-=Game=- Dragon Tamers Battle Range version 19! (M.A. by Pidgeot)

[Lady Vulpix]

Ookay, let's start.

Rebecca, take 18 stamps for your story, plus 1 more stamp for your help! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
I wish you didn't feel so down about Christmas, though. I believe there's nothing wrong about other people celebrating, and that having a good time whenever there's a chance is the best alternative. Maybe if you had stayed at that party a little longer, we would have been able to talk a little. I would have enjoyed the company of a fellow Jewish at the party. Needless to say, I'm not celebrating Christmas either, but that party is an important social event for the Dragon Tamers, so I'm not missing it (though I'm not organizing it either, in case anyone's planning to say that in their stories; I am helping out, though).

Tara, you get the time extension. Enjoy your vacation!! I can hardly believe I have to hand in a project on January 3rd (uni's closed in January, but they'll open it for us that day). And I have a final the day after tomorrow too. At least I don't have a party IRL tonight, nor tomorrow, so I'll have time to study. Anyway, I'll still do my best to have a good time. That's my policy.

Teddiursa89, your battle is invalid. Please rewrite it so that it follows the rules, as Rebecca pointed out.

Lugia0013, your post could have been much more descriptive, but it's valid and mostly well written. Take a stamp. ¢

[The_Missing_Link]

Well, like I said, I don't have qualms towards Christmas except for the overhype it gets. Setting up decorations in stores 2 months earlier is just stupid to me. And those old Christmas movies they show on TV are just too cheesy. Anyway, I didn't want to involve myself too much in the party since I wanted to battle more. Thanks for the stamps though

[Wolfsong]

I'm asking for a time extension. Hopefully i won't need it but just in case. I just got started on it five minutes ago. I've been busy with family and all that good stuff. I'm not complaining, i enjoyed it. Just haven't had that much time

[Lady Vulpix]

I understand, Amy. I don't have much time either, having a final tomorrow and all.
You get a time extension, but the fact that so many people are requesting one suggests that we should wait for some time before posting the next scenario. Maybe by the second week of January or so... we'll see what everyone's situation is like by then.
Oh, and Rebecca, I understand you too.

[Last Exile]

Enjoy the trip, Tara! Queensland is pretty fine. So have fun and take care of yourself.

I won't miss you much ..... I'll miss you a lot!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I'll start working on mine ASAP. Just been busy sorting out my teaching course application and Christmas. Going to see whether I can find any bargains at the after-Chirstmas sales tomorrow.

[*shadow*]

I woke up stretching, blinking in astonishment as a furry paw dropped into view. I felt around my head, and came up with a small furry marron vulpix curled around my head. I grinned and popped her on my pillow along with Sparky, Ice, Rosy, Silk, and for a change, Shade my gastly. Blaze, and Fireball were curled up together at the end of the bed with Typhoon, and Bubbles Sallai and Courage were in the pokèbasket I had set up on the floor. I grinned.

Is tumbled downstairs, yawning. I managed to smack into several walls, and eventually pinball my way outside. I yawned and stretched with my furry blue polar bear slippers on, and my furry Blue Kitty pj’s. I shuffled over and grabbed the mail, bolting back inside as the door started to close. I chucked the mail on the counter, splashing my face with water from the sink. I shivered, and then dried my face, noticing a green and reed wrapped letter. Intrigued, I opened it. Cool! A Christmas party! But even better, battles! I grinned. The perfect way to get back into Dragon Tamers after a summer with my relatives that lived so far away.

I tossed together porridge and blue berries for breakfast, with Orange Juice then yelled for my pokèmon. The little pokèmon, Rainbow, Sparky, and Ice all came tumbling downstairs on Rosy and Silk. I grinned as silk headed straight for the table. Sallai came bolting down next, a hyper active Bubbles squealing on her back. Typhoon raced Fireball down the stairs, and Blaze arrived stately, curled up asleep on Courage’s back. When everyone was at the table I let them chow down. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. I looked at the invitation. It was tonight.

“Okay everyone, were going to a party tonight for the Dragon Tamers. Best behaviour ok! Also, two of you can battle. I’d like Sparky and Sallai to battle please.” My pokèmon discussed it among them then agreed. I grinned. “Then lets go outside and play!” I yelled. But first, I bolted upstairs and rugged up, bringing mittens, scarfs and hats for my pokèmon. I rugged the little ones up, then let them play. All my pokemon had a ball, and then we all trooped back inside at around 1:30 tired.

I gave them all a hot bath and dried them off, and let them sit in front of the fire and watch tv. I collapsed to the couch to watch with them. Soon it was around 4:30. I ran upstairs, and got dressed. I changed into warm long black flared jeans with silver flames that wound up with blue to the knee, black sneakers with a white sole, and a nice silver belt, with a legendary pokèmon as the clasp. I wore a nice white shirt with an angel on it, saying, “I swear that the horns are only there to hold the horn up!” with a Black vest over the top (the kind with lots of pockets).

I clipped my pokèballs on. My pokemon rushed up, and laughing I returned them. I left Sparky and Sallai out. Sparky bounded up to curl up in the hood of my blue jacket, and I zipped Sallai into the jacket as well. I locked the house up and set off for the Recreation Centre. I got there around 6:00. The party was going well, and as I let my pokemon out, I could smell the wonderful food. My tummy gurgled, and all of my pokèmon laughed at me. I laughed as well, and we grabbed a table. We chowed down to our hearts content, and the food was spectacular, as were the wonderful decorations. Tinsel hung in drapes around the booths, and tiny silver bells hung from the tinsel. Holly was wound into the tinsel, creating a holidayish effect.

Desiring some fresh air, my pokèmon and I wandered out into the garden. I collapsed onto a park bench, and my pokemon and I happily watched the battles. We had just watched an interesting match between a Meowth and a Cubone, and an Elekid and an Ampharos. A trainer approached us. He had blonde sandy hair, and was decked out in red and greens. He smiled and said “Hi, my names Sam. Fancy a Battle?” I smiled at him, accepting his helping hand up. “How could I refuse such a charming proposal?” I said with a laugh. We walked to a free space, my pokemon clustering around me. He rolled a pokèball that burst open in a flash of white light to reveal a chittering Aipom. It pranced around, before sitting calmly before us.

I thought for a moment, and then I sent Sparky forward. “Ready to go Sam?” I goaded. “Ready as I’ll ever be! Lets go!” He yelled I grinned. This would be good. The snow crunched over foot, in a light frosting, revealing the grass. It would make for treacherous footing.

Sparky, Pichu Lv.8 VS Aipom Lv.6

Sparky’s Pov
I circled the Aipom, searching for a weakness. I feinted a few times, and he responded quickly. His trainer commanded him to use Slam. He ran forward, and I went to dodge and avoid it, but I slipped sideways in the snow! The slam got the right hand side of my body. I got up a bit stiffly. We circled in the snow again, the Aipom sliding around a bit. I headed for the deeper snow, jumping up on top of a drift. As the Aipom got closer, I tail whipped him back down the slope.

He glared, and started climbing the slippery snow bank. I slipped away, getting up behind him. I charged up, feeling my cheeks begin to warm up. Small sparks started to fly from my cheeks. My cheeks started to give off a yellow glow, and sparkle up with electricity. I waited, the charge building, then I launched and arc of bright yellow electricity up in the air. It arced over the drift towards where the Aipom had nearly got to the top. It got the Aipom good, and it twitched a bit. I copped a bit of backwash, and I was pulverised by a strong electric current.

I looked up to see the Aipom slam me again. I picked myself up again angrily, chasing after the Aipom. It chittered laughing, and bolted in the snow. It moved quickly, but I slipped over the snow, using its slipperiness to my advantage. As I neared, I started form a small white ball behind me. This would only work once. “Hey, you stupid Aipom!” I yelled. It looked back and glared. “What are you saying pipsqueak!” It said, glaring. I grinned. “Your so stupid you couldn’t climb a tree without hurting yourself!” The Aipom growled long and low, and launched itself at me. I danced back, and skittered a small red and green glowing present across the snow. I moved back, watching as the Aipom curiously circled the present, sniffing it. I grinned, as the Aipom touched it. My present attack blew up in its face.

The Aipom’s face was black and sooty, and there was a small crater in the snow. It tottered around for a minute, before falling over gazing up, its eyes whirling. I grinned. That had been fun.

Sparky grew to level 9!



Sam returned his Aipom grinning. “Good battle. Lets turn it up a notch!” I grinned, waiting. He tossed another ball, and in a burst of white light, it revealed a grinning Meowth. I bit my lip, looking at Sallai. Could she do it> The Meowth was a pretty high level…….I shook my head. I knew that she could do it. I beckoned her forth. Sam s******ed. I glared at him and he shut up. Sparky gave Sallai a few last minute pointers, and she nodded, stepping forward as the battle began.

Sallai, Ponyta Lv.6 VS Meowth Lv.10

Sallai’s Pov
I slowly looked the Meowth over. It was lean, and muscular. It was sitting on its haunches preening itself. It looked over at me, its coin glittering. “You might as well give up now you young fool, for I shall win.” I merely shook my head and snorted. The snow underfoot was crunchy, and most of it had been cleared away to reveal the slick grass beneath. I cautiously tested it out, noticing that I had to grip firmly with my hooves for a good purchase.

The Meowth finally got to its feet. “Lets go then child.” It said amiably. I growled, shifting to a battle stance. It prowled around me, cautiously sending out scratch attacks to test my reaction. I let most of them hit me, hoping to fool him. He boldly came at me headfirst, paw outstretched. I whinnied, and dug my heels into the grass, galloping forward into a tackle. I hit him square in the chest and sent him flying backwards into a snowdrift. He picked himself up angrily, muttering.

“Meowth, Pay Day!” Yelled his trainer, fists clenched. Crystal merely smiled at me, her hands in her pockets. The Meowth started throwing change and bright shiny coins at me. I dug my hooves deep into the grass, and dodged randomly from side to side in a zigzag pattern, slowly inching closer to him. The Meowth started to slow down, then stop. I got even closer, when he stopped me with a ferocious leer attack. I froze, and he violently scratched me. I shook my head, the pain clearing away my fear. I snorted, pawing the snow, and rushed forward. The wily Meowth waited, then jumped and scratched down my flanks. I screamed in pain, limping to a halt. My breath hung heavy in frozen clouds on the chilly night air.

The Meowth checked under its nails. I started to Growl, long and low, ominously. The Meowth looked up, startled. I charged forward, and whipped around, belting into the Meowth with my hind legs, launching it into the air with a mighty double kick. I limped to a stop, stunned. So that was my birth move! The Meowth’s body bumped along a bit to lie in a crumpled heap. I moved closer carefully, in case it attacked again. The Meowth raised its self slowly. “Good battle little one, you’ve got the fighting spirit.” He said with a grin. “Thank you…” I said, a little uneasy. The Meowth’s trainer came over and picked it up, giving it a potion.

I walked back to Crystal, who gingerly hugged me. She pulled some bandages out of her pocket, and wrapped me up. The bleeding had stopped by now, from that last deep scratch. She congratulated me, and so did the rest of the team. I smiled, happy. Then everyone trooped back inside, to get out of the cold. As I stood in the doorway I turned around, realising with a shock that I had battled right under the rising full moon….

Sallai grew to level 8!



I was very happy with Sallai. She had battled well, and had shown her birth move, as well as her fighting spirit. I knew that she would be a powerful fighter someday. Everyone ambled back over to the buffet table, smelling the delicious variety of foods. I loaded some trays and bowls up, perilously carting them to the booth that we had used before. My pokmon happily chowed down into their second helping, enjoying the delicious food.

There was a very festive air around, with all the beautiful decorations and such. Even the trainers were decked out. Most of my pokèmon were starting to snooze, when someone slid into the booth. “Mind if I join you?” Asked Sam. I was startled, but complied. “That was a pretty magnificent battle out there, and your pokèmon are really well trained.” I commented to Sam. “Thank you.” He replied. “Your little Pichu and Ponyta are pretty gutsy themselves. I’ll need to train my pokèmon up some more.” He said, smiling as he patted his pokèballs. I grinned.

I carefully returned most of my sleeping pokèmon, leaving out only Rosy, Silk and Sparky. Sallai was wrapped up snoozing in my coat. Rosy and Silk were curled up together watching us interestedly, with Sparky in a ball on top, his little black ears a twitching. I grinned at them and Sparky pulled a face, tumbling off Silk’s smooth coat. We all laughed as the grinning Pichu pulled himself back up. Sam got up, dusting himself off. I got up as well, doing the same. My pokèmon bounded over to me, Rosy and Silk settling on my shoulders, and Sparky curling up in my hair. I gently freed Sallai from my coat, putting it on. Sparky curled up in the back of the hood, and Silk and Rosy cuddled up into my hair. I carefully zipped Sallai into my coat. Sam bid me a goodnight and we said goodbye. As I walked back from the party, I mused over the battle. I had been really good. I stopped off at the pokècenter to have Sallai healed, and Silk Rosy and Sparky all fell asleep.

I smiled as I walked home, having safely tucked them in their pokèballs. I unlocked the house, and then shut it up for the night. I changed into my pyjamas, and clambered into bed, letting all my pokèmon out. I fell to sleep under a nest of pokemon curled all around me, and dreamt about baby bunny rabbits, kittens and puppies dancing the tango.

[Lady Vulpix]

Shadow, I'll read your story ASAP. Sorry for the delay, I can't believe it's almost January and I'm still busy with university stuff.

Everyone, here's a message I got from Tara (Mist).

"Hope everything is okay back at the board and
at
Dragon Tamers. I'll be back around the 15 - 18th of January - and I'm
having
a great time. ^_^ It's been great so far, and I've still got so long to
go.
Make sure you tell everybody I said hi and that I miss talking to you
guys
heaps - tell Ryan that the sk8r girl will be back soon and just tell
everybody taht I miss them a lot!

See u l8r

Luv Tara"

[Last Exile]

Awww, I'm referred to personally! Sweet!

Okay, 2003 is on us. Lazy part of my summer is over. Time to get active again. I'll start working on this before it gets ridiculous.

Thanks for notifying me about Tara's message Gabi!

Happy New Year to you all!

PS. Gabi, I've decided that since Tara won't be back for three weeks, that I was going to finishing writing something for This Fic. I did partially discuss it with her on AIM but I didn't get her response. Could you tell her in your next message to her about this and see if it's okay with her? I don't want to go ahead with it if it isn't fine with her.

[Lady Vulpix]

Shadow gets 14 stamps! Well done! I especially liked your 2nd battle. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

You're welcome, Ryan. I'll tell her. By the way, I'll hand in my project on Friday and then I'll do my best not to get ridiculous either.

[Lady Vulpix]

<Gabi's POV>

Let's pick up from a morning like any other. I, like all other Dragon Tamers and practically all pokemon trainers in Caledor, had received the invitation from the trainers at Porygon Valley to test our skills against their specially trained Porygons. However, I'd soon realized I wouldn't be able to attend, since I was up to my head with studies and work. Besides, my eyes were very sensitive and the invitation said something about some extremely bright light all trainers would have to look out for. It sounded like something I wouldn't mind missing; at least not too much if it was for a good reason like passing my exams.
So, that morning I was studying hard, and kept at it until not one more typed character could fit into my head (yes, it was one of those awful subjects which were all about memorizing stuff). Then I took a shower to give both my mind and my body some rest. After spending about 5 minutes cleaning my skin and about an hour getting my hair to look decent (job which, this time, also involved cutting a small strand of hair that stood out for being longer than the rest, and which I'd been putting up with for years until the rest of my hair was finally long enough), I put my clothes on and got out. When I reached the computer room, which was also my studying room and a storage for non-literary books and stuff which was needed every now and then, I found out I was not alone. Ventura, my Venomoth, was standing on the wall.
I picked up my glowing stone, which currently qualified as "stuff that was needed every now and then" and was, therefore, in that room.
"It's good to see you're not afraid of it anymore," Ventura commented.
"The stone? I can't say I'm quite comfortable with it, but I've concluded that warnings come for a reason and it's better to confront them before it's too late. If something bad is going to happen, we'll find out sooner or later anyway. It'd better be sooner," I explained. "Besides, it's useful to talk to you when Caledor is not around."
"Smart and brave. No wonder why I'm keeping you as my trainer," Ventura said.
"Are you mocking me?," I asked her.
"No! That was a compliment," she made herself clear.
"Oh, sorry, I never know with you," I tried to apologize.
"It's this word thing. Why didn't anyone invent a language with no ambiguities?," Ventura complained.
"There are some mathematical languages like that," I informed her. "But they're useless for everyday communication. And there's no chance to express feelings with one of those. I think feelings are ambiguous by themselves."
"I see. My telepathic pulses can't express feelings either. It would be better if we were all like Lagi," Ventura suggested.
"I don't know. Lagi's had many bad times because of her abilities. The confrontation with the Black Battalion nearly broke her soul. She's strong, but I don't think the whole world would be prepared for that. Though there would probably be no wars..."
"To achieve that you'd have to wipe all sadists off the face of Earth," Ventura corrected me. "Knowing what others feel doesn't always mean caring about it. Some actually enjoy watching others suffer."
"I guess you're right," I admitted. "It may be better for us all to keep what we have. Though I wonder if that includes this stone."
"Ask the Vulpix who left it there for you," she said. "The stone was supposed to be in your hands."
"Do you believe in destiny?," I asked her.
"Hey, it was you who named me Ventura!," she retorted. "I don't know. I don't think everything is written; that would make life useless. But maybe there's a natural course of events and some things tend to happen, and some things should happen. What do you think?"
"I think this is the most interesting conversation you and I have ever had," I told her. "About destiny, I don't know. I probably agree with you. I have had premonitions, but I do believe in free will, and I think that the future, at least a big part of it, is built on the choices we make. If I thought there was only one possible result, then I wouldn't be fighting at all. But I've witnessed the results of the things I've done too many times to think I had nothing to do with them."
"And what if those things you did were the only things you could have done?," she questioned me.
"If there was only one possible option, then decisions wouldn't be so hard to make," I replied.
"Good point. It's good to have a trainer who can have this kind of conversations. I've seen many trainers who would have made my life a bore."
"Wow, thanks! Two compliments in one morning! Are you feeling alright?," I joked.
"Yes, but if that's the response I get, then I'll never compliment you again," she answered.
"Sorry, I didn't mean that," I apologized. "It's just... It's not usual for the two of us to converse for so long without having an argument."
"I can spend a long time talking when taking action is not urgent," she explained. "Why are you so afraid of arguing, anyway?"
"I don't know. I've been like this since I was a child. For as long as I can remember, actually. I've never liked it when those I loved were angry at each other, or at me. Maybe I'm just too sensitive. But I can put up a good fight when it's necessary. You've seen me do it."
"Just like Amber," Ventura laughed.
"I'm older than Amber, so she must be just like me," I joked. I believed in the symmetry of the likeness relationship, so I didn't mean what I was saying. I was just contradicting Ventura for the many times she'd done the same to me.
"Whatever," she simply responded.
"I was thinking..."
"Good habit," she interrupted. She must have taken that one from me.
"Yes, it is. I was thinking that you and I should do something together. I don't get to spend nearly as much time with you as I do with each of your teammates. Maybe I can make myself a few hours and we can spend some quality time together," I suggested.
"If you want to spend some quality time with me, take me to the Battle Tower. I haven't battled there since it re-opened, and pokemon can't issue a challenge without their trainers," she told me.
"So that's your idea of quality time."
"I'm not afraid of fighting. It's liberating. You get to take out all the stress that's brewing inside you and move some energy; it's a physical and mental challenge at the same time. And you always learn something, and you often get stronger in the end. Besides, in friendly matches there's no real danger. What else can you ask for?"
"I could ask for so many other things!..." I commented. "But it's ok. If that's what you want, I'll take you there."
"Now?," she asked. I looked at my books for a few seconds, and sighed.
"I've already got distracted, so I guess now is a good moment," I concluded. "Besides, I'll go crazy if I don't get out of this room today."

