The Solar Games - Annual CCCC Tournament (Approved by Amy)

[pokemasterfrank]

The appearance of the nine survivors brought hope to the Crystal Caves. Maybe more would turn up...maybe more would return. Later, it was found that the nine were the only survivors of each of their groups, the others lost in the wilds of the new lands. Unfortunately, there return was an ominous sign...for something big was building...and worst was yet to come...

You wander through your location, searching for a Pokemon that you can capture to be your friend...your companion, to share good times with. You feel the cool, gentle breeze blow through your hair, grazing your face. You sigh, and think about what a great night it is. You gaze at the horizon...it should be daybreak soon, and the sun will rise. You wait for the warm rays of the mysterious Crystal Caves sun to rise from the depths, scattering light into the land for another day...but it never comes...

A state of emergency is called in the CC. The citizens gathered in the Town Square, in the middle of the human settlement. "Something is terribly wrong in the Crystal Caves," began Frank. "And we must find out what." Frank pointed to the a small, shimmering light in the horizon...the only light left in the Crystal Caves...
~~~~~
Welcome to the Solar Games. You are the group of trainers who are to find out what has happen to the life-giving sun of the Crystal Caves. You and your fellow trainers will compete in a test of wit, skill, and knowledge of the English language. The Solar Games will be held in a similar manner as the Tremor Games of last year and the Unicorn Games that are presently being held. The participants will orchestrate a battle, using their skills in English and their imaginations in each round, after which, the number of participants will be cut in half, being judged for grammatical error and writing skills.

Rules

1. Only Pokemon captured at the Crystal Caves Capture Center or caught at Pokemon Avengers but approved at the Crystal Caves may participate.
2. The top 50% of the participants of each round will move on to the next match. If there is an odd number, the 50% will be rounded to the nearest even amount of persons. No, we wont have small percents of people competing in this competitions, lol. Pokemon shall be awarded an amount of levels and CCPs for the quality of their writing. The better quality, the more levels and CCPs awarded. Rating of each piece will occur when all participants post their battles, or time runs out, which ever comes first.
3. The amount of Pokemon used in this tournament shall be decided when the amount of participants are totaled. For now, sign up two Pokemon. As long as the tournament has not yet begun, you may still make changes to your team (You may not switch Pokemon, but you may use TMs and items, etc.).

Prizes

• The winner shall recieve a Dratini, 100 CCPs, and four SMs of their choice. Also, the winner shall recieve a rare, Rainbow Feather. More details about this item shall be released at a later time.
• Second Place shall recieve 50 CCPs as well as a Sunlight Sunflora. This Sunflora has the Drought ability, bringing out the sunlight anywhere as long as Sunflora is out. Also, the Second Place winner shall recieve 3 of the remaining SMs of his or her choice.
• Third and Fourth Place winners shall recieve a Master Ball each, 25 CCPs each, and one of the remaining SMs of their choice.
• All participants shall recieve a rare, one-time release only TM.

You can use this form to submit your Pokes :o

Name:
Pokemon 1:
Pokemon 1's Nickname:
Gender:
Level:
Ability:
Item:
Attacks:

Pokemon 2:
Pokemon 2's Nickname:
Gender:
Level:
Ability;
Item:
Attacks:

Note: Remember to replace the "<" and ">" with "[" and ']"

Sign ups will close on Saturday, June 12 at Midnight, Pacific Standard Time. All sign-ups sent after that time will not be guaranteed a spot in the Solar Games.

Participants

1. Amy (Wolfsong) ~ Laila the Elemental Larvitar - Dakota the Mightyena
2. Jay (Cruption) ~ Prisma the Blissey - Faith the Flygon
3. Steve (Dark Dragonite) ~ Cambria the Shiny Ninetails - Coheed the Arcanine
4. Hannah (Sneaseh(h)Obsessive) ~ Omega the Shelgon - Flash the Cyndaquil
5. Linc (Dragon Rider) ~ Nightmare the Sneasel - GreatWhite the Sharpedo
6. Elessar (aragornbird) ~ Neitiel the Natu - Orsinal the Hoothoot
7. Shonta (classy_cat18) ~ Cinder the Cyndaquil - Kawaii the Giraferig
8. J (Sheik) ~ Sable the Milotic - Blackie the Houndour
9. Matt (Matt) ~ Dratini the Dratini - Nincada the Nincada
10. Soggy (soggy_cardboard) ~ Teddy the Teddiursa - Stickachu the Lotad

[Wolfsong]

Well I guess I'll try and sign up. I may be breaking the tradition of using Ranec every time, buti wanted to give the others on my team a shot. XD I'll be giving the chance to my elemental larvitar (my prize from coming in second in the tremor games) and my mightyena the shot this go around.

Name: Amy
Pokemon 1: Elemental Larvitar
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Laila
Level: 10
Ability: Guts
Attacks: Bite, Leer, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Dragon Dance, Earthquake, Hidden Power Rock, Sandstorm, Mimic, Brick Break, return
Item: Quick Claw
Gender: Female


Pokemon 2: Mightyena
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Dakota
Level: 20
Ability Intimidate
Attacks: Tackle, Howl, Poison Fang, Hidden Power Psychic, Return, Faint Attack, Dig, Sand Attack, Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, Iron Tail, Torment, Rock Smash, Mud Slap, Shadow Ball, Headbutt, Rain Dance, Mimic, Protect, Bite, Attract, Subsitute, Odor Sleuth, Body Slam, Double Team, Taunt
Item: Pokemon Collar
Gender: Male

[Jay]

Question, am I allowed to bring my other captees into the story? I mean, they won't be directly involved in battling or whatever, but can they steal be involved in the story somehow.

Name: Jay

Pokemon 1: Blissey
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Prisma
Gender: Female
Level: 13
Ability: Serene Grace
Item: No.
Attacks: Aromatherapy, Attract, Double slap, Fire Blast, Growl, Heal Bell, Ice Beam, Metronome, Pound, Psychic, Soft-boiled, Tail Whip, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave

Pokemon 2: Flygon
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Faith
Gender: Male
Level: 27
Ability: Levitate.
Item: No.
Attacks: Bite, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Giga Drain, Faint Attack, Sand Attack, Sand Tomb

[Dark Dragonite]

Why not?

Name: Steve
Pokemon 1: Shiny Ninetails
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Cambria
Level: 16
Ability: Flash Fire
Attacks: Ember, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Safeguard, Roar, Faint Attack, Heat Wave, Hypnosis, Flamethrower
Item: None
Gender: Female


Pokemon 2: Arcanine
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Coheed
Level: 17
Ability Intimidate
Attacks: Bite, Roar, Ember, Leer, Take Down, Flame Wheel, Odor Sleuth, Flamethrower, Body Slam
Item: None
Gender: Male

[*Murkrow]

Sounds like fun^_^

Name: Hannah
Pokemon 1: Shelgon
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Omega
Gender: Male
Level: 20
Ability: Rock Head
Item: Status Die
Attacks: Rage, Bite, Leer, Headbutt, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw, Brick Break, Thrash, Dragon Rage, Hidden Power: Electric

Pokemon 2: Cyndaquil
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Flash
Gender: Male
Level: 11
Ability: Blaze
Item: Matches
Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Smokescreen, Flamethrower, Hidden Power: Grass, Howl, Headbutt

[Linc]

Name: Linc
Pokemon 1: Sneasel
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Nightmare
Gender: Female
Level: 11
Ability: Keen Eye
Item: None
Attacks: Slash, Scratch, Leer, Quick Attack, Taunt

Pokemon 2: Sharpedo
Pokemon 2's Nickname: GreatWhite
Gender: Male
Level: 10
Ability: Rough Skin
Item: None
Attacks: Bite, Leer, Rage, Focus Energy

Note: If I posted this twice, it was because my comp wasn't working.

[aragornbird]

I'm in!

Name: Aragornbird
Pokemon 1: Natu
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Neitiel
Gender: Male
Level: 12
Ability: Synchronize
Item: None
Attacks: Peck, Leer, Drill Peck, Hidden Power~Fire, Calm Mind, Night Shade, Psychic, Faint Attack, Giga Drain

Pokemon 2: Hoothoot
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Orsinal
Gender: Male
Level: 11
Ability: Imsomnia
Item: None
Attacks: Tackle, Growl, Foresight, Wing Attack, Peck, Psychic, Mist Ball, Reflect, Hidden Power~Ice

[pokemasterfrank]

Question, am I allowed to bring my other captees into the story? I mean, they won't be directly involved in battling or whatever, but can they steal be involved in the story somehow.

Yep Thats fine

*edits everyone into list of participants*

[classy_cat18]

Oh, what the heck? I'll join! I'll enter my heavyweight Kawaii and one of my featherweights. Cinder does need to evolve.

Name: Shonta
Pokemon 1: Cyndaquil
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Cinder
Gender: Male
Level: 9
Ability: Blaze
Item: none
Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Smokescreen, Sunny Day

Pokemon 2: Girafarig
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Kawaii
Gender: Female
Level: 15
Ability: Early Bird
Item: none
Attacks: Tackle, Growl, Astonish, Stomp, Confusion, Future Sight, Earthquake

[Dark Dragonite]

If we buy TMs, or the pokes gain levels, can we update them, and if so, when is the deadline?

[pokemasterfrank]

If we buy TMs, or the pokes gain levels, can we update them, and if so, when is the deadline?

You can make changes to the Pokemon themselves until sign-ups close. Then, attacks, levels, and item are set in stone

[Sheik]

I think I'll sign up. I've never competed in one of the games before...

Pokemon 1: Milotic
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Sable
Gender: Female
Level: 10
Ability: Marvel Scale
Item: none
Attacks: Splash, Ice Beam, Confuse Ray, Water Sport

Pokemon 2: Houndour
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Blackie
Gender: Male
Level: 7
Ability: Early Bird
Item: none
Attacks: Ember, Leer, Will-o-Wisp

[aragornbird]

Oh yeah, I think I'll change my name to Elessar. That's the name the trainer bird in my stories uses. Thanks!

[pokemasterfrank]

I think I'll sign up. I've never competed in one of the games before...

Pokemon 1: Milotic
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Sable
Gender: Female
Level: 10
Ability: Marvel Scale
Item: none
Attacks: Splash, Ice Beam, Confuse Ray, Water Sport

Pokemon 2: Bagon
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Mushu
Gender: Male
Level: 10
Ability: Rock Head
Item: none
Attacks: Rage, Bite, Hydro Pump, Leer, Flamethrower,

Umm...you can change your choice of attacks and raise your Pokemon levels, but you can't change your choice of Pokemon. Your stuck with Milotic and Houndour, I'm afraid

[Sheik]

Ok, I'll re edit that post. You can call me by my name (Jay, or J, whatever) if you'd like. Could you also put that next to my username, please?

Let me just get this straight.... We can change attacks, meaning we can teach the Pokemon TMs prior to the beginning of the Solar Games, correct?

[pokemasterfrank]

Ok, I'll re edit that post. You can call me by my name (Jay, or J, whatever) if you'd like. Could you also put that next to my username, please?

Let me just get this straight.... We can change attacks, meaning we can teach the Pokemon TMs prior to the beginning of the Solar Games, correct?

Yes. Hmm...it seems there is a character limit o_O So, I can't just answer "yes" or "no" to a yes or no question o_O lol So...*begins to put some filler* lalala *just realizes that he has gone far over 10 characters* lol

[Sheik]

Frank, I would just like to let you know that Blackie has leveled up to level 6 from a Random Battle Generator at the CC Battle Arena.

Thanks.

[pokemasterfrank]

Frank, I would just like to let you know that Blackie has leveled up to level 6 from a Random Battle Generator at the CC Battle Arena.

Thanks.

Alright ^_^ Just edit any changes to your post

[Matt]

Name: Matt
Pokemon 1: Dratini
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Dratini
Gender: Female
Level: 8
Ability: Shed Skin
Item: None
Attacks: Wrap, Leer, Dragon Dance, Water Gun, Icy Wind, Bide, Protect, Fire Blast, Shock Wave, Dragonbreath, Extremespeed, Toxic, Light Screen, Reflect, Water Pulse, Skull Bash, Take Down, Swift, Mimic, Thunderbolt, Thunderwave.

Pokemon 2: Nincada
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Nincada
Gender: Female
Level: 5
Ability: Compoundeyes
Item: None
Attacks: Scratch, Harden, Leech Life, Silver Wind, Aerial Ace, Mega Drain.

[soggy_cardboard]

Name:Soggy
Pokemon 1: Teddiursa
Pokemon 1's Nickname:Teddy
Gender:Male
Level:11
Ability: Pickup
Item: Pokemon Collar
Attacks: Scratch, Leer, Lick, Yawn, Return, Earthquake, Sword Dance

Pokemon 2: Lombre!!
Pokemon 2's Nickname: Stickachu
Gender:Female
Level:13
Ability: Rain Dish
Item: Beach Ball
Attacks: Astonish, Growl, Abosrb, Leech Seed, Bubble Beam, Ice Beam, Substitute, Giga Drain, Rain Dance, Counter, Nature Power, Toxic, Protect

[classy_cat18]

I would like to remove Cinder's entry and replace him with a real featherweight.

Pokemon 1: Spearow
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Beaky
Gender: Male
Level: 9
Ability: Keen Eye
Item: none
Attacks: Peck, Growl, Leer, Steel Wing

[pokemasterfrank]

I would like to remove Cinder's entry and replace him with a real featherweight.

Pokemon 1: Spearow
Pokemon 1's Nickname: Beaky
Gender: Male
Level: 9
Ability: Keen Eye
Item: none
Attacks: Peck, Growl, Leer, Steel Wing

Sorry, you've already submitted your Pokemon

Sign-ups are now closed. We now have the 10 participants set. First round shall be under way by tommorow

[pokemasterfrank]

The Solar Games – Round One

“This is bad…”

The citizens huddled by the fire, trying to contain what little light we had left. The trainers placed their torches around the small refuge settlement, seemingly hoping to ward away the darkness. The people called out their fire Pokemon, allowing the flames of their bodies to radiate light. I sighed…I knew that this would not last long. But the Pokemon provided comfort to their trainers…and that, I guess, is worth it.

I cleared my throat and called for everyone’s attention. “Everyone…the sun has not risen, as you may have noticed. We must find out what is wrong. We shall bring the sun back to this peaceful place.” I unlatched the trunk behind me and pulled out a large lantern. Who’s with me? The workers stepped up, feeling obligated to help the home they’ve lived in and worked in for such a long time. Then, others stepped up, knowing that this place, this amazing place, must be helped.

The group marched on, the small beacon of light as our guide. Wild Pokemon scurried to our path, lined up around it, solemn looks on their faces. They could sense the disorder that has happened, and probably knew it was coming. We continued, knowing that the fate of the CC were in our hands and that we had the support of all the Pokemon that lived there.

We arrived at the base of a sheer cliff, the crystal emitting a dull, blue light. The cliff had ropes hanging from them. Someone had gotten here first. How did they get the ropes up there? Who knows, but I’m glad their there. We began our ascent, climbing the ropes. Suddenly, a few people appear at the bottom and the top, and begin sliding down (or climbing) the ropes.

“Snooping around, eh?” one of them said. “We’ll make you think twice about spying on us again!”

