[X] My Assistant

[Kamaitachi]

Overcast. Skies floated overhead at a slightly faster pace than usual, filling the world with its gloomy grey. Tag particularly enjoyed this weather, due to the constant breeze and the coolness of it. Petropolis always seemed kind of smoggy, and the tall buildings typically blocked out the sun, leaving a sort of eerie grey purveying everywhere.

Today in particular, it seemed to fit Tag's demeanor. He walked slowly down the street, causing the few, quicker walkers to skirt around him in a fairly wide berth. He seemed more irked than usual today, irritation etched all over his tattooed face.

Perhaps it was that he didn't get much sleep the night before, having spent his time hovering over his pokemon in the pokemon center. Or perhaps it was the reason his pokemon were in the center that had kept him up. An adolescent nobody with a powerful pokemon had ripped through his duo with ludicrous ease. He had smiled about it, mostly due to the fact that he'd started that un-winnable match, but now, it simply irritated him.

The prevailing thought on his mind was simply getting stronger now. His strategies seemed solid at the moment, utilizing the full array of his pokemon's current abilities.

Before long, he found himself at an empty courtyard between a few apartment buildings. There were a few people milling about and a few kids kicking a ball around...but other than that, it seemed virtually empty. Reaching back to his belt, he drew his two pokeballs and opened them, revealing his two pokemon companions.

"Suzu, Bachi...You've both been working very hard recently. Show me what you've learned. Suzu, you first." Tag's voice sounded a little ragged from the rough night, but it still retained its very calm, yet very commanding tone.

Suzu floated up in front of him, spreading its six legs wide, forming a small blue hexagonal barrier. Before long, it spread out, revealing a translucent blue screen of the same shape. Tag noted it as a Light Screen, having seen it a multitude of times before. It moved slightly to the side, repeating the process, however the screen appeared as pale yellow instead. It spread out, floating next to the blue screen it had created. Tag took a mental jot that Ledyba had learned both Light Screen and Reflect now, figuring that was the end. However, Ledyba continued to surprise him as it floated up again over the two shields it had created, it glowed a pale blue for a moment. Holding its hands up, she formed a little circle with the pale blue light, sending it upwards in something like a halo. It spun gently overhead, casting a powdery like veil in a little circle around Suzu. "Safeguard." He muttered "Useful." Lastly, Ledyba disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing in front of its light screen and reflect attacks, hammering into it with an incredibly fast punch. Naturally, the barriers did not break, as Suzu had not learned Brick Break, but they still shook from the fierce impact of the blow.

"huh...Mach Punch" Tag raised an eyebrow "Any more?" Suzu shook its head, but nevertheless seemed pleased with its own progress.

"Excellent work, Suzu." He turned to the little Nidoran, who had taken to nestling up at his feet. "C'mon Bachi...you're up." Bachi, without moving, merely wiggled its head, its horn glowing a radiant light purple for a moment before fading back away.

"Well done as well, Bachi. That appears to be a Poison Sting." He had been waiting for his Nidoran to learn that move. Now both Suzu and Bachi had several more moves between them, opening up the floodgates to a whole series of new combinations and tactics. "Alright, well done both of you. Let's find someone to test your new abilities on."

He gathered the two back into their pokeballs to rest, as he slowly exited the courtyard, just as the children who had been playing ball approached to get a closer look. They seemed genuinely disappointed that the pokemon trainer had left, but he paid them absolutely no heed as he rounded the corner back into the street.

The cloudy mindset drifted gently out of his demeanor. He seemed slightly less peeved now that he knew his pokemon's capabilities were increasing further than they had before.

However, he figured what he needed now were some trainers in order to test them out against. Petropolis with a city teeming with life, so it surely wouldn't be hard to find a decent trainer or two...

There. A flyer. He detoured slightly from the sidewalk over to the post, pulling up.

"Petropolis Battle Arena. Test your mettle against trainers of all types. Happy Happy Department Store Basement, B2...Jackpot." A small smile spread on Tag's lips.

* * *

Happy Happy Department Store certainly lived up to its name. The brightly coloured building looked like a shopper's paradise. Really, it seemed like more of a mall than a Department Store. He walked in, almost taken aback by the assault of cheery greetings and the cheesy department store music. He nodded as he passed, mildly irritated at the smiling faces. Relief washed over him as he stepped into the elevator, only to find himself annoyed again at the horrible choice of elevator music.

