[X] My Assistant

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin didn't want to play games or make the match fun by any means. He had a very powerful hitmontop on his side which could probably knock out every one of Harding's pokemon in a single hit. He shrugged and summoned Hitmontop against the shinx. Immediately upon coming into play, it roared, and Hitmontop couldn't help but cringe. Justin just shook his head. "Nothing to be afraid of, bud," he insisted. "You know what to do. Fake Out and Mach Punch."

Due to the nature of Fake Out, Justin didn't even need to bother waiting until after to give Hitmontop his next command. Fake Out was accurate, fast and had a startling effect. Barring something drastic like a switch or a particularly evasive pokemon, it was going to hit. And it did.

Hitmontop spun around and got right up next to Simba and clapped his feet together right in front of him. As Simba flinched, Hitmontop immediately followed up with a ridiculously quick punch. You wouldn't have even been able to see the punch, but the quickness was like half of its power. Mach Punch, like Fake Out, had the advantages of being extremely fast and accurate. Though Hitmontop's power was slightly lowered from its apparent fear of Simba, it made up for this lack of power in its precision ability, Technician, which ensures that fast and otherwise weak attacks land squarely and maximize their damage. This ability boosted both Fake Out and Mach Punch, meaning there was pretty much no way for the low level shinx to make it.

Justin's plan was not to win with style or grace, but to finish it as quickly and painlessly as possible. Hitmontop's precision would make sure Harding's pokemon went down without even feeling the hits.

[Martial]

Simba flew back against the walls of the cage. He fell back down, unable to get back up. That was definitely strong attack for such an untrained Shinx. Andrew was unsure of what to do, but he knew he could get in one more attack... Maybe.

"Tackle," he commanded.

Simba roared once more in the same squeaky tone. It was pathetic that the Hitmontop was afraid of it, but then again, that was Simba's ability. Besides the fact that he only saw Simba from behind and was unaware of how fearsome he looked. The tiny Pokemon charged at the Fighting-Type monster. Not the best idea.

Simba ran back immediately in fear of another dreadful Mach Punch. The attack seemed to leave no marks on the Hitmontop. It also seemed to fail to inflict damage of any measurable value. Andrew put on a grim face. This battle would probably end soon, he knew it.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin raised an eyebrow when the tiny shinx remained conscious just long enough to land a weak attack, which Hitmontop followed with by punching again, something he didn't even wait for Justin to command. That should have definitely been enough damage to knock Simba out. Poor thing was probably just hanging on with a thread of awakeness.

Justin's mind left the fight. There were important things going on. Pinsir was crazy, he still needed to apologize to Tag and there was that whole thing about impressing the girl he came here for. Jill, right? Yeah, Jill. Why was he even bothering with her? He didn't know her, he didn't even know if she was single. One of those guys was probably going out with her and it wouldn't be fair for her anyway, because Justin wanted Tina.

Then he remembered Pan. Why? I dunno.

Then he remembered he was in the middle of a pokemon battle.

[Martial]

Simba was hit hard and flew back once again. His eyes were closed and he began to breath lighter. Some of the Pokemon's hair was scattered across the floor.

"Andrew Harding's Pokemon is unable to battle!" The referee announced.

Andrew held out Simba's Pokeball to return it. The red beam, light the one of a fictional space ship, abducted him into the small device. The way they had made it to work that way always puzzled Andrew.

Next, Andrew put out Iron. He knew it was a bad choice because the Hitmonlee was fighting type, but he had no choice. The Pokeball flew from his hand releasing the beast. His head nearly touched the top of the cage. Iron roared in the same manner as Simba, but this more effective.

Before the speedy Hitmontop was able to attack, Andrew decided to command the large, slow creature.

"Bind!" Andrew screamed, hoping this would disable the Pokemon's ability to attack.

The Onix swung it's tail at the foe in hopes of capturing it.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Harding's next pokemon was an onix, quite an intimidating sight. Hitmontop, oddly enough, didn't seem slightly phased by the gargantuan snake in front of it. Its strongest attack was Revenge, an attack which Hitmontop could either use precision and land a clean, solid strike or deal massive damage.

The best way to describe it is a fairly weak attack (Hitmontop's specialty) which becomes incredibly powerful if the opponent attacks. It was fairly slow, unlike Mach Punch, meaning Harding's onix moved first and it decided to attack. While Hitmontop spun on its head, Iron began wrapping its massive body around the significantly smaller fighting type. While the damage was insignificant, it did have the effect of trapping Hitmontop, which didn't matter as it was planning on attacking anyway.

It was almost like Hitmontop wanted to be attacked, like he wanted a reason. Once he took the hit, he exploded with rage and landed a huge, vengeful strike, spinning all about, kicking, punching, screaming, you name it. The onix, a rock type, took even heavier damage from probably the most powerful attack it'd ever been hit with.

[Martial]

Iron's grip on the, in comparison to himself, puny creature was released upon contact. The pain struck him hard. Not only was it doubled by the fact that it was Revenge and super effective, but it was also a critical hit. The large rock monster's head dropped to the floor with a large thud. The cage shook a bit. Andrew gasped.

Iron had already fainted as he had such a level and type disadvantage.

"Andrew Harding's Pokemon is unable to battle!" The referee said, feeling odd after saying it two times within 5 minutes.

Andrew returned the Onix just as he had returned Simba.

"The battle is now over," the referee announced, "Justin Smart is the winner!"

At the sound of the final call, Andrew turned from the opponent and walked out. He was embarrassed to even show his face. He was sure everyone was staring at him. That was such a pathetic defeat. He had gone down almost instantly. But then, his mind drifted away from the face that he had lost when he heard the screams of a middle-aged man. They clearly came from behind a row of bleachers.