~~~~~

Welcome to the second annual Solar Games at the CCCC. You ten have chosen to embark upon a wondrous journey, filled with battles, excitement, and prizes. In this round, you shall be given a scenario and an opposing Pokemon to battle against. You will write a battle during an allotted amount of time and that writing shall be graded and rated, your Pokemon winning levels and CCPs based on the effort and skill demonstrated by your writing. The Pokemon participating in this round may receive a free TM of their choice to use upon the participating Pokemon. Please state what the free TM shall be at the beginning of the battle. Only the top 5 battles, in this round, shall move on.

NOTE: As this battle shall be held on the ropes of the match, assume that your Pokemon, regardless of arm span, can cling upon the ropes and still fight.

Battle on the Ropes

Amy
Laila the Female Larvitar (Level 10) vs Level 10 Hitmontop

Jay
Prisma the Female Blissey (Level 15) vs Level 15 Machoke

Steve
Cambria the Female Ninetails (Level 16) vs Level 20 Starmie

Hannah
Omega the Male Shelgon (Level 20) vs Level 20 Jynx

Linc
Nightmare the Female Sneasel (Level 11) vs Level 15 Hitmonchan

Elessar
Neitiel the Male Natu (Level 12) vs Level 15 Pikachu

Shonta
Cinder the Male Cyndaquil (Level 9) vs Level 10 Squirtle

J
Sable the Female Milotic (Level 10) vs Level 10 Electibuzz

Matt
Dratini the Female Dratini (Level 8) vs Level 10 Delibird

Soggy
Teddy the Male Teddiursa (Level 11) vs Level 15 Hitmonlee

You have until Midnight, Monday, June 28th of 2004 PST to finish your battles. Good luck.

[Linc]

