Nothing like the PWEs at the lab, but something... unusual. Like to very rare kinds of energy getting tangled, maybe even fighting without either of them prevailing. I can pinpoint their exact source, though. I've been trying all this time. But they seem to come from the mountain.”
Glice stared at him. “Ok, that was cryptic, but coming from you I could say it was a little direct, even.”
Glyph returned the look. “We're dealing with what may be a great threat. It's not a time for games. I have to be direct about this.”
Cam glanced between the two. Confused. “Rare energy? What do you mean?”
“So the whole mystery thing is just a game? You should have told me, we could have played together!” Caledor said, sounding disappointed.
“Not now, Golden,” Glyph dismissed. “I don't know exactly what it is, it just feels... strange. Mystical, I think.”
Kurtzwick looked at him. “That's Caledor, not Golden.”
“That's his nickname for me,” Caledor replied.
“I've felt something like that before, while I was on the mountain. I can't say if it was just one kind of energy, or two, or more, but there was something special about it. I also used to feel it around... Someone who came from here,” Gabi said, and then sighed. “Now that I think of it, it's not only Yssera's followers who may cause us trouble if we go up the mountain.”
All eyes at the table turned to look at her. Both Bobbery and Arim spoke up at the same time, the latter with “What do you mean?” and the former with “Really? Who?”
Gabi suddenly seemed to become very interested in her teacup. “…I mean there's someone up there who trusted me and I let him down. He has every reason to hate me now.”
“It was not your fault. If anything, it was Yssera's fault. You couldn't have foreseen it,” Amber soothed.
Tsunami looked visibly irritated. “Stop confusing everyone, will you? Have you guys heard about the pegasi?”
“Pegasi? Aside from little bits of information here and there, no,” Cam replied, looking slightly startled.
Glyph chimed in, too. “I heard rumors about them. I don't know how many of them are real.”
“I don't know what all the rumors say, but the pegasi are real alright. There's a whole herd of them living on the mountain, though they rarely let anyone see them,” replied Tsunami.
Glyph gave him an odd look. “From the way you're telling it, I take it you've seen them.”
“We only got to see one of them. He seemed to be the leader. And his daughter, but she wasn't exactly a Pegasus,” Tsunami said.
“She was half Ponyta,” Gabi said. “And half Rapidash after she evolved. But she had wings, and had that special aura around her. She made me feel better just by looking at her. Now I feel worse just by thinking of her. I could laugh if I didn't feel so awful.”
Previsiona glanced to her. “Why do you feel worse?”
“Because I practically delivered her straight into Yssera's hands,” Gabi said, holding her head in her hands.
“Did you even know about Yssera at that time?” Tsunami asked.
“No, but I was still stupid. Her father trusted me. He told me his daughter wanted to find a trainer and asked me to choose a good one for her. And I couldn't have made a worse choice!” Gabi replied, sounding increasingly frantic.
“Don't get too down over it,” Cam said in what he hoped was a calming voice. “We came here to take out Yssera, right? We can rescue her too.”
A small smile began to appear on Gabi’s face. “If it's not too late for her already. But thanks for your support. If there's anything I can do to bring her back, and everyone else, I will do it. I'm just not sure if there is a way.”
Bobbery leaned back in his chair, miraculously not breaking it. By all rights, the poor seat should have snapped by then, having to support upwards of a thousand pounds, but it hadn’t done so and decided it sure as heck wouldn’t do so then. “Of course there's a way. There's a way to do everything; you just have to find it.” To finish his statement, he yawned disinterestedly.
“Thanks. I just hope you're right,” Gabi responded.
Ventura responded to her statement quickly, breaking her silence. “If there's a way, we won't find it by idling here. I think we should go back to the mountain and start searching.”
Hero yawned. “I think you're right, this was supposed to be a dangerous mission, but so far it's been the most boring one we've had. No offense.”
“There could be worse things than having a relatively safe mission, you know,” Previsiona scolded.
Hero frowned. “It's not the safety that bothers me. It's the whole sitting around and doing nothing I can't stand.”
Bobbery, returning his straining chair back to an upright position, rebuked him. “I, for one, adventure better on a full stomach, thank you.”
Hero rolled his eyes slightly. “Well, I adventure better on my four legs. Is everyone finished?”
“Almost. My tea's still hot. I can't drink it quickly,” Gabi explained apologetically.
Bobbery patted his stomach contentedly. “I'm good to go whenever you are.”
“Just another sip... There. All done.”
Kurtzwick hurriedly gulped down the last of his water. “Okay, I'm ready.” He glanced around suspiciously at the rest of the group. “So who's paying for this?”
Tsunami raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you care about that?”
Kurtzwick squared his jaw. “Since I wanted to be sure nobody expected me to foot the tab.”
Previsiona turned to him and regarded the Dratini with a suspicious eye. “Why would anyone expect that of you...?”
“No reason,” Kurtzwick replied, averting his eyes. Previsiona hmphed, but didn’t pursue the matter any further.
“If you're asking about our tea break, that would be me, unless I can justify it as being necessary for the mission,” Gabi interrupted.
“Just tell the Guild you stopped somewhere for refueling. That'll work,” Kurtzwick suggested.
Gabi gently rebuked him. “Hard to do when they pay for your train tickets.”
Kurtzwick, refusing to be deterred, scowled and said, “Hmmm... Tell 'em it was an integral part of maintaining strength, fitness, and security in order to be adequately prepared should you encounter a hostile force.”
“Or you could also tell them we stopped at the bar to gather information and had to consume something to justify our stay there. It's true, after all,” Amber added. Kurtzwick blinked and added embarrassed little disclaimers under his breath.
Gabi chuckled. “Sometimes telling the truth works better than lying. Well, for me it does, anyway. I'm a terrible liar.”
“Not nearly as bad as Lagi,” Tsunami pointed out.
“In all fairness, I wasn't actually lying...” Kurtzwick said, dejectedly.
“True, it was refreshing,” Tsunami agreed, causing Kurtzwick head to snap up, amazed.
Gabi abruptly changed the topic. “I wonder how Lagi's doing. It feels odd not to have her around.”
“Where is she, anyway?” Previsiona asked.
Hero idly played with a salt shaker. “She's out trying to find herself or something. I'm sure she'll be fine. If someone other than me can take care of herself, that's Lagi.”
Tsunami glanced at him. “Can't stop bragging for your life, can you? Anyway, you're right about one thing. She's good at taking care of herself. She tends to take care of everything and everyone.”
“I can stop bragging if I want to. But it would be no fun,” Hero replied, sticking out his tongue.
Ignoring them, Gabi went to pay for the meal. Upon her return, Previsiona thanked her.
“No problem,” Gabi replied. “Where shall we go from here?”
Bobbery stood up from his (relieved) chair and cracked his knuckles. “Well, I sorta doubt that anyone else in this town will have too much more information. Maybe we ought to make our way to the stadium?”
Gabi nodded. “That place brings me a lot of memories, but I guess it's as good a place as any to begin our search.”
Cam dropped from his chair. “Right then. Shall we be off?”
“We’d better!” said Hero, sounding impatient.
“I wonder how much the place has changed. They had to rebuild the arena once while we were there, remember? I wonder how many times it's been rebuilt,” Pidgeot idly remarked as the party left the bar, walking towards the mountain.
“Probably as many times as the battlers were careless with their Earthquakes,” tsunami replied, similarly idly, not noticing the slight blush on Bobbery’s face following that remark.
“I carried a few trainers up the mountain back then. It was funny to see their reactions when they saw me. Some thought I was simply a hired service, and one trainer said some funny things about how shocked and honored he was that Gabi would lend him her Pidgeot. Tsk,” Pidgeot continued.
“Do you remember who that was?” Tsunami asked.
“Someone I didn't know at the time... I didn't get to look at him much; I had to focus on going up the mountain with his heavy team on my back. But now that I think of it... Nah, it couldn't be.” When asked who, Pidgeot continued. “I'm not quite sure... I don't want to say it was him when it may not have been, and I may have spoken too much already.”
“Hey, everyone's cryptic today! Even Glyph said it was no time for games!” Caledor complained.
“Was it Ryan?” Gabi asked quietly.
Pidgeot looked to her. “Might be. He was new to me, but he had quite a heavy team and I remember he was especially caring towards the Pokemon who was battling for him. When I say especially caring I mean that he acted like...”
“Like you act around Water Angel?” interjected Tsunami.
“I would have been surprised if you hadn't said that. You've become predictable, Tsunami. Too predictable,” Pidgeot responded.
Gabi interrupted them. “I remember he seemed to have special feelings for Diana, and he used to say the corniest things.” She snorted and shook her head. “It might have been him. Was his Pokemon a Meganium?”
Pidgeot shrugged. “Could be. I remember it was heavy.”
“So he said that, eh?” Gabi said, and smiled. “We hardly even knew each other by then. But when his first battle was announced his whole team became mentally linked somehow and I felt it. Why are those memories coming to me now?”
“Maybe because you're back at the place where those things happened?” Tsunami suggested.
Gabi frowned. “No need to be sarcastic. What I mean is... Why now, after all these years?”
“I think I know what you mean. It's not the memories. It's the feeling, isn't it?” Amber said.
Gabi nodded slightly. “Yes... Yes, it is. I hate it. I hate this whole situation. I hate Yssera.”
Bobbery glanced at the group. “Errr... sorry to interrupt, but who's Ryan?”
“He was one of Yssera's victims. He and Gabi were... quite close,” Amber replied quietly.
“…Ooh. Sorry.” Bobbery said quickly, sensing he hit a nerve.
“It's ok. It's been a long time... I'm just sorry I never got to know what would have happened if he had never found her. And I'm sorry about what happened to him and his team. One of them was Edie, Lagi's first daughter. That's why Lagi didn't come here, she felt it might be more than her heart could endure,” Gabi replied sadly.
“Well, maybe they can be rescued during this mission. You never know,” Cam said.
Gabi nodded. “That's what I've been wishing during the last few days. Though a part of me tells me this is not a fairy tale. We can't expect all the damage to be undone just by defeating a monster, even if we do find a way to get rid of her.”
“No, we can't expect everything to be fixed. But it's a start,” replied Previsiona.
“Indeed. If we work together, I'm sure we can achieve something. And who knows? Maybe you'll even get the help of a fairy or two,” Arim said, winking.
Ventura bristled. “No calling me a fortune fairy, I warn you. I'm done with you guys doing that.”
Ivan quickly held up his hands in apology. “Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you when I called you that. I was just trying to test your concentration. Besides it was the only way Glice could stand a chance against you. No offense, Glice. And you still won.”
“I still think it was dirty. Let Glice fight his own battles,” Ventura replied, scowling slightly.
“Come on, that was over a year ago! And I think I've apologized for that already. If not, I'm sorry, ok?” Ivan pleaded.
Ventura regarded him for a second. “I guess that's... acceptable,” she said and chuckled.
Kurtzwick raised an eyebrow. “What, pray tell, is a 'fortune fairy'?”
Arim pointed at Ventura. “You're looking at her.” The Clefairy then proceeded to wince in pain as Ventura nailed a perfect hit with a Psybeam.
“I warned you. You had it coming,” Ventura said.
Arim frowned. “Not fair, I didn't attack you,” the Clefairy whined.
Ventura looked away. “What do you call it then? I told you not to do something and you did it.”
“That's disobedience at most, not an attack. And I have no reason to obey you just because you say so,” Arim complained.
“Then I have no reason not to get back at you. It was just a Psybeam anyway, I wasn't trying to hurt you, just to get my message through,” Ventura replied.
“Well, your message is painful. You should learn other ways to deal with things without resorting to violence. And besides, we should be working together, not fighting,” scolded Arim.
Gabi sighed. “That much is true. Can we all get along, please? This mission's already hard and dangerous as it is.”
“Of course. We'll sort it out later. And Kurtzwick, there's no such thing as a fortune fairy. Not on this world, anyway,” Ventura answered, but missed Kurtzwick’s mumbled reply about not answering his question.
“You never know... Maybe they're just very good at hiding,” Glyph pointed out.
Previsiona tried to moderate. “Okay, okay... let's not get into an argument over this, huh?”
“I wasn't going to,” Ventura replied.
“I'd be surprised if they existed anyway. I must admit I made that phrase up myself. It's just that I heard Ventura's name meant fortune, and... well...” Ivan said, rubbing the back of his head.
Gabi palmed her forehead. “Okay, don't we have anything better to talk about?”
An uncomfortable moment of silence followed, broken by Kurtzwick. “Erm... how far is the stadium from here?”
Pidgeot, flying overhead, answered his question. “It's up there. You can see it from here.”
“If you're a Pidgeot,” replied Tsunami.
As if to contradict him, Gabi said, “I see it too.”
“Ok, if you're a Pidgeot or Gabi,” Tsunami amended.
Cam quickly Transformed, taking the shape of a Pidgeot. He flew up in the air and joined Gabi’s Pidgeot. “Wow... this place looks pretty cool,” he said, amazed.
“It does, doesn't it?” Gabi remarked thoughtfully. “I thought it was beautiful the first time I saw it. It inspired me to host the Pegasus Games.”
Ventura halted their progress. “Hold on, something's moving towards us.”
Bobbery stepped out in front of the group, puffed out his chest, and mustered up as intimidating a voice as he could. “Show yourself!” Rather anticlimactically, a Corsola walked up to them. Bobbery stumbled slightly, but regained his composure and adopted a more normal voice. “Who are you?”
The Corsola looked at him for a moment. “That is... irrelevant,” it said in a cold voice.
Kurtzwick scowled. “Hold on. What's that supposed to mean?!”
After a few moments of awkward silence. “Okay, let's try it this way. Do you need anything?” However, before it could answer, a small purple object flew through the air and ran into the back of Bobbery’s head, hitting the Snorlax with a deceptive amount of force. Bobbery toppled over, sending minor shockwaves through the ground when he fell.
“Intruders. Go back from whence you came. You do not belong here,” the object said, revealing itself to be an Unown in the shape of a question mark.
“Suddenly, I think I know who these guys are working for,” Cam mumbled under his breath.
Hero rolled his eyes. “Really? What tipped you off? I'm debating whether we should scare them away or knock them out.”
Gabi stopped him. “Neither of those things would help us learn anything more than what we already know.”
Cam turned to her. “Gabi, what do you suggest we do, then? Just turn around and leave?”
“I don't know. Maybe we should try to find out what it is that they want.”
Bobbery scowled and slowly stood back up, dusting himself off. “Okay... what is it that you guys want from us?”
The Corsola spoke smoothly but coldly. “We want nothing from you... we instead merely offer you two choices. You have the option before you to achieve enlightenment and paradise... or you can halt your progress now and leave.”
“Enlightenment and paradise?” Sylvan exclaimed. “Is that what you think you've reached? My idea of paradise doesn't involve attacking everyone who happens to pass by.”
“My idea of paradise wouldn't involve attacking anyone at all,” continued Amber.
The Corsola thought for a second. “We do not attack. We merely... negotiate. I would apologize for the clumsiness of my comrade, however.”
“What do you want to negotiate?” Gabi asked.
“We have stated our terms. Join us... or leave. The rest is up to you,” the Corsola responded.
“Join you for what? To help Yssera feed on more helpless souls? Destroy more lives? What kind of goal is that?” Gabi yelled.
“You make it sound so negative... all our mistress wishes is our well-being and happiness,” the Corsola replied calmly.
Gabi continued yelling. “Ryan is so happy, isn't he? And Edie. And Pegasus. And Sandy. And Charla. And Hilarity. No, wait, those aren't their names anymore. They're not even themselves anymore!”
“Names are immaterial. However, should you wish to see them, all you need is to come with us...” the Corsola offered.
Gabi scowled. “So that you can do the same to us? No, thanks.”
“You forgot Diana,” Tsunami pointed out rather unnecessarily.
“And Diana, and everyone else whose names I never knew,” Gabi amended.
The Corsola thought for a moment. “...Well, then. That is your decision, and we respect it. However, since you do not wish to join us, we kindly ask that you depart. Now.”
Hero shook his head. “Sorry. That's not going to happen. See, we have some goals too. And they happen to be our own, not someone else's.”
The Unown frowned. “I do not believe you fully appreciate your situation. We are offering you a chance to leave before we have to make you do it ourselves.”
Hero shot the Unown a confused look. “Look around you, will you? You're clearly outnumbered and overpowered. What are you planning to do?”
“...We will do what we must. Do not underestimate us,” it responded.
“Yeah? Just try me,” Bobbery challenged.
Mona, standing next to him, said nothing, but adopted a fighting stance.
The Corsola scowled. “You will not leave? Then... suffer!”