To make a long story short, we went to the Battle Tower followed by the rest of the team who were just as eager to taste some fresh air, and Ventura won a battle against a Clefable named Luna, once more showing what a good fighter she was. Right after the battle she made a comment about it being a pity that no fire pokemon were willing to battle her, to which Hero replied with "don't push your luck unless you want to test your skills against me." I guess she knew as well as I did that she had no chance against Hero's speed and fire; she simply responded that she'd take him up on that offer if she ever reached his level. I tried to imagine what a battle between the two of them would be like, and came to the conclusion that it would probably never end. But soon Tsunami warned the Venomoth that if someone was going to take on Hero, that would be him. And Hero told Tsunami that he'd already lost his chance, and that was the beginning of yet another of their comeback fights.
As for my exam, I failed, even though I'd studied to the point my mind was about to blow up. Actually, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't good to do an exam when my mind felt like blowing up, and decided to make sure I was in a better condition when I took it again the following week. Then, I followed my own advice, got up as late as I could (which took an important effort), I stopped studying an hour before re-taking the exam, and I finally passed.
Of course, I didn't neglect my work at the Dragon Tamers, which was quite heavy those days (as everything is in December). Many trainers were coming for new TMs, so I had to stock up all the time, and also arrange the regular shipments to Selenia. Fortunately, Amy and Connor were helping a lot. Connor even brought some new items for the Reward Center! We hadn't had anything new for sale for a long time.
And so days passed, carrying along weeks with them, and it wasn't long until the winter began, and holidays were on everyone's minds and mouths. That's when I realized everyone would be expecting the Dragon Tamers to have a big celebration like the one we'd had the previous year. Better, if possible. The problem was that Neither Scott nor Alex were here this time, and the thought of me organizing a Christmas party was ironic to say the least. I would attend just to be with my friends (and to see if John would show up again and answer all the questions we'd asked him the year before), but I wouldn't be decorating a tree, nor singing Christmas songs. Well, luckily for me, the problem was resolved before I had to take any decisions. I knew it from none other than Tara, when she asked me if I was going to attend the big Christmas celebration that was going to be held. I was so glad that someone else had already thought of that and set things into motion!
I soon found out it had all been an idea of a group of trainers, and they had started making the arrangements by themselves! Such efforts should be rewarded. I decided to offer my help. Someone suggested it would be cool to have pokemon battles during the party (a sign that a new generation was rising in Caledor), so I help them get some pokemon who were willing to challenge the Dragon Tamers. Then I left them to continue organizing everything, and went back to my pressing December routine... until the night of the party.

The faces I saw when I reached the Recreation Center, where the party was being held, were not the same as the ones that had been there the year before. Only a few were still there, and the rest had been... renewed was the most positive word I could think of. One thing was clear, though; those new trainers around me were Dragon Tamers (most of them, anyway). You could tell that from the way their pokemon roamed all over the place, meeting others and having as much fun as their trainers. That was a usual sight in Caledor, but something like that would have been hard to see in other places. Where I came from, even seeing pokemon walking besides their trainers was uncommon, unless they were being kept as pets in which case they would never battle nor work on improving their abilities.
I remembered my first reports about the search for a balance in pokemon training and the importance of communication between pokemon and their trainers years ago, the ones which had got me my passage to Ulthuan in the first place. This was one of those moments in which I realized how much my life had changed since I had come to Ulthuan.
So, everything was fine. Almost everyone was cheerful, and while there was a bit too much 'Christmas spirit' for my liking, my pokemon seemed to be having a good time and that made me glad. Well, all except Amber. She seemed to be a bit down. Strange, Amber wasn't one to feel sad at parties. Even though Sylvan was already taking care of her when I noticed something was wrong, I walked to her side to see what was going on. I felt grateful that I'd brought the glowing stone with me that night.
"What's wrong?," I asked the Charizard.
"She's worried about Volvagia and Alex," Sylvan explained for her.
"It's just..." Amber began. "By this time last year they were with us. Then they left... and they haven't returned yet. Do you think anything happened to them?"
I reflected for a few seconds.
"If something wrong had happened to them, we'd know by now," I concluded. "Last time I got a letter from Alex, he said that things were going well for him and that he was thinking of taking a new job in Canada. That was months ago and I didn't get any more news from him, but I think he's fine. Maybe war took a greater toll on him than he'd like to admit and now he's trying to start a new life far from Ulthuan and all its problems."
"Problems can never be solved by running from them," Sylvan remarked. "And what about his pokemon? Did he give them a choice? What about those who cared for them, like Amber?!"
"It's ok, Sylvan," Amber stopped her. "We all take our own decisions. I guess Volvagia's happier in Canada with Alex than here with me after all. I want what's best for him."
"This is a horrible situation," I commented.
"It's just a part of life," Amber pointed out. "You've had worst, haven't you? This was just... a case of a spark suddenly burning too bright and going out too fast."
She fought so hard to be strong inside! She reminded me of myself. But she couldn't hide her tears as they rolled down her cheeks. I hugged her. That was the best thing I knew how to do when someone I cared for was down. I knew well about the healing powers of a warm hug. Sylvan did her part by caressing her friend with her vines.
"I'll be fine," she said. "This is a party, so why don't we go and enjoy it?"
"Are you trying no imitate Caledor's unconditional cheerfulness?," Sylvan smiled.
"Caledor and I have a lot in common," Amber admitted. "I guess I could learn a few lessons from him as far as cheering up is concerned."
"As long as you're honest to yourself about your feelings, go ahead," I told her. "Just don't try to mask your sorrow. It will hurt you in the end. Those words must sound hard, but I've seen them come true too many times."
"Don't worry, I know myself," Amber replied. "I won't fall into that trap. Besides, I have you, and the whole team, and I know I can count on all of you for anything. I have a nice home and I know how to defend myself and no one forces me to do anything against my will, and I'm the only Charizard who has helped write a report that has been published. So I have lots of things to be glad about. And I'm still young, so I may fall in love again. Or... who knows... Maybe Volvagia will return some day."
"Maybe," I agreed. I must admit I had never felt so proud of her as I was feeling now.
The scene was interrupted by a group of kids who shouted "Look! She's hugging a Charizard!"
"It's hard to change the world, isn't it?," Amber reacted. I turned to the kids and spoke to them.
"Yes, I'm hugging her. She's my friend and I like hugging my friends. Is anything wrong with that?"
"No, it's just... weird," one of the kids answered. "Why does it let you hug it?"
"Because I'm her friend too," I told them. "Are you pokemon trainers?"
The kids looked at each other looking for a reply.
"Err..." one of them began.
"Not yet, but we want to be," another of them answered. "We can stay here, right? No one asked us for a license when we entered."
"Did you have to say that?!," his friend complained, hitting his side with his elbow.
"Calm down," I stopped them. "Yes, you can stay here. You don't need a license to cerebrate. But do your parents know you're here?"
"Yes, ma'am," the first boy replied. "They said we could come, it's just that we weren't sure. They said that if we talked to pokemon trainers it would be easy for us when we became trainers ourselves."
I had no way to know if he was speaking the truth or just making it up, but they all sounded honest. Well, all except the one with the quick elbow, maybe. I decided to let them stay and just make sure they didn't get in trouble.
"Ok, just let me fetch one of my pokemon," I told them.
I walked to Iael's side and asked him if he could look after the kids.
"Why me?," was his first reaction.
"Because you're the best at taking care of children, and you've already shown that to me. If you don't mind, that is."
"Well, I doubt that I'm the best, but... Ok, I'll do it. Thanks for trusting me."
"I always trust you," I assured.
I led Iael to the boys and introduced him to them. I asked them if they would like Iael to be with them for a while during the party. They were all very excited about having a pokemon to play with.
"Thanks! Now we'll be the best trainers in the world," one of them affirmed.
I laughed, and let them be. But it seemed that night didn't have the intention to let me be. No sooner did I turn away from the children than a slightly older girl grabbed my shoulder and handed me a piece of paper with a list on it. Even though the handwriting was clear, the contents of the list were indecipherable.
"What's this?," I asked her.
"It's the list of bands that are playing tonight. It was really hard, but we managed to get them all."
"Congratulations!," I told her.
"Thanks. Will you please announce them?," she asked me.
Now it was my turn to ask "why me?"
"Because you always make the announcements. They'll listen to you more than any of us," she explained.
"But it's your party, not mine," I argued.
"It's a Dragon Tamers party," she remarked. I sighed.
"I don't even celebrate Christmas. Scott used to make the announcements before I did."
"Who's Scott?," she asked, confused.
"Scott McHenry, founding Dragon Tamer!," I replied.
"Oh, that Scott! Hmm... I haven't seen him around."
"Neither have I. For months," I admitted. "Ok, I'll announce the bands. But first will you please tell me how their names should be pronounced?"
The young trainer giggled, but agreed to help me.

<Amber's POV>

Things were going well. After some time of listening to the bands, picking some food and being with my friends, I was actually beginning to feel better. I still had that bitter feeling inside of me, of course, but I was determined not to crossed to the side of those who spent the holidays whining. Then, before I knew it, the show was over and the other event began. The event most trainers were eagerly waiting for: the battles.
"So many of our parties were crashed, that having battles in them has become a tradition," Sylvan whispered to me. "It seems now they've decided to skip the crashing part and start their own battles."
I laughed.
"I'm sure this will be good news for Ventura and Iael. Or maybe Hero and Tsunami, or maybe even Caledor," I speculated.
"Well... I was thinking of getting some training myself," she said to me. "I don't want to get rusty, and my big and heavy body isn't helping. But I'll stay here with you if you need me."
"Oh, no, Sylvan, please don't!," I requested her.
"Hey, I didn't think I was annoying you so much!," she hollered.
"Oh, no, that's not what I meant," I corrected myself, embarrassed. "I meant that you shouldn't lose your opportunity to get the training you need because of me."
"I can always train later," she stated.
"I'll have more chances to be with you than you'll have to battle. Go ahead."
She didn't seem to be sure about what to do.
"Please," I insisted. "Don't make me feel guilty of making you miss a chance."
"Ok," she accepted.
At that moment, Gabi came to our side.
"This has been really tiring. I was really expecting to sit on the side this time," She commented. "I guess that's not possible."
"It's the price you have to pay for being so active," I replied. "And for doing things so well. On the bright side, the trainers love you."
"I'm not so sure. I don't know half of them," Gabi pointed out.
"Yet," Sylvan corrected.
"Yet," Gabi agreed with a smile. "So, where did the others go?"
"The other trainers?," I asked.
"No, I mean your teammates," Gabi said.
"Oh, Lagi and Pidgeot went outside to take some fresh air," I informed her. "Hero, Tsunami and Caledor went outside for anything but fresh air."
"Too bad. They'll miss the battles," Gabi concluded. "I know where Water Angel and Iael are. What about Ventura?"
"Can anyone really expect to know where she is?," Sylvan chuckled.
"I guess not," Gabi admitted. "So, Sylvan, would you like to have a battle tonight?"
"Did you read my mind?," Sylvan replied, astonished.
"I don't think so, though I can never know. Even less with this stone," she declared, showing the small white stone that was now tied in a collar hanging from her neck next to her amulet.
"You have an arsenal on your neck," I commented. "What made you put all that on?"
"It's just precaution added to a bit of acceptance," Gabi cryptically stated. "I've accepted the fact that the stone is useful and any premonitions it may give me are not to hurt me but to warn me and help me make things better. And I can't afford having it in my hand and losing it. As for the amulet... I'm not planning to use it anytime soon, but it's good to have a defensive weapon just in case. Besides, Ryan gave it to me, so it means a lot to me. And I like the way it looks too."
"Well, enough reasons, I say," I told her. "What's going on between you and Ryan anyway?"
"I wish I knew," Gabi answered. "So, Sylvan, are you coming? Many pokemon are already battling. We don't want to run out of opponents."
"There I go," Sylvan slowly stood up, turned to me one last time to ask me to wish her luck, and headed with Gabi to the center of the hall which had now turned into a battlefield.
"I'll go with you to watch you," I said, following them.

Almost everyone around was already engaged in battles. It was hard to find someone who was willing to battle Sylvan. The newer trainers still had low level pokemon, the older trainers were already battling... only some of the pokemon brought especially for this event were left. It was one of them who finally challenged Sylvan: a Scizor. Sylvan accepted the challenge.
"Are you sure?," I asked her. "He looks too strong."
"It will be just a friendly match," Sylvan told me. "I have nothing to lose. Besides, I have my lucky clover with me."
"I still don't get that whole friendly match concept, but if it's ok with you, then do it," I accepted.
"I will," she said, both to me and to the Scizor.
"Ok, make room for us!," the Scizor shouted. "I'm finally getting some exercise!"
The tone in which he said that gave me a bad feeling, but I thought it was just me. I was a weird pokemon, after all, I couldn't expect to understand those who were so unlike me.

Level 42 Venusaur vs. Level 55 Scizor

The Scizor didn't waste time and slashed Sylvan right away. Caught by surprise, Sylvan used her Hidden Power, but the Scizor didn't seem more than slightly annoyed at the burst of water. He hit her head so hard with his heavy metallic claw that I could almost feel her pain.
"You need to change your tactics," Gabi warned Sylvan. "Remember Ventura!"
"Alright, hold on," Sylvan acknowledged her suggestion.
"I knew you couldn't make it without your trainer's help," the Scizor teased Sylvan. "But speaking in code? that's totally unfair! What does Ventura mean?"
"It means fortune," Sylvan said, suddenly releasing her Sleep Powder. "It also happens to be the name of a good friend of mine."
"You'll have to do better than that," the Scizor told her, using his wings to blow away all the powder. Some of it blew in Sylvan's direction and she barely managed to dodge it. "But I won't give you the chance," he finished.
The Scizor raised his claw again, but this time Sylvan was prepared for it. She grabbed the claw with one of her vines and pulled it to the floor using the force of the Scizor's intended blow. The claw broke 4 tiles of the floor upon hitting them. Then, before the Scizor could react or release himself, she shot more Sleep Powder right at his face. This time, it worked.
"Thanks for your advice, Gabi," Sylvan sighed. She was agitated. "I'm glad I managed to understand it."
"I knew you would," Gabi told her. "You've watched all of Ventura's battles and you were always her favorite trainee. You know her better than anyone."
"I guess I do. Well, this isn't over yet. I'll try to recover before he wakes up."
Saying this, Sylvan began to heal herself with Synthesis. It was late and very little energy was left from the day, but she slowly managed to gather enough to recover completely.
"Should I wait until he wakes up?," Sylvan consulted Gabi.
"Would he?," Gabi wondered.
"Good point," Sylvan said. "For the blows I took I can tell he's not one to be concerned about his opponents. Well... I guess I'd better take my chance while I have it."
Spherical water bombs splashed into the Scizor's body, waking him up.
"How dare you dump water on me?!," he shouted. "Oh, it's you. Yes, you're an annoying little thing... well, big thing. More annoying than I thought. It's time to get rid of you."
If he had given me a bad feeling before, now he was really scary. He seemed to be taking the battle too seriously. He wanted to hurt Sylvan. I wondered if she'd be able to resist.
The Scizor begun to spin around. I'd seen other Scizors do that before. He was performing a Swords Dance.
"Sylvan, be careful," I advised my friend.
She was, indeed, careful. She watch the Scizor's every move, not losing track of his claws. She didn't attack. She seemed to be waiting until he stopped spinning. It was a risky strategy, but trying to attack at that moment could have been worse. Finally, the Scizor stopped, irritated.
"You're not even going to move?!," he yelled. "Ok, I'll finish you faster, then."
But before he could act up to his words, he was stopped by another blast of water.
"I'm beginning to believe that's all you've got, isn't it?," the Scizor inquired. "Ok, let's stop delaying it."
But it was delayed again, this time by the arrival of another Scizor. The new Scizor rested his claw on the first one's shoulder.
"That thing giving you trouble, brother?," he asked. "I've been waiting for you for about 10 minutes, you don't normally take that long to finish a battle."
"Oh, shut up, will you?!," the first Scizor shouted. "She likes going down slowly, that's all."
"She? You mean you're battling a female?!," the other Scizor laughed. "Have mercy on her and knock her out fast! I'll help you, we'll finish her soon and then get something to drink."
"I don't need your help, but if you need a punching bag I'll grant you a blow," the first one accepted.
"Hey, that's totally unfair!!," I interrupted them. "She's giving all she can, but she can't face the two of you. She's not a punching bag, she's a pokemon who's looking for a fair battle. But I guess the word fair doesn't mean anything to you, does it?"
"If we liked playing fair we wouldn't have got this strong," the second Scizor boasted, as if there were any merit in what he was saying.
"You're a shame for all pokemon," I told them.
"When I need some insults, I know who not to ask," the first Scizor teased me.
"Hey, you look familiar!," his brother told me. "What's your name?"
"Amber," I answered.
"Amber... Yes, Amber! Hey, brother, do you know who she is? She's the Charizard who doesn't like battles!"
"There's more than one Charizard who doesn't enjoy battling for the sake of it," I pointed out.
"But you're the one from the report, aren't you? You're a sweetie! And now you are confronting us?"
"Oh, you must understand her," the other Scizor joked. "She's afraid that we might hurt her little friend. That's what weak cuties like her do. They stick to their friends all the time."
I was beginning to get enraged, and I didn't like that. And it was getting worse.
"Do you really think they're just friends?," the second Scizor rode on his brother's story. "I think they're lovers! Oh, yes, look at them! They were made for each other!"
"I will attack you if that's what it takes to teach you some respect," I warned them.
"Oh, isn't he cute?! She says she will attack us now!"
"You and what army, sweetie?"
"Hey, I know! You're not the Venusaur's lover! You're her bit¢h!"
"That's it! You've asked for it."
They had gone way over the limit. I let out all the fire that was burning inside me in a huge Fire Blast that caught the Scizors off-guard. The flames embraced them and made their red color look brighter. I didn't know if they had learned their lesson, but they were clearly suffering. Maybe I had overestimated their strength, or underestimated the damage a fire attack can do to a Scizor. I had gone over the limit too!
"Sylvan, use your Hidden Power, Fast!," I cried out.
Sylvan acted without even turning to look at me. I wished I knew what she was thinking at that moment. If she was concerned about the Scizors, if she was ashamed of me, or maybe sorry. In any case, the water put out the flames. The first Scizor was already down, and the other one didn't look too fit. He had swallowed some water and was now coughing.
"See? That's why I don't like battling!," I cried. What a night I was having!
"It's a pity," the remaining Scizor told me. "If you joined us, we could turn you into a powerhouse."
"That's not what I want to be," I explained, trying hard to swallow the fact that he was still insisting on his point of view. "I guess neither of us will ever change the other."
"I guess so. As I said, it's a pity. Now move, I have a battle to finish for my brother. Once I've brought your friend down we can go our own ways."
Well, at least he was back to calling us friends. I wondered why the guy irritated me so much. She wasn't very different from the average bully. And while I hated bullies, I'd never expected to react that way when facing them. Maybe I didn't know myself as much as I thought. I'd have to find out.
"Now this is something my brother hasn't learned yet," the Scizor announced. He brought his claws together and a small sphere of orange light began to glow inside them. It grew bigger and bigger, and before Gabi and I could shout "Slyvan, watch out!," a tremendously powerful beam had already been released.
Sylvan tried to move aside, but the Hyper Beam was faster than her and hit her on her side. She was sent rolling on the floor, and both Gabi and I had to move aside to avoid being rolled over. But Sylvan managed to stop herself and stand back up.
"Are you alright?," Gabi asked her before I could.
"I'm fine. I have to thank my clover again," Sylvan replied. "I'm fed up with this brag, Amber, will you lend me a hand... or a wing, so that we can get this over with once and for all?"
"Me? But..." I began.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, but I think you'll feel better," Sylvan told me. "Just a little Wing Attack."
"She won't do it, don't you see she's afraid of herself?," the Scizor spat out, showing signs of agitation.
"I do. And I want her to prove to herself that she has nothing to fear," Sylvan said with a smile. Then she turned to me. "You can control your strength. I know you can, so now go and show what you can do."
I wasn't very sure about that, but I decided to trust her. I walked towards the Scizor and slapped his chest with my wings. I knew a Wing Attack couldn't be nearly as destructive as a Fire Blast, so I moved my wings fast, trying to inject exactly the required strength. It turned out to be a weak blow.
"Well, I knew it wouldn't be as strong as a fire attack, but I thought he would at least say 'ouch' or something," Sylvan commented.
"You won't get that sound from me," the Scizor said.
"Ok, then, I'll be content with a 'splash' sound," Sylvan decided.
She looked so confident, so determined... I could hardly believe she was the same Sylvan I'd known years earlier, who needed guidance and protection on her every step. Now she was guiding me. It felt nice. No, it felt great.
Sylvan released her Hidden Power again, making the Scizor fall on his elbows. But he wasn't down, not yet.
"Stay this slow and I will recover and finish you," he ranted.
"What's with you and finishing us? Keep talking like that and you'll never catch your breath," I retorted.
I decided to try again, another Wing Attack, but this time with no restraints. I knew my Wing Attack wouldn't hurt such a strong Scizor badly. With any luck, it would simply shut his unbearable mouth. I raced towards him, hit him with both wings, and... his shoulders gave way. Before passing out, he managed to utter these words.
"Ok... you win... cutie."

