Donovan y Maria's Radical Expedition

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Now, there was a story..." Gad smiled, closing his eyes "It was after we've already obtained all eight Gym badges in Hoenn. It was night, and Mari and I were walking through this mountain pass. It's a seldom-trodden path, that pass. And A few minutes later we saw why. We were up to our necks in Beldums. Just floated at us out of no where."

He paused, shuddering slightly, taking a sip of his drink.

"That entire line is... strange." Gad said, opening his eyes "It's like they're a core of pure energy encased by a metallic shell, not fully bound to it, but not fully detached. They're psychic, you know, but their minds are nothing like anything else I've ever encountered. When you look into their eyes - their cores - you see things that you can never truly comprehend. Things that fascinate yet terrify you. And it gets even more complex when they evolve. You know that the line evolves by fusion, right?" he paused "Two Beldums fuse, joining their cores together. it's like the cores enter orbit around each other, stabilizing each other, enhancing each other. Two voices bound into one - two beings, their essences dancing around each other, bound to each other in a sort of fusion which turned them - in all aspects - into one being. And it's twice as disorienting to gaze into a Metang. But..."

He closed his eyes again "But we had to. Mari and I managed to fend off the first wave of Beldums rather easily - their strikes were inaccurate and did more damage to them than they could possibly do to us. And that's when all hell broke loose. Several Beldums began fusing, bringing Metangs into the fray. And there were more and more fusion. It was getting impossible to hold out with just Mari. These things tried to defeat us through attrition. In the end, it took my entire team up to then to deflect them. They just kept on coming and coming... My team was falling around me, and as I was left with only one PokéMon, two of them just... sorta... fused. And I found myself on my last legs against a fully-charged Metagross who didn't seem to find the situation particularily amusing."

"I don't know how we got out of that battle..." Gad chuckled, opening his eyes slowly "But... We somehow did, and I've managed to capture that Metagross... And this mysteriously ended the attack. The Metangs and Beldums just floated away like the wind... To this day we know not what triggered the attack, nor what made them leave. But I've had Lycos ever since. We've reached... an understanding. We have an alliance between us. He's cold, aloof, reclusive... But when he goes into combat, the gods of vengeance themselves have better run for their lives. He moves for a quick kill, and he does it with bloody-minded efficiency. I trust him and yet I am terrified of him."

He silently absorbed another biscotti and another sip of his coffee.

"That's... All there is to tell, I must admit... Lycos is wrapped in mystery, and he likes it that way. And who am I, a mere mortal, to argue with a Metagross?"

 

[MoonStruckDragonLass]

Sorry for the delay in this post! Had a huge chemistry project, and signing up for next semester classes is no picnic ^^; You really think I'd have the hang of chasing down mountains of paper work and the people to sign it by now, but, no. College, eh? Good times. Also, it's a bit longer. And VERY boring. Here's Hoping the next one is the battle!

Stel, I'm sorry, I'm an Ass. Shall we plan out the battle next weekend? You'll have to look for me on 'DragonChick', however. I don't have the compy all next week. Also, gmail is always ALWAYS good.

Irugi smiled, and drained the last of her tea. Chiiru was chittering happily, and had finished the Biscotti. The sun had fully risen, not quite above the city's roof tops, but enough to turn Pewter to pure Gold. She sighed, checked the time, and nodded to Gad.

"I'm afraid I have a few things to see to before the battle. I'll see you again on the field?" Irugi grinned, standing while Chiiru scrabbled onto her shoulders, unprepared for her sudden movement and slowed by the biscotti. Nodding again to Gad, she stopped briefly by the door to explain that they were both KCC contenders. She hoped that was enough to set the matter of food in order, as she quickly turned and skipped out.

Outside the cafe, she was disoriented for a moment, but a brief look at her pokegear set her straight. It was a short walk back to the pokecenter, somewhere between five and ten minutes. She was right on schedule. She had hopes of arriving at the stadium at least half an hour early, to make sure she had enough time to get things in order before the battle.

"Well Chii, I've met him, Kaido's met him, and I've gotten Magic's opinion on him, but what do you think of Gad? I like him, he's perfectly nice, but theres something about him i can't place. . .It reminds me a bit of Jon, don't you think? Only. . .I don't know. Sadder." Chiiru looked at her, her big, liquid brown eyes meeting Irugi's. Irugi looked back for a moment, and it was clear they understood each other. They laughed together and Chiiru dropped to the ground to run beside Irugi.

They made it back to the pokecenter in good time, the sun slowly sinking upwards the entire time. The city looked different in the early morning light, even the few shadows were tinged with gold. It looked to be a perfect day for battles. In her mind's eye, Irugi could see battles happening already, though the first wasn't scheduled to start for another half hour. Vaporeons slid smoothly in time with raging RainDances, shaking and jangling about, great bouts of lightning arced from an angry Ampharos, gales of petals with ripping edges rained down. . .The last image reminded her of Chiiru. A million Pokemon and trainers would be there today, all different, but with similar purpose. Each and every battle would be spectacular, and she couldn't wait to watch them with Kenji, with Gad, with any other new found friends she'd make. She really couldn't wait to see Kenji battle. With her having Nejime, he'd most likely use Kozan in his first battle, unless he and his partner had other plans. She was ecstatic, beaming. She couldn't wait. She wasn't nervous now, only excited. She hoped she and Nejime would be up against someone with skills, and a Pokemon with a broad moveset. She wanted a challenging battle, but not an impossible one. Whatever would she do if they were up against a flying Pokemon? Then again, Gad's Mari had that base covered, as well with water. She didn't want something she could take out easily, though. That wouldn't be any fun at all. Having to watch for Mari added another level of fun one-on-one battles lacked.

She found herself back in her room, Chiiru on the desk next to her new outfit. She smiled and picked it up, admiring the new colours and textures. She and Kenji would be a match, and she was proud that he was her travelling companion. No one else in the world would do. Except, perhaps, Jon. And her Pokemon, of course. She wasn't sure about Gad yet, but she hoped they could become good friends. She had very few of those, for her wide travels. Kenji was curiously absent from the room, but he was probably off, getting food.

She put on her new outfit, admiring it. It was black and a deep, rich purple, twined with a dark grey. she grinned, pulling her new boots on, and trotted out. Throwing herself down on Kenji's bunk, she flipped open her new pokegear and absent mindedly asked Chiiru to bring her her old one. Chiiru complied, and she transferred the old numbers over. Dropping her old phone, she dialed Jon. He picked up quickly.

"Irugi! Good to hear from you!"

"Lovely to hear you again, Jon. How is everyone's favourite legendary legendary Pokemon researcher?"

"I'll let you know when I find him or her!"

They laughed, and talked for a good while. Irugi told the story of Gad's Lycos, which intrigued Jon. He promised to look into it more, then excused himself.

At which point, Irugi noticed she was running VERY behind. She had just under half an hour to her battle, and the stadium was outside of Pewter. Scooping Chiiru up without any explanation, she threw herself out of the door and ran flat out towards the stadium.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC: And, here comes another phone post! Sorry for taking long, inspiration is difficult to come by...

Gad smiled a bit sadly as he watched his partner and her furret leave. He couldn't help but wonder about Irugi. There was something about her that he couldn't quite place, and those eyes... He has never seen eyes like hers -mismatched, mysterious and... beautiful, in their own unique way.
"Windows to the soul." he mused sadly, finishing his drink. "What kind of soul do these mistifying eyes reflect?"

She seemed unconfident... She tried to keep it cool and present a tough front, but there was something about her eyes... The way she avoided meeting his eyes most of the time. It was as if she was uncomfortable with them. And perhaps with herself.

And yet at times during their conversation she had moments where he could feel so much power about her - dormant power flowing just under the surface, as if she could move mountains if she only wanted...

"Dualities." he murmured "Just like those eyes of hers..."

Then he shook his head with mild amusement. "This inspires a line or two." he giggled "But I'll have to battle alongside her to know how the rest of the song will go."

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: Guys, thanks for all your patience. To a new year of RP! XD

BIC:

Even after the rude awakening, Jim seemed in good humor. This was good. He'd probably make the match much less painful than it could be. It was still too early to say just how well they'd be able to work together, though.

"Well, let's see... It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to walk over to the KCC set-up from here, and probably another 10 to get pointed in the right direction of our match... That should give me and the crew enough time to scarf down some breakfast. To be honest, I still haven't really decided what Pokemon I'm going to use... Guess it'll depend on our opponents. But anyways, times-a-wasting! Let's go, guys!" Maria looked to Rigel and Bellatrix and jerked a thumb towards the cafeteria. With cries of acknowledgment, the trio bounded off for the cafeteria wing.

***​

After grabbing a handful of different fruit and PokeChow, Maria exited the Pokemon Center and released the rest of her Pokemon so they could all have a quick bite. It was one of the fastest meals they'd ever eaten, but it was worth it. Once they'd finished, all six Pokemon were returned so that they could rest up until the battle. Things may have still been up in the air for who‘d be battling, but it was best if they were all prepared to enter the fray. Thankfully, all of them seemed to be looking forward to the idea equally - even Andromeda, who usually only liked battling with Perseus.

With that, Jim and Maria departed for their battle. All they did was walk straight there, but it was one of the most exhilarating moments of the girl's life. If anyone had ever described a place as "buzzing" before, Pewter truly was. With the rising of the sun the place had gone from peaceful and serene to "HOLYSHITITSFINALLYHEREYAYAYA!!" It seemed like the bloody Pokemon League competition itself - and it was totally awesome. The positive energy was like a contagious, tangible entity that consumed anyone who stepped out their front door.

The most amazing part of it all, though, and what ultimately separated the KCC from the Pokemon League, was that every last person Maria saw heading in her direction was a potential rival. No non-participating spectators were allowed. At first the girl had figured the event would be a tiny, intimate ordeal, but with the amount of people the KCC must've reached out to around the world it was easy to understand why the place felt like party central. After all, after this first round of competition, the majority of these people would be turning around and returning to their daily lives. Maria crossed her fingers that she wouldn't be one of them.

At last the teens and Unown came to a halt in front of the KCC tents - the threshold of no return, and the first line of security to keep out civilians. You could see a massive complex looming in the distance beyond, which, from what Maria had picked up from passer-byers, housed the first round stadiums. Not just arenas, but stadiums.

"No turning back now," Maria grinned at Jim. "Let's knock ‘em dead!"

The process through the tent itself was fairly quick, and simply involved KCC officials confirming your ID and participation status before letting you pass out the back and onto the battling complex. The complex was actually rather basic looking on the outside - dome-like, decked out in the official KCC colors with the logo plastered above a large set of almost gate-like doors - but man, was it HUGE. It was mind boggling just imagining how the heck they'd gotten the structure there in the first place. Had they built it from scratch on site, or transported it somehow? Which ever it was, something told Maria it'd be gone (moved or knocked down) in a matter of days once the first round was complete.

As Maria and Jim passed through the entrance way, the teen had to consciously restrain herself from flipping out. For everything she'd already seen and experienced over the years, this was something else entirely. These were the sorts of moments every aspiring Pokemon Trainer dreamed about - and she was in it.

She didn't know how she'd managed to make it up to the front desk - possibly from Jim coaxing her along - but the next thing she knew she was telling her and Jim's names to the receptionist, a young male with blue eyes and slicked back, black hair dressed in the now standard KCC uniform. He quickly confirmed things on his laptop and smirked back at her, "You're all set to go. Nervous?"

"Derr… I'll tell you once I come down from this high," Maria laughed nervously, eyeing the males shiny nametag and adding, "Teddy."

"Your first match is up next in stadium D," he paused a moment and pointed off to their right down the walkway. "Just head down the hall until you reach the red doors. Good luck."

"Thanks," Maria replied and slowly turned to go, but she stopped when Teddy's voice piped up.

"Hey, Maria!"

She paused and looked round at him. He was smiling encouragingly. "Just relax and have some fun. I‘m sure you‘ll do fine."

