Darkfire: Kanto

[Skye]

Wow. My first post in like a billion years. I just had a dream last night that inspired me to write this story. Considering That I don't think I've ever worked too hard on a writing assignment and I'm doing this on freewill alone this story's coming out okay. What do you think?

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In Kanto everything is at peace. It has been many years since Ash Ketchum began his journey and only just ended it. However, peace is only an illusion as Avani (Darkfire) Uma is about to discover.

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Chapter 1 - Darkfire's Ghost

A heavily clouded morning greeted the girl named Avani Uma. She skipped slightly in the dreary weather. In her opinion, most days should be like today. The clouds hid the sun, which became little more than an enemy at the start of summer, and the threat of rain kept the tourists of Pallet Town at bay.

Actually, the former ‘Pallet Town’ should be called ‘Pallet City’. With the new police station and Pokemon Center, the hotels and restaurants, and not to mention the tourism rates (through the roof), Pallet Town in now on the map. Oh, the tourism… Not a good spot to touch around Avani. She hated the large, noisy crowds. People, always starring and talking. She could do without it all.

But nothing could bring down her spirits. Today was good as far at the fourteen-year-old was convinced. She loved her job, working with the settled old Professor Oak and the young, boisterous Professor Ketchum. Not to mention the Pokemon! As a bonus, the Lab was off-limits for the tourists. The same people that she avoided as heatedly as they sought her out.

After all, she was a simple-minded fourteen-year-old girl. Surely as she worked at the famous Lab that belonged to Professor Oak, where the famous Ash Ketchum now also worked, she would talk happily about her job. Nope, the crazy fools. She wouldn’t get to work away from them, with Prof. Oak and Prof. Ash (which if he told you he preferred to be called over Prof. Ketchum) and the Pokemon if she told them. So, almost for the sake of her job and nearly in spite of them, she said nothing. As an after thought she added her paycheck to the list of things she liked about working at the Lab.

As she neared it, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She stopped and looked around, suddenly uneasy. A tall young man, easily her age or older, stared back. His hair was long, passed his shoulders and pulled back in a loose ponytail. From this distance his hair seemed black. His eyes, too, appeared black. He smirked and… vanished?

The hairs settled and Avani, formerly unable to move, found the strength to run the rest of the way. Drops of rain found their way to Avani’s face, almost keeping her cool and reminding her to keep running.

xxx

Inside of the Lab, Avani panted, soaked completely. Prof. Ash’s usual smile faded when he saw her. He told her to sit on the couch and left, a dark concentration on his face. She did so, a bit confused. He came back out, a blanket in hand, followed by Prof. Oak. Prof. Ash settled the blanket across Avani’s shoulders while Prof. Oak sat down across from her.

“What happened?” Prof. Oak asked, his voice heavy with concern.

For a second, Avani considered blaming her odd feeling around the ghost-like man on a trick the tourists had played on her. She shook her head almost angry at her self for even thinking about lying to the people she cared about the most.

“There was a young man… Out there.” She paused. “He was watching me. I don’t know why but the sight of him just filled me with dread. Almost as if we both knew he was about to do something horrible.” A roll of thunder echoed her words darkly. She flinched. Usually she laughed at people that were afraid of the storms she loved, but the storm only reminded her of the stranger. Dark, mysterious, handsome if you could see it under his dark presence of which still lingered in her mind.

“What was he wearing?” Prof. Ash’s question broke her line of thought. She frowned at her lap and drew the blanket closer.

“Black. And red… A red letter was on the front of his clothes. I couldn’t see it all, though.” She added in shame.

“I’m calling the police.” Prof. Oak announced as he stood up.

vvv

Prof. Oak hesitated as he listened to Ash describe the usual Rocket uniform. Avani listened but shook her head and told him that she didn’t get a good look at him. He nodded and told her of his first encounter with Team Rocket. At points she smiled or frowned at his tale.

It wasn’t the thought of Team Rocket that had made Prof. Oak upset, but the fact that it’d upset Avani. She was brave and if anything, she looked down on most people. He knew she didn’t do it on purpose, but she knew that she was good around Pokemon, a gift that called to her. She saw a problem and did what she could, what came to her heart to do, and if she didn’t know what to do, she wasn’t afraid to ask.

The fact that seeing any boy, especially so close to the Lab, had made her afraid was a true concern to Prof. Oak. Usually, she could threaten a person away if they were close to the Lab. The fact that she’d succeeded in calling a Haunter to help her once was amazing. She was no trainer, but her mere existence seems to call Pokemon to obey her.

Still pondering over this sudden fear, he dialed Officer Jenny.

ooo

“While the police are coming, let’s play a video game or something.” Prof. Ash suggested.

“Could we watch the Indigo Championships?” Avani asked.

“Sure! It’s on channel… 7?” He fiddled with the remote. He then gave up and handed it to Avani. She laughed and pointed it at the large TV in the room.

“Channel 9.” She corrected as the TV came on. She turned it to the correct station as they settled in to watch Champion level Pokemon battle it out.

ooo

“Did he say anything?” Officer Jenny asked. Avani shook her head. Officer Jenny nodded and motioned for the two Professors to follow her. Avani stayed behind to watch a Persian and an Arcanine fight.

“There isn’t really much to go on, but I’ll do my best.” She informed them. They both nodded solemnly. “I’d send her away from Pallet City. If this guy is stalking her, she won’t be safe here. She loves Pokemon, or so I hear, send her on a journey. Registration for the Indigo League ends tomorrow.” She said before leaving.

Prof. Oak turned to Prof. Ash. “Well?”

“Well, what?” Prof. Ash asked the man that’d started him out on his own journey.

“Is she ready?” Prof. Ash laughed softly.

“By far she is readier than I was.” They shared a moment of amused chuckling as they remembered the ten-year-old who came to get his first Pokemon in his pajamas. Avani stepped in just then.

“Ready for what?” She asked. Dry now, she almost acted as if nothing had ever happened. The rain was letting up outside, and Avani’s light green eyes shone, ready for another adventure.

“Officer Jenny said that it is a possibility that this young man may be stalking you. We’ve decided that it’s best if you leave Pallet City. Maybe join the Indigo League?”

Avani could barely contain her excitement. She’d expected to wait for another year before she’d saved up enough money to purchase a Trainer’s License. The thought of the expense brought her mood down again.

“I can’t afford it.” She told them. “I don’t have the money…”

“You aren’t going out as an ordinary trainer. You’re going to be paid for the Pokemon that you catch. Say, $50 for each common, $100 for each uncommon, and $200 for each rare. $50 for each evolution, too.” Prof. Oak informed her.

“So I’ll still get to keep them?”

“Of course.”

“When do I start?”

“You’ll get everything tonight, and you leave in the morning.” Prof. Ash said.

Avani then looked at the time. 5:30 P.M.! No wonder he’d said in the morning. Time sure flew during a storm.

“I think it’d be best if you spent the night here, too.” Prof. Oak informed her. “Prof. Ash will get your things and after we’ve everything written and faxed we could order out for pizza.”

“Oh no!” Prof. Ash laughed. “Watch out Avani, we’re in for another Pizza War!”

Avani laughed as Prof. Ash reminded her that a plain cheese pizza was all he wanted. Prof. Oak ordered the pizzas and brought Avani over to his desk. With Prof. Ash gone, they could speak less and get this over with sooner.

“Okay, as a traveling research-trainer you’ll get the latest in Pokemon technology. This is the latest version of the Poke Nav.” He handed her a rather flat looking rectangular device. Avani pressed a green button and it popped open. Inside, the glowing screen displayed a variety of options. Under the screen was a place for her Trainer’s License to be safely stored. “Get to know it while I’m making your License.”

Avani sat down and pressed a finger against the screen. She found the telephone option easily as well as a map of Kanto with built in compass and GPS systems. She smiled as she messed around with the touch-screen Poke Nav.

Prof. Oak handed her a card, which she set in the cardholder. A new screen came up as if it knew what she was going to try to locate next. It was a trainer form. She began to fill out her name when Prof. Oak cleared his throat. Startled, Avani looked up at him.

“If that young man was indeed stalking you, he’ll be looking for a girl named Avani Uma. That’s why your name is Darkfire Storm.”

Avani flushed, realizing that Prof. Oak had been watching her while she’d been pretending to be a famous trainer with that particular name. He smiled to her in a knowing way and she filled out the form with her new information, looking to her Trainer’s License for anymore trivial information. When she saw her hair color, she chuckled. Red/Brown seemed to fit her. Indoors with little light she did appear to have brown hair, while in the full sunlight she looked as if she had deep fire-red hair.

xxx

Prof. Ash came back, lightly drenched, carrying a few bags full of stuff for Avani to sort out. She looked around, beginning to get worried that he’d forgotten one of her favorite objects, when Prof. Ash’s Pikachu came in. He was fiercely hugging a small bag as if it meant the world to him. He carried the bag over to Avani and set it carefully next to her.

“Thank you, Pikachu. Thanks, Prof. Ash.” She said as she began to sort through the piles of stuff.

“Welcome. Now why don’t we get this stuff up to the room you’ll be sleeping in before you come across something that’ll get all of the guys in this room in trouble for seeing?”

Avani laughed and agreed. She sorted over her favorite articles of clothing until she had nearly everything she wanted. Satisfied, she brought down her book that contained all of the Indigo League rules, new and old, to read while she at her pizza. However, when she got downstairs, both Professors had another idea entirely.

“Hurry, you’ll be late!” Prof. Ash urged. Avani laughed as he pushed her into another part of the lab.

“What in the-” She began but didn’t finish.

Prof. Oak was standing by a large electronic podium. Inside were three Pokeballs. Avani’s laughter ceased as she drew closer to the elderly Professor. He looked at her, neither as a friend nor as a boss, but as a Professor of Pokemon. All familiarity vanished and as suddenly Avani felt as though she was comparing her knowledge to a dictionary and her age to a giant tree.

“Which Pokemon will you choose?” Prof. Oak asked. Amidst the uncertainty and loneliness in her small void, Avani had a clear image of a Charizard at her side. The mighty beast stood at its tallest, ready to attack at her command. In its eyes burned the passion for battle that she longed to know.

“I choose Charmander!” Avani responded calmly.

“Are you certain? Charmander are hard to control at times and few can actually ever tame a Charizard. Most end up in the Charific Valley.”

“I’m positive.” Avani told him. She looked him directly in the eyes. He nodded and the glass semi-sphere that’d been protecting the Pokeballs moved aside. She picked up the Pokeball that contained her choice and tossed it to the ground. A flow of pure energy, burning red like fire itself, erupted from the Pokeball. On its hind legs stood a Charmander. It was a deep, rich orange in color with a pale orange chest, belly, and the underside of its tail. It looked at Avani, its eyes serious and considering. Its eyes enchanted Avani because they were the color of pure emeralds. It swished its tail arrogantly and Avani looked to the flame on the tip of it. The fire had many layers of it, from pure white to a red so deep it reminded Avani of blood.

The Professors stepped back as Avani came forward to her new Pokemon. It growled fiercely, baring its fangs. Avani knelt in front of the young fire lizard and looked it squarely in the eyes.

“Now, I may not be able to breathe fire my friend, but I’ll tell you now that if you bit me I’ll bit back. If you do blow flame at me, however, I’ll give you a sissy name such as ‘Fire Fly’, got it?” It eyed Avani as though it’d never seen a human before. “And don’t get me started on scratching and kicking.”

It stepped forward to Avani before nudging her hand with its head. She smiled and scratched it behind the ears.

“Amazing! She actually tamed him!” Prof. Ash laughed, obviously overwhelmed with his relief. The Charmander turned to him, about to roast him. Prof. Ash froze on the spot, a bead of sweat inching down his face.

“I’ll call him Hakan.” Avani announced calmly. Hakan turned to her, grinning. It took no genius to figure out that he liked his name. Forgetting his previous decision to make Prof. Ash toast, Hakan turned to the door as the doorbell rang.

“Pizza!” Prof. Oak exclaimed as he went to the door.

“Brace yourselves.” Prof. Ash muttered. He then turned to Hakan. “Do you want to try some pizza or Poke Chow?” Hakan considered then followed Avani to the living room, intent on the new idea of pizza.

“Double cheese or dare you try Prof. Oak’s pizza?” Avani joked with Hakan. Hakan cocked his head and took one of each. He ate the first one, double cheese, in a few bites and liked it immensely. He looked at the other one and took a large bite out of it. He chewed, more thoughtful this time, and shouted his species’ name in bliss before downing the rest of the pizza slice. Two more slices followed it before he settled down to sleep.

“See? Spinach, anchovy, and pineapple pizza isn’t too bad!” Prof. Oak said smugly. Avani shook her head and ate her fill before recalling the sleeping Hakan to his Pokeball. She bid her friends and teachers good night before going to her room to sleep. Tomorrow she’d begin a new life of traveling with her very own Pokemon and a brand new name.

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P.S.-
If anyone's confused about the ooo's, vvv's, and xxx's they do have meaning:

xxx= Change in Area
vvv= Change of POV
ooo= Change in both Area and POV

[Tutankhamun]

Very good chapter. By the looks of it, it seems like a trainer fic, but I'll see in the future.

So, there is already a stranger in the myst. Interesting. And she got a new name, and is going on a journey strickty to keep herself safe. Creativity there, and I like that. I would also like to add....she gets paid for catching pokemon?! Now that is a job! ... once again...creativity...I'm liking it.

All in all, this fic looks promising and very well written. I'll keep an eye out for the next chapter!

[2ra]

Surprised no one has replied to this yet ^^ Well, great fic so far I like how Avani get's to be a trainer and not because of a certain age or anything, but because she might be stalked. I don't know why, but the names in this fic are great =D

Great description and length, especially for a first chapter. Aww, Charmander looks so cute and I wonder who that man in black was..

[Skye]

Wow! Two reviews!

Tutankhamun: Yeah, it's a trainer fic. But it is original! Thanks for the praise, it's kinda hard for me to correct my own work because I've written it. I wonder why?

2ra: Heh. Yeah. I like the names too. I'm using one of those name finding things so the names also have meaning. Except for Darkfire. I don't know why I used that one. I just came to the top of my head and I liked it. But the name 'Darkfire Storm' is going to get her into trouble... I like Charmanders too, so powerful and yet so cyute. Watch out for the Asha'Man(his name has meaning too)!

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Chapter 2 - Familiar Strangers

Ash turned to Prof. Oak as soon as Avani had left the room. “You never answered my question.”

“And what question is that?” Prof. Oak asked, but he knew all too well what Ash would ask before the words were out of his mouth.

“Where did she come from? It’s not like she just appeared one day and asked to be given a job!” Ash exclaimed.

“I have no idea. It’s like you said. She appeared, seemingly out of no where. She had no home, no money, and no real memory of anything but her name and her love for Pokemon. That’s how she got here, that’s all I know.” Prof. Oak sighed. “If I had known how, I would have let her go on a journey long ago, but she never asked to leave. She’d just stare enviously as the year’s new trainers left and go back to her work silently. She never complained, so I never asked her to leave.”

Ash nodded as he let Pikachu have the last bites of his pizza. “Maybe we should have let he go sooner.” He mused.

“No. She’s been a great help and even this year she learned things that will help her on her journey.”

“What about that Rocket?” Ash demanded. Pikachu nodded, both waiting the Professor’s answer.

“Ash, Team Rocket has been thwarted to the point of no return. It was probably just some… illusion of the rain.”

“She saw it before the rain started.” Ash argued.

Prof. Oak sighed. “You’re too protective, Ash. We both are. She needs to leave to find her roots. To find her place in the world and to see how far her talents stretch.” Prof. Oak then cast a stern eye on Ash, who’d opened his mouth to protest. “I won’t hear a word of it. Tomorrow, we need to start casting around for the next talent. Until then, I’m going to sleep. Good night.” He added in a softer tone. Ash nodded to the Professor before getting up to get ready for bed himself.

ooo

The dark suited the Asha’Man well. He’d listened to the whole thing, and had learned much on this cold night. The girl, Avani Uma, is to be known as Darkfire Storm. She’s leaving on a trainer’s journey at dawn tomorrow, and her Pokemon is a fiery little Charmander.

Asha’Man jumped from the tree he’d been perched in. His muscles were stiff and moved slowly. He landed on threes, holding the precious spying equipment in his right arm. He winced in pain from the old wound on his left arm. But he wouldn’t let it slow him down. Only his death wound could keep him from his newest assignment: Darkfire Storm.

ooo

The familiar stranger looked at her grimly through the mists. The mists seemed to generate their own light, which was great because everywhere else was pitch black. She reached for her Pokeball but her hand just closed in on her hip. She swallowed hard and backed away. Or, at least she tried to. For every step that she took, the floor seemed to push her further to the stranger.

Now only a foot away from him, she fell down. He knelt down next to her and she saw what he was wearing. A black form-fitting T-shirt with a large ‘R’ printed on the front and a pair of dark blue jeans. She opened her mouth to scream, the dread she’d felt before building to the point of panic. He reached out with his left arm and put his hand over her mouth.

“Shh! We have very little time. You must-” His urgent whispering was cut-off. An impossibly large Houndoom roared as it appeared out of the mists. He stepped forward to meet the great beast, though his fear was evident. He was holding his left arm as though in pain. She looked at it and saw a scar. Before she could get a better look at the scar, however, she was falling….

….Onto the floor. Gasping, she scrambled to the open window and closed it. Covered in sweat and shivering, she sat down on the bed. Looking at her clock, it read 7:12 A.M. She put her hand over her mouth where he’d touched her… No! That was a dream. He couldn’t know how to get inside of people’s head while they’re asleep… Could he?

She shook her head and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower to settle her nerves. When she came out, she glanced at the clock. 7:21, a good time for her to leave. Avani-no, she should think of herself as Darkfire, gathered her bags and Hakan’s Pokeball.

Downstairs, Prof. Ash was making breakfast. He smiled at Darkfire, who returned the smile feebly. He motioned for her to sit down, an invitation she took. He released Hakan, who blinked tiredly. Had he gotten as much sleep as she had yet was still tired? She decided not to mention the dream to Prof. Ash, but ask Hakan if he’d had a strange dream too. Later, though.

“How did you sleep?” Prof. Ash asked cheerfully, ignorant of the dark thoughts in Darkfire’s mind.

“Quite well, actually.” Darkfire responded. She opened her Poke Nav and pinpointed the nearest Gym. “Have you ever been to Viridian City? That’s where the nearest Gym is.”

“Yes. However, that’s a Seven-Badge Gym.” He replied with a laugh.

“What’s that mean?” Darkfire had never heard of that term before.

“It means you need seven Badges before you can challenge the Gym Leader. His Pokemon are that powerful.”

“So, I’ll have to settle with the next closest Gym, in Pewter City.” Darkfire resolved. Again, Prof. Ash chuckled softly.

