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

[Lady Vulpix]

Welcome to the 21st version of the Battle Range! Here are the rules. Please read them in order to avoid posting invalid battles and/or asking questions which are already answered here. Have fun!

GENERAL RULES

¤ Everyone will describe the battles (or whatever is required), stating the levels of their pokemon before and after the event.

¤ Each trainer can battle 2 pokemon per scenario, and may use 1 or 2 pokemon per battle.

¤ All pokemon must battle opponents that are in the same level range as they are. If two pokemon battle together, they must both be in the same level range.

¤ You can use pokemon from the Dragon Tamers Adoption Center, PokeZoo Adoption Center, Pocket Monsters Breeding Center, adopted pokemon tournaments and old adoption centers.

¤ All trainers who use pokemon from Adoption Centers other than Dragon Tamers must tell us where they got their pokemon (on the pokemon's first battle). That's to make sure you're not making them up.

¤ Unevolved pokemon learn the same moves as in GSC. For moves the pokemon can only learn in RBY/RuSa/FR/LG, use the same levels at which they would learn them in the respective games.

¤ Pokemon evolve just like in the games, except for trading/happiness-evolving pokemon, who can evolve with a Genetic Accelerator.

¤ Evolved pokemon learn the same moves as their unevolved versions, plus the new ones. Example, Metapod can't learn Confusion, but Butterfree can. Moves are learnt at the same level as the pokemon would learn them in GSC (or other games for moves unavailable in GSC). For moves only unevolved pokemon can learn, evolved pokemon will learn them at the same levels as their pre-evolutions.

¤ A pokemon can learn a free TM, HM or Move Tutor move every 10 levels (that is, every multiple of 10).

¤ Bred-On moves are allowed (1 per pokemon), but you must choose them before your pokemon battle for the first time. Once your pokemon has battled, their bred-on move can't be changed (nor added if you hadn't chosen one).

¤ Hidden Power is allowed just like other TMs. But at the moment your pokemon learns it, you must say what type it will be and not change it.

¤ If you use 2 pokemon in a battle, each of them will gain half the experience (levels).

¤ Stamps can be earned for writing interesting and descriptive battles. You can exchange them for Stones, Genetic Accelerators and other items at the Dragon Tamers Reward Center.

¤ Remember: no killing your opponents (human or pokemon).

RANDOM BATTLE RULES

¤ You can use the Random Battle Generator once a week, and it costs 7 stamps to use it. You can request a random pokemon from any of the following sections: Caledor's Nature Protection Agency, Antarctic Survivor Recovery Agency, Jungle Deforestation Recovery Agency, Professional Sports Breeding System, Electric Shutdown Retirement System, Free Range Corral, Universal Adoption Center. Your opponent will be the same level as your pokemon, and each random opponent defeated gives 1 level.

¤ You can also request a 2-on-2 random battle. In that case, it will cost 14 stamps, and you will have to wait 2 weeks before requesting another random battle.

THE CURRENT SCENARIO IS ON PAGE: 19.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks to Amy for writing the list of opponents at the Lava Room!
And to everyone for your patience. I originaly intended to post this scenario by the end of January, but the rest of my life caught up. :sweatdrop:

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<Gabi's POV>

Permission granted, but you will have to make the arrangements on your own.
Greetings,
Golden Growlithe.
P.S. The fort is, indeed, available, and so are the prizes. You'll be surprised.

That was the whole content of the letter. Still, it was all I needed. It had the seal of the Dragon's Guild, which meant it was official. I was glad I had met Golden Growlithe on a previous visit to the Guild's headquarters. Our encounter made me feel I was not alone in what could become a Dragon's Guild civil war. Of course, my best hopes were that things wouldn't turn out that way. The situation was tense, but it had always been so; there was no reason to believe the Guild as a whole were against the Dragon Tamers. They were just keeping secrets, as was their tradition. They were so secretive I didn't even know who was in charge anymore, and I had one of the highest ranks and was one of the oldest Guild members. Of course, many didn't like the fact that I made the Dragon Tamers my main priority, even though the Guild were financing our activities. But some still had their heads and hearts in the right place, as G.G. had proven. Others were simply choked in bureaucracy but weren't bad either once you got a chance to get a message through. There was only one group among the Dragon's Guild that I was worried about: the invisible ones; the ones whose names were as unknown to me as their intentions and their limits. They lurked in the shadows, pulled some strings making sure the rest of us couldn't even figure out which ones... They seemed omnipresent, I could see signs of their activities on every 'strong suggestion', on every obscure message I received, on every bit of information that was denied to me. And I wondered who they were, what they were doing, what they wanted, but above all... were they on our side?

The letter had taken 3 months to arrive since I'd originally asked for permission to hold the next tournament. I knew they wouldn't have a reason to deny it, since holding pokemon battling tournaments was one of the activities the Dragon's Guild was famous for and we hadn't had one for over a year. I was a bit unsure about whether they would approve the location I'd requested, but if they rejected it, they would have had to provide a reason, and would have raised suspicions about why they were willing to hold tournaments at all the gates except that particular one. To be honest, it was exactly that fact that gave me the last clue I needed, after an enlightening conversation Officer Jenny and Tracker, and that made me decide it was the right time and place for the next Games.

I hadn't shared my thoughts with Golden Growlithe (I hadn't even asked him what his real name was); the last sentence of his letter got me intrigued, but the best thing I could do at that moment was wait until I saw him or the prizes. Maybe the prizes were just so good that he thought I'd be surprised at them... But I had the feeling there was more to that last comment. Or maybe it was just my tendency to find second meanings on everything that was Guild-related.

Before I go on about how the Dragon Tamers managed to make the arrangements for the Games (which was not an easy task) I think I should say more about my visit to the police station. It happened right after I picked up Amber and Sylvan from the Pokemon Center. Fortunately, their injuries hadn't been as bad as they had looked, and now they were feeling a lot better. Amber's cheek still had marks on it and would take a while to heal, but the nurse had assured that it would be as good as new as long as nothing caused the wound to reopen. Amber's firmness when she promised she wouldn't let that happen made me think for a moment that she was capable of caring as much about her appearance as Sylvan did; but then again, who'd want to have a permanent scar on their face?

My whole Team followed me to the Police Station. I requested to talk to Officer Jenny, though it was her Ninetales I wanted to talk to the most. They both turned out to be very helpful. They seemed to have got used to working together, to seeing me talk to pokemon, and to how things around the Dragon Tamers worked (Jenny's first encounters with us weren't something she'd been prepared for at the academy, especially since they involved a well-trained and very efficient police pokemon purposely disobeying her trainer). I went to ask them how their research was going, and if they could cross-check anything with the word Singlehorn, which I'd found in one of TR's computers as the name of a project.

"We haven't found much," Officer Jenny told me "seeing as that our best clue is the word 'Gates' casually mentioned by two Dragon's Guild members, and that we're only conducting this investigation on our free time, as no one else in this station sees it as a case. I'm beginning to wonder if there's anything solid myself."
"When you say 'we' you mean...?"
"Me and Tracker, of course. I would be blind if I didn't realize she's been working on this for longer than I have."
The female Ninetales smiled and looked up at her trainer, who caressed her head and neck in return.
"So, there's nothing on the Dragon's Guild..." I deduced. "What about Team Rocket?"
"They were everywhere two days ago. The whole station is after them. But now they seem to have vanished without a trace. I thought your group was responsible for it."
"We may be," I reflected. "We found their base and got out of it. Then yesterday Pidgeot flew over it and saw it was completely burnt out. They probably fled to some other location, I really don't think we've seen the last of them."
"It looks like you have some declarations to make," Jenny considered.
"Before you get into that," Tracker addressed me. "It's not true that there's nothing on the Guild. My trainer did some research on their activities over the last 4 years and I found something quite interesting about them. Something related to you, actually. I crosschecked it with the word Gates and had my trainer follow me to Griphon Gate, almost sure that I had something."
"Griphon Gate!!," Caledor jumped as if he'd been woken up with a bucket of watter. "That's where I first met my team!"
"Exactly," Tracker continued. "There we found enough information to confirm that at least a part of the Dragon's Guild or an association related to it has been conducting secret experiments. But no proof of who they were, nor where they were conducted, nor what exactly those experiments were. We don't even know if they were legal or not, but I think it's worth investigating more."
"You didn't have to go all the way to Griphon's Gate to know that," Caledor retorted. "I'm a living proof of what they've been doing. I was one of their experiments. But the lab wasn't at Griphon's Gate; I was only taken there for the prize ceremony."
"Where was it, then?"
"I wish I knew."
"What are they talking about?," Officer Jenny asked me. Only then I remembered she couldn't understand what Tracker and Caledor were saying.
"Griphon's Gate," I replied.
"Oh, yes, we've been there. But we found nothing you didn't already know, not even behind the locked doors."
"How did you get behind the locked doors?," Hero inquired.
"Good magicians don't reveal their secrets," Tracker grinned, half-closing her eyes in an inviting way.
"Since when are you a magician?," Hero asked her.
"Don't be jealous. Just because you're not the only one who has tricks it doesn't mean the police will stop chasing you."
"The police? Chasing me?"
"Well, one police Ninetales at list," Tracker winked.
Hero half-smiled. I could feel his body temperature rise even without touching him. I wished I could help him walk that step he was so afraid of. It was clear he loved Tracker as much as she loved him.
"What's going on now?," asked Jenny.
"Nothing," I said after thinking for a while, trying to avoid any tactless remarks. "Just Hero and Tracker talking to each other."
"Oh. Well, about the Dragon's Guild, I'm sorry, but all we know so far is that there is (or was) a secret lab, but not is location. And we haven't found any connections between any Guild Members and Team Rocket. If we proceed with the investigation, the Dragon's Guild will start asking questions and since there are no charges against them we will be forced to stop. Have I mentioned I'm not so sure we're doing the right thing?"
"You can't be doing any wrong, you're not hurting anyone, just looking for information. And if it turns out some Guild member has deals with Team Rocket or has been doing anything illegal, it would be best for everyone to know, wouldn't it? The Team Rocket that has attacked us now has done more damage than ever before. They haven't only caused many more deaths, but they also seem to know a lot about the Dragon Tamers and the Dragon's Guild. If they have the slightest chance to try and destroy us from the inside, well, we shouldn't..."
"Shouldn't let them. I know. Just make sure you don't cross the line in the process."
"I never would," I assured. "You don't know me if you think I could."
"I don't know you that well, but I never meant to say you would. A simple warning shouldn't hurt."
"Ok," I accepted.
She was right, we hadn't talked more than a few times and she could be risking her job for following my hunches. I shouldn't have been hard on her. My eyes slid down to Jenny's desk as I was caught on those thoughts. When I rounded them up, I noticed I'd been looking at a map of Ulthuan for the last few seconds. I took a closer, most conscious look at it, before coming up with a revelation.
"Unicorn Gate," I spoke out. Everybody fixed their eyes on me.
"Pardon?," said Officer Jenny.
"Unicorn Gate. Unicorn means 'One Horn'. Singlehorn! If there's a connection, that's it! That could be the reason why they've held two tournaments at each of the other gates but so carefully skipped that one each time!"
"So you're saying the lab's at Unicorn Gate?," queried Jenny.
"I don't know, but it's worth looking. I can almost bet there's something in there. And I have an idea not even the most secretive Guild's authorities can reject!"
"Congratulations. What is it?"
"I'll send a letter to the Guild and then ask the others. If everything goes well, we'll be holding the Unicorn Games soon."

So, that was how it all began. I tried to reopen the last training grounds, but none of the 3 locations were available. I shouldn't have been surprised after G.G. had told me I'd have to do everything on my own. But I wouldn't resign myself to do it alone either. I counted on Amy and Karin to be willing to help set things up. Fortunately, the old training grounds were still in its place and the people who used to work in them were happy to see them back. So, after some time and a lot of work, the 5 original rooms were filled with pokemon waiting for battles.

Scenario information: you can battle up to 2 pokemon from each of the 5 rooms, which adds up to 10 pokemon in all. Each room functions as an individual scenario as far as the Battle Range rules go, and you can use them whether or not you're planning to take part in the upcoming Unicorn Games.

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Pond Room

This room is ideal for water pokemon. Flying pokemon can handle well here too. Pokemon of other types may train here as long as they can swim, for the whole room is a huge, crystal clear pond with no place to stand except for a small platform made for trainers.

These are the pokemon you can battle here:

(up to level 15)
Totodile LV8 +1 level
Mudkip LV15 +2 levels

(level 15.5-25)
Spheal LV19 +1 level
Croconaw LV25+2 levels

(level 25.5-35)
Marshtomp LV28 +1 level
Sharpedo LV35 +2 levels

(level 35.5-45)
Sealeo LV38 +1 level
Lapras LV45 +2 levels

(level 45.5-55)
Qwilfish LV49 +1 level
Gyarados LV55 +2 levels

(level 55.5-70)
Corsola LV62 +1 level
Walrein LV70 +2 levels

(level 70.5-85)
Mantine LV76 +1 level
Starmie LV85 +2 levels

(level 85.5-100)
Swampert LV90 +1 level
Feraligatr LV97 +2 levels

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Jungle Room

This room is fool of beautiful and exotic plants. In one of the corners there's a rare bush which paralizes poison pokemon, but otherwise the place is safe for pokemon of all kinds. The underbrush will hamper much movement and will catch on fire. There is a very shallow and small stream running through the woods too.

In this room you can find:

(up to level 15)
Surskit LV8 +1 level
Chikorita LV15 +2 levels

(level 15.5-25)
Grovyle LV19 +1 level
Scyther LV25+2 levels

(level 25.5-35)
Ivysaur LV28 +1 level
Pinsir LV35 +2 levels

(level 35.5-45)
Masquerain LV38 +1 level
Sceptile LV45 +2 levels

(level 45.5-55)
Tropius LV49 +1 level
Ludicolo LV55 +2 levels

(level 55.5-70)
Arbok LV62 +1 level
Ursaring LV70 +2 levels

(level 70.5-85)
Seviper LV76 +1 level
Venusaur LV85 +2 levels

(level 85.5-100)
Meganium LV90 +1 level
Scizor LV97 +2 levels

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Desert Room

The cold deflecting walls take away all humidity in the air. Water pokemon would dry out immediately here. Be sure to take some water with you if you enter this room.

Here you can find:

(up to level 15)
Sandshrew LV8 +1 level
Phanpy LV15 +2 levels

(level 15.5-25)
Aron LV19 +1 level
Sandslash LV25 +2 levels

(level 25.5-35)
Larvitar LV28 +1 level
Lairon LV35 +2 levels

(level 35.5-45)
Rhyhorn LV38 +1 level
Donphan LV45 +2 levels

(level 45.5-55)
Pupitar LV49 +1 level
Onix LV55 +2 levels

(level 55.5-70)
Nosepass LV62 +1 level
Steelix LV70 +2 levels

(level 70.5-85)
Solrock LV76 +1 level
Aggron LV85 +2 levels

(level 85.5-100)
Rhydon LV90 +1 level
Tyranitar LV97 +2 levels


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Blizzard Room

The cold is almost unbearable here, and the icy wind blows at high speeds. There are small warm cabins where trainers can sit while the battles take place, but only pokemon with psychic abilities will hear your commands if you're inside one of them.

In this room you can find:

(up to level 15)
Ralts LV8 +1 level
Slowpoke LV15 +2 levels

(level 15.5-25)
Meditite LV19 +1 level
Metang LV25 +2 levels

(level 25.5-35)
Spoink LV28 +1 level
Sneasel LV35 +2 levels

(level 35.5-45)
Snorunt LV38 +1 level
Dewgong LV45 +2 levels

(level 45.5-55)
Medicham LV49 +1 level
Glalie LV55 +2 levels

(level 55.5-70)
Grumpig LV62 +1 level
Metagross LV70 +2 levels

(level 70.5-85)
Jynx LV76 +1 level
Slowbro LV85 +2 levels

(level 85.5-100)
Alakazam LV90 +1 level
Slowking LV97 +2 levels

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Lava Room

Suggestion: don't enter here immediately after or immediately before the Blizzard room. The temperature is incredibly high in the Lava Room. You can walk along paths of molten rock sorrounded by boiling lava! Avoid all contact with the lava, as it will burn through any non metallic or stone surface (with the possible exception of a Magmar's skin).

Here you can find:

(up to level 15)
Magby LV8 +1 level
Torchic LV15 +2 levels

(level 15.5-25)
Houndour LV19 +1 level
Combusken LV25 +2 levels

(level 25.5-35)
Numel LV28 +1 level
Magmar LV35 +2 levels

(level 35.5-45)
Growlithe LV38 +1 level
Blaziken LV45 +2 levels

(level 45.5-55)
Vulpix LV49 +1 level
Houndoom LV55 +2 levels

(level 55.5-70)
Torkoal LV62 +1 level
Camerupt LV70 +2 levels

(level 70.5-85)
Arcanine LV76 +1 level
Ninetales LV85 +2 levels

(level 85.5-100)
Typhlosion LV90 +1 level
Charizard LV97 +2 levels

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Good luck to all of you! Train your pokemon well!

[Charizard04621]

Here's my random battle. Now I can work on the previous scenario's conclusion, and then on this new one. It sounds interesting. ^_^

My POV:

Aglárien’s battle really shook her up. When I asked her if she wanted another, in a different section, she still refused. She enjoyed battle, but not like that. I had a feeling that she wouldn’t want to battle pokémon whose trainers she did not know for a while. So someone else could have the chance to battle…

Naturally, Ryu requested the opportunity first. He had not had much to do at the Battle Tower lately, and he still wanted to strengthen himself as much as he could, as soon as was possible. The entire time I had known him, he had been rushing for evolution, or improvement in general. The Trapinch seemed restless, although I did not know why. Sometimes I thought that he lived for his dreams, but those who have only dreams had nothing else to grasp when they were gone. Ryu had something else, something greater than his resolve: something that made him find new goals when he reached his previous ones. Ryu was fueled by the constant desire to better himself, the drive to always excel in anything that he chose to do… And even if he started without the capability of reaching his goals – especially if he began unable to accomplish what he worked for – Ryu would always train until he could. I was worried about him, though; currently he had a bandaged foreleg that he had injured during one of his training sessions. It hadn’t fully healed yet, and I feared that the wound was deeper than he had thought.

The arena this time was more pleasant than the last, and I was glad for it. Ice I dreaded as one of my most uncomfortable states of being. Here the weather was sunny; it had to be, for the abundant plant life to flourish so. Grass pokémon abode here in great numbers, thriving on the gorgeous sunlight and lush, wet greenery. Ryu and I walked over a vast expanse of soft green grass that stretched across the horizon. Some forest trees lined the sides, most laden heavily with fruit that carried their delicate aromas across the air. I breathed in delight, glad that the atmosphere was full of life, and not death, as it was in the ice arena a week ago.

To reach the site where the battle was to be held, we had to actually enter the forest and follow the ambling path for half a mile. We didn’t mind the walk, and moved at a leisurely pace, simply enjoying the delicious sights and smells of the sylvan path. We arrived at the battle scene after a pleasant stroll. It was a forest clearing, encircled by flowering trees, the grass gleaming with the golden rays of the sun that poured in generously through the opening to the sky.

We both jumped when a voice addressed us unexpectedly. “Been waiting for you.� Our attention turned to the source, a female trainer of about seventeen years of age. She wore her rich, flowing red hair in two braids, one on the left and the other on the right. She dressed casually in faded blue jeans and a white T-shirt, with a dark blue cap on her head turned backwards. She regarded us with a kind of genuine curiosity, studying us, measuring our every move, as if trying to gauge us as opponents. When she noticed that we knew she was staring at us, however, she averted her gaze and pretended not to see. Clearing her throat, she turned to us again. “So, let’s get this battle going, huh?�

“Good idea. Ryu!�

The Trapinch nodded, taking his place in front of me firmly.

“Well, yours looks strong,� commented the girl. “I’ll just have to be careful. Let’s see now… Razor will do a fine job.� A Tropius emerged from his pokéball, towering over Ryu. He looked down at the Trapinch, studying him in the same manner as his trainer had. Then, blinking, he tossed his large head, jiggling the yellow fruit under his chin. The Tropius snorted, then pawed the ground impatiently, indicating that he wanted the fight to begin.

“Watch out, Ryu,� I cautioned. “Just like the Lapras Aglárien had to battle a week ago, this Tropius is going to be tough.� I don’t even know why I said that. Ryu didn’t need me warning him. He understood the situation himself. I guess I felt the necessity to fill the silence that had somehow come upon us. As our battle had shown signs of beginning, the entire forest had gone quiet.

“Okay, Razor, we don’t know what we’re up against, so we’d better try to take them out before they can show us. Razor Wind!�

The great beast fluttered his serrated wings, and a forceful whirlwind seemed to be building up in place. Unfortunately for our opponent, this attack was slow; Ryu could see it coming. As the Tropius charged his offensive, Ryu watched and accurately predicted where the attack was headed. When Razor let loose the rampant wind, it tore up the grass in its path before dissipating, but Ryu was already well out of the way.

“Well, my suspicions are confirmed. This one is good, Razor. He won’t fall for charged attacks under normal circumstances. We’ll need faster ones.� She spotted his bandage for the first time. “Hmm? What’s this? By chance, I see an opportunity to cripple him.� She nodded. “Come on, Razor, use your favorite move.� She winked.

What move could that be? I watched Ryu worriedly, not because I was afraid that he couldn’t take care of himself – he was braced for anything that might come his way – but because I knew the Tropius was going to target his injured leg, with an attack that his trainer had not specified. She was better than any regular trainer; although she still spoke to her pokémon, she spoke in code. A code that only someone close to them would understand.

Razor swung his head aside in a single motion, flinging out sharp-edged leaves that spun at high velocities. Of course… Razor Leaf. But this attack was not something that we had ever seen; the leaves flew so fast that Ryu was not quick enough to dodge, and they struck with astounding accuracy. The bandage on his foot fell cleanly off, shredded by the attack. His injured leg displayed a cut from which blood had begun to trickle out.

“Ryu…�

“I’m fine,� he assured me stubbornly, although signs of pain showed in his face. I said nothing, however; I knew that finishing this battle now was a matter of honor. The fact that his opponent had deliberately targeted his weak spot served only to firm his resolve to win. To Ryu, there were no weak spots.

“Good, Razor. Now attack from the air. Quickly! Aerial Ace!�

Twirling his helicopter blades, the Tropius lifted off, then, locking on to Ryu, came swooping down towards him. The Trapinch attempted to avoid the assault, but as his opponent came closer he stumbled, and took a glancing blow on the side. Razor then proceeded to rise into the air, prepared to continue the assault at his trainer’s command.

“Good work, Razor. Keep going!�

At her approval, he dove once more, this time missing Ryu closely due to the Trapinch’s massive effort. Ryu had waited until the time was right, and his aggressor could no longer change course, then forced himself to spring out of the way. The strength it took put a strain on his injured leg, however, and I saw the flow of blood increase in intensity and speed. This could not continue.

“Ryu, you know that this won’t work,� I told him. “That Tropius is a speed attacker, focused mainly on offense, and he’s coming at you from the air. You’re a Trapinch. Take advantage of it. Remember what you can do. If Jolteon can swim…� I checked to see if he understood what I was hinting at. He did. “The ground is soft. You don’t need it in your moveset…�

He took Razor’s aerial attack this time, then, as the Tropius renewed his ascent, Ryu began to paw at the ground with his good leg. Within moments, he had dug a sizeable hole, and, at the opposing trainer’s cry of anguish, leapt in just as his attacker came down for him a fourth time. The Tropius, unable to pull back, crashed into the ground, his face plunging slightly into the hole. It did not take long for him to remove his head, however. With a cry, as if something ailed him, he staggered backwards, disoriented.

“Ryu�, the male Trapinch’s POV:

My Sand Attack had achieved its desired effect. The Tropius was out of my hole for now, and it gave me time to dig inward a little deeper. I made a little curve, rather than dig straight, so that he would have to actually enter the hole to see me… something he could not do. His body was too large.

From what I had seen, my opponent was a skilled aerial attacker, with strategies focusing on strong, rapid offense from the air. Because I saw his confused face, and because I was not at this moment experiencing violent tremors, I could safely assume that Earthquake was not in his specialized moveset. So, his wings were vital to his strategy. That meant…

“Razor, Sunny Day! We can still get to him. He can’t stay there forever!�

If the Tropius complied, I would have plenty of time to sneak up on him unnoticed. I didn’t hear any warning from Karin, so I felt pretty certain that this was not just a ruse to get me to surface. Closing my eyes, I relied on my senses to take me closer to my target…

I didn’t trust my senses to perfection, so I did not try to surface directly underneath Razor. Without the actual Dig attack in my moveset, I could not depend on my instincts to fully pull off the attack, especially when I had not really practiced it much. Instead, I dug myself out quietly, quite close to where I had wanted to end up, which pleased me. I surfaced at the foot of a bush, and under the cover of invisibility that my Faint Attack granted me. Unless I made too much noise, Razor’s attention would not be drawn to me.

The Tropius was still in his summoning trance. I could see the distance in his eyes as he stared skyward, mentally forcing the clouds to reveal the sun. It began to get noticeably warmer as they vanished, for it was the middle of the day, and without the clouds the light shone at its fullest intensity.

As silently as was possible, I made my way around the Tropius, maintaining my invisibility. Then, leaping, revealing myself, I sprang upon his back and clamped down viciously upon his razor blade wings.

The Tropius’s cry was horrendous. I could tell that he was in pain. My attack had left his leaf wings crooked, parts of them cleanly snapped. As a Grass type, he would be able to heal them properly, but not in this battle. I saw a trace of fear arise in his trainer’s eyes as I slid to the ground to face the injured pokémon. But it flitted for only just a second, and went away.

“We were switching strategies anyway,� she claimed. “Darling Razor, do you feel up to this?� Despite his obvious agony that manifested itself in his contorted face, Razor nodded. He did not want to give up, he knew that his trainer did not want to give up, and he loved her so that he would endure his pain for her until he could stand it no more.

“All right, then, if you’re sure. Harness the powers of the sun!�

It did not take me very long to realize that this meant Solarbeam. My opponent began to glow golden, absorbing the rays of the now blazing white ball of fire. To my astonishment, the power of his attack incremented at a startlingly quick rate, and before long he had as much sunlight as he needed. Almost before I could react, he fired the devastating pillar of light; my legs moved without my bidding, carrying me to safety somehow, I did not know. But the ground burned beneath my feet, and my sides were singed. I knew that I could not dodge another attack. But I also knew something else.

From observing the Tropius’s and his trainer’s tactics, I could tell that Razor was not accustomed to long, grueling battles. His heavy offensive strategy usually made sure that he knocked out his opponent almost right away. I would not be surprised if each of his various attack methods had only to be used once against pokémon that he would fight. His trainer seemed frustrated and increasingly confused as she had to switch strategies; each was probably planned separately, to be used in separate battles. But in this one they were being tested to the limits of their ability. And I could beat a lot of pokémon in an endurance war. Razor was already tiring.

Upon the first failure, certain that he could get me this time, determined not to miss, the Tropius began to gather solar energy with a renewed vigor. But the signs of his exhaustion were there, and he could not hide them. I needed only survive this blast.

Dodging the incoming Solarbeam was not a possibility. My leg had begun to bleed even more, and I could feel the stinging pain again that stabbed at it before that kind Hitmonlee had dressed my wound. And so, I had only one option… Sometimes, the best defense was a good offense. Not overdone like Razor and his trainer, but it could work at times, and this was one of them.

When I saw that Razor was nearly ready, I braced myself. He turned… And I let hell break loose. My leg pounded into the ground, sending powerful tremors at him that he did not see coming. His charged attack shot off course, crashing into a tree and burning the bark black with its destructive intensity. My Earthquake, because it had been rushed, did not do much physical damage; it had not even shaken either trainer much; but it spelt Razor’s ruin. The battle was over.

“Nice, Ryu,� Karin commended.

The opposing trainer, not understanding, encouraged her Tropius. “It’s all right, Razor, you’ll get him next time,� she said. “Try your Fire type Hidden Power this time. It’s faster.�

As the beast got up slowly, however, she began to fathom the meaning of Karin’s words. Razor sagged heavily, having difficulty even standing up. A dull, dispirited look lay buried in his eyes; he attempted to initiate his attack, but couldn’t. With an exaggerated sigh, he collapsed to the ground, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Ryu won!
Ryu grew to LV21!

[classy_cat18]

Alright, something new! I don't know about Jewel's battle, though.

My POV

“Alright! This has to be the best opportunity ever!� I shouted excitedly as I walked in the building. “We’ll prove everyone that we’re the best!� I felt a sudden wave of exhaustion and leaned on the wall.

“Why are you so tired?� Beacon asked me.

“I forgot which gate these games are supposed to be at,� I groaned. “At least we’re here.� I looked around the circular room, finding each of the five doors. Each one led to a different training room and opponents to fight. I looked at each of them with anticipation. “Which one?�

Beacon walked to the one in front of us. “This one. I’m sure of it!� She placed a hoof on it.

I got up and walked toward it. I felt great warmth as my hand reached toward it. I opened the door and found a stone staircase lined with torches. Beacon’s legs shook as she placed a hoof on the first step. “Something about this. Where does it lead?�

“I guess it leads to one of the training rooms,� I said softly. I followed Beacon down the staircase. “Look, you don’t have to battle if you don’t want to.�

She promptly shook her head. “I want to get stronger, end of story. I’m not afraid of what’s beyond this door.� She stopped at a heavy steel door. I reached toward it and promptly pulled it back; the heat was too much. Plus there was no handle. I turned around and saw a button attached to the wall. I pressed it out of curiosity and watched the door slowly swing open.

“Um, Beacon? Are you sure you’re not scared? ‘Cause I’m practically peeing my pants!� I said. We were looking at what looked like the inside of a volcano. The floor was molten magma and the only way to walk through it was to walk across was to walk on narrow paths of molten lava. And it was hot. Very hot. I turned around to go back through the door only to see it close behind us. “There’s nowhere else to go but forward.� But Beacon already knew that and was cautiously walking on the rocky path. I walked behind her, a shepherd following her sheep. We finally approached the center of the room where a large flat rock lay. On the side opposite mine stood a boy with blond hair done up in a French braid.

“Are you ready to battle?� the girl asked me.

I looked down at Beacon as she casually walked down to the center of the stadium, her feet only slightly shaking. I started to worry. Beacon was a determined Pokemon, but she could only do so much. “How are we going to do this?� I asked the girl.

“Two on two! Now let’s get this over with!� She threw a pokeball containing a Magby.