"Heh… Thanks for that. I‘ll try," Maria returned the smile. Her mind was still crazed, yet this Teddy's reassuring tone seemed to bring her down a bit - at least enough that, as her and Jim headed on their way to find their destination, she was able to get her thoughts straight enough to remember why she was here. Whatever happened, this was for her Pokemon.

"Are you Jim Jarrico and Maria Skyler?" Another KCC-clad official piped up as the two teens approached the doors. They both nodded in response. "Well then, right this way! Your match is up right now!"

"Eep!" Maria gave a silent yelp as the two of them were ushered through the entrance and down a dimmed hallway. Walking that length was like something out of a dream, an inaudible murmur was floating towards them from the open space beyond. No matter how much she'd readied herself mentally, Maria couldn't have prepared for the rush that followed once they'd stepped out into the light.

"And they've finally arrived! Team A, Jim Jarrico and Maria Skyler! Everyone make some noise!" a loud voice echoed throughout the area.

The room literally exploded with cheering. Maria couldn't tell how Jim was holding up, but she almost fell over in shock. Considering the size of the crowd (the place was PACKED wall to wall), the raised platform that stood before them in place of the standard trainers box, the wide open stadium-like battle field, and the sun shining down on them through the open roof, she could've sworn they'd just stepped into an Indigo League match.

"Woah… just woah…" was all she could manage to squeak. Were all of the rounds going to be this impressive?

"Competitors, assume position on the trainers platforms and let's get this match on the road!" the announcer boomed again.

Maria eyed Jim sheepishly before stepping forward to climb the ladder, feeling rather on display as she took the right and waited for him to join her. She was sure her face had gone ghost white. Before them lay a dusty, rocky field with a wall of jagged boulders creating a circle in the center, and even further still stood their opponents. Both of them were considerably older than the teens - a male, probably in his late 20's, and a rather aged looking woman.

"Now, eyes on the screen! Who shall choose their Pokemon first?" the announcer called out. It was only then that Maria noticed the four large screens set up around the stadium, displaying pictures of her, Jim, and their opponents - Jim and her on the left half of the screen (the blue side), their opponents on the other (the green). It was a bit of a surprise since they hadn't had any formal pictures taken. The feeling quickly faded as a counter situated in the top, mid section of the screen began to spin. Blue, green, blue, green, blue… At last it slowed to a stop on green.

"And the dial has spoken! Joshua and Lynn, choose your Pokemon!"

Both trainers quickly tossed their PokeBalls into the air, and in a bright burst of energy a Heracross and a Xatu materialized before them.

"And Joshua has chosen to go with Heracross, while his partner Lynn has chosen Xatu! What will Jim and Maria be showing us today?" the announcer called out again. Like the crowds' still roaring cheers, though, his words were mostly lost as Maria stared hard at their opponents to beat.

Heracross, eh? … Yeah, that's it! the girl grinned brightly, reaching for her belt to pluck a single PokeBall. She held it close for a moment and whispered, "We're gonna show ‘em what we're made of," pulling her arm back to thrust the sphere high into the air and cry out, "Let's do it, Altair!"

With the same brilliance as always, the PokeBall burst open to expel the energy within high in the air, a display of sparkles spiraling around the golden Pidgeotto as he materialized in mid flight and gave a bold cry. Still a Pidgey at the time, Altair was the first Pokemon Maria had ever caught, and, much like her relationship with Rigel and Bellatrix, the two of them had been through a lot. With all of their memories fueling their spirits, it was time to show off the result of years of training.

 

[Sem]

"Whoa!" Jim thought to himself as he entered the arena. The roar was almost deafening. Jim became a wee bit nervous, but he kept his gaze ahead of him where Maria was climbing the ladder into the trainer box. Jim briefly averted his attention to the crowd that was all around him. There was simply an astounding amount of people, more astounding was they were all competitors like him and Maria. Jim wondered how many of them would be left after this competition.

The announcer's voice echoed throughout the stadium as Jim climbed up the ladder after Maria, Unown trailing right behind him. Jim spotted his opponents as he got into the trainer box, a man about ten years older than Jim he guessed, and an elderly woman. Jim waited anxiously for the battle to begin.

"Now, eyes on the screen! Who shall choose their Pokemon first?" The announcer boomed.

"You ready Unown?" Jim asked as the counter was shifting between blue and green.

"Unown!" The black j pokemon responded in a happy yet confident tone. Jim nodded to himself and looked briefly at Maria, who still seemed a bit nervous, but she was confident as well.

"And the dial has spoken! Joshua and Lynn, choose your Pokemon!" Jim and Maria's opponents released their pokemon onto the rocky field, a Heracross and a Xatu came forth from the poke'balls. Jim eyed the motionless Xatu wearily. The psychic type just stood there on the field, seemingly looking at nothing yet everything at the same time. Distracted, yet completely focused. The bird pokemon held its head high and its wings folded across its chest. Jim immediately knew that the Xatu would have a colorful assortment of attacks up its beak and that it would not be an easy opponent.

Jim saw a flash next to him as Maria released a Pidgeotto, a golden Pidgeotto at that. Jim gazed at the Xatu again and pointed to the field. "Let's go, Unown!" Unown wasted no time and was already floating onto the field before Jim finished talking.

"And Jim has chosen Unown!" said the announcer. Some people in the crowd pointed, while others just stared at the rare pokemon. "I've never seen one of these rare pokemon in battle before, folks. Looks like we have an interesting match on our hands!"

The ref on the side of the arena lifted both his blue and green flags and spoke into the microphone on his shirt. "This will be a double battle, there is no time limit. Whichever side knocks out both of the offending pokemon wins." The ref paused for a second and looked at the four trainers. The time it took the ref to continue speaking was an eternity to Jim and everything slowed down for a few seconds as if Time itself was stopping to watch the battle unfold. The ref lowered his flags and shouted, "Let the battle begin!"

It was custom for those choosing their pokemon last in a fight to attack first, and Jim wasted no time as he commanded Unown, "Unown, use Hidden Power on Xatu!" Unown nodded quickly and immediately was surrounded by dozen's of glowing white circles. The circles revolved around Unown faster and faster until the orbs were blurs. It was at this moment that Unown unleashed its attack upon the motionless Xatu. The attack buzzed through the air at their target and seemed to explode on contact.

Jim heard Maria telling her Pidgeotto to attack but Jim focused more on the explosion; Jim knew that it wasn't normal for Unown's Hidden Power to do that on contact. It was likely that the attack didn't hit at all but Jim would have to wait and see. "Interesting match indeed." he said to himself.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC: REALLY FRELLING RUSHED as I'm tired as hell. Considering Katie won't be posting for a while, MSDL and I decided we're going to run our battle in parallel with her and Sem's. So... pretend this happens after your posts, right, Katie/Sem? >>

A little while later, he was already making his way to the Stadium. His Jacket still hanging on his shoulders but no longer zipped, as it wasn't that cold anymore. He could hear the commotion from the distance - it was clear that one of the battles was already on its way.

There were still a few people around - he assumed that most of the other competitors were already in the complex. As he went through confirmation and registration, he kept his eyes peeled for his partner. Curiously enough, he didn't see Irugi anywhere - but he was certain that she would turn up. She possibly had more she needed to do than she believed. He was informed that his - and his partner's next battle was in Stadium C. He checked the time - he has arrived earlier than he thought he had, and so it was no wonder that Irugi would have taken a while to arrive.

He smiled bemusedly and stretched again, placing a hand on his heart, feeling a surge of warmth from Mari's PokéBall. He didn't know how it happened, but it made him smile. As he produced the PokéBall from the inner pocket of the jacket and expanded it, he had only one thought in his mind.

They will win through this fight. As a team.

 

[MoonStruckDragonLass]

~la Thankyou, Stel!

Irugi skidded to a halt at the entrance, panting. The guard gave her a strange look, and Chiiru slid to the ground. She managed to drag her pokegear out and check the time. She had 10 minutes till the beginning of the battle.

"You ok, Miss?" the Guard asked.

"No," Faltered Irugi. "My battle's in 10 minutes." He looked concerned, and stepped inside the entrance for a minute, speaking into a radio. He came back briefly.

"Your name, if you'd please, Miss?"

"Irugi, Irugi Whitehall."

"I'm going to need some identification?" Irugi flashed her pokegear. The guard stepped back again, talking once more. Irugi caught her breath and looked down at Chiiru.

"Cutting it close, huh?" She smiled. "It was good to talk to Jon again though, wasn't it."

The guard came back, still looking solid and blank. "You're free to go through, miss. Don't worry about the lines, you don't have the time. The priority is getting you to your battle. Stadium C." He nodded and returned to his post.

Irugi didn't have the time to wonder, she sprinted off, Chiiru at her heels. Following the signs, she marveled at the complexity of the Stadium. All of this had gone up seemingly in one night? She bolted up some stairs. The walls were all a pale blue or white, everything was solid, sterile, and seemed to have a thousand things happening behind it. It felt close and heavy, secretive.

Irugi wondered at a sign for a moment, before her own name caught her eye. It was next to Gad's, under the first time slot for the stadium. It directed her to the hallway which she needed to go down and she took it, emerging out into bright sunlight on the platform of Stadium C. She squinted for a moment before making out the dark forms of Gad and. . .Kenji! They were eyeing each other like strange cats in a box.

"Gad! Kenji!" She waved and trotted up to them. Gad gave a smile and a friendly wave back, while Kenji stood, dark and permanent, just on the edge of the shadow thrown up by the frame of the hallway. The shadows were hard and light, and contrasted brilliantly against the barren field beyond the edge of the platform the trio was on. Kenji looked worried. She ran up to him.

"You look great in that outfit," she said, laughing. He was wearing his half of their matching outfits. They were a pair. "Why the long face?" She asked. "You know I'll take good care of Tsugiwokatameru. Nejime. Surely you aren't worried about your battle later today? You'll do fine."

Taking her completely by surprise, he hugged her. "No. I'm worried about your battle."

Irugi laughed and pulled away after a moment. Kenji, shunner of all human contact, hugging her? She smiled and looked up at him. "Hey, No worries." He looked away for a moment, still clearly worried. She turned to Gad, who was studying the field. The battle was schedualed to begin any moment. . . She said as much.

Kenji smiled and casually tossed her an expanded pokeball. She snagged it out of midair and grinned broadly.

"I'll go grab a seat, if there are any left. I'll be cheering for you. Both of you." He nodded and walked off, a bounce in his step. Irugi shook her head. She would never be able to figure him out, not in ten thousand years. She walked up to Gad.

"I'll warn you one more time, I have a VERY unique style when it comes to battling." She turned to observe the field, and suddenly to roar of the crowd hit her, suddenly it sunk in, where she was and what she was doing.

"But do I have anything at stake in this?" she asked herself "Losing means being knocked out of the tournament. Nothing more. No shame in that. Someone's got to lose. Hell, the loser determines the winner." She grinned, feeling much better, giddy and confident. She was reading for this, They were ready for this. She would give it her best, and with a little luck, she would win.

Sorry it sucks near the end, I just spent 2 hours translating a gorgeous song into english, and now I have a splitting headache. I'm phenominally glad to be getting back to this RP, however.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC: I'm leaving it up to MSDL to deal with any narrative, announcers, whatever. I'm here for the battle. >>

The field that would be their battlefield seemed to be ripped out of a particularily dystopian post-apocalyptic future. The sun shone heavily on a greyish, craggy, barren landscape, a few small desert plants growing amidst bizzare rock formations. The landscape was occasionally spotted with semi-corroded, deteriorating plates and girders - remains of old structures and war machines, perhaps. In his mind's eye, Gad could see the site as the site of a great battle's aftermath, many years later, its remains eroded and half-buried by the sands of time - only the oldest rocks could tell the tale. The attention to detail was nothing short of remarkable - down to the elevated trainer's platforms - which were shaped like metallic guard towers, lined with bullet holes, erosion by sand blown by wind and rust - obviously an outside plating, as the platforms themselves were solid and steady as a rock. He could see the opposing platform - A blue KCC flag was waving on its edge from a horizontal flagpole, while blue markings were drawn upon it - A stylized PokéBall insignia. He assumed, judging by the green KCC flag that waved on the edge of the platform in the same way, that the platform he stood on had similar markings in green.