Nightmare will get an Ice Beam TM

Linc's POV
~~~~~~

I look up to see shadows flickering around the cliff, but barely as Frank's lamp is dull. I gasp as I see Pokemon jumping down the ropes at the different trainers. They throw their Pokeballs which explode, sending light around. I grip the Pokeball of my strongest Pokemon, Nightmare, the Sneasel, and hesitate to find a target. I glance up again to see a Hitmonchan sliding down the roaps right towards me. I throw my Pokeball and Nightmare jumps out, the light from the explosion of the Pokeball shining on her face. She clings onto the ropes with her feet and glares at the Hitmonchan who smiles at the weaker Pokemon. The two fighters face off on the cliff, Frank's lamp giving light to us all. The light bounces off Nightmare's claws as she dashes up the rope towards the Hitmonchan.

Battle! Nightmare (Lv. 11 Female Sneasel) vs. Lv. 15 Hitmonchan!

"Nightmare! Quick Attack!" Nightmare flings herself at the Hitmonchan, smashing it in the face with her arm. "Comet Punch!” shouts a voice from above. The Hitmonchan's fist glows as it thrusts its fist towards Nightmare, who flips over it while hanging on the rope and slashing it with its claws. It punches at Nightmare again, this time hitting her in the stomach and sending her tumbling down. She grabs the rope and tries to stop, sliding downwards, but eventually stopping. "Slash!" I shout as she tuns back up the rope and slashes at the Hitmonchan's stomach again.
The Hitmonchan prepares another Comet Punch and hits Nightmare again, but she doesn't fall this time. She does another Quick Attack, except using her claws and scratches the Hitmonchan badly. It lets out a cry as it runs towards Nightmare and punches her in the face. Her face fills with fear as it charges up another Comet Punch and smashes her again and again. I look down, seeing the others fighting bravely. I have to be like them.
I grab the rope harder trying not to fall. "Nightmare, Quick Attack then Slash!" She starts to run down the rope and then she starts to run up the face of the cliff, gaining speed rapidly. She ventually goes past the Hitmonchan and out od range of the light. "Nightmare?..." I whisper to my self. Nightmare suddenly reappears, leaping towards the Hitmonchan from above and Slashes the Hitmonchan on the back. Shreds of ripped cloth fall past me that were recently on the back of the Hitmonchan.
"Nightmare! Quick Attack again!" This time Nightmare runs down the cliff, and the Hitmonchan uses Agility to run up the cliff. I keep my eye on Nighmare as she turns the other way and runs back up. The Hitmonchan changes direction also and the two collide, creating a sonic boom, shaking the ropes.
The Pokemon both run too fast for me too see, colliding every once and a while, creating shockwave after shockwave, every once in a while a cry of pain rings out from the darkness. My eyes strain to try to see the Pokemon, but nothing appears.
The battle goes on and on. I look down and see all the other Pokemon battling. There's a faint coming from something other than Frank's lanturn. I realize it's coming from my pocket! I pull out a glowing object, giving off a soothing gold light.
"A TM!" I whisper silently. "Nightmare!" I shout out. there's one last sonic boom and Nightmare comes sliding down the rope, awaiting my command. The Hitmonchan stops also, but eventually starts moving towards us. I give the glowing object to Nightmare, the light starting to cover her body. The light completely covers her, and beams of energy shoot out. Everything slows down. The Hitmonchan starts to move slower, Nightmare's light slowly starts to fade. The Pokemon below also are getting slower, everything moving in slow - motion.
"Nightmare! Let's see your new move!" I shout. She shoots a beam of icy blue energy at the Hitmonchan, who gets thrown upwards. Nightmare uses another Quick Attack, and goes faster than ever, hitting the Hitmonchan rapidly. The Hitmonchan starts to throw punches, but missing every time. "Nightmare! Use another Ice Beam!" Again she shoots a beam of ice out of her mouth, the blue light covering the side of the cliff, freezing some jagged rocks and covering parts of the rope with frost.
The beam is much bigger than the last one, and it hits the Hitmonchan full-force. Its entire body gets freezed, and it starts to fall towards us. When it's about twenty feet away, a red light envelopes its body, and it dissappears.

Nightmare won!

I pull Nightmare into my arms and hug her. "Good job." I whisper in her ear. She smiles, and we start to climb up the rope, each inch Frank's light get farther away...

[Sheik]

I have a question now that the tournament has begun.

Since the tournament is now under way, does this mean that the two Pokemon that we are using cannot level up/learn new moves/etc. outside of the Solar Games?

[pokemasterfrank]

I have a question now that the tournament has begun.

Since the tournament is now under way, does this mean that the two Pokemon that we are using cannot level up/learn new moves/etc. outside of the Solar Games?

I'm pretty sure you can, just that the levels and moves earned elsewhere will not apply until after the Solar Games' completion.

[pokemasterfrank]

Nightmare won! She grew to level 13!

You don't need to add this part. Levels are awarded later on and can be of varying values.

EDIT: x_o Double post. Gah. Sorry...

[Sheik]

Can we put our other Captured Pokemon in the stories as long as they don't do anything in the battles?

[pokemasterfrank]

Can we put our other Captured Pokemon in the stories as long as they don't do anything in the battles?

Been asked, and yes, they may be in the stories as long as they do not participate in the battle.

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: Laila’s free TM will be attract. Kaida wasn’t fitting in too well so she went to join Matt’s team. A while back, I bought an EMT moonlight TM from Silver Ledian. I will be giving it to Angel. I also bought Aiko a detect TM, as well as a hidden power TM for angel. Angel’s hidden power will be the psychic type. I’m doing a little item reorganization, though in the stories I’m not taking the items away from anyone in reality, I am. Tiana will be getting Zale’s earring. Zale will be getting Misu’s beach ball, and Angel will be getting Tiana’s old status die. The egg that is mentioned in the story as Tiana and Zale’s little brother or sister is, in reality, Tiana’s son but it wouldn’t fit in too well story wise so I’m making it a little bro or sis. When it hatches, it will be a naturally shiny male eevee that knows tackle, tail whip, helping hand, and wish as the bred on move that he gets from his dad, Sneasel(h)Obsessive’s umbreon. Laila did win a bt battle recently which would make her level 11, but until we can give our pokes their levels she won’t be getting hers.

(Amy’s POV)

Oliver met up with us while we were headed home. Tiana slowed down and looked up at me as she did so. I immediately slowed down, to match her pace. “A CCP for your thoughts.” I said, and she jumped. “Sorry.” she said. “I was just thinking. I didn’t hear you.” She glanced over at Zale, who was carrying a sleeping Angel, before speaking again. “Can Zale and I get a little brother or sister?” “Huh?” I asked, not quite believing what I was hearing. Tiana stopped dead in her tracks. “I want a little brother or sister.” The others had stopped in the distance and were waiting for us to catch up. “Why don’t you all go ahead? We’ll meet you at home.” Ranec nodded, taking charge, and leading the others off towards home in the direction of the setting sun.

I sat down on the grass next to Tiana. Since it was almost night, the meadow had grown eerily silent. “Why do you want a little brother or sister?” I asked her. “I want someone to look after and play with.” At this point, she turned and looked up at me her eyes full of tears. “Zale’s been so busy with Angel lately, he’s hardly spent any time with me…” her voice drifted off replaced with sobs. “Oh, sweetie.” I said, picking her up, and holding her close to my chest. “That’s not a reason to get a little brother or sister.” “I know.” she sniffed, as she looked into my eyes. “Pretty please?” she asked, giving me her cutest look. I sighed, knowing at that moment that I had lost and Tiana had won. “It’s going to be a lot of work.” “I know. I’ve been watching Zale with Angel.” “A little brother or sister isn’t a here today, gone tomorrow thing.” “I know.” Tiana repeated, clearly exasperated by now. I grinned. “If that’s what you really want, I’ll make some calls whenever we get home.” Tiana’s face went from a frustrated look, to an ear to ear grin and she gave me a heartfelt nuzzle. “I do! I really want a brother or sister!” “All right, then, let’s go home. When we get there, I’ll start making calls. “Okay.” Tiana said as she hopped up onto my shoulder and hitched a ride back to the house. As promised, I started making phone calls as soon as we got home. Luckily, it didn’t take too long to get in touch with the ones that I needed to. As I hung up the phone, I looked over at Tiana who had been watching me from a corner the entire time. “Well, it looks like soon you and Zale will be getting a little brother or sister.” “Yay!” she cried as she ran off.

After Tiana had exited the room, I pulled out three TM boxes and a beach ball. With the items in hand, I went off in search of Aiko. I found her, curled up and asleep at her father’s side. Dakota raised an eyebrow when he saw me. “I have a detect TM for Aiko.” I whispered softly so as not to wake her up. Dakota nodded, smiling. I carefully sprinkled the powder over the sleeping kitten. When it disappeared, I stood up, gave Dakota a friendly scratch between his ears and left the room.

It took me a while to find Zale, but when I did a pleasant surprise greeted me. He had given Tiana his earring, and Tiana had given Angel her status die. Angel was asleep, but she had her paws wrapped around the dice. “That was nice of you.” I whispered, making my presence known. “I… uh…” “Shush.” I reassured him. “I was just coming here to give you this anyway. Well, and Angel a couple of TMs. “Thanks.” he said giving me a grateful smile. “Just don’t pop it.” “Don’t worry, I won’t. What are the TMs that you got Angel?” he asked curiously. I could tell he was a little worried, but he knew that I knew that she was still too young to battle currently. “I have a moonlight TM and a Hidden Power TM for her.” Zale nodded his head as he watched me sprinkle the powder over Angel. When I was done, I told them “Good night.” before going to bed myself.

* * * *

(Willow’s POV)

I was getting frustrated. If I “had” to have been captured, why couldn’t it have been to a light sleeper. I watched as one by one, the others tried to wake her by gentler means. Finally, I had had enough. “Enough already! I think it should be obvious by now that you all aren’t going to wake her up by gently nuzzling or poking her.” “And I suppose you have a better idea.” Flare spat out at me. “Actually, I do Miss Sarcastic.” Flare looked as if she wanted to roast me alive right then and there, but she knew better. Besides, Ranec placed his paw on hers. Ick, I thought to myself. “Then let’s see you try.” “All right, watch and learn.” I told her as I began extending my vines. As I did so, I carefully wrapped them around Amy’s legs and ankles. I took a deep breath, and yanked Amy out of the bed. She hit the floor with a loud *THUD*, causing several members of the team to wince in pain. “Hey!” Amy cried out sitting up. “What was that for?” “Told you it would work.” I sneered at Flare, while sticking out my tongue at her. Amy was staring at me. “I got tired of waiting for you to wake up. These guys…” I said, using the leaf on my head to point at my teammates, “tried to wake you up using gentler means, but it wasn’t working. I did something that worked.” “Why?” “Take a look at the clock and then look outside.”

(Amy’s POV)

“Okay.” I said, sitting up and rubbing my aching back. I glanced over at my clock which read twelve o’clock. I shrugged as I made my way over to the nearest window and looked out. My eyes widened as it was still dark outside. “Why on earth did you guys wake me up at twelve AM?” “We didn’t.” Ranec replied in a serious tone. “Yeah,” Flare added, “its twelve noon now.” “You’ve got to be kidding me.” “No, we aren’t.” The last voice was Laila’s, and from the worried look on her face I knew that something was really wrong. “All right, let’s just stay calm.” “I think she finally got it.” Willow commented.

Before I could say anything else, I could hear my cell phone ringing in the other room. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I told them as I hurried off to answer the phone. I barely made it in time to answer it before the person on the other end hung up. “Hello? Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes to pick it up.” I answered, grinning as I hung up the phone. No sooner than I had ended the last call, than the phone began ringing again. I quickly answered it, the grin leaving my face. “Of course. Right, I’ll be there.”

After I had hung up, I slowly made my way back into my bedroom. When I arrived, I took a glance at my team. There were looks of concern etched across each of their faces, with the exception of Angel and Aiko who were just scared. “We heard the phone ring a second time.” Dakota stated. “What’s going on?” Flare asked. I took a deep breath. “Well, the first phone call was actually good news. Zale and Tiana’s little brother or sister’s egg has just been laid. As soon as I can get ready, I’m going to go and pick it up.” “Can we come?” Tiana asked. “Yeah. Everyone is going to be going.” I said looking specifically at Willow who was twirling the leaf on his head, ignoring me. “Why?” Flare asked. “Does this have anything to do with the second phone call?” Dakota inquired. “Yes, it does actually.” I took another deep breath before continuing on. “A state of emergency has been called. As soon as I pick up the egg, we’re going to the meeting.”

The team nodded, as I recalled everyone except for Ranec, Dakota, Zale, Tiana, and Jovi. Jovi, I held in my arms, and he provided light for us using his electricity. For a while, nobody said anything. Tiana shrieked, when Laila emerged from her pokeball right in front of her. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I wasn’t expecting her to do that.” I nodded as we entered the breeding center. I left my pokemon at the entrance, while I went to pick up the egg. Ten minutes later, after Tiana and Zale goggled over the egg before returning to their pokeballs, we were on our way once more. Our group arrived a little early, and the only other people there were Frank and the other workers. I let Wildfire out, so that she could get some exercise while I talked with them. I had Laila in my arms, and the egg was nestled in my back pack. It wasn’t long until people started arriving and I had to recall Wildfire. Despite the circumstances, she had reverted back to her behavior of challenging anyone who would listen to her to a battle. I sighed. “Now is not the time.” I whispered to her right before I recalled her. Jovi was chuckling to himself from his seat next to my backpack at my feet. Ranec and Dakota were sitting on either side of me, ready to offer their protection if there was any inkling of trouble. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dakota stiffen slightly when a growlithe ran past him. I reached out and gave him a reassuring bat. He looked up at me, smiling a silent thank you.

After a while, Frank stood up and cleared his throat. ““Everyone…the sun has not risen, as you may have noticed. We must find out what is wrong. We shall bring the sun back to this peaceful place.” He said as he pulled a large lantern out of a trunk behind him that, until now, I had not noticed. “Who’s with me?” he asked. I immediately stepped forward. I would have even if he hadn’t of asked. This was my home, and I had several good memories here. Of course with good times, you come to expect the bad. It was a cycle, and from what I’ve experienced, it was unchanging. A gentle nudge from Laila stirred me out of my thoughts. More people had stepped forward, and soon our small group was ready to start out. I still carried Laila in my arms, though Jovi hitched a ride on my shoulder. Ranec and Dakota were still at my side. As we traveled, I could make out a snubbull, mareep and a treecko watching us. Afterwards, other pokemon joined them as they watched our group pass by. Eventually, we came to a stop at the base of an enormous cliff. If it wasn’t for the current situation, I’d enjoy just sitting here and looking at the scenery. After things had been sorted out, I would come here when I had some free time, I told myself. “Look.” Laila whispered, pointing at ropes that were hanging from the cliff. I nodded, as my four pokemon returned to their pokeballs.

We began climbing up the ropes. I picked the nearest one to me, and right away I knew that I needed to work on my upper body strength. About halfway up, the muscles in my arms were screaming. I didn’t let anyone but myself know about it. I took a deep breath before resuming my climb. The next thing I knew, there was someone in front of me on the rope. If looks could kill, I’d have been in a morgue right then and there. The guy in front of me was bald, and he was missing his top left tooth and bottom right one in the front. His breath gave off a putrid odor, and he smelled like he hadn’t had a bath in weeks. It was all I could do not to gag right then and there. Soon, he spoke. “Snooping around, eh? We’ll make you think twice about spying on us again!” As soon as he finished speaking, he released a pokemon form the confines of its pokeball. The small fighter balanced easily on the point at the top of its head. I sighed. Just what I needed, a hitmontop. I thought to myself as I stared at the brown and blue fighter. My fingers found themselves wrapping around Laila’s pokeball. I knew that she had a type disadvantage, but I believed in her. She was a lot stronger than she gave herself credit for. Additionally, she had three moves that her opponent wouldn’t expect. Nodding, I made up my mind. I plucked her pokeball off of my belt, and released her.