Andrew ran to the man who was obviously overweight. He wore a dirty white wife beater and a pair or blue jeans. They had holes in them; obviously he didn't care about appearance. He also had his arm raised high in the air. He was glaring at something behind the stands, but Andrew was unsure what. After standing closer, he discovered it was a crying Aipom.

"Brick break!" The man repeatedly screamed.

Andrew grabbed his arm as it went down towards the Aipom. It seemed unjust to punish a Pokemon for not following a simple command. Especially in such a harsh way. "Stop it!"

"Why?" The man asked angrily, "This worthless thing just eats food. He won't even listen to the commands I give him."

"Well, there's no reason to smack him!"

"I bought a TM and he wouldn't do it still, what would you do?"

"Well, um..." Andrew paused. He was in an awkward spot. Andrew handed a small wad of money to the man, "Just give him to me than."

"Hey! This is just enough to cover the TM. Take him!"

The way he had just bought a Pokemon seemed stupid to him. But, it was good. Good for the Pokemon. The man handed over a Pokeball that had a few small scratches on it. The Aipom slowly walked to Andrew.

"So, how does the name Fuji sound?"

"Ai, Aipom!" The Aipom, now named Fuji exclaimed.

Andrew returned it to the Pokeball, a place it was probably familiar with. Then, he began walked towards the elevator again.

[Kamaitachi]

Tag, still reeling a bit from his second loss to Justin, had made his way in a stoic, irritated silence. Arriving shortly thereafter at the Pokemon Center he'd first started out from that day, he proceeded to return the pokemon for treatment. The Nurse Joy joking chided him on being overzealous at battling, and he merely shrugged it off. (He was, though, secretly happy at the fact she seemed concerned. The Nurse Joy Clan was indeed a caring lot.)

Once his pokemon had been returned, he let them out in the main lobby of the center, getting to know his new and newly evolved partners a little better. Suzu, though much bigger than before, still enjoyed perching on his head, but this time would simply ride on his shoulders, her four arms clamped gently around his head. He looked up at her, face inquisitive, but eyes smiling. She made something of a "yan" sounding noises, then buzzed happily in his ears.

Bachi, meanwhile, trotted watchfully alongside his master. Bachi had always enjoyed being at Tag's feet, and enjoyed sitting on his haunches while Tag stood. The poison pin pokemon dutifully followed Tag about, looking up at him occasionally, needing some validation. Tag would always give the Nidorino a gentle pat on the head. Again, he wasn't smiling, but he didn't need to smile at his pokemon.

"Alright Kyoko, let's see what you're capable of." He moved to an empty corner of the Center, "I know you're able to use Absorb, Sweet Scent, Acid, Stun Spore and Sleep Powder. By virtue of knowing those, I'm sure you already know the Poison Powder technique." Kyoko nodded. "Then are you capable of any other moves?"

Kyoko nodded again, suddenly spitting out a small seed from her little mouth. It impacted with Bachi's head, immediately blossoming into a small white flower. Bachi looked a little alarmed, curious as to what he was doing with a new adornment, but then looked dismayed as the Oddish sprinkled a Sleep Spore at him. Much to both Tag's and Bachi's surprise, Bachi remained awake.

"That's Worry Seed." The Nurse Joy for this branch of Petropolis Pokemon Center strolled over, smiling at the Oddish. "It changes the target's ability to Insomnia, so right now, your Nidorino's Poison Point ability is nulled. It's very nifty."

"That's useful indeed." Tag mused "Any other moves?"

Kyoko, as best an Oddish could, began to dance in a little wiggly, smiley dance. Little hearts seemed to purvey the air around her all of a sudden, and it looked like Suzu and Bachi seemed a little less at their complete vigilance.

"That must be a Charm attack, meaning your Oddish has a Togetic or Togekiss somewhere in its Lineage." Nurse Joy commented.

"I'm sure she'll grow to be very strong and do her ancestry proud." Tag bent down, scooping her up into his arms. "any other moves?" Kyoko shook her berry-looking head. Tag set her back down and moved back over to the sitting area, while Nurse Joy went back behind the counter.

"You seem to be a die-hard pokemon battler...have you thought about challenging the gyms here in Furoh?" Nurse Joy blinked as she leaned over the counter.

"Yes, I have." Tag nodded curtly.

"Did you know we have a gym here in Petropolis?" Nurse Joy smiled "It's the Dark and Psychic Gym of Petropolis."

"Sounds fun." Tag sat down "I may give it a go later." He was going to request more information on the gym when he noticed something odd.

Kyoko was having a little difficulty adjusting to the new situation. She had taken to Tag immediately once he'd 'captured' her, but she remained slightly wary of her two new teammates, namely because she'd been on the receiving end of their powerful attack. When Tag sat down, Suzu sat at his side, and Bachi at his feet, but Kyoko looked utterly dismayed as to the place she should take next to her new trainer. Tag glanced at her, standing hesitantly to the side, before patting his lap. With a great smile, the oddish leapt up, settling herself into Tag's lap, where he gently pet the top of her head. It was quite an interesting picture: Intimidating and angry looking Tag, a serene Nidorino at his feet, an alert Ledian at his side, and a cooing Oddish in his lap, nestled in as comfy as it could get. D'awww.

[Martial]

Soon, Andrew had found himself once again looking around the large department store. He had always loved looking at random items. It had been fun to him ever since he was little. This had to be paradise.

