[X] My Assistant

[Kamaitachi]

The main arena, a gargantuan Colosseum overlooking the vast sea, has separated into 8 fields, each with its own set of stands, while the higher seats have a lovely view of all eight battles. Each battle is televised on the giant screens located along the walls, giving spectators the nitty gritty close-up views of each battle.

The battles to come would be fierce, and with so many raging simultaneously, and to be distracted by the neighboring fights could easily spell a loss.

The Match for this field was slated for Francesco Rojas and Lori Pardare. The field itself appeared to be a sandy desert, with rolling dunes and a few jutting buttes for more stable footing. Occasionally, as if by some marvel, little dust devils would whip up and die down, more than likely designed for temporarily disabling vision to an unlucky battler.

The referee, holding the trademark flags, floated nearby on what could only be described as a hovering disc; yet another technological marvel of Daioh Scientists. The ref tapped his fingers on his poketch, which revealed a rotating triangular pyramid on the main screen. Once it stopped rotating, it revealed a large number 2:

"This will be a three on three battle conducted in Doubles-Style, with One Pokemon in Reserve. If one of the combatants falls, the reserve must be sent in immediately. Trainers, summon your pokemon now!"

This battle seemed ready to erupt. The stakes? Continuing participation in the tournament.

The crowd roared in anticipation.

[Kamaitachi]

Cesc looked on in admiration as the rush of spinning golden stars flew towards his Pokemon. More impressing than the display was the one-mon combo Lori had pulled off. He needed to start thinking that way, especially when it came to the 1 on 1 portion of the contest matches.

But this wasn't a contest, and his spaced out admiration halted his thought processes. The swift stars were zooming in from all directions, and were homing to boot; there was no dodging them. Not to mention, only a fifth of the projectiles in play were real, as far as Cesc figured, so what happened if Valentine tried to dodge the imaginary ones, only to jump INTO the real ones?

This Minccino was a true ninja.

Screeching in pain as the Swift slammed into him, Valentine sailed through the air from the machine-gun rapidity of the hits. He landed on the ground, only slowly rising up on his elbows. Considering the amount of damage he'd taken so far, Cesc was now just waiting for...

A fiery aura erupted around the Chimchar as he shakily stood to his feet. The air around him visibly heated, sending shimmering waves off of the desert sand in the arena. The fire on his body burned hotter than before, occasionally scorching the rock of the buttes nearby.

"There we go, Valentine! You're still in it! Rueda Fuego!"

Summoning the intense flames around him, Valentine threw himself forward, effectively wrapping himself in cloak of fire. The conflagration seared through the desert arena, aiming for a colossal, dead-on blow with the little chinchilla Pokemon. Valentine wouldn't be able to stand any more hits; this appeared to be his grande finale. A simple "Flamethrower" wouldn't cut it: Cesc needed the air to be thick with suspense, and the attack a beautiful collision!

[Living Arrow]

Even though Lori and Chico’s teamwork had landed another hit upon the Chimchar, it did not seem as though the battle would be won so easily. Cesc’s Pokemon was a strong and agile opponent, able to take Chico’s Swift attack and still come back for more. Not only that, but the Chimchar named Valentine seemed to use his waning energy as a strength, a fiery aura enveloping him in the same way Torrent did for Pipster and Overgrow did for Triss.

“Keep it up, Chico!” Lori cheered encouragement to her panting chinchilla. “You’re doing great.”

Paff! A double team clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke – no doubt about it, Chico was getting tired. Paff, Paff… Paffpaff!

“Cino…” Chico sighed, unable to maintain his clones and still keep fighting. Lori felt her heart skip a beat. Was Chico really OK to keep on fighting?

"There we go, Valentine! You're still in it! Rueda Fuego!" Cesc’s call rang alarm bells in Lori’s ears, his command taking her by surprise as she became engrossed in Chico’s fighting condition. The chinchilla, however, crouched ready for Lori to make another call.

“Chico! Aqua Tail now!”

“Miiin!” Chico rushed back at the flaming mass of Pokemon hurtling towards him, the long grey appendage trailing him instantly soaking with water as he went. Like two missiles, both Pokemon jammed their trajectories straight for one another in an all-out collision. “CINO!”

Chico leapt last moment, swinging his tail under his body and up into the swirling ball of flames approaching him. The arena was instantly filled with the screaming hiss of steam and the cries of two Pokemon as they rebounded painfully from the impact. Dust and sand was kicked up as both forms crashed down hard and the audience watching was hushed to near silence as the steam and sandstorms began to slowly clear.

Lori’s breath caught in her throat.

“Chico?” Her pathetic whisper was almost in audible.

“Chimchar is unable to battle!” The referee’s flag swooshed down even as Lori found the bright brown eyes of her Minccino winking back at her playfully with the thumbs-up. “The winner of this round is Lori Pardare of Littleroot, Sinnoh!”

“Chico!” Lori cried, eyes welling up with fresh tears of joy. Her Pokemon wobbled on short legs only once before the chinchilla collapsed with exhaustion. “Chico!” Lori repeated, running out into the field to grab him up. It was harder than it should be, of course, since the arena was so sandy and the young trainer found herself collapsing in the dust a few feet from her Pokemon.

“M-min…” Chico gasped through ragged breaths, his eyes open and arms reaching weakly toward his trainer.

“I’m coming,” Lori panted, scrambling up awkwardly and ddrawing the Minccino softly into her lap. “You were so so amazing, Chico! I’m so proud of you!” She hugged him, careful not to squeeze too tightly and nuzzled his large ears with her nose, tears rolling silently from her eyes. “We won… We really won…”