Bobbery and Mona versus Yssera’s henchmen, the Corsola and the Unown!
Bobbery - “It’s a boom-bassa-boom festival!
Mona - “All RIGHT!”
~
Corsola – “Happiness is all we need…”
Unown – “Be gone!”

The Corsola spun around and delivered a freezing ray of ice, but Bobbery absorbed the attack, seemingly taking no damage. He lifted his arms in the air, and suddenly, a multitude of rocks rose from the ground and collided with the Corsola… but it, too, took the attack in stride. At the same time, the Unown dove at Mona, glowing a dull brown. She jumped at it with her mouth open wide, and the Unown saw, too late, that her teeth seemed unnaturally sharp… before it could halt its attack, Mona latched onto it, piercing skin with Hyper Fang. However, this didn’t last long; the Corsola shrugged off the Rock Tomb and shot a stream of bubbles at Mona, dislodging her from the Unown. Before she could react, the Unown slammed into her gut, the power amplified by a number of Hidden Power orbs surrounding it.
Mona groaned and leaned on Bobbery. “Oog... that wasn't fun...”
Bobbery lifted her onto his shoulders. “Hold it together! Things are about to get ugly...” Mona nodded, seemingly knowing what to do. She began to glow a brilliant purple, her eyes shut to help her focus. Suddenly, the Unown slammed on the ground, cloaked in a similar glow. At the same time, Bobbery jumped into the air and landed hard, sending an earthquake rippling through the ground and bruising both foes badly. The Corsola howled, but managed to pick itself up quickly. It grinned snidely and shot a brilliant beam of light at both Bobbery and Mona. The light flashed in their eyes severely, disorienting them both. The Unown complemented the Confuse Ray by performing a series of dazzling mid-air flips and maneuvers, finishing finally by slamming into Bobbery. Bobbery stumbled and tried to put Mona down, but before he could, he tripped over a conveniently-placed rock… Mona flew from his hands and hit a nearby tree limply. The Corsola grinned again before firing several sharp, spiky projectiles at the prone Smeargle, each one hitting precisely. Mona slowly got up, evidently in pain but still able to fight. She once again glowed purple, and suddenly, the Corsola found itself rocketing into its ally. Both Unown and Corsola fell to the ground, but scarcely had time to rest before Bobbery summoned a storm of rocks that slammed into the pair one by one.
“Guh…” Corsola groaned. “I’ll… I’ll do whatever I have to…” It began to glow a bright white. The three other fighters realized a moment too late what was about to happen… a massive explosion rocked the area, leaving the Corsola out cold, the Unown clearly in no condition to fight, and Bobbery and Mona dazed and charred. The Unown weakly looked up and flew slowly away.

Battle end! Bobbery and Mona both gain one level!

Sylvan approached the pair. “Is everyone alright?”
Bobbery groaned, swayed, but remained standing. “I'll live. That wasn't fun.”
“I'm... okay,” Mona said, holding her head.
Amber sighed. “At least we know we're on the right track. Should we try to follow the Unown?”
“Well,” Cam said, “if they're grunts of Yssera, they may be able to lead us to more useful information.”
“Whatever we do, I'm not fighting again,” replied Mona, coughing up a cloud of soot.
“Maybe we should try Kirei's method. It worked for her back in Templa Taure,” Caledor suggested.
Hero and Previsiona both answered at the same time with similar degrees of incredulity.
Caledor grinned. “It's called 'follow the magic Espeon'.” He stepped forward and paused. “Of course we've never come to an agreement about which one of us that was…”
Cam groaned. “It figures…”
“Well, she guided us to the temple, and I have a feeling about the direction the Unown was heading, but if we don't hurry, I may lose it,” Caledor continued.
“Well then, we should go,” suggested Previsiona.

The next part of the journey up the mountain went relatively smoothly, until Gabi pointed out three bird Pokemon flying overhead: a Swablu, an Altaria, and a Fearow. Pidgeot glanced cautiously towards them. “They're closing in on us. It looks like we've found more trouble.”
Amber took to the sky. “Let me go up and check. They might be explorers like us.”
“What are the odds?” cautioned Pidgeot.
“Well, it can't hurt to check...” replied Cam. However, his statement soon proved incorrect, as the Altaria spit a jet of turquoise flames at Amber.
Amber called down to the rest of the group. ‘I’m fine! Just a little shaken…” she turned to the Altaria. “Why did you attack me?”
“Don't act like you don't know. One of our comrades told us about you. We know what you're trying to do, and we're not letting you go any further,” the Altaria snarled.
“Note to self,” Kurtzwick mumbled, “leave no witnesses.”
“Is that what you all do when you find someone who doesn't agree with you? Try to beat them down and hope the problem goes away?” asked Amber.
The Altaria sneered. “Only when they're stupid enough to defy us.”
“What do we do with the others, mom?” the Swablu asked.
“Take them down unless they change their minds,” the Altaria ordered.
The Swablu did a swift burst of mental calculation. “But there are too many!”
“Don't worry, Darkstream's on his way here, and if that's not enough more of us will come. They'll never find the Mistress. Not unless it's on her terms,” the Altaria confirmed.
“Who’s Darkstream, I wonder?’ Cam muttered to nobody in particular.
Without warning, a Gengar materialized over Cam’s head. “I am,” it said coolly.
Cam went white. “…Oh.”
“Are these intruders giving you trouble?” Darkstream asked.
“Not quite yet, but you're welcome to join the fight. With all of us together they shouldn't last long,” the Altaria answered.
“I just don't see why all this has to happen…” sighed Sylvan.
Darkstream scowled. “Why can't we all be friends, right? I've heard that before. Face it, girl. The world is cruel. Life is unfair. All we can do is fight as hard as we can to make it better. And here and now, you are trying to stop us from doing that. So there; that's why all this has to happen.”
Amber, Sylvan, Darkstream, and the birds went back and forth for some time, arguing about the shape of the world and how Yssera could or could not make it better. The argument came to a head when Darkstream badmouthed the original home of Amber and Sylvan, then Amber revealed how Darkstream got his name. He yelled a command to the birds in the sky, who dove down to face Gabi’s Pokemon. Two of Ivan’s team, Arim and a Dewgong named Orknye, stepped in front to join the match as well.
The battle seemed evenly matched until Darkstream pulled a dirty move: he, much like the Corsola, shot out a brilliant burst of white light straight at Sylvan. The Venusaur stumbled, then glared straight at Ventura, telling her to stop. As the Swablu put Arim to sleep, the birds and Darkstream abruptly decided to switch targets. However, before Darkstream could do much, a powerful Flamethrower, courtesy of Amber, blasted him away. Sylvan managed to pull her wits together and pumped a jet of water at Altaria, also curing her confusion. The battle raged on, until only the Altaria was left, poisoned and helpless. It refused any attempts at help, instead preferring to deride its foes until the very end.
The Altaria panted. “You're a Dragon Tamer, right? According to our sources, you've met him before. And let him go, and gone back to your business because you're always worrying about your more immediate problems. Just like you knew about our Mistress for years but didn't do anything until now. That's the way you guys work... just take care of the more urgent thing, never think ahead... Never...” Its eyes closed and it fell from the sky. Amber caught it, but it was pointless: the poison in its system had knocked it cold. At the same time, Arim dealt the Swablu a heavy blow and it fainted.
Amber shook her head. “They're mother and son, but they didn't seem to worry about each other at all while they were fighting. It's scary just to think about it.”
“You're right... But what she said sounded too accurate to be made up. Either it was a well-designed strategy to throw us off, or there's actually some truth in it. I can't help but regret that we took so long to take action. And what's worse, we're still doing the same. We can't change that. We're dealing with more problems than we can handle,” Gabi groaned.
Bobbery interrupted them. “Uhm... did I miss something? Who was she talking about?”
Gabi turned to him. “About two years ago, the forest of Templa Taure was attacked by an entity known as the Black Dragon. He summoned a powerful demon and several minor ones to possess all the Pokemon in the forest and cause as much damage as possible. There was a temple in there. I heard it was once beautiful and inspiring, but it was a mess by the time we got there. We managed to get rid of the demons, but the Black Dragon escaped. I used to think Yssera and the Black Dragon were working together. But maybe I just wanted to think that. It would make things easier, wouldn't it? Defeat one of them and debilitate the other.”
Amber shook her head. “But if they're actually rivals, defeating one might actually strengthen the other!”
“What if we could use one of them against the other, like how we used the Rockets at the Shifting Isles to make things easier?” Kurtzwick suggested.
“That may be too dangerous. With Team Rocket we knew what we were dealing with. If we side with either of these dragons, even for a short time, we don't know what the consequences might be for us,” Gabi replied.
Pidgeot sighed. “I still regret siding with Team Rocket, even for one night. Most of them are still on the loose too.”
“I know,” said Gabi as she sat down on the ground. “I just wish we didn't have to deal with all these problems! Is there a way to sort everything out?”
“I’ve been wondering that all my life,” answered Sylvan.
“We're all too stressed right now. Maybe we should go back home and plan things carefully. Have another meeting, too. We don't have to try to deal with everything on our own,” said Tsunami.
Orknye broke into the conversation. “Is this a bad time to report that Yssera has been entering dreams lately?”
Previsiona’s eyes widened. “She can do that?”
Orknye nodded grimly. “I'm afraid so. I've been sensing her lately. I even followed her for a while, but had to back off when I felt she was about to notice me.”
“And you're not freaking everyone out...” Caledor replied, rolling his eyes. “Don't worry, guys. He can enter dreams too, but he's one of the good guys.”
“Yssera's followers would say the same about her,” Amber pointed out.
“True, but they wouldn't be right! Please don't compare me with her. I'd never do the kind of things she does! I can't do them anyway, but I wouldn't if I could,” Orknye replied indignantly.
Amber looked rather abashed. “It's ok, I wasn't accusing you. I'm just pointing out the complexity of the situation.”
“We all know it's a mess, no need to point it out anymore,” Hero snapped.
Thankfully, Mona once more broke the rising tension. She turned to Orknye, amazement in her eyes. “...You can go into dreams? Cool! How?”
“Have you ever meditated?” the Dewgong asked back.
Tsunami chuckled loudly. “Mona?”
Mona glared at him, then turned back to Orknye. “...I would need to Sketch it first.”
“Not the move,” Orknye corrected, “but just general meditation. Setting your mind on the right wavelength... I don't think I can explain exactly how I do it. I didn't know anyone else who could until now.”
Mona looked disappointed. “Aww. I wanted to do it.”
“I don't think I'd like to go into anyone else's dreams. There's no telling what you might find,” added Hero.
“I don't do it very often. Just when I feel something's wrong... or when my own dreams lead me to someone else,” Orknye pointed out.
“Like when you came to ask me what we planned to do, the night before the meeting?” Gabi asked.
“Right... Sorry about that. I was just worried. It was about that time that I started feeling Yssera's presence and didn't know what to make of it.”
“It's all right, no harm done,” replied Gabi.
A moment of silence passed, after which Amber asked, “What shall we do now?”
Kurtzwick set down the options. “Well, we either leave or press onwards.”
Glyph interrupted him. “When the Altaria said we wouldn't find Yssera unless it was on her terms, do you think she meant it literally?” he wondered.
“I don't know...” answered Gabi. She turned to the rest of the group. “Anyway, I don't think pressing onwards would be the wisest thing to do. Yssera knows what we're doing, and we have a lot of information to digest. I think we should do as Tsunami said and discuss things with others before we plan our next move.”
Kurtzwick raised an eyebrow. “What, so we're heading back, then? Just back to the town or back to Sector Alpha?”
“Do you have any better suggestions?”
“No. I just like to be sure about what's going on.”
“So do I,” conceded Gabi, “but it doesn't look like we can find it out here and now. Glyph, what do you think? Have you made any sense of the energies you said you were feeling?”
“Only that they're close. One of them is REALLY close. But at the same time it doesn't seem to come from any particular direction,” the Espeon answered.
“Does that mean...” Previsiona started, a noticeable tremor in her voice, “that the energies are surrounding us?”
“Could be, but not necessarily. Things are rarely that simple when dealing with mystical forces. Or thoughts, for that matter,” remarked Glyph.
Kurtzwick frowned. “So... what does that mean for us?”
“Honestly and bluntly... I don't know,” Glyph answered.
“You don't know?” a shocked Ivan repeated.
Glyph rolled his eyes slightly. “Contrary to popular belief, I do not, in fact, know everything.”
“Maybe we should go to the Pokemon Center,” Arim suggested. “I've managed to heal myself a little after that battle, but I'm still tired, and it's been a hard day for everyone. We could make some plans there without having to go all the way back to Sector Alpha. We may even find other trainers there.”
“Yes. Healing is good. I'm tired too; I want to sleep,” Mona mumbled. Her exhaustion was evident in the way her words slurred slightly together.
“Wouldn't sleeping so close to Yssera be dangerous?” Gabi asked.
Ivan reflected on this, then answered, “She may be able to walk into dreams, but I don't think she can change others that way. Otherwise we'd be seeing a lot more of her pawns. She could have taken everyone in Sybyll, the hotel and the stadium area.”
“Right,” Amber agreed, “if she could just take someone and make them her slave, her followers wouldn't have to go through the trouble of trying to convince us or fight us.”
Hero’s eyes widened. “Wait, that means we do have some power over her! If we alert everyone about her, she'll have trouble recruiting more followers. They'll be harder to coax if they know what she does to those who side with her.”
Gabi nodded. “Let's go to the Pokemon Center, then. We can start sharing the info that we have there. And then we can report it to the Guild when we get home. Oh...”
Tsunami glanced at her. “What's wrong?”
“I've just remembered I still have to type up the Ponyta report! On top of everything else!” she groaned.
“You need a break,” Tsunami (rather unhelpfully) suggested.
“Tell that to the universe,” Gabi sighed.
Sylvan sighed as well. “I think we all need a break. But we're not getting it now, so we can at least try to get a few free hours.”
“I can't even begin to think of how we're supposed to deal with Yssera, the Black Dragon and the blue cult,” Gabi said, dejectedly. “Not to mention the remnants of the Crimson Blades and Team Rocket. Is there anyone we can turn to?”
“Hmmm…” Tsunami started, collecting his thoughts. “Let me see... Abbadon, too risky. Tsuyoi, he'd want us to pay him back. Team Rocket, no way. Lord Absol: I wouldn't even try. Harims: we know hardly anything about her and don't know how to contact her. Everyone I can think of right now is not a good choice for some reason or other. Maybe we'll find someone later, when we've had some rest and can think more clearly.”
Mona raised her paw. “What about... what about the really old guy in that tower that Ade went to see?”
The mood of the group perceptibly brightened. “Teclis! He might actually be of help. I haven't actually seen him before, but I've been to the tower. I could find the way back there. If he knows the troubles we're in right now, he may be willing to lend a hand,” Gabi answered.
“Mona, you're great! Score one for Calebeckamonamania!” cheered Caledor. Mona grinned widely.
“And I could, in fact, try to contact Harims. I think she'll want to help us too,” remarked Orknye.
“And if I find out what the other energy is, it could also come to our advantage,” Glyph continued.
Gabi smiled and sighed happily. “Thanks, all of you. It's good to suddenly realize we're not alone in this. We'll do what we can, then.”
Linyi frowned. “Can we go to the Pokemon Center now? I'm tired!”
“Yes, we should leave,” Previsiona said.
And so they did. They headed back through Sybyll and found space at the Pokemon Center to stay for the night. Some rather disturbing headlines flashed across the T in the Center, but nobody paid any attention to it; indeed, every single member of the party was sound asleep, totally exhausted. It’s too bad, really, because they would have found the broadcast very interesting.

“The town of Twoson, in the country of Eagleland, is facing problems today as the leader of the influential religion Happy-Happyism, Koop Balthazar, and his second-in-command, believed to be ex-Dragon’s Guild member Jeffrey Azure, publicly declared their dislike of Twoson’s current government system…”

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry I took 2 days off TPM. I was given 10 exams to correct and that's been taking most/all of what would otherwise have been my free time. I've already corrected 8... 2 more to go and they're due tomorrow. And there's another exam on Saturday, which means even more things to correct!