L7 Female Mareep vs. L8 Magby

“Magby, Ember!� the girl shouted. The Magby shot flames toward our side of the field, making things hotter.

Beacon clumsily jumped to the side as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. “Beacon, Thunderbolt!� Sparks jumped around Beacon’s wool as she shot the Thunderbolt toward the Magby. Magby jumped high in the air and coughed up some kind of gray cloud. “Dodge it, Beacon!�

She stood still on four weak legs. “It hurts…� she whimpered as the Smog attack covered her. She stumbled backwards, coughing. She wasn’t looking too hot. Okay, she was, but at the same time it looked like she had the hardest time moving.

She’s been burned! Her front right foot was singed. “Beacon, return!� I shouted.

“No! I will finish this!� she coughed out.

“Magby, finish it off with Mega Punch!� the girl cried out.

Magby rushed forward, its fist glowing. Beacon stumbled forward and barely avoided the attack. She lowered her burned leg and started running from Magby, who had another Mega Punch for her. She sidestepped from side to side and backed up. Magby kept its fist still as it watched her do her funky version of the Electric Slide. “Um, what are you doing?� Magby asked her.

“What was that last step?� Beacon muttered. “Oh, that’s it!� she whirled around and bowed. Magby and I clapped (although I had no idea why).

“That was very nice,� Magby commented.

“What was all that about?� the girl trainer said in an annoyed tone. “We’re supposed to be battling, not dancing!�

I wiped off more sweat. The heat was next to unbelievable. I was sweating so much it was raining on the hot rock. Wait, raining? I looked up at a large rain cloud. Rain fell on the rock and magma, making a hissing sound as it landed. I sighed in relief as my skin was cooled. The rain also was cooling off the rock and filling the Lava Room with mist. “Beacon, where are you?�

“Ow!� yelped a voice that definitely wasn’t Beacon. “Ow, ow, ow!� It sounded like Magby was having the crap beaten out of him.

“Beacon, if you can hear me, give him a Thunderbolt!� I shouted. I saw a bright light in front of me and heard a yelp of pain. I stood there listening to the silence that followed. Finally I heard hooves as Beacon limped to my side. “Is he out?�

“Yep!� she said happily.

Beacon won and grew to level 8!

“Okay, you can return your Magby!� I shouted. I could see the girl stomping her foot and returning her Magby. She threw another pokeball, this time showing a cute little Torchic.

I looked up at the continuing rain. I better switch to Jewel before the rain stops. “Jewel, go!� I let out Jewel.

<Another wimpy opponent?> Jewel sent dully.

L7 Genderless Staryu (Jewel) vs. L15 Torchic

“I’ll do my best, buddy!� Torchic yelled to its trainer.

Its back is turned! “Jewel, Water Gun!� I shouted quickly. Jewel shot a quick Water Gun at Torchic, who didn’t even have enough time to dodge. It wasn’t because it was too slow; it just was unprepared.

<What an idiot,> Jewel sent, and went right for another Water Gun.

“Torchic, use Ember!� its trainer cried. Torchic’s Ember canceled out Jewel’s Water Gun. Torchic quickly fired another Ember and hit Jewel right in the central gem.

“She’s still floating,� Beacon said in awe. Jewel fired another Water Gun. Torchic did the same with its Ember. The Rain Dance was wearing off and both of them were getting tired. Jewel finally overpowered and sprayed Torchic one more time, who quickly recovered and shot a Ember right back.

“Alright, Jewel! Hang in there!� Beacon shouted excitedly but wearily. Her tail wagged slowly.

“Jewel, how are you holding up?� I asked her. The rain stopped, and the temperature started back to rising.

<Not very well,> she sent quietly, swaying back and forth.

“Torchic, use Ember!� its trainer shouted all of a sudden.

“Jewel, dodge and use Psychic!� I yelled. She pointed the Water Gun in the air and pointed her central gem down at Torchic. The gem gave off a brilliant shine as it shot its multicolored beam at the bird, hitting it. Torchic wobbled back and forth, dazed from the attack. Jewel spun and dive bomb tackled her opponent, knocking it out.

Jewel won and grew to Level 9!

That was close. That Torchic did not let up. I returned Jewel and turned to the girl. “That was a good battle,� I said cheerily.

The other trainer smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it was. Your Staryu is tough, and your Mareep is…is…� Beacon’s tail wagged in anticipation. “She’s very graceful.�

“Thanks!� I turned around to leave then stopped. “Um, do I go this way or is there another way out of here?�

“You can go that way, now that you’ve battled me. Just push the button next to the door.�

I returned Beacon so that she wouldn’t have to walk on her injured leg. “I hope I see you later!� I turned around and left.

[EngiMatikul]

Awww... cruddy is it too late to ask for an extension for the previous scenario? Because I was kinda still working on a second post for that one... :/

Ah well, if it is, I should deal with it. >.<

[Charizard04621]

Engi: Yeah, if you didn't ask for an extension before the new scenario was put up, I don't think you can get one now. Confirm with Amy or Gabi, though. I might not know what I'm talking about.

Finally, my conclusion's done, too. Kind of rushed, but all three of us had to repeat the same events, so it might get pretty boring.

My POV:

After Kara returned her cell phone to her pocket, I recalled everyone except Switchblade and Rúthruin. They weren’t as exhausted as those who had been involved directly in battles, and they were two of the strongest I had that didn’t stick out like sore thumbs. We bade Kara goodbye, leaving her to wake her fellow Rocket. He would never know the difference; her life was not in danger.

There were many Rockets lurking about, making us increasingly nervous as several times we got closer and closer to encountering some. Some commotion seemed to be drawing them away, however; strangely enough, we saw them move away from the noise. Possibly they had been commanded to assemble some place off. The sounds of a battle had been getting louder, though, and I felt it necessary to check it out, carefully. For an instant I had thought that I had heard familiar voices, but I wasn’t sure, so we approached with caution.

What we found was more welcoming than we had expected. From the looks of it, Amy and her Umbreon had just come out of a battle. Evenstar was with them. Relieved, and quite surprised that they had arrived so fast, we ran quickly to them, trying not to make too much noise. Amy heard, though, and looked up.

We had barely managed to greet each other when some strange, mournful noise filled the air. Unsure of what it was, we followed it, until we discovered that the cries came from a little cage. Inside was the strangest thing I had ever seen. A little Vulpix lay coiled there, her forehead a glittering rainbow. Bits of eggshell still stuck to her skin; she hadn’t been hatched long. She might even have been caged before she had come out of her egg. The poor Vulpix… Another heinous Rocket crime, indeed.

Before long, with the help of our pokémon, Amy and I managed to free the Vulpix, who trembled uncontrollably. Amy picked her up gently, consoling her. She was a strange little thing, beautiful in her own way. When she begged to join Amy’s team, however, I could see that Amy was torn. The Vulpix didn’t realize the predicament she had put Amy in. Unexpectedly, Amy’s Vaporeon convinced her to keep the Vulpix, while forecasting his own departure from the team. It was a touching moment, and sad. Nobody spoke. Only through silent actions did anyone convey their feelings. Voices would not be enough.

Simba broke the silence. “We need to go,� he urged.

Kiara agreed. “Yeah,� she said, “We need to find Gabi and get out of here.�

“Yeah, but how?� asked Sugar.

“Well we could start of by heading towards the source of that earthquake. It seems like it may have come from a battle. I don’t think that the odds would say that only we would have to battle during this mission. If we do hear the sounds of a battle as we near, hopefully it will lead us to Gabi,� Sparky offered.

Amy nodded. “That sounds like a workable plan to me.�

I agreed. Evenstar headed the vanguard, while Amy drifted to the back. It turned out that Sparky’s hunch was right; ahead, Gabi looked as if she had just finished a battle herself.

“Karin, you're fine!� she cried, in relief. “Amy! I'm glad you're both here. I'm just had the weirdest couple of battles ever. I have the feeling it's not over yet, but my opponent's gone for now.�

At that point, Gabi’s Venomoth, Ninetales, Vaporeon, Espeon, and Stantler materialized before us, startling me slightly.

Hero looked around in concern. “Is everyone alright?� he asked. “A Porygon 2 just popped into the computer room and did something to the computers. They started making some irritating beeping sound, which didn't strike me as a good sign.�

The sleeping Vulpix in Amy’s hands stirred, whining softly.

Gabi was charmed. “Oh, how cute! Did you find that Vulpix inside the base?�

"Yeah,� Amy answered. “She was in a cage that was so small that she couldn't even stand or move around in ."

“Oh, that's awful!�

Hero interrupted. “Hey, there. Beeping sound. Can we hold the rest of the conversation away from here? We already have Karin, that's what matters.�

I nodded in agreement. “Maybe we should find somewhere else to catch up… I managed to fool the Rocket’s once, but they’re going to be more careful this time.�

“Yeah, we probably need to get out of here,� Amy said.

“Ok, we'll meet right outside the entrance,� Ventura told us. “Everyone who can teleport take the ones who can't. We'll see where to go from there.�

“I think I'll get into my pokeball again until we're out of here. I'm not feeling very well,� Amber admitted.

“Yeah. Same here,� Sylvan agreed.

The two returned to their pokéballs, looking more than just a little sickly. I wondered what had happened to them, and what Gabi meant by “weird battles�. Well… I would have to find out later.

“It probably wouldn't hurt to recall my team as well so its less of a job.� Amy let her pokémon back into their balls.

“Can anyone teleport aside from Ventura and Hero?� wondered Gabi.

Amy shook her head. “None of my team can.�

“None of mine, either.�

“Then I guess it's up to them.�

“I'll recall everyone, too. Switchblade, that includes you.�

Switchblade looked at me for a moment, then decided that, like it or not, this was not the time. He went into his pokéball silently, much to my relief.

“I guess the rest of us can get in for a second too. Let's not cause our friends trouble,� suggested Tsunami.

“How considerate of you,� Hero responded, sarcastically perhaps.

“I wouln't risk you teleporting me into a wall,� retorted the Vaporeon. He returned to his ball, along with Iael and Caledor.

By the time we were all done, the only pokémon out besides Hero and Ventura was Amy’s new Vulpix, who hadn’t a pokéball of her own and was perfectly content in Amy’s arms.

“Most of my team is exhausted, anyway, after what they've been through, “ I admitted. “There's no sense having them expend their energy now.�

It didn’t take us long to get out. Once we stood outside, Gabi inquired, “Shall we go to our base or somewhere else?�

Lagi answered her. “If your concern is about getting caught, I wouldn't worry. They're all taking the leave.�

“Why?�

“It's become too dangerous inside, from what I can gather. And some seem to feel their job here is done.�

“Gia?�

I listened to the conversation, understanding a little here and there, but mostly with an outsider’s knowledge of the situation. The exchange continued for some time. I tried to follow, but for the most part could not. I gathered something about a possible corruption of the Dragon’s Guild, and also heard mention of a certain Singlehorn Project.

“Does that ring a bell to any of you?� asked Gabi.

“Nope,� I answered.

“No.� Amy hadn’t heard about it either.

There was more talking… I was becoming a little tired, making conscious attempts not to doze off, but not doing a very good job of it. I remembered seeing who I thought looked like Simba slip off into the distance, but I didn’t say anything. If he wanted to go that way, that’s how he would leave.

“Ok, shall we go to the DT Central and sit down, get over this commotion and then think of what to do next? And maybe have something to drink in the meantime. I could use some tea, and I'm sure so could Amber. Then we can head to the Pokemon Center.� Gabi’s words woke me up.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,� Amy approved.

I heaved a sigh of relief. “That's the best thing I've heard all day.�

Then Amy’s Delcatty noticed Simba’s absence. “Where's Simba?� she asked.

Gabi noticed that he was gone too. “Did he come out of his pokeball?�

“Yeah,� Amy replied.

“I hope TR didn't take him,� Iael said worriedly. “Shall we split up and look for him?�

Having been silent for all this time, I slowly shook my head. “No... That won't be necessary.� I took a deep breath before giving the news. “I saw him slip away. I don't think he's coming back.�

“What do you mean?� asked Iael.

Lagi answered for me. “She means he wanted to leave, and slipped away when no one was looking because he didn't want to have to say goodbye. Right, Karin?�

I nodded, glad that she understood. “Sometimes... Goodbye is the most painful thing to say.�
“Yes, it is,� agreed Amber… or at least her voice. She was still inside her pokéball when she spoke. Strange.

Unable to speak, Amy simply nodded.

“I'll miss him,� confessed Tsunami. “We used to have fun together at the Eevee House. It feels like eons ago. Hope he's fine.�

“We may meet again some day,� Lagi said.

And perhaps that would be so. My feet followed the others automatically as we headed back to Dragon Tamers central, leaving my mind lagging far behind in its thoughts.

[The_Missing_Link]

This is my RBG battle I'd been putting off for a month. I hope it's fine



<My POV>

Lee and I were sitting on the couch, watching TV when my cell phone rang. He forced me to scratch his back with the scraper but this gave me the perfect opportunity to get away. I grinned at my brand new phone and flipped it open to answer.
“Hello? Yes, this is she. She’s finally ready to have the battle? Yes, I’ll be there soon. Ok, goodbye.�
I closed the cover and pushed it back into my pants pocket. So, the battle would finally get underway. I smirked as I walked over to Blade and Drake, who were both playing with Karin’s twin Charmanders.
“Hey Blade, I finally got you that battle you were looking for. I know its sudden notice, but we have to be there in an hour and the place is thirty minutes away. You think you can spare some time for it?�
He looked at Drake, who wasn’t too happy about taking care of both of them but reluctantly nodded and sighed.
“You know, you owe me big for this.�
“I know. It’s the second time I’ve done this to you. I promise I’ll be back soon.�
Drake and Blade bumped fists and nodded before Blade walked over to me. We headed out the front door and down the walkway to the secluded street, which eventually led us to town.
“Sorry we couldn’t battle sooner. I actually set the battle up a month ago but the trainer and I had to postpone a few times, me because of school and her because of vacation. But now we’re going to get things going and hopefully win.�
“Fantastic,� he said dryly, in response to my explanation. “Have any idea who I’m battling?�
“Not exactly but I know it can fly. Not many fliers know fire attacks so I think you should be ok but that’s what Swords Dance is for anyway.�
“I think I can handle that,� he replied and knocked his claws together, making a scraping/hollow sound that made me wince.

We had been walking for almost fifteen minutes, or rather flying in Blade’s case. He became restless after our little conversation and started to fly about, stretching himself for the upcoming battle. I stared up at the sky and bathed in the warm glow of the sun. It was a perfect day to be outside, warm enough to wear shorts but with a cool breeze that permitted you to be under the sun without boiling. I was now on the sidewalk in the middle of town and continued to go straight ahead towards the edge of it. The Random Battle Center was just recently built and gave trainers a chance to battle Pokemon at the same level but no one knew what Pokemon they were up against. I had only figured out that our opponent could fly by what the trainer stupidly hinted but even still, since both our Pokemon were at the same level, she had to be good.
“The place is just down the street,� I yelled up to Blade.
He nodded and sped up his pace, a challenge to me to keep up. I reluctantly started to sprint, my arms waving back and forth and my hair whipping in every which way. I hoped that place had a water fountain nearby or else Blade would die.

I breathed in sharply as I neared the building, my chest searing from the exertion. Thankfully, there was a fountain right next to the door and I lapped up the cool water, its sweetness trickling down my throat to ease the pain. I glared at Blade, who was grinning like an idiot and went through the sliding doors. I whistled softly as I gazed around, a huge steel dome surrounding us with pictures of many different Pokemon in battle plastered on the wall, from a Whiscash battling a Quagsire to an Eevee taking on a Sandshrew. I went up to the front desk to see a Nurse Joy manning the station.
“Nurse Joy? I thought your family only worked in the Pokemon Center,� I exclaimed.
“We do, but this doubles as a Battle Tower and Pokemon Center,� she replied and pointed to a set of double doors behind her, the regular needle sign above it turned off currently.
“Name and Pokemon you’re using, please,� she began again.
“Rebecca and I’m using my Scizor, Blade.�
“He looks to be in peak health,� she replied, looking him over with interest.
“Well, I’m blessed with a team that has a hard work ethic,� I smiled.
“Then I’m sure you won’t have a problem with your battle. Your opponent is Emily and she's in Indigo Stadium.�
“Indigo Stadium?�
“Oh, not the Indigo Stadium but just a normal arena. Each room is named after a famous place and its theme, such as the Safari Zone, which is a grassland arena and Mahogany Town, an all ice arena.�
“Oh,� I said, feeling stupid. “Thank you.�
“You’re welcome. Indigo Stadium is on the first floor, first door to your right,� she said and pointed over to the elevator, which I somehow missed in the scanning.
I nodded and walked over to the elevator, which was standing open at the moment. As we entered, the doors immediately closed and clips from random battles started to play on the speakers. I jabbed at the 1 button and quietly listened to the play-by-play action.
“Will you look at that, folks! Donphan has somehow gotten up after that magnificent Hyper Beam and he’s now going into a Rollout attack. I hope Feraligatr can find a way to dodge his incoming opponent or else he’ll be done for…�
“He can use Hydro Pump,� I muttered and walked out into the hallway after the doors opened.
“What did you say?� Blade asked.
“Nothing, just something about that battle we heard over the speakers,� I replied and stood in front of the door. “Ready to battle?�
“Can’t wait,� he replied and I could tell he meant it.
Turning the knob, I pushed the door open and we entered to what looked like a normal stadium without the rows of seats and only a bench at either side to provide seating for the trainer’s supporters. Emily and the referee were already there, a Vibrava fluttering above its master.
It’s not even a flying type at all, I fumed to myself. Well, then I suppose it’s not as fast as it should be.
I could see Emily staring back at Blade behind me, a mixture of doubt and irritation plastered on her face. It appeared neither of us liked what we saw.
“Trainers, take your places,� the ref said and moved back into his little side box.
I moved to the nearest rectangle and Emily to the farthest.
“Vibrava doesn’t have many powerful attacks against you but watch out for its sandstorm,� I muttered to Blade.
He nodded and moved out into the middle of the ring, Vibrava doing the same.
"You can do it, Elara!" Emily yelled. Elara turned her head back and nodded confidently.
“Let the battle begin!�

Blade the Lv.37 Male Scizor vs. Elara the Lv.37 Female Vibrava

<Blade’s POV>

“Why don’t you come over here, honey and I can show you a good time,� Elara purred.
“With you? I may be a bug but I’m not that disgusting,� I gagged.
She hissed and sped around the room, trying to up her speed.
“You can forget it,� I called out. “That’s not agility so it won’t help you. Why don’t you let me show you what speed is?�
I jumped into the air and sped upwards, my wings thrumming in rapid succession. Making my right claw glow brightly, I caught up to Elara easily and slammed my claw into her side, stopping her instantly and sending her flying towards the other wall. She caught herself in time though and responded with a greenish stream of fire. Instinctively putting my claws up in defense, I felt a burning sensation on my body and felt like my armor was literally burning off.
“I may not be able to learn fire attacks but I can battle steel types just as well,� she buzzed and began to beat her wings faster than before.
Creating a sound that I’ve never heard before, I cringed in pain from the ultrasonic waves that were surrounding me and cried out silently to make them stop. She didn’t though and moved lower to stir the ground of the arena to life. Looking down, I saw sand fly into my face and cursed myself for letting her startle me like this. I closed my eyes and flapped my wings persistently, trying to push the storm back at her. Opening them moments later, I found her gone and blushed in embarrassment. Stopping my unnecessary attack, I felt something attach to my back. I looked behind to see Elara glow a mint green and found myself radiating the same color shortly afterwards. Instead of feeling pain, I only experienced annoyance. Wasn’t she smart enough to learn that grass attacks barely affect me?
Guess she’ll have to learn the hard way, I sighed and brought my arms close to my chest.
Spinning around slowly, I started to turn faster and faster before the two of us became a blur to our trainers below.
“Get me off, get me off,� she screamed, obviously unhappy with her current predicament.
“You want off, I’ll show you off,� I screamed back at her and instantly stopped.
Familiar with the after effects of swords dance, I was able to recover quickly but she had a harder time of it, still dizzy and clinging onto my back. Flying backwards into the nearest wall, I slammed into it, Elara getting the brunt of the attack. Pushing myself off, I let her fall off and hit the floor, feeling content about the whole thing.

Coming back down to the ground, I walked over to Rebecca, who was shaking her head at me.
“What?�
“You think you’ve won yet? Take a look behind you.�
I turned around to see Elara slam into my gut, sending me down. She was better than I expected.
“Nice warning,� I wheezed and got up.
“Sorry, didn’t think she would do that.�
I rolled my eyes and flew back up into the air to be met with a fierce gale pushing me backwards. I tried to dodge the wind by going in different directions but she moved just as quickly, slowing me down all the while. I decided to use one of my few ranged attacks and turned around to face her. Bracing myself, I concentrated and started flapping rapidly as well. Instead of creating a high wind, I sent out sharp pieces of air that clashed with Elara’s attack. Both clashing together, they formed into one big tornado and hurled both of his backwards, me hitting the wall and her moving extremely close to the other side.
“Oy, that’s going to leave a dent,� I breathed.
The tornado faded away leaving us looking at each other. And then, she was off, not towards me but at the ground. Expecting what she would do, I followed suit, my armor giving off a dark glow. Combined with agility, pursuit gave me the boost to catch my opponent and slammed into her before she could dig into the ground. She buzzed unhappily and disappeared from sight, leaving me bewildered once more. Looking around, I couldn’t spot her at all but she reappeared shortly afterward, ramming me aside. I could feel the darkness invading my body but I shook off the uncomfortable feeling and righted myself once more.
“You know, you’ve done well for yourself in this battle but I have one thing you don’t have,� I said.
“And what’s that?�
“An advantage.�
“How so?� she asked. “All of our attacks do little to normal damage against each other.�
“That’s where you’re wrong,� I smiled innocently. “I do have one attack that you haven’t seen yet?�
“And that is…?�
“This.� Opening my claws, two white orbs formed inside, each tinged an aquamarine blue. I could see fear in Elara’s eyes but she couldn’t get away from it. The orbs flew off into her and splashed against her, releasing water all over. She cried out in pain and this gave me the time to attack. Flying over, my claws open and glinting from the light, I slashed ferociously at her, cutting her open with every swipe until blood started to show from the effort. After that, I stopped and let her fall to the ground, out like a light.

Blade wins and grows to Level 38!

<My POV>

I greeted Blade as soon as he came down to the ground and gave him a quick hug.
“Need some rest?� I asked.
He nodded and let me recall him into his Pokeball.
“That was a nice battle,� Emily said as she came over. “I barely heard you shout out an order at all.�
“I prefer to let them battle by their instincts,� I replied. “I only help them along the way.�
I looked down at the Pokeball cupped in her hands.
“Will she be alright?�
“I think she will. She’s suffered worse than that although it’s not often she draws blood in battle.�
I secretly felt smug but held out a hand to be met by a firm shake.
“Battle again some time?� I asked.
“Sure thing,� she replied.
We walked out of the battle together towards the healing center in the building. I wondered if they would show the rest of that Donphan battle on the way down…

[AntiAsh Superstar]

Here's my RBG battle, apologies to me getting impatient (again!) with regards to pressing on with a sub-plot I'm conjuring up. To bring you up to speed, my opponent is Lucky's long-lost daughter, and you'll learn more about her once I finally finish that joint story with Gabi. ^_^;;;

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All things considered, life had been treating Sindel rather well lately. Ever since her recent evolution, things seemed to keep slotting into place. Her new-found powers gave her twice the scope to pry, which delighted the Alakazam no end. And her increased brain capacity allowed her much greater coordination. Suddenly she found it possible to create double the dishes, her hands making one thing and another being prepared by her telekinetic powers. It was fast getting to the stage where food had to be thrown out, it was being created in such large quantities. But it was in her personal life that Sindel found the most solace, in nurturing the little bundle of energy named Ryo-Ohki. She still partly blamed herself for the death of the Pichu’s original trainer, so in her own way the Alakazam tried to atone for her sins by keeping a watchful eye on his pokémon. Which was easier said than done. Now that he had a chance to accept the death of his old master, the Pichu was fast developing into a lively, mischievous creature, full of youthful enthusiasm and an almost endearingly innocent quality. So if it was possible for a pokémon to achieve a state of domestic bliss, Sindel had all but found it.
“Aren’t we the good little housewife, Thingy?� As ever, the Alakazam was to be found in the kitchen, busying herself with a black forest gateaux. And as ever, Milliardo, having ran out of things to do, was to be found deliberately getting in her way. “Almost enough to make you forget that you’re a total busybody with a really freaky line in pigheadedness, eh?�
“I’m not listening, so you can snipe all you like,� Sindel snorted. “I’m at my peak. Look.� The Alakazam concentrated hard on the metal spoon in her hand. All of a sudden it began to twist and buckle, until it had almost tied itself in a knot. “And yes, you’re a Dark type and psychic powers can’t affect you, but that’s why I can control ice as well.�
“I thought you could control ice to act as a backup in case the freezer broke.� Milliardo rolled his eyes. Ever since she evolved Sindel had become intolerable! Suddenly a movement in the corner of his eye caught the Umbreon’s attention, a quick flash of pale blue that could only mean one thing. And in this particular situation it meant an ally. “Hey, Tsuyoi, Thingy thinks she’s clever because she can tie a spoon in a knot. Any comments?� The large, wolf-like creature known as Tsuyoi stopped in his tracks, eyeing the situation up carefully. And then he marched into the kitchen, the large claws on his paws clacking on the tiled floor as he walked.
“My comments?� Tsuyoi took the spoon out of Sindel’s hand, and fixed his impenetrable gaze upon it. Within seconds it began to twist and bend as if it were made of modelling clay, seeming to become less and less solid with every new twist. Very soon after that the utensil had totally melted in his front paw. “You have a long way to go yet. If I were you I’d stick to cooking. When it comes to showing off you’re just an amateur.�
“I’m not allowed to have any fun, am I?� Sindel grumbled, fishing a new spoon out of one of the kitchen drawers. “Well fine, at least Ryo-Ohki will play with me…� Here she paused, as if suddenly realising something. “Come to think of it, where has he got to? I’ve not seen him all day.�
“Oh my God, so you don’t keep everyone under constant surveillance?� Milliardo gasped in mock astonishment.
“Ha ha, very funny. Now have you seen him or not?�
“No I haven’t! I have my paws full enough as it is keeping my own little version of the Osbournes from killing everyone without worrying about your little brat.� It seemed as if Milliardo was less than willing to help. “You’re his unofficial guardian, remember, why don’t you pay more attention? Maybe he fell off a cliff or something while you were busy showing us your spoon-flexing abilities.�
“If you must know, he’s safe.� Tsuyoi rolled his eyes. “Quite remarkable seeing as nobody around here can get their act together for long enough to look after themselves, let alone an infant. Lucky and Ade look him to visit Megan. I think they were going to pay a visit to that Gina girl along the way as well.�
“Well.� Sindel couldn’t really think of anything further to say. The most infuriating thing about Tsuyoi, apart from his unshakable belief that he was always right, was the fact that in most cases this belief had some groundings of truth. “As long as he’s okay. That’s all that matters.�

In fact, things had been going rather well that morning for my little party. Of course, we had yet to accomplish a single thing that we had set out to do, but that always seemed to be the way with my team. Things always seemed to just spring up and get in the way. It was fast approaching the stage where I was beginning to wonder if there was any point in making plans at all.
“Look at him. He’s in his element.� In this case, the obstacle to my original plan took the form of a small family of Onix. We had originally tried to avoid them, but Ryo-Ohki seemed to have other plans, and had confronted them directly. The end result being that he had managed to befriend the youngest of the group, and the two were now playing happily despite the obvious size difference, the Pichu using his new friend as an impromptu slide. Neither Lucky nor myself really had the heart to tell him to come back and let us press on. So we were resigned to waiting underneath a nearby tree, as the newest addition to my team made a point of having as much fun as he possibly could. “It’s nice to have somebody that carefree around, really. I think he’s going to be a good influence.�
“On everyone bar Becks.� I couldn’t help but agree with Lucky’s point. Well, almost. “The last thing he needs is further excuses to slack off! But yeah, I know what you mean. Seems like the team’s finally reaching its final stages, huh?�
“I don’t think there ever will be a final stage, Ade. We’ll just keep changing.� The Meowth cast his eyes up into the sky, watching the various wild Flying types go about their daily business. He frowned suddenly. Somewhere up in the skies was something that looked decidedly out of place. “Hey, Ade, can you see that up there, that one that seems much bigger than all of the others?�
“Where?� My eyes followed to the point where my Meowth was gesturing. For a second I could see quite what he was getting at. And then my eyes locked upon a creature much bigger than all of the others currently in the sky. “Whoa, yeah, I can see it.� I held a hand up to my eyes to shield them from the sun’s glare. It didn’t make it easier to make out what I was looking at, however. “That’s a pretty big pokémon. What I’d like to know is what…� Finally I was able to make out the creature in its full glory. Because it appeared to be heading directly towards us, and was growing larger and larger with every passing moment. “****, it’s a Salamence! Ryo-Ohki, get over here now!� My blood ran cold. I’d had enough of these particular pokémon to last a lifetime after my recent encounter with Armand’s favourite pet. Best to hide, best to stay hidden, rather than face yet another one. Which was why I decided to take my pokémon to the relative shelter of a nearby bush rather than wait for the dragon to arrive. “Keep quiet!� I hissed to my Meowth and Pichu, suddenly very aware of my every breath. I peered out from my hiding place, watching as the Salamence landed gracefully where we had been standing moments ago. It stared at the Onix family impassively, taking in the two parent snakes and their child. A slow, cruel smile formed upon the pokémon’s face.
You can come out, you know. I know perfectly well that you’re hiding there. You’ve nothing to fear from me today. Otherwise I would have just razed that bush to the ground already. It was if I was listening to these words on headphones that had been turned up far too loud, such was the impact of the telepathic message. It does precious little for your image, Dragon Tamer.
“You!� I stood up, all too quickly.
Yes, me. I was bored and needed a new toy to play with for a while. Armand is such a hard worker, as nice as it would be I can’t expect him to lavish attention upon me twenty four hours a day. This was not good! Here, miles away from any help and minus my strongest fighters, I was face to face with a creature I had hoped that I would never have to set eyes upon again. There was no way that we could survive this one. Unless, of course, the Salamence was telling the truth and had no intention of harming us. But in that case what did she want? Either leave now or watch, human, I don’t really care either way. The Salamence turned to face the Onix family, the parents having circled around their children protectively, fixing the dragon with menacing glares that I guessed were far more forced than they appeared to be.
“What are you doing?� I yelled over, my anger overriding my natural fear of the huge pokémon.
Having my sport, and you’d be wise not to get involved if you care to live beyond this day. There was nothing I could do apart from watch. There was no way any of us could hope to stand up to the might that was Reaper. Not if our last encounter was anything to go by. She had annihilated us without so much as breaking a sweat. So what did this mean for the poor Onix family, still trying their best to make the Salamence back down. Not that it was having much effect. Already she was taking menacing steps towards them, a cruel gleam within her reptilian gaze.
“Wait…� It was too late. With a speed almost too great to follow, Reaper drew back one of her front legs, a thin wisp of red smoke beginning to form at her claws. And then she plunged her mighty paw into the chest of the nearest Onix, her mystical Dragon powers penetrating the creature’s rock-like shielding with ease. There was a long silence, as if nobody could quite believe what was happening. It took until the Onix slid off Reaper’s limb, leaving behind a thick trail of gooey blood, for it to finally sink in.
“What’s going on?� Ryo-Ohki stared in disbelief, his young mind unable to grasp what was going on in front of his eyes. “Will he be okay?�
“I…� The loud, angered roar of the other adult Onix saved me from what would certainly be an awkward conversation. Gratefully I returned my attentions to the battle unfolding in front of me. Reaper seemed to be caught in the tangles of a particularly furious Bind attack. But judging from the expression on her face this was angering her further rather than stopping her from committing any further atrocities. The Salamence seemed about ready to explode from anger.
You… idiot! Reaper roared. Evidently She wasn’t so angry that it made her forget to use her telepathy. If, indeed, she was even capable of communicating in any other way. How dare you try and attack me! A bright glow began to form at Reaper’s forehead. It was only then that I noticed a small, emerald gem set into her head. Funny. I hadn’t noticed that before. But now it was shining with a soft emerald hue it was quite distinctive. Now you die as well! The Onix’s squeezing stopped abruptly, a look of sheer astonishment upon its face. And then it fell to the ground, its eyes glassy. What kind of technique was that? Reaper had just killed a fully grown Onix without so much a moving a muscle. Suddenly our chances of surviving seemed very, very small indeed. Suddenly I can see Abbadon’s point. This is rather addictive, isn’t it? Maybe I should develop a thirst of my own. Reaper turned her attention to the final member of the group, the tiny Onix that my Pichu had been playing with mere moments ago. The baby cowered in terror. Or maybe not. His thirst makes him weak. But anyway… my apologies, child, it just seems such a shame to leave a job half finished. The Salamence moved towards the infant, clumsily stepping over the body of its dead mother, murderous intent within her eyes.
“Reaper! That’s enough!� A sudden blur of brown shot towards the Salamence, and it was only thanks to her impressive reflexes that she managed to turn and swat it away, leaving the brown object to crash into a nearby tree with such force that it snapped the trunk in half. I strained to peer at the source of this unexpected interruption. Only to see a small Eevee picking itself up from the splinters, wiping the blood from its nose with a forepaw. “You always did seem to have a sixth sense.�
And you were always too damn stubborn to know when to quit. An indulgent smile formed upon Reaper’s face. I’m surprised you’re still going. You never seemed the type to cut it on your own.
“I do my best to carry on.� The Eevee almost smiled, but it was a smile so slight that it was hard to tell if it was there or not. “What you and your trainer are doing now is dangerous, Reaper. You could unleash all kinds of demons from the past.�
We welcome the challenge. Do I assume you happen to be one of these demons?
“No. I’m just here by coincidence. Reaper, just leave. No more innocents need to die at your talons.�
And if I won’t leave?
“Then I’ll make you.� The Eevee turned to address my little team, her eyes seeming to alight on Lucky in particular. “I can keep her busy. You have to get the child to a pokécentre. Understood?� All we could do was to nod dumbly, watching in awe as the little bundle of fur’s forehead seemed to split slightly, revealing a gemstone that shimmered and sparkled in an identical way to that of Reaper’s. I had no idea what was going on here. Evidently some old nemesis of Reaper’s had decided to intervene. And just in time, too. “Go, now!�
“But…� For some reason Lucky seemed hesitant to leave.
“Come on, Lucky!� I had to forcibly drag my Meowth over to where the baby Onix was still cowering in terror. “Come on, you, we have to get out of here.� Fortunately the Onix was still very young, and small enough to lift up. Even though I was well aware that it wouldn’t remain this size for long. And after an initial squirming where the pokémon very nearly slipped out of my grasp on several occasions, we finally managed to get on our way, leaving Reaper and her mystery challenger to fight out whatever unfinished battle they had to resolve.