The one thing that caught his eye was a sparkling gold chain. It was sitting behind a large glass paneled case. It was obviously valuable because of the effort taken to protect it. Camera's were pointed at the area. It had 6 different charms on it that were all the same. The were a wide bell shape. Andrew figured they meant something, and he was right. After further investigation, or rather looking at something right under his nose, they were to hang your Pokeballs on. Also, it wasn't extremely expensive. So, like he would, he purchased the trinket and put it around his neck. After words, he proceeded to the local Pokemon Center.

Upon entering, he walked to the cheerful nurse behind the counter. He handed over his two Pokeballs which he had suspended from two charms. The nurse handed them to her Chansey, who in turn put them into a large machine. The Pokeballs were set into two holes that fit perfectly. The machine lit up making numerous sounds. The Chansey removed them from the machine and handed them to the nurse, who handed them to Andrew. Immediately, Andrew detached the Simba's Pokeball from his new necklace and released him.

"Let's go, Simba." Andrew said happily.

He then noticed that the man who battled before him at the Department Store was sitting on the benches in the department store. It was quite an odd scene. The man seemed irritated for some reason, probably from the loss. A small Oddish was resting peacefully in his lap. This would have definitely cheered Andrew up, but for some reason not this guy. Andrew made his way to the bench beside Tag. Simba jumped onto his lap, trying to copy what the Oddish was doing.

"Hey," Andrew said, offering his hand, "name's Andrew. I battled that Justin guy right after you. I would rather not discuss the results."

Andrew chuckled after that though he was still annoyed by his loss To him it seemed pathetic that he would even try. That guy was so much more skilled than him. But, he wanted to seem positive to cheer up the guy next to him. Once again, another bad decision by Andrew.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

"As there is no one left on the list, that will conclude our competition for today," the announcer's voice rang in the basement of the department store. Justin couldn't help but feel a little cheated only getting two battles in, but he did sign up super late, so it only made sense. The ref noted that Justin had won two matches and gave him some sort of card which indicated as such. Justin thanked him and made his way back to the bleachers where Jill and the other three were waiting.

"Good job, Justin," Jill smiled, standing up simultaneously.

"Thanks," he said.

"Your, uh, your friend?" she began again, "He left. I woulda stopped him, but he was kinda scary."

"Oh, yeah, I'm glad you didn't," Justin shook his head and chuckled, "Woulda been weird, I think. We're not really friends."

"Dude, Justin," one of the guys spoke, "What happened with your pinsir?"

"Dude!" the other guy, "Yeah and what was that move it used? I've never seen it."

"Oh, it's um," Justin began, not really knowing what to say. He wasn't 100% sure about the legality of shadow pokemon, "I'm not sure. He's just really strong I think, but I guess he doesn't really trust me that much. I'll have to figure it out."

"Maybe just keep him in his pokeball?" the first guy suggested.

"Well, yeah," Justin half laughed. "Sorry, I forgot y'all's names."

"Oh, I'm James," the same first guy said, the one who suggested Pinsir be left in his pokeball.

"Alec," the other guy.

"Kerry," the other girl.

"You remember-" Jill began, but was cut off.

"Jill," Justin said. "Well, hey, it was great to meet you all. I'm gonna head over to the Pokemon Center down the street."

"We're gonna head over too," Alec nodded. "You wanna ride with us?"

Justin wasn't particularly looking forward to the walk in the heat, so the offer to ride in a car was more than welcome. "Yeah, that'd be cool, thanks,"

So the five of them walked out of Happy Happy Department Store and made their way through the parking lot until they got to a car. James started getting out his keys and unlocked the doors before hopping in the driver's seat. Kerry took the passenger's seat, almost like it was predetermined that it was her seat. Justin thought it was odd that Alec didn't compulsively call "shotgun," something he had to keep himself from doing by virtue of not knowing James at all.

It was a blue compact car, kind of like a Civic, but more pokemon-worldly, and it looked at least ten years old, clearly a car of a teenager or early twenty year old kid. Needless to say, Justin was jealous, as he didn't have one of his own. Alec took the back left seat and Justin waited by the back right door with Jill for it to unlock. She went ahead and squeezed in between Justin and Alec. While James drove, he blasted some hip hop. Justin and Alec sat fairly normally and comfortably but Jill's entire body compacted itself. Her legs were closed tightly and her arms were actively lying in her lap. Nothing in her face would indicate she was uncomfortable, however.

"So Justin, how do you know my dad?" she asked.

"Um, well, when I used to work construction, they'd always send me to get the sandwiches, so we sort of built a friendship while he made ten footlongs a few times a week."

"Oh, you're a customer?"

"Yeah,"

"Cool," she said. "So what do you do now that you're not in construction?"

That's when he realized he had told her he used to work in construction. "I," he had to think quickly, something he wasn't super good at. "I'm a bank robber. I rob banks."

"Oh?" Jill asked, jokingly. "Good money in that?"

"It's alright," Justin laughed.

"Seriously, tell me about yourself,"

"I do, um," he began. "Real estate."

"How do you like it?"

"It, um," he had to lie, "You know, it's a job. It sucks."

"Well, how does it-"

"Tell me about you," Justin insisted.

"Oh," she said. "I mean, I go to school, P.C.C. And I work at the department store."

"Cool, what are you studying?"

"I, um," she began, turning slightly red. "I don't know. I mean, I'm only a sophomore, but I'll probably transfer to a four year university in a few semesters and try to figure it out. Right now, I'm kind of just trying to enjoy college life."

"So, partying?" Justin joked.

Jill laughed. "Basically! Kerry's throwing one on Friday if you wanna come. Is that okay, Kerry?"