(Laila’s POV)

I felt myself being released. At first, I didn’t think much about it, until I realized that I was standing precariously on a rope high into the air. As I looked around, I saw a hitmontop smirking in front of me. I looked up at Amy in a panic. “Why me? The others are stronger!” “Because I know that you can do this. Plus, I know that you know it too, deep inside. Just take a couple of deep breaths and you will be fine.” I nodded nervously, trusting Amy, yet unsure about the hitmontop in front of me. “Is the little scared larvitar going to battle?” the hitmontop mocked. I took a deep breath. I wasn’t scared. Unsure about winning, yes, scared to battle, no. Though, Amy believed in me, I’d do my best for her. “I am not scared.” I told my opponent, as a determined look appeared on my face. He just laughed. “You’re going down.” “We’ll see.”

Laila L.10 F Elemental Larvitar VS. L.10 M Hitmontop

The hitmontop began to spin in place for a few seconds, as he began to glow a faint yellow. Soon there were three hitmontops balancing on the rope. I looked over at Amy, who nodded her head yes before shielding her eyes. I grasped the quick claw around my neck, glad that it was there for me, before I closed my eyes focusing on gathering all of the sand and dirt around me into a fierce, swirling sandstorm. As it raged, my opponents double team clones, disappeared one by one as soon as they were touched. Next, I began focusing slowly on the intricate dance that was passed onto me by my ancestors. Normally it would have been a somewhat difficult task, but with the ropes that I was standing on that were swaying back and forth, made it extremely difficult. When I had completed the intricate dragon dance, I saw a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye and was greeted by a swift kick to the head. The force of the block knocked me off of the rope. Miraculously, I was able to catch a hold of the rope with one hand. I quickly grabbed a hold of the rope with my other arm and sighed in relief. I knew that I wasn’t out of the woods yet, and that was evident when I was hit by a blast of water to the face that caused me to cry out in pain. Just perfect, I thought to myself, hidden power water. Wait a minute… I grinned, a plan forming in my mind. I had the perfect move to help me should my opponent try that again. Sure enough, when I saw him inhale, I swung myself upward and was soon standing on the rope. I was already glowing yellow, by the time he exhaled at the spot where I had been minutes ago. I quickly released the thunderbolt, aiming at the stream of water. I watched as the electricity was conducted through the water before reaching the hitmontop and shocking it. The hitmontop cried out in a combination of surprise and pain. “Hidden power electricity. How interesting, and something that I should have expected.” I made no attempt to correct him on his false assumption, as the last traces of my sandstorm faded away. “Try using attract.” I heard Amy tell me. I shrugged, it was worth a shot. I looked over at the hitmontop and blew him a kiss, as I released faint traces of pheromones into the air. However, he had heard Amy and closed his eyes. I could also see the faint traces of a protective barrier around him. As soon as the hitmontop felt safe, he started spinning around in place, releasing several tiny star-shaped heat-seeking missiles. I knew that it was futile to attempt to outrun them so I just stood my ground, thankful for my rock hard skin. While I waited for the attack to hit, I began focusing on my next surprise attack. I was focusing on harnessing the power of flames. As I inhaled, I began to glow red. Soon as the hitmontop’s trainer saw that, he shouted out a warning to his pokemon. “Watch out! That ain’t no ordinary larvitar we’re fighting.” Luckily, the warning was too little, too late as the stream of flames made contact. I anticipated that he would spin towards me and attack afterwards, but instead, the hitmontop closed his eyes and began concentrating. Uh oh. I couldn’t afford to let him complete using focus energy. That would be foolish. I immediately began focusing on the last surprise attack I had in my arsenal. The air around me began to get colder as I started glowing white. I focused on aiming my ice beam at the point where the hitmontop’s head spike contacted the rope. I kept the attack going for as long as I could but, given the fact that I wasn’t used to using it, it wasn’t long at all. Still, it was enough to have encased the hitmontop in ice from the rope all the way up to below his eyes. “Way to go Laila.” I heard Amy cheering. “I know that you’re weak, but you can finish this. I believe in you.” I nodded, as I concentrated on the positive energies that Amy’s wors had on me into a well placed attack to the hitmontop’s vulnerable belly. He weakly kicked out at me, and at that point I realized that I could do this. I quickly went through my list of attacks, and decided on one that I had never used before. It probably wasn’t the wisest idea ever. My right hand began glowing brown as I raised it up into the air, and hit the hitmontop in the belly with it. The brick break worked better than I thought it would, and my opponent slumped listlessly. His trainer recalled him, before climbing back up the rope and running off. I smiled at Amy before returning to the safety of my pokeball.

I won!

(Amy’s POV)

I ginned, because I knew that Laila could do it. In the end, she realized it too. I knew it would be a while before she was comfortable and confident in her abilities in battle. Still she had achieved a major milestone for herself. She had actually realized that she could do it. I had seen the change in her eyes when the realization had taken place. As I looked around, I noticed that the others were also finishing their battles.

[Sheik]

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to drop out of this tournament. This will be the last time I post for a while at TPM. I won't have access to a computer after today until August 9. I might try and get on, but it's doubtful that I will before that time. I hope you understand. I would also like an extension on the current scenario at the CC Battle Arena "Townies". Thank you.

[pokemasterfrank]

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to drop out of this tournament. This will be the last time I post for a while at TPM. I won't have access to a computer after today until August 9. I might try and get on, but it's doubtful that I will before that time. I hope you understand. I would also like an extension on the current scenario at the CC Battle Arena "Townies". Thank you.

Alrighty. *extension granted*

[classy_cat18]

Flamethrower TM for Cinder, please!

Cinder's POV

"I'm not going," I told Shonta as she crouched in front of me.

She looked at me with mock sadness. "Come on. It's just one little trip to the Crystal Caves."

Yeah, only one little trip. I'll probably end up being chased or beaten up or scared to death. All three of them happened to me the last time we went there. I looked over at Beaky. At least I wasn't the only one. Small fries make such big targets for abuse.

"We're only three now, and it wouldn't hurt to have a bigger team," Shonta said as pleasant as she could.

I rubbed my face in frustration. "Come on, Shonta! All three of us had hard times there! Why do we need to go back?"

Kawaii, who was standing next to Shonta, looked at me with tears in her eyes. You couldn't say no to that Girafarig's face. Trust me. If it wasn't for that face, I would've left her with the Sableye when I first met her in the Crystal Caves. I bet she's the only reason Beaky's still around. After all, she's the one who helped capture him. No wonder she's got a boyfriend already. "Cinder, I think...there's something wrong over there. I have a bad feeling."

I froze. When a Psychic-type Pokemon has a bad feeling, it's a good idea to take it into consideration. "You're...not going for more Pokemon?"

She shook her head. "The place might be in trouble. Think of our families!"

She knows guilt trips won't work on me. "What do I get if I go?" I asked her.''

"How about a new TM?" Shonta asked me with a sly smile.

She has to be pulling my leg. I'll tighten the deal "Depends. Got it with you right now?"

She rummaged through her backpack and brought out a simple box with a picture of a Charmander doing...

"Flamethrower! You got me Flamethrower! Thank you so much!" I yanked the box away from Shonta and dumped the contents over my head. I instantly felt a burning in my stomach, a burning that was starting to travel up my throat. Being a half-idiot at the time, I thought it was a good idea to keep my mouth closed.

"Are you feeling alright?" Kawaii asked me.

I couldn't keep it in anymore. I turned around and opened my mouth, letting out a column of flames. Unfortunately, it was right in Beaky's face. "Sorry!" I said quickly.

Beaky, his face as black as coal, stood quiet for a minute. Finally he shook off all restraints and screeched at the top of his lungs. "I'm gonna kill ya, ya little rat!" he screamed.

Oh boy. Beaky the Hun's loose. "Now Beaky, dont' do anything you're going to regret." I slowly backed up towards Kawaii, hoping the "big sis" would stop him.

"Oh, I'm not going to regret tearing you apart!" He shot up in the air and went into a dive straight for me. Without thinking, I dashed under Kawaii and lay as low to the floor as possible. I saw him dive toward me, but he stopped in midair. No, Kawaii stopped him.

"Let's not go through this again," Kawaii said calmly. "Last time you let your temper get the best of you, you were in danger of being thrashed by at least three Psychic-types, including myself."

Yeah, one being little Tiana the Espeon. Her trainer was called Amy, I think. Beaky lost his first battle against her and attacked her as soon as he got back to the Eevee House. If I can recall, it was Kawaii that saved his back. I don't think either Beaky or Tiana got over that fully. "Thanks a lot, big sis," I told Kawaii as I came out from under her.

"Are you coming with us?" she asked me, still restraining Beaky.

I nodded. "I have nothing to do around here. Too many Pokemon taking care of their babies."

She set Beaky down. "Good! Then we're going to the Crystal Caves Desert!" she said happily. "That was where I was in my dream."

"I'm staying inside my pokeball. I didn't plan to go anywhere today and suddenly you're dragging us to the Desert," Beaky grumbled.

"You better act right or I will personally and literally drag you through the Desert."

I shrugged. The Desert wasn't a big deal to a Fire-type like me. We would be in and out within an hour.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We were stopped at the Pokemon Center that we used to transport ourselves to the Crystal Caves. "I'm sorry, but the Caves are closed to trainers until further notice," the Nurse Joy told us.

Shonta glanced at Kawaii for a second. "What's the problem?" she asked the Nurse Joy.

"It's all very strange. The workers say that whatever lights up the Caves has disappeared or something like that. They have called a meeting in the Town Square."

A chill ran up my spine. Kawaii's prediction was right. The girl could take Miss Cleo's place. But that wasn't the only reason. My parents told me when I was little that the light source was like a real sun. To have it just disappear meant Armaggedon!

"Now don't panic," Shonta told me.

I stopped my frantic circling. "'Don't panic!?! The world's going to end!"

"You're blowing this way out of proportion. But we should find out what has happened."

"I'm not going in there! Demons have stolen their light and now they're going to steal their souls!" I said that whole thing in one breath. I panted while I shifted from foot to foot. "Do you wanna be a soulless shell?"

"Now that is blowing it out of proportion," Kawaii said, looking at Shonta with an annoyed face. "I don't know about Cinder, but I'm going. Those people and Pokemon depend on that light."

"I'm going as well," Shonta said, unmoved by my pleading.

Oh man, I'm outnumbered. They don't know what they're walking into! "In that case, I guess I'll have to go along with you. Someone has to protect to two of you."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We arrived at the Town Square to find a few of the workers and some fellow trainers. And missing, sure enough, was the light. I crouched in front of Shonta and lit up as we listened to some guy named Frank. "Everyone...the sun has not risen, as you may have noticed."

"No need to point that out, Einstein!" I shouted.

Shonta playfully thumped me, and I drifted into my thoughts. My trainer's a weird one, getting Pokemon that nobody else seems to have. When I first went to the Eevee House, there was only one other Cyndaquil that I knew about. I haven't seen any other Girafarig. Girafarig aren't very strong psychics compared to Kadabra and Alakazam.

Anyway, I was just sitting in the South Caverns when Shonta came along. It was one of those rare moments when nobody was attacking me. She just asked if I wanted to come along, and I said yes. I guess cave life was getting too hazardous for me. Turned out my life is still hazardous.

Shonta thumped me again, snapping me out of my reverie. "They're moving out," she told me. We followed the crowd through the dark tunnels, my fiery back one of the helpful lights in the group. In the dark were many Pokemon, half of which were staring at us with cold eyes. I found myself inching closer to Kawaii.

"We're going to need an eye in the sky," Kawaii whispered.

Shonta nodded and tossed Beaky's pokeball. The Spearow flew to Shonta's shoulder and looked around curiously. "Did I sleep too long?" he asked us.

"Actually, the light source for the Caves has vanished and we're going to see why," Shonta explained.

He smirked. "Cool. So why am I out here?"

"Think you can fly up and give us the scoop on what's ahead?"

He nodded and took to the sky, hovering a few stories in the air for a few seconds. He landed back on Shonta's shoulder. "You're coming up to a cliff that has ropes hanging from it," he reported. "And there seems to be someone snooping around there."

I froze in fear again. "I knew it! It's the demons waiting to suck our souls!"

He looked at me weirdly. "What's his problem?" he asked the girls.

"He's blowing this out of proportion," Kawaii said dully.

"I am not blowing this out of proportion!" I shouted. "All I know is that you better not come crying to me when they make zombies out of you!"

Beaky sweatdropped. "The guy's nuts."

I stuck my tongue out at him and stayed silent for a while. A few wild Spearow glared at me. A couple of familiar Smoochum growled at me. My back went out and I scrambled up to Shonta's shoulder. "Don't let them hurt me," I whimpered.

"Coward," Beaky murmured from the other shoulder.

We finally came across the roped cliff that Beaky described. Crystals embedded in the rock gave a cool blue glow. Shonta returned Kawaii and stared at the ropes as the others climbed, a look of uneasiness on her face. "You don't do rock climbing, do you?" I asked her.

"Well, it would be easier if they had tied knots in the ropes," she said.

"Look, I'll show you how easy it is." I grabbed onto one of the ropes and went up a few feet, then spun around and went back down head first. "See? It's easy."

She cocked an eyebrow. "You're a mouse. Of course it's easy." Nevertheless she grabbed the same rope and started to climb. She was struggling of course, and complaining before we got halfway. She would have more to complain about.

A muscular guy peered from the top of the cliff, scowling. "Snooping around, eh? We can do something about that." He stepped back, leaving me and Shonta in suspense.

"Man, these bad guys need better lines," Shonta mused.

"Go Squirtle!" the guy's voice rang out. A Squirtle slid down the rope and glared at me.

"Uh-oh," my trainer and I said together.

"Guess I have to battle then, I said to Shonta. She nodded. "Any chance that you and your trainer would let us by?" I asked Squirtle.

"Sorry, but I have to do my job," he replied in a gruff voice.

L9 Male Cyndaquil (Cinder) vs. L10 Squirtle

Shonta, sensing that she was on the same rope as me and Squirtle, reached out and changed to the rope next to her. "Let's get this over with. My arms are getting tired. Start with a Tackle attack."

I scrambled up the rope at top speed. Squirtle held his position until he decided to let go and drop head first towards me. I was about to fire a Flamethrower when Shonta stopped me. "Just switch ropes!" she shouted.

I jumped to the next rope just as Squirtle was about to hit me with a Skull Bash. I looked down and saw him stick out a hand, grabbing the rope. He slid down a few inches before skidding to a halt. He blew on his hand and looked up at me. "Pretty fast, buddy!" he yelled.

"Flamethrower him now!" Shonta said quickly.

