{Game} Crystal Caves Battle Arena V.3 [MA]

[Wolfsong]

Crystal Caves: Battle Arena

Mod approved by Wolfsong and Aipom of Doom

The battle arena is where you train your Captured Pokemon. You write out your battle, and then one of the workers rates it and gives you an appropriate amount of CCPs. The amount is base on the quality and effort put into your writing. For each battle you're Pokemon can gain one or two levels. There are two ways in which you can battle.

The Scenario
At all times, there will be one active scenario that works much like the scenarios at the Dragon Tamers Battle Range. Scenarios will be changed once in a while, but you will have ample time to write for them. A list of Pokemon you can battle is privided as is a description of why you are battling. You may battle against two Pokemon per scenario unless it is stated otherwise. The battles can be one at a time or both together. You may also have one or two of your Pokemon opposing each of the opposing pokemon (or one of your pokemon againt two opposing pokemon at once). Be creative; just don't push the limits too far.

The Random Battle Generator
This is the other way to get a battle. Unlike the scenario, this is not free. You must pay 7 CCPs to use this. When you do, one of the workers will assign you an area of the Capture Center and an opponent. You then write a one-on-one battle with one of your pokemon against the assigned Pokemon (who is at an equal level to the one you chose. Your pokemon will gain one level from this battle, and your battle will be rated like the other battles so it isn't hard to make a few CCPs off your battle also. This may be used once a week. You can also request a random battle with 2 or 3 opponents (for 2 or 3 Pokemon respectively). In that case, it will cost 7 CCPs per opponent, and you will have to wait 2 or 3 weeks respectively before requesting another random battle. When asking for an RPG please state the level and name and/or species of the pokemon which will be battling.

Misc Rules
The raising of Pokemon works the same here as it does with the Dragon Tamers. If you aren't familiar with their system, here's an explanation:

¤ Pokemon learn moves at the same level they learn them in any pre-evolution in any version of the Gameboy Games (even if their current evolution doesn't learn it).
¤ When you get a Pokemon, you may choose one bred-on move for your Pokemon. This attack may come frm a list of bred-on moves that your Pokemon can learn, or it can be a TM (what counts as a TM is described next.
¤ When your Pokemon reaches a level that is a multiple of ten (10, 20, etc.) you may get one free TM. The free TM can be any TM or HM from any Pokemon game that your pokemon can learn, a special move that is attainable through one of the Stadium 64 games, or a move tutor that your pokemon can learn. NYPC moves and Pokemon Box moves cannot be used.
¤ Hidden Power is allowed, but once you choose a type it must remain the same.
¤ Pokemon evolve at the level they evolve in the video games.
¤ If a Pokemon evolves via a stone, you need to obtain the appropriate stone to evolve it.
¤ If a Pokemon evolves by Metal Coat, Upgrade, King's Rock, or Dragon Scale, you must buy the appropriate item.
¤ If a Pokemon evolves by trading or by happiness, you must use a Genetic Accelerator Gene.

The current Scenario is found on page 2

[Wolfsong]

Thanks to Hannah for coming up with our current Scenario.

As the last hold of winter releases its grip on the caves, the Pokémon inhabitants begin to prepare themselves for the coming months. Gradually, little skirmishes build up into full scale fights as the Pokémon battle to lay down the boundaries of their territory. The winners bask in the glow of their power, and the knowledge that they have an area to raise their young when born. The losers retreat, to tend their wounds but….their weak state makes them easy prey for wandering trainers, and many lose again, to the power of the trained Pokémon.

~A Year Ago~

Inside the cold stillness of the South Caverns, two twin Alakazam’s face off against the established leader. Though their youth gives them extra strength, the older creature’s knowledge and experience pays off; defeated, the two slink away.

A flash of light. A roar.
Before they know what has happened, something springs at them, goaded on by the human controlling it. As the two turn to flee, one feels a strange jerk, things vanishing before his eyes as he is dragged backwards into an item….so as his brother runs in terror, alone, a bitterness and hatred begins to emerge.

And as a full year turns, the remaining brother finally turns his attentions to what has become his only focus in life- dealing as big a hurt as he had dealt to him. With him, are those who have suffered the same fear and pain, all ready to fight and destroy as much as they can before they fall.

Morning brings a story to the resident of the Caves….a trainer and his Pokémon, attacked and ripped at by creatures, only escaping with his life as the Pokémon leave him as a warning.

It is up to the prepared trainers to battle these Pokémon and drive them back, breaking them free of the obsession that now drives them.

L10 and below
L5 Totodile L5 +1
L10 Growlithe +2

L10.5-L15
L11 Beedrill +1
L15 Scyther +2

L15.5-L20
L16 Nidorino +1
L20 Mawile +2

L20.5-L25
L21 Stantler +1
L25 Mightyena +2

L25.5-L30
L26 Ariados +1
L30 Primeape +2

L30.5-L35
L31 Fearow +1
L35 Golem +2

L35.5-L40
L36 Vigoroth +1
L40 Blaziken +2

L40-L45
L41 Absol +1
L45 Rapidash +2

L45.5+
L46 Sceptile +1
L50 Tyranitar +2

[Wolfsong]

With the discoveries of the new locations, adventurers and scientists departed into uncharted territory. Nine groups departed in different directions, leaving into the unknown. The groups were never seen for a long time, and assumed to have disappeared.

One day, nine survivors returned. They looked healthy and nourished, not even showing fatigue from living in the wilds for weeks. They grinned in their wrather-weathered clothing. The nine survivors immediately called for 9 buildings to be built, their gyms. As soon as they were completed, they issued challenges to all who dare face them. Whoever would win would recieve a badge to prove their victory and something else. Something special. A Secret Machine.

Do you dare challenge the 9?

In this portion of the Battle Arena, you can challenge any of the 9 SM Holders for their badge and Secret Machine. First, choose an opponent from the list below. Then, descriptively write out your battle, facing only two of the three Pokemon listed in a 3 vs 3 match, listing the three Pokemon you want to use at the beginning of the post. Judging from the quality of the story, the intensity of the battle (you have to make yourself struggle to win this match, not just, "I beat the crap out of the GL's Pokes", the end and stuff to that effect), and other stuff like that, the updater/rater will write the conclusion to your story, and you will either win or lose the match. Now for the list of leaders.

The Grass Gym
Leader: Crystal
Pokemon: Ludicolo (Lv.30), Vileplume (Lv.40), Meganium (Lv.50)
Prize: SM 01, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

The Flying Gym
Leader: Tori
Pokemon: Xatu (Lv.30), Skarmory (Lv.40), Pidgeot (Lv.50)
Prize: SM 02, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

The Fire Gym
Leader: Nuria
Pokemon: Flareon (Lv.30), Arcanine (Lv.40), Charizard (Lv.50)
Prize: SM 03, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

The Psychic Gym
Leader: Matt
Pokemon: Espeon (Lv.30), Xatu (Lv.40), Alakazam (Lv.50)
Prize: SM 04, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

The Dark Gym
Leader: Alana
Pokemon: Umbreon (Lv.30), Sneasel (Lv.40), Houndoom (Lv.50)
Prize: SM 05, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

The Steel Gym
Leader: Jeff
Pokemon: Scizor (Lv.30), Aggron (Lv.40), Steelix (Lv.50)
Prize: SM 06, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

The Water Gym
Leader: Kawase
Pokemon: Lapras (Lv.30), Starmie (Lv.40), Blastoise (Lv.50)
Prize: SM 07, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

The Ghost Gym
Leader: Christian
Pokemon: Sableye (Lv.40), Gengar (Lv.40), Secret Pokemon (Lv.50)*
Prize: SM 08, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

The Electric Gym
Leader: Carmen
Pokemon: Raichu (Lv.30), Magneton (Lv.40), Electabuzz (Lv.50)
Prize: SM 09, CCPs, Level up for Participants.

* You may only face Sableye and Gengar. The Secret Pokemon match will be written by the updater/revierer/person/worker/thing.

This shall be a permanent part of the Battle Arena, and it is not considered a regular Battle Arena Scenario. You may challenge the Gym Leaders as many times as you wish, and costs nothing to participate in a match. Only one restriction though. You may only face one Gym Leader a day, once a day.

Update: Questions have been raised about how many levels you can get from battling the gym leader's pokemon. Each pokemon will grant between 1 and 3 levels for the winning pokemon depending on the raters evaluation of the battle.

Last post here from me for the time being, but now that i no longer have tamal as a battling member of my team (technically released, btut storywise still gonna appear), may i have a refund from his rbg. ^^; *goes to finish my story for the scenario*

[The Blue Avenger]

I certainly don't mind. *Hands over 7 CCPs*

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: Here is part one of my story for the scenario. This is supposed to occur right after Tiana teleported. Sorry if it seems rushed, but I’ve been working on it for so long that I wanted to finish it and I’ve had writer’s block in parts.

(Zale’s POV)

I sighed. That talk with Tiana didn’t go as well as I would have hoped. In fact, it was a disaster. We ended up having a huge argument, and then Tiana teleported away. Even at the best of times, when she was calm her teleporting had much to be desired. When she was upset, who knew where she would end up.

I didn’t want to alarm anyone just in case she was still in the house. I started on the bottom floor and worked my way up, but I didn’t see any trace of Tiana. I decided to make one more trip through the house before I tried to find any help. Another search through the house also yielded nothing. I groaned.

Shaking my head, I turned around and began looking for Dakota. Ruki was too young, and I didn’t trust Tamal just yet. I also didn’t worry Ranec. I quickly found Dakota tucking Aiko in bed. I waited until he was finished before I spoke up. “Got a minute?” I asked him. Dakota looked up at me and immediately knew that something was wrong. “What is it?” he asked as soon as we had left the room.

I took a deep breath. “Tiana’s gone.” Dakota’s eyes widened. “Gone? What do you mean by gone? What happened?” “Tiana and I had an argument. When she tied to walk out the door, I blocked her exit. She then teleported away, and I haven’t seen her since.” “Do you think she might be somewhere in the house?” I shook my head. “She isn’t. I’ve searched the house from bottom to top and back down again. She isn’t anywhere inside the house. Will you help me look for her?” I asked him. “Sure.” Dakota agreed.

“Count me in as well.” came a voice from the shadows. I looked around and saw Ranec emerging from them. He turned to look at me, smiling gently. “Why didn’t you come to me?” he asked. “I didn’t want to disturb you. Besides, you had a battle earlier. You needed your rest.” Ranec smiled. “Zale, your concern for others is both your greatest strength and your greatest weakness. You have to let others make their own decisions. However, now is not the time for this discussion. Our main concern is Tiana.” Ranec said before turning to look at Dakota. “We should probably search all night. If we don’t find her, we come back home and wake Amy up in the morning.” Dakota and I nodded in agreement.

I long silence followed. “Where do you think we should look?” I asked them, breaking the silence. “The South Caverns.” Ranec and Dakota said at the same time. “Why there?” I asked. Dakota smiled. “Do you remember what types are native to that particular area?” I closed my eyes in thought. “Let’s see… Fire types are found there, as well as Dark and Psychics. I see. We’re going to look at the most likely place that she would turn up.” Dakota nodded. By now, I was getting impatient. “What are we waiting on? Let’s go.” Ranec shook his head. I was going to have a talk with him after Tiana was found. I needed to find out what me meant by my concern for others being my greatest strength yet also my greatest weakness. I thought about it the whole time that I spent following them to the South Caverns.

Once we reached the South Caverns, we began our search. We saw several pokemon, but none of them was Tiana. Also, the ones that we tried to ask looked at use fearfully, or else like they despised us being in the same room with them. It wasn’t until we came across a young growlithe by himself, before we got any leads at all. He was weaker than any of us. All it took was a little intimidation from the three of use, which was Ranec’s idea, and the growlithe told use what he knew. It wasn’t much, but it was a good lead. Some of the pokemon that were hell-bent on driving the trainers out of the crystal caves, had managed to capture a trainer’s espeon. Rumor had it that it was a shiny espeon which was why it was still alive. Upon hearing that, I tackled the growlithe to the ground. “Where can we find them?” I demanded. “I… I think that they are in one of the rooms deeper in the caverns.” Having answered my questions, I let him go. The growlithe ran off yelping with his tail tucked between his legs.

My eyes narrowed as I watched him run off. I spun around and looked at Ranec and Dakota. They were whispering. “I don’t know what you’re waiting for, but we need to go.” With that, I took off at a run. “Wait! I heard Dakota. “It could be a trap.” At this point, I didn’t care. I had to find Tiana. If anything had happened to her…

I charged through the cavern, heading deeper with every passing second. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally approached a large room. At the far end of the room, there was a cage made out of the natural formations of stalactites and stalagmites. I froze when I saw what was inside the cage. It was an espeon. A shiny espeon lay inside.

“IT seems we have a prowler.” I heard a voice snarl. “A prowler belonging to a rotten trainer,” came a second voice. I looked around and saw that I was being approached by a Mightyena and a Blaziken. I braced myself for a fight, but I knew deep down that I wasn’t strong enough to take on one of them, much less both. “Hold it.” A third voice said, causing the other to pokemon to freeze in their tracks. “Yes sir.” They muttered, parting to let the owner of the third voice through. I gasped. It was a magnificent specimen of an absol. However, instead of the normal white fur like Angel had, his fur was a brilliant golden color. “Throw him into the cage with the espeon.” “Why are you doing this?” I demanded. “The absol shook his head. “Children these days just don’t respect their elders.” With that, the air around him began to crackle with electricity. My eyes widened as the electricity raced towards me like a wave. I tried to run, but it was no use. I cried out in pain before everything went black.

(Dakota’s POV)

I shook my head as Ranec and I chased after Zale. I wished that he had listened, but I had to admire the fact that he would race into the unknown in order to help his sister. I mentally kicked myself. I needed to concentrate. “Did you see where he went?” Ranec asked. “No,” I replied, shaking my head. “Just wonderful.” Ranec muttered. “Now we’ve lost Zale as well.” “Maybe not,” I said, as I put my nose to the cave floor.

It took me a little while, but I eventually located Zale’s scent. I howled once I had located it before taking off running. I had no idea why I had howled, but it felt as if it was a necessity. I guess that was instincts for you. I heard Ranec running after me. We hadn’t gone very for when we came across a vast room. It was in that particular room where I lost Zale’s scent. As I looked around, I noticed that Zale was lying unconscious inside a natural formation that had resembled a cave at the far end of the room. There was also a shiny espeon in there as well. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a closer look as I heard footsteps approaching.

“Well, if it isn’t a regular party.” I shook my head. That voice sounded familiar. I turned around and saw my former pack leader. It was the former leader that had been overthrown shortly before I left. He was the one that I had liked. Anyways, now he was approaching alongside a blaziken.

“What do you two want?” a third voice asked. It took a while before I located the owner of the voice. When I did, I gasped. Up on a rocky outcropping was a huge, golden absol.

“We want you to release the vaporeon and the espeon. Ranec ordered. The absol smiled. “I thought that that might be it, however I can not allow that.” I began snarling, but the absol raised up a paw. “You could however, attempt to win their freedom.” “How?” I demanded. The absol smiled sneakily. The two of you can battle my associates. Should you win, all four of you go free.” “What happens if we lose?”[color=gray] Ranec asked. “All four of you stay. There is no time to debate. Fell! Torch! Get to work.”

Dakota L.25 M Mightyena Vs. Fell L.25 M Mightyena

[color=gray]Fell and I circled each other, neither of us letting our guard down. At least, that was the case until Fell spoke. “Don’t I know you?” He asked. “Yes.” was my only reply. A smile appeared on Fell’s face. “You’re that little pup whose mother joined our pack, shortly before you were born. Her former pack had kicked her out because her mate had been captured. I always knew that you could have been an alpha. It was in your blood. Now we’re never know, because that twit ousted me and you are a spoiled trained pokemon.

His comments had distracted me just for a few seconds, and that was all that Fell needed. Fell caught me off guard and knocked me to the ground with his tackle. I roared in anger. I had allowed myself to get distracted. I wouldn’t let that happen again. I pushed him off of my, buying me enough time to use a portion of my health to create a life-sized, life-like doll.

I grinned as Fell charged towards my substitute and bit it. He sat there, confused as to why “I” didn’t react. Next, I began to secrete toxins from my fangs. Then, I walked straight up to Fell, who thanks to the magical part of the substitute, didn’t see me, and I bit down on his tail as hard as I could with my poison coated fangs.

Fell blanched as he looked around before he smiled. “You are smarter than you appear. I’ve never encountered a substitute before, yet what else could this be. You haven’t disappointed me in ability, but by choice. You could have been so much more than a trained pokemon.” He said loudly before he destroyed what was left of my sub. “Did you think I was stupid enough to fall far it even though I’ve never had it used on me before?” Fell asked, snarling as he shook his head. Stepping out of the shadows, I emerged. “On the contrary, I used it merely as a diversion so that I could attack.” “Poison Fang.” Fell snarled. I nodded, nimble dodging an iron tail by disappearing into the shadows. I remerged behind the surprised mightyena and hit him with an iron tail of my own as hard as I could.

Fell snarled and began to dig into the floor of the cavern. I began to dig as well. Once I felt the vibrations that told me Fell had surfaced, I prepared to surface underneath him. Unfortunately, I had forgotten one tiny thing. All of a sudden, the ground around me began to shake, as I struggled to the surface. I cursed myself. How could I have forgotten that Fell had a ground type hidden power. Once I surfaced, I stood there panting. I was sore all over and no doubt going to have a ton of bruises from being underground when Fell used his hidden power. Speaking of Fell, by now he was having a hard time even standing up. The poisons were doing their job, albeit slowly. I quickly lowered my head and charged forward. My headbutt caught Fell off guard, and we slammed into a nearby stalagmite. I slowly climbed to my paws, however Fell was down for the count. I looked around to see that Ranec was still battling the blaziken.

I won!
I grew to L.27!
I learned Swagger

[The Blue Avenger]

Amy, I think I'ma hand over 8 CCPs for that. You're right in that it did seem a bit rushed, but then again, it's also something I can relate to, so meh. Just a minor nitpick: it seems like the Pokemon are talking an awful lot during the battle. I understand Fell doing it first to distract Dakota, but when he's discussing the substitute, it seems like that would be a prime opportunity to attack. But that's not a big deal at all. Can't wait to see how this all plays out.

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: Here is part two of my story for the scenario. Sorry if it seems rushed as rushed as the first part, but I’ve been working on it for so long that I wanted to finish it and I’ve had writer’s block for most of Ranec’s battle x.X. Anyways, about Fell talking about the substitute. Remember that he used to be the leader of Dakota’s pack before he was ousted. That would mean that Dakota had a little respect for him, even if he was battling. *shrugs* I do see what you mean too. Oh well… Also the electric attack that Ranec used was zap cannon, and I used a randomizer to see if it would hit a clone or the real deal.

(Zale’s POV)

I felt something nudge me. I struggled to sit up, groaning as I did so. “Hey, are you all right?” a voice asked. I waited a few minutes before answering to make sure that the effort from speaking wouldn’t knock me out again. “Does it look like I’m all right?” I asked sarcastically. “No,” came the brutally honest reply. I slowly opened my eyes to find a shiny espeon, but it wasn’t Tiana. “Hey, you’re… you’re not my sister.” I said rather stupidly. The espeon chuckled. “You’re a regular Sherlock Holmes aren’t you? Sorry to disappoint you.”

I was about to ask him what his name was when a pair of mightyenas crashed into one of the stalagmites of the cage. Not long after, one of them slowly rose and I smiled because I recognized him. It was Dakota. As I looked around, I realized that Ranec was having a heated battle with a blaziken, no pun intended. “I take it that you know these guys.” I nodded. “They’re my teammates.” The mightyena is Dakota, the umbreon is Ranec, and my name is Zale.” The espeon nodded. “My name is Ronnie.” The espeon soon fell silent as we watched the battles finish up.

(Ranec’s POV)

I tried to sneak over to Zale, but the Blaziken saw what I was up to and hit me with a powerful kick that sent me sliding across the room. The next thing I knew was that I was crashing into the wall on the far side of the room.

Ranec L.36 M White Umbreon with Black Rings Vs. Torch L.40 M Blaziken

I quickly scrambled to my paws as the Blaziken, Torch, approached me. My eyes began to glow purple as I used my psychic powers to push the firefighter back into the wall. He squawked in pain before his eyes narrowed. Torch slammed his elbow into the wall of the cavern causing ome rocked to fall from the cave’s ceiling essentially burying me. I took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. I needed to stay calm and not panic. Sure enough, once I had calmed down, an idea came to me. I began to carefully maneuver through the rocks when three sprouted from the floor of the cavern and meeting at the top trapping me inside. Or at least that’s what the blaziken was hoping for. Although I was pretty bruised and banged up from first the rock slide and then the rock tomb, I was far from being knocked out. I concentrated, and as I did so my tail turned a metallic gray color. Then, I began to chip away at the rocks surrounding me with my iron tail.

Eventually, I was able to extricate myself, and the first thing that greeted me was a stream of flame. I quickly ducked back inside the rocks and waited for the flamethrower to die out. Unfortunately, I hadn’t escaped the full force of the blast and my ears were still stinging from the attack and my fur smelled acrid, but luckily I didn’t get burned. I growled loudly from inside the rocks, and when I peaked out again, I realized that the blaziken had used double team. Well, I thought. Two can play at that game. I quickly scrambled out of the rocks and as I did so, I was busy creating some clones. When I was finished, I had five clones compared to the blaziken’s two. I was lucky, but not for long. The blaziken gave an angry cry before several tiny heat seeking star-shaped missiles exploded from his beak and headed straight for me, taking out my clones in the process.

I closed my eyes. What I was about to do was risky at the best of times, but with my opponent having double team clones, it was asking the impossible but maybe luck was still on my side. Keeping my eyes closed, I concentrated. I could feel my rings beginning to crackle with electricity as they produced an orb of electrical energy. As soon as the attack was on its way, I felt the electricity in my fur die out. I held my breath, and waited for what seemed like an eternity and then I heard it. An angry squawk that suddenly and abruptly ended. I opened my eyes to see that Torch had an enraged look on his face and his clones were gone.

I charged forwards hoping to slam into the blaziken knocking him to the ground. Unfortunately, at that particular moment he wasn’t fully paralyzed and I crashed into a protective barrier. He then proceeded to lash out at me with his powerful legs. I struggled to keep from crying out as those double kicks hurt. Finally they stopped, and my eyes began glowing violet again. Luckily for me Torch was fully paralyzed now, as I blasted him backwards using my psychic powers. One more psychic attack and Torch sank to the ground unconscious. I walked over to him, snarling and though he couldn’t hear me I whispered something in his ear hole. “Don’t mess with me or my team.”

I won!
I grew to L.38!

With that, I turned around and stared at the absol who was scowling. “You must release the vaporeon and the espeon now.” I said, my voice as steady as the gaze that I stared at the absol with.

“Very well.” the absol replied as he lifted Zale and the espeon roughly out of the cave using his hidden power and threw them across the room. The absol then turned to look me in my eyes. “We will meet again and when we do, I shall make you regret being a trained pokemon.” With that, he disappeared into the shadows.

Once he was gone, I turned to make sure that the others were okay. Dakota looked all right, though he was probably just as tired and as sore as I was. Zale would be okay, but that electric attack he had been hit with had left him rattled. The espeon, which I quickly realized wasn’t Tiana as soon as I saw him, said that he had been hit by a shock wave attack. The espeon was all right as well. I soon learned that his name was Ronnie, and he thanked us for freeing him.

Then something weird happened. Ronnie went rigid. The only part of his body that was moving was his forked tail. He then began to speak in far off, distant voice. “The one you seek will be found as sunrise peaks. As the pidgey fly, look toward the sky.” Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. We all just stared at the espeon. Ronnie blinked. “What are you all staring at?” “Nothing,” I mumbled as the rest of the team agreed.

I shook my head. I didn’t really care much for riddles, especially ones that the maker didn’t remember anything about. Ronnie decided to stay with us until we left the caverns. It took a while, but eventually we managed to make it outside without running into any more hostile pokemon. Once we had made it outside, the sun was just beginning its assent into the sky. “This is where I must leave. Once more, thanks for all of your help even though I wasn’t who you were searching for. I hope that you find her. Take care, and I hope that we meet again someday… though under different circumstances.” We all chuckled at that.

So, after Ronnie left us, the three of us slowly made our way home. We all looked rough, and no doubt Amy would be asking questions when she saw us, but right now I was dreading as much as the others about telling her that Tiana was missing. Suddenly, I heard a surprised shout form Zale.

“There she is!” “Where?” I asked as I was snapped out of my thoughts. I began to look around but I didn’t see any sign of the tiny little espeon. “She’s on the roof!” I looked up and sure enough there was Tiana sitting on the roof and blushing. I used my psychic powers to get her down before we all headed inside. As soon as we were inside, I headed for my normal sleeping spot and as soon as I had laid down, I was fast asleep.

Edit I'd like an RBG for my L.13 shiny umbreon with eevee's mane Ruki please. *hands over 7 ccps leaving me with 23*

[The Blue Avenger]

Amy, I'll get to the rate soon, but Ruki will battle a level 13 Chinchou at the River.

[*Murkrow]

Here's my combined RBG (for Ryau) and my scenario battle.

In this, I'm writing in that I released my Dratini, Sapphire, rather than giving her to Amy.

*Contains blood, swearing and death*

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

The weak sun shimmered as a sliver of clouds drifted across, sending pale shadows dancing across the grass. A light breeze rippled across, rustling the stems and making the small silver Pokémon giggle. As he danced through the grass, a bark caught his attention, causing him to glance back.
Jock shook his head, motioning for the Eevee to come back; Paytah whined but complied, trotting obediently towards the Houndoom. Settling down by his side, the baby yawned and curled up, drifting into sleep almost instantly. Jock stared at him for a second, then grinned and tugged the Pokémon closer to him, curling up protectively.

Sianna grinned at the sight; Jock and Paytah had really bonded in the weeks since the Eevee’s birth. Though admittedly, maybe evoking the Houndoom’s protective side had not been the most desirable of consequences…but nothing could really be done about that now. She just knew that she wasn’t the only one half-hoping that the baby would grow up quickly.
Still, at least…..her thoughts were cut off as she registered the sound of rustling leaves. Whipping her head-leaf round, she spun on the spot, striking the pouncing figure with vicious accuracy. Then she found herself struggling to resist the urge to smirk at the floundering Pokémon sprawled in the grass in front of her.
‘Really, Fao, you’d think that you’d have figured out by now that you’re not going to succeed in attacking me by stealth. It’s just not your style.’ She smiled in a benign way at the Poochyena sprawled in the grass, who snarled and rolled to his feet.
Ever since the time she’d first struck out at him, the two had been increasingly becoming at loggerheads. His pride and dignity had been pretty much shattered by being shown up by her and so his desperate attempts to pay her back had increased tenfold. Not that he was much of a threat; and to be frankly honest, she had slowly begun to enjoy showing him up time and time again. It was simply payback for all the insults she had had to put up with after she evolved.
Though it was still strange to remember that once they’d been best friends…but that was water under the bridge now.
Watching as he backed off and ran for cover, she felt nothing but contempt.