“My old friend Brock is partial Gym Leader there. If I remember correctly, his father, Flint, is Gym Leader from 7:00 A.M to 1:00 P. M. Brock is the Gym Leader from 1:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.”

“Why do they share the Gym?” Darkfire was quite confused. None of this Seven-Badge Gym nor the shared responsibility of a Gym stuff had been covered in Prof. Oak’s Indigo League Rules book.

“Because in the morning while Flint in Gym Leader, Brock stays home with his brothers and sisters. And from afternoon to night, Flint takes care of his kids while Brock takes charge of the Gym. Heh, ever since Flint got re-married, there’ve been a lot of little Flints running around.”

“Do you know how many there are? Kids, I mean.” Darkfire added.

“There were seven, not including Brock… But that was when I was ten, so… I really have no idea.” Prof. Ash ended lamely. Pikachu jumped up onto the table and shouted his name. “Oh! After Pewter City, you should head through Mt. Moon to Cerulean City. Misty is the Gym Leader there. And Along the way, there are a lot of interesting Pokemon. But be careful of Pokemon like Zubat.” Prof. Ash added.

“Alright!” Darkfire sighed.

After she and Hakan had eaten their fill, they bid Prof. Ash and Pikachu good-bye.

“Where’s Prof. Oak?” Darkfire asked.

“In town getting supplies. Take care, now.” He waved a final good-bye before closing the door.

xxx

Darkfire and Hakan walked side by side on Viridian Road. Both were keeping an eye out for any Pokemon to add to the small team, but the only thing they discovered was a tree root shaped like a female Nidoran. Impatient, Darkfire fingered an empty Pokeball, trying to avoid thinking about her dream. What if it was real? What was he trying to tell her?

Hakan stopped and looked at his trainer, concerned. Darkfire saw this and smiled weakly at him. She then stopped and looked around. In the tall grass, she saw movement. She pointed at the movement and began to walk towards it. A Spearow! Darkfire began to sweat as she remembered Prof. Ash’s story of when he and Pikachu had fled a flock of Spearow. Well, now was her chance to prove herself.

“Go, Hakan! Ember!” Darkfire growled. Hakan leapt forward, seemingly a wild Pokemon, and released an Ember. Spearow, caught unaware, was burned by the attack. It then kicked off of the ground and began to fly away. Disappointment filled Darkfire, then excitement as Spearow dove back into battle. Hakan evaded the Peck attack and fired another Ember at the stumbling Spearow. It fell over and opened its mouth, about to cry out to its flock.

Now dread filled Darkfire. She threw her empty Pokeball at it, hoping that Spearow was too weak to escape. Hakan had felt this fear and watched the Pokeball as intently as his trainer. The Pokeball silenced the Spearow as it turned into pure energy. The Pokeball then sucked in this red energy and snapped shut. It bounced around insanely as the Spearow inside fought like crazy to escape capture.

Darkfire closed her eyes, praying to any Poke God that would listen for the Spearow to be still. The Pokeball then stopped bouncing and lay still. The burning red button in the middle slowly turned white, an echoing ‘ching’ signaling Spearow’s defeat and Darkfire’s first victory.

Darkfire stepped forward and thanked who ever it was that’d listened to her prayers and answered. She collected the Pokeball and clipped it to her belt. Now was not the time to celebrate for where there was one Spearow, there were more. Many more.

xxx

By a stream with shallow water, Darkfire sat. Hakan drank thirstily from the shallow creek while Darkfire looked around for a Rawst Berry. The ice-blue berry would cure Spearow’s burns. Hakan came over to her, pawing at the Spearow’s Pokeball.

“Will you keep him until I find a Rawst Berry?” Darkfire asked. Hakan nodded and she handed him the Pokeball containing the feisty Pokemon. She stood up and proceeded to find the evasive Berry.

She didn’t have to travel far before she came across a sleeping girl. She had long blonde hair, which was tied back in a ponytail. In one hand she loosely held a fishing rod that was slowly slipping into the water. Darkfire went over and pulled the rod back up to shore when the bobber sunk with a loud splash.

The girl woke up and scowled at Darkfire. Darkfire, however, was trying her best not to get pulled into the water. Whatever was on the end of this line was strong! She gasped and pulled with all of her might putting years of breaking Ponyta colts to ride and tug-of-war with Arcanine into this one line.

With a splash, out came a Horsea. It looked around before trying to bound back into the water. A stream of water stopped it, however. It flew into a tree and slid down the slick bard, stunned. A Pokeball hit it and sucked it in. The Pokeball rocked a few times before the light went out with a familiar echoing ‘ching’.

The blond fisher collected the Pokeball with a smirk to Darkfire. A Totodile came up, growling. It obviously didn’t like Darkfire one bit.

“Erm, I’ll be going now.” Darkfire nervously began to edge out of the clearing. Another, lower growl was heard. Darkfire turned around to see a Mudkip closing in on her behind. She stepped back into the clearing, slowly as not to tempt the Totodile to bite her.

“Who are you and what do you want?” The fisher asked. Her blue eyes were narrowed suspiciously.

“I’m Av- Um… Darkfire Storm. I was just looking for some Rawst Berries to treat my Spearow’s burns.” Darkfire told her.

“Darkfire? Storm? Hah! That’s the worst false name I’ve ever heard!” She laughed.

“Oh yeah? Well, it’s my real name, Slowbro.” Darkfire growled. The blonde growled back.

“Yeah? Well, I bet you’re not even a trainer, Miss ‘Darkfire Storm’!” She rolled her eyes.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Slowbro, but I am. I’m the research-trainer of Prof. Oak and Prof. Ketchum!” Darkfire, now enraged, pulled up her Poke Nav and tossed it to the fisher. She caught it and looked over the Trainer’s License and her personal info on the Poke Nav. She tossed it back.

“False License, broken eh, Poke Nav-toy.” She pulled up her own Poke Nav and dialed the Police.

“Hakan!” Darkfire shouted. If she was going to the Police Station then she couldn’t leave him out here alone.

“Bless you.” The fisher hung up and sat down. “You’re probably in Team Rocket to get such a good license.” She mused. She then looked to the bushes to her right. “Water Gun.” Totodile fired a Water Gun into the bushes.

“Dodge!” Darkfire knew is was Hakan. The Charmander leapt from the bushes and ran to her side. She took the Pokeball and released her new Spearow. It, he according to her Pokedex, was ready to fight, no matter the condition.

Just then, Officer Jenny rode into the clearing on her motorcycle. She looked at the scene before her and cleared her throat. “Avani?”

“Darkfire Storm.” Darkfire corrected her. “Tell this Slowbro that I’m a Pokemon Trainer just looking for some Rawst Berries for my Spearow’s burns.” She handed Officer Jenny her Poke Nav, relieved that this was the Officer Jenny of Pallet City.

“That’s right. Now, what’s going on here?” Officer Jenny looked at the blonde fisher uncertainly.

“I’m a trainer too. She was trying to steal my rod!”

“It was falling into the river! Did you ever think to ask what I was doing with your stinking rod?”

“No, because I know thieves lie!”

“Well excuse me for helping and leaving, but my Spearow is badly burned and needs a Rawst Berry!” Darkfire stormed out of the clearing. Hakan growled at the blonde before following his trainer. Along the way, he picked a Rawst Berry that his trainer had missed.

xxx

The Spearow, Jantis, perched on Darkfire’s shoulder. He would be a valuable addition to her growing team. Why, though, it took her short temper and threats to make her Pokemon become so loyal to her was confusing. She and Hakan turned a corner and saw a Mankey dancing by the woods. It was wildly swinging a wet bag over its head.

“Let’s get a new Pokemon. Jantis, you’re up!” The Spearow launched himself into the air from her shoulder. “Peck!”

Jantis dove in on the Mankey and began to peck the Pokemon fiercely. To Darkfire’s joy, the startled monkey Pokemon ran into a nearby tree, stunning it. She threw a Pokeball at it while Hakan went to the sack. Mankey caught, she whooped for the joy of it. For the previous capture of Jantis, for the recent capture of Mankey, for gaining Hakan as a starter, and to be on her Pokemon Journey at last.

Jantis looked down at his ecstatic trainer from the branch of the tree that he’d perched on and sweat-dropped. He then looked at the bag and flew down to it. He landed next to Hakan and opened the bag with his beak. Hakan cried out in horror and surprise, making Darkfire run over to see what was wrong. She peered into the bag and instantly felt tears forming in her eyes. Inside were three tinny Meowth, barely old enough to leave their mother. They were all soaking wet, and Darkfire clenched her hands. Their owner had probably dumped them in a river, sacking them so they couldn’t escape their premature fate.

She pulled the out one by one. They were all cold and wet, all of them horribly still. She felt for pulses, hoping beyond hope that they would be okay. The first one had no pulse nor breath, she was gone. The second was just as the first. The last one, unusual with a black batch of fur on his back, was cold and wet, but he still had life. Maybe, Darkfire could save this one.

xxx

Dustyn helped clop the extra wood for the fire. Having a Fighting type was helpful at times. Hakan added fuel to the fire while Jantis flew around the surrounding woods to keep an eye out as best as he could in the failing light. Darkfire sat close to the fire, rubbing the tiny Meowth kitten. He was shivering fiercely, but she was as close to the fire as she dared to get.

She pulled out her Poke Nav and was about to call the Professors when she heard a rustle in the bushes. Dustyn and Hakan leapt into fighting positions when the blonde fisher from before came into the clearing. She looked sadly to Darkfire, who was still angry with her.

“Look, I’m sorry about earlier. I was just really stresses out.” She then noticed the little Meowth. “Oh, what a cutie!” She stepped forward, but stopped when a loud screech echoed through the air. Jantis burst into the clearing and Pecked at her face and arms.

Satisfied, he retreated to Darkfire’s shoulder. From there he glared at her like an enemy.

“Can’t you control your pets?” She winced in pain at the numerous scratches.

“Pets? Actually, my Pokemon are fierce fighters. I was about to ask him to give you a good warning anyway.” Darkfire caressed the tiny bird.

“Warning? Your damn pigeon attacked me! I’ll probably get rabies now!” She sat down sulkily to evaluate the damage. “What’s your problem anyway? I just came to apologize and you let your Pokemon try to eat me.”

“I don’t really like people much. Who else here agrees on distrusting people?” Hakan raised a claw, Dustyn held up a paw, and Jantis growled in agreement.

“They trust you… If I can get them to trust me-” She was cut off as she narrowly evaded Hakan’s Ember attack.

“I’d forget that idea, were I you. Now, say whatever you want to say and leave.”

“Like I said before, I’m really sorry about today. Also, eh, I want to camp with you for tonight. I saw this really creepy looking guy hanging around.” Her voice had dropped into a horrified whisper.

Darkfire growled and found the noise echoed by Hakan. This reminded her of her earlier resolution to talk to her starting Pokemon. She looked at the girl, another familiar stranger, and nodded.

“You may stay on the condition that you don’t bother my Pokemon. Dustyn, could you look after the kitten for a minute? I need to speak with Hakan.”

“You can talk to your Pokemon?” The blonde’s eyes widened in wonder.

Darkfire rolled her own eyes in disgust and walk out of camp, trailed by Hakan. She looked around before turning to her Charmander.

“What did you dream about last night? A strange man?” Hakan shook his head. “A Houndoom?” His eyes widened and he nodded his head. “Did you see me?” Again, he shook his head. “All the same, we must keep our eyes out. Something isn’t right here.”

ooo

Asha’Man sighed from his spot. It wasn’t a particularly good choice on his part, but in the trees the Spearow would have seen him and torn him to shreds. Well, better safe than sorry. Darkfire reentered the camp, followed by her Charmander. If only he could get the blasted girl alone…

“By the way, I’m Jazz. Jazz Amadahy. Is your name really Darkfire?” She asked. Asha’Man winced. This hyper girl was definitely going to interfere with his plans. Hopefully, Darkfire would get rid of this little annoyance for him.

“Yes.” She took up the Meowth kitten from her Mankey with a short thanks. “What did he look like?” Asha’Man’s eyes narrowed. Had this, Jazz, seen him too?

“Well, he was dressed in black and red. Plus he had on really dark jeans. I didn’t get a good look at his face though.” Asha’Man sighed again. He wouldn’t have to deal with this other girl after all. “But he had a scar on his left arm.”

Both Asha’Man and Darkfire stared at her hard then. Had he relaxed too soon? A soft buzzing grew in his right ear. He smacked it, stopping the noise.

“What? I didn’t get a good look at it either. It could have been a tattoo.” Asha’Man was silently grateful, again. The buzzing began again before growing into a static. He slowly crept back into the brush. When he was out of hearing distance he pulled out a small walkie-talkie.

“Asha’Man here.” He whispered.

“It’s Trey, you idiot! Anyway, you got sights on your prey?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you ‘yes’ me. Affirmative or negative?”

“Should I kill you now or wait until you can see my face while you die?”

“Ehehe… Um, can you get to her?”

“If I could, then we’d be heading back to base right now, dolt.”

“Okay, you may be the one to get her on our side, and you may have all of those great powers, but you cannot call me a-” A strangling noise was heard on the other side.

Asha’Man turned the walkie-talkie off. Truly, he wasn’t one to mess with. He stalked back towards the camp and waited for Darkfire to fall asleep.

[2ra]

Nice chapter, seems Darkfire has caught a few new Pokemon, that's quite a lot normally, but since her goal is actually to catch many Pokemon then it's all good. I felt bad for the baby Meowth's I hope at least that one can be salvaged. Ash'Man seems a bit strange and I'm still wondering- what exactly is he up to? I guess only time will tell. Seems your giving Team Rocket a darker role than just Jesse, James, and Meowth so that's a good sign, if it even is Team Rocket and not some other evil organization.

Jazz seems a bit weird and you can tell she is just a beginning Pokemon trainer with the questions she is asking, but everyone has to learn right? Overall a great chapter, I'm looking forward to the next one!

[Skye]

2ra: LOL. I should tell the reall Jazz that you said that. She's kinda like a chibi or something at times. The whole thing with Asha'Man gets wierder. I'm writing this up as it goes along so even I don't know if the wierdness ever clears up. Thanks for reviewing!

........................................

Chapter 3 - "Asha'Man" Means...

The mists gathered around his form in the dark. Darkfire was overcome by the feeling of fear that plagued her every time she saw him. He was suddenly close to her. She could see his face clearly now. He was certainly older than she was, but not too much. His eyes glinted as she realized that they were a deep blue, not black. His hair, too, wasn’t black, but rather an extremely dark silver. Again, she compared him to a storm, and again her mind trailed blankly off when she saw his handsome face, and felt his dark presence.

“You must be careful.” He warned. She closed her eyes, trying to block out his voice. “The Houndoom has his sights set on you.”

“Who are you? Why can’t you leave me alone?!” At the latter she swung out at him, trying to fend him off. He caught her punch easily. She shouted and tried to get away from him.

“Listen well to my name, Darkfire Storm.” She froze in fear. He knew her new name already? “I am called Asha’Man. Avoid being alone, and always be ready for battle. Spies are everywhere.”

“Asha’Man?” She whispered. She’d read a series of stories once. Men wielding an ancient power that could drive them insane trained together. Collectively and as a high rank, they were called Asha’Man. And Asha’Man in the books meant… “Guardian?”

vvv

He nodded and let her go. She watched him warily. He smirked, knowing that she must be questioning his name. Possibly his sanity, too. “Darkfire, you must listen to me. Your powers are wild, just like you. You must tame them and yourself if you wish to live.”

“Powers? Okay… I think ‘Saidin’ has touched your mind.” She said, backing away. He willed for her to remain in one place. She realized that her movements took her nowhere and stopped. She glared at him.

“Don’t you know? Can’t you remember?” Asha’Man grew exasperated with this girl. Her innocence and her temper were not going to help her. “Never mind. I know about your past. When you want to learn, make Jazz leave and hold your Pokemon at bay.”

She then vanished. He looked around warily before awakening himself, too.

vvv

“God, Darkfire, are you alright?” Jazz looked at her newfound friend in concern. Darkfire was aching all over. She was covered in sweat, again. She was, however, well rested. “You were having a nightmare.”

“Heh. Yeah, well. Houndoom chasing you all night long does that to you.” She replied, looking around. Was Asha’Man nearby? Was that really his name?

“You look like you’ve really seen a ghost.” Jazz laughed, ignorant of Darkfire’s horrors. Darkfire nodded in response, but she said nothing. They packed up camp and headed north to Viridian City.

xxx

Viridian City was magnificent, in a rural way. The buildings weren’t crowded together like in most areas. Apparently, it had remained unchanged for many years from what Darkfire remembered of Prof. Ash’s description of the small city.

The small police station had replaced the police booth. Darkfire stopped and looked at the Wanted ads, but saw nothing that looked remotely like Asha’Man. Satisfied, but for some reason unnerved, she and Jazz went to the Pokemon Center. For some unknown reason, Darkfire had grown to like the spunky girl. Maybe she’d invite her to travel with her… No. But if she left than Asha’Man would surely close in on her…Dammit!

While Nurse Joy had their Pokemon, Darkfire went to the telephones and dialed a number that almost seemed like her own. Prof. Ash answered, his voice more grim than usual.

“Yello? Prof. Ketchum speaking.”

“Prof. Ash! It’s me, Darkfire!” The screen chose just that moment to reveal her to the young Professor. Jazz’s eyes went wide when she saw him. However, she said nothing.

“Darkfire? Well, it took you longer than me to get to Viridian.” He chuckled.

“Well, we weren’t being chased by Spearow the whole way. I have three new Pokemon.”

“Hm. Is Hakan still with you?”

“Of course! They’re all getting healed right now, though.” Darkfire laughed.

“Put your Pokedex in the slot and we’ll see how much you earned.” Prof. Oak came in then. He waved in the background and came up behind Prof. Ash.

“Well, hello there, Miss Storm. How goes the catching?” Prof. Ash, who’d been writing something down, nearly jumped out of his skin. The older Professor sure could move silently when he wanted to.

“A Spearow, a Meowth, and a Mankey.” Prof. Ash frowned when he said ‘Meowth’.

“How did you get the Meowth?”

“He was in a rucksack with his brother and sister. They’d drowned, but he’s still alive. Nurse Joy is looking him over right now.” Darkfire clenched her fist to keep from showing any emotion.

“Drowned? Someone threw them in the river to die?” Prof. Oak looked startled at Prof. Ash’s outburst. “I’m coming down there and we’ll find the owner!”

Darkfire paled. Asha’Man. What would he do to Prof. Ash? Surely, he’d kill anyone that got in his way. She bared her teeth, trying to look angry.

“Prof. Ash, I’m going down to the police station later to report this. If you get in the way than we’ll never catch him!” She gave a forced laugh at the latter idea. Prof. Ash and Prof. Oak frowned at her. They must know her too well.