That was the first thing that he noticed when he got onto the platform, as soon as he drowned away the roaring of the spectators. He saw no sign of Irugi anywhere - although he did notice - when he looked back, a black-haired male teenager that quite obviously wasn't Irugi. He wondered vaguely who this trainer was and what was he doing there, when Irugi rushed in calling his name - and another name, Kenji.

She knew this guy - and judging by the way their outfits matched, Gad assumed that this 'Kenji' was the 'Travelling Companion' that she mentioned earlier that day. He smiled and waved at her, then turned away to study the battlefield more extensively as she was running to greet her travelling companion. A field like that would pose a great advantage for Mari - she's have plenty of space to maneuver while still having some shelter to take should their opponents use someting that would require her to. And his partner's Steelix would be right at home amidst the metal-strewn wasteland.

He narrowed his eyes for a second, trying to make out the faint outlines of the coming challengers on the opposite platform: He could make out a female with a jumpsuit and long purple hair done in a ponytail - obviously one of those self-proclaimed "Cool Trainers" - and a white-clad individual with long, flowing white hair - it was hard to determine if he was male or female. He (or was it she?) wore something that resembled a cross of a robe and a Karate GI, with complex-looking spiralling fiery-red Kanji along the sleeves, and a red headband, with two long strands that blew behind him (or her) in the wind. He was curious as to what PokéMon they may be using.

A while later Irugi approached him again, warning him again about her battle style. He already longed to see it. Clutching Mari's PokéBall, the two took their place - on the platform - and the roaring of the audience became too loud for even him to shut off. An announcer was making various statements about the battle, but his mind was elsewhere. He was preparing mentally for the battle - he only picked up the names of his opponents: Nancy Shibiya and Yuki Kouryu. He turned his eyes to his partner and smiled at her for a moment, before turning his eyes to the screens displaying the images and names of the contestants - on the blue and green towers. The displays flared to life as a counter began flashing between blue and green, locking, at last, on green.

They were to choose their PokéMon first.

"It starts." Gad Grinned. "Mari, Arise!"

And saying so, he tossed Mari's PokéBall into the air. The ball burst open in a shower of sparks as the Electabuzz materialized before him. He smiled at her, gazing into her eyes for a moment, seemingly looking for something. The electric-type returned his gaze, then they both nodded at each other.

Contact.

The Electric-Type suddenly started glowing with electric light, jumping from the tower onto the top of a nearby tall rock formation, climbing down its spiralling tip onto a lower level platform, from which she jumped again, somersaulting onto the craggy ground below, and landed gracefully upon it on all fours, raising a small cloud of dust, discharging the electric field around her as she rose to a bipedal battle stance, snarling defiantly at whatever may come to challenge her.

"Like dancing lightning." he thought with a small smile as he admired her motions, and felt, at the back of his mind, her smiling in return.

He awaited his partner to choose her own PokéMon, and for their opponents to choose theirs. They will probably be at a type disadvantage, but Gad was relying on Mari's diversity to tackle whatever might get sent at them.

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: I apologize for the descriptions of my opponent being vague (and I, of course, apologize for taking over TWO BLOODY MONTHS to post -.-). I didn't have the energy or creativity to do anything more with him >>

Actually, didn't have the creativity to expand on a lot of things, but ah well. You'll all deal I'm sure XD

BIC:

The explosion from Jim's Unown's attack drew Maria's attention momentarily, but she quickly turned her eyes back to the Heracross. Altair had already seemed to have caught its attention, as the bipedal Bug-type was flexing its muscles and staring darkly at the bird. Natural rivals, they were.

"Time to test out its strength," Maria thought, calling out to Altair then, "Altair, start off with a Quick Attack!"

With a cry from the golden Pidgeotto, the bird arched its wings and streaked through the air, rapidly closing the gap between it and the Heracross. The Heracross didn't move, though, instead digging its feet into the dirt to the cry of its trainer, Joshua, "Counter with Horn attack!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" the female trainer cried at once, just in time for her Pokemon to shift its flight pattern and zoom narrowly past the insectoid. He continued to do a sharp twist in the air in order to face the bug's exposed back. "Gust attack!"

"Pidyooo!" Altair cried as he hovered on the spot and began to pump his wings furiously, kicking up dust and debris from the arena to create what appeared to be a small tornado. The winds viciously sliced into the hard shell of the Heracross and made it grunt in pain, yet the Pokemon merely braced itself and remained standing tall.

"Huh… Not even going to dodge?" Maria thought as she watched the Heracross take the attack. She eyed its trainer, who simply stood with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face. "What's he up to…?"

Exhausted from the continuous onslaught of Gusts, Altair finally broke off the attack and rose higher into the air, cautiously circling the Heracross while taking note of the Xatu. It appeared to still be pre-occupied with Jim's Unown at the moment.

"Me and Jim aren't really working as a team, yet… neither are those two," Maria thought as she watched her opponents, the male still with the same smug expression and seemingly taking no notice of his female partner. She guessed that was to be expected when two strangers were paired up together.

"Alright, Heracross, let's show everyone in the crowd your strength! Rock Smash on that center formation!" Joshua finally commanded.

"Hera!" the raspy voice of his Pokemon replied with a nod, its eyes fixated on the jagged rocks in the middle of the battle field. It clenched its ‘fists' raised its arms into a battle stance, then shot forward like a bullet - its feet appearing to lift right up off the ground as it went. With a stadium-shaking 'BOOM!' it collided with the formation and tore into it, creating an explosion of rocks of all shapes and sizes. They flung out in all directions, some even sailing high into the air where Altair currently flew. The bird had to go into a series of dives, twists, and turns in order to avoid being struck.

"Keep up that Rock Slide attack!" the male trainer called to his Heracross, which had now began to focus the flying boulders more precisely on the Pidgeotto. Maria watched as Altair relentlessly continued to dodge, his aerial dance becoming more sluggish by the moment. He couldn't keep this up forever.

"Altair, use Double-Team to surround it!" Maria cried at the sight of three rather large boulders barreling towards the bird. Altair's body tensed then and began to glow, suddenly blurring and expanding outwards to create two identical copies of himself. Those copies continued to blur into two more golden Pidgeotto, then another two and so forth until, in mere moments, Altair had created a complete (and rather broad) overhead ring of circling birds around the Heracross. The three boulders that'd been sailing towards him seconds before passed straight through three of the copies, making them vanish momentarily only to be immediately replaced by new illusions.

With the naked eye, it was impossible to tell the real Altair from the fakes. With a bit of time and focus the Heracross would probably be able to figure it out via its other senses, but Maria wasn't about to allow it that chance.

"Quickly, go into an Aerial Ace!" the Winter's trainer called out. The display then was rather magical indeed. Each and every one of the copies came to life and dove, some twirling through the air as if they had a mind of their own yet all with the same target. At the speed of their descend - which appeared to create a funnel of wind around their bodies - and the Heracross still recovering from its last attack, there was no way for it to dodge. One by one the golden birds struck the bug head-on, though only one of them hit with a force that made the Fighting-type insect yelp weakly as it skid several feet backwards through the sands.

"Counter!" the bug's trainer suddenly cried out, his Heracross screaming in response and thrusting out its arms. It was as if an invisible wave rushed outward from its body, catching the tail-end of Altair's attack and forcing the condensed air energy to rush back at the bird itself. Whatever the Heracross had felt from that attack Altair received double in return, throwing the bird back so violently he crashed down in the sands, every last one of his copies vanishing like dust in the wind.

"Altair!" Maria yelped, staring in shock as Altair struggled to even stay conscious. Heracross was extremely vulnerable to Flying-type attacks, which meant that a successful Counter from it was doom for its opponent. "What about Heracross?" the girl thought as her gaze darted to the Bug-type. She was a bit surprised to see it fall to its knees, one shaky arm extended in attempt to hold itself up while the creature breathed heavily. Altair's attacks must've taken a larger toll on it than it'd been letting on.

"Now what?" Maria wondered aloud. Altair was still struggling to get to its feet, but so was the Heracross. Then she also had that Xatu to worry about…

"C'mon, Heracross! Stand up! Grab one of those boulders and finish off that bird right now!" Joshua called out then. Maria gulped. While it'd already scattered most of the rocks, there was still a fair many left around the Heracross that could do some serious damage if they made contact.

"Altair, you've got to fly away! Fly away now!" Maria cried, though she knew the Pidgeotto was still winded. With a bit more struggling Altair finally managed to right itself on two legs, but the Heracross' free hand had already landed on a choice stone about the size of a soccer ball. It heaved it up, aimed, and let it fly. The accuracy was dead-on.

"Unown, defend Altair!" Maria suddenly heard Jim yell beside her, and watched as several orbs of dark energy zoomed across the battle field to strike the boulder in mid-air - mere inches before Altair's beck. The boulder shattered into dust and debris, stray pebbles striking the bird but doing no significant damage. Their rival male roared in response.

"Thanks a lot," Maria grinned at Jim as she watched Altair out of the corner of her eye spread his wings and, at last, take back to the sky. The battle for her was still on.

 

[MoonStruckDragonLass]

Thanks, Linkachu! You really inspired me to get off of my own arse and get post one for the team. I've been SO busy lately, and I've been meaning this post for a few weeks now. . .

Irugi hefted the pokeball in her hand as she watched the screen. Would they send their pokemon out first or second? She was dimly aware of the announcer talking-he didn't sound very excited about the battle. If they were out first, they'd most likely be facing a type disadvantage. It was less critical if they came up second, because they both already had their hearts set on their pokemon, but. . .

The timer stopped on the large pictures of Gad and herself, and Irugi winced. It was a horrible picture of her, AND they were first. That was okay though, because. . .

A bright smattering of stardust distracted her as the energies were released from a pokeball. She glanced over at Gad,and realized he hadn't been paying all that much attention to the board at all. Irugi worried he was TOO connected to his pokemon, and realized for the first time she knew next to nothing about him. she took his word, and he must be good if he were at the KCC, but, what if he was horrible, and couldn't battle to save his life?

Irugi shook her head and put on a vicious grin. She knew she must look rather grim, and half mad, but she didn't mind. Mari was bounding off some rocks. Glancing across the arena, she could make out their opponents- a girl in an orange jumpsuit, obviously a cool trainer. She had money, then. But could she afford skills? The other character caught her attention- he was dressed all in white, from what she could make out from across the field. His name. . .she squinted against the bright sunlight, she would have to watch out for that during the battle. . .or was it a she?

She realized everyone was waiting for her to choose her pokemon. Great, they'd think she was nervous. . . she walked to the edge of the stage, still grinning, and casually dropped her pokeball. It fell as if weighted, struck the edge of the platform, and cracked. A bright edge of light appeared at the edge of the pokeball,racing ,growing until it became a torrent, pouring, rushing, flowing like water, exploding outwards. . .

Tsuchiwokatameru reared up, his diamond hard skin fairly glittering in the strong sunlight. He let out a deep roar that resonated throughout the stands. It was terrifying to those who mistook it for anything but what it was- a yawn. A hushed silence fell over the area briefly. He had always had a strong voice, and Irugi wondered what they thought from the other stadiums, where she knew he could plainly be heard. He turned grumpily when Irugi laughed, but upon seeing her, his expression brightened, and he turned to nuzzle her affectionately. She bore it with good humour.

"Nejime!" she was laughing again as the Steelix greeted her enthusiastically. He turned his head to look at her with his soft maroon eyes, and she smiled, putting a hand on his head.

"Ok, now you know what to do. You remember my commands?" The Steelix nodded. "Good. Now, see the Electabuzz?" He turned his head to look, and she continued talking in his ear as the crowd roared to something the announcer said. "That's Mari. We're going to have to work with her. You've done double battles before?" She knew he had, with Kenji, and he nodded again to confirm.

Across the field, their opponents went with much more traditional releases then she had. Each in their own bright shower of stars- she recognized the CoolTrainer. . . Nancy? Had an ultraball, from the signature it gave off when thrown. In a blaze of light, a Nidoking and a Blaziken, respectively, stood across from Gad and Irugi on the field. Irugi shook her head grimly and finnished explaining what she had to to the Steelix.