I'm really sorry, but until I'm done correcting these exams and the next ones, I don't think I'll be able to rate battles, change the scenario, write anything, ref battles, update the PokeZoo AC or post at Expedia. I seriously hope this extremely busy streak ends soon. In the meantime, please be patience, and thanks in advance to the other workers for the extra effort they'll have to make.

[Ace64]

Shonta: Sorry for the wait.I appreciated getting to know a little bit more about Ali's personality. The fact that she idolizes Moriko tells me much more about her than ther abandonment. Of course, always nice to see more Ken- learning new words by the day. I don't know too much about Daisuke and his little brother- are they in the Archives? Much too lazy to go and check.

Take 15 stamps.¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Jeff, don't worry, I'll get to your battle if someone else doesn't first.

[classy_cat18]

Thanks for rating it, though. Daisuke and his Pokemon have popped up a few times in my stories. He's a fellow Dragon Tamer that helps me train. But his brother's new to the storyline.

[Kerel]

Chapter 11, there and back again:

Bruce: 11?
Kerel: What are you talking about?
Bruce: err... nothing, we need 11 dinners for today and also there's a broken light bulb that needs to be replaced.
Kerel: Yeah, well, then. hey I think I am forgetting something.
Bruce: What would that be?
Kerel: Oh sure, my decetcive's log !!!

It was a quiet evening,the place, Pacing Ponyta's Spa and resort, the deal?
We were arranging some stuff, helping here and there, giving a hand, you know what I mean...

Bruce: You really are into Dixon Hill aren't you?

Kerel: Who?

Bruce: nevermind...(I wonder how he manages to make all his memories show in black and white, or show at all for watever the reason)

Kerel (in technicolor): Well, so we need a light bulb for room number 2, and then we'd need to install the internet connection.
Let's go to find a store, there's a city nearby.

5:30 Pm, Sybyll:

Kerel: It's amazing, we've walked for 2 hours and nobody has a simple light bulb, hasn't electricity been discovered in this town yet?

Mysterious and creepy evil voice: Yes it has, But I Control it all, muhahahahaha!!!!

Kerel: Who's there?
Bruce: Some sort of psycho, it seems.

Creepy and mysterious voice, probably coming from someone: I am the master of electricity, I will conquer this town and then rename it to "electry city"

Kerel: "Man, that's a bad one."

Creepy and mysterious voice, most definitely coming from someone: Not a man, but it does matter not, join me or surrender!!!

Kerel: Well, whoever you are I don't have the time for this so goodbye.

To make it short, "Creep": No, you shall not leave, you will fight me!!!

Bruce: Should have said so from the beginning.

***********(Random?) Encounter*********************
Level 15 Pikachu Vs Lv. 8 Bruce.

Pikachu:
HP 44
Attack 30
Defense 23
Speed 41
Special Attack 29
Special Defense 26
Trait: Static (Has a 30% chance of paralyzing opponents that hit it with an attack that involves physical contact)

Bruce:
HP 34
Attack 42
Defense 19
Speed 24
Special Attack 19
Special Defense 19
Trait: Immunity (Cannot be poisoned)

Kerel: Alright, so it's a Pikachu, It should be vulnerable to...err...something...
Let's see...Ground, mmm, this is just too complicated, Bruce Attack!

Pokemon Advocate:
Erm...According to the rules, the pokemon with the highest Speed stat gets to attack first.
Kerel: Did you hear something?
Bruce: Nope.

Master of Electricity: Muhahaha I'll paralize thou with my wrap attack.

Pikachu uses Thunder Wave and paralizes Bruce, sort of.

Bruce uses Strength:
Bruce hits Pikachu in his nose, an image that everybody who hates the one from the cartoon will cherish.
He does 29 points of damage and doesn't get paralyzed.

Pikachu uses Thundershock:
Suddenly The elecric master says Pikaaaaaaa!!!!!! And sends a lightning volt towards bruce, it hits him
doing 15 points of damage.

Bruce: Ouch, Why cant you hit Kerel, I mean that was nothing get this one!
Bruce:Ouch, I guess I'm still a little charged.
(Bruce touches Kerel and gives him a static shock.)
Kerel: Hey!!
Bruce: Sorry, just testing.

Pikachu: Now I'll get rid of you both idiots, or even better, not enlightened ones!!!
you got that one, enlightened ones, like not bright, heh, there goes another one.

Kerel: I don't know what is worse, this guy or his jokes.
Bruce: The jokes.

Pikachu uses thundershock:
It hurts Bruce again (13 points).

Bruce: Now I'm angry.
Bruce punches his face again dealing 25 points of damage, stealing
pikachu's wallet in the meantime.
Note: the pikachu does not notice it since it was a natural 20.

Bruce ooc: All these stats and damage counters really are ruining the realism of the battle.
Kerel: who cares this idiot doesn't even deserve realism.
Bruce ooc: You have to add ooc to these kind of comments.
Kerel ooc: Oops, sorry about that.

Pikachu Faints, and gets thrown into a garbage container and then the garbage container
gets mailed to Colombia, and then Colombia...nevermind.

Bruce: You sure it wasn't a bad idea to mail that Garbage Container to Colombia?
Kerel: Well, I think The mob over there can handle a guy like this one.
Bruce: Err... no I mean it's really illegal to mail a garbage container anywhere, it's like the city's property.
Kerel: Well, I think... didn't we have a light bulb to find?

After walking some more minutes finally a light showed us the way.

Kerel: Look over there, there's a lamp on that shop's window.
Bruce: "Mistic's store for the weird and mysterious objects", I don't know Kerel, I'm not pretty sure that it would be a very good...

Kerel: Alright, I bought it, I had to convince him
I was the chosen one by some weird ancient native legend but here we have it, and if there's a lamp, there's a light bulb in it.

Bruce: How did you!? so fast er...

Kerel: Fast? you kept reading that sign for 30 minutes so I decided to go in.

Bruce: It can't be... there's something really odd here.

Kerel: Maybe, but we have the lamp, and all I had to do is chat with the old man for a while.

Bruce: But did you lie to him to convince him?
Kerel: No, actually the funny thing is I didn't, he just said that I had to be the one, anyway a freebie is a freebie.

Bruce: mmm...
Bruce ooc: mmm...

Later we went back to the hotel, and continued making the repairs and improvements.

8:52 pm, same day:

Kerel's detective log black and white style:
In room 202, suddenly a strange violet light started to glow. Everybody was doing something else so I decided to check it out. Yeah violet, the rest of the memory is black and white ok? Everybody is a critic nowadays.


I approached it, it was being emanated from the lamp, that was very odd, cause when I looked at it there was no light bulb.
I was starting to feel tricked, when... well this might be odd even for my logs but I was at a different place.
Everything looked kinda cartoonish, I felt like if I was on that "Take on me" video, but it was more like cool world, anyway I came from a world with pokemon so I can't really say anything.

It seemed to be some sort of parallel dimension, an old guy aproached me and said, "you're not ready for this place yet", "there's nothing here for you, yet.".

He was mistaken, as he said that I saw the light bulb floating in the air, I tried to catch it, but the old guy made some gesture and I fell back to the real world.

Damn, It can't be that hard to find a light bulb, and this was creepy and weirder than a Family guy episode.
I was starting to believe that that lamp was a bad thing, but maybe it was important for me to find out.

On the following day I was getting ready to go downstairs and help the ponytas install the new HDTV, when the lamp attacked me. It jumped over my head and It was trying to pull me in, A long and better left untold fight started.

The good part was that I could find the light bulb, the bad one was that I had my head stuck inside the lampshade.

I heard Bruce say something. I didn't understand what.

Bruce: "I needed to translate my human companion's words to other humans"


Kerel: "Hey, Bruce! I think I've finally found the light bulb! Wow, there's like a portal in here."

(I found out later, Bruce was talking to a girl, some sorta reporter that came to study the ponytas.)

Gabi: "Let me guess. Your human companion?"
Bruce: "Yes. And we should never have bought that lamp from a mystical objects store."
Gabi: "I think think you're intentionally trying to confuse me."
Bruce: "Not at all. But I wouldn't recommend getting your head in there. So you're from the Guild."
Gabi: "We both are." *Pointing to a guy who called himself Golden Growlithe.* "I think Amber would be too, if they took her into account."
Bruce: "I know the feeling."
Amber: "Things are bound to change eventually. For now I enjoy writing reports with her. One day I'll find a way to get them to acknowledge me."

(I think Bruce liked that amber girl, dragonite, whatever.)

Bruce: "It's a long road, but it's worth it. For once, you're in a place helped by its own pokemon." *Whispers something.*
Amber: "But why?"
Bruce: "Mostly because everyone will understand you. Ah... And they also have this thing with humans... They have to prove themselves... Like running, and stuff. I guess I could talk them into making an exception, since you're reporters."
Gabi: "I'm a researcher, not a reporter, and I'm against all kinds of discrimination. If we're not welcome here, we will leave."
Bruce: "No, no, it's not discrimination at all. It's just that the kids won't stop bothering you. You're like new toys to them."
Amber: "Before things become any crazier, do you happen to know how Ponytas came to live here, and what their life was like before this spa got started?"
Kerel: *removes the lampshade from his head* "Hey! Aren't you the girl that gives out the Dragon's Guild IDs?"
Gabi: *Turns to look.* "I thought you sounded familiar! You're that guy who signed up for the discounts, aren't you?"
Kerel: "Err... Yeah, kinda. That and the jobs. About the discounts... there's this store where they charge you even more if you're a member!"
Gabi: "Really? That makes no sense. Where is that store?"
Kerel: "A few kilometers from here. They said they did it to serve their Mistress... It sounded like a stupid plan to destroy the Dragon's Guild by charging them extra for the stuff they sell. But well, I needed toothpaste."
Gabi (raising eyebrow): "Sure."
Amber: "Does that mean you don't know anything about what things were like here before?"
Kerel: "Yeah, sure, I even got an online blog about it!"
Amber: "Bruce?"
Bruce: "He does... But if you want to see how things were before, you can take a look at the back yard. I can show you around if you want."
*Gabi looks at everyone.*
Amber: "I guess we have nothing to lose."
GG: "Except time, but this is getting interesting. I'm coming with you."


*Small tour: 1) Large library sorted by date, not by genre, cause everybody just reads the newest books
2) Cable TV and SPA
<li> Ponyta learning HTML for the place's website.
4) Pasture with ponytas and rapidash eating and running and playing


Gabi: "This looks more like the place I remember."
Kerel: "So you've been here before."
Gabi: "Many times since the Pegasus Games, but I stopped coming a few years ago."
Kerel: "Then why did you wanna know how this place was before? I mean... it's not like you crossed a portal and ended up in some weird alternate dimension or something. Of course this is the same place."
GG: "What did you just say?"
Kerel: "Watch the lamp. You'll understand it."
GG: "Who are you?"
Kerel: "The name's Kerel. I'm a private eye."
GG: "Alright, let's leave it at that, but if you have something to say, do say it."
Bruce: *To Amber.* "He may regret that."
Gabi: "Relax, he was just kidding. Weren't you, Kerel?"
Kerel: "Yeah, sure. I guess it could be all just special effects."
*G & GG sigh.*
Gabi: "Anyway, I knew what this place used to look like, but what I don't know is what life was like for Ponytas and Rapidash before, nor how they came here in the first place. That's what I'm supposed to find out."
Bruce: "Well, then the easiest thing would be to ask them."
Amber: "That path has failed us before, sorry."
Bruce: "Why? Did you ask Sir Wimbledon?"
Amber: "No, but... Have you ever heard of the Ditto report?"
Bruce: "You mean the one about their mating habits?"
Amber: "You have?! But how? It was never published!"
Bruce: "I found it between the soups and the desserts on the menu at the Dragon's Guild's cafe."
GG: "Come on!, we have some issues with paperwork, but it's not that bad!"
Kerel: "I thought it had been put there on purpose."
Gabi: "So, is there any way you could help us get this report done? We have some more important things to take care of, this is just more urgent."
Kerel: "I guess that even if we recorded what the Ponytas said they wouldn't believe you. Would they?"
Gabi: "They wouldn't understand the words. I don't think I would either, from a recording."
Amber: "But they might listen to a theory that's believable enough. Maybe we can ask them and then write it in a way they can assume we've somehow figured it out."
Bruce: "If you were to film me asking them questions and they either nodded or shook their heads in response, would they think my voice is dubbed too?"
Tsunami: "Not if you went and showed them yourself, but you could get in trouble by doing that."
Bruce: "Oh, you mean they'd try to experiment on me or something."
Tsunami: "I don't know exactly what they do, but they certainly wouldn't let you go for a while."
Kerel: "You could always take Sir Wimbledon (the Ponyta who manages the hotel, and who was a pre programed recorder with many phrases) to a conference. He likes when people listen to him. As long as you have enough tea to offer him."
Gabi: "Tea, really? I'm starting to like him more now. He could join me and Rhiannon, and we could start a tea club."
Kerel: "Just don't get him talking about books. He can go on for hours."
Tsunami: "So can she, trust me."
Bruce: "Interesting."
Gabi: "Would they understand him, though? I thought all the phrases he used when he greeted us were recorded. Except when he told Linyi about his glasses, but he said that in Ponyta's language."
Bruce: "We could always record more phrases for him, and some other things to prove he understands humans."
Gabi: "I don't think many people actually doubt that by now. Things are changing, luckily. But still, I don't think recording more phrases is a scalable solution. You can only record so many phrases, and the questions he may get are unlimited."
Kerel: "Well, since he reads so much, maybe he could write. We would need some horse-keyboard or something."
Amber: "Does that exist?"
Kerel: "Maybe a ouija."
Amber: "I think we should ask him before we set him up for something like that. It could be quite embarrassing. But I think I have an idea. If we do get the answers from the Ponytas, I've thought of a way to get at least a few of them to accept them."
Bruce: "Of course if he agrees, we could hold a conference right here. Then they would be able to watch the Ponytas. They could stay for free and it would be a good way to make the hotel known."
Gabi: "I'll let Lady Ninetales know about your offer. Thanks."
GG: "I'd love to see her face if she ever gets here."

Wimbledon agreed to the interview as long as he was given buttons with pre recorded "yes" and "no" cause the idea of a ouija seemed inapropiate to him, not to mention humillating.

They told him they'd talk to other Guild members about it, and then proceded to ask their own questions.

Then, a tall, dark-haired woman, called Theresa Dorcuato, came out of spying on us, and greeted them.She introduced herself as Theresa, but then Gabi and her caught on each other's accents and started speaking in Spanish, wich was kinda impolite. Besides I wouldn't have guessed Gabi was from Colombia.

They mentioned something about a Dragons guild member, and some places names. They said something about a place called Yssera. I was missing everything so I asked them to speak english.
Then Golden Growlithe joined us too. (by the way all this part is in colour, the black and white and violet was for the mystery one).

We talked about many things, it turned out Yssera was some sort of evil dragon, who the dagon's guild was trying to defeat, they also mentioned a guy, Jeff, who had been kidnapped by some sort of cult from Eagleland.

I reminded them I was a detective, so I could try to find this Jeff guy, while they fought the dragon, I may not be good at dragonslaying but I'm good at finding people, or light bulbs. (I didn't mention the latter).

They needed a hand, and since I'm in the guild, I can take the Job. So they Hired me.

I decoded to go on a reckoning mission to Happy Happy Village, (which sounded like either the most evil place in the universe or some place from a video game), while they finished searching the mountain.

I know bruce had already downloaded the dragon's guild database, but we asked for their messenger Id's to keep in contact. Bruce asked for Amber's of course.

Caroline asked for GG's who knows why...

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry to add another story to the pile, I'm afraid I can't rate those 2 battles, as I took part in their writing process. I'll understand if this takes a while to get rated.

WARNING: weirdness ahead. The Harims kind. If you haven't read my previous stories, this probably won't make much sense to you.I can't promise it will even if you have, but I'll be willing to answer any questions asked about it. This takes place right after the battles on White Mountain, when my previous story and Jeff's ended. Glyph and Orknye have stayed in White Mountain to investigate further, though that's not all that relevant to this story.