Faolan snarled to himself as he reached the thick cover of the bushes that lined the sides of the back garden. That cow. He hated her with such a flaming passion.
Crouching down, his eyes easily located her as she strolled casually back towards the house, pausing to make a random remark to Brenth, who trumpeted and nodded.
Acting like she owns the place.
‘Why do you put up with this…‘team’ as you’d no doubt call it?’
The sudden voice made him jump and he scrambled round, to find himself face-to-face with a fully grown, immense looking Mightyena. He swallowed, trying to pretend like he wasn’t both intimidated and in immediate awe. He’d longed to evolve for so long….this Pokémon was his dreams in flesh and blood.
His fur was rich and luxurious, thick, deep black, wonderfully contrasting with his sleek grey fur. His pose was elegant…natural elegance of a kind that Faolan would never have dreamed that he could ever have. His sharp claws glinted in the light, mirroring the knowing glimmer in his piercing eyes. A smirk trickled over his snout, revealing his sharp teeth, coated with a thin layer of saliva.
Realising that this newcomer was no doubt giving him the exact same once-over, Faolan blushed and looked down, shifting his feet. He’d never felt so exposed in all his life.
‘I know what you want,’ the Mightyena whispered, his eyes shining. ‘It’s written all over your face.’
Faolan felt his blush deepen. He didn’t say anything.
‘I could help. I’ve been watching you for a while now, and I think you could release your true potential if you chose to listen to what I have to say.’
‘Yes,’ Faolan whimpered, his eyes welling. ‘Yes, nobody ever talks to me anymore, nobody cares.’
‘Because of her?’ His new friend motioned over Faolan’s shoulder, towards where Sianna had settled down by the porch, dozing in the sunlight. ‘She turned everyone else against you, didn’t she? She stole your light, and destroyed anyone’s interest in your evolution.’
‘Yeah…you’re right, that bitch did,’ spat Faolan, beginning to tremble. Rage flowed though his body as he remembered the last year…all his hints, his longing to battle, to prove himself. ‘Nobody cared. Even when I lost, nobody offered me any sympathy. Even my so called ‘trainer’. She’s only interested in Omega anymore.’
‘Leaving Sianna free to impose her ideas on everyone else,’ breathed out the Mightyena triumphantly.
‘YES! SHE….how do you know her name?’
‘As I said, I’ve been watching you for a while now. I made it my job to know as much as I could about your life and relationships’- Faolan snorted- ‘with others before I approached you. And if you do not mind me saying so…I understand that you chose your name yourself?’
‘Yes,’ snapped Faolan viciously. ‘and I won’t have anyone insult it! It’s proof of my individuality.’
‘I never said it wasn’t,’ his friend murmured gently. ‘But-forgive me, I feel it does not suit you as well as a name should.’
Faolan flattened his ears a notch, and narrowed his eyes. ‘And?’
‘You chose it because it means ‘wolf’, did you not?’
‘Yes.’
‘Zev. It means the exact same thing, yet I feel it encompasses your true individuality more. Don’t you agree?’
‘Faolan…Zev….’ Faloan tested the two names, comparing, contrasting them. ‘ I don’t know. I like my name.
‘As you should do,’ chuckled his friend. ‘Oh, that reminds me. My name is Barbossa.’ He tilted his head regally.
‘Barbossa? Does that mean ‘wolf’, as well?’ questioned Faolan curiously.
‘No idea,’ grinned the Pokémon, ‘it was my way of expressing my individuality.’
‘I see.’ Faolan retuned the grin. ‘Will you help me give Sianna the lesson she deserves?’
‘I would be honoured too.’
‘Thank you.’
Faolan stood up, turned and strode through the bushes protective cover and onto the lawn. His head held high, he stormed across the grass, his body trembling with certainty. Now he was going to show her…truly show her. A wide smile slipped across his face and he laughed joyfully.
‘SIANNA.’
The Bayleef jumped, woken from her light doze, blinking at him in surprise. ‘What, Fao?’
Something about her expression told him something was up with his appearance, but he just grinned wider, relishing the discomfort that was rapidly spreading over her face. ‘Fao..please. What is it? What’s wrong?’
He laughed louder at that. ‘Nothing’s wrong, I’m perfectly fine. Just saying my goodbyes.’ By now, he was aware that everybody within earshot was listening avidly; Jock and Paytah had woken up; Ryau and Celeste were staring at him from their usual spot in the tree branches; Shiri, Brenth, Flash and Tasha were all littered around, watching; Charade and Sapphire were floating motionless in the pond. And Rage….something cold seemed to touch his spine as he realised that the Skarmory was settled on the rooftop, directly overhead, his eyes bearing down. They made contact for a brief second and the Poochyena saw a burning knowledge of what was going on flaring inside of them.
What the........?
‘Fao, this isn’t funny,’ Sianna climbed slowly to her feet, looking anxious.
‘It’s not meant to be funny,’ he hissed. She shook her head and took a step forward.
And something just snapped.
He flung himself at her, teeth bared, even though he knew what her retaliation would be.
‘Sianna, Fao, cut it out.’ Jock, ever the peace-maker stepped forward a few paces, frowning as Sianna knocked the Poochyena onto the grass. ‘Will you two please stop the random fighting?’
‘NO,’ screamed Faolan, rolling to his feet and pouncing again. Jock snarled and ran forwards…..
It happened in a split second. A howl rang out…and then Barbossa was suddenly there, charging across the grass and flinging himself on the lone form of Paytah, still sitting in the spot where he had been sleeping. He seized the Eevee in his teeth and bit down hard. The sound of snapping bones rang out into the sudden silence. Then, ominously slowly, he relaxed his jaw and let the limp form crumple to the ground.
Faolan felt a shudder run through his whole body. That snap, the sudden switch from breathing to..to…he wanted it. He wanted more.
Barbossa fled; he’d done what he’d come to do. Now the true decision lay with someone other than him.
‘You..’ whispered Jock, trembling, shock flickering in his eyes. ‘You sick….’ Next second, the Houndoom crashed to the ground as Faolan lunged at him.
‘You’re not going to touch him,’ the Poochyena chuckled mockingly. ‘Not when he’s the only decent creature around here.’
‘Fao, no,’ he heard Flash yelling behind him…but a metallic shriek cut him off as Rage shot from the roof and landed between the two of them, looking down at Faolan.
‘If you’re going to go, then go,’ he hissed, his eyes carrying that same expression again. ‘But tell Barbossa that I’m going to hunt him down, and when I do, I’ll kill him.’
Faolan laughed, not registering the true meaning behind Rage’s words. ‘I’ll tell him that.’ Then he bounded away from the stunned looking Jock, running to stand by the motionless Eevee.
‘Fao,’ he heard Sianna sob.
He smirked. ‘The name’s Zev, you stupid bitch.’ Then he grabbed the dead Pokémon and fled, hearing the riot erupt behind him as Rage held back the flow of screaming Pokémon.

Bolting over the threshold between the garden and the shrub-lands of the meadow, his heart leapt as he saw the figure waiting for him, his dark coat signalling him out as he regally waited. Zev saw the proud smile lingering over his face, before the Mightyena’s eyes roved skywards and the quiet glow of pride changed to that of triumph. Zev slowed his movement and glanced back, seeing the figure of the Skarmory circling before striking out, in the opposite direction to them. Laughing inside, he turned away and followed his friend, never looking back.

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

The two weeks that followed were a blur of screams, cries, arguments and silent struggles of emotion. Hannah and Omega had returned to find a home in chaos, with disbelieving Pokémon struggling to explain what had happened while others just sat around in shock. This was not helped when the two had revealed where they had been; after checking through the rent costs Hannah had decided that they couldn’t continue living where they currently were and had been searching for alternative housing. Although this was initially met as another act in the complete screwing up of their present lives, a single day was enough to change their minds; nobody could bear going back out into the back garden, and so within a week the team found themselves re-locating to a ground floor flat nearer the centre of the small town.
One major problem with this was although the block of flats had a garden, there was no adequate space - nor either the permission- required to construct a pool of the proportions right for a Relicanth. And so Charade was released back into the lake a couple of days after their move.
Over the enfolding week, Shiri, Brenth and Tasha also faded out and away, slipping out at night, leaving even more gaping holes in the team.
Then, one day they woke up to find Celeste had vanished. Ryau was devastated; not only that, but Rage had not been seen since he had fled, with the general consensus that he wasn’t going to be seen again. Ryau couldn’t stand the thought that she’d lost both her best friend and her lover, and took refuge in the sky, flying for hours on end, silently watching the landscape beneath her.
Some comfort eventually came her way from Omega, who had an experience he could not work out was a dream or reality; he suddenly found himself standing alongside Sapphire in a vortex of fire as Rénar quietly stated that she had been wrong and had decided that things had to be rectified. Omega hadn’t an idea of what she had been talking about, before Sapphire had nodded, burnt with fire and vanished. Rénar had then sighed, before turning to the Shelgon. In a few choice words, she let Omega know what had happened to Celeste, which he later reported to Ryau and the others. Rénar had helped the Beautifly to the forest at the edge of the Shrine of the Sun, where she had been welcomed by a group of her own kind; she also extended the invitation to Ryau, if she so wished to enter that exclusive forest. For all her emotions, Ryau had declined, unable to comprehend what life in the wild would be like, after being born onto the team.
Sapphire, however, was gone. And from the regret in Rénar’s voice, Omega sensed that it would be a long time before they would ever have a chance of meeting the telepathic Dratini again.
Surprisingly to some, the one in the most pain had not shown the slightest inkling of wishing to return to the wild. Jock had locked himself away, refusing contact, but had never stated a desire of breaking his ties with them. That was understandable, Sianna had pointed out one day; Jock had been captured for nearly two years now, and any friendships he used to have must have faded out long before this.

Slowly, things began to improve. Ryau and Jock were still preferring their own company, but everybody acknowledged that as a part of the healing process and left them to it. Sianna’s naturally peaceful disposition overrode her sense of betrayal by Zev and Flash’s hyper-active personality meant that the two were able to support each other discretely, yet begin to enjoy their lives once more.

Omega was worried, though. The papers were gradually beginning to report attacks on trainers and their Pokémon. One young boy had had his Shroomish savaged after attempting to capture a Totodile. According to the report, the Pokémon had screamed and to his horror, two Scyther’s, a Mawile and a Stantler had exploded from the undergrowth and trampled the trainer before turning their attention to his Pokémon.
Another stated that wild Pokémon who tried to intervene were also getting in the firing line. A Ninetales had encountered a pack of Growlithe’s intimidating a couple of girls and their Sunflora. The pack had turned their attention to the fellow fire type, giving the girls time to run; investigations afterwards found the Ninetale’s mangled body 100 metres away from the spot where the girls had stood.
But the one that truly made his blood chill was the seemingly most harmless. A Mightyena had blocked the path of an exploring trainer; before either could react, a bark had rung from the direction the Mightyena had sprung from. The Pokémon had backed off; later, the trainer had identified the bark as that of a Poochyena. The thought of that had made Omega shudder when he read it, even though Hannah, Sianna and Flash had stated that it must be a coincidence. Omega wasn’t so sure.
He’d slowly taken it upon himself to pace long the roads of the town, keeping an eye on things, privately knowing that he had one of the best chances out of everyone of overcoming an attack. Yet he couldn’t help but become jumpy; the slightest noise was beginning to knock him into a defensive mode.
And one recurring thought kept springing into the back of his mind; what the hell were Rénar and Hakan up to; why weren’t they stopping this?

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

Rénar knew she should do something about the wave of violence that was slowly but surely sweeping through the caves. Or more precisely- she knew that those who were aware of her thought that she should do something about it.
But it wasn’t that easy. She was an advocate of freedom of speech and choice; if those Pokémon felt that they should rebel then part of her- the part she listened to- told her to let them. At the end of the day, even she would admit that catching a Pokémon and taking it from its home was a barbaric process, even if it was later treated with care and respect. Not to mention that not all trainers treated their Pokémon as actual living things…..
She couldn’t take sides. Turning against those Pokémon would put her at odds with her kind; siding with the Pokémon would destroy every little relationship she’d built up. And all hopes of future relationships. That was the last thing she needed.
Not to say that she hadn’t been trying. She had recalled Sapphire to remove ammunition against her; letting a Dratini into the care of a human was sure to put her at odds with those against humans and their Pokémon.
And she had been doing all she could to track down the living proof that being a trainers Pokémon was not a 100% bad thing. She had managed to find the Umbreon, Axem, who pretty much had free rein over what he could do, very rarely being required by his trainer to follow his orders. The same went for his companions, Salcafar and Zimbardo…although, just to prove her luck, it had turned out that both of Axem’s companions and his trainer were currently in training and unable to be contacted. He did state that they would be far out of the reaches of the antagonised Pokémon, though, which she took as a sign that they were more than likely over the boundaries of the Crystal Caves and in the mountains that lay on the distant horizon. Not what she had wanted to hear, because she did not wish to leave Hakan in charge of the entire caves while she attempted to track down somebody who she was not entirely sure would help settle the disputes.
All in all, she was having a pretty rough time right about now.

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

Ryau closed her eyes, sniffing and taking a token swipe at her face with her wing. She couldn’t stop crying, no matter what. Everything hurt so much.
That was why she’d come here; the river, always a hostile place, had become almost deserted following the spate of attacks she knew were occurring. Trainers were keeping away from the truly wild areas, and the Pokémon were lying low. Just how she liked it, now. She could vent her anger, rage and frustration however loud she wanted and nobody would come to interrupt her.
Shaking her head, she angrily hopped off the boulder she’d been standing on, slithering down to land on one closer to the water, its sides damp with spray and mist. The constant roaring and crashing of the water soothed her, for some reason. Maybe because it felt like everything that was going on in her head was being vocalised, released. Or that the river was joining in.
Another tear trickled down her face.
Her eyes were blank as she sat and stared into space, not noticing the small white object bobbing on the surface towards her. Riding the rapids, it bounced over the water’s surface, until –seemingly by chance- it collided with a cluster of rocks a couple of feet away from the Pidgeotto.
She made no indication of noticing it.
Quickly, before the water dragged it away again, a handful of blue tendrils shot from the underside of the ‘rock’, attaching to the real rocks and pulling it up. The white ‘rock’ was at that point revealed to be a tightly coiled shell; the blue tendrils extended further from the lip, and two big eyes protruded out.
Waving its tentacles, the Omanyte slowly inched round to stare at the silent Pidgeotto. For all his small size, the Pokémon was determined to do his bit to defend his territory against the waves of attacks they had been hearing about; this Pokémon had been returning to their home a lot recently. Sizing it up for a take-over bid. He was not going to let that happen.

Tucking into his shell, he rocketed forwards, bouncing off the edge of the rock to slam into the bird’s chest. She gasped and instantly snapped her wings out, beating hard.
She was trying to escape. Going to alert the others. They’d come back and kill him.
His tentacles lashed out, extending and wrapping around her whole body, encasing her wings against her sides; she wobbled. Underneath all his mass of tentacles, he had a small mouth, which he opened and sank his teeth into her chest, shuddering a little as he felt warm blood seeping into his mouth.

Ryau couldn’t believe it. She had just been sitting there, when something had smashed into her. Then when she’d automatically tried to back off, it ensnared her, then bit her.
The pain in her chest wasn’t that bad, but she winced anyway, glancing down to find herself staring into the wide eyes of the Pokémon. Part of her flinched at that; the Omanyte’s eyes were brain-washed with fear; all the talk and tales of Pokémon attacking Pokémon must have spread out even to here. Something told her that he was not going to let go of her either, without a fight.

And something inside of her stirred at that thought. She wanted somebody else to feel the pain she was feeling.

Fading away into the shadows, she saw him fall forwards, tumbling down to land on the rock, tentacles flailing, before he picked himself up, frantically looking for her. She reappeared behind him, pouncing onto his back, letting the dark energy flow over his body as he shrieked in alarm.
Breaking away, she took to the air, rising up high, stalling, plummeting back to the earth, the wind rushing against her body, a constant whine in her mind. He scrambled back, away, slithering down towards the water. She struck him from behind, wincing a little at the blow, of hitting a piece of rock face-on, but she succeeded in sending him spiralling into the churning water.
Banking, she wheeled round and hovered over the water, her bright eyes flickering over the surface, watching intently for any sign of movement.
Slowly, her sharp eyes began to distinguish something….different about the surface. A light mist seemed to be rising, thickening in density even as she watched, thicker and thicker. Light sparkled over its shimmering surface, as it rose upwards; instinct told her not to touch it, as a memory in the back of her mind strained to be heard.
Beating her wings, she powered up, giving her the perfect view as the rain clouds began to gather overhead. As the rain was unleashed, she shivered, the damp trickling over her body in seconds, her waterlogged feathers dragging her down as they flapped, sodden. The thick mist was rising as well, unperturbed by the rain, and she knew that it wasn’t a mist at all, as a faint breeze ran through it stirring the particles. Ice particles. The memory of an early battle played through her mind, remembering the awful cold and the slowness the ice inflicted on her.
The beam of ice knocked her concentration, hitting her left wing, not freezing it, but still….chilling it to the bone. And as the numbness crept through her body, her wing-beats became more erratic. She was struggling to maintain her height, ominously spinning towards the creeping ice cloud.
Abandoning her attempts at flight, she instead stretched out both wings, feeling them growing heavier even as she began to fall. She could see the metallic sheet covering them both.
She crashed into the ice cloud, feeling her body chill, her muscles numbing. A heavy weight seemed to be slipping its way into her brain, making her feel groggy and tired. But her wings were perfect. The part of her mind that was still working properly registered that.
Then she hit the water.
It was deeper than she’d have believed, from all the times she’d stared into it. It was as cold as she’d imagined, though…but somehow, that didn’t seem that bad anymore. It was as though there was a difference between this water and the rain that had been falling from the sky. The restless power inside of her stirred, creating a white aura around her body. The water rippled and seemed to draw back.
Then it exploded upwards, creating a massive wave, which roared over the lower half of the ice cloud and engulfed it. Ryau rocketed out from the water, flying beneath the remaining sheet of ice particles, her mind clear. Her eyes were fixed on the tiny shell swimming forcefully against the water.
She knew that she wasn’t in enough control of her power to have created a wave of such force; they must have both accidentally combined their attacks to create that wave.
But never mind.
The touch of the water had soothed her….and now she was beginning to sense that that was the reason why she had liked the river. The water was related to her in some innate way she had never tried to explore. But she would.
Lowering her gaze back to Omanyte, she saw him spin and dive back down, obviously hiding from any forthcoming attacks. That was the perfect chance. Her body ached, then screamed in pain as her energy was torn from her, focusing to create a miniature version of herself, like a little doll, flying along beside her. Smiling, she fell back slightly, so that she was directly behind it, concentrating on her breathing. Her wings grew heavy; their beats slow. Her heart rate slowed. Her mind, rushing to process the endless data whipping round her brain, dimmed. Yet her body seemed to now pulse with power. Her slow wing-beats disturbed the air, viciously cutting through the invisible substance. Her breathing was deep, her eyes focused. Her dimmed and ready mind focused only on what was needed to.
Deliberately swooping down, she skimmed the water, flying upstream for a few metres, then reversing her path. The tiny doll flew alongside, perfectly matching her speed.
The water erupted upwards, and Omanyte’s spinning shell was revealed; her doll shot in front immediately, taking the full brunt of the blow. Although damaged, it managed to hold on, moving out of the way as she smashed her metallic wings into the falling shell. This knocked him to the side, sending the Pokémon spinning to smash into the rock she had initially been perching on. As he crumpled, dazed, she shot over and rammed him, hard. He responded by wrapping his tentacles around her again, gripping tightly; her doll passed through her body, somehow drawing all his tentacles to it. They encased it…a flurry of energy and the doll crumpled.
She was ready, though. The doll had distracted him enough to allow her to back away, focusing on her power. As he lowered his tentacles, looking for her, she released her power, forming a jet of water that banged into his shell, shoving him up against the rock again.
Then she gathered her energy. She flung herself across the gap between them and threw her whole body weight against him; her body flared in pain as it shuddered under the impact, but she knew she’d done enough as she fell back and his battered shell collapsed onto the rock.

Breathing hard, she felt the slowness that had descended on her lift; looking up, she saw, too, that the ice cloud and the rain clouds were fading and vanishing. And something else was different. She felt more peaceful than she had done for weeks. A smile flicked across her face.

After nudging Omanyte into a concealed spot where he could come around gradually, she paused for a second, hovering over the river, feeling its cool spray on her body. Still smiling, she rose and struck out for home.

The flight back was relaxed; there was no difficulty in riding the air currents and updrafts, a particular skill she enjoyed. Happily stretching her wings, she soared over the landscape, delighting in her freedom and sense of self.
Yet, as she free-wheeled delightedly, her mind registered something to her right, and she shot up in alarm. A black swirl of smoke was beginning to rise, drifting in the breeze, more and more flowing into the air. And below; she squinted. The smoke was rising from somewhere within the meadow, and as such, there was a lot of obstruction, from the numerous tree and bushes that grew there, but within seconds she had noticed the thin tongue of flame winding its way round a clump of trees.
Panicking slightly, she pumped her wings hard, and shot towards it, determined to do her bit.

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

Omega was running as hard as he could, gasping, trying to ignore the stitch that was building in his side. The grass was batting at his heels as he ran, making him stumble more than once, but he kept going, his eyes fixed on the veils of smoke.

He’d been patrolling the streets when he’d noticed the flocks of bird Pokémon taking to the skies; curious as to what was making them flee like that, he’d kept his eyes on them, facing towards them as he walked- secretly praying with all his might that it didn’t mean what he thought it did. Then he’d noticed the first, thin veil of smoke lifting into the air…and he’d full on bolted, shrieking at the top of his lungs to draw peoples’ attention.
But the attacks had driven most people inside, and his screaming probably only reinforced their views that there were mad Pokémon on the loose. So he’d abandoned that and just concentrated on his running; somebody would notice it sooner or later but for now he wanted to know what had caused it. It just didn’t seem the right conditions for a natural fire to catch; they’d only had rain last night, it wasn’t warm enough, the grass and vegetation was hardly what you could call brittle. He didn’t like it.

Other Pokémon soon started to stream past him, crying, terror apparent in their faces. That only further reinforced his fears. The looks on some of them told him everything. Some shouted at him to turn back, but he ignored them and ploughed on, focusing as he did. The smoke by now was billowing easily into the air, but it still didn’t look as though it was over that large an area.

He reached the peak of a hill and looked down, taking in the surprisingly small flames that were curling their way round a foot of trees. The air carried the tang of burning on it, which rasped at the back of his throat and made his eyes water. The heat emanating from the area was almost painful; waves and waves of warmth that scorched his shell.
And all that coming from what could only be described as a bonfire. A very large and hot bonfire, yes, but a bonfire. Piles and piles of uprooted trees, clusters of bushes and large stems of grass were gathered together, burning viciously, sending the smoke whirling up.
Standing in front of it, triumphant smirks on their beaky faces, two Pokémon stood. Two red spikes protruded out from their beaks. Massive, white wings seemed to sprout from the backs of their head, reaching down their backs, while fluffy white down covered their chests. From their chests to their legs, their thick feathers were orange, changing to yellow when it reached their knees, going down to their feet. Their red arms changed to white, stretching out into long, sharp claws.
Both wore the same expression, matching each others pose perfectly.
They stared at each other silently for a few more minutes, before Omega took a deep breath and slowly began to walk towards them, trying not to swoon in the intense heat.
Stopping about ten metres away- and figuring that this was as close as he could safely get, he caught what he perceived to be the male of the pair by the eye and spoke to him.
‘What are you doing this for?’ His voice sounded weird, set against the crackling of the flames.
The female let out a mocking laugh as the male smirked. ‘Because we knew it would bring people or their Pokémon running. No self-respecting Pokémon would normally run towards a fire, now would they? They’d run for their lives. But humans would, as would their Pokémon. And you have just proved us right.’
‘Well, that’s wonderful, though you seem to be forgetting that no self-respecting Pokémon would deliberately set out to damage their natural environment,’ Omega replied innocently, trying not to flinch as they both glared at him. The female snarled and began to walk forwards, flexing her claws.
‘Don’t play games with us, buddy,’ she hissed warningly. ‘Neither of us cares whether or not what we take on is a human or their little play-toys.’
‘That’s good, because it’s pretty certain now that I’m going to have to pound you both.’
‘Both of us?’ mocked the female, her eyes flashing in amusement. ‘Without any backup at all? Oh, how brave you are, Shelgon!’
‘Omega.’
‘Cute name,’ smiled the male. ‘Mars.’
‘Jenny,’ said the female.
‘Cute names too,’ Omega smirked at the two of them, stepping backwards as they started to move towards him.

He knew that Blaziken’s were fragile Pokémon, which meant that the advantage was in his favour as he had the perfect move for such a situation.

Mars and Jenny exchanged a look; suddenly, their outlines blurred and they shot across the distance between them and smashed into his body. Their speed startled him, he knew he’d never be able to match it, but he could try.
As he rolled away from the impact, he spun gracefully, dancing over the charred ground, feeling his energy rising even as he took the first few steps.
That was lucky for him, because a sudden tremor threw him to the ground, as cracks shot through the charred soil, sending dust and charcoal flying into the air. Trying to brace himself against the rocking ground, he saw Jenny leering at him, standing bracingly, stomping occasionally with her foot to reinforce the tremors. Something about the way she was acting clicked in Omega’s mind and he scanned the lurching ground for Mars.
The male Blaziken was crouching low, a protective violet shield around his body.
Good idea, thought Omega and flung up his own shield. Immediately, the shifting ground failed to disturb him, and he grinned as he saw Jenny scowl and halt her attack.
Their outlines blurred again as they resorted to their speed attacks; he dropped his protective shield, but not after focusing his mind on a certain attack. As soon as his shield was down, they came at him, eyes blazing, one on each side. Each drew back a leg, which erupted into flames and bore down on him.
He rolled his eyes and unleashed a blast of electricity, which shot directly into their bodies, causing them to shriek in pain and anger. It didn’t block their momentum, however, so Omega still felt two thuds in his sides as they collided with him. But taking their surprise as his advantage, he stopped the attack, then cannoned into Mars as he landed dazedly on the ground. The strength of the attack told as Mar’s body visibly crumpled beneath his heavy shell…but then a bright red aura flared before his eyes and he was blasted back, landing in an undignified heap a couple of metres away.
Mars laughed and Jenny smirked as they strode together towards the prone dragon.
‘I think that proves our point,’ Jenny said coldly, her smile fading. ‘I expected…’
Bang
The two Blaziken’s were sent flying as a flurry of rocks exploded from the ground, hovering briefly in the air before Omega nodded at his two opponents. The rocks rose higher, then fell in a cascading swoop. Snarling, Jenny and Mars both blurred as they tried to flee, but the crashing rocks plummeted down, knocking them to the ground; Omega flinched as he heard a crack but an idea flashed into his mind and he spun round to stare at the still burning bonfire. Although Jenny’s attack had caused parts of it to cave in, and it was less compact than it had been, it was still burning. Glancing back, he motioned, and a couple of rocks rose up, crunching down onto the mass of burnt wood and grass. It didn’t extinguish it all, but he was happy with what it did, especially as he heard the mutterings of the Pokémon behind him.
Mars was clutching his arm, which seemed pretty much useless, but other than that, both Blaziken’s were battered, but still on their feet.
Jenny hissed in hatred, then flexed her arms, her muscles suddenly bulging, and she lunged across the space towards Omega. She extended her claws and lashed out, striking for his exposed face, the only part of his body her claws could hope to rip. He ducked, rolling around to dodge her, but a blast of fire shot past him, wrapping in a circle around the two. He could hear Mars laughing in the distance.
Jenny smiled and stalked towards him, claws bared. He backed away, stepping carefully over the ground, feeling the heat at his back. Then a flurry of earth hit him in the face, blocking his vision. Howling, he frantically tried to get it out of his eyes, even as he heard her cold voice laughing. And coming closer. A rush of air….her sensed her coming closer, sensed the claws reaching for his eyes…he screamed and lashed out with a claw of orange fire. He couldn’t see, but he heard her gasp of pain, and felt his claw sinking into her body. Something warm splattered onto his leg, and he shuddered, trying to ignore it. Then he steeled himself and lunged, crashing into her flailing body. It buckled, falling onto her back; he jumped off, hearing her gasping in exhaustion and pain.
Taking that opportunity to shake the final remnants of dust from his face, he turned to face her, as she lay, sprawled, breathing hard. Her eyes showed her pain as he walked towards her. He lowered nodded at her, then whispered sadly. ‘What is it you hate?’
Her eyes frowned. ‘We hate all those who should not be here.’
Omega rolled his eyes at that. ‘They’ve got the exact same right as you do.’
‘No they don’t,’ she said quietly, then closed her eyes. ‘Kill me now.’
‘I don’t kill,’ he told her softly. She didn’t reply.
He shrugged, then focused on his hidden power, lashing her with an electric blast. When it faded, he knew that she was gone, briefly unconscious.
Hey, he’d said he didn’t kill; he had nothing with knocking those who deserved it out.

Now for the last one.
‘MARS, your girlfriend isn’t around to take me out, you’ll have to do it yourself,’ Omega bellowed to the flames.
Silence, before a low snarl rang out and a shadow flickered into view.
‘She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my sister,’ came the low reply. ‘And I’ll never forgive you for hurting her.’
‘I’d never have forgiven you for hurting me, neither,’ he answered softly, ‘so we're even.’
The shadow melted away as the Blaziken stepped ominously out from the flames. His eyes were cold, blocking even the pain from his obviously broken arm.
‘I hate you,’ he whispered quietly.
‘I don’t hate you,’ Omega replied.
They both charged, Mar’s working first clenching, flames erupting over it; Omega didn’t care and flung himself forward, crashing against the fist, then against the feathery body of his opponent. The force knocked them over- Omega bounced off accidentally, lurching to his feet to see his opponent blasting a stream of fire at him. It engulfed the Shelgon, wrapping him in flames and pain. Shuddering, his legs buckled, knowing the reason behind the increased power. Drawing on his protective shield, he sheltered behind it, waiting until the fire died away before retaliating with a quick jolt of electric power. The attack caught Mars by surprise, giving Omega the chance to run closer and ram the fire type, flicking him over his head. Turning towards the thump, he extended his orange claw, then hesitated.
‘Why is it you two decided to join those Pokémon anyway?’ he asked curiously.
‘Our mother’s ‘trainer’ seemed to think that he couldn’t look after his new Pokémon’s twins and abandoned us.’
‘Oh.’ Omega paused, look down, looked up again. ‘You’ve based your whole life on that?’
‘Oh yes,’ was the only reply he got.
‘Then you’ve wasted your life.’
The Shelgon charged across the gap and slashed his claw across the Blaiken’s body. The Pokémon crumpled instantly and stayed down.

