Open Slateport Tournament (open)

[Curtkid]

"RRRARWW!"

"EMBERTAIL'S RIGHT, YOU CAN STILL WIN THIS JACOB", Curt yelled to his friend. It wasn't over yet, Blaziken were powerful Pokemon, and Nero was far from an exception. He was so invested in the battle he almost didn't hear Nat speak to him.

"Wah? Oh, yeah, I'm Curt, and this is Embertail and Flare", Curt told the man while pointing to the big-eyed Charmander and eight-tailed Ninetales respectively.

"Erro", Embertail said, hardly taking his eye's off the match.

"Greeting's", Flare said to Nat telepathically while giving him a small nod.

"I'm surprised so many people know who we are, I didn't think making it into the top eight in this years Pokemon League Tournament carried that much prestige", Curt said with a small chuckle," so, who are you exactly?"

 

[Pokechokey75]

"Uhh Curt who excactly is nine?"

 

[Pokechokey75]

"Time for some training" Ben headed outside and threw a poke ball and a Dusk ball and Roshambo and Snooker popped out "Boar boar emboar!" Roshambo danced with excitement when suddenly A reuniclus appeared and Ben Cried "Mart!" He then went to the tournament computer and put Watchbotch's Poké ball into the PC

 

[Lord Of Pain]

"I'm Nat, nick's friend" said Nat as he answered curt.


Loki was worn out from that last attack that nero took him out easily, "ok loki come back, go freya" said nick retrieving the sableye and sending a blazekin of his own, freya landed gracefully on the field with a calm and confident look, her beautiful and carefully groomed feathers glowed a deep and gorgeous Amber colour as the sunlight was reflected of of then, she was easily a sight that could have charmed any male pokemon.
"Ok freya you know what to do! Use attract and follow up with bulk up!", freya instantly shot a heart of pink energy at very high speed and waited for it to hit before using bulk up.

 

[Mechanist Gamma]

A man walked into view. He looked to be around seventeen, and had a belt with nine Pokeballs. A satchel on his side held all his items. His blue vest, green shirt and black track pants flapped in the wind. His messy brown hair swished as the man smiled. "Finally here!" he said. "The Slateport tournament!"

 

[Frontier Master]

"Alex choose your final Pokemon" said the referee looking at the young trainer
"I choose flare, my talon-flame" replied the girl throwing a normal poke-ball high into the air
'taaloon-flam' said the fire flying type as it emerged from its poke-ball
"please after you" said Jake giving the girl the first move
"flare use flame charge and follow it with brave bird" yelled the girl as her Pokemon erupted with flames and charged at scar
"scar use aura-sphere then flash cannon" replied Jake flatly the first attack broke through the flames and found its mark hitting the bird Pokemon in the body, the bird was stunned momentarily and that was all the time scar needed to deliver a big hit and knock the bird from the sky,
"flare get up" screamed the girl her Pokemon rose, dazed and unable to ascend out of the way to properly avoid all of scar's attacks
"finish this with rock slide" yelled Jake to his Pokemon
"flare quick get out of the way" yelled Alex but it was too late, the bird Pokemon couldn't get high enough in time to avoid the raining stone falling from the sky
"and the winner is Jake he now proceeds to the next round" yelled the referee
"scar return, good work today" said Jake as he turned and exited the arena

 

[Trucro]

Jacob blinked a few times looking over Freya as the Blaziken appeared. His opponent could have chosen any pokemon, why would he choose another Blaziken? Jacob wasn't worried; this was perfect for him. Nero was his strongest pokemon, and with no type disadvantage, he wasn't expecting any problems. That was before the pokemon fired off an attract attack.

"Nero," Jacob shouted as the hearts rushed towards him. "Flamethrower!" He released a forceful column of flames that tore through the hearts, barreling down towards the opposing Blaziken. Jacob heard Nick call out his next attack, and he wondered if the pokemon would go through with it, or dodge.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

"Crap, freya use aerial ace!" Said nick as freya jumped high in the air to avoid the attack, she used attract three times, each in a different angle, as soon as she landed nick said "use bulk up!", wich she did 2 times before getting ready for the next move.

Meanwhile

Nat was watching the battle, he knew what was nick's strategy considering that he fought freya in this tornament, "I wonder if his strategy will work in this battle".

(Sorry for the short post, I am busy in my life but I am glad I had time to do this)

 

[Trucro]

As their opponent leapt into the air, dodging Nero's attack, Jacob came up with his next move. The opposing Blaziken was releasing more hearts in attract attacks as she flew through the sky. But she wouldn't be able to dodge until she reached the ground, and there Jacob saw his opening.

