¤Game¤ Dragon Tamers Battle Range version 21 (M.A. Pidgeot)

[Charizard04621]

Woo! Take 23 Stamps, Gabi. I liked that one even better than the Pond Room. And who's Eliot? I mean, what kind of pokémon is he? Just curious. ^_^; I find it intriguing that he'd have a mercenary as a trainer.

[Lady Vulpix]

Wow, thanks! I really didn't expect that. O_O
Eliot was a Charmeleon last time Amber saw him, which was years ago. He's bound to have evolved by now. They met twice at the Lava Room, so she thought she might find him this time too.

<fic comments>By the way, nice Lune chapter. I read it yesterday before leaving, but didn't have time to think of a reply.
Along the same line, chapters 3 and 4 of Rhiannon's story were very interesting. ^_^</fic comments>

[*Murkrow]

I felt like doing a scenario battle today, so I did^_^

~Hannah~

‘Five rooms, two Pokémon each….’
I ran my finger slowly down the listings, trying to figure out which of my Pokémon would be best suited to each room, doing my best to ignore the raging argument behind me.
‘I’m telling you, I’ll be the one who’ll be fighting every Pokémon here.’
‘Every one? Yeah right, like she’ll let you be the only one to get all the glory.’
‘And why wouldn’t she? I’m the strongest, and I deserve it more.’
‘Strongest? You’re only just stronger than Latino.’
‘And that matters why? You just think you’re some sort of hot-shot because you beat a Rattata-which, I may add, I could have done easily myself.’
‘And why didn’t you? Hang on…because Hannah chose me to battle!’
‘You were almost beaten in the process! I didn’t have to be recalled as soon as I finished battling.’
‘So? You run a mile in anybody approaches you with a Poké Ball, at least I do as I’m told.’
‘And so do I, give or take a bit of freedom.’
‘No, you only take, I’ve never seen you give anything to anybody ever.’
‘That’s probably because you’re stuck in your Poké Ball most of the time, while et moi am always out and about.’
‘Hmm, out and about and thinking all about yourself?’
‘And I’d tell you why? And another thing-why are you so eager to battle anyway?’
‘Why are you?’
‘Don’t answer back to me. Why?’
‘What do you mean, me answer back to you? Look who’s talking!’
‘Precisely my point….it’s not what I think it is, is it?’
‘Depends what you’re thinking.’
‘Oh please, Fera will be crowned Nicest Pokémon in the World before you ever evolve, pal.’
‘She’ll have to work on her act then, because I will. And I’ll have the added bonus of being able to show you up now, so ha.’
‘Lovely and mature aren’t you? Besides, I’ve already told you, you won’t evolve, you’re too, well-how can I put this nicely-weak.’
‘That’s why I’ll be battling, you know, to make myself not weak. Though I’m not. And I bet you’re just jealous because you can’t evolve, can you? Sneasel’s just stay that way forever.’
‘That’s a problem? Rapid mutation into another form isn’t my idea of fun, buddy.’
‘Pal, buddy, will you quit calling me those? And I will evolve.’
‘Yeah right.’
‘I will.’
‘Wont.’
‘Will.’
‘Wont’
‘Will you two shut the hell up? If you’re going to argue, then please, do it somewhere away from me, so nobody will realise that you’re mine.’
‘I’m nobody’s. I’m here because of convenience for myself.’
‘You sound just like Tropi…’
‘Shut up Archie.’
‘No, you shut up as well. Xol, you’ll be battling in the rooms I tell you to, which wont be all of them, as will Archie.’
‘I’ll be up against better Pokémon, wont I, though?’
‘Depends how you act.’
‘Oh please, don’t give me that.’
‘I will. Yes you’re strong, but don’t think I’ll neglect the others because of you….and Archie, don’t encourage her.’
‘What? Hang on a second, I…’
I shook my head and turned away.
‘I’m going to just take a look round these rooms, you two can go where you want until you get some sense knocked into you. And that’s both of you.’

~Xolotle~

I glared after her as she marched away.
She has a go at me, yet lets him get off by telling him not to encourage me.
And he seemed very pleased with himself-he couldn’t smile, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was seeing this as all a big joke.
Right.
Well, I’d teach him a thing or two.
Before he could react, I reached out, grabbed one of his claws and began dragging him across to where one of the entrances to a room was located.
‘You think you’re better than me, then? Well, you can go prove it.’
‘Better than you? Did I say that?’
‘Don’t act innocent, I now you were thinking it.’
‘Since when are you psychic?’
‘I’m more psychic than you are, and that’s a fact….here.’
I stopped and shoved him in front of me.
‘You think you’re all big, able to battle for yourself? Then please, prove it to me. Go in there, battle and win, and come out on your own. No getting zapped into your Poké Ball because your legs, er, feathery things go a bit weak.’
‘I thought you wanted to battle in all of the rooms?’
‘Oh, I will, believe me. I’ll be battling in this room in about, um, five minutes, when I have to come in and rescue you from the weakest Pokémon in there.’
‘Rescue me? I thought you just told me to go in and win a battle? How can I win if you plan on beating the Pokémon I’m fighting?’
‘Are you normally this slow or are you just trying to be annoying? Here, let me explain it to you slowly, so you can understand. You go in. You start to battle. You realise you can’t win and start screaming for help. I come in and beat the Pokémon. I win. You lose. And I prove that I’m right.’
‘What if I don’t scream for help?’
‘You admitting that you’ll lose? Well, you’ll be beaten and left to rot. Now get a move on.’
I gave him a shove that sent him tumbling a few feet past the entrance, into the corridor.

~Archie~

I struggled to me feet, glanced further into the corridor, then back at Xolotle.
‘Do you even know what room this is? What if it’s the Pond Room? I can’t swim. I’d sink.’
She smirked.
‘Should have thought of that before, shouldn’t you?’
‘Before what? Before you chucked me in here? And how can I battle if I don’t have a trainer to tell me what to do?’
She just laughed and sneered at me.
‘Get real. If you want to evolve, you’ll need to be able to battle by yourself, and that means not having some person around shouting orders.’
‘You sound as though you’d prefer to be without a trainer.’
‘Do I really? But, lovely as this chat is, I think you’d hurry up and get down there, so I can get my battles started.’
For a second, I was tempted to just barge past her, and get out of there, but the smirk on her face stopped me.
I wasn’t going to let have the last laugh, was I?
And besides. I glanced at the rough, earth walls around me. If this lead to the Pond Room, I’d have expected to see at least some moisture on the walls or floor, but there was nothing. If anything, it was the opposite.
That was a relief, and it made my mind up.
I’d show her.
I stuck my head in the air, spun round and strutted off down the corridor.
As I walked, I amused myself with ideas of how I’d put her in her place when I evolved. She wouldn’t be able to contend with my strength then.
I laughed out loud, and suddenly stopped. I wasn’t totally certain, but I swore that the temperature was changing slightly. It definitely seemed slightly hotter than it had when I entered. But maybe back nearer the entrance, it was cooler because of the openness of the area and the constant air supply. Maybe down here, in the more compact tunnel, it would naturally be warmer.
Yes, that must be it.
Feeling quite pleased with myself, I resumed the pace, trying to turn my mind back to teaching Xolotle a lesson.
But it was still getting warmer.
I paused again, when it occurred to me that I hadn’t figured out which room I heading towards anyway. I hadn’t memorised all of the different rooms except the Pond Room-for the simple fact that I’d sworn that if I found myself in there, I’d get out of there as fast as I could.
But that left four more.
I forced my mind to try and remember. There was….some sort of ice room. Xolotle had been pleased about that. Then…a desert room? Perhaps this was leading to that. But that sounded alright. I’d definitely be able to show Xolotle up if I entered there.
And deserts were hot, so that must mean that it was the room I was walking towards.
Feeling decidedly more cheerful, I sped up, pushing all thoughts of the other rooms out of my head.
Then there was a door. Simple, red, with a fire emblem blazed across the centre. Well, deserts were warm, fire Pokémon liked warmth, it fit.
I hesitated, for a second wondering how to open the door.
Oh what the heck.
I pulled back, then flung myself as hard as I could against the door.
It opened easily, sending me flying forwards.
The first thing that struck me was the heat. It engulfed me, pulsing layers; my legs trembled, collapsed, my eyes closed, my breaths coming in gasps.
Dimly, I heard the door shut behind me, but I couldn’t find the strength to even look at it.
But I was ok. Even though the heat was bearing me down, I sensed that this was the worst that it’d get. Ok, so it was pretty bad, but I could survive it at least.
My legs were aching, and the shell over my back burnt, but I dug my claws into the rock and managed to lever myself up. My Rock characteristics meant that I was well adapted to coping with heat…or at least, I would be if it wasn’t for my other type, which was the total opposite. I gulped and tried to turn my mind away from that.
On opening my eyes, the first thing I felt was panic-I thought that the fall had done something to my eyes. Then it struck me that what I was really seeing as a heat haze.
It covered everything, streaming around the charred, blackened rocks, hovering over the cracked pathways, and seemed to almost drift over the strange, gaping holes and paths that criss-crossed along the surface.
There was one a couple of metres away; dragging myself forward, I edged closer to try and see what it contained.
The heat made me reel-even worse than what I had been experiencing. I closed my eyes and, trembling, stepped forward again. It was like a solid barrier around and in-front of me. I forced my eyes open and shrieked as I felt them begin to burn, felt the moisture evaporating as the heat tore at them.
That was it.
My vision blurring even more, I screamed and fled to the door, flinging myself against it.
‘I give up! Let me out, let me out.’
Wait.
I paused.
If I’m to evolve, I’ll have to face up to more challenges like this. And if I beat this room, I’ll prove myself to her as well.
But I still hesitated.
I remembered what she said; ‘You’ll be beaten and left to rot.’
She didn’t mean that.
I wouldn’t rot anyway. I’d burn. Burn alive.
No!
Shut up, shut up, shut up.
I forced myself to break out of my chain of thoughts and imagined myself evolving. Being strong. Being able to prove myself to anybody who thought otherwise.
Yes.
I’d do that.
I pushed myself away from the door, turning slowly.
In the flickering haze, I searched for any signs of life, any signs of a Pokémon I could challenge.
Nothing.
They wouldn’t wait by the door anyway. They’d want any challengers to brave the pathways, they wouldn’t stand and let themselves be challenged without any effort at all.
Ok. Then I’d go and find them.
I was about to move when I heard it.
A low rumble. So low I wasn’t sure it I’d heard it or felt it.
It came again.
From the hidden path I’d approached earlier, something flared.
Hang on.
My mind suddenly began working again.
I remembered the different rooms.
Pond.
Blizzard.
Desert.
Jungle.
Lava.
The rumble came again.
I couldn’t help myself.
I screamed and fled.
Away from the noise.
Away from the door.
Further into the room.
Behind, I heard the rumble explode; spinning round, I saw a jet of pure orange, yellow, red lava burst from the ground. It separated, falling apart, plummeting back towards the ground. Some of the glowing substance landed on one of the rocks I’d initially seen. Instantly, the rocks began to smoke, as the white-hot molten substance began to eat away at them.
The heat haze around them grew; their steaming shapes being contorted into even more grotesque positions.
The rumble came again. Panicking, I fled.
Along the path; across tiny rivulets, spy-holes into the mass of churning substance that lurked underneath.
And then I stopped.
In the haze, I saw something…..two things moving. Some of my panic faded, to be replaced with the same determination I’d felt earlier.
Squinting against the haze and my own running eyes, I strained to discern their shapes.
They were the same Pokémon, I could tell immediately. The same small, squat, orange bodies. A mass of yellow down underneath a head that resembled their bodies. Dark eyes. Three feathers, reflecting the light, sprouting from their heads. Tottering on their spindly, fragile looking legs.
More of the blind panic left me now.
I would be alright in a battle against these two.
I just hoped that they wouldn’t realise that and refuse to battle.
But it looked as though they might; as I watched, I noticed that one-slightly larger-was ever moving; first it would be running across the path, leaping onto the nearby boulders, then jumping off, and circling the other one. And all the while continually cheeping..which for a second made a nice change to the other sounds in the room, but almost instantly became annoying.
The other Pokémon wasn’t moving; it just stood and watched the other, occasionally glancing down at its feet when the other ran to close.
It was kind of cute, and if it had been another time I might have had the sense to try and avoid them, or at least see if one was willing to fight by asking.
But the heat was getting to me; my head was pounding; for a second I saw Xolotle smirking at me, and felt a rush of anger.
I’d show her.
I let out a shriek and flung myself into their sight, claws poised, showing that I was ready.
The result was instantaneous.
The larger one let out a scream of alarm and charged.

Fight!
Archie (Anorith L7 M)
Vs
Torchic (L15 M)

He was fast, I’d admit that. In seconds he had crossed the distance between us, eyes glaring, claws glinting.
I didn’t react fast enough.
His claw seared across my eye; as the pain flared, and I howled in alarm, he darted up, scrambling onto my head.
A burst of burning pain told me what he was doing..oh, he must have thought he was so clever, attacking me from behind.
From somewhere ahead, I heard the other ones faint voice cheering him on. He heard it to. The bombardment increased; out of the corners of my eyes I could see stray embers falling, tumbling onto the floor.
I couldn’t do this. I’d never battled without my trainer before. Panicking, I spun round, throwing him off, willing to flee.
No no no.
Was I going to let a Torchic beat me? I’d never live it down.
I had an advantage. I could win.
It has an advantage too. And it’s not scared like I am.
I can win.
No.
I can.
Struggling against my emotions, I hesitated, then noticed something.
The Torchic was crouching, poised to attack again, panting.
He attacked so frenziedly that he wore himself out extra fast.
I could outlast him.
GO!
I spun round into an attacking position again, my mind running; remembering my other battle, flicking through my attacks.
He didn’t waste any time-head on, like last time.
I was ready.
Dropping to the floor, I pulled in my legs, slipping them easily back into my shell; lifting my claws, I twisted them so that they covered my eyes, creating a solid barrier that his claws wouldn’t be able to penetrate.
And it worked; I felt his claws snick as he vainly lashed out, again and again, going back into the same frenzy as before. Then he shrieked and leapt back.
He was going to use Ember again-knowing that Harden didn’t help against special attacks.
Something flared in front of my claws-briefly, I saw the flash of orange as one of the fireballs hit me, felt the burning sensation ripple across my claws, leaving a stinging pain. More and more now struck, fresh pain covering old, tingling, darkness across my eyes flaring briefly, orange, red, yellow.
Then it moved; as I had known he would. The pain and the smash of the burning embers began to move back, as he centred his attack over my head and across my back. That’s what I’d been counting on; he was so eager to fight, he wouldn’t be able to focus on a single point of attack for too long.
In an instant, I twisted my claws away, flicked my legs out, saw, through the haze and cascading embers, his small body. Lunging, I Slashed forward with both claws, first one, then the other. My first claw caught him straight in the chest, knocking him back; the other caught at his feet, sending him spiralling onto the ground.
Edging back slightly, I focused, mind clear now. My eye still throbbed slightly, but I could ignore it. I took a deep breath, planning my attacks, mentally telling myself what to do.
Swords Dance.
My legs rippled, twisted; wasting no time, I swung my claws forward, back, forward again, as the energy poured into them, as my front legs shone, copies forming and merging into my claws.
He’d seen what I was doing.
His body trembling, his claws digging into the cracked ground, from his throat came a low rumble, a steady, rushing Growl, as he strove to destroy the increased attack I’d given myself.
And it was working-I could feel the effects dropping off, drifting away.
Sweating, I screamed out, a wordless shriek.
The ground shook, cracked. Then it exploded, molten lava flying everywhere as three massive, twisted boulders burst through the surface. Steaming, as the lava dripped down, melting away at it, they spun, slowly glistening, before hurtling down, raining towards the terrified Pokémon.
Howling, he dashed from side to side, claws ripping at the ground, desperately trying to avoid the plummeting rocks.
In a way, he got lucky-his speed allowed him to avoid the full boulders, but as they struck, they shattered, streams of rock and lava flying in all directions. Nothing could have avoided all of them.
And that included me; I had no control over the rocks once they were free of the earth, so I had tucked my legs in again, covered my eyes, trying to wait patiently until it was safe to move, despite the adrenaline that was pouring through my veins.
Gradually, the sounds of rocks clattering noisily onto the floor, smashing and rolling died, faded away, and I cautiously raised a claw.
My Ancient Power had totally destroyed the battlefield-now three gaping holes lurked in the centre, where the boulders had emerged, with lava frothing and lurching against the sides. More holes would appear soon; the lava that had been on the boulders had fallen, and even now was eating away at the rock floor. The remains of the boulders littered the floor, dull against the pulsing light.
The heat haze was even worse now, as was the heat. It poured from the new holes, lacing the air, wave upon wave forcing itself across the room.
My head was beginning to pound, and my eyes began to sting again as the heat tore at them, as I looked round for my opponent.
For a second, I couldn’t see him, and I felt a burst of hope that the battle was finished.
No such luck.
A sudden scream…then he came hurtling through the haze.
I stared.
Flames licked his body, and his eyes seemed to spark, as he hurtled towards me.
For a second, I felt a rush of fear-had I done that? Then it struck me…his Blaze trait was kicking in. And that meant he was nearly down.
I didn’t waste any time; tearing forwards, I extended my claws, aiming to knock him down again.
Feet away, his beak flew open, and a stream of pulsing, white fireballs streamed out. I ducked, forcing myself to endure the strength of his powered up Ember, before I lashed out at his legs.
He snarled and jumped.
Not missing a pace, I ducked to the left, then swung up, smacking him with Aerial Ace.
He screamed and fell to the floor, struggling to his feet.
I charged forwards and Slashed him again.
He swayed and fell.

I won!
I grew to L9!

I felt a rush of pride.
I’d done it.
Suddenly, from behind, I heard the sound of the door swinging open.
It must only open again once a Pokémon has been battled.
Feeling a rush of relief, I turned and stepped forward, then froze.
Behind me, I heard a scream of rage.
Oh no. Not that.
I looked behind me.
The other Torchic was crouched behind me, snarling, uttering little shrieks of anger.
Please no.
She snarled one more time…then flung her beak open, sending a stream of embers flying my way.
I dashed to the right, wondering what I’d done to deserve this.

Fight!
Archie (Anorith L9 M)
Vs
Torchic (L15 F)

I didn’t have time for this, so I decided to make the battle quick.
As the Torchic drew breath for another stream of embers, I flung myself forward, Slashing down with my claws.
And then it happened.
A metre away from the Torchic, her eyes suddenly flickered, and the heat haze seemed to increase, except this time, it centred around the little Pokémon.
Staring at her, she suddenly winked.
What?
Then she darted forwards, and began flinging embers at me again.
And I couldn’t do anything. The idea of attacking her was repulsive. All I could do was stand and stare, as she barraged me, one eye constantly locked on mine.
Dimly, I remembered that I was meant to be fighting her, but even that seemed hazy.
Suddenly, she staggered and slipped; some of the remains of my previous Ancient Power seemed to have dug into her claws.
And as she fell, she broke eye contact.
Instantly, my mind burst back, and without hesitating, I tore forwards, knowing that I had to attack before she caught my eye or I’d be Attracted again.
It worked.
My claws caught her off guard, and I was able to knock her back, back towards her partner, who was just struggling to his feet.
Then I spun, hitting her with the most powerful Aerial Ace I could muster. She squealed as she was sent flying back, smashing into her partner, before they both collapsed on the floor.
Backing away, I saw the flames ignite around her body. She was almost down as well.
Without waiting, I spun round and tore towards the door; behind I heard her scream of rage, before I shouted back the same, wordless cry I had before.
The ground exploded, knocking me off my feet. With no time to use Harden, I dug my front claws into the ground and hung on grimly as my Ancient Power tore through the air, and plummeted down.
Lava and rocks whipped round my head and body; a searing pain flared on my back and along my left legs; something smashed into my head.
But I held on.
Gradually, the frenzied movements slowed and stopped; the clatter of rocks falling and shattering ceased.
I looked up.
Through the haze and the dust that still lingered in the air; over the massive lava filled chasm that I had created, I could see my opponent.
Down.

I won!
I grew to L11!
I learnt Brick Break as my free TM!

My mind spinning, and my legs and body aching, I stumbled for the door, delighted by my wins, but feeling exhaustion flooding my body.
Through the door, back up the corridor; by now, I was staggering, barely able to lift my legs properly.
Then I was back, back in the light of the main area.
Dimly, I wondered why nobody seemed to have noticed or even heard the explosion I’d created..but then guessed that the rooms were soundproofed.
But it didn’t matter.
Xolotle was leaning against the wall, staring at me.
I waved a claw languidly at her in greeting.
‘It was probably good that you didn’t go down there. I don’t think you’d have been able to handle it….too, weak, you know.’
She just stared at me, mouth open.
It felt great.

[andyizcool]

My POV

I awoke to find myself still at the Lava Room’s core with some bits of rock around me crumbling down. I decided now was the time to examine the weird machine that had heated this place up. Looking around the bits of debris I saw a shiny piece of steel with Team Rocket written on faintly. I quickly concluded Team Rocket had put this machine here to heat up the Lava Room beyond control. I thought to myself that Team Rocket could be meddling with the Training Grounds for something even bigger to happen. A pipe had been from the machine to the lava and must have been doing something at the time.

What had happened before now? Magby fell in the lava near the machine and went out of control. That machine must have heated up the Lava Room by doing something to the lava. The other affect was the lava made Magby evil so this could be some Team Rocket plan. We need to get out of here before this whole place comes down on us. I walked over to Magby lying on the floor under a bit of debris and shuck him so he could wake up and get out.

“You alright Magby?” I said as I shuck Magby gently.
“Uh… What am I doing here?” Magby replied very confused.
“You took us to the Lava Room core.”
“I remember. Did we destroy the machine?”
“No, it overloaded. It must have blown up as we slept.”
“We were sleeping when this happened?”
“You were knocked out by Charmander and the heat was too much for me.”
“That explains why I’m so puzzled about being here.”
“We have to get out of here before this whole place gets way.”

Magby had decided to follow us because it would be the safest way of escaping the dangerous area. The Lava Room core seemed the only hazard area now she we just needed to get to a safe distance. This was going to be harder than it looked. The ground started shacking and some lava was spitting up onto the ground in front of us. This had made our planned escape route even harder to use now. I sent out my Beldum because it’s made of metal that can take quite a bit of damage from the lava and be heatproof.

Beldum’s POV

As I arose from my Pokeball I knew I had to lead Andrew and Magby out of here with my safety. This was going to be a dangerous job with a lot of lava spitting in a freestyle manner about but I thought I could handle it. The rocky path up ahead looked unstable and only safe enough to run across. I made Andrew and Magby run across it by sending psychic waves to Andrew’s mind giving him my thoughts. As I hovered a little across the rocky unstable path because my psychic powers weren’t as stronger as other Psychic Pokemon the rocks started to dissolve in the lava and I feel into the lava with them.

“Andrew, I’m falling deeper into the lava.” I sent to Andrew telepathically.
“Beldum… Beldum… Beldum…” Andrew could only shout back at me.
“Where do I go? I can’t survive too long in this lava.”
“Come up to where you can hear my voice.”
“I think I can feel your life energy well this way.”
“Keep heading that way. You must get out of that lava.”
“All I can see is red and I’m starting to get hot.”
“Come on Beldum. You can do it.”
“At last I’m there. I can see the surface.”

My POV

Beldum finally resurfaced from the lava and dived at me so I held him tight. Once he was in my hands I realized he was flaming hot. So hot I threw him out of my hands onto the rocky ground. I didn’t mean to hurt Beldum but he was just too hot to hold. Beldum’s body had become bright red from being in the lava for a few minutes and if he cooled down too fast it would crack his steel coat. We needed to hang around here a bit longer but we were safe.

We were resting safely away from the Lava Room’s core when a Torchic hopped over to us. It was jumping up and down in front of us weirdly like it was in some sort of uncontrollable rage. I paid a closer look at Torchic and it had a fiery red aura around it, the same sort of aura Magby had when he fell into the lava before. Looking into Torchic’s eyes I could see they had just turned glowing red, like the aura around him. Before I knew it, Torchic had swept across the ground and kicked Beldum over, wanting to start a battle.

Beldum (Level 10) vs. Torchic (Level 15)

Torchic may have been glowing a fire red aura but he wasn’t going to use any of its fire attacks on Beldum. We could tell this because he was just jumping up and down kicking his legs. This was going to be a fair fight for Beldum considering fire was one of his weaknesses. Torchic would one day become a Combusken and maybe a Blaziken, so Torchic wanted to practice its fighting skills on Beldum. I thought this would be a great idea to help Beldum battle and to hopefully return Torchic back to a normal independent Pokemon.

Beldum’s POV

“Andrew, how can I get this over quick and easy?” I asked Andrew for advice.
“Your only attack is Take Down.” Andrew gave back to me in a dull voice.
“I need to grow stronger by battling.”
“Now is the time to test your physical skills.”
“I’m going to use my Take Down in the best way I can.”
“Go Beldum, if you can’t do it, no one can.”
“Thanks for the confidence boost.”
“Your welcome. Now show Torchic what you’re made of.”
“Alright, here’s goes my full battle power.”
“Just remember your body can take a few blows.”
“I know. My body is made of steel after all.”

Having taken Andrew’s advice I charged straight at Torchic and used Take Down but before I knew it Torchic was gone. Behind me I felt some sort of foot flip me up into the air and straight back to the ground. Torchic was jumping up and down as usual laughing. I couldn’t take a beaten from a little Fire Bird Pokemon, so I was getting angrier. My emotions felt like that had reached a hyper rage point and I had to unleash them all at once.