Both Sylvan and I grew to level 44. I learned Dragon Rage!

I slapped my head.
"What does it take for them to stop?!," I shouted.
"They have stopped now," Sylvan said, stretching out a vine towards me. "You shouldn't get so mad about them. They're just morons."
"My parents suffered a lot due to morons like them," I told her, finally starting to understand where all my rage had come from. "They'll never leave us alone. I hardly ever got to see my father because of them. Well, them and the fact that he lived under the water. But now that I think of it, I guess I wouldn't even have been born without those stupid fighting machines."
"That sounds like a very interesting story you're going to tell me as soon as we get home," Sylvan said with a smile. "Hey, wait, you're not referring to that group of Gyarados who lived upstream, right?"
"Yes, them and a group of killer Charizards who lived in a distant valley I never got to see and never intend to. It's good to talk to someone who knows about the place where I grew up."
"It was good to grow up there too," Sylvan affirmed. "I just wish we had met while we were there. We could have helped each other a lot."
"Well, we're doing it now," I pointed out. "Thanks a lot for helping me today."
"It was the least I could do for the million times you helped me," she said. "Including today, only a minute earlier. You saved my leaves, do you know that?"
"Knowing how much you care for your leaves, I'm really happy I could help," I smiled.
"You're finally smiling!," Sylvan cheered. "I knew something good would have to come out of this."
I laughed, and so did Gabi, who was evidently overhearing our conversation.
"I'm tired," I told Gabi. "Can we go home now?"
"Yes, I'm tired too," Gabi said. "I guess we should go home before someone else comes here with more announcements for me to make. Let's gather the rest of the team."
"I can do that," Ventura suddenly popped up.
"So you finally decide to show up," Gabi remarked. "What were you up to?"
"I was supervising the light show," she answered.
"What light show?," Gabi inquired.
"The beautiful light show you missed because you were so concentrated in the battle. But don't worry, I'll come up with a better one for New Year. I can't blame you, though. It was an interesting battle. I especially liked the part where you said 'remember Ventura'."
"You were watching us," Gabi affirmed more than she asked.
"Everything up to the part where those Scizors started getting nasty. After that I knew they would be taken care of and went to check on the lights. I used a few powders to change their colors and added some psychic effects too. I think they will remember the show for a long time."
"You didn't give anyone a headache, did you?," Gabi inquired.
"No, just a few flashing lights, and only for those who were interested. i didn't interfere with any battles or anything. Wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone, you should know that."
"I must give it to you. You have more initiative than any other pokemon I know," Gabi commended her.
"I know, sometimes I think I was born the wrong species. But then again, I love my abilities and only by being a Venomoth I can use them all. So I'll stick to being just as I am."
"It's not like you have a choice," Gabi pointed out. "Just don't use your psychic abilities too much. They can be a double-edged sword."
"I know. I have much more experience with them than you do," Ventura replied.
"Don't start it, please," I interrupted them. "There's been enough fighting for one night."
"We were just conversing," Ventura laughed. "You know Gabi enough to know she's far from mad right now. And I'm just being myself."
"There are many ways to be yourself other than showing opposition all the time," Gabi winked. "Now will you please fetch the others as you so kindly offered minutes ago?"
"Yes, my trainer," she said, puffing away.

[Lorelei]

Um… I am new at this… so I'll attempt to post something… and if its messed up, correct me ^^;; I'm not sure how leveling up works… so I'll edit when I know.

Lorelei (Shadowfax, Ponyta, Female, Level Seven)
---------
Snort. Huff.

Th sounds arose from outside, and I sleepily rolled over in my sheets, facing my digital alarm clock. It was a couple minutes past seven in the morning. Dragging myself from the warm bed, I opened the window and poked my head out.

Down below, the white ponyta stood in her paddock, a mere filly, just level seven. The snow all around her was melted, and most of the snow was gone in and around her corral due to her flaming body. The annoyingly high steel fence was slicked in clear ice, and snow was falling heavily. Any falling snow within two feet of her was evaporated. The sun was just rising. She gave me a look that plainly stated; "Get up now, or I'll pound the living crap out of you."

With a grin, I watched her calmly, and told her; "Why, Shadowfax, must you rouse me in the early hours of the day, with only an excuse as today there's a party?"

With a teasing shrug in a horse-like way, Shadowfax turned in a complete circle, turning back to face me, then showed me a playful rear before breaking into a brisk trot, turning a clump of what little snow there was left into grey slush. Then she stopped, turned, and threw up her head indignantly.

"Up! Get up and out of the house!" she seemed to scold in her horse voice, nickering loudly.

I smiled and pulled a sugar cube from my dresser drawer. I flung it casually down into the wet grass below, and Shadowfax snuffled around to find it, then crunched down on it while I got on my coat and shoes.

As I entered the paddock, Shadowfax let out a squeal of delight and came barreling into me, bumping against me with her shoulders, nearly knocking me down. For a young filly, she was quite big, with a handsome head with large, kind black eyes and a broad forehead. She had a long, thick but elegant curved neck; long, well-sloped shoulders with well-defined withers; a short, strong body with a wide chest and well-sprung ribs, a sleek pale white color, with very broad rounded hindquarters with a low-set tail. Her clean-cut, elegant but strong legs were long, with hard hooves stronger than diamonds. Her white firey mane and tail was flickering in the snow, burning intensely, but not painfully. She was about 13 hands high… a tall height for such a young foal of a Ponyta.

I placed a hand on her muzzle gently and stroked her face for a moment, before she tore off in the other direction. I smiled, and she turned around and wheeled back at me, nipping me gently in the arm as she passed.

I ran after her, tapping her withers gently, and turned and ran away. She followed, bumping me so hard that I tumbled forwards slightly, landing on my knees in the soaking grass. She came up and was towering over me, so I pulled myself up and onto her back. She gave a little happy whicker, breaking into a smooth canter, without a bit or a bridle, and I gripped her mane gently for steering.

However, this morning she wasn't in the mood for listening. Instead, she turned and bolted in the opposite direction, jerking me around slightly. She usually bore me proudly with a lofty way like she was proud to carry me, and liked to show it off, almost.

"You rebel." I teased, hugging her. She whickered back as if to say; "So what?"

The morning and afternoon passed quickly, and we spent it grooming all the dirt from her classy white coat. It was something she did often; roll in mud. I ate lunch outside that afternoon too, and as she munched on her oats/mollases combo and hay, I ate my chicken noodle soup.

Evening arrived, and I mounted Shadowfax with a grin and heeled her lightly, and she obliged bypulling foreward smoothly, her hooves gently striking the road as we rode on. It was five minutes by time we reached the party, due to her never ceasing energy and speed.

And outside, my level seven Ponyta spotted a Pokémon. Like a little fuzzy monkey, an Aipom. She watched it wryly before bending her neck and turning her head to look at me with a look that stated; "Let's get him!" all over it.

With a laugh, I dismounted off of her and got ready to start.

Shadowfax the Ponyta (L7, Ember, TailWhip) VS Aipom the Aipom (L6, Scratch, TailWhip, SandAttack)

"Shadowfax!" I called. "Use Tail Whip!"

Shadowfax happily agreed, galloping over to the ugly purple monkey, she whipped her tail at the thing, lowering its defense, and its comical grin was wiped off its face as the flaming tail streaked across it. Funny, you'd think a tail of fire would hurt.

The Aipom obviously didn't like it, and he hopped up and down, before leaping up and digging its claws into Shadowfax's face. Shadowfax didn't really like this, so she threw her head around to dislodge the monkey hanging on her face, eventually flinging it like a rag doll ten feet in the air. Bright red scratch marks blossomed over her face.

"Ember!" I commanded, and the spirited horse Pokémon reared slightly, standing over the monkey, and she torched it mercilessly.

The monkey didn't move for a moment, and I thought it was fainted, and Shadowfax must have too, because she lowered her head to the blackened pile of dark purple that was a monkey-Aipom thing.

But then Aipom snapped his or her head up, whatever, and kicked up a considerable amount of dirt in Shadowfax's face. She squealed angrily, wheeling back and glaring at the monkey with fury, and she braced herself as she spat a fresh torrent of flamed, engulfing the monkey.

The Aipom looked very ragged when the flames died away. All his fur was sticking up in odd directions and he was pitch black except for his eyes. But it was still ready to fight, and it promtly whirled around and slapped Shadowfax in the hocks. Shadowfax's defence dropped, but she didn't look inpressed.

With one last ember without my command, the Aipom fainted.

"Nice one, Shadowfax." I congratulated her, gingerly taking out a potion and spilling it generously on her scratches. "You won."

Shadowfax the female Ponyta, level 8

--------

Now I will wait to see if thats right before changing my sig…

[Knight of Time]

Lorelei: Did you happen to check out the first page (it has the current scenario)?

Incase you are confused, the latter Pokemon in each group allows your Pokemon to go up two levels, and the first in each group lets your Pokemon go up one level when you win.

BTW, Lady Vulpix, just out of curiousity, but are we allowed to use the new TM compatibilities for our opponents (e.g. having a Meowth use Recover to make the battle more challenging)?

[Lorelei]

Like I said, its my first try >_< …Well, I read the first page… so I dunno I understand that we go to a party and battle Pokémon there, that's as far as I know.

[Aipom Of Doom]

Okay, I'm going to be taking a break from writing for a month or two (actually, probably to the middle of February). I've been playing on my Gamecube a lot, and I don't have too much interest in writing battles at the moment... Plus, I'm in my school's robotics club, and we're going to be building a robot over the next six weeks, which I plan to spend a fair amount of time on. However, I will still post and hang around TPM.

Anyway, one other thing I want to say: What is with the new rule that opposing Pokemon can't use any moves that they aren't able to learn in the video games? I see no point to that rule...

[Last Exile]

I know how you feel Danny. I've finally broken the obsession with Super Smash brothers Melee, Sonic Adventures 2 (both GCN) and No One Lives Forever 2 (PC) then mum gets me Neverwinter Nights for Christmas! (PC) That and I'm trying to find work but can't. *sigh* But i'll be onto it soon.

[Lady Vulpix]

Nice story, Lorelei! Take 7 stamps. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
You can write one more battle for this scenario.

DarkPrince, take a ¢ for your help.

Now, people, please don't assume any changes in the rules unless a Dragon Tamers worker posts the new rules.
As always, opposing pokemon can use any moves, but if they're moves they are not supposed to learn, then the story should contain an explanation on why they know them. As for moves that can be learnt in other games, a source that proves so counts as a good explanation.

By the way, Tara said 'Hi'.

Good luck building that robot, Danny!

And Ryan, don't give up. I'm sure you'll find a good job.

[AntiAsh Superstar]

I may need a time extension for this scenario, I'm not entirely sure yet. I'm trying to balance revision and writing atm, for a start. And it's a party scenario, and I have Kirei and Becks on my team. The intro is turning out to be longer than I'd been expecting. At any rate, I'll ask for the extention, and if I don't need it all well and good, this is a warning just in case I do happen to need it. ^_^;;

[Lady Vulpix]

It's ok, Ade. You have the extension. It will be interesting to find out what Kirei and Beckham are up to...

[Lady Vulpix]

I'm going on vacation today. I'm going to Salta with my cousin Helena. I'll be back on Wednesday 22nd, day in which I'll do my best to catch up with everything that's been going on here. All the Dragon Tamers topics will remain open thanks to Amy.
Take care and have a good time while I'm away (and after I get back too).
Amy, good luck taking care of the Battle Range! If you post the next scenario, you can edit the first post on this topic to link to it.
See you all when I get back!
By the way, thanks to those who read my battle.

[Last Exile]

Have fun, Gabi!

Hmm, guess my scenario will be up soon. Good luck with keeping this up, Amy!

[PancaKe]

^_^!!!! I made it back. I'm busy writng my story right now but my holiday was sooooooo fun! ^_^

I had a lot of fun and even though half of it was spent driving in the car n stuff it was fun. I even met up with fanfic mod oz andrew and he's totally mad. ^_^

~Mist

[Wolfsong]

Welcome back, Mist. Hope you had fun. IM me soon

[PancaKe]

I'm so proud! longest ive ever written!

~Mist

Party Hard

<--- Shadow’s POV --->

After the whole Porygon incident things began to change. Pyro and Todd took Ashley to the Central Station at Caledor so that Ashley could catch a train to whereever Warren and all of his old friends were. I was wondering what about Ashley’s life in the Porygon Mountain place – but that’s one of the things that happens in the world of pokemon. Things are dropped, plans are never made, nobody gives a crap about schooling any more, you can have thirteen year olds living in houses and managing big families without a job.

Tara was doing it.

Fury and Shinoda had begun talking to one another. Nails and I had noticed slight words being exchanged ever since Shinoda had shouted the words of encouragement during Fury’s tough battle. Not much had been said, but Fury had also been talking to Nimmy and playing games with Nimmy and Charchoo.

Todd, Tara and Adam had become so much closer in the past week. The main talking topic though had changed from “What’s for dinner?” to “Christmas!” in about two days. Tara had also been talking a lot about her birthday – announcing every day the countdown to the 23rd, her birthday. But not much had been discussed between Adam and Todd and the rest of us when she wasn’t around.

It was about the 11th of December when Tara and Adam started to make some plans though. Todd was of course, allowed to input his opinions into the decisions, and whether Fury, Bam, Shinoda or Nails were allowed to or not, they also gave their view on things. Their two cents. I would occasionally suggest somethings but nothing like Fury had been saying.

¤*Merry Christmas!*¤

Tara & Adam

You have been invited to a Dragon Tamers Christmas Event
The annual Dragon Tamers Christmas Party is being held for all the Dragon Tamers members on the 22nd December. We hope you can come to this glorious event! There will be a feast, so please bring a small contributation to the cost of hiring catering and the hall. Guests are allowed, but please speak to one of the Dragon Tamer staff to notify them. Pokemon will be allowed. Please RSVP by December 18th.

We hope you can come!

Lady Gabbi Vulpix

¤*Merry Christmas!*¤

“Hey you should really check this out,” Tara spoke up after giving the invitation a quick read. “Can we go please?!”

“Why are you begging?” Adam asked. “I don’t care if you go.”

“Nah but I reckon we should all go,” Tara told Adam. “And you’re coming. Hey you never know, you might find some hot chicks there.”

Adam grinned, his eyes lighting up. “Okay I’m coming!” he agreed quickly.

“Todd you coming too?” Tara called.

“I’m on the phone!” Todd yelled back, then continued his conversation.

“So if we go you have to dress nice,” Tara began to tell Adam.

“What’s wrong with the way I dress?” Adam demanded defensivly.

“Well, just make sure that you iron your shirt and jeans – don’t grab them from the bottom of your wardrobe,” Tara advised. “And also, get your hair streaked or something. And you know what would look really good on you? How about –“

“Stop it!” Adam cried. “Stop the fashion tips!”

“Fashion tips?” Fury asked as she entered the kitchen. She headed over to the fridge and managed to get herself a drink with her paws. “You know what you should do Adam, you should try making it look like you’ve actually got an ***. I mean, you’re so skinny we could lay you on your back, naked, in a rain storm and you’ll catch all the water in your stomach. You know how far that thing dips in?”

“Fury!” Tara scolded, trying not to laugh.

“Hey!” Adam sat there on the kitchen stool, trying to think of a good comeback. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. “How do you know what I look like without a shirt on? We haven’t been swimming yet.”

Fury paused, looking extremley guilty. Beginning to walk away, she answered Adam. “That’s for me to know and you to find out,” she told him before making a mad dash for the back room where Bam, Shinoda and Nails were.

“What did you say before?” Todd asked, coming into the kitchen and grabbing a can of Pepsi out of the fridge. Pepsi was the only brand of soft drink that was allowed in the house, Coke was a definant no-no.

“Oh there’s this really big Christmas party for Dragon Tamers,” Tara explained. “Adam and I are going, we wanted to know if you were going to come or not.”

“I’m not a member of Dragon Tamers though,” Todd shrugged.

“You don’t have to be,” Tara answered. “And anyway, you can sign up for it. It’s free, all you need to do is adopt one of the pokemon and you’re signed up. Either that or you can just register your own pokemon as Dragon Tamer pokemon. But when you have pokemon that aren’t regesterd Dragon Tamer pokemon they cant battle at really cool Dragon Tamer conventions.”

“If its free, I’ll sign up,” Todd shrugged.

“Let’s go down to the Dragon Tamers Center now then,” Tara suggested. “I think they’ve done renavations there or something so its probably gonna look totally mad!”

*

“Hey Shadow,” Rodney greeted, yawning as he came out of his pokeball. I had no idea why he had been in his pokeball but he was out now and that’s all that mattered. He looked tired, really tired. He just wasn’t the same shade of purple around his cheeks and underneith his eyes indigo streaks exposed how tired he was.

“Hey, you look really tired,” I commented.