"Nero, use Brave Bird!" He shouted, and his Blaziken nodded. Jacob and Nero had been together for long enough that the pokemon understood the plan without Jacob needing to go through the entire thing. Besides, this particular move was something they had done before. Nero glowed, flashing red and blue as his speed increased. He darted across the field, dashing from left to right, dodging each of the hearts as they approached, speedily making his way to Freya, who was landing, now only a few feet away from Nero. Nero lunged forward, attempting to crash into the opposing Blaziken.

 

[Mechanist Gamma]

Evon entered the bleachers, sitting down. "Hm... quite an interesting match-up. Only one can win, though." the trainer said. "I wonder who it will be."

 

[KonfidentKurusu]

Rikan listened to what Evon had to say. "Yes. Only one. I think I will have to battle the winner. Wish me luck." he said, looking at him.

 

[Mechanist Gamma]

"So you're the one that the winner of this match will fight? Then good luck, indeed. Although, it does seem the Braviary has the advantage." Evon said. "Although, I could be underestimating the Blaziken's abilities..."

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Freya wasn't expecting the brave bird so she was sent back and Into the wall, "freya use flame charge!" Said nick to the dusty yet beautiful pokemon, freya was already boosted in attack, defence and speed so it was easy to take hits and give them back with grate speed, her entire body went in flames as she dashed at nero.
"This is the first time freya has to fight without the attract advantage, that blazekin must have a strong will to avoid all the hearts and ignore her beauty!" Thought nick to himself.

 

[Trucro]

"Let's do this Nero: Flare Blitz!" Still on Freya's side of the field, Nero focused as he became covered in his own, blue flames. Freya, covered in orange flames, was rushing towards him at a great speed, and Jacob wanted to make sure that Nero had enough distance to pick up his own speed. "Do it now!" He shouted as Nero blasted forwards, quickly accelerating as he and Freya barreled towards each other. The two pokemon collided spewing flames flying in every direction. The mix of orange and blue flames was quite beautiful, but Jacob ignored it as Nero came tumbling backwards towards Jacob.

The pokemon pulled himself to his feet as brushed himself off. Nero was acting like he hadn't taken much damage, but Jacob could tell his pokemon was hurting. Hopefully, the battle would be over soon. He just needed a way to end it. Perhaps if he could get Freya to dodge in the air once more, he could have Nero charge again and end the battle. But Nick had already seen that move once now, and Jacob didn't think he'd let Nero get away with that again. Perhaps he could time it correctly, and send a long ranged attack instead of a charge. It wouldn't be as effective, but it might give Nero the advantage. First, he had to get Freya to jump.

"Alright, Nero, let's show them our special move shall we? Use Flame Burst!" Opening his mouth, Jacob's Blaziken collected fire energy into a large sphere before releasing it all at once. Over half a dozen beams of fire scattered, rushing across the field roughly heading in Freya's direction.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Nick was expecting this, he knew a foe's plan from his expression, "freya avoid his attack and use a flame charge and close combat combo", freya's fists were glowing white as she blasted into flames one more time and dashed, avoiding the attack and aimed at nero from the side.
For the first time ever nick was given a challenge, and he enjoyed it! "After this tornament Mabey I should hang out with this Jacob guy, pretty tough to beat".

 

[Trucro]

"Alight Nero," Jacob responded. "Let's use Flare Blitz, and then Superpower!" Nero glowed blue with flames once again as he rushed towards Freya. The attacks headed close to the center of the stadium. As the two crashed, Nero used Superpower, trying to grab Freya's arms to stop the attack. Nick's Blaziken was to fast, however, and the Close Combat attack hit. It was effective, throwing punch after punch against Nero, catching him in the torso. Finally, Nero was sent falling backwards to the ground. The pokemon struggled to rise, and was open to attack.

 

[Frontier Master]

Jake sat in the grandstand recording the match he knew that the winner of this match would be a tough condender so he sat there camera in hand recording every little detail every single weakness

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Nero was weakened but so was freya, nick couldn't risk a bulk up or an attract he had to attack, "freya use blaze kick!" He said as freya started to attack, she moved at high speed in a zigzag form to make it harder for her to get hit.
Once she was in range for a flamethrower she jumped and did a front flip, trying to hit him behind the head with her now on fire heel, making eye contact with the blazekin and gave him a blink pared with a smile as she did so, "even in battle she finds time to flirt with other pokemon" said nick in a not so surprised tone.