The circle of flames died away as its creator slipped into unconsciousness; Omega glanced round tiredly. The bonfire was nearly out- parts were still burning but not as viciously or as threateningly. The flames that he had seen when he had breached the hill were out, no doubt thanks to the bird Pokémon sitting by the charred trunks.
Omega felt a twist in his stomach.
Rage looked tired, black shadows under his eyes, his body leaner than Omega had ever seen before. He looked defeated. His tired eyes focused blearily on Omega for a second, then gazed beyond. The Shelgon looked behind him to see Ryau hovering overhead, staring at them both in shock.
Nodding, he looked back and stared at the Skarmory.
‘Why did you stop us from catching that Mightyena? And Faolan?’ he asked, making sure his voice was loud enough for Ryau to hear.
‘I’m the one who’ll kill Barbossa,’ came the reply, ‘although it’ll be harder now that he’s got that stupid Poochyena following him around. And his name is Zev now.’
‘It was you who caused the Poochyena to cry when that Mightyena threatened the kid?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘I hate him. He’s a traitor; he’ll use what he can to his advantage, then he’ll do what he can to rid himself of the competition.’ Rage fixed Omega with a penetrating look. ‘He and I used to know each other, back when I was wild. We were both prime examples of our species; good hunters, never had a problem with getting what we wanted.’ He shrugged. ‘Then I was caught; I’ll admit, not my plan, but I accepted it. Had to, with you lot all ready to blast me to shreds if I played up. Long story short, when I saw him attack that Eevee, I realised that he was essentially just doing it to have a laugh at me, the stupid idiot who got himself caught. Nobody laughs at me. So I stopped that lot beating him then fled to stop them hurting me. I’ve been hanging round, digging up what information I can about it. But nothing’s worked. He’s got a much more intricate network than I could have imagined. I finally cornered him, but he pummelled me. In front of his pack; Zev was there, laughing along with them. He’s as bad as the rest of them.’ His eyes glazed over. ‘I got away and that’s when I decided to come back. To get you.’
‘Er….?’
‘He won’t believe that a trainers Pokémon will ever be worthwhile. I know you’re going to evolve soon. And when you do, I’m going to drag you to face him and beat him.’
‘I thought you wanted….’
‘Then I’ll kill him. And he’ll know that he’s wrong.’
Omega shifted. ‘And if I say no to this?’
‘I’ll have to do if myself.’
A whimper came from Omega’s side at that; Ryau had landed next to him without him noticing.
Rage sighed. ‘But that’s for later. I can wait.’ His voice was dull. ‘I can’t get anything to eat anymore; everybody’s against me now.’
Omega blinked. ‘You want to stay on the team?’
‘Yes.’
Omega was silent for a second, weighing things up, trying to ignore Ryau’s begging eyes, or the blank gaze of Rage. Then he sighed. ‘I don’t think I can stop you doing that; you’re still a member already. But don’t think that this means that I’m agreeing to do what you’ve proposed.’
‘Ok,’ the Skarmory smiled, a faint flash of relief spreading across his face. ‘That’ll do me fine for now.’

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

Ryau grew one level to L23 and learnt Whirlwind.
Omega grew four levels to L40 and learnt Dragon Breath by level and Aerial Ace as his free TM.

Phew x_x

[The Blue Avenger]

Hannah - Amy'll rate your story.

Amy - A nice little conclusion to wrap up that particular arc. I'm interested to see when the Absol will show up again. The battle was very good as well, and as I've already mentioned, Ranec got really lucky. Minor nitpick - it seems like the Absol gave up too easily, but upon further reflection, I suppose he knew better than to try and press his luck at the moment. Other than the fact that it seemed rather rushed, this was a good story. 10 CCPs.

[Wolfsong]

Sorry it took a while to rate, but here i am. ^^; Take 31 CCPs. I like how you tied Ryau's rbg into the scenario. Wow. I always enjoy reading your stories and this was no exception. I felt sorry for Jock and it was sad to see what happened to Paytah. You did an interesting job in describing your team's disappearence, at least the ones that were released. It was interesting to see that the omanyte was only trying to protect his home and that it thought that Ryau was one of the attackers. It was nice to see Omega battling again and i have a feeling we'll be seeing him battle more as hes getting closer to evolving. ^^ Ii was glad to see Rage come back and I have a feeling that things will get interesting when we see Barbosa again.

[Wolfsong]

Sorry to double post x.X

Before story notes: This is Tiana’s RBG. This is one of the few battles that I just didn’t want to start and also couldn’t wait till it was over. ^^; Sorry if Tiana’s battle is rushed but I just wanted to get it over with… X.x Tiana won a battle at the BT which is why she grew to L.19 instead of L.18 ^^; I also gave Angel a Future sight tm that Gabi had given me for her. Ruki also got a new move as well, Toxic that i had bought for him. Well here we go.

(Tiana’s POV)

I yawned, stretching as I opened my eyes. I could hear the phone ringing downstairs. Once I was fully awake, I looked around. Ruki was still asleep. I smiled. Ever since he had evolved he has been one of the last ones to bed and also one of the last ones to get up. I had taken to sleeping in his room as it was the furthest away from the kitchen as I could get. I used to love my room where I could smell the foods being cooked but lately the smells just made me sick. As it was occasionally, they would reach me even up here.

I groaned. It seemed like today was going to be one of those days already. The faint smells of Amy cooking breakfast tickled my nose. However faint they were, the aroma was still there. Without a moment’s hesitation I made a beeline for the bathroom across the hall where I promptly emptied the contents of my stomach from the night before into the toilet. I shook my head as I stood up on my hind legs in order to flush it.

When I turned around, there was Ruki standing in the doorway. “Are you all right?” he asked groggily. “Yeah, I’m fine.” “Are you sure?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. It was as if in half a second he went form groggy to wide awake. I nodded my head. “Just what I ate last night didn’t agree with me this morning.” I explained. When it was obvious that he didn’t believe me, I hurried past him as quickly as I could.

Once I was past him, I closed my eyes and concentrated picturing myself on our front porch. With a faint pop, I disappeared and with another pop I reappeared. I slowly opened my eyes and when I did I grinned. “Whoo hoo!” I shouted. I had managed to teleport correctly. I thought about heading into the South Caverns and just looking around. It was rather warm outside today, and the cooler temperatures would be a blessing. Plus I seemed to be more hot natured not that the little one was on the way. “We’ll be there. I’m sure that it will be a nice surprise for her and the rest of the team.” I heard Amy say as I headed out of hearing distance.

Soon I was lost in thought. I was trying to figure out why the morning sickness was so much worse this time around than it was with Kali. Nothing about it made sense. Last time, the smells of the food made me feel nauseous but I didn’t actually get sick. This time, I was actually getting sick and not just feeling nauseous.

Hey Tiana, wait up!” Ruki startled me out of my thoughts. I was so rattled that I accidentally walked headfirst into a tree. “Ouch…” I muttered rubbing my head with my forepaw.

A few minutes later, Ruki had caught up with me. So where are you headed?” he asked. “The South Caverns. It’s rather hot out here and its rather comfortable this time of year in the caves.” “Uh huh,” Ruki said, as we once more resumed our trek to the caves. It seemed he was tagging along with me. Can’t say that I didn’t enjoy his company. At least he wasn’t trying to tell me that Nuka and I weren’t meant for each other. Why had Zale started acting that way in the first place?”

“All right.” Ruki said stopping once we had reached the halfway point between our house and the South Caverns. He stopped right in front of me and he had a serious look on his face.. “Look, I may be younger than you and Zale, but I can tell when something isn’t right. For one you’ve been avoiding Zale like the plague. You’ve also been keeping away from Ranec and Dakota. You’ve moved into my room, and I’m not complaining. I just find it odd. And I saw you get sick this morning and I’ve heard you the other times. Don’t give me any bull about you being okay, when I can sense that something is up with you.”

I sighed. “I’m going to have to tell you aren’t I?” He nodded his head yes. “You have to promise to not tell anyone especially Zale.” “I promise.” “Well… That is to say…” I laughed. “There really is no simple way to say this I guess. “You’re going to be an uncle.” Ruki had a puzzled look on his face. “But I’m already an Uncle…?” Then he got a shocked look on his face. “Oh! Wow! How are far you along?” I couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. “Almost two weeks now. But remember your promise. Nuka and I don’t want it out just yet. Nightshade already discovered it. You know how Zale feels about me and Nuka…” My eyes narrowed as I remembered the fight that we had. “We’re hoping that he comes around in his way of thinking by the time I start showing or else it won’t be pretty…” “Yeah, I see what you mean. Tell you what, I think I’m going to head towards the river. It’s a beautiful day to just watch the river.” “And you also want to be by yourself a while to think,” I said chuckling. Ruki looked embarrassed, but nodded his head. “What do you say we meet back at the house in about an hour at the latest?” “Sounds good to me.” With that, we parted ways for the time being.

I sighed. It was nice to have some company if only for a few minutes. I watched Ruki until I could no longer see him, before resuming my journey to the South Caverns. I was already wishing that I was there, the heat bothering me even more than usual. I eventually made it to the South Caverns and I sighed in relief as I headed inside away from the shining sun.

As soon as I had entered, I smiled. The temperature inside the cave was perfect. I tried to stay in the dark shadows as I didn’t want to spook innocent pokemon, and I didn’t want to be attacked by those that were attacking trainers and their pokemon. I relaxed somewhat when I came into a room that appeared to be empty. Still I cautiously walked through the shadows and didn’t stop. That is, I didn’t stop until I stepped on something soft and squishy. An enraged shout echoed about the caverns and if any poke had been in there they were gone by now. I tried to run and I almost made it to the next room when a ghostly collar appeared around my neck and I was yanked backwards. I turned around and there before me was the maddest wobbuffet that I had ever seen. Come to think of it, he was the only wobbuffet I had ever seen. Once I was facing him, the leash and collar disappeared. I gulped. “I’m sorry.” I said, but he wasn’t listening. I tried again to run away but once more, the leash and collar appeared and I was drug back. I sighed. It looked like I was going to have to battle.

Tiana L.17* F Shiny Espeon with a Blue Gem Vs. L.17 M Wobbuffet

I stared at the wobbuffet, and he stared back. I wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible, so I quickly began to conjure up a vile tasting poison in my mouth. I was extremely careful not to swallow any of it and I quickly spit it all over my opponent. He had seen what I was trying to do, and was doing his best to create a safeguard veil. Fortunately for me he wasn’t fast enough and the toxins had seeped into his blue skin before the veil became evident. I smirked and stuck out my tongue at him as he visibly blanched. I then charged forwards. I didn’t see my opponent’s smirk till it was too late. I lashed out at him with my tail which had grown heavy and was now hard as iron. I missed him, but the wobbuffet clapped his hands and I felt the urge to use iron tail again. I connected this time and I felt him slide backwards some from the force of the blow, but then the wobbuffet grabbed my tail and hurled me across the room. I slammed headfirst into the wall. I shook my head dazed slightly before looking at my opponent he looked rather weak. I felt as if he wanted to see my pretty iron tail again, so once more I found myself swinging my iron coated tail again at him. Once again, I missed, and this time I heard him curse. That seemed to snap me out of whatever spell that I had been under. I snuck up behind him and bit down as hard as I could on his tail, my teeth crackling with dark energy. The wobbuffet cried out in pain as he sank into unconsciousness.

I won!
I grew to L.19*!

* = Tiana had won a BT battle since the time I asked for an rbg which explains as to why she grew to L.19 instead of L.18

I’d like another rbg for Tiana. She is now a L.19 F Shiny Espeon with a Blue gem. *hands over 7 ccps*

[The Blue Avenger]

I'll rate as soon as I can, but Tiana will battle a Charmander in the South Caverns.

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: This is Tiana’s RBG. I traded a recycle tm for the headbutt tm that Neva gives Tiana. Also just a little note in advance that was light screen that tiana used ^^; This also takes place immediately following the wobbuffet battle. ^^; Ruki’s RBG is next ^^;

(Tiana’s POV)

I walked away from the wobbuffet and sat down. That battle had drained me. I used what energy that I had left to head back into the last room that I had passed through. I mainly headed in there because I remembered seeing a hole in the roof of the cavern and a rock that I could easily hide behind.

When I made it into the previous room, I smiled. Sure enough, there was a hole in the ceiling that was right above a rock. I slowly walked over to where the rock was and hid behind it. I then proceeded to use the light that was coming in from the hole to fuel my morning sun attack. That helped me to feel better, but combined with the fatigue that I felt from the battle, it made me sleepy.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been asleep, but when I woke up I realized something. When I had entered the room, I had been alone. That was no longer the case. I could hear voices which let me know that there were others in the cavern besides me.

“Please give me Mr. Poofy.”

“If you want it, come and get it.”

I peaked around the rock to see that a charmander was holding a flareon plushie out of the reach of a young sneasel. Whenever she tried to leap in order to grab it, the charmander would try to hit her with his tail. The last straw came when the sneasel finally gave up trying to get the plushie and sat down, bawling. The charmander stormed over to her and raked his claws across her arm causing the sneasel to cry even louder.

The next thing that the charmander knew, he had been sent flying across the room by an invisible force. “Leave her alone.” I snarled as I emerged from my hiding spot. I gently picked up the plushie and gave it to the sneasel. “Here you go.” She looked up and smiled. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” I told her before crying out in pain.

That rotten Charmander had bit me on my tail, and the pain was intense. My eyes narrowed as I whipped my tail unexpectedly, sending the charmander tumbling. He scrambled to his feet, glaring at my his face full of anger.

Tiana L.19 F Shiny Espeon with a Blue Gem Vs. L.19 M Charmander

I took a deep breath and proceeded to calm my mind. As I did so, I could feel my psychic powers getting stronger. Evidently, I had calmed my mind too much and my mind began to wander. Being an espeon had its plus sides, but it was hard for me to concentrates. Thankfully, Nightshade was helping me to master my psychic powers at the Eevee House.

“Ouch!” The charmander had taken advantage of my momentary distraction and scratched me across my shoulder with his claws. That quickly snapped me out of my thoughts and my mind was back on the battle where it should have been in the first place. I quickly bit down on his arm, my teeth crackling with dark energy, before he could pull it out of the way.

“You Bitch!” he screamed as he tried to shake his arm free. I held on and waited until he went to pull backwards and only then did I open my mouth. I smirked as I watched the charmander fly backwards slamming in to the rock that I had been hiding behind.

The Charmander snarled. “You’ll pay for that.” My eyes widened as soon as I saw the charmander take a deep breath. I quickly set about making a barrier in front of me made out of light. Sure enough, a stream of flames came hurtling towards me. Thankfully, the majority of them had been stopped by the barrier that I had made out of light. I sighed as relief as only a small amount of the flames reached me.

The next thing I knew, the charmander was running towards me with his head lowered. I ran forward myself, going as fast as I could possible go. As our two attacks connected, the force of the blow sent us both tumbling backwards head over tail. I quickly scrambled to my paws, and blasted the charmander backwards from another invisible force. Although that attack had drained me of a lot of my energy, I was pleased. That was one of my strongest psychic attacks ever.

I won!
I grew to L.20!
I learned Zap Cannon as my free TM.

I quickly hurried over to the young sneasel who was now tightly holding the battered plushie as tight as she could, sniffing. “Are you all right?” I asked her. “My arm hurts,” she whimpered, showing me the scratches on her arm. My heart went out to her as I licked the wound and, ever so slowly, her crying stopped. “Does it feel better now?” I asked. The sneasel smiled, nodding her head yes as she hugged her plushie.

“GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!” screamed an angry feminine voice.

“Oh great…” I muttered, looking around to find that the charmander was now gone. A split second later, I was blasted backwards by a freezing cold beam that sent chills cascading through my body. Luckily, I had not been frozen.

“Momma, don’t hurt her please.” The sneasel cried as she tried her best to explain what had just happened. The mother sneasel’s attitude went from angry to apologetic in the blink of an eye.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to keep Alissa safe, especially with all these attacks going on. My name is Neva, by the way.” At that, Neva sighed before smiling at me. “I apologize for my previous behavior.” It was my turn to smile. “It’s all right. I can understand perfectly why you acted the way that you did. My name’s Tiana.” Neva looked at me curiously. “You’re a mother to, aren’t you?” I nodded. “My daughter stays with her father and his team.”

Neva sighed. “I’ve struggled to get things for Alissa to at least give her some of the things that I didn’t get to have growing up.” She looked at the small wooden box that she had in her talons. “I had originally gotten this for Alissa in order to help her protect herself, but the fact is that you helped her. I can’t begin to explain how grateful.” Neva looked over at her daughter before sliding the box over to me. “I can’t take it.” “We want you to have it.” They didn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. “Thank you.” I said, reluctantly taking the TM. Afterwards, Neva asked me where we lived. I told her and she smiled. “That’s not to far from here.” I shook my head. “Actually it is about thirty minutes.” “Not if you know the shortcuts. We know of one that can get you to your house in about ten to fifteen minutes. Come on, we’ll show you.” With that, I followed my new friends as they showed me a short cut home.

I learned Headbutt!

[Wolfsong]

Apologies for the double post but finally got caught up and finished on my cc rbgs. After this, i'm going to try and at least get somewhat caught up ac wise ^^;

Before story notes: This is Ruki’s RBG. My apologies if it is short and if it stinks. My writer’s block returned when I tried to work on this. One minor note is that that first body slam, was a critical hit ^^;

(Ruki’s POV)

I sat there staring into space as I listened to the sounds of the water crashing into rocks. When I had told Tiana that I wanted to know what was wrong with her, I had expected anything except what she had told me. That caught me totally by surprise. I certainly didn’t expect the news that I was going to be an uncle again.

I dropped my paw into the cool river water. I could understand where Tiana was coming from when she told me not to tell anyone about her condition. Sure, others were going to find out at some point in time. However, I could see her point about not wanting Zale to find out anytime soon. Zale was my brother, and I loved him dearly, but even I noticed how overprotective he is of Tiana and Angel. We had all been trying to tell him, but none of us seemed to be getting the point though his thick skull. I was glad he wasn’t that protective of me, though sometimes I wondered about that. I wasn’t complaining though. If he treated me like he did them, I’d either go crazy or else end up attacking him out of sheer frustration.

The next thing I knew, someone had soaked me from head to tail. I looked around frantically, worried that it might have been Zale. At least I hadn’t been thinking out loud. I sighed in relief when I discovered that the culprit was not Zale but a playful young chinchou.

“Hi, I’m Volts. What’s your name? You’re not from around here are you? You’re an umbreon aren’t you? You’re the first umbreon that I’ve ever seen. I didn’t know that you all had manes. My parents must have left out that detail when they described them to me.”

I had to chuckle. This youngster was rather likable. “My name is Haruki. But all of my friends call me Ruki. You’re right, I’m not from around here. In fact, my backyard ends at the meadow. Yes, you are correct again. I am indeed an umbreon.” I grimaced slightly when Volts mentioned my mane. “Most umbreons don’t have manes.” I explained. “The reason that I have one is that my evolution was triggered by a flawed night stone.”

Volts was still looking at me, smiling. “Well, I think that all umbreons should have them. They look nice on your species.”

I smiled. If that comment had come from an older pokemon I would have just dismissed it in an attempt to help me feel better. However coming from someone young, I knew that it was an honest compliment. “Thanks.” She looked at me with a confused look on her face. “For what?” she asked. I shook my head. “Never mind.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Will you battle me?”

I can honestly say that that question caught me off guard. “Why?” I asked her.

Volts sighed. “My parents don’t like me battling. They’re afraid that if I get strong enough, a trainer might want me on their team…”

“That’s exactly what you want to happen isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” she agreed slowly bobbing up and down in the water.

I sighed. AS much as I needed to get home, I wanted to help this honest little chinchou more. “All right, I’ll help you. However, I’m also going to be doing my best to win.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Ruki L.13 M Shiny Umbreon with an Eevee Mane Vs. Volts L.13 F Chinchou

Volts began by swimming a little ways into the river before smiling at me. She knew as well as I did that as long as she was in the water, she had the advantage. I had to remedy that as quickly as possible. Luckily, I had just the perfect move to help me out.

I closed my eyes and began to concentrate. When I opened my eyes, Volts was enveloped in a purplish glow. She was squirming trying to get free, but she was unable to escape the psychic hold that I had on her. She continued to squirm as I lifted her out of the water and deposited her a fair distance away from the river.

The look on her face plainly said that she knew that the tables had been turned on her. Yet the fact that she remained calm spoke volumes. She simply inhaled deeply before soaking me once again with a stream of rather cold water.

I didn’t let that water gun phase me at all. Instead, I charged forwards. A few moments later, I slammed into the chinchou with all the weight of my body. Volts was sent hurtling backwards from the blow. I watched, stunned. That body slam did more damage than it should have.

While I was pondering about what had just happened, I was hit by a strong jolt of electricity that caused me to cry out in pain. The thunderbolt had hurt me more than it normally would have given the fact that I was soaking wet.

I had to admit that Volts was giving me a good battle. However, I could tell that she was getting tired. That young chinchou was good at coming up with strategies, and she probably had most of her opponents knocked out by now. Times like this I was glad that I had evolved into an umbreon. I needed to end this before I ended up paralyzed by Volt’s next attack. I took a deep breath and charged forwards once more. This time, when I slammed into Volts she didn’t go flying backwards. Instead, she slumped to the ground. I waited for her to get up and when she didn’t, I shook the water from my coat.

I decided to hang around and wait for Volts to come around. It took about fifteen minutes before she did. When she had finally woken up, she was all smiles. “Thanks for giving me a great battle.” She said, smiling. “You’re welcome. I enjoyed it. You are a pretty strong opponent.” I replied as I helped her back into the river. With that, we said our good byes and I headed for home.

I won!
I grew to L.14!

[Wolfsong]

Apologies for the triple post but i don't want this to get missed. This is my last rbg request until the stories get caught up as i don't want to keep becoming a pain. ^^;

I would like an RBG for my L.17 Elemental Larvitar Laila please *hands over 7 ccps leaving me with 2 for the time being *crosses fingers for a specific loacation that i have in mind but doubtful that i will get* ^^;

[The Blue Avenger]

I swear to God I'll get to your battles soon. X_x
Laila will battle a Hercross in the East Caverns.

[Wolfsong]

Hmmm... might as well add onemore story into the mix. One rbg for Zale my L.18 vaporeon please. *hands over 7 ccps* THis WILL be my last one i ask for till the others get rated so as i don't keep bugging you ^^;

[The Blue Avenger]

Zale will battle a Mantine at the Lake.

[The Blue Avenger]

Okay... sorry for double post, but meh.
Amy: For the vs. Wobbuffet: Take 9 CCPs. You sell yourself short on that battle; it was actually pretty interesting. I liked the interpretation of Shadow Tag, as well as the use of Encore. The line about wanting to see the pretty Iron Tail was great.
For vs. Charmander: This is 12 CCPs, I think. Oh wow, that poor Sneasel... that Charmander was a jerk. Good characterization.
For vs. Chinchou: 8 CCPs. Awww, cute! ^^ Definitely a likeable Chinchou. I wonder if we'll see her on someone's team later?

[The Blue Avenger]

Gah, triple post. >_< Anyway, here is my debut in the world of CC. Enjoy.

---

Pokemon: Seghuccello, Lento, Righello

Christian sat down heavily in a voluptuous, body-hugging recliner, located in a small room behind the main portion of his gym, and picked up a small teacup. Letting himself relax a little, he blew slightly on the tea and took a sip.

It’s a tough life, isn’t it? he asked himself. It’s not enough that I can’t leave the gym without being swarmed by people who want advice or autographs, but then there are the people who claim that I cheat if I win… Christian sighed, and took another sip of his tea. And then when they win, they don’t even say anything like, “Oh! Good match, Christian!” or “Thanks, Christian, that was a great battle.” Sometimes I wonder why I still do this… He was about to take another sip of tea, when a tall butler walked into the room.

“Christian, sir, you have a challenger waiting in the main room,” he said in a mild British accent.

“Very well,” Christian sighed. “Let’s do this.” He stood up, adjusted his platinum hair in a mirror near him and walked toward the door, but his butler stopped him.

“Sir, I feel I should warn you, this challenger seems very… how should I put this… unusual.”

“That’s nothing new, now is it, Daniel?” Christian asked, a hint of a grin playing around his mouth. He stepped aside his butler and entered the main room of the gym – a large, empty dark room, the only decoration a glowing emblem of a Pokeball in the center. The challenger, he saw, indeed met Daniel’s description of unusual: he wore a blue long-sleeve shirt, a pair of blue pants that were exactly the same color, a black tie, white gloves, and strangest of all, a blue ski mask.

Christian and this mystery combatant stared at each other for a few moments, before Christian cleared his throat quietly. “Fool!” Christian yelled in a very theatrical manner. “You dare to intrude upon this most sacred ground? Do you not know who I am?”

The challenger chuckled. “I know exactly who you are, Christian, 8th of the 9 gym leaders, Ghost-type specialist. The real question is, do you know who I am?”

Christian had to admit that he did not, and said so (albeit still in a very theatrical manner).

“Very well; then please allow me to introduce myself.” The young man raised his arms, revealing a belt around his waist holding Pokeballs. Of course, they were all colored blue. “I am the suave, the debonair, the mysterious…” Here, the young man adopted a deep voice, mimicking Christian’s dramatic tone. “Blue Avenger! …Blue for short.”

Christian blinked and took that in. “Oh please!” He laughed, a deep, resounding laugh that seemed to fill the room. “You are just another wannabe trainer, trying to intimidate everyone else in order to gain an advantage.”
Blue leered at Christian. “Well, isn’t that exactly what you are doing?”

Christian took a step back, realizing that the young man had easily penetrated his façade. “You,” he said with a slight grin, “are smarter than you look.”

Blue smiled. “Thanks, I’ll take that as a compliment.” He put a hand on his chin in mock thought. “Now, since we’ve both figured out that the other is a fraud, how about we dispense with these falsities?” He quickly pulled off the mask and stuffed it in a pocket, revealing a face with a shock of thick brown hair, framing a small pair of glasses accentuating deep brown eyes.

Christian laughed, a sincere laugh this time. “Very well, young man, you’ve got a deal,” he said, in his regular tone of voice. “As you have already figured out, I am Christian, the leader of this gym. My Ghost-type Pokemon are powerful – and great on the defensive side as well. But I don’t want to give too much away… I’d prefer to keep some element of surprise.”

“Nice speech,” Blue said with a grin. “Now, let’s get things started, shall we?”

Christian smiled. “Yes. Let this be a great match.”

Battle! Blue versus the mysterious Christian!
Blue’s Pokemon: Seghuccello the male Aerodactyl, Lento the male Slowking, and Righello the male Tyranitar.
Christian’s Pokemon: Sableye the male Sableye, Gengar the male Gengar, and… a third unknown Pokemon.

The two trainers adjourned to opposite sides of the glowing Pokeball. Both pulled a Pokeball out at the same time, throwing it to the ground. The Pokeballs burst open with a brilliant light. As it faded, the two competitors’ Pokemon could be seen: on one side, a gray rocky bird with a huge mouth, on the other side, a small purple humanoid-newt-like figure with brilliant eyes.

Seghuccello versus Sableye!
Seghuccello – “Hey hey! Let’s get things moving!”
~
Sableye – “Heh, you don’t stand a ghost of a chance.”

Seghuccello stared down at the Sableye before turning to Blue. “Hey, boss, you don’t honestly expect me to fight this little thing, do you?”

“Yes, I do, Seg,” Blue said somberly. “I also expect you to give nothing less than your all. This Pokemon is not to be underestimated.”

Seghuccello laughed. “Right, that’s a good one… not to be underestimated. That thing is -” He was suddenly cut off as a black orb of shadowy energy struck him in the back. Seghuccello fell from the air and hit the ground hard, but quickly recovered and turned back to the grinning Sableye.

“Oh, you just made the biggest mistake of your life, boy,” Seghuccello hissed. He flapped his way higher into the air and swooped down at the small figure, his wings extended for a Wing Attack.

Christian chuckled. “Sableye, Detect.” The Sableye’s eyes glowed, and mere moments before Seghuccello struck him, he quickly took three steps to the side, leaving the Aerodactyl to crash into the ground behind him. “Is your Aerodactyl always this headstrong?” Christian asked Blue.

Blue grimaced. “Unfortunately, yes. And it has been the cause of more than one loss.” He turned to Seghuccello. “C’mon! Get your head in the game!” Seghuccello flew back up and glared at the Sableye, who was still grinning like a maniac. “Seg, you’re gonna need more than brute strength to win this! You’re at a serious level disadvantage. Why not try…”

Before Blue could finish, however, he noticed that Seghuccello was already following his advice: the Aerodactyl was flying very rapidly, circling the Sableye, who looked as if he was trying his best not to vomit. Blue grinned. “Now!” he yelled, and Seghuccello stopped circling and launched at Sableye faster than the eye could follow. Before anyone knew it, Sableye was skidding backwards across the floor, a large bruise appearing between his eyes. “Now, once more!” Blue called, and Seghuccello raced over to the Sableye and smacked him with a wing. Sableye fell back again, and stayed there.

“Was that it? That was all your first Pokemon could do?” Blue said to Christian. “Come on! Aren’t gym Pokemon supposed to be stronger?”