“Have you seen… him… at all?” Prof. Oak asked to brake the silence that’d fallen. Darkfire sighed.

“I’ve had nightmares about him, but I haven’t seen him other than that.” There, the truth! She shook her head. “But, Jazz here, said she saw him in the woods on the way up.”

Prof. Oak turned to the younger trainer, who stiffened. Darkfire remembered how it’d felt when she’d gotten Hakan with Prof. Oak watching her every move.

“Really, the whole thing was done and over so swiftly. It was probably just a trick of the darkness.” Jazz was sweating under his stare. Finally, Prof. Oak nodded, breaking Jazz’s spell. She forced herself to breathe again.

“Your total comes to…”

“Wait! I have to show you Fausto’s marking! Hold on.” Darkfire went to the counter to claim her Pokeballs. She found Fausto’s Pokeball and released the tiny Meowth. She then held his back to the Professors to see.

“It looks like… a dragon? Impressive. For every rare colored Pokemon that you get, you’ll her a $50 bonus. You total is $50 for the uncommon Mankey, $25 for the more common Spearow, and $100 for the uncommon and oddly marked Meowth kitten. Fausto, you say? The grand total is $175. I’ll put it in your account.” Prof. Oak ended as he went to another computer, leaving Prof. Ash alone.

“Hakan, Fausto, Spearow, and Mankey?” He asked.

“Spearow’s name is Jantis and Mankey’s is Dustyn.” Darkfire supplied.

“Hm. Go out to the western side of Viridian. Some rare Pokemon are out there. Just don’t go into the building or any caves. Some really powerful Pokemon and trainers hang out there. It’s called Route 3. Remember, don’t go near Victory Road.” With that he hung up.

“Oh my Pokemon Gods! Ash Ketchum is so hot!” Jazz screamed. She got her Pokemon and jumped up and down, flushing. Darkfire arched an eyebrow at her.

“You do know he’s at least six years older than you.” Darkfire growled as they left the Pokemon Center.

“You just want him to yourself. Anyway, I’ve got to run down to the Viridian Forest. I’ve heard rumors about this awesome lake in there, and I want to see what I can catch.”

“If you need me, I’m on Route 3. I might see you in the Forest later though.” The two bid farewell before parting paths.

xxx

Darkfire hadn’t gone too far into Route 3 before she’d met up with a young ten-year-old boy. He smiled brightly when he saw her.

“Hey, wanna battle?” He asked. He’s a grand total of three Pokemon by the count of Pokeballs on his belt.

“I don’t know. I’m older than you and my Pokemon are probably stronger.” Darkfire mused.

“When did you start out?” He asked, saddened.

“Two days ago, I got my starter. How long have you been training?”

“I have a two week advantage over you! C’mon, please?” He begged.

“Two weeks and you’ve only got three Pokemon?” Darkfire was confused. By the end of today, she’d hoped to fill her belt, but this guy had only caught two Pokemon in two weeks.

“Yeah, and they’re all really strong! I even got a Pikachu for a starter! Great, huh?” He beamed proudly.

“Okay, three on three. I don’t really want to battle with Fausto yet.” She released her young Meowth. “But this’ll be a good experience, watching his teammates fight.”

“Wow! A Meowth! How’d you get him?” He was awe struck. Why was Darkfire suddenly so open to strangers, suddenly? She remembered Asha’Man’s words and decided that maybe it was something he did.

“Talk later, battle now! I’ll choose first… Go, Dustyn!” Darkfire tossed her Mankey’s Pokeball to the ground where it opened.

“Hah! Go, Pidgey!” The younger boy looked really happy. Why, though? Was it the type advantage?

“Dustyn, Leer!”

“Pidgey, Sand Attack!”

Pidgey looked to the ground as it fired the Sand Attack. Dustyn tried to freeze up the bird with Leer, but got sand in his eyes. He stumbled blindly around, desperately trying to rid his eyes of the sand.

“Great going, Pidgey! Use Tackle, now!” The boy was enjoying himself.

“Dustyn, hold your ground. Now, chop at tree level, Karate Chop!” Darkfire commanded.

Dustyn held still, facing the oncoming Pidgey. When Darkfire shouted the attack’s name, he swing blindly and powerfully at the spot where Pidgey was. The attack hit, sending the stunned Pokemon skidding to a halt at its trainer’s feet.

“Good job, Pidgey.” He recalled his Pokemon. Now was his turn to send out the next Pokemon. Darkfire recalled Dustyn and picked up Hakan’s Pokeball. “Go, Metapod!”

Darkfire sweat-dropped at the sight of the cocoon Pokemon. She should have called out Jantis or Hakan first. She shrugged and cast her Pokeball onto the open ground in front of her.

“Go, Hakan!” The opposing trainer swallowed hard at the sight of the Charmander. “Ember!”

“Harden, Metapod!” He cried out desperately.

Metapod glowed as though evolving, but stopped soon, revealing a hardened shell that gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. However, the skin only protected from physical attacks, not elemental ones such as fire. Hakan sent a large flame out, burning the opposing Pokemon.

“Ah! Metapod, return!” He was close to tears now, making Darkfire feel bad. However, she had warned him… She recalled her victorious Charmander and picked up her last Pokemon’s Pokeball. Her Spearow’s. And his last Pokemon was a Pikachu.

“Give up? You’ve lost two out of three. I don’t want to hurt your last Pokemon.”

“No! Ash Ketchum would keep on fighting, even a losing battle, because he wanted to get the full experience of his battles, win or loss. Pikachu, you’re up, buddy!”

“Go, Jantis!” Her fierce Spearow burst from his Pokeball, flying to the scene of the fight. Pikachu came out and cried its name. It turned to Jantis and sent out a bolt of electricity. Jantis dodges gracefully and cried out in anger.

“Hey! If your going to battle with that Pokemon, then you have to give it orders!” Darkfire shouted, just as angry as Jantis.

“Pikachu, listen. You have to use Grow- Pikachu!” The electric mouse had sent another bolt of electricity at Jantis. He avoided this one too, though the dodge was nearly unsuccessful.

“Jantis, you’re battling a rogue Pokemon! Leer it down!” Jantis dove in, his recklessness startling the Pikachu. His eyes turned into a golden yellow as he glared at the electric rodent. A shiver went up its spine as it became temporarily paralyzed.

“Peck the stuffing out of it, quick!” Darkfire sweat-dropped at her own words, but she had to knock out this Pokemon before it went berserk like Ash’s Charizard had in his earlier times with his trainer. Jantis dove in and proceeded to claw and peck the Pikachu into defeat.

Pikachu came to its senses and fired wild bolts of electricity around. Most hit the ground or died out in the air. Exhausted, it collapsed. Jantis was no where to be seen. Ashamed, the boy recalled his starting Pokemon. Even though he couldn’t control it, he’d expected to win that round.

“Jantis? Jantis!” Darkfire looked around, becoming frantic. Had she lost her first capture to a rogue Pokemon? Had he left her as soon after his first trainer battle? Tears began to well in Darkfire’s eyes. Fausto meowed unhappily and sat on her foot, wanting to be picked up.

A screech split the clearing as a charred but still energetic, Spearow lighted down on her shoulder. She picked him off of her shoulder and hugged him, relief evident on her face.

“Look, Miss? I’m so sorry about that. I’d of thought that he’d listen to me in a trainer battle. You should have him.” He held up the Pokeball. Darkfire was about to reply to this when a menacing snarl broke through the air.

Both trainers turned to see an enraged Houndour step through the brush. Its fangs were bared, showing gleaming white fangs. Its ears were pinned flat against its head, and its claws were unsheathed. Hissing, Fausto leapt forward. With his back arched and the black hairs raised, it looked like the dragon on his back was getting ready to fight, too.

“No, Fausto!” Darkfire shouted. She released Dustyn and Hakan. They saw the danger and leapt in to protect the Meowth kitten. The blue hairs on the Houndour’s back raised before he leaps at Hakan. Hakan snarled his Growl while Dustyn cleared his eyes for a Leer. The combination froze the deadly Dark type in its tracks. Hakan then attacked with his Scratch, while Dustyn used Karate Chop to weaken it further.

The Dark type collapsed, stunned. Darkfire threw a Pokeball at the devilish creature, ensnaring it. The boy gasped in surprise as the Pokemon gave up with ease. Hakan and Dustyn exchanged suspicious looks over the Pokeball.

Darkfire picked up the Pokeball and released her new Houndour. She gasped as it erupted from its Pokeball is a shower of stars. She held up her Pokedex to it to look over its status. It was a male at a shockingly low level. This fierce Pokemon was only just over a puppy himself. If he has to, Fausto could have taken him on alone.

“I want him! He wouldn’t have come out if Pikachu hadn’t of attacked your Spearow. C’mon, you got all of those cool Pokemon.” The younger trainer wined.

“No. He’s far too dangerous and powerful for a young trainer like you. Besides, you were about to give me your Pikachu before he attacked.”

“I don’t get it. You’ve been a trainer far less than I have, and yet you’ve got more Pokemon than me that’re stronger! What did I do wrong?” He looked close to tears.

“What’s your name? I’m Darkfire Storm.”

“Chance Lewis.” He sniffed.

“I’ve got Pokemon that’s attack any other person viciously, but they like me. Watch the magic.” Darkfire walked over to the shiny Houndour. She got down onto her knees and waited. The indecisive Houndour sniffed her face, tensed and ready to tear her to shreds if she moved. Darkfire kept perfectly still. The Houndour then whined and licked her chin. She scratched the top of his nose then behind the ears. He lay down next to her with a content sigh.

“Cool! I wish I could do that!” Chance exclaimed. Darkfire smiled at him.

“I’ve got a name for you.” She said, turning back to the Houndour puppy. “How does Kyron sound?” In response, he licked her hand.

“Hm, Butterfree, Pidgeotto, and Pikachu were in Prof. Ash’s team when he was about your age. Are you trying to recreate him?” Darkfire laughed as Chance flushed in shame. “Next I suppose your parents will jump out and say ‘Prepare for trouble’?”

“No. They wouldn’t come with me.” Chance then smiled. “Sounds kinda dumb, huh?”

“Dumb, but it sounds like fun, too. At your age, you should be having fun.” She paused and looked at her five-monster team. “Why are all of my Pokemon guys!” She sighed.

“Well, here’s Pikachu.” He handed her the Pokeball. “Call him my thanks for helping me. Don’t worry, there’re lots of Pikachu in Viridian Forest if you know where to look.” Chance hugged a stunned Darkfire before he ran back to Viridian City.

“Chance!” Shouted Darkfire as she looked at the new screen of a Pikachu in her Pokedex. The young trainer turned around and stopped. “Your… My… Pikachu’s a dudette, not a dude!”

[2ra]

Hmm, another great chapter indeed! I wonder why people aren't reading this fic o.o Anyways, I see that she's caught a Pikachu, which is rare in fan fics since that Pikachu of Ash's is hated worldwide My fic, or upcoming fic can't decide e.e, will have a main character with a Pikachu as well =D

Glad to see Hakan, Dustyn, and Jantis battling, and I'm glad you didn't automatically give them moves like Flamethrower, Seismic Toss, and Drill Peck o_o Hmm, seems Ash'man isn't as evil as I thought he was...I think O.o Now all that's left is to see if Jazz ends up joining her or not, and if "Guardian" will get his chance to get her whilst she is alone...

[Pig on the Wing]

Well, it's alright for now I guess.

Gramatically and spelling wise, very good and chapter length is good too, so those are the good aspects.

The way Darkfire started out is original and the whole Asha'man/Team Rocket business is not only eerie, but also fairly original.

One thing I don't like, is the fact that in three chapters she got six Pokemon, that's just not right. That's too fast-paced and personally I don't like it. That and the fact that the Houndour appeared out of nowhere really, for no explained reason.

But hey, that's my only criticism, so, yeah... other than that good work.

[2ra]

Well, it's alright for now I guess.

Gramatically and spelling wise, very good and chapter length is good too, so those are the good aspects.

The way Darkfire started out is original and the whole Asha'man/Team Rocket business is not only eerie, but also fairly original.

One thing I don't like, is the fact that in three chapters she got six Pokemon, that's just not right. That's too fast-paced and personally I don't like it. That and the fact that the Houndour appeared out of nowhere really, for no explained reason.

But hey, that's my only criticism, so, yeah... other than that good work.

I personally thought that catching alll those Pokemon in a mere three chapters, although normally isn't right and is being too fast-paced, is perfectly fine in this fic since her goal is to catch as many Pokemon as she can to get more money from both professors. She will most probably end up with maybe even over a hundred Pokemon and maybe for this type of fic, they are being properly dispersed through the chapters.

[Skye]

Yeah. I was going to skip the Spearow part and just KO the Mankey, gaining the Meowth in the first chapter, but my hands have a mind of there own. In the second chapter, same thing. I was planing on giving the Pikachu because it was abandoned(although she did obey her trainer in that version), but the whole idea of the rogue Pokemon intreagued me. The Houndour part was really a bit random, but if you need to know ewhere he came from, he was sleeping in one of the caves Ash warned Darkfire about. He got hit be a stray lightning bolt, and came out for vengence. I would've included that, but I'm still deciding on putting in Pokemon POVs. In the trainers' POV, the Houndour did kinda appear out oif nowhere.

As for the catching part, the flow of Pokemon will trickle down a bit, but not too much. After all, if Ash had gone out of his way to catch the diferent Pokemon he's come across sussesfully on his first day, hed've had a full belt by Viridian City. But thanks for the critisizm all the same.

[Skye]

2ra: Thanx. I've decided to write in Pokemon's POV for Ch. 5. This thing sure is growing. Anyways, I'll be gone for 2 weeks so don't get scared that I'm not replying. If I work on a chapter a day, then I'll probably be done with the fic by the time I get back. But you've gotta wonder, who's side is Asha'Man really on? You'll see what I mean after this chapter. Frankley, I really don't know.

........................................

Chapter 4 - Shining Darkness

Darkfire suddenly felt cold. She didn’t have Jazz around for the time being, and her Pokemon were weak. She looked around nervously before returning all of her Pokemon but Hakan. They then went towards Viridian City. She was suddenly acutely aware of every movement, every breeze, and every blade of grass that twitched. She kept her eyes away from the movements of the trees and surrounding areas. If she didn’t look for him, than he’d avoid her… She hoped.

It seemed that an eternity had passed before she’d gotten to the Pokemon Center. She called up the Professors, but only Prof. Ash was there.

“Hey! What’s up?” He smiled.

“I caught a shiny Houndour and a Pikachu.” She replied. At this, he frowned.

“You went into the caves, after I warned you not to go there.” He was very upset. Darkfire shook her head.

“Let me explain. I think that during a battle I was having with another trainer, a bolt of electricity might have hit him. I mean, why else would he come into the clearing? I swear that I didn’t go into any caves.”

“Hmm. I believe you, but let’s not tell Prof. Oak too much. I don’t want the old guy to have a heart attack.” They shared a moment of silent laughter at the joke. “Houndour are extremely rare. Not everyone sees one, especially in that area. $100 for him, plus another $50 for him being shiny. Hmm. And a Pikachu? How’d you get to battle, catch a shiny Houndour, and find a Pikachu in Viridian Forest all in the same day?”

“Long story short, Pikachu was the other trainer’s Pokemon. She didn’t listen all that well and her electric attacks went wild. That drew out the Houndour, and the trainer gave me the Pikachu.” She ended.

“Odd. Well, $25 even though Pikachu are rare. I’ll add on that you only get $25 for Pokemon that’re given to you.” Darkfire nodded. In truth, she wasn’t really expecting to have gotten paid for having a Pikachu given to her. “That’s another $175. You’ve earned a total of $350 today!”

“Plus the $50.45 I had before I began training gives me $400.45!” Darkfire nearly fainted at the idea. All on the items that she could buy with that kind of money! “I need to go to the Poke Mart anyway, so.”

“I’ll get the money into your account. Get on out there and get more Pokemon!”

xxx

Darkfire went to the Poke Mart first. With only one Pokeball left, no healing items, and $400.45 to spend, she was going to get ready. Viridian City, despite it’s small size, was quite famous for having one of the so-called ‘final’ Gym Leaders host his battles here. She entered it, armed with a Pokeball, and looked around.

Friendly looking people browsed the selection of items. For some reason, Asha’Man’s words of warning about spies echoed in her mind. Darkfire shook her head and put the empty Pokeball away. She was going crazy! First off because she was thinking of him and his words, and second because she was acting like someone was going to jump out at her at any second.

She went to a nearby shelf that contained various assortments of different kinds of Pokeballs. Even a Master Ball was on display, though the numbers on the price tag made her gape. Anyway, she was only going for Pokeballs. Prof. Ash had said that if you fought against wild Pokemon well enough, a Pokeball really worked just as well as an Ultra Ball.

Mentally, she calculated that if she got about twenty Pokeballs, with each costing $3 each, that’d cost about $60. She went to the healing items and looked around. She saw a small box with a manual on top of the glass case. She picked it up and saw that the case contained one of the spiffy mini storage containers that cost an arm and a leg. This one was of premium quality, able to store up to 50 various items, 100 Pokeballs, and 3,000 berries. Plus, it was only 3” by 6” by 9”, weighing only two pounds.

“Yep! That there box is just what any Pokemon trainer needs.” A raspy voice spoke behind her. She jumped, turning around. An old man stood behind her. His eyes gleamed mischievously, however. “Are you gonna get it?”

“I can’t afford it.” Darkfire said as though this guy had a mental problem. He probably did, considering how she was probably the richest person of her age for miles around and she could only afford 1/75 of the machine. He grinned at her.

“It’s not for sale!” He laughed openly.

“Then why did you ask if I was going to buy it?” Darkfire growled. She hated it when people toyed with her.

“No, it’s not for sale. It’s the prize of the July Convention. I was wondering if you were going to get it as in win it!” He roared with laughter. Darkfire growled angrily.

“If you stop laughing, I’m positive I could win it if I wanted to.”

He stopped laughing and stared intently at her. She felt a bead of sweat go down her face. She felt like she was being weighed, measured, and recorded in a textbook, sand she hated it.

“If you wanted to? Why not?” He asked.

“Why should I?” She growled back. “I hate crowds. I hate people in general. So far there are only six people in the whole world that I'll’ tolerate. Five because I actually like them.” Mentally, she added that she would tolerate the sixth because he scared the hell out of her. “Besides, must contest prizes are only up for grabs because they’re broken or something of the sort. Take he prizes at the ring-toss games. The heads of the stuffed animals literally fall off.”

“Not this baby.” He put a hand affectionately on the glass case. “Made her with my own two hands. She’s waterproof, floats besides. Fire proof, electric proof, rust proof… I could go on for days. She’s the first in her line. She’s the promotion to the July Contention. The flocks of people that come and pay admission just to see her… I gain loads of money when my best items are on display.”