 

[Trucro]

Freya's blaze kick hit, slamming Nero in the back of his head. Nero dropped to the ground once more. Jacob winced as he watched his pokemon get hit again. He hated watching Nero get hurt like that, especially when he had no chance to retaliate. He had lost the battle due to Jacob's mistake of ordering a superpower attack in response to close combat; he didn't believe that Nero was any weaker than Freya, but it was his fault the pokemon was on his knees. The Blaziken was still attempting to pull itself to its feet, unsuccessfully, when Jacob threw in the towel.

"And it looks like the trainer Jacob has chosen to end the battle, giving up his chance to continue," Jacob hated the announcers. He took several steps forward onto the field to aid his Blaziken, who still couldn't stand.

"It's alright, Nero," Jacob said, putting his arm around the injured pokemon. "Don't worry about it. It was my fault..." With Jacob's help, Nero rose to his feet. Jacob looked at the Blaziken that had defeated Nero with scorn, but tried to remain cordial. Turning to his opponent, he spoke: "You got lucky on this one!" he shouted, half joking, half bitter. The trainer, Nick, was truthfully a strong trainer. Jacob had made on dumb mistake, only one, and lost the battle.

Jacob and Nero made their way out of the stadium towards the pokemon center.

 

[Frontier Master]

Jake having seen the conclusion of the battle closed his camera and left the stadium his head buzzing with ways to quickly eliminate Freya and nick and as for Jacob and Nero well they were no longer a threat

 

[Pokechokey75]

Ben Quickly Put Mart in his Pokéball and then runs inside the building and said "I Might be in the next battle So I better be ready!"

 

[Pokechokey75]

Ben then sees Jake and walks up to him and says "hi there. I'm Ben. And look here at my pokédex" Ben then shows Jake his pokédex "See I caught 90 Pokémon. Pretty cool right?"

 

[Frontier Master]

"90 that's nice" jake whips out his "I've caught 210".

---later---

"And the next round of Battles are as follows nick and jake you will be facing off tommorrow, its been a very action packed day so get some rest" yelled the commentator as he announced the next battle
"Finally we're up against nick

 

[Curtkid]

"Awww, that's a shame". Curt moaned, seeing his friend lose his fight. He knew Nick was a tough opponent, but he was really hoping for Nero to pull through. Curt guessed that the first battles massive type disadvantage Joker had against Loki really set Jacob back in the match. Initially, he wanted to give Jacob his condolences, but seeing the mans somber expression as he walked out of the stadium, Curt realized that he need some time to cool off.

"Well Embertail, looks like we're up next, you think you can handle Zekie?", Curt said to his partner with a confident small. Even though he asked the question, he already knew his friends response.

"Blaghrough", Embertail roared while pumping his fist in the air in excitement. Embertail may be a prevolve, but he had been with Curt since he was four years old and had been in more battles then any of his other Pokemon, well, except maybe Whips. Still, a Machamp was not going to be an easy opponent by any means, his incredible strength was going to pose a real challenge to them, but that didn't mean they didn't have a plan or two.

"Alright Ben, I do believe we're up next, I feel like we've been waiting weeks for this, so be sure to hit me with your best!", Curt said to his opponent. With that, he called Flare back to her Ball and he and Embertail made their way down to take their place in the arena.

 

[Curtkid]

Curt took his place on the marked trainer section of the arena, a small square just outside the area where the Pokemon would do battle, with Embertail trailing close behind him. As Ben and Zekie took their places on the battlefield, Curt knelt down to his partner to give him some quick, last minute advice.

"Remember Embertail, Machamps are pure power houses, if Zekie get's his hands on you, you're done. Just keep your distance, wait for an opening, hit him light, but fast, and we can wear him down", Curt muttered quietly to his partner. Embertail returned his friends advice with an determined nod, and then hopped onto his side of the battlefield. With both Pokemon and their trainers ready to start, the referee took his place just outside the field, raised his flags, and cried:

"BEGIN"

Ben wasted no time as he ordered Zekie to open up with a Close Combat attack, a powerful move, but a very risky one. Close Combat was an extremely powerful attack, if an enemy got caught in the barrage it could end the match almost immediately. The only downside was that it demanded so much stamina from the user it left them exhausted and completely open to attack. Curt wasn't sure what Ben was planning by opening with such a high stakes move, maybe he actually saw Embertail as a legitimate threat (which Curt had to give Ben props for, most people completely underestimated Embertail and it ended up costing them) and was trying to end the battle as quickly as possible? He didn't know, but one thing was certain, he couldn't let Embertail get boxed in by that attack.