“Wow, and you guys managed to drag an Onix all the way here? They’re pretty big, aren’t they? Didn’t you need a truck or something?�
“She’s only a baby, Megan.� I sighed, trying once again to patiently explain why we had been so delayed. Not that explaining anything to Megan was an easy task. She was quite easily the most absent-minded pokémon I had ever encountered. “She was small enough to carry.�
“I thought they were supposed to be big, though.�
“She’s a kid, like me!� Ryo-Ohki grinned winsomely at his Marill friend. Megan had come on in leaps and bounds since her initial admission into the Pokémon Centre. In fact, there hardly seemed anything wrong with her at all. Even the news of her trainer’s death hadn’t done anything to dampen her spirits for more than a brief moment. “Megan, when are you coming home? I miss having you to play with.�
“Oh yeah!� The Marill’s eyes brightened. “I knew I had something important to tell you guys!�
“Which is?� I tried very hard to suppress my laughter. Much like Beckham, there was the general impression that Megan liked to exaggerate her faults for comedy value. So the response I got was hardly unexpected.
“Which is what?� The Marill blinked, confused. “Oh, wait, yeah, I remember. They’re letting me out today, did you know that? So you and me and you and you and whoever else wants to come can all go home together! Hey, do you think that Onix wants to come home with us as well?�
“I don’t think even my house has enough for an Onix, Megan.�
“But I thought you said it was a small one?�
“At the minute, yeah, but it’s going to grow.� At the back of my mind, I had to admit, was a certain desire to adopt the little Onix. It had been left with nobody thanks to the heartless actions of Reaper. The only things stopping me from adding it to my growing family were the practicalities of the matter. Ah well. It seemed as if there was still going to be a pokémon in the local Pokécentre for me to keep an eye on. “And then we’re screwed. We hardly have enough room for everybody as it is, especially since Soo started building a team herself.�
“You could buy a bigger house, couldn’t you?� Ryo-Ohki, it seemed, put about as much thought into his arguments as Megan. All of a sudden I found myself wishing I had taken Marius along to put the case forward for common sense.
“Yeah, isn’t it just a case of going up to someone and offering them a load of money for their house?� Megan added. “If it isn’t then it should be. Anyway, we were supposed to be doing something, weren’t we?�
“Yeah, we were supposed to be taking you home, Megan.� Lucky rolled his eyes. He had been in an unusually edgy mood ever since events on the way over to the Pokémon Centre. And right now it seemed as if he wanted nothing more than to get out of these clean, clinical surroundings and back into the outside world. “Come on, guys, everyone will be waiting for us back home. And I bet Becks will be pleased to see Megan back in action.� The Meowth smiled slightly. “I’d quite like to see his face when you guys meet up again, actually.�
“What, he’s missed me?� The Marill sounded shocked. Anyone else would have probably taken the hint a long time ago. Beckham had been in to visit practically every day, with my permission or not. But then, this was Megan. “Wow…�
“Yeah, I’d say he’s been a little concerned,� I smiled. “Anyway, Lucky, we can’t go home just yet. We were going to pop over and have a quick training session with Gina whilst we were out, remember?�
“Oh yeah.� The Meowth didn’t seem too perturbed by this news. It seemed he was just anxious to leave our current location. “Okay. Can we get moving now, please?�
“Sure thing. We’ll get cracking right now.� I stood up from the couch I was currently sat upon, only to have a nurse scuttle over to me with a clipboard stuffed with papers. Fortunately it wasn’t one of those Nurse Joy types. It was just a short woman with glasses and a bob in her bottle-blonde hair. Which was a good thing, really. The more traditional Pokémon Centres had a tendency to freak me out with their alarming similarity to each other.
“Sir?� the nurse asked. “Before you leave there’s just a few formalities. Just sign to say you’re taken the Marill, and that you’re the one who brought the Onix in. Just to help us keep track of things.� She proffered the clipboard and a biro. I sighed deeply and sat back down again, shooting a weary glance over at my pokémon.
“Did I say ‘right now’? I’m sorry, I meant ‘in a few years’.� Sometimes it seemed that life was just one delay after another.

The little pokémon watched as the group moved onwards. She knew full well that she should have left by now. Her job was done. And her injuries needed tending to eventually. But something compelled her to stay, to follow for a distance and study this little rabble closely. Maybe it was curiosity. Or maybe it was just the fact that after a lifetime of loneliness the desire to move past mere acquaintances and into the realm of real friends was too great. Either way, the Eevee followed despite herself, despite the fact that it was clearly weakness to give into her whims like this. But then, right now it was okay to show weakness. The threat had passed. She could afford to relax a little. She could afford to act a little strangely. Because right now all she knew was that she had to talk to these creatures, had to somehow gain that vital bit of contact. Now she was here, wouldn’t it have been a waste to not at least say goodbye?

“Hey.� We had been walking down a pristine street in leafy suburbia, the sort of place where the roads were lined with sycamore trees and every white painted house had an identically trimmed front lawn. “Do any of you guys think that something’s not quite right here?� Lucky looked over at his companions, and knew the answer straight away. A less perceptive group he couldn’t have hoped to have been accompanying. “Never mind, I’m just having one of those odd moments, you know?�
“Oh, I’m always having those, Lucky, don’t worry about it.� I shook my head in bemusement. “Come on, our life is one big odd moment from beginning to end!�
“I guess…� Lucky stared into the distance, absently watching Megan and Ryo-Ohki play tag a few feet further down the road. “It’s just that something feels weird, you know? I can’t help but feel we’re being watched.�
“We probably are,� I replied, trying to reassure my Meowth. I knew what he was like. Once he started to worry it was very hard to get him to stop. “Those two are making so much noise that I bet half the neighbourhood’s peeking out from behind their lace curtains to find out what’s going on.�
“No, Ade, it’s more that just nosy neighbours, it’s… like I say, I’m not sure. I just can’t seem to place what it is.�
“It’s the fact that you’re more perceptive than you give yourself credit for.� A voice suddenly rang out from the treetops. For a moment it was difficult to place exactly where it was coming from, but eventually my eyes settled upon a small brown figure perched nimbly amongst the branches of one of the many sycamores. The cool, confident look in its eyes gave the impression that this was no ordinary pokémon. But that didn’t answer my most burning question. How on earth did an Eevee manage to climb a tree? “It’s nice to run into you all one more time. At least in more pleasant circumstances.� The Eevee jumped nimbly down from the tree with such ease that at least it seemed to answer my question. But a thousand others had risen to replace it. Especially now I realised exactly which Eevee this was. I should have guessed, really. I didn’t normally understand a pokémon straight away unless I either connected with it – as was the case with Pandora – or it sounded so similar to a pokémon I already knew that it removed the language barrier completely. In Rhiannon’s case, the sheer fact that she was directly related to two members of my team made it so much easier to follow her. If indeed a creature so distant could be followed at all. “Good morning, father.� Rhiannon nodded to Lucky. “And hello to your new companions. I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.�
“Oh!� I suddenly realised that Megan and Ryo-Ohki hadn’t been around during our escapades at Temple Taure. They had yet to meet the rather disjointed Eevee. “This is Ryo-Ohki and Megan. They used to belong to a trainer killed recently by Team Rocket. Guys, this is Rhiannon. She’s Milliardo’s sister.�
“As much as he hates to admit it.� A trace of sadness cross the Eevee’s face. But as ever, it was only the briefest of flickers. Rhiannon was even harder to read than her brother at times. “I don’t think he’s too comfortable with the fact that I’m no longer the tag-playing bundle of fun he used to know. At least I’m not most of the time.� She shook her head sadly. “So what brings you to this place?�
“You’re very good at asking that when you’re the one who seems the more out of place, did you know that?� Lucky smiled grimly. “It’s a habit you need to break. For that matter, what are you doing here? And what happened to Reaper?� Now there was a good point! The last we had seen, Rhiannon had been confronting the Salamence directly.
“Fortunately for me she’s always suffered from a short attention span.� This begged the question as to how Rhiannon knew this, but I had the feeling that I didn’t want to know. “She grew bored and ran back to her beloved Armand. I’m just glad she hasn’t the appetite for spending time without his company. Otherwise I doubt I would have lasted much longer. But anyway, you haven’t answered my question.�
“We’re on our way for a training battle, if you must know.� I grinned winsomely. “You’re welcome to tag along if you want.�
“Nice try. But I doubt your team is quite ready for the ructions that I would bring.� Rhiannon smiled, and for the first time the show of emotion was more than a brief flicker. “We all know Milliardo is less than comfortable in my presence. And I wouldn’t want to think of the consequences should Pandora fully recall her time spent with the Dark Cloak.� It was as if Rhiannon suddenly realised that she had said too much, for she quickly changed the subject. “You needn’t go so far out of your way for a training battle, though. I’ve had plenty of experience of tutoring others in my time. If you’d rather, whoever you wanted to train can spar with me.�
“What?� Lucky spluttered. “But… you just took on Reaper!!!�
“With this.� Rhiannon let the gemstone on her forehead open up once again, the fur on her forehead splitting to reveal an almost dazzling emerald glow. “A power that can be easily regulated, since it was never really mine in the first place. Obviously I’m not going to use my full force. Does a karate master use his every technique when tutoring his disciples? No. So just put that thought out of your mind now. I’d just fight as well as I had to in order to push you enough to benefit.�
“Actually, that does sound tempting.� I thought for a moment. Gina would understand. Hell, I couldn’t seem to stop bumping into the woman lately. I would have plenty of opportunity to explain. And the chance to bond a little with Rhiannon seemed irresistible. “Here, or..?�
“No, silly!� Rhiannon shook her head, and all of a sudden her expression seemed to grow all the brighter, a beaming smile that wouldn’t have looked out of place of the likes of Beckham or Kirei. “We’re gonna fight somewhere else. Don’t wanna get ran over or anything, do we?� The Eevee practically leapt into my arms, and it was only by the most amazing of miracles that I managed to catch her without falling over myself. “Come on, we can take good care of you guys! Just trust us, okay, I know I don’t make sense half the time but she does and if she says it’s okay I guess you should probably trust her.� The Eevee pouted. “Because I know she’s a big meanie who hogs all the time down here but she knows what she’d doing more than I do.� It was very hard to follow all of this. But my prior experiences of Rhiannon had steeled me to the fact that you had to basically consider her as two totally separate creatures. For the Eevee was a great ally, and a strong friend, but she had one major flaw. Rhiannon suffered from a serious case of multiple personality disorder. The scary thing being that the personalities seemed fully aware of each other’s existence.
“Alright, alright,� I sighed. “Just lead the way.�

“This is as good a place as any.� By the time we had reached a suitable place to stage a battle it appeared that the detached side to Rhiannon’s persona had regained full control, the Eevee casting an expert eye around her surroundings. It wasn’t much, in fact it was just an old car park down a side street that nobody seemed to even realise existed, surrounded by a chain link fence and littered with random scraps of litter that broke up the endless cemented floor. “Few obstacles, no immediate danger of interference… yes, this will serve our purposes just fine. So then…� Rhiannon turned to face our little team. “Which of you was hoping to hone their skills today?�
“Er…� Lucky shuffled forward nervously. “That’d be me, but…�
“Cast our blood ties aside.� Rhiannon cut Lucky off before he had a chance to finish. “In fact, I would be honoured to help you improve your skills. You must promise me, however, not to go easy on me.�
“But…�
“You won’t hurt me.� The Eevee’s tone was totally neutral, totally emotionless. “Pain is an irrelevance that I have no problems in dealing with. And believe me, I have my ways of restoring myself should you happen to do any damage. So treat this as if it were a proper battle.�
“Well… alright.� My Meowth nervously assumed battle position. Sparring against the daughter he never even realised he had! Well, if nothing else life had certainly become a lot more complicated lately. The big question was, how much further was it liable to go in its twist and turns?

FIGHT!!! L19 Meowth v L19 Eevee!

“Okay. Let’s do this.� Lucky swallowed hard. He had no idea what to expect, but there was only really one way to find out. And that was to attack. Gathering all of the power he had in his legs, he shot towards Rhiannon as rapidly as he could, claws extended and ready to swipe. But just at the last moment his opponent seemed to disappear totally from sight. “What the…?� The Meowth skidded to a halt, confused.
“Pay more attention or else your opponent will have the advantage.� Something struck Lucky in the side with enough force to knock him completely off his feet. It felt as if he had just been attacked with a sledgehammer. But it was just his daughter, who even now was landing neatly after a particularly vicious Tackle attack. There was still no trace of emotion within her dark eyes. Just cold, calculated intelligence. “You should have been able to follow where I was going.�
“Well I’ll know to keep an eye of you in future.� Lucky picked himself up from the tarmac. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so fast.�
“Consider that your second lesson, then. Especially in Ulthuan. Anything can, and probably will, happen. Now are you going to try and attack me again?�
“Certainly!� Concentrating hard, Lucky summoned a handful of coins into his paw and hurled them as hard as he could in Rhiannon’s direction. Yet despite the improbability of it all, the Eevee effortlessly dodged every one with only the minimal of movements. Still, that wasn’t the end to Lucky’s plans. Whilst his opponent was distracted he followed up the Pay Day with another attempt at a Scratch attack. But somehow this, too, Rhiannon seemed to be able to avoid, leaving Lucky clawing desperately at thin air. How on earth was this possible? “Who on earth taught you how to dodge so well?�
“My tutor is far from here, but that’s quite a long story and best saved for another day.� The Eevee sidestepped yet another attempt to strike her. And another. And another. “Come on, father, stop holding back! You’re better than this!� There was a bizarre intensity in Rhiannon’s gaze, something both disturbing and yet also strangely reassuring. Something that lent Lucky enough confidence to aim his next attack properly. And this time his claws only just missed, coming so close to actually striking that they sliced through the very tips of the hairs in Rhiannon’s fur. “Now we’re getting somewhere!� The Eevee seemed impressed. “Hit me with all you’ve got, or you won’t be able to hit me at all.�
“You want all I’ve got? You asked for it…� Lucky fired yet another Pay Day at Rhiannon, and as he predicted the Eevee dodged the coins with ease. But she wasn’t quite prepared for his follow-up attack. Without so much as pausing for breath, the Meowth began to build up a charge within his body, storing static electricity within him until it became too great to be contained within a single Meowth. Until it leapt out in the form of a huge Thunderbolt, coursing towards his opponent and striking her before she so much as realised what was happening. Yet even this didn’t quite go as planned. Rhiannon winced slightly, certainly, and even staggered forwards a step or two, but the mighty electrical attack had failed to so much as knock her over. For once the energy had discharged itself the Eevee was still standing every bit as firm as she had from the outset.
“I’m not entirely sure you need my assistance at all.� The Eevee smiled, the first time a decent expression had crossed the face of her more methodical persona in a long time. “I think you could probably stand up to most opponents, given the strength of your Thunderbolt.�
“But not to you.� Lucky frowned. “What’s going on here, Rhiannon?�
“I told you before. Pain is a total irrelevance. I don’t let it affect me.� The smile faded as quickly as it had appeared. “So shall we finish this battle?�
“Sure. As futile as it seems to me.� The two pokémon took a leap at almost the same time, and it was only by a feat of dodging that his opponent would have been proud of that Lucky managed to avoid a head on collision. The Meowth twisted in the air quickly, averting his course so that he passed directly underneath Rhiannon. Seizing the chance, he took a swift swipe at her underbelly, causing the Eevee to gasp in pain and fall clumsily to the floor. “Rhiannon, are you…�
“I’m fine.� Despite the sudden attack Rhiannon landed on all four paws sturdily. It seemed as if the only way to make this one collapse would be to sedate her! And even then Lucky had the sneaking suspicion that you would still need enough tranquilizer to knock out a whole herd of Rhydon. “I can still carry on, if that’s what you’re worried about.� The Eevee took a step forwards, but it was if her strength was rapidly fading. In the end whatever force was holding her upright simply gave way, leaving her to collapse upon her side. And reveal the true cause of her problems. Directly next to the trivial scratch Lucky had just inflicted upon her was a yawning chasm of a wound, a deep gash in her chest that had almost cut straight to the bone. How had she been able to keep that from everybody? It was still bleeding slightly, blood pumping from the wound even now and matting her fur with its thick crimson gloop.
“Rhiannon!� Lucky rushed to his daughter’s side anxiously. He couldn’t lose her, not now, not so soon after finding her! “What… this is from when you fought Reaper, isn’t it?�
“It looks worse than it really is,� the Eevee lied. “Father, promise me that should I lose consciousness you won’t have me sent to a Pokémon centre.�
“But why?�
“It would mean stumbling into the world of trainers, and I’m not quite ready for that yet. And besides…� Here Rhiannon coughed weakly. “…besides, there are those who I wouldn’t want knowing of my presence. Please?�
“Very well,� Lucky nodded. “But what are we supposed to do?�
“You’re a resourceful bunch. I’m sure you’ll think of something.� And with this, the Eevee’s eyes closed, trapped in the prison of a dreamless sleep.

Lucky wins!
Lucky grew to L20!
Lucky learns Protect as his free TM!

“Wow, it’s a good job you got her here in time.� In light of Lucky’s insistence that Rhiannon didn’t want to be taken into a Pokécentre, I had to call in on the only other creatures I could think of who were likely to own the correct equipment. So we found ourselves back in that quaint little Japanese house on the outskirts of Sector Alpha, where Tsuyoi’s sisters made their home. And for once it seemed as if everything was going as well as it could have done. Kushikoi, the eldest, dark blue sister, happened to be the only one home, and almost in the same instant she saw the state of the Eevee in my arms she had her hooked up to a life support system, banks of monitors churning out constant data about Rhiannon’s progress. “I’d say the only reason she’s held on this long is by sheer willpower. It’s amazing how much a strong mind can help you, don’t you think?� The large, wolf-like creature grinned broadly, before returning her attentions to the computer monitors.
“Maybe. But you haven’t answered my question, Kushikoi. Will she be alright?�
“Oh yes, yes, there’s no doubt about it. She heals at a remarkable rate, in fact, I’d be willing to put money on her having been tampered with to enhance her physical abilities. You know, like Team Rocket used to do before they turned all psychotic and terrorist-y on us. Speaking of which, you wouldn’t happen to know about something called Project Singlehorn, would you?� Seeing the look of blank incomprehension upon my face, Kushikoi sighed deeply. “Maybe not. It was worth a shot. I suppose I shouldn’t go prying in other people’s affairs, should I?�
“You’ve not been hacking into the Guild’s system again, have you?� I rolled my eyes. The family impulsiveness was going to get one of them in serious trouble one day. “Not even you can expect to avoid their guards every time.�
“Wanna bet?� Kushikoi cackled. “There’s not a single password I can’t bypass, not a single encryption method I can’t decode, and not a single firewall made that I don’t have the means to remotely disable.�
“So why haven’t you already snooped into the highest level Guild files and found out why they’ve been so sinister lately?�
“Because I’m bluffing, Ade. Even I know my limits.� Kushikoi sighed. “Anyways, we should be really concentrating on your little friend over there. Who is she, again?�
“The daughter I didn’t know I had until about a fortnight ago,� Lucky replied on my behalf. “So can you blame me for being a little worried?�
“Not at all. She just arouses my interest, that’s all, and not because of these readouts. It’s what she sets off in here that intrigues me.� The pseudo-Ninetales tapped her head with one of the front limbs that served as her arms. “Even when she’s unconscious I get a seriously weird aura from her. Not to mention the fact that inside her head seems to be total chaos. I wouldn’t know quite what to make of it all until I’ve run some tests… with her permission, of course! Ade, stop glaring at me like that!� Evidently Kushikoi had noticed the look of disapproval that had crossed my face upon hearing the word ‘tests’. “But listen to me, and pay attention for once. The one thing I know about this Eevee is that it seems that having anything to do with her will be just courting trouble. Are you ready for even more problems, after all that’s happened to you in the past?� I said nothing. But instead stared down at the little pokémon lay upon Kushikoi’s bed, hooked up to so many wires and tubes that it was hard to make out the original pokémon underneath them all. Deep within my heart I knew that my eccentric friend was right. To have any dealings with this creature would just cause more complications. But could I find it within my heart to just ignore her? Well, at least she seemed pretty certain about not wanting a trainer. At least that was one worry off my mind. But even so, I couldn’t just leave her.
“Problems have a way of finding me anyway,� I finally replied. “It won’t hurt to give them a bit of a push, will it? At least that way I’ll be expecting them.� And besides which, any pokémon related to my team members was a pokémon I would have liked to get to know a little better. But for now I would have to wait. Wait until the Eevee finally pulled through. And maybe then we could get some answers to our many, many questions.

[Lady Vulpix]

So many battles! x_x I think we'll have to divide them among us in order to rate them.
Karin, I've read your conclusion. You did a great job considering you had to retell the same events Amy and I had, and I enjoyed seeing your perspective of those events. ^_^
I'll try to rate at least one or two battles today.

[*Murkrow]

*Skips in*
As proof of my excellent timing, I've got another battle to add to the list of ones waiting to be rated..my first one from the previous scenario^_^ Heh, looks like I needed that time extension after all.
Hopefully I'll have the second one up by the weekend, so I can start on the new scenario o_O

~Hannah~

The bench was shattered; wood flakes littered the floor, while the metal support that had once held the back up was twisted, jagged edges revealed, waiting to tear anything that got close.
But I didn’t really care-it was something to sit on, and that was all that mattered to me now.
Gingerly, I sat down-half expecting the bench to collapse beneath my weight-but for once, my luck seemed to be holding out, as the bench creaked and sagged but held.
That done, I turned my attention to my new surroundings..and wondered why the heck I was here anyway.
From my position on the bench, I could see the wide expanse of lawns, stretching down to the flat, dark shape of a lake. To the left of the water, I could just make out the looming shape of a building-but even from this far, I could tell that it was derelict. The windows were boarded up, the paint gouged out in chunks visible even from so far away.
Beyond the lake, barely visible through the blankets of black cloud, there rose the dark, silent outlines of a cityscape.
I had a feeling that that was where I was meant to be, but for now, I lowered my eyes and tried to concentrate on my current surroundings.
The dirt path I’d followed from the rusty, battered gates cut across the dark, barren grass-scraggly, lifeless, over-grown. Small sparks flickered in them, promised treasures, but on closer inspection, were found to be nothing more than the shattered remnants of bottles, their gaudy colours reflecting the light from the harsh street lamps that lined the road behind.
They were not only hidden in the grass. Their sharp fingers littered the paths, lusting for the unsuspecting to blunder past, waiting to tear, rip; to maim.
Littered in the wood flakes from the bench, there rested the remains of one; dark green knifes, daggers, resting peacefully where they had been smashed.
Stopping, I gently picked up one; saw the light flickering over its curved surface; saw the sparkle of the last drop of the dark liquid, reflecting the light beyond.
Twisting round, I could look up the slope that rose behind, averting my eyes from the hidden secrets on the ground, to where the metal bars of the fence burst from the ground, spiked, waiting for those who would dare try to cross them. Behind these, the street lamps flared, beacons raised feet above the ground, casting their light, creating the shadows. But not everywhere. The light could not reach far from its power; the path in front lead into darkness, penetrable only by eyes keener than humans.
I shivered.
Black clouds stretched overhead, shielding any light, enclosing the sky. From their depths came the snarl of thunder-but only quiet. I would have time to leave before the storm broke.
Forcing myself back to reality, I tried to focus, but my mind kept wandering-I didn’t want to enter the city, didn’t want to have to walk down the darkened streets, be forced to breathe the polluted air.
But I had to. I’d got the unlucky draw, and didn’t have a choice.
But I did have something’s that would help make the trip more bearable.
Carefully reaching into my bag, I pulled out five objects; three small, shimmering boxes, one golden, hoop earring and a bottle of brightly coloured, glistening liquid.
There was also something else.
A jade coloured fang, embedded with gold plate, smooth to the touch, but with an aura of power round it.
I tucked it away again; I had no need of it now.
Instead…..

~Xolotle~

Darkness.
Darkness and drabness.
That’s all I could think of to describe this wasted landscape I’d appeared in.
I glanced up at Hannah, hoping that she’d fill me in on something…like why on earth we were here in the first place...but she was too busy fussing over my daughter to notice me.
Typical.
I turned away again, looking back out over the grass; my senses picked up hidden rustles from the grass; swift movements overhead; pierced the shadows.
Across the lake, across the grass, came the heavy, clogging smell of pollution; the acrid smell of burning, the cloying waste from exhausts, the tangy smell of melting plastic.
An industrial estate, that’s what that was.
Youthful, high-pitched squealing behind caught my attention; something was up.

~Nyura~

I sniffed the bottle of bright liquid, unable to keep from trembling, or whimpering excitedly.
The bottle trembled in my grasp; then in an instant, I tilted and drained it.
Warmth.
Trembling, flowing though my whole body; I clung to the bench, my claws sending spirals of dust and wood fluttering down.
My fur was lightening, night-black, rising to deep purple, fading away to form an incredible, delicate pink; twisting, I saw that my once pink feathers had transformed into a rich gold, trimmed with yellow.
‘It’s great! I love it!’

~Xolotle~

So she’s finally been given that Shiny Juice.
About time too.
A sudden sensation in my head-father made me look up; a golden, hoop earring now hung there; already I could feel its effect on me-feel my power growing.
‘Hey Xol, these are also for you.’
Hannah was holding out three boxes to me; TM’s.
‘That’s Powder Snow, that’s Moonlight, and that’s Shadow Ball.’
‘Woah..thanks.’
I eagerly snatched the boxes from here and began activating them to get my rewards; while I did so, I was aware of Hannah getting up, looking down towards the lake.
A flicker of something crossed her face, then was gone; she shuddered slightly and glanced over.
‘When you’re done with that, we’re going to head over that way, ok? There’s something I need to do.’