There was no one between me and Squirtle on that rope right now, so I didn't worry about burning anyone as I released my Flamethrower downwards and blackened his face. He winced and climbed up to my level, taking deep breaths as he ascended. He got up to me, turned around with his cheeks puffed out, and blew bubbles right in my face. I let go of the rope out of surprise but quickly grabbed back on. "That was payback for the Flamethrower in the face," Squirtle told me.

Shonta was on the rope behind Squirtle and swinging above us. I had to make sure she made it to the top. "Shonta! Stay on that rope and start climbing!" I shouted.

"Yeesh! Who's the trainer here?" She went to climbing up the rope.

Squirtle watched her for a few seconds and turned back to me, smiling. "Now neither of us has a trainer to breathe down our neck," he said.

I chuckled. "You're so right." I let out another Flamethrower in his face, but that wasn't all I burned. The rope burned above him and snapped. Squirtle gasped and reached up for the remainder of the rope, but it was out of reach.

I breathed heavily as his bright eyes were illuminated by the glow of the crystal and he hovered there as if time itself stopped. I finally reached out a paw and caught his hand. He used his free hand to grab my rope. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but you should stop the fire. Okay?" He looked up at me with big eyes.

I turned around from him. Oh man. He looks like Kawaii with those eyes. "Oh, alright. You stop it with the Bubble, okay?" I looked down and saw him staring at me. "Would you close your eyes or something?"

"Let's get back to the fight." He was panting more heavily than necessary, and his body was burnt. For a minute he closed his eyes and let his grip slip.

"Yo! Wake up!" I yelled at him.

He snapped awake and sighed. "Sorry. I must be in worse shape than I thought."

That last Flamethrower took more out of him than I thought. "Where is your trainer? If you get KO'ed, there won't be anyone to recall you to your pokeball."

"I never lose," he panted. "I can't lose. And I don't need his help."

Sounds like Beaky. "Excuse me? You're about to get beaten by a Fire type! That's sad in itself!"

He growled and shot forward, his hard head connecting with mine. Nothing could stop me from crying out in pain. Instincts took over and I turned around to smack him back, but stopped. He looked like he was barely hanging in there. His eyes closed again and his grip on the rope loosened. "Hey!"

He wasn't going to get back out of it. "Sorry pal. I lost." He looked at me with those eyes and closed them.

I won!

I gulped. I was going to say something nice, but there was something I had to know. "Are you a boy or a girl?" I asked Squirtle. I gave him a deep sniff. "You're a...girl!" I sniffed again. "Yep, you're a girl. Man, my nose is getting old already! Must have been that Bubble to the face."

Her grip hadn't slackened, but she was slowly fading out of consciousness. "Where's my trainer?" she asked softly.

I frantically looked around. No sign of Shonta or Squirtle's trainer, which meant one choice. "Beaky! Get down here, Beaky!"

A flutter of wings, and the Spearow was hovering in front of me. "What's with the yelling?" he asked.

"Where's this girl's trainer?"

"He's in a rut with the other trainers and workers. Too tied up to deal with you two." He wrapped his talons around a rope and stopped flapping.

"Listen. I want you to go and get Squirtle's pokeball so she can get off these ropes."

He looked at me with a stare that reminded me of Beaky the Hun. I leered back as best as I could, not wanting to back down to him. Finally he gave a sort of shrug and flew up to the top. I kept an eye on Squirtle while waiting. "Do you have any idea who's behind this?" I asked her.

She half-opened her eyes. "Beats me. I'm new," she answered.

"Do...you have an e-mail address?"

"Going too far there, mouse."

Beaky returned with her pokeball in his talons. "Return, Squirtle," he groaned. A narrow red beam shot out and engulfed her, drawing her inside the red and white sphere. "You owe me one."

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go back to our 'boss'."

[*Murkrow]

I had serious writers block x_x So I went to the other extreme and wrote lots of random crap to try and make up for it xD
And Omega will have Fire Blast as his free TM.

~Omega~

‘You’re joking, right? Please tell me you are. How on earth am I meant to climb up that?’
No reply.
Frowning, I looked round for Hannah, only to spot her rapidly vanishing from view as she chased a small, orange-red speck through the crowds of milling people.
Good lord, sometimes Flash was more trouble than he was worth- and come to think of it, he wasn’t really worth much either.
Shrugging, I turned back and faced my current problem; somehow getting up this cliff using the thin piece of cord that was hanging down, and swaying gently in the slight breeze that constantly rippled through this landscape.
It was actually longer than the cliff, so as a result it trailed along the floor in front, writhing slowly each time the breeze hit it.
Experimenting, I gave the rope a small tug, then wrenched back, throwing all of my substantial weight onto the end.
Nothing; the rope strained, but still held.
Relaxing my grip, I let it slip forwards, where it flopped languidly back into the position it had lay in before.
Well, it was a start, though I was still slightly worried about how I’d be able to handle the rope when I was above jumping distance to the ground…. Even though I knew I’d be ok if I fell, still, the idea of being the one to make a fool of themselves and hold everyone up made me cringe.
At least I’m not afraid of heights.
Well, it was something to be thankful for.

~Hannah~

‘Got you.’
I snatched Flash up as he stumbled, tripping over his own feet on the rocky ground, before holding him up to my eye-level.
‘What do you think you’re playing at? The last thing anyone needs right now is you messing around and holding everyone up.’
‘Holding everyone up? ‘Everyone’ hasn’t even started yet, so, and besides’-he squirmed before sticking his head up in the air self-righteously- ‘in-case for some reason you haven’t noticed, there isn’t much light around here, so I’m doing everybody a favour.’
‘You think that little point of flame on your back is doing anybody any good? Especially seeing as you don’t stop moving…. You’re really living up to your name because that’s all anybody ever sees of you. And that, my friend, wouldn’t help anyone.’
‘So? I’m trying at least.’
‘How about coming and trying to help figure out how to get ‘Meg up that?’
I turned and pointed up to the dark shadow of the cliff, barely discernible from the rich black of the sky.
‘How about…return him to his Poké Ball, climb up then send him out again? That’d work wouldn’t it? No fuss either, unless he decided to play up.’
‘No. He stays out.’
‘But doesn’t that just make it more difficult? I really think you should….. Hey.’
With a burst of red, the flames on his back suddenly ignited, their livid sparks briefly lighting up the shadows. As cascades of embers hurtled out to all sides, the few people surrounding us squealed and jumped out of the way, and I suddenly felt a jarring, burning pain in my left hand.
‘Ah….. Damn you, Flash.’
Concentrating only on my burnt hand, I dropped him to the floor, where he crouched down, shaking slightly, before backing away as I glared at him; with another flash of flame, he spun round and galloped back towards the base of the cliff, heading towards where I’d left Omega.
I sighed and turned away; my hand throbbed, but now I ignored it, focusing my mind on the other matters in my life.
Stepping away from the small gathering, away from the flickering light emitting from the lantern and the Pokémon of some of the trainers, I cautiously headed back the way we had travelled, stepping carefully over the rocky ground, until what little light there was had faded away and became a gentle, shimmering glow.
Kicking absent-mindedly at some loose clumps of dirt, I sighed before glancing up and around, scanning through the darkness on each side; I hadn’t come this way before, and didn’t have a clue where exactly we were going, which was slightly dissecting… And I knew that it was affecting both of my Pokémon.
Mulling my thoughts over slowly, I paused; although I couldn’t see them, all round me, came the steady swish and rustle of trees lurching in the wind, as the breeze that whistled round the cliffs spun loose and tore through their leaves.
Straining my ears, I could just make out the gentle, rhythmic trickle of water, one on the many streams that crossed landscapes like this…. Not that I had a clue what the landscape was actually like.
Making a mental note to come back here once all this trouble was over, I turned to head back to the base, when I noticed that what little light there had been behind had now faded even more, and seemed to be splitting; edging closer, I saw that some of the light was now glinting from the cliffs, as the trainers carrying the light began to climb.
Oh heck.
Darting forwards, I started as a sudden, black bullet shot from the dark; jumping over it, I caught a glimpse of its profile- a Rattata, one of the wild Pokémon who had followed us when we had passed through its territory. Glancing back, I managed to make out its faint outline before it vanished, melting away into the shadows.
Oh well.
To my relief, not everyone had started of yet; a number of people were still standing in small, ragged groups, nervously talking, while others paced quietly round the perimeter.
Running over to where I’d left Omega- and hopefully- Flash, I suddenly hesitated; I could see Omega… And very clearly at that, as though normal light was shining on him. He looked up, saw me, and began to enthusiastically wave, shifting his weight onto… Flash.
Panicking, I dashed forward.
‘Get off him, he’ll suffocate.’
‘No he wont, he’s fine… See?’
He stepped back and released Flash, who sprawled forward even more, making exaggerated choking sounds; Omega’s leg, I noticed, seemed to have born the brunt of Flash’s flames, no doubt as he’d struggled to release himself.
‘Remind me to keep you two apart from now on, ok?’
‘Point taken. Now… Any ideas about me and the rope?’
‘Hmm….. Yes- if we wrap it round your body, then it should be enough to support you, so that you can focus on the actual climbing.’
‘Sounds ok.. But it’s better than anything I’ve come up with, so, yeah, let’s do that.’
Flash’s head twitched and he glanced up, looking interested.
‘What ideas did you come up with?’
‘Hold on tight. And pray’
‘Excellent.’
Picking up the rope end, I wound it in, then flung it over Omega’s back, before looping it beneath him.
‘There! That should hold.’
‘Should.’
‘Scared, Omega?’
‘No.’
Ignoring them, I critically ran my eye over the rope; I’d glanced back and seen Omega test it when I was chasing after Flash, so the strength wasn’t a problem. What was worrying me was the way the rope was holding him; looped round his sides, it would help stop him if he fell, but then he’d be left dangling probably parallel to the cliff, and with his bulk he’d have a hard time getting his grip again.
Hmm… At least I had his Poké Ball with me, so if it got really bad, he wouldn’t be trapped or anything, but still.
Frowning, I gave myself a mental shake and decided to stop inventing problems before they happened; giving Omega a friendly nudge, I nodded towards the cliff, before kneeling down, scooping Flash up, then depositing him on Omega’s back.
‘Use your flames from there, ok?’
He nodded, before lowering his head and beginning to concentrate intensely; fire erupted from his back again, but this time, the flames were a steady, constant height, and threw out an enveloping blanket of light that illuminated a good couple of metres around us.
‘Great! Keep it like that, Flash.’
Settling back, I waited until Omega had started his climb, languorously clutching at the cliff face as he struggled up, before I grabbed the rope myself.
The fine cord cut into my burned hand, but I gritted my teeth, forced myself to ignore it, before resting one foot against the rock and hauling myself up.
Steadying myself, it suddenly occurred to me that there was another advantage to having Omega climb up first; normally I’d be against climbing a cliff with only a rope tied to god-knows what at the top, but having the rope looped round a Shelgon made, well, made it seem a lot safer.
Grinning to myself, I made to move up again, when I noticed that Omega had stopped and was clinging to the rock desperately.

~Omega~

This was bad.
I tried to dig my feet further into the rock to stabilise myself, but couldn’t- after all, my legs were nothing more than stumps, best suited to travelling along the ground rather than attempting to traverse an almost vertical cliff face.
Struggling to get a better grip, I knocked a couple of stones loose, which clattered noisily down the drop; I gasped and desperately tried to find something that I could use to hang onto- but nothing.
One of my back feet was beginning to slip; slithering over the rocks, threatening to unbalance me.
‘Hey! Watch it.’
‘It’s not my fault. I.. I can’t hold onto this.’
‘Well try.’
‘How? I haven’t got any way to- I need claws or.. Or…’
I paused.
Claws?
Closing my eyes to focus more, I concentrated… I hadn’t battled properly for ages, so I was slightly out of practice- but then I got it.
From above, I heard Flash gasp.
Opening my eyes, I smiled to myself as I looked at my front legs; from their bases, three large, glowing, orange claws now extended, throbbing slightly in Flash’s light.
Twisting one round, I examined it carefully, watching it catch the light, seeing where it had seamlessly attached itself to my leg, saw the glint of the edge as the point reflected the light.
Anxious to test it out, I raised it, then slammed it into the rock; feeling barely any resistance, my claw slipped through easily, before I cautiously leant back to test if it would hold me.
It did.
Feeling a rush of pride that I’d figured how the way on my own, I raised my other claw, smashed it into the rock and continued climbing.
Concentrating, I dimly heard Flash’s voice whisper quietly to Hannah.
‘What’s that?’
‘His Dragon Claw.’
‘Oh.’
Then silence; about half way up, I paused again- constantly using an attack was draining me of my energy more than I’d expected, and I needed the rest.
Carelessly, I glanced behind to take a look at the view… And froze.
Even though my eyes could barely make anything out; my whole range of vision seemed to be covered by a steady, enclosed shade of black, the heavy richness of the colour smothering the landscape.
No, it was the idea of space that entranced me; breathing heavily, I fixed my eyes on the space and leant further out.
‘OMEGA, SNAP OUT OF IT.’
Not properly hearing her, I leant further out, feeling something slither down my side, when a sudden scream from somewhere to our right jolted me to my senses; next second, the rope began to thrash desperately, lurching from side to side as something above us began to make its way down.
Then came a sudden jerk and I lost my balance, my back legs- claw-less- slipped over the rocks, and in an instant, I was dangling, supported only by the rope wrapped round my belly.
‘Omega, calm down, and grab back on.’
‘Oh, and look above you as well.’
Stretching one of my claws out, I sunk it into a rock, pulled myself in, looked up… And froze again.
Entwined round the rope, the Pokémon returned my gaze, before modestly lowering her eyes, while flicking her blond hair gently back with her hand.
Realising I was staring, I blushed and lowered my eyes, when I felt a sharp burning sensation on my leg.
Flash- now perched on Hannah’s head- had shot a jet of flame at me, before latching onto my leg and hissing;
‘Get rid of her, she’s with them’- he motioned towards the other ropes, where various Pokémon were now sliding down, facing the trainers desperately hanging on- ‘fight her, you idiot.’
Fight her?
I looked up and caught her eye again; she winked.
Heck.

Fight!
Omega (Shelgon L20 M)
Vs
Jynx (L20 F)

She didn’t seem to realise that we were meant to be fighting; instead of attacking, she just continued to wink at me, occasionally brushing her hair back, exaggerating the movement, while I alternately watched, before blushing and looking down again, before risking another look.
Yet at the same time, I began to feel a strange sense of detachment, as though none of this was happening, as though I wasn’t facing off against a Pokémon hanging precariously from a narrow piece of rope over a vertical piece of rock.
My grip relaxing, I felt myself begin to slip off again, but somehow it didn’t seem too important, as I felt my mind begin to wander.
Dimly, I sensed her coming nearer, and forced myself to raise my eyes; through a rather hazy image, I saw her smile at me, before leaning down and kissing me on the forehead.
Blushing even more, I suddenly felt a wave of sleepiness wash through me; my eyes drooped and my grip slackened even more, so I was hanging, barely holding on, as she smiled down at me.
A burst of pain suddenly erupted onto one of my front legs; biting pain that tore through me, ripping me from the stupor I’d fallen into.
Shaking my head desperately to rid myself of the last traces of sleep, I felt another fist plunge into my side, felt the pain spread, like… Like ice.
Ice Punch.
So, Attract me, put me to sleep, then attack. Nice strategy.
A shot of pain flared in my other leg; automatically, I plunged forward and sunk my teeth into her hand, Biting her as hard as I could, remembering that Dark type attacks were good against her Ice type.
