Alright, I guess I'll get things rolling. Oh, and since one of my characters is also called Bear, I'll refer to myself as James.
The day is bright and the air is fresh. A slight breeze adorns the air. I take a long, deep breath, and exhale slowly.
"Ah, perfect day for a fight!" I say aloud.
"You said it bro. This weather is constantly refreshing my senses!" I recognized the deep voice of Xavier.
"Don't let the sun obstruct your vision." Fong added, quiet and reserved as usual.
We continued walking through the large entry room, which was steadily growing more crowded. The open skylight kept the air from growing tense and stale though. I looked around at all the faces. Some I knew, some I had never seen. The three of us stepped over to the left, where a large flat screen displayed the matchings. I scanned the list til I spotted our names.
"Ah! Here we are, match #3." I said to the other two.
"Nobody I know." Fong replied. I looked over at Bear, and I noticed he wasn't smiling anymore.
"What's up bro?" I asked him.
"Maichi Konnetsu..." He said sternly. Suddenly it clicked in my mind. Maichi was an old comrade of Bear's when he was the leader of the Normals.
"Don't sweat it Bear. I'm sure you're both prepared to give it your all." I said to him, patting him on the shoulder. His face reverted back to a smile.
"Yeah."
We then heard a voice over the loudspeaker:
"Next Match is Match Number Three: Xavier Lionheart and Fong versus Carbon Copy and Maichi Konnetsu. Watchers: Bear and VirtualPlay, respectively."
"Ah, I guess that's us!" I shook both their hands and gave them a reassuring tap on the shoulder. "I trust you guys. Make me proud!"
We parted, and I headed toward the stairwell on the left with the sign "Watchers' Booth" above it. Bear and Fong made their way toward the large opening at the back that led into a huge tunnel, labeled "Arena." I ascended the stairs and found a large balcony overlooking a circular arena. Stadium seats lined the outside, already filled with spectators. I saw two very comfy-looking chairs in this booth. I had just settled into the one on the left when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. The face that appeared around the corner I recognized. It was VirtualPlay.
"Hello there VP!" I greeted him cheerfully.
"Hey Bear, good to see ya! I noticed you were my opponent and I thought it was kinda cool." He replied with a smile.
"Well that's good to hear. Ready to lose?" I jested, flashing a grin.
"We'll see who ends up losing. It's going to be an exciting match. I have no doubt you guys are as ready as we are." He beamed, settling into his chair.
"No doubt!" I replied with another smile, taking my spot on the left. The view was excellent, a perfect shot of the whole arena. I could see two openings in the walls on either side, which told me that was where the contestants would enter from. Both VP's and my eyes were glued to the arena, and it wasn't long before two figures emerged from each opening. From the right came Carbon Copy, an electric green being that looked like a moving pile of gak. I recognized the form as a Ditto, a pokemon. Alongisde it was Maichi Konnetsu, the quiet, subdued young girl from Team 2 of the Normals. I recognized the thin-framed glasses and Swallow. My eyes shifted to the left, where my own fighters came from. Xavier "Bear" Lionheart and Fong, who looked healthy and confident, came out of the tunnel together. Bear was wearing a smile, and Fong was stone-faced as usual. They met in the middle, shook hands, and returned to their sides, awaiting the orders of the Referee. The voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Ready? GO!"
Immediately the fighters sprang into action. Fong drew his weapon, the gorgeous Steelthorn blade. The sun reflecting off it made it glow like I had never seen before. Bear appeared to not be using his weapon yet, going for his preferred style of combat: fists and feet. On the other side, the green pokemon had already morphed a weapon from one of his protrusions, what appeared to be a thick club. Maichi seemed to be meditating, which clued me in that she was focusing her qi. I saw that Bear had already noticed this, and let Fong know. They nodded at each other, and entered their stances. In an instant, they both disappeared. Half the crowd gasped, very loudly. They began to whisper among each other. The other half already knew what was going on. Bear and Fong had the ability to become invisible for short periods of time. I quickly evaluated their game plan, thinking to myself.
"They're both going invisible right off the bat, which tells me they're going for a quick victory." I had seen them train together with their invisibility, and it was amazing how keen their senses had become as a result. THey had developed a few dual attacks that coordinated both of their movements, but I hadn't seen them used til now. This got me really excited.