After a few jerky stops, it finally reached the bottom level, opening the door to what Tag felt to be a fantastic sight. There were four sets of bleachers, lined up in a circle around a cage, wherein a pokemon match was going on.

Before long, Tag found his way over to the registration table, securing himself a slot, then made his way down into the bleachers to watch the match.

It seemed that there were definitely more spectators than challengers, because Tag's name was called within half an hour. He walked up amidst the cheers as he stepped into the cage. Across from him stood the victor of at least the previous three matches. A grimace crossed Tag's face, for it was just another kid he was now up against. This kid looked like a typical, self-proclaimed "Ace Trainer", with spiky brown hair, big goggles, and something along the lines of a track suit. Tag looked over himself in comparison. He was probably at least 12 years older than the kid, and was wearing a tank top, leather jacket and jeans.

"In this corner from..." the announcer looked down at the sheet "Uh, you left that part blank, where are you-" An uninterested stare from Tag met the inquisitive one from the announcer, who after a moment gave up. "In the Green Corner, a real enigma. With no hometown, we have Taggarty Lee!"

The crowd cheered. Tag could barely make out someone's musing as to the tattoos on his face. He sighed, but only slightly this time. He was getting used to people commenting on his face.

"And in the Red Corner, from our hometown of Petropolis, your current Arena constituent, Pistol Jones!" That is...the stupidest name I've ever heard. He probably gave himself that nickname. Tag frowned.

"This will be a three on three-" the announcer began.

"I've only two pokemon." Tag interjected. "Two on Three will suit me fine."

"Fine, this will be a two on-"

"No way." Pistol piped up from his corner "I'm not taking the handicap. Let's make it a two on two double battle." Tag didn't particularly enjoy the boy's charity, but he accepted it all the same. The double battle would be most acceptable.

"I agree to your terms" Tag nodded. "Let's begin."

"Since my other pokemon are kinda worn out, I'll have to debut my newest pokemon partner, who I caught a few weeks back!" Whom Tag sighed mentally. "Oddish, take the stage! Chimchar, spotlight!"

Tag studied the Oddish closely. It was really quite adorable in the most simple way. It looked like a berry with feet with little button eyes. "Oddish is gonna kick your butt. He might not have any battle experience yet, but I took him to the move tutor." The Chimchar excitedly moved to the center stage, where it glared at Tag. The little fire monkey twitched with excitement. Oddish, however, decided to stare at Tag dead in the eye, holding its little...berry...body up proudly just off from the center in the field.

"Suzu, Bachi. Go." Tag almost lazily tossed out the pokeballs, revealing his two pokemon companions. The duo appeared in a flash of light, revealing the ladybug and poison...rabbit...pokemon. Suzu floated up to the center, while Bachi scampered along excitedly. The two took their place at the center as the referee/announcer raised his flags.

"Let the match begi-"

"Chimchar, Ember on the Ledyba. Oddish, Sweet Scent!"

The Oddish danced about for a moment, releasing several pink petals into the air accompanied by a little pink powder. Tag narrowed his eyes as he calculated the kid's next moves - Sweet Scent to lower his pokemon's evasion so that they were more susceptible to its more potent powders, while Chimchar's ember was aimed to knock Suzu out immediately, however-

"Bachi, intercept the ember, counter with Poison Sting. Suzu, encore on Oddish!" Tag's Nidoran leapt up in front of Suzu, taking a few of the little fireballs for its teammate. He landed on his feet and broke into a charge, despite the searing pain on its belly. Bachi's horn glowed briefly as he rammed it towards Chimchar. The fire monkey pokemon barely had time to avoid, allowing Bachi to score a knick on one of its slender little arms. It shrieked in pain, grasping the arm, which only looked like a cut - no poison seemed to have seeped in. Ledyba, meanwhile, floated over to Oddish and clapped its six arms together in applause.

"Huh, lame." Pistol taunted "Your pokemon can't even attack properly. Chimchar, scratch on Nidoran, Oddish, Acid at Ledyba." The Chimchar raced forward as Nidoran casually turned its back. The little monkey slashed out, scoring a direct hit on the little Rabbit, but the poisoned spikes on his back had jabbed into Chimchar as it attacked. Chimchar stumbled backwards, looking a little disoriented. Meanwhile, Oddish did a little dance, sending more pink petals for Sweet Scent up in the air.