But it didn’t protect me from her attack; her frozen fist stung my mouth, slashing at my un-protected skin; I hung on desperately for a few seconds, but then another stab of pain hurtled through my mouth, and I gasped and let go.
She responded instantly, swinging her glowing, blue fist straight towards my face again; reacting as fast as I could, I took a deep breath and blew a wave of orange, twisting, writhing flames that smashed into her fist… For a few seconds, the attacks held out, before her fist sparked and plunged on through the flames, which licked harmlessly against her skin.
But I at least had managed to slow down her attack, so I reached out, plunged one of my claws into the rock and tore upwards, my claw now glowing a steady, earth brown; connecting with her fist, the particles of ice surrounding it flared briefly, then died away.
Instantly, she let out a scream of anger, and terror suddenly flared in my chest.
What had I done? Why had I attacked her?
Gasping, feeling sick with myself, I dropped my eyes, clutching the cliff as hard as I could, when a light, purple glow began to form round my body.
Blinking slowly, I felt myself be lifted up, hanging motionless in the air, before I slammed, head first into the cliff face.
Then again.
And again.
Yet even as she used her Psychic to slam me, constantly, against the rock, I felt only a vague sense of happiness, tinged with a dim memory of my regret.
Then her fist slammed into my back, sending the familiar icy, gnawing pain through my body.
My mind flickered, then jolted back to my senses.
Was I going to keep on falling for the same trick?
Closing my eyes, I sensed her preparing for another attack, and flung myself to the left, then swinging myself up, then jumping to the right, all the while following the set pattern in my mind.
My movements caused the rope to thrash wildly, so the Jynx was forced to concentrate all her energies on simply holding on, leaving me free to push all my might into my Dragon Dance.
Unfortunately, the same situation for the Jynx was occurring to Hannah and Flash too, so behind me, I could hear Flash’s screams getting louder and louder as they desperately held on.
‘OMEGA!’
‘You told me to beat her.’
Not waiting for an answer, I settled myself squarely in front of the Jynx, my Attack and Speed now upped and ready to be exploited. The list of my attacks ran through my head, as I frantically sorted through what would work and what wouldn’t. Dragon Rage hadn’t worked directly but had helped to deflect her blow, but.... That was the problem. Most of my attacks were Special based, and so wouldn’t be able to use my raised Attack.
Except….
From above, the Jynx lunged forward, pouting, before pursing her lips, all ready to use Lovely Kiss on me again. Yeah right, like I’d fall for that again.
Swinging my leg up, I smashed my glowing brown claw directly into her face, raking it down, through her skin, so she screamed in pain, and thrashed desperately back, clinging to the rope.
Bingo.
Brick Break had the advantage of being helped by my Attack.
On the edges of my mind, I again felt the small throb of guilt, but forced myself to ignore it.
Plunging forwards, I again raised my claw, all ready for another Brick Break, but she responded with a wave of purple energy, blasting me back and creating a Psychic barrier around her.
Steadying myself, I hesitated, before deciding to use pure power to fight back at her.
Direct, physical attacks would leave me vulnerable to her, so I instead closed my eyes, and focused, as a ring of glowing, pulsing, white orbs formed round my body.
Gasping, I raised my eyes, focused on her, then felt a jolt of power as the balls all converged, before exploding as a burst of white electricity that crashed against the barrier, sending sparks of energy cascading in all directions.
Vainly, the two attacks strove against each other, trying to force their way past; preparing myself, I began to edge back, straining against the rope that supported me. As my concentration waned, my attack began to dim, the intense white fading away; from somewhere in front, the Jynx let out a cry of triumph.
But I was ready; as the my attack faded away, I swung forwards, plunging directly into her, in the brief seconds that I had before she rallied her mind and set her Psychic barrier up to its original strength, and Headbutted her as hard as I could.
Screaming, she flailed back, slamming against the rock, while I gritted my teeth and again spewed out the orange flames of Dragon Rage, that crashed into her, as she writhed, howling in terror. Yet still I continued, plunging my Dragon Claw across her body, feeling all the while the continued, never ending assault her Attract had had on my mind.
Forcing myself to ignore it, I swung back, and plunged forwards for another Headbutt.
Her fist swung up, knocking me to the side, as a fine sheet of ice began to form over my shell.
Raging now, I slammed I into the cliff, before flinging myself at her, as the rope buckled and spun. Her fists swung at me, first one side, then the other, as we both grappled, before I began to Thrash, tearing chunks from the cliff as I wildly tore at her.
She let out a whimper, her eyes wide with terror, begging me silently to stop.
No. That’s not going to happen this time, love.
Then suddenly the world spun and I didn’t know who I was, what I was doing, where I was, and my flailing limbs slowed and stopped, as my worn mind plunged into Confusion.
As I desperately struggled to piece together the pieces in my mind, I felt the thuds as she smashed her fists into my side, again and again.
My mind reeled. I couldn’t do this.
Then the attacks stopped, and from somewhere above, came a steady, pulsing, white-blue glow.
Behind, Flash began to scream in terror.
‘That’s Blizzard, that’s Blizzard! Do something! Let me help!’
‘No. Let him.’
‘Why? He’s doing nothing.’
‘Still. Let him.’
Then I had it. One second, gasping, thrashing deep inside the reaches of my mind, desperately trying to escape, the next- myself, knowing, watching the threat above me unfold.
Something on my leg throbbed; the burn Flash had inflicted on me when I had pinned him suddenly sparked into life. Not knowing what I was doing, I looked up at the Jynx, looked at the enveloping glow as the ice forming round her began to splinter, catching what little light there was, until her form was shimmering, hidden in a fog of ice.
Part of my mind longed for that, but the rest was calculating.
Watching.
Then, as the dim figure beyond raised her hand, I took a deep breath and blew out a stream of rippling, thrashing flames- real flames, this time, not the artificial ones that my Dragon Rage had created- real, burning, orange- red- yellow flames, that twisted and writhed in the air, before converging and forming a massive, five point star that hurtled towards the ice cloud.
With rush of wind, the two attacks met, the power lurching against each other; light blue flaring against vivid red, as steam burst from them, to hang, silent in the sky, or to drift, carelessly down. For a second more, the fire vied with the ice, merging to form the water element, before with a crash, my Fire Blast tore through and crashed into her.
She screamed, one long, endless scream, as her thrashing form writhed, terrified against the rock, before her flailing hands grasped back onto the rope and began to drag her to safety.
Her blond hair was burning, her breaths short and gasping; one last look round, wild eyed, before she pulled herself up, out of the region of light, back into the shadows.
For a second, her silhouette flickered into view against the sky backdrop, then she was gone.

I won!

Wow.
Where had Fire Blast come from? Closing my eyes, I felt the same rush of power I had felt earlier.
‘Nice attack…. Do you think you could teach me do that?’
‘In your dreams, I’m not even sure how I did that.’
‘Well…. It was a nice move, but you do realise that if you’d burnt through the rope then we’d have fallen to our doom? Cliché-d but true.’
‘ Damn, good point… but it looks ok from here.’
‘Of course it would, it’s only until you’re climbing over it, that it’ll give.’
‘How do you know I hit it?’
‘That attack? How could you miss it?’
‘You two?’
‘Hmm?’
‘What?’
‘Shut up.’

[soggy_cardboard]

Teddiursa's free TM will be Counter >=D

I watched in amazement as my fellow conrades heroically fought their battles, when the enemy had the clear advantage.
These "bad guys" did their research. What ever Pokemon we sent out, they sent out another to counter it. Looking around, I started to regret not taking my Aipom with me. He could run have rings around these ropes. I wasn't sure I would be up to the standard of these other trainers. Teddiursa reassured me, but I wasn't very confident.

I managed to pull myself up onto a small ledge, with Teddy on my shoulder. I looked up, and to my surprise there was a Hitmonlee. Arms folded, and not looking too happy.
"Hello, Soggy." A familiar female voice called out from the darkness.
"Er, how do ya know my name?"
"We went to school together. Don't you remember?"
"Wha...Nicki??" Arh. That girl that I had a crush on. Why her? How could I keep my wits about battling, when my high school crush was on the opposite side?
"Like my Hitmonlee?" She asked, "When my big brother's Tyrogue evolved, he passed him down to me. And since you specialise in the boring ol' normal-types, this should be a piece of cake."
She was right. I did specialise in normal types. At school I could never beat her brother's Tyrogue. I lost every time. I could never find the fighting Pokemon's weakness. He just kept attacking, his punches and kicks came at my Pokemon at an amazing speed. And that Tyrogue, now a Hitmonlee, could only have gotten stronger.
"So Soggy, are ya gonna stand there with your mouth wide open, or are we gonna have our battle now? Its amazing you even got here."
As well as being at a type disadvantage, Hitmonlee would be far better suited for this jungle of ropes, compared to my Teddiursa who was used to battling on flat terrain. I tried inserting some hope into Teddy.
"C'mon Teddy, if you win this fight, you will be one step closer to evolving! I know it looks bad now, but we are the ones who will come out victorious." I spoke, trying not to hesitate.
Teddy heard my speech, but even he knew the odds were stacked up against him.
"Teddy, I was saving this for later, but we need all the help we can get." I said as I tossed him a TM capsule.

Level 11 Teddiursa vs Level 15 Hitmonlee

"Alright, here we come!" Nicki shouted out. "Hitmonlee, start this off with a double kick!"
Hitmonlee rushed in and hit Teddy directly in the stomach, then another perfect hit to his head. Teddy flew back, nearly falling off the ledge holding on with one paw.
"Teddy, swing over to the ropes!"
Teddy swayed his body like a pendulum, kicked off the side of the cliff, and boosted off falling down towards the ropes. He hung on like his life depended on it. And it did. It was a long way down.
"Now, Teddy, sword dance!" The little brown bear's paws began to glow as he concentrated his energy.
"Hitmonlee! Use rolling kick! Lee jumped off the ledge without a care, and spun his body like a corkscrew, feet first in Teddy's direction.
I wasn't really paying attention to the battle, I was lost in Nicki's passion for winning. She would probally do anything to win, and certainly wouldn't want to be beaten by a common little bear. My thoughts were interrupted by Teddy's cry. He fell further down, but must of managed to cling onto another rope.
"Teddy, use Yawn!" Teddy's eyes started to close, and his mouth began to widen.
"Hitmonlee, use protect!" And with those words, Teddy's attack was nulified.
"Now Teddy, Leer!" Teddy gave Hitmonlee the evils, and 'lee was in a state of daze. "Teddy, use Return!" Teddy tried to swing over in order to use his attack, but his limbs were too short. Hitmonlee snapped out of the daze and used meditation to powerup his attack. Teddy did the same. This was repeated several times until both pokemon had the maximum attack.
"Use mind reader, then finish off the commoner with hi jump kick!" Shouted Nicki. 'Lee swung over and stretched one leg, one percent accurate in line with my nearly defenseless bear.
"Alright Teddy, time try out your new technique! Counter!"
Hitmonlee's eyes widened, as did Nicki's. Hitmonlee's momentum carried him towards Teddy with plenty off attack. Teddy glowed a bright white, and send Hitmonlee crashing into the side of the cliff making an indent big enough to fit inside.

Teddy Won!

"Hitmonlee! Return! This isn't over." Nicki remarked and she propelled down the ropes.

[aragornbird]

Whoo, last minute submission. Sorry if the battle feels rushed, and I think I’ll work the conclusion into the next battle, if I make it.
Anyways, Neitiel’s TM will be Aerial Ace. BTW, do they get to keep these TMs?

*~*~*~* The Solar Games: Part I *~*~*~*

The sun. It is more predictable than anything else in the world, something that could always be trusted. Neitiel remembered the day he hatched and was gifted with the sight of the sunrise over the treetops, spreading its warm golden fingers over each leaf. There had been a storm the night before and the raindrops that remained on the trees glistened like magic.
He also remembered his first night. The hours when the sun was absent and the world was plunged into the darkness. He cried and huddled behind his mother, and though she told him the sun would always come back in the morning, he was still afraid of the dark.
But he could not let the other Pokemon know about that. Especially not his trainer, Elessar.

“It sure was nice of you to bring us along.”

Neitiel’s thoughts were disrupted as Orsinal the Hoothoot initiated a conversation with their trainer.
“Well, I figured that since summer is here, I can spend more time working at the Crystal Caves,” replied Elessar, “But I was also hoping I could find you two a battle, since you haven’t experienced one for so long. Fortunately, the Crystal Caves are just bursting with wild Pokemon.”
“Whoa, are there a lot of Hoothoots like me?” said Orsinal with the curiosity of a small child.
“Plenty. In fact, I’ve seen quite a few sleeping in the trees the last time I was there.”
“That’s what I was doing when you first met me. Sleeping.”
“Yeah, I remember that day.”
Neitiel remained silent as Elessar and Orsinal recounted the day they met. He found most conversations to be uninteresting, even the ones that concerned him. And unlike most Psychic Pokemon, who take pleasure in reading the secret thoughts of other creatures, Neitiel enjoyed the beauty of the natural world rather than the private corners of other minds.
The conversation did not last long and for the rest of their journey toward the Crystal Caves, Neitiel absorbed the sights, smells, and sounds of his surroundings. They had already entered the Forest region and were making their way towards the main caverns. The sunlight filtered in through the dense leaves and branches, casting small patches of light on the ground below. A soft breeze gusted past, causing the branches to sway and making the lights dance. Adding to the tranquil scene were the lilting melodies of songbirds perched in the trees – mostly Swablus with the occasional Taillow or Pidgey.
“C’mon, Neitiel, hurry up!” Elessar called out. The Natu instantly snapped out of his reverie and realized that he had fallen several feet behind Elessar and Orsinal. Fluttering his wings, he hopped over to catch up to the others. Of the three, Neitiel was the only one who could not fly well, which was a major disadvantage when traveling with Elessar’s other bird Pokemon. As they continued along an old dirt path littered with dead leaves, Neitiel pondered the time it will take for him to evolve into a full-fledged Xatu, complete with a new set of wings. Flying above the trees, the mountains, and even the clouds, he wondered what new sights he would be able to see. Even as he dreamed about his future form, he grew absent-minded once more until he slammed into a hard rock wall.
“Neitiel! Are you okay?” asked Elessar, trying to act concerned though he was fighting back laughter. Orsinal failed to contain his, laughing heartily as the Natu toppled backwards. His clear blue eyes showed no trace of embarrassment, but he was clearly humiliated. Pride was very important to Neitiel.
“Oh be quiet!” He told the two birds, “Finding the follies of others to be farcical merely signifies your lack of maturity.” Elessar and Orsinal instantly fell silent and Neitiel smiled. Pride was important to him, but not nearly as important as intelligence.
“Sorry, Neitiel,” Elessar said and turned around, “Well, let’s head off into the caves!” Elessar and Orsinal entered the caverns, but Neitiel stopped before the large gaping entrance and peered inside. He watched the two birds walking further away, the dark shadows of the cave engulfing them both. Dark as night, he thought. Then he shivered with fear.
“C’mon Neitiel, you’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” Elessar’s voiced echoed through the entrance.
“Of course not! Anything such thought is absolutely inconceivable!” But he knew he was lying, both to Elessar and to himself. He could only hope that his trainer does not discover his secret fear soon. He cautiously entered the caverns, crossing the threshold between light and dark. As he did, he turned around to catch one last glimpse of the sun. To his disappointment, the sun was already beginning to set, gradually sinking behind the treetops. Soon the darkness would be everywhere. Neitiel sighed with discontent and moved steadily forward.