"Watch the Blaziken. Mind your E's and Q's now, Mari's got a weakness there. They probably think you're an old softy, but we know better then that." They smiled at each other, and she gave her old friend a final pat before he turned to the field. The field was tailor made for this fight, and she couldn't help but quirk a smile as a breeze picked up, blowing clouds of dust between them and their opponents. It was all so cliche. They waited. Irugi waited. Suddenly, she lunged.

"Now give us a roar!" She cried.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

As Nejime materialized, Gad couldn't help but be impressed by the sheer presence the Steelix radiated around himself. The Steelix's deep voice was definitely something which could be potentially intimidating. As the Steelix roared - Irugi's opening move - Gad tried to read the expressions of his opponents, but couldn't through the dust of the battlefield. He surveyed his opponents' chosen PokéMon a moment later - a Nidoking and a Blaziken. Poison/Ground and Fighting/Fire types. Mari had a little something in her arsenal for both - but with the swift Blaziken involved...

"Looks like trouble." Gad murmured darkly, turning his eyes to Irugi "I think that you should go for the Nidoking. Mari's got a better chance to deal with this Blaziken and walk out in one piece. And if I know Steelix, that fire weakness might put Nejime in a precarious situation..."

Irugi looked at Gad for a moment, seemingly thinking on it. Then she nodded once. "Right."

"Alright, let's start this off!" Gad grinned. Can't reveal my ace yet... But I might as well do a little something for Nejime too. "Bit too bright for a battle, though, isn't it?"

He narrowed his eyes, and Mari grinned, sparks dancing along her fur. And in a moment, she was on the move, lithe frame curving and flowing, for a moment chasing her own tail, for a moment twirling in pursuit of something invisible. With every motion, the aura of lightning around her intensified, until finally, with a howl, she unleashed a mighty bolt of lightning to the heart of the sky, its force drawing clouds from all around, flowing together, being torn asunder. The bright sunlight was blocked by a slate-black curtain. Lightning danced in the sky, and along her fur. And in her eyes.

Then the rain came, falling in a wild curtain upon the arena. Gad grinned - the rain served a dual purpose here - both enhancing a certain attack that Mari could rather benefit from, and weakening any potential fire move from the Blaziken. He turned his eyes to the Steelix, watching the water splash harmlessly off his metal-plated hide, and knew that their opposite numbers on the other side of the field didn't have that luxury.

A slightly evil grin formed on his face, mirrored by Mari. This would be fun...

"Houyoku." came a voice which was neither particularily masculine nor particularily feminine - Yuki, most probably. It was a simple command, issued by a calm mind. "Do not let the rain concern you. Bulk Up."

"Oh, Niiiiiiido-chaaaaan!" came the second voice - an obnoxiously high-pitched feminine voice, the sort that made Gad wince every time he heard "Why don't you give the little Steelix-weelix a taste of your... Double Kick!" At the words "Double-Kick", her voice changed into a commanding tone so powerful that the sheer change hit Gad like a bag of bricks. Obviously, teenage control freak syndrome. The armies of contempt raced in his mind.

And the PokéMon followed. The Blaziken closed its eyes, unphased by the rain, shifting into a battle stance and flexing its muscles, spreading its 'head wings' as far as they could go, breathing out a small cloud of steam in the cold, raining air, pumping adrenaline into its body, preparing its muscles for a coming strike. The Nidoking charged forward, growling with mighty strides, leaping towards the Steelix, its feet prepared for a swift kicking motion, the kind of which one would not naturally expect from a creature of its bulk.

Gad sighed a little sadly, taking the power of the move into account with the Steelix's natural defense. Whatever was that harpy thinking?

 

[MoonStruckDragonLass]

Watching Mari's smooth movements out of the field, Irugi couldn't help but be impressed by the grace with which she turned in and over and her self, working up a charge. She saw Nejime watching as well, sparks crackling over him as the metal in him picked up the charge.

On dark wings, clouds rolled in. the rain fell suddenly and steadily, and Irugi was impressed. Mari seemed pleased with her work, as did Gad. Waves and sheets and torrents fell in bucket-fulls across the field, instantly dampening any dust. Irugi had half considered whipping up a sandstorm, but didn't dare risk it with Mari on the field. Now it was all but impossible.

"Houyoku." Irugi heard faintly the voice of her opponent across the field. "Do not let the rain concern you. Bulk Up."

She had a chance to briefly think "Do not let the rain concern you? who TALKS like that?" before another call rang out.

"Niiiiiiido-chaaaaaaan! Why don't you give the little Steelix-weelix a taste of your... Double Kick!"

Irugi felt the blood drain away from her face. not because of the threat of the double kick, or the Nidoking rushing towards Nejime, no. The exact pitch of the girls voice was one that could deafen dogs. She winced, and issued a single command to Nejime.

"Derzhites." She acompanied it with a sideways slashing hand motion.

Nejime glanced back at her, then turned to watch the Nidoking rushing towards him. He made no move. Irugi grinned and watched the Nidoking spin, turning as he spun, and launching two powerful kicks at Nejime. He hit once, twice, then chaged forward to his original position. Nejime had not moved. The Nidoking snorted. His breath came out as mist in the cold rain.

"Our turn now," Irugi whispered. she could feel the tension in the Steelix, he wanted to break out.

"Nido-Love, try a Mud Sport for me!" That could be bad for Mari. The Blaziken still hadn't moved, and Gad said he'd deal with it, so she ignored it for the moment.

The Nidoking began stamping and throwing up mud, snorting. He tramped around and mud began flying.

"Nejime! Hlopok!" She casually flipped her hand as the Steelix turned and dropped a well placed slam. The Nidoking only dodged at the last minute, over-correcting in the process and tipping over into the mud. Irugi laughed as it got a face full of mud and issued her next command before it could move. "Crunch!" she cried in english, and the Steelix dove at the Nidoking.

It was then that Irugi turned her head and caught sight of Mari. She was mostly sitting still, but at the same time she still seemed to be flowing. Energy jumped and crackled over her fur, power coursing over every inch of her. The Blaziken still hadn't moved.

Blinking, Irugi realized she was drenched, and ignored it. The battle had only been going for about a minute now, and she already couldn't afford to take her eyes away. The Steelix and the Nidoking were locked in a battle of power, squared against each other, shoulder to shoulder, pushing, straining. It looked to be a stalemate- they were matched for power. But not matched for wits, Irugi hoped. She was placing a lot on her hopes that issuing her commands in Russian made her battle style a little more unpredictable, for if the pokemon took time to get into position, it wouldn't be obvious what was happening. Strategy. She had an idea.

"Nazad!" She called, "Zheleznyj hvost!" She caught Nejime's eye, and made a vague circular motion with her hand. she saw he understood.

He began slipping back in the mud. The Nidoking had better footing. The Nidoking had feet. At the same time, Irugi saw Nejime's tail stiffen, and grinned. She hoped the girl didn't notice what was going on through the rain.

As if responding to her thoughts, 'Nancy' called out "Yeah, Nido-chan! That's the ticket! Show that Steelix what we've got!"

"Now!" She called out, as thunder echoed across the field. Nejime dropped his head suddenly, leaving the Nidoking to windmill in midair. While his balance was off, Nejime struck. His Iron tail was a glancing blow, however, and not nearly enough to take the Nidoking out.

Well, thought Irugi, So much for my hopes of a quick battle.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Gad watched the battle with intense concentration on his face. He couldn't help but smile when Irugi's swift move intercepted the Mud Sport attack before it could have any effect.

"Thanks, Irugi." he whispered softly, smiling at her, then turned his eyes to Mari, narrowing his eyes. Both trainer and PokéMon knew exactly what was going to happen then. The Electabuzz was charging up as the Blaziken continued its bulk-up attack. It was a question of who would blink first.

"Houyoku, Slash!" came the voice of his opponent. The Blaziken was anticipating this - With a fluid motion it broke out of its trance and with a feral squawk dashed forward at the Electabuzz, preparing to swipe at her with razor-sharp claws at a speed that seemed impossible to evade.

"Mari, Rolling Thunder, Execute!" Gad commanded.

The electric-type dove into a graceful roll, narrowly evading the swipe of the claws, using the roll's momentum to gain more power, finally leaping up above the Blaziken, uncurling, and discharging the massive surge of power that accumulated in her fur in a devastative Thunder attack. With the rainstorm raging around her, the move's accuracy was bumped up several notches, and the Blaziken's slender avian form was consumed by the cackling electric force. The bird screeched, muscles tensing as the high-voltage current struck it, while Mari continued discharging energy, her emerald eyes locked on her opponent below, the Thunder attack keeping her suspended in midair.

"Cunning. But it ends here. Houyoku, Unleash Heaven's Fury! Sky Uppercut!"

And the Avian leapt, its clenched fist erupting in bluish-white energy, head-wings spread, preparing to uppercut the levitating Electabuzz powerfully. The Electabuzz hissed, shifting her body into a defensive stance in midair and stopping her thundering onslaught, blocking the bulk of the attack, but stilll being sent rolling to the ground by its magnitude. She stood up, a little shakily but by no means out of the game, and snarled at the Blaziken, a little smile creeping to her lips when she saw the avian wince, shiver, minor electric currents still flowing along its form. Somehow, she had the feeling that this Sky Uppercut hurt the Blaziken, in the long run, more than it hurt her.

That is exactly the sort of thing she's been training for.

Gad smiled happily at Mari. "Excellent block, m'dear!" he grinned, then turned his eyes, again, to the battle of titans that took place between the Steelix and Nidoking at these very moments. Irugi seemed to be having no trouble keeping the Nidoking under control.

His reveries were interrupted by Yuki's voice

"Houyoku! Unleash the fury of the earth! Rock Slide!"

"Mari!" Gad exclaimed "Magnetize!"

The Blaziken screeched, its body fighting the effects of paralysis, charging towards one of the nearby small rock formations and kicking it powerfully, shattering it into a rain of flying rocks, propelling forward rapidly in Mari's direction. The Electabuzz grinned, an electric-blue cackling field of energy suddenly forming around her, drawing some of the nearby metal debris toward her - her field wasn't powerful enough to affect the battling steelix, but powerful enough for a large metal pole to fly into her hands. With a grin, the Electabuzz leapt, dodging the first few rocks - a few of the smaller ones did hit her, but she seemed to pay them no mind as she settled into her swift, flowing motions, twirling her makeshift weapon in the air, blocking some of the flying rocks and knocking others right back at their origin, the Blaziken. The Blaze PokéMon's eyes widened, its body encumbered by paralysis, cutting down its movement speed. It couldn't avoid a few of the flying rocks. The two combatants collapsed to their knees, breathing heavily, but both stood up soon, both determined to defeat each other.

The Electabuzz dropped her pole, and clenched her fists. The Blaziken's wrists ignited into flames as it clenched its own. The two PokéMon circled each other, the Electabuzz twitching her tail, her feet preparing for a quick spring to the side. The Blaziken was slower - due to the effects of paralysis - but not willing to give up, its head-wings spreading again, feathers puffing up in intimidation. The two swiped at each other occasionally - sometimes hitting, sometimes missing - but Gad has quite a bit of insight into Mari's motions, and he knew that she was planning to finish this in her own special way...

He kept his eyes on Mari and the Blaziken, occasionally glancing at Nejime and the Nidoking, always keeping an eye out for Irugi, in case she needed his help...

 

[Sem]

"No problem." Jim responded above the plethora of noises in and around the arena. The battle proved pretty tough so far, adding to that was raining of rocks from the heavens, err, Heracross to be exact. What amazed Jim however was that Xatu was still in the exact same spot, exact same postion, exact same blank yet thoughtful look in the eyes. The only thing that did move were its wings, used for its defensive and offensive psychic attacks. Jim has not been able to land a hit.

"Alright Unown! Get in close, you know what to do!" Jim shouted. Unown swiftly made its way across the field, dodging the occasional rock that flew its way.