Shortly after they became invisible, they began to move. On the other side of the arena, Maichi had already told Carbon what was going on. Maichi, having worked with Bear, knew about his ability, and had most likely trained herself to compensate. The ditto seemed a little less confident than Maichi, but it wasn't anywhere near being scared. They readied their weapons, and went on the offensive. The ditto quickly morphed itself into a Charizard, a large orange dragon. He was apparently going to use his Flamethrower as a method to find Bear and Fong. Very smart: using a wide-area attack to give them less places to evade to. Maichi also appeared to know what was going on, because she was quickly and nimbly moving off to the left. My eyes (which had been trained to see invisibility from my spars with Bear) caught the movement of Fong. He was moving very quickly, in kind of a zigzag motion, closing rapidly in on Maichi. Bear, on the other hand, was moving more slowly, almost at a walking pace, in a straight path behind Fong. They were going for Maichi first. By staying in her vicinity, that would prevent the Pokemon from using its fire attacks, for fear of injuring its partner. Maichi was still moving quickly, but I could see her eyes darting back and forth, looking for either of her opponents. She did not want herself to be an easy target to hit. It didn't take Fong very long to get near her, and he went on the offensive. About 3 feet from Maichi he disappeared from all sight, and instantly reappeared behind her, already in the middle of his weapon swing. Maichi sensed his presence in time to try and dodge, but she didn't get away unscathed. Fong's strike landed squarely on her shoulder (he was using the blunt part of the blade), causing her to let out a slight yelp and knocking her into a sideways roll. However, she wasn't phased at all. She rolled twice, planting her feet at the end of the second roll and pushing off the wall, lunging back at Fong at incredible speed. He was surprised by this, and just barely was able to get his blade up in time to block the swallow. The sound was very loud as their weapons clashed, and the whole arena heard it. Having landed a strike, Fong was now visible, and stood in a readied stance opposite of Maichi, also ready. Meanwhile, Bear had continued his slow movement, and suddenly lurched into a sprint. But he had changed direction, and was making a beeline straight for Carbon, still in Charizard form. The Charizard could catch faint distortions in the air, but since he hadn't trained directly with Bear like Maichi had, he could not see him. Maichi caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, and quickly fired a ball of qi past Fong, aiming for about 10 feet in front of the Charizard. Bear saw it coming, but had to alter his course to avoid it. He quickly leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast. The Charizard saw and heard his foot slide in the dirt, and gave a powerful swing of its tail. Bear saw it and raised his forearm to block it, but the blow was very hard. He had to stop fully to brace himself, and was very nearly knocked off his feet. The ground seemed to shake from the sheer force of the impact. He held steady though, and took the opportunity to make an attack while the pokemon was off-balance. He leapt and landed to the pokemon's left, on his right foot. He immediately spun, and delivered a devastating full-legged kick across the pokemon's chest. The sound was just as loud as the weapon clash, but less piercing and more booming and hollow. The dragon reeled, and reverted back to its green ditto form. Down, but not out, fire seemed to flare in its small eyes. It began to morph again, and took the shape of a Machamp. This would prove much more challenging for Bear, as he would be matched with brute strength and martial arts skill equal to his own. He slowly faded back into view, having used up his invisibility. The Machamp growled, and clenched its four fists.
MEANWHILE, Fong and Maichi had begun to go at it again, echanging blow for blow. Their agility was amazing, and they seemed to move at supersonic speeds. They would careen off walls, leap high into the air, stop on a dime and turn for a powerful attack. It seemed even, except for one discrepancy. That blow Fong had landed on her right shoulder was beginning to take its effect. Her attacks with her right arm were noticeably less quick and strong than her left arm. It was very subtle, but the expression on her face showed pain. Fong, noticing this, decided to play upon it, and put an end to the bout. He chanted a few words and activated the Serpent's Fury, boosting his attack and agility significantly. He stepped up his pace, and began to concentrate his movements toward Maichi's right side. Slowly but surely, Maichi slowed down, and blocked less and less hits. Her body was taking a beating, and she couldn't hold out much longer. Realizing this herself, she began to channel her qi into her arms, preparing to fire. She let loose, sending a barrage of energy balls at Fong. They were so quick and spread that he was unable to attack through them. He batted away some of the balls with his blade, having to dodge the rest. He took a couple head on, one in the leg and one in the chest, and they were no less potent than her physical attacks. Clenching his teeth, he waited for his opportunity. Fairly soon, he saw it.
During this, Bear had begun to fight with the Machamp. They remained even for a long time. Bear was faster than the Machamp, but his attacks weren't doing as much damage, since the Machamp's body was pure muscle. But the Machamp couldn't hit Bear at all because of his frame, and as a result was simply acting as a wall. It seemed to be losing energy slowly, growing tired, so it decided to bring out its best attack - the Fissure. It took a nasty punch from Bear, which sent it stumbling backward a few feet. It raised its four fists into the air, bringing them down with unreal power and force. They struck the ground, hard. The arena began to shake violently, and a split in the ground opened up all the way to Bear. He had to use all the force he could give to push himself off the ground, jumping high into the air and flipping, landing to the left of the huge ravine with a thud. He couldn't let himself slow down though, because this was his only chance to bring the bulky pokemon down. After the attack, it was breathing heavily, and showing signs of fatigue. Bear, bruised as he was, drew his polearm from the thin sheath on his back. In full stride, he cocked back, and put all his energy into the swing.
Seeing this, Maichi desperately fired a large ball at Bear. However, to do this, she had to cease the barrage on Fong. This was the chance he was waiting for. He sprang at Maichi, switching his blade to his left hand. "KA~!" He shouted, as his fist met Maichi hard in the stomach. The air audibly gasped from her lips, as her eyes fluttered and closed. She dropped to her knees, then fell to her side, unconscious.
Bear finished his lunge, planting the heavy weapon into the chest of the Machamp, getting it airborne for the first time the whole match. It flew into the wall of the arena, making a huge crater. It slid down the wall, landing on its back with a soft *plop*. It didn't move. The Referee ran out into the arena, checking both of the fallen fighters. After verifying that both were unable to continue, he brought Bear and Fong together and declared them the winners.
"Xavier Lionheart and Fong are victorious!" He shouted into the microphone, bringing cheers from the crowd. They had been quiet the whole time, mesmerized by the intensity of the fight.
I turned to VirtualPlay, and extended my hand.
"Very well fought match, my friend!"
With a smile, he turned and shook my hand firmly.
"Well done Bear! Good luck in the next round!"
VirtualPlay walked calmly out the door, and down the stairs back to the main area. He appeared in the arena shortly thereafter to escort his fighters out of the arena. They were beaten, but certainly not discouraged, as both were smiling happily. I went down to the arena myself to congratulate Bear and Fong. They met me at the edge of the tunnel. Bear was tending to a battered left arm, and Fong was walking with a limp, his left knee fairly injured. I shook both their hands again.
"I've never seen anything that awesome in my life. How do you guys feel?"
They looked at each other, smiled, and looked back at me.
"When's the next round?"
Yeesh, hope that's not too long!