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<Lagi's POV>

The forest was calm, but I couldn't get my own feelings to tune in with it. The sight of the growing young trees brought a smile to my face, but it also reminded me of the tragedy that had befallen their ancestors, some of whose roots were still lying around among the new ones. 'Reborn Forest' had been the name of the place for the last few years. If everyone let it be, it would one day be magnificent and beautiful. But for now, it held a reminder: for something to be reborn, it first has to die. Well, it wouldn't die again. Not if I had a say in it. But did I have it? If someone suddenly decided to destroy the forest, would I have a chance to stop them? Those gloomy thoughts had never assaulted me when I was younger, but now things were different. Now I knew things didn't always turn out well, and I knew what being overconfident could lead to. I'd learnt it in the worst possible way, and I was still suffering for it. I wondered if the pain would ever stop. A cold evening breeze chilled my wings. I couldn't stop that either; I just couldn't focus enough.

I followed Gail's presence to the Dark Cave. At least I could still rely on my empathy, and my mysterious link with the Noctowl which I'd given up on trying to explain. She was waiting for me. She offered me some assorted nuts. I accepted them gladly, only then realizing I hadn't had anything to eat in the whole day. The Noctowl made a signal to the pokemon around her, and we were left alone.

"I wish I could do more for you," Gail told me as I finished my meal. "We weren't of much help fighting those red-clad humans last time. But then again, you didn't really need us back then."
"The Crimson Blades," I nodded. "I think everyone helped. And it ended..." I sighed, looking for words. "not well, but I think nothing could have ended well with minds like DiAnnio's and Reaper's. At least it ended, that's the best we could have hoped for, isn't it?"
"I'll have to take your word about that. I don't know much about the human world, and what I do know, I don't like. Though I must admit that your trainer and her friends didn't seem bad."
"They're not," I assured. A smile came to me. "We've already had this conversation before. Years ago, when we first met."
"I remember. I was a bit more... radical then. But you must understand I had my reasons to be wary."
"Yes, you made your reasons quite clear. So clear that the thought of what happened still haunts me."
"Give yourself a break," Gail advised. "That feeling doesn't belong to you. If you bear everyone else's loads as if they were your own, soon your heart will be too heavy to keep beating."
I nodded. "I know, but how can I help it?"
"You could start by recognizing when it's not your call. And by learning from the past; it works better than dwelling on it, I know about that."
"If you can do something, do it. If you can't, find something else you can do. Is that it?"
"I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense. It might as well be it. Did you just come up with it?"
"No, that's something my trainer usually says."
"Hmm. If your trainer ever comes to the forest again, I'd like to get to know her better."
I thought that was probably the best compliment a human had ever got from Gail. It made me proud, in a way, to know that I was helping her overcome her fear of humans.
"Feeling better?," Gail asked. It was a rhetorical question, but it made me look inwards.
"Only on the surface, I'm afraid," I answered. "This could take some time."
"It may help if you talk about it."

Would it?, I thought. My sorrow was too strong to put it in words. Time had passed, but for some reason or other, I'd never had a chance to deal with it properly. And thus I'd never really been able to move on. I wondered if I ever would. Maybe talking about it was the only way. But could I put it in words even if I tried? I made my best effort. Gail waited patiently, her presence offering me comfort and warmth. I knew I had to say something, but what? How could I begin? Maybe once I'd started, it would all start flowing out of me. I could only hope it would, but how could I start? There was only one word I could think of. After searching in vain for ways to make myself clear, I decided to give it a try and let Gail guide me.
"Edie."
Gail nodded. It was a start. After a few seconds, she asked me who Edie was.
"My daughter," I told her. "My first daughter."
I felt realization come to my friend.
"I never had any children," she said. "I didn't get the chance. But I know how important they are to those who have them. And I know what it feels like to lose someone you hold dear. I didn't show you all of it, actually."
"I understand. I'm sorry. I... I just wish there was something I could do to save her. She's not really gone, it's just... a part of her is. A vital part that made her who she was. After she met Yssera, she was changed. Her joy and her warmth were gone. She was distant... almost as if I was a stranger. She still had determination in her, but it was focused elsewhere. And then she left the country, and I haven seen or heard of her since then."
"Who's this Yssera you speak of?"

I told Gail all I knew about her, and she listened carefully. After I finished, she paused for a moment to think.
"If something can be done, it will be," she finally said. "You can count on me for that, for as much or as little as I can do."
"Thank you."
"I know you would do the same for me. You have nothing to thank me for. You and I are bound. Helping one is helping the other."
"I think I'm beginning to understand... But why is that so, do you know?"
"I have my theories. I think we were both on similar wavelengths to start with, with both of us being able to sense the feelings of others. Then something was triggered when our minds were linked and I showed you my memories, and reaffirmed when you agreed to become a guardian of this forest as the magical seal that used to hold the Dark Gengar was put back in its place. At least that's how I think it happened. I don't really have proof."
"It's a good theory. There are many things we may never know for sure."
"That's life for you. You're tired, would you like to go to sleep? We can get a space sorted out for you."
"I think I will, thanks. I think the conversation has helped me, but it was also exhausting."

Gail nodded and called for the Unowns. Sooner than I would have expected, a heap of leaves big enough to accommodate a Dragonite of my size had been put together in a dark and warm section of the cave. The walls around were humid, but that didn't bother me. I'd been born in the sea, and spent many nights sleeping in damp caves. The smell of humid stone and moss was familiar and reassuring.

I fell asleep surprisingly quickly. I'd underestimated my own exhaustion. My sleep, however, was restless. I had nightmares that started with the destruction of the forest by Team Rocket, then the Black Battalion shooting insanely at a transparent barrier and getting massacred by the ricocheting bullets, then Armand DiAnnio throwing himself into an abyss after Reaper's dead body, overwhelmed by the loss in spite of all the losses he'd inflicted upon others... And then Edie. That was not a memory of something I had happened, but a recreation of a feeling inside me. I saw her looking at me coldly, and turning away as I ran to hug her. I saw her leave, not caring to turn around and look at me. She walked away at a steady pace, and though she didn't seem to be moving fast, I couldn't reach her, and though I could still see her I had the sinking feeling that she was already gone. And then she was. Lost in the distance, and everything else vanished behind her. I was left alone, in a void filled with voices but devoid of meaning. Just as I was beginning to burst into tears, one of the voices became clearer. It sounded like a whisper, but at the same time it was loud. It pierced into my soul.
"You can see her again if you want to," the voice said.
Though I was still dreaming, a part of me snapped into alertness.
"I know who you are," I called out. "Stop playing your dirty tricks. You've taken my daughter. What more do you want to take from me?"
"Only your suffering."
"Sorry. It's mine. My feelings for my child are mine. For all of my children and grandchildren. It hurts, but I'll deal with it. I'm not giving my love away."
"Not even if it means living with your pain for the rest of your life? I've heard it from couples who lost their children. It never really goes away."
"Don't talk to me about feelings. You know nothing about them."
"Oh, but I do. I know as much about feelings as a frog knows about flies. They're my prime materials."
"A frog doesn't know what it's like to be a fly. I've known more than my share of bad feelings. They're a heavy load, only made lighter by the immensity of the good feelings I've also been able to experience and share. It's curious how you neglect to mention you take those away too. All you leave behind is emptiness. And even the strongest of pains is better than that... because it means you can still feel, and as long as you can feel, you can still hope."
"Don't underestimate me. I know about hope. All of my followers have it. You'll still have it if you join me."
I was stunned for a moment.
"What kind of hope?," I asked, trying to see the trick.
"Hope for a better world, of course. They're all working hard to achieve that. They have a purpose in life."
"Of course. To serve you. I don't know what your idea of a better world is, but I want no part in it. Go away before I find a way to track you down, because if I do, I won't hold back. I've witnessed many deaths, and though I've spent many restless nights remembering them, I'm starting to think yours wouldn't weigh so much on me. After all, you don't know the value of life."
"But you do, and you wouldn't kill me even if you could. However, I see you hate me too much to even consider the possibility of joining me. I won't waste more time on you until we meet in the flesh, if we ever do."

The voice was silenced. The background chatter remained, but it no longer bothered me. I was alone again, but I felt a glint of satisfaction and self confidence. I felt I had won an important battle.


<Angel's POV>

I was lost and confused. And I hated it. I hated the helplessness, the lack of control, the perceptual limitations...
"Enough," I scolded myself.
I had to get through with this. The wrong thought could pull me back in a heartbeat, and I had a task to complete. Besides, I wouldn't forgive myself if my will wasn't strong enough to face what I'd already put others through several times, in some cases for a prolonged period of time. Yet, I didn't like being there. It made me lose power as well as perspective. I couldn't make myself useful when I was in the middle of things, my job was that of a watcher and a messenger. "But I'm here to deliver a message," I reminded myself. "That much I can do. And it will only work if it's done this way." I took a deep breath and did my best to focus on the 'here and now'.

"My name is Angel Quinn," I recited. "I'm a woman... a human. And I'm sitting... kneeling, somewhere in Reborn Forest."
I looked around to make sure the last bit was right. My vision became clear as soon as I cast all other thoughts aside. Young trees and various rock formations populated the landscape. It had to be the right forest. I felt the earth under my palms, and then I realized a small pebble was hurting my knee. I stood up and brushed it away with my hands, along with the rest of the dirt. I was there. Now I needed to find the Dragon.

I couldn't see far away, and some of my senses were so limited that I felt trapped. I could hear birds chirping and smell the humid grass with a few flowers scattered around, and the trunks and leaves of the trees (come to think of it, scents were clearer than usual if I focused on them), but none of that would help me. I reckoned I wouldn't find who I was looking for by standing there, so I did the only other think I could think of: I began to walk.

I felt heavy, and after stepping on a few roots and pebbles I told myself I should have brought shoes with thicker soles. I ought to have remembered, from that time back in Nagarythe. But then again, I hadn't written a mental note to remember that back then, because I hadn't intended to return. It was funny how things had a way to take their course regardless of one's personal plans and expectations. I'd never been able to get away with a selfish thought.

After walking for a while, doubts began to assault me. There was no way to tell whether I was walking in the right direction, and that was frustrating. "If only I could ask for directions," I thought, and then I asked myself: "why not?"
"Hello?," I called out. "Is anyone there?"

No sooner did I formulate the question than a dark sphere surrounded by some kind of purple vapor appeared out of thin air. It had big, inquisitive eyes, and a wide mouth with protruding fangs that somehow didn't inspire any negative emotions. The teeth were simply at rest.

"Were you watching me?," I asked.
"Gaas," the creature said, the sphere's shade becoming a shade closer to red for a moment.

Of course, I realized. It was a pokemon. Pokemon didn't speak in the same way that we did. The sounds went through one channel, denoting emotions and the general tone of the message, but the actual words traveled by a more subtle means. It took most humans a long time of observing a pokemon and building an emotional bond to learn to understand it fully; some never did. I'd made a fool of myself the one time I'd tried to train a pokemon, although the Butterfree had agreed to follow me around until I returned home, possibly to watch over me. Things hadn't started off well for me this time either. But I'd have to find a way to make it work.

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling embarrassed. "I'm afraid I can't understand your words. I'll do my best to make out what you mean, but it may not work very well. Please be patient."
"Gaastly," the pokemon nodded in an understanding way.
"Thank you. See... I'm lost. I'm looking for a dragon. A dragon pokemon, I mean."
Only then I realized she was a pokemon too. Would I be able to understand her? Yet, I had no choice. I'd have to cross that bridge when I got there.

The floating pokemon stayed there, looking thoughtful.
"I think she's in a cave somewhere in this forest," I told him. "She came from a place called Sector Alpha."
"Gastly!," he grinned brightly. "Gas! Gastly."
He turned around and waved up and down before looking at me again. I gathered he was beckoning me to follow, and so I did.

It turned out that, while I hadn't been walking exactly in the right direction, I wasn't far off. I followed my guide across the forest for a few minutes, and soon we came to an area where the vegetation was thicker, if not taller. In the center, surrounded by more trees than any other spot in the forest, was a large rock. A hole on its front opened into the cave which, judging by its darkness, seemed to continue deep underground. I thanked the one who had guided me and gave a few steps towards the cave, but he put himself between me and the entrance, shaking his sphere to the side and uttering syllables that sounded like a warning. Once I stopped moving, he rushed into the cave. I waited to see what would happen.

About two minutes went by before anyting came out of the cave. Then, a large owl with thick white eyebrows emerged from the darkness and inspected me carefully. The owl took a long time to reach a decision, but then seemed to accept me, as she said something and then the floating sphere gently pushed me forward.

I followed the owl into the depths, which I hadn't overestimated. I saw the eyes of other pokemon fixed on me. None of them would move as I walked past them. There was a creepy one who had two sets of eyes, one pair on its head and another on its tail (was that a mouth below the eyes at the tip of its tail?), and all 4 were staring at me. I must admit I felt a little intimidated. The owl led me to a quiet corner, and beckoned me to sit down. I complied. She then looked straight into my eyes, her own temples opened so wide that her eyelids weren't visible. I felt a strange energy coming from those eyes. It was inviting... soothing. I gave in. It was the thing to do.

I found myself transported to a much denser forest, populated by tall, old trees. For a moment, I was afraid I might have zoomed out, but then I heard the flapping of wings and, as I looked up, saw the owl, still looking at me.
"Can you enter dreams too?," I asked her.
"Only the dreams I create," she replied. "Can you?"
I wasn't really surprised to understand her. After all, the 'place' we were in was made by a conjunction of both our minds.
"Not exactly," I answered. "But I know two who can. One's a friend and one's a foe. I'm here to speak of the latter, on behalf of the former."
"My friend told me you were looking for a dragon pokemon."
"Yes, I need to talk to her. I knew she was coming here, and there's a message I need to deliver to her personally."
"A message from your dream-creeping friend?"
"From myself, actually. But it was my friend who made me realize I had to come. He told me something she needs to know."
"This all seems to weird and complicated. Can you make yourself clearer?"
"I'm afraid not. Please let me talk to her. She'll know what to do. She can tell I can be trusted."
"I can tell you mean well, but something about you is confusing. I must warn you, she's not at her best right now. If you hurt her, I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life regretting it."
"I wouldn't dream of hurting her. But I don't like threats. And I doubt you'd have the means to back up yours anyway, if only because I don't intend to stay here for much longer. I only want to talk to her."
"Do you know her well enough to understand her?"
"I'm not sure... I'll have to wait and see. But I have to try, it's important."

The owl descended, and looked at me from the ground.
"I feel your need," she said. "If it's so important, I'm not going to stop you. Though I'd like to know who you are."
"My name is Angel Quinn," I told her. "I'm a friend."
"I can tell you're hiding something. But as long as you mean no harm, that's all that matters. Lagi's outside right now. She went out to fly around and clear her thoughts. She should come back soon."

I felt the now familiar sensation of the world fading away. Then there was darkness, and the touch of humid stone. I opened my eyes and slowly coaxed my body to move. I felt heavy again. It was probably the bones. I sat leaning against the wall and waited in silence. The owl didn't leave my side until Lagi came in, nor after she did. By then my eyes had grown accustomed to the surrounding darkness, and I could see the dragon's shocked expression as she came close to me.

"I know," I told her. "I didn't think we'd meet again like this either. But Orknye talked to me and... And I knew I had to talk to you. And this was the only way, summoning you would have put unnecessary strain on you, and you don't need that right now."
"Thanks for taking my feelings into account," she replied. I was glad I could understand her, if still surprised. "But I think I could have managed. I was trapped in a cave with an exit too small for my size last time, but aside from that and the initial confusion, everything turned out alright. It didn't affect me the way it affects you."
"Always so considerate," I smiled. "I guess it's in our nature. Although, from what Orknye told me, I'm starting to lose my friends' confidence. I want to amend that. I... can't be blunt. It's just not like me. I might as well walk into a crowd naked. But I do want to make things better for those who deserve it."
"I know," Lagi nodded.
"So you must also know I wouldn't ask you to do something if I thought it would be bad for you, do you? If I didn't think it's for the best."
She stood there in silence, contemplating my words, and possibly my feelings as well.
"I think you wouldn't. But if that's so, why are you afraid to ask?"
"Because it's a hard thing for you to do. And I may have already been asking too much of everyone."
"Let me be the one to judge that. What is it?"
I shook my head.
"First, I must tell you something. Something that Orknye told me... that Glyph has felt. There are two strong energies in White Mountain, both imprecise in their bounds but distinctly different from each other. I spent the whole morning observing them, and I've come to a conclusion. So far the energies have barely mixed, and none of them is prevailing. But if a confrontation comes, either one of them could negate the other. And that is bound to happen sooner or later. So it's imperious to ensure the right one prevails."
"I'm afraid I can't understand what you want me to do," Lagi told me.
"I need you to go to White Mountain. I won't ask you to go alone, I wouldn't recommend it. But next time your friends go, please go with them. You need to find him, and talk to him. He won't listen to a human, but he'll listen to you, because you understand his pain. In more than one way."
"Who are you talking about?"
"The funny thing is... I've never heard his name. But you know him, you two will find each other, I'm sure. Please do it, it's important. And it will help you both heal."
"Alright... I'll do what you ask."