Having been through these caverns many times, Elessar passed through the entrance tunnel into a larger section, leading his two bird Pokemon onwards. Orsinal’s eyes were well adjusted to the pervading darkness and seemed to be enjoying their journey through this subterranean world. But for Neitiel, the darkness distorted his imagination and he thought the stalactites were giant teeth that would close in on him at any minute. A faint rustling in the air nearly made him jump with fright. It was probably a Zubat, but the thought of all the unseen creatures crawling around in the dark did not comfort him at all.
He did not know how long they had been trekking through the darkness, but he was relieved when they entered the next room. It was immense, but a stream of light poured through a hole in the middle of the ceiling and shone onto an underground lake. The surface of the water glistened under the light and gave a far more serene atmosphere than the previous room.
“You guys wait here while I go and begin helping the other trainers,” Elessar told them, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back shortly.” A group of trainers entered into the room through the opposite side and Elessar flew off to meet them. For the next few hours, Neitiel sat deep in thought while watching the rays of sun grew increasingly dim. Elessar returned several times to check up on them, but flew off every time a trainer approached him for assistance. Night finally arrived, with the sunlight disappearing completely, replaced by the same thick darkness that Neitiel detested. It was at this point that several nocturnal Pokemon emerged and gathered around the lake – Sableyes, Ghastlys, Sneasels, and even a rare Absol.
“Wow, there sure are a lot of cool Pokemon at night,” remarked Orsinal, “Right, Neitiel?” But the Natu had already fallen asleep, sheltering himself from the darkness by seeking solitude in his dreams. Orsinal sighed and shook his head.
“Early to bed and early to rise,” he mumbled to himself, “But he’ll miss so many new experiences that only happen at night.”

The realms of Neitiel’s dreams were shattered as someone shook him. He hated to be awakened, but complied nonetheless and slowly opened his eyes. Gradually adjusting to the darkness, he could make out Elessar’s form standing in front of him.
“Neitiel, are you awake? C’mon, we need to hurry, there’s something terribly wrong.” Elessar was evidently distraught as his words were tinged with concern. Neitiel groaned as he stretched his tiny wings and yawned.
“What is the current hour of the day?” he asked.
“Last time I checked, it was a quarter past seven.” Neitiel simply stared at Elessar in disbelief.
“Preposterous!” he exclaimed, “Evidently whatever timepiece you utilize is malfunctioning as there is no evidence of any solar illumination emanating through that cavity.” He pointed to the hole in the ceiling, commenting on how there would be bright sunlight pouring through on a summer morning such as this. But Elessar shook his head.
“You’re not going to believe this and I don’t blame you, but,” he took a deep before he continued, “The sun is not rising today.” As he expected, Neitiel immediately gave a forced laugh.
“Surely you jest! You actually-”
“I’m not joking!” Elessar yelled, his voice reverberating off the cavern walls. In the far corner of the room, perched on a stalagmite, Orsinal stirred and awoke.
“Come on, you two, keep it down!” the Hoothoot said, “I’m trying to – hey! How come it’s still dark as night?”
“Elessar somehow received the outlandish notion that morning has already befell.” Neitiel told him; obviously thinking his trainer had gone insane. Orsinal pondered this idea for a moment before speaking.
“Um, I don’t think he’s wrong. I always take a morning nap and I wouldn’t be sleeping unless it was morning.” But the Natu was still unconvinced. Elessar began to move towards the entrance of the caverns.
“We can’t keep arguing over this matter inside. We have to go out a find out what’s happening.” Orsinal quickly followed him as he exited the room and Neitiel sighed. What has gotten into him? He decided to follow them outside, still finding the darkness of the caves to be uncomfortable.
As the emerged from the caves, the three birds immediately turned their heads skywards. The sky was a mixture of dark purple and blue, but no stars shone and the moon was also absent.
“We have to hurry!” Elessar said and quickly took off into the sky. Orsinal followed and Neitiel tried his best to hover swiftly above the ground, hoping the flight would be short and his little wings could handle the distance. Farther up ahead, a yellow spot of light shone in air and Neitiel flew faster, as if this small source of light was his only hope of security in a world that was plunged into darkness.
The light belonged to a lantern and Elessar discovered that Frank and the other Capture Center workers were gathering trainers who could help investigate this matter.
“I’ll gladly help,” Elessar said, “I mean, how can an entire sun go missing?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Frank replied, “We’re going to gather at least ten trainers before beginning this mission. Of course, our Pokemon are going to help as well.”
Elessar turned to his bird Pokemon. “I hope you two are ready for some adventuring, because it looks like that’s what we’ll be doing soon.”
“Mmm…I guess we have no choice, though I am a bit beat,” said Orsinal before giving a big yawn. Neitiel stood silently next to the owl. If he answered no, the others will see him as a coward, which is even worse than finding out he is afraid of the dark. But what if he decided to go along? What strange and dangerous things will they encounter in this world without sunlight?
“Well?” Elessar said, waiting for Neitiel response. The Natu looked up at his trainer and merely shrugged.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Elessar decided.

They found several other trainers rather quickly. Neitiel’s spirits rose slightly each time a new trainer decided to join in. Traveling in the dark alone would be terrifying, but at least there is some sense of security in traveling as a group. Despite this, the Natu was still wary as he hopped along the dirt road with Elessar and the other trainers, keeping close to the glow of Frank’s lantern.
Frank had already pointed out the route they will follow. At the start of this mission, the path was fairly smooth. But their first major obstacle suddenly arrived – a massive rock wall. It was too dark to see if they could walk around this obstruction, but they did not need too.
“Look here!” Frank said, shining his light towards the surface of the cliff. Several long ropes were conveniently placed there, dangling high over the top of the wall. The group decided that the best option would be to climb these ropes to the top, even if they did not know who put them there. Elessar stepped up with a smile on his face.
“Well, it sure is a good time to be a bird. My Pokemon and I can simply fly to the top.” A few trainers groaned in response, evidently wishing they had wings as well. Elessar took off, circling a few times in the air to make sure everything was all right, and landed on the top of the cliff. Orsinal quickly followed, but Neitiel was still stuck on the ground far below.
“Are you insensible to the verity that my flight capabilities are limited?” the Natu shouted from below, sounding rather annoyed. But Elessar knew enough about Natus to realize that these small birds had other ways of getting around.
“But you Natus are naturally good at climbing up trees, right?” Elessar called back, “Well, this rock wall is no different. You can make it up in no time!” Neitiel sighed, knowing that his trainer was right. He approached the wall and leapt up, digging his claws into the tiny crevices in the rocks. By flapping his wings vigorously, he made it half way up the cliff in less than a minute. Down below, the trainers had already started climbing up the ropes along with their Pokemon. Neitiel continued his ascent, but Elessar and Orsinal suddenly flew off the cliff as some dark shadows approached its edge. Other figures appeared from below and several blinding white flashes ensued. Neitiel would have welcomed the extra light was it not for the fact that ten vicious-looking Pokemon were released. Four of them were Fighting-types, and the rest were Water-, Ice-, or Electric-types. At the top of the cliff, a Pikachu stepped forward. Though these Pokemon were normally gentle creatures, the electricity that crackled from the mouse’s cheeks was quite intimidating. The Pikachu’s gaze fell upon the Natu, like a lion eyeing its prey.
“Uh oh, Neitiel,” Elessar called out from the air, “I think it wants to battle you!”
A battle? Neitiel had never battled an Electric-type before and almost considered flying away if it wasn’t for its trainer’s command, deep and menacing.
“Quick Attack it, Bolt!”

*~*~*BATTLE! Neitiel (Lv. 12 Male Natu) vs. Bolt (Lv. 15 Male Pikachu)*~*~*

The Pikachu’s speed was amazing, even on vertical surfaces. It raced down the wall towards the Natu, slamming into the bird’s round body. Neitiel did not even have time to wonder at Bolt’s amazing display of agility. He was falling, his beak pointed towards the ground as the earth loomed closer and closer.
“Pull up, Neitiel, pull up!” Elessar voice was loud and desperate. “I know you can’t fly well, but for the love of God, do SOMETHING!” Neitiel spread his wings and flapped as hard as he could. But it might be too late, he was only eight feet from being crushed against the cold hard ground. Six feet…four feet…two feet. Neitiel closed his eyes as he prepared for the impact. Three seconds later, he reopened them.
He was…floating?
Neitiel was so amazed that he did not hear Elessar’s shouts of glee or the applause of the other trainers. A mere six inches from the ground and he managed to slow to a hover. He did not mind that his wings were aching because he could not believe his eyes at what he just did. But the brief moment of happiness was broken by the same menacing voice.
“That lil’ bird’s still not flattened?” Bolt’s trainer cried out, “No matter. Give it a Thundershock, Bolt!” The Pikachu, who had grabbed onto a nearby rope, already charged up a current of electricity through his body and blasted the yellow lightning bolt at Neitiel. There was no time to dodge. For a second, Neitiel’s vision went white as the electricity surged through him. His wings were momentarily stunned and he dropped onto the ground, feeling slightly numb though the attack was finished.
“Neitiel, use your Calm Mind!” Elessar called out. Shaking the dirt off his feathers, the Natu got back up and to commence the technique. Calm Mind required the user to be oblivious to all external distractions and focus only on one’s inner strength, boosting the user’s Special skills in the process. Neitiel tried to clear his mind, but he just could not ignore the numerous questions that swirled inside his head. What if he lost this battle? Why was it still dark outside? Would they have to live under this darkness forever? How could he go on living, with his fear of the dark and a shameful loss burdening him? His concentration was broken as these questions plagued his mind. Suddenly, he was struck by another Thundershock and tumbled backwards on the ground.
“Neitiel, what’s wrong?” Elessar called anxiously, “Why isn’t your Calm Mind working? Try to use another one.” He could hear his trainer’s commands, but his voice seemed so distant, miles and miles away. There was no use trying.
It is futile. These words echoed inside Elessar’s head.
“Neitiel?” Elessar said out loud, then suddenly realized what his Natu was doing – he was communicating with him telepathically!
Neitiel, what’s wrong? Elessar formed these thoughts in his mind, hoping to receive a response.
You’re bound to find out anyways, so I’ll just tell you now. I don’t want to battle anymore. I’m afraid of the dark There was definitely something wrong with Neitiel, he was not even using any fancy vocabulary.
So you’re just gonna give up like that? Neitiel, you can’t!
But what’s the use? This is an Electric-type! And even worse, I’m battling in the dark. I’ve never done that before. I just can’t summon the courage to continue. Elessar remained silent for a moment, not forming any thoughts to communicate with Neitiel. Bolt and his trainer seemed perplexed, wondering why the little bird was not moving. He did not even know Neitiel was afraid of the dark. He wished he could do something to comfort him, but he did not have time. They have a battle to finish.
You have to trust me on this, Neitiel. I know you’re stronger than you think. You surprised yourself and me when you pulled out of your fall. I think you have plenty more surprises left in you, including confronting your fears.
But-
Trust me. Neitiel sighed. How could he trust someone when he could not even trust the sun to rise? But he had no other choice.
I trust you.

That ended their telepathic conversation and Neitiel opened his eyes. As soon as he spotted his opponent still clinging to the rope, he quickly shut his eyes again. It was time for another Calm Mind. He tried his hardest to concentrate. I can win…I’m not afraid of the dark…I can win…I’m not afraid of the dark… As he repeated this in his head, he felt the world slip away from him. Yes! It’s working! He finally reached the pinnacle of concentration, and as his mind was entirely focused on himself, he saw his strength and intelligence shine brightly. Now he was ready.
He opened his eyes again and saw the bright flash of another Thundershock streak toward him. He was hit, and though his body went momentarily numb, it suddenly did not feel painful and he stood as still as a rock.
“What?” Bolt’s trainer cried in shock, “Why didn’t it hurt him? Bolt, try a Thunder Wave this time!”
“Oh no you don’t!” exclaimed Elessar, “Great job, Neitiel! Now give it a Psychic attack!” The Natu nodded, both his confidence and telekinetic strength greatly boosted by the success of his last attack. Just as the Pikachu’s cheeks crackled with blue electricity, Neitiel eyes glowed. He did not aim his attack on Bolt, but on the rope he was clinging to. It started to sway, as if caught in a breeze, and then it swung violently. Bolt’s concentration on the Thunder Wave was broken as he hugged the rope, trying not to fall off. But the rope was swinging too fiercely now and with a suddenly flick, the electric rodent was tossed into the air.
“Bolt, No!” his trainer shouted as the Pikachu plummeted towards the earth just like Neitiel had done before. But with no wings, Bolt’s impact with the ground seemed imminent. Elessar knew this and hated what he was about to do next.
“Neitiel, save that Pikachu with your Psychic.” The Natu complied and suddenly, Bolt was surrounded by a bright blue glow and rescued in midair. His trainer breathed a sigh of relief, but Elessar smiled.
“Now, it’s payback time!” Caught in the Natu’s Psychic grasp, the Pikachu could not move his muscles freely and was at the mercy of Neitiel’s control. He was slammed repeatedly against the rocky wall, each blow not overly severe, but enough that the Pikachu was taking significant damage. Neitiel then brought the rodent down near to the ground before releasing his psychic hold and dropping Bolt into the dirt. With several bruises marring his body, Bolt still managed to stagger back up, though it was evident he was severely weakened. Now on the ground, he was a much easier target.
“Bolt, don’t give up yet! Try a Double Team.” The Pikachu shook the dirt off his fur, and within the blink of an eye, one Pikachu split into three. Neitiel almost panicked, unable to distinguish between the real opponent and the copies. But Elessar was still confident.
“Neitiel, don’t you give up either,” he said calmly, “Try your new move – Aerial Ace!” Neitiel had nearly forgotten that he had been taught Aerial Ace the day before. It was exactly what he needed. A large force should be enough to take the Pikachu out. Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration. He did not have enough mass in his little round body to deal much damage, but Aerial Ace should give him plenty of speed for a strong blow. And it was also an extremely accurate attack.
Neitiel leapt up and fluttered his wings to hover above the ground. Hoping his flying skills will not fail him, he rushed forward like a lightning bolt. Elessar was right, the incredible speed he gained surprised even himself. He was traveling even faster than Bolt’s Quick Attack!
BAM!
Neitiel struck the Pikachu on the left and the force was large enough to knock the Pikachu into the wall. Bolt slumped forward, a yellow heap on the ground.
“Come on, come on, get up!” his trainer urged, anxiety tingeing his voice. Bolt’s jagged tail stirred, then he lifted his battered face, and struggled to get on his feet. And just when the Pikachu was almost up on his feet, he fell over, defeated.

Neitiel won!

[pokemasterfrank]

Actually, soggy and aragornbird are a bit late :/ But since I'm late in posting that its closed, I guess I should let them, right? Alright, gonna read all the battles and the results will be edited into this post. Watch out for em. Probably wont' be today though. *goes to get some sleep*
~~~~~
Linc
NOTES: Pretty good. Has some good descriptions and you stay in the same tense.
The battle is a bit repetitive though, with Nightmare and Hitmonchan only exchanging blows (except for one set of moves where Nightmare used three moves in succession) with no special tactic or unique usage with the moves. The intro to the TM as the saving factor is pretty good. All in all, good.
CCP: 8
Levels: +2