“Oh, I’m sorry… do you honestly think you’ve won that round?” Christian said with a smirk. “I beg to differ. Sableye, Recover!” Sableye stood up slowly and began to glow with a brilliant white light. When it cleared, Sableye stood there, once more grinning. All the bruises and scrapes it had suffered were completely gone. “Now,” said Christian, “It’s time to go on the offensive. Sableye, go!” Blue and Seghuccello turned their attention back to Sableye, and were astonished to find that the ghostly Pokemon had completely disappeared.

“Watch out, Seg,” Blue warned. “I think it’s using Faint Attack. It could be anywhere…” He stopped that line of thought abruptly as he heard a shriek: Sableye had just reappeared on Seghuccello’s back, and was currently biting the Aerodactyl’s neck. Seghuccello screeched again, and clamped his fangs onto the Sableye’s arms. Sableye yelped in turn, and Seghuccello threw the ghost to the ground. “Now… um… Seghuccello,” Blue said, begin to stutter a little, “try, um, a Rock Slide! Trap him under rocks!”

Seghuccello nodded, and raised his wings. The ground began to rumble, and suddenly, several large rocks burst forth. They hovered behind the Aerodactyl, and he gestured to the Sableye. The boulders rushed forward faster than one would think rocks could travel, and closed in on Sableye. They stopped just overhead the newt-like Pokemon, and without any warning, tumbled from the sky, smashing into Sableye.

Or so Seghuccello thought. Suddenly, another ghostly ball of energy smacked him in the side; after regaining his composure, Seghuccello turned to look at the attacker. Sableye stood there, leering. “Oh my,” chuckled Christian, “Your Aerodactyl seems a bit confused. Would he like to know what just happened?”

“Yes. Please,” Seghuccello responded in a deadpan voice.

“Now, I can’t understand your Pokemon,” Christian started, “but I can only assume that means ‘Yes.’ Well, let’s put it this way. Have you ever heard of a technique called Substitute?”

Blue’s eyes widened, and he and Seghuccello groaned simultaneously. Then Blue’s face lit up. “Wait! Seghuccello! This means that Sableye is weakened! This is our chance!” Seghuccello nodded, and began to fly in circles above the Sableye’s head again, faster and faster. Soon, all that remained of the bird was a blur. Sableye glanced left and right, left and right before holding his head and moaning.

“Don’t worry, Sableye! Pick out that Aerodactyl with Foresight!” Christian yelled. Sableye nodded, and suddenly, beams of red shot from his eyes. Aiming them at the bird racing around above his head, Sableye focused, and soon, the blur had slowed down enough to be recognizable as Seghuccello. “Now, Sableye, Shadow Punch!” Sableye grinned, and faded into the shadows. After a few moments, as suddenly as he disappeared, Sableye reappeared, directly above Seghuccello. He landed on the Aerodactyl’s head and, fist awash in shadow energy, slapped Seghuccello across the face. Seghuccello grimaced.

“Hah! That’s exactly what we were waiting for!” laughed Blue. “Now, Seghuccello! Before he can react!” Seghuccello smiled and did a barrel roll, dropping the Sableye to the ground. Before Sableye could get up, Seghuccello swooped down and swiped at the ghost with his wing. Sableye flew backwards and impacted hard against the wall. He slumped to the floor and did not get back up.

Round One over! Winner: Blue and Seghuccello!

“Very good, Blue,” Christian said as he recalled Sableye. “But I promise you my next Pokemon will be much more challenging.” He threw another Pokeball onto the ground, and from it burst a large, black, smiling form – a Gengar. “Now, Gengar, kick things off with a Curse!”

Gengar nodded, and became enveloped in dark energy. A silver nail formed itself from the energy, and slowly began to stab the Gengar in the chest. He grimaced, but as soon as it was over, he pointed at Seghuccello…

And for the Aerodactyl, it was as if the very pits of Hell had opened up to him. Fire surrounded him as excruciating pain wracked his entire body.

“Oh no!” Blue yelled. He couldn’t see the pits of Hell, but he could tell that his Pokemon was in terrible pain. “C’mon, Seghuccello, return!” He held out his Pokeball…

“I don’t think so… Gengar! Mean Look!” Christian said with a grin. Gengar contorted his face into a horrible sneer, and the red beam from the Pokeball stopped in its tracks, then rushed back to the Pokeball. “Now, Gengar, Hypnosis!” Gengar positioned himself in front of Seghuccello and began to wave his arms in a circle. Seghuccello stopped thrashing and locked his eyes onto the ghost… Sure, he was in incredible pain, but wouldn’t everything feel better after a little nap? Seghuccello liked that line of thinking and plummeted to the ground, sound asleep.

“Now, Gengar, keep it up with Nightmare!” Christian ordered. Gengar stepped even closer to Seghuccello, and the two Pokemon were enveloped in a purple glow. Gengar grinned sadistically, and the glow condensed itself and rushed into Seghuccello’s forehead. The Aerodactyl began to fidget in his sleep, and soon, he was grimacing and yowling. Beads of sweat began to appear on the bird’s brow… suddenly, Seghuccello stopped moving.

Blue sadly tried recalling Seghuccello again, and this time it worked. Seghuccello disappeared. He glared at Christian. “You monster! How could you torture a Pokemon like that?”

Christian grinned slightly. “Now, now… Your Aerodactyl will be quite fine after a trip to a Pokemon Center. Nothing Gengar does is permanent. Now, do you have another Pokemon?”

Blue sighed. “Okay… Lento! Let’s go!” He tossed the Pokeball onto the ground, and in a burst of light the Slowking appeared.

End Round Two! Winner: Christian and Gengar!
Begin Round Three! Lento versus Gengar!
Lento – “…Oh, it’s my turn?”
~
Gengar – “Isn’t it just ghastly?”

“Lento! Start with Curse!” Blue yelled. Lento crouched into an alert pose, and began to glow slightly. Almost imperceptibly, muscles all over his body began to firm and bulge.

Christian chuckled. “Hah! Like that will save your Slowking! Gengar, Hypnosis!” Gengar began to wave his arms again as his eyes glowed, staring at Lento. Lento didn’t make any move to escape, instead choosing, apparently, to just bear it out. Soon, his eyes began to close, and he began to snore quietly. “Lento! No!” Blue groaned. He began to panic, and tried to recall his Slowking.

“I thought you would have learned your lesson last time…” Christian said. “Gengar, Mean Look!” Gengar twisted his face into the ugly leer, and the Pokeball’s recall mechanism retreated – Lento stayed put. “Now, Gengar, try to regain some health. Eat his Dreams! When you have enough health, Curse again!” Gengar accepted the command, and began to glow pink. After a moment, Lento began to glow similarly. Gengar grinned and moved closer to the Slowking, placing a finger on his forehead.

“Now my Gengar will drain every drop of health from your Slowking,” Christian said, almost casually, to Blue.

“Is that a fact,” Blue replied blandly.

Christian grinned. “Don’t worry, son, there’s no shame in losing to a gym leader. Look, I’ll be quick about taking down your Slowking. No nasty Nightmare business, just a Shadow Ball to the face.” He turned to look at Gengar, and was rather surprised to see the Gengar groaning. “Gengar! What’s wrong?!”

“Sorry, boss, but I’m not getting anything from this guy!” Gengar responded.

Blue smirked. “Now, Lento!” Without opening his eyes, Lento began to glow. A brilliant pink began to radiate from him, and suddenly, an invisible force shoved the Gengar off of Lento and sent him skidding into the same wall Sableye hit.

“But how?!” Christian yelled. “How can your Slowking use attacks asleep without Sleep Talking? And how can he resist Dream Eater?”

“Christian, my good man,” Blue replied, “Today’s lesson is that not all Pokemon with their eyes shut are asleep.” He left Christian to ponder that as Lento blasted Gengar with another Psychic smash, and then a third. Gengar fell from the wall, gasping for breath. Lento halted the barrage, looking rather drained himself.

“Blue, as clever as you may be, I’m afraid your Slowking looks like he can’t keep up! That many powerful attacks in a row will tire any Pokemon!” Christian laughed. “Gengar, on the other hand, can still keep going! Gengar, Shadow Punch!” Gengar disappeared suddenly. The room fell silent as its four occupants watched warily for the specter to reappear. Suddenly, Gengar rose from the shadows behind Lento.

“Lento! Look out!” Blue yelled, but it was too late. Gengar punched Lento as hard as he could before the Slowking could even turn around. Lento reeled from the attack, and dropped to the ground, unconscious.

End Round Three! Winner: Christian and Gengar!

Blue somberly recalled Lento.

“You should have realized, boy,” Christian said, “that bringing a Psychic Pokemon into a Ghost gym was just asking for trouble.”

Blue frowned. “I can assure you that my final Pokemon will have no such problems.” He tossed a third Pokeball to the ground, revealing a massive, light-green, spiky, rocky beast – a Tyranitar. Righello roared and glared at the Gengar as a sandstorm began to pick up inside the building.

Begin Round Four! Righello versus Gengar!
Righello – “You don’t stand a chance!”
~
Gengar – “Isn’t it just ghastly?”

“Gengar! Start this off with… that attack!” Christian yelled. Gengar nodded… but didn’t do anything. He just stood there, grinning.

“Heh heh heh…” Blue chuckled. “I think your Gengar is disobeying you, Christian! Righello, let’s make the most of this! Dragon Dance as much as you can!” Righello smirked and began to dance quickly in a circle. Orbs of energy surrounded him and spun just as quickly in the opposite direction. Righello began to feel invigorated, and he continued to dance – the effect only grew stronger and stronger.

Of course, the unintended effect of this was that Righello didn’t notice Gengar rushing at him, fist outstretched.

“Was my Gengar really disobeying me, Blue?” Christian asked rhetorically. “Or was he merely charging up for one of the most devastating attacks a Pokemon can learn – Focus Punch?”

Blue grinned. “Regardless, I think you’d better take a look at what actually happened…” He gestured to the field. Gengar was wailing in pain as Righello clamped his teeth on the ghost’s fist. “Righello can be surprisingly fast after he Dances.” Righello spit the fist out, and Gengar stumbled back. He started to charge at Righello again, but tripped… He fell to the ground and didn’t move again.

End Round Four! Winner: Blue and Righello!

Christian recalled Gengar and chuckled. “I suppose I’ve been going too easy on you, Blue. You’re far better than I gave you credit for! However, you won’t be going any farther than that! My last Pokemon is my most powerful by far, and more than strong enough to take down your Tyranitar!” He tossed a purple Pokeball onto the ground. Light burst forth from it, and both Blue and Righello shielded their eyes…

[*Murkrow]

Jeff, I'll try to get you conclusion done over the weekend.

I've also finally finished my own gym leader story, at long bloody last x_x

One thing I felt I should explain beforehand: I write it that Reflect/Light Screen can be manipulated to reduce more than the original amount. I.E, in the games, they reduce damage by (I think) half, but if a Pokémon concentrates then they can increase the effectiveness of the shield, so reducing the amount of damage dealt even further. However, they cannot do anything else while they're focusing, so if they, e.g, have Reflect up at max, then Light Screen ony be able to deflect the normal 1/2. If that needs anymore explaining, please tell me, though I hope the reason I mentioned this should become clear once you read the battles.
And if you don't like it, well, tough. If Pokémon can have more then four attacks, learn attacks they normally would never have and generally battle in a way completely different to the games then I think I'm justified in flinging an effect like that in because it sounds like something that could happen.

I'll be using Ryau (Pidgeotto L23 F), Rage (Skarmory M L21) and Omega (Shelgon M L40).

*Contains swearing and blood*

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

‘Ok,’ the Skarmory smiled, a faint flash of relief spreading across his face. ‘That’ll do me fine for now.’
A brief silence followed that, with all three Pokémon hesitating and glancing awkwardly at each other. Something was different now, and they all knew it.
‘Well….’ Omega coughed and nervously shifted his weight. ‘I guess it’s about time that we, well, went back? We’re going to have a bit of explaining to do, after all.’
‘Y…e….s’ Ryau answered slowly, turning away to glance back at the two unconscious Blaziken. ‘But what about them? Are we just going to leave them here?’
‘Let them rot,’ Rage said coldly with a shrug. ‘They’re nothing, especially now.’
Ryau flinched, avoiding looking at him in the eye. ‘It’s not their fault,’ she murmured, looking to Omega for his advice.
‘I think they’ve done as much damage as they can,’ the Shelgon stated firmly. ‘They’re been bested; they know that if they try anything else then they’ll be dealt with either by me or somebody else.’
‘But should we just leave them lying here?’ persisted Ryau, ‘after all, they didn’t have any qualms about scaring off the Pokémon that lived here; what if they come back, see them completely out of it and decide to get their revenge?’
‘Serves them right?’ suggested Rage.
‘Hopefully, they’ll recognise what was going on and leave the two of them alone,’ Omega answered after a minutes thought. ‘And, frankly, I don’t want to hang around for either of them to come to. There’s going to be trouble when we get back home, we can’t put it off forever.’
‘It’s ok; go back to your home. We can handle this.’
The female voice made them start and look around; strolling casually towards them was a Meganium, her eyes scanning the area expertly.
‘Excuse me?’ asked Omega incredulously.
‘We noticed the smoke; we’ve got an honour to dispel any problems that occur here….though in this case it looks like we were too late.’ She smiled in a rather forced fashion.
‘Oh.’ Omega grinned. ‘So you’re essentially saying that I screwed your job up, right?’
‘I wouldn’t have chosen those words. But yes, in a way. Though we admittedly are always welcome of help.’
‘Indeed,’ Rage snarled, ‘now, if you’re going to be looking after those two idiots’ –he motioned towards Jenny and Mars- ‘we can get off home now. I’ve got a proposition to make to my team-members.’
‘Eh?’ Omega glanced round at him. ‘I don’t like the sound of that.’
‘You wouldn’t because you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be wild, I’m not going to let us sit around and ignore what’s happening,’ he hissed back in reply, flexing his wings.
Ryau’s heart sank and she could tell that Omega’s had as well. That really didn’t sound good, especially coming from Rage.
‘Then why don’t you run along then?’ Meganium put in, giving a little laugh. ‘Let us take care of this averted calamity?’
‘Er…yeah, whatever you say,’ muttered Omega, rolling his eyes. Sensing that now they really were leaving, both Ryau and Rage flexed their wings in readiness.
‘Bella! Have you found it?’
The Meganium regally turned to look behind her as a teenage girl came wandering over. She looked about eighteen to nineteen; her hair was a rather light shade of blonde interspersed with light stripes of green, which matched her eye shade. Her dress consisted of a black, knee-length skirt, slashed to about the middle of her thigh, paired up with a vivid pink halter neck, that, simply put, showed rather a lot of cleavage. Hanging from a black ribbon around her neck was a green crystal that sparkled gently in the sunlight.
Omega coughed and tried to casually turn his attention away; Ryau was regarding the new arrival with curiosity. And Rage just looked like he hated her instantly. Par for the course with Rage.
‘So these are the Pokémon who obviously stopped them?’ The girl waved her hand at the Blaziken’s.
‘Indeed,’ Meganium replied, nodding.
‘Right then.’ She turned to the three and smiled coldly. ‘Well, as Bella has no doubt told you, we can handle things from here, so why don’t you all run along now? And thanks again!’
Both she and Bella directed fake smiles at the Pokémon, who recognised that now was definitely the time to leave. Rage and Ryau flapped into the air- Rage wearing an expression of extreme distaste, Ryau one of bemusement. Omega trotted after them, trying to keep up as the two birds effortlessly sped forwards.

Almost as soon as he had breached the hill, Ryau came drifting down to land by Omega’s side.
‘I’m just not comfortable alongside him,’ she said sadly, staring up at Rage, who was looking down expressionlessly. As soon as he noticed the two of them watching him, he jerked his head round and powered away rapidly.
‘I’m not surprised,’ Omega consoled gently. ‘He’s had a pretty rough time recently from what he said.’
‘He’s always had a rough time,’ Ryau smiled, ‘always. Usually because of you.’
‘If he annoys me on purpose then he should expect some retaliation,’ Omega countered, laughing. ‘But seriously though, things are different now. And I dread to think what’s going to happen when he gets home. Jock for one, may decide that now the time is ripe to kill him. Everybody thinks that Rage had a part in that attack.’
‘I know. I did too.’ She was silent for a second. ‘Do you think it tallies up? He could have caught that Mightyena before he fled, but no. He let both him and Fao…er, Zev, wasn’t it? That’s what he said his name was now?’
‘Yes.’
‘Right, well, He let them both get away. And this is Rage we’re talking about. We’d all just seen Paytah be killed, I doubt that Rage would have really cared if he’d gone and killed that Mightyena in front of us. But he didn’t. Nobody would have tried to stop him either…heck, I’d be willing to bet that Jock would have tried to help. Yet, he, well, let him get away.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Omega said quietly. ‘He’s never been one for subtlety.’
They were silent for a few minutes, just concentrating on their walking, the soft thuds as they brushed through the grass, listening to the whine of the wind as it rustled the vegetation around them.
‘You know what?’ Ryau’s voice was barely more than a whisper.
‘Hmm?’
‘I actually liked him being gone, at times. Everything is always so much simpler when he’s not around. And it was only two weeks, I know, but….I really was getting used to him not being there. To tell you the truth, I missed -miss- Celeste a hell of a lot more than I ever did him.’
Silence again.
‘What does that say about us? About our relationship?’
‘I don’t know,’ Omega replied truthfully.

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

Rage was waiting for them a couple of streets into the town.
‘Have we moved or something?’ he asked suspiciously. ‘Because there’s nobody home but the car in the drive definitely doesn’t belong to Hannah.’
‘Oh, of course, you weren’t h…er, we’re more in the centre now. Money issues, that sort of thing,’ Omega told him.
‘Huh’
‘Do you now about the team, um, losses?’ Omega asked, trying to break the tension that had settled among the three as they walked towards home.
‘What?’
‘Charade, Shiri, Brenth, Tasha and’ – Omega winced at the look on Ryau’s face- ‘Celeste have left, by their own accord.’
‘The butterfly’s gone? Joy. And the rat? That’s two of my prospective meals now living lives they really shouldn’t still have,’ the Skarmory concluded heartlessly.
Ryau flinched and focused intently on the pavement.
The silence descended again, even more thickly this time. Only the sounds of their footsteps broke through, their monotony drumming into the Pokémon’s minds.
‘There you are!’ A triumphant voice shouted from ahead. ‘We’ve been wondering where you took off too-’ Flash’s grin faded as he registered the third figure with them, skidding to a halt a few metres away.
‘It’s….it’s alright,’ Omega reassured the Quilava. ‘He’s with us, still.’
‘What the F*** is that meant to mean?’ Rage snarled.
‘It means that nobody was sure if you’d teamed up with those canines,’ Ryau whispered harshly. Rage looked briefly surprised, then hissed angrily.
‘And why the HELL would I want to team up with creatures like that?’ he screamed. ‘I don’t need ANYBODY, you understand that? I can live perfectly adequately on my own, thank you very much. You lot can kid yourself all you want, but if the end came then I could live without you. ANY of you.’ His narrow eyes settled on Ryau, who stared back for a second, before bursting into tears and darting up into the air.
‘Ryau,’ Flash yelled after her, sprinting off after her rapidly retreating figure.
Omega stood, frozen, watching as Ryau vanished. Rage just stood there, looking as though what had happened had been no fault of his.
‘What is your problem?’ Omega marvelled that his voice was so steady.
‘What?’ Rage flung him an incredulous look. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘You’re a bloody liar, that’s what,’ Omega snarled back, feeling his voice beginning to tremble; he doubted that he’d be able to keep himself under control for too much longer. ‘You can’t survive without us, you said so yourself, less than half a bloody hour ago. You can’t return to the wild, can you? That ‘intricate network’ you spoke of Barbossa having…. they’ll block you of from ever returning, won’t they? They’ve been essentially starving you out, haven’t they? That’s why you came back, isn’t it? Because you weren’t ready to die yet? That’s so like you, Rage so like you because it’s so f***ing selfish.’
Rage’s eyes glinted, a guttural hiss rising in his throat. ‘Don’t go there, Shelgon! I haven’t got time for you, don’t you get it? I DON’T need you, get off your high-horse. I CAN live without you lot, it’d be hard, yes, but I can do it. I’ve done it in the past and I can do it again! So maybe I am being selfish, but so bloody what? It’s not selfish to look for the easy way out; you’re right, I’m not planning to die yet, and if sticking with this motley crew of idiots is what it takes, then I’ll do it.’
‘THEN GET THIS INTO YOUR F***CKING HEAD. We don’t want to be put in danger because of you returning. You think you’ll be accepted back in, no questions asked after what you did? You saw Flash’s reaction; everybody thinks you betrayed us. Bloody hell, none of us was counting on seeing you again. Actually, you know what? We were all glad of it. I’ll repeat it again. All of us.’
Omega felt a tiny stab of triumph as he saw Rage’s composure flicker for a second.
‘She told me just now,’ he continued on. ‘When we were walking back. She enjoyed you being gone. As did all of us.’
‘You’re lying,’ Rage hissed, ‘making it up.’
‘And if I was? Why the hell would you care? You told her yourself, all of five minutes ago that you could live without any of us. You saw her reaction, saw her go off; you didn’t care, so don’t attempt to kid yourself to me, or anybody else that you did. You just royally f***ed up any chance of a reunion between the two of you, and I hope that you’re happy.’
‘Joyfully,’ he replied coldly. ‘Like I give a f***. There’re plenty more whores out there..’
Smash.
Rage slammed onto his back as Omega cannoned into him, the Shelgon literally exploding with hate and anger.
‘YOU LISTEN TO ME, YOU PATHETIC PIECE OF USELESS FLESH. RYAU IS NOT A WHORE. SHE NEVER HAS BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE. And now…now, you listen to me.’
Omega leant forward, so that he and Rage’s faces were no more than a few centimetres apart.
‘You remember what you said earlier? About how when I evolved you wanted to drag me to face Barbossa and finish him off for you? Well, I’ve made my choice. No way in hell am I ever going to be siding with you again. But there’s more. I’m going to tell you this now because I’m a fair Pokémon, and doing so will give you enough time to make your own decision about what will happen to you.’
Rage’s eyes narrowed.
‘You said that when I evolved, you wanted me to face Barbossa? No. I’m going to face you, you understand me? And if we do that, then I win, I’ll kill you. Understand me?’ If you’re still hanging round, pretending to be a ‘team-member’ then you’ll die. Understand?’
He nodded.
‘Good.’
Omega rolled off of him, and strode away, forcing himself to not look back. His heart was pounding like anything. Holy crap…had he actually gave Rage a death threat? What the hell? He was all for standing up for his friends, but…a death threat? Would….could….he actually kill Rage? Yet he knew the answer to that. Even if Rage turned against everything, struck out at all his friends. He could fight him, easy. He’d done so before, and won. He just wouldn’t be able to deliver that final blow. He shuddered, even thinking of it.
‘Does that threat only hold once you evolve?’ Rage’s voice made him jump, it was so unexpected.
‘Yes.’
‘Alright then.’ A clatter of steel wings, a couple of seconds wait, and then the bird landed by his side. ‘Which way is the new apartment?’

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

Rage was secretly impressed. He’d never have imagined that Omega would actually threaten him like that. Perhaps that Shelgon did have a backbone after all.
Or maybe not.
He could tell from the way he’d walked away that he was shocked by what he’d said. It was obvious. Omega had let his anger take over for a second, blurted out something that he would never be able to perform and was now struggling to figure out what to do now.
That could be quite fun to toy with, actually.
Rage grinned to himself. Hang around Omega, give him gentle reminders of his threat, be the first on the scene when the Shelgon evolved. Just to see the look on his face. Of course, he wouldn’t put it past Omega to battle him, which, as much as he hated to admit it, he’d lose, but how smug could he act when he woke from unconsciousness Taunting Omega, the then proud Salamence, about how he’d backed down from his part of the deal? Perfect.
And considering that Omega had just said so himself, he needn’t have anything to worry about until…actually.
‘When you say that everybody thinks I betrayed them…what exactly do you mean by that?’
‘What it says,’ Omega replied softly. ‘They think you had teamed up with Barbossa before-hand then fled to join up with him. And, believe me, when I said they didn’t miss you, I meant it. They’re not going to be best pleased to see you again.’
‘I’ll live.’
‘Watch your back, if I were you. And not from me. Jock in particular is edgy about what happened, he might not give you a chance to explain.’
‘I’ll bear that in mind.’
Silence fell again.
‘What was that ‘proposition’ you were talking about to that Meganium?’
‘I wanted……nothing. I know not to ask now, nothing will come out of it.’
‘That tells me everything I need to know.’
They lapsed into silence again. Rage was struggling internally. He couldn’t believe the sudden thought that had sparked into his mind; it would make him spend way more time than he would ever wish with Omega, and yet it would be a good way of spending whatever remaining time he had left…oh what the hell.
‘Omega, I’ll make a deal with you.’
‘Huh?’
‘I know you’ll never kill me, really, but if you wish, then I will gladly bugger off when you evolve.’
‘And the catch is?’
‘Train me. Teach me everything you know, then I will willingly turn my back on you and the rest once you evolve. I’ll return to the wild and you’ll never see me again. How does that strike your fancy?’
‘It means that I would be spending an awful amount of time in your company.’
‘I understand that, that is the main drawback on my side as well.’
‘You swear you’ll leave? That’ll be it?’
‘I swear.’

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

Omega considered Rage for a few minutes. Although what he was saying would mean the two spending ridiculous amounts of time together, their time could be limited simply because it revolved around him. If he stepped up his personal training and battles, they could be rid of Rage in a few weeks, maybe even less. Then that would be it.
‘Deal.’

-----------------------------
* *
‘Deal.’ Rage smirked maliciously as he followed Omega’s lead. That was settled then. His time here was now officially limited.
That didn’t feel as good as he might have expected, though. Odd.
‘So they were telling the truth.’
Sh*t. Twisting his head, Rage scowled at Jock as the Houndoom approached.
‘What?’ Omega asked curiously.
‘Flash came back saying that he’s spotted the…the three of you together. Then Ryau was escorted back by Rénar and told us everything what happened.’ His tone was steady, emotionless.
‘And what are you going to do about it?’ chuckled Rage.
‘Nothing.’
Huh?
‘I’ve listened to what Ryau said,’ Jock stated tonelessly, ‘I know that you didn’t have anything to do with it as we initially suspected. So I’m willing to accept that you will be rejoining us…..for however long you feel you wish to stay.’
He stopped speaking, regarded him silently for a moment or tow, then calmly turned around and began to walk back the way he came.
Rage felt strangely vulnerable as he stared at Jock as he walked away. He hadn’t expected anybody to just shrug off what he’d done like that.
Omega had the same startled look on his face; he caught his eye then shrugged.
‘Jock’s always been fair,’ he sighed, ‘I just don’t think he could hold a grudge after things were explained to him.’ His expression changed, and became stony. ‘I hope you like knowing that you’re going to really dent his confidence once you turn round and leave. Alongside everything else you’ve done.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Doesn’t sound like either Flash nor Ry told them everything what happened…maybe they glossed over some of the things you said.’
Again, Rage felt that tiny jolt of vulnerability. Mostly at the mention of the Pidgeotto’s name.
‘I-’ he began.
‘I hope you’re happy knowing just what you’re going to do,’ he said quietly, before he started walking slowly after Jock.

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

Omega yawned as he wandered through the apartment, blinking away the sleep. It was the holiday’s, so having a lie in was perfectly acceptable. That was why the apartment was already flooded with light; a quick check at the clock told him that it was half ten.
He grinned to himself at that. It didn’t take long to rootle around and get himself some breakfast, so by quarter to eleven he was trotting into the shared back garden, looking around for Rage.

Things had been surprisingly calm when him and Rage had arrived home; apparently, everybody had decided to follow Jock’s route and treat Rage with tolerance rather than anger. He’d had a whispered conversation with Flash and Ryau, and all three of them had agreed not to mention Rage’s previous outburst, lest it ruined the fragile relationship that had been remade.
Things had been…strange that night. Rage had excused himself early on, flying out into the garden and hiding himself in the foliage of one of the trees. Ryau had looked for a second as though she was tempted to follow him, but then thought against it. Jock had been rather quiet, seemingly deep in thought, spending most of his time pacing round and round the small living room. Flash, Sianna and Hannah had made stilted conversation for a while, before reverting to the ease of the television.

And now…here he was, beginning his part of the deal. Although he still wasn’t that enthusiastic about spending a lot of time with Rage, he’d slept on the idea, and realised that he could use the time to his advantage as well.