~Hannah~

For once, Xol didn’t argue with me, which was a relief. If she had, I might have ended up having even more second thoughts about what I was about to do-I’d been having nagging thoughts ever since I’d decided, and having to fight to actually make it happen would have made it even worse.
Shaking my head to get rid of my doubts, I quickly returned Nyura to her Poké Ball and shot a look at Xolotle.
‘You ready?’
She looked up and nodded.
Excellent.
I turned and began to follow the rough, worn track that lead to the lake; Xolotle cautiously dropped to all fours and darted in front, keeping an eye on the path.
Neither of us spoke. She seemed to have caught my mood; she kept glancing over and frowning at me, but I couldn’t be bothered to elaborate about what was going on, until we got within throwing distance of the lake.
Up close, it looked a lot less appealing than it had when viewed from further up the hill.
Lamps from the fence beyond cast their light over the silent waters, highlighting images that had remained previously invisible.
Dark, nameless objects floated on the surface, bobbing gently along in invisible currents, cutting through the murky gleam on the waters surface; it looked as though something had been tipped into the lake, polluting every inch of it; sealing the surface, clogging at the lake-side in thick, sticky lumps.
Just past the shore-line, the shiny, metal form of a trolley could be seen, one leg protruding above the surface, glistening even beneath its layer of mud and pollution.
In the centre of the lake, there was the shattered remains of a rowing boat, testimony of what the lake must have once been used for; the slashed remains of its oars protruded though its sides, while it lolled, half in, half out, of the water, perilously tilted.
I glanced once at the building-what must have once been the old boat house- but it just looked like it had from my first impression-a derelict, wasted property, with gashed paint work and boarded up windows and doors.
At my side, Xolotle made a low murmur of displeasure; I sensed her glance at me, obviously wondering why we had stopped here.
After seeing the lakes condition, I was even less enthusiastic about subjecting her to this water, but then again…
Oh for god’s sake, quit being such a wimp.
Quickly, I reached into my jacket and pulled out her Poké Ball.
‘Ok, Pearl, come on out.’
There was a flash, and then Pearls familiar form materialised; the large blue shell, with its delicate inside structure of blue, with Pearls features in the centre.
She looked at me briefly, before shuddering and spinning round in the water, pulling a disgusted face.
‘Pearl, I’ve been thinking-if you stay in this form you’ll be, well, pretty limited in terms of moves you’ll learn naturally, and you won’t have exactly the best of stats…so, how would you feel about evolving? Because if you do, well, I got you this.’
I pulled out the jade tooth again and held it out for her to see; for a second she eyed it carefully, then her shell opened wide, and gently pulled it from my hand, closing slowly.
For a second there was nothing, then, from inside, a bright white light began to shine through the closed rim of Pearls shell; the light then spread, until her whole body was shining.
The large, bulky shell elongated, twisting and writhing; along its length, humps began to form, bursting into place. A tail began to form at the end; arrow shaped. Her head shrunk; two humps emerging either side of her open mouth, while a fan shaped crest extended from her skull.
The light dimmed, faded away, until all that was left glowing was the flickering, pulsing spots along her body, head and tail.

Pearl evolved into a Huntail!

I smiled happily at my new Pokémon; she didn’t respond, just stared back at me, mouth slightly agape, showing off her fearsome teeth.
‘The name Pearl doesn’t really suit her now, you know, Hannah.’
Xolotle edged closer to the water, eyeing the Huntail with interest.
‘Yeah, I know, so….how about changing it from Pearl to Fera? It definitely suits her.’
I glanced at her silent form.
‘Is that ok with you, girl? Fera?’
Still nothing.
‘You sure evolving didn’t damage her hearing?’
‘And why would it do that? No, she’s probably just slightly shocked due to the speed of it.’
I carefully dropped to my knees, reaching out to pat Fera’s head; the Pokémon flinched away, tail flying, jaws gaping.
For a second, her head reared above the water, her eyes flashing, hissing; then she was gone, slipping into the water with barely a ripple.
I swore under my breath, frantic.
‘Fera?’
The trolley leg out in the lake suddenly shuddered, then disintegrated, the metal twisting, snapping, as something gouged its way past. A flash of light flickered, then dimmed-enough to briefly illuminate Feras’ body as she circled, before striking out further into the centre.
‘Damn damn damn.’
I jumped to my feet and began to charge round the edge of the lake, keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of Fera; behind I heard Xolotle begin to give chase, easily overtaking me as she hurtled round the lake-side.
Ten minutes later, gasping, and with an agonising stitch in my side, I slowed to a halt, and stared desperately at the lake.
Nothing.
I’d kept my eyes on it all the time I’d been running, but hadn’t seen any sign of Fera.
Xolotle came traipsing back, having run on ahead to try and reach the boundary; she shook her head.
This was impossible.
I chanced another look at the lake, hoping to see anything-a ripple, a flash of light, but all I could see was the cool, dark expanse stretching out.
Except.
On the far side of my vision, I noticed something-small, but charging towards the lake; a flame.
As I watched, it hurtled forwards, the flame vanishing, but a small cascade of water marking the point where whatever it was had entered the water.
Xolotle had noticed it too; she gave me a meaningful look then darted along the grass. I followed.
Close up, I saw the flame burst into life again, ramming into the neck of the creature that was thrashing above the water.
I lengthened my stride, gasping, eyes fixed onto the battle.
Then, whatever it was versus Fera, struck from the side, nimbly evading her razor sharp teeth, knocking her half onto the land.
‘Fera, return.’
I quickly held out my Pokémons Poké Ball, praying that I was in range for it to work.
A bright red flash, then Fera’s twisting and writhing body vanished, pulled back into her Poké Ball, which shook worryingly for a second, before settling.
Relieved that I’d managed to get my Pokémon back relatively safely, I took a closer look at what had been her opponent.
A Rattata-but even in the dark I could see that although tensely posed, with wary eyes, its fur was sleek, and the small muscles in its legs held as it stared back.
This wasn’t a wild one-and the fact that it had been able to use Flame Wheel so well proved that.
It snarled, teeth bared.
This would have to happen.
Cautiously, I glanced round for its trainer-the last thing I wanted was a sneak attack while I was occupied with their Pokémon.
Xolotle tensed beside me; eyes narrowing as she looked at the region of shadows behind the person.
I couldn’t perceive anything in the shadows there, but that was obviously where who-ever it was had stationed themselves.
‘Nice Huntail.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Having trouble controlling it?’
‘And I’d tell you why?’
‘Because.’
The Rattata snarled and darted forward.
‘Not good socially is he?’
Xolotle muttered quietly beside me, as I pulled a Poké Ball free, watching the other Pokémon carefully.
‘Alright Archie, go.’
A flash, then the small shrimp appeared…….and from the shadows there came a low start of surprise. That’s when it struck me that sending out a supposedly extinct Pokémon against a Team Rocket member might not have been the best of ideas.
Damn it.

~Archie~
The Rattata in front of me dug its claws into the ground, teeth bared, eyes flicking over me. Its tail twitched, legs tensing.
‘Rattata, get me that Pokémon, he looks useful.’
Er, what?
It snarled and sprung forward.

Fight!
Archie (Anorith M L6)
Vs
Rattata (L8)

The Rattatas body blurred, its lithe body stretching out as it sped towards me.
Before I could respond, it smashed into me, dirt clods flying as we smashed through the grass and earth, tumbling to a halt a few feet from the lake.
My head pounding slightly from where it had struck, I automatically swung my claws forward, mindlessly trying to Scratch any part of its body I could reach; it squealed in alarm, digging its claws into my side as it vainly struggled to get a firm footing-but my armour simply turned aside its struggles, standing up to its increasingly frenzied assault.
‘Rattata, quit being an idiot, Quick Attack out of there.’
The Pokémon squeaked in response, hammered into my claw, then flickered and vanished as it streaked away, before spinning in an instant and crashing back into my side. The attack barely hurt-I felt it only as a light shove, but it was enough to push me back, back towards the water.
Something wet touched my tail, sticky; it clung to it unceasingly even as I pulled away. My attention divided, I didn’t have time to react as it crashed into me again.
My legs slipped in the filth, trying to catch my balance, I sunk deeper into it; another blow to my head, and I was knocked back, falling into the murky water of the lake.
It was only shallow, but instantly, I felt my weight dragging me down, as my whole body repelled away from its touch.
The Rattata laughed; it was standing, feet away, free from the clogging filth that lined the shore.
‘Nice work, Rattata.’
Nice work?
Something flared; gathering my energy, I flung myself forward, slithering over the grime, trying to get as far away from the water as I could. It worked in a way-I couldn’t get free from the matter, but its hold prevented me from falling back into the retched waters.
Breathing hard, I forced my self forwards, watching the Rattata; it had stopped laughing now, teeth bared again.
‘Alright Archie, Swords Dance.’
I froze; along my sides I felt a ripple of energy, then a steady, pulsing beat. My legs flickered, shining and pulsating with power; the Rattata paused, eyes keening.
Another ripple, then I felt a slight jolt as the two nearest ones tugged, then flickered as copies floated free; flickering and shimmering, they covered my claws; absorbing the light, I felt the edges sharpening, knew my power with them had risen.
‘Trying to be strategic? Rattata, Tail Whip.’
Its body shook; its tail twisted and flicked, side to side, continuos, rhythmic, drawing my eyes along with it. Faster, faster, as the Pokémon weaved its way closer.
Too close.
‘Quick Attack.’
It broke free from its trance abruptly, gritted its teeth and flung itself forwards.
Pain-more pain than I’d felt before-shot through my body.
I staggered back, feeling the clogging touch, tearing my legs away.
‘Fine then. Flame Wheel.’
In front, the Rattatas body suddenly combusted, flames bursting from its fur, enclosing it in a roaring inferno. The ball of fire struck the ground, bounced up and charged towards me.
‘Archie, counter it with Ancient Power.’
Forcing myself to focus, even as I felt the searing heat as it approached, I lowered my senses, searching deep into the ground, tearing at its fibres with my mind.
A split second-heat…intense…then a roar as the ground exploded, boulders long hidden rearing in front of their target, smashing into its body; the flames flickered and vanished as the Rattata was sent smashing into the ground-a direct hit.
The remains of the boulders shattered down, digging into the ground, cascades of earth and rocks rolling around the torn battlefield.
Gasping, I looked round for my opponent, hoping that my attack would have been enough to finish it off.
No such luck.
A flash, and the flame re-ignited, materialising in front of me.
But it didn’t attack-it stayed, its flame body wavering as it forced itself to stand tall.
It thinks I’ll hit it with another attack if it moves.
I glanced down into the chasm I’d created; I’d need more time to create an attack of that force again.
‘Rattata, don’t be such a coward-attack it now.’
The circle of flame sprung forwards.
‘Archie, Hidden Power.’
The eye markings on my skull began to glow, as I forced myself to dredge out every bit of my power; the air around me wavered, as if in a heat haze, before focusing into small, white balls of light, burning with a ferocity as large as the real flames that licked the body of the Rattata charging towards me.
It jumped, lunging forwards towards me.
Instantly, all the white balls converged, throwing their pulsing light into the surroundings; white hot, glowing, bug formed formations of light burst forward; meeting the fire head on.
The fire incinerated them-tearing through their forms, causing a million flashes of light to burst, exploding in an instant, falling limply to the torn ground.
But it had worked-flinging myself to one side, I heard the Rattatas scrambling feet dig and slash at the grime as it struggled to get a hold.
I’d known that my Hidden Power was Bug, meaning that it could never hope to stand up to the ravenous flames, but instead, the touch of the flame had created a barrier of light, temporarily blinding the other Pokémon.
I could still hear it, struggling and gasping as it spun round, dazed.
‘RATTATA, GET UP.’
‘Archie, combine Aerial Ace and Slash.’
Slithering forwards, I used my weight to slip onto the slime, aiming myself for a full-on collision with the thrashing Rattata; hearing the rush of me approaching, it looked up, eyes blank and staring.
I slithered to the left, raising my sharpened claw; on my right I felt my legs begin to throb with the familiar feel of power.
‘Quick Attack, now.’
It pushed its legs deeper into the quagmire, forcing itself up; I flicked to the left, bringing my claw smacking into its body; as it fell, I spun to the left, sending it spiralling into the lake; feeling the waters touch, it gasped, briefly animated, waving its legs frantically, before the red beam of light recaptured it.

I won!
I grew to L7!
I learnt Harden!

From the shadows I heard the Rattatas trainer swear, then the sudden thud of his feet as he spun and fled; behind me, I heard Xolotle snarl briefly, obviously wanting to follow, but she didn’t.
My legs trembled; the smell coming from the lake and the filth, avoidable in the intensity of the battle, now rolled over me; unbearable, the stench pushing itself onto me.
I closed my eyes, choking, raising my head above the black grime.
‘Archie…that was great…now return.’

~Hannah~
For a second, I stared at Archie’s Poké Ball, before gently tucking it away; quickly, I checked that Fera’s Poké Ball was still intact, before glancing at Xol.
‘Ready to go?’
She nodded, and pointed slightly to the left of where the Team Rocket member had stood.
‘The path leads up there, if we follow it, we should reach the boundary of this park, from there it shouldn’t be too hard to find our way.’
I shrugged.
‘Sure.’
Now that I’d faced off against one Rocket member, I wasn’t as worried as I had been, but I couldn’t help glancing at the destruction that Archie’s battle had created; I shivered and turned away. If I got into another battle in the city, then I could easily cause as much damage as this-I wasn’t stupid, I knew that the guy would alert any other members in the district.
‘You coming?’
‘What? Oh, yeah..lets go.’
Shivering in the increasing cold, I turned and followed Xolotle as she began to trot away from the lake, eyes focused on the hidden path in front of her.

[andyizcool]

I had decided I needed to train my Pokemon to be ready for some future battles ahead of me. I had heard other people speak of some Training Grounds where we could train our Pokemon ready for future battles. So instead of being stood around all day doing nothing I walked to the entrance of the Training Grounds. All the rooms looked full of mysterious shadows of Pokemon that roamed about everywhere in their own environments.

I found it hard to make my choice of which room to go to first. My mind was lost in the confusion of where to train. Charmander jumped out of his Pokeball. He pointed straight at the Lava Room. I thought to myself that Charmander should be able to handle that Training Ground. Charmander had disappeared from my side. He had already entered the Lava Room ready to be trained. I wasted no time and ran after Charmander in order to help him.

I entered the Lava Room slowly scared what might happen. Before I had realised it, my whole body felt like it was burning from the all heat. Charmander came back to me. He gave me a disappointed look because he hadn’t found anything here yet. I told him we should explore more. He was filled with content and ran off further to the centre of this large room. Puzzled as I was I just ran after him in the flaming heat of the room.

Something seemed not quite right here because even with all the lava in a room this large it wouldn’t be as hot as it was. Charmander came rushing back to me. He looked frightened. I investigated the area that he ran from and found a little Pokemon that had hidden in a corner. The little Pokemon was scared to death. I sent Charmander over to it so he could go and apologise to the poor little Pokemon he had scared so much it was frozen.

“Hello. Who might you be?� Charmander greeted the little Pokemon politely.
“Magby.� The little Pokemon answered back trembling.
“Have you hidden in this corner because I scared you? I’m very sorry.�
“No, something bad has happened deep in this room.�
“Are we in any danger from this something?�
“We could be if we don’t do anything about it very soon.�
“Where is it? We must do something right away.�
“I can take you and your Trainer to it if you can help.�
“Sure, take us there right away.�

The Magby stood up and hopped about on the lava safely. It seemed he had triggered some sort of switch that opened a path forward. Charmander came back to me. He gave my trousers a hard tug as if he wanted me to follow him. Magby ran off ahead followed by Charmander and then me trailed behind the two Pokemon. Something I noticed that the Fire Pokemon neglected was the room got more warmer has we moved on ahead. This made me a little dizzy.

“How much further do we have to travel?� Charmander asked Magby nicely.
“Not far now I think.� The Magby replied delightfully.
“Is it me or is it really hot in here?�
“I can feel the heat too.� Magby started to faith.
“We must keep going.� Charmander answered back.
“Fire Pokemon shouldn’t be feeling this.�
“I think there’s something seriously wrong in here.�
“I feel so tired and sleepy.�
“Come on, we have to do this.�

Charmander and Magby’s friendly chat had turned into an argument under the pressure of the great heat wave. I had fallen over a few times from the dizziness of this room now. The heat was too much. Even Fire Pokemon hadn’t gone as deep as us to the core. All I could see was red blurry images in the distance of Charmander and Magby. Charmander rushed to my aid in the heat. He also kept Magby going, as we need to get to the bottom of this.

I finally saw a huge metal machine. Charmander’s eyes burnt with rage. Someone had put a machine here to use the core’s lava, which had created a heat wave. This heat wave had been powerful enough to even knock out Fire Pokemon if they weren’t strong enough. I could barely keep stood up in these conditions. Charmander scratched the machine as much as he could but it just ended in failure. Charmander had fallen too tired to move.

Magby walked around aimlessly in circles and had no control of his movement now. He slipped into the core’s lava uncontrollably. It was too late even Charmander couldn’t save him now. The whole Lava Room shock vigorously as the machine went into overload mode. I think Charmander and I could leave now our mission had been completed. We had thought too soon when an evil looking Magby jumped out of the lava and starred at us. Charmander got up and breathed deeply ready to fight the evil Magby.

Charmander (Level 6) vs. Magby (Level 8)

The Magby stood on the spot daze by the blurriness of not being able to see much in these hot conditions. Charmander took this time for an advantage. He used Swords Dance. This made Charmander a lot physically stronger and he also felt better in the intense heat wave that they had been caught in.

The Magby spat random Embers around the area that failed to hit Charmander. Charmander was worried he was hurting his friend but he needed to do it. Charmander used Scratch on the Magby, which knocked it down to the ground. Magby smirked as he lay on the ground.

Charmander needed to end this soon as he was still tired. Magby bounced up with excitement and unleashed a Fire Blast attack. Charmander was shocked and stood still as the attack just hit him straight down. Charmander leaped straight back up from the warm ground and gave Magby one final Scratch.

Charmander won the battle (Level 6+1).

The Magby had been finally knocked out from the battle against my Charmander. The place fell apart too quickly and there was no time to escape. I returned Charmander to his Pokeball so he could be safer from the heat or even an explosion. As everything just whirled around me I fell to the ground like a rock. I thought this would be the end for Charmander and myself but we needed to think positive at times like these. I had fainted near the core of the Lava Room where the machine had overloaded.

That's my first Pokemon Battle for the Lava Room Scenario. The next part will be my second Pokemon Battle for the Lava Room Scenario and the conclusion to my story in the Lava Room.

[AntiAsh Superstar]

Quick question, whereabouts in Ulthuan are the training grounds? Yes, I know I've been in them before during the Pegasus Games if they're the same as the ones used for that, but that was ages ago and I've a worse memory than my Marill. h:

[Lady Vulpix]

Yes, they're the same. They're in Sector Alpha, you won't have to travel this time. Though training in Yvresse was nice.

Now, on to the stamps.

Becca gets 9 stamps! Nice battle... I didn't expect a pokemon to use Sandstorm against a Scizor, but I reckon that attack can be used more than just cause damage. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
Ade gets 10 stamps. This is because I thought many parts of the story were great, but you could have got even more if you'd made the story clearer for those who haven't read the story we're writing (which is everyone bar you and me) and Rhiannon's side story. I don't think many would understand what you wrote.¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
Karin gets 11 stamps! Great work! That was an interesting and original battle. I don't know how 'Ryu' manage to burry himself like that, but a lot about him is still a mystery, right? ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
Everyone else, your battles will be rated soon... I hope.

[Charizard04621]

Thanks, Gabi. As for Ryu, you've said before that Jolteon and Espeon are capable of swimming. They don't learn any Water attack that has anything to do with swimming, yet you still believe that they can do it. Ryu's a ground type, and Trapinch are renowned for creating sand pits. Is it really any wonder that they can dig underground without actually knowing the move? ^_^;;

classy_cat18: Hmm... Take 10 Stamps. I couldn't buy the logic of Rain Dance being used inside a volcano, and the Staryu battle was a little confusing. You said your Staryu fired a Water Gun into the air, and then shot a Psybeam-esque attack downwards at its opponent. (If Water Gun was fired upwards, how, then, did Staryu get into the air?) Your story was also kinda sudden. I got the feeling that it was rushed somehow. Also random. Beacon dancing. O_o;; But your story was good enough to get Stamps, though, don't think that it was really bad. Really bad stories don't earn all the Stamps you got. ^_^;

[Wolfsong]

Sneasel(h)Obsessive take 15 stamps I loved how you described your surroundings and the description that you put into the battles. Keep up the nice work ^^

andyizcool, Karin said she'd get your battle ^^

[Charizard04621]

andyizcool: O_o Where did the machine come from? How'd Magby suddenly turn evil? Anyway... The story was sort of choppy because you kept using the same sentence structure over and over and over again (see how repetitive it gets?). Try to vary it a little. Anyway, take 5 Stamps.

[andyizcool]

andyizcool: O_o Where did the machine come from? How'd Magby suddenly turn evil? Anyway... The story was sort of choppy because you kept using the same sentence structure over and over and over again (see how repetitive it gets?). Try to vary it a little. Anyway, take 5 Stamps.

Silly me again. By sentence structure do you mean I always use simple sentences? I find it hard to use different sentences when I write. Maybe in my next piece for this Scenario I can find out where the machine came from and how the Magby turned evil. It would make a nice conclusion to my Lava Room Scenario.

[classy_cat18]

Karin (it is Karin, right?): Rain Dance powered up Beacon's Thunderbolt and Jewel's Water Gun! Who cares if it was used inside a volcano? But you're saying that Beacon can't even get that level up? Okay, I don't think Jewel deserves a level up, but...*takes out Beacon* You want to tell this face that her battle was not good enough? Real shot through the heart, Karin.

[Lady Vulpix]

classy_cat18, you misunderstood Karin's post. Your battles were valid; you even got 10 stamps for them! So, naturally, your pokemon did level up.

[classy_cat18]

*laughs nervously* Oh! Then no harm, no foul.

*Beacon sweatdrops*

Hey, I'm still a newbie at this, okay? Back to Microsoft Word we go! *stops* Um, what's the difference between Psybeam and Psychic appearance-wise?

[andyizcool]

Um, what's the difference between Psybeam and Psychic appearance-wise?

Look on Pokemon in 3D on N64 or GC. You'll see Psybeam shoots hoops of Psychic energy. Whereas Psychic the background just turns purple and then flashes on the opponent.

[Aipom Of Doom]

Um, what's the difference between Psybeam and Psychic appearance-wise?

Anything you want it to be :d. That's one of the reasons that I love the battle range ^_^.

[Angel Blossom]

Here is P.1 of the few I will be writing this scenario. Despite the grammar errors, I hope you like it!

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

“I want to be a Bellossom!� pouted the small, dark blue Oddish as she desperately frowned at us. Her reddish eyes gleamed with misery & impatience. The few bright green leaves on her head wriggled, as she grew frustrated. Lightnin’ crouched down to Petals, constantly reassuring her, “Trust me – a brave Oddish like ya will evolve in no time!� She said this as she gave her an encouraging pat.

She was always looking for ways to boost Petals’ esteem, that Pikachu. She smiled sweetly as she turned her head, staring at me with anticipation. Kindly, I smiled back, then turned my head back to the pond.

We were in a large, aquatic training zone for trainers and their Pokémon. I stood on a small yet sturdy platform as I observed the glimmering pond extended over the large area. Water Pokémon who swum happily in the water created noisy splashes & tittered with their pleasant laughter. Their trainers were discussing on the platform. I overheard their conversation; all were unpleasantly bragging about their Pokémon. Oh well, a lot of us trainers did that one time or another.

I was with Lightnin’, the young, energetic, caring Pikachu; and Petals, the timid yet sweet Oddish. Ever since they had first met, they were best of companions. Despite their distinct differences, these two made a great duo. Petals had been having a few frustrations with herself, however.

She really wanted to evolve into a stronger Pokémon – and fast. Seeing as she had some time to go, it wouldn’t be as soon as she thought. This Oddish had always been carried away with improving herself, even though most thought she was good anyway. She had been let down by her few lost battles, but she still wanted to aim towards her goal. I always knew that Petals was determined. She wouldn’t give up on her goals. I knew this. An encouraged Pokémon like her wouldn’t have ever dared to. What Petals wanted was to evolve into a Bellossom. In her opinion, they were probably the most attractive Pokémon of all – and that’s what she wanted.

“Listen, Petals – if you want to evolve soon, you should start training,� I said, crouching down to speak to her, “Maybe Lightnin’ & I could help you.�

Shrugging, Petals agreed to begin training. I smiled, happy to know that Petals was still determined to get there. Lightnin’, with a large smirk on her face, shouted out with her feedback.

�Well, if you want to evolve, let me help ya out,� said Lightnin’, cheerfully, “and this is a great place for ya to train, Petals! If ya battle here today, ya’ll have the advantage against the water Pokémon. It’ll be easy!

Before Petals could even sputter a word from her mouth, Lightnin’ yanked her into the pond along with her. Splashing noisily, they plunged into the greenish blue pond where more Pokémon swam.

�You can swim, right?� asked the Pikachu, who swam in the pond with Petals on her back. Aloof, Petals nodded her head. She poked at the water with her small foot, not seeming too eager to jump in. Lightnin’ was quite aware of her mind-set, but didn’t take offense to it nevertheless.

A Mudkip had been watching from afar, scoffing at their efforts. Petals saw how the Mudkip was acting, and it made her irate. “Don’t worry about him�, said Lightnin’, who was too annoyed by the attitude of the Pokémon.
Swimming quite rapidly, the Pikachu suddenly jumped into the air without Petals’ notice. This sent the Oddish flying, too, straight back to the pond. Splattering water around, the uneasy Oddish squirmed.

The Mudkip & a few others caught sight of her & began to giggle.
Staring awkwardly at her, Lightnin’ wondered if she had lied about knowing how to bathe. �Petals,� she began, uneasily, “are ya okay? Just relax. Try moving your legs around in motion!�

Pouting, the Oddish replied. “Easy for you to say! All I’ve got are these tiny stubs for legs.� She began to relax, and was actually floating above the water. Confused, Lightnin’ rolled her eyes and continued helping her out.
Oddly enough, the Oddish got the hang of swimming very quickly. Grinning, Petals surfed around in the water. She wasn’t fast in the pond, but she could swim. Lightnin’ climbed back onto the platform where I stood. Smiling proudly, she told me more about Petals’ small accomplishment.

“That’s great! Good job to the both of you�, I said, proud of their efforts.

As I picked up Lightnin’, I felt someone poke my shoulder impatiently. Turning to see who it was, I realized that one of the trainers who I noticed before wanted to talk to me.

“Hi there,� said the trainer, motioning to give me a handshake, “I’m Jack, a Pokémon trainer like yourself. Who might you be?� I shook his hand, which had some ink marks on it. Hmm. “My name’s Kris,� I replied, observing the odd smirk on his large, broad face, “What’s up?� He chuckled, with his gawkily deep voice. Pointing at his Mudkip in the pond, he continued to converse with me.

“My Mudkip seems more than eager to battle that little Oddish of yours�, he explained, as the tough-looking Mudkip climbed onto the platform. Standing next to Jack, he observed me curiously.

“So how about it?� asked Jack, who seemed very confident with his Mudkip. I knew I had to talk to Petals about this first, because she’d be upset if I agreed without her knowing. I told him to wait for me as I called Petals to come over. She was swimming confidently in the pond as Lightnin’ watched behind me. She had a pleasant grin on her face, seeming happy that she was able to swim now.

“Petals,� I shouted, calling for her attention, “Would you like to battle?� I caught her attention quickly. Her round, dark red eyes stared straight at me. She paused for a moment, half of her small blue body floating above the pond. She noticed the Mudkip who grinned despicably at her from the platform. Obviously, they must have had an unknown rivalry, since immediately, Petals concurred. She accepted to battle the Mudkip with the naughty smirk on his face.

“Well then.. Mudkip, it’s time to battle�, exclaimed Jack, hurrying his Mudkip to the pond, where the battle would be held. “Show that puny Oddish what you’re made of!�

Puny?

Now, if only if Jack & his rude Mudkip knew what they were in for! Determined, Petals knew she would show them what she was made of.

¤ ~ Pokémon Battle! Petals the Lv. 11 Oddish (F) vs. Lv. 15 Mudkip (?) ~ ¤

The Mudkip dove head first into the water at Jack’s command. It was a swift swimmer, being able to swim through the waters at ease. The pond’s waters were a greenish blue color, not too clear to see through. Petals was on guard, making sure that Mudkip wouldn’t make an unexpected attack.

“Petals! Use your Sunny Day!� I yelled, helping my Oddish in her battle. Shutting her eyes, Petals had begun to concentrate very hard. It was quiet throughout the room, except for the few splashes that the Mudkip made. Strong rays of sunlight suddenly beamed through the clear glass windows of the ceiling, reflecting on Petals. The rays of light were blinding, making it complicated to see what was going on.

Wincing at the powerful light above him, the Mudkip plunged deep into the pond. He was nowhere to be seen. Frantically, Petals looked around her to see where the enemy was. “Mudkip, quick!� shouted Jack, commanding his Pokémon, �Use a physical attack on that Oddish!�

Rocketing below Petals, the Mudkip strike her with a very powerful tackle, sending Petals high into the air. Plummeting back down, Petals gasped for her breath. She didn’t seem hurt, just startled. Mudkip was very agile, so it wasn’t easy to get him. Now was her chance to hit him back, I thought. Mudkip was weak to certain moves of Petals’, so if she got him, this would be a lot easier. “Now, Petals,� I said loudly, catching her attention, “Hit him with your best Razor Leaf!�

Alert, the Oddish sent hundreds of small, prickly, dark green leaves hurling towards the Mudkip. Quickly, the Mudkip used his senses & avoided the leaves as much as possible. He leaped above the dozens of leaves hurled in his direction. Dodging the swift attack, he rammed into Petals with yet another Tackle. It was a simple attack in general, but very gruesome when used by this mischievous Mudkip.

“Mudkip, use your Water Gun!� hollered Jack, who was happy at the thought of victory approaching him & Mudkip. He obeyed his master, of course, & used his energy to form a flare of water.

The small water Pokémon spat out a large blue, rapid blast towards my Oddish rather hastily. Petals, still determined to fight, eluded the attack by jumping above the whirl of water. Surprised, the Mudkip stared perplexedly at the gritty Oddish. With much energy, Petals flinged at Mudkip twice as many razor-sharp leaves as before. Striking the Pokémon speedily, the sharp leaves dealt a lot of damage.

“Petals – Stun Spore!� I directed, happy to see that we had a good chance now.

From the leaves on top of her head, greenish gold dust poured into the air. The dusty powder had spread into the air, which was dangerous for the foe. Not realizing that she had used the attack, Mudkip breathed it in. Jack, watching from the platform, moaned in despair.