Sneakily I launched a full body Take Down on top of Torchic knocking him down to the ground weaken. Torchic tried to get up from my beating but I used another quick Take Down on him. I felt more pain as I used Take Down because it was somehow damaging me too but I kept going. As I felt more pain I could feel my rage emotions growing stronger. The stronger my rage emotions had grown the more powerful my Take Down became. Torchic had finally had enough beating from Beldum and fell to the magma-heated ground.

Beldum won the battle (Level 10+2).

“Are you alright?” I question Torchic, as I was worried.
“What was that power?” Torchic replied, looking very frightened.
“That was my Take Down attack.”
“That Take Down was more powerful than a Blaziken’s Double Kick.”
“My rage emotions just went out of control.”
“We better be getting out of here now.”
“I’ll rest in my Pokeball. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
“That’s alright, we just have to leave this area quickly.”

My POV

After witnessing an awesome battle of my Beldum against the evil Torchic I thought Beldum needed a rest. He was giving me that tired look that Pokemon normally have after a battle. I pulled out Beldum’s Pokeball and returned him back inside it within a second. Torchic had lost its evil aura and the glowing bright red eyes, so maybe he was back to normally. Magby successfully made friends with Torchic that showed Torchic couldn’t be evil anymore. Torchic must have been exposed to the lava from the heat machine to turn evil before.

Once I had reached the exit of the Lava Room, Magby and Torchic wished me luck from the next room. They also reminded me to keep notes on my little computer device of what Team Rocket had done in this area. I thought to myself that maybe Team Rocket was plotting something much bigger in the other Training Rooms. I left the Lava Room and when I looked back I could see the clear glass door entrance where Magby and Torchic were waving.

That concludes my Scenario in the Lava Room. I just need to pay a visit to all the other Training Rooms now. I was thinking maybe I should do my next Scenario and the others after that with 2 battles in one instead of writing 2 parts for it as usual.

[Anita]

Hi.. I was wondering if I could get an extension for all those scenarios.. ^^' My final exams aren't quite over yet. x.x

[Wolfsong]

Those who asked for the extensions can have them, though i doubt the scenario will be changing anytime soon, or else id' need one myself

Hannah: Wow. I enjoy reading your stories. The description is great, and I especially liked how you described the blaze characteristic. It was interesting to read the bickeriign between Xolotle and Archie. I'm eager to see what happens next and all. Take 20 stamps.

I won't be on much today and i'm not sure about tomorrow. I'd appreciate it if one of the others could get andy's battle. Thanks in advance ^^;

[The_Pianist]

I read the beginning page to get the info on these scenarios, but there's a part I don't understand. It says that the trainer can battle two pokemon in EACH room, making for a total of ten battles. Does that mean we can go beyond the original two battle per scenario limit?

[andyizcool]

I read the beginning page to get the info on these scenarios, but there's a part I don't understand. It says that the trainer can battle two pokemon in EACH room, making for a total of ten battles. Does that mean we can go beyond the original two battle per scenario limit?

Each Training Room counts as a different Scenario. So we can battle 2 Pokemon in each Training Room like a normal Scenario. There's 5 Training Rooms, 2 battles in each, making that 10 battles in total.

[The_Pianist]

Hey, thanks Andyizcool! (BTW, Sephiroth kicks major bootay! )

[Charizard04621]

Meh, I managed to do this in an hour but the rest has to wait. I have SATs tomorrow and I've got to sleep. Sorry if it seems rushed:

“Ryu,” the male Trapinch’s POV:

I knew that I was supposed to battle, but after all that I had done to Elwing I didn’t feel like it. To me, battle was a reward, a chance to test out my abilities after I had done the hard work of training. And today, I deserved no reward.

The forest in which we walked was beautiful. I accompanied Karin alone as we walked; Switchblade had as of yet not shown himself. I guess he needed time alone. After the nightmare of the horrible Blizzard Room, we had all been relieved to rest at the Pokémon Center facility set up near the Unicorn Gate area. The people there seemed very capable; although many of us were injured, they made us feel better quite quickly. The food was good, too. As for my leg, on which my old wound had not healed in ages, the cut was finally sealing, and I had been told that it would not leave a scar. But some wounds cut deeper than swords.

Fragrant smells filled the air and permeated our souls, giving us the illusion that the world around us had a certain dreamlike quality of a surreal land. Sunlight poured through the cottony white clouds, singing a silent accompaniment to the chirping birds in the trees. The grass was soft at my feet, gentle, young, and fresh. Still, I could not enjoy the simple beauty of it all. How could I, when I did not deserve it? I sighed heavily.

Karin studied me, as if debating whether or not to ask what was the matter. I made the decision for her. I would be a fool if I denied that I needed someone to talk to.

“Have you ever felt like… you know, you had one shot at something…” I started. “Something that you would do anything for… And then you went and did something stupid to ruin your chance before it even began…?”

We stopped walking. Karin kneeled down to face me. “You can’t ruin a chance forever,” she said. “I know you. Whatever you want, you work yourself nearly to death to get. And whatever your goal, you always achieve it in the end. It’s because you have the heart, Ryu, and the courage. You have the strength never to give up, even if things seem impossible. Because to you, nothing is. And I believe in you. Nothing is out of your reach… So reach for the stars.”

Reach for the stars. I wondered if she knew that we were talking about Elwing Starspray. She probably did… She knew a lot more things than she let on, but she never said anything because she didn’t want to intrude on anyone else’s privacy. I knew that she watched in pain as I forced myself to train under conditions that would push myself to the limits and beyond. Sometimes when she saw me hurting the look on her face was so full of agony that I felt guilty for making her look that way. But she still let me train anyway, because she trusted me to know just when to stop. I could tell that she feared one day I would go too far. That’s why she kept watching me with concern, waiting to stop me if I would do something foolish enough to kill myself or cause myself permanent harm.

But Elwing was no battle for which I could train myself to win. The pain I felt for her was not physical. It hurt me to the very soul. And, personally, I knew not how to deal with this. For a battle I could torment myself, approach systematically, strike down my weaknesses one by one, but for this…? I could only hope that I wouldn’t do something that would make her hate me.

My POV:

I had hoped to avoid intrusion into Ryu’s thoughts, but this was too much. Already he had nearly crashed into a tree thrice, and each time I redirected him, he had failed to notice. “If you’re dwelling on what happened in the Blizzard Room, Ryu, don’t,” I advised him. “And your first Unicorn Games battle… It was not your fault, either.”

“Oh, but it was.”

“They caught you by surprise. Allura would have gotten anyone else who wasn’t expecting it. And you did break out of the trance on your own, Ryu, after the initial shock of the Hydro Pump blast. You can’t blame yourself for falling under her trap. It’s my fault for not being there to warn you.”

The Trapinch sighed. “It doesn’t matter… Nothing matters anymore. She hates me, don’t you see? If I were her, I would hate me too.”

I blinked. Up to this point I hadn’t acknowledged the fact that I was aware of Ryu’s secret feelings, but I could see no other way around it. “Elwing doesn’t hate you, Ryu. She doesn’t hate anybody. I think she’s just come to a time in her life where she’s beginning to see things differently, and she’s been trying to sort it all. Judging you by your character, you weren’t the one to snap at her first. You probably waited patiently until you couldn’t stand it anymore, and then you exploded, much to your surprise, and hers.”

“That’s an interesting way to put it. You’re giving me too much credit. She said things not to my taste, and I responded violently. It scared her. I deserve to be shot for doing such a thing.”

“No, no, you don’t, Ryu. You can’t blame yourself for every bad thing that ever happens. It isn’t you. Sometimes, it isn’t anyone. Things happen. You can’t always avoid it.”

“I guess.”

“Ryu,” the male Trapinch’s POV:

I knew that Karin was just trying to help, but I found no satisfaction in our conversation. My heart still burned up with guilt and simple dread. I could not do this anymore. I would leave this to those who were better at it than me. Oh, no, I did not pretend that I hadn’t seen the happy times she and Kalazeth had together. Perhaps this was just as well. They were around the same age. I was just old. Grimly I wondered why I had even entertained such thoughts in the first place. Certainly, she was beautiful. Surely she was sweet. But she was much too young. Or, at least, I was much too old.

Sighing, I followed Karin aimlessly down the forest path, seeing the flowers but not smelling them, hearing the birds but not listening to their song. Quietly I informed her that I did not feel like battling at the moment, and requested that she give someone else the opportunity instead. I knew that this probably meant Elwing, but that did not matter to me. In fact, I thought it better that she would take the battle from me. That way I could ease a debt that I could never really pay for completely.

My POV:

Ryu’s decline to battle meant that Elwing would take his place. The Trapinch retired solemnly to his ball, probably to meditate more on his recent actions. I could not help but worry about him, especially after I saw the change in his composure. It was not the same Ryu I had always known, but one different somehow, resigned. That was what scared me the most. The Ryu I knew had never given up on anything.

But it was not my business to inquire or push further. He was sensible enough to decide what he wanted for himself. Whatever he chose was not my decision to make.

Not long after I continued walking along the path alone, following a stream that had started to trickle by my feet, I came to a small grove surrounded by trees. These plants were of species the likes of which I had never seen before, and I wondered at their very existence. I had not long to gape in awe, however, as no sooner had I arrived there than a trainer came up to challenge me.

He was young, short, curly-haired, and eager. It did not take too long to figure out that he either loved battling, had not done something like this before, or both. “Send something out! Send something out!” he cheered.

I blinked. “All right…” I picked up Mandragora’s ball and wondered if I dared to hope… but before I could even consider the thought a second time, Aglárien zoomed out of her container and bared her fangs, ready to fight. This was not a good thing because, first of all, she was a Fire type in a grass arena, and second of all, she was a Fire type in a grass arena. Wait, did I think that already…? “Now, Aglárien, it’s not fair to the others. You’ve just battled before…”

“I am hurt that you would suggest that I would take an opportunity away from anyone who has had less luck than me.” She was indignant. “No one else wants to battle as of this moment. I’ve already taken the time to ask.”

Still, I hesitated. Not only did I feel sickened at the thought of the advantage she must get in a room like this; I feared that if she wielded flame at all in here, it would be dangerous. The boy did not give me time to withdraw the excited Charmander, however.

“Oh, that’s all right. I’m sure Iris will have loads of fun in this battle. Right, Iris?” he said lovingly, releasing a confident Chikorita onto the battlefield. She looked significantly more trained than Aglárien. Her eyes sparkled with the brilliancy of a blooming rainbow, and I could see that her name was well deserved. The boy had chosen to pit a level advantage against one in type… Perhaps he had chosen wisely. I had a feeling that he noticed my concern and knew that I was unwilling to allow Aglárien to unleash fire attacks in this arena. If I didn’t want to cause a flash fire, she would have to avoid flame altogether. This took care of a principal weakness of Iris’s. If this had at all been any part of his plan, I would have to advise Aglárien to exercise extreme caution. These two were none to trifle with.

Aglárien, the LV9 female Charmander vs. Iris, the LV15 female Chikorita

Aglárien’s POV:

I could tell by the look in Karin’s eye two things: First, that I was to be extremely careful in everything that I did, and second, that I was not to use Fire attacks at all in this battle if I could help it. I felt sufficiently annoyed that I should be restrained in such a manner, for my fondness of my Ember attack was great; but if I was not allowed, it could not be helped.

The Chikorita started off with a cloud of purple spores that I really had no intention of breathing, as they looked poisonous and overall unpleasant to smell. I moved out of the way immediately, returning the unfriendly gesture with snarls of my own. The Chikorita, although trying to maintain her composure, looked perturbed; it was just as well. If my Growling affected her in such a way, I should not have such painful attacks directed at me. After all, a Chikorita’s best attacks where those to which I had much resistance.

Karin was deep in thought. That the Chikorita had acted of her own accord, instead of waiting for commands from her trainer, was a hint already that this battle was ill fated. Nothing good could come of it; I looked forward to a difficult match. Although I felt excited at the prospect of battling an experienced opponent, I wished silently that I had had the time and the will beforehand to gain valuable battle experience of my own.

A nod and a glance from my opponent’s trainer, followed by a few whispered words and gestures at me, assured the Chikorita. I noticed a twinkle of mischief arise in Iris’s countenance. I knew not what to expect, but although I was not as experienced in battle as some of my other teammates, I had learned enough to understand that I would have to be prepared for anything. What I saw next as I prepared to attack was a shining energy shield. It was not so very bright as to be a Light Screen attack – besides, Iris looked smugly at my tail flame, as if to jeer at my inability to use it – so I could deduce that what she had used was the physical guarding version of it, Reflect. For why would she try to protect herself from something that she knew I would not use?

I made no sign that I understood what she had just done. Though I had but one other attack that might not be thwarted by her Reflect barrier, and it would do but meager harm to those of her type, I thought it would be better used than any physical blows, for she was expecting those. I sought therefore to take her by surprise, and acted to play into her trap until the latest possible moment. Charging, I flashed my outstretched claws, looking as if I was perfectly unaware of her Reflect shield and about to attempt a Scratch attack. As I neared, however, one could barely notice an imperceptible spark, which soon grew large into a crackling ball of electricity. I unleashed my Hidden Power attack upon her. The sparks flew through her shield to explode onto her face, causing her to stagger backwards in shock. This was all the time I needed.

At once I swung out at her at full force, my leg rotating a hundred and eighty degrees rapidly to connect with her body and send her flying into a tree. The Reflect shield that she had erected had fallen when my electricity had erupted upon her, and now she looked flushed that she should have fallen for such a trick when it was she who thought that she had the upper hand.

Iris got to her feet, annoyed. And, though she looked ready to attack, she just stood there… At first, I could not understand why she would do such a thing, until she began to smile coldly and fill the air with her light laughter. I noticed then that she had rooted herself to the ground, and color was returning to her pale face. The Chikorita’s Ingrain was bringing her nutrients from the ground to give her health back!

I was not sure what to do. I needed to finish her off quick, but she was bound to protect herself with Reflect again, and this time my electrical Hidden Power would not surprise her. I looked to Karin for help. She whispered to me that Ingrain bound its user to the ground firmly, but would say no more. I guessed that she would help guide me, but thought that I could finish the battle for myself. Very well, I would have to try winning with her meager advice.

Iris gave me another opening when she began to sing cheerfully for the sun to come out from behind the clouds. Another Mega Kick came her way, and she could not move to avoid it. Even the force of my kick did not break the roots that tied her to the ground. They were firm roots indeed. Karin’s hints made more sense now.

Sensing her weakness in this area, Iris aimed sharp, spinning leaves at her own roots, to no avail. Even her Razor Leaf could not slice through the sturdy roots. She Growled loudly to express her annoyance, and the action took me by surprise. I stepped back a bit, disturbed. I soon regained my poise, but my reaction had given Iris time to charge up a Solarbeam attack.

This did not alarm me, however; Ingrain had been Iris’s undoing. I easily avoided the devastating pillar of light, for Iris could not turn to aim it. Still, her roots did continue to contribute to her healthier and healthier appearance. Then, against my trainer’s wishes, I took a gamble. This I interpreted as my only chance to stop Iris before she could gain too much from her roots. I knew that I could be tired out before her if I did not finish her quickly. Waving my tail, careful not to catch any nearby brush, I expertly aimed the flying flames at Iris’s body alone. The Ember caught on her back and began to burn into her flesh, causing Iris to utter the most horrible squeals possible. To my horror, the fire seemed to slide down below; at least, Iris’s roots began to die and wither at an astounding rate, and I began to think that I had performed a most abominable act in starting what was soon to be a forest fire. But the weakening of the roots was not due to my Ember attack, for soon after I saw that Iris herself was recalled. The last assault had been too much for her. Still, although I had won the battle, I began to regret my disobedience of Karin’s orders. There was much sense in her advice.

Aglárien won!
Aglárien grew to LV11!
Aglárien learned Dragon Claw as her free TM!

[Lady Vulpix]

I'm not fully back yet, but I don't have the energy to study right now, so I came here instead. I saw Karin's battle in my e-mail and thought I'd be able to concentrate better tomorrow if I read it today, and I guess I will.

Cool battle, Karin! Take 11 stamps!¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
Each time I'm more convinced that Aglárien will be really tough to handle. As for "Ryu"... He seems to have been on a path for self destruction for a while. I hope he can find a way to change that; I guess he'll probably need help for that.

Oh, and Andy gets a stamp for helpng The_Pianist. ¢

[andyizcool]

I just wanted to point out that you've forgotten to rate my battle on the previous page. I know you're all busy and all so I don't mind when you rate it, just as long as you remember it's there and you haven't rated it yet. Thanks for checking for me.

[Charizard04621]

Yeah, I told them I'd get to yours when I could. I didn't feel like reading it last night and thought it better to look at it in the morning. Since I work 8 hours a day every weekday this week and the next, Battle Range scenarios are not my first priority. I have to catch up with everything else first. Which, by the way, I haven't been very successful with. I'm still behind. I apologize for having too much to do. Believe me, it's cutting into my summer time, and I don't quite like it either. Parents... Sheesh.

Well, I've read your battle now. Still choppy with the short sentences and unvaried structure... But this was a little better than the last one. Take 6 Stamps.

[Gothic Animé]

hi. first time. ^^; i hope i do this right. my pokemon: cacnea lv.7 and shroomish lv.6. my character is hideaki. hopefully, i shall get a sprite soon so you can see what he looks like. ^^;

pov: hideaki
i woke up slowly, and turned over to look at the clock. 6:00 am, it read. wow. i felt really groggy. but as i slowly sat up, i remembered something from the day before. the letter. i had received a letter from a new training centre, over west of the town i was in. they had invited me to come and test it out, as well as have an appointment with it's manager. supposedly, it was divided into a series of elemental rooms, each with something that would help a certain pokemon while hindering another. it sounded quite interesting to me. 'well, i might as well check it out,' i thought to myself.

i got up and went to the closet. i dug through the pile of clothes to look for something clean. i wasn't exactly what you'd call a neat freak. ^^; i finally got something, put it on, and got my pokeballs form my bedstand. putting them in a pouch in my pants, i headed out the door to go visit this centre.

when i arrived at the address, i saw a huge building looming above me, casting shadow on almost the whole street. it was huge! o.O i stepped up to the huge mahogany door and pressed the intercom button. immediately, a cheery woman's voice rang out through the speaker. "may i help you?" she asked. "yes, my name is hideaki, and i'm here to have an appointment with the manager." "oh yes. let me see....here you are. the door is open. please come to the third room on the right please." she said. i stepped through the door and into a cool air-conditioned hallway. counting the rooms, i reached the manager's office. before i could knock, a portly man in a dark grey suit greeted me and showed me inside. i sat down in front of his desk, in a comfortable, almost recliner-like chair. "nice to see you, hideaki." he said.

"nice to see you to, sir." i said. as i leaned back in my chair, he began to tell me about what i would be doing. "there are a number of rooms here. you can do them in any order you like. they are the pond room, the jungle room, the desert room, the blizzard room, and the lava room. now obviously, each one is unique, and certain conditions will be beneficial to certain types." "now, exactly how each room is, you will have to find out for yourself when you get there." he said slyly. "all i ask is that you have fun, and report back here immediately after each room so we can check your progress and heal your pokemon." "thank you." i said, as i left the room.

each of the other doors in the hallway was labeled with a name, and was a different color. i decided i'd start in the pond room. i went down the hall to the fifth door on the left side of the corridor. it was light blue-stained oak, and had pond room on it in flourished cursive manuscript engraved in silver, hanging from the door. i pushed open the door, and walked in. the door closed immediately behind me and locked.

i ventured forth into the room. there was a light mist coming off of the pristine lake that made up basically the whole room. there were stepping stones in various places for the trainers to stand as their pokemon battled. i let out my pokemon, shroomish and cacnea. they looked around, bewildered.

pov: shroomish
i looked around bewildered. where was i? this place was somewhere i had never seen before. but it was gorgeous. i walked a little ways to look into the water. i could see the bottom, and my reflection. cacnea came up beside me. he looked at his reflection as well. as we stood there, hideaki came up to us and explained where we were. we were at the pond room of a new training centre. he admitted that not even he knew too much about it.

but as we sat and enjoyed a peaceful little lie-down, we heard a far-off cannon. we looked up with a start.

pov: hideaki, once again
as i tried to see through the mist, i noticed what looked like a pirate ship. impossible. a pirate ship, here? what could this be? i gathered shroomish and cacnea in my arm and jumped across the stones to get a better look.

my eyes didn't deceive me, they were pirates! and it looked as if they spotted me! oh geez. the crew seemed to all be wolves. but not just regular wolves. these wolves were huge, and had glaring red eyes. i gulped. oh damn, i said to myself. i hopped a bit farther away. 'are you ready?' i asked my pokemon. as i said it, a totodile and a mudkip came up out of the water and pounced!

battle: hideaki's shroomish and cacnea vs. wolf pirate's totodile and mudkip

pov: cacnea
uh oh, these guys had the upper hand. much more room to move. but i looked at shroomish, and nodded. hideaki issued the commands.

"cacnea, grasswhistle. shroomish, helping hand!"

i heard him. okay, i'd try. grasswhistle was something i had never done before. so i began to whistle. it was a little faint. and mudkip was incoming! he came charging at me. but shroomish glowed green, and jumped in front of me, taking the blow. i began to whistle louder. totodile was coming, but he slowed down, and then his eyes closed. he had stopped completely. the grasswhistle had worked!

but shroomish was kind of hurt. i could hear hideaki's vioce again. "cacnea, leer. shroomish, absorb. aim for totodile, shroomish, worry about mudkip later!" i looked around for mudkip. no sight of him. i could see shroomish out of the corner of my eye, absorbing energy from the sleeping totodile. his drooping leaves started to perk up again, and he looked ready for combat. just as i was turning around, mudkip came out of nowhere and plowed me over! he and i went under, and i suddenly felt odd.

pov: hideaki
cacnea went under. oh geez. i couldn't swim! and neither could shroomish! i hadn't thought about that...oh no. but shroomish started panicking. i told her to wait. i had to think. what should i do. but as i sat down, another shadow loomed overhead. i looked up. a dragon had appeared! it was swooping down towards me.

i hopped across the rocks as fast as i could. i hated to abandon cacnea, but i knew i couldn't do any good 60 feet in the air! so i ran. but as i looked back, i tripped and fell under. i felt the rush of the cool water envelope my body. but as i looked out, i saw andrew! i had known andrew from a while back, when we had met once in a competition. he had gone underwater and saved my cacnea. he spotted me, too, and was swimming over. but my breath was going out fast. i tried to swim to the top, and managed to stay up for a few seconds before plunging under again.

finally, as i felt myself losing grip, i felt him grab my arm and pull me up. i breathed rapidly, and my chest felt like it was splitting open. but i was alive. and cacnea was okay, too.

pov: cacnea
some trainer had come! and i was back above water! but immediately, i noticed that mudkip was still there. the totodile had fainted a while back. hideaki, noticing at the same time as me, ordered shroomish to use helping hand, while i used poison sting. i jumped and lunged with my spike out to catch mudkip, and i got him right on the head. he was knocked out cold!

pov: hideaki
i thanked andrew for his help. the dragon had gone when mudkip fainted. 'that was wierd,' i thought to myself. i thanked andrew for his help. 'i couldn't have done it without you,' i said. 'you saved my cacnea!' "it was nothing." he said. i sent cacnea and shroomish back to their pokeballs, and walked towards the door. but when i got there, andrew came running up to me. "i wanted to give you this." he said. he handed me a pokeball. when i let the pokemon, it was a beautiful black-furred eevee with a rainbow mane. 'thanks!' i said enthusiastically. "no problem." he replied, and walked back into the mist.

i went out the door, and walked back to the manager's office. when i stepped inside, he wasn't there. 'business meeting' i thought to myself. oh well. i decided to just rest my pokemon and wait a little, and if he wasn't back, i'd go on to the next room.

battle results
hideaki's shroomish(lv.7) and cacnea(lv.6) defeat wolf pirate's mudkip(lv.15) and totodile(lv.8 )!
shroomish grew to level 8! (defeated totodile)
cacnea grew to level 8! (defeated mudkip)

hideaki obtained a rare eevee from andrew! (andyizcool)

[Sheik]

Does the Battle Range do Random Battle Generators like the CC Battle Arena? If so, I would like one for Matthias, my Growlithe. *pays amount of stamps needed*. If not, just ignore this post.

[andyizcool]

Does the Battle Range do Random Battle Generators like the CC Battle Arena? If so, I would like one for Matthias, my Growlithe. *pays amount of stamps needed*. If not, just ignore this post.

Yes, sort of the same. You pay 7 Stamps and you need to chose where you want a battle at. Look at the main page for some better instructions that will help you more.

[Sheik]

Alright. I would like a Random Battle Generator for Matthias, my Growlithe at the Caledor Pokemon Adoption Agency (I think that's what it's called...) *pays 7 stamps*

[Charizard04621]

I tried to read your battle, Hideaki, and honestly, I could not physically read it. The words all melt into each other as if they were a white blob of some sticky substance that refused to remain distinct.

Here's the second half of my Jungle Room scenario... I had to throw something together fast before I left this Saturday, or I'd feel as if I left something undone.

My POV:

I shook my head in disapproval at Aglárien, who looked down at her little feet when she realized that she had done wrong. She knew now how close a call that Ember had been, and, had it been worse timed, that she could have been the cause of a horrible flash fire. What with all the dry underbrush lying around… Had I not specified that Fire attacks were forbidden? And had she not understood?