A clang of metal signalled Rage’s arrival; he landed with a sneer on his face and smirked as Omega blinked at him curiously.
‘Everything alright for you, teacher?’
‘Rage, call me that and the deal is off, ok? Besides, I thought you were taking this seriously.’
‘I am’
Something about his curtness made Omega glance up. Rage quickly looked away before they made eye contact, staring at the tree where he’d spent the night.
‘What? Rage?’
‘Did, um, did Ryau…how was she last night?’
Omega stared at him for a second, then groaned and buried his face in the grass. ‘Bloody hell, Rage. Make up your mind about what you fricking want. Then come ask me about her. I’m not going to let you exploit her if you’re still unsure what you want.’
‘You interpreted that exactly as I knew you would; the wrong way.’
‘No, Rage. With you, there was no wrong way. You don’t ask questions about others to be polite. End of story.’
Rage snarled in irritation for a second, then somehow managed a tense smile.
‘So….are you going to start training me now?’
‘Considering I don’t have much of a choice,’ sighed Omega, ‘yes. But in-case you hadn’t considered things, we might have a problem with that. We have no moves in similarity; I’m good and all, but I’m not sure how I can teach you to control your attacks effectively if I don’t know how.’
Rage flung him an in credulous look. ‘Do you think I’m stupid, Omega? Like I’m going to fall for that?’
Bugger it.
‘I have control over everything I know,’ he continued on, ‘I would just like some new ideas and techniques pointed out to me in the way I can combo and use them together. So don’t pretend that you can’t do what you agreed to. ’
Drat. There went one of Omega’s hopes for lessening the amount of time spent with Rage. He groaned.
‘Ok, point taken. But before we move onto what you feel you require….you know Aeroblast, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Ever used it?’
‘Oh….er….n-no.’
‘You really have ‘control’ over that move, then?’
‘Am I allowed to say ‘go to hell, Omega’ in these lessons?’
‘If you so feel the need to.’
‘But of course, you won’t feel the need, will you, Rage?’ Ryau asked coldly, swooping down sudden to land by Omega’s side. ‘Because you know as well as I do that Omega will only be telling you stuff that will be completely 100% relevant to your new training schedule, so any come-backs you can come up with will not be required.’
Omega groaned again and smacked his head back onto the ground. Just what he needed; Ryau and Rage glaring daggers at each other.
‘Ry, why are you up so….um,’ he hesitated, realising that ‘early’ didn’t really apply.
‘You made too much noise when you were getting your breakfast,’ she said peacefully. ‘Everybody else is up as well; they’ll be out soon enough.’
‘NO WAY!’ Rage let out a shriek of protest. ‘We didn’t agree that others would be able to come and watch us at will, Omega.’
‘Nor did we agree that they would be entirely private,’ Omega replied, without thinking of what he was saying.
There was a rather nasty silence, during which Rage transferred his gaze slowly from Omega to Rayu and back again.
‘Fine then,’ he hissed, ‘starting from tomorrow, these little ‘lessons’ of ours will be entirely private; I do not wish to have my concentration broken because some pathetic excuses for Pokémon are watching me every move.’
Sianna took that opportunity to come trotting eagerly from the back door of the apartment building, heard his words and beamed back at him.
‘Rage, you’re standing in the middle of a shared garden; we have as much right as you do to come and spend time outside here. As do the occupants of the four other flats.’
‘And you can’t really go train in the wild, can you…?’ Ryau enquired innocently, ‘you know, away from a lot more protection than you might need..’
Rage let out a roar of frustration, snapped at Ryau’s head – managing to snatch a few feathers from her crest – then sprung into the air and swooped away.

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

‘Is this really how you feel towards Rage now?’ Omega asked Ryau softly as they watched the bird vanish. ‘Or are you just making sure that he, you, er don’t get….er…hurt?’
‘The latter,’ she murmured quietly. ‘Let’s just say that last night, I realised two things. One: Rage does not give a sh*t. Two: I’ll be better off and have a much more peaceful life without him hawking around.’ She ruffled her feathers importantly. ‘It might take a little while of getting used to, but I know I’ll pull through.’
‘Are you really sure you want to put yourself through it, though?’ Sianna asked nervously. ‘I’m not saying that you should just act like you used to; just tell him straight out what you think and feel. Don’t beat around the bush, just go straight to the point. It’d probably save you both some grief later on if you have trouble keeping the act up.’
‘I considered that,’ whispered Ryau, looking distraught for a second, but then hastily rearranging her expression. ‘But he’d exploit it for his own ends; he’d say he’d changed, pretend he had…I know him. That’s what he’d do, and at the end of the day, things would be the same. No, it’s just easier this way.’
There was silence for a few more minutes, during which Jock poked his head out of the back door, half-smiled and retreated back inside.
‘You never told us how long Rage’s training was going to last, Omega,’ Sianna ventured cautiously. ‘All you said last night was that the two of you had agreed that you’d train him for a while. How long is ‘for a while’?’
Omega stared at his friends for a second or two, then sighed. They’d find out eventually, might as well tell them now.
‘Until I evolve,’ he said, careful to keep his voice steady and emotionless.
‘That might not be very long,’ muttered Ryau softly. ‘What else is there to it, then?’
‘The training part is my part of the deal. Rage’s part is that once I evolve, he’ll leave. That’s it.’
Sianna flinched; both the Shelgon and Bayleef were watching Ryau out of the corner of their eyes, and neither missed the spasm of distress that flashed across her face.
She managed to keep her voice flat, however, when she spoke. ‘He’ll leave to where?’
‘Omega shrugged. ‘Where-ever he can go, I’d expect.’
‘Right.’
Her eyes had gone blank; as she turned away, Omega and Sianna exchanged a brief look before Omega slumped down and buried his face in the dirt. What he would do for a quiet life.

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

Rage was seething as he hastened away from the garden. How dare she, how dare….she had no right to speak down to him like that, insult him. He’d teach her, he’d show her, he’d…. But then she wouldn’t speak to him again, for sure.
Except she probably was already not speaking to him again.
No, she’d spoke to him, she mustn’t hate him that much.
She wasn’t acting friendly, though, far from it.
Give her time.
She sided with Omega.
Of course she would, she…
No, she didn’t have to side with him.
Why should she side with me?
She’s my…no, not anymore.
Pity that.
No..
What the f*** was he saying?
He didn’t want her, he didn’t need her.
Though it was nice to remember-
‘Oh for the love of-’ He stopped in mid air, glared at nothing in particular, then let out a stream of profanities. ‘I’m going crazy. No, Rage, stop it, stop thinking about her, you should never have come back, just leave now, it was stupid, it was…’
His wings weren’t co-operating. His mind was telling them to move him in the direction of…somewhere, but they just kept flapping steadily, keeping him hovering over some random part of the neighbourhood.
He seriously could not believe this.
‘What is wrong with ME?’ he screamed out in frustration. Then jumped a mile as a familiar voice called out from below.
‘Beats me, though you do realise that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness?’
He glared down. He was about ten feet above some road, and standing on the pavement, watching him with a cheerful grin of her face was the Meganium from the day before.
‘Something bothering you?’ she enquired happily, giving him a wide grin.
He snarled at her. ‘What do you want?’
‘Myself and my trainer had a little chat last night, and we decided after seeing your friends’ feats yesterday, that we should send him a challenge.’
‘And we, er, he should care, why?’
‘You don’t know?’ She looked genuinely surprised. ‘Oh, I guess that’s why you showed no reaction to her yesterday. Crystal is the grass gym leader of the Crystal Caves. And whereas most of the leaders are open to the general public…Crystal’s gym is invite only.’ She gave a winning smile. ‘Your friend should count himself lucky.’
‘I’m sure he will,’ Rage answered sarcastically, trying not to think of Omega’s reaction.
‘So, will you do me the honour of taking me to him? We managed to get hold of his trainers name and their location, but I’m not very good with street names.’
‘No.’
‘Awwwww. Please?’
Rage stared at her. She’d acted like an ice queen on their previous meeting, yet now she was all cute and just…ergh.
He didn’t have any more time to contemplate her, however, for the next second he found himself flat out on his back in the middle of the road.
What the hell?
He stared at her as she retracted her vines and smiled benignly.
‘I was ten feet above you!’
‘I’m incredibly well trained,’ she replied primly. ‘Now, have you changed you mind about taking me to meet them?’

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

‘And then he just took off, like that,’ Omega finished eagerly. ‘To tell you the truth, I was well glad to be shot of him; I have a whole host of other things I’d rather be getting on with today.’
‘Omega,’ Jock reprimanded him, shaking his head. ‘You made an agreement with him, and it’s your duty to stick to it.’
Everybody stared at him.
‘Are you sure that you’re alright?’ Hannah asked him eventually. ‘You’ve, well, you’ve adjusted to him being back pretty, er, quickly.’
‘Ever heard of the phrase ‘sleep on it’?’ Jock replied calmly. ‘I realised this morning when I woke that worrying about what might happen is useless, so I’ve decided to play it by ear now, and just see what happens.’
Omega somehow managed to resist the urge to smash his head into the floor again. He assumed that he was the only one who had noticed the twitch in Jock’s eye as he’d smiled. Fan-bloody-tastic. Now half the bloody team was suffering from secret mental problems. He cast a quick, nervous glance around at the others. Flash and Sianna looked ok, thank God. He knew he was fine, and he guessed Hannah was. Phew. If anybody else had or began to show signs of mental anguish, Omega had a feeling he’d have a mental breakdown.
‘Any idea where Rage went?’ Flash asked curiously, snatching another brownie from the plate. Omega, Ryau and Sianna had wandered back inside a couple of minutes after Rage flew off, to find everybody else moaning because Omega had finished off the cereal without realising it. So they’d done the next best thing and raided the cupboards, ending up with a plate of brownies, apples, a few strawberry yogurts and a couple of packets of mints. Which as Flash had pointed out, as a rather well-balanced meal in itself. Omega wasn’t so sure, but he had better things on his mind than to waste time arguing.
‘I got the impression it was to find someplace quiet for him and Omega to train in,’ Ryau stated her opinion, shrugging.
The doorbell rang before anybody could answer her. Next second, Rage evidently lost his temper, figured they weren’t going to answer and busted the door open.
‘Rage, you realise that you’re going to have to pay for that?’ Hannah asked, eyeing the door, now complete with claw and beak marks.
‘Huh,’ he muttered. ‘And now you lot might like to all get outside, there’s somebody out the front who’d like to meet you.’
Really?’ Flash looked up excitedly. ‘Who?’
‘Omega and Ryau will know; we met her yesterday.’
‘Oh great the human or the Pokémon?’ Omega inquired.
‘Pokémon.’
‘What’s this?’ asked Jock curiously, staring at Omega….and only at Omega, as the Shelgon noticed. Jock had averted his eyes the second Rage had appeared.
‘Explain later, I got the impression she doesn’t like to wait for things,’ Rage butted in snidely, rubbing his wings together. That got him a couple of curious looks.
‘Omega, can I ask that next time you run into strange people and/or Pokémon you actually let us know?’ Hannah asked, frowning at Rage.
‘Do I have to tell you everything about my time day?’ Omega rebuked, ‘or why don’t I just sit around here all day, save you the hassle?’
‘Wow,’ laughed Sianna as she trotted towards the door. ‘Talk about over-reacting.’

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

‘Come on, we haven’t got all day, you know,’ the Meganium called out as the team trekked out from the building. She had settled herself quite comfortably on the grass on the front lawn, watching keenly as they all milled over towards her.
‘Hello, er, Bella,’ said Omega politely, grabbing the name from his memory. ‘What are you here for?’
‘No beating around the bush then? Oh well…hello dear’- she spied Sianna and gave her a winning smile. ‘Now isn’t that cute! I remember when I was a Bayleef. Not that I stayed in that form for long’- she gave a tinkling laugh- ‘I was always determined to reach my final stage as quickly as possible, because we all know that there’s never any point in just waiting.’
‘I’ve been like this for ages now,’ Sianna whined. ‘And it hasn’t done me any harm.’
‘Of course it hasn’t.’ Again came that fake smile. ‘Now, dear, if you could please translate what I’m saying so that your trainer understands, that would be wonderful. Anyway…as I have briefly told the Skarmory, I am hear to invite you to a challenge against Crystal, the grass gym leader of the Crystal Caves. We both witnessed the Shelgon’s battles yesterday and believe that if he is any indication of this teams abilities’-her smile flickered slightly- ‘then you should show us an admirable challenge.’
She paused for a second to allow Sianna to finish translating.
‘Battles will be one on one with three Pokémon used from each trainer. There will be no move restrictions, and battles are won by straight KO’s, so no funny stuff. No time limit. No Pokémon switches allowed once in battle. And may I also point out that Crystal refuses to battle people unless she herself invites them too, so this is pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity.’
‘She already told me that last bit,’ Rage murmured in Omega’s ear, ‘that Crystal sounds like one of those stuck-up spoilt brats that everybody hates.’
‘Hmm.’ It took Omega a second or two to realise that he and Rage had just spoken to each amiably, and that they had actually agreed with each other over something. Judging by the sound of agitated shuffling, Rage had just clocked the same thing.
‘So, what is your answer?’ beamed Bella smugly.
There was a brief silence in which all present knew exactly what the answer was going to be.
‘Of course we will,’ Hannah smiled, glancing around at her Pokémon.
Omega chuckled to himself. All the more better for him.

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

Bella strode ahead, leading the way into the meadow, where the gym was situated. The others trailed along behind her, talking amongst themselves, quickly discussing strategies and choices.
‘I’ll bet that she’s putting some of that cheerfulness on,’ commented Flash softly, staring at the Meganium’s back. ‘It must be a bit of a knock to come challenge somebody to a grass battle only to discover that 5/6 of the team consists of Pokémon with either an advantage or a resistance to grass attacks.’
‘Counting resistances in, it’s 6/6’ pointed out Sianna smugly. ‘I would resist any grass attacks thrown at me.’
‘Yes, but you wouldn’t be able to dish out much damage in return,’ said Jock reasonably.
‘Oh, go steal my thunder, why don’t you. Still, that’s me out.’
‘I do not really wish to fight either,’ Jock added, ‘I have not fought in years, and although I should be able to dent anything that comes at me, I don’t have the reasonable skill to put up a decent challenge.’
‘Fair enough,’ replied Hannah. ‘So that means it’s down to Omega, Ry, Flash and Rage.’
‘More like down to Ry, Flash and Rage?’ asked Sianna with a giggle. ‘We all know that Omega will be battling.’
‘I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ put in Omega.
‘Fine then. Ry, Flash, Rage, which of you want to fight?’
‘I’d like to,’ answered Ryau immediately. ‘I am one of the strongest, and it would be a good way for me to increase my levels at the same time.’
‘Ok then. Rage, Flash-who’ll it be?’
‘I’m up for it!’ chuckled Flash, flinging his head back to stare at Rage, who was flying boredly above them. ‘Rage, you want to battle?’
‘Huh.’
‘I’m going to take that as a….no!’ The Quilava’s back flared up in his excitement, making Sianna squeak and jump out of the way.
Omega just couldn’t resist. ‘As long as you don’t go your usual path…what’s you win/loss ratio again?’
Flash scowled at him. Rage laughed.
‘I think the phrase, ‘go to hell’ is very appropriate for right about now,’ he called down.
‘Not my style,’ Flash conceded, contenting himself with one last glare before turning his back on Omega.

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

‘And here we are!’ After half an hours casual walk, they had penetrated into the heart of the meadow, finally reaching an acre or so of smooth grassland. Covering a large chunk of this area was what seemed to be the battlefield, the outside perimeter consisting of tall, flowering plants. Two spaces were left on opposite sides, presumably where the trainers stood. The traditional markings inside the arena were created out of smaller, low lying flowers, the combination of which meant that a pleasant aromatic smell was constantly wafting though the air.
Behind the arena, a medium sized building had been constructed, the wood panels almost covered with plants, ivy interspersed with honeysuckle. Hanging baskets overflowing with vibrant colours hung over the open door, through which Crystal came sauntering as they stopped at the edge of the arena. Her attire was nearly identical to the previous days, though the top was a glittery turquoise rather than pink.
She scrutinised them all individually for a few seconds, smirked and strolled to stand on her side of the field, closely followed by Bella.
Hannah and her Pokémon exchanged a look and walked to the opposing side, stationing themselves between the waving flowers.
‘I know that Bella will have explained the rules already, so I don’t see why we shouldn’t start now. There is no referee, by the way; I feel that it is not needed when the rules are this simple.’
She smirked again and pulled a Poké Ball from her belt.
‘Let’s get started then, right, Brooks?’
She flung the ball forwards; it burst open to reveal a sombre wearing grass type with a big grin. Thick yellow fur seemed to cover his body, contrasting with his bright green legs, arms and hat. Almost as soon as he was released, he began to bounce up and down, humming a song under his breath.
‘Damn, I’d forgotten that there was a grass/water nowadays,’ Hannah muttered to Omega who shrugged. The secondary type meant that Brooks would have access to attacks that would deal heavy damage whoever she chose. Still, she knew that all three of her choices had battled and won with disadvantages. That meant all she had to do was choose…..
‘Ry, go.’
The Pidgeotto nodded and swooped forward, delicately landing facing Brooks. There was a couple of seconds silence as both teams glared at each other.
Then, at a silent signal, both battlers leapt back and apart.
Crystal snapped her fingers. Brook’s murmuring instantly erupted into a full-on song, and enthusiastically began to dance across the grass, waving his arms and looking into the sky. Almost instantaneously, the few clouds began to darken, drifting to hover over the battlefield, as the heavens opened. First it was one spot of rain, then four more, then a downpour. Yet focused entirely on the patch of grass inside the flower perimeter; the trainers and their other Pokémon were free from the majority of it, though they could not help by get hit by the spray raining down.
Ryau was drenched in seconds, of course, but she still smiled triumphantly. Wary of the most obvious attacks that might be used against her, she had tenderly focused some of her energy into creating the small doll-like bird that was fluttering gracefully alongside her. It wasn’t long before her decision paid off; flying above Brooks, she saw the water gathering in his sombre, yet not overflowing as he absorbed it into his body constantly.
That was the challenge, then: deal more than he could heal and she’d win.
Crystal clicked her fingers, and Brooks shot his gaze skyward again. His mouth fell open and he spat a large seed out, that grew rapidly, sprouting roots and vines that snaked to meet Ryau. She didn’t move, letting her substitute fly in front of her; the vines encased it briefly, then disintegrated, falling down uselessly.
Ryau thought she heard Crystal swear; she smirked to herself and accelerated down, diving at the fastest she could, successfully ramming into Brooks's head. He stumbled back, hissing irritably, then lashed out with his fist. She dodged to the right, but he feinted and smashed her with his right fist, the surprise of which caused her to flinch, tumbling to land on the sodden ground. She was on her feet in seconds, and flapping her heavy wings, but he bore down on her, particles of ice forming around his mouth. Her doll darted in front of her as the beam of ice blasted out: Ryau prayed desperately that, despite the close range, the damage dealt would not be enough to destroy her substitute, even as she struggled into the air. Brooks turned the beam upwards, trying to catch her; she flung herself into a speed attack to evade him, then felt a stab of relief as she barrel-rolled, catching sight of her battered doll flying after her. It didn’t look like it had much energy left in it, but if it could stave off a couple of blows then it could do wonders for her chances.
Still, no need to take risk if there was no need.
She and her doll slipped easily into the alternate dimension, flying back down, through the lurching shadows of purple and black, to where Brooks’s body emanated a blood-red aura, as he circled round, trying to pin-point where she’d vanished to.
She hesitated for another second, so that the toxins forming inside of her body could increase, then darted out, seizing his head with her claws and letting the dark energy pulsate into his body. He shrieked and pulled away from her, but she clung on, forcing herself to retch and attempt to spit the nausea inducing substance into the water gathered on his hat.
Or at least, that was the plan.
Instead, she felt her body temperature plummet as Brooks unleashed a massive blast of cold from his body: it whipped through the falling rain, freezing the drops, then hurling them around in a frenzy. Ryau was trapped in the middle of the vortex, trembling as the almighty blizzard of ice dug into her. Shivering, she flailed around, trying to escape, when she felt the small tug at her heart that meant her substitute was gone, consumed in the blizzard.
Frantically, she flung up a thin layer of violet light around her form, which repelled the attack, enabling her to fly forwards, trembling, her eyes keenly staring through the thick snow and ice layers around her.
Then suddenly, she was free. The storm died down and she lowered her gaze to see Brooks smirking up at her. He gave what seemed to be a friendly wave and the rain poured down again, thundering against both of their bodies.
Ryau felt exhausted. She wasn’t sure whether it was the rain, the temperature, or just the fact that she was suddenly comprehending what it was she was up against. She could create a substitute again, but she knew that a couple of hits from the blizzard would be all it would take to shatter it, leaving her defenceless again and in an even more weakened state. Her attempt to poison him had back-fired; he’d been prepared if she tried to sneak in again. And with it still raining he could heal himself all he wanted and she couldn’t do anything about it.
She shuddered, heard the swoosh of something approaching and rocketed down, feeling the temperature plummet even lower as the beam shot over her head. Evidently, bringing her closer to the ground was what Brooks was intending to do, because he unleashed an identical beam, again forcing her down. She was flying a couple of feet above his head-level now, yet still trying to keep her distance in-case he opted for another blizzard.
Water was dribbling through her feathers, dripping from her wing tips; she was shivering constantly now.
Brooks was sniggering, even as another beam began to form in his mouth.
She stared at him, then blinked suddenly. One of those random sparks of inspiration flared in her mind, coupled with the weird vagueness that déja vu brings. She’d been facing off to something similar only yesterday, hadn’t she? A smile flickered across her face as she realised that she’d felt equally wet then…in its own way, that was comforting. It reminded her that she’d look back on this as well.
The other thought spurred her on, as she stared at him, barrel-rolling to avoid the attack. Her previous tactic lodged in her mind; she’d tried to poison him by infecting the water he’d collected, knowing that he’d absorb it into his body. Yet if that was how he was constantly healing himself…?
She looked at him and flat-out accelerated again. In seconds she had crossed the distance between them, spinning to smash into his head, splashing into the pool of water gathered inside his hat. Then she went mad, lashing out with her beak, clawing at him with her talons, ripping at the sides, tearing through the delicate structures. She knew she was carrying the element of surprise; he had not been expecting her to do that, and so she only had a few seconds before he came to his senses and blasted her away again…….
Nobody could say that she didn’t take full advantage of the time she had.
She felt the temperature drop and darted into the air, adrenaline powering her on. Brooks shrieked incoherently, water trickling down his sides, flowing through the rips and gashes she’d inflicted in his hat.
Good.
He could still heal, of course but she’d cut down the amount he could. Even better, he’d been thrown off-guard so his attack faltered out as he tried to realise what exactly had happened.
She closed her eyes, feeling her body warm up, aware that her body was beginning to glow, even able to see it, vaguely, the light dancing over her closed eyelids. The feeling increased, the gentle sense that everything would be alright, that she could do this, she would. She became aware that the temperature around her had dropped again, that the cold was encasing her from all directions.
She didn’t care, because she knew she would win.
Then she let her form drop, hurtling through the blizzard, the light that was her body piercing through the thick screen. She wrenched her eyes open, to allow herself to guide her body to directly hit him.
She saw his shadow through the ice.
With a resounding crunch, she smashed into his body, feeling her own shudder with the impact, yet feeling too him crumpling. He stumbled backwards and half-fell: she fell with him, pushing him over the edge so that he thudded onto his back in the grass.
Triumphantly, she breezed to a halt, landing delicately on his chest, digging her claws in as her inner light faded away. It was still raining, drumming rhythmically on both of their bodies and the ground. She wasn’t sure that her friends could see them, if Crystal could see them.
Either way, they were about to. The rain was slackening, as the dance Brooks had used lost its effect; no renewal, no rain.
Brooks big eyes widened, his pupils dilating.
Next second, his mouth had slid open and he spat another massive seed at her, which smacked into her front, instantly wrapping vines around her as the roots snaked back and entwined with Brooks’s hands.
Oh sh*t, was her initial thought.
Backtracking, she flung her wings wide, successfully snapping some of the vines, yet she could feel the steady tug as they began to sap her power, letting it trickle down the roots back to their owner.
He flung her a toothy grin, then abruptly shot another ice beam at her.
The pain engulfed her: at such a close range, the effect was doubled, the intense cold consumed her body, her mind was drifting away….
So intently focused on the sensation, she failed to register that the drum of rain had faded to almost nothing, nor hear the cries that were rising over the damp battlefield.
Until a laugh leaked its way into her consciousness. It alone struck at her because the owner had truly meant something to her.
Anger and indignation flared up in her. She was not going to let him do this, not now. She’d keep her dignity if it was the last thing she did.
It hurt, but she twisted away, hearing her muscles scream out, but she ignored them, turning her body enough that she could send her wing smashing down through the beam. Pain flared, but it was numbed, the metallic coating of her wing withstanding the onslaught.
She ducked down, snapping her beak thought the roots and vines, shredding them, as her body began to glow with her light again.
She’d do this for herself.
His attack finished, as she had known it would; he would want to check the extent of his damage, and possibly even what the glimmer of light on the edge of his vision was. His own attack was blocking his view: he’d messed up, right at the end.
As the final remnants vanished, she spun and plunged into him, ploughing into his body, digging as deep as she could. The remaining roots ripped and battered against both their bodies, their white edges mingling with the fur and blood now flying though the air.
She pulled back, shaking. He lay beneath her, his eyes wide, breathing fast, his front a mass of red and yellow. As his panic stricken eyes watched her, she drew back, forcing herself into the air, where she hovered, then dove, delivering the final blow as she crunched into his form.
He shuddered, then went still, his eyes blank and his laboured breathing slowing as she pulled back, stumbling over her feet as she tumbled off his unconscious body and stood, swaying.

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

‘Bloody hell,’ whispered Omega hoarsely, staring at the battered Ludicolo and the motionless body of his friend.
His words echoed out over the silence that had descended, and in doing so, broke through the spell.
Crystal flinched, then pulled out Brooks’s Poké Ball.
‘Return.’ Her voice was flat; no silent thanks to her Pokémon. She tucked the ball away, exchanged a look with the glaring Bella and drew out another.
‘Xia,’ she said simply, flicking the ball out. It opened, the light concentrating to form a large flower, her body blue, with deep red petals. Yellow spores clustered over the petals, tumbling over each other as their owner swayed on the spot, her spindly legs seemingly too thin to support her weight.
Crystal clicked her fingers again. Xia let out a yell, raising both arms to the sky as her petals flashed with fire. The fire spiralled around her form once, then exploded upwards, creating a massive ball of fire in the sky, its scorching rays emanating over the field. The fire on Xia’s petals faded, to be replaced by a green glow as the chloroplasts began to work faster.
‘Ry, Whirlwind!’ Hannah shouted to her Pokémon, who had been squatting on the battlefield, drawing deep breaths to ready herself. She nodded in response to her trainers call and lurched into the air, beating her wings heavily. The rapidly drying grass rustled as the wind stirred, whipping into a frenzy in seconds. The epicentre of the wind focused around Ryau, her strong wings sending wave upon wave of air outwards and around.
Crystal looked furious for a second, her expression betraying the fact that she had no way to stop this….then her expression changed. A sly grin flashed to life and she laughed out loud.
‘You’re essentially giving this win over to me, are you? Or hoping that I’m not stupid enough to not take it? Tough luck, hon. Xia, Stun Spore.’
The spores on Xia’s petals shot upwards immediately, scattering into the tornado around Ryau, encircling the Pokémon, drawn in and covering her body. The Pidgeotto winced, feeling her muscles locking up, but she forced herself to finish off with one, strong downwards stroke.
The tornado roared out, seized Xia in its grip and flung her round: a red beam shot from the Poké Ball Crystal was holding, automatically recalling the Vileplume.
Bella didn’t hesitate; she let out a battle cry and charged onto the field, vines lashing from around her neck, ensnaring Ryau as the bird struggled to maintain her flight with her contorting body. Dragging her down to eye level, Bella gave her big, fake smile, even as her petals began to glow white. The light increased, then blasted outwards, consuming Ryau and sending her hurtling back as Bella released her.
For a moment or so, the light continued its assault, causing everybody present to cover their eyes or look away, before it stopped as suddenly as though a switch had been thrown.
Ryau tumbled earthwards, her eyes still faintly open, her wings twitching vainly for flight before she crumpled onto the ground with a thud.
Her eyes closed and she fell silent.
Crystal smirked and flicked her hair back boldly; Hannah winced and quickly recalled the Pidgeotto. Anything she might have been about to say was cut off, however as a furious voice shrieked into the air.*
‘HOW F***ING DARE YOU,’ Rage bellowed at the smirking Meganium. ‘I’M GONNA PERSONALLY MAKE SURE YOU REGRET THAT.’
‘But you laughed when Ry was getting beaten,’ spluttered Omega, ‘why do want to aven..’
‘Shut the f*** up, Omega,’ hissed Rage in anger, rushing into the air with a screech of metal on metal.
‘But I was going to be the third battler,’ Flash whined….then abruptly shut up as Rage shot him a death glare.

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

Rage was seething inside. How dare that bitch, how dare she. Nobody touched her, his.
She was going straight to hell, and he’d personally accompany her on her trip down.
He tucked in his wings and shot forward like a bullet, his beak whirring as he aimed to strike her in the neck. Hit a main artery or vein or whatever. Make her bleed.
The bitch just stood there, smiling. How easy for him, then.
He was close now, he was seeing the flesh, just ready for him.
Now.
Her felt his beak dig into her flesh, felt a burst of warmth trickle over his face.
For a second.
A flash of red engulfed her, then ricocheted out, knocking him back, away, causing him to smash into the ground, winded.
‘I think your Skarmory is lacking in brains,’ mocked Crystal, splashing a pretend worried expression across her face. Bella snickered. ‘Mind you, Bella told me that she thought that was the case, right from the start.’
Rage hissed, unaware of the snarls coming from behind him, his attention focused only on the Pokémon in front of him. She laughed mockingly and her petals flashed, first orange, then blue. Next second, the colours materialised around her body, two identical looking shields of colour, encasing her perfectly.
‘I’ll assume you know what those two moves are?’ taunted Crystal, sniggering. ‘But to complement the picture-’
A light silver mist rose from Bella’s petals, sparkling, covering her like a veil so that her image shifted and swayed even as she stood still.
‘And there you have it, my Bella’s defences are at the maximum for both types of attacks, and you can’t even resort to status effects,’ smirked Crystal. ‘Might as well call it a day, mightn’t you, Skamory?’