"What?" Kerry wasn't listening.

"Can Justin come on Friday?"

"Yeah, that's fine,"

"Oh, uh, thanks," Justin stumbled. "Yeah, I'll see if I can make it."

The car stopped and James parallel parked flawlessly as the five made their way out of the tiny car and walked into the Pokemon Center together. Alec, Jill and Justin waited at the counter, in that order, for their pokemon to be healed as James and Kerry sat down on a bench nearby. When Justin got his pokemon back, he happened to glance over at where Tag and Harding were sitting down, together. He couldn't decide whether he was relieved to see Tag or upset, but at least he got his chance to apologize for Pinsir.

"I'm gonna-" he began to Jill.

"It's cool," she smiled sweetly and sat down with the other three.

Justin made his way to Tag and Harding, humbly. "Yo," he said. "So, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about Pinsir. He was out of line, and I know it's my responsibility to keep him from doing shit like that."

[Kamaitachi]

Tag sat quietly, going over the day's events in his head so far. He replayed and replayed the battle against Justin, wondering if he'd ever surpass that Hitmontop. When it came to Justin's Bonsly and Nincada, he had no worries, since his pokemon outclassed those. The Pinsir proved to be a problem: Pinsir's massive attack was augmented by some ridiculous move. He'd never seen or heard of such a move, but now that he'd been out of the battle for long enough, he vaguely remembered hearing something about 'shadow' pokemon from travelers from the Orre Region. He had no idea, of course, what they were, or what they were capable of, but Justin's Shadow Pinsir was off the charts in terms of attacks, and the kid couldn't even control it, nearly chopping his Bachi in half.

He noticed someone else enter the pokemon center. He tilted his head slightly, because the kid seemed familiar. The appearance of the Shinx next to him jolted the reminder into his head: He'd glared at the kid while exiting the arena.

Much to his annoyance, the kid had chosen to sit on the same bench as him, despite all the other perfectly viable benches around them. As he drew closer, all of his pokemon perked up, peering curiously at this new guy who'd so nonchalantly walked over. The kid extended his hand out to Tag, who merely looked at it in response. He wasn't exactly in the most social of moods at the moment, and here the kid was trying to strike up a conversation.

"I don't recall asking for your name." Tag frowned "Nor do I care that you battled Justin after me." The kid had chuckled to himself after mentioning how he didn't want to discuss the results, so Tag figured he'd lost, horribly. Most likely to Justin's Hitmontop.

Then, as if to make matters worse, Justin suddenly appeared and was apologizing to him.

Tag looked upwards, hands still on the Oddish resting in his lap "Don't apologize." He said curtly, once Justin had finished. "I'm not gonna lecture you on the matter either. What's done is done." He really had nowhere to go at the moment, as he figured his pokemon needed the rest right now before challenging the Petropolis Gym. However, he didn't particularly want to stay at the Pokemon Center while Justin and Harding were both there...and both, evidently, trying to make a friend out of the uncannily unfriendly Tag. He stood up, Suzu and Bachi rising next to him as he cradled the Oddish in his arms. "If you'll excuse m-" He was interrupted by the sound of the pokemon center doors slamming open.

"Everybody down on the floor!" The relatively quiet pokemon center was ridiculously conductive to sound. There were few bodies moving about to soak it up, so one man's rather loud voice seemed rather intense in the fairly humdrum pokemon center. Heads turned to the middle of the room where a group of six people in ski masks stood, pokemon at the ready. Tag looked at the array, noting that they were all of the grass type: Ivysaur, Bayleef, Grotle, Grovyle, Roselia and Breloom. Tag looked to himself, then Justin and Andrew, summing up their pokemon to be: Ledian, Nidorino, Oddish, Nincada, Bonsly, Pinsir, Hitmontop and Shinx. None of them had a particular advantage over the six grass pokemon.

"You there, get on the ground!" Tag stood defiantly for a moment, looking as a man with a Breloom approached. Figuring he didn't want to get the whole place into disarray, he begrudgingly knelt down on the ground, putting his hands over his head. His pokemon followed suit, prostrating themselves on the ground for the moment.

"Growlie!, let's go!" He heard a voice call out, followed by the bark of a pup sounding Growlithe. Some kid had the nerve to send out a pokemon to initiate battle...and watched as the Grovyle streak forward, slamming it hard with a quick attack while the Grotle leapt in with a powerful headbutt attack. Growlie the Growlithe was out cold in an instant. "Ivysaur, Bullet Seed on the kid!" The Pokemon leaned forward, using its budding flower as a cannon as it fired out a seed directly into the kid's stomach, winding him completely.

"No one's gonna be playing hero here. This is one of the major pokemon centers in Petropolis, and as a result, is the stage for our protest! We are the Sons of Lenoilia, and we demand that Petropolis do something to clean up the home of our forefathers!"

Tag looked to Justin, blinking "I'm not from around here: What're they talking about?"

This post has been edited by Kamaitachi: Jul 21 2010, 12:08 AM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin couldn't help but feel like Tag's assertion of not lecturing sounded just a little bit like a lecture. It, at least, had the effect of making him feel even more guilty. Right when it seemed like he was about to get up and walk away, however, the center burst with violent commands.

This was a bad time. Not only was Justin trying to impress a girl he just met, but he had been feeling like less of a man since Tina left him and Pinsir going insane made him feel like he didn't have any control. He was bursting with testosterone and a need to reaffirm himself in his own eyes. Though he initially got down to his knees and then down to the floor, the wheels of stupid heroics were spinning in his head. How awesome would that be? To take these losers down and be forever remembered. Tina would regret breaking up with him. Jill would want him. Hell, so would Kerry. Maybe he could squeeze in a foursome? Aw yeah.