"EMBERTAIL MOVE!", Curt yelled. Embertail didn't even need to be told once, he immediately began jumping out of the way of Zekie's mighty blows. Zekie seemed to be rather fast for a Machamp, but speed was Embertails specialty. The Lizard Pokemon was expertly staying just out of reach of Zekie's punched and kicks, and for a second, it looked like Embertail was going to survive the Close Combat attack completely unscathed, until...

"Embertail, watched the edge of the arena!", Curt yelled in a panic. He was so focused on where Embertail was, he forgot to look where Embertail was going until the last minute. Embertail was able to respond to his trainers warning and leap out of the way to avoid being boxed in, but was just a second too late to avoid getting cuffed by one of Zekie's punches.

"Oh crap, EMBERTAIL!", Curt screamed, concerned for his friends well-being. Thankfully, aside from getting thrown around for a bit of a loop, Embertail did not appear to be too roughed up. The fire Pokemon picked himself up fairly quickly and was able to catch his breathe, he was lucky that the blow that hit him came at the end of Zekie's Close Combat barrage, and didn't have his full power behind it. Speaking of which....

Curt looked over at the Machamp, he appeared completely out of breathe from the strenuous and rapid fire of assaults that was demanded of him from a Close Combat attack. That was the moves fatal draw back, it was powerful, but you better do some serious damage to your opponent with it, or else you're a sitting duck. Curt wasn't going to waste this opportunity, he saw that Embertail had managed to pull himself together, and was ready to go on the offensive.

"Embertail, quick while he''s still tiered, get around him and use Aerial Ace, strike where his arms can't reach you!", Curt yelled to him. Embertail wasted no time, in a flash he sprinted behind Zekie, where his four arms would have a much harder time of trying to grab him. He bent his knees, putting a massive amount of power in to them, and launched him self forward at speeds some would think only possible for a Flying or Electric type. This was Aerial Ace, one of the fastest moves out there, extremely fast and next to impossible to dodge. Embertail may not be able to breathe fire, but he was one of the quickest Pokemon Curt had ever seen, and while some Charmander's and Charmeleons would have difficulty learning and pulling of such a move, the attack almost came naturally for the speedy Embertail!

He just hoped his speed would be enough, if the attack was successful, Embertail would strike Zekie with a super effective hit, then bounce out of the Superpower Pokemons' range and go right back on the defensive, then rinse and repeat. But both Curt and Embertail had a feeling in the pit of their stomach that that wasn't going to be enough. Despite the tournaments lack of prestige, it had somehow managed to attract a few surprisingly skilled trainers with powerful Pokemon, and they both had a suspicious this strategy alone might not be enough to bring down Zekie.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Due to cases of autoing, triple posting and Pokechokey75 basically breaking every rule in the book, their posts have been removed.

 

[Curtkid]

(alright, seeing as we all agree, this next part is going to be an NPCish fight that I will wrap up really quick, I'll still be using Ben's character and his Pokemon to avoid any confusion, if this is considered god-modding let me know and I'll be happy to change it)

Curt had an intense fight, though the Aerial Ace was a successful hit, Zekie did not want to go down. Ben, however, made the smart move and called Zekie back to throw out his Reuniclus. The cell Pokemon looked powerful but Embertail held his ground. After an intense battle that Embertail spent mostly on the defensive, dodging Psychoshock after Psychoshock, he managed to take the his opponent down with him with a well placed Flare Blitz. Seeing his partner down, Curt hurriedly ran to him and picked him off of the battlefield.

"You really got to stop doing that, you could get seriously hurt", Curt sternly told his friend, but his expression quickly softened, "but you did good work out there, taking on Zekie and still having enough energy to take that Psychic Pokemon down with you, I doubt there's still a soul in the audience that doubts your fighting ability now." Curt finished by giving his friend a warm smile and setting him back down on the ground beside him.

"Are you sure you can stand, bud?", Curt asked the Flame Pokemon. Curt knew Embertail absolutely loathed being inside Pokeballs, in fact, Curt could count the times Embertail was in one on one hand, and even in those few instances, he always popped right out of them the moment he could. But if he was too injured to walk or stand, Curt could at least put him somewhere more comfortable where he could at least lie down.