"Uh...don't you know Acid, Oddish?" Pistol looked a little concerned. Tag noted the uncertainty in the young trainer's face, and decided not to inform him on the nature of Encore as a move; the kid would have to study that up on his own time, because Tag wasn't here to lecture.

"Suzu, Supersonic on Chimchar. Bachi, Peck on Oddish!" His two pokemon streaked forward, crossing paths. The Ladybug zipped forward before firing off a concentrated shockwave from her mouth. It impacted the Chimchar's head, rattling its brain for a moment. It stumbled around, wounded from the poison, and now confused almost to the point of intoxication. On its left, it could only watch as the Peck attack hammered home, dealing a relatively powerful hit to the little grass pokemon.

"Uh...uh..." the 'Ace Trainer' Pistol Jones looked utterly confused as what to do "Uh...Chimchar? Oddish?"

"Fine." Tag stood casually, hands in his pockets and honestly, only have watching the battle from his vantage. "Suzu, Mach Punch Chimchar. Bachi, Peck on Oddish again." Pistol Jones could only watch on in dismay as his Chimchar scratched at its own head, and his Oddish once again released its sweet scent into the battle arena's air. He grunted in disgust as Suzu's Mach Punch landed square on the Chimchar's jaw, and the Peck attack from Bachi rendered his Oddish immobile.

"Oddish is unable to battle." The ref announced. Pistol Jones stood there, staring at his defeated Oddish. "Trainer, please recall your pokemon to its pokeball."

"..." the young trainer eyed the Oddish and pulled out the pokeball, snapping it in two. "No, I hereby release Oddish. He's weak and therefore no longer my responsibility."

Tag's eyes widened. He'd never seen such a callous abandonment like that. He made a time out signal with his hand and walked across the field of battle, crouching down next to the wounded Weed pokemon. Suzu hovered over his ear, and Bachi sat down to his side.

"Hey" Tag gently scooped up the pokemon, who squirmed a little at his touch. "s'okay, s'okay...." he whispered softly. The little grass pokemon appeared to be crying. It had tried its best in what was probably its first Trainer Battle, but couldn't amount to anything due to Suzu's Encore. Tag gently, gingerly wiped away the tears from the pokemon's eyes with the bottom of his tank top. He smiled gently. "s'okay, s'okay...you can come with me, okay?" The little berry face, though weak, seemed to brighten a little as it nodded. "You a boy?" The female Oddish shook her head in what appeared to be a weak 'no'. "So you're a girl. Do you like the name...Kyoko?" She nodded once again. "Fine, Kyoko, you'll travel with me."

"Okay, get some rest in this new pokeball." He reached into his backpack side pocket, pulling out an empty pokeball. Touching the button, it expanded...magically...and the trainer gently tapped the Oddish on the side of its head with the ball. For a brief moment, she smiled as she disappeared into the pokeball. It made its "Ping!" noise immediately, signifying that she'd accepted the pokeball without hesitation.

"Hey...you..." Pistol Jones stood there akimbo "Of course a weak trainer like you wants weak pokemon." Tag stood, firing off the fiercest glare he could muster. His warm brown eyes seemed absolutely terrifying to the audience that could see it, as Pistol Jones, Ace Trainer, visibly cringed from the sight.

"Strong Pokemon and Weak Pokemon." Tag almost growled "is a mistake you never want to make." He had made that mistake before, and it was most likely that question that had caused him to fail the Dragon's Den test, resulting in the tragic events that followed. Without divulging too much more information, he moved back to his trainer box, then pointed forward. "Your move, stupid name."

"Hey, Pistol's a cool name!" The kid seemed a little flustered. Tag's way with insults was by no means eloquent, but they always did seem to hit their mark. "Chimchar, show him...Flame Wheel!" The monkey pokemon, still seeming a bit knackered from the Supersonic, still managed to throw itself forward into a roll, bursting into flames as it gathered up power.

"Suzu, Reflect, Bachi, Double Kick!" The fire conflageration whizzed forward, slamming into the translucent yellow wall, visibly shoving its Ledyba creator back in the field. However, as Chimchar uncurled itself, it found itself on the receiving end of Nidoran's double kick! The pair of rabbit kicks to the face caused it to reel back, its little digits held to its little face as it cried in pain.

"Chimchar, another Flame Wheel!" the kid screeched, pointing his trembling hand at Tag's Nidoran.

I activate my Trap Card! "Suzu, Mach Punch!" Tag commanded firmly. He watched closely as his little Ladybug flashed forward, slamming Chimchar square in the stomach before it could curl into its flame wheel. The defeated Chimchar hit the ground, unconscious, and probably still addled from the Supersonic.