"Psychic!" the old woman shouted to her Xatu. Xatu raised its wings and its eyes filled with a blue glow. Blue energy surrounded the rocks that were scattered about in front of Xatu. The rocks were lifted into air one by one and were launched at Unown. Unown didn't stop moving but continued head on into the incomming barrage.

"Evasive manuvers!" Jim shouted. Unown surrounded it self with Hidden Power and continued dodging. Any rocks that did come near Unown crumbled into dust they came into contact with Unown's shield of Hidden Power.

"Attack now, Unown!" Unown stopped abruptly, only feet away from Xatu and unleashed its attack.

"Teleport!" Xatu raised its wings and was gone in a flash, appearing safetly on a rock to Unown's right. Jim could see a slight smirk on the woman's face, she was so calm. "Shadow Ball!" she said.

Xatu raised its wings again and a dark orb formed in front of it. Then Xatu thrust its wings foward, sending the Shadow Ball at Unown. The attack tore through the air and large amounts of dust followed it across the field. The attack was about to hit its mark when, in the blinking of an eye, Altair flew infront of Unown and took the hit. But it could hardly be considered a hit. The attack faded in a puff of smoke and Altair was unharmed due to its immunity to Ghost type attacks.

Jim looked over at Maria, who nodded at him. "Had to return the favor." She smiled big.

"Thanks a lot." Jim said with a sigh of relief. As Altair flew back over to confront Heracross, Unown got up close to Xatu. Not too close, but it was enough. Jim smiled. "Good."

"What should I do?" Unown asked, its voice popping into Jim's consciousness.

"Just immobilize it, nothing major."

"Can it be on fire?"

"That would work."

In an instant Xatu went from calm and collected to completely mad. It hopped and flew around the arena like it was on fire, and thanks to Unown, Xatu thought it was really happening. The old woman frowned. "Xatu, snap out of it!" she called out to her desperate pokemon, but it would not hear her. Jim found it hard to keep himself from laughing, watching somthing like a Xatu act in such a way was utterly hilarious. Now all he had to do was wait for Xatu to tire out and then deliver the final blows.

All was going as planned until Jim felt a drop on his neck. He rubbed his neck and looked at his hand. "Water?" He looked over at Katie who was just noticing it as well. The light in the arena slowly began to fade as large clouds came in and blocked the sun. They were storm clouds, thunder billowed from within their stomachs and their tears began to pour harder and faster until it was all you could hear.

"Heracross used Rain Dance, didn't you hear the trainer?"

"I guess I didn't" Jim muttered to himself as he looked at Xatu. Xatu calmed down and looked at itself to make sure it wasn't 'on fire' anymore. "Curses, that Rain Dance ruined everything... Unown! Attack Xatu now!" About a dozen purple orbs surrounded Unown and took only a second to fire. The ring of orbs spun across the field and knocked Xatu to the ground. Unown did this twice more before the Heracross and its trainer decided to interupt.

"Use Pursuit, Heracross!" the trainer shouted. The bug pokemon was barely visile through the rain. Unown was practically invisible due to its dark color.

"Unown, Hidden Power on that rock, then use Hidden power on the pieces of rock that fly up!" Unown did so. The large boulder cracked and erupted into softball-size pieces, and then the Hidden Power came again. Sending a mixture of rocks and Hidden Power at Heracross. Heracross attempted a dodge but the barrage nipped its shoulder.

"I got Heracross, take care of Xatu." Jim said to Maria.
-------------------------------------------------------
OCC:
Yeah, I just noticed that Stel and MSDL had a Rain Dance too. Sorry about that.

 

[MoonStruckDragonLass]

Sorry it took me so long to get to this ^^' Art show's still somehow managing to eat my life while being like, a month over, and I had a short story contest entry to finnish up. . . I got it done and sent in, so, wish me luck!

And, inspiration for this one was hard to come by. . i must've re-written it 4 times. It's still crap, but. . . the show much go on ^^;;;


The Nidoking recovered, rolling to its feet with a snort and a shake of its head. Irugi loked blankly at it, not knowing what else to throw at it. She fingered the sash at her waist, wishing now that she had left her belt on. It was Nancy's turn.

"Nido-chan!" She called out, and Irugi flinched again. The voice cut right through the rain. Let's given 'em a slam!" The Nidoking snorted and pawed at the ground, preparing a charge. They were slow, and fought with an air that spoke of not being together long.

"Dodge it, Nejime." She called not bothering to keep her voice down. Then an idea came to her. "On second thought. . . Nejime, Derzhites! Get 'em with a hrust-dyhaniye drakona after he's blizko." That would do it. A dragon breath on top of a crunch? All Nejime had to do was wait for the Nidoking to get close, and. . .

With a twitch, the Steelix slid past the attack, got into position, opened his jaws wide, and dropped straight onto the Nidoking. The rain gusted and increased, and Irugi could barely see what was happening. She could make out a vague glow and a metallic glitter, and could only assume Nejime had followed her instructions.

"Slam!" She yelled, hoping that Nejime could hear her. The rain slowed, and she could see the Steelix and the Nidoking struggling again. "Nejime, slam!" He tossed his head, and the startled Nidoking went flying.
Straight towards the Blaziken. Irugi glanced at Gad, and back to the Blaziken. Then she swallowed, and waited for the landing, hoping whatever he and Mari were planning, she hadn't screwed it up too bad.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC: That it must.

"Mari, Look out!" Gad called out as the Nidoking went flying. The Electabuzz leapt backwards as the large, purple creature came crashing down, slamming into the Blaziken and knocking it into the ground, skidding and sliding in the mud directly into a large rock. The rock cracked with the force of the impact. Had the Blaziken not managed to somehow slide underneath the Nidoking, it would have been crushed painfully between it and the large ground type. Gad looked back at Irugi, smiling at her.

"I think you just made everything a lot easier for both of us, Irugi." he said, then turned his eyes back to the battlefield.

"Now's your chance, Mari! " Gad called out, "While they're still in contact with each other... Execute Mindshock!"

And at that moment, the Electabuzz began glowing - and it was not the cackling glow of electricity. A faint blue nimbus formed around the electric-type, rippling slightly as it burst into an aura of rainbow colors. It seemed like every single curve of the Electabuzz's body was ablaze with this radiance, and her eyes, glowing an even brighter blue, indicated that whatever was coming, it was going to be a big one.

The Electabuzz seemed to levitate softly off the ground, hovering a few inches above it, when suddenly she lashed forward, pointing at the two fallen figures. The Nidoking and Blaziken, to their horror, found themselves lifted off the ground, as their mind was furiously assaulted by thoughts, memories, reflections, shadows of their past. The more the Psychic attack seemed to last, the more drained the two combatants were, but the more they were powerless to resist it. And then, Mari simply made a downward slashing motion with her claws, slamming the two writhing PokéMon into the ground.

The aura dissipated as the Electric-type landed on the ground with a nervous crouch. The attack should have been exceptionally effective against both the Blaziken and the Nidoking, both having a type disadvantage against the move. However, it was still too early to determine the result of the battle...

Preparing for possible retribution, the electric type and her trainer were both concentrated on the battlefield. Anything could happen from now on...

 

[MoonStruckDragonLass]

Yuck, I just ate bleach.

And I don't know if I need to point this out, Stel, but you just did the same thing to me that I "did to you", with the whole not talking to me thing. . . Neither of us is right here, or, at least, I'm not. I miss talking to you. Truce? Maybe we can try to get along again, if you'd like to.

The pokémon were dropped to the ground. Neither moved. Irugi ran to the edge of the stage and leaned over, trying to get a look at the situation. The rain dripped off of her and she shivered. Had Mari done her job too well with the Rain Dance?

There was movement. As Irugi watched, the Blaziken managed to drag itself out from under the Nidoking. The Nidoking looked down for the count, and the Blaziken didn't look much better. But it was still up.

"Nido-chan! Nido! Get up! Your trainer commands you to get up! Nido-chan! Listen to me!" The girl was absolutely daft. The Blaziken struggled a few steps forward. Its eyes still blazed. Irugi had to give it credit, it wasn't going down without a fight. She turned to Gad.

"Another hit should take it out. That Thunder was pretty impressive, especially with all of this going on." she jerked a thumb up, towards the storm that still raged. "Do you want the honour of the last hit, or shall I?" She kept her hand poised, ready to give the command to Nejime, whatever it may be.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

 

[MoonStruckDragonLass]

Irugi nodded and twitched her hand. Nejime went from watching her to dropping squarely onto the Blaziken. The Blaziken didn't get up again.

The dim roar of the announcer could be heard over the rain, and what could be taken as a low peal of thunder could have been the crowd, but Irugi didn't care. They had won!

"Neji!" She was wet, and he was muddy and cold, but she didn't care. They had really done it! She grabbed the big Steelix's face (the only part she could reach from the platform) in what would have been a crushing embrace, if he hadn't been rock and steel already. He grinned.

"Thankyou!" She squealed, while hugging him tight. "Kenji should be proud of you." That was wrong, he WAS proud of him. Irugi laughed and told the Steelix so. "And I'm proud as well. You did a marvelous job. I picked the right partner for this. Now come along, we'll get you back to the pokémon center and get you patched up, dried off, and with something good in your belly." The Steelix seemed to like this idea, and almost knocked Irugi over. She sent him back to his pokeball ( a greatball she was careful to whipe the mud off of before tucking it into her pocket). Then she turned to Gad, with Mari beside him. They were both muddy, and smiling.

"Thanks to you, too. It was a great first battle. I'm looking forward to the next couple." Then she hugged him. She couldn't stop giggling. Her first win in a real tournament! She couldn't wait to tell Kenji about it. She looked back at the field. It was still raining.

What next? she thought. Another few battles. . .the first battle might've been done, but the KCC was just getting started.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Avalanche indeed." he murmured when the Steelix nonchalantly dropped on the spirited Blaziken in the most anticlimactic ending he has ever seen to a battle in a while. His eyes turned briefly to the scoreboard - which announced them as the winners of the match. For a moment his eyes turned to the challengers. The harpy who called herself Nancy looked absolutely steaming - like she was about to throw a tantrum in the manner of a three-year old that just had its favorite toy taken away, but could dare risk it because a trainer like her had to keep a reputation. As he turned his eyes to his other challenger, he managed to catch, in the corner of her eye, that she was still trying to catch the crowd's attention just by being there, even though she was defeated. He smirked at this for a moment - in this sort of rain, she was only going to get herself looking even more like a cat that got dumped in a barrel of water. Well, after all, she even had the catsuit for the occasion.

Yuki, on the other hand did not seem to be very much phased by the loss. The trainer closed his eyes, quietly returned the Blaziken to its PokéBall, minimized it, attaching it to his belt. He - or was it she? then turned to Gad, and took a brief bow of respect, in the manner of martial artists. Gad returned the bow - it felt right, for some reason, when suddenly he was semi-pounced by an Electabuzz who wrapped her arms around him before he managed to blink.

"Mariiiiiiiiiii..." He half-sighed-half-giggled, returning her embrace, not minding the fact that she was both wet and muddy and that he would be in a similar state soon enough, "Great battle out there, dear... As ever." The Electric-type purred, looking into his eyes for a moment, then letting go of him, and standing by his side, smiling. He couldn't help but smile back.

Then his eyes turned to Irugi, who has just returned her Steelix. He found himself blushing in spite of himself when the other trainer hugged him for a second, then let go and turned to the battlefield again.

"You're welcome." he replied "Been a pleasure fighting alongside you, Irugi. You definitely have an interesting battle style..."

Then he turned his eyes to the PokéGear, checking the time.

"I think I'll be heading down to the PokéMon center myself. Mari could probably use some rest..." he turned his eyes to the Electabuzz, who gave him a look that could have only been read as "You can say that again." "I know..." he chuckled, wrapping an arm around the Electabuzz "Think you'd want to return now?"
Mari nodded tiredly, smiling at her trainer as he lightly tapped her shoulder with the PokéBall, her form dissolving into light and absorbed into the PokéBall. He minimized the ball and placed it back in his jacket pocket, close to his heart as ever. Their opponents have already left their tower, heading out through the arched doorway back out into the stadium. He nodded at Irugi, preparing to do the same.