"Beehrrough!", Embertail growled with a smile while giving Curt a thumbs up to indicate that, despite the intensity of the battle, he was alright, or at least alright enough to stay standing on his own to feet, but he defiantly wasn't going another round today. That settled, Curt had to choose a Pokemon to go against Zekie. Despite taking a few hits from Embertail, the Machamp still seemed raring to go for battle. Curt needed a Pokemon that could bounce between close and long range battle, and he had just the Pokemon that could do that.

"I have faith in you Raviel, TAKE THE FIELD!", Curt yelled as he threw an Ultra Ball onto the arena. The Ultra Ball snapped open in a bright flash of light, which ended up revealing a one eared Jolteon. Despite the damage he suffered from Embertail, Zekie defiantly proved not to be an easy opponent. At first, Curt thought they could just whittle the Machamp down with long range attacks, but a Rock Slide attack soon proved that victory would not come so easily. It looked like they might lose the match for a second, until...

"I got it! RAVIEL, MOVE RIGHT INFRONT OF ZEKIE WITH A QUICK ATTACK, THEN HIT HIM WITH A FULL POWER THUDERBOLT!", Curt yelled to The Lightning Pokemon. Raviel wasted no time, in a flash he was infront of The Superpower Pokemon and then let loose a massive blast of electricity right in front of the Machamp. At first, it looked like Zekie was going to hold it together and tough it out, despite the attack, he was still standing tall. But in the end Raviels Thunderbolt proved too much for Zekie to take, and after a little wobbling, he finally collapsed.

"YAHOO, YOU DID IT RAVIEL!", Curt yelled in massive excitement.

"REAH REAH REAH!", Raviel cried as he ran back to his trainer, who instantly knelt down to pet the spike fox-like Pokemon.

"Man, Embertail, Raviel, I owe you both big time for today's performance, that was not an easy fight", Curt said, still smiling. Curt then picked himself up and he and his team walked over to Ben to shake the trainers hand and thank him, Zekie, and the Reuniclus for a battle well fought.

"Good fight man, you did not make that an easy win for us", Curt said to Ben and his team, with Embertail and Raviel giving their own soft cries in agreement with Curt. With that, they headed back to the Pokemon Center for a good rest, and maybe to check up on Jacob. They had another tough fight tomorrow, and they had to be prepared for it.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Just for the record: It's generally not advisable to turn another person's character into an NPC unless it's confirmed that they're never going to post again in this thread (I haven't blocked him from responding to this thread altogether, but he -has- been moderated so anything he says will have to be approved by staff and checked for compliance with the rules).

But I'll let this one be for the sake of continuity and to prevent confusion, unless problems pop up later.

Hopefully this is the last I'll have to get involved with this thread. Carry on!

 

[Frontier Master]

Jake ran down to the trainer
"Great work curt and embertail, embertail you never cease to amaze me" said the trainer as he approached the victorious trainer

 

[Curtkid]

The battle won, the gradually made their way out of the stadium to the Pokemon Center, Embertail and Raviel, despite looking a little roughed up, looked absolutely delighted to have come out on top of their last battle. Their human partner was no exception, Curt's face was positively beaming with joy over the results of the match. Winning a battle was always nice, but winning against a tough opponent, the joy an accomplishment like that gave you was hard to describe, impossible to replicate, but would stick with you the rest of your life.

That fact was still bouncing around Curts head: The Semi-Finals, they actually made it into the Semi-Finals. True, The Slateport Tournament wasn't the most prestigious of tournaments, but the competition this year had been fierce, even getting this far was a pretty big accomplishment in its own right. Now that it was getting later in the Tournament, Curt was beginning to think it was about time to use his secret weapon. Whips had remained unused in the Tournament so far, much to the Dragonites chagrin, but soon, Curt felt, it was going to be about the right time to show his fellow Semi-Finalist's what his strongest Pokemon could do. But these were thoughts for another time, right now, he should just worry about getting enough rest for tomorrow.

While making their way to the Pokemon Center, they saw a boy run up and congratulate them. At first, Curt didn't recognize the guy, even though he seemed familiar, Embertail had to remind him that this was Jake, who was also part of their group that got trapped in The Glimmering Caverns a few months ago. Granted, Curt didn't get much interaction with him outside of a simple greeting and a brief conversation, but still, he felt a bit guilty for not immediately remembering him when Jake seemed to easily recognize them.