Still, however, I felt proud that she recognized that the situation required more than simply physical attacks. At that point, Ember seemed like her best chance of winning, and she took it. I had to discipline her on that aspect, though. A time might come when winning would not be the highest priority. When that time came, she would have to know not to ignore advice at all costs.

My face remained solemn as she approached me with averted eyes. From time to time I could catch her looking imploringly at me when she thought that my gaze was fixed elsewhere. She begged forgiveness, but I waited to give it. I could not so easily justify her wrong; otherwise she might learn to take future occasions lightly. Instead, I opted to give her the silent treatment, just for a little bit. I myself hated the silent treatment, knew it to be horrible, and felt sorry for Aglárien who was about to receive it. Still, it was one of the only ways I could think of to train her, and dislike it though I might, I would administer it. Without saying a word, I held out her pokéball, and she returned silently, morosely, afraid that she had touched a hidden nerve. I got no more trouble from her for a while. She simply stayed in her ball.

The little boy walked up to congratulate me on defeating his Chikorita. I shook his outstretched hand, glad that he wasn’t another one of those whiny I-didn’t-win-because-my-pokémon-was-bad children.

“By the way,” I started, “You don’t have to congratulate me. Believe me, I had specifically cautioned Aglárien against the use of any Fire attacks.”

“Oh, you did? Then I was right. I thought you did. That’s why I was surprised when she suddenly started that Ember. I guess that goes to show that I can’t assume anything.” He laughed good-naturedly. “Well, that was my mistake. I’ve been training for two years, but you can never stop learning, you know? I haven’t had the chance to go against many capable trainers such as yourself. Most of the time I practice with my friends, who, although nice, hardly get past their Weedle or Magikarp, if you know what I mean. If I could trouble you for another battle…?”

Surprisingly, after he had overcome that initial fit of excitement when we had met, the boy was quite easy to talk to. In spite of his age, he wasn’t a silly little child, after all. “Well, I’m in luck. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to find another trainer, anyway. You’ve got yourself a battle.”

“And I’ll choose first this time,” he said. “Since you did last.” Going through his assortment of pokémon in his backpack, he finally settled on a worn Ultra Ball. It appeared older than the rest, and more used. “This was my first pokémon,” he said, “And now he’s my strongest. I’d like to see how he does against yours.”

I hesitated. “My strongest isn’t in the condition to battle right now,” I said slowly, immediately sensing his disappointment. “Will you settle for second?”

His face lit up a bit. “That should do. I think it’ll be an interesting match. Sickle!” At his trainer’s call, the magnificent beast shot out in a flurry of light. The Scyther stood a good five and a half feet tall, an impressive height for his species; Scyther were on average less than five feet.

“Well, here goes. Do your best, Elwing.” The Dratini popped out, still indignant from her previous encounter with Ryu, extremely self-confident, slightly haughty. I really wished that she didn’t act like that, but she was growing and changing, and I knew what hormones could do to someone. At this point Elwing was a very confused Dratini.

“That’s a very pretty Dratini,” the opposing trainer commented. “She seems to glow, somehow.”

“That would be the result of her Mystical Aura Juice,” I told him. “I got a bottle for my birthday, and Elwing drank the potion. So now she looks like… She came from heaven.” Ryu thought so very much.

“Yes, that’s a good way to put it,” the boy replied. “Anyway, the battle now.” He stepped back a considerable amount, distancing himself from me so the two combatants could have room in which to fight. Giving one look of encouragement at his Scyther, the boy nodded. “Be careful on this one,” he said.

Elwing Starspray, LV18 female Dratini vs. Sickle, LV25 male Scyther

Sickle burst into action. Immediately after his trainer’s signal to start, his wings buzzed to life, and he took to the air. Elwing at first did not know what to do – had no time to know – merely watched as the flying mantis flew up and swerved to dive down at her and slice into her skin with cold metallic wings.

Squealing, Elwing aimed a quick pulse of constricting sparks at her attacker, to no avail. The Scyther in the air was too swift. His supernatural Agility propelled him in the sky, giving him the necessary speed to avoid Elwing’s direct assaults. She aimed a torch of flame skywards; he pulled away easily with little effort. This would not do.

“Elwing, you can’t hit him by blindly firing off shots,” I told her. She seemed to see the sense in my words, and yet looked resentful at the mention of the word “can’t.” Her time spent with Kalazeth had convinced her that the only word that should be associated with her abilities was “can.” Yet it wasn’t Kalazeth’s fault. That innocent Horsea only gave her sincere compliments, things that he really felt from the furthest depths of his kind heart. Somehow Elwing took these to mean more than reality; and although I liked the fact that she possessed such optimism, I hoped that she could become more sensible with time.

Elwing attempted another direct assault. This time she conjured a great whirlwind of draconic energy, hoping perhaps to pull Sickle into its vortex. Up to this point, she had never created a Twister of this magnitude. I was surprised at its size and intensity. Although the high-velocity winds seemed to disturb the zooming Scyther’s flight slightly, he was by no means desperately in danger. A green streak that Elwing did not see, he crashed downwards at extreme speeds, his scythes outstretched. I mouthed a word of warning but the Dratini refused to hear. Because she wanted to fight the battle her own way, Elwing continued to maintain her raging tornado. Suddenly she realized that Sickle was directly above her, but by that time, it was too late. Having multiplied himself by three, the Scyther reached out from the left, the right, and behind with his blades. The three images converged into a green blur, outstretched claws flashing under the little light that escaped through the tornado. Elwing found herself removed from the ground and tossed into her own Twister.

Her response was not immediate, for she had frozen with shock. For her own attack to be used against her was a blow to her pride. Soon after she had been tossed and torn at by her Twister, she quickly made it subside, but the effects of the draconic energy on her body were apparent. Little slices and cuts, the most aggravating kind, littered her delicate skin. Elwing’s aura had diminished just slightly from the experience.

Sickle was alone now, having dismissed his mirror images. His eyes remained closed as he fell into a meditative trance, his blades held across his chest, his breaths evening every moment that he told his body to concentrate. In truth I had yet to see him lose his concentration in this battle, but I guessed that his Focus Energy helped to calm him and sharpen his mind further. Elwing at her best would have found this opponent a challenge alone. In her current condition, she needed all the help she could get.

Elwing now panted angrily. Seeing her opponent in a meditative state, she took the opportunity to shoot towards him and wind her snakelike body around his neck. Tightening. This instantly brought the Scyther out of his trance. When he realized what was happening to him, a momentary light of fear flashed through his eyes; but then an answer came to him.

Blue smoke was the only way I could describe what surrounded the two; crystal blue smoke. A sphere of this substance formed a cloud around Sickle. Then, sailing inwards, all united in one point: Elwing. The temperature in the air around us dropped several degrees; I could almost feel Elwing’s pain as the ice tore at her already ravaged body. Her grip on the Scyther’s neck loosened, and she fell to the ground, twitching. It looked as if the battle was over.

My attention turned to Sickle. He had, also, taken damage from his Hidden Power attack. Because Elwing had been bound tightly to him, the Scyther could not avoid being in the center of the ice barrage. Still, he had received fewer blows from Elwing than he had given her; so he did, in effect, look much better off. My Dratini was just about ready to collapse.

Now, more than ever, though, Elwing would not accept defeat. Not after she had begun to believe that she could do anything. Lifting her head up high, her face flushed a bit, and then I saw her surrounded by an aura of rainbow lights. It reminded me of the aurora borealis, with colors cascading upon her body in their celestial magnificence. Her own special aura seemed renewed, fed by the lights around her body. Wounds instantly healed, cuts disappeared, and her body stood erect once more. Elwing had performed an impressive Recover.

Sickle blinked. Something in his sense told him that a Dratini with Recover was not something you saw every day. But then again, he had received previous warning right from the moment he met her that Elwing was no ordinary Dratini. Shrugging, he sought to continue the battle without much fuss.

Flying into the air again, Sickle was more than prepared to repeat his hit-and-run tactics, this time with more success, for Elwing was visibly tiring. I could withhold my commands no more.

“Rain Dance, Elwing. Rain Dance!”

She looked at me for a moment, decided that there was nothing offensive in my commands, and yet resented the fact that I did not just leave her to sort out her own battle. The Dratini hesitated, but then realized that in her current situation she was not one to argue. Sighing irritably, she beckoned for storm clouds to whoosh over the grove, then, with a signal and a flash of lightning, began a heavy downpour.

Rain was something Sickle had not been counting on. His movement significantly slowed, and he could feel his wings weighing down under the burden of the water that soaked into his body. Panickedly, but still trying not to completely lose his composure, the Scyther waved his blades at the sky, telling the clouds to go away. Elwing stubbornly fought back, and her superiority at weather control became obvious. Still, Sunny Day being Sickle’s only hope at an advantage, he continued the weather battle.

“Forget the weather, Elwing. Get his wings!” I was glad that Sickle, high up in the air, did not hear my command over the clamor of the thundering storm. It would have given him sufficient warning, and might have prepared him for what was coming next.

Elwing, finally understanding the importance of this turn of events, lost no time. Her body lit up with a million crackling sparks, which exploded from her into an expanding bluish hemisphere of electricity that quickly shot up at the airborne Scyther. Most of the force of the attack had been directed at his wet and exposed wings; and managed, successfully, to damage them.

By this time Sickle had cleared the skies of the menacing storm clouds, but now he realized that this success was not due to his triumph in force but Elwing’s complete slackening in the effort. Too late, he understood, as he struggled against plummeting towards the ground. He attempted to erect a protective barrier between him and the grass as he fell, bracing himself for the hard impact that was coming. As he crashed into the floor it shattered; and he took some of the impact without a shield of any kind. Now he didn’t look much better off than Elwing did earlier. His wings, damaged, would no longer permit him to fly; and his body ached from the painful fall.

Elwing took advantage of the Scyther’s weakness. Her golden earring sparkled. More electricity shot out from her body, the vicious blue current enveloping Sickle, tearing past him, through him, leaving him shuddering miserably in its wake.

Suddenly a wildness arose in the Scyther’s eyes, a note of desperation, making itself apparent as he rushed towards Elwing screaming an agonized war cry at the top of his lungs. In less than a second he was upon her, tearing away at every bit of her body he could reach with his scythes. The Dratini, helpless against this Reversal onslaught, could only stare up in pain at her attacker as he struck her relentlessly, again and again and again with no signs of stopping. She must have heard only my voice in a whisper as I told her, “Harness the rain…” For it seemed as though my words were lost in that swirling storm, somewhere within the falling rain and cold blows from cruel blades and the symphony of the thunder that accompanied the lightning’s flash in the sky. Her eyes dilated as she seemed to put forward one last effort into a battle that by now must have become almost completely surreal. From the nearby stream, put in flight by the rain, rose an almost imperceptible shadow of a wave that glided over the wet floor like a ghost in the stormy darkness. As it washed over the two battlers the water covered them both, seeming to brush over like a blanket to close their eyelids and put those that it touched to gentle sleep. Eventually the rain slackened and sunlight dared to peep through the clouds, revealing the bodies of the two opponents piled upon one another. Sickle had already fallen into the black realm of unconsciousness, while Elwing, lifting her head slightly before she fell too, followed ever so closely behind.

Elwing won!
Elwing grew to LV20!
Elwing learned Icy Wind as her free TM!

“Well, that was a close one,” said the trainer as he recalled his Scyther. I could tell he was a little disappointed that his strongest fighter hadn’t pulled the battle off, but he only blamed it on himself. “He’s never lost a battle, you know, until now,” he admitted quietly.

“Really? That’s impressive. None of my pokémon could have boasted that record. At least, not the ones who have battled several times. Not even my Trapinch, Ryu.”

“Oh well,” he said, shrugging it off. “No sense dwelling upon it. These things happen eventually. And Sickle did his best, so I have no regrets.”

“That’s the best attitude I’ve encountered in a while,” I complimented him. I extended my hand. “A real pleasure meeting you. And what did you say your name was?”

“Me?” he asked shyly. “It’s Charles.”

“Karin.” We shook.

“I like your name better than mine. I would have preferred a different one, but it was my parents’ choice, so I can’t really complain, now, can I?” He looked far away, suddenly sad about something. “It’s all I have left of them both,” he whispered in a soft murmur. His expression changed again to conceal his pain. Poor child… “Well, I enjoyed our battles,” he said sunnily, yet I could tell that his tone was achieved through strained effort. “I’ll see you another time. Right now I’ve got to get my pokémon healed.” With that, he left for the entrance. I waited a respectable amount of time before I headed back to the pokémon center too.

***

I have a question. In RBY, Dratini learns Agility at LV20. Do I still follow the GSC moveset where Dratini gets the move at LV36?

[EDIT]: I thought I'd tag a conclusion onto here instead of writing one later.

[Gothic Animé]

oh geez, sorry about that! the font is now enlarged! ^^;

well, if the battle's not legal, i'll change it so that he didn't interfere. ^^; sorry, i wasn't aware.

[Charizard04621]

Hideaki, I'm sorry, but I don't think that battle is legal. You can ask Gabi or Amy to confirm, but I don't think that another trainer can interfere in a battle like that and make it a 3 vs. 2 battle. At least, it wouldn't be one that your pokémon would gain experience from.

[EDIT]: By the way, thank you so much for enlarging your text. I really appreciate your making it legible.

[Sheik]

<J’s POV>

I walked into the Jungle Room to find numerous plants and flowers. The trees reached to the heavens, blocking out what would be the sun. Faint rays of sunlight penetrated through the trees, dimly lighting the forest floor. The flowers were amazing; there were so many different shapes, sizes and colours. Bright reds, oranges, yellows, and greens, and some were even unusual, such as black, purple, and blue.

I walked deeper and deeper into the jungle, looking for Pokemon to battle. I moved leaves that came down near my head, so that I could see deeper into the forest. I watched myself, cautious so as to avoid tripping over a massive tree trunk and arousing Pokemon. Suddenly, distant from my view, I saw what looked like a Mankey. I was hanging from a tree, busying itself with a banana. It was an amusing sight, but I decided not to disturb it.

I moved onward, going still deeper into the forest. I looked up into the canopy, trying to spot a Pokemon to battle, but none were to be found. Either that, or they were in another location. I stopped, and looked down. I saw a trail of ants leading somewhere. They were all following in a line. These ants weren’t like normal ants... these must have been 10 or 15 times the size of regular ants.

I followed their trail, trying to discover where it would lead. The ants took me down a hill, through more trees, up a hill, and through a water fall before reaching their final destination. It was a giant... anthill. Not something I found really fascinating, judging from the size of the ants. Now I was lost. I retraced my steps. Suddenly, I heard something that sounded like “lossom” to my left.

I moved through leaves and other plants, and came upon a clearing. In that clearing the sun was brighter than in the whole forest. It made my eyes squint. After I got used to the light, I noticed that there were a lot of Bellossom surrounding each other. They got really close together, and starting dancing. Suddenly, I heard beautiful music, which oddly sounded like the Bellossom were producing it. How I wanted one of those Pokemon. Unlucky for me, I was out of Pokeballs. I sighed. Another day, I thought.

I left the Bellossom to themselves to perform their sacred dance, and marched back into the depths of the forest. I heard Mankey making monkey noises, and swinging from limbs nearby. I wasn’t going to bother myself with them. They were more than likely in a pack. That wouldn’t be a fun thing to mess with. Getting lonely, I released Brandi and Matthias, my Vulpix and Growlithe. They walked in front of me.

<Matthias’s POV>

Getting a little in front of Brandi, I made my way through the foliage. I had to protect Brand and J, that’s all there was to it. With every step I took caution, looking around to see if any Pokemon were present that could potentially harm either of them. None could be found, so I continued onward, leading the way. I looked back and saw Brandi walking behind me, and behind her Jay, looking ahead.

I eyed Brandi curiously. I personally thought she was quite attractive. Prissy, but, attractive nonetheless. I kept walking while still watching her. She looked up into the trees; not realizing that I was gaping at her. Suddenly, I felt myself run into something. I looked forward, and realized that I had just hit a tree. I looked back, and saw Brandi looking at me quizzically. I blushed, and then turned around quickly.
Perfect... I had just humiliated myself in front of her. What she thought after that sudden incident I could only guess. I decided to shift my gaze downward. What else could I do? I didn’t want to turn around again, for fear of her noticing me looking at her. I also didn’t want to turn around, because I was also afraid I’d do something stupid like trip or run into something else.

<Brandi’s POV>

What was he up to? First he runs into a tree, and now he just keeps walking ahead. He’s probably embarrassed with himself. I would be to, if I ran into a tree that was right in front of my face. I wanted to talk to him, but the words just wouldn’t come out right. What would I say? He’d probably doesn’t think much of me. Afterall, I’m just Brandi, a clean-freak Vulpix.

I sighed and looked skyward. What to do... Sure, he was cute, but did I really have feelings for him? I wasn’t sure yet. I mean, I had only just met him a few days ago, when J adopted him. I don’t want to get into anything yet. It’s too early. Besides, where would it lead, we are both very young–it wouldn’t go anywhere but downhill. Right now I wanted to concentrate on myself and make myself stronger. When I am more mature, then I will decide. But for now, it will be a fun thing to dwell on.

I looked back down from the sky and looked at Matthias. I was immediately taken aback. Was he just looking at me? I was very curious. What was he up to? I continued to follow his tracks, keeping my eye on him. I could hear J right behind me, so I need not worry where he would be. Every now and again I would glance back to Matthias to see if he decided to take any more quick glances.

I wasn’t really paying any attention to where I was being lead–concentrating mainly on the leader. It seemed that he was like that. Matthias was always wanted to be the leader, be first at everything, and he always seemed to take charge of everything whenever he came out of his Pokeball. I didn’t mind it, usually, but sometimes it got on my nerves.

Just then, I heard a rustle among the leaves. “Matthias, to the right” I told him. He looked at me, then looked in the direction that I had told him. He too, heard the rustling the leaves. J must have been aware of it, as his attention was drawn to the same spot.”Follow it,” J said. We did so. This time, Matthias stayed back with him, and we both marched toward the bush expectantly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a male and female Chikorita appeared. They looked at Matthias and me loathingly.”Fire types,” the male said.

Brandi, Lv. 8 female Vulpix & Matthias, Lv. 7 male Growlithe

VS

Lv. 15 Male Chikorita & Lv. 15 Female Chikorita

I was ready to fight, and almost started in. Matthias stopped me. “Wait... let me go first. This will protect you.” Suddenly, bluish crystals appeared in a circle near his head. They swirled rapidly, and came near me. They wrapped around my body, and disappeared. Safegaurd, I thought. “Thank you,” I said. Suddenly, leaves came shooting toward us. These two didn’t look like they were going to wait. I fired an Ember at both of them, to hold them off.
“Use it on yourself, too,” I advised. He nodded, and cast Safeguard on himself. Now we were both protected from anything they could dish out. He turned to face the two opponents, and I followed suit. It turned out to be a stare-down. The Chikorita didn’t move, neither did we. Finally they made the attack. Once cast Poisonpowder on me, but it had no affect. The other decided to use Razor Leaf.

The leaves hit Matthias, doing decent damage for a grass attack. We both ran at the Chikorita. I exhaled a blast of Ember; Matthias had no other alternative, so he did the same. Both blasts hit the respective target with nice precision. This was a great way to start a battle. “Brandi, go to the left, I’ll go to the right and distract them. From behind, attack both of them using your Ember attack,” There he goes again with the taking charge thing, I thought.

I’d do it, just because it sounded like a decent plan. I ran to the left, while Matthias did so on the opposite side. Judging by the confused looks on their faces, we obviously took the two by surprise. Matthias barked, and threw hot Embers at both opponents. They turned to him. The male dodged his, but the female wasn’t as lucky. They ran after Matthias. One of the opponents used Tackle, and the one behind followed up with a Razor Leaf, dealing much damage to Matthias.

I had do to something fast. I shot two Embers at both opponents. Each Ember was a successful hit, coming from behind. The two opponents must have forgotten about me. They drew their attention to me. They both sprinted toward me, and attempted to Tackle me, but I jumped to the side, and ducked to avoid both assaults. Matthias caught up to me, and we both coughed up Embers. Both were again successful.

This battle was really looking up for us. Both opponents reared to attack, but stopped. One of them used Sunny Day, and the other tried a Growl. Did they realize what they were doing? By using the Sunny Day, they strengthened our attacks. Did they realize what they had done?

We didn’t think much of it, and spat up more fireballs. Each hitting the target successfully. What came next surprised both Matthias and I. Just above both of the Chikorita were little yellow balls of light. They got bigger, then suddenly, giant beams of energy radiated from them. A Double Solarbeam! Matthias and I took the attacks. I skidded backward a few inches, and Matthias was nearly done for.

He was panted like mad. “I’ll be ok. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Let’s just finish them off.” I was worried about him. He’d make it through this, wouldn’t he? He had to. I’m not going to let him go. He’s sticking this battle out whether he wants to or not.

I drew within me another hot Ember blast. I shot it at the opponent, knocking her back. She stumbled a few steps and got back into the battle. Matthias, still extremely exhausted, mustered up another Ember, hitting his target. Next, they tried another Double Solarbeam. I was ready for it, but I knew Matthias couldn’t take it. Once I saw the little bright balls, and the energy pouring from them, I dodged over to Matthias, shielding him from the Solarbeam blast.

I was knocked backwards, and was nearly knocked out but I was ok. Matthias came to my aid. “Brandi! What are you doing? You could have just been nearly killed! Come on, hurry, we’ve almost got them!” I got up weakly, and looked at my opponents. I was ready.

We ran at the Chikorita, and fired Ember nonstop, fireball after blazing fireball we threw at the enemies, going all out. After the smoke cleared, and we could see, all that was left of the two opponents were what seemed like lifeless corpses. They were alive, just knocked unconscious. We had done it! Smoke rose from the bodies and they lied their, unmoving.

Matthias and I stumbled over to J, victory in our eyes.

<Matthias’s POV>

She had just saved me. I was done for after that one attack. Brandi took a hit to save me. I felt indebted to her. How could I ever repay her? We stopped and sat down, and waited for J to walk over to us. “You two did great! That was a great battle!” I couldn’t really hear what J was saying. I wasn’t really paying attention. I was focusing on Brandi.

“Thank you... ... ... for what you did back there,” I told her. She looked up at me, and replied, “What do you expect? You’re my friend, and I wouldn’t let you down like that. I would never let you fall in the heat of a battle when the stakes are so high. I will always be willing to sacrifice myself for you, and I hope you feel the same way...” “I do,” I said, and licked her on the cheek. She looked at me with utter shock. I didn’t know what to expect next–a painful hit on the face, or something a little more affectionate.

She didn’t do anything. She just stood there, and looked into my eyes. I was shy for what I had done, and looked down... what else could I do?

Brandi grew to level 10! Brandi learned Roar at level 9! Brandi’s free TM is Toxic.

Matthias grew to level 9!

[Lady Vulpix]

That's right, Karin. We go by GSC levels for all moves that can be learnt in GSC. And it's true that no one can battle 3 pokemon in 1 scenario and gain levels from all of them.

I haven't read your battle yet, nor J's; reading them could take a while since, even after I'm done with today's class, I still have to read Matt's and Becca's Unicorn Games battles. If they're not rated yet by the time I'm done, I'll rate them myself but, as I said, it could take a while.

[Matt]

I’m finally doing the RBG I requested a while ago ^_^; sorry it took so long.

Eiko’s POV

“When will I ever win a battle?” I whined to Matt. “I don’t know, Eiko; you just need to face the right opponent, so you can really win!” Matt said. “Well, who could I possibly battle that will be easy enough for me…? I mean I’m so weak right now…” I said with my head down. “Hmm… I can go sign you up for a battle at the Dragon Tamers. They have this new thing where you can battle one of their pokemon in the adoption center,” Matt assured me. “Come on then! I’m ready for a battle any day now!!” I yelled. Matt just smiled and nodded.

Matt’s POV

Eiko and I went out the door and started to walk towards the Adoption Center of the Dragon Tamers. It wasn’t that far away, but it was a good long walk. As soon as we got there, Eiko’s eyes were glowing from seeing all the pokemon around. I walked into the building and up to the front desk. “Hello, I would like to sign up for a battle for my little Dratini here,” I said to receptionist. “I think we can do that…” She said, laughing a little. “Here, your Dratini will be battling in the Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency. The corridor to the area is to your left,” She said. “Thank you,” I said, “come on Eiko; it’s time for you to battle!”

When I said that she slithered in as fast as she could and started to follow me; it wasn’t long until we got there, though! I couldn’t see any good pokemon for Eiko to battle right at the entrance, so we went in a little bit more. There were a few Volbeats and Seedots, but nothing that Eiko could handle. As soon as I was about to go to a different part of the area, I was stopped by someone talking.

“Hello, can I… help you?” A lady said. As soon as I saw her face, I was in a trance from her obvious beauty. She saw me staring and looked at me like I was weird. “Umm… is there something on my face?” She said panicking. It was like I couldn’t even hear what she was saying; Eiko wasn’t pleased with my behavior, though. She wrapped her body around my leg and started to move, and I was pulled to the ground.

When I hit the hard ground I was knocked out of my trance. “W-what happened?” I said, confused. “…don’t even try it, Matt; you know what you were doing,” Eiko said with anger in her voice. I laughed and slowly backed away from my Dratini.