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: Time I made things happen ^^

Remember, guys, we don't need to write out all three of our battles (these first ones will do just fine). We also don't need to write in-depth on our remaining days in Pewter City. Be as detailed or overview-ish as you like. The way I worked it out in my head is that each team battles once every second day, so we'll all have a day off in-between these matches and our next. Considering that we all win every match we face, we should be done this round in five days.

*Pokes Kimi* If you actually read this, this would be a good time for you to post your match ^^

BIC:

"How odd…" Maria thought as she stared up at the rolling storm clouds and felt the cool water pelt her face. Thankfully neither Heracross or Xatu could really take advantage of these weather conditions, or else Altair might have been in for a bit of trouble.

She eyed Altair, who was currently posed and waiting for Maria to make her next command. Jim was doing a good job to deal with the Heracross' Pursuit attack, but what was the Xatu waiting for? It'd gone back to standing calmly, as still as a statue.

"Alright, Altair!" Maria had to call above the rumbling storm, "Let's not dragged this out any longer. Use your Agility to confuse that Xatu!"

With a burst of speed the golden Pidgeotto vanished from where it'd been hovering seconds before and went into a blur, the raining seeming to be cleaved by an invisible force as the bird rocketed around the battle arena. Like a ghost he seemed to teleport from location to location, staring fiercely into the face of his foe one second but vanishing the next, leaving only the parted rain drops in his wake. As Maria realized one moment too late, though, the very rain itself would be the bird's downfall.

"Focus on the flow of the water, my Xatu. Don't allow its movements to confuse you. Strike back!" the psychic-type's trainer commanded. Almost immediately the mystic Pokemon's body began to radiate with an ominous glow. It spread its wings wide, the red, eye-like patterns on its chest feathers gazing back at Maria. Their unshifting stare was almost unnerving.

"Altair, Aerial Ace!" Maria called in hopes that the Pidgeotto would be able to act first and disrupt the coming onslaught, but Xatu's technique had already begun to take hold. The eerie glow from its body spread outward through the rain, literally halting its downpour and transforming it into a wall of water - to which Altair collided with in a sounding splash. His position compromised, the mastery of the Psychic attack only continued, twisting the water around the Pidgeotto and clipping his wings, throwing him off balance. In only seconds passed he was completely overcome and trapped within the Psychically controlled cyclone of water, leaving only Altair's distorted reflection viewable from the outside. Maria could merely listen to his heart-pulling cries for help.

What could she do? In a situation like this, she couldn't even return Altair to his PokeBall without forfeiting the match entirely, and that wouldn't have been fair to Jim or Unown. "It's only water… Only water… We‘ve faced blizzards together and survived!" thoughts ran through her head. While memories of years past flashed through her mind, though, there was still one distinct difference. This weather pattern wasn't natural; it was being controlled by an artificial source, and that source was a force to be reckoned with.

"If that's the case, then we will match its might!" Maria thought then with a devious grin. She clenched her fists tightly. It was time. "Altair, the time for holding back is over!" She cried out above the roaring of the storm and crowd. "We've both come so far and experienced so much... I know you've been ready but afraid to take the plunge. Don't fear change! Let it take us to the next level - together!" Her smile softened then, nostalgia of old warming her heart. Had it not been the same back then as well? The day her and the tiny Pidgey had encountered an obstacle that pushed them to their limits. It had taken all his courage for Altair to let go of his fears and allow himself to truly grow - just as she knew he would now.

As if on cue, Altair's blurred form began to glow. The white light illuminated beyond the wall of water, forcing its way upwards to the darkened sky, and for a moment the crowd fell silent. While hard to see, onlookers could tell that the bird was changing; growing. His increased body mass forced the Xatu adjust its Psychic control, but even that wouldn't be enough. A sudden burst of energy traveled up through the cyclone and viciously tore into it, the opposing winds of the Twister attack finally breaking through the barrier and causing the water droplets to scatter. The Xatu physically winced as its Psychic link was broken.

Maria gazed out across the field with a smug "Heh," at the large, golden bird hovering silently in the air, its long, flowing head feathers trailing down its back like a display of maturity. The dew drops on his golden plumage seemed to sparkle from the sun's rays peaking subtly through the slowly dissipating clouds.

OOC: For the record... yes, some of the descriptions in this were vague. I wrote it during a rather stressful time and just wanted to see it get done ^^;

 

[Sem]

Heracross' breathing was becoming labored. Its fight with Altair had really tired it out, but it was obvious that the Bug-type still had energy to burn.

"Hera-cross!" it called out in a mighty voice that was audible through the downpour. Its wings opened up and it charged at the command of its trainer, who had just ordered a Megahorn attack on Unown.

"A direct attack?" Jim said to himself. One would think that there's not much to think about, considering Unown is only capable of knowing one attack. But Jim had come to learn that there were many things to think about, and to bring into account. Jim eyed a rock formation, one of the larger ones on the field. "Hidden Power on that spire!" he directed.

Unown surrounded itself with ghostly purple orbs and launched them at the structure. There was a small explosion; the moaning of the rocks could be heard as they cracked and fell, blocking Heracross. Jim smiled, "Good jo-" The pile of rocks that had just been laid erupted with movement and scattered all over the arena. Heracross didn't stop at the obstacle, but flew right on through it, still on its course to attack Unown. It was only a few yards away now.

"Shield yourself! Hidden Power!" Jim shouted. Unown created dozens more glowing orbs, which began to revolve around Unown at an amazing speed. Heracross collided with Unown and the two stayed put, pushing against each other, trying to get through. Such a sturdy Fighting-type could not be moved though, and Unown would loose this contest of strength if something was not done quickly. "Float back, Unown. Then release!"

Unown moved back as Heracross pushed itself forward, causing it to lose balance; Unown released its attack on Heracross. The blue beetle growled in pain as small, purple spheres assaulted its back. "Hidden Power on the ground!" Jim shouted, hoping to get the upper hand in these crucial moments. The earth under Heracross exploded as the Hidden Power made contact, sending Heracross flying several meters back.

"Heracross! Get up!" Its trainer shouted, annoyed. "Use Hyper Beam on that little runt, send it back to the can of alphabet soup it came from!" Heracross obeyed orders and got up, flexing its arms as it did so.

"Herrraa!" it said as the top of its horn began to glow white.

"It's charging." Jim said. "Prepare a Hidden Power, Unown! Make it your best!"

"Unown!" the little Pokémon responded as once again little balls came into its presence.

The dual Bug and Fighting-type was done charging, it lowered its arms and thrust its horn forward, and shouting "Cross!" as it did so. From the white horn came a powerful, orange beam. Unown unleashed its attack as well, but in such a way that was different from most of its Hidden Power attack. The ring of orbs was vertical instead of horizontal. The Hyper Beam tore through the air and right through the ring of purple balls. Both attacks hit both Pokémon at the same time, two separate explosions could be heard on either side of the arena. Smoke covered the two combatants from view.

Jim waited in anticipation as the smoke began to fade away. A drop of sweat slid down his cheek, though it was impossible to make out from the drops of water from the rain. The smoke had cleared and a loud voice was heard.

"Unown and Heracross are both unable to battle!" A ref said, shouting into the microphone on his shirt, both of the flags in his arms were raised. Heracross' trainer curse and returned Heracross into its Pokéball. He then proceeded to leave the arena, angry at loss.

Jim jumped down onto the field and ran through the scarred arena that soaked with rain. He found Unown in a small crater surrounded by smoke. Jim picked up his friend and went back to the trainer's box, giving Unown a good job and thumbs up as he did so. Jim leaned back against the railing with Unown in his arms and watched Maria and her battle with Xatu.

"You can do it, Maria." Jim said confidently.

 

[Linkachu]

Maria remained silent as she stared into the smoke covering the arena. Altair had instinctively taken to the air and flown up out of harms way, but the Xatu still had not inched from its original position. Neither female trainer sent out a command, both eager to see what the outcome of Heracross' and Unown's vicious quarrel would be. When the smoke finally cleared, though, Maria was shocked by the sight. Both Pokemon were down for the count.

There seemed to be a mutual understanding between the remaining battlers to wait as Jim climbed down from the platform to retrieve his fallen comrade. The Winters trainer couldn't help but feel for her partner as he returned with the injured Pokemon cradled in his arms. Unown had put so much into the match and pulled Altair out of a few jams… There was no way she could let its efforts be for nothing.

"Don't worry, Jim…" the girl grinned determinedly at the boy's encouraging words. Her gaze then revolved to the Pokemon hovering quietly in the sky. "We're taking this all the way."

"Shall we continue the match?" the Xatu's trainer suddenly called out across the field. The gesture made Maria give a chuckle.

"We shall!" she called back.

"Then Xatu, quickly. Use Confuse Ray!"

Maria narrowed her eyes with a smirk. Just the opportunity she'd been waiting for. "Sand Attack!" she merely cried, knowing Altair would fill in the rest. The Xatu's eyes had begun to glow an eerie red, but to the air it gazed for its foe - too slow. The speed of Altair's descend was blinding, dropping sharply below the sinister ray's range and skimming the sandy earth just enough to catch it with his wings. All it took was a few powerful pumps to send a wave of sand into the Psychic-type, physically forcing the Pokemon back a few inches while the burning sands blinded it. Maria knew that a Pokemon like Xatu didn't necessarily need its eyes in order to battle, but just the irritation alone would throw off its focus. That was all she needed.

"Focus and shake it off, Xatu!" the middle aged woman commanded, the mystic Pokemon showing compliance by flapping its own wings to blow the sand away. Slowly it opened its eyes and blinked, as if testing them to see if they worked. A grave mistake.

"Mirror Move!" Maria yelled with a laugh, knowing Altair had already been anticipating this and getting himself in position. It happened so quickly that not everyone in the audience would even noticed, but for a split second the Pidgeot phased out of existence to be replaced by a Xatu - an exact mirror copy of the original, down the last out of place feather. In that same instant the Confuse Ray attack was unleashed, the ray falling directly upon the foe and, using the Xatu's open eyes as a channel, sending a shock to its mind. The clone immediately vanished then, Altair standing in its place as if nothing had ever happened. It was evident to both Maria and the Xatu's trainer, though, that the damage had been done.

"Xatu…" was woman weakly yelped and she stared helplessly at her Pokemon, who'd began murmuring curiously to itself and gazing around the arena, completely void of the fact that it was still in a battle.

Maria couldn't help but giggle at the way it titled its head to the side and stared up wide-eyed at the crowd. It just wasn't the sort of behavior one would see often from a seer. Her amusement seemed to be aggravating the rival trainer, though, which quickly made Maria clear her throat sharply and smile sheepishly in return.

"Xatu, focus! Focus on your opponent and unleash your true powers!" the older woman commanded then, the urgency and determination in her tone much deeper than before. She intended for this to be the final attack.

"Get ready, Altair… we're finishing this…" Maria muttered under her breath, watching closely for what was to come. The Xatu was still wobbly and confused, but it seemed to be struggling now to regain its composure. A familiar energy swept over its body then. It was to be another Psychic attack, only the aura seemed more erratic this time. At this rate it would fire out in all directions, less focused but still leaving less area for Altair escape to. Fortunately the girl had learned one of the bird's unique attacks years before that would do just the trick.

"Altair, let's end this," she called out to the large bird. "Faint Attack!"

For the first time since evolving the Pidgeot gave a booming cry in reply, Maria almost taken aback by the fierceness of his resolve. The surprise quickly shifted to a feeling of admiration, though. Altair had transcended even further than she'd imagined. The girl's thoughts were stolen then by a cry from the Xatu, looking just in time to see it throw its wings outward and expel the force of the Psychic onslaught - and Altair vanish. The psychic energy passed straight through the spot the Pidgeot had been seconds before, tearing up loose debris as it went.