“Who are you?” She asked. She was wondering about this odd man. Spy?

“I’m the President of Sliph Co.” He announced solemnly. “I know most people don’t recognize me, but that’s okay. The Storage Box Platinum is the first invention created dually between Sliph Co. and Devon Corp.”

“When is the Convention?”

“Starts first of July but registration for the tournament featured around the SBP is full.”

“So it’s a battle. Too bad, I could have one. Oh well.” Just then, her Poke Nav began to hum softly. “Hold on.” Darkfire picked it up, not seeing the President’s eyes widen at the sight of her Poke Nav. “Darkfire here. Shoot.”

On the other side of the line, Prof. Oak’s furious voice shot over the line. Darkfire winced and put him on speakerphone, his face showing, livid with rage.

“Do you hear me? No battling for a month! A year! No, Ash, I’m not going easy on her!” Darkfire froze. Prof. Ash had said not to say much, but he could neither keep a secret nor be subtle. “You come back right now!”

The President peered over her shoulder. Prof. Oak stared at him. The President of Sliph Co. stared back.

“No more battling? I was hoping that Darkfire could participate in the JC.”

“I thought you were filled up.”

“Confidentially, one of the trainers can’t make it. Got pneumonia looking for an Ice Pokemon.”

“She’s green. Has only been a trainer for three days.”

“Any yet she’s already under your skin?” The President laughed. Prof. Oak grumbled. “If she wins, will you let her off of the hook? I don’t know what she did, but if it got under your skin, she probably didn’t do it on purpose.”

“She can control that Charmander that you sent us, but I refuse to let her deal with any Dark type!” Prof. Oak growled.

“She caught a Dark Pokemon? On her third day as a trainer? I find that impressive.” He turned to Darkfire. “What kind of Pokemon?”

“Kyron’s a Houndour.” Darkfire muttered.

“Ah! She’s named it! That does it. I’m coming up there.”

“Great! You can watch her win the tournament. As a matter of fact, let’s talk about this later. I’ll call you.” He then pressed the button that ended the transmission. He turned serious eyes to the confused Darkfire. “You caught a Houndour?”

“Yes.” Darkfire replied.

“I’ll meet you outside of the Mart.” With that he left. Darkfire stared after him, suspicious as always, before going to the counter with her Pokeballs, Potions, Full Heals, and Poke Chow.

Outside, the President was talking to another man, slightly younger than himself. They broke away from their conversation when Darkfire came out. She wordlessly followed the two men to a building with posters all over it, advertising the July Convention. Inside, they took up two places. One sat down at a computer and began working on something. The other, the stranger, sat down and picked up a stack of papers. He then turned to Darkfire and began to ask her questions about herself, her history, and her Pokemon. He wrote down her answers and turned to another page. The Sliph Co. President never stopped typing.

After another round of question, he handed her a printed sheet. She signed where he asked for her to and gave it back. He then gave her another paper.

“These are the tournament rules. It starts in two days at 7:00 A.M.” He informed her. The President then stopped typing and rubbed his sore hands. “I’m the President of Devon Corp., and we’ll be seeing you July first.”

Darkfire took the hint and left. She read over the rules and sighed. She could bring a full team of Pokemon with her, but she could only use three in each battle. Besides that, there was nothing on the sheet that was too different than in the Indigo League rules. Sleep and freezing counted as an automatic KO if they remain that way for more than three attack rounds. With only two days left, and possibly her Pokemon hanging on the line, Darkfire had to stop catching for a while and train her Pokemon.

xxx

Hakan Growled at the Butterfree, possibly the strongest opponent that Darkfire had battled against yet, and smirked as it froze in fear. Butterfree’s trainer clenched his teeth, willing for his Pokemon to use the Gust attack that he’s commanded it to do. However, the butterfly Pokemon was too afraid to get near the fire lizard.

“Ember attack!” Darkfire ordered.

“Dodge it!” Butterfree’s trainer called out desperately.

Butterfree, already scratched and burned, tried to dodge. A spasm of pain from its burns stopped it, leaving it open prey for Hakan’s Ember. Defeated by the swift and powerful fire attack, it went limp. Its trainer recalled it and sent out his next Pokemon, a Beedrill. Darkfire recalled Hakan and sent out her next and last Pokemon in the six on six battle, Jantis.

“Poison Sting!” Beedrill’s trainer commanded.

“Come around and Peck!” Darkfire shouted.

Beedrill bared its stingers and launched itself at Jantis. The tiny bird Pokemon zipped out of the way and began to Peck at the Poison/Bug type.

“Twineedle!” Beedrill’s trainer shouted.

“Leer!” Darkfire countered.

Jantis spun around the Beedrill, who was turning around, much clumsier in the air than the frisky Spearow. Darkfire shook her head as she watched. Jantis was the better flier, but he still had to obey her commands. As if hearing her thoughts, Jantis faced the Beedrill, his eyes glowing a wicked gold. Beedrill froze, horrified, and open prey to Jantis’s attacks.

“Great, now use Peck!”

“Beedrill, attack it!”

Darkfire eyed her opponent. He was sweating, obviously not liking how this battle was going. Hakan had burned his Butterfree, Jantis was attacking his Beedrill mercilessly, Fausto had had his first battle experience, beating his Caterpie, Dustyn had taken out his Kakuna, Kyron had defeated his Pinsir, and Taima, Darkfire’s new Pikachu, had electrocuted his Scyther.

Beedrill had just gotten a nasty gash on its head from Jantis’s slashing beak, and went limp in defeat. The trainer recalled him as Darkfire recalled Jantis. He then came up to her, smiling. Again, Darkfire felt the flash of doubt. Spies? She gave a forced smile as the dark thought burned into her mind.

“That was truly the best battle I’ve had in a long time.” He said. “Were I a trainer of different types, I’d ask to trade with you. But, sadly, I only have a fascination with Bug Pokemon. I wish you well on your journey, Darkfire.” With a final nod of respect, he left. Darkfire sighed as she found herself alone, again. She called out Hakan to walk with her as she looked for more people to battle.

No one was to be found for the rest of the day, and Darkfire had to restrain herself from going after all on the Pokemon that she saw. She set up camp as the forest began to darken for night. She set up camp and got a strong fire going. Fausto sat in her lap, purring his contentment. She traced the dragon shaped fur patch on his back, her mind wandering. She then had an idea. She called Hakan, Dustyn, and Jantis over to her. Kyron came over, too, and lay down at her feet.

“I’m putting you three in your Pokeballs. Just for a while. Kyron, too.” She added as an afterthought. The four Pokemon went into their Pokeballs, leaving Fausto and Taima to keep her company. For a while nothing happened, and Darkfire began to suspect that he’d finally stopped following her. She stared into the fire as Fausto fell asleep. Taima curled up next to her, and closed her eyes.

Darkfire didn’t know how long she’d stared into the fire, almost in a trance like state, when she looked up. For a while she saw nothing because of the ghost-light in her eyes. It slowly faded, revealing Asha’Man. He was sitting down across the fire from her, his eyes as intense as usual.

“Hello.” He said, his voice dark.

“Hi.” She replied. She fought the urge to run. She sighed as she tried to calm herself down.

“Not running away, I see.” Asha’Man noted.

“Not yet.” She informed him. “You’re in Team Rocket, right?”

“Heh.” He snorted. “See what is, but know that your reality is an illusion.”

“If my reality is an illusion, but what I see is my reality, then I’m seeing an illusion?”

“No. What you see is a true reality.” He replied. She had the vague feeling that he was laughing at her.

“So, how can I tell where the true reality begins, and mine ends?” She felt herself relaxing. Still, she watched his every movement.

“You have to see it.” He smirked. She remembered when she’d first seen him. He’d smirked that way then, too.

She was about to ask how long he’d been following her, but found a better question in her mind. “What are your powers?”

“They do not matter.” A dark air had come around him. She shivered in fear, but watched him still. “Nor does it matter what yours are.”

“Then why are you here?” She growled. He laughed harshly at her.

“I’m here to take you prisoner. To break your mind and spirit. I’m here to destroy you and shatter the illusion. If you fight me, I’ll kill you.” He then stood up and came towards her. Darkfire found herself unable to move. He then knelt down next he her, still smirking. He took Taima and Fausto’s Pokeballs and recalled them.

He then grabbed onto Darkfire’s wrists. At his touch, Darkfire’s nerves burned in pain. She tried to pull away, but he held her fast. She tried to fight the burning, but it was too much. Her mind went dark as she fought for her breath.

vvv

Asha’Man felt her go limp. He let go of her, his left arm throbbing. He sat down and watched her. She was unharmed by the illusion of pain, but still. He remembered watching her run through the rain, fear of him spurring her on. Not away from him, but away from the ruins of a destroyed lab.

He rubbed his arm, trying to ease the pain. He watched her, aware that she was beginning to stir. However she’d forgotten the past, he wanted to know. She opened her eyes slowly, groaning in pain.

“Illusions hurt, don’t they.” He told her. She whipped around to face him. She began to back away, but her wrists hurt too much. He smirked. He also knew better than to press her further. She could be dangerous now, even though she was blissfully ignorant. “You’ll learn to see.” He then stood up and stretched.

“What?” She asked. He knew what she meant. What had happened?

“I’m teaching you.” He replied. This could get him killed, but that was the first part of his mission, to gain Darkfire’s trust above all else.

She glared at him before standing up. She then swayed and came back down. Really, like this she was weak. Like a Ponyta filly learning how to stand. He narrowed his eyes as he watched her. It was her move now. After all, the handler could help the filly stand, but he could still get burned. She turned her eyes to him, glaring.

He ignored this small challenge, as he watched her. She went to get the Pokeballs, but he blocked the way. She kept coming, before trying to hit him, again. For the third time, he caught her wrist. She tried to kick him, but he swung her around so she couldn’t hit him or kick him. She whimpered, perhaps in fear. He waited, holding her tightly. No one could get out of his grip unless he let them go, or unless they had powers. He wasn’t letting go in this case.

His hands had began to grow numb. He wasn’t about to lose them, so he released her. She stared ahead as though cold. He waited, again. She slowly turned around, looking at him in confusion. She began to shiver, and he remembered when he’d first used his powers. First had been the fire, then the cold, then the failure to move properly. At the end, he’d had a headache so bad, he’d failed to match it with any hangover he’d had after that.

She’s begun to use the portion of her power that dealt with cold, therefore, the coldness in her body would happen first. He cursed at his stupidity as she began to fall…

[2ra]

Er.....that was weird o_o I was a bit confused with this whole powers thing about cold, fire, and numbness, but hopefully it'll be cleared up later on in the story. Although it seems to have some powers dealing with illusions or something since he keeps talking about it. I'm just not sure what this whole laboratory is about though. Hmmm...well good chapter and keep up the good work.

[Pig on the Wing]

Hey, dat wos a good chapter. The bit at the end kinda scared and confused me and dat be good 'cause it helps build an atmosphere.

So she's taking a break from catching and starting to actually train which is a good thing. The nicknames are nice and original too, so, yeah... whatever.

So she's in a tournament? I'm pretty sure I can guess what's gonna happen, but I won't spoil for the others...

Meh, later

[Skye]

2ra: Yeah. I know, but it will clear up. I've gotten a bit of a better hold on this, especially now that I'm on the 7th chapter. The 5th is split up into part, and I've got to edit, but the first part shout be up by tomorrow at the latest.

Hey, dat wos a good chapter. The bit at the end kinda scared and confused me and dat be good 'cause it helps build an atmosphere.

So she's taking a break from catching and starting to actually train which is a good thing. The nicknames are nice and original too, so, yeah... whatever.

So she's in a tournament? I'm pretty sure I can guess what's gonna happen, but I won't spoil for the others...

Meh, later

Believe me, you've no idea... I should put up a rating like PG13 on it or something...


Bear with me, I'm still writing!

EDIT: Sorry, but it's going to be another day. Chapter 5, Battles of Pride, will be split up into three parts. I've finished Chapter 6, and I'm finishing Chapter 7 now. I promise it'll be up before the afternoon(MST).

[Skye]

Sorry to Double Post. Here's the first part of Battles of Pride. I hope that I haven't lost any reviewers or readers because of my absense. So sorry.

Chapter 5 - Battles of Pride, Part 1

Hakan stretched and looked around. He was in a large building with tiled floors. When he looked around, he saw that girl, (Jazz, wasn’t it?) speaking swiftly to an older woman in a white coat. He listened, searching for words he could understand.

“Then… Darkfire… strange man…left…police… hospital.” Hakan cried out in alarm. Darkfire had recalled them but she’d never let them out. The strange man must have attacked her! Why else would Jazz have called the police. “Hakan knows something.”

“Of course he does! …My Pokemon! What is it, Hakan?” It was his previous owner. Hakan had never paid much attention to him, but Darkfire… He danced around wildly, trying to get them to understand him. The old man sighed. “It’s no use. No one can make… of whatever he’s saying.” Hakan blew an impatient Ember into the air.

Just then, Prof. Oak and Prof. Ketchum came in. Hakan ignored them and looked around for his teammates. He found the Pokeballs and began to set them free.

“No! … Houndour!” Someone called out. Hakan made sure to let Kyron out.

(What’s going on?) Fausto mewed uneasily.

(A strange man attacked Darkfire.) Hakan said.

(Oh! I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, no!) Taima cried out.

(Where is Darkfire?) Kyron asked as he sniffed the air. He then barked out as he caught her scent. (This way!)

(This don’t be good.) Dustyn muttered to Jantis.

(No, indeed!) The Spearow cawed before following the line of Pokemon.

Kyron snarled at the people who screamed. He wanted to get to Darkfire, and no one was going to stop him! He found the room where Darkfire’s scent was strongest.

(Over here!) He howled.

Dustyn opened the door and they all filed in silently. They all smelled that she was cold. Too cold. Fausto leapt up onto their trainer’s bed and wrapped himself around her head.

(She’s alive!) The young Meowth cried out. As if in response, Darkfire shivered violently. Kyron jumped onto the bed and lay himself down next to her. Hakan curled up on her other side, holding his tail over her for extra warmth. Taima stretched across her trainer’s legs, leaving Dustyn and Jantis to take up the chair.

The Professors, Jazz, the nurse from before, and a hysterical patient came in. The patient pointed at Kyron as he claimed that the Dark dog had tried to bite his leg off. Kyron’s eyes glinted in the dark room, obviously entertaining the thought of doing just that.

(Leave him be, Kyron.) Hakan said. (Darkfire needs us.) Kyron nodded and set his head on his trainer’s shoulder. She shivered again, but not quite as violently as before. The Professors stared in amazement at the sight before them. Hakan growled angrily at them for letting cold air in. They spoke swiftly to each other so not even Hakan, who’s been around humans the longest, could understand. Prof. Ketchum them stepped into the dark room, closing the door behind him.

(So, we all know each other to some extent. So, let’s talk about ourselves. I’m Taima. Hakan, what’s your story? Where’d you come from?) Taima said. Hakan smiled at her. Prof. Ketchum turned on a dim light so he could watch them.

(Well, my name is Hakan. I think that means ‘fire’ in some language. I was born in the Charific Valley. I don’t know much about my parents, but the girl who worked there sent me away. I’ve never really liked humans much. They talk too much about pointless things. Anyway, I wound up at Prof. Oak’s lab. He was okay as far as humans went, but I got really mad at him for trying to dump me on some 10-year-old boy. Feh. I charred both of them good. Never trusted Prof. Ketchum, though. Then I was given to Darkfire.) Hakan sighed deeply.

(Did you hurt her?) Taima asked. All of the Pokemon in the room were listening intently.

(Oh, no! I never got the chance! She showed me that she wasn’t afraid of me. She’s really brave, and I could tell that she wouldn’t really hurt me. “I may not be able to breathe fire,” she says to me, “but if you do, I’ll give you a really sissy name like Fire Fly.”) All of the Pokemon laughed at that. (I’ve admired her ever since.) He paused a moment before smiling. (Taima, your turn.)

(Well, my name is Taima. I think that means ‘lightning’.) Taima smiled before continuing. (I don’t remember much about my past. I was given to a boy, possibly the one Oak tried to load you onto, Hakan. He smelled pretty burnt up. Well, I’m not to trusting of humans, so I watch him. He’s a kid, for Poke God’s sakes! Who’s gonna listen to him. So I try battling under him, and we catch a Pidgey. He uses Pidgey to catch a Caterpie. I mean, can we go lower in the food chain? So, by now he’s taken a whole week just looking for a Pidgeotto and a Butterfree. This guy really thinks that the world’s just going to roll over and give him whatever he wants! So, after a week, he’s gotten the Pidgey and Caterpie. He evolves the Caterpie and trains really hard with Pidgey. But does he work with his starter? No! So of course I go nutters in my first battle. Sorry ‘bout that Jantis, Kyron.) The Spearow and Houndour nodded politely in forgiveness. (So, the boy gives me to Darkfire. But who couldn’t say that she’s got heart? She tried to get him to stop the battle, and she beat me with Jantis. So, I respect her. How about you, Jantis?)

xxx

Jantis glanced at the clock. When they’d come in, it’d been a bit past 9:00 P.M. Now, it was 11:35 P.M. Darkfire moaned as he was about to answer Taima’s question. She was covered in sweat as she pushed her warmth, blankets, Pokemon, and all, away. Hakan and Fausto joined Dustyn while Jantis swung himself onto the rail at the head of her bed. He beat his wings in an attempt to cool her off while Kyron licked her face.

(Well, Darkfire said that my name, Jantis, means spear.) Jantis informed his teammates as he fanned his feverish trainer. (Hmm, never liked other Pokemon, and hated people. Not much to say about my past and myself. I obey Darkfire because she has this aura around her that you know you can trust her. So, I do, and she’s an excellent strategist. She seems to know the strengths and weaknesses of every Pokemon. I admire her knowledge. What about you, Dustyn?)

(Can’t say much about how I be feeling towards humans. Well, unless I be mistaken, me name means fighter. I was alone nearly me entire life’s far as I be remembering. Don’t trust humans. Darkfire ’n’ Hakan found me messin’ ‘round with that old sack I’d found in the river. I didn’t know that little Fausto ‘n’ his brother ‘n’ sis was in there. Sorry, little one.) Fausto purred that it was all right between them. (I guess I be likin’ Darkfire o’ ‘cause of her spirit. She’s a fighter ‘er self. How ‘bout yourself, Fausto?)

(Well, everyone says that this black patch of fur looks like a dragon. I can’t see it myself, so I’ll have to agree. Um, my name means lucky, and I guess I am. I’m really young right now, so I don’t remember much. But I trust her because she saved my life. I respect her for her kindness. Um, what do you say, Kyron?)

xxx

Kyron glanced at Jantis. His wings must be getting sore by now.

(How’s the time?) Kyron barked softly. Darkfire’s temperature had come down.