This being a Pokemon Center, most pokemon were healed and ready for combat. It wouldn't be difficult to gather up everyone with powerful pokemon to make a stand against these guys. There were only six of them. He knew, at least, that Tag, himself, Harding, Jill and Alec had pokemon, and there were more than a few other people there as well. Harding's pokemon were fairly weak, but he couldn't speak for Jill or Alec. He knew, though, that he and Tag could probably take all six out together, whether or not they actually could.

When some kid decided to steal Justin's spotlight, he was met with a fainted pokemon and incredibly fast seeds to the stomach. "Dumbass," Justin whispered to himself about the kid, shaking his head all the while, not realizing the hypocrisy in his words as his plans were barely different. He looked over at the four people he came with: Jill, Alec, James and Kerry, focusing mostly on Jill and Alec, trying to signify that they were going to go against the protester's orders and do something heroic.

"I'm not from around here," came Tag's voice from beside him. Justin looked over. "What're they talking about?"

"Most likely the sewage lake in the middle of town," Justin replied. "Dunno if you've noticed, but we have a lake literally filled with shit in this figuratively shitty shcity. Shitty shitty. Agh." He didn't anticipate the difficulty of the two combined words. "Shitty city," he finally enunciated correctly. He could have just said town. "Do you think we can take 'em? I don't wanna be held hostage all day waiting for someone to rescue me." This was all, of course, whispered.

[Martial]

Andrew, who had heard Justin's idea, looked at him in surprise. It was like some stupid idiot babble. There was no way they could take these guys just by attacking. They needed a distraction and a plan. But, with the six listening, it was impossible.

"Justin," Andrew started in a hushed tone, "it's impossible to beat these guys. They are obviously well prepared if they could take down that kid so fast. Just to take down one of them would take a ton of planning. I don't see how it would work."

But then, Andrew remembered the classic excuse. He would use it if at least one person agreed. Now, of course, he had a sudden change in mind.

"Justin," He started again in a friendlier tone, "maybe we can. Get Tag. I'm going to ask to go to the bathroom, if that's fine."

He smiled, and Simba frowned. This wouldn't be good. But, it would be destructive if executed correctly.

[Kamaitachi]

This was turning out to be a rather eventful day, and not in the good way either. Tag wanted to toughen up his team, certainly, but not like this. A loss to Justin was unwelcome, and now a bunch of grass type trainers were holding him and a few other people hostage in a Pokemon Center.

It was foolish, really...to attack a place where Pokemon were usually at their weakest or strongest. Either way, you'd typically run into the most trainers there. Supposedly, though, Petropolis had an iron police network, so the mere fact that they'd even gotten off this far was impressive.

Tag sighed as Justin fumbled through his words. Once again, he found himself paired up with a dumb criminal, and some novice kid. It honestly felt like deja vu.

"Of course we can 'take 'em'," Tag echoed Justin sarcastically. "Look, just because they've each got one pokemon out doesn't mean they don't have more on them. If each of them had six, we'd be screwed by sheer numbers." He sighed, glaring forwards again "You'll forgive me for not wanting to just jump up and command my pokemon to attack. Let's try planning this out, shall we? I, for one, am not too keen on being on the receiving end of a pokemon's attacks." He tilted his head toward the who had taken the bullet seed straight to the stomach. "If we're unconscious, we can't do anything."

Tag, being right next to Justin, naturally heard everything Andrew said, which caused him to tilt his head as Andrew ordered Justin to retrieve him.

"It's your head, kid." Tag almost growled "That's a cliché. Done a million times. Transparent as hell. You think they wouldn't be so sure that some kid is gonna try and play hero by luring one of them away from the group?" He took a second to indicate the group in the middle. "Look." The Four of the group were standing in the middle, each one facing a cardinal direction with their backs to one another. Another was securing the Nurse Joy, making sure she wasn't calling for help from the authorities. The final one was at the door, standing on guard at the front door.

"They've got the whole area covered." Tag shook his head.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Harding seemed to have some sort of plan, of which he wasn't informing the rest of the group. The first step, though, seemed to be going to the bathroom, which Tag promptly urged against. He also didn't agree with Justin's "let's just fight them" approach. However heroic, it probably was a very dumb idea, admittedly.

"What we need to do," Justin said, not really paying attention if anyone was paying attention to him, "Is get everyone in the Pokemon Center to start fighting at the exact same time. They can't overpower us all if we time it right."

So Tag and Harding were right in that regard, there needed to be some sort of cohesive plan. Justin figured he could probably get Jill and Alec to join pretty easily. They were both young trainers who just got back from losing a pokemon battle, so surely they'd be up for a morale boost by fighting off some eco-terrorists. The problem was, naturally, that everyone was lying on their stomachs, and Jill and Alec were on the other side of the Pokemon Center.

He figured that maybe if he could get them to divulge their sinister plan, they might get riled up enough to lose a little bit of control of the situation. If they let their passion overcome their dominance, the citizens could easily unite quickly enough to overcome them. "Easily," of course, being relative.

"Can I ask a question?" Justin's face remained towards the floor, but his right hand was slightly lifted. "What do you think we should do to clean the city up? Can it even be cleaned up? I feel like it might be too late." That should be enough talking points for them to rant long enough for a distraction. Those were Justin's thoughts on the matter at least but, to be frank, his thoughts weren't the most reliable ones.

[Kamaitachi]

"Can I ask a question?" The 'Son of Lenoilia' closest to them looked as if he were going to say no, but Justin carried on anyways. Typical of him, Tag shook his head. Justin was always bullheaded it seemed.