The total miss of the attack made the mystic's trainer groan, but what truly shocked her was the sight of the golden bird reappearing and striking her Xatu harshly with a pulsating, blackened aura enveloping his body. Not only did the Dark-type energy rip viciously into the Psychic-type, it had acted as a buffer to allow Altair to pass straight through the Xatu's attack unharmed.

"Xatuuu…" the bird finally cried weakly and tumbled off its feet to the earth unconscious. Its trainer gave a cry of concern, but she knew in her heart the match was already decided.

"And that's it!" The announcer boomed over the speakers. "The victory goes to Jim and Maria! Congratulations!"

The crowd burst into a frenzy of cheers, Maria herself gazing weakly around the arena with a silly grin plastered on her face. "Wow…" she muttered to Jim, "These people sure know how to make a person feel special, eh?" She had no intention of letting the victory go to her head, but it was just… neat. A first experience she'd never forget.

The Winter's trainer shifted her attention at the sound of Altair's booming cry, watching as the bird pumped his wings and shot back up into the sky. The middle aged woman took this opportunity to recall her fallen Pokemon, staring at its PokeBall quietly before looking back up. Her eyes met Maria's own, and it made the teenager happy to see a look of appreciation within them. It had been a good battle, one that both of them would take with them and learn from. Still… winning made it all the better.

Breaking her eyes away from the woman, the teenager smiled brightly and called up to the Pidgeot, "Altair, get over here you crazy fool!" The golden bird cawed loudly in reply and circled the field a few times before coming to hover before the girl, close enough so that she could reach out from the platform and hug him lovingly around the neck. Maria had to fight back the tears. "Look at you! You got so big, buddy! You' were amazing out there!" The golden bird cooed softly in return. Releasing the embrace, Maria stepped back to allow the Pidgeot to perch on the rails and stared back into his eyes. "You're beautiful, Altair… I'm so proud of you, for everything."

If a Pidgeot could grin, that would've described the expression Altair gave the girl as he gave a happy, "Pid-geot!" in reply. Even though his outer appearance had changed so much, Maria knew deep down that he was still the same old Altair she knew and loved.

"Ready for a rest?" she asked at last, the bird nodding silently. "I'll see you on the flip-side then," Maria smirked and lifted his PokeBall to zap him back inside. She smiled down at it warmly for a few seconds before placing it securely back with the rest of his teammates. "Guess that's that then," she started, looking to Jim and the Unown still held in his arms. "Great battling out there, guys. I couldn‘t have asked for better partners."

OOC: You can assume that Maria follows Jim out of the arena. After that, I'll take control of what I want her to do next.

 

[kimishiro]

[size=6pt] Sorry I've been gone for half a year.. Yeah... I'm a little rusty and.. well, confused, but ever since the D/P release, I've been interested in rejoining the rp. Seeing as we havn't moved on anywheres, I guess its now or never. [/size]
​

- - - - -

Beads of sweat slowly dripped down the smooth forehead of a young boy, traveling down the path towards his nose where they only hesitated only momentarily before plunging to their demise. Above the pale, damp face, white hair hung loosely about, drenched and uncombed, hiding shivering emerald eyes. The novice trainer's face refrained from twisting into a nervous knot, but rather stayed placid and emotionless, as some tend to do just before falling into unconsciousness. Needless to say, Donovan had never felt so nervous in his entire life.

Above the muffled roar of the crowd awaiting him, the sound of approaching footsteps amplified until the owner stood beside him.. It was Sarah Jennings, his rival and partner for the time being. Instead of her usual frustrated and spiteful expression, she seemed relaxed and very at ease. Her eyes touched with his own, as the words escaped her pink lips softly, "Don't mess this up for me... I've tried too hard to get here.. And despite your very presence mocking all of my experiences and triumphs, having you as a partner only adds to the challenge. So just... Don't mess this up for me.."

As the words echoed in the back of Donnie's mind, the gates before them slowly opened, allowing light to poor into the corridor. Like a sheep to a shepherd, he followed his partner blindly, deaf to the cheers and announcements around him. Before he knew what was going on, time skipped ahead and placed him on the platform with Sarah.

"Donovan Delgado and Sarah Jennings. If you would please choose your pokemon, we'll get this show on the road."

Upon hearing the announcer, Donnie nervously rubbed each of his two pokeballs, trying to make a decision. As his lips began to mime ‘Eenie, meenie, minee, moe', the unusually soft voice whispered into his ear from afar. "Go with the charmander. We don't know what we're up against, but its better to be prepared for anything."

In a flash, Tataku appeared alongside Sarah's Meowth. With a snarl, the charmander leapt to the side, spitting a threatening ember just to the side of the feline as if to say ‘me and you, lets do it'. The meowth on the other hand just arched a brow while maintaining his usual cocky expression. Of course, with the fire type showing such aggression towards his own partner, the stadium erupted with laughter.

Donnie nervously called out, "Tataku, cut it off! He is on our side this time!" Despite hearing his trainer, the salamander let out a deep growl before turning towards the opposite end of the arena.

"Hah, what a start folks. It seems like Donovan's charmander is ready for a fight, not caring who his opponent is. Alright, and next, Simon and Paula, if you wouldn't mind to call out your pokemon, this battle can begin!"

Donovan noticed his opponents for the first time as they released their pokemon simultaneously. In a flash of white light, a chatot and jigglypuff appeared side by side, wearing matching ribbons as their trainers initiated conversation. "Hi there everybody! Simon and I are just loving it here in Kanto, and are eager to win that prize money in this talent competition!" As puzzled expressions began sprouting amongst the audience, Paula continued, "And we'll be glad to start this show off with a little tune called ‘Mocking Bird'."

To Donnie it was apparent that his opponents were obviously prepared for the wrong sort of competition. This little glimmer of hope was all he needed to brighten up his mood and ease his nerves, "Alright, now we stand a chance." Of course, as soon as the words slipped through his lips, his partner contradicted him, "Don't be a fool."

The jigglypuff sweetly hummed the tune of the song softly while the chatot harmoniously joined with lyrics. "Hush lil baby, don't say a word -at-tot-, mommas gunna buy you a mock'in bird, -ot-ot!"

"Okay Tataku, lets get in close with seismic toss!"

"No, cover your ears!!" came the commanding shout from Sarah.

Fortunately for their opponents, Tataku fully disregarded the teenager's warning and felt compelled to do as his trainer asked. With the love of the battle residing deep within his grin, the charmander sprang forth towards the singing duet. Of course, the closer he came, the more the song rang in the back of his head, soothing him and slowing him to a halt in the arena. Within moments, the fire type couldn't take it any more and collapsed into a silent slumber just before his two opponents.

Meanwhile, the Meowth had been covering his ears with his paws as he glared at his fallen comrade. He had distaste for any pokemon that could fall for such a simple trick, as apparently did his owner as he overheard her talking to her partner.

"I -tried- being nice, but apparently you have no brains what-so-ever. Fuck it, I'll win on my own." With her teeth bared down, and her temper elevated, Sarah was ready to get this over with it. "Meowth, thunderbolt that squak'en bird!"

Smiling, the malicious kitty cat leapt to the center of the ring, spinning on its tail. Electricity started crackling from his whiskers, building up static just before he threw out all four limbs in his foe's direction.

In a split second, the scratchy yet pleasant voice of the chatot rose to a squiel of anguish as he was stricken by the ferocious bolt of lightning and forced down into the dirt. With feathers singeing the fallen foe was called back to its trainer almost as fast as it had been released.

"Okay, thats one down Meowth, next is the obnoxious balloon. Taunt!"

Meowth nodded obediently as he stopped in his tracks to face his opponent. With a sleazy smile, he stretched his cheeks out with his paws and stuck his tongue out while mocking ‘meow-meow!'.

Not liking this one bit, the jigglypuff huffed in anger, waving her fist about. "Alright Pinky, lets show this kitten how we battle. Rollout!"

At her trainers command, the pink ball of fluff n stuff began to roll about the arena in a small circle. After gather enough momentum, it rolled hastily towards her opponent, ready to deal some major damage on behalf of her fallen partner. Unfortunately for her, her foe had seen her coming from a mile away and was ready.

"Night Slash!"

Just as the rolling jigglypuff came in for attack, Meowth leapt into the air dodging the attack just before countering with a harsh slash covered in a dark aura.

Landing a critical hit, the puffball pokemon was thrown back in pain, but continued rolling none-the-less. As she made a return visit, the meowth didn't see it coming. "Watch out Meowth!"

BAM, the feline had taken a hard blow from behind, sending it to the side of the arena, where she ungracefully landed.

"Get up you baby! Retaliate!"

Hating to disappoint his trainer, the meowth arose growling. As the jigglypuff continued pursuit increasingly faster, Meowth ran to meet her head-on. With a strong look of determination, the meowth flung his body into his opponents resulting in a head-on train-wreck collision.

Both pokemon went flying in agony, but it was the ever nimble Meowth whom managed to land on his feet. The jigglypuff on the other hand, laid flat out its stomach, with only the slightest breathes telling everyone it was still alive.

In the end, the battle was quick but challenging. The Jigglypuff was down for the count, thus giving Sarah and Donnie the victory.

- - - - -

A short while after, Donnie sits in his room at the pokecenter, tired, depressed and confused. He wasn't sure where Maria and Jim were battling nor when they would be back. It seems he was too caught up in his own battle to check into it. He hoped they could forgive him, but he knew they would win. As for himself, he had serious doubts after the results of his first round. Sarah was amazing and powerful while he was just a joke.

"Bah.. I'll do better in round two. Yeah.."

 

[MoonStruckDragonLass]

Good to see you back, Kimi! ^^

I had to read through all of my previous posts for this one. Yes, I know I have continuity errors in reguard to Chiiru. Tuff nuggies. Irugi traded Kenji Itou momentarily for Nejime, if any of you remotely care.

Additionally: This post is so long, people not only died, they got back up, were ressurected as Zombis, took one look at this post, and ran screaming back to the grave. And it's actually only half of the post I need to make, hehheh.

So get some cookies and milk and make yourself comfortable.



Irugi sneezed violently. She was on her way to the stands to watch Kenji's battle. The KCC was a great event, but they certainly hadn't made things convienient for trainers who wanted to go straight from battling to watching a battle.

She turned and found herself facing another dead end. "Dammit!" She spat violently. "You'd think they did this on purpose."

She turned and marched off again, this time coming to a three way intersection. "I never would have thought they'd need this much hallway to service this place. . ." she mumbled, trailing off when she saw someone at the end of the hall.

Two men in non-discript matching suits, one with blond hair and one with longer russet-coloured hair, were moving a large box. They both had caps pulled tightly down over there heads. Irugi pondered it for a moment. What were they moving? But the walls were beginning to press in on her, the endless dead ends were grating on her nerves, and according to her pokegear, It was about 10 minutes until Kenji's match started. She'd never get a decent seat as it was. She waved.

"Hi! Would either of you know how to get out of this place?" They both glanced up and turned the corner. She hurried after them, but when she got to the corner, they were gone. She assumed they went into one of the doors on wither side of the hallway, but both were solidly locked.

"Purdy!* Well then, We'll try this." She fumbled in her pocket with the four pokeballs there, feeling each of them. One was heavy and fell solidly, that had to be Nejime. One was smooth and cold, that was Rayn. One was light and . . . dry, was the only way she could describe it. That had to be Chiiru. The last felt normal in her hand, but with a twist of something that reminded her of. . .sadness. and hope. And a million other complexities (it also had a small bow on it, she could feel it under her hand). This one contained Korash, her Houndoom. She expanded it, tapped it, and it burst like an over-ripe melon, letting Korash out. He glanced up at her with impassive eyes.

"Hey buddy," She said, "We're lost in this rat maze of a place. Think you can get us out?" At this, his eyes brightened, and he quickly set off, nose to the floor.

They passed so many twists and turns that Irugi wasn't sure if Korash had any idea where they were. They stopped at the mouth of a room that seemed to open up.