"Well, uh, thanks Jake, Embertail and Raviel worked really hard to get that win, I can't count how many times I had to practice a pin point Thunderbolt with Raviel before he got it down pat, but he worked hard and refused to give up until he perfected it, hehe, I guess we'd all have to work hard to get this far", Curt said, smiling down at his two friends, who happily returned Curt's warm expression with smiles of their won. As they began walking down the cobblestone path to the Pokemon Center, Curt felt the need to strike up another conversation topic.

"Hey, didn't you make it into the Semi-finals too, or do you still have a fight later to worry about"?. Curt asked the fellow trainer, curious to see if Jake might end up being future competition.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Nick was heading to the pokemon center, "that was great! I'm glad you won!" Said Nat, "barely" answerd nick in his modest fashion, he was healing his pokemons as he thought "if this battle was tough I can't imagine the next!" He noticed Jacob and went to talk to him, "Hey good game! I never had a real challenge before! I hope you have no hard feelings about the loss" he said.

 

[Trucro]

Jacob stormed out of the stadium. He was angry: how could he have lost? He had trained with Martha, widely considered one of the best trainers in the world. And Nero was his most powerful pokemon! He didn’t even face a type disadvantage; in fact, he battled another Blaziken. The battle was as even as it could possibly be. Still, Nero was unable to rack up a win.


Jacob turned back to look at his pokemon. Nero trailed behind him, having followed his trainer outside the stadium. Nero was angry as well, but at Jacob. Jacob could tell, and the Blaziken stared him down, before shouting.


“BLAAAAAAAAZE!” The pokemon shouted angrily. Jacob twitched, and lost control.


“Me?!?! What are you talking about! It was you! If you had just moved a little bit faster…. why can’t you go as fast as that other Blaziken, eh?!?! If you had just…. What’s wrong with you!” Jacob stopped, realizing that he had been throwing his arms towards Nero. The Blaziken himself was cowering, moving his back foot backwards with a sad look on his face. Nero had always been such a stoic pokemon that he had forgotten how reliant the Blaziken was on his trainer’s opinion. They had been together a long time; Jacob remembered some of the worse fights the two of them had when he was a child. Jacob knew he had a bit of a short temper, and he hated losing. Even more, he hated blaming himself, and it was always easier for him to blame his pokemon than himself. Lowering his arms, Jacob spoke. “Sorry, buddy. It really was my fault.” He took several steps towards his pokemon, and Nero leapt forward, embracing Jacob.


Jacob took a sigh as he was released, and the Blaziken nudged Jacob’s arm with his head. Jacob smiled as he rubbed Nero’s head. As he did, he heard Nick from behind him.


"Hey good game! I never had a real challenge before! I hope you have no hard feelings about the loss" Jacob turned to see Nick standing behind him.


“Yea of course! that Blaziken of yours is one pretty impressive pokemon,” he responded, and Nero nodded along. “So, I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Jacob, and this is Nero,” he said, extending his hand.

 

[Frontier Master]

Jake stood off to the side as always watching
'I knew he would take his anger out on his Pokemon, the sign of a immature trainer. all that energy wasted in fighting each other when he could have channeled it into becoming stronger together, he clearly has much to learn' thought the trainer as he continued to take notes and add them to his developing databank.
"jacob, I sure your match it was interesting and Nero thought very well but really the best trainer won" jake said coldly, the trainer was prone to doing that speaking the truth without thinking about the feelings of others
"i'm up against Nick in the next round so you should stick around tomorrow and watch"

 

[Curtkid]

Curt, Embertail, and Raviel made their way into the Pokemon Center, on their way there Jake (for one reason or another) got ahead of them. It didn't bother them much, as Curt found the man a little.....unnerving. The quality of the Pokemon Center was...less then excellent. It didn't seem quite as sterile as most Pokemon Center's or Hospitals should. The waiting room didn't seem all that clean, as though someone at the end of the night did a rapid cleaning because they wanted to hurry home, and the air had a bit of a salty taste from the sea and just felt...sticky.

Curt almost wanted to turn around and just buy some medical equipment to patch up Embertail and Raviel personally, but it was getting late and, considering the tournament, most stores were probably low on medical supplies. So, Embertail and Raviel got a quick check-up from the staff at the center while Curt waited just outside the room. Raviel was pretty much A-O.K due to his performance against Zekie, his speed and their long range attack strategy preventing the Lightning Pokemon from taking much damage, Embertail, however, was a slightly different sorry.