“Hello? Why are you here, sir?” The girl behind me said. “Oh, I signed up my Dratini for a battle in here, that’s all,” I said. “A battle?! I’d love one! Do you mind if I battle you? I haven’t battled in ages,” She said jumping up and down. “Well…I don’t know…” I said looking up to the sky. “I really don’t want to battle such a beautiful girl,” I thought. “I mean, what if I beat her terribly and she starts crying?” Eiko could see what I was thinking about and spoke up for me. “I’d love to battle you, miss,” She said. “Huh? You sure about this Eiko?” I said in a fuss. “Of course I am; I could really care less if I win against her,” She responded. “Well, if you say so…” I said keeping my opinions to myself.

“So you’ve decided to battle me? Now, don’t go easy on me just because I’m a girl,” She said giggling. “Since you’re using your Dratini, I’ll use this!” She threw down a pokeball revealing a Bulbasaur. Before it even started, I could see that this battle was going to be trouble for Eiko.

Eiko the Winged Dratini (Lv. 6, F) vs. Borris the Bulbasaur (Lv. 6, M)

Eiko’s POV

I sighed. “Finally, I can battle a pokemon at the same level as I,” I said. Matt didn’t say anything towards my comment; he seemed to be in a deep train of thought, but I wondered if it was about this battle or about the girl. “Eiko, use Body Slam first,” Matt said. I slithered as fast as I could and threw myself at Bulbasaur. I seemed to knock him pretty bad because he looked like he was paralyzed from the move…

“Don’t worry about the paralysis, Borris; just use Petal Dance!” The girl said. Borris started to jump around like he had a problem and petals started to shoot from around his bulb. They flew over to me and sliced past me, but they barely hurt me. Borris didn’t cease the dancing either.

More petals shot out of Borris and headed for me. This time, they somehow hit my weak spot and hurt a little bit more than they did before, but not by much. After the petals had disappeared, Borris stopped dancing and started to look like he was confused or something. He was swaying back and forth like he was in a daze. I tried to ignore it and awaited my order from Matt. “Use Flamethrower on it, Eiko,” Matt said. My blood started to boil as I tried to raise my body temperature enough to get flames to come out of my mouth. But when it had raised enough, a stream of red and orange flames came spraying out of my mouth and caught fire on Bulbasaur. He wailed and ran around to try and get the flames to subside; when they finally did, he had burn marks around on his body and he looked like he was going to faint at any minute.

“Borris, please don’t lose…at least use a tackle,” The girl said begging. Borris struggled as best as he could to move, but his paralysis had kicked in at the most unluckiest times. His head lowered in shame as he knew he was going to be put out this turn. “Eiko, finish Borris off with a Dragonbreath,” Matt said sighing. I opened my mouth and blew out as much breath as I could to reach Borris. When my breath had reached Borris, he acted like he couldn’t breathe; this little show really got me mad, though. Before I could say anything, he had passed out from exhaustion and didn’t get up. I guess I had won?

I won?
I grew to level 7!

Matt’s POV

I ran over and congratulated my Dratini and heard the girl recalling her pokemon. I left Eiko and walked to the girl’s side. “I’m…um…sorry for winning so badly, but Eiko really needed to level up. I hope you understand,” I said with my head down. “It’s ok; Borris wasn’t ready for a battle…I shouldn’t have used him. Maybe we can have a rematch again sometime with some of my other pokemon,” She said.

“Great!” I said. “My name’s Jessica, what’s yours?” She asked. “My name’s Matt,” I said with a huge smile on my face. “Ok then, Matt, I’ll see you again sometime,” She said walking off. I wanted to say bye, but before I could, she was gone. I was left there standing by myself until Eiko slithered over. “Great, genius; you made her run away,” Eiko said smartly. “Hah, very funny; I wasn’t the one who did it…she just had to go,” I said. Eiko started laughing. “Whatever you say, Matt, whatever you say…” She said. “Wait until we get home, Eiko!!” I said yelling with anger. She teased me some more and started to slither towards the exit. I hastily followed after her, still angry by her smart remarks.

EDIT: I didn't want to post the request so could I have a RBG for my Meowth, Tabitha, in the Universal Adoption Center, please?

[Lady Vulpix]

J, since I don't see a reply to your RBG request, I'll post it. Matthias is going to battle a Numel!
If someone else has posted and I've missed it, ignore this post.

[Sheik]

No, no one's gotten to it yet. Thank you for letting me know! I'll get to writing the battle soon.

Thanks.

[Charizard04621]

O_o; Tabitha will be battling a Magneton.

[Wolfsong]

It's late, and i'm tired and don't feel well, so if i make typos or something bear with me please.

Gothic Anime: Interesting concept, wolves as pirates. O.o Unusual, but interesting. I never would have thought of that myself and I like wolves. Take 11 stamps.

Karin: Wow. I wish i could write as fast as you can. I hope Elwing feels better after her battle. Take 16 stamps.

Sheik: Interesting how you wrote abot Brandi and Matthias. Description was nice. Take 12 stamps.

I'm so tired i can barely think now. Maybe one of the others can get your battle Matt. Sorry but i need to get some sleep.

[Wolfsong]

A little while ago, I bought a Sunny Day TM that I have decided to give Sinopa. I had also bought a Shock Wave TM for Jas. Arwen’s old earring is going to Ebony. She (Arwen) has gone to live with Syberia. I’ll miss her, but she’ll probably be happier there. I have an eevee that came from the PMBC, but I’ll be introducing him later, since I had written this before he hatched. ^^; I have given him the collar that Jas won in the swimming race as well as the hidden power TM (ghost) that andyizcool was nice enough to purchase for me to give to Darin. I did have a little trouble getting started, but things seemed to go okay once I got going. I know that metagross are genderless, but Tank strikes me as a he anyway. ^^;

(Amy’s POV)

After the battle, I left to get Blazer looked over. The others wanted to stay and watch the rest of the battles, so we made arrangements to meet back at the hotel. Once at the Pokecenter Nurse Joy proceeded to give Blazer a thorough exam, even though he was asleep. She found that he was okay, just in need of rest, which evidently he was getting. I thanked her, recalling Blazer, and made my way back to the hotel.

We found Yana there waiting for us. Sinopa was sound asleep at her paws, a smile spread across her muzzle. Once inside, Yana explained that Sinopa had fallen asleep shortly after Blazer’s battle was over. Flame had taken her to Yana, who brought her here back to the hotel room. “Especially since she was sleeping so peacefully, I decided to bring her back here. I didn’t want the crowd to wake her up.” I smiled. “That was a wise decision. Any ideas when the others will get in?” I asked. “Nope. There were still a few more battles left for tonight before I left. Where’s Blazer?” she asked. “He’s asleep, inside of his pokeball.” “Probably best.” Yana replied as she watched me ramble through my bag. “It does seem strange not to have Arwen around.” “I know. She wanted to go live with another trainer, and I wasn’t going to stop her if that’s what she wanted. “Yeah,” Yana agreed.

Her curiosity finally getting the better of her, Yana turned and looked up at me. “What are you doing?” she asked. “I’m trying to find the TMs that I bought a little while ago. I have one for Sinopa and one for Jasmine. I also have a few other things that I wanted to hand out to a few of the others.” Yana nodded her head, satisfied with the answer, as she herself yawned.

Afterwards, she tilted her head as if she had heard something. Sure enough, the rest of the team arrived back at the room five minutes later. They were all whispering loudly, but Ebony was so excited that she was talking much louder than the others. Yana tried to hush Ebony, who was talking a bit too loudly, in hopes that she hadn’t woken Sinopa up. Unfortunately, Sinopa had heard the commotion, and she arrived in the room where we were gathered. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Not much.” I answered. “However, since you’re already up, I have a TM for you.” “For me?” she asked. “Yes, for you.” I said, chuckling. “It’s a Sunny Day TM. I thought that you might enjoy it, in addition to the fact that it might come in handy sometime.” “Thank you.” she whispered, as I sprinkled the powder over her. “You’re welcome. Ebony?” “Yes,” she whispered softly. “Before Arwen left, she asked that I give you this.” I said as I placed the earring in Ebony’s ear. Ebony nodded her head, but didn’t say anything. I picked up one of the gold berries from the small pile that I had set aside as well as a TM box. “Jas?” “I’m here!” I heard her say excitedly. “I have a Shock Wave TM for you, as well as a gold berry.” She looked at me puzzled when I mentioned the berry. “If you eat it in a battle when you’re low on health, it will help restore your energy.” “Thanks.” she said as I sprinkled the powder over her. I also pulled two more gold berries form the pile, and gave one to Sugar and Sweetie. “All right, that’s everything I have for now.” Yawning, I glanced at the clock. “Well, I’m off to bed. It would be best if everyone gets their rest tonight.” “Why?” Sugar asked. “You’ll see tomorrow.” was all that I said before I headed off to bed to get some much needed sleep.

The next morning, I awoke to the feeling that I was being stared at. I slowly opened my left eye, and saw that Blazer was sitting beside the bed watching me. Smiling, I opened my other eye and sat up. “How are you doing this morning?” I asked. “Good,” he answered, “after resting. Between you and me, the earth needs to remain still. I don’t care much for earthquakes.” I laughed, giving him a hug. “I’m glad that you’re feeling better.” “Oh, before I forget, the team wanted me to ask you something.” “What?” I asked. “What do you have planned for today?” “I’ll tell everyone at the same time.” I said, grinning. “That’s what I told them that you would say.” he said with the trace of an amused smile as I walked towards the door.

”She’s coming!” I heard Sugar whisper loudly, before a loud crash. “Nice going, Mom.” I heard Ayla say, stifling a laugh. I opened the door, and walked through. I burst out laughing at the image that greeted me. The phone table had been overturned, with Sugar tangled up in the phone cord. Half of the team was doing their best trying not to laugh, the other half (myself included) were laughing ourselves hoarse. “Hi.” she said, waving the best that she could giving the circumstances. “I meant to do this.” “Yeah, right.” snorted Ebony. “I’m inclined to agree with Ebony this time.” I said, as I set about trying to untangle Sugar. “So,” she asked causally, despite the fact that she could barely move, “what are we going to do?” I sighed. “right now, we’re trying to get you free.” The others groaned. “Afterwards, providing that there aren’t anymore mishaps, we’re going to try and go to the training grounds.” I braced myself, and sure enough, Sugar released a thunderbolt in her excitement. Not only did it shock me, but also it completely fried the phone. “Great.” I muttered under my breath. “First, last night Blazer runs off with a ham, and now Sugar electrocutes the phone.” Sugar grinned, giving me her trademark “Who me?” expression. I just shook my head. “What next?” I asked. Yana was about to say something when I stopped her. “Don’t.” I said.

Thirty minutes later, I had finally managed to extricate Sugar from the phone cord, and get ready for the day ahead as well. “How long will it be before we find out the results?” Ebony asked curiously. “It’ll be a while, since not all of the battles are over yet. I did leave my cell phone number just in case things got done sooner than expected. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to report a fried phone. When I get back, be ready to leave.” They nodded their heads, as I left. It was an embarrassing ten minutes, and by the time I got back, I was ready to leave. Luckily the team had gotten busy and they were all waiting for us in their pokeballs, with the exception of Dodger, Jasmine, and Sinopa. By now, I had learned to expect that whenever we were flying, Jasmine was bound and determined to not be stuck inside her pokeball. “You ready?” I asked him when we were outside on the balcony. “Absitively Posolutely.” Dodger said as he put his sunglasses into place. I chuckled. Ever since he heard Dodger say that on “Oliver & Company”, he took that as his own phrase for yes. “Thanks for the collar.” he whispered barely audible. “No problem.” I told him. I knew that he wore his collar underneath the red scarf around his neck. I didn’t blame him either. Dodger just was not himself if he didn’t have his scarf or sunglasses. I climbed up onto his back, Sinopa held tight in my arms. Jasmine had wrapped herself around my neck.

"It feels so free up here.” Sinopa remarked, her two tails swishing back and forth. “Nothing up here to box you in.” Having said that, she curled herself up in my arms, and soon fell fast asleep in my arms. “Is she okay?” the tiny dratini asked. “Physically, she is. I’m not sure about emotionally though. You were told the conditions we found her in.” Jasmine nodded her head, watching her new friend sleep with a worried look on her face. “But she’s safe now, right?” “Yes, she is.” Dodger said nothing as we swiftly covered the distance.

“Will I get to battle?” he finally asked, as he caught a thermal and we were lifted higher into the air. At that, I smiled. “I was planning on letting you have a battle or tag up with Kiara in the lava room if she wants to battle that is.” He nodded his head. “Don’t worry,” I told him, “we’re not going to the Lava Room immediately.” Though he hadn’t said anything, I could tell that he wanted to get some rest before he battled. “You seem to have this pretty thought out.” “I have a general idea mapped out, but plans can and often do change. We’re going to try and go to the blizzard room first, and I’m pretty sure that neither you nor Jas wants to battle in there.” “You got that right.” Jas said, a shiver running through her body. Dodger nodded in agreement.

By now Sinopa had woken up again. She looked up at me. “So, who’s going to battle where?” “Well, I’ve thought about it, and I’m thinking about letting some of the team that hasn’t battled in a while get a chance at battling. Also Blazer needs to get some training in as well. Plans can change, seeing as nothing is set in stone. Right now, I’m thinking about letting Blazer have both battles in the Blizzard room. In the Pond Room, I thought Jasmine,” I said as I looked at the grinning dratini around my neck, “and Sweetie might like the opportunity to battle. For the Lava room, I’m thinking about letting whoever wants the battle to have one, and then either let Dodger and Kiara team up, if Kiara wants to battle, otherwise he can have a battle all by himself.” “Sounds interesting.” Sinopa commented. “Yana and Jasmine can battle in the Desert room. Sugar and Kovu will wrap things up in the Jungle Room.” “We’re here.” Dodger announced as we descended. “Thanks for the lift.” I told him as we slowly descended to earth. He nodded his head. “I’m going to try and get started in the rooms as soon as I can. Please don’t go flying off.”

I climbed off of Dodger’s back, and instead of flying off, he went inside his pokeball. We had landed a little ways off from the training grounds themselves. We had long ago learned that it was wise not to land an aerodactyl in a large gathering of people with the exception of the Eevee House. Sinopa jumped out of my arms, as Jasmine also followed Dodger’s example. It was best that they stay inside their pokeballs, since I was hoping to get to the blizzard room first. I quickly signed in on the trainer log. I grinned, not that many people were here today. With the exception of Talut, Dodger, and Jasmine, everyone emerged from their pokeballs as we were led down the corridor to the training rooms. Once we had reached them, our guide handed me a coat, before returning to his post. I Pulled the coat on that I had been given and pulled it as tight as it would go. Taking a deep breath, we walked in side the blizzard room. Almost immediately, we were thrust into the middle of a howling blizzard as the door slammed shut behind us. This blizzard was so much worse than anything Jasmine could create. I pulled my coat even tighter, practically gagging myself, as Kovu and Yana took the lead of our little group. <We can barely see it, but there is a cabin ahead.> Yana told me using her psychic powers. Times like this I was grateful that the houndoom’s hidden power was the psychic type. The winds were blowing so hard that I couldn’t hear anything except for their chilling howls. I held Sinopa close, as our team ever so slowly advanced towards the cabin. I could not see it, but I trusted Kovu and Yana. Sure enough, we eventually made it. We swarmed the cabin, and raced inside. There were several television screens inside the cabin. My guess was that they showed the trainer’s their pokemon’s battles as they happened. When we had gotten inside, I released Talut, Dodger, and Jasmine into the cabin. Once everyone had rested, and had some hot chocolate, Blazer announced that he was going to try and find his opponent. We wished him good luck as he headed back out into the storm. None of us noticed that Sinopa had followed him outside.

(Sinopa’s POV)

I wanted to see Blazer battle again, but have a closer view this time. He was amazing to watch. I had been worried when that altaria had used earthquake. Blazer had remained calm, and even pulled off an impressive win. I knew that I would have fainted instantly. So, when the others were distracted, I took off after Blazer. Even he didn’t know that I was following him.

At the time, I didn’t realize how dangerous what I did was until I lost sight of Blazer in the swirling sea of snow and ice. I looked behind me, hoping to see the cabin, but that too had disappeared. Somehow, I was able to remain calm and not panic as I looked around. I saw a couple of dead branches nearby. I smiled. Perfect, I thought to myself. Now if only there wasn’t a swirling blizzard around. “Wait a minute…” I whispered to myself. I grinned. Amy had given me a TM recently that might be of some help. I closed my eyes, focusing on the image of a nice, sunny day with not a cloud in sight. At first, nothing seemed to happen. However, gradually, the swirling ice lessened, and eventually came to a stop. I smiled, opening my eyes to view my accomplishment. The skies weren’t exactly clear, but at least it had stopped snowing and the sun was shining though not by much. Next, I began rounding up all of the dead sticks and placing them in a pile, before using my ember to ignite them. As I did so, the flickering flame caught my eye. There was a small wind blowing and it was blowing the flame away from me. I wondered if I could make it wave at me. I concentrated, and sure enough the tiny fire looked like it was bending down. As I watched it, I remembered that Amy and Yana had told me that my hidden power was that of the fire element. Until now I wasn’t sure what that meant, but now I realized that I could control it somewhat. I wondered if I could make the fire hover in the air. I concentrated again, and this time the flames rose up off of its food source. I quickly set it back. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I had seen something move, before it disappeared.

(Yana’s POV)

Not long after Blazer had left, I noticed that Sinopa was missing. I told Amy, and we tried not to panic. “Maybe she went with Blazer.” “Maybe,” I said, even though I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was out there by herself. “Look.” Jasmine whispered. The televisions had sprung to life, and my heart skipped a beat. There was Sinopa, and she was facing a Ralts. I held my breath as we watched the television screen. I hoped that Sinopa would be okay.

(Sinopa’s POV)

I quickly scanned the area around me. I saw nothing, and then suddenly a ralts appeared right in front of my face. Until now, I had only seen pictures of them in books. Yet, here I was face to snout with one. <Hi. You must be my opponent.> she said without moving her mouth. That caught me by surprise. Well, that and the fact that I wasn’t supposed to be battling. Before I could say anything, the ralts had released a bolt of electrical energy that I narrowly dodged. “Sorry, I thought you were ready to begin.” “Well, obviously, I wasn’t.” I retorted. “My name’s Grace, what’s yours?” “Sinopa.” “That’s pretty. Are you ready to battle now?” “I guess.” was my answer. It looked like I was going to be battling whether I wanted to or not. I took a deep breath, as I faced Grace.

Sinopa L.6 F Vulpix VS. Grace L.8 F Ralts

Grace immediately took a deep breath before exhaling a jet of flames. Though surprised, I quickly jumped out of the way, and focused on redirecting the fire back to Grace. Luckily, I succeeded. “I see that I surprised you, but you surprised me as well. Not only do we both have the same type hidden power, but I don’t see many fire types with the hidden power over the same element.” Boy, she was a talker, I thought to myself. Then it hit me, I didn’t see her anywhere around. I blinked, then realized that she must have teleported, about that time, I was hit from every direction imaginable by a wave of electrical energy. I cried out in pain, before whirling around. I saw Grace behind me, and before she could teleport off, I hit her with my two tails as I ran past. “Huh?” she muttered as I whirled around. I was in luck! Though she was at a higher level than me, she seemed to be lacking in battle experience. I grinned, as I whirled around and slashed her with my claws. <Ouch that hurt!> Grace cried out, obviously shocked. I was quickly enveloped in a violet glow, before I was tossed across the snow-covered landscape like a plushie. I quickly picked myself up, shaking the snow from my coat. I was getting tired, and I could bet that Grace was too. I ran towards her, and she immediately teleported out of the way. I had counted her on doing something like that, so I turned around so that my head was where my tails had been and vice versa. Then, I waited. Sure enough, she reappeared in front of my face. The look on her face was priceless. “Hi,” I said, before reaching out and slashing at her once more with my claws. This time, she fell down, and didn’t get up. I walked over to her, and nudged her with my nose. She remained limp.

I won!
I grew to L.7!
I learned Quick Attack!

I drug Grace over to where I had my fire going. Not long after she had come around, Blazer showed up. Grace quickly teleported off. Blazer, it turned out, had already had his battle, and was on his way back to the cabin when he stumbled upon us.

(Blazer’s POV)

Not long after I left, the swirling blizzard around me began to lessen, and eventually it came to a stop. In the distance, I could barely make out a floating shape. It must have spotted me, because it floated over to where I was. <Thanks for stopping that blizzard. If it wasn’t for that Sunny Day, it would have been harder for me to spot you.> I looked up to see an enormous metagross hovering above me. I was puzzled, because I hadn’t used my sunny day attack. If I hadn’t used sunny day, and the metagross didn’t, then who did? I looked up at the huge metallic pokemon. “Do you have a name?” I asked it. It began chuckling. <Of course I do. Tank is my name.> “My name’s Blazer.” <Nice to meet you, Blazer. Shall we battle?> “Yes, that’s what I came here to do after all.” I said as I braced myself, because I had a feeling that I knew why this metagross had the name Tank. Though metagross were genderless, Tanks voice and mannerisms made me think of it as a he.

Blazer L.69 M Arcanine Vs. Tank L.70 Metagross

At least the blizzard around us had stopped, albeit, it was still very cold. Luckily, though, I was a fire type and therefore could create my own warmth. I looked over at my opponent, trying to figure out the best course of action. I knew that toxic was out of the question. It would just slide off of its metallic hide. Before I knew it, vines were emerging from the snow-covered earth and entwining themselves around my legs. They didn’t stop there, and I realized why. Tank was trying to close my mouth and effectively eliminating the chance of me using my best attacks. I wasn’t going to let it happen. My mouth wasn’t shut yet, so I used the opportunity to spit out two tiny fireballs, before the vines reached my mouth. As I concentrated on making the fireballs circle me, the vines wrapped themselves tightly around my muzzle. I didn’t let it bother me, as I had a place to get out of this predicament thanks to the flame wheel that I had managed to start. By now, those two fireballs appeared as a solid ring encircling me. As it encircled, me, I could feel the vines hold on my legs lessening, until finally they were gone. The wheel of flame, then hurled itself at Tank who was staring at it in disbelief. I used that opportunity to slash the vines off my muzzle with my claws. They snapped rather easily, and I turned my attention back to Tank. There was a bright red spot on his metallic hide above his left eye. Tank quickly rose up into the air, as soon as he realized that I had spotted him. He hovered a few minutes before he flung himself at me. I was unable to dodge it, and a yelp escaped as I was sent sailing through the air, and landed headfirst into a snow bank. I extricated myself from the snow. That take down attack of his sure packed a punch. When I looked up at Tank, he had used the opportunity, to create five clones, and all six of them were surrounding me. I closed my eyes, focusing mainly on my sense of smell. Soon, I picked up the faintest trace of metal. I inhaled deeply, before exhaling a jet of flames in the direction that I had smelled Tank. Whenever I stopped the flamethrower attack, and opened my eyes, I noticed that there was only one Tank left, and his eyes were glowing violet. I felt myself being lifted into the air and squeezed form all sides. I gritted my teeth, before I was sent hurtling through the air once more. When I landed, I quickly scrambled to my paws, and was met by a shadow ball exploding right in my face. I glared at Tank, and he glared back. It was hard to tell which of us was taking the worst hits, as we both looked equally bad. The wind was starting to pick up, almost as if the blizzard was threatening to unleash its fury again. I quickly took in another deep breath, before once more exhaling another stream of flames at Tank. As soon, as they connected, Tank fell to the earth with a loud CLANK unconscious.

I won!
I grew to L.71!
I learned Body Slam as my free TM

I looked around, shaking the snow out of my coat. I proceeded to gather my bearing, as I slowly made my way back to the cabin. I crossed a hill, and came across a surprising sight. There was Sinopa lying beside a fire with a ralts beside her. I grinned. She must have been the little bugger that had used Sunny Day. AS I drew near, I noticed that she now had three tails. Though, the ralts teleported off before I could ask her any questions. Sinopa on the other hand, rattled off her excuse. “I wanted to see you battle up close. I was following you, but then I got separated. I didn’t want to battle, but she appeared wanting to. I ended up winning, but I missed getting to see your battle.” At this point, she started crying. “Shush.” I whispered to her, as I wiped the frozen tears off of her face as gently as I could. “You’re okay now.” She nodded, and I picked her up, and took her back to the cabin.

(Yana’s POV)

Luckily, Sinopa had won her battle though I had no idea why that Ralts had tried attacking her with a fire type hidden power. It would have had no effect. I was glad that she was okay, but before I could find out where she was, the televisions all blinked off. “Maybe Blazer will pick her up on the way back.” Amy said, trying to reassure me. “Maybe.” I said as the televisions came back to life. This time, as expected, we saw Blazer, and his opponent was a rather tough looking Metagross. I winced when I saw Blazer get hit by that take down attack. “I think he’ll be feeling that one in the morning.” I said. “I think he’s feeling it now.” Dodger replied. I shook my head, turning my attention back to the battle. Eventually, Blazer came out on top, just like I knew that he would. Once more the televisions blinked off yet again. We all groaned in annoyance. However, fifteen minutes later, the door to the cabin swung open as Blazer appeared carrying Sinopa. I ran over to Blazer and kissed him before I even had a chance to realize what I was doing. “Thanks for bringing her back safe.” I said, hoping that he would think that that was a kiss of gratitude. In all reality, I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, and I wasn’t sure who was the most surprised me, Blazer, or the team. I gently took Sinopa from him, and walked over to a corner of the cabin blushing.

[Linc]

Ok, another battle, I'll try as hard as I can to make this one interesting. Ok, Pond Room battles.