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

‘What’s going on here?’ Omega whispered urgently. ‘Something isn’t right; they didn’t do this towards Ry. This is deliberate; they’re trying to strike at Rage somehow.’
‘He just shouted that he’s going to make Bella regret beating Ry. He’s instantly come across as the ‘big, tough’ Pokémon who can’t stand losing: they’re trying to psych him out,’ answered Jock instantly.
‘No. It’s different. They’re taunting him deliberately.’
‘They’re the kind who would taunt him, though; they’re the sort of bitches you’d willingly hit,’ Hannah muttered, ‘both of them. Besides, Skarmory’s in general don’t have very good attitudes, I think they want to see how far they can push him.’

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

So she was going to hide behind her pathetic shields, was she?
Fine. If she wanted to play like a coward, he’d enjoy this even more. Let them play their stupid games. He wasn’t going to fall for them.
He dove forwards, fully intending to repeat his attack, her stupid shield didn’t matter, it never would.
She smirked as he drew closer, the orange shield around her becoming more pronounced. Rage closed his eyes as he struck it, feeling a spark of momentary alarm –quickly suppressed- at the strength of it, before he was met with her full weight as she pounced on him, crushing him to the ground under her body.
The shock and the indignation stung more than the pain; his steel body was ideal for withstanding pressures such as this, but she was still too heavy for him to attempt to fling off. Instead, he twisted his head round on his neck and shot a barrage of small, five-pointed stars at her, which nearly all bounced off of her reflective shield and vanished. The few that did penetrate through delivered what seemed to be no more than a light tap to her green flesh.
Bella’s grin widened and she whipped out her vines, lashing them around Rage’s beak, ramming it shut then twisting his head round so that his neck screamed in agony. She released her weight slightly, letting her other vine slip around his body, crunching his wings against his sides.
With the bird trussed and pinned she leapt back, dragging her vines upwards, flinging Rage up into the sky, yet keeping her tight grip on his body: for a split second, he hung there before his weight and gravity dragged him back down. Bella held on until the last second, before she retracted her vines with a snap, letting the struggling bird smash into the grass on his own.
Giggling, she galloped forwards as Rage struggled to his feet, winded and coughing. Aiming to pin him down again to repeat her moves, she gave a quick leap, yet came crashing down to land in the disturbed soil.
Scowling, she flung a look of annoyance skywards, where Rage had rapidly flown, breathing deeply to get his required oxygen to concentrate again.
‘Get back down here,’ she yelled at him, snarling. She got a snarl in reply, but ignored him, focusing instead on sending her vines lashing out at him. Her spun, rolling away to dodge, his speed increasing visibly with each powerful blow of his wings. There was no way in hell that she was going to be able to catch him at that rate.
So she did the next best thing. Her vines flicked back to make way for a flurry of razor sharp leaves which whined and hurtled through the air easily. Their edges glinted in the sunlight as they scythed upwards; Rage hissed and darted to avoid them, but as their numbers increased, each rocketing accurately upwards, first one, then another, then another struck him. One crumpled against his wing, one bounced off of his chest. Although his natural resistance meant that he could withstand the attack alright, instinct screamed at him to avoid what was coming towards him. That was slowing him down, his incessant attempts to dodge the leaves.
Too slow, in-fact. And with his attention elsewhere, he did not notice the unnatural light glistening below him, not until it burst out, rushing through the leaves, consuming them. Then it engulfed him; he was lost in a blast of white energy, hearing it screaming in his ears, piercing through his body.
It faded away: half-stunned, he fell with it, allowing a pair of vines to eagerly wrap themselves around his claws. Bella took the opportunity to fling him across the battlefield again, giggling at the resounding crash as he hit the earth.
Rage was stunned. His body ached from where it had been forced to slam into the ground, he could feel his wings lying heavily against the grass, but he couldn’t summon the energy to move them.
Inside he raged, hissing swears towards the strutting Pokémon smirking across at him. He hated her, he was not going to lose to her, he wouldn’t…..
The earth was shaking: she had charged again, obviously hoping that he would retreat to the sky again so that her tactics could be reapplied.
He pulled himself to his feet, watching as she drew closer. If she thought that he would take the cowards’ way out, she was mistaken. He was going to stand his ground, if it was the last thing that he did.
And she saw, she knew. Her legs plunged into the earth, sending her slithering into a halt. Her eyes narrowed and the orange glow around her instantly doubled in intensity.
He blinked.
They stared at each other, Rage’s heart suddenly pounding. He thought he could hear Omega shouting at him….or maybe it was just in his mind. Wonderful. That stupid idiot had managed to lodge his annoying voice into his mind. He scowled inwardly, making a mental note to yell at Omega when he got out of this battle. Yet a part of him argued back. He’d wanted Omega to help him in his strategies…..he could.
The blue glow shimmered around Bella’s body.
He flung out his wings, summoning the power only he could use, the one that was unique to him. Light seemed to filter over his body, glittering over his steel clad body. A heat-haze seemed to materialise around his body, distorting the air around him.
Bella just stared in confusion.
Fire. Steel-grey and blue fire erupted over his body, crackling fiercely: he could hear it burning, consuming him, but it didn’t hurt. He narrowed his eyes at his foe and nodded forwards. The fire exploded away from him, coiling to form the image of a snake-like dragon that roared silently and plunged towards Bella.
Her eyes widened, acknowledged what the attack was and reacted. The blue glow intensed, the orange one diminished and she ducked behind its protection as the dragon reached for her. Light flashed everywhere as the two attacks met, she blocking its advance, him watching coolly, waiting for his moment.

[*Murkrow]

Then he flung himself forward, his beak whirring and reflecting the light that was glinting all around. His attack sparked and dispersed as he relaxed his grip on it, but not enough to allow Bella to realise what was happening before he smashed through her minor shield. It held him back slightly, deflecting some of his momentum, but he carried on regardless, his beak gouging into her neck. She shrieked in pain and alarm, staggering back, shaking. Her vines rose up, wrapping themselves around his body, pinning his wings to his sides so that he half-fell to the ground, but he didn’t give up his assault. Not until he saw the flash of red light and was knocked back. Her vines were still holding him, though, so she was able to use the power to swing him up, then drag him back down again.
Again he thudded into the ground.
Her vines relaxed and pulled away. He could hear her sobbing and managed to raise his head for a triumphant look. Blood was flowing freely down her neck and dripping from her petals.
He laughed and licked the blood –her blood- that was still on his beak. Mmmm. Tasty.
The extreme sunlight was fading.
She sobbed again, as her petals glowed white. He lurched to his feet, thinking of what Omega had said, of the most powerful attack he knew.
An unnatural calm fell over the battlefield as Rage opened his beak. The wind stopped.
But only for a second. A white, blue-tinged glow began to rise in his beak, increasing in size and intensity. Spiralling on the spot, it began to twist the air around it into motion. The wind returned now, focusing around Rage, tugging at his body, rippling over his outstretched wings. It centred in, being dragged around the glow in his beak.
Bella unleashed her solarbeam. Rage saw the attack plummeting towards him, but didn’t move. All his energy was focused on the power he was generating. Even as the beam consumed him, he waited. The glow was increasing, visible even to those watching the battle, a blue shimmer inside the white beam.
A roar was coming, like the roar of a jet plane, increasing in volume and power. Bella heard it and shook, pushing all her might into her attack, begging that it took Rage out before.
The glow was increasing. The roar reached its pinnacle.
For a second, silence seemed to reign, even despite the crash of the beam. Then the roar peaked and the power gathering in Rage’s body exploded outwards, smashing back through the beam, the two attacks battling against each other. The narrow strip inside the solarbeam, where only air hung was consumed, filling with the rushing white-blue light, hurtling back to strike the face of the grass type.
Those watching the battle covered their eyes as the white light erupted. Nobody could see what was happening, nobody could hear over the roar and screams of the two attacks as they sliced through the air.
With one final, colossal crash, it was over. The two attacks obliterated each other and exploded outwards, dissipating into the air to reveal the two Pokémon. Rage was shaking, his whole body visibly trembling as he struggled to hold his ground. Bella was swaying on the spot, her eyes blank, a few bloodstains still gripping to her front, the majority of which had been blown away by the meeting of the two attacks. Her pink petals were ripped and shredded at the edges. The orange and blue glows, and the silver veil covering her flickered and vanished.
It looked like a stand-off.
Then Bella cried out, raising her face up, as a weak finger of fire burst into life, rising into the sky to form another artificial sun. The rays seemed to emanate down, as her petals began to glow a gentle green, the light spreading out over her body.
Crystal smirked, and even more so as Omega cried out.
‘RAGE, BRING HER DOWN, FINISH HER.’
Rage heard, but his eyes were glazing over in pain and exhaustion.
The light covering Bella withdrew back inside her. Her petals were whole again, the deep gashes in her neck healed, leaving only dark lines crossing her flesh. Her breathing was still deep, panting, but all outward signs of injury were gone.
The smug smile leaked across her face again and she went so far as to fling a triumphant look over her shoulder at Rage’s trainer and team-mates. She was near perfectly healthy again and she was going to rub it in as much as she could.
Rage saw her dimly approaching. His mind was wandering; he knew he’d lost. He’d failed.
Except….she’d forgotten. She had assumed he was gone, so she’d let her guard down.
A smile trickled across his face. She was sauntering closer, obviously intending to taunt him with her health before she took him down. He let her come closer, until……
He tensed his body, forced himself forwards and retched, gagging as he felt the poison leaving his mouth, but feeling a burst of pure pleasure as he heard her scream in alarm and saw a thick glob of black toxins trickling down her petals. Even as her petals began to glow, he could see the veins highlighted, dark, as the poison started to do its work.
He laughed.

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

‘Rage, return,’ Hannah held out the Skarmory’s Poké Ball as the beam cut short and the bird tumbled to the ground. She glanced at the ball in her hand for a second, then turned her gaze to Omega who shrugged nonchalantly and grinned.

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

Omega took a deep breath and charged out onto the field. Bella had trotted back to her original position, and was glaring at him as he skidded to a halt.
He could see the poison on her petals, the contrasting pink and black veins standing out vividly.
She was going to faint, not even synthesis could help her now, once the toxins began to eat away at her. He just had to stand long enough for that to happen, and maybe help her on her certain way.
Her petals glowed and the orange and blue shields materialised again. Like that was going to help her now, though. He could dispel those with ease.
He just needed to get close enough to do so.
Bella evidently didn’t plan on letting him any closer, however: she suddenly let loose with the volley of leaves again, all of which rocketed over the grass, cutting up clods of dirt as their sharp edged cut deep into the ground.
They were blindingly fast; he was going to take a couple of hits before he could stop the majority of the attack, but that’s what happened in battles. He inhaled, a burning sensation creeping up his throat. A leaf slashed at his shell, but he barely shuddered under the impact. A well aimed cut slashed across his cheek, making him snarl, yet he kept his attention on the growing warm feeling in his mouth. He could feel himself gagging for water as his mouth dried out, but he pushed himself that last edge and shot a jet of fire out, which condensed to form a massive, five-point star. As he stepped back, gasping, it shot forwards, burning many of the oncoming leaves in its path. Those that it missed were far from their mark anyway and he paid no attention to them.
Leaving Bella to shelter behind her shield, he quickly stepped to the side, then spun, his gracefulness belying something of his size and bulk. His mind exalted as he went through the familiar steps, his movement becoming more refined as he continued.
Bella swore loudly, and he wrenched his eyes round to see her, looking very irritated, aiming her solarbeam at him again. He charged forwards, waiting until the last second where he flung up a violet aura round his body then ran into the centre of the beam. His body was shaking a little at the force of the attack, but the aura deftly deflected its damaging power leaving him free to charge the distance to where he could dimly see Bella’s head and neck through the white light. He extended his legs, the tips glowing brown and lashed out.
Of course, as soon as he launched into another attack, his aura stopped working: Omega found himself being blasted away by the last few seconds of the attack, but not before he’d heard the satisfying shattering sound of a couple of shields being broken. He rolled onto his back as he landed, flipped himself expertly back onto his feet and looked over at Bella again. She had her eyes closed, absorbing the suns energy again, trying to counteract the poisons effect.
He smirked and closed his eyes as well, focusing all his attention to the battle and only the battle, refusing to let any wandering thoughts interrupt his victory.
This resolution was stretched pretty quickly as he felt vines wrap around his front legs and drag him forwards. He stumbled, but quickly dug in his back legs. Bella glared at him and heaved back, her whole body shuddering as she attempted to pull him forwards.
He rolled his eyes, wondered briefly if she was losing her touch and panicking and shot a flamethrower at her. It hit her straight on: the wind wafting around the field brought back the disturbing scent of charred and burning grass.
She shrieked, let go and reared onto her hind legs, her body glowing green again. He had a feeling he was going to be seeing rather a lot of that move during this battle.
But he had a bigger problem to worry about now. The artificial sun she had created before pulverising Rage was burning down on them, and to make it worse, he’d just used two pretty powerful fire attacks. His body was screaming for water.
So he froze, thinking of storms, of torrential rain, and felt a reassuring breeze run across his back. The air cooled, and a low murmur from above signalled the start of the rain.
Next second, he saw Bella charging at him, her eyes staring and mad. He ducked to the side to dodge her, but she leapt up, pounding her whole weight onto his back and pinning him down, at the same time as she screamed to the heavens. He tried to counter her, sending all his energy into creating the rain clouds, but his mind kept wandering as he felt her crushing down on him.
The gathering clouds vanished and the sun resumed its burning quest.
Omega groaned. Bella laughed as she heard him and lowered her face, catching his eye and giving a mocking smile and wink.
‘Let’s see you get out of this, Shelgon.’
Her mouth opened and an orange orb burst into life. This close, he could actually feel the energy pulsing from it.
Refusing to let himself panic, he forced himself to relax, watching the attack, trying to figure out what would be the best time to…oh screw it.
He flung up the violet aura and had the satisfaction of seeing Bella’s expression flare: they both knew that as long as she kept up this attack, he’d be able to walk away unscathed.
Swearing, she cut off in mid-power up, and contented herself with rearing up slightly and slamming her weight back down on him. He snarled and shifted his body, feeling her digging her legs into his shell to get him to stay down. He twisted round as much as he could, hearing her muttering to herself as she tried to keep him down.
Then he sunk his teeth into her nearest back leg. He bit down hard, feeling the flesh tear beneath his teeth, trying not to gag as he felt liquid tricking onto his tongue. She wailed and stamped down hard on him, realised it wouldn't work and tore herself back. He felt her skin rip even more at that and coughed, spitting the blood onto the grass.
She hissed and he looked up, only to see the orange beam explode from her mouth and tear directly into his face.
The force of the blast was enough to knock him back, before his legs gave way and he collapsed, screaming. She’d been clever enough to aim for the one vulnerable part of his body, the thin section of skin over his face, he could feel his eyes watering as they reacted to being hit by one of the most powerful attacks a Pokémon could produce. He tried to open them, but saw only a blur of colour: he felt the ground shaking as Bella strode over to him. She stamped one of her feet on his left-front leg and bent down, pushing her face into his. All he could see was a green blur.
He heard her laugh and withdraw and a bit of him snapped. He rolled around and bit her leg again, hearing her alarmed call. As she pulled back automatically, he spun and lashed out with his right leg, extending the glowing orange claws on it and plunging them deep into her flesh.
He tore down and was rewarded with a blast of white light that sent him tumbling backwards, rolling over and over across the field.
As he slithered to a halt, he heard her running after him and dragged himself up. He felt the vibrations of the earth and spun away, dancing to evade her, feeling his energy rising and his spirit soaring.
She launched another razor leaf, and he whirled round, showing her his back so that the leaves could harmlessly scratch at his rough shell, buying him time. Using the few spare seconds he had, he blinked his eyes viciously, feeling them streaming but quietly coaxing them, staring frantically around, praying that the blurs would sharpen into discernible objects.
The thuds on his back stopped as Bella switched strategies. He rammed his eyes closed and spun round to meet her, charging forwards to where he knew she was.
Those watching the battle saw the three bony protrusions on Omega’s shell glow white, flashing as he drew nearer to Bella who was running to meet him, her small tail now covered with a metallic covering. As they neared, she whipped round to attempt to smash her tail against him, but he rolled away, the glowing protrusions slashing against sides even as she tried to move away. The joys of a ‘never miss’ move.
Omega felt him hit her, and automatically snapped with his teeth, trying to seize hold of her, but missed. He heard her snarl and crash her legs into the ground, making it buckle and shake.
He swayed, instinctively crouching low, but she ran into him again, making him stumble and fall onto his side. She bore down on him, hissing ferally, trying to crush him with her body as she slammed onto him.
He struggled, his eyes flickering open and felt a small rush of relief as he realised that he could make out what looked like some individual grass stems as his face was crushed against the ground. It wasn’t much, but it made him feel better, so he closed his eyes again and concentrated on his hidden power.
A ripple of static crackled through the air, and Omega shot a blast of electricity into Bella’s body. She winced and moaned, her grass type resisting most of the attack, but still….up that close, it couldn’t help but cause her a little harm.
Her grip of Omega diminished, and he rolled sideways viciously, slamming himself into her body with as much strength as he could muster, his hard shell absorbing the shock of impact.
Bella whimpered and stumbled backwards. Omega opened his eyes again as the two glared at each other. He couldn’t make out every intricate detail of the Meganium’s features, but what he could told him everything. The green of her body was contrasting with the pink and black colour of her petals. The black lines that Omega assumed were the veins criss-crossed over every inch of the flowers. There was no doubt in the Shelgon’s mind that the toxins were soon going to start penetrating into her body.
Bella apparently didn’t like seeing him staring at her like that and blasted another solarbeam at him: he jumped to the side to dodge it and took a deep breath. The fire he breathed out wasn’t natural fire; it still contained the same colours and visual properties of fire, but it was draconic. He knew that with her poisoned, its paralysing effects could not come into play, but it would be a useful way to wear her down.
She took the hit, lurching from side to side as she staggered back, her body glowing green as she reached upwards towards the sun. Omega saw the black lines diminishing against her pink petals, but as the glow vanished, they reappeared almost instantly and the Pokémon gagged.
Omega decided to try to finish her off now, put the poor thing out of her misery. Her charged across the distance between them and slammed into her, feeling her body crumple beneath his weight. She took a step back and stumbled, falling onto her side. She was breathing hard, the exertion obvious on her face at this close distance. Omega scrunched up his eyes, blinked hard and saw her face slowly slide clearer into focus. He met her eye and gave her a nod.
Her eyes narrowed, and he felt for an instant that he saw a sly look fly over her face, but then it was gone.
He extended his orange claws and aimed for her head, hoping that a well-aimed blow would take her down. It didn’t. She shuddered under the impact but let her eyes slip open again. This time, the cunning encased in them was obvious.
Omega leant back slightly at that, thrown, suddenly wary. A small trickling sound caught his attention and he looked down. At the join in her neck, where the petals merged with her flesh, a thick, black liquid was spilling.
Alarmed, he jumped back, not wishing to come into contact with the poison, it really wouldn’t help his chances of winning.
His movement gave Bella the chance to scramble to her feet, a smirk slipping across her face even as the poison bubbled out, leaking down her legs.
She didn’t seem too eager to attack, so Omega exhaled and sent the draconic flames smashing into her face.
She didn’t even flinch.
He stared at her, and she raised her eyes to the sky, whispering under her breath. The faltering sun flickered and was restored to its true glory.
Omega scowled at it, then heard her laugh. She raised her head, her eyes wide, her smirk magnificent.
What the….?
Then he froze. A green light began to flare around her, like a candle flame.
Omega’s heart catapulted: he could see the poison beginning to work its way up her neck, and he felt a sickening thud as he registered what was happening.
He turned and ran for his life.
An explosion of light behind him made him swerve, as a massive solarbeam tore past him, its normal white colour encased within the green flame.
Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t.
He heard her laughing insanely and knew that she was aiming for him. He flung his eyes up desperately to the sun, feeling its warmth, absorbing it, combining the power with his own. He inhaled, praying that he could summon the fire power he needed.
Unless….
He heard the beam release, and spun round and charged, flinging up the violet aura. He charged through the beam itself, waiting until she cut the attack off, her smug smile showing that she believed she had ended it.
Then he spat the tiny stream of embers onto her petals, aiming at the join, where the poison still leaked.
It ignited. His gamble had been right: it was flammable.
Bella screamed in agony as the flower round her neck roared in flames. Her body convulsed in agony; Omega backed away, taking his time to aim, then released his draconic flames. They crashed into her body, engulfed it for a second, then burst away.
Bella stood motionless for a second, her body crackling, her expression frozen on her face.
Then her legs crumpled beneath her and she fell.
‘BELLA, RETURN.’
Crystal’s voice shook as she returned her Meganium, staring at Omega with deep hatred. A look of loathing flashed across her face and she flung her last ball back out.
Xia the Vileplume reappeared and glared at Omega, who stared back confidently. He would do this.

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

WTF? So if it's longer than the post requirements it doesn't tell you, just cuts the thing off?

That took me bloody ages >_< *Collapses on floor*

And for whoever writes the conclusion....

Omega
Shelgon
L40 M
Trait: Rock Head
Moves: Rage, Bite, Leer, Headbutt, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw, Brick Break, Thrash, Dragon Rage, Hidden Power: Electric, Fire Blast, Focus Energy, Ember, Double-Edge, Toxic, Strength (SM), Protect, Flamethrower, Rock Slide, Rain Dance, Dragon Breath, Aerial Ace

He has two Dragon Dances performed.

I'll take an RBG for Omega, my L4? Shelgon whenever my conclusion is written, please.
*Pays*

[*Murkrow]

Take 27 CCPs for that battle ^_^ I especially liked the description of Curse when it was used on Seghuccello.

Seghuccello won, growing two levels.
Rigello won, growing one level

Here's the conclusion for Jeff's battle. Three things:
1) The idea of having the third Pokémon be a ghost of a normal Pokémon was Frank's idea.
2) I used a heck of a lot of artistic license in this. The randomiser really hated Jeff when it chucked out the type/Pokémon he was battling, so I had to write it as mind over matter.
3) For the love of....if you're going to challenge a gym leader, please please please please make sure that your Pokémon has more than one fricking attacking move.

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

As the light condensed to form a Pokémon, both Blue and Righello stared at it for a second. A mass of vines enshrouded a pair of blank white eyes.
Christian smirked. ‘Yes, boys. That is a Tangela. But a very special one…’
His voice trailed away as the Tangela skulked forwards. Its vines became ethereal, passing through one another as it moved, its red boots morphing into vicious, black clawed feet. Its eerie white, pupil-less eyes stared blankly ahead, seeming to rove over its new opponents.
‘In-case you were wondering, I assume you know the rumours concerning Haunter? Over the belief that they may be able to enter or are from another, warped dimension? It’s true. Before mine evolved into Gengar, we realised that there was a way for him to enter that dimension and bring back the spirits of departed Pokémon. And so I’m the only trainer to have ever existed to have control over dead Pokémon.’
His smirk widened and he regarded the two of them for an instant. ‘It’s been fun, but now- Tangela, finish it.’

Tangela charged, its vines whipping into the air and reaching for Rigello. The Tyranitar backed up, hiding slightly behind the sandstorm still whipping around the battlefield.
Christian laughed. ‘Sunny Day.’
The sandstorm was obliterated as a ball of fire exploded from around Tangela’s body, hovering over the field. Even as the last remnants of sand died away, Tangela’s vines began to glow white.
‘Rigello, Sand Storm!’
The monster leaned back and roared frantically: even as the beam shot towards him, the sand whipped up again, frenzied: Rigello lunged to the left, feeling the beam scorch his side, sending waves of shock over his body. However, the sudden re-emergence of the storm had unbalanced the Tangela, knocking its aim off of its target. As it lurched round silently to find Rigello, the Pokémon charged in closer.
Static flew from his body, hitting Tangela square on: the ghost’s spectrel body locked up, it’s ‘limbs’ struggling against the paralysing effect of the electricity.
Taking the opportunity, Rigello extended his teeth and sunk them into its nearest vines, feeling his teeth sink easily through it, as dark energy flew from his mouth into the Tangela’s body.
Yet even as Tangela lurched and pulled away from the pain, a black mist began to rise from its form, floating innocently to land on Rigello’s body. Then it lashed out with a vine, aiming for the weakened spot in Rigello’s armour, where the Solar Beam had struck. The rock plate cracked, then shattered, revealing the flesh beneath the shattered armour. Some of the particles landed on the spot and vanished, absorbed into his skin.
Rigello let out a roar in alarm, pulling away instinctively, feeling the poison already working its way into his blood stream.
Tangela took the chance to glow green, increasing in size so that it was now reaching to the Tyranitar’s chest, before reaching out and wrapping its vines around his mouth, crushing his jaw shut. Snarling, Rigello lunged back, pulling away from the pressure as Tangela pulled in the opposite direction.
As the sandstorm roared around them, they struggled against each other, Rigello wincing as he felt the poison eating into him from the inside, Tangela’s blank eyes contorting as the static still ran over its body.
Then a lashing pain tore through Rigello’s body: a green mist rose from the vines and ensnared him, light rushing from him to Tangela. His legs trembled and he stumbled forward, the feeling of his energy being absorbed was so immense. Feeling sick, his eyes blurring, he tried to pull away again, forcing himself not to whimper.
The attack cut out suddenly, accompanied by the crackle of electricity; he looked up and saw that Tangela was once again immobilised. His eyes widened, watching the rush of eddies spiralling behind it in the sand.
Digging his claws into the earth, he tensed his body and lunged backwards. The vines around his mouth were still locked in place because of the paralysis, yet the frozen body of his foe could not struggle as it was unbalanced. Even more so, the beat of the storm caught its light body, flinging it tumbling forwards. The slam as it crashed into the ground broke through the paralysis, and its vines relaxed automatically. Rigello seized his moment and plunged across the distance between them, sinking his fangs into its back. No scream of pain came from his foe, but it thrashed beneath him, causing his sharp teeth to tear shreds from its vines, shred which dissipated instantly.
More vines tore from its body, some wrapping around his head and neck again, others diving into the ground and beginning to shine with a light glow, absorbing the scant nutrients the earth in the gym contained.
Hissing, Rigello tugged his head back, opening his mouth to deliver another crushing bite, but all he received was another burst of Poisonpowder, the spores tumbling down his throat as he gagged.
Then Tangela faded away, vanishing into the storm. Coughing, Rigello glanced round curiously, unsure if his foe was gone for good. His fear were realised as he felt the strong vines lash around his body from behind, gripping him tightly. Instinct caused him to release another burst of static: he knew it hit his opponent from the jolt that emanated through the vines.
But as he struggled, he could feel the light glowing from behind and knew that it ws his energy that was being taken. He could feel it plunging into his back, feel the snaps as his armour shattered, it transforming from rock-hard to brittle as his life-force was dragged out. He was aware that he was falling, not realising how fast until he crashed into the ground and lay there.
His whole body ached; his insides were burning up as the poison chewed its way deeper into him. Yet the rational part of his mind was still on the battle…and the fact that the move had cut out suddenly, long before it should have done.
Weakly he raised his head, wincing at the sharp pain in his neck as he twisted back and looked over his shoulder. Tangela’s body was shaking, struggling against the static running over its body.
Rigello stared for a second more, then took a deep breath and forced himself to his feet. He turned and charged towards Tangela letting his mouth slide open, baring his fangs as much as he could. A few of Tangela’s vines were still embedded in the earth, drawing energy from it, but he ignored them. Instead concentrating only on the black vortex at the centre, where those blank white eyes stared.
Seeing him approach, it forced some vines out, grabbing at his legs and arms, cracking against his injured and battered body. He ignored them, striking out.
His teeth sank into the blackness, piercing those eerie eyes, biting deeper and deeper into the creatures’ body. He felt the scalding warmth that signalled another Giga Drain, as it desperately absorbed what it could from him. He closed his eyes and forced every little energy he had into tightening his grip.
It changed tactics, flailing frantically, so that he could feel his claws slashing against his body, hear the strange tearing sound as his teeth sliced through its corporeal form.
Then it spasmed, its vines retracting and going limp.
He jumped and let go, as the body fell to the floor. It shook for a second, before its whole form melted away, vanishing into the air.
His sandstorm died down, even as he groaned and slumped to ground, fatigue aching from every pore in his body.

Christian sighed and dropped the useless Poké Ball on the ground. Then he pulled two objects from his pocket and approached the trainer and his exhausted Pokémon.

Rigello won, growing two levels

Jeff, you have won the Spectre Badge* and SM 08, Dive.