"Chimchar is unable to battle. Green Corner Taggarty Lee is the winner!"

Tag was about to recall his two pokemon for a brief rest when he noticed something odd. A sparking 'jolt' noise was heard echoing throughout the room, swiftly hushing the crowd. The epicenter of the noise was clearly Tag's two pokemon in the center of the ring. After just a second, the two began to glow in a brilliant, pale white light, shining brightly in the center. Tag shielded his eyes, but could just barely make out the outline of his pokemon's shape changing.

"They're evolving" One kid exclaimed. Tag bit his tongue, though he really wanted to yell "UH DUUHHHHHH" at the stupid kid who had made the really obvious comment.

After a moment, the light faded revealing Tag's pokemon in their new forms. Before him, Suzu now stood as a Ledian. Standing proudly on its hind legs, its adorable saucer eyes replaced by cool looking sunglasses eyes, the Ladybug looked quite proud of its evolution. She now stood about Four Feet tall, having gained about a foot in height over her previous form. Just to her side stood Bachi, who looked less like a rabbit now and more almost like a spiky lizard. His pins had grown out into formidable looking spikes, and he had adopted a bit of a wider stance, probably to ensure sturdiness. Bachi appeared to be a downright scary looking Nidorino. The two had gone from cute to somewhat intimidating in no time, somewhat akin to the transformation their trainer had undergone some years before. Tag smiled calmly as he took to one knee, both of his pokemon scampering over.

"Well done, friends." he patted them on the head (careful, of course, to avoid Bachi's new, longer horn. "Well done." Across the arena, Pistol Jones, Ace Trainer, stormed off in a defeated huff.

Tag's smile faded as he recalled his team to their pokeballs. Placing his hands in his pockets, he waited patiently for the announcer to declare the next challenger.

This post has been edited by Kamaitachi: Jul 6 2010, 12:14 AM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Life was good. The dorky smile above Justin's chiseled chin was proof that crime did pay. Well, it wasn't as much proof as was the cash he had received earlier that day for an illegal pokemon smuggling operation, proving that crime literally did pay. After catching up on rent and renewing his gym membership (the human kind), he found himself walking down the street to a local sandwich shop he liked to go to, Rick's Subs. It was a small business, unlike the many more successful (and cheaper) chains, but Justin liked to support small business when he could afford it.

"Yo! Justin!" came Rick Sanchez's familiar greeting as soon as the bell rang as he opened the door. "Long time since you been in here. You been goin' somewhere else?"

"Hell no!" Justin laughed as he walked up to the counter and threw his right hand into Rick's and they shook. There were a few people in the shop enjoying their sandwiches, and none of them seemed taken aback by the informal atmosphere. "Just been a little tight on cash,"

"I feel you, man," Rick nodded. "So whatcha want?"

"Can I still say 'The Usual'?"

Rick looked a little embarrassed. "It was, um, turkey with, uh, swiss and um. Let's see. Mustard, I think."

"Mayo," Justin smiled, almost victoriously. "Lettuce and tomatoes."

"Right, yeah," Rick began to put the sandwich together. "I was testing you."

"I know," Justin smiled.

"So how you been, man? You still doin' construction?"

"Yeah," Justin lied, after a second of pondering his options. It felt like an easier lie than saying he inherited some money, because then he'd have to go into detail and say who died and then he'd feel bad if a similar relative actually did die any time after that. This did make him realize he needed some sort of cover, though, for when someone important asked the same question. "You know, it sucks, but,"

"Yep, well, that's work,"

"Don't give me that, you love your job," Justin grinned as he handed Rick a ten and took his sub.

"I do," Rick laughed, exchanging it and handing Justin four dollars back. "Hey, you want a soda or anything? On the house."

"Nah man, I'll just take a water cup, but thanks."

"Here's a bottle," Rick knelt down to the small refridgerator he kept under the counter and tossed Justin a sealed bottle of water. Justin nodded at Rick, said thanks, and began walking towards the door. "Yo!" Rick called again and Justin turned his head to see what was up. "When did you start using pokemon?" He was referring to the four pokeballs attached to Justin's belt.

"Oh, a while ago actually," Justin noted. "First got 'em to help me out at the job, but I've actually started battling a little bit now. One of 'em's actually starting to get real good."