Linc's POV
~~~~~~~

Cyndaquil is dying by a horrible accident from a Slowpoke, and all my Pokemon are worried about him. He was smashed into an icy floor and shards of ice stabbed into his body, the wounds are deep, and he's lost a lot of blood. "Hey guys, how about some battling to get this off our minds. Cyndaquil's in good hands now." I say to my Pokemon, who look up with worried faces. All of them slowly nod and we move off towards the Pond room.

As soon as we enter, we all gasp. The room is beautiful, every inch of it covered with crystal-clear water. I walk over to the platform to get a better view. I put all my Pokemon in their Pokeballs as we all wouldn't fit on the platform and look in. It's almost like there's an entire world under the surface of the lake, with water Pokemon swarming about and dashing along, creating ripples across the surface. "Hey, you!" Shouts a voice. I look up and see a young boy about my age, pointing at my face. "Want to battle?" Ripping a Pokeball from his belt and holding it out.
"Sure! I'm Linc, who are you?"
"My name's Konta. You ready? Pokemon battle, start!" He presses the button on his Pokeball and flings it into the air. It explodes in a shower of light, and a Totodile jumps out and dives into the water. I throw a Pokeball to, and out hops Psycho, my Poliwag, and he dives into the water, also.

Battle! Psycho (Lv. 7 Male Poliwag) vs. Lv. 8 Totodile!

"Ferein, use Rage!" Konta shouts. His little blue gator dashes forwards so fast that waves shoot up besides him and sending beads of water everywhere. He heads right towards Psycho, who leaps above him. Ferein had gained so much momentum by then, he runs right into the wall. "Psycho! Whirlpool!" Psycho jumps into the water and starts swimming in circles. He picks up speed and the center of the pond turns into a funnel and Ferein is getting sucked in. Before Ferein gets pulled under, he jumps out of the water. “Ferein, use Scratch!” Ferein jumps back down, and claws Psycho in the face, sending him flying back into the water. “Psycho! Bubble!” Psycho shoots a stream of bubbles at Ferein, which explode, and they both jump back in he water.
The whirlpool ends with a stream of water shooting out of the center. Ferein and Psycho rush towards each other, bashing into each other every second. Every time they collide, they create large waves, flinging water Pokemon into the air. The battle rages on. Hit after hit after hit. “Ferein! Finish it off! Use Scratch with all your strength!” Ferein rushes in, sending up more waves. Psycho tries to dodge, but he’s too slow and Ferein claws him in the back. “No, Psycho! Try to keep fighting!”
By now, Psycho had been trying to fight back as hard as he could against the stronger Pokemon. As hard as he tried, Ferein had beaten him in agility, strength, and sheer power.
“Psycho! Last try! Use Bubble!” I shout. Psycho gets up slowly, but seems to get all his strength back rapidly. He leaps into the air, much higher than he could before and shoots one last stream of bubbles. The bubbles fly towards Ferein, who tries to evade, but every single bubble hits, exploding with great force. Ferein starts to sink under the water, his eyes closed and he coughs and sputters a bit. “Ferein, return!” shouts Konta who holds out his Pokeball and sucks up the little alligator and puts it on his belt.

Psycho wins! He grows to level 8!

“Pretty good.” Konta says. “How about another round?”
“Okay, you better do good this time!”
“Oh, I will!”
Konta rips off another Pokeball and flings it into the air. “Go, Herein!” A small blue Mudkip hops out, and leaps into the water, and floats on its back while spitting water into the air. I pull out the Pokeball of Spirit, my Treecko, and throw it into the air, and she jumps out, puts a twig in her mouth, and dives into the water. “Okay, second round! Pokemon battle, go!”

Battle! Spirit (Lv. 6 Female Treecko) vs. Lv. 15 Mudkip!

“Spirit! Mega Punch!” Spirit rushes in, her fist glowing, creating waves just like Ferein, and punches Herein in the side. Herein barely even notices and just whirls around and smashes Spirit in the face with his tail. “Herein, Water Gun!” Herein dove underwater and came up behind Spirit and fired a blob of water at her back. “Spirit! Pound!” Spirit does a front flip and whacks Herein in the face with her tail and then does another Mega Punch on Herein’s face, sending Herein flying into the wall. “Herein! Tackle!” Konta shouts. “Spirit! Do another Mega Punch!” The two rush at each other, going at such a speed, that when they collide, all the water goes up around them while they’re standing on hard ground. “Their fighting patterns are so alike…” I whisper, “Spirit, Absorb!” Spirit swims up to Herein and latches on to him. She starts to glow green and Herein’s body starts to go limp. Before Spirit finishes the Absorption, Herein jumps off and shoots another Water Gun at Spirit. Spirit comes back with another Mega Punch and sends Herein flying into Konta’s platform.
“Herein, Tackle it again!”
“Spirit, evade and use Mega Punch!”
Spirit leaps over Herein, and dives back down, hitting the Mudkip in the back of the head. It seems like Spirit is winning until Herein suddenly pulls her under the water. “Spirit!” I shout. No answer. There are many waves shooting up in different parts of the Pond Room, marks that the two are fighting. After a while there’s silence. There’s no more waves or anything, just the calm waters of the lake. All of the sudden, Spirit jumps out of the water, Herein under her arms. “Herein…” Konta says quietly. He pulls out his Pokeball and sucks up the little blue fish, and Spirit jumps on to my platform.

Spirit wins! She grows to level 8!

I scoop up Spirit and hold her in my arms. ”Good battle!” I shout to Konta.
“Thanks.” Konta answers. I walk out of the room to go check on Cyndaquil...

[AntiAsh Superstar]

*wanders in with a few more battles to share* Hehe, I'm very prolific all of a sudden. h: Actually I just really needed to get this one out of the way in order to set up an idea I have for the background story of my next tournament battle. Some of this may be a little less confusing if you've read either my Lucky Saga or Inner Circle fics. ^_^;;

-----

Life was hard when you were an Onix. Although she was only young, Brandy had already grown to realise that her incredible mass was posing more problems than it was worth. She couldn't stay in the house with the others, for a start, she was forced into living in the garden with only the plants for company. Whenever we had to go anywhere she was always the one who was carried around in a pokéball, only the most open of terrain allowing her the chance to see the outside world. And then there were relations with the others. She was paranoid about accidentally crushing her new friends - if indeed you could call them friends, for other than Ryo-Ohki the Onix had hardly managed to say a word to her new teammates. Socialising always seemed to be a problem for her. If anyone tried to talk to her she would just blush and stammer and fall silent, and god forbid the concept of actually opening up a conversation! Just the thought of the million ways she could ruin things was enough to send shivers down Brandy's spine. So it was probably for the best that she stayed out of the way, keeping contact with the others to a minimum.

Much like another member of the team, in fact.

"I envy you." It was a bright summer morning, the sun already filling the sky with an almost overwhelming brightness. And Brandy was resigning herself to watching the bees busy flying between the brightly coloured flowers of our large garden. In between rounds of the Unicorn Games, it had been voted unanimously that home was a much better place to locate ourselves, the combined powers of Sindel, Kirei and Rhiannon's supernatural powers being more than enough to teleport our entire group. Well, that was fine by Brandy. At least she could be outside as much as she liked here, instead of being confined to a room specially designed to house her bulk. The one thing she hadn't expected upon her arrival was being accosted by a small, orange creature with mushrooms growing out of its back, sporting the most exasperated expression a Bug type could muster. Brandy instinctively drew back. "Relax, I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to, we're always so busy that I still haven't had a chance to try out those TMs I was bought years ago. I just thought I'd come out here with you, since you don't run your mouth off all the time unlike some creatures, and it makes a refreshing change."
"P... pardon?" Brandy stammered.
"You needn't be nervous, you know. Nobody around here cares what anybody else says, in fact you'd be encouraged to act like a fool." Scratchy waved a pincer in disgust. "Bunch of idiots, the whole lot of them, if they actually do seem to have a brain then there's some other mental condition ruining them. I mean, look at that Rhiannon, she'd be quite pleasant company if she didn't keep turning into a child every other hour. That's why I envy you. You at least have a very good excuse to stay out of it, and if I were you I'd stay that way. Between lesbian Growlithes and zombie-obsessed Gastlys and Dratinis whose political stance amounts to 'power corrupts therefore everyone in power is useless' it's all more hassle than it's worth."
"I... I don't r... really want to st... stay out of it though." Forcing herself to talk like this was one of the hardest things Brandy had ever had to do, and it almost brought tears to her eyes. Especially when the Paras eyed her oddly. In her mind that was pretty much an admission of hatred. "Sorry... I shouldn't open my mouth, should I?"
"You earn my respect for actually thinking about whether you should open your mouth before doing so. If only more were like you, the world would be a lot more peaceful." Scratchy sighed deeply. "Listen. I'm not too good at this' giving advice' thing, I always believed in just letting everyone get on with it, but I will say this. You and I, we both stay out of the way. But I at least like it that way. If you really want to get involved, just do so. It's better to try and know for sure than to spend years worrying about 'what if' situations, right?" With this the Paras scuttled off on his way to whatever dark nook he had originally intended to shut himself off in, leaving Brandy alone to mull over his words. It all made a great deal of sense in theory. The problem was whether or not she had the strength within her to act upon Scratchy's advice.
"Hey. Are you okay?" As fate would have it, the Onix was almost immediately presented with the opportunity to find out. Rhiannon had been very busy at the far end of the garden chasing butterflies until even her genetically enhanced frame could take no more exercise. And now she was on her way back indoors to cool off. But not before stopping to eye Brandy with a curious look upon her face. "It can't be much fun just being stuck here all day."
"N... no, it's not." Brandy turned a deep crimson colour upon being addressed, somehow managing to blush despite being a Rock-type that normally found such things impossible. "I hate being so large, sometimes I wish I had been born a Diglett." Suddenly the Onix caught herself. "Uhh... sorry. I don't know where that came from. Sorry."
"No need to apologise!" Rhiannon laughed brightly. "I know I'd go mad if I had to be cooped up all the time... and let's just ignore the people who say I'm already mad, what do they know? Still..." Here the Eevee looked all around her, taking in the neat lawns, the bright flower beds, the perimeter fence enclosing the entire garden. "No way to get you out yet, we'll just have to teach you to Dig at some point."
"I couldn't!" Brandy seemed horrified. "I couldn't mess up this beautiful garden!"
"In that case there's nothing for it." Rhiannon grinned broadly, the childlike aspect of her persona being in full control for once. "We're just gonna have to play here then, aren't we?"
"Really? Well..." A smile crept across Brandy's rocky face. "I'd like that a lot. So what do you want to play?"

"Breakfast for... what is it now, fifteen of us on Ade's team, five on Soo's, two humans, one bloody great psychic wolf... so that's twenty three. Great. All I ever use my powers for lately is coordinating mealtimes, just for once I'd like to see everyone try and cook for themselves instead of relying on me to do it all!" Sindel, it had to be said, had been in better moods. Trying to cater for everyone who wanted food, look after Ryo-Ohki and fit in time to keep in shape was beginning to take its toll, the Alakazam having hardly slept for the past few days in a desperate attempt to fit everything in. It wasn't doing much for her temperament, which had never been perfect to begin with.
"Just a thought, Sindel, maybe they would if you gave them the chance, you always have it all ready and prepared before anyone who could cook is even awake!" Pandora poked her head through the serving hatch, trying to offer an explanation. But as ever, it was a case of the wrong words at the wrong moment. Tact was something the Houndour was never likely to possess.
"Well we'd never leave the house until evening if I didn't!" Sindel snapped. "Look, Pandora, can't you just go and bug Milliardo or something? I'm kind of busy here."
"Fine, I just get in the way, don't I? I might as well just throw myself off the nearest cliff and be done with it."
"Wait, it's not that..."
"Hey, it's called 'taking the piss out of myself', you dolt, do you really think I'm that much of a spoilt little attention whore?" The Houndour glared at Sindel. "Now I really am pissed off that you thought I might have been serious! All I wanted to ask you was if you'd seen Pearl around, I'm in need of advice."
"Haven't a clue." Sindel sighed deeply before putting down the baking tray she was currently clasping and wandering over to her friend. "Look, I'm sorry if I was a little ratty, okay? Alakazams may be able to do loads of things at once but even they have their limits. Is it anything I can help with at all? I know I'm no Pearl but I can try and be a rather poor substitute."
"Well..." The Houndour seemed rather dubious, but the need to get things off her chest won out in the end. Sindel was only going to find out in the end anyway. "It's about Milliardo's sister, Rhiannon. I used to know her, before I joined the team."
"Wait, is this before the Dark Cloak or after?"
"Anyway, the trouble is that I know something that she ought to know but doesn't," the Houndour continued, rather neatly avoiding a potentially awkward question. "And if and when she does find out I'm worried it's going to break her further." Pandora laughed hollowly. "All of a sudden I understand how frustrating I must be to deal with, that's the sort of really annoying attitude that always gets me down even further."
"Well then there's no problem, is there?" Sindel replied bluntly. "You know what it's like to have things kept from you to avoid causing you worry, the question is whether you're willing to inflict that on someone else."
"You know something? For a Pearl substitute you're really not all that terrible." A slight smile formed upon Pandora's muzzle. "Thanks. I'm just less than happy about having to be the bearer of bad news, that's all, but I guess I've no choice. Oh, and Sindel?"
"Yes?"
"You should probably check the oven at some point. I think I can see smoke." Cackling in a manner that wouldn't have been out of place coming from Milliardo, the Houndour swiftly left Sindel to her own devices. For maybe sometimes life did deal you a bad hand. But eventually that hand could be replaced. All you needed to do was take a few chances.

"Okay, guys." That evening we found ourselves back in a more than familiar place, once again ably assisted by the combined forced of all of those pokémon capable of using some sort of magical power. The large, pristine lobby of the training grounds set up specifically to provide assistance to trainer before the Unicorn Games. And now that the Games were underway this seemed to be an almost deserted place, the hustle and bustle now replaced with an almost eerie stillness. "We still have three more rooms that we can train in, the Blizzard, Desert and Jungle rooms. And seeing as I'm useless at making decisions I figured that maybe one of you had a preference."
"What're ya talkin' about, man?" Katnip rolled his eyes. "I don't care where I fight as long as I actually get ta fight!"
"The Blizzard room sounds interesting, actually," Rhiannon commented, peering over at the flyer held within my clutches that described the settings for each room. This was probably my fiftieth copy, I managed to get them lost or destroyed so frequently! "To battle in sub-zero conditions would be quite a challenge."
"No it wouldn't, Rhi, it?d just be 'Rhiannon's opponent comes out, Rhiannon blows it to the other side of the room'. Either that or you'd suddenly have one of your turns upon entry, and I refuse to believe that even you could be merciless enough to let that happen."
"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, Milliardo. And in response to your other comment..." The Eevee turned to face her brother directly, her fur beginning to prickle up with an unseen force. For the briefest of moments her forehead split slightly, revealing an almost blinding emerald light that dazzled the Umbreon. And then, as quickly as it had arrived, the light vanished without trace, leaving Rhiannon looking as if nothing had even happened. "...this I only use when there?s no other choice. There's no benefit in using it in battle against anyone of lower strength than Reaper."
"Okay, Rhi, you're amazing, now will you kindly not do that again without warning me first? I'm not going to be able to see for weeks now!"
"Sorry. I forgot how bright it could get."
"Forgot? The %*^£ing thing's embedded into your skull, for £^$%'s sake, how could you possibly..." Suddenly Milliardo noticed the other members of the team staring at him oddly. "Yes?"
"Have you two quite finished?" I asked pointedly.
"Forgive us." Rhiannon bowed politely, but it seemed the best I was going to get out of Milliardo was a derisive snort.
"Anyway, does anyone else have any preferences?" Silence. "Okay then. Blizzard room it is, then. Shall we go?"
"I think you may want to go home and get that goth coat of yours first, Ade," Pearl remarked. "I don't think it'll be called the Blizzard room for nothing, you know."
"What, there's going to be real blizzards in there?" Megan asked.
"No, but I'd bet Tsuyoi's entire fortune on it being very, very cold."
"And we'll probably have to fight lots of Ice type pokémon in there too. I know what these training grounds are like by now." I sighed with forced despair. "Alright, alright, we take a short detour, then. I should probably make sure Soo hasn't let Kassandra wreck the house before we start, anyway. Sindel, would you mind helping me back home?"
"Sure thing, Ade." Grabbing hold of my arm, the Alakazam concentrated hard, and before we knew it we were back in the familiar surroundings of our own lounge. There was the large leather sofa, the coffee table that was amassing a horrendously large collection of unwashed glasses. The TV cabinet that housed not only television, but also DVD, video recorder and almost every games console in existence. And of course, the resident monster, curled up on one of the lounge chairs and looking almost cute in his sleep, his many tails wrapped around him protectively. One eye lazily opened, revealing blood red set in pure darkness.
"What is it this time, Ade? Wallet? Keys? The pokémon you were supposed to be training today?"
"Coat," I replied. "We're tackling the Blizzard Room."
"It's hung up over there, now piss off and leave me to sleep. Contrary to popular belief I do stop to rest occasionally," Tsuyoi grumbled, gesturing with a silky black paw. Apparently he wasn't in the best of moods today. Come to think of it, he had been sulking ever since our last visit to the Eevee House. Well, for now it was probably best just to leave him be. The best time to concern myself with Tsuyoi's problems was when he wanted me to. In the meantime I had training to go back to.

"Uh..." Back at the training grounds, Pandora had decided to seize the opportunity to have a word with Rhiannon. Yet it was hard. The Eevee had been her superior at one point, back in those dark, dark days of Resomegnis and the Dark Cloak. Held in higher esteem than even Amon, the misplaced, honourable Umbreon that the Houndour had once considered a big brother. In fact, Amon was the root of the entire problem. "Lady Rhiannon...?"
"We were wondering how long it would take you to approach us again, Pandora." A slight smile formed on Rhiannon's lips. "Please, though, there's no need to refer to us as 'Lady' these days. Rhiannon will do nicely now we're free of rank, or even Rhi if you'd prefer. After all, we are practically sisters-in-law now."
"Sorry. Old habits die hard."
"So I can see." Pandora could help but notice that the Eevee's eyes were fixated upon a relatively new scar on one of her front legs, and felt the heat rush to her cheeks. "So what is it that you wanted, Pandora?"
"Well... I... for $&%^'s sake will you stop staring at my leg like that!" The Houndour scowled. "I'm uncomfortable enough as it is without having my every blemish scrutinised! Look, there's one or two on my hind legs that you probably haven't seen before as well, you want to go stare madly at those, too? Or no, even better, why don't you just come out with it and admonish me for being such a stupid, stupid creature for acting like this?"
"Pandora..."
"I mean, sure, it is stupid. Every time it happens I just feel worse about myself, because I know I'm hurting those who care about me as well, and then I punish myself more and more and if we're being honest there may even come a day when I just won't be able to stop until every last drop of blood has drained out of me. Have you any idea what that's like? To feel that full of disgust with yourself?"
"No, I..."
"Of course you don't, because you're the amazing Lady Rhiannon and you can do no wrong. Well let me tell you something, before you start giving me unspoken admonishments for this kindly cast your mind back and remember all those that you yourself made suffer. At least my only victim is myself!" With this, the Houndour stormed off angrily, apparently having completely forgotten what it was that she was originally going to say.
"Pandora..." Rhiannon sighed, her front paw reaching up and brushing against her own forehead, absently feeling for the area that hid the markings that revealed her true nature. "You haven't changed. Still as untainted as ever, and still suffering because of that. Please don't turn against us for our past, though. We'd like to think of you as a friend, and those are too rare to risk losing."

Half an hour later, and most of the team were beginning to wonder if their fur really offered much protection from the cold at all. The Blizzard room wasn't really much of a room at all, more like a snowy wasteland, arctic conditions maintained by some kind of high-tech machinery that somehow provided both snow and a harsh, icy wind that sucked every last drop of warmth from your body. Only the occasional log cabin seemed to provide any respite from the never-ending white that stretched for what appeared to be miles in all directions. In short, this was a desolate place.
"Damn it!" Milliardo complained, huddling close to the sulky Pandora for warmth. "All of a sudden I'm wishing I hadn't evolved, at least Eevees get nice, thick, bushy coats to protect them!"
"Quite griping, Milly!" Rhiannon stuck her tongue out at her brother. The past half hour had seen yet another personality shift. Apparently the adult part of her mind was merciless enough to sit back and watch this time. "If you must know I'm freezing to death here as well!"
"I don't see what the big problem is," Beckham giggled, staggering along drinking from a small hipflask and occasionally treading on Kasumi's tail in front of him. Fortunately the tail in question was mostly fur anyway. "I'm as warm as a piece of toast in front of a fire on a hot summer's day in Bermuda."
"Where the hell did you get that flask from?" Sindel rolled her eyes, the biting cold doing nothing for her already cantankerous temperament.
"A friendly mountain dog gave it to me," the Wartortle chuckled, offering his drink round and being pleasantly surprised that the only takers were Milliardo and myself. "I'd fallen in an icy pond and had to be rescued by a St. Bernard, only I was so cold he had to give me the entire flask of brandy to revive me."
"And when did this happen, then?" I asked. "I only left you alone for two minutes."
"Ah, well, in two minutes anything can happen," he grinned by way of response.
"Look," Pearl cut in, "can we just hurry over to one of those huts and warm up a bit before continuing this conversation? I'm starting to lose the feeling in my paws here."
"Really?" Katnip's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I reckon I should test whether yer tellin' the truth or not."
"Bugger off, Katnip!" Pearl giggled. "If you're suggesting doing what I think you are, you're going to have to catch me first!" With this the Ninetales darted off into the distance, daring Katnip to chase after her like a little cub. My Raticate took the bait admirably, using his Quick Attack to propel himself after her. Well, if you couldn't relax a little in a controlled environment such as the training grounds what could you do?

"AHHAHAHAAA!!! No fair, no fair!!!!" By the time the rest of us had reached the nearest shelter Katnip and Pearl had already been there for several minutes. And from the sounds of things the Raticate hadn't had any problems in catching his partner. So it was no surprise, then, to find Katnip busying himself proving how less than numb Pearl's paws really were by tickling them with his whiskers the instant we threw the cabin door open.
"Oh my God, you're still at that?" Milliardo rolled his eyes. "Hasn't the novelty of making Pearl squeal worn off yet? You've only been doing it since the Dragon Games... still, it does look like fun..."
"Go £&%$ yourself, Milliardo!" Pandora exclaimed, scuttling quickly to the opposite side of the cabin the instant she recognised the evil look in her boyfriend's eyes. "I'd only kick you unless I really wanted it, anyway. So get back to me when the need for me to laugh becomes a matter of life or death, okay?"
"Oh, you're no fun," the Umbreon grumbled.
"Hey, you can tickle me if you like!" Kasumi offered, even going so far as to roll onto her back to expose her belly. "I'd welcome it!"
"Don't you have a girlfriend to not cheat on now, Sumi?" I asked idly, watching the few trainers battling within this harsh room through a pair of binoculars that had been kindly left by the person before me. "Okay, now aside from Rhiannon who else would like to battle?"
"Uhh... Ade, we've kind of changed our mind, honest." Rhiannon whined. "It's too cold out there!"
"Rhi, you're such a wuss," Milliardo chuckled. "You've had ages to back out, you should probably just accept the fact that you're in need of training and hence should make the most of today."
"Look, I'll accompany her if that's okay." Sindel sighed. "Being not exactly built for staying still in these temperatures I might as well go out and warm myself up with a battle." The Alakazam turned to Rhiannon. "Come on, it won't be as bad as it looks, the cold isn't unbearable and if it's battling you're worried about it's not as if we'll be up against anything that'll really want to hurt us. Come on, Rhiannon, you've survived a lot worse than this."
"I haven't," the Eevee grumbled. "She has."
"Quit using your weirdness as an excuse, Rhi, and get on with it before we all really do freeze to death." By now Milliardo was getting tired of waiting. And when the Umbreon got tired, he got irritable. "Move it!" He was now all but pushing his sister towards the door with his nose. "And Thingy, you so much as dare let anything bad happen to her..."
"Milliardo, this is a training room. She'll be fine." Sindel rolled her eyes, heading for the exit herself and opening it, only to be practically blown backwards by a particularly vicious gale. "Annoying winds notwithstanding, of course. Come on, Rhiannon, we're not going to let some stupid breeze beat us!" Annoyed, the Alakazam made for the door again, this time using her considerable psychic power to fix herself firmly to the spot. It did the trick admirably. "Let's go."
"Don't you just hate her when she gets all authoritative?" Milliardo tipped his sister a wink. "Good luck, Rhi, I'll see you soon if the cold or fighting your opponent or having to deal with Thingy doesn't result in your death."
"Gee, you really make me feel good about my chances out there," the Eevee complained, heading for the open door herself. "Alright. I'm ready. We're gonna do this."

All of three minutes later Rhiannon was seriously beginning to regret not chickening out of the battle ahead of her. The cold was simply unbearable, not even her thick, fluffy ruff providing much in the way of protection from its terrible numbing bite. On top of that the winds that whipped around the arena kept blowing her over, her small Eevee frame lacking some of the sturdiness that her companion for today possessed. It was just a case of walk a few steps, get blown backwards, walk a few more steps, get blown even further, until Rhiannon could swear she was actually losing ground. It was enough to bring tears of sheer frustration to her eyes. Why was fate so cruel, to give her this little choice over her own destiny? Lately all of the decisions seemed to have been made by the cold, ruthless being that always seemed to force its way into her mind. It simply wasn't fair, any of it.
"Hey, come on." All of a sudden the Eevee found herself being lifted up by a pair of sand-coloured arms that possessed a remarkable strength for their apparent frailty. "We're getting nowhere like this. I'll just have to carry you until we find an opponent, won't I?" Rhiannon couldn't find it within herself to argue. In fact, it was nice to be carried about. All of a sudden she could see why Kassandra, Soo's errant Charmander, never seemed to put up any objections when her trainer seemed intent on holding her all the time. It was quite a pleasant sensation. Just being able to close her eyes and try and put reality on hold for a moment, the weight from both mind and paws lifted, albeit for a mere moment. If it weren't for the blizzard-like conditions the Eevee could have probably drifted off to sleep like this. "Hey!" Before Rhiannon really did doze off, Sindel's voice jolted her back to reality. "I think we might have found you an opponent. Take a look."