“No, no, Mudkip!� yelled he, disappointed in the aloofness of the Mudkip. The unlucky Pokémon frantically gasped for clean air. Stun Spore had temporarily paralyzed his body, not letting him run away from Petals’ attacks.

“Ugh! Come on, Mudkip, get up! he bawled, frustrated with the status of his nearly victorious battler.

�Haha!� giggled Lightnin’, who had been watching with me. The silly Pikachu blew raspberry at the stressed out Mudkip. ‘Shh,’ I whispered, embarrassed of her odd personality.

Jack’s Mudkip tried to regain his posture, but wasn’t able to. He floated above the waving waters of the radiant pond as I thought of the perfect attack to use. After my Oddish’s Sunny Day attack, there was a perfect amount of sunlight in the room, wasn’t there?

“Petals! Use your Solar Beam, now,� I said with anticipation, “believe me, it will work!�

Petals beamed at me, knowing how good the plan was. The Oddish looked back up to the rays of light that cast from the ceiling. They were strong enough to give her a fully powered attack. Full of confidence, Petals gave it her best shot. Her body began to twinkle magically; green & yellow sparkles formed all around her. She began to glow a bright green color, preparing her hard-hitting attack. Mudkip was startled. Not knowing what to do, he attempted to use his Agility attack. He overpowered paralyze, being able to become a bit more agile than before.

Petals began to shine brighter & brighter, glowing with solar radiance. Suddenly, she let out a beam of solar energy hurling in the direction of Mudkip. The room turned into a bright orange-yellow; the light given off of the Solar Beam attack filled in the room. It was a white beam, shining brightly; green & yellow streaks of energy waved around it. Striking the Mudkip harshly, he flew backwards due to the ruthless attack. He flip-flopped onto his belly, not capable of moving on.

The attack triumphed over the Mudkip, making her the winner.

Petals the Lv. 11 Oddish wins!
Petals grew to Lv. 13!

“Hurrah!� shouted Lightnin’, who jumped with glee. I grinned proudly – we beat Jack & his powerful Mudkip!

Petals practically smiled her head off; she was happier than ever. I complimented my victorious Oddish, & said, “We knew you could do it!� Giggling, Petals jumped up to the platform where Lightnin’ & I stood. I picked her & Lightnin’ up, giving them a tight hug. We three all knew that she was closer to accomplishing her goal.

Jack growled in frustration. Obviously, he did not know how to take a loss well. Returning Mudkip to his Pokéball, he turned to me with a smile. The smile did show that he wish he had won, but I knew I’d feel the same way if I had lost anyway.

Giving him a handshake, I complimented, “Good job! Your Mudkip was a tough opponent.� Truly, that Pokémon was a rough competitor. He nodded quietly. Maybe Jack was ashamed that he had lost the battle.

“Great battle to you & your Oddish,� he said, “maybe we’ll battle again when my Mudkip is even stronger!�

I laughed with him, glad to see that his mood improved. Imagining if Petals & Mudkip battled in their evolved forms was pretty interesting, actually.
“Yeah, we’ll see.�

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

[Wolfsong]

I gave Blazer a slash TM and an aerial ace TM at the EH that I got from the reward center. I also bought the collar and slash TM for the vulpix who will be getting them as well as her name in this story, as well as her RBG ^^;. I did have a little bit of writers block at the start. I did the personality with the battle part a little differently this time but it was for a reason ^^;; Edit: I also bought and gave Blazer a recover tm from the reward center ^^;

(Amy's POV)

I didn't stay long at DT central, because I needed to see about Kovu. After things had calmed down, I left to take him to the Pokecenter. I also wanted to get the vulpix checked out to make sure that she was healthy, because there was no telling what all she had been exposed to where Rockets were concerned. It didn't take us long to get there, and when Nurse Joy saw Kovu, she immediately whisked him away. Almost an hour later, he was stabilized enough that he could have visitors for a short period of time, though he would have to stay the night.

Kovu was glad to see us, though right away he noticed that Simba wasn't with us. He also noticed the vulpix. She was still trying to get used to the fact that she could move now and that she wasn't confined. Though soon, she jumped back onto my lap. "Where's Simba?" I explained to him what all had happened after he had been recalled into his pokeball. "That's a shame. I remember him welcoming me to the team." As soon as he had finished speaking, he closed his eyes and was soon fast asleep. I took that as our cue that visitation was over. Silently, we all filed out of the room.

Once outside, Sweetie persuaded me to let her stay the night with her dad. Once I had agreed to that, the others asked if they could go home. "Why don"t you all go on without me? I want to get this little girl looked over first." They nodded and left as silently as they could, while Sweetie went back into her father's room. "Do you have a name?" I asked her as I carried her up to the front desk. She shook her head sadly. "They took me before Mom could give me one." was all that she said before going silent again. I gave her a gentle hug. "Will you give me one?" she asked. "If that's what you want." I told her. "I would like that."

We had reached the desk, and Nurse Joy began looking her over. The vulpix was still the entire time. "I can't find anything wrong other than she is a little underweight." Nurse Joy explained. "Thank you." "You're welcome." she replied giving the vulpix a poketreat. "Though it's a shame that Team Rocket had her, but now at least she will be taken care of." I nodded in agreement, before offering the vulpix a pokeball. She furiously shook her head no, and I decided not to push the issue. I'd ask her again tomorrow.

"Ready to go home?" I asked her, and she nodded her head yes. I picked her up, and left for home. It was late by the time that we had made it in and the only one still up was Yana. "Welcome back." she whispered. "Thanks." I said as I gently placed the vulpix on the floor. She ran over to Yana and was soon fast asleep lying next to the houndoom"s side. "I have some things that I need to take care of. Then I'm going to try and find a name for her." I said nodding at the vulpix. "Then I'm going to bed." Yana nodded, giving the unusual looking vulpix a nuzzle before she too went to sleep.

I smiled as I headed into the computer room. It didn't me as long as I thought it would to make the needed arrangements, so I began looking at various name sites in hopes of finding a name that would fit. On that front, I wasn't having much success and was thinking about calling it a night when I found it. I smiled as I wrote it down. It was a perfect name if the little vulpix liked it. I then shut the computer down and slowly made my way upstairs and went to bed.

The next morning, I awoke to a cold nose pressing into my neck. I opened my eyes to find that it was the vulpix. Yana was watching on nervously. "She wanted to see you but didn't know how to get to your room." Yana explained. "It's all right." I reassured Yana before picking the vulpix up. "I think I found you a name. That is if you like it." "What is it?" "Sinopa." "I like that." she whispered softly. "It does sound nice." Yana agreed.

Sinopa looked as if she wanted to ask something else. "Is there something else you wanted?" I asked and she nodded. "I heard some off the others, I don"t know their names yet, talking about battles. I've never battled before but it sounds interesting and I'd like to try it sometime." I nodded. "I'll see what I can do, but first I need to get ready. Kovu should be ready to come home today and I can't exactly go out looking like this, right?" At that point Sinopa burst out laughing in a fit of giggles. Yana shrugged, though she looked as if she might crack up as well. I knew it was probably because my hair was sticking out in every direction imaginable. I excused myself and left them to go straighten up.

Ten minutes later, I was done and I heard giggles of joy as I returned to my room. I also heard Yana. "Come on Sinopa, please don't jump on the bed." "How come? It's fun!" "It's all right Yana. At least for now," I added and at which point Sinopa stopped jumping on the bed and looked over at us. I decided to try and see if Sinopa would go into a pokeball today. When I offered it to her, it was as if someone had flipped a switch. She was no longer the young, happy vulpix she had been just minutes earlier, but the scared one that we had found yesterday. She jumped off the bed and ran underneath it.

It took me and Yana an hour to convince her to come out from under the bed. I also promised not to mention her going into a pokeball again. "Sorry, I don't like small spaces." she explained. Her reaction at being confined reignited the anger I felt towards the Rockets, but Sinopa was safe now.

The phone rang, and I left them to go and answer it. For once, it was good news coming from the other end. Kovu was ready to come home. Yana seemed content to watch over Sinopa while I was gone. The others were scattered around the house doing their own thing. I left, making a quick stop at the Reward Center. Once I had made my purchases, I headed straight for the Pokecenter. I arrived to find Kovu and Sweetie already waiting for me. "Can we go home?" Sweetie asked. "Soon, I need to arrange a battle for Sinopa. She asked me if she could have one since she heard the others talking about it." They nodded, looking a bit confused. "Sinopa's the new vulpix's name." I explained. They nodded. "Is she ready for it?" "She said she was." I told them silently thinking to myself, I hope so.

Arriving home, we found Ebony racing around the outside of the house as fast as she could go with Arwen clinging to her back. I chuckled at the site, before going inside. "Yana? Sinopa?" I called. ""We're in here." Yana's voice rang from the living room. I entered to find the two of them watching cartoons on the television.

"Sinopa, I got something for you. Since you don"t want to be confined into a pokeball I thought that you might like this collar. It also has a tag with my name and address on it just to be on the safe side." She winced at the mention of a pokeball, but smiled when she realized that she didn't have to worry about having one. I fastened the collar around her neck. She smiled and her rainbow topknot shone brightly against her fur. "I also bought you a slash TM." She smiled, accepting the TM. "Did you get me a battle?" she asked curiously. "As a matter of fact I did, and its today." "Cool. Can we go now?" she asked. "I don't see why not. Yana, do you want to come as well?" "Yeah." she answered before picking up Sinopa by the scruff of her neck.

By the time we had arrived, our opponent was there waiting for us. She was a girl in her late teens. "What took you so long?" she asked, before noticing Yana and Sinopa. "I was told that I was going to be battling a fire type, but I sure hope that it isn't going to be that houndoom." she said nervously. "Its not." I assured her. "My vulpix is the one that wanted to battle." "Good." She looked at Sinopa again. Kinda unusual looking isn't she? Pretty, but unusual." "Shall we get started?" I asked. "Yeah," she agreed, adding "it's my cleffa's first battle." I nodded, relieved that Sinopa wouldn't be battling an experienced pokemon. I looked around, and saw that we were in a general area. There was nothing but grass as far as the eyes could see. There wasn't even a single tree that littered the area that we were in. Yana gently placed Sinopa on the ground. "You ready?" I asked her. She nodded her head yes. Then, she quickly added "I want to try this on my own." "You sure?" I asked. She nodded her head firmly. "All right, though I'll be here if you need me."

Sinopa L.5 Vulpix Vs. L.5 Cleffa

I watched nervously as the two pokemon approached each other. For a while, it looked as if neither of them was going to move. Sinopa finally darted forward, unsheathing her claws, and slashed at the cleffa with them. The cleffa retaliated by pounding Sinopa's head as hard as she could. Sinopa winced as she darted out of the cleffa's range. The cleffa chased after her trying to get close enough to pound her again, but Sinopa wasn"t going to have that. "That's enough of that Cleffa. Try using metronome." That made me realize that I didn't know what Sinopa's bred on move was. I probably should have asked her but I bet that she didn't know either. "Sinopa LOOK OUT!" Yana's warning brought me back to the present, and I looked just in time to see Sinopa get hit by a huge bubble. "Are you okay?" I called out worriedly. Sinopa shook herself dry, but nodded indicating that she was. Sinopa turned once more to face her opponent and fired out several tiny fireballs at the cleffa. The cleffa, who wasn't expecting it, began crying right away. She soon stopped because her trainer reassured her. "That was good. Try another metronome." The cleffa nodded, saying her name over and over and waving her finger back in forth in unison. At which point, she took a deep breath before spraying out a sticky white substance that surrounded Sinopa leaving only her eyes visible. In an instant, I saw panic which faded to reveal the flicker of a flame.

(Sinopa's POV)

Things were going good till I got hit by that gigantic bubble. I was still stinging from it. My new trainer, Amy (I think), asked me if I was okay and I nodded that I was. Immediately after, I released several tiny fireballs at the cleffa who was surprised. After a few minutes of crying, she obeyed her trainer and used the same move that had created the bubble. The cleffa did as her trainer asked, and soon I was trapped in a sticky something that had it where I couldn't move. Immediately, I began to panic. I didn't even feel the cleffa's next attack because I was so upset. I had to get to where I could move again. I could feel the fire surging through my body wanting out, and I let it. As I did so the flames melted the substance surrounding me, but it didn't stop there. They raced towards the cleffa, and upon contact she fell to the ground knocked out. Once it was over, I ran over to Amy crying.

(Amy's POV)

I picked up Sinopa and did my best to comfort her. I was surprised to find that she knew hidden power and that it was the fire type, but then again I shouldn't have been surprised. "Is she all right?" the other trainer asked. "I think so. She hates being confined as to where she can't move." I explained. "Sorry about that. Though I didn't plan on that happening." "I know." I said shaking her hand before she left to go get her cleffa seen about. Eventually, Sinopa did settle down, though I did make a mental note not to let her have another battle till I felt that she was ready for another one.

Sinopa grew to L.6.

[Charizard04621]

Angel Blossom, Amy said she was going to get your battle.

Amy - Kinda short, especially the battle part, but I liked it. ^^; Would be interesting to see how Sinopa copes with her fear in the future. Take 8 Stamps.

[Charizard04621]

My intro. The rest of the stuff will come later.

My POV:

Ever since our return from the Team Rocket Headquarters, Gabi had been preoccupied with many things: the significance of the Singlehorn Project was one of them. Not long ago, Gabi had a revelation: Singlehorn… One horn… Unicorn… Unicorn Gate!

Being a newcomer, I was not familiar with any Dragon Tamer history, but Gabi and Amy were pretty good about explaining. Apparently, in the past, tournaments had been held at various gates, but for some reason unexplained, Unicorn’s Gate was skipped each time. This raised a few odd feelings, but not enough targeted suspicion… until now.

Rumor was that a secret laboratory lay hidden near one of the gates. And now… We knew which one. At least, that’s how it seemed. So, Gabi managed, through subtlety, to gain us an opportunity to investigate the area, under the cover of a battleground revival. Even the Dragon’s Guild couldn’t say no to that.

Our team was one pokémon less now, and the house felt a little empty without him. I could remember how unhappy Elendil always seemed, though, and how listless he had become. I noticed that he had developed a friendship with Nimrodel, and was hoping that the whole thing would work out, but the truth… I was at fault. I didn’t try hard enough to understand him… But that was over now… Elendil was gone, and the trainer to whom he was entrusted didn’t seem to be around anymore.

“Well? Is everyone ready to go?� I asked, getting up from my spot in the grass. Evenstar and Switchblade showed up first, as they usually did. The Sneasel went into her pokéball, but Switchblade remained out. The Porygon didn’t enjoy tight spaces. When he was younger, it was because, like the Charmander twins, he had a boundless energy that could not be rivaled. Now, however, he had just become accustomed to staying in open air all the time, and his pokéball just seemed foreign and cramped to him.

At my second calling Aglárien ran towards me, playing with Naurmir a new type of tag that she had invented herself. It allowed shooting off gentle Embers to tag the target as well as just regular contact. This heightened both Charmanders’ senses, and, believe it or not, improved their dodging skills. I could see that Aglárien had gotten quite clever already. She cared deeply about her brother, and knew that he was slightly smaller than he should be. Disguised as a game, this was one of her methods of teaching him how to fend for himself. I allowed the twins to run around for a while longer, then recalled them. There would be plenty of time for them to expend their energy elsewhere.

I looked around for any signs of the others. Elwing and Kalazeth I knew were somewhere in the pond, most probably racing each other to prepare for the coming competition. Sure enough, they showed up soon after I called them, laughing, completely wet, and refreshed. They went in their balls, too. Ryu came later, limping slightly due to his reopened wound. I had half a mind to pursue a medical expert’s help on the matter; I knew that Rebecca’s Hitmonlee had treated the Trapinch’s injured leg, but it hadn’t healed by the time Ryu battled again… And the battle made the wound worse. I didn’t trust my own abilities as a healer, but for now, Ryu’s leg was cleanly bandaged.

Rúthruin and Gwaihir’s entrance startled me. One moment, I was gazing up at puffy white clouds in the sky. The next, a black shadow hung directly overhead, and before I knew it, both the Scyther and the Aerodactyl had landed right in front of me. I had to admit I shouldn’t have overreacted, but I got the feeling that they liked to do things like that just to scare me. I startled easily. It must have been funny to see me jump, scared out of my wits, because those two pulled off stunts like that a lot.

I patted the new pokéball on my belt. The newest addition to the team, a Lileep, resided there, but he had not yet chosen to come out to face everyone. Given a little time, I was sure that he would be fine. For now, however, I would allow him some room to overcome his initial timidity. We were almost all here… But there were still some pokémon missing.

“Let’s all go,� I urged. “I don’t think anyone should be left behind this time. It’ll be a long journey, and we’ll be there for quite some time.�

Nimrodel surfaced from the pond. “Does that include me?� she asked, surprised. She rarely ever came along on our excursions, mainly because she thought that she would only get in the way. After all, it was difficult for a Lapras to get around in places without water.

I nodded. “There’s a lake this time. Maybe you can battle. At least you’ll be able to stretch out some, swim around freely. Our house pond is too small, and although the Eevee House pool is nice, it’s just a pool. There’ll be a real lake, Nimrodel! A vast expanse of crystal clear water reflecting the blue cloudless skies, with space where you can swim wherever your heart desires… Where you can dive to the very depths and explore a new underwater world. Imagine that!� I could see her eyes sparkle as she smiled sweetly. It was a blessing to me; I had not seen her that happy ever since Elendil left. This would be a vacation for her, a chance to let loose and be free.

“Yes, I would like that very much,� she said happily, already trying to imagine what the lake might be like. I brought her into her pokéball where she could dream some more.

“Anyone else? Rúthruin? Switch? Have you seen Lune or Élan?�

The Scyther pointed her blade at an old tree beside a fence, where bushes crawled over and threatened to invade the yard. It was a strong tree, with a thick trunk and heavily laden branches. It never bore fruit nor flowers, but its branches were always weighed down with deep green foliage that provided generous shade from sunshine. I nearly slapped myself for missing something so obvious. There, beneath the leaves, resting in the cool darkness, lay Lune. He would come when he was ready.

“There he is… Thanks, Ruth. But what about Élan?�

Switchblade beeped. “I have a hunch…� Without saying another word, he sped off, a little magenta streak through the grass.

“Hey! Where…?� I ran after the dashing Porygon, with Rúthruin following closely behind.

Switchblade had gone to the back of the house, to the gate in our yard that led into the forest. There was no path there, and we seldom took that route; for it was a dangerous one, and the forest dark. At night, strange sounds would come from the black wilderness – sometimes wails and moans, other times more torturous cries that echoed through the night too terrifying to be described. We had the feeling that woods were haunted. I had no idea why Switchblade was heading right for them now. At least, that was before I spotted Élan. Switchblade stood barring his way.

“Oh, no you don’t,� said the Porygon. “I’ve been looking for you forever! Where do you think you’re going? We were all just about to leave for the Unicorn Gate battlegrounds! Don’t you want to come…?�

The voice that came from the Unown G was not like the regular Élan’s. Whereas he usually teased Switchblade with a playful tone, here he sounded subdued… I could hear a tinge of pain in his voice, hesitation, as if he was not sure how he was supposed to speak. I knew then what was on his mind, and wanted to kick myself for not understanding earlier. Would this happen to any more of my pokémon…?

“I… won’t be coming with you.�

Switchblade looked as if he suspected what was going on, but did not want to accept it. His voice became quiet. “What do you mean…? Why aren’t you coming, Élan?�

As if to confirm all our fears, the Unown G sighed and began to explain. “I will be going away for a while… On my own.�

I watched Élan steadily for a long time, looking deeply into his single eye. Eventually he cast his gaze downward. “You’re sure about this, Élan?� I asked, whispering, trying not to let my voice tremble.

The Unown tried to avoid glancing at Switchblade’s pain-stricken face. “This team… I honestly love all of you, but I can’t stay. Here I cannot grow, cannot be what I was meant to be. I know you are a capable trainer… And I will miss you dearly… and my friends…� He cast a pleading look at Switchblade, trying to make him understand, but the Porygon would only regard him with anger and confusion. Élan continued, even more painfully than before. “I… I was born to do something else, something I cannot accomplish here. Lately I’ve been getting this feeling… As if I’ve been called to someplace else, somewhere beyond the world that I have known before, to fulfill something that as of yet has not revealed itself to me. I don’t think being part of a team or a trained pokémon is it. Though I may grow powerful with you all, and I will certainly be happier with your company, I think that I must do something more. Something… that I must achieve… alone. I feel that I must go into the world, journey to its very depths, explore its hidden mysteries… until I meet my fate. This feeling I have… is strong, and although I know not what it means, I cannot ignore it anymore. I tried to stay for as long as I could, but I have felt it grow urgent, so much so that I am compelled to follow its pull. I am sorry that I must go; but destiny calls. Goodbye… And may our paths cross again someday.�

With that, the Unown G vanished into the forest, a forlorn shadow under the weary shade of trees. I stood there for a long time speechless, watching as every trace of Élan’s existence faded away into the all-consuming blackness, afraid that this parting would be the last time we ever saw him again.

[Matt]

Matt’s POV

Rain. Of course it had to rain while I was out of the house. But it wasn’t like I didn’t like the rain, yet it was the fact that I had no umbrella to shield myself from the sky’s tears. It was a good thing, though, that I was so close to my destination. I went into the supermarket to get a few things for dinner and maybe for the rest of the week. When I entered, there was barely anyone there - not even that many cashiers around, either. I noticed a worker nearby and stopped him.

“Yo, dude, what’s up around here? Why is there barely anyone in here?� I asked with concern in my voice. “Oh, you haven’t heard? Some say it’s team rocket, but I think they aren’t telling the truth,� He said. “Huh? What’s happening around here?� I asked. “Oops, sorry, someone keeps jumping people, but it’s only in the evening that this is happening,� He said. “Well, it’s only around 5 P.M. now, so there should be a lot of people out since it isn’t that dark outside,� I said looking around. He shrugged. “Then I don’t know where everyone is, sorry,� He said; he walked off.

“Well, I can’t let this bother me; I have things to do,� I thought. I got what I needed, paid for it, and left. It had stopped raining, but there were puddles the size of station wagons on the ground. “Wow, it must have really rained while I was in there...� I said to myself. I looked up at the sky and saw that it was clouding up again. “

Shit, I need to hurry up and get home before it starts raining again,� I thought as I picked up speed.

Just as I got to the front porch it stated to rain again. “Just in time,� I said, gasping for air. “Everyone, I’m back,� I said, looking around. There was no one around. But when I entered the kitchen, it wasn’t long until the whole gang was there. “Yay, Matt’s home!� Tabitha said, jumping up and down. I bent down and started to rub her and her twin brother until the rest of my pokemon came into the room. “What’s up, everyone?� I asked. “What’s for dinner, Matt? I’m starved,� Yuna said, looking up at me. “You’re always hungry, Yuna,� I said giggling. “Well, dinner will be ready as soon as I get it started� “Come on; let’s leave, so he can finish quicker!� Cerberus said cheering. With that, all the pokemon left the kitchen and went into different parts of the house.

Valefor’s POV

I love the sound of rain. It’s so... peaceful. The moon is quite beautiful tonight, as well. “...Hello, Rinoa,� I said without turned from my view of the beautiful scenery. “How did you know I was here?� “Well, when you’re like me, you might be able to sense people around you, as well.� “Whatcha looking at?� She said approaching me. “Just focus on your surroundings and you’ll be able to see what I’m looking at.� I said. Rinoa sat down on the ground and began to look out into the open.

“This is so peaceful, Valefor, but I can’t seem to get the real feel of this like you can...� She said with her head down. “I can’t really help you with...�

I stopped. Was someone besides Rinoa and me here? I heard someone talking, but it could be in here with us. But this thing isn’t inside the house with us... it’s outside somewhere! I left my perch and flew as fast as I could downstairs. “Matt. I think there’s someone outside... Please go check for me.� I said. “Hm? Valefor, are you sure there’s someone outside? I mean, it could just be your imagination...� He said. “Just come with me,� I said, hopping out of the kitchen.

He followed me and opened the door. We both went outside in the cold rain; but, I couldn’t sense anyone around. I couldn’t hear anyone talking either... Maybe it was my imagination. “See, there’s no one here, just like I thought,� Matt said. “Now, come on, Valefor. Dinner’s almost ready.� He said going inside. “I could’ve sworn...�

Matt’s POV

How strange of Valefor. He’s usually a little quieter...

“Dinner’s ready everyone!� I yelled from the kitchen. A few minutes later it was like someone let some Tauros out or something. I poked my head out from the kitchen and saw a herd of pokemon running from everywhere. “FOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!� They yelled. I laughed and went back into the kitchen to get put the finishing touches into everything. “That smells exquisite, Matt.� Ark said. “Indeed it does, Matt. You really are a pretty good cook.� Atomos said. “Thanks, guys.� I said. “Well, everyone’s here, so... dig in!� I said smiling.

After everything was eaten and cleaned up, I decided to sit down and watch some TV. From flipping through the channels over and over, I could plainly see that there was nothing on to watch. I laid back in the recliner; Tabitha and Nightmare jumped up in my lap. “Whatcha watching?� Nightmare asked. “We’re not watching anything right now...� I said. Tabitha got up and walked on the remote a few times. “There - now maybe we can watch something good,� Tabitha said looking at me.

The news channel was turned on, to my surprise. “Fine, we’ll watch this then,� I said.

“In recent news, another of the mysterious attacks happened a few hours ago. A rich old woman was walking home from a friend’s house when someone jumped out and attacked her. All of her jewelry and money was stolen, sadly.

The person that did this is still on the loose, so everyone watch your backs at night. The Dragons guild is trying its best to catch the culprit for these horrid crimes, but they haven’t had much success. They had some kind of press-conference earlier in the week on this matter, but the only result in the meeting was a demand for the Dragon Tamer’s and their subordinates to not take part in this.

Now, time for the weather with Pat...�

“I guess that dude at the supermarket was right...� I thought. And what was that about the Dragon Tamer’s? When they say subordinate I guess that means me since I have helped in a lot of their missions. But, the Dragon’s guild is practically doing nothing about this and something needs to be done before something really bad happens!

“Tabitha, Nightmare, go get the others in here, please.� I said turning off the TV. They ran off and rounded up the other pokemon. “Ok, everyone, there’s a mission that we’re going to try and do, despite the fact that the dragons guild doesn’t want us to,� I said looking at them. “It may be kinda late, but that’s when they come out, so let’s get going!�

I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bag that was on the table. “Tabitha, Nightmare, can you come here for a minute?� I said. They ran in there and looked at me a little confused. “Here, these are TM’s. We might need your help later or something.� I said.

For Tabitha, it was a Crunch TM that I had gotten through the EMT at the Goldenrod Tower not too long ago. I opened the black box and got out a satchel of powder. After sprinkling it on Tabitha, she began to have a faint black aura around her. It disappeared, and I did the same for Nightmare; his TM was slash. They ran out of the kitchen and I looked in my bag again. There was a blue box that I had gotten recently at the same place I got Tabitha and Nightmare’s TMs.

“Eiko, can you come here too? I have something for you.� I said. She slithered into the kitchen and stared at me. “I want you to have this Surf TM, Eiko. Use the move well� I said. The powder was sprinkled atop her head and she learned the water move.

“Ok, let’s get ready to leave everyone! Ark, I want you to stay out of your pokeball with me to help me navigate through the darkness,� I said. “Understood,� Ark said. With that last statement, I grabbed a flashlight and walked out the door.

Ark’s POV

Darkness - the best place to be... all the time. Why do I like the darkness, you ask? I wonder that myself sometimes; but, despite all the lies and despair that live in this void, it’s very quiet. Everyone should like the dark... don’t be afraid.

“Ark, snap out of it and come on!� Matt said from ahead. “Sorry, I was just taking in the vibes from the darkness around us,� I said. “Who exactly is doing these attacks on people?� I asked. “This dude I talked to in the supermarket said he heard it was Team Rocket, I think, but I thought they left a long time ago...� Matt said.

We walked for what seemed like hours - finding nothing. I couldn’t really tell if we were going around in circles because there was barely any light. Even I couldn’t see. But, I thought there were street lights around in here? I could’ve sworn there were some during the day... something weird is happening around here. But.... what was that noise behind us? It sounded like... footsteps... but maybe it was just the echo of Matt’s shoes?

“Matt. Stop walking for a minute.� I said, looking back. He listened and halted his steps. I was right. There was someone behind us... but who? Louder... louder... closer.... closer.... what is coming towards us?!

“Shine your flashlight this way Matt, quick!� I yelled. The warm light of the flashlight shined onto the pavement and a little farther back behind me. I could focus a little better with what little light the flashlight provided for me. “What’s that shining over there?� I thought. I slowly approached the bush towards the side. The flashlight was shining my way so it wasn’t so scary... but something kept telling me to not look in that bush. Maybe I should’ve listened.

As soon as I got near the bush, two, strong hands reached out and grabbed me. It was so sudden - I couldn’t think straight. “What’s happening? Who is this? Matt? Matt!� I thought. “Matt!� I yelled. I looked over to where Matt was supposed to be and saw someone on him, holding him to the ground. I did the first thing that came to mind and bit down into the dammed hand that had captured me. The owner of the hand shrieked in pain and released me.

I ran over to Matt as quick as I could, and bit into the man on top of him. He backed off as well, and ran off. “Matt, are you ok?� I asked, looking down on him. “Yeah, thanks, Ark…� Matt said. “Who exactly were those people anyway, Matt?� I asked. “I don’t know… maybe they were the “Team Rocket� everyone has been talking about…� “Let’s try and follow them?� “Good idea; I’ll get Cerberus and Madeen to help,� Matt said, getting out two pokeballs. Before I knew it, both pokemon were before us.

Cerberus’ POV

“Something wrong, Matt?� I asked. “I need you and Madeen to do something for me… think you can do it?� He said. “Of course,� I responded. “What is it?� “Ok, I need you both to follow the scent of the two men that attacked Ark and I and track them down,� “I’m on it,� I said, “come on, Madeen!� “Right!�

Madeen’s POV

Wow, following a scent with Cerberus – how fun. She’s a really nice pokemon… a really good person to look up to, sometimes. I wish I was her…

“Cerberus, how much longer until we actually find what we’re looking for?� I asked. “Who knows? We may never find them, but we have to try!� I laughed a little. “Right!� I agreed.