"All is possible. The abundance of wealth in Petropolis is...abundant." The man replied in the most eloquent manner he could, "Even a fraction of that could be put towards the restoration of Lenoilia. Between Daioh and Petropolis, and their technologies, why can't they devote some of it to cleaning up a place they ruined?"

It appeared Justin had asked the dumb one the question. Tag thought the answer was okay, at best, but it didn't quite explain what they were doing in a Pokemon Center, instead of say, a government office or a political stage somewhere in the center of town. For true, though, Justin hadn't asked what they hoped to accomplish by holding a Pokemon Center hostage.

Tag turned his head, indicating with his fingers for Kyoko to approach. He whispered softly, giving her a set of commands, to which she nodded in reply. He then whispered to Bachi a few commands as well, then to Suzu, setting up a quick, but detailed plot.

"Justin, lay low for a bit...you're going to be the main fighting force on our side of the Pokemon Center, and if you start fighting, so will your friends on the other side." Tag continued in a hushed whisper towards Justin. "I'm initiating a gambit here, that could potentially put me out of the fight, so I'm counting on you. If I'm unconscious, wait for your moment to strike, but I can at least soften up two of them in one fell swoop."

Hoping that Justin had gotten all that, Tag sprung into action immediately. Leaping up to his feet, swooping up Kyoko in his arms as he did, he roared a quick set of commands, hoping to catch them off guard.

"Bachi, Peck! Suzu, Reflect!"

The Ledian buzzed up in front of Tag, creating her pale, yellow barrier in front of him, whilst Bachi charged unexpectedly towards the guy at the door, whose Bayleef had been caught completely off guard. Whilst all attention turned towards that 'battle' erupting, Tag threw Kyoko over towards the guy haranguing Nurse Joy with his Grotle. His aim was fairly true, the Oddish bouncing of the top of the side of the counter and into the little nook where Joy typically resided. All that could be seen for a moment was a spray of pink spores rising upwards, hopefully incapacitating the man and his Grotle. Potentially, it would take out Nurse Joy as well, which would've just been unfortunate.

Meanwhile, the four at the center turned their attention to tag. Tag figured that Bachi would consider to take on the Bayleef at the door, hopefuly taking it out, but it was really waiting for the moment to get past the Bayleef and use his Poison Sting on the trainer behind her. However, now Tag and Ledian were faced with Grovyle, Roselia, Ivysaur and Breloom.

Quickly, Tag recalled Suzu to her pokeball, sparing her having to face those four trainers (and for later use). He dropped the ball on the ground and kicked it over to Justin, for safekeeping or for later use. Tag raised his hands over his head, almost apologetically, but evidently the trainers were not too keen on showing mercy to any insubordinations.

"Breloom, Mach Punch" Tag had feared this much: It was certainly going hurt. The punch streaked through the air, as the Breloom sprang into action. However, luckily, it struck the yellow Reflect that Suzu had summoned before slamming into Tag's stomach.

Tag nevertheless felt the wind leave his body as the punch struck home. Even though the Reflect had absorbed most of the blow, it was still immensely powerful. He felt himself flying backwards for a moment, landing on the ground with a heavy thud. Immediately, he curled into fetal position, essentially growling in pain as he wrapped up around the stomach hit.

"We will not tolerate further uprisings here." One of the remaining four yelled towards the rest. They looked a bit confused as Bachi limped past them, back over to Tag where he toppled over next to his trainer. They looked back to where that mini-battle had taken place, and sure enough, the Bayleef was unconscious, and the trainer was sitting on the ground, a large gash in his side from where the Nidorino's horn had struck.

"Oh crap." The formation broke, as the man with the Roselia moved over to the door to keep watch and tend to the man, whilst the other three formed up into more of a triangle this time, leaving Grovyle, Ivysaur and Breloom in the middle. None of them seemed to notice that the sixth trainer with his Grotle where nowhere in sight.

Kyoko peeked out from behind the counter, looking at her fallen master with concern written all over her beady eyes. She looked to Justin and Andrew for further instructions.

Tag, meanwhile, very painfully reached up with a pokeball, returning Bachi to it before they could enact any vengeance on it. He was out of comission for the time being while he struggled to recatch his breath, as well as trying not to pass out from the pain in his gut. Brelooms sure hit hard.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Tag's wall of Reflect was still up, despite his somewhat lack of consciousness. Two of the six terrorists were down - One was asleep thanks to Tag's oddish, and the other was writing in poisonous pain thanks to Bachi, his nidorino. Tag clearly knew what was going to happen when he did this, but it set the stage perfectly, almost too much so, for Justin to take over as the big hero of the day.

Of course, it would be hard to play wild heroics with that incredibly powerful breloom about. Its Mach Punch would probably take down Justin before he even got a chance to give a command. How he wanted to send out Pinsir, who would easily be able to take any of Breloom's attacks, especially behind the barrier, but that wasn't a possibility. Nincada's typing was somewhat beneficial, but she wasn't near strong enough to take it on. Bonsly was the same story as Nincada, except without the beneficial typing. That left Hitmontop, which was fine, because Hitmontop was Justin's bro and, moreover, could attack using an equally fast Mach Punch.

Still on the ground, Justin pulled out Hitmontop's ball and opened it up, calling forth Hitmontop. "Mach Punch on Breloom!" he shouted, simultaneously standing up. "Anyone who wants in on this, now's the time!"