“I feel really tired,” Rodney replied, stiffling yet another yawn. “I don’t know why either. I mean, I’ve been getting to bed on time and stuff. In fact I’ve been getting more than enough sleep.”

“I know, its been a while since I’ve talked to you,” I agreed. “You’re always sleeping latley.”

“Maybe I’m getting sick or something,” Rodney wondered. “I dunno. So what did I miss?”

“There’s a Christmas party going on,” I answered him. “It’s on in about a week or two, for Dragon Tamers and pokemon. And Tara’s birthday is soon. I’m going to get her a presant but I’m not sure what to get her. And how to buy it.”

“Maybe you should talk to Adam or Todd about it,” Rodney advised. “They’d be able to help pick out a good presant.”

“Maybe,” I shrugged. Silence fell over the two of us, and we just sat there, looking at each other. It was a pleasant silence, neither one of us wanted to disturb it.

Fury poked her head in the door, her messy fringe in her eyes. Shaking her head side to side, the hair was removed from her eyes and hung down the sides of her furry little face. “Yo, Shadow, Rod,” she began. “We’re going down to the Dragon Tamers Center – you want to come? Bam and I are staying here so you can stay if you want.”

I looked at Rodney, who looked back at me. “I think we’ll stay here,” I replied.

“Yeah,” Rodney agreed, stiffling yet another yawn.

“They’re staying here!” Fury hollered to Tara.

“Okay, if you need us ring one of our mobiles!” Tara yelled back before slamming the front door shut.

“I can’t believe we’re allowed to stay here on our own,” Fury grinned, taking a seat in the lounge room across from us. “How cool is this, just the four of us. Hey I have an idea! Let’s get out some ice cream, we’ll make some popcorn and then we can sit back and watch a movie or something! Tara and Adam have heaps taped, and I’m sure Todd has a few videos in his room.”

“Sounds fun,” Rodney replied in a quiet voice, tired. Fury reached over for the remote control and flicked on the TV. The TV had been turned off on channel two, ABC network, and instantly Fly TV popped up, playing one of the favorite songs of many that lived in this household.

“How do they know, what’s good for you?
Wake up wake up woah
Wake up wake up woah
A shot to the head
They’re better off dead
Will you wake up wake up woah”

“BAM! Goldfinger are on!” Fury yelled, instantly turning the TV up to full volume. “Forget the movie idea, Fly TV is on!” Fly TV was an incredibly popular youth music show on ABC, Tara, Adam, Fury, and a lot of the others loved it and the type of music they played.

PUNK!

Tara reckoned that the guys from Unwritten Law were cute, but I couldn’t see how that was.

“I’m going into the back room to watch Video Hits,” I told Fury, getting up and almost being barrled over by Bam, as the woolen ball bowled into the room and sat in front of the TV, banging his head to the riffs of Goldfinger, Open Your Eyes.

“I’ll come with you,” Rodney yawned. “I might like punk but I’m not in a punk mood right now.”

Switching on the back room TV, I grinned as an evil thought popped into my head. Come on, I wasn’t a dark pokemon for nothing, and what good is it being a dark typed pokemon if you couldn’t have a bit of evil fun? I instantly turned the volume loud enough so it could be heard over the ending of Goldfinger.

“When I was young it seemed that life was so wonderful
A mirical, oh it was beautiful, logical
All the birds in the trees were singing songs so happily
So playfully, so joyfully, watching me”

Rodney caught my drift and gave a small chuckle as we heard Fury cry at the high pitched helium like sound of Scooter and instantly hit the up volume button on her TV.

“There’s no money
There’s no possession
Only obsession
I don’t need that ****
Take my money
Take my possession
Take my obsession
I don’t need that ****”

“Take that!” Fury yelled.

“Papa Roach can kick Scooter butt anyday!” Bam added.

This was war. I turned up the volume louder on my TV, and the song changed once again. Scooter’s Logical Song was very quick, so it was replaced by another of the pop stars.

“The tide is high but I’m holding on
I’m gonna be your number one
I’m not that kind of girl
Who gives up just like that.”

“Take that!” I cried to Fury.

Fury’s reaction was putting her TV full blast. And of course as a reply, my TV went full blast too. Fury had a plan though, and all of a sudden the whole house was filled with Papa Roach as the surround sound was turned on to full.

“I win!” Fury’s faint cries could be just heard with all that sound. Light shone through the hallway that lead through the house as the front door opened. Fury and I didn’t hear the door open, I only saw the light through the corner of my eye, but I knew that suddenly, when it was all turned off, that something was up. No more Papa Roach, no more sound coming from the lounge room.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Tara demanded. “I mean I love Papa Roach but WHY was it turned up full blast. AND WOULD YOU TURN DOWN THAT CRAP FROM THE BACK ROOM PLEASE SHADOW!”

I turned it off quickly. “Sorry!” I yelled.

“We were having a war,” Fury answered Tara meekly.

“Well there’s no doubt, Fury and Bam and the punk wins!” Tara announced. “Now I just have to grab my wallet, I forgot it, and also, no turning on the surround sound full blast because I don’t want the speakers broken. And Shadow, DON’T TURN UP THAT POP CRAP LOUD!”

“Fine,” I groaned, annoyed with Tara’s reaction to my taste of music. So I liked the R’n’B stuff, so I liked the Top 40. It wasn’t my fault I didn’t like punk. Tara grabbed her wallet, and pulled the door closed loudly behind her as she left.

Fury ran to the window and waited there for about three minutes, before grinning and running over to the surround sound.

Papa Roach continued to blast the speakers.

<--- Nails POV --->

Tara returned, looking annoyed yet happy. She looked like that when either she had her periods or Fury had done something totally wild yet funny. “Can you believe what that little furball did?” Tara came back talking as usual. When she got talking she was like a train with no breaks going down a hill, impossible to stop. “She was having a war with Shadow. Shadow had Video Hits playing in one room, full blast, she had Fly TV playing in the lounge room, surround sound full blast.”

“I wonder who won,” Adam kidded.

“I think it was Shadow,” Todd replied sarcastically.

“How stupid can you get, it was Fury!” Tara told them. “Surround sound, full blast, I heard those two before I even got to the house. But I didn’t really mind Fury having it up so loud. It was just the fear of the speakers blowing up. But having Video Hits up loud? That is a definant no no.”

“I know,” Adam nodded. “I paid for some of those speakers.”

“Yeah, you still owe me fifteen dollars for those speakers!” Tara cried. “Thanks fo rreminding me. Now fork over!”

“Geesh!” Adam sighed. “I think we better get jobs or something while we’re out. I mean, we cant live off the stamps that you alone receive for battles and stuff.”

“So the plan for today is go get Todd signed up to be a Dragon Tamer, go find a job or something because we’re running low on funds from the bank accounts, and then go have lunch or something,” Tara went over the plans, double checking.

“Yeah,” Todd nodded, smiling. Tara and Todd stood there, looking at each other for a sweet moment, letting Adam talk about something. Adam clicked his fingers in Todd’s face, and Todd jumped slightly, startled out of his gaze. “What?” he demanded.

“Are we going to go?” Adam asked impatiently. “I want to go grab lunch.”

“Where are we going to eat anyway?” Tara asked. “Because today I so don’t want McDonalds. I’m not… in the mood for McDonalds… know what I mean?”

“So now you have to be ‘in the mood’ to eat McDonalds?” Todd winked.

“Shut up,” Tara shoved him playfully. He stumbled sideways, and tripped on a jagged edge of concrete, falling into a street light that had been left on. Todd pulled himself up, then looked up at the streetlight, and around to see if anybody was watching.

With a swift kick, the street light went out as Todd kicked the box of it. “How cool was that!” Tara exclaimed. “How did you do that?!”

“Those type of street lights are kick-able out-able,” Todd replied. “Kick the front of the box and then ping.”

Adam suddenly cracked up laughing. Todd and Tara stared at him. “What was funny about that?” Tara asked, a bit lost.

“Remember, a few years ago at my party,” Adam spoke to Todd mainly but was involving us all. “Where we went hyper and ran outside the front of my house and kicked out all the street lights in my street! It was so dark! And then,” he now began explaining the rest to Tara, “after that Todd ran down the street next to mine and kicked out four street lights in a row. A few minutes later they started coming back on, except for the ones Todd kicked out. Three street lights in a row were broken thanks to him!”

I cracked up laughing, along with Shinoda, Tara, Todd and Adam. Nimmy was resting in her pokeball, too tired to walk and carry Charchoo – so Tara was carrying the Charmander plushie under her arm. We walked along the street until we turned onto the main road. Tara’s place was in a good location, about a five minute walk and you were on the main road, where the shops were, where everything was. The main road was long though, yet most of it was just housing. It was only if you lived close to the commercial part of the main road that you got to enjoy it.

No cars could really drive two ways through the commercial part of the main road. The footpaths were so wide that you could park a bus across them and have room. It was concrete so there were a few skaters down there, and across one side of the street it was lined with fashion and surf shops, restraunts, a McDonalds, an Aldi store, a few pokemon stores and of course, the Dragon Tamers center.

“Oh!” Tara squealed. Her face was pressed up against the glass window of a surf store. “Would you look at how nice that top is?” Aware that all behind her was quiet, she turned around. “Hey I am a GIRL you know, it’s a girl thing. Window shopping.” With that she turned back to the window looking through the store.

Adam gazed in the window at what skatie brands were sold there. Element, Enjoi, 323K13L, Volcom, Globe, all was good in Adams eyes. Then he saw the sign that shone with heavenly light (in his mind).

Help Wanted

Looking for a teenager
to fill a part time position.
If interested ask Derek
for details inside.

“I know where I wanna work,” Adam announced.

Tara looked away from the clothes, wondering where, until she too saw the sign that glowed under fluroesent lighting. “I’m working here!” Tara cried.

“No I am, you can’t work here,” Adam told her.

Instantly, Tara’s face became pouty. She frowned, and placed her hands on her hips, and looked up at Adam, who was much taller than her. “Why not?” Tara demanded to know.

“Look at the sign,” Adam pointed out the specific words as he read them. “A. Teenager. To. Fill. A. Part Time. Position. Not anywhere does it mention multiple positions or more than one teenager.”

“Then I guess you cant work here because I’m going to get the job,” Tara told Adam, turning around.

“No I’m going to get the job!” Adam pulled Tara back, trying to get in the store first.

“Oh I don’t think so, I’m getting that job!” Tara cried, pulling roughly on Adam’s arm, yanking him backwards.

I suddenly noticed something inside the shop, and trying to stiffen giggles, I pointed it out to Shinoda, who gave a snort then tried to keep quiet. It wouldn’t have mattered if we had been rolling around in laughter anyway, I suppose Tara and Adam wouldn’t have noticed if we rolled around in honey then in feathers right now. They were too busy facing each other, each with a determined glare on their faces, both competing for the same job.

“It’s going to be MY job!” Tara yelled.

“Tara, you know its my job,” Adam replied cooly.

“Mine!” Tara cried.

“Mine!” Adam cried back, playing along, only half serious.

“Mine!” Tara yelled back a little louder.

“Mine!” Adam squealed in a baby voice, louder than Tara.

Tara stopped, and eyed Adam, a sly grin on her face. Adam watched, not quite sure what was about to happen. Shinoda groaned. “She’s going for the final kill,” he whispered.

“MINE!” Tara shrieked. Adam shrank down, trying to avoid the unwanted attention complete strangers were giving.

“Tara,” Adam hissed. “You are REALLY embarrasing.” He wished that the concrete would swollow him up right now so he didn’t have to stand there.

“I win,” Tara shrugged, about to walk into the store.

Then she saw what Shinoda and I had seen. Derek the store manager, a shortish guy in his mid twenties with black hair spiked outwards, stood there talking to a person applying for the job. Derek wore an interesting short sleve plaid collared shirt, and a black tie with loose jeans and what looked to be either a Juice Ematic belt or an SMP belt. On his shoes were a really nice pair of Globe shoes.

The person applying wore the same white cargo pants and blue hawaiian shirt that Todd was wearing. He had the same steel ball chain around his neck as Todd had, his hair was spiked up at the front the same way that Todd’s was.

“Todd!” Adam and Tara cried, running into the store and up to him. “What are you doing?” Tara demanded.

“Todd’s coming back tomorrow for a trial work out to see if he’s good enough for the job,” Derek replied. “I’m Derek by the way.”

“I’m Adam,” Adam introduced, shaking Derek’s hand.

“I’m Tara,” Tara grinned, shaking his hand also. “How old are you?”

Adam nudged Tara in the side. “You’re not supposed to ask those type of questions,” he hissed.

Derek smiled. “Its okay,” Derek shrugged. “I’m not ashamed of my age. I’m 28.”

Tara shrugged. “I’m 14 in ten days,” she announced. “Oh by the way, can I get a job here?”

“Can I get a job here too?” Adam asked.

“Well…” Derek paused, thinking.

“Please?” Tara pleaded. Adam stood there, quiet, but pulling a puppy eyes look on Derek, kicking the ground with his scuffed shoes.

“Well…” Derek repeated. “I promised Todd I would check him out to see how he works, and then I’ll check you guys out too, but on separate days okay?”

“Thank you so much!” Tara cried. Tara looked around. “You have so much cool stuff here, how long have you owned this?”

“I’m just the manager, not the owner,” Derek shrugged. “But I started working here when I was like, eighteen or something.”

“Um,” Shinoda nudged me. “Look across the street at the Dragon Tamers Center. Can you read that sign?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Read it then,” Shinoda replied.

I read it. “Um, Tara, Adam, Todd,” I began, pulling on Tara’s pants legs. “We really should go.”

“Why?” Tara replied.

“Because the Dragon Tamers center closes every day now at 2 and if we want to get lunch and stuff we’d better go now,” I told her.

“Do we have to?” Tara sighed.

“Yes,” Adam replied.

“Come on Tara.” Todd lifted me under one arm and Adam lifted under the other and they said good bye, dragging me out of the store.

“Bye Derek!” Tara waved.

“Bye!” Derek waved, his eyebrows raised. “Skaters,” he mumbled under his breath. “A bunch of psycho skaters. I like those kids.”

*

“Hey Gabbi! Are you working today?” Tara greeted Gabbi warmly, and loudly of course.

“Yeah,” Gabbi replied, looking up from the desk. “Do you want a drink or anything?”

“What you got?” Tara asked. “Any pepsi?”

“Yeah,” Gabbi nodded, going out the back and coming back with four cans. “Hey, Nails, Shinoda, you two can go out and talk to some of the pokemon in the adoption center.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll stay here,” I replied.

“Same,” Shinoda agreed and sat on one of the plastic chairs next to me.

“You know you should really,” I began.

“Be friends with Fury again, I know,” Shinoda sighed. “But, I just cant.”

“When pride gets in the way of friendships, you start to wonder if pride is so good anyway,” I advised the fluffy Eevee.

“There is nothing in the world like pepsi,” Tara sighed.

“You know my brother is a coke drinker,” Adam told Tara.

Tara nearly hurled her pepsi. “Which one? Warren or Chris?”

“Warren.”

This time Tara did almost choke. She looked up at Adam. “What?” she shrieked.

“Yeah I know,” Shinoda sighed. “But its so hard to be friends with her again, I mean, she did do the wrong thing.”

“But can’t you just put that all behind?” I asked.

“He’s too cute to be a coke drinker!” Tara yelled. “Besides he is a skater! Now that is totally unexcusable.”

“He drinks V at least,” Adam pointed out.

“Yeah but,” Tara began.

“I could, but you know,” Shinoda continued. “There’s that weird feeling of… weirdness.”

“Yeah but still, coke is just totally unexcusable,” Tara reasoned. “Todd have you finished filling them in yet?”

“No,” Todd turned back to his conversation with Gabbi and continued with the forms.

“Still, you’ve been friends for forever basically,” I told him. “Shape up man, come on. Do you want to fight forever?”

“Hey I drink Red Bull though, not V,” Adam replied.

“Red Bull isn’t as bad as coke,” Tara answered. “Coke is just totally unexcusable.”

“No but I don’t know how to be her friend again,” Shinoda replied.

“Why not just get her a Christmas presant?” I suggested.

“You know what would be the best,” Tara had that look on her face where she just had to burst if she couldn’t finish saying what she was saying. “Pepsi and V mixed together!”

“Pepsi and Red Bull,” Adam corrected.

“I wonder what Pepsi and V would be like,” Tara wondered. “You reckon it’d be sort of like Vodka and orange juice?”

“Yeah!” Shinoda exclaimed. “Didn’t Tara buy an earring or something? Think I should give her that?”

“I wonder what Vodka and orange is like,” Tara continued.

“You’re too young to drink it anyway,” Adam replied.

“Oh well I’ll see if I can get some at the Christmas party,” Tara shrugged.

“No try some egg nog,” Adam told her. “It is the nicest!”

“Yeah I think she’d like that,” I nodded. “What should we get everybody else?”

“Just candy canes or something,” Shinoda replied. “its not as if we make money or anything so we’re not really expected to buy them presants.”

“Candy canes,” I agreed.

“Alchoholic egg nog or non alchoholic?” Tara asked. “Oh well it doesn’t matter anyway, I’ll be going for the booze egg nog anyway. You know, I’ve decided, when I get married, I want to be drunk when I have sex for the first time.”

“What?” Adam cried. “Don’t be stupid.”

“No I’m serious,” Tara replied.

“What flavor candy canes?” Shinoda asked. “Cherry or peppermint?”

“What about those new candy canes that are like, covered in chocolate or something,” I suggested.

“Why not just buy the cheapest or something,” Shinoda replied.

“I think Fury and Shadow like the cherry the best,” I told him.

“Cherry’s more popular anyway,” Shinoda informed me.

“It is?” I asked.

“Yeah, I read about it in a magazine,” Shinoda answered.

“You won’t want to be drunk,” Adam told me.

“But I know I’m going to be really nervous and scared to have sex so I wanna just be able to have sex without knowing what I’m doing,” Tara answered.

“I wouldn’t want my wife to be drunk if I was screwing her,” Adam told me.

“Adam!” Tara laughed.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Todd anounced.

“What magazine?” I asked Shinoda.

“Some magazine in a waiting room,” Shinoda shrugged.

“Well I wouldn’t!” Adam cried. “I mean, you’re supposed to TRUST your wife, not be drunk and not know what your doing.”

“Well I don’t know,” Tara shrugged. “It depends who I marry.”

“Marry me!” Adam cried, mucking around, using a fake soap opera needing voice.

“Oh Adam!” Tara played right along.

“It was saying all weird statistics,” Shinoda continued. “Did you know that 3 people in 1990 got cracked skulls from falling asleep while puking in a toilet.”

“No I didn’t know…” I replied, not sure if I wanted to know.

“I need you!” Adam cried.

“I need you too!” Tara sighed.

“I want you!” Adam told her.

“I want you too!” Tara grinned.

“Aaah!” Adam and Tara squealed and gave each other a big hug.

“What just went on?” Todd asked, coming out with a laminated membership card.

“Let’s see your photo!” Tara cried, snatching it off him and laughing. Adam snatched it off her and laughed.

“Let us see!” I called, and Adam tossed it over to me. I laughed, and handed it to Shinoda.

“Shut up! It’s a good photo,” Todd grinned, embarrassed.

“Why do you look like a monkey?” Shinoda asked, about as innoncent as Satan.

Todd walked over and snatched the photo off Shinoda, who was laughing like the rest of us. “This photo is going to never be shown again,” he announced, stuffing it in his wallet and into his back pocket.