She still looked puzzled, but also resigned. It was an expression I was very familiar with. It reminded me that I was still myself. I was already beginning to feel the gentle pull of the place I called home.
"And please tell Eshree and his friends that I haven't forgotten them. Once this is over, I will..."

I couldn't finish the phrase. I'd made a mistake and called Eshree by his real name. That was enough to accelerate my departure. He was lucky, he didn't have that problem. I sighed, as I watched another world fade away. At least I'd delivered the message, and I was sure Lagi had understood what I had meant to say. I welcomed the input of all my senses, telling me that I was home again. It was nice to be back to normal, though I couldn't help but smile. I had acted like a nearly perfect stereotype of an angel this time. Well, sometimes stereotypes have a base on reality. Just sometimes.

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry for the double-post, but I have an important announcement to make. Jeff, a.k.a. TheBlueAvenger, has just joined the ranks of us*! (I missed using that codeword).

Thanks, Jeff, for offering to help, and welcome to the Dragon Tamers staff!

[The Blue Avenger]

Glad to help.

Kerel: I enjoyed reading your story. You've got a great sense of humor, plus I'm a big fan of out-of-nowhere gags, so you've got me there. It was cool to see how your story tied in with Gabi's. The Master of Electricity was, uh, for lack of a better word, interesting. Of course, seeing you in Happy-Happy Village will be neat as well. PM me sometime so we can meet on AIM. Here, take 5 stamps. ¢¢¢¢¢

Gabi, if it doesn't get taken by, uh, tomorrow, I'll take care of your story.

EDIT: Gabi: Very nice. First, i gotta say that Lagi is a very interesting character in and of herself. I liked seeing the conversation between her and Yssrra, since I wasn't all that sure previously how a conversation like that should go. I also enjoyed reading Angel's part, although coming across someone who didn't understand a Pokemon's speech threw me off for a moment - that doesn't happen terribly often in any of the stories I've read. Or maybe I'm just not reading some of the others carefully enough. >_> Either way, it was an enjoyable read. I'm thinking 6 stamps sounds about right. ¢¢¢¢¢¢

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks, Jeff.

Here's the explanation abut the pokemon speech thing... most people don't understand pokemon language by default. We've talked about this before, and I've explained more about it in the story you just rated, but it wasn't anything that wasn't said before. I think it was Ade who wrote about it first. Some people never get to understand any pokemon at all. Others, like most DT trainers, can understand pokemon they've known for some time and have an emotional bond with. That's at least the case with Ade, Soo, Amy, Eshree and myself, only in my case my stone helps me deal with the speech of other pokemon. Jeff can understand all pokemon, but you told me there was a reason for that, which your character ignores. Other than that, only humans with strong psychic abilities can understand all pokemon.

[The Blue Avenger]

Naw, I realize the reason, but I wasn't expecting it with so many people who do understand the language. I guess I didn't make that point clear.

[classy_cat18]

Here's Ken's RBG. He got an Icy Wind and Hidden Power TM from the Reward Center.

Bo's POV

Poke.

"Stop it."

Poke, poke.

"Stop it," I grumbled for about the tenth time.

Ken giggled and kept poking me until my eyes opened. I groaned as I was nearly blinded by sunlight. Taking a nap when he was around was impossible, even when I tried to hide. He loved being the center of attention and loved looking for people even more.

"What do you want?" I asked grumpily.

"Play!" Ken replied as he went back to poking me. I pushed him aside and got to my feet. "Play, play, play!"

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and yawned loudly. "Ken, we played all day yesterday. I'm tired and I want to sleep today. Can't you let me sleep?"

"No! NOOOO!" he wailed. "Wanna play NOW!" He lay out on the ground and banged his little fists on the ground.

Oh man, I hope I wasn't this annoying when I was his age. I nudged him with my paw. "Okay, we'll play. What do you want to play?"

"Battle! Wanna play battle!"

I sighed heavily. Play. Wanna. No. Those were his favorite words. And this was usually a sign that he was a spoiled brat. But I didn't want to tell Miss Shonta that. Besides, Ken was just a level below me. With the right training he could probably kick my butt, and play battle was almost the perfect kind of training. "Okay, we can play battle. Just let me find a referee."

I went inside and found Miss Athena in the kitchen washing dishes. Sometimes she liked doing them when Miss Shonta didn't feel like it. I guess it helps her think or relax or something. "Miss Athena, Ken wants to play," I kind of whined.

She chuckled. "Again? He sure has a lot of energy to spare. I'm guessing you're needing a referee?" I nodded sadly. "What's the matter? You don't seem to want to do this."

"Of course I don't. At first I did but then he wanted to do it all the time. I'm pooped." I whimpered a little in an attempt to gain her sympathy.

"Ken looks up to you as a friend, a big brother, and a trainer. He usually doesn't want to play battle with anyone but you. Sometimes he'll play with Ali or Bandit but I don't think he enjoys it as much. Probably because you're more on his level." She jumped down from the chair she was using and scratched behind my ears. "One day he'll thank you for all of this."

"I just wished he would play battle with someone else," I said while rubbing a bruise I got from one of Ken's tackles.

Athena scratched her head for a moment and then brightened. "Destai might want to do something today! He’s been lying in the bedroom all day!”

My tail wagged at her suggestion. Sure, I was just beginning to understand his language of barks and howls and he might be a little grouchy at my request. But a day at the new playground might change his mind.

I thanked Miss Athena and ran into the Pokemon’s bedroom. Destai was in there, his head on a pillow and his mind somewhere else. I tiptoed to him and gently nudged him with a paw. His head snapped to me. As I suspected, he didn’t look too happy. “Hey, Destai. Are you bored?” I asked him a little nervously. He nodded but the grouchy look stayed. "Okay. Ken and I were going to this new place in the park. Do you want to come with us?"

He nodded again and then stretched and gave a long yawn. I knew how he felt. It was a lazy day today and the rest of the team had gone shopping.

We walked to the back door together. Destai took me by surprise by sticking his head out of the doorway and letting out a loud howl. I heard a shout and then crying. "Destai, you scared Ken!" I accused. Destai growled and stepped back so I could go outside.

I found Ken clinging to the small tree in the backyard. He had stopped crying but was now shaking like a leaf. "Come down, Ken. That was just Destai calling you," I assured him.

"Dusty?" Ken asked shakingly. That was what he called the Houndour. He slowly let go and walked over to me. "Dusty's scary."

"He doesn't mean to be scary. Let's go to the park and play."

"Yay! Play!" He held onto my tail and followed me and Destai out the front door. Miss Athena also came just in case we needed a "motherly figure".

The new playground was in a smaller park than Millenium Park but it was meant for the younger Pokemon. It had everything they needed to play and practice. Destai and Miss Athena were a little out of place since they were older than most of the other Pokemon but they didn't mind. There were older Pokemon keeping watch.

"Make sure he plays nice with the other kids," Miss Athena called out as Ken headed for the pool.

I nodded at her and looked back at Ken. He was sitting at the edge of the pool, dipping his toes in the water. I remembered that Ken hadn't had any experience with swimming yet. "Don't worry, little brother. You're a water type. You can swim," I told him as I sat by him. "The water isn't that deep anyway."

"Bo swim?" Ken asked me.

"Yeah, I swim. I'll swim with you." I jumped off of the edge and into the water with a big splash. As I surfaced, I saw that someone else was with Ken. A Poliwrath that was smaller than average size. He was looking down at Ken with an angry look. Before I could say anything, the Poliwrath roughly shoved Ken into the water. Ken only had time to give a short yelp before he hit the water and sunk.

"I guess that shrimps do sink. I owe my sister a buck," the Poliwrath sneered.

I heard a howl and saw Destai running to the Poliwrath. He barked a few times and bared his teeth at the Poliwrath. The Poliwrath just smiled and fired a stream of water that kept Destai back.

I frantically looked in the water for Ken. He was at the bottom of the pool but he seemed to be doing fine. In fact, he was swimming like he’s been doing it ever since he hatched. I gave a sigh of relief and then glared at the Poliwrath. “What did you do that for? He’s just a kid! He could’ve drowned!” I yelled at him.

"Then he should've been in my way," he said as he shook his fist at me. "And if you get in my way, I'll get you too! No one gets in the way of Bruiser!"

How come we always get the jerks? We never have a friendly battle anymore. I started to swim towards Bruiser with every intent on giving him a battle he'll never forget. Ken popped his head between the two of us and squirted a little water in Bruiser's eyes. I didn't think he was being friendly.

"Play battle!" Ken said angrily.

I smiled fiendishly. "You heard my little brother. He wants to play battle with you."

Bruiser chuckled. "Oh, I'll play alright."

Miss Athena, having heard our little conversation, stepped forward as Ken climbed out of the pool. "This match is between Ken and Bruiser. One on one, no time limit. Let the match begin!"

L5 Male Squirtle (Ken) vs. L5 Male Poliwrath (Bruiser)

"Stand there and turn around, Ken!" I yelled, acting as trainer. Ken turned his back at the Poliwrath.

"What good is that going to do him?" Bruiser asked. He fired a Water Gun for Ken's shell. But Ken knew what to do; Miss Jewel had taught him this. His shell turned a purple color and bounced the Water Gun back at Bruiser with twice the power. It didn't seem to faze Poliwrath much. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it.

"Oh man," I groaned. My plan had a hitch. Bruiser's trait was Water Absorb.

"I knew the baby wouldn't be able to battle me!" Bruiser said proudly.

"You need another strategy," Miss Athena whispered to me.

I started to panic. Mirror Coat was my only strategy. "Uhh...Tackle, Ken!" Ken ran straight for Bruiser and tried to plow into him but Bruiser only caught him like a American football player catching a pass. He winced a little from the force but otherwise remained unharmed. "Now what am I going to do?"

"Watch him lose!" Bruiser said as he squeezed Ken with both arms and slammed both of them into the ground.

"Ken!" both Miss Athena and I cried out together.

Ken managed to squirm out from under Bruiser and stand up. But a second later he started to run to me, crying his big eyes out. He almost got to me when Destai stood beside me and started to growl at him. Ken froze in place, unsure of what to do. Then Destai spoke to me. "Ken needs to grow up. Tell him that," he muttered to me.

For a second I was surprised that I could understand what he was saying. "But he's just a kid! He doesn't know what he's doing!"

"That's why you need to guide him. He'll definitely lose if you lose confidence in him."

Ken looked back at me with a fearful expression. "Bo?" he asked shakily.

Something about his scared state brought me back to my senses. Destai's right! The trainer can't lose faith in the Pokemon! "Ken, Icy Wind!" I yelled.

"Icy Wind?" Destai echoed.

I smiled. "I gave Ken a new TM to play with yesterday. I didn't have him use it before because I knew it wouldn't be that effective."

Ken took a deep breath and blew a cold wind at Bruiser who actually shivered a little. Ice attacks weren't that effective against Water types but they were still affecting the Poliwrath.

"Then why did you use it?"

"Because he needs confidence. And Bruiser's still getting hurt."

"Why, you little shrimp! I'm going to tear you apart!" Bruiser roared while glaring down at Ken.

Ken glanced back at me, waiting for another command. I just smiled and said, "Just have fun."

He smiled at me and then at Bruiser. Before Bruiser knew what was happening, Ken blew another Icy Wind in his face. Bruiser growled and clenched his fist, ready to attack. Ice crystals surrounded his fist as he drew it back and swung it at Ken. Mistake. Ken's shell glowed again and deflected the punch. The force sent Bruiser and Ken sailing a good distance, Bruiser landing on his back and Ken landing on his face.

"Looks like they knocked each other out," Destai observed.

I thought the same thing. That is, until Bruiser got up and laughed. "I won! I beat that sorry shrimp!" he crowed.

My head shot to Ken. He didn't move for a few seconds then stirred when Miss Athena started to raise her hand to declare Bruiser the winner. He slowly got to his feet and faced Bruiser with an angry look on his face. Destai's jaw dropped. "He's standing?" he said in awe.

"Ken hates to lose," I told him.

Ken ran and jumped on top of Bruiser's head. There he unleashed his "ace in the hole". Bolts of electricity traveled from him, through Bruiser, and into the ground. Bruiser yelled out in pain until he fell on his face. And on his face he stayed.

Ken won and grew to level 6!

Shonta's POV

I arrived back home to find it unusually quiet. Beacon sniffed around for signs of Ken's scent. "He's here. He's just being quiet right now," she informed me.

"Ken quiet? That's a surprise," Trinity scoffed.

I heard a couple of "shh" sounds. Athena was on the couch asleep and Destai and Bo were on the floor. "What took you so long?" Bo asked me.

"What did you do to Bo?" Bandit inquired.

"We took him to the playground today for his first battle. He got a little bruised while he was at it," Bo said.

"Is he okay?"

He chuckled and smiled widely at me. "Better than that Poliwrath!"

"Poliwrath?" Bandit and I repeated together.

"Yeah. He must've taken that Hidden Power TM from your backpack a few days ago. You might want to keep him from any electrical devices for a while."

I walked to the Pokemon's bedroom and found Ken sleeping on one of the pillows. He was snoring lightly and smiling despite having a couple of bandages on him. I smiled at him. "Way to go, champ," I said softly.

[Ace64]

Jeff: *grunt* Don't ask why I'm up. I liked the story, though I had a bit of difficulty telling the difference between yours and Gabi's, aside from the battle. Also, just a little suggestion to you and Gabi, since you worked on your stories together: try throwing a bit more description between your dialogue. Otherwise, over time, the reader loses the idea of the setting and circumstances and envisions a bunch of characters standing around in the middle of nowhere chatting. Is it day or night? How would the characters react to hearing about things they may not necessarily understand? Things like that. I know your stories aren't always like that, but I'd thought I'd put it out there.

Take 22 stamps.¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Shonta:Whee! Glad to see Destai getting along:knew you'd do right by him.Ken's growing rapidly, but it's nice to see the companionship between the former baby and the current one. Bruiser's comment on the shrimp and his sister struck me as funny for some reason- I think I laughed too hard. All these Ken stories would make an amusing baby scrapbook.

Take 17 stamps. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[classy_cat18]

Thanks for rating my battle. Destai is getting used to some of his teammates quicker than others. Can I get a battle for my L7 Zangoose? This will be from the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency. *pays seven stamps*

[The Blue Avenger]

Thanks, Trey.

I'd like a double RBG for Lady Bow and Groove Guy, level 6 Gastly and Sudowoodo, from the general adoption center, please. *pays 14 stamps*

EDIT: Right, I forgot I can do this now. Shonta, Katana will fight a Swalot.

[Lady Vulpix]

Assuming you mean 'Universal', they will battle a Gastly and a Gligar.

[Cheesey]

This is just a little story I wrote for the current scenario, it's not very good, it's just something to re-introduce myself into Ulthuan. I like to think it leaves a little more open for the next story I write, although it's more like an RBG than an actual scenario story. Oh well, can't have it all I hope it's ok, if I've done anything wrong just say so... cos I have a horrible feeling that I probably have, lol.



“… so you’re telling me that the Crimson Blades are still around?”
The shopkeeper nodded. “Yes. But it’s difficult to really keep up with what’s going on at the moment.”
I sighed. After travelling elsewhere for a year or so, it was far too difficult to keep up with what was going on back home.
“Maybe I should just ask some of the members of the Dragon’s Guild. I used to be a philosopher there and I was debating whether or not I should ask if I could pick up my post again. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to waltz in like that though, especially since I don’t even know the current situation they’re in.”
I paused and then looked at the slightly sheepish looking shopkeeper before realising who I was talking to. “Erm…”
“It’s okay,” the shopkeeper said quickly. “I’m used to hearing traveller’s thoughts.”
“Oh, that’s alright then,” I replied sheepishly, looking at my toes. There was nobody else in the shop so at least I wasn’t holding anybody up.
“Anyway.. I should be heading off, really. Sector Alpha awaits, after all.”
He grinned. “Okay then. Make sure you take care going through the forest. I still maintain that it would’ve been a better idea to go via the main paths, but…”
I laughed. “No, it’s okay. If we get into any bother, well, my pokemon can take care of me, I’m sure.”
“Good, good, well, have a safe trip and you’re welcome to come back.”
“Thanks. See you!”