Jill and Alec nodded their heads and pushed themselves to their feet while Justin used his foot to toss Suzu's pokeball to his left hand. It was pretty clear Tag wanted Justin to command his pokemon, so he quickly summoned the ledian. "Kyoko!" He called out, looking over at the counter where the little oddish stood. "You and Suzu stop that guy over there!" He pointed to the man by the door with the roselia.

Jill sent out a Doduo and Alec a very angry looking Scyther, which was convenient because Grovyle began by charging Justin. It was cut off, however, by Scyther's Wing Attack from above. With Alec's Scyther focusing on the Grovyl and Jill's Doduo taking on Ivysaur, that allowed Justin to focus on Hitmontop, Suzu and Kyoko. His affinity towards his own pokemon made him want to micromanage Hitmontop, but it didn't seem necessary. Him and Breloom were locked in heated battle, taking up the entire center of the floor. Breloom was clearly not used to fighting an opponent like Hitmontop, who fought upside down, which made for a very interesting battle, one which Justin felt like he'd be getting in the way of if he shouted commands. Hitmontop knew what he was doing.

Kyoko and Suzu, however, were without a trainer and while Suzu likely knew what she was doing, Kyoko seemed young and new to battling. Not that Justin was any different in that regard, but maybe that would give them something to bond over. He shuffled his way over to the front area, trying not to get sideswiped by either his own pokemon or Breloom on his way. When he got there, it seemed as though Roselia was completely dazed. Suzu had used the old Confuse and Encore routine which it must have memorized by now. Kyoko was lost in a forced sleep, which led Justin to believe Roselia had used a Sleep Powder on Kyoko while Suzu confused it, and then was forced to continue spraying sleeping spores on Kyoko thanks to Suzu's Encore. Maybe she just skipped the confusion part. It was hard to tell if Roselia was confused or just had an odd face because it was using Encore against her will.

Justin only knew two attacking moves of Suzu's, and those were Tackle and Mach Punch, neither of which were very powerful at all. Mach Punch, Justin knew from his own experiences with it, was not useful against Roselia's poison type. What Justin did not, however, know, was that Roselia even had a Poison type. "Just keep using Mach Punch on it," he nodded towards the ledian. "It can't do anything to you," Suzu nodded and attacked Roselia with incredible speed, yet an intense lack of power. Roselia didn't even look like it took any damage from the attacks as it just kept spraying sleeping powder onto Kyoko.

The two on one strategy was very effective. Of course, it would all go to hell if the man decided to summon a second pokemon. Justin didn't even know if he had a second pokemon.

[Kamaitachi]

The battle sprung to life all around the pokemon center. The main display, of course, was the acrobatic and incredibly fast fighting of the Breloom and Justin's Hitmoontop in the middle of the pokemon center. Jill's Doduo and Alec's Scyther were still locked in battle with the Grovyle and Ivysaur, even despite their clear type advantages.

Justin had moved over to take on the Roselia trainer, who due to Suzu's encore, was just spraying Oddish with Sleep Powder over and over again while getting a bunch of ineffective Mach Punches from Suzu.

After one of the particular punches, Suzu reeled back in pain, apparently having come into contact with one of Roselia's thorns. Tag's Ledian was now shivering in pain, possibly having been poisoned from attacking the Roselia. In the mean time, the Encore faded, allowing Roselia to perform whatever attack it wished. It therefore launched a SOLARBEAM Bullet Seed at Suzu, who weathered the little barrage quite well. Kyoko, meanwhile, looked to be waking up from her forced sleep, giving Justin perhaps more tactical option.

The remaining four enemy trainers figured that this was nothing more than a melee, and suddenly, four more of their pokemon appearedon the field. The Breloom was joined by an Exeggcute in the center against Hitmontop, a Weepinbel appeared with Ivysaur to take on Jill's Doduo, and Skiploom joined Grovyle in taking on Alec's Scyther, and the Roselia facing Justin, Suzu and Kyoko, was suddenly joined by a Cacnea. It must've appeared that their numbers doubled, but hopefully our heroes could rally with some pokemon of their own?

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin's mind was locked in his own vicarious battle through Tag's pokemon, so when the four remaining hippies summoned an extra pokemon each, he only noticed the one with the roselia double up with a cacnea. While Alec and Jill could react to the extra pokemon facing their Scyther and Doduo respectively and summon an extra pokemon to make it 2v2, Justin neglected to realize that Hitmontop was now being double teamed by an exeggcutor and the breloom from earlier.

He couldn't tell if things were looking up or down as far as Kyoko and Suzu went. On the one hand, Kyoko was awake. Suzu, however, was poisoned and Roselia was out of her daze. Though it seemed Suzu's attacks were largely ineffectively, she landed enough to at least dent Roselia. Maybe he could turn this around by using some of Kyoko's built in effect spores. He knew she had the ability to poison, paralyze or put an opponent to sleep with them. Given the unreliability of putting someone to sleep, he figured paralysis was the way to go, thanks to its relative permanence.

"Kyoko, paralyze Roselia. Suzu, confuse it," he said, confidently. He'd never seen a paralysis and confusion combination in action before, however common it was, so he thought himself pretty brilliant for coming up with it. The combination would effectively leave poor Roselia out of commission, changing it into a 2 on 1 battle yet again, this time against Cacnea, who was not resistant to Suzu's Mach Punch. (If only Justin knew she had access to Bug Bite!)

Jill, meanwhile, had summoned a Baltoy to help Doduo even the odds against Ivysaur and Weepinbell. While its ground type was disadvantage against the grass pokemon, its psychic type would surely help offensively, assuming Doduo could keep them from attacking it directly. Thanks to its two heads and fairly decent speed, this seemed possible.