"Wha..?" The Eevee unwillingly opened her eyes to take a look at what her friend was talking about. There in the distance stood a solitary figure, a short, squat, pink pokémon with a totally blank expression upon its slack-jawed face. "Is that what I'm fighting?" Rhiannon didn't like the look of this. The statue-like stillness of the creature made her feel less than comfortable.
"Yeah, why not?" Sindel shrugged by way of reply, putting her load back down into the snow once more. "It's a Slowpoke. They're usually good for practice, even Becks could outsmart them. Although having said that, Katnip once fought a Slowbro who just stood there just like that but was really intelligent behind it all, so who knows what to think?" Rhiannon wasn't listening. She was too busy creeping closer and closer to her opponent, not really sure what to make of the odd creature.
"Hello?" she said nervously. "D... do you mind if we battle?" A ten second pause. "Would that be okay?"
"Sure." The Slowpoke finally exhaled. "Let's... fight... now." Each time the pokémon breathed out it would say a word. Which made for a decidedly odd conversationalist.
"Okay! I'm ready when you are!" Rhiannon tensed herself, ready for battle. True, she had no idea how to utilise half of the terrible powers that her body could potentially harness, and maybe that was for the best. But she still knew a trick or two. Not all of the training her merciless alter-ego had undergone had gone completely over her head, after all! "Well, what are you waiting for?" Evidently the Slowpoke had forgotten how to start a battle, for it was just standing there with the same vacant expression on its face. "Hello?" The Eevee edged closer, extending a paw to touch the pokémon on the nose. "Are... are you okay?"
"Sure..." the Slowpoke said suddenly, causing Rhiannon to jump from shock. "And... by... the... way... good... luck... little... one." The pokémon yawned, its considerable mouth opened wide to reveal teeth perfectly designed for the marine diet the Slowpoke species thrived upon. "Now... let's... start."
"Bring it on, buster!" Rhiannon smiled, standing in a poor imitation of Milliardo's pre-battle stance. "You're going down!"

FIGHT!!! L7 Eevee v L15 Slowpoke!

Even to an inexperienced fighter like Rhiannon's childlike side, the correct way to start a battle against a Slowpoke was obvious. Take advantage of its natural sluggishness before it had a chance to utilise an attack of its own.
"Okay, let's show you what we can do!" Quickly the Eevee darted at her opponent, throwing her full body into a fearsome Tackle attack. With most pokémon this would have been enough in its own to send them crashing to the floor, especially given Rhiannon's magically altered physique. But a Slowpoke was built for sturdiness, and all that the little Eevee managed to do was to bounce harmlessly off its side, crashing into a large mound of snow for her troubles, "Hey!" Rhiannon's head poked almost comically out of the snowdrift, a pile of cold white fluff sat atop her head like some sort of bizarre hat. She shook herself vigorously, both to rid herself of snow and also to warm her cold body up somewhat. "That wasn't supposed to happen! So what else can we do... ah, I know!" Rhiannon cast a ferocious glare over in her opponent's direction, hoping to weaken its defences by intimidation. But either the Slowpoke was too dense to register the Leer attack, or Rhiannon simply lacked a single ounce of menace, for there seemed to be little effect on her opponent. Not for the first time she wished there could have been a little cooperation between the different sides to her personality. No doubt the creature that shared her body would have been able to pull that off. And probably turn it into a Glare to boot.
"My... turn..." the Slowpoke breathed. The grand opportunity Rhiannon had hoped to take advantage of had been wasted, and now it was her opponent's turn to show her a few tricks of its own. "Sorry... little... one..." All of a sudden the dopey-looking pokémon's eyes flashed red, and Rhiannon found herself being thrown backwards, smashed hard in the chest with a terrible unseen force that brought tears to her eyes from the impact. From this perspective, skidding through the snow with the blank-faced Slowpoke waddling after her in a fashion that now seemed incredibly threatening, the battle didn't seem nearly as easy as it might have first appeared. Especially when the Slowpoke finally caught up to Rhiannon, its speed quite remarkable for its species, and rammed its thick skull hard into her, sending her rolling further.
"Ouch..." Rhiannon picked herself up unsteadily, wincing as she did so. She had to stop this rather cruel game of soccer, with herself in the role of the ball, somehow! But evidently this wasn't going to be today, for a second psychic blow knocked her back to the ground again. The Eevee was close to collapse. She couldn't withstand much more of this. "Leave me alone!" Willing all of the energy she had remaining into her mind, she threw all of her power into summoning up some last-ditch attack, even though she had no idea what that attack was going to be. As it happened, this desperate attempt as trying something different seemed to work. All of a sudden a huge spear-like tentacle of ice-cold grass shot out from underneath the Slowpoke, knocking it to one side before standing tall and erect, frozen instantly in place by the terrible conditions of the training room. "I... I..." It had taken every last drop of energy Rhiannon had to give to conjure up the Hidden Power attack, and she felt just about ready to pass out from sheer exhaustion. But no. There was still a battle to be finished. It wouldn't do to collapse. Not just yet. Shaking her head, Rhiannon eyed her opponent carefully. The attack had damaged it, certainly, but this battle was far from over. Already the pink creature was waddling towards her, the same vacant expression within its eyes as had been in place for the entire fight.
"That... hurt..." the Slowpoke complained.
"Agree to battle, and you have to accept the consequences," the Eevee responded calmly. "Now if you'll pardon us we have to finish what we started." Abruptly Rhiannon pounced, a well-timed leap that caused her to land hard on top of her opponent knocking it to the floor from above. Without so much as pausing for breath she bounced off its fleshy body, using its girth to propel herself upwards. And at this point she called upon her Hidden Power once again. Vine after vine came erupting from the surrounding ground, bumping and jostling the Slowpoke until it was practically being juggled by the grassy tentacles. "Three... two... one..." The vines withdrew back into the ground at almost the exact same instant that Rhiannon's paws were once again touching snow, leaving her opponent to come crashing down to the floor in a lifeless heap. "Done." A subtle smile crossed the Eevee's face. "I'm sure next time I won't have to interfere, either. Just a little longer, and we'll be able to take care of ourselves at any point."

Rhiannon wins!
Rhiannon grew to L9!
Rhiannon learned Sand Attack!

"Remarkable improvement in your skills, there, Rhiannon," Sindel noted dryly as her Eevee companion returned from her battle. "If I didn't know better I'd say you suddenly remembered everything you said you were going to try to forget."
"It was either that or lose, Sindel, and that option would benefit nobody bar our opponent." Evidently the stress of the battle had forced the Eevee into yet another of her shifts. "Anyway, you will be okay finding an opponent on your own, won't you? I'm afraid I may have upset Pandora slightly earlier and I'd like to get back to apologise."
"Sure, go ahead, anything that gets her out of a bad mood is more than welcome," the Alakazam shrugged, secretly glad that Rhiannon was leaving. For as adorably sweet as the infant Rhiannon was, the mature version was more than a little creepy, and she didn't much fancy having to keep her company alone. "Can you find your way back okay?" The look that Rhiannon gave her was answer enough, a look that made her look almost identical to Milliardo when he was younger. It was almost as if Sindel could hear him in her head going of course I can, you moron, what kind of $^%&wit do you take me for? "I'll take that as a 'yes', then. Okay, I'll see you back at the cabin." Sindel watched the Eevee leave with a mixture of bemusement and concern. There was something about her... something that she couldn't quite place...
"Hey!" A sudden yell from behind her shook Sindel out of her contemplation, instead giving her cause to jump in the air with a yell of surprise. "Hahahaha, that's gotta be a world record!"
"Why you little..." It was as much as the Alakazam could do to prevent herself from throwing her spoons at this latest distraction out of sheer fury. But in the end common sense prevailed over her increasingly irritable mood. And so she turned slowly, to find herself staring at... well, nothing, in actual fact. Her opponent was quite noticeably shorter than she was and she could stare over its head with ease. And a cursory look down revealed a strange little creature with distinctly monkey-like features, a Meditite if she remembered correctly. A Fighting/ Psychic type. And no doubt the species of her latest adversary. Apparently it had found her rather than it being the other way around. "Do you find that funny or something?"
"Gee, someone got out of bed on the wrong side this morning! Chill out, would you?" Meditites were supposed to be quite focused, mystical creatures, but clearly nobody had bothered to tell this particular one. It seemed to act more like a cross between Beckham and one of Milliardo's better moods. "Anyway, my name's Johan." The pokémon offered a hand and Sindel took it dubiously. "I'm supposed to kick the asses of anyone I find wandering about here, you know, give them a good fight and all that stuff. You probably know how these places work."
"Only too well," Sindel replied.
"Oh good, that means we can get on with it then, there's a soccer match on in an hour and my trainer promised we could watch it." The little pokémon grinned broadly, evidently not really caring much as to how it came across to others. Which was an admirable trait in some ways, it had to be said. Far too much time was wasted putting on pretenses for others. "You up for a good fight before that, though?"
"I'm ready whenever you are." Sindel grasped the spoons she carried around tightly, ready to unleash the full extent of her psychic arsenal. She knew better than to take any opponent lightly. Even short little goofy Fighting types.
"Good," the Meditite smirked, striking a fighting pose. "Because I'm ready."

FIGHT!!! L21 Alakazam v L19 Meditite!

"Ready or not, here I come!" Sindel hardly had a chance to size her opponent up properly before the Meditite sprang at her, flying through the air foot first in a jumping kick that would have been impossible to dodge using physical reactions alone. Fortunately Sindel didn't have a problem there. The instant she saw the pokémon coming towards her she swiftly relocated herself two feet to the left, blinking in and out of existence in no time at all. "Hey! No fair!"
"Take on an Alakazam and that's what you get," Sindel commented. "We're notorious Teleporters." This was her chance to strike, while her opponent was still too busy orienting itself with her new position to properly attack. Concentrating hard, she summoned up all of her psychic energies and cast them in the form of a single white beam of energy that rammed hard into the Meditite and knocked it off its feet easily. Well, that had gone better than expected! Sindel had never had the chance to use her newly-discovered Psybeam attack before. Come to think of it, this was her first battle at all since her recent evolution.
"Uhh... man, you sure do pack a punch! Well, not to worry! They put me in here for a reason!" The little pokémon concentrated hard, a real frown of concentration upon its face. All of a sudden the snow around Sindel seemed to rear up, threatening to envelop her it its icy coldness. "I control the snow, you see. There's no way to win," Sindel's opponent chuckled.
"Really? Well, that's funny..." Sindel furrowed her brow, deep in concentration. There was only one way out of this one! "So do I." By now her Hidden Power had been with her for so long that it hardly required any effort to tap into. Although finding the best way to utilise it was a different matter entirely. Especially given the constant cold that was a permanent distraction for any pokémon not fortunate enough to be an Ice type already or having either sufficient blubber or fur to stay warm. But in this particular case the best use for her control over ice was quite obvious. Staring her in the face, even. Clutching her spoons tightly to aid in her efforts, the Alakazam forced all of her energy into overcoming her opponent's Hidden Power with that of her own. For what seemed like an eternity nothing happened, the two pokémon locked in a silent struggle for control. And then, slowly but surely, the huge walls of snow began to break into chunks, eventually transformed into whole fleets of levitating snowballs awaiting their next instructions.
"Oh no..." The Meditite began to back off slowly, the worry evident in its tones.
"Oh yes." There was almost a sadistic pleasure in watching her opponent panic like this, but Sindel wasn't the sort to revel in having the upper hand. She had seen one too many of Milliardo's less successful sparring attempts with Katnip to make that mistake! "Hope you're good at dodging, that's all I can say!" Suddenly the Alakazam's eyes flashed, and the snowballs fired themselves at her opponent in rapid-fire succession. The first few the Meditite managed to avoid, but the barrage simply became too much for it after that, and it quickly found itself buried deep within a huge mound of snow that simply grew and grew until there was no more snow left for Sindel to throw. Cautiously she approached, her senses telling her that her opponent was anything but finished. But it couldn't stay in contact with the freezing snow for that long. Not unless it was somehow using its Hidden Power to give itself a little immunity to the cold. Which was most definitely possible. "Come out of there and let's get on with it!"
"Well, if you insist!" Abruptly the Meditite jumped out of the snow, planting a harsh kick on Sindel's chin as it did so. Well, that was about enough for the Alakazam! Furiously she fired a huge blast of power at her opponent, a blast that seemed to pass straight through it, causing the pokémon to shudder and twitch. And eventually fall to one knee in the snow, its body no longer responding to any commands it may have been trying to give it. "What... wha' wuzzat?" the Meditite finally managed to force out of its numbed mouth.
"Oh, that? My take on Thunder Wave," Sindel replied. "Well, I'm not known for my command of electricity, so I figured psychic powers would work just as well! And if you don't mind, I'd like to finish this now, because I'm sure I left the oven on and I could do with getting back home as soon as possible, okay?" Once again Sindel brought her incredible powers to the fore, firing yet another bean of energy that seemed to come directly from her forehead and strike the immobilized Meditite, once again sending it skidding through the snow leaving a large furrow behind it. And this time the little pokémon didn't get up again. Sindel's job was done. "Thank goodness for that!" the Alakazam complained. "I think I'm getting frostbite." Suddenly she seemed to realise that there was nobody else about to complain to, so simply Teleported back to the log cabin, having no reason to stay now that her battle was over. Well, if nothing else, today had been quite productive for training, at least!

Sindel wins!
Sindel grew to L23!

[AntiAsh Superstar]

"Well, time we got home," I sighed, glancing round at my assembled team. It had been a good day in the main. The training had gone exceptionally well, and although Pandora seemed to be in one of her bad moods the rest of the team seemed fine. Albeit rather bruised in Rhiannon's case. I would have hated to be her the following morning when the inevitable stiffness had finally set in! But there was something missing. Training was all very well and good, but sometimes I just pined for the days when I could have spent an entire afternoon being silly. And when I got like that I ended up striving too hard to make the most of every available moment, even if those were moments that seemed best spent on messing around with Soo, which was what I was really yearning for right about now. Ah well. At least I was out of the habit of depriving myself of sleep just because I was too stubborn to accept a dip in my spare time. For now, at any rate. Otherwise I would have probably been feeling rather low at this point. "I can't speak for you guys, but I just fancy going back and lounging about for the rest of the day."
"Sounds good to me, Ade ol' buddy!" Beckham grinned. "After all, I could do with laying back with a couple of beers myself. I need to relax a bit, I've been tense ever since I led the England squad to a disastrous last minute defeat the other day."
"When will you learn that Beckham the soccer player and Beckham the Wartortle aren't the same?" Milliardo rolled his eyes. "One of you couldn't land a penalty to save his life. The other has a really powerful Water Gun."
"Umm... harsh, but I wouldn't expect anything less off you." I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, you'd be married to a Spice Girl if you were the other Becks, is that what you want?"
"Crikey!" This news seemed to shock my Wartortle somewhat. "I clean forgot about that. Okay, I'm not that Beckham after all. Don't suppose I fooled any of you, did I?"
"This may surprise you, but no, you didn't." Rhiannon replied, speaking for the entire team as she did so. "Anyway, we'll catch you all up in a moment, go on ahead without us. We have a few things we need to put right first." The Eevee looked over at the sulky Pandora. "Pandora, do you mind accompanying us for a while?"
"Yes, L..." The Houndour caught herself just in time, stifling what had over time become an almost automatic reaction to any request of Rhiannon's. "I mean, sure, whatever." Pandora strolled over to where the Eevee was stood. "You guys can go on ahead. Trust me, if anyone can get me back home, it'll be this scary girl."
"Whatever you say, Pandora. Don't be long though, okay?" And with this the rest of my team left the training grounds, heading back home after a job well done. What else was there that we could possibly do?

"Pandora." Rhiannon had eventually led Pandora over to a viewing platform that allowed spectators to watch the goings on of the Jungle Room, casting a sad eye over the flora and fauna that populated this particular training room. It was deserted at the moment - hell, most of the rooms were - but that suited Rhiannon perfectly. "We just want to ask you to forgive us for earlier. I may have been a highly ranked tactician in my time but that doesn't make me a good conversationalist. We're in agreement that my main failing is a total lack of consideration."
"True." Pandora nodded. "I'd go even farther than that, I'd say you just don't think how you're actions are going to affect others, Rhiannon, you never have. But... if it's any consolation, I'm sorry, too. I overreacted. It just makes me really uncomfortable when people start staring at my scars, I don't exactly like being reminded that they're there, you know, and I don't have the luxury of being able to wear long sleeves to cover them up like humans do." The Houndour released a long, despairing sigh, finally expelling all of her negative feelings in a single breath. "Rhiannon, I... well, I had something really important you should have been made aware of years ago. Do you remember back in the days of the Dark Cloak?"
"We spent most of our life in their employ, Pandora, it's hard to forget some of the atrocities no matter how much we sweeten them with memories of the good times we had with our peers. But I suspect you're referring to a specific time here. Go on."
"Remember the last mission I was sent on?"
"Yes. We had been planning that for weeks. All the malcontents, every one who wanted an escape from the Dark Cloak, they were placed on the same team, to mutiny the first chance they got. We do remember. Abbadon even joined your group, in case none of the others were willful enough to instigate the uprising. Seeing as you're here now we presume it worked."
"Well... that's just it, Rhiannon, it..." Pandora choked back the tears. The memories were just too painful to bear. Blood. Screaming. And a pair of gentle eyes brimming with tears of sorrow, looking up at her for the final time. "Rhiannon it all went wrong! Abbadon... he... he turned, Rhiannon, and it wasn't just enough that he had the heads of the cultists at the head of the group, was it? He wanted more, didn't he?" And Pandora went on to explain it all. First, Khism's bloody demise, the proud Sandslash killed sticking up for the dark gods that he believed in. Then Abbadon's thirst turning towards a colony of wild Ninetales. And the slaughter of yet another teammate, the good-hearted Umbreon known as Amon. Amon, who had finally redeemed himself for his dark and troubled past by making the ultimate sacrifice to save the loss of further innocent life. Amon, the closest thing to a brother Pandora had even known.
"We see." Rhiannon closed her eyes, trying very hard to digest all of this information. But it was hard. All of a sudden her head was beginning to throb with pain. "At least they died they way they would have wanted. Khism always said he would gladly give his life for the ideals of the Dark Cloak. And Amon... oh, Amon..." Just trying to remember the Umbreon made the headache worsen, until it felt as if her entire skull was about to split in two. "Always trying to find the perfect way to atone for his involvement in such dark schemes. I always thought it was a fruitless task, but apparently he managed it in the end anyway." The Eevee stared vacantly out into space. "Poor Amon. Poor, poor Amon. We'll miss him terribly."
"Lady Rhiannon?" Pandora was worried. If her own bonds with the Umbreon had been strong, then Rhiannon's had been all the more powerful. The Eevee had been deeply, madly and passionately in love with him. In fact, the only time Pandora had ever known the mature side of her to show genuine emotion was when she had been around Amon. It was the only time she ever smiled with any warmth. "Are you okay?" The Houndour could tell something was amiss. A chink of light was starting to form at the Eevee's forehead, and the railing she was stood by was beginning to buckle without any kind of provocation.
"We're fine, Pandora. We just have a headache. Maybe a walk will do us good." As she turned to leave, Rhiannon turned to favour Pandora with the most terribly sad smile the Houndour had ever seen. "We appreciate you telling us. It's best we know now rather than spend eternity in delusion."
"Rhiannon!" Pandora called out after the Eevee, wanting to talk to her, reassure her, anything other than let her go through this on her own. But it was already too late. Already she was out of view, evidently not wishing to share her moment of weakness for longer than she had to. Pandora felt terrible for having told her the news that had shaken her so. But then, as Rhiannon herself said, was it not better to find these things out as soon as possible rather than go on in ignorance for eternity?

How far Rhiannon walked she neither knew nor cared. She just walked and walked, and walked and walked, until she was far away from the training grounds, or indeed the boundaries of Sector Alpha, for that matter. Until her legs felt as numb as her heart. Once upon a time she had considered that she was incapable of feeling any emotion. Or at least that had been the case until Amon had arrived. Slowly but surely his unassailable, calm confidence had worn away at the barriers surrounding her heart. And for that, for teaching her what it was to feel once more, she had loved him - no, she did love him. Whether he was there or not to appreciate it, there would always be a space in her heart reserved solely for the Umbreon. For his gentle but firm guidance, for the way he always seemed to know the best time to crack a joke, for the way he had been there to look out for her right from the very start. For the way he would always sneak into her dormitory in the middle of the night and snuggle up around her, blissfully unaware that there was always one Rhiannon or another watching him with a tear in her eye. For all of the little things, and the big, that made him the most special creature in the world. A life without all that would have been torture beyond anything the Dark Cloak could have ever dreamed up.
"Walk, Rhiannon. Just keep on walking." The headache was back again, with reinforcements. All around her glass cracked, steel posts began to bend, electrical fuses exploded in their sockets, but none of this Rhiannon even noticed. Her mind was still fixed firmly upon Amon, and how she had never even had the chance to say goodbye, to tell him exactly how much he had meant to her. How unfair was that? That day she never even had a chance to tell him that she loved him. Silently the tears began to trickle from her eyes, rolling down her furry cheeks to splash silently upon the pavement beneath her tired paws, corroding small pits in the concrete with the energy contained within them. By now the headache was reaching its climax. It really did feel as if her head was splitting open. And indeed it had, the emerald that served as the focal point of her demonic powers now fully exposed. Not that Rhiannon even noticed. Her mind was too consumed by thoughts of the one she had lost. Thoughts that not even she could contain for much longer. And eventually, whilst walking down a small, deserted side alley, it all became too much for the Eevee. Her head was whirling with thoughts of Amon, and of Khism, and Abbadon, and all of those she had considered friends in her dubious past. And the headache was growing worse with every passing second. It was enough to make any normal pokémon scream. Enough, even, to finally break even the glacial walls of Rhiannon's turbulent mind. "AMON!!!!!!!!!" she screamed, finally releasing all of her pent-up sorrow and frustration and regret in a single call that was born in the very depths of despair, the magical aura surrounding her now serving to cause each and every window facing her alleyway to explode outwardly as she screamed, showering the Eevee in a harsh, cleansing rain of glass shards. Was this to be her fate? Was this her punishment for all of the mistakes made in the past? She would have rather been taken to the very bowels of Hell than suffer this. The only one who had ever given her hope had been taken away. And she could never, ever move on now.

[Syberia]

It's a few days overdue because no one could confirm my Day and Night stones in the Goldenrod Tower, but now that it's been updated, here goes.

Starting from where I left off before…

<Kyle’s POV>

The serenity of the lush artificial jungle did not last long. No sooner had I set foot in the crowded stadium’s hallway than I was met with the hustle and bustle of civilization. The rays of afternoon sunlight filtering lazily through the green tinted glass were gone – replaced instead by dull-gray metal scaffolds hanging from the ceiling high above. Where only a minute ago hummingbirds flitted through the mist without a care in the world, people now hurriedly rushed here and there, struggling against the shackles of time to reach whatever destination they had in mind.

“Pippin, wait!” I grabbed him by the bulb on his back just as he was about to be run over by a giggling group of teenage girls, running haphazardly down the hallway and not paying attention at all to where they were going. Apparently belonging to one of them, a Raichu raced along the walls about a hundred feet in front of them, darting so quickly between them that it seemed almost to teleport from place to place.

Leaning forward tensely as I picked him up, Pippin growled as the yellow rat disappeared from sight when the tunnel curved. “This is no place for a pokemon,” I told him as I patted his head comfortingly, recalling him into his pokeball.

I hadn’t made up my mind where I would train next – the map I had picked up at the door informed me that there were a total of five arenas – or who I would use. Hoping for some inspiration, or at least some entertainment, I joined the rush of people heading for any empty seat they could find to watch the battle that was still going on in the stadium’s huge central colosseum.

I took an open seat next to a family of four; their two children occupied the seats between their parents. Neither of them looked older than about five, and from time to time one of them slipped a bite of his food to an Aipom that had taken up residence for the moment under their seats.

The same Gengar and Steelix as before still faced off inside the ring of dirt below. These pokemon belonged to the best of the best, and each of them was determined not to back down. The commands of the trainers were inaudible above the noise of the crowd, making it seem as if humans were not even a factor in this clash of titans. Of course, as I had come to know, it was never the skill of a trainer that ultimately determined the outcome of a battle. You could have the most intelligent pokemon scientist in the world up there giving out commands, but without a skilled counterpart to carry them out, they would end up dead in the water. The determining factor of any battle was not which pokemon had a type advantage, or which one was bigger – no, it most certainly came down to which warrior had been raised and trained the best. In a battle like this, between two professionals in a tournament that they would remember for the rest of their lives, the pokemon often knew more about fighting each other than even their trainers did.