*

“Please can I get the mango ice cream?” I begged. “Please!”

“So we’ve got one mango ice cream, one tripple swirl ice cream, one honeycomb with chocolate bits ice cream, one strawberry ice cream and one double choc ice cream, right?” Tara asked.

“Yeah,” Adam replied. “Waffle cones too.”

“Okay so how much is that?” Tara tried to work out, getting out her money. “I’m paying for Shinoda and Nails, each ice cream is about $3.50 each, that’s $7, $10.50 I’m paying. Todd, Adam, hand over your money.”

Tara collected the money and left. Adam made sure she was away before he started speaking. “What are we getting Tara for her birthday?” he asked quietly. “She’s made it really obvious that its her birthday in about a week.”

“Yeah,” Todd rolled his eyes. “She’s been announcing it everyday how long until her birthday.”

“One year at school she started counting down from March,” Adam told him. “But she lost her diary around about September, so we only heard the count down during December after that.”

“So what are you thinking of getting her?” I asked.

“Not sure,” Todd replied.

“She mentioned something about wanting some where to put her CD’s,” Adam suggested. “A CD rack?”

“Yeah I think she’d like that,” Shinoda agreed.

“How about –“ I began, but then noticed Tara returning. Well in hearing range. “We get some of that ice cream then brag to the other pokemon,” I finished.

“Don’t do that, that’s mean,” Tara told me, handing out everybodies ice creams. I slurped my ice cream. It was heavenly. Poor Fury she would be so jealous!

<--- Todd’s P.O.V --->

I looked at Tara, watched her in the kitchen, making breakfast for us. Today was my trial day for working at the surf shop with Derek, and I wanted to do really well. But right now, all my nerves were gone as I watched Tara whip up a nice breakfast for us for a change. Normally we just got ourselves cereal but today Tara had woken up early to make something.

Pancakes. The smell of cooking pancakes on the fry pan soon drifted through the house as she poured the batter on. I walked over to the breakfast bar, leaning on it as I looked into the kitchen, watching her cook. She was such a good cook when she didn’t stuff up recipies. One time she took mashed potato off the boil before they were cooked, added milk and tried to mash them while they were still hard. She ended up boiling them with milk.

“AAHHH!” Tara shrieked turning around and seeing me standing there. “Don’t DO THAT!” she yelled. “You scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry!” I laughed back. She was so funny when bad things happened to her. So cute as well. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“You want pancakes?” Tara asked, waving the frying pan at me. She put it back on the stove and flipped it with an egg lifter.

“Okay,” I replied. “Are you going to try that flippy thing?”

“I’m not going to be able to do it,” Tara answered. “But I’ll try!” She took the frying pan away from the stove and positioned herself to flip. The pancake went flying into the air, and Tara tried to catch it. It slipped out the frying pan and onto the tiles where Tara just watched it. “Oh well, I’ll eat that.” She put it on her plate and began making me a fresh one.

I stood there, watching her for a moment. I couldn’t be quiet too long, otherwise she’d think something was up. “You wont see me much today,” I told her. “It’s my trial at the surf shop remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Tara remembered. “Well I just hope you do really bad so that I can get the job,” she joked. “Seriously, I hope you do really well. Dude, I’ve only known you for like, a month or something, but I like, love you as a friend man.”

I hadn’t expected that. It felt nice to hear those words. “Right…” I nodded. I didn’t want to let her know that maybe there was a little crush on her inside me. I couldn’t. Because then she’d tell Adam and then he’d tease me for life.

Even if it was a little crush.

Little being the size of Fury’s mouth.

I wondered if Tara felt the same way sometimes, and at times I would think ‘Yes she definantly likes me!’ or ‘Maybe she does like me.’ But then I see the way she plays with Adam, and I realise that there’s no chance in hell that she would like me compared to him.

I was tempted to look in her diary at times just to see what she thought about me but I had a feeling she would be really annoyed with me if I did. I could sort of tell what Tara was like now. You do one thing, you can expect another.

“So you doing anything else today aside from working at Derek’s shop?” Tara asked out of curiosity. Some people would call Tara nosy, I’d just call her inquizitive and interested.

“Um… I might go by the Dragon Tamers Center, was thinking of getting a pokemon,” I answered. “Maybe a fire type or something.”

“You can’t get a Vulpix or a Houndour,” Tara told me. “Because I’ve already got them. Hey you know what I bought online last night? This.” And she walked over to the jar in the kitchen and pulled out something that I had only seen on shelves for about 20 stamps.

It looked like crystal, except it was a nice amber yellow color that shone in the kitchen flurecent light. Parts of the rock it came from still were around it, but the stone was polished and looked magnificent. I was just wondering which Eevee would want to be evolved into a Jolteon for Christmas.

“Which Eevee are you going to evolve?” I asked, reaching out to feel the smooth glassy texture of the Thunder stone.

“I don’t know really. I might ask Shinoda if he want’s to evolve or maybe I might just ahead and sell it for 15 stamps,” Tara shrugged.

“How much did you buy it for?” I asked.

“10 Stamps,” Tara grinned. “And if I sold it for 15 stamps that would be a 5 stamp profit! See I am good at maths!”

“So can you smell something burning?” I suddenly sniffed the air.

Tara gave a small squeak and ran over to the pancake, and flipped it to reveal a black charred side. “Oops,” she winced. “Oh well, this is Adams.”

“I know, I’ll just eat the one that fell on the floor,” I told her. “The floor is clean.”

“Yeah,” Tara grinned. “Now I’ll just make about a hundred more. Maple syrup is in that cupboard,” she pointed to a cupboard above the microwave, “and ice cream is in the freezer.”

“Thanks,” I replied, grabbing the maple syrup. “I don’t want ice cream.” I sat down at the table, and poured a river of maple syrup onto my pancake then began to eat. It tasted great! “This is really nice!” I exclaimed.

“Today I didn’t stuff up,” Tara grinned. “I’m so proud.” She gave her pancake a quick flip and it landed nicley on the other side, looking quite perfect.

“Hey Tara,” I began. “I was just thinking about the Dragon Tamers party. What’s it going to be like? And…”

Before I could finish Tara interupted. “They’re a lot of fun. I’m not sure what band is playing there but I think it might be a local band or something. There’s going to be heaps of cool stuff there, and yes there will be hot chicks there.”

“Cool!” I commented grinning. Tara sighed.

“You and Adam are exactly the same,” she shook her head, but she was smiling so she was really okay with it.

“That smells so nice!” Adam commented, inhailing the smell of pancakes as much as he could. “Where’s mine?”

“Over on the breakfast bar,” Tara replied, surprisingly not cracking up laughing. I stuffed my mouth full of food so I wouldn’t laugh.

Adam walked over to the breakfast bar and took a look at his char grilled pancake. “Tara!” he exclaimed, turning around. “What’s this!”

“Gosh I… Don’t know…” Tara answered innoncently. Adam stared at her. “Fine then! Here, have this one.” She reluctantly handed over her perfect one and began making herself another one. Adam sat down and snatched the maple syrup off me.

“Yum!” he exclaimed with a mouthful of food. “This stuff is great!”

*

“So basically what you have to do is serve customers,” Derek explained. “If you don’t know something, don’t worry, just tell them that you’re on a trial job and only new. They’re all pretty understanding so they should understand.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “How do I use the till?” Derek gave me a quick overview of the till, over a lot of information, then told me he would be out the back sorting stock if I needed him.

I went behind the counter, looking for something to do, but before I could a skater walked into the shop.

“Hey Ashley!” I greeted.

“Oh hey Todd, wassup!” Ashley replied, giving me the high five. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

“It’s like a trial thing,” I told him. “I might be working here later though.”

“Wow that’s really cool,” Ashley nodded. “Hey you reckon you can give me some discounts,” he added in a muck around low voice.

“Sure…” I grinned. “So what are you doing back here?”

“Thought I’d come for the Dragon Tamers party,” Ashley shrugged. “Wazza, me, and everybody else are Dragon Tamers members.”

“Every body else meaning…”

“Me, Wazza, Lachlen, Andrew, Toby, oh and a few old friends of Adam and Tara’s. There’s Evan, he’s such a spaz, Tarik, Alana, Badger, Caitlen and yeah, we’re all at the same church still so we’re all over here,” Ashley shrugged. “So anyway, I just wanted to know how much the boards are here.”

“Um…” I tried to think about what Derek said. “Boards are basically around $120 to $180 depending on what type of board you get. Decks are about $120 to $160 but full boards can go up to $180.”

“You sure you’ve only been here for today?” Ashley asked. “Seriously, I’m not here for a board, I’m just testing you.”

“Thanks a lot,” I grinned.

“I just need a new wallet chain,” Ashley told me. “About $20 right?”

“$16.50,” I answered, getting one out of the display unit. “Here.” Ashley and I exchanged a $20 for the chain and I handed him the chain. “So I’ll see you at the Dragon Tamers Christmas party right?”

“Yeah,” Ashley replied. “You’ll see all of us there. Our whole church are Dragon Tamers but only a few of us were allowed to come due to expenses and everything.”

“Cool, see you there then,” I told him.

“Will do,” Ashley tipped his hat at me and left, attatching his wallet to his chain. Struggling to attach it anyway, he was having a bit of trouble.

*

“Adam, I have to talk to you,” I hissed to him, popping my head in our room as he changed shirts. Nimmy had been feeling a little sick, and poor Adam’s shirt.

“Should I take a shower?” Adam asked. “Here, smell me, see if I need a shower.”

“Keep away from me man!” I exclaimed. “About Tara’s birthday.”

“Oh okay, hang on a second,” Adam went over to the door and shut it, making sure that Tara wasn’t near there. “Go on.”

“I think we should give her a surprise party, right after the Dragon Tamers Christmas Party,” I told him.

“Yeah,” Adam nodded in agreement, he came and sat on the bed next to me.

“And I saw Ashely today, they’re back in town,” I added.

“Yeah, Warren rang today,” Adam told me. “There’s like a big group of our old friends, Evan that spastic, Alana, Caitlan, Badger and Tarik are here.”

“So we invite all of them? What about your brother and his friends?” I asked.

“Yeah invite them too,” Adam agreed. “Tara always has thought that those older guys were cute and she has this sort of, admiration for them. Invite them.”

“We have to do some planning,” I told Adam.

“How are we going to get rid of her?” Adam pointed out.

“Derek might be able to help,” I mused. “Hang on a second.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my mobile. Going through my phonebook, I came up with Derek’s number and grabbed the phone by the bed and dialed.

“Half Pipe Surf n Skate, Derek speaking,” Derek answered.

“Derek, it’s Todd,” I began.

“Oh yeah, you did a good job today,” Derek told me.

“I need to ask a favor,” I told him. “I need you to get Tara to work there for tomorrow, can you do that for me? Because we’re planning a surprise party for her and to plan it properly we need her out of our hair. Can you please get her to work for you tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Derek answered. “I’d be happy to help. So do you want me to ring her now?”

“That’d be great thanks,” I thanked him. “Can you get her in there working from about 9 AM till about 4:30 PM or something?”

“I’ll do what I can,” Derek replied. “Do you want me to ring you when she leaves?”

“You are the best!” I thanked Derek, hanging up. I gave Adam thumbs up as he looked at me confused. The phone rang. “I’ll get her,” I grinned into the mouth piece. Derek was grinning too. “TARA PHONE!” I hollored.

“I’VE GOT IT!” she yelled back. I hung up my end.

“You ring Warren, tell him to bring the church group over here tomorrow and we’ll plan the party,” I told Adam.

“This is going to be funky,” Adam grinned.

[PancaKe]

Skip forward to the night of the party.
Date: 22nd December
Time: 4:45 PM

The party was organized. Adam had talked to Gabbi and she had invited Amy, Steve, Pokemaster Jay, Ryan, and a few other friends. But right now the only sound in the quiet house was the shower running as Tara washed her hair. She was getting it straightened for tonight, thinking that only the Dragon Tamers party was on.

Tara got out the shower, got dressed and ran out the house, her hair still wet. They were going to blowdry it straight at the hair dressers. After she left, I sat up on my bed. I had been lying down, pretending to sleep. Adam was out skating, and the pokemon were all asleep in separate pokeballs so that they would have energy for tonight.

The Dragon Tamers Christmas Party would end about ten thirty to eleven o clock at night. Adam was going to leave early to come back home and set up the party, and then after the party I would distract Tara from going home. Maybe take her out for a quick snack or something.

Tara got back half an our later, looking really great. “Wow I’ve never seen your hair that straight!” Adam exclaimed.

“I know, isn’t it great?” Tara cried. She was really happy with her hair.

“It looks so different,” I commented.

“It looks really good,” Adam corrected.

“Thanks, it does doesn’t it?” Tara tossed her hair with her hand, really excited. “Now I have to get ready so we can be there at six. You guys, take a shower, get changed or something.” Tara could be really bossy when she wanted to be.

We took showers. Then we hung around waiting for Tara to finish getting ready. We woke up the pokemon, except for Nimmy, who we left sleeping in her pokeball. Tara was still getting ready. We then decided to get a drink, and finally Tara emerged from the bathroom, fully ready.

She looked pretty nice. She was wearing really baggy jeans and usual joggers. Around her waist was a Juice Ematic red belt, and she wore a red and black top that had no sleeves. I think she was wearing some make up, maybe some of that eyelash stuff, or maybe some of that eye shadow. But she looked better like this.

“I’m finally ready!” she announced. “Let’s go!” She ran outside, and we followed. “So are we walking, catching a bus or riding Pyro?” she asked.

“I can give you a lift,” Pyro shrugged. “Just don’t expect me to carry all the pokemon.”

“Why don’t us pokemon go with Pyro, and you guys can go into pokeballs!” Fury suggested, not so brightly.

“Fury you’re a ning nong!” Nails accused.

“Come on guys, its just for about ten minutes,” Tara told them, recalling them. She then pulled a hair tie out of her pocket and tied her hair back. “Now let’s go.”

It was a smart idea of her to do that. The ride was windy but we got there fairly quickly. Tara undid her hair and pulled out a miniture fold away brush to give her hair a quick brush, then turned to my hair and brushed it. Adam got away before she could do his.

We entered the hall together and looked around. It was fantastic, there were tables with our names marked on them, and we weren’t sitting with Warren and the others from their church. I suppose that was a good thing, because then Tara wouldn’t see them leave early.

People began to arrive, and around about six fifteen, Gabbi stood up on the stage and tapped the mic. “Hello?” she spoke into it. “Hey everybody, just letting people know that the party will now begin! And here are our guest band, Unwritten Law! They will be here until nine thirty so enjoy them while they’re here. And not only do we have Unwritten Law but Darude is coming in later to mix us up some cool tunes! Have fun!”

“I love Unwriten Law!” Tara exclaimed. “This is the best night of my entire night!”

“Hey everybody,” Scott waved into the mic, grabbing it punk rock style. “Now if this isn’t your type of music then here, we’ll play some Kasey Chambers for you.” The band began to play Kasey Chambers, am I not pretty enough, and then the classic punk style hit. A punk version of the song, extremley heavy and funky.

“Wow this is so cool!” Tara sighed. Unwritten Law were one of her favourite bands. She was in heaven on earth. Once they finished their punk Kasey Chambers, they began to play one of Tara’s favourites, Evolution. Tara almost had a heart attack.

After about an hour food was served and they took a break from their music to come and sit down. Tara kept on looking over at them nervously. “Should I go over and talk to them?” she asked.

“Just go,” Adam told her. Tara shrugged and walked over to them.

“Excuse me, but do you mind if I get an autograph or something,” She asked nervously

“Look at them talking, she’s really happy,” I commented.

“Yeah,” Adma nodded. “Wanna invite them?”

“She’d die,” I answered. “Yes.”

“And if they cant come we’ll invite Darude,” Adam told me. I agreed.

Something moved from Tara’s jacket pocket which hung on the back of the chair. The chair wobbled, as out of her pocket pokeballs spilled out. In flashes, Fury, Nails, Shinoda, Shadow and Nimmy appeared and took their seats around the table.

“I’m STARVED!” Fury announced. “Where’s Tara?”

“Over there with Unwritten Law,” Adam answered.

“Oh wow! Unwritten Law are here!” Fury squealed, dashing over to be with Tara and her favourite band.

“Typical,” Shinoda grinned, shaking his head.

“Aren’t you and her fighting anymore?” Shadow asked.

“Well… yeah…” Shinoda answered, then changed the subject. “I hate pokeball’s they’re so cramped.”

“Yeah I know,” Bam added. Adam grinned as he released Bam and Rodney into the action. “I swear my wool isn’t the same.”

“It looks the same,” Shadow commented.

“It’s all about the feel,” Bam replied. “You have to have it feeling right otherwise there’s no point in actually having it.”

“Nimmy, where are you going?” Nails asked.

“Nimmy stay here please,” Shinoda told her.

“Nimmy go play with baby pokemon,” Nimmy answered.

“I’ll go with her to make sure she’s okay,” Nails told Shinoda.

“Thanks for that,” Shinoda replied. “It’s really nice of Nails to take care of Nimmy like he does.”

“Yeah, saves you from doing the work,” Bam teased.

“Well that too…” Shinoda grinned.

Dinner came and went as the party continued. There was a large snack table over to one side where some people who couldn’t get enough food ate. Others just stood around talking, while a few danced to the wicked beats of Darude as Unwritten Law continued to take a rest and talk with Tara and Fury.

How could you talk to her that long?

Even though I did spend the whole night talking to her once, these are famous people we’re talking about here.

“Hey!” Tara greeted, slapping me on the back. “Unwritten Law are a great band! But I’m going to go battle, you wanna come?”

“I was just going to go with Adam, you don’t mind do you?” I told her.

“Nah its fine,” Tara shrugged.

<--- Tara’s POV --->

Todd could go see Adam. I mean its not like I really wanted him to come. Seriously I didn’t care. Fury was somewhere around here, but I really wanted Nimmy to have her first battle today or something. Nimmy and Fury needed to battle today, because they were the weakest of the team.

“Shinoda, where is Nimmy?” I asked.

“Nails took her to play with the other baby pokemon at the nursury,” Shinoda answered. “Why?”

“Do you think she’s ready for her first battle?” I questioned Shinoda.

He stared at me. “Are you serious?” he demanded. I shrugged. “We could give it a go but if she’s in trouble then kind of don’t expect me to stay out.”

“Right, that’s understood,” I agreed. “Let’s go get her and Fury.”

We left Bam, Rodney and Shadow talking and sort of dancing in a weird pokemon way to go find Nails, Nimmy and Fury, who had ran off somewhere. People were crowded in all sorts of places. As we passed the toilets, a whole bunch of girls with belts as skirts and very short tops burst out, giggling, their hair perfectly straight.

Girly girls. Eugh.

“There’s Nails and Nimmy!” Shinoda cried, running over to the Totodile and the small bundle of fluff beside him. “Nimmy, do you want to battle?”

“Battle?” Nimmy repeated, looking at Shinoda with big brown eyes.

“Fight a pokemon,” Shinoda answered.

“Fight a pokemon?” Nimmy asked. “But… that’s mean…”

“But if you get stronger it means that you wont be picked on and you’ll be able to save yourself if you get picked on by mean pokemon,” Shinoda told her. “Remember that Oddish?”

Nimmy’s bottom lip quivered as she remembered the awful experience.