Alec set loose Persian, a common yet fast and fairly powerful pokemon, to help Scyther take on Skiploom and Grovyle. Its effectively combination of normal typing, technical skills not unlike Hitmontop's and access to Fake Out make it an incredible pokemon, perfect for crowd control, temporarily knocking out an opponent so its partner, Scyther in this case, could use its full power without fear of being wrecked by a barrage of attacks.

Which brings us to Hitmontop, spinning wildly trying its hardest to avoid taking direct hits from Exeggcute's psychic attacks on top of being chased down by Breloom. What was once an elegant dance between two agile and powerful fighters quickly became a beatdown. Hitmontop needed some guidance or, better yet, a partner, but Justin was far too focused on Roselia and Cacnea. He would survive, but not for much longer.

[Kamaitachi]

Tag lay on the ground, still squirming a bit from the pain. He felt as if perhaps his organs had gotten a bit displaced, but for the moment, he was essentially out of comission. However, the intimidating man mustered to toss a pokeball up in the air.

In a flash of light, Bachi appeared, still looking quite worn for the wear after his battle with the Bayleef earlier.

"Help...Hitmontop..." was all Tag could muster. Nidorino was at a severe disadvantage in that fight, with Breloom being several levels higher, and Exeggcute holding a distinct type advantage over poison types. Bachi growled in response and obediently charged forward. With that, Tag slumped back over to grimace in pain some more.

Bachi leapt into the fray, narrowly avoiding Hitmontop, whom he'd fought now twice before, and slammed hard into the Exeggcute with a super-effective Peck attack, leaving an opening for Hitmontop to concentrate on Breloom. However, in just a matter of moments, Bachi landed a few hits on the Exeggcute, but was rendered senseless by the psychic power. Exeggcute, however, was clustering about, clearly on its last...uh...egg...I guess. If Hitmontop played its cards correctly, it could narrow it back to a 1v1 easily.

Elsewhere, the Roselia began to repeatedly hit her head against the wall, alternating between spurts of paralysis and dazed confusion. Her trainer recalled her, fearing for her safety, while sending out a Sunflora to take her place. Without further ado, it stuck some roots into the ground, effectively ingraining itself through the pokemon center floor. At the same time, its partner, Cacnea and Suzu were locked in fierce combat. Cacnea's poison sting, however, seemed to be overcoming the already weakened Suzu, who was launching Mach Punches with all her might. It was only a matter of moments before she succumbed.

Kyoko, however, had taken the momentary distractions to move behind Justin's leg, hiding a little bit from the two opposing pokemon, who focused their efforts on the waning Suzu.

At yet a third part of the pokemon center, Ivysaur and Weepinbel set up a barrage of razor leafs, alternating between them so as to keep up almost a constant storm of shuriken-like leaves. Even though Doduo could resist them, Baltoy would surely be at a disadvantage. Shame no one on Jill's team knew Disable or Torment. Might've been nifty.

And in close proximity to Jill, Alec's Scyther and Persian were duking it out with a happy looking Skiploom, and a ragged looking Grovyle. The Grovyle had been on the receiving end of many of Scyther's presumably technicianed STAB attacks, it was sure to topple at any time. However, Skiploom had immediately initiated its double team, making it appear as if several Skiploom facing Scyther and Persian, giving Grovyle time to recover a little of its breath.

All was chaos in that poor, Petropolis Pokemon Center.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Hitmontop saw the nidorino jump to its aid only to be swiftly knocked out. It felt a strong sense of anger, but an even stronger urge to keep Bachi protected while it was injured. Justin was busy and Tag was barely conscious as well, putting quite a bit of responsibility on his shoulders. Or his knees, I guess, since he's upside down.

It had a hard time getting close enough to Exeggcutor to do any damage, as Breloom's Mach Punch kept him on the move. Hitmontop had an attack Breloom could not, however, compete with. Pursuit was so quick that an opponent is unable to run away from it. With immense speed, Hitmontop moved around Breloom, whose punches followed in his wake, and used the super effective, technician boosted dark attack against the psychic eggs, which, combined with Bachi's aerial assault, finished it off. The battle was evenly matched yet again, aside from the fact that Hitmontop had taken a psychic attack which did a lot of damage. He hoped his precision attacks would be sufficient in taking down Breloom, who seemed to be in much higher spirits.

Justin, meanwhile, began panicking as Roselia was pulled back and replaced by Sunflora, who quickly began powering itself up. Suzu began to lose power quickly, and Kyoko was clearly too afraid to use its attacks effectively. Justin, moreover, was not confident enough to have her move in if she didn't want to. It seemed as though Tag's pokemon, however strong willed, were far less capable without the expert help of their trainer. Justin just wasn't as good. He was getting so angry and frustrated, seeing all this happen and not being able to really do anything about it, he really just wanted to punch this- Wait, yeah. His pokemon were occupied. Suzu wouldn't last much longer, but, yeah.

As Sunflora began to join in on the attacks against Suzu, her wings fluttering more slowly and her altitude dropping, Justin ran past the battle, over the trainer who was poisoned by Bachi, and threw his fist at the trainer who Tag's pokemon were losing against. The guy who looked barely nourished and far too skinny, barely had time to flinch as he flew to the ground. Justin had been in fights before, but not many, and it had been long enough for him to forget how much it made his fist hurt. "Son of a-" he was cut off, of course, by the death stares the trainer's grass pokemon were giving him. They completely stopped any attacks they were in the middle of and began preparing attacks for Justin. He wasn't confident in his ability to take on pokemon in an unarmed fight, but he raised his fists anyway.