(It’s 1:00 A.M. now.) Jantis replied as his wings drooped to his sides. Hakan and Dustyn pulled the covers over Darkfire, making Kyron get off of the bed for a while. He got back on and settled down. The worst was over, and they had a tournament in the morning.

(My name means dark, if you must know. I’ve never known I was a ‘shiny’ until Darkfire said that I was. I’ve always live in the dark. I respect her because she’s fearless. Now, we need some sleep. We need to be us in about five hours to get Darkfire ready. G’Night.) With that they all fell into a restful sleep.

ooo

Asha’Man strode into the depths of the lair. He could show no fear. A dark figure stalked up behind him, making him turn around. The dark figure stayed in the shadows, but Asha’Man instantly recognized him as the leader of Team Rocket.

“You have failed.” The shadowed boss growled.

“No, sir!” Asha’Man faked fear now. “I’m gaining her trust.”

“By attacking her?”

“No, by awakening her powers, sir!”

“Fool!” The boss hissed. “We don’t want her powers awakened until after she’s on our side!” Asha’Man winced.

“Now she sees she can trust me, now she’ll ask for my help in teaching her, sir.” Asha’Man smirked. “Then we’ll get her.”

ooo

Darkfire groaned. Her head was splitting in pain. She opened her eyes only to be rewarded by Kyron’s rough licks. What a strange dream she’d had about Asha’Man…

“What’s the Pokemon God forsaken time?” She growled.

“It’s 6:45 A.M. Go back to sleep.” Prof. Ash’s voice told her.

(No! The tournament!) A voice barked.

“The tournament! Clothes?” Darkfire looked around. Where was she? Battles first, talk later.

“You can’t battle in this condition!” Prof. Ash exclaimed.

“You’re right, I’m not battling. My Pokemon are.” She ducked under the covers to change her clothes. “Aspirin, anyone?” She begged. Changed, she found her bag under the bed. Jantis dropped a bottle of aspirin next to her as she combed out her hair. When she was satisfied, she swallowed two pills and fixed up her appearance. “Thanks, all. Return.” Thy all went to their respective Pokeballs and entered them.

“Darkfire, please reconsider.” Prof. Ash begged.

“Sorry, but I need to let them battle. We’ve been training so hard, it’d break their hearts to not get a chance.”

She then grabbed her stuff and ran out of the hospital, hoping that Prof. Ash’d taken care of the bills. She ran long and hard, making her headache worse. When would the damn aspirin kick in? She was soon lost in the crowds. She looked around until she saw a familiar face.

“Mr. President! Hey, over here!” She dodged her way over to him.

“Darkfire! You should be resting!” He told her, his eyes stern.

“I have to compete!” Darkfire panted.

“You really should be resting…”

“By contract, I’m competing or suing! As long as I’m standing, I’m fighting!”

“Okay…” The President of Sliph Co. hesitantly agreed.

xxx

Darkfire stood in the raised trainer’s booth. She tried to ignore the crowds around her as she leaned against the rail, nursing her headache. It still hadn’t let up. Prof. Oak and Prof. Ash were in the middle of the arena, reviewing minor rules so the trainers don’t forget.

“For the first eight rounds, it’ll be a one-on-one battle. For round two, the limit will be moved up to two Pokemon each. For rounds three, each person is to use three Pokemon. For round four, the limits are six. Switching is an automatic KO. Our first competitors are Eban Stone and Darkfire Storm!”

Mentally, Darkfire was running over the numbers of weaknesses and bad effects in battling each of her Pokemon might have. But, hearing her opponent’s name brought her head up. Stone was the surname of Brock and Flint, the Gym Leaders of Pewter City. Chances were then, that he’d be related to them and use Rock types.

“Are you ready?” Prof. Ash was the ref. He saw both of them raise their selected Pokeballs Pokeballs. “Begin!”

“Go, Dustyn!”

“Go, Rock-Shock!”

Darkfire watched her Mankey appear in a flash of red. He looked a bit tired, but his powers were still fresh. Dustyn dropped into an offensive position as their first opponent appeared. Darkfire smiled grimly at the Geodude.

“Rock-Shock, Rock Throw!”

“Dustyn, Leer!”

It wasn’t your best idea to go offensive first with Darkfire. She liked to play mind games with her opening moves. Rock-Shock picked up some surrounding rocks and was about to pitch them at Dustyn when he froze. Dustyn’s eyes were gleaming a malicious gold. Rock-Shock froze in horror, leaving him open to attack.

“Karate Chop!” Darkfire shouted.

“Defense Curl!” Eban called out desperately.

Dustyn brought his fist down onto the still stunned Geodude. Rock-Shock finally recovered and tucked his arms up around himself. Darkfire frowned at this odd counter before she remembered when, earlier this year, a rolling Phanpy had chased her. First, it had curled up as if in warning, then it’d begun to roll around before it took aim at her.

“Low Kick!” Darkfire countered the move she knew was coming up.

“Rollout!” Eban smirked at her.

Dustyn prepared himself for the oncoming attack. Rock-Shock began to roll, swiftly picking up speed. He then turned to Dustyn. His power roll increased again in speed. Dustyn breathed a sigh.

(Here be going everything…) Dustyn breathed in deeply before rushing in to meet his opponent. Dustyn shot forward, closing the gap between himself and his opponent with amazing agility. When it looked like he was about to be plowed over by the sturdy Geodude, his foot lashed out, sending the unsuspecting Rock-Shock flying. Neither Ground nor Rock types were meant to fly, so it was only common sense that they didn’t particularly like the sensation. Rock-Shock was no exception as he grunted under his breath as he continued to spin in the air. His brief flight ended in a painful abruptness as he crashed into the ground, skidding to a prolonged stop at the base of Eban’s red trainer’s box.

The crowd went silent as hey watched Rock-Shock. Dustyn stood on one foot, rubbing his other one where he’d kicked Rock-Shock. Darkfire felt sympathy in his pain. Kicking a Geodude during an all-out rolling attack was probably the stupidest thing she’d ever told her Pokemon to do. Such a thing could make them loose their trust in her, or make them hate her. Even worse, she could order them to do something that could truly harm them to the point of crippling or killing them.

Tears of realization formed in her eyes. Now, she felt the burden of being a Pokemon trainer. To know that everything depended on her, on her words, on her decisions… The ideas of living with Pokemon, to be away from people made her want to be a Pokemon trainer. Why had she never thought about anything besides starry nights around a campfire and training a powerful Pokemon in beautiful forests? Why hadn’t she realized the responsibility?

Eban reluctantly recalled his Pokemon and sighed. The crowed was cheering, but the noise fell on deaf ears. Dustyn looked at her, his eyes questioning. She gave a start and returned him to his Pokeball. Prof. Ash was saying something, but she didn’t register he words. She stepped down from the blue trainer’s box and walked dumbly to him. He smiled proudly and took her right hand lightly. He pressed a small white box into her loose palm. She gripped it firmly and went almost mechanically to the Pokemon Center. Never did she notice the two faces in the tournament lines exchange glances.

[Pig on the Wing]

w00t, another chappie!

Not bad, but IMO not too good.
The bit where the Pokemon spoke and exchanged details and backgrounds was good, but the battle was brief and poorly described.

Not one of the best in this story, sorry, but I'm being honest here (don't hate me h: )

Meh, whatever, keep writing and I'm waiting patiently for da next chapter, ya mon.

[Skye]

Yay! I still have at least one person not dead from this being too far without an update! I know that the battles aren't the best. I'm working on them, though. Don't think that I'm not going to rewrite the heck out of it the second that I'm done. By the time that this gets in the Completed Fics Archive thing, it'll look great! For now, I'm just working on it. I have to wait a bit longer to put up the second part, and that one'll be wierd. Anyways, it'll hopefully be up by tomorrow. 'Til then, thanks for flames and ice creams alike. And I don't hate people unless they behave just downright crappy. You're safe, Snorlax16!

[Skye]

Alright, I finally have all of my stuff on one computer! updates shouldn't go too slow, now.

........................................

Chapter 5 - Battles of Pride, Part 2

Darkfire held up a Pokeball, examining the empty item against the bright light. She knew people were staring at her. The headache was making her feel queasy, but years of working at the Lab and pulling false faces at strangers to veil her real emotions made her look normal. She squinted, wondering how the sensor inside could tell the difference between humans and Pokemon. She collected her Pokemon and spared a glance at the people. She had to do a double take, seeing the Prof. Oak, Jazz, Chance, and even Eban were watching her. She blinked in confusion but simply sorted through the Pokeballs.

First, she felt like she was hearing voices. Now, what did they want? She separated the Pokeballs. She then looked at them, her eyes wide. She was imagining that she could actually tell them apart. She groaned, shaking her head. What had Asha’Man done to her? A hand gripped her, strong, like Asha’Man’s grip. Blindly, she pulled back glaring piercingly at the person that had touched her. Prof. Oak stared at her, his eyes knowing and worried. How could he know what was happening. She scowled and looked away.

“Hand over the Houndour’s Pokeball. It’s what’s doing this to you. Dark types are known to taint their trainers. Whether it’s on purpose or accident no one knows yet, but very few are immune to it. I don’t think you are.”

“Take him, dare you.” She tossed the Pokeball to the ground, revealing Kyron. He glanced at his trainer, and then turned to Prof. Oak. Prof. Oak held up a Pokeball, an empty one, and turned to Kyron. The shiny Houndour snarled and dodged the beam.

(What’s going on? Darkfire!) He dodged another beam. Darkfire clenched her fists. She began to shake, but how could she explain what’d happened. How could she even explain this madness to her closest friends?

“Kyron, attack me. Ember!” She ordered. Prof. Oak dropped the Pokeball. Kyron yelped and the other Pokemon trainers gasped. Kyron hesitated before blowing an Ember at her. At first, it was painful like Asha’Man’s touch. But the pain soon died. The fire stopped and Kyron wailed. He went over to his trainer and licked her wrist. She looked at him and rewarded him with a brief smile.

“Pokemon Gods.” Eban breathed. Tears leaked down Chance’s face while Jazz stood, pale.

“Is that normal?” She asked. Prof. Oak took a hesitant step towards Darkfire.

Now Darkfire looked at herself. She was glowing a steady red, the same red that glowed in Hakan’s fire. Her hands were black, where she’s taken the first impact of the blast, but besides that not even her clothes were slightly burned. She rubbed her hands, grimacing in the added pain. However, her headache had vanished.

“I think I’m insane as of now!” Darkfire laughed. Kyron cocked his head, obviously not seeing what was so funny about this. Attacking one’s own trainer was a sin to trained Pokemon. Disobeying them was to be expected at one point in a trainer’s life, but Kyron had never heard of a Pokemon attacking their trainer with an elemental attack by command. At least, not with the intension to harm them badly, or the intension to kill.

“Darkfire?” Prof. Oak swallowed hard. Darkfire ceased her laughter and faced him. She’d never seen him look so confused. He was afraid, too. They all were. She looked at her hands, briefly wondering if she could control things like healing. She clenched them again, bringing blood from the charred skin. She willed the glow to leave her and it vanished as swiftly as her headache had.

“I’m okay, I guess. I had to know what would happen with fire. I’d blocked it out once… Well that was different.” She paused, deep in thought.

“When? Was it that stalker?” Jazz whined then. “I shouldn’t have left you alone!”

“Jazz, it’s okay.” She smiled, more relaxed then. “I wanted to meet him. I should have confronted him sooner.”

Eban noticed the blood leaking out from between her clenched fists. He wordlessly led the confused Darkfire to a couch and began to bandage the burned and bleeding skin. Kyron kept an eye on him, but said nothing. He simply sat with Darkfire, keeping a wary eye on Prof. Oak.

“What are you talking about? He’s probably insane-” Chance was cut off by a sharp glance at his former Pikachu’s new owner.

“Insane, yes. But I need for him to teach me. He has powers very similar to mine. Maybe even stronger.” She glanced at Eban, who had finished wrapping her injured hands. “Why do you care?”

“I was just thinking how rude you were after the battle when Chance overheard one of my louder complaints.” He smiled. “I’ve heard you had a shiny Houndour, and I see that’s true.” Darkfire glared at him. “Erm… I also wanted a rematch.”

“Wait, what do you mean about him having powers?” Prof. Oak asked, his eyes steely.

Prof. Ash burst into the Pokemon Center just then, at the most unwanted time, too. Darkfire smiled at her friends, finally completely relaxed. She’d remembered stories about Prof. Ash’s unshakable ability to poke his nose in when it was sure to be cut off. The others relaxed to some extent, too. All except for Eban, of whom had the least experience around the unpredictable Pokemon trainer.

“Hey, ‘Fire! It’s you and entry number four next. Jazz, Chance! You all know Darkfire?”

“Yes. Remember Jazz from earlier? Chance is the trainer who gave me his Pokemon, and Eban just saved my hands from falling off.” She held up a bandaged hand. Prof. Ash paled. He then glared at the Dark type. “And I beg to differ, Prof. Oak. Whatever he’s done, I doubt the presence of a Dark Pokemon will make me insane. It may be helpful, actually.” She pulled out the small prize for winning the first found. It was a small box with the letters and numbers ‘DEV. HOEN-TM20’ Printed on the supposed top. TM 20 of Hoenn, created by Devon Corp. That technique is Safeguard, unless her TM teaching was failing her.

“Let’s battle.” She returned the still confused Kyron and turned to her friends. “I’m so sorry for everything. I didn’t mean to scare any of you, but I have to explain later.” Again, she felt a brief flash of doubt in her abilities. “Prof. Oak, after the tournament I need to talk with you, alone.”

xxx

Again, she was in the blue box. It was a deep blue, and rather pleasant to look at. Darkfire marveled at how such a headache could destroy one’s outlook on life. She had barley even processed the colors of the boxes before. How, then, she’d remembered the surname ‘Stone’ and had connected Eban to the Rock Pokemon Gym Leaders of Pewter she’d have to think of later.

“Round 2-1, Darkfire Storm versus Drake Aura!” Prof. Ash announced. Was he the referee and the announcer? How much of this tournament had she missed out on? Oh, she’d never get another headache that could kill her senses like that one had if she could avoid it! She looked at her opponent. In her mind, she found no connection to the surname ‘Aura’. She picked up Hakan’s Pokeball, but put it back. If she got to round three, she wanted as few of her Pokemon to be known to her opponents as possible. They already knew about Dustyn, and apparently about Kyron as well. She’d have to be careful about using them, but she had to keep her full team a surprise too. She put the Pokeball back and picked up another. She looked over to Drake and stared. He was blue! His eyes and hair were dark blue, but not so black as Asha’Man’s eyes had looked. His shirt, jeans, belt, and cloak were all a matching blue of his hair and eyes. She gripped a different Pokeball as he switched Pokeballs as well.

“Ready? Commence battle!” He shouted. He smirked at his change of lines. Darkfire rolled her eyes skyward at him as the Pokeballs opened. Dustyn blinked at being called back into battle again, but watched his opponent. It revealed itself to be a creature common to Hoenn, Swablu. It blinked in confusion before looking at Dustyn in fear. Why fear? She pulled out her Pokedex and nearly cried out in rage. It was only about as strong as Fausto when she’d caught him! Even now, Fausto could beat the baby bird easily.

Prof. Ash frowned but was not allowed to comment.

“Swablu, Sing!” Drake smirked. Darkfire shook her head. She put the Pokedex away and turned to Dustyn.

“Dustyn, Confusion!”

People stared as though she’d grown another head. Dustyn nodded respectfully to his trainer and focused on the frightened Swablu. It was humming, about to use Sing. He lunged at the tiny bird and fell to the ground, miming a dead faint. His Swablu cried out in shock and returned itself to its Pokeball. Dustyn stood up, roaring in laughter.

“Drake! You play on people’s character! You know that most refuse to battle a newly hatched Pokemon! I, too, shall play at this battle. I play illusions!” Darkfire smirked darkly, obviously shaking Drake up. He collected himself and laughed, bringing Dustyn’s attention back to the battle.

“Very well, we’ll both play illusions. Go!” He sent out another Pokeball, which erupted to reveal an Alakazam. Darkfire scowled. She didn’t need her Pokedex to confirm her suspicion of this Pokemon being too powerful for any of her Pokemon to defeat. The crowd sensed this, too. They roared and booed in anger.

“Alakazam, Psychic!” He roared in laughter. Alakazam narrowed his eyes and concentrated on the Mankey. Before it could attack, however, Darkfire recalled her terrified Pokemon. “Oh, are you going to summon your little dog demon? It’ll stand no chance against me!”

Darkfire touched Kyron’s Pokeball and smirked. So, she’d been right. Though how everyone knew about that capture… She glanced at Chance, who flinched. She then switched Pokeballs and believed that battling was suicide. She threw her final Pokeball into the arena to reveal a very familiar Pokemon. Everyone gasped in surprise at the infamous Pokemon that was rarely appreciated for its true power. Chance had seen this particular Pokemon’s power in battle before, but he wasn’t sure if the impossible could be made possible by this terrifying battle duo. Drake openly gaped at Darkfire’s choice, and his Alakazam fell to the ground laughing. It was none other than…

“You’re going to beat me with a fricken pigeon!” Drake roared in laughter.

“Hey, that Pokemon nearly ate me!” Jazz shouted from her position alongside of the arena.

“Yeah!” Chance agreed, though he had no idea what she was talking about.

Drake laughed even harder until he lost his balance. He fell out of the trainer’s box and fell all four feet onto the grass. He and Alakazam roared in laughter as everyone else stared. Darkfire laughed in relief as her plan had worked. Jantis smirked. He may not have fought, but he’d won. However it was accomplished, he didn’t care. He chuckled along before turning to Prof. Ash. He was laughing with relief before saying,

“Game to Darkfire and her Pokemon Dustyn and Jantis!” Drake and Alakazam had settled and were confused by this.

“How?” He asked. Prof. Ash beckoned to Darkfire. She released Dustyn and the three of them went to the microphone. She took it and smiled at her attentive audience. Had it only been a few days ago that she’d hated people so much? And now, she was going to play Prof. Oak at one of his speeches.

“Well, I owe this victory to Jantis the Spearow and Dustyn the Mankey. I played the game of Pokemon battling by the rules. I announced my attacks and prayed that my Pokemon will listen. In the first battle, Drake twisted the rules slightly. I, like any other respectable Pokemon trainer, refuse to battle a Pokemon young enough to need a practice solo to use Sing. So I ordered an attack, Confusion. Of course, as many of you hopefully know, Mankey can’t learn that attack. I didn’t expect for him to even try to use it. He simply lunged at The Swablu and missed. The little thing wasn’t up for battle, and retreated. In the second round, I also refuse to let my own Pokemon, not only with a type disadvantage but an immense one of level, fight to his demise. I knew that Alakazam can be prideful and that anyone powerful enough to control such a Pokemon must have a strong mental and emotional attachment to his Pokemon. Normally, one doesn’t play with these bonds, but I hoped I could win without getting anyone hurt. Using Alakazam’s pride and his trainer’s bond, I attacked his trainer, in a manner of speaking. Who could expect to defeat him with a tiny Spearow? No offense, Jantis.”