After many blocks, Matt finally said something from behind us. “Wait, you guys,� He said, “I think you might have found them…�

Matt’s POV

“Great work, you guys!� I thought. They traced the scent back to a giant warehouse. “Now, let’s hope this is it…� I said to the others. I slowly walked around the warehouse to see if there were any entrances or windows besides the one in the front. But, not to my surprise, there was nothing. “Great. There’s no way to see if this is it or not,� I said. “Don’t give up yet, Matt. There’s bound to be another way,� Ark said.

Wait, there was another way? I had seen a barrel around on the other side when I was over there. And there were little windows along the top of the building, as well. But, when I got over there, the stupid barrel was too heavy for me to even think about picking up. “Anima, help me out a little!�

Anima appeared and I told her what the situation was. She understood quickly and used her psychic powers to move the barrel close enough for me to look in a little. I thanked her and climbed atop it; I had to stand on my tiptoes, but it was good enough.

Everyone in the whole warehouse was in black… kind of like some cult… or organization?! A slight glimpse of one of their shirts convinced me that this was, indeed, one of the hideouts for team rocket. I could hardly tell what they were saying, though.

“…too many people know about us… must go back to the headquarters before… we’ll be leaving right away…� One of them said.

I jumped down and told my pokemon; plus, I recalled them all for easier movement around for now. It was almost morning, so I didn’t really need Ark’s guidance. There were voices coming from the front of the building, though.

I slowly made my way around and saw a giant truck in the front; they seemed to be loading all their stuff in there to bring to the ‘headquarters’. Two of them brought out a trunk that was opened and laid it on the ground. Luckily, they went back inside, which gave me the perfect opportunity to get in there! I sprinted over there, jumped in the trunk and slammed it shut.

They came back to see what had happened, from what I could hear, but they didn’t open the trunk, thank god. The two rockets through the trunk into the back of the trunk and went off again; before I knew it, it sounded like there were 50 rocket members at the same place I was. But, it wasn’t so bad; sleepiness was taking me…


When I awoke… it was quiet. I pushed open the lid to the trunk and pulled myself out. “Where am…I?� I thought. I walked out of the room and found myself in a corridor that seemed to go on forever. “Guess I’ll explore around in here for a while…�

But, there was nothing down here. No door, no picture, not even a nick in the paint on the wall. The end was near, though; when I got there, it was just a giant ledge and stairs descending to somewhere. “What the hell, I’m going down these steps!� I thought. When I got to the bottom, I noticed that there was nothing there but a few potted trees and some lights. I went over to one of the potted trees, but an alarm started ringing. "What? They've found me out? How?! There's nothing down here but..." I thought.

Suddenly, a shady man in the black clothing came out of no where and started to approach me. "Who are you, intruder?! You'll be sorry that you messed with Team Rocket!" He said. I drew out one of my pokeballs and got ready for the worst. "Go, Yuna!"

Yuna's POV

Huh? A battle? Well it's about time! The man across from me grabbed a pokeball from his pocket and threw it down on the ground. "Go, Rattata!" He said. A little, blue turtle thing materialized in front of me. "Do you really think you can beat me with that weak thing?" The man in black said. "Oh, don't worry, Yuna will win," Matt said.

Yuna the Zigzagoon (Lv. 8, F) VS Rattata (Lv. 8, F)

This battle didn’t seem very hard – I mean what is this thing? A rat? Surely, this wouldn’t take too long! “Yuna, try a tail whip!� Matt said. I trotted over to where the rat was and swished my tail in her face. She didn’t seem happy because she retaliated with a tackle. But I had done what I needed to do.

Before I had turned around good, Rattata was right on top of me. I managed to get her off of me; while she was still above the ground, I ran and tackled her hard. She landed on the ground not long after that, and gasped for breath. We were both pretty worn out, but this battle wasn’t going to end here.

Next, the rat ran past me and hit me in the face with that damn tail of its. I felt like biting the stupid thing, but I restrained myself. I started to get really, really mad at this thing. No one, and I mean, NO ONE hits me in the face and gets away with it! Forget Matt; this was my battle. I began to gather moisture from around me, so I could make it freeze. The stuff froze into powdered snow, and I shot it towards that Rattata. It hit her, but it didn’t do much damage; but I was just getting started on that thing.

This time, I was really going to mess her up. She came running towards me, but I had a plan for her. I got into a position and started to really get a charm going on. Rattata stopped and stared at me walking back and forth looking pretty and what not. I smirked and stopped there; she finally came back to earth from staring at me and continued her attack. She collided with me, but it wasn’t more than a little pinch to me.

Finally, it was time to end this pointless battle. I stepped back a little bit and threw myself at the Rattata to tackle her. I hammered her to the ground, which was just enough to knock her out. After the moving of Rattata stopped, I pulled myself off of her and claimed my well deserved victory.

I won!
I grew to level 9 and learned Headbutt!

Matt’s POV

“Great job, Yuna!� I said running over there. “Your battle was superb,� I continued. I glanced over to where the Rocket was standing; he was recalling his fainted pokemon with his head down. He picked his head back up and glared at me.

“Don’t think this is over, intruder! Team Rocket will stop you!� He said running off. I shrugged and went back to Yuna. “Come on, Yuna, let’s get out of here before something bad happens…� I said, recalling her. I ran back up the stairs and headed for the corridor.

But, I was stopped by some smoke right at the entrance. When the smoke subsided, I saw another rocket before me. “Ha, do you think you’re getting away so easy? You have to go through me first!� He said. He reached behind himself and grabbed a pokeball. “Go, Squirtle!� He said.

“Fine, if you’re using a Squirtle… go, Lulu!�

Lulu’s POV

“Excellent,� I said.

Lulu the Cleffa (Lv. 9, F) VS Squirtle (Lv. 15, M)

This battle was going to be tough, that’s for sure. But, it was a good thing I had those clean nappies on, otherwise it would be hopeless. He started by running up to me and slapping me with his blue tail. I didn’t feel the actual shock of the attack until later, though. I opened my mouth and started to let out a sweet tune. It wasn’t long until everyone around me was asleep – even the trainers. I shrugged it off, since; at least, Squirtle fell asleep. Now the real battle was going to begin.

I pulled out a little present for Squirtle and threw it at him. I put my fingers in my ears and hopped for the best; when I released them, I could hear an explosion subsiding – that gave me the hint that a pretty nice explosion happened from the present.

Another present for the sleeping enemy; this one wasn’t as strong as the last one though. Squirtle just snoozed away as I picked away his very life. After a few turns of the present giving, Squirtle finally woke up. After all this trouble, it didn’t even look like he was tired. He was starting to give me some evil glares, though.

Next, Squirtle started to gather fluids from inside his body; and as soon as he got enough, he spit them at me into one big ball. The actual strength of the move was outrageous, and I couldn’t take many more of those blows… I got out another present and tossed it Squirtle’s way. This one was extremely powerful and made a huge explosion on the water pokemon. When all the smoke had disappeared, Squirtle could be seen with many scars across his body. He also seemed a little weak, finally.

The next present wasn’t as good, though. It seemed that it healed Squirtle instead of actually damaging him; this was not so good. Squirtle blew bubbles at me, this time. It wasn’t as strong as the water gun, but the move was still pretty good.

Yet another Present for the Squirtle; from the look on his face, he was quite tired of receiving gifts from little, old me. This one was also pretty powerful, though. When it touched Squirtle on his skin, it blew up and knocked him into the corridor wall. He pealed off of it, and fell to the ground. I was quite cautious of going over there, but I slowly tip-toed over there to see if he was still kicking or not. But, to my luck, he had fainted. I had barely won, though.

I won…barely?
I grew to level 11 and learned Psychic as my free TM!

Matt’s POV

“No, I can’t lose here!� The Rocket said. He grabbed his pokemon and ran off down the corridor away from Cleffa and me. I glanced over at Lulu and congratulated her on her victory. The battles here were tough, but we got through them.

I finally reached the exit for the hideout, and noticed that I wasn’t that far away from where I lived. But, it was still going to be at least a half an hour before I reach the house on foot. I looked back at the hideout that I had been in for what seemed like days. Ark came out of his pokeball not long after that. “Nice job, Matt,� He said. “It wasn’t me; it was you all,� I responded. “Well, anyway, do you think we stopped them?� “No, I don’t; well, maybe in this town, but I’m sure that there are other hideouts in other places. But those places are up to the other Dragon Tamers…� I said. “Then, it won’t be long until Team Rocket is gone for good, right?� “Right! Now let’s get home – I’m sure all of us are hungry!� I said running off, with ark behind me.


Sorry if this seemed a little.. uhh.. bad. I had an extension, by the way.

[Wolfsong]

Nice my first br stamps frin a long time ^^

I'm tired so please forgive any typos in this post.

Umm one question. How could Petals move around in the water? The most i can picture an oddish doing is floating. ^^;; Anyway the story was well written, so take 12 Stamps. ^^

Karin I enjoy reading your stoires ^^ Its was sad about Elan. Take five stamps for the intro.

Matt maybe one of the others can get your story. I won't me on much tomorrow. ^^;

[Lady Vulpix]

I read yours too, Karin, and I think it was great. I wonder where Élan's going to, though. And he still had so many issues to resolve... Will we get the chance to see more of him in the future?

Matt, those were good battles, even if you mixed tenses and put thoughts as regular speech a couple of times. And I didn't get the "blue turtle thing" part when the Rocket released the Rattata (were you thinking of a Squirtle originally)? But as I said, it was overall a good story and 2 good battles, so take 15 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[Charizard04621]

Thanks, Amy, I'm using the 5 Stamps you just gave me to pay for Élan's departure. As for your question, Gabi, I'm not sure, but I really hope so.

[Linc]

Linc's POV
----------

I walked up to the huge building, hoping for good battles. My team of Pokemon scuttered around my feet, but Shadowfax (lv. 9 male Aerodactyl) was kept safely in his Pokeball. He'd be too wild for these rooms, and as soon as a battle ended he would want more. "So, who wants to battle first?" I asked my Pokemon. They instantly froze. There was a long period of silence, and at first I thought no one would answer. Finally one small voice spoke up. "I'll go." said DarkHound (lv.6 male Growlithe). He had never battled before, but he knew a pretty powerful move. We walked inside. People moved about walking into different rooms with determined faces on all of them. I decided which room we would go in first the old-fashion way. "Eenie, meenie, miney... moe!" My finger landed on a door marked blizzard room. Me and my Team walked in the room. It wasn't less than two feet inside the room when a powerful blast of energy flew across the snow on the ground and hit us. I was thrown into the air and my Pokemon were to. When we landed, Shadowfax's Pokeball rolled out of my pocket and burst open. He roared and his cry echoed through the whirlwind of ice and snow. The small Ralts that had launched the attack was laughing as it looked at the bodies of me and my Pokemon that were scattered across the ground. I knew Shadowfax was too wild for this room, but I wanted to teach this small Phychic a lesson.

Shadowfax, Level 9 Aerodactyl VS Lv. 8 Ralts

Shadowfax's POV
-------

"Shadowfax, Wing Attack!" I heard my trainer, Linc, yell from behind me. I launched my body towards the Ralts, and then smashing it with my wing. It flew backa few feet, and launched a Psychic attack. "Shadowfax, dodge it and do another Wing Attack!" Linc shouted again. I flew over the wave of energy, and dove down to smash the Ralts with my wing again. This time when I hit, it did a couple backflips and hit a rock. It jumped back up as blood trickled out of its mouth. The horns on its head started to glow and it fired a multi-colored beam at me. It hit my and I was sent spiraling to the ground. I staggered as I got up. Suddenly, rage took over my body and I started thrashing wildly with my wings, beating the Ralts violently. It fainted and fell to the ground.

I won!

I grew to level 10!

I got Flamethrower as my free TM!

My trainer rushed over and stroked my long neck. "Maybe now I can control you..." he said as I felt the rage leave me. I decided never to go into that wild frenzy again.

[Charizard04621]

Dragon Rider, I've read your story. The battle is valid*, but it was a little bit short to earn any Stamps.

*What was the move that Ralts used? I'm assuming it was Hidden Power Ice, because Ralts can't get anything else. If it wasn't, you'd have to fix that part.

[Kirei]

This is the first part of my Rocket's Return story. Gabi has said she will rate my scenario - this is the introduction and I will post the rest soon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was really cold that night; I sometimes felt cold for no reason, and extra-tired too, and it made me paranoid something bad would be around the corner, although I didn’t know what. Sometimes even when I’m cuddled right up to Ade I still feel the cold. I rolled over and cuddled him again, and my chill died down. I loved cuddling him; soft, and warm, and … furry? I ran my hand along the sleeping body beside me. Hehe, Kirei had got into our bed again, and I knew I’d overslept; she always gets in when Ade gets up early and leaves me sleeping. I got up and went into our main living-quarters, still in my night-clothes.

“Sorry, gorgeous – you looked so cute sleeping that I didn’t have the heart to wake you,� said Ade with a kiss on my forehead and a roll of the eyes from Milly that I didn’t even need to look at the Umbreon to know about.
“I thought Kirei was you!� I gave Ade a kiss in return, and ignored Milly.
This was followed by the usual rants, whines and jibes centering around the discussion concerning what we would do that day. “We ought to wait for Kirei before we decide anything,� I reminded everyone.
“I’m not waiting for that sleeping loon again. She’s worse than you, Scarygirl,� piped up Milly.
I went over to sit by Ade, who was discussing lunch with a hungry Pearl. Lately, the Ninetales had been almost my equal in the consumption of sweets, and my special jam, cheese and banana sandwiches. Even so, when she announced to us all that she was pregnant, I was still shocked.
“That’s so great, Pearl!� I told her, and gave her fluffy white body a squeeze. I wondered how Katnip would feel about having a baby. Being the child of those two, it would definitely be a strong Pokémon. Ade still looked shocked about the news, so I decided to remind him about the battered mars bars he’d promised us all, as I felt Kirei’s smooth fur brush against my leg reminding me that she would like some too, and I didn’t doubt Kassandra would be wanting some, she had an appetite like mine as well.

I was just starting to think about what a lovely day I was having when the telephone rang. Ade was gone an awfully long time, and I could tell from the tone of his voice that something bad was happening. Still, for a moment my worries were put to the back of my mind when Sindel brought out some freshly baked cookies she had made for Pearl.

When Ade returned, a sombre expression having usurped his previously cheerful countenance, my suspicions were confirmed. He had indeed been talking to Gabi, and as he explained the situation in Sector Alpha, my heart began to sink.
“Soo, I know you get lonely but there are lives at stake, I have to go.� Ade’s eyes were tearful, and I could tell this was tearing him apart inside. Ade explained that there had been a Rocket uprising in the city, and two hostages had been taken.
“I understand, but please… be careful,� I lied. I didn’t understand at all, but I had to pretend or Ade wouldn’t have gone to help those people and I would have felt even worse. I didn’t understand why Team Rocket seemed to be back, and I didn’t understand why it had to be my boyfriend, who I loved most in the world, who had to go and risk his life out there. Just when I was beginning to feel happy. I think Ade knew how I felt as well, but he had to do what he could to save them, and I knew deep down that he would return to me. Ade held me for the longest time, and kissed me. It was all I could do to stop myself from breaking down in tears.

All too soon Ade was gone. I felt that I had been sitting with my head in my hands for hours, when really it had only been a few minutes. Kirei was curled up by my feet and Pearl approached me, nuzzling my head.
“Thanks, Pearl,� I said, giving the Ninetales a friendly hug.
“You guys are not going to help by just moping you know,� came a voice from the centre of the living room. It was Kassandra, the Charmander we had recently brought into our home. “Anyway, why didn’t Ade take me if he wanted a strong fighter – I’m the best there is!�
“Kass,� I said, “you haven’t even had a battle.�
“Yeah,� piped up Bolovayr, who had just returned from watching a movie upstairs, “you, girl, need to train before you’ll be strong enough for Ade to want to take with him.�
“But…� Kassandra said, downtrodden, “how can I train if Ade doesn’t think I’m worth taking to battle bad guys?�
I looked into Kassandra’s big, sad eyes. “I’ll train you!� I said. “I may not be Ade, but I’ve been around him and his team long enough to know how Pokémon battles work. I’ll train you so well that Katnip will be jealous!�
“A likely story…� replied Bolovayr. “You, Soo, are full of ideas that never come to fruition. You’ll probably sit on that chair until mutant zombies eat your insides before you actually do something constructive.�
I stood up. “Right, Mr Ball of Air, you’ll be Kassandra’s first victim. Come outside and we’ll have a practice battle…�
“… unless you’re too scared,� shouted Kassandra.

Kassandra, Bolovayr, Kirei, Beckham with a bowl of popcorn and myself entered the vast expanse of green that was our garden. The remainder of the family stayed inside with Pearl. Beckham had declared himself referee of the match, much to Kassandra’s seeming delight. I had noticed she seemed to try harder to act grown up and tough when the Wartortle was around for some reason.
“Kassandra,� I shouted to my Charmander, not really knowing what I was supposed to say, “use, er, Ember!�
Kassandra wasn’t listening to me. With a strange look which I think was supposed to be a cheeky wink but which looked more like a confused expression in the direction of the referee, she began trying to scratch at Bolovayr’s face. Obviously this had no effect, since her claws went straight through his ghostly form.
Bolovayr laughed, “is that the best you can do? I really do feel sorry for you, girl,� as he glared unblinkingly at the little Charmander.
“Kassandra!!� I shouted, “he’s using Hypnosis, will you try not to look into his eyes?� It was no use. Kassandra began to stagger on her feet for a minute, until Beckham’s voice could be heard saying something about Kassandra having no idea how to battle as Kirei and I looked on.
Suddenly, something clicked within Kassandra, and she shook her head, got to her feet and ran straight through Bolovayr, head first.
“Still don’t realise that trying to pummel me isn’t going to do anything?� said the Gastly, somewhat mockingly.
“Kass-an-dra!,� I shouted to her, “would you JUST use Ember for once?�
“I can do this though, I’m strong! I don’t even need to use it!� shouted Kassandra as she ran straight through Bolovayr again. This time Bolovayr’s mouth formed a circle and a great beam of ice shot straight at Kassandra at a rate of knots.
Amazingly, the Charmander was fast enough to dodge it and jumped high into the air, this time trying to use some kind of kicking attack on the Gastly below her. As Bolovayr turned to look at her, Kassandra jumped up again, this time landing to the right of him. He seemed to be trying to hypnotise her again, but Kassandra’s legs were too fast for Bolovayr’s gaze as she moved to his left, then above him, avoiding all the attacks the Gastly attempted.
For the first time, I saw Bolovayr looking frustrated. It was clear that he knew there was no way he would be able to touch Kassandra with his attacks. He looked dizzy and unsteady; as unsteady as a floating ball of gas could look, at any rate.
“That’s it!� he cried, “if you carry on like this I’ll be sick. I’ve had enough.�
Beckham stood to attention at this point, his empty popcorn bowl having now become some sort of odd judge’s hat by the looks of things. “I declare Kassandra,� the Wartortle announced, “the winner!�

Bolovayr was decidedly quiet after that battle, and Kassandra’s spirits had not been higher the entire time I had known her.
“I don’t understand,� I said to the Charmander, “why you didn’t use Ember. I know you can use it.�
Kassandra smiled. “That would have been way too easy! Where’s Becks gone, anyway?� she said, walking off in the general direction of the kitchen.

It was later that day that I had asked Kirei if there was any way she could find out if Ade was still ok. The battle had kept my mind occupied for a short while, but I was worried about my boyfriend. Kirei’s face concentrated intensely. As I watched, I could see her twitch nervously.
“I’m sure he’s fine, I can feel it,� the Espeon said, but I still wanted proof.
“Kirei,� I asked, “will you come with me to find him?�
“I don’t need my psychic powers to tell me that you won’t take no for an answer, Soo� was the Espeon’s reply.

When I went to announce to the household that I would be going in search of Ade, Kassandra insisted on accompanying Kirei and I, and who was I to argue with her? In any case I didn’t want to be without my new friend so I agreed.
“You really should wait,� Pearl tried to convince me, “you know what Ade said.�
“I can’t,� I told her. “You guys will be fine, right? I need to do this.�

And so it was that I set out, with Kassandra and Kirei at my side, to find and help Ade.

[Lady Vulpix]

That was a great intro, Soo! And an excellent firt Battle Range story too! I really enjoyed reading it. Take 5 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢

Dragon Rider, your sig is too big. I suggest you edit it before it's owned.

[AntiAsh Superstar]

Hehe, here's the general intro and my Lava Room battles. I just hope excessive sleaze isn't against any rules, but what can I say, Sumi's fighting and we all know what she's like. ^_^;;;

-----

“Hey!� My slumber had been something of a restless one lately. Too many things on my mind, too many worries to deal with. It seemed as if I hadn’t been able to sleep for many nights, as if something momentous was just upon the horizon, and I would miss it if I let myself be seduced by the delights of my subconsciousness. “Let me in!� This morning it was a constant hammering on the front door that was responsible for cutting into my sleeping hours.
“Uhh… somebody get that for me, please?� I moaned, still too sleepy to realise that in fact Soo was the only other creature in the room at time. And she would be no help. She was wearing the earplugs that she always wore to bed to combat the problems of being a naturally light sleeper. “Come on…� There seemed to be no respite from the perpetual knocking! “Alright already!� My eyes still half closed, I swung my legs around and sleepily pulled myself out of bed. I hadn’t had to wake up this early since the days of having to work long hours in an office just to pay the rent. And now I had Tsuyoi funding my activities, I had hoped that there would be no need to do this again. Well, apparently I was wrong. “I’m coming!� I staggered over to the wooden door, and grasped the handle tightly. At that point the knocking stopped. Only to be replaced by the sound of splintering wood and a high-pitched, feminine scream that was enough to penetrate even Soo’s earplugs. “What the..?� Well, this was enough to bring me to my senses in an instant! Quickly I threw the door open and raced down the stairs, only to be confronted with a sight that made my heart sink. The front door had been all but knocked off its hinges, a single blow having punched straight through the wood. But that wasn’t the end of the scene before me. There, too, stood Tsuyoi, looking in a thoroughly irritable mood. In fact, if I was any judge of these matters, the half-Ninetales seemed to be more than a little hung over. And there, too, was Gina. A look of horror fixed firmly upon the face of the mercenary trainer. Not that it was capable of showing any other expression. It was hard to when you had been turned totally to stone.
“Why?� I was about to turn on Tsuyoi, but something in his demeanor stopped me. “What had she done to deserve that?�
“Woke me up,� came the gruff reply. “Given me a headache. Got seriously on my nerves. The list is endless, Ade. I have quite literally killed for less than that, you should be grateful to me for showing a little restraint. And I only did that as a favour to you since she’s a friend of yours.�
“Well, I hope you can reverse this, is all I have to say.� I finally made my way to the ground floor, walking carefully so as not to step on any splinters of wood. Gina certainly seemed to be in quite the state, alright! The eyes behind the huge circular glasses seemed totally petrified, her arms raised in an attempt to defend herself. “What did you do, punch through the door and grab her by the throat or something?�
“More or less,� came the calm reply. “I do hope we have some paracetamol in this house, otherwise you might be joining her in a minute.�
“What you need is a black coffee, Tsuyoi,� I snapped irritably, still trying to determine the best way to revive my petrified friend. “Now are you going to at least give me a hand in moving her to the lounge?�
“I owe you no favours,� came the calm reply, before Tsuyoi headed off to the kitchen area, leaving me to move the statue that had once been Gina myself. This, it had to be said, wasn’t the ideal start to the day! I could only hope that things would get better as time progressed.

“Thanks.� Gina accepted a warm mug of sweet tea from Sindel. The poor girl was still somewhat in shock. As anybody would be, under the circumstances. Her blue eyes wandered around the lounge warily, both appreciative of our high standard of living and also wary lest Tsuyoi barge his way through the wall. “I just… how can you live with a creature like that?�
“With great difficulty, I have to admit.� I sighed deeply. “But none of us are great early in the morning, which does lead us to the big question of the day. What on earth is so important that you have to come running in at, what, half seven in the morning?� My eyes took a glance over at the large black clock fixed into the far wall. “Couldn’t this news of yours have waited?�
“Probably.� Gina looked troubled even now. The tea was helping to calm her nerves, however, as was having Ryo-Ohki on her lap to pet absently. “I’ll make sure not to get carried away in future. But as to why I’m here… well, you should take a look at this.� The blue-haired trainer fished into her jeans pocket and produced a crumpled flyer decorated in eye-catching colours. “Here we go… ‘Do you have what it takes to be the best? Prove your talents as a trainer. Come compete in the Unicorn Games. Great prizes on offer for skilled trainers.’ Or words to that effect, anyway, this is just a draft poster, but as my company’s involved in the running of the training grounds we get to know about these things before anybody else.�
“Well, well…� I frowned thoughtfully, pacing the room as was my wont when I was thinking, and nearly tripping over Kasumi in the process. Not that I really noticed. My mind was too busy taking on this new information. “So there’s going to be another Games, is there?�
“Exactly. Seeing as you did so well in the last Dragon Games I figured you might like to know about this a little early, get your forms filled in before the big rush.�
“Yes, because we’d all like to see Katnip get pummeled again,� Milliardo sniggered.
“Who says I’d enter Katnip?� I asked with a raised eyebrow. My Umbreon simply shrugged by way of reply.
“Well, it’s him and Pearl who are your strongest, right, and seeing as the world’s most irritatingly agreeable Ninetales is a little incapacitated at the moment…� Milliardo grinned suddenly. “Personally I don’t know why you bother with them, though, you know very well that I’m miles better at wowing a crowd.�
“Is that a request, Milliardo?�
“Might be.� The Umbreon sniffed haughtily. “Face it, you stand as good a chance with me as with anyone else.� I stared at the Umbreon for a moment. The fact of the matter was that he was right. For despite the sarcastic exterior few were as dependable as Milliardo. Sometimes the false egotism raised the occasional good point, after all.
“Okay then.� A slow smile crossed my face. “You’re on. I hope you’re as good at impressing people as you make out you are, though.�
“What?� The Umbreon visible faltered for a second, clearly thrown. “Seriously?�
“Sure, why not? It’s your chance to shine now.� Leaving Milliardo to muse this over, I returned my attentions to Gina, who rather obviously hadn’t followed the conversation one little bit. “Thanks for telling us about this, Gina.�
“No problems!� Evidently my sparring partner had gotten over her earlier shock, for she was now back to her usual chirpy self. Then again, in her line of business you probably had to be good at recovering from shocks. Training scenarios would have been the least dangerous jobs a mercenary could take on. “Oh, and the training grounds will be opening next week, it’s the old training grounds in Sector Alpha so I don’t think you’ll have any problems in getting there. I’ll be there, I got the Jungle Room to maintain, so I hope I’ll see you there!�
“See him where?� Finally Soo had decided to rise, poking her head through the door. Well, it was pretty hard to stay asleep when there was so much commotion! And with her came Kirei, who had probably been awake for hours already. “Why are you guys being so loud? I’m tired.�
“Uhh… sorry, Soo, just go back to sleep if you’re tired. I’ll be back up in a minute.�
“I can’t now. Come on, Ade, what’s going on?�
“Well Gina here came running in to tell us about a new tournament, only she caught Tsuyoi with a hangover instead. So although we need a new front door and I’m totally out of absinthe, at least Milliardo gets his chance to back up all of his big words.� I chuckled to myself. There wasn’t really any harm done that couldn’t be easily fixed. Besides, I always enjoyed a good tournament, and the recent news had put me in a remarkably good mood under the circumstances.
“A tournament?� Soo frowned, seeming to wake up in an instant. “When’s this?�
“We’re not sure of the exact date yet, we’ve only just had word of the opening of the training grounds, but I’m pretty sure registration’s already open,� Gina replied, finishing her tea and setting Ryo-Ohki down. The Pichu scurried off to goad Kirei into a game of tag. Not that the Espeon ever really needed much encouragement to race around like a loon. “Anyway, I’d better be off now, I have to be at work in an hour. It’s gonna be a long day today, I can just feel it. Take care, guys. I’ll let myself out.�
“Sure, Gina. See you later.� As Gina made her good-byes, I turned to face Soo, whose blue eyes seemed to have a twinkle within them that almost always spelt trouble. “And what’s with you all of a sudden? I thought you were tired.�
“Well, I was just thinking…� came the innocent reply, my fiancée trying her best to look coy. Although it only seemed to enhance the mischievous aspect of her current demeanor. “Wouldn’t it be fun if I entered as well? I’m a trainer too, you know.�
“Yes, that’s true,� I sighed. “As long as you know what you’re letting yourself in for. You’ve only just started out, after all, and a Dragon’s Guild tournament is a big thing.� Big thing? The last tournament involved mass destruction of the fighting arena, a battle upon a ship, and a Machamp that beat Katnip to a pulp in the course of its duties. If anything the intensity of these tournaments was even greater than that of the battles we encountered in our day to day lives. “I mean, go ahead and join as well if you really want, I just think you should think this through first.�
“What’s wrong, pup, afraid I might beat you?�
“Yeah, we’re petrified that your complete lack of training will pay off,� Milliardo snorted, finally deciding to join in the conversation. Evidently Soo’s involvement had fired up something within him. “Honestly, you guys are the laziest bunch of slackers the world’s ever seen.�
“Hey! No fair!� Kirei whined, pausing in her game of tag for a second. “We do loads, don’t we, Soo? And we can beat you any day at anything you care to name!�
“Yeah, I’d like to see that,� my Umbreon scoffed. Apparently my involvement in this particular conversation was over now that the loudmouthed pokémon was now over his initial shock. “Go and join then. I’d love to be there when you get thrashed on the first round.�
“Not going to happen, Milly.� Soo grinned evilly. “Just you wait and see.� I simply rolled my eyes. Why could nothing ever go smoothly around here?