While nothing serious, his "Kamikaze" Flare Blitz attack against Ben's Reuniclus had left him pretty banged up. During a bigger event, like the Pokemon League Tournament, Pokemon Centers were stocked to the brim with medical supplies and skilled staff and could have an injured Pokemon fit to fight in just a few short hours. But, as Curt expected, the Center wasn't very well funded and Embertail (to Curt's anger) got a McPatch-up that Curt was willing to bet that he or Lockjaw could have done better. He'd be fine after a few days of rest and taking it easy, but there was no way he was going to be able to fight in the next round of the tournament.

Making their way out to the lobby, which resembled a DMV waiting room more then an actual Pokemon Hospital lobby, they spotted Jacob and Nero talking to Jake (so he did run ahead) and some other person Curt couldn't quiet make out. Curt briefly debated whether or not to approach them, but by the looks of things, Jacob and Nero had calmed down.

"Errrough regths reak rerem", Embertail growled as he pointed his "thumb" at Jacob. Typical Embertail, whenever Curt was on the fence about whether of not to do something, he was alway's there to push him in one direction of the other.

"Alright then", Curt said to his friend as they made there way through the semi-crowded Pokemon Center to the group.

"Figured we'd all be here eh, sorry about your lose Jacob, just a run of bad luck throwing Joker out against a Stableye", Curt said, trying to give his friend some form of condolence. However, he quickly realized, to his embarrassment, that the other member of the group was in fact his very recent opponent, Nick. Curt's cheeks turned a faint, awkward red as Embertail gave a small smile at his friends social awkwardness, Raviel gave out a bark that sounded something like a mix of a laugh and a sigh.

"T-t-that's not to say you didn't earn-that is to say, um, you, Loki, and Freya fought very well", Curt stuttered out, trying to salvage the situation. If he wasn't in the middle of humiliating himself, he would have given himself a mental pat on the back for remembering all of their names (he was terrible at remembering names). Curt decided to to steer the conversation elsewhere to avoid further embarrassment.

"S-so, we got a little time before we need to head back, Slateports a big city after all, does anyone want to do anything before getting ready for the Semi-finals?, Curt asked the group, though he originally just intended to ask Jacob, it would be rude not to invite the others, "we could go to the museum (I think there's a still enough time to visit it before it closes), we could check out the Shipyard, maybe check out the other half of the Bazaar, what else, maybe-

"Errough!"

"Really Embertail? You want to go to the beach at this hour, you know it's going to be-you just want to go to The Soda Pop shop don't you", Curt said, catching on to his partner's intentions.

"Ehehehehe", Embertail said while scratching the back of his head, a sheepish smile plastered across his face.

"Eh, that's still an option though, or if you guy's want we can go get a quick bite, talk a little, show off Pokemon", Curt finished up while giving a shrug, "or we can just go or separate ways, just throwing things out there.

 

[Frontier Master]

"If you guys wanted theres a little restaurant by the beech a little bit out side the city, oh and the general store next door is just about the only place not totally out of medical supplies, i can tell embertail could use a patch up, so what do you say?" Asked jake mainly at kurt but only subtly "I'll pay for dinner"

 

[Lord Of Pain]

"I'm nick, your blazekin is stronge, I'm actually surprised that freya won considering this is the first time she fights without the attract advantage, she isn't my strongest pokemon" he said in his modest fashion, he was surprised when curt came in, after seeing curt stutter during his comeback he said "it's ok, you didn't meen anything bad by that" and gave him a smile, once again he was surprised, this time by Jake, "well that sounds good to me, but I need to heal my pokemon first and finish a few stuff at my room if you guys don't mind, 8:30 sounds good?"

 

[Trucro]

Another person walked up to Jacob, but he didn't recognize the boy. He began to spout insults and Jacob shot him a look. "Who are you again?" He asked, somewhat audaciously, as he immediately turned around to look back at his former opponent. As he did, he noticed Curt and Embertail walking up to them as well. After his rant, and Nick's introduction, Jacob spoke again.

"That all sounds good to me. "Nero and I need some rest first," he looked over at his pokemon who nodded affirmatively. With a smile, Jacob and Nero walked away from the group, heading back to his room. The cabin on the outskirts of the city would be a good place to block out the bad thoughts about his loss. And he could use a nap; he had gotten up too early for his comfort. As he approached his room, he heard another voice from behind him.