“How does this mean I lost?” Drake asked. He’d recalled his Pokemon and was looking around in shame.

“Alakazam found it funny that I believed that I could beat him with a Spearow. So did you. You felt both of your emotions, making it unbearably funny. You couldn’t control yourself and fell out of your trainer’s box. The rules state that if you leave the box during a battle, you are disqualified.” She smiled weakly. He stared long and hard at Darkfire. Finally, he burst into laughter.

“Darkfire, you are smart! If you managed to defeat me without anyone getting hurt then you deserve to win. I only hope you can forgive me.”

“The question is; is your bond with Your Swablu destroyed?”

“Probably. I can’t even beg for its forgiveness.” He tossed His Swablu’s Pokeball to Darkfire. He then sent out his Alakazam and they Teleported away before anyone could say anything. Darkfire stared at the Pokeball in her hand. She half expected for it to vanish at any second, but it soon became apparent that her seventh Pokemon wasn’t yet headed to the Lab. She recalled Jantis and Dustyn with her final thanks. They retreated willingly to their Pokeballs before she got her Pokemon healed.

A bit later, she rushed back out to run, once again, into Prof. Ash. He looked at her, startled. She smiled up at him, holding her new Swablu’s Pokeball in hand. She hadn’t yet decided what to do with it, actually, her. Prof. Ash stared at her Pokeball and smiled.

“’Fire. I was just coming to tell you two things. First, the Round Two Awards are about to be presented and you must hurry. Second, and more important, there’s something on the Pokedex you should see.” Darkfire nodded and pulled it out. Prof. Ash opened it and pointed to a small hidden switch. Above it was a tiny indent only just large enough to fit a minimized Pokeball onto it. “If you switch this, you can keep as many Pokemon as you want with you at any point in time. If you do want to send a Pokemon back, you must put them in this slot. It will go back to the Lab, then. If you want to put it back too default, send Pokemon back manually until you have a maximum of six Pokemon. Then you can switch it. Remember, you need to have at least one Pokemon with you at all times.”

Darkfire nodded her thanks before running out onto the battle platform, raised above ground level by a foot, and joining the small line of trainers. Including herself, there were four trainers. Here eyes widened slightly as she saw Jazz and Chance among them. How much had little Chance improved to be here? How strong was her ambitious friend? She looked straightforward to the Presidents and the Professors. Between them, there was a table that had four boxes. They looked just like the Safeguard TM, except for color and perhaps numbers. From left to right, they were colored aqua-blue, fushia, an extremely dark violet, and a light rosy pink. Prof. Oak smiled at Darkfire, but she saw a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. He then turned his back to the trainers to face the audience.

“These four young trainers have overcome weaknesses and advantages to be standing here. They are truly worthy trainers to try out the new SBP, except for one problem: we only have one. Out of the sixteen trainers, only four remain. Each will battle two more rounds, and the last trainer standing receives the SBP. However, the runner up will not go away without a small prize of his or her own. More about that later. For now, these trainers are about to be rewarded with their choice of TM. Devon Corp.’s own Hoenn series, these are as shown.” Prof. Ash pointed out the aqua one. “The TM Bubblebeam.” Prof. Ash then pointed the out going down the row. “The TM Toxic, Shadow Ball and last but not least Reflect! Now, depending on the battle scores obtained by Prof. Ketchum and approved by the Presidents of Sliph Co. and Devon Corp. For only using one Pokemon to defeat his opponents, Chance Lewis gets the highest score. He gets first pick.”

Chance went up to the table and scanned the contents. He then settled for the Reflect TM. He retreated back to the line, looking very happy with this new move. He received applause, though there were a few confused looks amongst the crowd. What about Darkfire?

“Next, for using both Pokemon, but defeating her opponents in only three moves each, Jazz Amadahy gets second pick.” More applause for this trainer, but again everyone was confused. Even the other trainers looked uncertain.

Jazz hesitated, looking at Darkfire in confusion. Darkfire smiled and motioned to the table. She took the Bubblebeam TM without hesitating, but again she looked at her friend in confusion. Darkfire glanced at the remaining trainer. She was tall but not in an unattractive way. She had dark green hair and brown eyes. Darkfire was reminded of the earth when she looked at her. This trainer also went up when her name had been announced. She took the Shadow Ball TM, leaving Darkfire with Toxic. There was no explanation of either trainer’s placements, only that they placed third and fourth. Darkfire studied her new TM before returning to the line. She was rather pleased with her new attack, but she was as confused as everyone else.

“Darkfire and Chance will now start us off with round 3-1, followed by round 3-2. Considering that it will take quite a while between these rounds and the finals, there will be a half-hour break to let our trainers eat and relax. My, look at the time already! It’s 1:30 P.M., meaning that we’ve been out here for six and a half hours straight! Well, let’s get this underway. Chance, Darkfire, do you both know the rules? Three-on-three, set. To anyone who forgets the difference between a switch and set battle, the switch is used more commonly these days. With a previously agreed on number of Pokemon, each trainer battles each Pokemon. When one Pokemon is defeated both trainers send out a new pair of Pokemon. That’s the idea of ‘switch’. In set, it’s battle to faint. Switching out Pokemon is an auto KO, so let’s get ready to rumble!” Prof. Ash shouted.

Darkfire remembered the dangers of Chance’s team. When she’d met him, he’d wanted to collect a team of Pokemon similar to Prof. Ash’s. She smiled as she figured that he’d used a new Pikachu to defeat his opponents. She picked a Pokeball from her belt, swapping Her Swablu’s Pokeball and the Toxic TM to her left hand. He smirked at her, confidence flowing over him.

“Initiate battle phase!” Prof. Ash jumped off of the battle platform, turning back to witness the release of two Pokemon. They were identical down to the last detail, even in gender. Now, Darkfire gave a start to realize that she’d been thinking of Pokemon by gender rather than by the appropriate ‘it’ until she was certain. She decided to think of this later as Chance stared at her.

“Pikachu, Thundershock!” Chance obviously hadn’t dealt with Electric Pokemon battles when they were held between Electric Pokemon alone.

“Wait then Thunder Wave.” Darkfire said smoothly.

Chance’s Pikachu sent a powerful Thundershock attack to Taima, who turned the other check. Literally. The attack was absorbed by her red cheeks, leaving Pikachu electric less. Taima smirked and shot a wave of electricity through Pikachu, paralyzing her. Taima then walked calmly over to Pikachu and smirked, awaiting orders.

“Taima, Thundershock by the tail!” Darkfire ordered. Chance sighed and recalled his Pikachu before she could be hurt worse than she was already. Darkfire nodded, suspecting that Chance had found his Pikachu in such a paralyzed state. It would explain his protectiveness. He then held up another Pokeball and sent it into the field.

“Go, Butterfree! Sleep Powder!”

“Taima, Thundershock!”

The beautiful butterfly flapped his wings, sending light blue spores onto Taima. She released a Thundershock, hitting the half Flying type for devastating effects. Both went down, Taima asleep and Butterfree paralyzed. Darkfire recalled Taima, releasing Jantis. Even if she’d waited for Taima to awaken, the Butterfree might have hurt her badly by then. To her surprise, Chance recalled his Pokemon. He nodded to her.

“I request to forfeit. I know I’m no match against this Pokemon.” Without waiting for a response, he left the trainer’s box. She looked at Prof. Ash, who shrugged. She recalled the disappointed Spearow and went to the Pokemon Center.

[Pig on the Wing]

My my, that was a quick update

Um, the battle between Darkfire and Drake was... well, different but also way over way to quickly, but heck it was the originality that counts.
The second battle was bad IMO. I think you'll find that in this fic you're making people far too wary of Darkfire; nobody in their right mind (bearing in mind I'm speaking, and I'm insane ) would give up (even if they had lost before) if they were up against a Spearow. And Darkfire is too powerful for own good, she's repeadteldy winning and that's not the best of things to put into a trainer fic as it gets too boring and predictable. Neither of the battles were described very well either; you could try and describe emotions of both Pokemon and trainers as well as facial expressions and (even though I know what they look like) the size/shape/colours/other features of Pokemon that are battling.
Another area is well, area description. You could sort of describe the place they're in; what it looks like/the amountof people/other features/size/shape and the like. The people's emotion's could be described slightly better as well...
Finally, make sure you go through and proof-read; I noticed a couple of spelling/grammatical errors dotted around the place. Nothing serious, but you might want to watch it.

Well, that's my criticism out of the way... Just had to vent some anger there...

Other than that though, quite a good chapter. Your description (against what I said earlier) of Houndoor attacking her and how she felt about the whole ordeal was very, very good. Keep up the good work there. The story is unfolding well, becoming in this area original and full of surprises, so that's good. Hopefully next time she meets Asha'man he won't to anything horrible, and she'll come to her senses and tell him to **** off.

Rawr, either way, try to improve on the points I mentioned and keep up the good work otherwise.

BTW, feel free to PM me if you need any help or examples or whatever else.

[Skye]

I've worked on the discription a bit, so I hope its better. I'm still on the winning streak, but that will all end soon, I promise.

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Chapter 5 - Battles of Pride, Part 3

While Taima was being restored, Darkfire released the young Swablu. She looked around, her eyes fearful. Darkfire let her fly around before she came to rest on the top of the coo-coo Pidgey clock. She was crying softly, fear and confusion shining in her beady dark brown eyes. She wrapped her cloud-like wings around her sky blue body. Darkfire noticed that her beak was the same color as her fluffy wings; a pure white.

“Hey, girl. I’m your new trainer, Darkfire.” The Swablu looked at her, confused. “Can you understand me?”

(Bits.) She chirped softly.

Darkfire frowned. She could understand her Pokemon now. How? Maybe, if she tried to speak their language… Later. She’d already freaked out her friends with her fire experiment. She smiled again and looked up at the little puffy bird. She had her body tilted to the side a bit, a Swablu’s way of cocking its head. Considering that most of a Swablu's body is its head, that made perfect sense to her.

“Hey, I have two other really young Pokemon. One is a Meowth named Fausto. The other is a Houndour. His name is Kyron. They could tell you that I won’t force you to do anything too hard for you. Do you have a name?” Darkfire saw the little Swablu relax a bit. She shook herself, an obvious ‘no’. “That’s okay. Hey, do you want to come with me to get some food?” She bobbed her body, brightening. Darkfire collected Taima before they left.

Darkfire was glad that her newest Pokemon was able to trust her. Swablu lighted down onto her head, relaxed. Darkfire left the Center, mentally debating if the odd protection against fire was somehow connected to her hearing Pokemon speech and gaining a Pokemon’s trust so easily. Darkfire was a bit uneasy, knowing that it wasn’t supposed to be as easy as it was for her to tame a wild Pokemon as it was. Normally, life was balanced in its distribution of trust and distrust. Maybe for her it wasn't balanced equally enough. At least, concerning that a few humans trusted her in a sea of people that would rather use her, maybe there were a handful of Pokemon that would distrust her in the sea of Pokemon that trusted her so easily. Darkfire looked around, wondering where she could go that would have food that both she and the Swablu would like.

“Hey, ‘Fire! Over here!” Darkfire saw Prof. Ash waving. Next to him were Eban, Jazz, and Chance. Darkfire hesitated before going over to see them. Prof. Ash smiled as her before looking up at her Swablu. “You’ve got it way too easy! I actually had to catch some of my Pokemon, literally, to get them to trust me.” Darkfire found herself laughing at him.

She sat down with her friends, listening and talking as they joked around. Darkfire noticed Jazz was oddly quiet. Did she still have a crush on Prof. Ash? She arched an eyebrow at her and Jazz looked away, blushing. Chance then poked her and she turned at him.

“Darkfire? Why’s your name so strange?” He asked. Eban and Jazz both turned to her, eager to hear the explanation.

“Well, it’s not my real name.” Darkfire smiled secretly at them.

“What is your real name?” Eban asked. For some reason, Darkfire began to study him. She felt a frustration build up in her mind. She felt like she couldn’t trust him, but she knew in her mind that she could trust him. She smashed down the suspicion and looked at Chance.

“I can’t tell you my real name. There are too many who could hear it. If the wrong person hears it, then I doubt that anything good could come out of it.” Darkfire admitted.

She glanced briefly at Eban, who winced. The young Swablu began to hum, reminding Darkfire that she was there. She bid a brief farewell to her friends before setting out to find lunch. She and Semira, her named Swablu, shared bits of conversation along the way. She confirmed suspicions about her age, only a few days. Semira asked Darkfire many questions about herself as a trainer. She seemed startled that Darkfire had so many Pokemon, but hadn’t been a trainer for even a week.

By the time that they had become quite good at communicating, it was time to head back to the arena. Both had eaten a good filling of the variety of foods found at the July Convention. Darkfire had also been pleased to discover that participants in the tournament could sample free foods anywhere on the Convention grounds. She jumped up to meet the Professors and Jazz. What had happened to the other girl? She shrugged off the question and stood next to her friend.

“According to the rules, these two fine trainers have fairly defeated their opponents. Again, they shall receive any four TMs. By the scores of their previous battles, Jazz may receive her TM first. Prof. Ketchum will randomly draw them. At random, they may receive the TM Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, or Light Screen.”

Jazz came forward and nodded to Prof. Ash. He nodded back with a smile. He drew out a light, icy-blue colored TM, obviously Ice Beam. She muttered a thanks before going back to stand next to Darkfire. She paused before going forward to her older friend. He handed her a light-fushia colored TM, possibly the Light Screen move.

“Jazz has the Ice Beam TM, while Darkfire has the Light Screen TM. How interesting. The final round of the July Convention tournament for the SBP is about to commence. While Jazz has cleaned house with her team, Darkfire has had it easy with disqualifications and forfeits, how will she fare?” Prof. Ash loved playing announcer. Darkfire sighed and recalled Semira before going to her favorite blue trainer’s box.

Obviously, there was a good chance that Jazz’s first Pokemon would be a water type. However, there was also a good chance that Jazz would expect Darkfire’s realization and send out a Pokemon with Ground attacks or was a Ground type. She ran her fingers over her Pokeballs, counting. First was Hakan. Next were Kyron, Fausto, Jantis, Taima, and Dustyn. Not Taima first, nor her Fire Pokemon. She picked up a Pokeball, feeling the life energy that hovered over the glossy surface. Another new thing to ponder on later. Jazz smiled and nodded to Darkfire from the red box.

“Great! Let’s get this party started!” Prof. Ash shouted. Darkfire tossed her Pokeball into the arena, laughing at Prof. Ash’s enthusiasm.

Her Pokeball snapped open, revealing her choice. The audience gasped at her choice, and gasped again at Jazz’s choice. Darkfire arched an eyebrow at the opposing Pokemon. Fausto, hissing with an arched back, bared his fangs at his opponent. The black dragon on his back shifted almost as though it was alive as his fur stood on end. The opposing Dark type sniffed and glanced at Jazz. His dark body gleamed in the sun; his eyes of blood red glittered as he eyed the younger Pokemon. Decorating his body were rings that shifted color in a fashion that hurt her eyes to watch. Jazz had called out an Umbreon. She breathed out in a sigh while Darkfire narrowed her eyes.

“Umbreon, Bite!” Jazz called out.

“Fausto, Fury Swipes!” Darkfire stared at the Dark type, remembering Prof. Oak’s warning about Dark Pokemon.

Fausto’s claws gleamed as he unsheathed them. He then leaped at the Dark Pokemon, intent on beating his first opponent. The Umbreon dodged and sank his teeth into the back of Fausto’s neck. Sharp fangs pierced Fausto's neck and red blood began to stain his fur. The new color spread at a rapid rate, growing until it found the ground and began to seep into it. Darkfire shouted in panic and recalled the small Pokemon. Fausto had already faced death from a human before. She wasn’t about to let him get seriously injured because she’d asked him to battle a fully-grown Umbreon.

Jazz smirked, making Darkfire’s stomach churn. She now knew that she had to be careful, Jazz wasn't going to go easy on her. She looked into the audience, wondering. A flash of black and red made her focus on the crowd harder. Asha’Man was there! He pulled up a blue Pokeball, making her think of Kyron’s blue coat. He caught her eye and nodded. She shook her head and looked back over at Jazz.

She ran her fingers along her Pokeballs. With Fausto recalled and Semira being too young, that left her with five choices. Kyron? No. Hakan. He could roast that Umbreon easily. She looked at the crowd, seeing Asha’Man. He was shaking his head, pulling something out of his pocket. She paled, thinking of a gun. She changed her mind then, throwing Kyron’s Pokeball onto the arena. The demon-like dog streaked out of his Pokeball in his customary shower of colors and sparks. The audience gasped in awe while Jazz's dark smirk had faded.
“Bite.” Jazz glanced at the glowing Houndour with a smirk.

“Bite!” Darkfire glanced back into the crowd, but Asha’Man was gone. How had he gotten in unnoticed?

Kyron snarled at the opposing Pokemon, who was snarling back. This continued for a moment longer before Umbreon launched himself at the Houndour. Kyron lunged onto Umbreon, biting him fiercely on the shoulder. Umbreon tried to tear at a mouthful of Kyron’s flesh, but his teeth only managed to close in on the bone armor. Darkfire tensed, realizing that even with Hakan’s Ember scorching Umbreon’s coat, he could still Bite, leaving the Fire type in the Dark’s mercy.

“Tackle low!” Jazz snarled.

“Howl!” Darkfire tried to catch Jazz’s eye. However, she was avoiding her gaze.

Umbreon leaped away, blood pouring from his shoulder. He backed up before beginning to charge forward. With his shoulders hunched, he was obviously going to bowl Kyron off of his feet. Kyron lay down on the ground, pointing his nose skyward. From his throat burst fourth a wail of emotion. He sung of his sorrow, his fear. His hopes and dreams. He sung a song mainly of power, the power to stop all forces in their tracks. Umbreon heard this song and he too stopped. He threw his head back and added his own notes to the fray. His song was one of distress.

“Ember.” Darkfire growled.

“Umbreon, look out!” Jazz shouted in sudden horror.

Kyron’s Howling had stopped Jazz’s warning from reaching the Dark Pokemon’s ears. Kyron stopped his attack and fired an Ember into the Umbreon’s bite wound. The Umbreon roared in pain before falling to the ground, badly burned. The stench up burned blood and flesh assaulted Darkfire's nose, and it was all that she could do to keep from losing her lunch. Kyron bared his teeth as the Umbreon got up, favoring his shoulder with a pained lick. The Umbreon then turned back to his opponent, murder in his blood-red eyes. Kyron tensed, ready to finish this fight, no matter what.