~

Nimmy’s POV

The creature smiled, and I began to get frightened. “Why run away?” the creature asked. Daddy once told me never to talk to strangers, so I bit my lip and backed off slowly. “Oddish don’t bite you know.” The Oddish kept on walking towards me and I turned, about to run when I stopped.

I couldn’t run, it was as if my feet were frozen. All of a sudden, I was out of breath and felt like I couldn’t move at all. My chest hurt, my back hurt, my ears hurt, my whole body hurt. It felt as if blood was being drained, as if I was in that game Fury was playing on TV and I had lost a life.

I couldn’t handle the pain, and once I was able to move again, I screamed and collapsed.

~

Nimmy nodded. “I’m going to win!” she announced.

“Nails can you find Fury for me please?” I asked Nails.

“Sure,” he shrugged, and went off looking for her. We continued over to the battling area.

“Amy are you seriously still working?” I asked Amy as she stood organizing papers and battles.

“Yeah but its only for about another half hour. Then I switch shifts with somebody else, I think Conner,” Amy answered.

“That’s good, at least you don’t miss out on the party that much,” I told her. “Anyway I’m going to need to battle a low level pokemon against my Nimmy. She’s only level five and a baby so no level fifty pokemon.”

“I wouldn’t be allowed to anyway,” Amy answered. “Rules state that pokemon under 10 levels have to battle against pokemon their level. Nimmy is on level 5, she’ll be battling with a… an Aipom, level 6.”

“Nimmy are you ready?” Shinoda asked.

“What’s going on?” Fury asked, appearing suddenly.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

“You wanted me, duh,” she answered, as Nails showed up.

“Nimmy is going to battle,” I told them.

“Nimmy win!” Nimmy growled, walking into the arena.

<--- Nimmy Lvl 5 VS Aipom Lvl 6 --->

Nimmy watched curiously, her first time in a battle. I realized we should’ve trained her with the few attacks she knew, tackle, tail whip and mud slap. She wouldn’t be able to use any of those I didn’t think. But the most we could do was pray that she would know what to do.

The arena had a thin layer of sand to protect the floor but it wasn’t much good. It just made attacks like sand attack and mud slap easier to use. At the other end Amy released the Aipom, the purple monkey landing neatly on the sand and bouncing on its tail, which seemed to have another hand on the end.

“Hi I’m Nimmy,” Nimmy went to greet it.

“Hi,” Aipom replied. “I don’t want to be mean, you look like such a nice pokemon, and seeing you’re only a baby, I don’t want to hurt you but I have a battle to win.”

Nimmy was offended. “I’m not a baby!” she cried back. She was young but she’d grown out of the baby stage into a youngster. About 5 or 6 in human years. “Now I’m going to loose you for being mean!”

Aipom tried not to snicker. Nimmy was angry but she didn’t know what to do, so she stood there, making growling noises at the purple monkey. “Nimmy, run at the pokemon and bump into him really hard!” Shinoda yelled from the side.

Nimmy ran at the Aipom and tried to bump into him but the Aipom simply sprang to one side using his tail and laughed. Nimmy slid on the sand and fell down onto her chin. She got up and sniffed, trying to be tough was hard for her. She turned around and as her father called out to do it again she began to walk over to Aipom.

“Aipom,” Nimmy began. Aipom turned his attention to the little Eevee but she had began to run, and this time did bump really hard into his stomach, knocking the wind out of the monkey. “I just hit you!” Nimmy finished happily.

“Quick Nimmy!” Shinoda yelled. “Wet the sand and kick it onto him!”

How do I wet the sand? Nimmy wondered. She figured that maybe going to the toilet there was the right answer and squatted.

“Um…” Shinoda closed his eyes not able to watch. “I didn’t mean that way.”

Nimmy kicked the wet patch and muddy sand flew over through the air into Aipom’s eyes and mouth, as he gasped for air. He spat out the wet sand in disgust. “You are so going down!” he yelled, getting up and stomping over towards her. He lifted his hand and revealed a set of semi sharp claws.

Nimmy whimpered. “Nimmy! Run for it!” Shinoda called. Nimmy bolted straight ahead, trying to escape the scratch attack. Dashing through the legs, Nimmy knocked Aipom off his feet and he fell with a thud on his tail. Nimmy turned around, and realizing what she had done, she looked proud.

Aipom was still blinking, trying to get all the sand out of his eyes, when Nimmy ran up to him and began to whip him with her tail. Aipom tried to bat it away but couldn’t really see where he was scratching and ended up getting a slight graze on his own tail.

Nimmy poked her tongue out at him, and took a step back, and ran into him while he held his tail. Aipom looked up just as she was about to attack, and he extended his claws, letting her run past them as she hit him, slicing her face open slightly.

Aipom rolled back a bit but couldn’t really be bothered to get up and decided to let Nimmy win. He was pretty tired, she was good for a baby according to him. Aipom called it quits. Nimmy on the other hand had began to cry a bit because her face was bleeding.

“Nimmy has defeated Aipom!” Amy announced, recalling the monkey.

<--- Nimmy grew to Lvl 6! --->

Nimmy continued to cry as her face stung from the scratches made by the monkey’s claws. Shinoda ran out to her and spoke to her softly. “Hey calm down, it’s going to be all right,” he told her. “Tara’s going to use some potion on you and then they’ll all be better.”

“It will hurt right?” Nimmy asked. Her vocabulary got better every time she talked. She was aging quickly; soon she’d be a rebelling teenage pokemon.

“Just stay still for a moment,” I told her, spraying the potion in her face. She squealed as the tiny droplets of the spray sank into the cuts. She cried out then bit down hard in pain. On my hand.

“Ouch!” I cried, pulling my hand away as quickly as I could.

Nimmy realized what she had done. “Sorry,” she apologized.

I held my hand, trying to ignore the pain. “It’s okay,” I replied, wincing inside. It hurt like hell. “Don’t worry about it.”

Amy ran over to me when she saw my hand bleeding. “Here come with me,” she told me, and lead me to first aid, my little gang of pokemon following. She sprayed my hand with some Dettol stuff that cleaned and disinfected my hand, then wrapped it in a bandage.

“Thanks for that,” I told Amy. She grinned. “Oh and Fury needs to battle too. She’s a bit on the not battled for a long time side.”

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” Fury commented.

“Fury’s at what level?” Amy asked, leading us back to the main room.

“Level eleven,” I answered.

“Level ELEVEN!” Fury cried from behind me. I rolled my eyes.

“Do you want her to battle a two level pokemon or a one level pokemon?” Amy asked.

“Bless you?” I responded.

“Two level pokemon are much harder, in Fury’s case, about ten levels above her or more,” Amy explained. “But by battling them she gets two levels of experience, going up to level thirteen. If she battles a level one pokemon, levels are much closer and there is more chance of winning but she will only grow to level 12.”

“Right,” I nodded.

“Level… one…” Fury answered, sighing. “I hate to admit it but if I went against a level two pokemon I’d get my butt kicked.”

“Right, then Fury, level eleven Vulpix, is going to be matched against free battling level sixteen Marill,” Amy announded. “We seem to be getting busier, I’ll just have to release the pokemon then try to find Conner so he can give me a hand.”

“That’s all good,” I shrugged.

<--- Fury Lvl 11 VS Marill Lvl 16 --->

<--- Fury’s POV --->

A Marill, round and blue with a large white bell, walked into battle. “I’ll see you a bit later,” Amy said. “I’ve got to find Conner.”

“Darn it,” I grumbled, entering the very small battle field to oppose Marill. “Why does it have to be a strong WATER pokemon? Why not, a level 2 Butterfree?”

Without warning, my face was sprayed with high-pressured icy cold water, and I felt myself sliding back from the blast. My cheek began to hurt as the water penetrated through my fur rather quickly, and I tried to get away from it but it was one of those things where it held you there as it pushed. I figured it wouldn’t last for that long seeing Marill had to take some air soon.

I prepared myself for the second Marill would take air, that’s when I’d strike.

And it happened. The rapid water river stopped for a split second as Marill breathed in and went to fire another one. I leaped out the way and then dashed around in circles, things becoming a blur around me. Marill was confused and in trying to hit my just fired off rapid random water shots.

I tried to stop as a water shot flew right in front of me, and leaping backwards I managed to jump sideways and crash into the water mouse. We tumbled over, rolling around. Marill suddenly rolled itself into a ball and I fell off it as it rolled over to the side. Uncurling, Marill grinned, and rolled into a ball, this time rolling straight at me.

I sidestepped quickly, watching as Marill rolled past, around in a circle and straight at me again. Jumping, I landed on top of the rolling Marill ball by mistake, and stayed on top, running to stay from falling.

“Go Aunty Fury!” Nimmy cheered.

“You know if I was her I’d run the other way,” Nails was telling Shinoda. “Because in running the other way it actually stops the rollout, making it easier for her to attack him.”

“I see what you mean,” Shinoda nodded.

I grinned at this little bit of advice and instantly ran backwards. The rolling stopped, and I half fell to the ground. It wasn’t a full fall because I landed safely, and didn’t get hurt. Marill lay on the ground, dazed for a moment, and it would’ve been stupid for me to give up this opportunity.

Three golden stars flew through the air, each one striking Marill’s white belly and knocked him down again by the force that they went in. When Marill got up a second time, I wasn’t there, and he looked around confused. Appearing behind him, I jumped and got him by his head onto the ground. I don’t care if it was cheating, it was called ‘letting the disadvantaged win.’

Marill spun around and sprayed my face with a refreshing yet annoying blast of freezing water. That guy must be like an eski, keeps things cold because that water was freezing. He jumped at me after I wiped the water out of my eyes and I fell down with him on top of me.

What was the bet this looked REALLY dirty.

I figured that this was a really stupid thing to do but for the heck of it I gave him a little tornado of flames. He didn’t put it out either, he just let it go around him once he jumped off me and then let it burn out.

I eyed him. He was planning something mean. I knew it. He had the same look I usually have.

Water splashed over me as he used water gun on the floor. The water rippled towards me and on making contact with my sensitive paws scalded me. The fire had heated up his insides and boiled the water. I was so damn stupid!

I couldn’t get around it by a quick attack, it was spreading too fast. Swift would attack him but I couldn’t physically attack him and what I needed to do was to knock him into the water, hopefully scalding him a bit. And I had the perfect strategy, not meaning to brag but nothing could make it go wrong.

Unless Marill evolved.

But he wouldn’t do that, they’re somehow equipped with ever stones or something.

Stars flew swiftly across the river of water I was now backing away from. As they flew, I vanished from sight. Marill was smacked by those stars (excuse the very bad details. I mean, what else am I supposed to say it as? I mean I could say that those stars hit him but that would’ve been very bad. Anyway from my point of view they smacked into him.) As Marill fell backwards, I appeared and leapt right into him, knocking him forward with force. He fell forward and slid a bit, but didn’t quite make it onto the water. Running at him I thudded into him once more, giving him a push into the water.

And remembered that Marills can make the fur on their skin dry and not let water in at all.

At least the Marill was weakened now, but the aquatic pokemon was still fighting strong. He ran at me, a bit ticked off and shoulder first ran into me, as I tried to keep my stance and not fly back. Stars flew out as a swift attack and into the back of the Marill, catching him off guard, and I tackled him instead. Marill went back this time, but curled itself up in a defensive ball.

Rolling forward, Marill knocked my paws out from under me as I fell to the ground and felt hot water soak into my fur. I gave a sharp yelp, jumping out of the hot water instantly. Shaking it off best I could, I looked up to see Marill once again rolling towards me.

I had a feeling that in about five minutes if that dude was still rolling it’d be over.

I ran to the side and let him roll around and come back at me, making me dodge once again. I was getting puffed quickly as Marill came back for a third time. The thing that held me on was the fact that Marill would have to catch its breath sometime.

But certainly not before a fourth time. Or a fifth time, when he got me and struck me down once more. By now I was really tired, and as I looked up wearily I saw Marill had uncurled and was panting. I got to my paws, but Marill didn’t pay attention to me. He was too busy trying to regain the lost breath.

Stars shot at him for all they were worth. They wouldn’t do much, we were so tired from the intense battle, but I hoped that they would hurt him somehow. He was hurting me after all. I had bruises all over my body and I was sore and stiff and my belly and parts of my fur were dripping wet with either hot or cold water.

Marill’s body shook with the abosbing of the stars. They contained part of the last energy I held. The other part was going into the main finale. Marill looked up to see me standing there, grinning a tired and ending grin. The type of grin a hero gives to his enemy before he dies or something when he says something like “My foe, you win,” or something else heroic.

Marill opened its mouth and a small yet powerful bullet of water shot out, and went straight through the air as I materialized into nothing but tiny invisible particles. Marill turned around quickly, expecting me to appear from behind him, but once again I was smarter than him.

Fire pokemon are so much smarter than water pokemon.

The particals rejoined in mid air as I came back to view, and I landed leaping onto the water mouse. He fell forward, and we slid along the water, this time only a tail hair getting wet. I sat up on him, and tried to ride him like a skate board. This made the battling fun.

“Watch out Fury!” Nails yelled from the side. I stopped having fantasies about being the first pokemon skater and looked right in front of me to where a pole stood in the way. I jumped off and ran on my tip toes out of the water, which was now still a very warm temperature. Metal clanged as Marill hit the pole.

“I rule!” I cheered, and paraded away. Turning around right before I walked out of the small ring, I gave Marill one more swift. It might have been mean but he was about to get up and that really knocked him out for good.

<--- Fury grew to Level 12! --->

“Good work Fury!” Nails congratulated, grinning, each one of his pearly white sharp teeth flashing. They were intimidating if you couldn’t see his overly kind nature. For probably the first time I actually noticed them, and they scared me a little bit. But knowing Nails, I figured he wouldn’t attack me unless like, I turned really evil or something so I wasn’t really worried.

“Yeah good job concidering that you were fighting an experienced water pokemon,” Shinoda shrugged.

“Thanks,” I replied.

As Tara and Amy talked for a bit, Conner showed up and Amy walked off to the food table. Tara turned and spotted Gabbi. “Hey Gabbi!” she greeted, walking over to her. “How are you?”

“I’m good thanks, you?” Gabbi answered.

“I’m great,” Tara replied. “Really excited seeing that tomorrow is my birthday.”

Gabbi smiled and it looked from here that she was trying not to give anything away about Tara’s birthday. Of course we had to invite some of Tara’s Dragon Tamer friends, Ryan, Gabbi and Amy were coming and I think a few others. I wasn’t too sure how many people were coming, but I know that it was going to be one late night.

“Thanks for the whole idea to do a Christmas party,” Gabbi told Tara, who shrugged in response and said something that sounded like ‘no biggie’. “We couldn’t have done it without some of your organizing.”

“Yeah but it never occoured to me that some people were Jewish and didn’t actually celebrate Christmas,” Tara replied. “I figured – HOLIDAY! I mean all my friends celebrate Christmas, I have Muslim friends, Hindu friends but not really any Jewish friends so I kinda… forgot.”

“Yeah that’s okay,” Gabbi shrugged. “People forget these things.”

“Yeah,” Tara agreed. “Hey, I heard Bec was around here too, she left already?”

“I think so,” Gabbi replied.

“I guess she doesn’t care much about Christmas either,” Tara assumed.

“Well she’s Jewish too,” Gabbi answered. “It would’ve been nice if she had’ve stayed longer. It would’ve been nice to have some Jewish company.”

“Sorry again, it’s like me to get confused then forget things that happened like two seconds ago,” Tara grinned.

*

“Fury,” Adam spoke to me quietly. I strained my ears trying to catch the soft words that floated into the air. “I need you to give Amy a message. Tell Amy to get Tara to help out there to give us some time to plan our getaway and get her surprise party set up.”

“Can’t you do it yourself?” I sighed.

Adam shot me a killer look. “Fury just go!” he told me.

I rolled my eyes and hopped down from the chair, trying to find my way back over to the battling area. Amy had returned, and she was looking stressed a tiny bit as she tried to get people battling as quick as possible. Even with Conner’s help she was still stressed.

“Yo Amy!” I called, running up to her. She released the Marril again and turned to me. She obviously was overwhelmed by the amount of people wanting to battle.

“Yeah?” she asked hurridly, walking over to the desk and showing some people over to another battle field where Conner was working.

“Look, if you need help ask Tara,” I told her quickly, following her in a hurried walk. “Adam needs her out the way so they can do a bit of last minute organizing. And then they’re going to set up the party. But she can’t get suspicious. So what I need you to do is to get Tara helping you here and then Adam will have a bit of time.”

“Right,” Amy nodded. “You go tell her that I need a hand urgently and I’d like a hand from her.”

“Thanks so much Amy!” I grinned, running off.

“Fury where you going?” Bam called as I ran past him. He turned back to Rodney and Shadow. “Oh well big deal.”

“Tara!” I yelled, running up to her, sliding and crashing into her shin. It was also for attention.

“What now?” she sighed.

“Amy is like over loaded. Even with Conner working there they need some help,” I told her. “Can you give her a hand?”

“Sure,” Tara nodded. “Sorry Gabbi, we’ll talk later okay?”

Gabbi grinned, trying not to give away the party. “Yeah,” she replied. “Have fun working.” Tara walked off in a sort of running walk. “That was rigged wasn’t it?” Gabbi asked me.

“Partly,” I answered. “Amy does need some help.”

<--- Tara’s POV --->

I worked for about an hour and a half solid. The crowd died down and Amy got to eat some dinner that the caterers saved for her. She came back and stood talking to me while I released pokemon, monitored battles and recalled and regenerated worn pokemon.

“So are you finding this fun?” Amy asked me, chewing at a piece of chicken, grinning while she watched me work.

“Not really but I don’t mind it,” I answered. “I mean since when was work fun?”

“Dragon Tamers work is fun,” Amy shrugged.

“Well it would be,” I replied. “Working with Gabbi and Conner and the other workers.”

“Most of them don’t even show up,” Amy complained. “When was the last time we saw Charlie? Or Alex? Or Scott?”

“I know, I feel sorry for you.”

“It’s not so bad, split between me and Gabbi and Conner its not that much work.”

“Cool,” I nodded. “Well I like my stamps coming in from the battles etc so I probably wouldn’t work there unless it was a temporary position or something. I’m actually going for a job. Competing against Adam and Todd for a job at the surfie shop around the road from where we live.”

“Is it hard to get a job there?” Amy asked.

“Jolteon is the winner!” I announced, recalling Marril and putting him in the regeneration machine. “I don’t really know,” I answered Amy while I set up another battle. “Geesh, a lot of people are leaving. They’ve put on the preset playlist now, it must be getting near to closing time.”

“Yeah the party ends around about eleven,” Amy told me. “So people are gonna start leaving now and stuff.”

“That means I can take a break,” I sighed. “I’m hungry. I never got any pavlova too!”

“You stay here for a bit and I’ll go get you a slice of pavlova from the kitchen then I’ll close the battling area,” Amy smiled at me. “You look like you’re about to hug me.”

“I would but I have to send a Blastoise into battle,” I grinned. “Thank you soooo much!”

“No problem,” Amy dissapeared.

*

Amy approached Adam and Todd. “Has Tara’s other friends left?” she asked them.

“Yeah, the only people still here who are coming are me, you, him and Gabbi and Ryan and a few other workers and the pokemon,” Adam replied. “I think I’ll go home now.”

“How are you going to leave unnoticed? You’re her best friend,” Amy inquired.