As I made my way through the sliding doors I bit my lip. I was still somewhat worried that as soon as I returned to Sector Alpha, everyone I’d known from before would suddenly appear and I’d get a barrage of accusatory comments. And I really wanted to know what was going on with the Crimson Blades, especially since myself and Amethyst didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms the last time we met one.

I felt for Amethyst’s pokeball before duly letting her out as I continued to walk down to the nearby forest that would take me to where I wanted to go. She burst out with a flash before hurrying to catch up with me.
“Is there anything wrong?” she asked, inquisitively.
I sighed. “Amethyst, would you be at all angry with me if I’d lost my connections with the only people I know who could tell us about the Crimson Blades whereabouts?”
She looked at the ground. “No. Not really. But I still want to know about Armand and what he’s doing nowadays, because I just have the feeling that if you lose track of him, you simply don’t know when he’s going to pop up. And you never know what he might do, either.”
“I know. I could never forgive him for what he did to you, which is why I feel guilty for not knowing what he’s up to now.”
Amethyst looked up at me. “Don’t. We can find out what we can about the Blades when we get to Sector Alpha. I don’t expect you to keep track of every single detail just for me, especially since we haven’t been around this area for such a long time.”
I smiled weakly. She was a very understanding pokemon, and I needed to do whatever I could to make it up to her. I suppose that would be to look into the Blades’ recent past, but that wasn’t really something I could do at the moment.

By now we’d gotten through the outskirts of the forestry. I felt slightly uneasy about it because it’s not a forest I’d ever navigated before, but I was sure we’d be all right. For some reason, although Amethyst is essentially not that strong yet, I felt that her willpower was enough to make me feel comfortable enough about the possibility of encountering angry pokemon. But there seemed to be an almost relaxed feel to all the pokemon we’d seen so far; none of them really took any notice of us, apart from the odd inquisitive Venonat, or maybe that Masquerain we’d seen flitting about in the treetops for quite a while now.

It had been a long while since either of us had said anything and it was getting to the stage where it was slightly awkward. That was, until Amethyst blurted out something that had clearly been troubling her.
“What do you think happened to Valerie?”
I blinked. “I… don’t know.”
She sighed.
“She was quite a vulnerable creature, wasn’t she?”
Amethyst nodded reluctantly. “Yes. She was very fragile.”
“I can only imagine that she’s still with the Blades. I doubt she’d have escaped.”
“I know, that’s what I was worried about too… If I ever saw her again then I doubt I’d even recognise her. I would hate to think what they’ve done to her.”
Amethyst’s eyes were visibly getting steadily more watery and her speech was getting a bit slower and hesitant. “It’s horrible to think… to think that she… was raised like that…”
I stopped walking and knelt down to give Amethyst a hug and a shoulder to cry on. No matter how strong she was, the Crimson Blades had traumatised her and that was something she had to live with. I knew how fragile she was.

It felt like an eternity that I was sitting there with her. Maybe it was because I didn’t like seeing her like this, or maybe it was just that I hadn’t really been keeping track of time and had kind of fallen out of sync with my body clock and wasn’t functioning properly. But I knew I had to be there for her. That’s why I adopted her; I knew she needed support that she just wasn’t getting by sitting in an adoption agency.

After a while, she sniffed and wiped her eyes. I don’t know how long it had gone on for, but she hadn’t cried for a while; maybe she was just bottling things up. “Are you good to go?” I asked her gently.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”
She smiled meekly before walking alongside me once again. “If anything, we’ll find Valerie one day. I don’t know if she’ll recognise you, or if you’ll recognise her, but I’m sure we’ll find her.”
“I’ll know if it’s her,” Amethyst stated matter-of-factly. “Even if she’s a Salamence.”
I smiled. “That’s the spirit.”

I wondered if we ever would meet Valerie. It’s not as if I’d given Amethyst false hopes, but I just had to wonder how we’d ever meet up with Armand. He’s not the kind of guy you could just ring up for a chat, really, and I wasn’t sure if we’d be seeing him any time soon; all the more reason to find out what the Blades were actually doing at the moment. I wondered if I could find Gabi or Ade or some other sort of expert once we got to our destination.

“Chris, look out! Duck!”
I stopped. “You what?”
“Behind you!” Amethyst cried.
“There’s a duck behind me?” I pondered, before turning round to see a swarm of Beedrill. No wonder Amethyst was ready to run when she said it; she was already on her way!
“Hold on, Amethyst!” I yelled, before giving chase. The Beedrill didn’t seem to be heading towards us in particular, but we were in their line of fire and because the forest was so thick, there wasn’t really anywhere else for us to go.
“Quickly, Chris!”
I was quickly catching up with her before she darted behind a tree. The Beedrill were very nearly upon us and so it was a lucky escape; I hurled myself behind the tree less than gracefully and watched them go past.
“Ugh. They weren’t even angry. How annoying is that? You’re minding your own business, and they just come along and do their own thing, absolutely no manners at all…”
I grinned before heaving myself onto my feet and stepping back out from behind the tree.
“OW!!”
Amethyst leapt out behind me to see exactly what’d happened.
“Not all of them appear to have gone past, Amethyst…” I croaked after being winded by a lone Beedrill who appeared to be trying to catch up.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” I replied as she helped me get upright again. “Thanks.”
I had barely gotten on my feet again before the Beedrill suddenly came back and slammed me in the back and knocked me over again. As I lay there, still reeling, I looked up at it; it was enormous, the biggest one I’d ever seen anyway. It looked somewhat flustered, although I must admit, bee expressions are not my strong point.
It just hovered there for a moment, and there was an eerie silence; it being a forest there were normally background noises, but not for this split second. Suddenly, it lurched forward and dived towards me. I rolled over because that seemed to be my only option – I couldn’t fend it away with me hands, it was too strong. As I helplessly waited that nanosecond for it to hit me, my whole body heaved as all I heard was a SLAM. Amethyst had conjured up a barrier and protected me with it, but now it was heading for her.
“Chris!! What do I do?!”

Amethyst the female Mr Mime [lv. 8] vs. Wild Beedrill!! [lv. 15]

I jumped up and took a moment to collect my thoughts; right, now, okay, first battle in a while.
“Amethyst, this guy is strong so you HAVE to be prepared, okay?!”
“Okay,” Amethyst cried as the Beedrill zipped up into the air, ready to dive.
“When it dives, I want you to use Thunderbolt, Amethyst! It should shock him and weaken his defences!”
Amethyst nodded and conjured up a ball of crackling electricity between her hands. “Now!” I yelled.
As the Beedrill hurtled down towards her, Amethyst flung her arms forward and released a powerful stream of electricity which struck her adversary head on. Unfortunately, although this had visibly damaged him… He kept going at a terrific speed and slammed into Amethyst, throwing her backwards with brutal force. “Amethyst!!”
She picked herself up quickly and composed herself for the next attack, which was sooner than she might have anticipated.
“Quickly, set up a Barrier! It’s coming at you with Twineedle!”
Amethyst duly did so, with Beedrill coming at it with its enormous poisonous barbs. She held strong as he hurtled into her, her barrier not failing her.
As the Beedrill zoomed off into the air again, Amethyst stopped to catch her breath. This battle was already taking its toll on her because of her foe’s strength.
“You’ve weakened him already; you can hit a weak spot with Psychic when he comes at you!”
She nodded before playing the waiting game. Her enemy was still there, waiting, watching, looking almost like it was trying to work out what she was going to do. Suddenly, it came for her, out of nowhere.
“Quickly!”
At the last possible moment, a streak of luck ran for Amethyst as her psychic strength prevailed before he could reach her. “Throw him down!”
Her eyes closed and Beedrill growing an eerie red, Amethyst focused her strength on lifting him up into the air and slamming him onto the cold, hard soil below. It very obviously took its toll on him, but that wasn’t the end, as it slowly made its way back up, buzzing furiously. Amethyst couldn’t take much more.
“He’s not quite energetic enough yet, Amethyst – Thunderbolt him while he’s still slow!”
She did as I asked and conjured up another blast of electric energy, but as she shot it forwards, the Beedrill simply shot upwards in a shocking blast of speed that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Amethyst was sweating. She was putting her heart and soul into this, and was clearly weakening really rather quickly. Fortunately, the same could be said for her foe; he seemed to be building up to something. Then his rear-end stinger glowed a bizarre green…
“Oh God, Amethyst, Barrier!”
Beedrill shot forward yet again and slammed into Amethyst with a ferocious Fury Cutter. “Quickly, Psychic before he gets away!”
Beedrill was too tired to escape Amethyst’s clutches even though they were getting steadily weaker.
“Finish him off Amethyst – throw him away into the trees!”
The Beedrill couldn’t retaliate; Amethyst duly did as I asked and got rid of him, before falling to her knees. I ran over to her, feeling really quite bad about it.

Amethyst won! She grew to level 10! She learned Solarbeam as her free TM (odd, no?)

“Are you alright?”
Amethyst blinked. “No,” she replied, bluntly.
I smiled. “Sorry. I’ll return you. You did brilliantly, I’m proud.”

I stood up and reattached her pokeball to my belt. I guess you can never really expect a wild pokemon to suddenly attack. But, always looking on the bright side, the walk to Sector Alpha was almost finished; not much further to go in this forest, and once I get out, I should be able to see the city itself.

Not much left to do other than go, then. So, I continued on my way through the forest; it wasn’t as thick now, a sure sign that I must be doing something right.

“Beedrill?”

I had a double-take. Did somebody just say Beedrill?

“Bee- oh, there you are!”

Oh no. Ohhh, no no no. Not him. Anyone but him.

[Everoy]

I'd like a Universal Adoption Center RBG for Dobie, L5 Female Houndour.

[The Blue Avenger]

Chris, your battle will be rated soon.

Patrick, Dobie will fight a Duskull.

[Lady Vulpix]

Curious cliffhanger, Chris. And welcome back! I wonder what the deal was with all those Beedrills. And how your group (especially Amethyst) will react when they find out what's happened to Armand and Reaper/Valerie. Take 9 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

By the way, your story has been archived. I assumed you'd want that, since your old stories were in the previous archive. If you don't want your stopries to be there, just tell me and I'll take them down.

And anyone else who wants their stories to be archived is welcome.

[Cheesey]

No, of course, that's fine. I'll try and write another story for this scenario fairly soon, given that it's been up a while and chances are it'll be changed not long from now. If it looks like it might take me a bit longer than that, I'll ask for a extension, but hopefully I won't need to, hehe.

[Everoy]

My RBG is being written right now. I'm using almost all of my TMs and my new White Juice It's partly taking part in the Eevee House, BTW, but that's mostly for continuity with my plotline there.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ah. I see. *Makes note to post at the Eevee House one of these days.*

[Inferno_Dragon]

I asked for a random battle generator at the Crystal Caves Battle Arena. Can I ask for one here too? If I can, I would like to request a random pokemon from the Free Range Coral against Pegasus my Level 9 Ponyta. *pays 7 Stamps.*

[The Blue Avenger]

Pegasus will fight a Chansey.

[Cheesey]

Can I have an extension on the current scenario please? It shouldn't take me too long to finish my story but I'm just a bit anxious that I might be that little bit too late and I'd rather be safe than sorry...

[The Blue Avenger]

Extension granted.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ok, considering the state of everyone here, I think Saturday afternoon will be a good time to post the next scenario. Those who can't make it by then can request an extension at any time before the change.

[Kyuubi]

uh... I request an extension then.

[The Blue Avenger]

You got it.

[classy_cat18]

This is Katana's RBG. Hope you enjoy it!

Katana's POV

It started out like any other day. I woke up at the crack of dawn to the sound of Bandit's voice. "Wake up," he whispered. When I refused to open my eyes he nudged me. "Come on, we have to go before someone notices."

I groaned and woke up. "What do we have to do today?" I asked him.

"Just come on!" He tugged on my arm until I followed him out of the room. We froze at the sound of a yawn. Bo was standing in the hallway with a knowing look. "What are you doing up?"

"I knew it! Miss Trinity was telling me that you two were sneaking off every morning but I didn't believe her!" Bo said excitedly. His tail wagged as he looked from Bandit to me. "Where are you going? Can I come too?"

"No. It's too dangerous," I told him sternly.

"Oh come on! I'm not that little! I got a tough side!" His ears drooped. "I thought you wanted me to be prepared."

I crossed my arms and looked at the Umbreon. It seemed only yesterday that he was a tiny Eevee that I used to play with or an egg that I used to cuddle. He was growing up too fast. But I would have to accept the fact that he was like that. I turned to Bandit and sighed. "I think he's ready."

"Are you sure?" Bandit asked me.

"It was time he had a real battle." I smirked at Bo. "What you will see is not to be discussed with anyone in the team, not even Shonta. Do you understand?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "My lips are sealed and locked."

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

Ever since Diablo was freed from darkness, the Demons have been looking into other ways of getting stronger. Their favorite way was to gather in their former hideout in the early mornings and battle each other. It was like a fight club. Bandit and I found out from Aero who got it from Skye. It's so popular that Pokemon outside of the Demons joined.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a battle. Being a former assassin has its disadvantages. It tends to make others scared of me, especially the younger Pokemon. It didn't help when I told them that I didn't have a lot of experience battling. But I had a good feeling about this morning.

We met the guard at the front door who recognized us. He was the Machop that I used to boss around. He gently pushed me back and stared at Bo. "Who's the kid?" he asked me.

"He's with us. He won't tell anyone," I promised him.

"I know he won't tell. I've just never seen an Umbreon with red rings before. It's a rare sight." He stepped back and let us pass.

The warehouse was familiar to me so I led the way into the makeshift arena. Stacks of boxes served as bleachers for the smaller Pokemon to sit on. Other sat on the floor or on other various objects.

Bo stayed close to me as we got closer to the battle. Some of the former Demons were glaring at him as if he had come to crash their party. Those were the ones that were satisfied with Diablo leading them. Without him they thought that they were without purpose.

We sat in the bleachers and watched the battle. A Sableye named Sapphire kept his eyes on Bo, making him uncomfortable. Finally Sapphire moved over to Bo and bared his teeth. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.

Bo maintained his innocence even though he might have known why the Sableye was giving him such a look. "Same as you, I guess. I want to battle."

"So you think that you could ruin our lives and expect us to kiss and make up? Do you know that you destroyed my life?"

Bo cocked his head and smiled. "Aren't you the one that tried to kidnap my Squirtle friend?"

Sapphire growled and swiped his claws at him to make him flinch. "You little brat! Don't play dumb with me! I can tear you apart!"

"I'd like to see you try," Bo said with a smirk.

I hissed at Sapphire. "Stay away from him," I warned him.

Sapphire snickered. "And who's going to make me? You? I'm one of the strongest Pokemon in here."

"That must not be saying much since you got beaten by Miss Trinity," Bo commented.

I stepped in and stood between Sapphire and Bo before Sapphire could start a battle. "Don't taunt him, Bo. He's at a much higher level," I warned him.

Sapphire snickered again. "Yeah, little boy. Do what your mommy says."

"My mommy could rip you to shreds," Bo said darkly.

Bandit held Bo back as he started to growl. "Hold on, kid. You don't want to mess with a dark-slash-gho...on the other hand, tear him up." He let him go.

Bo immediately sprang and sank his teeth in Sapphire's arm, making him howl in pain. Sapphire grabbed hold of Bo's ears and yanked him off, not caring about the skin that was ripped off in the process. I watched in mild fear as he held him high to the crowd of spectators and announced, "I have a challenger for the new guy!"

Bandit nudged me. "We can't let him do that to Bo," he whispered in my ear.

"Wait a second. I want to see the new guy," I whispered back.

"Don't be heartless!"

"Don't lose faith."

Sapphire jumped down to the floor with us following and roughly threw down Bo before a Swalot. The Swalot took one look at Bo and turned away. "Too weak," he said pompously.

I growled. "Are you saying that he's not good enough for you?" I yelled at him. "Maybe I should show you what I'm made of!"

"Stop your yelling. It's getting on my nerves."

Bo stood up and nuzzled me. "You don't have to do this, Aunt Katana."

"Yes, I do. No one insults my nephew and gets away with it." I smirked at him and stepped up to the Swalot. "Battle me."