“Confuse Ray!” Jazz roared. She looked so different from how Darkfire remembered first seeing her.

“Ember, again!” Darkfire mentally cursed. She and Kyron needed more attacks for this battle.

Jazz's Umbreon's eyes glowed menacingly, reminding Darkfire of the Leer attack. All redness was lost, replaced by a glowing light which drowned out even his pupils. Kyron knew better than to let this intimidate him. He opened his mouth, sending another burst of flame at his opponent. At he same time, a wispy bright light shot from Umbreon's eyes, hitting Kyron. He than gasped as the flames hit him in the chest, knocking him back. Kyron looked around in a daze, obviously unable to focus.

“Bite.” Jazz ordered, making Darkfire snort. Hadn't they already done this?

“Attack that Umbreon with your teeth.” How more specific could she get?

In a confused state, a Pokemon was lost in its own mind, sometimes paralyzing it in battle. The best counter was to use specific commands as nothing was already understood in a Pokemon's mind. It was like writing an essay using only a blank sheet of paper. You had to use your own words to describe what was going on. For example, you can't tell a confused Pokemon to use Bubble. It won't know that you're talking about. At best, it'll figure out the attack by itself, but then what to do with it? You said nothing about attacking the other Pokemon, so of course it won't do that.

Kyron cocked his head as he heard Darkfire's command. She then frowned, wondering if he remembered what an Umbreon was. He bared his teeth as he saw Umbreon charging at him, but didn't move. Umbreon slammed himself onto Kyron, bowling the other Dark type over. Pinned, her Houndour suffered several Bites before realizing that that was an Umbreon on him. He snarled and flipped his opponent off of him. He then slammed his opponent under him and sank his fangs into Umbreon's neck. It wailed before going limp in defeat. Jazz recalled the Dark Pokemon with a snarl. Darkfire looked sadly at her friend. Was this what Prof. Oak thought would happen to her?

“Well,” Prof. Ash mused over the microphone, “with only five Pokemon remaining to each trainer, how will this odd battle turn out?”

Jazz picked up another Pokeball and thrust it out into the arena. A long, stale blue serpent Pokemon snaked out to meet Kyron. Muscles rippled under her fair skin, her dark eyes gleaming. Her bat-winged ears were a silver-white, the same color as her underbelly and her round muzzle. It was the legendary Dragon type, Dratini! Jazz’s eyes seemed to clear up as she smiled down at the extremely rare Pokemon. Kyron's confusion had cleared during Umbreon's attack. Now calm and arrogant as usual, he rolled his eyes skyward, never having heard of a Dratini’s power. Darkfire tensed. She didn’t know much about these rare Pokemon, but she could feel Dratini's power in her body.

“Dratini, Wrap!” Jazz called out.

“Protect your neck! Ember!” Darkfire instructed.

Kyron fired a stream of fire at the tiny Dragon Pokemon. She waited for him to run out of breath before she slithered up to him and attempted to bind the young Houndour. Despite Darkfire’s earlier warning, Kyron was too stunned that the Pokemon’s fair skin had deflected his fire attack. She snaked around his neck, squeezing until his breath caught. Blood from the wounds to his neck and shoulders from the repeated Bite attack flowed onto Dratini, soaking into her skin. She didn't look to happy as it rolled over her body, but she kept her focus on the Houndour. Kyron, gasping for breath, stumbled back. He lost his balance and fell off of the arena, disqualifying him from battling any further. Dratini, sensing he had been about to fall, had sprung away from him. Darkfire grimaced at her terrible luck. Now, she only had four Pokemon left. She touched Taima’s Pokeball, knowing that the Pikachu had the best chance out of all of her Pokemon put together. She recalled Kyron to rest, and picked a Pokeball from her belt.

Her Pokeball erupted in a shower of light. Semira lighted down in the arena, her eyes ablaze in battle rage. Darkfire’s mouth fell open, Taima's occupied Pokeball still in her hand. Everyone gasped except for her and Jazz. She stared at the baby bird before glaring at Darkfire. Darkfire closed her eyes, knowing that this slip up would cost her dearly. Semira hummed softly.

“Semira! Come here!” Darkfire growled. She had no idea how the young un-evolved Dragon to be Pokemon had not only escaped, but into the midst of battle. The Swablu looked at her new trainer, her eyes begging. Darkfire groaned. “Dragon Dance!”

“Oh, turning on your own little speech, eh?” Jazz growled, her voice dripping with venom. “I’m not afraid to attack you or your Pokemon. Thunder Wave!”

Darkfire looked over at Jazz. She trusted few people because of this. They believed that they knew her so well. No one knew her. No one was allowed to even pretend that they could understand her. She’d trusted the Professors because they allowed her to work with Pokemon as she pleased and never questioned her. She’d trusted Jazz because they had shared a common fear. That fear was replaced by anger in Darkfire. That left the two no common grounds. She wasn’t battling a friend. She was fighting another normal person. She was battling a rival trainer.

Semira felt her attitude chance and took to the air. She weaved herself gracefully around in the air, dodging the Thunder Wave attack while at the same time dancing to an unheard rhythm. All the wile, she seemed to be gaining speed and confidence. Dratini hissed in anger and frustration before firing another Thunder Wave without being asked. Semira was gone before the attack could hit her. Dratini growled deeply in her throat, enraged.

“Dratini, Leer!” Jazz growled.

“Semira! Dragon Rage!” Darkfire snarled. She wasn’t going to lose to this person.

Semira’s eyes glowed in a mockery of Dratini’s Leer. Dratini stopped trying to stun her, confused. The skies then darkened overhead, creating an uncomfortable feeling in the people around Darkfire. She looked around briefly. Prof. Ash had paled, while Prof. Oak was looking rather angry, yet interested at the same time. The Presidents were no were to be seen, and the crowd milled around in an instinctual unease. Darkfire’s cold eyes then turned to Jazz. Jazz was staring at her in shock.

Semira looked up at the sky as a funnel of wind whipped down from the stormy clouds. She then looked at Dratini, her eyes narrowed. The funnel turned to a solid bar of matter, slamming against the Dragon Pokemon. Dratini had no chance of staying conscious after this attack, and didn’t try. The Swablu lighted down, exhausted. The clouds overhead began to break up as Jazz recalled Dratini. Darkfire clenched her hands on the bar of her box, the pressure reminding her of the burns on her hands. Semira smirked in triumph and waited for the next Pokemon to be revealed.

“What power!” Prof. Ash’s wavering voice announced, bringing up a cheer from the exhilarated crowd. “Jazz has only four Pokemon to battle with, and Darkfire has Swablu plus three more choices.”

Jazz looked near tears before she released her next Pokemon, Horsea. Darkfire arched a cold eyebrow at this. She’d helped Jazz to get that Pokemon. And now she was to see it battle.

“Rain Dance.” Jazz whispered. Horsea nodded and began to fidget. She then began to dance in an odd, hypnotizing motion. Semira, still panting from the effort of using Dragon Rage, blinked as a droplet of rain tapped her on the head. The clouds from before had come back, bringing a chill with them. Darkfire shivered as her hands throbbed in pain. Her bandages soak through swiftly, the water making the scorched skin at the palms of her hands ache in protest. Jazz then held up her Pokeball and recalled her Horsea.

She then threw another Pokeball out into the arena, revealing her Mudkip. Semira, rested by now, took to the sky. The rain, however, seemed to weigh down on her wings.

“Dragon Dance!” Darkfire directed.

“Water Gun!” Jazz ordered.

Semira wasted no time before she began to zigzag through the air, shaking water off of her wings. Mudkip fired a barrage of Water Guns in rapid succession. The attack was easier to make and fire under these conditions. As a bonus, the falling rain collected onto the water shots, making them heavier. This, obviously, made the power of the impact much more powerful. However, the added water also made the accuracy of the attack poorer. Semira glided over the water blasts easily. She smirked down at her opponent.

“Keep firing!” Jazz shouted, growing desperate.

“Sing.” Darkfire called up to Semira.

She inhaled and began to Sing a gorgeous melody. Mudkip tried her best to ignore the song as she fired more streams of water. However, with a startling abruptness, she collapsed in a deep sleep. Darkfire glanced to the sky and saw Semira falling. She was soaked, suggesting that a Water Gun had hit her. Darkfire held up a Pokeball and recalled the defeated Pokemon with silent thanks.

Without thinking, she pulled out another Pokeball and tossed it into the arena. It snapped open to reveal Dustyn. The Mankey shook himself as the water quickly drenched his thick fur. He turned to Darkfire, his eyes concerned. She realized that he could feel her pain as well as her burning rage. She glanced at him and he turned to his sleeping opponent.

“Karate Chop.” She growled, daring her Fighting Pokemon to question her command.

“Mudkip! Wake up!” Jazz shouted.

Dustyn wasn’t about to ask why his trainer was willing to have him attack this sleeping Pokemon. He pause a second before batting this pathetically sound sleeper painfully against the red trainer’s box. Jazz recalled her suffering Mudkip with a sob. She then glared and released her Totodile. He opened his mouth in a warning hiss.

“Karate Chop.” Darkfire stated, expecting the best now.

“Bite!” Jazz roared.

Totodile lunged at Dustyn, sinking his teeth into the Mankey’s left shoulder. Dustyn punched Totodile in the gut, knocking the breathless water crocodile away. They glared at each other. Blood soaked through Dustyn’s shoulder and stained the fur on his left side. He was gasping in pain, his eyes wary of the powerful Totodile. Totodile was gaining a bruise across his belly, his eyes clouded in pain. Darkfire then glanced at her hands to see blood soaking through the bandages and dripping onto the railing. She clenched them, sharpening the pain. She bared her teeth as the pain fueled her anger. The anger felt pointless by now, but she was too stubborn to accept this.

“Bite!” Jazz repeated. Her eyes were flashing in rage.

“Karate Chop!” Roared Darkfire. She would show Jazz that she had nothing to be angry about.

Totodile attacked with the same energy, though more cautiously. He sank his fangs into Dustyn’s left side while Dustyn brought his right fist up and slammed it into Totodile’s ribs. Totodile closed his eyes and clamped his jaws down with increasing firmness. A crunching sound was heard as more blood surfaced. Dustyn brought his fist down into Totodile’s already bruised chest and slammed down. More cracks were heard.

Darkfire recalled her Pokemon, feeling as though she were going to hurl. She shook as her rage vanished. Totodile crumpled to the ground before he, too, was called back. The audience was silent at this show of viciousness between the trainers and their Pokemon. The rain let up slowly leaving the arena soaked in water and blood. Her legs gave out as she tore her eyes away from the field, dizzy with weakness.

“Darkfire has two Pokemon left, while Jazz has one to go. However, it looks like Darkfire might forfeit.” His voice almost sounded insistent. She felt as though it would be best to give up. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t handle the responsibility. In one battle, she’d nearly gotten two of her Pokemon killed, she’d forced a hatchling to battle against all odds, and she’d nearly killed her opponent’s Pokemon. Her body shook as she realized that this had all happened because she was too proud to admit that someone could understand her. That someone could be her friend and they could share anything in common with her.

She forced herself to stand as she looked across the field at Jazz. She was still angry, but she looked terrified as well. No more Pokemon were on the field and everyone was watching her. She felt calmer now. Her hands ached as they continued to bleed. She picked another Pokeball and mechanically tossed it into the arena.

Jantis shot into the air, glancing at the grounds. He stayed silent as her surveyed the water and blood and marks on the ground below him. He glanced at his trainer and winked. Darkfire felt relieved as she realized that Jantis was one who shared a short and uncontrollable temper. He wasn’t going to question Darkfire until later. Now, they looked at Jazz. She was looking relieved as she threw a Pokeball into the arena. It opened to reveal a Squirtle. Darkfire stole a swift glance at Prof. Ash. He looked unhappy, but he didn’t remark.

“Peck!” Darkfire commanded simply.

“Ice Beam.” Jazz ordered.

Jantis plunged from the air, smashing beak-first into Squirtle’s chest. He gasped as his breath was knocked out of him, stunning him. He breathed in painfully, before firing a beam of pure ice at Jantis. It caught his wing tip, the liquid ice traveling up to his shoulder before the beam was cut short. Squirtle gasped and sat down, trying to breath properly. Jantis crashed through the air, attempting to free himself. Darkfire watched, hoping with her Spearow that he could do it. Only too close to the ground, and still falling at a terrifying speed, did she recall him. She saw the flash of disappointment in his eyes, but she would rather he be disqualified from the battle than he break a wing, or worse, his neck.

“Squirtle is having it tough, and both trainers are on their last Pokemon.” Prof. Ash announced. “So far this battle has been… shocking… Will the last round show just as much power and vigor as the others?”

Darkfire fingered her last two Pokeballs. Hakan stood a better chance against freezing, but Taima had the type advantage. Darkfire sighed in frustration before selecting a Pokeball at random and casting it into the arena. Out erupted her final Pokemon, and it was Hakan. He smirked against his disadvantage as Squirtle’s labored breathing gave him time to set himself up. Darkfire knew this and felt reassured by her choice.

“Hakan, Leer!” She commanded.

“Squirtle, Ice Beam!” Jazz spoke now in confidence.

Darkfire shook her head in disgust at her opponent’s certainty in her Squirtle’s power. After all, what block of ice cannot be melted by a single flame? Hakan felt this idea and his smirk deepened. His eyes turned an ominous gold as he glared at Squirtle. Squirtle narrowed his own eyes, attempting to power up for an Ice Beam, but a distinguished shiver shook Squirtle as Leer took its effects took a hold on his mind. Darkfire grinned at this while his opponent yelped in surprise.

“Ember!” Darkfire shouted, becoming excited about the battle again.

“Water Gun!” Growled Jazz as she glared at Darkfire. Darkfire saw a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

Hakan prepared himself before firing a powerful jet of flames at Squirtle. At first, the still shocked Pokemon was enveloped in the fire, but he was soon fighting back. He had summoned the strength to fire a stream of water and the two were fighting it out. His water was steadily pushing back Hakan’s fire with steam erupting were the two raw elements met. Hakan’s face slowly became redder than it should be. Darkfire frowned as she watched. Slowly, Squirtle was also turning red in the face, but it was soon evident that Hakan was loosing.

His flame shrink in size while it was being forced back by water. Darkfire held up his Pokeball, ready to give in, when she saw a burn stretched out across Squirtle’s shell and arms. She blinked before realizing what this meant. Jantis had smacked Squirtle hard enough to crack his shell, even if it was just a hairline crack. The burns meant that Hakan’s fire had held him long enough to grant Squirtle some minor burns on the outside, but the burns also gave Darkfire hope. If Hakan’s fire had burned him on the inside too…

“Keep going, Hakan! Just a little more!” Darkfire shouted her encouragement.

“Great, Squirtle! Now, close in on him!” Jazz cheered.

Darkfire held her breath as Hakan’s flame doubled in size, pushing Squirtle away from him. Squirtle stopped his water attack to breath, expecting the swell of fire to burn out, but he was wrong. Hakan, now on claws and knees from lack of air, was putting everything he had into this one last attack. Squirtle cried out in alarm and pain as he was once again consumed by fire.

“Enough!” Darkfire shouted.

“Squirtle!” Jazz shouted in panic.

Hakan’s fire died down as the winded fire lizard gasped painfully for breath. All eyes turned to Squirtle, who was on his back. He looked groggy, but okay. Darkfire saw the slight glowing in his chest and knew better. Hakan also saw this and relaxed as he rested. For a long time, neither Pokemon nor trainers spoke of moved.

“Water Gun!” Jazz finally commanded.

“Dodge.” Darkfire blinked. Déjà vu?

Squirtle painfully breathed in before sending a small surge of water at Hakan. Hakan easily jumped to the side before settling down to rest again. Squirtle the looked dazed for a split second before it fell over, defeated by an unseen pain. Hakan smirked again and breathed a small flame of contempt in the air as Jazz recalled Squirtle. Darkfire then recalled Hakan to rest before jumping out of the trainer’s box. The crowd cheered, but the noise seemed feeble to Darkfire’s ears. She glanced at Jazz then to Prof. Ash. Jazz was going to the Pokemon Center to treat her Pokemon’s injuries, while Prof. Ash was beckoning. Was she to be punished for battling so fiercely? She shot his a defiant glance before coming.

He returned her look with his own glance of unease before he pulled out the SBP. He held it up for everyone to see before turning to his former student and friend. Darkfire eyed the SBP thoughtfully.

“Darkfire, a few questions before you’re rewarded the SBP. Why did you pit your Swablu in battle?”

“I didn’t. She got out to battle on her own. We have an understanding. It’s this: I won’t make her do anything I don’t believe she can do as long as she doesn’t try to do anything she believes she cannot do.” Murmurs of questions and approval drifted from the audience. Darkfire shook her head. “One of the hardest things to do is decide if you want to be a bad trainer by not letting a young and spirited Pokemon battle, or by not being a person of your word.”

“And which are you?” Prof. Ash’s eyes held sorrow.

“I am a person of my word. So I chose what course suited my character best. I’d rather get my hands burned to learn that fire is hot than be afraid of it.” She held up her hands, covered in bandages soaked thoroughly with water and blood. “Semira, my other Pokemon, and myself have that in common. We’re inexperienced in battles and we’re feeling our hands over the flames of experience. We look out for each other. We learn about this fire and warm ourselves by it. If one of us drifts into the flames, the others will help the drifter cool the burns.”

“One last question; what are your ambitions? To be a Pokemon Master, perhaps?” Prof. Ash suggested. The audience cheered, obviously favoring Darkfire as a trainer, despite her vicious battling tactics.

“No.” She growled. “I am here to train Pokemon to become fighters. A Pokemon trainer with the ambition to become a Master is doomed to fail. If you reach for the moon, you’re sure to touch it, but if you aim for the stars than at least you’ll hit something. I shall train the most powerful Pokemon ever, and in return I shall learn. If I could live forever, I wouldn’t change this. I may become a legend, but I may also not. I shall become a trainer to be reckoned with, but I shall only test my true powers on whatever fate drops in my lap.”

“Well spoken.” Prof. Ash seemed as startled as everyone else watching, but nonetheless pleased. “All in favor of Darkfire Storm to be the BTJC?” A loud cheer erupted from the entire fair grounds, making Darkfire wonder if the whole thing had been taped and shown throughout the entire JC grounds. She ducked her head briefly at this recognition, but was uncertain of what the BTJC was. “We present you, Darkfire, ‘Best Trainer of the July Convention’, with a choice in prizes. First, five TMs: Dragon Claw, Calm Mind, Protect, Double Team, and Aerial Ace.” A loud cheer answered this prize. Darkfire blinked as he named off some of the most powerful techniques in the Pokemon World. “The second, a lifetime supply of Pokeballs, Great Balls, and Ultra Balls.” Whoops and whistles greeted this choice. “And last but not least, three equip items: A Brightpowder, a King’s Rock, and an Amulet Coin. Which will you choose?”