The Steelix opened its massive iron maw, revealing a swirling red inferno beginning to swell deep within its throat. Gengar laughed evilly to itself as his eyes began to light up with a strange, seep azure glow. The same strange aura now gripped his foe’s mouth as he struggled to open it. Smoke and small red embers escaped through the cracks as the beast’s eyes went wide with pain. After a few seconds the pressure had become too much and he had to swallow it, but that couldn’t have been healthy. A moment later, Gengar drove his glowing fist hard into his skull with a metallic clang. The iron behemoth shuddered sideways and collapsed into a heap of dust as the crowd roared with applause.

As quickly as the snake had fallen, a prickly yellow Jolteon had taken its place. The purple ghost was visibly tired from its last opponent, taking a swirling ball of spirits right in the chest as he stopped to catch his breath. As his trainer shouted something, his entire form began to glow a bright, radiant white.

Jolteon had disappeared inside a cloud of brown dust, his small legs working as quickly as possible to dig him a hiding spot underground. Just then, a sound like thunder cracked in my ears. A flash bright as the sun scorched my eyes, and the shock wave rumbled dully through the wooden stands in which I sat. The crowd fell silent until it was all over, and all that remained of either combatant was a small hole in the ground. Cheers burst out immediately when Jolteon emerged back above ground, virtually unscathed. I knew that a stunt like that might just turn the battle around.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, I sat on a wooden bench in the small locker room outside the next area I planned to enter. Eli and Akaisha sniffed around the cold cement floor; I had made up my mind that I wanted to train them next. I stuffed everything I didn’t think I would need into one of the lockers on the far wall, and when I turned around, both of my Eevees had vanished.

<Akaisha’s POV>

“You’ve done it now, Eli,” was all I could think to say as it dawned on me for the first time that neither of us had any clue where we were.

“Lighten up, sis,” he replied, “don’t you ever like to have a little fun? Besides, if I remember right, it was you who decided to follow me.”

“That’s because I thought you had some idea of where you were going.”

“Chill out, ‘Aisha, it’ll be fine. This way, I think I smell cotton candy.” Typical Eli, always thinking with his stomach. I bet the only reason he went on this little wild goose chase of his was to see what kind of goodies he could ‘liberate’ from the establishment.

“You sure we should be–” I stopped my protest mid-sentence as the scent caught my nose for the first time. “Hey Eli, wait up!” I ran after him as fast as my little legs could carry me; it truly was good cotton candy. I knew I’d hate myself later for this, but I couldn’t let that bother me right now.

<Kyle’s POV>

“Eli!”

“Akaisha!”

It was no use. I must have walked the entire length of the concourse by now, and still I found no sign of my two Eevees. My search had finally brought me to guest services, where I was now trying to describe the lost pokemon to the woman behind the counter.

“Well, they’re… brown. And furry.” I was at a loss for words. After all, how else do you describe an Eevee to someone? She stared at me for a couple seconds through her thick, oversized black-rimmed glasses before turning to pick up a microphone on her desk.

“Excuse me,” she began over the loudspeaker, “if anyone has come across a stray pair of ‘brown,’ ‘furry’ Eevees, could they please notify guest services?”

“Sorry kid,” she tried to comfort me, “all we can do is look for them.” I took a seat on one of the benches up against the wall; all I could do now is wait. Five minutes went by, and still no sign of either of them.

<Eli’s POV>

“’Aisha, hurry up!” I called behind me, “we’re almost there.”

“Slow down, Eli,” she retorted between pants, “I’m a girl you know!”

“If you can’t even run, then you’re sure not my sister,” I teased. No sooner had I said that than something hard struck me in the head from behind. “Alright, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Why do you girls have to take everything so personally all the time?”

“It’s our job,” she shot back with a condescending laugh.

<Akaisha’s POV>

* * *

“Well, we’re here!” Eli stopped abruptly. Following close behind, I attempted the same maneuver but wound up sliding a good four feet across the waxed tile floor on my hindquarters into a pile of empty boxes instead. Why did I always have to be so clumsy?

“Over here,” My bro called, standing just inside an open doorway. I followed, narrowly avoiding getting stepped on on two occasions. I found myself inside a small closet, its floor covered with half-opened boxes. My nose immediately told me what was inside, and more of it lay on the shelves around the perimeter. A freezer stood in one corner, and through the door I saw that it was filled with ice cream.

“See, I’m good for something after all,” Eli joked, shutting the door until just enough light to see snuck in through crack, “dig in!”

<Janitor’s POV>

“Dry cleanup requested on the concourse behind section 103,” my walkie-talkie said suddenly.

“Yeah, I’m on it,” I replied, sticking it back in my pocket and grabbing a broom out of the nearest closet. Turns out I didn’t need it; someone had just knocked over a pile of boxes that had been stored in a corner.

“Why can’t they ever just stick these in that storage closet across the hall,” I thought to myself as I began stacking them one inside the other.

<Eli’s POV>

Something squeaked open behind me. I turned around slowly as light flooded in from the concourse, and watched as my sister did the same. We both found ourselves face-to-face with a middle-aged man in a checkered shirt, his face rough and in need of a shave.

“Umm, what do we do now,” Akaisha asked me in a hurried, hushed whisper.

“We could always try running!”

“Oh no you don’t,” the man objected, picking the two of us up by the skin on the backs of our necks, “gotcha, suckers.”

Akaisha swore. I don’t think I had ever heard her do that before. “Last time I’m ever trusting one of your little adventures,” she added as an afterthought.

“That’s really too bad,” I joked, “you’ll be missing out on so much fun.”

“You call this fun?”

<Kyle’s POV>

At first I didn’t even recognize them as my own. “Did you lose these?” a short, stocky man in his mid-forties asked me, holding out the two sticky Eevees, covered from head to toe in chocolate, ice cream, caramel, and just about every other type of candy you could think of. I was hesitant to answer, so they answered for me by jumping straight into my lap while still trying to lick the sweet-tasting substances from each other’s fur. Just the sight of them was too much; after a few seconds I burst out laughing. There was no way I could stay mad at those two for very long.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” I said, trying to separate them while at the same time not ruining my clothes as I carried both Eevees to the nearest restroom. In no time at all they were each bathing in the sinks, which from their continuous protesting I could tell that they didn’t enjoy at all. I figured that was punishment enough for them.

As I headed back towards the locker room for a second and hopefully last time, something in one of the souvenir stands caught my eye. “I know exactly how I’m going to keep track of you two from now on,” I told Eli and Akaisha, still carrying one of them in each arm as I walked over and got in line.

“I’d like two pokemon collars, please.”

“For those two?” the man behind the cart asked, taking my money, “what are their names?”

“That one’s Eli,” I explained, scratching the fur under his neck, “and that one’s Akaisha.” The man typed something into his computer, and a little machine went to work engraving their names, along with my address and phone number, onto each of the collars. He handed them to me once it had finished, and I quickly fastened the leather straps around each of my pokemon’s necks.

“Wait a minute, you’re the one–” the man’s voice trailed after me as I walked away. It seemed like the news of my pokemon’s little “adventure” had already spread to everyone in attendance.

* * *

“You still want to battle?” I asked Eli and Akaisha, back in the locker room.

“Of course we do!” the former shouted with enthusiasm before his sister even had a chance to utter a word of protest.

<Eli’s POV>

Rays from artificial heat lamps high above beat harshly down upon my back like the noontime sun of a midsummer’s day. Waves of heat rose off the white sand beneath my feet, and everything seemed to shimmer in front of me. I pushed on, Akaisha following close behind, in the hope that we would not have to be here too long. I couldn’t disappoint my trainer either, though; the two of us would have to tough it out.

It wasn’t long at all before we found what we were looking for; a solitary Phanpy rooting around in a lone clump of weeds with his snout, probably looking for food. “You up for this, ‘Aisha?” I asked.

“Even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have a choice.”

“You’re right. Let’s go!”

Eli (Eevee M L7) and Akaisha (Eevee F L7)
vs.
Phanpy M L15

The two of us rushed in, kicking up a tremendous cloud of sand in the Phanpy’s face and blinding it from what we did next. Coughing and squinting through the dust, I climbed atop his back and dug my little claws furiously into his hide while my sister slammed her skull into the side of his with a resounding thud.

The roar of pain and surprise that resulted left the both of us rubbing our ears, wondering if either of us would ever hear correctly again. The body I stood on thrashed wildly in agony; I was thrown off in a matter of a few seconds and fell on my side into the soft, yet burning hot, sand.

“Lookout!” Akaisha called, and I noticed my foe, curled up into a ball and barreling towards me through the sand, just in time. I jumped aside at the last second as he crashed through what appeared to be my body, but flashed out of existence as soon as his body made contact. The Phanpy roared with confusion as Akaisha had pulled the same trick, and seven Eevees now surrounded him. A light tremor shot through the earth, its full effects muffled by the thick layer of sand, but enough to destroy all but our real selves.

“Go, go!” I heard my sister shouting, and felt her own energy and confidence bubble up inside my own spirit. It was as if she had made me stronger; I would not let her down. I leapt up, digging my claws hard into my enemy’s flank as he roared loudly in disgust.

All I had done was make him mad. Stomping the ground hard and kicking up a tremendous cloud of dust in his wake, he charged full-force into me. I didn’t even have time to react before the blow hit, knocking me a few feet backwards into the air. I landed hard on my back, struggling to move as his feet pounded against my entire body. I saw it in his eyes and immediately I realized – he was going to kill me right then and there.

“Nooooooooo!” I heard a shout, a loud crash, and I was free. My fur was damp with blood and I found it hard to breathe without pain, but I was alive. I took one last look up to see Akaisha standing over me, licking my wounds gently as Phanpy got wearily to his feet, then all went black.

<Akaisha’s POV>

“I will avenge you,” I swore under my breath. Anger swelled up inside of me, and I knew what I must do. Surging with fury, I knocked that Phanpy back to the ground before he could fully recover. I sliced into his side violently with my claws as he struggled meekly to throw me off, but I held fast. His movements became more and more erratic, and finally they ceased altogether. I had done it – I had won!

Eli and Akaisha are victorious!
Eli grew to level 8!
Akaisha grew to level 8!

It was a very slow process, carrying my injured brother back to where Kyle was waiting for us both. The hot sun didn’t make it any easier, and I had to stop and rest many a time before I finally reached him.

<Kyle’s POV>

I dropped everything I had and ran towards her the moment I saw Akaisha appear over the last sandy dune in the distance. I got down on my knees and looked at Eli’s unmoving form. His fur was matted with blood and sand; his breathing was faint and erratic. I clutched his small form against my chest; even in the desert, the heat was already starting to leave his body. My own pokemon was dying in my arms, and I was helpless to save him. Unless…

I ran as fast as I could back to the locker room and pulled the Night Stone out of my pack. I had been meaning to save it until Eli had grown a few more levels, but it looked like that time would never come unless I used it now. I sat his tiny form down on one of the long benches and pressed the translucent, shiny black rock right against his forehead.

At first nothing happened, but then his whole body started to glow a radiant white. I watched as his tattered underbelly magically fused itself back together. Short, shiny jet-black fur replaced his shaggy, bloody-brown coat, and his body suddenly appeared much leaner; sleeker and more muscular. When the transformation ceased, the new Umbreon leapt straight into my arms, licking my face with gratitude and happiness.

Akaisha looked on from the side, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. “Don’t think I forgot about you,” I told her, producing another small leather pouch from my pack. Contained within was a crystal-clear rock, shimmering with captured light from the sun. Setting Eli back on the floor, I picked her up, and in a few seconds I was holding a purring new Espeon.

[Lady Vulpix]

I've rated Amy's and Ade's battles. If I can I'll rate some more, but I won't be home much today, so it will take time, sorry.

Amy gets 16 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
Ade gets 23 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
I hope Rhiannon does manage to move on in spite of what she felt at that time.

[*Murkrow]

I felt inspired to write Fizz's RBG today...and it went on a lot longer than I'd expected o_O I also scanned through some of the other RBG battles, and I noticed that they all seem to have the opponent as a trainer controlled Pokémon, but there's nothing on the information on the front page about it having to be that.
But if it is, then I'm screwed :-_-:

~Fizz~

Closing my eyes, I focused. My wings twitched, catching the slight breeze, which rustled through my feathers, buffeting me gently from side to side.
Tilting my wings forward, I stalled, hanging in mid-air, then dropped, pulling in my wings, pinning them to my sides as I hurtled down.
Forcing my eyes open, despite the rushing, stinging wind, I saw the ground looming, stretching out below me.
Metres away, I spun, flung my wings out, catching the thermals, banking, then swooped down again, breezing over the earthy floor, tapping it gently with my claws as I passed, before climbing up.
As the ground disappeared beneath me, I flipped over, caught the air again, and looped; my mind reeled as the vertigo kicked in, but my speed carried me forward, and in a flash of blue feathers, I retained my balance, before pausing, gasping softly.
This was all going perfect. I was getting in some much needed flying practice-something I’d be able to use to my advantage when back with the others- and was also proving just how, well, perfect I was at flying. How many other Pokémon would be able to do high-altitude stunts after just half an hours’ practice?
Smiling to myself, I stretched out my wings, caught the breeze, then stalled and dropped again- slower this time- so the ground gradually lurched towards me; surveying it, I caught sight of an appropriate spot and twisted my wings to reach it.
This area I’d chosen for my training wasn’t the usual location I’d expect many Pokémon to travel to; the arid lands were barren, the sandy ground stretching as far as the eye could see, merging with the cerulean backdrop of the sky.
Tangles of grass stems protruded from the ground, matted, spiky plants, straining towards the beating sun. Their faded, lifeless colour was the only contrast in this drab area; the greens fading to yellow as they died, spots of mottled colour against the rich, brown colour of the sand.
From my vantage point where I had been practising, I had seen, in the distance, the clumped, ragged shape of trees, no doubt growing near some dank, overgrown water-hole.
Beyond them- and visible only as shimmers in the light and heat haze that filled the sky, the imposing shapes of mountains loomed.
But none of that was here; catching the air in my wings, I twisted them forwards, slowing my descent, before dropping and catching onto my chosen perch.
It was only one of the half-dead bushes, but at least it provided some shelter from the sun, and- as I had noticed from the air- it was one of the greenest bushes, and that meant one thing; nourishment.
Grabbing one of the spiky, coarse stems in my beak, I forced myself to swallow, while trying to figure out what to do next. My attention had been focused on my training, and I had managed to avoid noticing just how hungry I had become.
And how thirsty.
Briefly, I considered flying over to investigate the area with the trees; if there was water there, then I could quench my thirst, and the trees would no doubt provide some sort of food.
They would also provide my with some shelter from the heat-by now, sweat was trickling down by back, oozing through my feathers, causing me to shift irritably to ease the feeling. When I was flying, I was ok; the flow of the air helped to keep my temperature down, but perched on the grass stem, I had no real protection, and the heat was bearing down.
Yet that wasn’t really a problem- if I wanted to cool down, I should take to the air. Simple as that. It wasn’t the same as my food and drink problem.
Yet I didn’t want to go over there- chances are, there’d be other Pokémon, and if they saw me, then there could go all my hopes of a nice, quiet training session, all to my self.
Grabbing another stem of grass, I snapped it irritably in my beak, before spitting it out and lunging for another one; instantly, the stem I was on lurched, snapped, and with a muffled thud I crashed into the base of the stems.
‘Oh, for the love of….’
Getting to my feet, I flapped my wings once to check they were ok, before glaring annoyed, up at the stem I had been sitting on. It wasn’t a long fall, but it didn’t do anything to help my mood.
Scowling, I decided that I might as well get back to practising- that way I’d be able to hopefully keep my pangs at bay for a little while longer.
Hopping away from the bush and onto one of the open, sandy areas, I stretched my wings wide, feeling the warm air, then leapt up, circling gently as I rose.
From below, something sparked, glinted, reflecting the sun.
Hesitating, I frowned at the spot it had come from, before curiously gliding over and leisurely circling it. I could definitely see something through the grass; my curiosity getting the better of me, I swooped lower, and latched onto one of the over-hanging grass stems, before carefully hopping back onto the ground.
The Pokémon was asleep, curled up into a tight ball, and, gaining in confidence, I edged closer.
It was small, mustard coloured, with long black ears drooping either side of its face, while from the back of its head, a thick, black crest rose, before dropping down its back.
A single mustard coloured spot was positioned directly in the centre, and reaching up from the bottom, a slit revealed the crests sharp, glistening white teeth; one of those must have been what had caught my eye.
Like I’d thought, a Mawile.
Stepping back slightly, I glanced again at the little creatures face; partially hidden by its ears, which had flopped down when it had curled up, shielding its face from the sun. There didn’t seem to be anything threatening about it, so perhaps I could just ignore it? Pretend I hadn’t noticed it?
And it wasn’t as if it could really threaten me, if I was in the air.
Making up my mind, I jumped back, flapping my wings gently to get my airborne, when something red caught my attention; dropping back down, I cautiously edged closer to the Mawile’s head, and saw, cradled in its fore-arms, what was unmistakably a Poké Ball…. albeit a very battered one.
What the? Had it been abandoned or something?
Feeling a sudden rush of pity for it, I decided to get out of there- if it had been abandoned, instinct told me it would want to be alone, to understand its own feelings without having some stranger butting in. Or at least, I knew that was how I’d feel.
Tearing my eyes form it, I trotted away from the grass and hopped up into the air, tilting my wings so the breeze could take me away from the little scattering of bushes, so I could head further west.
For a second, everything was still, exactly how it had been ever since I had arrived.
Then, in a sudden rush and roar, the sand that had previously been lying peacefully on the ground, tore into the air, forming an impassable sandstorm, hurtling round my body, buffeting m from side to side as I frantically struggled to maintain both my balance and my altitude. But I couldn’t- I had no idea what direction I was facing, how high I was…. even if I was still airborne- for all I knew, I could have crash-landed and was now being sent spiralling across the land, my senses all reeling.
But I wasn’t.
A wave of sand and grit came hurtling into my face, stinging into me eyes; howling, I frantically tried to shake it out, but another wave struck me form the back, knocking me forwards; with a resounding crash, I slammed into the ground, digging my claws in to stabilise myself.
Pain tore through my body; but suddenly, I heard the distinctive sound of something moving; forcing my eyes open, I managed to discern the small, hulking shape of the Mawile, crouching, snarling, a few feet away.

Fight!
Fizz (Taillow L5 F)
Vs
Mawile (L5)

Forcing myself to my feet, I dug my claws in further and faced it directly.
The sandstorm suddenly seemed to abate, and for an instant, I was able to view the vicious, snarling jaws, as its crest lashed behind its back, the teeth still glistening, even in this. Its eyes glared across at me, with an aggression that was unlike anything I’d ever seen; and no sooner had I though that, then a sudden, terrible feeling began to sink into my mind.
I can’t face that.
Dimly, I could see it approaching, slowly, the aggression still streaming from it.
Terrified, I desperately tried to launch myself into the air, but the beating sand tore at my feathers, driving me back, knocking me down.
Pain erupted along one shoulder; staggering, I looked up, in time to see the solid figure of the Mawile come tearing towards me, head down, screaming, its eyes wide and staring.
Frantically, I dodged to the side, using the storm to my advantage, relaxing so that the winds easily carried me away, out of the path of its attack.
It worked; even as my vision blurred and it vanished into the thrashing mass of sand and grit, I heard its bellow of rage, and the sound of its jaws clashing together as it scanned for me.
Suddenly, something sharp shot into my back; managing to force myself to not cry out, I felt another…and another shoot into me, digging in, loosening my feathers. As the storm abated again, I used the time I had and scrambled into the bush, scrambling through the thrashing stems to gain some refuge.
The Mawile screamed out, a cry of pain, rage, anger; listening to it, I felt the same rush of pity I had when I had first seen it. But then it changed. No matter how upset it was, did that really give it the right to attack me like this? Ok, I’d admit, I shouldn’t have pried into it, but how was I too know? And did me glimpsing it make it ok for it to trap me like this? No. It didn’t. It couldn’t.
It snarled; forcing myself to look out, out into the raging storm, I saw it, crouching, breathing heavily as it stared back at me.
The sand that was managing to stream through the compacted branches tore at my throat as I opened my beak, but I shouted anyway.
‘Let me go, leave me alone.’
Then I stopped.
The look in its eye flickered; it didn’t care about what I’d seen, didn’t care about what had happened to it. Even if I hadn’t seen it, it would have attacked me. This wasn’t about getting its own back, or releasing its own feelings, this was about pain.
It let out a scream of hate and lunged forwards; I hadn’t anywhere to move, bunched up in the thicket of stems.
It slammed into my chest, a direct hit, with such force that we both plunged back, tearing through the stems as if they were paper; I slammed into the floor, back first; briefly, it crashed onto me, before tearing off, and skidding round for another attack.
Trying to ignore the continual sandstorm, I instead focused up, thinking of the way the sky had been when I had been practising, how it normally was, how less than ten minutes ago I was thinking of the heat.
Sweating, I shouted out, one word, bringing my mind to rest directly on the memory of the sun; a flash, and a beam of light shot up, through the sand, before erupting into the air.
Somewhere behind me, the Mawile cried out.
Beams of light pulsated, tearing through the storm, disintegrating the sand even as it parted before it; above, the brilliant, cerulean blue of the sky became visible again, the sun beating down, blasting the flying sand to nothing.
Knowing I had to get back into the air, I closed my eyes and forced myself to roll over before flapping my desperately aching wings, catching the rising thermals in the usual way; finally, soaring back up into the air.
The Mawile vanished, became a pin-prick of colour, in-between the rustling grasses, and the now calm, brown sand, as I swooped higher, expertly stretching my wings to catch the breezes.
I could go home. I could leave this little creature here, to stay, encased by its rage. But to do that, I’d have to admit defeat. Why should I? Was I too scared to take this thing on? An image flickered in front of my eyes, unasked for.
There was my answer.
Pulling my wings in, I plummeted, crying out, as a ring of pulsing, white orbs began to materialise around my body.
The Mawile was watching me, watching as I dove nearer, watching as the orbs began to glow a dark, steady brown.
Suddenly flicking my wings out, I snapped to a stop; the orbs spun round in front of me, converged, then exploded out, raining down onto the ground. The Mawile howled and tore round, dodging them, but that didn’t matter. It wasn’t my target.
Instead, the orbs shattered into the ground, tearing gaping wholes into the dry, sand covered surfaces.
Then the tremors began.
The ground lurched, taking the Mawile with it; its body thrashed desperately as it struggled to keep its balance, even as the ground split, sending it crashing down, then back, as a jagged piece exploded up, rendering the landscape unrecognisable.
Gliding above, I watched as the dust began to settle, wondering what would happen now. Had my Hidden Power been enough to finish the match? It had been weaker than I’d expected, due to the Mawile’s Intimidate affecting my Attack, but still, had it been enough?
No such luck.
The dust suddenly whipped up, forming that enveloping Sandstorm again; but I could counter that easily.
Taking a glance at the sun that was still beaming down, I smiled, then looked back at the approaching storm and cried out.
The light instantly dimmed, as with an ominous rumble, a massive black cloud materialised, blotting out the sun, before sheets of rain began to cascade from the sky, drenching me in seconds, before thundering down onto the sand, clogging it, forcing it back.
Beating my wings frantically to stay airborne, it suddenly occurred to me that I had been worrying about dehydration, when I had this power at my command.
Still, I had other things on my mind now, so, closing my wings, I dropped down, trying to pierce the darkness with my eyes, straining to discover where the Mawile was.
There.
Thrashing about in one of the holes my Hidden Power had created, now rapidly filling with water- trying to climb out, but being beaten back by its own weight.
Well, while it was helpless, I may as well use the time to my own advantage.
Snapping my wings back to send myself hurtling forwards, I swooped down, until I was feet away, before let out the loudest Growl I could, remembering the power of its initial Frustration. It worked; it let go of the soggy, clogging earth sides it had been frantically trying to climb and instead cowered, over waist deep in water, pressing its ears to its head, trying desperately to block out the noise.
Now we were on even footing.
Banking away, I now focused on me, feeling my energy converging to form one, flicker of power. The driving rain seemed to recede for a second as my mind went blank, then returned with a vigour; my Focus Energy done, I soared round and headed back to my target.
It had stopped cowering by now, and had managed to hook a paw over the lip of the hole; as I came closer, it dug its back legs into the side and heaved itself over, before collapsing, gasping.
What a perfect opportunity.
Diving down, I hurtled closer, stretching out my right wing, feeling the power throb into it; aiming, I snapped round, smashing my wing into its face. The pain tore through my wing, as hitting something steel directly on would, but my Focus Energy seemed to have come into play as it howled and staggered back.
Then it spun round; the gaping mouth with its glistening teeth snapped shut somewhere near my head, before a sickening, orange glow began to form.
Hyper Beam.
If that hit me, then would I be able to survive it? Even with the Mawile’s lowered attack?
Unless….
Gasping, I forced myself to take another look at the pulsing orange light in the Mawile’s jaws, then began to focus on my power, the one that could almost equal the strength of that Mawile’s.
A bright aura of light suddenly burst around me, streaming out as my body began to glow, a pure, brilliant white. My vision sharpened; through the light, I could see everything in front, clearly, even through the rain that still hammered down.