“Sick leave?” Adam shrugged.

*

“Here’s your pavlova, you can take a break now,” Amy told me, handing over a plate of gorgeous creamy pavlova and a silver fork.

“Thanks heaps Amy!” I thanked her. “So are you going to close the battling?”

“Yeah, you go ahead and hang out with your friends,” Amy shooed me away. I grinned as I walked over to our table where Adam sat, looking pained.

I put the plate down straight away, and it sat on the table with a clank. “Adam are you okay?” I asked him, very worried.

“I’m right,” Adam replied. “Just got a stomach cramp.”

“Adam you look awful!” Gabbi exclaimed, coming over. “Is everything okay?”

“Just got a stomach cramp,” Adam replied, in a pained voice. “No big deal.”

“I heard that stomach cramps are pretty bad and that you should lie down otherwise…” Todd began.

“Otherwise what?” I demanded.

“Otherwise you sort of get all bubbly gas and wind,” Todd shrugged. “Its like not good to do anything or stuff.”

“Darn no sex,” Adam joked through his pain.

“Do you want to go home straight away?” Gabbi asked. “I was going, I can give you a ride.”

“Thanks, I think I better,” Adam nodded.

“Can I come too?” Fury asked. “And if I come can Shionoda, Nails, Shadow and Bam and Rodney come too! And also Nimmy cuz then she’ll feel left out.”

“Why don’t I just take all of you guys home?” Gabbi offered to Fury and Nails who had shown up beside Fury.

“Thanks Gabbi! You’re my favourite!” Fury cried. Then remembering I was there, she added hurridly “Aside from Tara of course. Unless you buy me mango ice cream, then you’ll be my favourite.”

“Go find the others and then we’ll go,” Gabbi told Fury, grinning. She turned her attention back to Adam. “Come on Adam.”

Todd and I helped Adam out of his seat and from there, he staggered over to Gabbi and leant on her as she assisted him outside. Fury and Bam appeared from the middle of the crowd, rolling together, followed by Shinoda. Nails and Nimmy walked together, Nails trying to keep Nimmy awake. As for Shadow and Rodney, those two hung way back talking privatley to one another.

“Is Adam going to be all right?” I asked Todd.

“Yeah, it’s only a stomach cramp,” Todd answered. “No big deal.”

“You reckon he’s constipated?” I asked.

“Maybe.”

“Yeah…”

We fell silent just listening to the commotion around us. I reached across the table and picked up my dropped pavlova, and began to eat it. Todd looked around, then at my pavlova then around again. “It’s empty now,” he commented.

“You’re right,” Amy agreed, appearing. “I think you two should go now, its late and besides, I don’t think you want to help clean up this mess.”

“Damn straight,” I replied, smiling. “Don’t you employ people?”

“We do normally but the caterers are just friends of friends and basically they’ve voulenteered to clean if some of the workers stay. Seeing that Gabbi is going on holidays soon she had to leave early to pack and stuff, so that leaves me, Conner and our pokemon.” Amy looked around. “And with my bunch it shouldn’t take too long.”

“Are you sure you don’t want a hand?” I asked.

“Its okay, you two should just head home now,” Amy reassured us. “Besides its your birthday tomorrow, you don’t want to be tired then.”

“You remembered?” I gasped, happy that somebody remembered.

“Of course! You don’t think I’d forget your birthday do you?” Amy asked.

“No but,” I shrugged.

“Anyway we’ll take the hint and leave,” Todd input. “Come on, let’s go.”

“See you Amy!” I waved as I left with Todd.

“Bye!” she waved back, picking up my pavlova plate and a few glasses that we used for drinks.

“Gee, I feel a bit guilty leaving her to clean up,” I told Todd as we walked into the night. Even though it was summer, it was surprisingly chilly.

“Let’s just walk around for a bit,” Todd suggested. “I don’t really want to go home right now.”

The night was clear but chilly. As we walked down the street, the long way home, the moonlight shone a blue light over everything. The trees looked magic, the road wasn’t black but a light grey blue, and the grass, houses and shops all cast eerie shadows that looked really cool.

“It’s so quiet,” I spoke, my voice softer than normal. It seemed like the silence shouldn’t be broken by a loud tone.

“Yeah, it’s really cool,” Todd agreed.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Speaking of cool, it’s cold.”

“Do you want my jacket?” Todd offered.

“No thanks I’m not that cold, its just that the complaning is fun,” I replied.

“So…” We were lost for conversation. The walk was a slow one, and right now I just wanted to say ‘Guess what, I like you.’ But if I said that then he’d either get struck by lightning and die, or turn gay. Adam pointed out that with the other guys I’ve dated (all except for him) they’ve all turned gay.

They havent except that most of them are now total hardasses and bastards.

“So you’re single arent you?” Todd began, asking a simple question to start a conversation.

“Yeah, for now,” I shrugged. “Being single is so much fun, you can check out anybody you want!”

“Yeah I know,” Todd began. “That’s good.”

“What that you can check out anybody?” I asked.

“No that you’re single,” Todd replied.

I stared at him, mixed up inside. I didn’t know whether to feel scared, happy or confused. I went with confused, it was always good to have things explained. “What?” I blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s good that you’re single,” Todd answered.

“Why?” I asked, suspiciously.

“Because… it is,” Todd told me, a bit nervous now.

“What are you trying to tell me?” I demanded.

“Cant you sort of tell?” Todd asked.

“No,” I replied, hippy valley style. “Like, you expect me to know?”

“Fine I like you,” Todd told me. “Now you know.”

I froze. I just stared at him. Silent. Well the silence didn’t last long for me. Once it regestered in my brain what he said my motor mouth instantly revved up and started working again. “Woah this is like so cool! I wasn’t expecting that at all! That is so cool!” I cried. “I like you too that is so cool.”

“Cool,” Todd grinned. He glanced at his watch. “I think we should walk home now.”

“Okay, it is getting late,” I agreed. But this time when I walked, my feet didn’t touch the ground.

*

Todd fumbled with his keys, and finally let us in the door. I looked around, not able to see anything. Why was the house so dark? From the kitchen the clock gave the first solid stroke of twelve. “Well I’m fourteen now,” I commented, softly.

“Happy birthday,” Todd told me, flipping the light.

“Happy Birthday!” a sea of voices cried. I blinked and took a step back. In my lounge room, right across the back wall, what looked like a sheet had the words “Happy Birthday Tara!” in bright painted letters. A table had been set up in the middle of the room and streamers and balloons were scattered around everywhere. The angel on the top of the Christmas Tree even had a balloon.

The table had a large cake on it, a large pavlova cake with one of those plastic things that say “happy birthday” stuck in it. Around it were 14 candles all lit now. And on the floor in front of the table sat my grinning team of winners. Shinoda, Nails, Fury and Shadow all sat there, smiling, showing off their teeth. Nimmy must have been asleep.

To the side sat Bam and Rodney and the smaller pokemon that everybody else owned. Everybody else included Amy, Gabbi, Ryan, Conner and a few others from the Dragon Tamers. My friends from my church were there too! I couldn’t believe Warren and Ashley and Evan and Alana and Caitlen and Badger and others were there. I thought they were still back home.

But right behind the birthday cake grinned the one person who made all the difference. Without him it would’ve been a waste. Adam stood there, smiling, his skin lit up by the candle flames. “Happy Birthday Tara,” he told me, walking around the table and giving me the best hug we’d ever had in ages.

I didn’t even care that it was like hugging a skeleton. He was my best friend and that night he became my best friend in the whole world. Who would go to all this trouble for an annoying chatterbox who is still lovable?

Man I loved Adam so much. (As a friend!)

This was one party I would never forget. And Adam was one best friend who I would never ever forget.

[Last Exile]

Yowzers, sensational return Tara! The Pokemon fighting over the music was classic! Geez, if you can muster that up I'd better get to it then!

PS. Notice something different about my sig? i.e. The third song? I bet you never thought I'd like them! You win, Tara!

[PancaKe]

Thanks Ryan! I've actually been writing that a week before the scenario was posted and it was actually going to be a lot longer than tha but I decided that that was a good mushy ending and to leave it there. ^_^

~Mist

[Lady Vulpix]

Hello, everyone! I'm still in Salta, so I have no Internet connection for now (I managed to get on a computer today, but it's a rare event that probably won't be repeated until I return).
I just wanted to tell you all that I'm having a great time! I'll tell you more about it when I get back.
Ryan, I read chapter 21 of WDC and it was amazing! I especially loved the introduction. I read it to my cousin Helena and she loved it too. And Crystal is really intriguing!
Tara, welcome back! I don't have the time to read your story now, but according to Ryan's comment I'm sure I'll love it when I get to read it. One thing, though; I did notice a line that said "Lady Gabbi Vulpix". I wonder what it stands for... Well, I guess I'll find out later. As long as yoiu didn't have me write invitations or anything like that, everything will be fine. I mentioned you in my story too. You can read it on page 4.
Ok, this is all for now. Take care and have fun! I'll be thinking of you all.

[PancaKe]

Thanks Ryan!

And as for the sig - your a bit late. Linkin Park are getting old because they havent' had a song out for ages! But its still nice to see that you thought of me when you put that in there Serioulsy try listening to Papa Roach or Superheist. They're such cool bands.

~Mist

[Wolfsong]

Tara, sorry for taking so long, I've been busy. Anyways, here are 20 stamps for your nice battles. I was laughing out loud at a few parts, esp. during the music war.

[PancaKe]

Thanks Amy! I was actually thinking about the stamps earlier. I was thinking "How can I get the stamps without acting like a pushy newbie?" and then I was planning this whole sceme to leave tehm until like two months later and then go "gee i just remembered" ^_^ im so stupid! XD

Thanks! And I'm glad you liked it. Basically thats how me and my sister used to fight. Me with my stereo going "BOOOM BOOM BOOM" and hers going "I'm a teenybopper with blonde hair yeah yeah yeah."

^_^

~Mist

[Wolfsong]

(Sweetie’s POV)

I walked alongside Dad, purring happily, as we headed back to Amy’s house after a brief visit to the Eevee House. We had simply stopped by to check on things. Once there, Nala had released us, so we could enjoy ourselves for a little while. I smiled, remembering the series of events. Not long after we had arrived, Steve showed up. He hugged Nala before releasing his team. Amy smiled pleased to see him. The two of them walked over to the couch where Steve smiled and handed her something. “Merry Christmas hun,” he whispered to her as she opened the present. She gasped, pulling out the white juice. I was excited. I quietly, and casually made my way over to be closer to where they were sitting. I wanted a closer look at the white juice. “Are you sure about this?” she asked him. He smiled, as he told her that he was. He also said that he wanted her to have it. She asked him one last time, and when she received the same answer, she looked over at me. Smiling, she spoke. “I think Sweetie would like to have that. If you’re absolutely certain, why don’t you give it to her.” My jaw almost hit the floor as I walked over to Steve. He held the container so that I could drink the liquid.

I was jolted out of my thoughts by Dad. He had playfully tackled me. I smiled before also playfully shoving him off of me. Then I walked over to him, and nuzzled Dad, purring happily. He nuzzled me back before he smiled with a faraway look in his eyes. I knew he must have been thinking about my mom. Suddenly, I got the feeling that someone was about to jump on me, so I stepped to the left. Sure enough, Salem crashed to the ground where I had been seconds earlier. I chuckled to myself as he muttered, “Crud.” I jumped on him before he could recover, and the two of us began wrestling. We continued until Nala broke in saying, “All right you two, we’re here.” Pinning Salem, I stuck my tongue out at him before trotting inside the open door. I immediately ran upstairs to the bathroom and jumped up on the cabinet. I was extremely careful that I didn’t knock anything breakable off. Then I looked in the mirror and smiled before jumping down and going to see if there was anything I could do to help Amy with.

(Aiyana’s POV)

It had been a few weeks since Nala invited me to join her team, and I felt at home. I thought back to when I got separated from my pack. At first, I thought it was the worst thing in the world that could have happened to me. Looking back, I realize that it was the best thing. I never really did fit in well with the pack. As my brother once told me, “You are too nice for your own good.” All of my brothers and sisters were far too rough for my liking. I shuddered, remembering the snow that I had been buried in when Nala happened to stumble across me.

I glanced around at my teammates as we walked back to Amy’s house. Blazer sort of reminded me of the pack leader. In a lot of ways they were similar to each other, but there were differences as well. They were both natural born leaders, had a sense of wisdom beyond their years, and they were both strong. However, Blazer was friendly and you could approach him anytime, whereas you had to walk on eggshells around the pack leader.

Kiara was someone who I could go to if I had any problems as well as just a simple chat. I didn’t know the others that well, but they all seemed nice. The only one that was in my level range, however, was Jasmine, but she liked playing in the water. Which was something that I didn’t particularly enjoy. I was jarred out of my thoughts by Nala announcing that we were home. I smiled, and followed Sweetie and the others inside.

(Sugar’s POV)

I looked down at the charm on my paw and sighed. It had been ages since I had last seen Jesse or Torrey and I missed them terribly. To make things worse, I was getting bored. I wasn’t much in the mood for practical jokes. I had to do something soon, or I’d drive myself nuts. It was a while before I managed to find Nala by herself. Although it was hard, I stayed quiet until she noticed me before I spoke. I explained to her that I was bored, and she nodded in an understanding way. “Maybe we can arrange something at the battle tower. Would you like that?”I smiled. “Sounds like a good plan.” Amy was looking through her mail as we talked. ”In the meantime, how does a Christmas party sound?” “As long as no one hurts Ayla, it sounds good.” At last year’s party a high level raticate had attacked Ayla when she was just a helpless baby. I snarled at the memory. I taught that raticate a lesson. ”Sounds fair enough,” Nala replied. With that, I left the room, smiling.

(Nala’s POV)

Te weeks flew by, and soon it was the day of the party. I tucked a piece of holly behind Sweetie’s ear, before I went upstairs and got ready. I decided to leave my hair down. It was actually behaving tonight. Instead of being frizzy, it was barely wavy. As I got dressed, I hummed nervously. I wasn’t even sure why. “Everything will be fine,” I heard Kiara say. Finally, I was ready. I sorta hoped that Steve would be there, but with everything that was going on, I would understand it if he wasn’t.

Once we had reached the Recreation center, I saw a few familiar faces, but not many. Jasmine was curled around my neck. She and Aiyana were a bit nervous since neither had seen such a big crowd before, so they stayed close to me. The rest of my team fanned out to see if they could spot some of their friends. Blazer winked at me, and said, “If I see Steve, I’ll bring him to you.” Then he trotted off, chuckling, leaving me with my face turning red.

(Salem’s POV)

I was waking around enjoying the decorations, hoping to run into someone I knew. Well, I literally ran into someone, but it wasn’t anyone that I knew. “Oof! Sorry,” I apologized. I looked up to see that it was an ampharos that I had collided into. “It’s ok,” she replied. “I should have been paying more attention to what I was doing that to the decorations around me. My name’s Flashy.” “Same here. My name is Salem.” I replied, and we shared a good laugh. We talked for a few minutes, before Flashy asked me if I wanted to battle. “Sure,” I agreed. Once we found an isolated area where we could battle without disturbing anyone, it began.

Salem L.36 Espeon VS. Flashy L.40 Ampharos

While I was trying to figure out what move would be my best to start out with, Flashy had made up her mind. She hit me with her fist crackling with energy. Since I wasn’t expecting it, I went down. Immediately, I climbed back up onto my paws. I would have to think on my toes. Flashy tried to hit me again, but I ran between her legs, and smacked her in the back with a glowing white tail. “You’re not bad,” she told me. “Neither are you,” I replied. The ball on her tail began to glow, and then, there was a blinding white flash of light. “Sorry,” Flashy said, ”but I needed to in order to be on equal footing. You’re an espeon after all.” I felt my face getting warm. Not being as observant as I should have was really coming back to haunt me big time. This was embarrassing. I silently thanked Sugar and Sweetie for the little help that they did give me. I couldn’t see anything but white spots. Suddenly, a huge weight slammed down on top of me, pinning me. The breath was knocked out of me and, soon as I was able to, I gasped for air. Flashy still had me pinned, but once I was able to think straight, I began to conjure up a vile, toxic sludge which I spit all over Flashy. She immediately jumped off of me, and I could hear her moving about. Still blinded, I tried to be more observant, but I was having trouble. Maybe I should have worked on developing that sense like Sweetie had, but now was not the time to dwell on past mistakes. I heard footsteps approaching, and I leaped to the side. I felt a rush of air as I heard a loud thud. I ran to the source of the sound, and swung my tail, which was glowing white at Flashy. I felt it make contact, and I smiled. I heard the sound of electricity crackling, so I tried to make a run for it, but I wasn’t fast enough. I yelped as the electricity coursed through my body. I turned around and rced to where the ampharos had been seconds earlier. However, instead of hitting her body, I slammed into the wall. This isn’t working, I thought as I realized that I had been using my hearing to pinpoint Flashy. I listened carefully, but she wasn’t making a sound. You could hear a pin drop. I shook myself as if I was trying to shake water from my coat. Two heat-seeking star shaped missiles flew out, and headed straight for Flashy wherever she was. I soon heard an ”Oomph!” I raced towards the source of the sound and slammed into Flashy using my quick attack. I smiled as I hit, and bounced off of Flashy. I started to run towards her once more, when suddenly vines sprouted from the ground and wrapped themselves tightly around my legs, thuse efficiently stopping me dead in my tracks. I groaned, before beginning to channel my psychic powers into a beam. I listened carefully, calculating where Flashy would be in the next few seconds. Then I released it. A loud thud told me, that the attack had hit. Still listening closely, there was silence. I had to assume that Flashy had fainted.

I win!
I grew to L.38!

I soon realized what a predicament I was in. I was still trapped in the vines that Flashy’s hidden power had caused, and I still could not see. Flashy had fainted, and I didn’t hear anyone nearby either. I had an idea, but it was a long shot. I used my psychic powers to send a plea to my teammates. I hoped that one of them would somehow hear and come to my aid. Within minutes, I heard a wonderful sound. “Salem, what on earth went on here?” It was Talut. I smiled. “Well, I sorta ran into this ampharos. After we started talking, we agreed to a friendly battle. It resulted in not only me winning, but also me being blinded by a flash, and trapped by her hidden power. “Oy,”he said as I felt him poking about in the vines trying to extricate me from them. By the time that Talut hah managed to free me, Flashy began to stir. As soon as she was able to, Flashy spoke. “That was a great battle.” I smiled. “Thanks. You battled extremely well, as well. I think I know now how you got your name,” I joked. Flashy chuckled. “Sorry about that,” she apologized. “Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “Once I get healed, I should see just fine.” As it was, I could see slightly better than I could a few minutes earlier, but for the most part I still couldn’t see a thing. Talut picked me up in his arms. “Would you like us to get you healed as well? Our trainer is currently busy organizing the battles.” This was news to me. ”She is?” I asked stupidly. “Yes,”Talut answered. Flashy smiled.”No thanks. My trainer was planning on stopping by the Pokecenter after the party anyway.” With that, I heard her walk off. “You know, Salem,it seems you have a knack for getting into predicaments.”Talut chuckled. “very funny,” I responded. Talut flapped his wings and took to the air. Then he flew me over to where Amy was working.