*Yes, I know there's nothing about badges on the introduction. I wanted to give him a badge xD Nothing special, it's just for show.

[The Blue Avenger]

Heheh, cool. Thanks. And it occured to me when I started writing Righello's part that he only knew Bite, but decided to plunge on regardless considering the rest of my Pokemon would have been even more ill-fitting in this match. Question: Are SMs like HMs in that I can use them as many times as I want? And Lento already knows Dive; am I allowed to overwrite that with this?

Righello's level 20 move will be Aerial Ace.
Seghuccello's level 20 move will be Steel Wing.

I'll get to your conclusion soon, Hannah. I go back to school this week, and I've been a little on the busy side. X_x

[Wolfsong]

SMs are useableonly once. I also asked frank the same question earlier and he said that t could be overwritten albeit i was askign about surf when i talked with frank Hope that helped answer the questions. now to get to work on my rbgs.

While i'm asking may i have an rbg for Sapphire/Sunita? L.6 dratini i'm gonna be introducing her soon. *hands over 7 ccps*

[*Murkrow]

She'll be battling a L6 Misdreavus in the North Caverns.

[The Blue Avenger]

Awright, well, in that case, Lento will be getting my Dive SM.

[*Murkrow]

To tide me over until I can get to work on Omega's next battle, I'd like an RBG for my L17 male Houndoom, Jock please.
*Pays*

[The Blue Avenger]

Omega will battle a Skiploom in the Forest.

Jock will battle an Exeggcute in the South Caverns.

Also, Amy's working on your battle. I have far too much to do right now. >_> I apologize.

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: This is Sunita and Laila’s RBG. I’ll try to get to Zale’s soon. I didn’t really feel up to writing this but I wanted to get it done so apologies if it stinks. Also worked with Darkfire on some of this story. This was supposed to happen several weeks ago so I might just skip forward the amount of weeks needed to make things where they are supposed to be. I bought Sunita the water gun tm, a aerial ace tm for angel won the sweet scent tm for willow and bought form Hannah the astonish tm for Dakota. Also Sunita is sapphire the dratini that Hannah gave me. Also Nuka’s reference about eevee’s having up to eight is a reference to a story of mine that’s currently on hiatus ^^; Hannah I promise I’ll get to your battle soon. I’m already trying to get caught up.

(Sunita’s POV)

I groaned, glancing behind me. When I saw that I had lost my pursuers, I sighed in relief. I never thought that I would lose them, especially the three growlithes. It was then that I noticed a small crack in the cave wall. I slithered over and slipped inside. I needed to rest a few minutes.

While I rested, I thought back to previous events. All I had been doing was trying to find my dad. He was busier then ever trying to keep the peace. I wasn’t sure what Renar was doing, because I hadn’t seen her in ages. I kinda wished that I had a trainer. At least then, I’d be better able to make use out of some of the moves that Dad had managed to get a hold of for me. I just hoped that if I ever got a trainer, it would be like one of the ones that had helped Dad and Renar when the trouble appeared the last time and not like those that caused the pokemon inhabiting the crystal caves to start attacking trainers and their pokemon.

Anyways, as I said, I had been looking for my dad when I was ambushed by three growlithes a misdreavus, a machoke, and a heracross. They had wanted me to talk Dad into taking their side and helping with the attacks on the trained pokemon and their trainers. When I had refused, they made as if they were going to attack me so I escaped using my extremespeed attack. My pursuers had given chase.

I had finally lost them, but by the sounds of it not for long. I heard someone making noise in the room. Well, I wasn’t going to hide from a fight even if I wasn’t that great at battling. I took a deep breath before slithering out of that small crack. I looked around, but there was no one there. Suddenly, from out of nowhere popped the misdreavus. I slithered backwards a couple of inches, startled.

“Herc! Goliath! I’ve found her! She’s over here!” the Misdreavus called. “I looked up in time to see a machoke and a hercross enter the room from the next room over. “We just want to have a little chat,” the misdreavus sneered, and as they advanced the machoke cracking his knuckles. “Three against one isn’t very fun.” a feminine voice rang out. I looked up in time to see a very scarred houndoom and a larvitar show up. “Who invited you?” the ghost sneered before she turned to the machoke and heracross. “Take them.” she ordered. As I watched, the machoke was sent flying backwards by an unseen force and the heracross was hit by a fire attack from the larvitar. The misdreavus shook her head sadly. “Good help is hard to find these days,” she muttered under her breathe, glaring at me. “You’ll pay for not listening to reason and allying yourself with these trained fools.”

Sunita L.6 F Dratini Vs. L.6 F Misdreavus

I saw the misdreavus make a movement in which it looked like she was going to throw up. Thinking quickly, I set up a transparent protective barrier. The toxic goo hit the shield and slid harmlessly down to the floor of the cavern.

To say that the misdreavus was upset about her attack failing was an understatement. The floating ghost released a beam of concentrated light in my face, before she started throwing a world class temper tantrum. I looked at her puzzled. What on earth was she doing? I wondered. While she wasn’t paying any attention to me, I coughed up a glob of toxins myself and spit it all over her. The misdreavus apparently didn’t see my attack coming and she was caught totally off guard. She screeched loudly when the toxins entered her bloodstream, before launching herself at me in a physical assault so powerful that it totally caught me off guard. I felt the brunt of her frustrations. It was at that moment that I realized if I was ever going to live up to my true potential I needed to find a trainer. But how was I to find one?” I wondered.

A thunderbolt from behind snapped me out of my thoughts and served as a fierce reminder that I was in a battle. I whirled around and saw that I was now facing three misdreavus. The air around me began to crackle with electrical energy as a wave of electrical energy tore through the clones and slammed into the real ghost.

She was definitely getting weaker, so I quickly sprayed a jet of water at her. Though tired, the ghost managed to not only avoid it, but to send a shadow ball hurtling towards me as well. I was exhausted by this point, but I wasn’t about to lose this battle that I had tried so hard in. Using the last bit of energy that I could muster, I blasted the misdreavus backwards with a wave of psychic energy courtesy of my hidden power. It worked! She slammed into the wall behind her and slid to the ground out cold.

I won!
I grew to L.7!

I saw the crystal colored pokeball lying on the ground. I looked around and saw the houndoom watching me curiously. The larvitar was still battling the heracross.

<Go ahead. I don’t deserve to be on the team with the way I’ve been acting lately. Amy would understand.>

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. <Are you sure?>

The houndoom smiled and I realized that we were both speaking telepathically. <I’m positive. I might stick around, but as I said before I don’t think I deserve to be a battling member of the team. I’ve done some stupid things and now that I’ve had time to think about them…>

<Thank you.> I told him, tapping the crystal ball with my tail. I was immediately sucked inside and a faint ding sounded instantly. The last thing I remembered hearing before the exhaustion overwhelmed me was the larvitar asking about what had just happened.

* * *

Earlier

(Laila’s POV)

”So why are we here instead of going to the lake with Amy and the others?” I asked Tamal. The houndoom ahead of me didn’t answer for a few minutes as we made our way through the caverns. We took so many twists and turns that I wasn’t even sure if he knew where we were going. Finally, he decided to answer me. <Because for some reason I felt that we are needed here.> With that, he fell silent again.

Something up ahead caught my attention. “Look,” I whispered. There, in front of us, was a machoke and a heracross. They seemed to be searching for something or someone. However, they stopped when a voice from the next room called to them. “Herc! Goliath! I’ve found her! She’s over here!” The two pokemon immediately stopped what they were doing and hurried into the next room.

Tamal looked at me and I nodded my head in agreement. We were going to try and help whoever it was, even though we both had a type disadvantage. We hurried into the next room and stopped in amazement. The pokemon’s target was a dratini. When the three pokemon began advancing upon her, I spoke up. “Three against one isn’t very fun.” The misdreavus sneered. “Who invited you?” she asked before turning to the two pokemon that we had followed. “Take them.” she ordered them. Tamal instantly sent the machoke hurtling backwards courtesy of his hidden power. I turned to the heracross who was slowly advancing towards me.

Laila L.17 F Elemental Larvitar Vs. Herc the L.17 M Heracross

I wanted to keep as much distance as I could between me and the heracross. Taking a deep breath and briefly glowing red, I exhaled a jet of flames which hit the heracross right in the center of his chest. It was clear that I had caught him off guard and that he was now furious. Opening his wing case, he flew forwards and slammed his horn into my chest.

I staggered backwards, before darting forwards and biting down as hard as I could on one of his arms. Herc immediately began swirling his arm in a circle gathering up momentum before he tossed me across the room and I slammed against the cavern wall. I couldn’t keep my strong grip thanks to the swirling motion.

I stood up as quickly as I could even though I was dazed form hitting the wall. When I finally managed to remember what I was doing and why I was here, the heracross had already dug underground. I did have an attack that could hit him even while he was underground but I didn’t want to run the risk of hurting Tamal so I chose to do something else. I began to glow white as I sealed the entry hole with a thick layer of ice.

No sooner than I had finished sealing the first hole, than the heracross burst from the ground sending me hurtling face first into the ground. The heracross just stared at me hovering above the hole that he had just made. I made like I was hurt was than I was and that I was trying to hit him with my ice beam, but I missed on purpose. Thankfully the Heracross didn’t realize that.

Pretending to struggle to my feet, the heracross fell for my act. I was hurt bad but not as badly as I was acting like. “Ha! You missed.” he crowed. “I don’t know how you can use both flamethrower and ice beam, but it won’t help you.” I managed to mask my smile into a frightened look and even took a step backwards. My plan had worked. Both holes were now inaccessible and the heracross didn’t even notice it.

Straitening up, I lost all pretenses of being scared. “I’ve still got more trick.” I spoke stepping forwards. For once, I felt confident in myself and my abilities. I then proceeded to concentrate on my hidden power. I used it to lift of several rocks and then hurl them one at a time at the heracross. He made a beeline for the original hole that he had dug and dove headfirst into a solid sheet of ice. It was time to end this. I concentrated on my flamethrower once more, shooting an intense jet of flames at my opponent. When the fire assault was over, he slumped to the ground defeated.

I won!
I grew to L.18!

I turned around in time to see that the dratini and Tamal had been talking. Then, to my surprise, Tamal pushed his pokeball towards her. The dratini then tapped it wither her tail and was sucked inside the ding sounded an instant after the ball had closed. “What happened? Why did you do that?” I asked him. Tamal looked at me sadly. “Like I told her, I don’t deserve to be on the team and I’m sure the others would agree with me. Besides she wanted a trainer. I decided to help her out. Do you honestly think Amy would complain about getting a dratini on her team?” He had me there. With that, the two of us headed to the lake, Tamal carrying his old crystal ball and the dratini’s new one.

* * *

(Tiana’s POV)

I couldn’t wait to go to the lake today. Amy said that she had a surprise for me and the rest of the team lined up for us there. She had told us about the trip last night, btu I was so exhausted from my battles that I couldn’t get excited at the time. I quickly made it up to my temporary bed in Ruki’s room and collapsed falling asleep as soon as my head had hit the pillow. Unfortunately, I had a nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen today. I wasn’t sure why but something was telling me that I should hide Zale’s beach ball. I waited until he was busy with Angel before I snuck off with it. I would return it to him tonight.

As soon as we arrived at the lake, I let the others go ahead. I stopped by the crystal clear lake and began to lap up some water since I realized that I was thirsty. When the rippling water stilled, I stared at my reflection. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I looked at a different angle and sure enough I was starting to show. It was barely visible but if one was to look closely they could tell that I was indeed pregnant. I closed my eyes worriedly. “I thought that I had another week.” I whispered to myself.

"Hello, beautiful." a voice said from behind me. I jumped in surprise before opening my eyes and turning around. I smiled when I realized that it was Nuka. “Hey, how’s that TM that I gave you coming in?” I asked before nuzzling him. I couldn’t help but feel worried.

Nuka smiled and nuzzled me back. “I’m getting good at it rather fast. It’s fun to play around with, thank you. Has your TM been helpful at all?” he asked.

Then, almost as if he sensed that I was worried he asked me about it. “What’s wrong.” I turned to look at him smiling worriedly. “Look at me close and see if you can pick up on it.” I watched as Nuka began to look me over carefully. After a few minutes, he spoke. “You’re starting to show.”

I nodded. “I shouldn’t be showing for about another week…” I let my voice trail off. “ Do you think it's related to the morning sickness being worse?” he asked looking just as worried as I felt. “It’s possible.” Frowning, I looked up at him. “I’ve been even hungrier this time around as well…”

I closed my eyes deep in thought before I found myself thinking about me and Zale. Gasping, I opened my eyes and looked over at Nuka. He blinked, frowning. “What’s wrong, Tiana?” “Me and Zale… Could it be?” I muttered, wondering whether I should even voice the idea that had just popped into my head.

Nuka gave me a reassuring nuzzle. “What about you and Zale? Could what be? Tell me.” “What… what if it’s more than one?” I asked looking up at Nuka.

Nuka looked a bit startled. “Well, it would explain many things. Like your showing a full week early, your morning sickness being stronger, and you being hungrier.” He paused a for a moment before he whispered the word out loud. “Twins.”

“It’s possible.: I admitted. “Maybe we should go and talk with Amy and/or Darkfire. If it is twins, we need to work something out as Amy only has one spot open on her team.” I sighed and rubbed my belly with my paw.

“Do you want to try and check with your hidden power before we decide? You know I’m still not that great with my psychic abilities. The TMs have been helpful though. The meditate one that you gave me and the calm mind that Amy gave me a while back.” I looked at Nuka apologetically. “Sorry, it looks as if this is going to have to come out sooner than we had hoped. What do you think?”

Nuka nodded his head. “I’m glad the Meditate TM has been helping. And it could be worse, at least Zale doesn’t have a psychic hidden power like I do.” He gently nuzzled me before he placed his paw on my belly and begun concentrating. After a few minutes, he put his paw back down on the ground looking shocked. “It’s not twins.”

Now, I was even more worried. “What? Is something wrong?” I asked.

Nuka shook his head, still shocked. “No, no. Nothing’s wrong. They look fine and healthy to me.”

I looked at him clearly puzzled. “They? But I thought that you said it wasn’t twins?”

Nuka smiled at me apologetically and gently licked my cheek affectionately. “It’s not twins. It’s triplets.” “T… t… triplets?” I asked. Nuka nodded. “Triplets. Three bouncing baby eevees. And after watching Kali and Kiabo, you can bet they’ll bounce.”

I stared down at my belly. “Well, we can expect that I’m gonna be the size of a barn before all is said and done.” Nuka chuckled at that. “I doubt it. But if it does happen, you’ll still be beautiful to me. I love you, Tiana.” he said, nuzzling me again. I blushed. “I love you to.” I sighed. “I guess you had better talk with Darkfire and I need to talk with Amy. Looks like this day of surprises will continue. I guess it’s time to let the meowth out of the bag, huh?” I nuzzled Nuka before gently licking him. He nodded, and the two of us headed off to talk with out trainers.

(Zale’s POV)

I had been enjoying spending the day with Angel at the lake when Darkfire and her team showed up. Angel and Kali immediately began playing together. When I saw that Senshi was watching them, I excused myself and saw that Nuka and Tiana were together and they both looked happy.

I sighed as I slowly made my way to the far end of the lake. I paced back and forth, muttering to myself. “Maybe I was wrong about him… Maybe Nuka really does care for Tiana…” I slapped the water with my paw. “I really have been a jerk. I need to go and apologize to them both, especially Tiana.

"Don't let Nuka fool you. He's a very good actor." a voice spoke up from behind me.

I jumped in surprise before turning around. There, sitting behind me was a Ninetales. “Err… who are you and what do you mean?” I asked him.

“I’m Cassius, Nuka’s teammate. I lived in the Crystal Caves not far from where he slaughtered his first family.” I blanched, as Cassius calmly went to the water’s edge and got a drink. “Slaughtered? Are you sure? I’ve heard that others were scared of him but he doesn’t seem like… But Tiana… I mean he never hurt her. Are you positive?”

Cassius nodded his head. “How many glowing houndooms are there in the Crystal Caves? He even tried to eat Darkfire. Luckily, she had a Master Ball at the time. I don’t know about him not hurting Tiana, but there’s a reason Darkfire makes certain that Kali always sleeps in her room instead of Nuka’s.

“She sleeps in a different room?” I asked. Cassius nodded his head again, sadly this time. “There's no telling when he'll go off. And now he's stronger than ever with his training.”

I looked around worriedly. I felt like I was being torn in two. I couldn’t help but believe what Cassius was telling me, but I also couldn’t help but believe that Tiana knew what she was doing/ “But... Tiana… she trusts him…” I sighed. “What am I going to do?”

“I know I wouldn’t trust that houndoom with my sister if I had one.” Cassius looked back to where the other’s were still eating. “I wish I could help you, but I have my paws full looking after the children around that fiend. Good luck.” he said, before turning and heading back.

“Wait!” I called. “How do I know that you aren’t trying to trick me?” I asked worriedly. Something was telling me to be cautious but I wasn’t sure why.

Cassius looked back at me. “Why would I want to trick you? I just thought you ought to have a warning to look out for your sister. I doubt she would listen to me if I tried to warn her, am I not correct?” I lowered my head and looked over at Cassius dejectedly. I began telling him about the fight we had three weeks ago today. The ninetales listened sympathetically. Once I had finished talking, he spoke. “She sounds like a strong willed girl. I think she’ll need you now more than ever.”

I laughed half-heartedly. “Strong willed is an understatement…” I looked over to where Nuka and Tiana were. When I saw them nuzzling, it caused my anger to rise once more along with the responsibility that I felt for my twin sister. An eevee was heading over to where we were. Cassius walked over to him and before he picked him up he spoke one last time. “Again, good luck with Tiana.” I turned back to look at the two of them again, glaring at Nuka.

* * *

(Tiana’s POV)

I slowly made my way back to the spot where Nuka and I had been talking earlier. Before I said anything, I lapped up some water. After I had quenched my thirst, I nuzzled Nuka. “How did it go?” I asked nervously.

Nuka nervously nuzzled me back. "Darkfire said it's fine with her if we take in two of the triplets. But she said she won't be so understanding if it happens again." Nuka said, smiling. I smiled as well, relieved. “Amy was all right with taking in the one. She ended up rather shocked when I told her how many there were. She did make it a point to say that when this baby that she’s keeping arrived, her team would be full.” I smiled happily now that I knew that all my babies were going to have good homes.

“This was quite a surprise wasn’t it?” I asked. "It was indeed, but it's a good surprise," he said as he licked me gently. "I wonder what Kali will think about having three younger siblings. I knew she would be happy with one to play with, but the three of them." Nuka chuckled.

“I just hope that everything else goes okay. At least now I know why I was feeling so run down and hungry and sick.” I scooted closer to Nuka and began purring. Nuka nodded his head in agreement. "It's certainly a good surprise rather than a bad one. I was starting to fear something was wrong with our baby." He wrapped a paw gently around my shoulder.

"I suppose I ought to keep the two staying with us in my room this time around. I don't think Darkfire or Kali will be happy with more babies in their room..." Nuka stated. I chuckled. "Yeah, that might get a bit too crowded. Like it will be for me until they're born." I joked. Nuka smiled at the joke. "Oh, I don't know. One time when Darkfire stopped by a library she looked at a book about Eevee breeding. Apparently, an Eevee can have up to eight babies in one litter." I blanched slightly at that. “I've not heard of that around here but if that's true then i would hate to be that poor eevee. I wouldn't mind the babies but can you think of eight?” I said, shaking my head. Nuka chuckled again softly. "And that's an Eevee. Think about an Espeon. You have more room in there than an Eevee." He said, licking my cheek gently.

I smiled, licking him back. Then I frowned. What is it?” Nuka asked. “You do know who we’re going to have to tell don’t ya?” I said, my happiness changing into big time dread. Nuka nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, I think Zale's starting to come around. He hasn't been approaching either of us and trying to discourage us again for a while now."

“Maybe.” I admitted. Then I spotted something that made me raise an eyebrow. Cassius was waling back towards the group. A few minutes later, I saw him heading this way. I poked Nuka. “Speaking of him, Zale’s heading this way.” “"What impeccable timing, we can tell him away from the excitement of the crowd.” Nuka said, perking up a bit

I had a bad feeling. "Let's hope you're right." I said, placing my paw on Nuka's as Zale nears. Angel started to follow Zale but, as we watched, he stops and talks with her. A few minutes later, she walks back towards the group looking dejected as Zale resumes making his way towards us. Nuka and I both frowned at that. This was not a good sign. Once Zale was in hearing distance, Nuka put on a pleasant face and spoke. "Hi, Zale. How's it going?"

Zale sat down in front of us. All right I guess.” he said, taking a deep breath. “What about you?”

“"Couldn't be a better day for a picnic. And Tiana and I have been having some catching up time. I'd say so far it's been a great day."

“So what about Kali? Has she been spending time with Tiana as well?” Zale asked.

Nuka smiled. “As a matter of fact, we were just going to join her at the picnic with everyone else after we had a small talk with you. “About what?” he asked. "Well, no use beating around the bush, as they say. You're going to be an uncle. Again." Nuka kept the smile on his face, as we both watched Zale for his reaction. Zale looked irritated. “How long has it been?” he asked his voice strangely devoid of any emotion. “Tiana’s just startingher third week today.”

“So who is this baby staying with?” Zale asked. Nuka was already answering his question before I could even open my mouth. "Well, one of them is staying with Tiana... The other two are going to come over to my team." Zale blinked, clearly startled. “Say what?” “It’s triplets.” Nuka explained sheepishly as I nodded. I purred when he gently licked my cheek.

“So where are they going to sleep when they arrive?” Zale asked. I blinked, totally blindsided by where that question came from. “They will be staying in my room until they’re old enough to get their old room. Why do you ask?” <Be careful. Something is up. I can feel it.> I told Nuka privately.

“Oh, won’t it be crowded with Kali in there as well?” Zale asked.

“Who said Kali sleeps in my room?” Nuka asked, as he tried to probe for answers. <Yeah, I've noticed. I wonder what he's getting at.> he replied privately. <Do you suppose Cassius had something to do with this?> I asked. <I saw him heading back to the others before Zale headed this way.> <I wouldn't put it past him. He hates my guts for beating him in a battle.>

As soon as Nuka had spoken, all pretenses of everything being okay dropped. "Your team mate told me that she didn't. The ninetales told me that there was a reason that Darkfire made sure she slept in your room. Here i was about to APOLOGIZE to you and Tiana and then i learn about your past and that you even tried to eat Darkfire. " <Oh shit.> I thought.

Nuka dropped his smile and grimaced. “I don't deny it. I've had a bad history. And to set the record straight, I made certain Kali slept with Darkfire back then." <Don't worry, Tiana.> Nuka added privately. <I worry because I’ve got a BAD feeling and I don’t get them often.>

"Why should i believe you? I was told that you're a very good actor. Cassius said that if he had a sister that he wouldn't trust you with her. He also said that he had enough trouble looking after the kids around you." the anger was becoming more apparent in his voice the more he talked.

"Zale stop it." I pleaded.

“Butt out of it Tiana.” Zale replied.

<I'm starting to get a bad feeling too.> "Don't talk to Tiana that way. You can believe me because Cassius is a stubborn Ninetails with a problem of holding a grudge to his grave. Ask Senshi, he was there the day I beat him in a fight, which made Cassius hate me. And Cassius rarely watches the children. Senshi usually does, and I don't let Cass near Kali."

"How about this? You and me battle. If you win, I'll talk with Senshi and if I win, you, me Darkfire, and Senshi have a talk. I don't like being used as a toy and someone here is treating me that way." Zale’s eyes are narrowed. "Why did I have to lose my beach ball today of all days?" Zale muttered under his breath. Imperceptibly to Zale, I sighed in relief glad that I had had and actually listened to a feeling for once.
<And a good day to practice using my Water Sheild. That was a naughty trick, Tiana.> Nuka said, pulling a blue shield off of his back and sliding his paw through the straps until it fit snuggly on his left fore leg. <Thank you. I don't think we can persuade him to not fight.> "I agree to your terms. Win or lose, my name will get cleared."

<I don't have feelings that often but when I do I know to listen. Be careful he's probably gonna start out strong and his strongest water move is Hydro Cannon.> I warned. "Good luck, Nuka. Zale I don't like the fact that you were tricked, but no matter what happens, you ARE gonna be an uncle and you had better start acting like one." I sighed and backed off.

As I watched, the two pokemon that I cared the most for began their battle. I watched nervously holding my belly, in an attempt to reassure both my unborn pups and myself that things were going to be all right.

I was so stressed from watching the battle, which Zale ultimately lost, that I didn’t even hear Senshi approaching until he nudged me and spoke. "Hey, what was with that battle?" I sighed. “Cassius was behind it. "Oh boy." Senshi said, shaking his head. "That Ninetails is something else." Nuka slowly made his way over and sat by me. He looked very tired. Nuka then looked over at Senshi and asked him to wait around for Zale to wake up. Senshi nodded, lying down to wait .

"Are you okay?" I asked him, shaking my head. "If it wasn't for the current circumstances I'd deal with him myself. However when Zale comes around he may find someone new to vent his anger on." I said, looking down at my belly. Nuka nods and lies down as well. "I'll be fine, but I don't think I'll be needing another bath for a month. And for once, I feel sorry for Cassius. He's smart but too stubborn for his own good." I scooted closer to Nuka and lay down beside him.

"Good news, Senshi, we're getting new team members. Tiana's expecting triplets, and two are staying with us." We both beamed happily.

"Oh, cool! I love baby Eevees." Senshi said, grinning.

“It’ll still be several weeks though. Like six more today.” I told him.

"Well, it's still exciting... Are you showing already..?" “Barely.” I admitted. . "After I evolve I'm gonna find a girlfriend." Senshi stated, smiling. "Senshi thinks he's going to be able to do anything with ease after he evolves." Nuka stated, causing Senshi to flush a bit, but he just grinnned again.

I was about to say something to them about Dakota when I noticed that Zale was beginning to stir. A few minutes later, he was struggling to stand. I hurried over and helped him. “Where’s Angel?” was the first thing that he managed to croak out.

"Don't worry, she and Kali and Adonis are up playing games. Neither of the girls know about the fight." Senshi said, smiling. Zale smiled thankfully. "Thanks. Now can someone fill me in on the truth? I'm confused as all get out." Senshi begins explaining everything about Nuka and Kali and the grudge that Cassius holds against Nuka for beating him in a fight. "But why would he try and use me?" Zale asked, lowering his eyes. "How could I have been so stupid. I even asked him how was I to know that he wasn't trying to trick me.”

Nuka sighed. "He's the smartest Pokemon on our Team. If he wants something to happen, he'll get it done by any means necessary. Thankfully, I've gotten strong enough to out last him and his attempts. He saw you were still iffy about us and used the strongest weapons he could find, your protectiveness and my history."

"I was just about to come and apologize for my past attitudes when he approached.” Senshi shook his head. "I swear I'm gonna pommel that Ninetails for this. Trying to break a family apart."

Zale sighs and turns to Nuka. "I'm sorry. About today and in the past..." Nuka offered Zale a smile. "It's no problem. I'm glad Tiana has someone to look after her when I'm not around, even if he does over do it a tad." Nuka winked at Zale who just smiled and sweatdropped. "Maybe the next time we can have an actual friendly non heated battle. No pun intended.” Nuka chuckled. "A friendly battle would be great. Maybe after I've had time to dry out a bit first. Which might take a few days." "Just be thankful i didn't have my beach ball." At that I blushed... "About that. You can have it back when we get home." Nuka chuckled again, and Senshi shakes his head. "I'm going to check on the kids . Later you guys." he said, leaving.

"Shall we head back? As a group?"Zale asked. "Sure," Nuka said, getting up onto his paws as he tries to shake the remaining water out of his fur. Zale and I stood up, as well. "Three? Are you just teasing me?" he asked. "Of course we were teasing. It's eight." Nuka joked. Zale almost faints again at that but Tiana catches him, laughing. Nuka laughs as well. "That time I was joking. It's three."

Ha ha ha. Who all knows? Or am I the last? "Darkfire and Amy know, you, Senshi, anyone else?" Nuka asks, looking at Tiana questioningly, wondering if he forgot anyone. “Nightshade and Ruki. I meant to tell you that. Ruki followed me to the halfway point to the south caverns yesterday. He knew something was up but he didn't know what. I told him that he was gonna be an uncle again. Though he doesn't know that there are three babies on the way. Especially since at the time I didn't know. That kid is smart and perceptive.[/color=plum] Nuka nods. "That's all who knows, no one else. We're going to have to do a group announcement." Zale grinned. "At least i wasn't the last to know. I feared that I was. When do you plan to do that?" he asked. Nuka shrugged. "We can either do it all at once or I can announce to my team tonight and you and Ruki and Tiana can announce to your teammates tonight as well." I quickly caught on to what Zale was thinking. “Why not do it all at once and Zale can stand up there with us." I suggested, winking at Nuka. He grinned widely at the thought. "We can announce as soon as we get back. Right in Cass's face." Zale and I nodded our heads in agreement.