I saw the Mawile, saw the Hyper Beam form, then burst out from its jaws, tearing towards me.
Dimly, I sensed the rain begin to lessen, the incessant drumming on my body begin to die down. Then I spun up, seeing the approaching beam, and looping away from it, spinning on my back, before plunging down again.
My mind whirled, but as I completed the loop, I saw the beam flash harmlessly past, before crying out again; the rain cloud flashed as the sun beat through and down below, the Mawile desperately turned away, blinking against the sudden, harsh light.
I closed my wings and dropped like a stone, my streamlined body perfect, aiming for the thrashing Pokémon. The bright white of my vision increased, blotting out everything, until all I could see was white.
Dimly, I sense myself striking something, then felt myself soaring up, as gradually, the white began to fade, my vision returning to normal.
Heart pounding, I looked back.
The Mawile was lying, motionless on the ground.

I won!
I grew to L6!

My head spinning, I tilted my wing to glide slowly in a circle, letting the speed my Sky Attack had created gradually melt away, until I felt enough in control to attempt to fly back.
It was already moving slightly, muttering and whimpering, but it looked ok, so I decided to leave it; there was no way it would have wanted me around after that, and I wasn’t willing to subject myself to the possibility of another attack.
One more look, then I turned, caught a rising thermal and swooped back up, powering away.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

My *First* Battle on the Training Grounds. (Maybe I'd better ask for an extension... That is, if the scenario is soon to change...) Exams are finally over... now I can go for the driving lessons. -_-'' Well, I hope to catch up on Dragon Tamer stuff sometime. In any case, here's the introduction (at last) of the Egg of my 15th APee, and my first battle at the TG's, as I said.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ Mike’s POV ~

Ooh… boy.
What a day it had been so far. First, no-one could tell me where the Training Grounds were exactly (well, none of the spotted, greasy-haired clerks I asked could). Then, I let the team run loose on the Square, thinking there wasn't anything that could happen to them what with all the people… and suddenly, I found myself with a quartet of Water Pokémon (and a Ground-type Duo) pulling me away from the counter, just as I was finally getting some useful instructions. They were yelling incoherent sentences about a Toxic Double Battle, and when I got outside, I almost bumped into another six of my Pokémon. Of these six, two were in such a state that they were being carried by the other four. I recalled them both after a quick healing by means of an Antidote and two Super Potions, and turned to have ecstatic little critters trying to inform me of what had happened. With the rate the tale is told, I almost missed the news about Aron's real name (when was she going to tell us, anyhow?). When I finally got it, I had to hear the explanation twice more while the two Pokémon that had stayed with me were being informed (individually, that is). When I wanted to find a place to sit down to let the headache I had developed wear off, 12 hyper Pocket Monsters started nagging "When are we finally going to the Training Grounds, Mike?" And it was only 10:30 AM then…

So I ordered my legs to carry me to the Training Grounds (how resentful they and I might have been about it), when I suddenly realized I still had a secret thing to get somewhere! I stopped in the middle of a step, got bumped into by 5 or so mini-monsters of mine, and changed the way I was going, trying to at least keep where I was headed for secret for Nemo. But by the time the Breeding Center came into view, the secret message had become common knowledge, so I found myself having to answer a few questions before I could enter the building.

"But I thought you said…"
"Sure I said that, but that doesn't always mean I'm telling the truth, you know."
"So you've already found two compatible Pokémon and all that?" Large eyes were staring at me, full of surprise and disbelieve.
"Sure I have; what's more…" I let my voice trail of, trying to make it sound suggestive.
"You mean…?"
"Yup: one baby Eevee, coming up! You'll have your pupil in no time, Nemo!"
"!!"

So then I could enter the building, but not without having been licked around 100 times by a blue Espeon overwhelmed by joy and gratitude.
This process repeated itself some time later, when I left the building, holding in my hands an Egg of which the very appearance already showed that the baby Eevee inside won't be the normal brown type.
Apparently sensing the excitement outside, out of their PokéBalls popped Shane and Verne, who both claimed to have sufficiently rested, and who both had to share their respective opinion about caring for hatchlings with the group. (Nemo decided to pretend being deaf to all comments, and I was relieved he did.)
I quickly disposed of all the "Is that really an Eevee Egg?"-questions by revealing who the parents were: an Eevee and Umbreon who're not only remarkably well-known amongst my Pokémon, but who're also remarkably unlike the stereotype Eevee and Eevolutions.
Extremely happy with the Egg, Nemo non the less had me wrap it up in an old cloth I had left, after which I safely zipped it into my backpack. While carrying it on my back, I could feel the Egg and its baby trembling slightly - it would be hatching in some time. When we continued our hike (for the road was bumpy and ran over hills), I could feel several pairs of eyes staring intensely at my rucksack. I turned around and saw a lot of looks diverted to elsewhere. Nemo's of course not; he wasn't going to take his eyes off of me until I stopped having the Egg with me. I wasn't really surprised noticing that Skyler, too, had been observing my backpack with such interest; after all, this baby would also be classified as 'mutated'. But surprisingly Liam had been looking in the Egg's direction as well; maybe the thought of having another furred Pokémon on the team excited him. After all, this furry ball o' fur that was going to hatch could, if it wanted to, evolve into a Fire Type as Liam was himself. … Or it could take after its caretaker and become an Espeon. Then there was still the nocturnal Umbreon (Hanna might have welcomed another Dark Type on the team), the shockingly agile Jolteon (beside Chinchou, I don't think any of my Pokémon would really be welcoming that kind of Eevolution - too much of a competition for Liam, and too much of a threat or a nuisance to my other Pokémon) … And, of course… Vaporeon. Growing up in a group consisting largely of Water Pokémon, and being raised by a former wannabe-Vaporeon, my new Eevee might very well want to become one himself. Though it wouldn't add to the variety in my team, I couldn't go against its wish to become a Vaporeon if it ever wanted to.
Having meditated on the future of my new, not-even-hatched-yet Adoptee, I hadn't noticed the last hill we'd been climbing was of a noticeably higher kind than the previous ones. Feeling that the end of our trip was on the other side of, not yonder, but this here hill, I quickened my pace. Nearing the top, I even commenced a small jog, careful nonetheless to not disturb the youngster in his dormant, pre-hatching state.
Then, the Training Grounds came into view…

~ Nemo's POV ~

The ooh's and aah's suddenly disturbing my thoughts, I changed from keeping both my eyes on the backpack with its precious cargo, to observing the scenery below. The sight is such, that I make a big effort to mentally record the view, so that one day, I might project it into the mind of my pupil, my… co-Eeveeling, in its fully glory and with all the little details intact. For the sight below is a sight to remember…
The hill we're standing on is part of a seemingly infinite number occupying the land. In the valley at the feet of the hill, a valley of considerably much larger proportions than the other ones around, the Training Grounds lie.
This name's a bit misleading, for none of us could have imagined the Grounds were a place accessed indoors. Though the name 'Room' of the diverse areas might have suggested it, 'Grounds' suggested more of a… resurvey of some sorts.
Yet the place before us was more impressive than any resurvey open to the public to come and train in could ever be…

Placed in the center of the valley, a gigantic dome of monstrous proportions dominated the scene. At least, it might have once been a dome… Now, large openings in the ceiling showed up where the respective Rooms were. The Blizzard Room was hidden under a giant igloo-resembling dome-upon-dome. The Sandstorm inside the Desert Room was kept there by a grayish white, impossible-to-see-through glass dome, while the Jungle Room was covered by a very-easy- to-see-through glass dome. The tops of the jungle trees were only just viewable (the big Dome was so colossal that even the biggest of the trees weren't taller than it). The dome of the Pond Room was incomplete, the largest part being open; I could imagine than anyone standing in its vicinity would be smelling the typical swimming-pool odor.
And then there was the Lava Room. It being located the farthest away from us, we still had no trouble recognizing it. Because for once, no dome-upon-dome covered the Room; a real-size volcano, on the other hand… did. Small puffs of smoke escaping the mouth from time to time, I thought I saw flashes of red jumping out too; though it might just have been an optical illusion created by the sun (I sincerely hoped so). It appeared as if a flock of Aerodactyl had made its nest on the side of volcano, for I saw a large number of these winged rock predators fly about in the air (I thought I saw one wearing sunglasses, but I could have been wrong).
On the other side of the dome, the closest to us, I could see that the ceiling of the big Dome consisted of glass windows. It was there that the main entrance to the Training Grounds, and thus to all the Rooms, was. There we would be heading in a short while. But for now, there were still others things to feast our eyes on in this wonderful valley.

For on all sides of the Dome, people were walking, talking and gawking around, enjoying themselves as if was the festival season. And here, at least, it was: for this side-event of the Unicorn Games had been commercialized to the max: stand aside stand had been set, squished between the solid, curvaceous walls of the Training Grounds Dome, and the high, oval curved, Celtic-appearing walls standing guard around the Dome at about… 10 meters. These long stone walls were interrupted by a mere 4 metal gates, as opposed to the six parts of the Dome (5 Battle Rooms, one giant Check-in). Coincidentally, the gate closed to us was also located directly in front of the main entrance to the Dome (the entrance to the Check-in), so we could march into a straight line to our final goal of 10 Training Battles.

… Of course we didn't. It took Mike a considerable amount of time stopping everyone from 'exploring' this wondrous place. This 'exploring' had led to the going-almost-bankrupt of a hot dog stand by the musical trio of Verne, Bruce and Shane, the traumatizing of a baby Azurill by Tony and Liam's doing, and a total amount of 11 injured innocent passers-by (this due to the general smallness of our team, which meant that a lot of people didn't saw them, and thus… tripped over them). All in all, only Hanna hadn't caused a riot; but that was only due to her inability to walk on ground, much to her annoyance. Oh, and I hadn't done a thing either - but that was because Mike had trusted me with guarding the Eevee Egg. (And one can't go hotdog-stand- trashing then, can one?)

~ Bruce’s POV ~

"*burp* Ooh, those hotdogs lie heavy on the stomach!"
“Don't… mention… those thi-hings… again… ever!"
"Euh… I should've stuck to stones!"
It was with great difficulty that Mike had got us on the move again, but the sight inside the Dome was worth all the troubles! It even let us forget our slight tummy-aches momentarily.
Since it was a beautiful day outside, the sunlight was present everywhere here too, being even intensified, it seemed, by the glass roof of the Check-In Hall.
And what a hall it was!
On the ground level, beautifully designed doors led to the various Training Rooms. A few meters on our direct left, a pure white marble door bore the images of a snow-covered landscape, with various Ice-Types showing of their fighting poses (the Delibird just waved); there was no doubt about it: there lay the Blizzard Room On our other side, a crystal blue embedded with such ocean dwellers as Wailord and Whiscash, along with their natural habitats, blocked the way to the Pond Room. Further down the hall, to the left, we could see the entrance doors to, respectively, the Jungle Room (an emerald door overgrown with vegetation) and a Pokémon Center annex Flower Shop; in front of this last establishment, beautiful garden plants were eagerly practicing their photosynthesis. To our right, we could see the entrance to a Pokémon Mart / Herb Shop (the stands brimming with Pokémon merchandise inside gave it away), and the door leading to the Desert Room. (It was a plain, clay door with an Egyptian look to it. Not many inscriptions nor images were on it. Our view on the Lava Room entrance was a blocked by a giant statue, somewhat resembling an Orange League trophy (only this was made of actually colored materials instead of 'plain', massive gold), which stood in the center of the Hall. Around the statue was the Check-In counter (it was shaped as a Poké-Ball, in such a way that the statue made for the button in the center). A couple of Joyful persons (not wearing the usual nurse clothes, but clothes resembling them still) stood ready to take care of all queries.
The rest of the Hall was occupied by a diverse and large group of Trainers and Pokémon. They lay, sat or were walking on, beside or in between all the benches placed throughout the Hall for their convenience. The diversity was mind-boggling, not only of the Trainers and Pokémon in general, but of the Trainers with their respective Pokémon as well. Never before had I seen a Hiker petting a Skitty, an Athlete giving a pep talk to a Slaking, or a Lady happily hugging her Grimer. But, then again… This, is Ulthuan!

Just as we thought we'd observed the activity in the Hall enough, and were halfway across the Hall, heading for the central counter, Skyler noticed something behind and above us, his fluttering high above ground level allowing him to see more than we could.
"What are all those people doing up there?!"
We turned around, and looked up, … up, … up… This Dome was humongous! Just under the windowed ceiling, at an estimated height of… - heck, I couldn't tell, it was too high! -, we noticed there was a busyness going on unlike the one we'd experienced so far. Important looking people, clearly having a job to do, were walking around on a straight, balconied platform stretching sideways until it met the curved wall of the Dome on both sides. It looked as if up there, hidden away from the eyes of all but the attentive observer, the offices were located where the Dragon Tamers kept track of all that was going on the terrain of the Training Grounds, inside as well as outside. Probably they didn't want any trainers to freeze to death in the Blizzard Room, or losing themselves in the Sandstorm in the Desert Room. Though I expected they didn't want to deny us our adventure here, to a certain extent, at least.
“Big Brother is watching us…" Liam remarked, with a certain content (or was it actually contemptuous?) sound to his voice.
"Nah, just the most important people in the business." Mike said uneasily. "Come on, let's show'em what we're made of." He continued to the counter, pulling the mobile aquarium Hanna was in; Nemo followed close behind.
“I don't think they want to see what I am made of!" Shane said, winking.
“What, rubber?" Liam mocked Shane, before following Mike's example.
“Humph! Hotdog!"
"Ain't he a fox, Shane?"
“Can you think of an insult with 'fox', huh?"
"You've got me there!" Verne said, before rubbing his stomach one last time. "Ooh, the agony!"

~ Hanna’s POV ~

Specks of dirt, condensation and snow… The glass of my m.a.u. (mobile aquarium unit) was becoming harder to look through every minute, as the snowstorm outside continued.
Though I didn't mind swimming in water on polar temperature, I was thankful that Mike had put a lid on the aquarium (one with holes in it to let air through mind you - I didn't want to suffocate !); this way, no annoying drops of snow or hail would be disturbing me + there was a smaller chance the water would freeze as it wasn't so openly exposed to the ice-cold air.

You probably already guessed it: I was in the Blizzard Room. At the Check-In counter, it had become apparent Pokémon and Trainers were left rather free to wonder through the (surprisingly large) Training Rooms. Challenges could be made against specific opponents: Trained or Adopted Pokémon (with or without their trainer being around), Pokémon brought in by the Dragon Tamers to serve as opponents for those that didn't want to go exploring so much, … And then there was always the chance of running into a Wild Pokémon that had found its way into one of the Rooms. Though the surveillance cameras helped in keeping things from getting too out-of-control, the chance remained that a cam was destroyed, or that someone was lured into a place security wasn't supervising (a cave that had been overlooked, a forgotten open place in the forest…). Yes, though the Dragon Tamers were organizing the event, it seemed that even they couldn't predict what was waiting inside the Battle Rooms. In a way, that could've been expected: the Lava Room was sure to be an instable Room, the Blizzard and Desert Room couldn't provide much sight on the surroundings (what with the respective snow- and sandstorm going on in there), and you couldn't put a camera on every tree in the Jungle Room… It seemed the Pond Room was the only Room you could feel honestly secured in, though even there, there could be lurking unknown dangers, hidden underwater…

Not letting the unknown frighten us, the team had split up in various groups. The other Water Types (meaning Rays, Arthus, Dylan and Gordon) had gone to the Pool Room; Tony and 'Cada headed for the Desert Room, and Nemo had chosen the Jungle Room to wait for the Egg's hatching. I saw Skyler follow Nemo into the Jungle Room after he'd been in there for a few minutes, with Nora following Skyler on her turn, and Liam sneaking in soon after them - he'd claimed he was going to be in the Lava Room. Mike saw it too and couldn't help but grin - this new baby was getting quite a fan club following him!
With the biggest lot gone, only me, Mike, and the Three End-E's (I believed that's one of the nicknames they had been given) were left. I'd asked Mike to help me train at the Blizzard Room, and the trio, having heard that, wanted to join us. However, Mike convinced Verne of giving up the idea of entering a room with temperature below the freezing point - he'd surely killed himself if he'd done it. This resulted in Shane's canceling out as well (he didn't want to leave his biggest buddy, closest friend and lifelong pal alone), and it would have resulted in Bruce not coming with us too, had it not been he didn't think any of the other rooms would please him. In the Blizzard Room, he had the chance of finding an Ice Type to beat up - he hadn't done that before, and he could bump into Rock Types anywhere (according to him, at least). So it was yet another duo that entered the Desert Room (how Shane would withstand the Sandstorm, I don't know), while Mike, Bruce and me entered the Blizzard Room.

Before entering the actual room, we entered a sort of lobby, I suppose, where trainers probably waited until the Blizzard ceased a little before, or until their clothes had dried sufficiently before leaving.
At that moment, the lobby was empty. Mike changed to 'slightly warmer' clothes (meaning a pullover, a sharp, a winter jacket, gloves, a warm pair of trousers, long socks and boots), and he borrowed a spare sharp and ear warmers to Bruce. It was there too that Mike put the lid on the aquarium, as it would also help keep some water inside if it would be bending over to one side or the other.

Then we went through the door. Immediately I felt a ice cold… sensation go through the water, and Mike involuntarily shouted at the sudden cold. Bruce acted strong, but I could see he too was suffering, if ever so slightly, from the harsh conditions.
"We… in, … battle, … get out!!" Mike shouted over the sound of the raging snowstorm.
"O…ay!!" Bruce shouted back. I didn't bother shouting a thing; what was there to say anyway?
The snow filled Room stretched out in front of us and to our sides. If you didn't know better, you'd think that we were somewhere in Alaska. Then the thought struck me it was very possible we were: if the Dragon Tamers had put Transportation Squares in the room we just left… But the thought was too horrifying to consider any longer; instead, I tried to see the ceiling of the Room. But a steel grey covered the artificial sky; it could've just as easily been a sea of clouds as a metal ceiling, no telling which one.
So instead of trying to figure out if we were still in Caledor, I started looking for Pokémon. But the tormenting snow storm raged on, blinding me from time to time as it lashed out with sparkling white hail. In-between these eye-blinding flashes, I could see no thing moving through the pure white landscape except for Mike and Bruce. Then I noticed that not all of the flashes I saw came from the storm…
"Mike! Is that a Pokémon Teleporting!" I yelled. But it was no use; my voice was lost in the bubbling water and the howling winds. Mike was covering his ears in his jacket, to keep them from freezing off. And Bruce had those ear-warmers on… There was no way I could alert them of what I saw, except for…

"WoOow!" Mike yelped, as the cord attached to my aquarium was yanked out of his gloves. I continued to move violently forward in the water, until I was right in-between Mike and Bruce, and the abnormal flashing that kept occurring behind the shield of hail the storm had erected. Then I turned to face Mike, who was moving his eyebrows in a inquisitive way. I voicelessly said "Po-ké-mon! Up a-head!" and signaled for them to look beyond. They did, and froze in their place. I turned to look behind me, and stopped dead in my tracks as well.
The storm hadn't ceased, but in front of us, there a small clearing in the blistering snowy winds. There, on the white, snow-covered ground, surrounded by the white, spinning winds, a tiny white character was Flashing and Teleporting about. It never was that long in one place that we could identify it, but it was small - not even one foot tall. Tiny, white and able to survive in this Room - that were our clues. Together with the Teleporting, I came to the conclusion it must've been a Psychic Pokémon. Tiny, white, Psychic…
"A Ralts!" Mike shouted. And as if its name was a magic spell, the creature stopped. Now we could see it really was a Ralts - the green and red cap it wore was almost completely covered in snow, making it blend in almost perfectly with its surroundings. Yet, something was wrong with this little bugger. Ralts are normally shy and quick to flee - this one didn't leave, instead it almost seemed to be waiting for us to leave. Its eyes invisible, the defiant smirk it wore was our only clue it was aware we were looking at it.
After a minute or so of silently observing each other, Bruce sneezed loudly. "Atchoo! *snort* If I stay out here much longer I'll catch a pneumonia. Okay 'big' guy, wanna hustle?"
Silence.
"Come on! I'm freezing here! D'you wanna battle or don't you?"
Its grin widening, a freaky laughter escaping its mouth began to defeat the noise of the howls of the storm, growing, growing louder…
"Ooo-kay then, I suppose you… do?"
Still not saying a word, the Ralts… vanished into thin air.

Bruce (Machop) (lvl.7) (m)
VS
??? (Ralts) (lvl.8) (?)

"What the…?" Flash! The Ralts appeared in front of Bruce, in an eye-blinding, accuracy-lowering shower of light.
"Gah!" Bruce covered his ears to have them recover from the flash. In the mean time, the Ralts had retreated back into the invisible. His ear-piercing laughter still ringed in our ears.
"Focus, Bruce! Don't have him scare you like that again!"
"Right." Bruce said, tensing his muscles. "If only I could Foresee his moves…"
I caught sight of a moving shadow in the storm. "Bruce! Incoming attack, at 2 o'clock!"
"Huh? Gah!" Bruce ducked, just in time to not get hit by the weirdest attack I had ever seen. Bruce had almost been taken down by an exact duplicate of the Ralts - exact except for the fact it was a mere shadow, less substantial than the snow in the air. What ever the attack had been, Bruce had avoided it; but in doing so, he had landed right into a big pile of snow. And again the Ralts laughed…
"Atchoo! Ooh…" Bruce wasn't looking too well. His face was pale, and his nose dripping with snot. "If only - *snort* - I could get warmer… A-Ah!-HATCHOO!!!" An enormous sneeze escaped Bruce's mouth, and in the process, it seemed to catch fire! In the direction Bruce had been looking at, all the snow had melted away, along a distance of two, three meters. The evaporated water hung above the ground for a moment, before it was swiped away in the storm.
"G-huh?" His eyes half-closed, Bruce was staring in disbelieve at the patch of bare ground he had just uncovered, and which was starting to be covered again in snow. "How did I… ?"
"Flamethrower, remember?" Mike shouted over the storm. "I gave you the TM last Christmas!"
"Oh yeah! Hey, and you were right: no raw throat!" Bruce suddenly felt A-OK again. "Alright, Pennywise, lets see you hiding from this!" Bruce started engulfing the icy winds in front of him in Fire, eagerly using this new ability of his to warm the air around him. In the process, the snow flakes carried by the storm evaporated as they were hit by the not-so-gentle touch of a Flamethrower. A haze of hissing steam soon formed, daring the subzero winds to destroy it. Bruce's attempts weren't futile: an ever so small piece of the air of the Room was being warmed up. As if it had been waiting for him, from behind the curtain of steam the Ralts became visible. It didn't move, it didn't laugh; it was waiting for Bruce…
"Ready or not, here I come!" Bruce dashed for the Ralts, but when he was still a meter away, he started… sliding? Oh, a Low Kick!
But the Ralts had been ready; during the last second before impact, it jumped into the air, its muscles tensing. A strange-colored glow was coming from its middle, and when Bruce was directly below it, it released the power hidden deep within itself. Bruce was hit in the stomach by a Power that stopped his slide, and which made him gasp for air. As he was recovering, the Ralts landed back onto the ground, softly snickering. Bruce was secretly watching it from the corner of his eye, and when the Ralts stopped paying attention to him and started its evil laugh once more, Bruce leapt up, and ran at it at full speed. This time, he didn't start sliding; he started rolling! When the Ralts noticed something was up and stopped laughing, it was already to late. It was hit in the face at point-blank range by a precisely aimed Rolling Kick, which knocked it on its back.
As it was crawling back on its feet, Bruce ran it again, keeping his eyes focused on the place where the Ralts' eyes must've been. Seemingly answering the Leer, the Ralts wasn't paying attention to Bruce's feet; when he started his Low Kick, it had no time to avoid it a second time. It was knocked on its feet and landed in the same pile o' snow Bruce had landed in earlier.
"Ha! What goes around, comes around, freak!" The Ralts didn't answer; instead, it started to glow. Bruce, in turn, also was glowing, and he didn't seem to like it.
"Bruce, watch out! That looks like…"
"Confusion, I know!" Bruce struggled to keep his head together, focusing, focusing… Careful not to cough, hiccup or sneeze, Bruce took a really deep breath. Seeing that we were on a straight line with him and the Ralts, Mike pulled me out of the danger area. And it was a good thing he did, for seconds later, Bruce blew out, spit out a very decent sized Flamethrower, to say the least. It not only engulfed the Ralts, but also all the snow in a range of a meter or so. What was left was a (now half-)frozen patch of earth that had been scarred by the heat of the attack, and one (still slightly sizzling) fainted Ralts.

Bruce (Machop) grew to level 8!
He caught a cold!

[Sheik]

Sorry to tell you this Gabi, but I'll be gone for a while from TPM. I won't have much access to a computer with internet connection until August 9. As a result, I would like an extension on the current scenario, if you have no objection. Thanks, and see you when I get back!

[Lady Vulpix]

Don't worry, J, you can have the extension.
Linc gets 4 stamps for his battles. ¢¢¢¢

Kyle, I've read yours, but I'll have to ask you a few things before I rate it: how did your pokemon use Sand-Attack at level 7, when they learn it at level 8? And how did Eli gain a level when he fainted before his opponent did?

Amy said she'd rate the other stories. Sorry for the delay.

[Wolfsong]

I'm having a hard time putting thoughts into words today ^^;

Hannah: Don't worry, its just a suggestion. I did one rbg when the rocket scenario was up where Kovu fought a sableeye inside the rocket base. Fizz certainly doesn't lack in self confidence about her flying skills does she? ^^ I enjoyed reading your story. Take 10 stamps.

Mike: You can get the extension. I also enjoyed reading your story. Was that Dodger that Nemo spotted? Take 11 stamps.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

Was that Dodger that Nemo spotted?

Could be. How many other Aerodactyl wear sunglasses? Though it could've been an optical illusion, who knows?

[Syberia]

Gabi, they used Sand Attack because Kris told me they both had it as their moves when she gave them to me. They were son and daughter of Matt's Espeon and Umbreon, so that's probably why. And Eli gained a level because I'm dumb.