And so a week passed, a week where the hustle and bustle of everyday life was replaced by a much more focused chaos. Pearl, as was her wont, tried her best to keep things in order, but that was increasingly hard given her pregnancy was drawing to its close. And her appointed right-hand pokémon, Sindel, wasn’t really much help, given her tendency towards getting dragged into arguments over the smallest of matters. In fact it was a miracle any of the team managed to survive the week at all. Milliardo certainly wasn’t making things any easier, in fact his already impressive ego seemed to have swelled to twice its original size. It was his goal, apparently, to win this tournament purely to get one over on Katnip. So it was with some relief that we finally reached the end of the week.
“Okay, guys, are we ready to head out?� Finally it was time to head to the training grounds once more. And I was glad. After all the paperwork I had to deal with to register Milliardo as my entry, it was a good feeling to at last leave for some actual practical battling. I viewed my assembled team with pride. Katnip, the seasoned veteran, doing nothing to work to the stereotype of fighters and stuffing his face with a large cream cake. Beckham, the goof of the team, trying his best to conduct a mad waltz with his best friend within the team, Megan. Pandora, the temperamental Houndour, trying her best to mother her adopted son Marius in spite of the fact that the intellectual Dratini had long since outgrown appreciating such efforts. Kasumi, a Growlithe with more libido than tact, doing her best to wind her teammates up in her own special way. Bolovayr, ever the over-active imagination, seemingly confused with life as a whole. Sindel, the nosiest Alakazam on the planet, trying very hard to lecture Milliardo on what he was likely to encounter despite the Umbreon’s attempts to explain using the foulest language he knew that he didn’t care for her interference. Scratchy, the antisocial one, lurking at the back of the group as was his wont. Ryo-Ohki, the child of the team, running excited rings around his friends. Lucky, ever stable and ever reliable, distracted somewhat by a conversation with Soo’s Kirei that ended with the Espeon pouncing upon him excitedly. And last, but definitely not least, was Pearl. So long the linchpin of the team, so long the sympathetic shoulder upon which we could all depend. Here the pretty Ninetales stood… gasping for air? What was going on here? “Pearl, are you okay?� I asked with more than a note of concern in my voice.
“I…� The Ninetales tried her best to find the words, but they simply wouldn’t come. “Ade, I’m sorry, I’m going to have to make you put your plans on hold for a moment. I wish I could have picked a better time for this and everything, but…� Here she gritted her teeth, wincing hard as another tight jerk of pain jabbed hard in her belly.
“Oh my God. Soo, quickly, get over here and help me move her.� There was no doubt as to what was wrong with Pearl. For the past few months her pregnancy had been exceedingly visible. It was quite obvious that she was practically at the end of her term. And now, of all times, it was time to put an end to months of caution and worry. Just a little longer and it would all be over.

“Come on, Pearl.� The reassuring hand brushing through her mane was doing its part to comfort the Ninetales somewhat, but despite the excessive attempts to ensure her comfort – the admittedly snug pile of soft cushions that she was lay upon, the cooling fan that was pointed at her brow – nothing on the planet could have helped to totally take away from the agony that Pearl was experiencing at the moment. The only time she could honestly say she had felt more pain was when she had been beaten as a Vulpix at the hands of Team Rocket. And at least that had been an external pummeling. With this… well, it felt as if her insides were being crushed in an iron grip, squeezed and squeezed until there was nothing left. So no amount of reassurance was going to make this any more bearable. “You can do this.�
“I know I can do this but it doesn’t make it any less painful does it? Ah!� The Ninetales gasped in pain, a fresh and particularly nasty twinge breaking her tirade. It was no good. She just wanted this over with as soon as she could. Steeling every ounce of willpower and resolve that she could possibly find within her, Pearl put all of her energies into expelling the source of all of this pain, pushing hard with her muscles until the very strain of doing so almost matched the pains she had been experiencing originally. “If anyone dares say ‘that’s it, push’, I’ll…� My Ninetales quickly put a stop to most of the conversation through gritted teeth, trying to steel herself against the burning pain, a pain that seemed to reach a sudden crescendo that made her cry out loudly.
“Pearl!� I gasped in delight. “You’ve done it!�
“Wha..?� It seemed as if a great weight had been lifted from Pearl’s shoulders. And now that the pressure had abated, all she really wanted to do was sleep. But there were things to do first, a much greater need that lent her the energy to groggily crane her neck in my direction.
“Congratulations, Pearl,� I beamed, passing over a small, almost hairless thing that no doubt would one day become a fine specimen of a Vulpix, but for now seemed like a rather confused rag doll. “It’s a girl.� The eyes of my Ninetales welled up with tears, an almost profound shock washing over her. For so long now it had just seemed like she was carrying a burden around with her. But now here it was, and suddenly the whole situation felt so much more real.
“Th… thanks.� Pearl’s attentions were focused too much upon her newborn daughter to really pay much attention to anything else, so I only received the briefest of acknowledgments. Instead my Ninetales diverted her attentions wholly towards her offspring. “Come on, you. Come to mummy. Yes, that’s a good girl.� Pearl nudged her daughter carefully with her snout, eventually getting some movement out of the tiny creature, which sought out nourishment as only an infant knew how. A contented smile crossed the face of my Ninetales. So this was what is was like to be a mother. “She’s so sweet. I can’t believe this is real.�
“Yeah, that she is.� Katnip beamed with pride. “Can’t believe I’m a dad, either. Never thought I’d ever end up like this!�
“Yeah, rat boy, what are you going to do now that you have responsibilities to cut into your rigorous regime of doing nothing but fight and eat all day, hm?� The temptation to poke fun at Katnip was too great for Milliardo to quite resist. Old habits die hard, after all, even in such tender situations. Fortunately everyone was far too used to him by now to care, his main rival especially.
“Well if ya must know I plan on fightin’ an’ eatin’ twice as hard to make room ta help look after this little bundle. Speakin’ of which…� The Raticate hopped over to Pearl’s side and planted a kiss on Pearl’s nose. “You had any ideas as to what ta call her, Pearl? Ya know I’m not that bright, I couldn’t think of anythin’ decent if my life depended on it.�
“Hmm…� Now that was a good point! The little Vulpix would need a name at some point. Fortunately Pearl did have something in mind, a name conjured up in conversation with Soo during one of the times the rest of the team had been out on one of their weekly excursions to train with Gina. A name that the Ninetales considered pretty enough for any daughter of hers. “Well I had given it some thought. What does everybody think about Celeste?� A murmur of assent rippled throughout the room. Well, Celeste it was, then. And to look at the tiny creature hungrily suckling upon its mother’s milk I couldn’t help but feel a swell of emotion. I had known Pearl for longer than practically every other creature. She had been there practically from the outset, back then a rather reserved, dainty specimen of a Vulpix. And to have watched her blossom into the optimistic, caring Ninetales before me was an experience I wouldn’t have traded.
“Celeste is a lovely name,� I smiled approvingly. “And I’m sure you’ll make a brilliant mother, Pearl. Now if you’ll excuse me for a moment I have to start cleaning up.� Swiftly I excused myself, taking advantage of everyone’s preoccupation with Pearl’s cub. Before the true extent of the emotion within my eyes revealed itself. Well, even I was allowed my moments of soppiness, wasn’t I?

To my eternal credit as a trainer our team somehow managed to get on the move even after the momentous events of Celeste’s birth. Pearl had to stay behind, of course, but that was no problem. Soo was still home, and her pokémon as well, which was even better news – how could I possibly worry something would happen when Kirei was under the same roof? And Katnip had decided to stay with her for a while, although he had left us with explicit instructions to save at least one chance for him to train.
“One of them trained pokémon’s got my name on it,� the Raticate had grinned with a twinkle in his eyes. “So don’t ya dare use up all yer chances ta train until I’ve caught ya up, ya hear me?� And so it was that we had left for the training grounds in Sector Alpha. Although there was one more port of call that we had to make along the way. A Pokémon Centre near the outskirts, the same place that had taken care of Megan so expertly. The same place where I had taken an orphaned baby Onix just a mere week ago, its parents having been cruelly slain in front of my eyes by the vicious Salamence called Reaper, Team Rocket’s mascot of choice these days. And despite the complaints from the more restless member of my team I felt I had a duty to call in and check up on the creature. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I had just ignored it after all that had happened.
“Well, she’s doing quite well, all things considered.� Rather unfortunately a Nurse Joy greeted me at the front desk when I took my first step into the hospital-like conditions of the Pokécentre. I had a deep distrust of a group of nurses who were all engineered to look exactly the same. It was taking conformity to ridiculous extremes. Or maybe it was simply one too may late nights playing conspiracy theories with Marius that made me so wary of them. “I’m not quite sure what we’re going to do with her, though. She’ll grow too large for us to hold soon enough. I’d send her over to an adoption centre but they would probably have the same problem. Besides, few people are really willing to look after an Onix. Something that large can cause serious problems. If you ask me only Gyarados are more awkward to keep, and even that’s mainly due to their temperament.�
“Really.� I sighed. It looked like there was really only one option available. And, to be fair, I had always thought the species had its own unique charm, anyway. “Suppose I wanted to look after her for you. What would I need?�
“Somewhere big enough for her to live, obviously,� the Nurse Joy replied. “I’m not saying your house, obviously, but somewhere within easy access that you could get to regularly enough to keep her from getting lonely. Pokéballs, you’d need them, especially if you were planning on training her, because whilst most battle arenas are even large enough to house a Wailord v Wailord battle the corridors that lead to them generally aren’t. It’s the only way you’re going to get an Onix or Steelix anywhere. Oh, and plenty of food, fortunately Onix metabolisms are so slow that they only need to eat about once a week anyway.� The nurse eyed me curiously. “Why? You’re not going to say you’ll house her, are you?�
“Maybe,� I replied.
“Whoa, Ade, time out here.� Sindel stepped in smartly, having grown used to being the one to talk sense in Pearl’s absence. “Just think about what you’re suggesting for a moment. You’re saying you’d be willing to take an Onix into the team? You do realise how big they can grow, don’t you?�
“Yeah. Roughly twenty-eight feet long, and up to about thirty feet if they evolve,� I replied without so much as a hesitation. “I did buy those books on pokémon species for a reason other than for Marius to know exactly what to do against any given opponent, you know.�
“Good. Then let’s think about the size of your house for a second, Ade. I mean, it’s a really sweet idea and all in theory, but…�
“But I have that covered.� I grinned broadly. “Trust me, would you? I know she’ll probably be a bit awkward to look after, but she’s really nobody else left in the world now. I can’t stand back and watch her be passed around from place to place just because her size is a problem. We’ll find a way. We always do, right?�

And so the Onix – whom I later discovered was called Brandy – joined our little team. It had taken very little persuasion. She seemed to be rather timid, and naturally shy of strangers, but even she could see that accompanying us was preferable to a life spend unsure as to where she was liable to be packaged off to next. So it was with a team that was one spot short of filling up the space on my licence that I entered the training grounds. It had to be said, it was a rather welcoming sight. The main foyer had undergone something of a transformation since I was last here, of course. It now resembled the hustle and bustle of the Dragon Games training grounds, a bizarre cross between shopping centre and hotel. From here one could buy all the equipment you needed from various side-stalls, spend a little time winding down in the arcades, or simply check into one of the dormitories reserved for those trainers using the grounds and relax in minimalistic comfort. Or, alternatively, you could just head straight for the training rooms and get on with your job. Like we were currently attempting to do.
“Okay, we can have two battles in each of five rooms… that’s ten battles, right?�
“Congratulations, Ade, I see that Further Maths A-level wasn’t a complete waste of time after all!� Milliardo cackled, unable to resist a cheap shot when he saw the opening for one.
“Well my point was that four of you won’t get a chance this time.� I tried my best to ignore the Umbreon. Although that was easier said than done. You would have had an easier time sleeping in the middle of a Slipknot concert. “Pearl’s in no state to battle, so that’s easy enough, but as to the other three who don’t battle… I’d rather get that sorted now, if you guys don’t mind.�
“You can count me out this time,� Lucky smiled wistfully. “Rhiannon tired me out for a while.�
“Which reminds me that I’d better call Kushikoi at some point and find out how she’d doing.� I rolled my eyes. More things to keep tabs on. That was the last thing I needed. “Anyone else?�
“I don’t really want Ryo-Ohki fighting just yet, if that’s okay,� Sindel suggested. “I don’t think he’s quite ready.�
“And me…� Brandy looked around her, as if worried that she may have been doing something wrong by speaking up. “I… I don’t think it’s such a good idea for me… I’m sorry.�
“Don’t worry about it, I wasn’t expecting you to want to fight.� I tried my best to be reassuring but wasn’t sure how good a job I was doing. Brandy struck me as the type who could have probably done with a conversation partner who had the skills in empathy possessed by Pearl. Or even Gabi’s Dragonite, Lagi, if we were to take these things to their extreme. “So now I guess we decide where to fight first. Is it…�
“Oh for ****’s sake, Ade, stick a pin in the brochure and say we’ll train in the room you land on, like you used to, or we’ll never get anywhere.� Milliardo rolled his eyes. “If we waste any more time dithering then we’ll get so bored and frustrated that we’ll all spontaneously combust. And even worse, Sumi will get so bored she’ll probably start humping someone’s leg just because she knows Growlithes can get away with that sort of thing.�
“Nah. Waste of time.� Kasumi smirked. “Only so much that can be done by rubbing, anyway.�
“Yeah, like we really needed to know that. See what I mean, Ade?�
“Yeah, yeah, I get you. So let’s see then… how does the Lava Room sound?� I randomly pointed at one of the rooms listed upon the flyer in my hand. “The temperature is incredibly high in the Lava Room. You can walk along paths of molten rock surrounded by boiling lava! Avoid all contact with the lava, as it will burn through any non metallic or stone surface.�
“Yeah, that’ll do, but I always thought that molten rock was boiling lava.� Milliardo cackled. “And you can feel free to tell Gabi I said that the next time you meet her, I know she was the one who wrote that. Just to let her know that not even she’s allowed to escape my pedanticness. But man, they don’t care much for our paws, do they? One lava-based training room was scary enough, twice is just stupid.�
“Could be worse,� I reminded the Umbreon. “We could have that room back that was just a giant gym. Remember, we lost Katnip for most of the day when we used that one!�
“Umm… that’s true. So, where’s this Lava Room, anyway?�
“Over there.� I gestured to a large oaken door that seemed rather out of place in the otherwise high-tech surroundings. “The original Lava Room, as used in the Pegasus Games training. I just hope we have more luck this time around.� Yes, the Pegasus Games had been fraught with difficulty. Not least of all because we had to simultaneously deal with Tsuyoi’s attempts to stir things up at the time. But this time it would be different. This time we would succeed. That I was sure of.

“Woohoo! I remember this!� Kasumi hopped gleefully from stepping stone to stepping stone, racing ahead of the rest of the team easily. It had to be said that maybe the Lava Room hadn’t been the greatest choice for our initial foray into the training rooms. As soon as you so much as opened the door you were hit with a wall of heat. And that was hardly surprising, given that the room consisted of several large pathways, occasionally broken down into stepping stones, that all eventually led to a central point, a battle arena sized slab of stone rising a few inches above the ground. And just as well that is was. For apart from the actual battle area and the pathways, the floor of the entire room was covered in a thick layer of molten lava, bubbling lazily and just waiting for the first person or pokémon foolish enough to fall from the path. It was way too hot for me. I could feel the sweat literally dripping from my head. “This was where we trained last time there was one of these, wasn’t it? Heh, I remember the Charmander we fought back then, he was cute. I could’ve just taken him home, tied him up and…�
“Yeah, yeah, Sumi, we get the idea.� Very few of my pokémon seemed to fancy the idea of accompanying me into the Lava Room. In fact most of them were quite content to stay just outside the door and yell words of encouragement over in my direction. At least Sumi had opted to keep me company, her prior experience combating any nerves she may have had about falling into the lava. And Milliardo was also with me, his impatience to start training having lent him the courage to venture into a situation potentially this dangerous. At least I didn’t have to worry about which pokémon I was going to use this time! “This is a different training grounds anyway, even if the rooms do seem pretty similar.�
“Too similar if you ask me,� Milliardo grumbled, taking up the rear of our little procession. “You should just be glad that we Umbreons only sweat poison when we choose to, otherwise you’d all be dead by now.�
“I hear you, buddy. I’m a little overheated myself.� I watched as Kasumi hopped nimbly up onto the fighter’s arena, apparently not at all bothered by the intense heat. Well, she was a Fire type, after all! “I take it you want to go first, then, Sumi?� I called over with a note of bemusement in my voice.
“Uh?� The Growlithe looked confused for a moment. Evidently she had forgotten where she was standing. “Oh. Oh yeah. I’ll take ‘em on, whoever they are. I’m not just a pretty face, you know.�
“You have a face?� Milliardo gasped, finally catching up. “I’m sorry, you seem so driven by your rear that it’s easy to forget there’s more to you than just your ****.�
“Hey, the other parts can do stuff too, you know.� Fortunately we were spared an explanation of exactly what the other parts could do – for knowing my Growlithe she would have been all too happy to expand upon this – by a large mechanical grinding up at one end of the room. I turned to face the source of the noise, only to find a well-hidden gate slowly creaking open. I hadn’t even noticed it before, it blended in so well with the surrounding walls. But there it was now, revealing Kasumi’s opponent. Standing there in the darkness with a rather puzzled expression on its face was a small, bright red bird-like pokémon. A Torchic. Well, this was likely to be interesting! This was a pokémon that none of us could claim to have any prior experience of.
“Greetings.� Kasumi watched as her opponent hopped nimbly over to the main arena, navigating the surrounding lava with ease. “My name is Lena.�
“Hi, I’m Sumi.� My Growlithe grinned broadly. “Fancy going out after the fight?�
“I don’t swing that way, sorry.�
“Give it time, girl. I can turn anyone eventually.�
“That I’d have to see to believe.� The Torchic rolled her eyes. This was a new one! “Anyway, we’re here to fight, yes? Not discuss this supposed ability of yours to change a creature’s sexual preference.�
“Yeah, whatever,� Sumi conceded grumpily. “Things with beaks aren’t much fun to kiss anyway, last time I tried it on with a Doduo I cut my tongue.� The Growlithe struck up a fighting pose. After all, her opponent was quite right. This was a time to fight. Anything else could come later. “Okay, I’m ready when you are!�
“Then let’s begin,� came the calm reply.

FIGHT!!! L12 Growlithe v L15 Torchic!

Kasumi didn’t really have much of a chance to think of a decent battle strategy. For at the precise moment her opponent declared it was ready, the Torchic was already speeding towards her, its talons poised ready to strike with a rapid Scratch attack. It was as much as the Growlithe could do to dodge the blow, ducking at the last minute so that her opponent passed rapidly over her, its slipstream ruffling her fur as it sped by. Clearly there was going to be very little time to think during this match!
“Dammit!� Reacting as quickly as she could, Sumi jumped after her opponent before it had a chance to realign itself to attack again. Finding an exposed area, the Growlithe quickly buried her sharp fangs into the Torchic’s side, causing it to cry out in pain and pull away, leaving bloody streaks where it had been bitten. It fixed Kasumi with a petulant look.
“That does it. You’ve made me mad now!� The tone was almost comical coming from such an inoffensive looking creature, but Kasumi knew better than to judge solely upon appearances. She tensed up, ready to take whatever attack her opponent was about to launch into. But nothing could have prepared her for what happened next. The ground beneath her paws began to shudder violently, sending jarring vibrations up her limbs that made her feel as if her legs were about to break. With a sharp cry of surprise the Growlithe buckled under the force that even now was trying its best to tear her apart. “I normally only reserve my Hidden Power for the strongest of opponents. You should consider yourself honoured.�
“Yeah… well… I don’t feel honoured.� Just what she needed! An opponent who possessed a Ground Hidden Power! And to use it so masterfully as well… even now the quaking was enough to keep Kasumi rooted to the spot, so distracted by the strange sensation that she forgot all about her opponent. Until a loud cry from the sidelines reminded her of why she was here to begin with.
“Sumi! Watch out!� I yelled out, trying to help my Growlithe regain her focus. It was too little, too late. Already the Torchic was upon her, swiping with its talons in another attempt at a Scratch that this time drew three thin scarlet lines across Kasumi’s chest. The Growlithe took a step backwards, too dazed and confused to fully follow what was going on. At this rate it seemed as if she might have even lost the match! “Sumi, you have to focus!� My mind raced frantically, trying to think of a way to get her to pay attention to her opponent. “Quick, look, you should be able to see underneath its tail feathers if you hurry!�
“What, really?� That did the trick alright! Suddenly the Growlithe’s full attentions were back where they should have been. And although the disappointment of not being able to get a look at the more intimate areas of her opponent disappointed greatly, Kasumi couldn’t help but be glad that she was back in action. There was no way she would let herself lose now! “That’s quite a trick you have there with the vibrating ground thing. Does it have a gentler mode or anything? Because I reckon it could be quite pleasant under the right circumstances.�
“Do you ever think of anything that isn’t perverted?� The Torchic seemed totally disgusted. Which was good, in a way, because it also meant that it was off guard.
“Rarely,� Kasumi admitted. “Perversion is fun, though!�
“That I refuse to believe.�
“Well stick around after the match and I’ll prove it to you.� The Torchic seemed about ready to snap, glaring at Kasumi with all the frustration that its psyche could handle. The little pokémon seemed to be visibly quivering with barely suppressed rage. And that was the cue that Kasumi had been waiting for. “In the meantime, let me introduce you to a little Hidden Power trick of my own. I think you’ll enjoy it.� Reaching deep within herself, the Growlithe tapped into the latent psychic abilities that had been bestowed upon her during her last visit to a training ground. And once that reservoir of power had been breached, she then used it to give her opponent a hefty push backwards. The Torchic cried out in surprise, staggering backwards so far that it almost topped over the edge of the stone arena. “Whoops, too hard! Sorry!� Quickly Kasumi altered her telekinesis, so that it picked the Torchic up from its position teetering on the brink of the bubbling lava and slowly dragged it over to hover just above the direct centre of the arena.
“Put me down this instant!� the Torchic shrieked indignantly.
“Well, if you insist!� Grinning cruelly, Kasumi forced her psychic Hidden Power downwards, pushing down hard on her opponent so that it fell to the floor twice as hard as it would have done normally and then lay there, pinned underneath a huge and unstoppable force that would only let up when Kasumi said so. Which was never a good situation to be in when you hadn’t particularly asked for it. “Well, well, well, how the mighty have fallen.� The Growlithe paced over to her opponent, standing over the Torchic with a particularly wicked look upon her face. It had to be said that battle had always appealed to Kasumi’s more dominating side, especially after learning what fun tricks her Hidden Power could be used to perform. “You’ve been a very, very naughty girl. Look at this. You got blood on my nice clean fur. And I think you need to be punished. Punished real slow… and really, really, hard.� The last few words were emphasised for added effect. By now Kasumi’s muzzle was just a fraction of an inch away from her opponent’s face, so close that she could almost smell the fear upon the Torchic. “I can do anything I want to you now, and you can’t do a thing about it, can you? All you can do is lay back and take it, and…�
“Enough! Enough!� By now the Torchic was practically in tears. “You win, you win, just please let me go! Please!�
“What, I win?� The old, cheery tone crept back into Kasumi’s voice, her mood switching from the sinister to the upbeat in an instant. “Excellent! Awesome dominatrix one, wussy Torchic nil. Result!� The Growlithe hopped in the air excitedly, her earlier mood apparently just an act after all. I had to hand it to my Growlithe. When it came to pulling out an unconventional victory she was one of the best. And despite her rather twisted game plan, you had to admit that this was one pokémon who was a lot smarter than most would give her credit for. Now if only she would have put that brain power to better use…

Kasumi wins!
Kasumi grew to L13!
Kasumi learned Leer!
Kasumi grew to L14!

[AntiAsh Superstar]

“That does it. Remind me never to go within a mile of you again.� Milliardo eyed Kasumi with caution as she hopped nimbly back off the fighting podium, apparently none the worse for wear. “I’m just glad I’m a Dark type and hence immune to your stupidity. Just one question, would you actually USE your Hidden Power in that way?�
“Nah, probably not,� the Growlithe confessed. “Not unless I found myself a willing victim, at any rate. Still, it’s fun to bluff a little sometimes, eh?�
“Can we just put a stop to this conversation, please?� I rolled my eyes in despair. “Although I have to admit that was the most novel use for telekinesis I’ve ever seen… would be quite handy to have powers like that, thinking about it…�
“This is good stopping of the conversation, Ade. At least try to mean what you say for once!�
“Sorry. I guess it’s your turn now, eh, Milliardo?�
“But of course!� The Umbreon made his way onto the raised battling arena with a single easy bound. “I need the chance to try out a few things before the tournament anyway. Figure out exactly how I’m going to make everyone’s chins drop to the floor.�
“Being humble about it for once ought to do it,� I retorted, unable to resist. “I’m beginning to worry as to whether entering you in the Games was such a good idea. You’ll become intolerable if you actually win the thing!�
“I know.� My Umbreon smirked as only he knew how. “Isn’t it wonderful?� Yet again the loud grinding of cogs interrupted the conversation. I had no idea how they timed that at all. Maybe the battle arena was fitted with motion sensors or something. “Okay. Time to get down to business.� Milliardo turned to face the hidden panel, managing to spot it with ease even before it began to open. His heart sank once his opponent stepped out of the dark recesses of its temporary prison, however. Evidently he wasn’t going to have as easy a time of it as Kasumi. For glaring out at him was a very strange creature, similar to the Torchic in several ways but ultimately seeming far too bottom-heavy, it muscular legs perfectly designed for giving lethal kicks. Combusken. Torchic’s evolution, and just the sort of pokémon that my Umbreon didn’t need to be facing. Milliardo watched carefully as his opponent gave a cruel sneer and bonded over to the fighter’s platform in several well-placed jumps. Sure, it was a Fighting type and probably knew several of the few moves that could penetrate an Umbreon’s remarkable defences. But that wasn’t going to make any difference in the grand scheme of things. It was still just a pokémon. And hence it was possible to beat it.
“Well it seems like tonight’s main course is chicken.� The Umbreon narrowed his eyes, planing his four paws in the sturdiest position he could manage, braced for battle. “Yummy. So let’s get on with preparing it, shall we?� And without any further ado, Milliardo pounced, ready for the battle of his life.

FIGHT!!! L18 Umbreon v L25 Combusken!

All things considered, it was a good job that Milliardo had taken the initiative and struck first. For he managed to catch his opponent completely off guard with this sudden assault. Clearly it was used to its opponents at least waiting for it to land on the platform properly! But my Umbreon, like most of his species, had never really cared for the niceties of battle. Anything to get the job done was okay by him, even if this was an attitude that usually landed him in arguments with pokémon possessed of more scruples. So it was without remorse that he struck hard with a fierce Tackle at the exact instant that the Combusken had landed upon the stone platform where the battle was to take place. It was enough to make the pokémon lose its footing completely, and it fell upon its considerable rear with a loud thump. If it had landed any closer to the edge it would have probably fallen straight into the lava!
“Face it,� Milliardo smirked, noting with satisfaction the look on his opponent’s face as it picked itself painfully up from the floor. It looked almost ready to kill him. An expression the Umbreon preferred for his adversaries to be wearing, for it meant that were likely to be careless. And hence his chances of winning were much greater. “Your goose is cooked.�
“Ha ha.� The Fire-type seemed less than impressed by this attempt at humour. “You’re so unfunny it’s actually quite amusing.�
“Glad you think so. Because I know a far better joke than that. Why did the Combusken cross the lava pit? To get its ass kicked.�
“You’re right. That is a joke.� Finally bored with this exchange, the Combusken took up a fighting pose, before spitting a huge ball of flame out at Milliardo. The Umbreon couldn’t have dodged if he tried. All he could do was to brace himself for the impact, to bear out the sharp stinging sensation that came like a slap to his face. Because he knew that he could do it. He knew that it would take far more than that to put him out of action. He was an Umbreon, after all. Surviving against the odds was what he did best.
“No, what’s a joke are your attacks!� Milliardo scoffed. “If that’s the best you’ve got then you might as well just go home now and hand the battle over to me. I mean, I hardly even felt that.�
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got much better moves up my sleeve than that!� Almost predictably the Combusken made as if to charge at Milliardo with everything it had. Only it didn’t get very far. For a cloud of irritating chunks of gravel had just been fired directly into its face. Apparently even Sand Attack on a rocky battleground was possible when you were Milliardo. “Why you dirty…�
“Hey, all’s fair in love, war and pokémon battles, as the old saying goes. Man, that never gets old no matter how many times I say it.� Deciding that now was as good a time as any to attack, the Umbreon tore at his opponent as quickly as he could, attempting another Tackle before the Combusken could recover for long enough to counter. Sadly this time it didn’t seem to work. His tackle was met with a huge and powerful kick that had been launched so fast that it would have made most martial arts masters green with envy. And it was a kick that served its purpose admirably, knocking Milliardo away to be sent skidding painfully along the uneven ground, picking up a fair few scratches for his troubles. It was only when he reached the edge of the arena that the Umbreon decided to do something about putting the brakes on. “****!� Quickly he pawed his way to a standstill, his hindquarters just inches away from being sent over the edge completely. “Just what I needed. Hospitalization days before my big match. Well, I suppose I could have blinded my opponent by squirting burn cream into their eyes, but even so…� The irritated pokémon fixed his amber eyes upon his opponent. “Well, that hurt. A lot. So don’t blame me if I’m so pissed off that I forget my manners and do… this!� Once again a torrent of dirt was sent flying up into the Combusken’s face, causing it to howl in pain. By now its eyes were looking ridiculously inflamed. It was a wonder it could see at all.
“Why you nasty little…� the pokémon shrieked. But that was as far as it managed to get, before another ferocious Tackle sent it sprawling. With the Combusken’s sight so impaired it was obvious that Milliardo now had the upper hand. And both pokémon knew it. “Why not just finish me off now, huh? You might as well. How am I supposed to beat you if I can’t see you properly?�
“With great difficulty, I’d say,� Milliardo cackled, the more spiteful side of him beginning to fire up. He had forgotten just how therapeutic a good fight could be! All of the stress, all of the worries that life threw at him, they always seemed to just melt away during battle. “Still, that shouldn’t stop you. Zubats have no eyes and they manage somehow.� The Umbreon dodged a random swing by the Combusken with ease. “Come on, you can do better than that, can’t you?� Again came another attack, and again Milliardo dodged, this time by sinking into his opponent’s shadow and reappearing again on the other side. He tapped the bulky pokémon on the shoulder. “I’m over here.�
“Stay still, you bastard!� By now the Combusken was so furious that it would have probably missed anyway even if its vision was perfect. As it was the pokémon was just a flailing mess by now. “Fight me properly!�
“Well, you asked for it… shame I don’t have anything better to finish you off with, but fighting you has just uncovered a serious weakness on my part, and if somebody would kindly buy me a TM to take care of that I might not make his life hell for the foreseeable future.� Milliardo cast a meaningful glance over in my direction. “Still. Brought to you by the amazing Milliardo, here’s the single most boring attack in any pokémon’s arsenal… I give you the sheer power of Tackle!� Before his opponent could so much as comprehend what he was on about, the Umbreon struck it hard in the side, throwing all of his body weight into another vicious blow that this time knocked his opponent completely to the floor. And after a few moments it became clear that the Combusken wasn’t likely to get up again. Well, he had done it. Against all the odds, he had taken on a Fighting type and come out on top. Maybe there was hope for Milliardo yet.