Amy
NOTES: This is why 24 hour time is superior to 12 hour…or at least 12-hour clocks that don’t show PM or AM, lol. Quite funny. As always, one of the best things about your stories is that each of your Pokemon have different personalities. Character development is always a plus. The story/battle is quite descriptive the battle has some creative strategies (using a non-type advantage move advantageously, etc.) and is orchestrated well.
CCP: 12
Levels: +3

Shonta
NOTES: Ewww…Miss Cleo… lol Hehe, for some reason, I really like Cinder. He’s a funny little dude. Always paranoid. Humor is usually a good thing, Yeah, creative twist (y) Cutting the rope with the flames. I was waiting for someone to attempt to snap the ropes I dunno if getting him a girlfriend is such a good idea…you might have to bribe him with another TM to go on a date There are some good description and yeah. Good
CCP: 10
Levels: +3

Hannah
NOTES: o_O Dark > Ice = (n); Dark > Psychic = (y); Also, the whole cliff is made of of Crystal Caves Crystal. Something you wouldn’t want to try to dig your claws into x_o Hehe, humorous ending. Very good battle. Omega had quite a time trying to beat Jynx. He’s quite the thinker *nods* Good description as well.
CCP: 11
Levels: +3

Soggy
NOTES: Uhh…its comrades o_O That was ok o_O I guess. Description is lacking, and the battle was ok, not too exciting… I guess its ok.
CCP: 5
Levels: 1

Elessar
NOTES: Yes, they do keep the TM moves. One of the many consolation prizes that each game gives Hehe, Neitiel sure has an educated tongue, does he not? Nice touch, lol Everybody likes to climb these walls ;_; When I made this location, I was sort of modeling it after the Cliffs of Insanity. Unclimbable for any normal person, even with a rope. Oh well… I like how you built around this battle around fear. Fear is an abstract concept created by human minds that leaves beings in a fragile state of mind, yet is easily overcome</Nietiel> lol Very good.
CCP: 11
Levels: +3
~~~~~
Since we supposedly have 9 participants, the top 4 should be a good cut. Amy, Hannah, Elessar, and Shonta make it into the next round (y) Linc and Soggy, thanks for participating. You guys did a good job.
~~~~~

The Solar Games – Round Two

"Alright Geodude," the Grunt yelled as he flung an open box of rocks toward his Geodude. "Finish it with Rock Throw!" The box of rocks spiraled toward the Geodude, the rocks scattering out from the wooden container, falling rapidy into the abyss below. The rock Pokemon expertly grabbed the rocks as they fell from above and began sending them at Charmander with great precision.

"Charmander," I said softely. "Leap upward and use Scratch to knock the rocks out of the way! Then, latch onto the rope and use Hidden Power!" Charmander leapt, sending himself directly into the barrage of stones. He quickly batted away each stone that came his way with Scratch and latched onto the rope directly under the suprised Geodude. Charmander closed his eyes, focusing on his inner strength, struggling to release it. Suddenly, it burst out, Charmander glowing a dull green. With a blast of energy, Geodude flew into the air and landed on the hard, crystal floor above.

As the group climbed over the ledge, they found a group of Pokemon waiting for them. "Hail travelers. Welcome to the Shrine of the Sun. This is a holy place that no normal person may enter. Only those who have proven their worth may enter."

Amy
Level 20 Dakota the Male Mighteyena vs Level 20 Hitmonchan

Hannah
Level 11 Flash the Male Cyndaquil vs Level 15 Staryu

Elessar
Level 11 Orsinal the Male Hoothoot vs Level 15 Electabuzz

Shonta
Level 15 Kawaii the Female Girafarig vs Level 15 Sableye

You have until Midnight, July 13th, Pacific Standard Time to complete your battles. Good luck.

[Wolfsong]

Cool, I made it. ^^ I do have one question though i'm pretty sure i know the answer to, but better safe than sorry. Do our pokemon get a free TM this go around as well? Either way congrats to the others that also made it.

[pokemasterfrank]

Cool, I made it. ^^ I do have one question though i'm pretty sure i know the answer to, but better safe than sorry. Do our pokemon get a free TM this go around as well? Either way congrats to the others that also made it.

x_o Yeah. Sorry, forgot that

[Wolfsong]

Before story notes: Dakota’s free TM will be Hyper Beam. The hidden power TM for the baby eevee came from the Kiosk, and will be the *randomizes* ghost type. The baby eevee, which is really Tiana’s son, is going to be her and Zale’s little brother.

(Amy’s POV)

When I realized that the others were finishing up their battles, I resumed my climb up the rope. My muscles were screaming the entire time. It wasn’t very long after I had resumed my climb that I felt movement in my bag. I silently said a prayer that the egg wouldn’t hatch until I had made it safely to the top of the cliff. Luck seemed to be with me, as I continued upward finally reaching the edge.

I heaved myself upwards over the edge, and sat down. Immediately after, Ranec and Dakota emerged. The whole team must have somehow sensed that the egg was about to hatch, or else one of the two already out had sent the message telepathically, because one by one the rest of them emerged from their pokeballs. I carefully pulled out the still wobbling egg out of my backpack, as Tiana and Zale edged themselves closer to me and the egg. As we watched, hairline cracks began to appear. Eventually, a silvery paw broke through the shell. Once that happened, I quickly helped to free the tiny baby from the rest of its shell. I pulled the blanket that I had gotten with the egg at the breeding center out, and dried the baby off. In doing so, I discovered that it was a male. “It’s a boy.” I announced. “Can I name him?” Tiana asked. “Sure.” I told her, wishing that I had a camera to photograph the look on her face when I told her that. “Let’s name him Haruki. We can call him Ruki for short.” “That’s a nice name.” I said, smiling as the other teammates nodded in agreement.

The others chose to go back inside their pokeballs with the exception of Dakota. “Someone needs to make sure that you’re safe.” was all that he said. I had placed Ruki near my bag just as the others began appearing over the edge of the cliff. Soon everyone was gathered around in a small group. Dakota nudged me with his nose. “Uh, Amy. You’re pack fell over, and a TM box fell on Ruki.” I spun around to see Ruki lying where I had left him with the TM box hanging from his head. I quickly scooped him up, and looked to see which TM it was. The question mark on the box left no doubt. It was the hidden power TM. Ruki sneezed, and I looked down in time to see that he had turned invisible except for the faint outline of his body. After a few minutes, he returned to normal, falling fast asleep. Interesting, I thought, hidden power ghost.

Dakota nudged my again, this time with more urgency. When I looked up, there was a group of pokemon standing in front of us. It was strangely silent for a few minutes before a regal-looking pidgeot stepped forward. As it began speaking, I was able to determine that it was a female. “Hail travelers. Welcome to the Shrine of the Sun. This is a holy place that no normal person may enter. Only those who have proven their worth may enter.” Dakota turned and looked at me. “Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?” he whispered. “I don’t know.” I replied, not taking my eyes off of the pidgeot. She turned and said something to the pokemon gathered behind her, and as the crowd of pokemon parted four pokemon emerged. The group of four pokemon consisted of a hitmonchan, a staryu, an electabuzz, and a sableye. As I looked around at the pokemon, I realized that none of us was going to have an easy time. They looked intelligent and strong, a dangerous combination. “Looks like we’re going to have to battle, Dakota.” I said as the hitmonchan approached us. Dakota simply nodded.

(Dakota’s POV)

“Looks like we’re going to have to battle, Dakota.” Amy told me. I just nodded as my opponent stepped forward. It was a hitmonchan, and although I was at a type disadvantage I knew I could win. I had changed since that day I had first met Amy as a scared poochyena pup that was being attacked ferociously by growlithes. She helped me to not only evolve, but to become stronger as well. I had a good selection of moves, but the downside was that several of them needed for me to be close in order to work. Secretly, I was rather grateful that my opponent wasn’t a growlithe or an arcanine. The hitmonchan nodded at me, looking warily at one of the scars that wasn’t as hidden as the others were since I had evolved. Out of habit, I smoothed down the edges of my fur. I didn’t like to be reminded about that incident. I took a deep breath, before shaking myself getting ready for the battle ahead. My opponent, punched at the air a few times, as I gave him the most intimidating stare that I could muster.

Dakota L.20 M Mightyena VS. L.20 M Hitmonchan

We stared at each other for a few minutes, sizing each other up. I needed to get close, but that was the problem. If I got close, I’d be within striking distance. As I mentally went through my list of attacks, I came up with a plan. Of course even if it worked, I wouldn’t be able to do it a second time because the hitmonchan would expect it then. I had to make this count. I immediately began channeling some of my health into creating a lifelike doll. As I did so, the hitmonchan rushed at the doll, thinking that it was me. I immediately began secreting toxins from my canine teeth. I waited and as soon as I saw him lunge, I darted forward and bit down on my opponent’s leg, as I emptied the toxins into the wound created by my fangs. A split second later, the hitmonchan’s gloved fist slammed into my doll shattering it. I got out of striking distance as fast as I could. The hitmonchan stood still a few minutes as if he was in shock about being tricked. When he spun around, I noticed that there were beads of sweat upon his forehead. That struck me as unusual seeing as the battle had only just begun. It wasn’t until I saw him blanch that I realized that he was poisoned. I silently thanked my lucky stars that the poison fang substitute combo had worked even better than I had expected it too. I was lucky that it had poisoned him. Almost immediately, the hitmonchan began glowing a faint yellow before splitting into three mirror images. I immediately closed my eyes, knowing full well that I couldn’t trust my sense of sight. Instead, I began to focus on my sense of smell. I knew that though my eyes might have been deceived, my nose knows. Soon, I caught the faint traces of the hitmonchan’s salty sweat. As soon as my nose had picked a target, I darted in and threw my body into my opponent with all the force that I could muster. I opened my eyes just in time to see the hitmonchan make a grab for me. The next thing I knew, I was sent flying through the air before making a hard landing nose first on the crystal. I took a deep breath before howling a spine-tingling melody. When I had finished, I felt stronger, and I was ready to get back to the battle. In the air in front of me, I began forming an orb of ethereal energy before releasing it. The hitmonchan nimbly dodged the shadow ball, blanching slightly, before crossing the distance between us in mere seconds. Upon reaching me, he lashed out with a vicious kick to my side causing me to yelp involuntarily. Almost immediately after I had yelped, a violet glow began to envelop the hitmonchan as he was lifted up into the air, and hurled across the crystal. He crashed headfirst several feet away. I took advantage of the few seconds that the attack had bought me, and began to glow a faint yellow. Soon, there were two of me standing there. I wished that the double team had produced more clones, but one bought me some time. At least that’s what I had thought. My opponent just smirked before rapidly punching the air sending several star-shaped heat-seeking missiles my way. I gritted my teeth, as I watched them tear through my clone before slamming into me. By now, I was getting tired, and from the look on my opponent’s face, so was he. Actually I was surprised that he was still going strong despite being poisoned. Don’t get me wrong, the poison was taking its toll, just not fast enough for my taste. As I went through the list of moves I had in my arsenal I decided to try one of my newest. The hitmonchan glowed a faint blue, as I opened my mouth revealing an orange orb. The orb steadily grew in size, before launching itself in a beam directly at the hitmonchan. The force from the hyper beam sent the hitmonchan tumbling backwards, before he landed in a heap on the ground. Much to my surprise, he stood up. I sat there panting, as I wondered how he had survived the hyper beam. Then it hit me, he must have used endure. The hitmonchan started to run towards me, but before he could get to me he collapsed once again. This time, however, he sank deep into the realm of unconsciousness. I used my remaining strength to stumble over to Amy’s side, and once there I collapsed in a heap, panting.

I won!