(Nala’s POV)

I watched as most of my guys and gals fanned out, before I headed off to the battle arena where I ws supposed to be working. As I neared, I knew I was going to be in for a busy night. If I had the time, however, I had a little surprise for Aiyana. I glanced down at the little houndour. She was smiling, but staying close to me.

Soon, I was so busy, I didn’t even have time to think. The battling arena was quite popular. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Talut up in the air. He winked at me before flying off. A familiar voice, quickly reminded me of what I was supposed to be doing. “Amy, are you seriously still working?” Tara asked. I smiled. “Yeah, but its only for about another half hour. Then I get a short break.” As we talked, I learned that Nimmy was going to have her very first battle. I checked her level and then pulled out the appropriate pokeball releasing an energetic aipom. Then I watched the battle unfold. Minutes later, it was over. I smiled, as I recalled the aipom. Nimmy had won. She only received a couple of scratched. “Ouch!” I heard Tara shout. I looked over, and saw that her hand was bleeding. After cleaning the wound, we returned to the battling arena, where it was now Fury’s turn to battle. Fury also won, and finally it was time for my break. Don’t get me wrong I was enjoying myself. I was just ready for a little free time.

The food smelled good, so I went to get myself a bite to eat. Soon, it was time for me to get back to work. It didn’t look like it would be slowing down for a while either. “Nala,”I heard Talut call to me. I looked up to see him flying towards me, carrying a weakened Salem. “What happened?” “Salem and an ampharos had a battle. He won, but he was temporarily blinded by a flash.” “I see.” I returned Salem to his pokeball, and walked over to the machine that regenerated pokemon. I put Salem’s pokeball inside. Minutes later, I released him. “Be careful,” I called after him. “I will,” he promised. With that, he and Talut, one more disappeared.

”Yo Amy!” I heard someone call. I looked around. “Down here.”Looking down, I saw Fury. “Yeah,” I answered as I hurried back. She was trying to keep up with me. “Look, if you need help, ask Tara. Adam needs her out of the way so they can do a bit of last minute organizing.” I nodded, smiling. “Right.” Fury shouted her thanks as she ran off. “You’re welcome,” I called after her.

Tara arrived shortly after Fury had run off. “Fury said you needed help.” She said. I smiled, “Yeah, things have really picked up.” I quickly showed her what to do, and pretty soon, she had the hang of it. For over an hour, the battling arena was fairly busy. Once things started to slow down, I realized that I might actually have time for a battle. I looked down at Aiyana. “Yana,” I said, and the houndour raised her head. “Would you like a shot at battling?” Aiyana gulped, but nodded yes.

(Jasmine’s POV)

Amy had told us that there was gonna be a lotta people at the party. Neither me or Yana had any clue about what to expect. I stayed curled around Amy’s neck. I felt safe there, plus I had a nice view of what was going on around me.

When we had arrived, I looked around from the safety of Amy’s neck for either Dad or Kidda. When I didn’t see wither of them, I watched the battles that was going on. Battling looked like fun, but I could tell that Amy thought I was still too young. As the night progressed, I found it harder to keep my eyes open. Eventually, I fell asleep. I had a short nap, but I woke up when Amy softly called to Aiyana. When she asked if Yana wanted to battle, I yawned and opened my eyes. Amy’s friend released an aipom and Yana nervously walked forward.

(Aiyana’s POV)

Aiyana L.6 Houndour VS. L.6 Aipom

I glanced over at Nala before I walked into the arena. I gulped nervously. The aipom offered his paw to shake, which I gladly did. Facing off, I looked over at Nala. I knew that she was used to her pokemon battling independently, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled or comfortable with that option right now. Amy seemed to understand my look, and I smiled relieved when she nodded. “Yana, try starting off with a mud slap.” I nodded, spitting on the sand that covered the floor. I then kicked it onto the aipom, but not before he raked me across my rear with his unsheathed claws. I spun around facing the aipom. I was thinking about using ember, when I heard Nala say “Ember.” Grinning, I took in a deep breath of air before I spit out several tiny fireballs. The aipom, who had just finished wiping the sand out of his eyes, ran straight at me. Before I could dodge, he slammed into me, I quickly took in a deep breath of air, and once more expelled several tiny fireballs onto the purple monkey, who fell with a thud. I looked over at Nala. She had a huge smile on her face, which caused me to have a matching smile on my muzzle. I could tell that she was proud of me. Jasmine was also smiling. “Aiyana is the winner,” I heard Tara announce.

I won!
I grew to L.7!
I learned Roar!

(Nala’s POV)

When Aiyana looked at me as she entered the arena, I figured that she wanted guidance. So, I started out giving her help, but then, toward the end, she made a move on her own. I knew that it would take time, but eventually, she would be confident to battle on her own without any help from me. Yana had a huge smile on her face, as she left the battling arena. Once her battle was over, it was back to work. Soon, though, things were winding down. A lot of people had left, and Tara took a well-deserved break. As I was closing down the battling arena, I looked down at Aiyana. “Yana, could you go and round up the others?” She nodded, climbing to her paws. Jasmine was asleep again. Talut and Blazer were the first to arrive, and one by one the others arrived shortly after. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tara and her friend leave. With everyone helping out, we had the place clean in no time at all. I recalled everyone except Talut. I climbed up on Talut’s back and soon we were off. Once we were at Tara’s house, the lights were off, but the door opened and I was motioned to come inside. I quickly recalled Talut, and released Aiyana and Sweetie as I walked inside. Everything was ready, all that was needed was the birthday girl. Everything went quite, and we could hear the door opening. As soon as the light came on, everyone Shouted Happy Birthday Tara!”

[PancaKe]

Wow that was cool Amy! I really liked the end it was so simple. Mainly because it involved me but then Seriously the flash bit was really good. I thought flash woudl just light up the area not blind a pokemon. I really liked the way you described and showed it to us. Also Salem is cool he's probably got to be my favourite of your pokemon.

I really liekd it.

~Mist

[Wolfsong]

Thanks Mist.

I'll try to post the new scenario later today when i get a chance. It'll probably be this afternoon, due to the fact i have classes today.

[Wolfsong]

Those who asked for a time extension get it.

Ryan gets 30 stamps for writing this scenario!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


An ice cold chill that freezes every part of you races along like an impatient child. Blood rushes through you veins like a stampeding horde in order to keep yourself alive. Trees of all sizes are smothered in the white frosty snow that continues to gently fall from the sky. Ice has formed in several places and all waterways are frozen through.

Winter is here. The contrast to summer. It is a time for cold, for snow and for the other side of the world to enjoy summer. But don't despair! For it is time for:

The Winter Games!

Events:

1. Ice Skating Races

Fun but very competitive and can get quite brutal. Speed is essential but brains and brawn will help too. Have a plan in mind and know when to strike. The race is 10 laps of a 100m oval ring, making it a 1000m race. You can race opponents of different levels to test your skills. Remember, speed can also equate to losing control as not many Pokemon have superior grip on ice. Choose wisely.

Beginners: Level 10 Swinub
Normal: Level 20 Smoochum
Moderate: Level 30 Delibird
Advanced: Level 40 Sneasel
Expert: Level 50 Lapras


2. Ice Hockey!

Assemble a team of three Pokemon to take on those available. You can only have one of a particular type on each team. Attacks are allowed but you'd better not go overboard and take your opponent out of the game or penalty goals are enforced plus stuns from the hidden electric guns to bad players. First to five goals wins the match. Speed and strength will win you the game. With only 3 players, you'd better be on the money.

Beginners: Smoochum, Swinub, Squirtle, all Level 10
Normal: Totodile, Seadra, Poliwag, all Level 20
Moderate: Poliwhirl, Wartortle, Croconaw, all Level 30
Advanced: Lapras, Vaporeon, Poliwrath, all Level 40
Expert: Blastoise, Sneasel, Feraligatr, all Level 50

3. The Course!

A kilometre of snow and cold water, five targets, 500 metres of ice and one battle. Go for the gold!

Beginner: Level 10 Squirtle
Normal: Level 20 Seaking
Moderate: Level 30 Quagsire
Advanced: Level 40 Tentacruel
Expert: Level 50 Kingdra


You may participate in each event once only. No Pokemon can be in more than two events. Each participant gets one level of experience for each event. The ones you compete against depend on your level.

Below or 10: 10
11-20: 20
21-30: 30
31-40: 40
41+: 50

Stronger, Faster, Higher, Better!

All participants get awards! Go for glory!

[Lady Vulpix]

Amy, for your great story and the excellent job you have been doing all this time, I'll give you any item you want from the Reward Center. Thanks a lot for everything!!

Tara, I've began to read your story, but I haven't finished it yet. Anyway, it looks like you didn't read mine, so we're even. Actually, what I've read so far was very good and for the comments I've seen the rest must have been excellent, but we have a loop here: how come you and I invited each other to the party?

The following information is for those who are interested in knowing what did since I last posted here.

I didn't do much on Sunday because I ate way too much ice-cream (and they didn't even have mango), so I had to stay in bed for the rest of the day; but I made up for that on Monday: I climbed the San Bernardo hill with Helena (my cousin) and had a picnic on the top with cheese sandwiches we'd made earlier in the morning, we stayed up there for a while and then we went down in different ways and ended up many streets away from each other. I was a bit worried, but I had the feeling that we'd find each other. We both started walking on different streets, took some turns and ended up meeting at a crossing! When we told each other the paths we had walked, we burst into laughter: it was nearly impossible to meet like that!
Then we walked a lot more until we reached a video club, where we stayed for a while because of the air conditioning and the fact that Helena couldn't make up her mind. She ended up renting 3 videos, and she was thinking of a fourth one, but I reminded her it wouldn't be the last day of her life, so she could rent it some other time.
After that we walked back to my grandma's house, picked up the letters I'd written during the weekend and went straight to the post office. We had to go to two, because the first one was too expensive. Then we went to a computers institute where one of the workers had offered us to watch a movie for free and saw Shrek. I had already seen it, but Helena hadn't. The problem was that there were no subtitles and Helena doesn't speak English well, so I had to translate the whole movie for her. That was exhausting and I ended up with a splitting headache that didn't go away until sunrise, but fortunately I felt well the following day.

On Tuesday I sent more letters, played with my grandma's maid's 2-year-old son and prepared myself for the flight back to Buenos Aires. Apart from the things I'd brought with me and those I'd bought there, I packed a box of tamales and humitas (traditional food from the North of Argentina). I had participated in cooking those humitas, and my mum tried them as soon as I got back and she liked them a lot. :-)

The journey back was nice, though it was delayed a little because of the weather. It was a bit impressive when the plane flew right through a storm; then when we were above it and I could see a carpet of clouds and lightnings below and the clean sky full of stars above... it was beautiful!

If you want to know what I did before that, PM me or e-mail me. It's long and I don't think the Battle Range is the best place for that.

In any case, I'm here to stay.

[Wolfsong]

Originally posted by Lady Vulpix
Amy, for your great story and the excellent job you have been doing all this time, I'll give you any item you want from the Reward Center. Thanks a lot for everything!!

Wow. It was no problem, glad i could help. I think i'll take a simple sunny day tm. thanks.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ok, the TM is yours, then. Enjoy it.
And I'll also give you a Beach Ball because you deserve it.

[Last Exile]

Ah, my scenario is up! I'd better respond to this and the Christmas party pretty soon!

[PancaKe]

Gabbi wrote a story? ^_^;;; Now I feel guilty! Oh well people alwasy have loops in stories. Its not as if they actually talk to each toher and go "and in my story you have a bowl of punch so if your story says that you have a bowl of chinesse noodles then im gonna kick you." ^_^ we're much too nice. Oh well no matter. I'll have to get around to reading Gabbis story ^_^

Also Ryan your scenario sounds funky. Just one problem. In my scenario I described that it was summer. Am I going to have to travel or something? Awww. ^_^ I'll probably just say that they're holding the winter games and we flew over wheter it matches up wit ur stories or not Just dont worry about mine matching yours. They never will.



~Mist

[Lady Vulpix]

Tara, I didn't want to say this, but you and I did have an AIM talk in which I told you you were going to invite me, remember? Anyway, it's ok.
It's good to see that TPM is working better now.
As for the season... for a long time no one had decided what hemisphere Ulthuan was in, but by the end of 2001 someone beat us by saying it was winter in December, so that's how it stayed.

I've written a short interlude that will go before my story for the current scenario. I'll post it now. Ryan, you're in it, so you can include our encounter in your story.

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

<Lagi's POV>

The last days of December were hectic for Gabi. So much that she couldn’t be more grateful to have Amy’s valuable help, and even Tara’s (it seemed Ryan was right about her). Gabi had to finish two reports, had an exam, and to make things worse she got a letter of complaint and had to go and sort things out personally. I went with her, to make sure she didn't blow up. So did Tsunami, who was losing hope of being in the Dragon Games finals and was doing his best effort to keep his uneasiness to himself (which didn't work) and not to take it out on his friends (in that, he succeeded for the most part). So we could say I was travelling with two time bombs. I knew a tough job when I saw it.
It all began when the mailman rang the bell of DT central and requested the presence of one of the people in charge. Gabi went down and I went with her in my pokeball (I sometimes get in there when Gabi's working; for me, it's a good way of getting to know those around her without becoming the center of attention). The man told Gabi that he had a certified letter for the Dragon Tamers, and he needed her to sign a receipt. He said the letter came from Eataine.
"Let me guess: Selenia," Gabi shot out, tired.
"No, actually it's from Tor Syle," the mailman said.
Gabi was astonished to hear this. She received letters from Selenia about every week, most of them requesting items for the Pokemon Center and a few with news about the development of the city, and some info sheets had come from Lothern a few times, but no letters from Tor Syle had ever arrived. She felt a bit guilty too, and I thought I knew why, but I wasn't sure until she signed, watched the mailman go and then read the content of the letter I got out of my pokeball to take a look by myself.
The style of the letter was formal, but it had been clearly written by a very angry person. The author had found out about the assistance the Dragon Tamers had been offering Selenia for the past year and demanded a similar - or better - treatment for Tor Syle. It said something about Tor Syle being the most ignored city in Eataine and in the whole of Ulthuan, even when it was the one city that suffered the most from the attacks of Team Rocket, and complained heavily about the Dragon Tamers not offering their help when the city needed it the most. On the same tone was mixed a complaint about Tor Syle not being mentioned in an official brochure about Eataine which had been issued during the training stage of the Dragon Games. The brochure said that Lothern -one of the 3 official training sites- was the only important city in Eataine, reducing other cities like Tor Syle to the rank of fishermen villages.

"I can't believe he's giving the same importance to Team Rocket and a lousy brochure!," Gabi exclaimed after reading the letter. "That brochure came out wrong and it had already been published when I got to see it. Didn't he realize that Selenia was treated as a fishermen village too?"
"I know," I told her. "But it's him who needs an answer. And it's not the brochure you're so mad about, is it?"
"You're right, as usual. You know what's eating at me, don't you?"
"Only because your emotions matched mine when we read this. You feel guilty because we couldn't help Tor Syle when they were in trouble... when the half of our forces were attending a call from Selenia and the other half were defending Caledor from an invasion and you were working with both, and the section of Team Rocket that had settled in Tor Syle was too strong for us to confront it before regrouping."
"You make it sound like we had no choice, but how can you explain that to the people of Tor Syle, who suffered so much because we couldn't help them?"
"Scott got us the permission to operate all over Ulthuan and we've achieved so many things that sometimes we forget we're not Ulthuan's main line of defense. We're only pokemon and young trainers with little or no formation where it comes to war... except for Scott and a few others, that is. We can't do everything and we can't help everyone. It hurts, but it's the truth and we must learn to deal with it. Those who blind themselves to their own limitations are the first ones to fall."
"That's the least comforting piece of advice you've ever given me, Lagi."
"You can get really rude when you're mad, did you know that?," I pointed out. She stopped to reflect on her last words and felt guilty again. "No, I didn't want you to feel like that," I told her. "I just wanted you to understand I'm fallible too."
"We all are," Gabi sighed. "And yes, I know I'm rude when I get mad. I'm working to change that, so any help will be appreciated... Now that I think of it, we did defeat Team Rocket's heavy hitters and made the rest of the organisation spread away, which in the end led to them leaving Tor Syle, so I guess we did help after all."
"You can say that to this person," I suggested. "That will make you both feel better."
"That's right. But a letter won't be enough. I'll go and talk to him personally, and I'll offer them assistance if they need it. Though I'm sure it will be hard to deal with someone who's so furious."
"I'll watch your back," I offered.
And that was how we ended up travelling to Tor Syle.
There was tension. A lot. But not all of the people in Tor Syle were that furious. Some of them were understanding and even supportive; especially those who worked at the Pokemon Center (except the head of it, who turned out to be the 'concerned citizen' who had written the letter). They understood that the Dragon Tamers were mainly pokemon trainers, and no soldiers and recognized all the efforts the whole group had put in the fight against Team Rocket, so in the end things didn't turn out so bad. Gabi arranged the delivery of a set of TMs, shields and juices for the local PokeMart, and reminded everyone that if they ever asked for our help, we'd do everything that was at our reach to help them. Most of the people we found turned out to be friendly in the end, once more contradicting the brochure about Lothern.

Then, before we could think about it, New Year was here. We hadn't had time to make many arrangements, so we settled for a small party at home, crowned by Ventura's wonderful light show. We had some music, and Gabi sang too. And every now and then Water Angel sang along. I didn't sing because I was too busy enjoying the sweet melody of their hearts. Then we all went out and spread all over Sector Alpha visiting our friends and, in some cases, our children. I flew under the moon for a while, delighted at the embrace of the sky, and then went back to Gabi's side, just in time for her to tell me she had a feeling she was about to find Ryan. She was getting so much better with her premonitions since she decided to be at peace with them! We came across Ryan on the street. I let him and Gabi talk while I spent my time with my first daughter and her teammates, great friends I hadn't been able to be with much since they returned from the Emerald Dream.
Being in the company of the Happiness Team was a breath of fresh air. A wonderful start for the newborn year. The rest of the team had a great time too. Most of them ended up in the Eevee House and found many friends who had had the same idea. Hero decided to just walk around and see what he could find, and he ended up being spotted by the ultimate finder. He refused to tell me what happened then, but he was in a really good mood when he returned. Tsunami told me he'd taken a dip at the Eevee House pool, but then left Pidgeot and Water Angel alone and played a little with Caledor and other pokemon. The emotion that underlined the word 'played' let me guess that it would have been interesting to watch that game. Ventura and Iael had a late training session, where she helped him get a grip on his Psychic attack. When morning came, they were still up and Ventura was practically swallowing the sun. Two more friends who had had an exciting night.
After that, Gabi wrote a lot of letters: some to her friends abroad, one to Amy thanking them for all the effort she had been putting on keeping the Dragon Tamers going, and the longest ones directed to her relatives in Argentina.
"I hope they're fine," she sighed as she wrote the addresses on the envelope, while a little piece of her that was usually hidden came to the surface, seeking peace.
"They will heal," I assured, "just like you're healing yourself now by writing to them."
"I'm afraid I may not like the answers to these letters," she confessed.
"Oh, yes, you will," I said. "Because, while they may hold bad news, they will also express how happy they are to hear from you and to know you're fine, and they'll tell you how proud of you they are, just like you tell us every time. And believe me, those expressions of love can bring you back to life."
"Especially for someone who feels it on both your side and the other," she remarked.
"You have a little of that too," I pointed out. "You're not an empath, but you have compassion, and the result is often quite similar."
The hug she then gave me was priceless.