Milliardo wins!
Milliardo grew to L20!
Milliardo learns Swagger as his free TM!

“Man!� The Umbreon hopped nimbly down from the training platform, clearly too tired to even try and mask his exhaustion. “Okay, there’s all the training you could possibly need done, Ade, can we kindly get the **** out of this training room before I actually do start sweating poison and kill you both?�
“No rush, I like it here,� Kasumi smirked. “Besides, I like you all hot and breathless, Milly, all of a sudden I can see what Pandora sees in you.�
“Gee, the girl who’d probably sleep with a Slaking given half a chance thinks I look sexy. I’m so flattered.� Milliardo rolled his eyes. “Let’s leave. Now. The heat’s bothering me, my tiredness is bothering me, the company’s bothering me and to top it all off that bloody chicken gave me a giant headache when it kicked me.�
“Alright, Milliardo,� I replied, trying hard to keep my composure in the face of this tirade. “I’d say you earned the right to get out of here. Actually, I’m none too impressed with the heat myself, and we’ve used up all our time in here anyway.� Smiling, I added, “But for what it’s worth you did a brilliant job there, buddy. I knew I made the right choice when I entered you for the Games.�
“Damn right you did!� Of course he wasn’t going to admit it, but my words seemed to have some kind of impact on the Umbreon. He seemed to become slightly less irritable as we walked back to the exit, at any rate. “See, Ade, you stick with me and you can’t go wrong. I know I’m an cocky *******, but even cocky assholes have to be right sometimes, you know?� Well, there was no arguing with that one! And as we finally threw open the reinforced door that led back into the main foyer and finally sucked some comparatively cool air into our lungs, I found myself thinking back. Back to the time when my Umbreon had just been a mouthy little Eevee who hid his insecurities behind a wall of sheer vitriol. How he had grown in the past year or so! Yes, he was still cynical, but the bitterness that initially came with this had deserted him. And yes, he was still less than forthcoming with his emotions, but at least I no longer got the impression that this was doing him any harm. The Umbreon beside me was a creature I was proud to have on my team, and a creature that I was sure would give it his all. For no other reason than to finally prove to the world that he had come of age.

[Angel Blossom]

Woah, I'm on a roll here! :P
I don't believe this'll be my very best piece yet, but it's not too dull. It's short, but I hope you truly enjoy it!

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“Hmmm� , whispered Petals, who observed the sandy room from within my sweater. She frowned, concerned with the conditions of the area. I patted her head, trying to relieve her uncertainties. I held Jabari on his blue Pokémon leash that I had made myself; however, he hid in my backpack. He winced, peering his very dark blue eyes out of the bag. Petals sighed, trying to hide her fear of the setting in the Desert room.

It wasn’t the most pleasant sight for a small, Grass-type Pokémon like herself – dusty sand swiveled throughout the zone. Nearly all the possible humidity in the air was sucked away through the walls. Piles of dusty sand covered the entire floor – my shoes practically sank in the thick dust. I held Petals close inside my warm, delicate pullover. This way, she wouldn’t face injury from the hasty, harsh sand blowing all through the Desert Room. Jabari was safely tucked in my backpack; however, he didn’t have to be as careful as Petals.

I rubbed my cheeks, red from the sand that thrashed my delicate skin. “Ouch� , I said, moving my hand away from my nearly damaged skin. Petals looked up at me with her dark red eyes, which showed much concern. Any trainer could see true meaning beyond the emotion in her expressions. “I’m alright, Petals!� I assured her, not wanting her to be troubled about me. It wasn’t too painful, but the blustery wind became frustrating. I hoped that Petals wasn’t injured by the wind.

The unwavering Oddish wanted to show her impressive potential in a battle today -in this very room. Whether the weather activated in here was gruesome or kind, she wanted to keep aiming towards her goal.

My once soft hair was wiped out by the sandy gusts. For the moment, I looked like a jumble. There were only a few trainers in the zone, and they weren’t looking their best either, so I had nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, I pulled my hood over my head to keep my hair from the harsh conditions. I could hear a stifled whimper coming from Jabari.


“So, Kris,� began Petals, with a muffled voice, “do ya really believe I can win a battle here?� She slightly moved around in my sweater, protected from the gusts of air. In reply, I nodded. “You’re probably going to do great,� I secured, smiling, “just hold on in there!� That’s all there’s been to it – holding on. Just some courage could take her a very long way. However, there was huffing & puffing in the heart of what she tried to say that had already showed a bit of fatigue. “I might get a lil’ dry. There’s barely any humidity in this room!� She smiled nervously, obviously trying to hint me.

Suddenly, the gusts came to an awkward halt. I looked around, studying the atmosphere. The trainers across the room were confused also. Since the winds were so aggravating to all of us & seemed never-ending, it was like an impossible wish for them to stop. But in this case, the wish was mysteriously granted. Petals & I smiled with relief. Jabari poked his head out of my bag, leaping out & down to the platform. He shook his stubby paws, which were annoyingly covered with the dark orange sand. I heard a cough that had come from Petals. I nearly forgot.

What she had said before rang a bell. There were three water bottles that I carried in my backpack. Crouching down, I pulled my backpack from my arms & opened the zipper slowly with my fingers. I carefully unzipped the red bag which was heavy due to the water. Quickly, I pulled out a full, heavy, water jug. I tugged at the tightly closed opening of the bottle, and then, at last, opened it.

Safely pulling out Petals from my sweater, I placed her in front of me. “Yay, you remembered!� she exclaimed, relieved to see her aid for the harsh environment. Now, maybe it was oblivious to her, but I knew I wouldn’t forget about my Pokémon! Standing up, I poured a few drops of water on her head, making sure that the water aided her instead of flying off along with the wind. Trickling down from the healthy, green leaves on her head, the water drops eased her. “Could I drink some?� asked Jabari, placing his sandy front paws on my knees. I pulled out his dish & poured enough water for him. “Ah!� he said, satisfied.

The happy Oddish jumped onto the ramp of the platform. She sat there, smiling as she looked around the arena. “Dry, isn’t it?� she said, purposely pointing out the obvious. Jabari tittered, attempting to jump up to the railing too. I picked up the tiny, black Eevee & placed him next to Petals.

“Me & Jabari – err, Jabari and I – get along well,� she said, smiling at him. The black Eevee smiled back. “But it’s hard for Jabari to become friends with Bronx�, The smile on Jabari’s sweet face suddenly turned to a concerned frown.


I remembered about their distinct personalities. Bronx can be a very kind Aerodactyl. But like most, he can have his bad days. Ever since he had difficulties with Jabari’s siblings back at the valley, he didn’t want to take on to Jabari well. However, this little Eevee had been following him around for ages, wanting his attention. Jabari looked up to Bronx – he was a sort of idol for him.

A few days ago, however, the Aerodactyl had given him a bad attitude. Jabari had been following him around yet again, trying to converse with him. Bronx wasn’t in a good mood that day because of another small confrontation with Akai. Surprisingly, Bronx snapped at him, aggravated with his constant attention. Jabari was heartbroken.

But he still wanted his attention & friendship, but he didn’t know how to seek it.

“I’m sure he was having a bad day,� I said to Jabari, trying to cheer him up, “believe me, I’ll find a way to get him to like you.� The little Eevee looked up with me as his sad frown turned back to a pleasant smile. Jabari walked along the steel railing, watching his footsteps carefully. “Besides, it’s not the time to talk about it now,� he said, turning his head to face Petals, “weren’t you going to train today?�
Petals nodded as she jumped down the railing, landing on the dusty platform. Jabari jumped down too, but accidentally fell on Petals. I quickly motioned to them, thinking they were hurt. They giggled; showing me there was nothing to worry about.

Petals regained posture & skipped down the platform to the sandy arena.

“Now, let’s start training!� she called to me, eager to begin. She left traces in the sand. Her tiny feet dragged across the sand. I began to walk down the platform with her, enthusiastic to help her out. Jabari hurried to keep up with me. My eyes were closed as I grinned, happy about the change of the conditions of our surroundings & happy for Petals. As I paced, I collided with something – in this case, someone. Surprisingly, I walked into a trainer. Opening my eyes, I realized that I had walked into a strong, young man. His eyes shined with belligerence. A robust Phanpy stood in front of Petals, gleaming down at her. Laughing quietly, I realized how much the trainer & Pokémon had in common.

“What’s so funny?� queried the trainer, showing more hostility towards me. He lunged in my direction. Whoops. I flinched, taking a step back from the trainer. “No, nothing!� I reacted uneasily, worried of what the awkward boy may possibly do to me. His large, thick, right eyebrow lifted as he stared at me with his dark green eyes. The Phanpy lifted its eyes at me, observing my every detail. I stared back as I pulled down my hood & ran my fingers through my hair.

Shrugging his broad shoulders, he simmered down, and then began to talk again.
“Sorry, I have a weird way of approaching trainers.�
No, really? I thought to myself, examining the trainer.
“That’s alright!� I responded quickly with a pleasant smile. He slightly smirked, not honestly, then continued to speak.

“I was training my Phanpy� – he pointed at the stout Pokémon – “I want him – well, he wants to become a Donphan.� The Phanpy smiled, raising his head in conceit. Jabari stood behind my feet, studying the trainer & Phanpy. Petals glanced at Phanpy for a moment, and then focused her eyes on me. “Really?� I began, smiling at Petals, “this Oddish of mine wants to become a Bell -�

Interrupting me in mid-sentence, “Ah, the Oddish! It seems to have it’s potential for such a tiny Pokémon,� he said arrogantly, “that’s what caught my attention, ya see.� Now, obviously, he was far too caught up with himself & Phanpy to listen to me or to not be stubborn. Holding back from his discourteousness, I asked, “And what’s your name?�

“Eric�, he replied. So, Eric was a stubborn boy.
“Mine’s Kris� — I added, putting my hand out to shake — “and that Oddish may be small, but she’s strong alright.� He chuckled, rolling his eyes at the idea of a strong Oddish. I was fed up by the attitude of the boy, but I didn’t want to stoop down to Eric’s level.
“So, Eric, how about a battle?� I shook his large, bony hand as he nodded in agreement. He laughed tenaciously.
“That’ll be a good way to prove yourself, Kris.�


He called his Phanpy to the battle range of the arena. “C’mon, Phanpy! Show ‘em what you’re made of!� Lifting his small, gray trunk, the Pokémon trotted down, lifting clouds of sand in the air. He looked back as he ran & smugly scoffed at Petals, leaving her in a tense mood. She began to hurry down after Phanpy, but I stopped her for a brief moment.

“Petals,� I began, “Don’t worry – you can do this – without a doubt!�

She quickly smiled at me as she trotted down to the arena.
Jabari watched fretfully, hopping in front of my feet. He yelled a good luck to Petals as he watched, full of excitement.

“May the battle commence, Kris!�

¤ ~ Pokémon battle! Petals the Lv. 13 Oddish vs. the Lv. 15 Phanpy (M) ~ ¤

Brown clouds of dirt rose as the Phanpy slowly walked around Petals, studying her. His small, black eyes examined her every aspect. Petals glared at him, waiting for Phanpy to make the first move. They circled each other slowly, both ready for any surprise attack. My Oddish was very agile & could skirt from a rapid attack, so I wasn’t too worried. Watching from the platform, I quietly waited to give her a command.

Suddenly, the Phanpy lunged his body in the direction of Petals. His heavy body shifted incredibly swiftly through the air. Petals barely evaded the attack, rolling across the sand away from Phanpy. Her body lay on the floor; she wasn’t standing on her feet. Once again, Phanpy charged towards Petals at a quick speed. Grayish brown clouds rose in the air, trapping the keen sight of the Phanpy. Just as he was positive that he hit her, he realized that, on the left, there stood the Oddish – untouched. “Hmph!� snorted Phanpy, infuriated with Petals.

He had a trick up on his sleeve, however. He rose up to his short legs, shaking off the dirt from his belly. Unexpectedly, he struck Petals harshly with his trunk. This sent the hurt Pokémon sliding across the sand, not only lifting clouds of dirt, but piles of dust too. She flinched, surprised & hurt from the startling physical attack from Phanpy. Struggling, she brought herself back to her feet, still feeling strong-minded to win.

“Phanpy,� cried out Eric, grinning from the sidelines, �Body Slam!� I stared at Eric, knowing I had to give my advice to Petals now.

“Watch out for it, Petals!� yelled I, feeling anxious for her.

Nodding, Petals ran around Phanpy, becoming quicker & far more agile. “You won’t catch me in surprise again�, said she, dodging the Phanpy. He glared at her, trying to keep up with her speedily sidesteps. The large Pokémon crouched down, preparing for a brutal Body Slam attack.

Petals decided to stop running, standing directly in front of Phanpy. I knew she had a trick up her sleeve this time. Jumping high into the sandy air, the Phanpy began his Body Slam attack. He was high above Petals as he began to crash down back to her. Ready for her attack, Petals prepared one of her own. From the leaves atop her head, she sprung several razor-sharp leaves at Phanpy. They hurled quickly in his direction, splitting onto the skin of his belly. Her strong Razor Leaf attack sent Phanpy flying backwards, smashing back to the sand.

Thick smoke rose in the air as the heavy Phanpy lay on her back. Petals began to cough; the thick clouds of dust were irritating during a battle. Shaking her body, the Oddish blinked her eyes to keep the dust out. Shocked, Phanpy slowly lifted itself up. It shook its head, the stared at Petals.

“Surprising, coming from an insignificant thing like yourself.�

Petals chuckled at the arrogance of the Phanpy. “I’ll show you�, she said, walking a few steps backwards from Phanpy.


The leaves on her head began to shake. A breeze of wind passed through her, picking up seeds from the green, rustling leaves. The seeds whirled through the light breeze & landed on Phanpy. He shook, trying to rid of the seeds that implanted themselves in his skin. Thin, sharp vines shot out from the seeds, attaching themselves to Petals. Trying to fight back, the seeds drained energy from Phanpy to Petals, replenishing her health back to normal. The seeds disappeared in an instant as Phanpy fell down. He breathed hard, gasping for air. He stared angrily at Petals, wanting revenge severely.

“Ugh!� said Eric, disgustedly. “C’mon Phanpy! Stop being a wimp and show that thing what you’re made of!� He hollered at the poor Pokémon who became discouraged. Shrugging it off, the Phanpy prepared his most powerful attack. “Phanpy – Earthquake!�

I blinked. Earthquake? It was a strong move; however, Oddish wasn’t weak to ground-type moves. I knew she could take care of this one, somehow. I directed her to be careful of the attack, and just waited for the outcome.

Phanpy stood boldly on his four legs. He didn’t shake; he didn’t flinch. He wanted to prove to himself, to Petals, & to Eric that he wasn’t a wimp. Beginning his attack, Phanpy jumped incredibly high into the air. Petals watched him, not knowing what to do. She couldn’t fly or jump for too long, so she couldn’t possibly evade it unless if Phanpy failed. Determined to win, Petals still didn’t give up. Pausing for a second in midair, Phanpy looked down to the arena. At first, he slowly began to crash back down to the ground. He moved faster & faster every second until he became excruciatingly fast. He planned to land on the ground with his front feet, which he did.

Powerfully, his feet spliced into the sand. Cracks formed were he had hit, then expanding throughout the battle area. Petals looked at her feet. She was surrounded by crackled concrete & earth. Suddenly, the dirt that had gashed extremely quickly surfaced in different bits. Crackling noises filled the room. Rocks formed, bursting up from the ground, harshly hitting Petals. My Oddish had been hit by the attack.

She flew up into the air due to the brutal attack. She landed on her face, hurt from the attack. “Aha! Have you given up, Kris?� asked Eric, proud of his Phanpy. His Phanpy looked at Petals, showing a bit of sarcastic sympathy. I stared at my poor Oddish, wondering if she was still okay. Why didn’t I try to help her? I should’ve been more careful..

I looked down to Jabari, who was anxiously worried about Petals. Ready to forfeit for my hurt Oddish, I was stopped –

“No, she doesn’t�, said Petals, slowly regaining her stance. She wearily stood on her two feet, showing her determination. She smiled courageously at us, turning back to continue battling her opponent. Eric was speechless. I was filled with pride, cheering for her, along with Jabari.

“Petals, give him another Razor Leaf – pronto!�

Grinning confidently, she shot out hundreds of sharp, dark green leaves chucking in the direction of Phanpy. He ran from them, dodging them the best he could. As he slid from left to right, the rustling, swift leaves shot straight at him, piercing his body. Phanpy flew backwards onto his back, lifting yet more clouds of dust in the air. My Oddish stood in front of Phanpy; however, she faced the other way. Not willing to miss a chance, she used Sunny Day. Sunlight peered in from the small slits in the ceiling caused by Phanpy’s powerful earthquake. The rays hit directly on Petals, preparing her first step to a powered-up Solar Beam attack.

Phanpy, however, wasn’t willing to lose either. He charged directly from behind Petals, hitting her back. She flopped down on her belly as the tackle surprised her. Running past her, Phanphy prepared another tackle. He beat his front legs in the sand, trying to get ready. Petals stood up, still unaware. As he ran down in her direction, she did her best to avoid it. The Oddish jumped above the Phanpy, and he missed. Instead, he had tripped over a crack & tumbled over & over in the sand.

I couldn’t help but giggle at the sight. Remembering about Eric’s temper, I shut myself up.

Petals began to take in solar energy from the sunlight coming from the ceiling. She began to glow radiantly, standing out in the tanned orange sand. At first, she turned to a bright green color. The color then faded to a blindingly bright yellow, to a flinching white. She was gaining a lot of energy from the bits of sun coming in the room. I watched, admiring her potential.

Eric glared at Oddish, wondering what she was doing. “What’s that?�
I chuckled. “Guess you’ve never heard of solar beam, Eric!� Turning his head, he glared at me angrily. Pretending not to have seen him, I quickly focused my eyes back on Petals.

Phanpy finally boosted himself up after his odd fall. He shook his body, which had been covered, in orange-red sand. Blinking, he stared at Petals with a confused expression. Obviously, neither had experienced this attack before. He looked up to Eric, waiting for a command.

“You dumb Pokémon! Don’t look over here, attack her!� he growled furiously. Freaked out by his temperament, Jabari & I took a few steps away from him. I fretfully waited for her to let loose her dominant attack. My green eyes gazed at her with so many emotions.

Petals finally unleashed her attack. A large, white beam leashed out on Phanpy. He didn’t have the chance to avoid the attack; the beam was as quick as the speed of light. It had streaks of green & yellow waving all around it, just like last time. The solar energy was super strong, and especially because it was super-effective against Phanpy, the ground-type Pokémon. It sent the opponent flying all the way back to our platform. Not only did the attack hit him harshly, but also when he had landed, he collided with the railing.

“C’mon, Phanpy?�
I comprehended shaken concern in Eric’s voice for once.

Phanpy struggled, trying to stand up. He lifted up his right leg, but couldn’t keep himself upright. He fell down, cringing. He had given up.

Petals the Lv. 13 Oddish wins!
Petals the Oddish grew to Lv. 15! Petals learned Poisonpowder!

Jabari & I congratulated Petals from the platform. I ran up to where she stood, eager to pick up & hug my courageous little Oddish. Picking her up, Petals giggled happily. Her smile shined brighter than the sunlight. “See, Petals!� I said, smiling, “We knew you could do it! Congrats!� Jabari congratulated her also, very happy to see his best bud overcome the two.

Eric watched us from a few feet away, clutching his fainted Phanpy in his arms. Putting down my Oddish, I turned to him. I didn’t have any positive – and honest – feedback about our battle. He pushed his poor Pokémon too far. I couldn’t blame the Phanpy; he’s arrogant because that’s the way his trainer is.

“I have a lot to learn,� he said, admitting he wasn’t right, “and you proved it today.� He held his poor Phanpy tightly, covering him with his sweater. I shrugged my shoulders. I had felt it would be better to hear what he had to say. “Well, I better get going.� Eric began to walk away, out of the room.

“Eric,� said I, stopping him, “that Phanpy – he is really strong. Just try to encourage him instead of – well – pushing him.� I was afraid for a second that what I had said would anger him & cause a commotion. But I was wrong. Eric took my feedback well, nodding in agreement. He waved his hand before he turned, walking away. �Good luck to ‘em two�, said Jabari, smiling up at me. I bent down, patting the little black Eevee’s head. He giggled, softly hitting my hand with his chubby paws. I smiled at the adorable little Pokémon.

“Yeah, who knows,� said Petals, walking towards us. “We might even meet them again – and maybe they’ll be… nice?! The three of us stared at each other silently for a few seconds, and then broke into laughter. It was possible, maybe even true – but the idea seemed funny for the while. Like my smart little Petals said - who knows?

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[classy_cat18]

I wanted to start the Jungle Room scenario right quick; the battles will be up after. Just so you’ll know, I got Lily a Sunny Day TM.

Edit: I did this because I wanted to avoid double posting.

Beacon’s POV

“She’s sleeping,� Lily whispered. She puffed up with frustration. “Come on, wake up!�

“Hush, Lily!� I told her. “So, what’s the news?�

“Tay-tay entered me in the Unicorn Games! I’m gonna win me some stuff!� she said in confidence.

Trinity looked at me with an amused look on her face. “Tay-tay?�

“She must mean Shonta. So she could only enter you, huh? What about the rest of us?� I asked.

<She better train me,> Jewel sent in a dark voice. Swoop and Trinity stepped away from her.

“Well, you’re at Level 9 and I’m at Level 8. She got you at a very good level.� I approached her. “How do you do Psychic so well? Most non-Psychic type Pokemon have to practice their psychic skills for a long time.�

<I’m a fast learner,> she sent simply.

“Someone needs to taste some humble pie,� Swoop grumbled.

“Soon I’m gonna be a Vileplume!� Lily shouted happily.

Swoop winced. “Why a Vileplume? They’re so…awkward.�

“Everyone wants to be a Bellossom! I want to be something else!�

Shonta groaned and opened her eyes, ending her nap. “Okay girls, calm down. You’ll all have your chance to train.� She set down her backpack. “I have something for the future champ.� I knew who she was talking about, but that didn’t stop me from taking a peek. “Not you, Beacon.� She pulled out a box with a picture of a sun on it. “Lily, this is Sunny Day. It will give your Grass-type moves a boost when in effect.� She opened the box and emptied it over Lily’s head. Lily glowed for a second and went back to normal. “So, how do you feel?�

She looked up and swayed from side to side. “Um, not very much different. How am I supposed to do Sunny Day?�

Shonta shrugged. “You’ll know what to do. That’s that, I guess.� She stood up and walked to the middle of the circular room. “These doors are labeled.� She pointed at the door we first went through. “That’s what I get for just going through a door without knowing what’s behind it.�

I lowered my head; it was my decision to go to the “Lava Room� first. “Maybe you should choose the next door,� I suggested softly.

<I would rather rest up in my pokeball until you need me again. Which, I bet, won’t be long at all,> Jewel sent in a bored tone.

Lily ran and checked the doors, finally jumping in front of one. “I wanna go through this one! Can we, Tay-Tay?�

“Let’s see. ‘Jungle Room’. Sounds nice and non-extreme.� She chuckled. “Okay, let’s go.� She opened the door and let us walk through. We went through a corridor lit with electric lights before coming across an unlocked wooden door. On the other side was another mind-blowing room. All we could see were tropical plants. The walls were painted to look like the tropical plants and the ceiling was painted to look like the sky.

“So cool!� we all exclaimed.

Lily took a while to tell us her thoughts. “It looks like home!� she said in awe. She immediately bolted down a narrow path that cut through the dense vegetation. The rest of us followed, Trinity in the front, Shonta in the back, and Swoop following us from above.

I heard all sorts of unknown sounds and they slowly got to me. Tales of vicious creatures snatching up poor, helpless sheep Pokemon raced through my mind. I didn’t even pay attention to what was up ahead. “Aah!� I yelled as I fell face first in water.

Shonta crouched in front of me, on the other side of the stream. “I tried to tell you. We lost Lily. She must’ve taken off through the trees.�

I dragged myself out of the water. “I’m staying here!� I said. “I don’t want to get eaten!�

Shonta cocked an eyebrow. “Beacon, this isn’t Jurassic Park. No one in their right mind would let loose any sheep-eating Pokemon in here.�

“Whee!� a voice from upstream cried. Lily came drifting down the stream on a large leaf. “Yes, just like home! Except the streams were a lot more fun to play in.� She jumped off and looked up at Shonta.

“Lily, next time you decide to go whitewater rafting, tell me,� I told her. “Did you leave the others behind?�

“I thought they were with you. Oh well, I guess they’ll find their way back.�

We turned and started back down the path, finally coming across a clearing. The ground was chalked like the large flat stone in the Lava Room. Sitting in the middle of the clearing was boy about half Shonta’s age. He wore a very simple outfit of a white T-shirt and blue jeans. His neat red hair was tucked in a baseball cap. Sitting with him was a blue spider-like creature that wore something yellow on its head. It glanced at us and squeaked happily. The boy smiled at us. “Hey there. I guess you finally found this place.� He extended a hand to Shonta. “The name’s Tony.�

Shonta shook it. “My name’s Shonta. This is Beacon and Lily. My other Pokemon are kinda lost. There’s no threat out there, is there?�

“I can’t say. But the room isn’t that big; they’ll eventually find a path and come here.�

“We came for a battle!� Lily shouted happily.

Tony chuckled. “Well, my Surskit Blue and I can battle you.� Blue smiled in agreement.

Shonta’s POV

“So, what are the rules?� I asked Tony as we walked to opposite ends of the clearing.

“One-on-one. My Surskit versus your Oddish. You are using your Oddish, right?� he asked me.

I looked down as Oddish was humming a tune as she swayed from side to side. Why does she do that? Is she dancing or thinking when she does that? “Hey Lily! Are you ready?� I asked her.

She giggled. “Of course I am! I’ve been ready!�

“What about you, girl?� Tony asked his Surskit, who also nodded. She and Lily ran to the middle of the clearing. They bowed to each other and took an attack stance (I think).

“Let the battle begin!� Tony shouted.

L9 Female Oddish vs. L8 Surskit

Lily’s POV

Blue took a deep breath and shot out a stream of bubbles at me. What kind of attack is this? I stood still.

“Lily, dodge ‘em!� Shonta commanded.

The bubbles hit me, and they actually hurt! What are these bubbles made out of?

“Blue, Quick Attack while that Oddish is stunned!� Tony said to the Surskit.

I wobbled in place, my vision a little blurry. Something blue was rushing toward it. “Whoa!� I yelled as I jumped up, and Blue went right under me.

“Lily, see if you can do Sunny Day!� Shonta told me.

Why? There’s no sun in here and we’re in a room! I was too busy trying to dodge all of the bubbles, occasionally shooting a Razor Leaf.

“Oh boy, it’s a real ballet,� Shonta muttered.

I was running all over the place, and those bubbles were making the grass slippery. I took a sharp turn and ended up on my back. That’s when I noticed the windows; they were lighting up the place! Now if I could just get up…

“Hey Shonta, it looks like your Oddish fell down and can’t get up!� Tony joked. “Now I can give your Oddish a huge taste of its own power type! Blue, Giga Drain!�

“Giga Drain!?!� Beacon and I said together.

“It can’t be! Your Surskit is a Water/Bug type! It can’t do Giga Drain!� Shonta shouted in disbelief.

I felt myself get sleepy as specks of my energy left me. I rocked using what strength I had left and finally got back on my feet. That’s what I get for not having hands. I still had to stop my energy. I worked my mouth and got a mouthful of poison, which I turned and spit in Blue’s face. Blue’s face was actually purple and gooey until the Toxic absorbed in her skin.

“Alright, Lily! Now time to get some of that energy back!� Shonta told me.

I absorbed some of Blue’s energy, but it wasn’t much. She was losing some of her energy due to her poisoning. She was shaking from the energy she was losing. “I don’t feel so good,� she muttered.

I stopped the Absorb attack; there was no need to keep on battling. All I had to do was to wait for the Toxic to zap up the rest of her strength.

“Blue, try another Giga Drain!� Tony shouted.

“Stop her with Razor Leaf,� Shonta said calmly. I spun around and let out a Razor Leaf, slightly cutting Blue’s cheek. She winced and collapsed, no longer able to battle.

I won and grew to level 10! I guess that means I get a free TM!

Tony picked up Blue and frowned. “It’s still getting worse. I should get her to a Center.� He started to leave, but Shonta stopped him.

“Wait! What about your Chikorita?� she asked him.

He gasped. “Oh no! She’ll come here looking for me, but I’ll be gone! Could you look for him and tell him that I’ll be taking care of Blue?�

She nodded. “Besides, I have to look for Trinity and Swoop.� She went down a path with Beacon and I following. Tony carried Blue down another path. At first we heard a lot of Pokemon, but soon all we heard was the sound of the stream. “That’s funny.�

“I don’t like the sound of that,� Beacon whimpered. Her nose wrinkled up. “I think I caught Trinity’s scent!� She ran in front of us and stopped at a bundle of whitish-gold fur: Trinity. She was still and breathing steadily. “I think she’s sleeping. And so is Swoop!� She pushed forward a still bird body.

“Why are they sleeping at a time like this?� Shonta asked. We sat still for a while I listened to a nice little sound, like whistling. “Does anyone else hear that? It sounds so nice…� She sat down and got still. Soon she was lying down, and so was Beacon. Now that I think of it, I think I was doing that along with them…

[Lady Vulpix]

I'm printing Ade's and classy_cat18's posts, so will someone else rate Kris's, please?

Ade, I haven't read yours yet, but whyle I was copy/pasting it I caught a part of it and I have a message for Milly: it was Scott who wrote that, not me. Though thanks for pointing it out, I'll fix it the next time this scenario comes up, if it does come up again.

-=Edit=-

Ok, I've read the battles now. Ade gets... 23 stamps! Though I think Milliardo's jokes get worse when he's trying to impress the audience. But the story was great! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
Shonta gets 7 stamps! Some parts were a bit hard to understand, but the overall story was nice, and the ending was surprising. ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
And yes, Lily gets a free TM. Just one note: Sunny Day doesn't boost grass-type moves. It only makes Solarbeam faster. And if Lily's planning to evolve into a Vileplume, she'll need to learn Solarbeam as a TM in order to make use of it.

[Charizard04621]

Angel Blossom: Not too bad. Using "&" in place of "and" got slightly annoying. There were several grammatical errors and awkward usages of vocabulary, but nothing too major. You did the tense shift thing again in a few places. There was a slight problem with repetition in some parts of the story (you'd say the same thing in the next sentence or use the same word over and over) but overall the story was interesting. Take 10 Stamps.