"Why should I?"

"If you win, you will humiliate the one that took your precious boss away from you."

"Really now? In that case, I accept your challenge."

Skye flew down and landed in the middle of the makeshift arena. "Pokemon, take your places." The Swalot and I stood with Skye, facing each other with a few feet separating us. "This battle is between Katana and B.B.! Let the match...begin!"

L7 Female Zangoose (Katana) vs. L7 Male Swalot (B.B.)

I smirked as B.B. and I circled each other. "Where did you get a name like B.B.?" I asked him lightheartedly.

"It stands for Big Belly. Now if you don't mind I would like to defeat you before our party is crashed." It took a deep breath, readying himself for an attack.

"Too slow!" I said as I sprinted up to him and slashed him with my claws. A gash appeared on the front of Big Belly, making the Swalot notice who he was up against. I was an opponent who was at least fast enough to make the first move.

I whirled around to slash him again but he wasn't there. I looked down and saw a puddle of purple liquid on the floor. "Acid Armor, eh?" I chuckled and dropped down on all fours, my tail swishing with confidence. "Let's see if I can do something about that." I felt the electricity in my body surface as I unleashed it on the puddle. The puddle gurgled and bubbled before turning back into Big Belly.

Big Belly said nothing but instead opened his gigantic mouth and spit out a big ball of sludge at me. I thought just sidestepping out of its path would be enough. But when it hit the ground, it exploded, sending me tumbling a couple of feet. The explosion released a toxic gas that clouded my vision and made me cough. Fortunately, it didn't poison me.

I covered my nose and strained to see through the smoke. Big Belly wouldn't go anywhere; he was too slow to try a direct attack. I ran out of the smoke and right into the path of a Solarbeam fired by him. I ducked but still got my back fur singed by the attack.

"Katana!" Bandit shouted.

"You can beat this guy!" Bo shouted with him.

Big Belly opened his mouth again and blew out pink bubbles. I knew this attack from when Nama would use it. I got down on all fours, used Quick Attack to get past the descending bubbles and in Big Belly's face, and jabbed my claws at him. But I wasn't expecting him to open his big mouth and clamp it down on my arm. There wasn't any pain because there were no teeth in his mouth.

I pulled and tried to get my paw out. But it seemed like the more I struggled, the weaker I became. I looked up and saw specks of light traveling from me to him. "Giga Drain, huh? Pretty clever," I commented. "But you're forgetting one thing. I can still shock you!" I shocked him but that only made him clamp down harder in pain.

I went back to pulling, adding an additional shock occasionally. But my struggles were being weakened by the Giga Drain. I had to do something before I fainted. I was too close to do a scratching attack and my Thundershock wasn't having much of an effect. But I was doing something to him. I released all the electricity that I had left on Big Belly. At first he only clamped down harder and then he finally let go of me to howl in pain.

"He let go!" Skye said in awe.

I jumped back and summoned as much energy as I could to finish the battle. I smiled when a breeze hit my face. I raised a paw and felt the wind change direction back to Big Belly. I slashed the air then, summoning blades of light that slashed Big Belly's skin. He fell back and rolled on his side, finally down and out of the battle.

I won and grew to level 8!

I turned around to look at the faces of the spectators. Surprise, anger, even boredom. I didn't exactly do a good job of making the battle exciting. But I got the job done. I took a bow and walked to Bandit and Bo. "Let's go home. Lily will be waking up soon," I told them.

"But I wanted to battle," Bo whined.

I smirked. "You'll get your chance."

[Everoy]

Time for Dobie’s RBG! The following items are being used in this:
White Juice on Dobie, Fire Blast TM on Dobie, Present TM on Campbelle, Wing Attack TM on Sia, Mirror Coat TM on Zen, Iron Tail on Latte, and Dizzy Punch on Typar.

Thanks to Trey/Ace64 for prrofreading this!

Note: I currently have a bit of a plotline going on right now. At the beginning of this: I do not currently have the following Pokemon with me: Sia, Adamantia, Archae, Remy, Jessie, Typar, Campbelle, and my unhatched Eevee. I technically have Swoop with me, but she is out searching for the others.

With the attacks, I used the ASB descriptions, although I did change Disable to more of the game effect.

[color=#b0e2ff]<Swoop>
<Female Taillow>

I flew through the air, diligently searching for my friends. I had checked around both of the Adoption Centers without much luck, but a helpful Spinarak told me about a Mantine in what looked like a hamster ball filled with water rolling by about half an hour ago… I kept searching, knowing Sia (the only Mantine in a water-filled hamster ball I know) couldn’t have gotten far. I pondered something interesting: why did a Mantine, which was part-Flying type, need to be in water? I decided I’d need to ask Patrick that once I was back at the Eevee House.
“Swoop! Swooo-ooop!” I heard a familiar voice call. Only, it wasn’t Sia. It was Adamantia, the paranoid Torkoal that Patrick adopted after having to be abandoned by her previous owner. I flew down to her. Archae, Patrick’s Lileep, was suctioned to her back.
“Thank goodness I found you-Patrick is back!” I said, gasping. Flying was hard work sometimes.
Adamantia grinned like I had never grinned before. It seemed like her paranoia was gone, even though Patrick’s departure should have made it worse… It must have been because of Archae, the most uptight Pokemon I’ve ever known.
“Where is he? I don’t see him with you.” Archae said in his I’m-always-right-just-because-I-am voice. I stared at him.
“I was flying though the sky over fifty feet in the air and you’re doubtful because I didn’t bring him with me? He’s at the Eevee House.”
“Well, let’s go!” Adamantia rejoiced. I flew onto her back in front of Archae as we headed back towards the Eevee House.

[color=pink]<Broadway>
<Female Jigglypuff>

Adamantia came into the Eevee House with Swoop and Archae on her back. Archae slunk off her back as Patrick came running towards them. Adamantia stood up on her hind legs and reached out her arms to hug Patrick. That was a very awkward hug to see, but it ended quickly as Adamantia fell forwards onto Patrick.
”Oh my gosh, are you okay?”Adamantia asked worriedly. He nodded.
“Nine down, six to go…” I said. Birostrisia was probably nearby, but I had no clue where Remy and his little crew were. All of a sudden, I heard a crash in the room behind us…

[color=#6666fa]<Birostrisia “Sia”>
<Female Mantine>

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!” I screamed. A bookcase fell on me shattering my plastic shell… A flood of Pokemon and a few trainers came is and stood nearby.
“Sia!” Broadway yelled. She ran up to me and tried to push the bookcase off of me. A few others helped, including Zen, Adamantia, and a Miltank I didn’t know. Before long, I was free of the bookcase… And the shell. But I could float! Well, it was kind of flying, but when I don’t have feathers, it’s hard to call it floating.
“Sia…” a human whispered… My trainer. Patrick.
“Patrick? I didn’t think you’d come back…” My voice trailed off.
“If I had known you could fly, I wouldn’t have stuck you in that glorified hamster ball all this time.”
“If I had known I could fly, I wouldn’t have let you.” I laughed. “So, it looks like everyone is here except Jessie and them, and Mittens…”
Patrick looked upset. Dobie looked angry… I had figured out what had happened. Mittens had a new trainer. The Miltank who helped me get free walked over and nervously stuck out her hand.
“I… I’m Latte. Patrick adopted me… And that’s why he had to give Mittens to another trainer.” the Miltank explained. Dobie left the room.
“I’m Birostrisia, Sia for short. Nice to meet you…”

[color=darkred]<Dobie>
<Female Houndour>

I ran out of the Eevee House through the front door as fast as I could. I ran through street, after street, after street… I had probably been running for about ten minutes when I was out for breath. I walked down into an empty alley that came to a dead end and rested there for a while… But I wouldn’t rest for long.

“Wake up! NOW!” A Duskull pushed me and I woke up immediately, facing the Duskull. “This is our alley, what are you doing here?”
“Your alley?” I growled.
“Yeah, this alley is in Wisp territory, you Blaze spy!” the Duskull shouted.
“Wisp? Night? What are you talking about?”
“Like you don’t know! We’re in warring gangs!”
Gangs? How far did I run? I thought. There sure weren’t any gangs in our city.
The Duskull motioned to someone nearby, and before I knew it, I was unconscious.

I woke up in an abandoned house. There was very little furniture, all I could see was a ripped couch and a broken wooden chair. On the chair was the Duskull.
“Don’t try and leave. Other members are guarding the entrances.” he said.
“Where am I? Why am I here?” I inquired.
“I’m going to give you one last chance to escape. If I defeat you, I lock you up in our prison in the basement. If you beat me, I’ll let you and your cohorts go.”
“Cohorts?” I was baffled… Did someone follow me?
“We found them near where we found you. Bring them in!”
A Misdreavus and a Haunter led in four Pokemon I recognized all too well… Remy, Jessie, Typar, and Campbelle came in, tied up. Jessie looked like a Tangela made of ropes. And the egg was a Campbelle’s pouch… When they saw me, Typar shouted at me. I couldn’t hear what he said, but the Haunter licked him, causing paralysis.
“Okay, I’ll battle you.” I knew accepting the challenge was risky-I had never battled before. But if I didn’t, myself and my friends would be trapped here…

Dobie, Lv. 5 Female Houndour
VS
Lv. 5 Male Duskull

Instantly, the Duskull shot a dark, ink-like beam at me. I recognized it to be Night Shade. I zipped to the side and attempted to intimidate with my Leer attack, but he just laughed.
“You can’t scare me, you idiotic dog!” He shouted as he shot another Night Shade at me. This one hit… And it hurt.
“Dobie! Try Beat Up!” Remy shouted. Aha! That was a great idea, with my friends nearby. I summoned up four shades, in the shapes of a Smeargle, Sneasel, Koffing, and Chansey. The four shades ran up to Duskull and attacked him, and after the final shade hit him I zoomed in to end the attack. The Duskull groaned and held his hand out toward me… But he didn’t come at me. Then, I was surrounded by a red glow. I couldn’t tell what had happened, so I attempted to summon the shades again, but I couldn’t! Duskull had used Disable to prohibit me from using Beat Up.
“That won’t stop me.” I growled. I opened my jaws and shot fire from my mouth via a gland in my throat. It’s very complicated, and I won’t bore you with the details… The Ember attack hit Duskull right in the face! He groaned in pain, and then I saw the burn on his cheek. He then split into five with a Double Team attack… Double Team? Duskull doesn’t learn Double Team… Of course. This street gang doubtlessly had stolen a Double Team TM from someone. I then checked if I could use Beat Up again, and I could. I summoned the shades again, and each of them attacked a different Duskull. I darted for the final one, and I hit!
“Gah… Now you’ll feel my pain!” He moaned as the both of us were connected by a thin, ghostly black beam, and I started to ache… He was using Pain Split! After about thirty seconds, the beam dissipated. Immediately, I shot another Ember at him, this one hitting his torso. He groaned again as the previous burn inflicted further damage. For the third time, I summoned the four shades of my friends and we attacked Duskull, one by one. The Duskull stumbled. Was I so close to defeating him before he used Pain Split? He Leered at me, but it had no effect. Once again, a stream of fire from my throat shot out and hit the Duskull, and the burn inflicted more damage… For the final time! The Duskull stumbled again, and this time he fell onto his side. The Misdreavus and Haunter rushed over to him, and levitated, for that’s the best way to describe it, through the wall.

Dobie is now Level 6!

I chewed through the ropes binding Typar, and the two of us unwrapped Campbelle and Remy. Then we dealt with the giant ball of rope that was Jessie. It took us a while, but eventually we freed her. We ran out the front door, and luckily, the Banette who had been guarding that door had left. As soon as we came out he door, we heard a faint voice calling to us from the air…
“SIA?!?” Jessie shouted. Sure enough, the Mantine was flying through the air. With a passenger! Zen was on her back, as well. He appeared to be navigating.
“You… can fly!” Typar said in amazement.
“Yup. I’m a water and flying type…” She giggled.
Zen led us back to the Eevee House where Patrick greeted us, much to Typar and company’s amazement. The four gathered around Patrick and they hugged one by one.

Once we were all gathered in the main room of the Eevee House, Remy told everyone what had happened, and I filled in the blanks from before he saw me. After that, Patrick explained what had happened… with Mittens. And the Miltank that shouldn’t be here.

At the end, Patrick told us he had some gifts for some of us. He pulled out a CD case. He showed us the CDs in it.
“Do you know what these are?” he asked.
“Music?” Broadway asked hopefully.
“No…” Patrick laughed.
“Oh… Technical Machines!” Typar said cheerfully.
“Yup!” He gave Zen, Sia, Typar, Campbelle, and… Latte… each one of the discs. He then set a disc and a a glass cylindrical bottle filled with a white, milky liquid in front of me.
“These are for you. It sounds like you were very brave about the situation, even though you were separated from Mittens.” he said.
First, all of us used the TMs, another complicated process I won’t bore you with, and I drank the juice, and instantly I felt a change.
“Huh? What happened?” I asked. Sphear jumped three feet.
“You’re white!” He shouted. I looked at my paw, and the leg attaching it to my body… And it was white!

Dobie is now colored white!
Dobie learned Fire Blast via TM![
Campbelle learned Present via TM!
Birostrisia learned Wing Attack via TM!
Zen learned Mirror Coat via TM!
Typar learned Dizzy Punch via TM!
Latte learned Iron Tail via TM!

Patrick had one more surprise up his sleeve…
“If any of you want me to rename you, I’ll do so…” Patrick smiled. “If you want me to, step forward.”
Jessie floated forward instantly. Campbelle stepped forward next, then Sphear and Zen. Hesitantly, Archae creeped forward. After thinking about it, I stepped forward too. After a few seconds, Sia, Broadway, and Typar all joined us. Everyone else choose to stick with the same name.
One by one, he renamed us, after asking us if there was a specific name that we wanted. Sia and Campbelle both had names in mind, and they became Majesty and Bliss respectively. Patrick took two books out of his backpack, one about Greek myth, and the other, an English-German dictionary. Via the dictionary, Zen became Frieden, which means ‘peace’, and Sphear became Kreisförmig (Kreis for short), meaning ‘circular’. Next, after looking through the mythology book, Jessie became Nyx, goddess of the night, and Broadway became Aoede, the original muse of the song. Archae, Typar, and myself were more difficult for him. He named Archae ‘Masquerade’, because his actual body was inside the rocky shell that seems to be his body, and he named Typar ‘Doon’ after a character in a book and he read.
“Dobie, what do you think?” He asked me when it was my turn. I tried to think about something related to my new color.
“…Winter.” I finally said.
“Winter it is! Kind of ironic, considering you’re part Fire-type!” He laughed. I snorted in amusement.

<Rembrandt “Remy”>
<Male Smeargle>

While Patrick renamed most of my friends, I took the egg and walked into another room. Adamantia walked over.
”Hi, Remy… Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine. I was just worried about the egg the whole time…” I said, setting the egg in a depression on her back.
”I’m glad you’re o-huh?” she said, looking at her back… The egg was hatching! I took it off of her back and ran into the main room, over to Patrick, who had just renamed Dobie.
“Patrick! The egg!” I yelled, handing it to him… The egg cracked off, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen… An Eevee with a rainbow mane! Everyone around stared in amazement.
“Wow… Remy, since you took care of him so well, do you want to name him?” Patrick asked. I instantly knew what the Eevee’s name should be… I had thought about it while taking care of the egg.
“Arcobaleno. It means rainbow.” I smiled and picked up the Eevee who giggled happily.
“Awwobaweyo!” The beautiful creature proclaimed.

Male Eevee, Lv. 5, has hatched!
Name: Arcobaleno

New names:
Sia: Majesty
Campbelle: Bliss
Zen: Frieden [FRAY-den]
Sphear: Kreisförmig “Kreis” [KRAIS-for-mig]
Jessie: Nyx [NIX}
Broadway: Aoede [ay-EE-dee]
Archae: Masquerade
Typar: Doon
Dobie: Winter


EDIT: CODING IS A BIOTCH.

[Lady Vulpix]

I think I'll postpone the new scenario until we can rate these two battles. And I'm currently mad at my hosting service for not allowing pages with the word 'clamp' in them. I've found a way around it, but it's still annoying and I don't see how that word can do any harm.

Patrick, do you want your stories archived too (provided you don't use the word 'clamp')?

[The Blue Avenger]

Speaking of battles, here's Lady Bow and Groove Guy's RBG, called "Mallrats".