“I won how he’ll react?" I spoke out loud. Nuka shrugged his shoulders. "We'll have to see. Personally, I don't care what the Ninetales thinks. I want to know what Kali will think." I laughed. "That will be cute but lets hope she doesn’t start chanting those bad words again." Zale looked at us confused. "What bad words?" "You'll see. If she doesn't say it, we'll tell you later." Nuka promised as Zale raised an eyebrow. “I’m ready when you two are.” I told them

As soon as we arrived, I cleared my throat standing between Nuka and Zale. “Excuse me. May we have your attention please. We have an annoucment that we'd like to make." Everyone turned to look at us. Even Angel and Kali stopped their game. I turned to look at Nuka. “Nuka would you do the honors?” Nuka nods as he steps forward. "Tiana and I are expecting to be parents again. There will be three new little Eevees running around in six more weeks." Kali grinned widely and began to jump around, shouting, "I'm pregnant!" Zale’s jaw dropped as Senshi went to Kali and shushes her. He explained to her that she wasn’t pregnant and that I was. Kali looked confused but she ran over and rubbed her body against mine, purring. "Mommy's pregnant!" Nuka grinned at Zale. “Those bad words." I blushed, but nuzzled Kali. “I see.” Zale whispered.


Zale then cleared his throat. “And I would like to say that nothing is going to break this family apart as long as I’m around." Zale held out his paw and I placed mine on top of his. Nuka looked as if he was wondering if he should place his paw in the pile. “Go ahead.” With that, Nuka added his paw to the paw pile. Kali wagging her tail, gets onto her hind paws, putting both of her paws on top. Nuka and I both chuckled softly at her. Zale grins and nods for Angel to come up as well and she adds her paw to the pile as well. Finally, Ruki made it up on the stage and puts his paw on the very top of the pile. "To Family" I said, which was echoed by Nuka, Zale, and Ruki. Kali and Angel both said family before Angel tagged Kali and ran off.

Ruki turned to look at me and Nuka. “Three?" he asked. Zale grinned. "Nope, eight." "What?!" Ruki says surprised before they all start giggling. I smiled.. "It's a joke." Nuka grinned. “We ought to keep that joke around." I laughed, nodding my head in agreement. “Yeah.”

What ideas I had for Zale’s rbg have fizzled out. May I have a refund on that one and instead get one for Willow my L.19 M bayleef? Now to try and catch up on my ac stories.

[*Murkrow]

Willow will be battling a L19 Lileep in the Meadow.

[The Blue Avenger]

Okay, Amy, finally finished. X_x Comments: Very nice battles, and a good way for Tamal to make his departure. The interaction with Darkfire's Pokemon was also pulled off nicely. And, oh wow, the bits with Nuka were just... O_O. Take... let's say...18 CCPs.

[Wolfsong]

Thanks. One last rbg request before i set to work catching up on writing. I'd like one for Sunita my l.7 F dratini please ^^ *pays*

[The Blue Avenger]

She'll battle a Snorunt in the North Caverns.

[Wolfsong]

First of all, apologies for taking so long to complete this. And alsp apologies for not having much comments this time, as it is rather late ^^;. I loved reading the stories that you write, especially the descriptions. Edit: Now that i'm wide awake i reread your story and think you deserve a few more. Sorry abotu that. Take29 ccps. I’ll post the levels gained at the very end. Xx had writers block… x.x XD Hannah, you started something with the badges therefore you get one too. ^^; Hope I did okay, here is your conclusion.

Omega the L.40 M Shelgon Vs. Xia the L.40 F Vileplume

Though slightly tired from his earlier battle, Omega was still ready to fight. Thanks to his previous two previous two dragon dances in his earlier battle, Omega was now faster and stronger than ever. Charging forwards, slamming into Xia with such a fierce blow that, if used by most other species they’d end up hurting themselves, Xia staggered backwards. She quickly ejected a cloud of sweet smelling gas into Omega’s face momentarily dazing him.

Xia, quickly taking advantage of Omega’s momentary distraction, doused him with a huge dose of powder that had traces of poison mixed in. Unfortunately for Omega, he couldn’t help but breathe it in and, in doing so, he shook away the effects of the sweet scent.

Cursing to himself, Omega realized that he couldn’t poison his opponent as she was part poison type. He gave Xia a ferocious look that caused her to take a step back. But Xia wasn’t going to let her uneasiness stop her from creating duplicates of herself. When she had finished there were six Vileplumes facing Omega instead of one.

Omega, not having any idea what Xia was planning, took a safe route to getting rid of the clones. He began the intricate steps that would bring forth the rain. He didn’t see that Xia and her clones were busy replenishing their health as the downpour started. The rains quickly wiped out the clones and diminished the amount of health that the synthesis could have provided but it was enough.

Omega charged forwards in an attempt to weaken Xia even more, but she wasn’t about to be fooled twice. As soon as Omega had started his charge, she created a transparent protective shield that stopped Omega cold as he slammed into it.

Xia smirked, and Omega shot her another cold look. He was already starting to feel the poisons start to take their toll. With a shrill cry, the vileplume shot a beam of red light into the sky, which not only evaporated the rain but called the sun out as well.

Xia smirked, now she was just as fast as Omega was. She quickly launched a beam of pure white solar energy at Omega. The force of the attack caused him to take a step back. He was getting tired. He was feeling the damage from the poisons that circulated through his body as well as the attacks that he had taken from his previous battle. He wasn’t about to continue with the battle of wills over the weather. He inhaled deeply before exhaling a stream of flames made even hotter by the sun. Xia screamed in pain as the flames made contact.

Omega, pleased that his attacks were being felt, began drawing upon the last reserves of fire power that he had left in his body. Inhaling deeply, he exhaled a ball of flames that exploded into a huge star shape as soon as it made contact with Xia’s body. She gave one last agonized cry of pain before slumping to the ground, defeated.

Omega won!

Crystal returned her fallen pokemon, and put on a fake smile. Congratulations, you have won the Ivy Badge, SM 01, Cut. With that, she turned around and left.




Ryau earned 2 levels from her battle growing to L.25. Omega earned 2 levels from his first battle and 2 more from his last, growing to L.44.

[*Murkrow]

I've got Omega's battle done I really enjoyed writing this.

It's all in his POV.

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

A low ray of light gently brushed against the clouds underside, turning it golden, illuminating it against the light blue sky. Gradually, the glow strengthened, the soothing white of the drifting clouds flaring into colour as the suns rays pierced through.
Stretching out beneath it, the land spoke of autumn’s approach; rich shades of brown and chestnut covered the once vivid green fields. Layers of crumpled leaves covered the ground in intricate patterns, thickly heaped up as the wind drove them together.
The looming trees rustled amongst themselves as the wind tickled them, shaking their branches so that those remaining leaves twisted and writhed in the breeze. Occasionally, one with a weakened stem could not resist the omnipresent tug, letting itself be ripped free from its position, spiralling downwards to settle eventually amongst the littered carcasses.

I couldn’t help but smile as I charged through yet another of the leaf piles. Each kick sent what seemed like hundreds of leaves crashing into the air with that ever-satisfying crackling sound. Dancing through the drifting leaves, I laughed at myself, at them and at the complete and utter exhilaration that was flowing through my body.
It was two days since we’d beaten Crystal. Two days since I’d stood there and watched as she sulkily handed over the delicate looking Ivy Badge to Hannah, along with her SM and money. That badge had now been placed in pride of place in the small living room back at our flat. As for the SM…..well, she hadn’t decided what to do with it yet. Chances our, that little box would soon find itself permanently enshrined next to the badge.
I paused at the thought of both items commemorating our victory and chuckled to myself. Perhaps that would be taking things a little too far.

Giving another enthusiastic kick at the leaves, I trotted forwards a few steps, then accelerated into a lurching, rocking gallop-the fastest I could move normally. Bouncing along the alternately narrow and wide paths was a bit of a struggle, but at the moment, nothing could get in the way of my enjoyment of life.
It had been that way since my victory. Even as I had shuddered as I stood, Xia’s poisons still working their way into my blood stream, I had felt my body throb with something that wasn’t pain. Even after we had managed to ‘persuade’ Crystal to lend us a small quantity of herbs she kept for ailments, it remained. I’ll admit, I originally just thought it was my body responding to the punishments it had received; sleep should be enough to return my body to normal.

I couldn’t sleep that night. Even though I curled up straight away, intending to rest, I could feel my restlessness increasing. Nothing I could do affected my need to move. In the end, I spent most of the night pacing constantly around our shared garden, before –finally- the monotony and movement combined to knock me out as dawn was breaking.
I had slept through the next day, waking a couple of hours before dawn. It hadn’t left me; I’d only managed to repress it. Unable to keep still, I let myself out and wandered straight out from the small town, back into my natural habitat. I had watched the sky lighten, observed the wild Pokémon begin to stir, stared at the wind and cold ravaged landscape.
And still the incessant desire to move. My muscles felt like they were pulsing with energy, combining to give my gait a strange rocking edge as I bounced along. Not only that, but my senses seemed to be blurring; one second my eyesight would be normal, then the edges were sharpen, objects becoming more defined, yet when I turned my head, things were the same as they normally were. Sharp smells would assault my nose, contrasting with what I could see before me. Sudden crackles of leaves echoed in my mind even when I stood perfectly still and knew I was the only one here.
I loved how I was feeling. It made me feel fresh and alive, making it so that the bounce in my step wasn’t just a result of my overly active muscles.

Of course, I knew what was happening, why I was feeling this way. Finally, my body was nearly ready; I was reaching the point where my current form wouldn’t be able to contain me any more. My sharpening senses was simply the result of my body preparing itself to move on, finally propelling me forwards and giving me what I’d always desired.

A stupid grin trickled over my face and I slithered to a halt. I hadn’t given it any conscious thought, but I knew, deep down, that I’d never see my home through my old eyes again. When I returned, it would not be trotting casually along the roughly applied tarmac of the pavements and roads, but gliding in proudly, perhaps being joined in my final approach by those on the team who could fly themselves.
I lifted an eyebrow at that thought, as I briefly registered exactly who I was talking about. Then I shook my head and banished my thought. Whatever was going to happen between me and Rage would happen, but I wasn’t going to be the one who started it. Not anymore. Echoes of my threat to him still rang in my mind but they seemed like a joke to me now. I wasn’t going to judge him anymore, nor force him to do what I wanted. It was up to him now.

Feeling strangely elated at that decision, I chuckled to myself again and pushed all thoughts from my mind. Gambolling gleefully onwards, I tumbled childishly into a particularly thick heap of leaves, kicking my legs happily, sending showers of gold, brown, chestnut shades cascading around my body.
As my kicking gradually ceased, they drifted down, tenderly covering my body as I sprawled on my back, staring up at the shifting tops above me. Sighing, I closed my eyes, breathing deeply, inhaling the somehow luxurious scent that tingled off of the leaves; that rich, musty odour of autumn.
Happily, I relaxed, feeling shadows flick over my face, occasional pin-pricks of light filtering down when a passing cloud drifted away and let the sun penetrate down.
One of those passing scents came to me; strong, familiar, one I could not sense if I looked for it, but had to relax, letting it come to me. It faded, slowly being replaced by another, unfamiliar, that smelt somehow in-between the mustiness of autumn and the freshness of summer.
I opened my eyes, observing from upside at the figure who silently landed amongst the leaves with barely a crackle. I felt a grin crack across my face.
‘Are you Omega?’ she inquired in a light voice, a hesitant smile flickering across her face.
‘Of course,’ I crooned back, rolling viciously to right myself, getting to my feet and walking forwards from my bed of leaves. ‘And I think I can guess why you’re here.’
Her smile entered her eyes. ‘So he isn’t as discrete as he thinks he is then?’
‘Oh no,’ I laughed inwardly, knowing full well that if anybody else was following this conversation then they’d be lost already. ‘Once this is over, please tell him that I’m more than I once was, so he’ll have to be more careful. And if he doesn’t know what that means then I think he deserves all he gets.’
She giggled. ‘I will tell him that if I can….although it may be you who is waiting for him.’
‘Oh no.’ I shook my head at her. ‘You are talking to the merciless slayer of two of the three grass gyms Pokémon. You can’t beat me.’
‘I like the phrase ‘merciless slayer’,’ she giggled. ‘It sounds very smug.’
‘For good reason.’ I beamed at her and crouched down. ‘Would you like to find out why now?’
‘You know, he did mention something about you getting rather cocky,’ she mused, her face lighting up. ‘I will be glad to try to bring you down a peg or so.’
‘Charming. I’m looking forward to it already.’

Fight
Omega (Shelgon L44 M) Vs Skiploom (L44 F)

We both knew that the way to win a battle was to turn things to your advantage. I backed up into the leaves, surrounding myself once more in a flurry of flying leaves as I leapt easily through the steps that I knew so well.
As I did that, she lifted her arms to the sun, a low trill rippling through her mouth, filling the clearing where we were standing. Her bloom burned orange and a jet of fire exploded upwards, circling to crash into the sky, forming a massive, burning sun. Her bloom instantly began to shine, particles of light being absorbed into it. It rather looked like she was preparing to use a solar beam and was charging it up in readiness.

But regardless; my muscles pulsed with even more energy than before as I bounced forwards- actually physically bounced as I felt my energy screaming to be released from my body. She fluttered into the air in an instant, her large wings/ears barely moving as she drifted upwards in the warming air.
I smiled and turned the sun to my advantage, using it to heat the flames that came scorching through my throat, ripping and burning, aiming to catch her underside. She took the hit without comment, beyond wincing. Yet even as my attack faded, she glowed green and the burn marks faded.

Struck by the similarity between my last three matches, I laughed, then drew on my inner strength; my form shimmered for an instant behind barriers of electricity before it exploded upwards, static circling through the clearing as the roar of lightning crashed upwards. She squeaked - from surprise, no doubt- and aimed a beam of light down at me, which ripped through the last vestiges of electricity.

I darted away, feeling the ground shudder beneath me as the beam struck, sending dirt and leaves blasting away as it buried into the soil. Her speed was actually pretty impressive; it easily matched mine. As she followed me from overhead, I spun to face her, narrowing my eyes to give her my most fiercest look. She faltered under my gaze and I took the chance to blast another flamethrower at her. With her diminished defence, she offered barely any resistance, letting me scorch her badly.

Wailing, she rolled backwards, her body glowing green again as she tried to replenish her health. I tried to hit her again with more fire, but she rolled upright suddenly and motioned in one quick swipe. Her eyes flashed purple, and next second I was about twenty feet in the air, staring across at her as she gave me a deceptively sweet smile. If I wasn’t in a battle, I’d probably have asked her to keep me up there for longer, instantly loving the feeling of being away from the ground, my body hanging gently in the air. If anybody ever felt that, then there was no doubt in my mind that they’d understand what drove me towards my ultimate goal.

But, I was in a battle. She decided to remind me of that by dropping me. I fell like a stone, smacked my legs hard against the ground, did an odd sort of bounce up, before I felt her seize me again and drag me up. Unwilling to let her get the advantage again, I began to thrash viciously, making it increasingly difficult for her to hold on. It must have worked, because she suddenly uttered an irritated sort of squeak and let go. Again, I fell like a rock, but shot a flamethrower downwards to ease my landing a bit.

The second my feet touched the ground, I was blasted away again as she aimed another beam at me. Taking the blast straight on, I felt it to the extreme, with enough force to send me tumbling backwards, finally stopping as I crashed into the sturdy base of a tree.

She giggled; automatically, I looked up, receiving an intense flash of light that burned my retina’s and caused my sight to blur alarmingly. Instinct –and common sense – told me that she was going to take this chance now, so I pushed all my energy into my newest attack. The three protrusions on my back began to glow (I couldn’t see them of course, but I could feel them), before each exploded towards her in a scythe of presumably white light. She must have tried to avoid them, but her three successive shrieks of pain and alarm told what had happened. I laughed inwardly. No point trying to dodge an aerial ace.

With her temporarily off guard, I relaxed, allowing to myself to focus. As my mind gradually started to concentrate on the task at hand, I felt my sharpened senses flaring into play. I could smell her mixed scent, hear her low murmurs of pain; even better, when I opened my eyes my vision was slightly better. I still had a large number of yellow dots dancing and skipping in front of my eyes, but the blurredness of my surroundings was less. And there she was. A green figure lifting her face towards the sun as her body glowed.

‘You know, I never actually asked your name,’ I called over to her.
I saw her shift her attention to me, and although I couldn’t see it, I heard the smile in her voice. ‘Oh- it’s Summer.’
‘Well, then. Thank you Summer for being a good opponent.’

Then I let my jaw slide open and the churning flames come pouring out. Caught as she was, desperately trying to heal the three deep cuts on her body, she couldn’t react in time. I saw her barrel-roll, attempting to escape, but my flames caught her side. Momentarily stunned, it was all I needed in order to move slightly to the left and let my flames entirely consume her.

I won, growing to L45.

Cutting off my attack, I saw her green form drop limply to the ground. Before I hurried over to her, I scrunched my eyes up, blinking frantically to restore my vision somewhere regarding normal. After a couple of minutes, the overall blurriness faded; I still had a few spots dancing around, but I ignored them and trotted over to Summer.

Her light body wasn’t hard to flip over onto her side; I spent a few minutes making sure that she was fully comfortable, then withdrew. I knew that she’d be alright.

Turning away, I stretched and shook my limbs before moving off. As I reached the edge of the clearing, I glanced back at where she lay, my eyes searching the surroundings around her. Nothing stirred. It wasn’t until I finally turned away that I caught the scent and grinned.

Moving away, I walked for a couple of hundred metres, then gradually eased into a jog. My gait quickened as my mind relished the speed, yet before I lost myself in the movement, I flung one last glance behind me, at the sky.

A shadow flickered over the bare tree-tops for a split-second, then vanished. I laughed gleefully. I knew that Summer was gone and safe, and as I turned back and let myself accelerate into a full on gallop, I knew exactly what I was doing.

And I already loved every second of it.

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

Can I have another RBG for Omega, my L45 male Shelgon, please? *Pays* Thanks.

[Wolfsong]

I'll try and rate your story later, but Omega will be battling a L.45 Aerodactyl in the forest. Have fun.

[*Murkrow]

Here is what was initially going to be a run of the mill story, but ended up as.....this. Don't ask me how, I just typed as I thought.

Bits in italics are Omega's thoughts.

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

I thundered my way along a path, feeling the swoosh of the wind as it swept alongside my body; with my eyes closed, I imagined that I could feel it sweeping underneath me, propelling me upwards. I stretched my imaginary wings, increasing my stride so that I could bound upwards, leaping into the air.

For an instant I seemed to hang, feeling my body pushing through the tug of the wind, before my front legs absorbed the impact and I charged on. Once the feeling of despair would have crept over me at that, at the sensation of gravity dragging me down, but now I just laughed, exhilarated at myself. Who cared if this shell resisted the touch of the wind? Not me, not anymore. I’d outgrown it anyway.

Come on, come now!

Calling out in my mind, I extended my senses outwards, eager to catch the first announcement of something approaching. I knew now that it was only a matter of time: I wasn’t going to have to worry about a lack of opponents now. No way.

I sensed nothing, so I chuckled to myself and ran on. Propelling myself through the leaves, I snatched at a falling one, feeling its dry crunch as I bit into it. The dead taste spread over my mouth, the flaky form disintegrating even as I let it just rest on my tongue. Savouring what could only be described as the taste of autumn, I opened my eyes, letting this heavy body slow to a stop. My legs shivered as I slid forwards, shaking slightly at the weight pushing against them, before I slithered to a halt.

My sides were heaving with the effort, but my heart still bounced happily. I rocked backwards and stared joyfully upwards, watching through half-glazed eyes at the clouds drifting overhead. Stretching into tatty strands, they drifted casually across the azure sky.

Soon!

Thud.

I heard the sound throbbing in my ear drums, resonating around my skull even after it had faded from the air. I braced myself. The scent of blood tingled my nose, along with the heavy stench of a carnivore. I hoped I wouldn’t smell like that.

Thud.

The air seemed to vibrate around me; the leaves seemed to shrink back. I edged with them, deliberately taking in a deep breath. Instinct was already screaming at me to be careful; I knew this wasn’t going to be a casual, random encounter, yet deep down, I knew that I meant nothing to what was approaching. I was in no doubt over my position right now. I didn’t even know if help would come if I needed it.

Getting scared, Omega?

The day hell freezes over.

I crouched down, getting myself into the best position for striking. I’d never quit, not now.

Thud.

A dark shadow lurched over the treetops, his darkness contrasting so vividly with the light background beyond him. For an instant or so, he hung there. His massive wings delicately caught the oncoming breeze, allowing him to drift so gracefully above me.

I will not be intimidated! Never!

He seemed to be a creature of such contrast. His muscular arms bulged with power, even in a near-silhouette form, an image seemingly enhanced by the delicate membranes rippling from his long, clawed fingers, writhing its way to merge effortlessly with his bony sides. Curled, dagger like claws were held in place beneath him as easily as if they were glued there, resisting the whirl of wind that I could tell was swirling around him. A slowly shifting tail streamed outwards and away, ending in a vicious looking prong.

Then he banked, lowering his head as he let the wind carry him backwards, letting his body rise upwards. A bony protrusion rose between his shoulders; it should have given him a look of a hunchback, crippled and old. It didn’t. Somehow, it only reaffirmed his authority; that he was able to carry what should have been a physical ailment with such ease.

What are you waiting for, come on!

Our eyes met. His, cold, black, burning.

His bird shaped head sparked images in my mind; unconscious thoughts that intruded as I saw the resemblance between him and my friends. No wonder. He was the only thing left now; he’d helped create them. That was gone now. He was the last in a line of those who’d helped push evolution forwards. We all owed him.

Come on.

The sickly, raw smell of a killer was reaching out, embracing the swaying trees, creeping down to whisper through the undergrowth, sending warnings to all those whose crushing claws he could rip the life out of.

I exulted in it. Who was I kidding? He was just as much a dragon as I was. I smelt the blood that burnished his very sides, inhaling deeply.

Come on, brother.

I remembered standing alongside a crushing river, feeling my claws sink deep into the warm, living flesh, feeling the substance trickling its way down my leg.

Suddenly I wished I’d tasted it.

He blinked.

No matter. It’d come.

In a rush he was streaking towards me; immense wings flat against his sides as he streaked downwards, his eyes still burning outwards, dark, calculating. I could almost feel him approaching, feel the air shuddering away from the pressure tearing through it, listening all the while to the whine and shriek as he scissored his way through it.

A tremor shot through my legs and was suppressed. I was not going to fear him! Not now, how could I? He was an image of what I was going to become.

His wings twisted from his sides in a lithe movement, allowing their membranes to catch the full brunt of the rushing wind. He stalled almost immediately, seeming to hang motionless for an instant.

Then his claws unfurled and he crashed down.

It had all happened in a matter of seconds, but I was ready. As he had plummeted downwards, I had steadied myself, knowing innately where I would have to attack to bring him down. As his claws shot open, I timed my movement and rolled to the side, attempting to bring myself to a position where I had the best chance of striking.

I’d underestimated him.

His opposite wing lashed out, catching the wind and bringing him swinging round; his claws extended and smashed into my side.

The impact was enough to send me tumbling onto the ground; his left claw thumped onto the soil beside me, less than an inch from my face, as his right pressed against my body. His weight instantly told, as I felt my body being compressed as he drove down on me. His scent filled my nose, filtering down over me, seeming to centre in on some primeval part of my brain. I felt myself shudder, the overwhelming lust for blood awakening inside of me. He snorted, leaning over and twisting his neck round so that he could sniff my shell; I could feel the warm air flowing over me.

His claw tightened- I felt dry soil flinging against my face as his left claw closed reflexively, digging deep fissures into the ground. I could feel my shell struggling to withstand the pressure. He snorted again and shifted slightly, giving me a second or so of relief before his grip tightened again.

Crack.

Everything seemed to freeze. My mind was blank. Part of me refused to believe that my defences could ever, truly be broken. Not like that, not after I’d pushed my body to its limits, flinging myself from cliffs in my desire, facing off against opponents who’d left nothing more than brief memories in my mind.

Crack.

Again. The pain was gradual, which surprised me slightly. From two points of my sides, a low, pulse seemed to resonate, creeping its languorous way through my muscle until it was able to slip neatly into my brain. Warmth trickled down my sides, drawing his attention closer. His grip relaxed slightly to give him room to sniff at my wound, before I felt his moist tongue flick against my body.

Nobody will drink my blood.

Not you, not anybody.

The primeval part of my identity, the part that had awoken at the scent of blood now rebelled, refusing to accept what was happening. The secret part that only cared about itself sparked and flared, making me attempt to buck my body, throw him off. It didn’t work, of course, but it made his head withdraw, his claw shuffling to get a better grip.

Of course.

I did it again. Then again. Each time focusing intensely on the moment when his hold weakened, as he shifted to try to tighten his grip on me, his prey. I shook my body and tried to get up, arching my back as much as I could. His claws relaxed for a second as he got ready to try to manhandle me into submission. I felt more soil striking my face as his other claw dug into the dirt.

And as his grip relaxed fractionally, I dragged myself forwards, only an inch and twisted round and sunk my teeth into the top of his claw. His skin was rough; echoes of scales flickered across it, in the dry, reptilian feel, and the invisible lumps and granules that were only noticeable by touch. I closed my eyes and sank my teeth in further, struggling against what felt like endless layers on layers of tough, warm skin.

My body shook with impact as he tried to drag me off by sinking his free claw deeper into my body. But the open wounds he’d inflicted had shifted, and he didn’t have the easy option available to him; as he tried to gouge his way through my shell, he screamed aloud, roaring up into the open air, his wings whipping up a hurricane around us as they beat frantically.

I didn’t give. Even as his claws tore against my shell, even as I felt it chip, I didn’t let up. Not until he convulsed and struck me with his free claw, with enough force to simply tear me free, did I let go, my mouth full of his flesh, my eyes never leaving the spot where blood was now leaking its way to freedom.

He didn’t want to give me time to savour the moment. All his mind could interpret was that his prey was fighting back, and so he had to do so to. Raising his wings above his back to make him look more intimidating, he hissed gutturally, mouth creaking open to showcase his glistening fangs, saliva trickling from his jaw as he screeched.

I had an advantage, of course. In-cased as I was within my shell, I had no real areas vulnerable for attack, except my legs, and even they were short and hard to aim at as a target. If he wanted to hurt me, he had to get a good grip and break down through my shell.

He snarled and lunged forwards, his neck snaking towards me, his jaws extended as far open as they could. I let him come, staring into his mouth, seeing beyond his teeth to his tongue, and beyond that, the dark shadows around his gullet. I only had my teeth as a defence.

But that wasn’t going to stop me. As he darted slightly to the side and struck, trying to seize me side-on, I drew my lips back and struck. My movement meant that, although his teeth made contact, they slipped over me, catching slightly on the roughness of my shell and the jagged barbs of flesh, I twisted half-free and plunged my teeth into his lower lip. The flesh was less rough and tenderer here; his head bucked immediately, ripping away from me with a slitting noise. That only meant that I felt his warm blood puddle into my mouth, feeding my desire for more. I stumbled as I caught myself upon landing, licking eagerly at the blood running down my face.

Hissing audibly, he reared back, extending his neck and wings as far as they could go, looming above me, an ominous figure, his breath beating out of him, his eyes locking onto mine again.

I blinked.

Sightless.

Staring at each other, I could see myself reflected in his eyes. Yet nothing stirred there. Nothing glimmered in those cold, dark eyes. No sense of self, no knowledge except the incessant desire, the same primeval need that I could feel had been awakened in me.

But it’s different than that.

I was controlling it, wasn’t I? I wasn’t letting myself go into an all-out frenzy in a need for the taste of blood, warm living flesh, was I? It was there, yes, but I wasn’t letting it- or ever would let it- consume me, until it destroyed the self I had. He didn’t have that. Nothing except the most basic needs, no mind to understand and experience truly what was happening.

Brother.

It couldn’t have been less than fifteen minutes ago when I’d called him that. It was still true, but I knew that it only reflected me on a primeval level. If I let myself go, I’d become him, if I didn’t, if I kept my mind and sense of self, he’d be the part I could use, could control, but refuse to let consume me.

I felt a twinge of pity for him as briefly lowered my eyes in acknowledgment. I doubted that he’d have an inkling of understanding of what I meant, but for my peace of mind, I wanted to thank him, however indirectly.

He stared back silently, then lifted his head and stared at the sky. His wings lifted slowly, hung for a second, then thrust down. The draft crashed into the clearing, sending leaves flying, hurtling around us as he lifted off. I was turning to watch him go when a pain shot through my right leg. My eyes flickered down for an instant, catching what seemed to be a flash of fire jetting over my flesh, vanishing before I could determine what it was.

Thud.

I whipped my eyes up again, but he was gone. I stood motionless, staring upwards. My heart beat, small rivers of blood still ran over and down my aching sides, and my mind tracked the clouds silently.

Nothing stirred.

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

After that battle, Omega grows to L46.

I'd like another RBG for Omega please. *Pays* His stats are above.

[The Blue Avenger]

You're probably tired of hearing this, but I'll get to your rate soon.

Omega will battle a Baltoy in the Desert.