Darkfire frowned. Certainly, the TMs were tempting, but were they the best choice? Equip items could help, but she didn’t want her Pokemon to become dependent on them. Amulet Coin, at best, was a distraction. Certainly, she should choose the lifetime guarantee? It would help with her money. She nodded at this.

“I will take the unlimited Pokeballs.” She announced. Her answer was greeted with cheers.

“Along with the SBP, that is a great combination!” The President of Sliph Co. agreed. He took the SBP from Prof. Ash and held it up for everyone to see. “The Storage Box Platinum. It can hold up to 50 various Pokeballs, 3,000 berries, 50 random assortments of items, and, if I may add, 200 TMs!” The audience roared their approval of this prize. The President turned to Darkfire and smiled. “And it goes to Darkfire.” He handed it to her with a card signed by himself, the President of Devon Corp., Prof. Oak, and Prof. Ash. She recognized it as a permit to free Pokeballs without an expiration date. She tucked it into her Poke Nav, next to her Trainer’s License.

[Shade the Light Gym Leader]

This is a really great fic! I love the descriptions in the out-of-battle situations much better than the in-battle situations, though. Especially when Darkfire commanded Houndour to attack her. However I can't help but feel confused a lot in this fic, mostly having to do with Asha'man though. Wiht all these powers and stuff... its a bit confusing. It's also hard to remember all of Darkfire's Pokémon because she got them all to quickly.

All in all, I liked it. Good job, and keep writing.

[mr_pikachu]

Very interesting fanfic. You incorporate a lot of original things in here, from the mystical powers of Asha'Man (and Darkfire?), to the symbolic names of the different Pokemon. I'm enjoying this.

IMO the battle descriptions, while imperfect, are still alright. I've definitely seen worse. And your originality more than makes up for it... even though that second battle seemed like a bit of a cop-out, with the weird ending. Make sure your battles are realistic, too.

Like Shade said, I agree that your out-of-battle descriptions are better. I think my favorite scene so far was when Darkfire commanded her Houndour to attack her. The line about Professor Oak dropping his Pokeball was what really got me.

I think I sort of understand Asha'Man's cryptic messages, though I'm not entirely sure what will come of them. He's certainly got a darker side, as is shown by his employer's identity.

Well, this is certainly a good start! Keep it up!

[Skye]

Shade the Light Gym Leader - Thanks. I know that it's a confusing fic, but I'll try to fix that. Sorry about that. I'm trying to work out the Asha'Man Darkfire thing, and I hope that it all falls together as nicely as I think it will.

mr_pikachu - Thank you. I've been thinking about the names and I really just like to use them more than more common names like 'Talon' or 'Flame'. I know that te battles are horrible, but I'll rewrite the fic a few more times before I'll call it dead. By then, the battles should be way better. And as for Asha'Man, everything that he's said and why he's said it so... cryptically... will be reveiled in time.

........................................

Chapter 6 - Fire of the Heart

Darkfire sat alone in the night, looking over the SBP. It looked promising, although she believed it somehow had gotten glitches in it. The screen kept shifting around as though she were a child uncertain of what she was really looking for. She sighed and out it back in her backpack. It was scratch proof and fire proof, but it wasn’t steal proof. She pulled out her Pokedex and made sure that the switch was set so that her catches stayed with her. She then looked up each of her Pokemon’s statuses, making sure that they were okay for the night.

Dustyn and Fausto’s names each had a star in front of them, reminding Darkfire that they shouldn’t battle yet. She sighed and put that away. She stood up and stretched, glancing casually around. She was thankful for her years avoiding being poked around with by strangers, which had forced her to develop the ability to hide her emotions. As of right then, her stomach was in knots of anxiety.

“Asha’Man?” She called out softly. She was eager to ask him questions, no matter the price. She believed that his face appeared in the dark before retreating. A branch snapped behind her. She had out Kyron’s Pokeball in an instant, knowing that the ghost-like Asha’Man wasn’t the likely culprit behind the noise.

A small group of people, faces hidden in shadows, walked forward. Darkfire felt a familiar presence around them and relaxed. The shadowed trio were Chance, Eban, and Jazz. Darkfire frowned in puzzlement at the fact that Jazz was here. Her expression changed to a glare for three of them, knowing that Asha’Man wouldn’t appear with them here. Chance looked startled and confused, while Eban was ashamed. Jazz simply glared back.

“You’re unwelcome here.” Darkfire growled at them. She felt angry with them, now. No matter why they were here, they couldn’t possibly have a good reason to destroy her only hope of learning about the red aura, her understanding Pokemon’s speech, or why he’d known that Kyron could defeat the Umbreon. She tossed Kyron’s Pokeball in the air and caught it, assuming a threatening pose.

“What have I done?” Chance asked. Again, it weighed down on her mind that he was only a child. “I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.” He looked down at his feet, looking about ready to cry.

“Indeed.” Eban said. “What have I done? And what of Jazz? How can you be angry at her when it’s you that has the forked-tongue?”

“Chance, I’m not the best person to be around. I hate people. I admit it; I hate humanity. I don’t trust anyone. Chance, I can’t be angry with you. You’re barely ten. Eban, I wish I could trust you. Something, perhaps old distrust, keeps me from trusting you. Jazz, I don’t even know why I’m not attacking you.” She smirked at the idea before continuing. “When we met, I could almost like you because you reacted just like I would have. I was also angry with you, perhaps because you wouldn’t let me at least get a berry for Jantis’s burns while we waited. The only reason that I let you stay around that night was because he scared me, too. But now there is no reason to let you hang around. I have no fear, only an unanswered rage. I was hoping to get an answer tonight, but that won’t happen now.”

“How could you get an answer?” Eban scoffed. Darkfire arched an eyebrow at him, studying him. She tried to find what it was that made it impossible to trust him, but she failed again. “That guy’s probably an insane axe-murderer.”

“I agree.” Darkfire sighed, though she never left her pose, ready to attack if provoked. “I think he’s crazy, but I have to have answers. Illusions can’t hold my eyes forever.”

“How’d you know?” Yelped Eban. Darkfire thrust out her Pokeball. She didn’t even have to tell Kyron what to do. The young and strong Houndour slammed Eban down, ready to attack at her request. “Darkfire, you’re mad!”

“Yes, but I’m also smart. I can deal with not trusting a person, but I’d just love to kill a spy.” Kyron snarled in agreement. “Chance, Jazz. If you get in my way, I’ll have you at the other end of my Pokemon’s attacks.” Jazz paled, pulling Chance close to her. Shocked, he didn’t fight.

“Well, kill me already!” Growled the fearful Eban.

“Answer this first: Who were you spying for?” Darkfire grabbed another Pokeball incase the two bystanders raised protest.

“Team Rocket. You’re our property, Darkfire! No matter were you run, either the illusion or truth will crush you.”

“Kyron.” Darkfire growled.

Kyron bent forward to the human pinned under him. He opened his mouth and released a sickly black fog. It consumed his face. He struggled for a moment before swiftly falling limp. Kyron got up, startled as Darkfire fanned the remains of his first Smog attack away.

(He’ll wake up, now.) Kyron grumbled. Darkfire cast a thoughtful eye over him before shaking her head.

She pulled ropes out of her backpack and proceeded to tie Eban up. Chance broke away from Jazz and backed away from her gaze, while Jazz looked as if Darkfire was coming at her with a knife.

“He’s gone, isn’t that enough? You won. Let him rest in peace.” She began to cry. Darkfire snorted at the blonde that had once been her friend.

“He’s unconscious. I wasn’t going to kill anyone. I thought that you’d know me better. Actually, no one knows me well enough to see through my illusions.” She paused, but shrugged off the shadow of a thought, not really wanting to be conscious of it. “I just let him breath in enough of the Smog to knock him out. Not,” She glanced at Kyron, “enough to kill him. If I’d wanted him dead, I wouldn’t be about to tie him up now, would I?”

Chance had seen the spiteful look that passed between the two. He slipped over to Darkfire’s remaining Pokeballs and poked around. Darkfire snorted and began to tie up the Rocket spy.

“That one, the one farthest to the left.” She instructed. He paled, freezing. “You’re looking for Taima, right?” He nodded as she pulled the rope around Eban’s wrists. “That’s her Pokeball. Kyron, could you melt the ropes together. Mind you don’t catch him on fire.” Kyron bared his teeth in a smirk before doing as he’d been asked.

Darkfire walked over to her stuff and sorted through it while Chance opened Taima’s Pokeball.

“Hi, Pikachu.” She snorted. “Uh, Taima. How’s Darkfire been treating you?”

Darkfire ignored the conversation, not really wanting to watch a Pokemon speak and hear their words in plain English. She found what she’d been looking for, a gleaming ruby pendant in the shape of a flame. She put it on a golden chain and tucked it safely in her clothes. Darkfire winced and looked at a hand. The wounds had opened again, much to her despair. She took off Eban’s wraps and put them off to the side. She then sat down by the fire, watching as bits of blood pooled in her palms.

Kyron sat by her, his eyes questioning. She smiled at her young companion. He bared his fangs in a returned smile, though his eyes traveled to her hands. He glanced at the two people that remained in the camp, wandering. He saw nothing wrong, and returned his gaze to his trainer.

“Go on, say something.” She prompted.

(Fire’s better than water.) He declared.

“Normally, I’d say that you’ve got to work on your type charts, but after today’s battle, I agree. Fire defiantly is better.” She looked away from his startled glance. “What is this illusion?”

“What is it about illusions? You keep talking about them.” Jazz sat down on her other side.

“Everything is an illusion. Pain and knowledge are the biggest.” Darkfire looked at her hands. “Painful illusions.”

“Who told you that?” Jazz asked, startled.

“An old friend of mine.” Darkfire lied.

(He’s no friend. He attacked you.) Kyron growled, gazing into the fire.

“I know.” Darkfire returned. She then thrust her hands into the fire. The red aura returned, shielding her from the flames. Her aching hands ceased throbbing under the caress of the fire. Jazz yelped.

“Don’t do that! You’ll give me a heart attack.” She panted as if to emphasize her point.

“Why would you care if I burned to my death?” Darkfire growled.

“Because I’m your friend.” She returned the growl.

“I’m no friend of yours.”

“Friends get into fights all of the time! Quite being so sensitive about it!” Jazz snapped.

“I told you, I rarely trust anyone. Why should I trust you?”

“Because I still want to be your friend, even after your brilliant battling nearly cost both of us our Pokemon.”

(So says the girl with the Umbreon.) Kyron growled, his eyes glinting in the firelight.

“Yeah. Why do you have an Umbreon anyways? Shouldn’t you have a Vaporeon if anything?” Darkfire pulled her hands out, seeing that the wounds had closed. They were an angry red, though now all of the blackened skin gone.

“Because he evolved to save me.” She stood up and went over to Chance and Taima; who were sharing an interesting chat as Chance tried to guess what she was saying. He was failing miserably.

vvv

Asha’Man watched this exchange with a sigh. She was going wild again. Plus Eban was found out. That was good. He couldn’t have the little spy ruining his chances at the girl. Good thing that Darkfire didn’t have the taste of blood yet. He couldn’t go around breaking her of bad habits, especially not ones that were habits of his own.

He listened as she Houndour and her conversed. She’d always been one with Pokemon. He nodded to himself, deciding that that was natural. Hopefully, now she would mend things with Jazz. He really didn’t want the younger girl bouncing around all over the place, but she’d be the best tool to open Darkfire’s heart and calm her down. The activities of the night slowed to a crawl before the fire was put out. At least she hadn’t made them leave. Her Pokemon, excluding her Spearow, Meowth, Swablu, and Mankey, took turns guarding the captive.

Asha’Man decided that that was enough watching as he pictured a place far away. As the world went black around him, he knew that if Darkfire left before he got there, he could track her down. She stepped lightly and would be impossible to hunt if she’d even tried to hide her trails. He appeared outside of a familiar tall, dark, and all around foreboding building. He walked inside and trotted down the stairs.

Smoky, dim air met his senses as he opened the door. He walked through it, finding his usual seat. The man behind the bar nodded to him and poured him a drink. Asha’Man didn’t need to know whatever he was drinking, it didn’t matter. The radio blared some love song, but he ignored it. Usually, if a song he didn’t like came up, it would mysteriously blow up. He smirked at this and drank deeply.

Bits of hushed conversations from other Team Rocket members drifted his way as he listened half-heartedly. Talk of rebels, of who was the biggest stud, of who was the strongest Pokemon, and least important of all, who could get to Asha’Man’s heart first. He shook his head at the conniving females at the table at the back of the bar. It didn’t matter what he did, he couldn’t get them to leave him alone. He had given that up when executives joined in the game.

Now, he just watched with an amused grin as they did everything in the book to get him to join one of them for anything remotely romantic. They’d tried to get him drunk, on drugs; even some were straightforward with him. He was immune to the addictions and the effects of all of it. He doubted that he could be poisoned, but he wasn’t about to jump off of a cliff to prove that he could fly, either.

A few had tried too hard and had come up missing. However, the rest didn’t notice. More just joined in the game. A girl giggled, younger than the rest, about Darkfire’s age. She had dark green hair and chocolate brown eyes; a good-looking girl, and she knew it. She acted shy, but she’d probably scored every attractive guy around by now. She got up and walked over to him. He smirked at her and took another drink. If these girls could try to have fun with him, than he could play with them a bit. The idea nearly made him laugh, but he turned his attention to the drink. It was the strongest beer in the bar. No matter.

The girl daintily sat down next to him. They traded bits of conversation, Asha’Man making his eyes dim a bit and slurring his speech lightly. Illusions. She complimented him both innocently and suggestively. He took a great notice of this and threaded his words carefully to match hers. She didn’t even realize that he was basically parroting her words.

“I heard that you’ve your eyes on someone.” She murmured, breaking all formalities. “Some beginning trainer. Do you like her?”

“Hm. Not too much. Not the prettiest thing, but attractive in her own way…” He shook his head.

“She could never give what I can offer.” The girl purred. She moved so she was in his lap. He hid his surprise, but only just barely. No one was this brave around him. He could kill the girl as soon as look at her. He brought his hand up, lifting her chin so that her eyes met his. She relaxed under the half caress.

He then sent the same burning through her that he had in Darkfire. She howled in agony, becoming the only noise in the Rocket base bar as everyone stared in surprise. He easily shoved her away, breaking contact. She stumbled back into a table, looking at him in shock. She whimpered in pain, disgusting Asha’Man even further.

“How dumb are you people?” He laughed, making them all flinch. Being in a one of his rare good moods, he decided to actually pay the bartender before he turned to leave. The girl stood in his way. He had destroyed all illusion of him finally getting drunk. Getting in his way, even when he was in a good mood, was a bad idea. He had killed people for less. However, he humored her. “Yes?”

“I can see you’re really sweet. You just need the right person.” She said.

“Really? No one has called me sweet. And I think I’ll avoid having that problem. Shall I kill you now, or wait until you can’t see me while you die?”

“You’d sing a different tune if I were Darkfire!” She shouted, making sure that everyone heard.

“Well, seeing as she’s my assignment, I do believe you’re right. I hear that so far, I’m the only one to talk with her and leave. Haven’t you heard about Eban Stone? She caught him. I doubt he’ll last long with her. After all, we are of the same blood. If she’s anything like I remember, she’ll get him as near death as possible and learn everything about us that he can tell. I’ll warn you all now. If you get in Darkfire’s way, I’ll not stop her from however she deals with you. However, if you do manage to get away, I’ll deal with you first thing when night falls.”

With that, he slammed the arrogant girl out of his way, sending another burst fire through her nerves. She writhed in pain even after she hit the ground. He smirked and left. Outside of the Rocket Headquarters, he imagined Darkfire’s camp and vanished again. Another person, hidden in the shadows of the bar, shook his head.

[mr_pikachu]

Asha'Man seems like he's getting... freaky. He seems like he really derives pleasure out of toying with people, whether they are his assignments or an "extracurricular activity", so to speak.

And Eban being a spy? What a shocker. I wonder if his surname was fake, then? Or maybe he abandoned his family for Team Rocket... either way, he's caught now, and maybe Darkfire can figure out more of what's going on from him.

Watch your misspellings; I noticed a lot of them in this chapter. Words like "quite" where "quit" should be can really frustrate a reader. Use a computerized grammar check if you can, and always proofread your work. For something as long as this, you'll probably want to look at it multiple times.

Otherwise, good. A nice revelation there, and we find out even more about Asha'Man's shadowy character. I wonder what'll happen next... 'cause frankly, I don't have a clue. Until next chapter!

[Pig on the Wing]

yay, two updates!

Chapter 5 {Part3}: Yay Swablu kicking @$$. Everybody loves Swablu. Except people who don't like Swablu. But what've they got? Pikachu, that's who. Meh.
Great improvement from the last chapters, the battle was very good, and description improved greatly. Keep up the good work! And in this case the win was definately deserved, so yay for everything.

Chapter 6: Eban? A spy? OMG, oober suprise. Yay suprise! Meh. Good chapter again, Asha'man is a bit of a freak, after all, with lots of women after him, who wouldn't take advantage?
Anyways, two very good chapters, a definite improvement of the last few so keep up the good work.

[Skye]

mr_pikachu: Yeah. Asha'Man is quite odd. His intentions will clear up by about mid story. Also, why he acts why he does. As for Eban, you'll just have to wait to find out. Really sorry about the misspellings. My word processor is really cruddy. It doesn't care if I write 'He looked at that' or 'He looked at tat'. All that it cares about is spelling, bugging me about improper sentances(Ex: Yeah. Just great.), and my writing with capitals. It really didn't like quite a few of my sentences.

Snorlax19: I hope that no one minded my use of more extereme attacks with Semira. First off, I had no access to a Pokedex of any kind when I wrote that chapter. Also, she has great breeding behind her. More about that in later chapters (If I remember). And thanks for battle praise. 'Nother battle in my next chapter, against a 'Demon'. *wink wink*. I was hoping that I'd get everyone with Eban. Looks like I got that part right! And again, most everything about Asha'Man will be revealed, at the latest before my characters move on to the next League(Meaning sequel, maybe?). And thanks fore the praise on improvement.

Me: Sorry about failing to hold up on my pre-intentions to post a chapter a day, but my outside life is pretty demanding now. I'll be gone for a few days, back a day, and gone for about two weeks. I'll try to have a chapter or two up when I come back, but just a heads up for you all. Until later! *leaves listening to 'The Reason' by Hobbastank*

EDIT (7-11-04): Sorry, but i didn't get any chapters completely done. you'll have to wait another 2 weeks. Please don't hurt me.

EDIT (10-12-04): I'm still alive! My compter deleated all of my chapterd and my muse to write anymore died pretty hard. I'm working on a new Ch.7 now. I should have it up in a while.