---

“Hey guys, we’re off to White Mountain, okay?” Bobbery called from the main foyer of the house. After pausing a moment, he continued, “Look, don’t destroy the house while we’re gone. And go outside and do something. Jeff wouldn’t want you to just sulk around the house.” The Snorlax frowned as silence continued to reach his ears. He poked his head through the door to the kitchen and saw… nothing. Well, not exactly nothing – he saw a sink, relatively spotless (Bobbery prided himself on being the only one in the house aside from Jeff who would wash dishes), a stove, several half-empty cabinets… but no other Pokemon. As he frowned and turned back to the front door, a small note attached to the refrigerator caught his eye. The messy handwriting scrawled across the paper assured Bobbery that it came from Groove Guy – the Sudowoodo had insisted on learning to write despite the obvious troubles that came when he tried to hold a pen.

“Bobbery,” Bobbery read aloud, “We left to go do stuff. Jeff would want it that way. Can’t speak for anyone else, but Bow and I are headed for the mall. Oh yeah, I finished your leftover pizza. Sorry.” The note was signed Groove Guy.

Bobbery shrugged and tossed the paper into a nearby trash can. A loud squawk followed by an impatient cry of “Hold your horses!” informed him that the rest of the party was waiting on him. He barreled through the front door, leaving it to lock behind him.

Meanwhile, in the Mobius Street Mall on the opposite side of town, a crowd had gathered around two of the machines in the arcade. A Sudowoodo stood in front of one, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead, a look of relaxed determination on his face. In front of the other stood a frowning Kirlia. The Kirlia didn’t look nearly as at ease; indeed, she wore a look of panic as her eyes frantically scanned the screen on the machine. The feet of both Pokemon became a blur as they tuned their ears to the beat of the music pumping out of the game. The crowd watched in silence as the heavy bass, combined with the thudding footsteps of the two Pokemon, seemed to shake the very foundation of the building.

Moments later, the two Pokemon stopped and stepped back amidst a sudden roar of applause from the audience. The screen on the Sudowoodo’s side panned up, revealing a picture of golden triple A’s, as a voice from the machine called out “Can I call you a dancing master?” Meanwhile, a similar voice on the other side of the machine, “That was the worst dance I have ever seen! Never dance on this machine again!” as the Kirlia’s screen displayed a bright red F. The Kirlia fell to her knees and sniffed quietly.

“Sorry, but that’s the way it goes,” the Sudowoodo said as he knelt down to her. “This game’s not for everyone.” The Kirlia sniffed again, nodded, and quietly walked away. The Sudowoodo stood back up and looked over the crowd. “Who’s next?” he called confidently. “Come face off against the DDR champ!”

When nobody stepped forward, a white Gastly phased into appearance next to the Sudowoodo. “I do not know, Groove Guy,” the Gastly said calmly. “You may be slightly intimidating to them – you have yet to lose a match, and you have been playing each song on the hardest level.”

Groove Guy sighed. “Maybe you’re right, Bow. I should take a break anyway.” He stepped away from the DDR machine, only to be replaced immediately by a Machop and a Dusclops, who began to dance to a much easier song.

Lady Bow and Groove Guy walked down the wide hallway past a variety of clothing stores, their ultimate goal the food court. “Groove Guy,” Lady Bow started, “it has never been explained to me. Why is it that so many Pokemon can come to this mall without trainers? I thought it was frowned upon in most places.”

Groove Guy shrugged. “I’m not so sure myself. I just don’t question it – you never know when the luck’ll run out, you know? But all of the shop owners are really nice.” The pair stopped in front of a storefront, the sign atop it proclaiming it to be a restaurant called the Big Bang Burger Bar. They ordered their food and sat at one of the meticulously cleaned stools at the bar.

At the other end of the bar, a large set of eyes were focused intently on Lady Bow. The eyes were attached to a head, but the head was curiously not attached to anything, except in a metaphorical sense to its best friend sitting next to it. That was because the floating head was indeed another Gastly. The Pokemon next to it, a Gligar, sighed. “Look, Bikke, she’s with another Pokemon. Even if she’s not ‘with’ him, it’s painfully obvious that he has the hots for her anyway.”

“But he’s a Sudowoodo!” Bikke whined.

“Hey, for all you know, he’s a Ditto,” the Gligar responded.

Bikke frowned. “You’re no fun, you know that, Garland?”

Garland nonchalantly took a sip of a soda. “I’m perfectly okay with that.”

“Hmph.” Bikke slowly chewed a french fry, thinking to himself. “Maybe if I go over there and start talking to her, I can -”

“Give it up, man,” Garland interrupted. “Look at the way she’s eating her sandwich. Very prim, very proper. Obviously not your type.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Bikke hissed, dribbling ketchup down his semi-corporeal chin.

“Never mind,” Garland said, cradling his forehead and sighing.

Back at the other end of the bar, Lady Bow stopped eating and leaned towards Groove Guy. “Is someone watching us?” she asked the Sudowoodo quietly. “I keep getting a vague feeling to that effect.”

Groove Guy scanned the bar subtly. “I think it’s the Gastly and the Gligar down at the end of the bar. Don’t worry; I’ll go set them straight.” He jumped down from the bar stool, leaving it spinning in his wake.

Bikke watched as Groove Guy walked towards him. “Can I help you?” he asked, trying to act nonchalant.

“Yeah…” Groove Guy said, frowning. “I’d like to ask you to stop ogling my friend. She is… quite happy with her boyfriend.”

“Oh? That’s how it is?” Bikke scowled. “And who are you to tell me that?” Before Groove Guy could get a word in edgewise, he continued. “…Oh! You’re her boyfriend, aren’t you? Well, then… if I can prove I’m better than you, she’ll have to choose me!”

“Wait, I -” Groove Guy started before Bikke blasted into him with a series of melee attacks. “Help!” he called.

“Sorry, kid,” Garland said, shrugging. “I’m seen Bikke like this before; I can’t stop him.”

“But together, maybe we can!” interjected Lady Bow, materializing at Groove Guy’s side.

Garland flew off of his seat. “Hey hey hey! No double teaming my friend!”

Groove Guy and Lady Bow versus Bikke and Garland!
Groove Guy – “I’m feeling the rhythm…”
Lady Bow – “This shall determine that.”
~
Bikke – “You must have cannonballs of steel to challenge me!”
Garland – “I, Garland, will knock you all down!”

Groove Guy frowned – individually, the Frustration attacks weren’t doing much damage, but the sheer number of them that Bikke was unleashing was proving harmful. The Sudowoodo nimbly dropped to the floor and rolled under Bikke. Groove Guy sprang up, his fist glowing, and thrust it straight forward at the Gastly. Not surprisingly, it passed straight through.

“Heh heh heh…” Bikke chuckled. “What exactly were you trying to do?”

“Groove Guy!” Lady Bow whispered. “”Normal attacks don’t affect Ghosts, remember?”

Groove Guy slapped his forehead. “Shoot! I forgot… There aren’t any rocks around here, so I can’t use Rock Slide either… and the Gastly’s a poison type, so Hidden Power’s out…” Groove Guy but his hand to his chin in thought as he sidestepped a Shadow Ball from Bikke. “I got it! Lady Bow, you deal with the Gastly, and I’ll fight the Gligar!”

“Excellent,” Lady Bow replied as she floated in front of Bikke.

“Aww! No fair!” Bikke whined. “I gotta fight you?!”

“You attacked my friend, thus you committed to a battle,” Lady Bow replied coldly. A glint shone in her eyes, and Bikke backed up nervously. However, he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the cone of bright light that generated from Lady Bow’s eyes: the light surrounded him and blinded him, leaving him severely disoriented.

However, Lady Bow was interrupted from her match by Groove Guy’s sudden exclamation: “Where did he go?!” She glanced over to him, only to see that the Gligar had disappeared from view entirely.

Groove Guy glanced past Lady Bow. “Watch out!” he cried just as Garland reappeared suddenly, his claws awash in dark energy. He swiped at Lady Bow, sending her reeling backwards. The Gligar flew past her quicker than both Lady Bow and Groove Guy thought possible, swooping at Groove Guy. His claws were no longer coated with darkness; instead, they now gleamed in the fluorescent light, a silvery color coating them. Garland brought both claws down hard on Groove Guy, who stumbled backwards, head spinning.

“Ugh…” Groove Guy groaned. “I can’t take another blow like that… this guy is tough…”

“If you can’t take my attacks,” Garland called, smirking, “then you better work on dodging!” He flew into the air and entered into a dive-bomb straight at Groove Guy.

“You don’t know how well I can dodge!” Groove Guy called. He jumped backwards and sprung off of his hands, landing neatly on his feet a few feet away, leaving Garland to crash straight into the ground.

Lady Bow watched this play out with increasing interest, but a dull moaning reminded her that she had a foe to defeat as well. “Ugh… you’re one harsh chick, you know that?” Bikke moaned. “But if that’s the way you wanna play…” His large eyes shut, Bikke began to focus. Momentarily, large rings of psychic energy began to emanate from him. They flew all over the store, narrowly missing Garland and Groove Guy (the latter of which took advantage of the distraction and nailed the former with a Mega Punch). Lady Bow nimbly flew through the only ring aimed for her, which went on to cause a sizeable dent in the bar behind them.

Lady Bow smiled smugly. “That worked well,” she said calmly.

“Urgh! You’re a real pain!” Bikke howled. “I’ll show you!”

“I invite you to try,” Lady Bow replied, floating in a lazy figure eight.

Bikke scowled “Have a taste of Psychic!” he yelled, focusing his energy inward.

“Groove Guy, now!” Lady Bow called, just as Bikke released a wave of transparent energy. Groove Guy nodded and sprung out of the way just as Lady Bow floated to the side. Bikke looked past them… straight into the face of Garland.

Garland went pale. “Oh crap,” he mumbled just as the Psychic hit him, leaving him to collapse on the ground.

“Now you’ve done it!” Bikke yelled. “He was my best friend!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault,” Groove Guy shrugged.

“But now we just have to deal with you,” Lady Bow continued.

Bikke stopped his tantrum, looking from Groove Guy to Lady Bow. “Not fair…” he said quietly as Groove Guy summoned a series of small purple orbs, juggling them idly one-handed. Lady Bow began to crackle with electrical energy, a regretful look on her face.

“My apologies,” she said calmly as she released the Thunderbolt at the same time as Groove Guy threw his Hidden Power. The attacks hit Bikke at the same time, leaving him to fall gently to the ground.

Battle over! Groove Guy and Lady Bow grow to level 7!

Lady Bow sighed. “He did not seem that bad; just jealous…”

“Well, what can you do?” Groove Guy said, shrugging. “He attacked us first.”

“That does not make it any more right,” Lady Bow replied despondently.

Groove Guy thought for a second. “Well, there’s a Pokemon Center just around the corner from the mall,” he said. ‘We could take them there.”

“A good idea,” Lady Bow replied, cheering up visibly.

***

“Ugh…” Bikke moaned. “My head…” He looked around him. The familiar interior of a Pokemon Center surrounded him – he was on a bed in the back, but he could see the nurse’s desk from where he was, as well as the lobby, where two or three trainers were milling about. A small bookcase was next to the bed he was on, and Garland was sitting on it.

“Good to see you’re up,” Garland said, glancing to him. “You know, the Sudowoodo wasn’t her boyfriend.”

“Wha -” Bikke started, but Garland interrupted him.

“They were actually pretty decent. They brought us here and stayed until I woke up. The Gastly said that she was dating another Gastly, not the Sudowoodo.”

Bikke sighed. “Ah well. There’s always next time.”

[Lady Vulpix]

Shonta: take 9 stamps. I liked the idea of the fight club, it was original. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Jeff: cannonballs of steel? O_o Where's this Mobius Street Mall? I think we should add it to the locations list. The DDR competition made me laugh. And that was a curious description of a Gastly, but Bikke was a curious character. Take 18 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Patrick: your story will be rated soon.

[The Blue Avenger]

Gabi: Both Bikke's and Garland's before-battle quotes are directly from the Final Fantasy characters of the same names. The Pokemon are nothing like their video game counterparts, but I liked the names, so I used a quote from each. The mall is on Mobius Street, which is on the opposite side of town from my house, and by association, the barracks/the Dragon's Guild.

Patrick: A gang war, eh? Caledor (I'm assuming that's where your story is set; I don't believe I've seen the Eevee House in any other stories) certainly has its fair share of gangs and delinquents... Nonetheless, it was neat to see everyone reunited, and the scene with the egg at the end was touching. I've never heard of a Mantine actually flying, though. I think 8 stamps is appropriate. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[Lady Vulpix]

The Eevee House is indeed in Caledor, just outside Sector Alpha. I remember I mentioned it in the locations list. I'm going to edit the list now to add the mall. Can you get on AIM?

[Lady Vulpix]

Scenario by Jeff. He could have posted it himself, but I needed to retouch a bit. Also, 25 stamps go to him because he submitted it before becoming a worker. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

It had been roughly one week after the expedition to the White Mountains. A group of Pokemon huddled around a laptop computer in a modest one-story home, in the suburbs of Caledor. The Pokemon controlling the mouse, a Dratini, slowly scrolled through a page on an online news service, the logo in the corner proclaiming it to be the site of the ‘Twoson Times.’ As he scrolled down the page, the headlines became progressively grimmer.
“Old cult rises anew.”
“Cult head announces extreme distaste for local politics.”
“Cult membership reaches record numbers.”
“Happy-Happyism spreads: the first Blue church outside of Eagleland opens in Caledor, Ulthuan.”
“Twoson under new government: the Blue Party.”
“Balthazar and accomplice lay siege to Twoson with help of followers.”
“Cult members and accompanying Pokemon neutralize Eaglelandian army.”
“Twoson in flames!”
The last headline was accompanied by a rather striking photo: a tall building in the background was in flames, while, in the foreground, a blue Flareon sat next to a young man. The man wore a blue bodysuit, and a crop of thick brown hair spilled over his large, opaque glasses. The article read: “This young man, believed to be a Happy-Happy Village native named Jeff Azure, was caught on film commanding his Flareon to set fire to the Twoson Department Store. Mr. Azure is currently labeled as public enemy number two, second only to the head of the Happy-Happyism cult himself, Koop R. Balthazar.”
The Dratini sighed heavily and faced his comrades. “Let’s get to the Guild. They should have enough manpower to help us now.” When the team reached the Guild headquarters, a secretary stopped them in the hall and motioned to a conference room, saying that a meeting on their trainer was just about to take place. The team collectively nodded and entered the meeting room.

***

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to travel to the town of Twoson, in the heartland of the continent Eagleland. Your goal will be to neutralize as many of the cultists as you can, hopefully paving the way for Eagleland’s own military. If this threat is continued unchecked, it could possibly spread to other countries, including our own, so we need every trainer we can muster to help. If you happen across Jeff Azure, be wary: not just because, as Balthazar’s second in command, he likely has access to the same weaponry and genetically altered Pokemon that Balthazar himself has proven to own; but also because he used to be a Guild and DT member and we suspect he's under some kind of mind control. Incidentally, confrontations with Balthazar should be strictly avoided unless you have proper backup. Balthazar is easy to recognize – he has red spiky hair, red eyes, and a very imposing (yet striking) figure. If he is seen in Twoson, he will likely have backup in the form of several cultist bodyguards, as well as several vicious Pokemon of his own. Be careful, trainers, and good luck.

***

(Up to level 15)
Lv. 8 Blue Dratini (+1)
Lv. 15 Blue Gastly (+2)

(Level 15.5 – 25)
Lv. 16 Blue Meowth (+1)
Lv. 24 Blue Alakazam (+2)

(Level 25.5 – 35)
Lv. 28 Blue Tangela (+1)
Lv. 35 Blue Sudowoodo (+2)

(Level 35.5 – 45)
Lv. 38 Blue Metang (+1)
Lv. 45 Blue Porygon2 (+2)

(Level 45.5 – 55)
Lv. 49 Blue Ditto (+1)
Lv. 49 Dark Blue Vaporeon + Lv. 49 Blue Flareon (combined +2, not to be fought apart)

(Level 55.5 – 70)
Lv. 62 Blue Mr. Mime (+1)
Lv. 70 Blue Castform (+2)

(Level 70.5 – 85)
Lv. 76 Blue Smeargle (+1)
Lv. 85 Blue Snorlax (+2)

[classy_cat18]

One RBG for L7 Destai from the Universal Adoption Center, please. *gives seven stamps*