It was a huge, cavernous room, dome-like and vast. Machinery hummed in it, casting vage glows of colour about. Scraps of yellows and oranges flashed off every surface, but the glow that permiated the dome was a deep blue with an undertone of purple. It bathed everything, the metal was doused in it, every surface waxing ethereal and mysterious. Korash trotted into the room, but stopped. He looked back at Irugi, who was hesitant to enter. She could see a doorway on the other side of the room, just as large as the one on her side. The exit must be on the other side, and this was the room for running the boards and speaker system. That must be it. Then why was she so hesitant to enter?

Something moved in the other door way. It was a boy- a man? He couldn't have been much older then Irugi herself. . . For a moment, she thought it was her opponent from earlier, Yuki, was it? The form and movement seemed so familiar. But while he had white hair, it was much shorter than Yuki's, and he was dressed in what appeared to be a tight-fitting lab coat, laced with mechanical looking symbols and flaring about his knees over even tighter white pants. In the blue light, he seemd a pale, ghostly mockery of flesh. He looked up, saw her, smiled, and. . . vanished.

Irugi blinked. What was going on? Had her eyes been playing tricks on her? It was the second time that morning some one had vanished on her. . . She shook her head and set off across the room. There was no sign of the boy on the other side.

A few more short turns and they were outside, in glaring sunlight. She gave Korash a friendly pat and returned him, then raced off to the battle.

It was already under-way when she got to the stadium, but she still managed to secure a decent seat. The stands were full, but not quite as full as they would have been at one of the later battle. She didn't envy anyone attempting to go to one of those, but it was still an experience she would be sure not to miss. The board showed the battle: Lapras and Umbreon vs Arcanine and Ampharos. The field was a difficult one, swampy with land masses here and there. Tailor made for a Lapras, but a bad match for an Arcanine. Irugi half wondered why Kenji hadn't chosen a different pokemon once he saw the field, until she saw Kozan in action.

It was a wonderous thing to behold. The giant Arcanine was locked in a battle with the tiny Umbreon. The Umbreon was faster and smaller, launching dark shadow balls at the the Arcanine, but Kozan moved as if he were an Arbok or Seviper, dodging and dancing, twisting and dancing from tiny island to tiny island, launching his own quick bursts of flame. He seemed right on target, his flames nipped the Umbreon more often then the Umbreon's shadow balls grazed Kozan, but all it would take to take the big fire-type out was one slip. After he went down into the swampy mess, he was done for. Was Kenji hoping to show off his prowess as a trainer? But no- Kenji wasn't like that. He used Kozan because the battle looked tough and he trusted in his friend to do is best. That was all Kenji ever asked- not to win, but to fight, and to go down fighting. It was most likely this attitude that helped him prevail.

The Lapras was locked, much as Nejime and the Nidoking had been, in a head on battle of strength with the Ampharos, which was more then a good enough reason as to why it hadn't come to the Umbreons defense. The Lapras seemed covered in a pale mist. . . Until Irugi looked closer, and realized it was cottony fluff. The battle seemed to be playing in Kenji and Takumi's favour.

Energy crackled around the Ampharos and it seemed to be using a simple thundershock to be draining the Lapras, but Irugi's eyes were rivited to the intricate dance between the Arcanine and the Umbreon. They both seemed to be using Agility and their respective attacks alternately. . . they jumped and seemed to fly around each other, almost faster then the eye cold follow, the whole time, fighting it out, dark globes flying, Kozan barking out bright flits of flame. . . And suddenly he leapt forward, in a flash, as Kenji brought his arm down. . .it happened simultaneously. Each knew what the other was thinking and they moved in unison. It was beautiful. She didn't know how one could watch this battle, this. . . dance, and not be moved by its perfection. One hit, and everything was still. The Umbreon lay half submerged, unconcious. The Lapras moved a flipper feebly, but could not move. The battle was over.

Irugi took the opportunity to study Takumi, Kenji's battle partner. Shoulder length blond hair, large liquid green eyes and a smile that could warm the heart, He was an adorable, mousey boy. He looked honest, and jumped on his Ampharos the moment the battle was over. Kenji wasted no time in congratulating Kozan with a hug. He almost slipped into the water. Irugi added her voice to the cheers from the crowd.

Later, she let the crowd bustle her down the street and back towards the pokemon center. She was happy but hungry and anxious for lunch. The crowd parted and swirled and for a moment, she caught a glimpse of the Hiker from earlier. she felt her face pale as he raised a hand in greeting and gave her a hearty smile, then the crowds turned once more and he was gone.

She got back to the room to find Kenji was in the shower. She emptied her pockets and dropped her four pokeballs on the desk, along with Kaido's and BlackMagic's.

Then she stopped, and looked back at the desk.

Kaido's pokeball was there, but Magic's was missing.

DUNDUNDUN! Cliff hanger.

*purdy is roughly, VERY roughly, translated into "By God!". It's like, the simplification of a contraction of a simplification of some Latin phrase. Yes I have to write my posts in English Russian AND Latin, why do you ask? Or it might be French. . .

Enter Irugi's arch nemisis! Bear with me on that random tangent, it'll take a while to play out, but should be well worth the few tidbits I have worked out on it so far. . .

I will completely post the second half of this when I have the patience to write it. Right now, I over-shot bed time by about an hour. ^^; oops.

[sub]Bed time is not MY master. FREEEEDOM! [/sub]

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC: Just killing time really. Had to write something. ^_^

A while later he was sitting in his PokéMon Center room, after he's had a nice shower and his clothes have been washed and dried. Reflecting on his battle, he found himself sketching scenes from it that really stood out to him. Mari's lightning dance. The Massive Steelix' roar. Houyoku, Yuki's Blaziken, attempting to sky-uppercut a levitating, defensive-stance Mari, still churning out electricity. The battle of strength between Nejime and that harpy's Nidoking. Mari's deflection of the rock-slide attack using the metal pole. The Steelix using his head to send the Nidoking flying. He chuckled softly at that scene - It was a terrifying sight in battle, but he couldn't help but see a comic side to it in his sketch.

He laid down his pencils and idly leafed through his sketchbook. Mostly PokéMon and strange plants (the latest addition to that collection was his rendition of the beautiful Pseudopterida Luminfolii he has seen in the museum). Various scenes from older battles, some fought alone, some fought alongside others. A younger he and a younger version of his team. Scenes from Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. Sketches of himself and his friends. Some brought a smile to his face, others made him sad. It was, in a way, his way of keeping a record of his adventures.

Who would have guessed his next adventure would have been so close to home?

He sighed, stretching a little and smiled, closing the sketchbook and re-absorbing it and the pencil he was drawing with into his Digital Storage Device. Hunger began pecking at him slightly, and he had to pick up Mari from Nurse Joy anyway. He stood up, stretching again, and headed for the door.

 

[Sem]

Jim left the battle in a hurry after it was won, rather nicely by Maria's new Pidgeot he might add. But he was eager to get Unown to the Center. He ran through the streets with the little Psychic-type cradled in his arms. It felt a little empty, the majority of the city had gone to watch the battles obviously, but that made maneuvering that much easier.

Jim finally arrived at the center, panting after such a run. He walked up to the counter and waited for Nurse Joy. The Center was sure to get real busy later on as more trainers come by to leave their Pokémon. The pink haired nurse came to the front desk, wiping her eyes tiredly, but that was soon masked by her smiling face and kind attitude.

"Want me to take Unown for you," she asked, reaching out for Unown.

Jim nodded, "Yes please." he said, handing her Unown and its Pokéball.

"So how'd your battle go? Did you win?" she asked as she put the ball away and summoned a Chansey to take Unown.

Jim smiled, "Yes we did! It was real close though."

"Well congratulations!" she exclaimed with a broad smile, as if she was an old friend. "Well, you can pick up Unown later, I'll have it in tip-top shape." she winked and walked away after the Chansey.

Jim left for his room, wanting to get some rest. As he lied down on the neatly made bed he released Shroomish and began to ponder. There were still two more battles he and Maria would have to go through in order to advance. He sighed. Well he got through one, and just barely, but he did well considering what he had to work with.

Shroomish had begun nudging Jim's laptop on the desk, which was dinging. He lazily got up and looked at it. "An email? And from the parents too." He sat down and opened the message.

Dear Jim,

How goes it in Kanto? We hope its all good. Wish we could say the same for us but there's been a few problems out on the site. We're currently stationed in Sinnoh as you know, in Oreburgh studying the various fossils in the area. These two new Pokémon discoveries are amazing indeed!

We hope to look into them more but there's been quite a few queer happenings. Tremors and wild Pokémon attacks, one of our crewmen was hurt real bad by a Golem. And the site has temporarily been deemed unsafe. Roark, the Gym Leader who working with us, says that it may be due to the creatures in the area not ever seeing humans before, since we're stationed in a fairly new location. Your father and I think they seem far too hostile, but we'll see. Roark's been working around here for years so what he says deserves some consideration.

Anyway, we'll be back home in a month or so, depending if the situation clears up. So, just letting you know. Good luck out there!

Jim leaned back and closed the email. "Well that must be frustrating for them, eh Shroomish?" The little Grass-type nodded. Jim browsed the web for a bit, keeping up to date on things, and then turned off the computer. He turned off the light and got under the covers of the bed for a nap.

 

[Linkachu]

Maria walked out of the arena and sighed with relief, giving a quick wave at Jim as he hurried off back to the Pokemon Center. His Unown could definitely use the recharge. Altair would get his needed rest soon as well, but the female wanted to walk for a bit before heading back. The adrenaline rush was still fueling her spirits.

"I can't wait for the gang to meet the new Altair. I always knew he would be beautiful, but DAMN man…" she thought with a bright grin as she made her way back down the slightly-less crowded hallway towards the exit. Most people must've been in watching the on-going matches now.

"I kinda wish now that I'd asked Donnie when his first match was… Oh well. I'm sure he'll tell me all about it once we meet up again," the girl thought with a chuckle and exited the building. Little did she know that the boy's match had just started…

The sun hung high in the sky. By her PokeGear, it was about 10:30 AM now - still plenty of time to pass until the day was out. They probably wouldn't be contacting anyone about their next battles until today's matches had wrapped up either, which the girl figured was an all-day sort-of dealie.

"Maybe I'll head back to the complex later to scope out some of the competition? Could be fun. But for now…" her train of thought drifted once more to the blue sky above. She gazed up at it silently for a moment, finally murmuring aloud, "I wonder…" and reached for Altair's PokeBall. In a flash the majestic creature appeared before her once more, stretching his wings with a soft cry.

"Pidg-got?" the bird titled his head curiously at the girl's sheepish expression.

"Err… Altair? Do you think … you could carry me on your back?" Maria asked weakly. She'd always dreamed of this day yet hadn't expected it to come so soon.

Altair seemed to chuckle at the comment, standing tall and jerking his head at the girl as if to say, "Well, c'mon then!"

Maria grinned brightly and quickly obeyed, carefully climbing up on his back and positioning herself securely. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and gave a silly giggle. "Ready when you are!" A few passersby's stopped to watch the skeptical, but the girl blocked them out. She was far too excited to notice anything around her.

With a booming cry from Altair the Pidgeot spread his wings wide and pumped them powerfully, raising slowly off the ground and catching some air to zoom high up into the sky. Even with the trainer's extra weight the bird flew freely as if defying gravity itself.

"Oh my god, oh my god-!" Maria cried, leaning in closer to Altair as the world below seemed to melt away. She'd been on many planes before, but the sensation was nothing like this. All she could do to keep from screaming was… laugh. Laugh so hard tears formed in her eyes. "This is SO AWESOME!" she cried with glee.

She looked up. The clouds seemed so close now… Below the people were like ants milling about, the houses rocks scattered on the ground. In the distance Mt. Moon loomed silently, covered by lush, green trees. That would be their next destination once this first round of competition finished up… IF she made it through. But right now that didn't matter. Nothing really seemed to. She was FLYING!

"Getting tired?" the girl had to call above the winds. Altair cawed in reply and dashed quickly forward through the air, going into a quick somersault that made the girl scream as she held on for dear life. The scream soon turned into insane laughter as the bird righted himself again, though, and Maria hugged him tightly. "You just land whenever you feel like it, eh? Until then, let's do that again!"