"So, you didn't do so well, huh?" Jacob turned around to see Martha standing several feet away. "That's fine. I couldn't tell you how many tournaments I lost before I finally started to win some. I was older than you by quite a bit, just let me say." Jacob smiled and nodded, trying to let her know she was comforting him effectively without saying anything. "But, there is one thing I would say. You stopped the battle too soon. Nero could have gone on, and he still had a chance. Yes, you made a mistake. But that doesn't mean the battle is over, even against a powerful opponent. Sometimes, your mistakes even open up new opportunities in battle."

"Yea, I know," Jacob muttered matter-of-fact-ly. He could feel Nero breathing down his neck. "You know, I'm not sure I even like these tournaments. It's a lot of pressure, and the reward isn't that great."

"I could tell," she said. "But if you don't want to battle in tournaments, what is it you would like to do?"

"That's just it," Jacob said, looking down at his feet. Nero was watching carefully. The pokemon wasn't all that patient, but he appeared to be interested in the conversation. Of course, Jacob was paying him no attention at all as he responded to Martha. "I don't know."

 

[Curtkid]

Embertail pattered his feet up and down smile on his face like he was completely oblivious to his injuries, granted they were far from severe, but it was heartening to see the Charmander maintain such high spirits in spite of his wounds. They were sitting down on the couch inside the hotel, waiting for anyone who would bother to show up. Curt let out a small sigh, they tried the near bye market like Nick suggested, but apparently info like that travels fast here, and by the time they got there, all the medical supplies was completely sold out. Embertail tried to comfort him by telling him he was fine, but Curt still felt somewhat guilty for not bringing more medical supplies.

They watched as the occasional person moved around the hotel, doing their business and what not. A few people where eating dinner at the hotels restaurant, and a person or two was doing some work on a laptop, but other then that, the Hotel lobby was significantly more barren then when they first checked in. Without the large amount of people to distract them, time passed noticeably slower then before

"So Embertail, do you think anyone else will come, or will it just us and the gang having fun tonight?", Curt asked his friend as he motioned his head to a Croconaw and Cubone sitting next to them, Lockjaw and Jasper respectively. Whips and Flare felt like staying in tonight, and Raviel just wanted to relax and watch TV to unwind from today's battle, however, Jasper and Lockjaw had expressed interest in tagging alone. Jasper coming along didn't surprise anyone, she loved seeing new sights, but Lockjaw wanting to come along caught them off guard. The alligator Pokemon was normally rather uncomfortable around crowds, and preferred the company of a small group of friends rather then traveling with a group of people he barely knew, still, Curt was happy to bring him along.

"Rehou rah rek rahe rheeggouh", Embertail growled in response to Curt.

"Really, that many huh?", Curt said in reply. No one could accuse Embertail of not looking at the bright sided of everything, the Charmander's optimism had picked up everyone in the group more then once. Thinking about his team had his thoughts carry over to tomorrow, and the battle to come. Chances are, Curt would end up fighting either Nick or Jake, neither of them would be push over's if what they saw today was any indication. Thinking of the battles today got Curt think about....

"You think Jacob and his team are feeling better Ember?", Curt asked his friend.

"Errh, rerhop re rohs reh rah rough", Embertail replied.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm sure Jacob, Nero, Joker, and the rest of them aren't ones to keep themselves down", Curt replied. With that, the settled themselves back onto the couch.

 

[Frontier Master]

Jake entered the hotel medical supplies piled in his arms
"I think you might be in need of some of these" said Jake handing Kurt a full restore, "oh and embertail I made some calls and got a special guest transferred over from sinnoh, embertail meet Ravenger" said Jake as he released his shiny charizard 'chaarrizard!' Said the fire flying type introducing himself to the first stage starter

 

[Trucro]

Jacob yawned and stretched as he walked into the hotel lobby, his pokemon on his belt. He had just woken up after a few hours of resting, and he was feeling much better about his loss. These things happened, and maybe Nick would even go on to win the whole thing! Then he would have lost to the best trainer anyhow; how could he be mad about that?

As he turned the corner, his eyes landed on Embertail, sitting on a couch on the far side of the lobby. But he couldn’t see Curt. As he looked closer, he noticed a big orange blob, and another man standing in front of the couch. As he walked closer, he could make out the Charizard, and the boy who had insulted him before. He was now close enough to see Curt on the couch; the Charizard no longer obstructed his sight. He waved as he reached them. Ignoring the jerk and his Charizard, Jacob began to speak.

“Hey Curt, hey Embertail,” he lowered his head as he greeted them. “What’s the plan? Are we still heading out to get some food?”