[X] My Assistant

[Living Arrow]

Travelling back to Port Barley after the events at the Petropolis Grand Invitational had been a long and gruelling affair for Lori. Well, it had involved public transport which inevitably meant sharing elbow room with all manner of undesirable and social reprobates. If she was not worrying about her bag being stolen from off of her shoulder, the young Trainer was replaying the events of the tournament again and again to find the moment that had made her act so foolishly.

*Who really thinks they can play the hero and go down some stupid hole to save random people they’ve never even met before!?* She demanded of herself for the fiftieth time as the stench of body odour from her latest ravel companion drifted her way. Holding back a gag, she politely turned her head the other way and cried inwardly. *At least Cesc smelled good!*

*Hey! Stop thinking about him, dammit!* Lori blushed in spite of herself, heat rising in her cheeks to decorate her skin with blotches of ruby embarrassment.

The coach pulled up to a stop at the edge of the town in the later hours of the sunny morning, a couple of miles from her final destination, and freedom announced itself as the coach doors clunked open.

*Close enough!* Lori told herself, springing up from her seat without a backward glance for the stinking hobo next to the window. Cuddling her bag close to her chest with one hand while squeezing the length of her intensely red hair in the other, she hurried to the front of the vehicle.

“Thanks!” She smiled and bowed her head politely to the driver (a sweet old man who she doubted spoke any English) and skipped down the steps to the sidewalk. The coach pulled away with the hiss of its brakes releasing to leave her drinking in the fresh air of the coast. It had been a while since she had been in Barley, and the town hadn’t changed a bit, but she felt like a different person to the rookie that had picked fights with bullies on her first day in the town.

*Never again, Lor.* She reminded herself of the boys that had threatened to cut off her hair when she’d defended another beginner trainer at the bus station. She shuddered at the memory, pushing those thoughts down to her toes where they couldn’t plague her thoughts anymore.

“Pipster,” Lori clicked open the green-capped Pokeball of her Piplup and grinned as he materialised in front of her, “we’re back in Barley.”

“Lup, Piplup!” His cheery reply was a welcome change to the dismal mutterings of the ‘people’ on the coach.

“And you know what that means, right?” She prompted him. A blank expression was her response. She rolled her eyes and pumped her fists energetically, the infectious enthusiasm of her naturally bold demeanour finding its way back to the front of her otherwise woolly teenage brain. “It means we get back on a ferry and go to Fidona! That Gym badge won’t win itself, y’know?!”

“Lup!”

“So, let’s go!” Lori cheered, breaking into a run down the final slope into the town with her Penguin Pokemon close on her heels.

[Kamaitachi]

The aforementioned nameless kid approached him and introduced himself. Tag, not sure how to respond to such an introduction, stared blankly at Marwan for a moment.

"Thank you? Please feel free to challenge me any time."

That seemed like an appropriate-ish response.

"Marwan." Tag tested the name, rolling it around in his mouth "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Tag."

He reached out to shake Marwan's hand, which was a perfectly acceptable way for me to make each other's acquaintances. He wasn't big on bro-hugs, bro-taps, general hugs, or general taps otherwise, so a handshake seemed like the way to go.

At that, however, the Poochyena loving up on him broke off at Roxxy's command, returning to his trainer's side while Tag gave a tiny goodbye wave.

Rising, he and the group moved from the Pokemon Center, headed towards the ferry. Tag walked at the forefront of the group, slowing his long strides down so that everyone in the group could keep pace. It was odd, he noted, that the group had formed so organically. No one had mentioned anything about forming a group...no one had mentioned anything about banding together and forming a war party, yet here they were, walking towards the ferry. Perhaps having the company was nice, but he still wasn't quite sure what to make of how easily the group had coalesced.

He listened as Lori spoke to Marwan (with Roxxy floating at the rear of the group), and smiled when he heard that Lori had made it into the top sixteen at the Grand Invitational. Of course, he had too, but he chose not to chip in.

As the approached the ferries, they found their path onto the docks blocked by an equally small group of men wearing dark suits and sunglasses.

"That's him." One raised a hand, pointed directly at Tag.

Unflinching, the tattooed man's hand dropped to his Pokeball belt, watching the four slowly do the same.

"Mr. Lee. You're to come with us. No questions asked." one stated, full of the confidence and swagger of someone who had a powerful boss, yet possibly lacked true merit of his own.

Tag smiled.

"No questions. Just give my regards to Omar." He turned, looking at the trio of youngsters behind him. Hopefully, they would go straight to the ferry and just leave without him. He had no desire to drag them into this mess. Since the anonymity of the group in front of him wasn't compromised, Tag figured that they would at least let the kids go. "You guys head on over to the ferry. I've got some business to attend to; I'll join you shortly."

"Fat chance." The 'leader' of the group stepped forward, throwing his pokeball. A Charizard now blocked the path for Tag, leaving only an opening to the docks where the other three suited-goons were. They all brandished their own pokeballs, eying each other member of the travelling group menacingly. It looked as if they weren't going to let the others pass by without a scrap. A frown appeared on Tag's face, irritated that they had forced those in his group to participate in his battle.

Though, it seemed off. Tag wasn't sure why he wanted to protect the other three from the immediate scuffle. That felt awful...father-y of him. They were old enough to be trainers, they were old enough to fight their own way.

"On second thought, let'em have it!" Turning to his travelling companions and allowing himself a somewhat wicked looking smile.

"Enka!"

As his Flaafy took the field, the man in the suit reached into his breast pocket, revealing a similar gem to the one Omar had. Upon closer inspection, the Charizard had a matching gem attached to a chain and metal plates around her neck. As Enka materialized on the field, he watched the enemy hold the gem up towards his Charizard.

Tag heard the familiar jolt. He'd heard it all too many times in his career as a trainer, and with the recent experiences with an Aggron that evolved and a Houndoom that had evolved, he already knew what was coming.

"Enka, Thunderbolt!"

He wasn't going to give it a chance to evolve before he struck.

Yet, instead of attacking, Enka merely threw back her head, evidently crying out a loud shout to the heavens that reverberated around the docks. Within moments, ominous, dark clouds had swirled up and into existence, and a brilliant bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking Enka dead on. The blinding flash stopped both trainers in their tracks, forcing them to shield their eyes or risk being blinded.

When they peered back at the field, there was a terrifying looking Black Charizard on the field, with wicked serrated wings, and spikes on her shoulders. Intense blue fire poured out from her mouth, matching the blaze on her tail.

At the same time, Tag looked at Enka, in front of him, who had copied the evolution and willed herself into her final form, Ampharos.

"Tiamat! Dragon Claw!"

"Enka! Thunderbolt!"

As the terrifying new Charizard came screeching towards Enka, Tag expected the bolt of lighting to burst out, knocking the part flying type Charizard back with electricity. Enka, instead, opened her mouth wide, firing out a move that Tag knew only too well. The multicoloured beam of light struck the thundering Fire Lizard backwards, toppling the terrifying creature for a moment.

Tag stood frozen, wondering just where Enka had learned that attack from. But, she wasn't a dragon; he hadn't violated any of his own rules.

"Enka!" he called out to her, and she turned her neck, looking over to smile at him with her usual cheery demeanor.

"Amph!"

"Dragon Pulse!"