"Oh man, you know there's a battle contest bein' held Happy Happy Department Store. Jill told me about it, she does pokemon too."

"Oh, that's cool," Justin began to smile. "Jill's your daughter, right?" he didn't have Rick's family memorized, but did remember Rick mentioning a daughter. He figured it was a 50/50 chance between daughter and wife.

"Yep," Rick crossed his arms. "My pride and joy right there. You should hook up with her there, see who's better."

"That sounds cool," Justin said, not half as interested in pokemon battling as he was in Rick's daughter, who was "around his age" according to him. Ever since Tina broke up with him, he'd been feeling lonely, among other, less appropriate, things and when one has an apartment to himself, those less appropriate things can be unhealthy. "Yeah, I'll head over. Maybe I'll see her there."

"I'll call her, tell her to look for you." Justin nodded and sort of tipped his water battle towards Rick like a mix between a wave and a salute before heading out and walking downtown (not very far at all from where he lived) towards Happy Happy Department Store.

***

"Justin? Justin Smart?" A feminine voice came through the crowd almost immediately after he had registered himself for the contest. He looked up and found a young woman, his age, waving towards him and pushing through the crowd. She had a cute face, tanned skin and short, black hair. From far away, she was gorgeous, something which may have set his standards a little higher than they should have been. When he made his way to her, however, he couldn't help but notice the tiny hairs on her upper lip and the less tiny ones on her arms as he shook her hand. "Jill Sanchez. My dad said I was supposed to meet you here. We got some pretty good seats if you wanna join us."

"Yeah, sounds good," Justin smiled, charmingly, following her. "So have you already fought?"

"Yeah, I was already eliminated, actually, but we're still gonna watch," she said, leading him towards the bleachers. "What pokemon are you gonna use, if you don't mind that I ask?"

"Well, I have a Hitmontop, Pinsir and a Bons-"

"Taggarty Lee!" came the voice of the announcer, previously just white noise in the background.

"Son of a bitch! Tag?" He looked towards the arena and saw Tag, scary looking as ever, in a match against some awkwardly dressed teen.

"You know that guy?" Jill asked.

"Yeah, barely," Justin said, nothing inwardly that he didn't know Tag at all. "I met him yesterday."

"Oh, that's cool," Jill said with a disinterested tone. "Okay, hey guys! This is Justin," He turned away from the arena and towards Jill's group of friends, one girl and two guys. "This is Kerry, James and Alec."

"Nice to meet you all," Justin said, shaking all of their hands. "Do you all battle?"

"No," Jill said as they took a seat. "Just me and Alec."

"We're just watching," Kerry added. "I think it's more fun to watch."

Justin chuckled. "If you say so. I've never really been into pokemon all that much, so I don't really enjoy the watching part. Winning is somethin' I've always loved, though." He said this recalling, specifically, the previous day's battle with Tag in which Justin had won, thanks to Hitmontop.

"I don't think anyone likes losing," Alec said, leaning forward. "But come on, you gotta at least love the mysticism of pokemon."

"Sure, I mean, it's just kinda- Wait, hold up," he looked towards the arena and watched as both of Tag's pokemon, Suzu and Bachi if he remembered correctly (which he did), evolved right in front of everybody. Maybe Tag wouldn't be such an easy mark this time around. Then again, Hitmontop was really strong. He guessed he'd just have to wait and see.

"Wow, that's awesome," Alec cried. "You rarely get to see a pokemon evolve right in front of you. How exciting. How can you not love this stuff, Justin?"

He realized then that while everyone else was in awe of this rare event, Justin was busy worried about how it would affect him personally. He was reminded of Malcolm, who he met the day before as well, who he envied for having a sense of wonder and excitement. It was sickening how jaded the man had become. "Yeah, no, it's cool. I just meant. Well, I don't really know, but, yeah, that was awesome."

Justin was becoming nervous. He wondered how many trainers were still ahead of him and whether or not he'd have to face Tag. He did want to get a chance to say hey but at the same time, he was more than a little concerned that Tag's strategies paired with his newly evolved pokemon would prove to be difficult to take down a second time.

[Kamaitachi]

"Okay...so now you have three pokemon, are you okay with 3 on 3 battles from here on out?" The referee looked over to Tag, who hesitantly nodded. His newfound partner Kyoko was not in the best of shape for battle, having been on the brink between consciousness and not before he 'caught' her. However, he had no time to figure out what sort of moves the Oddish had, so he'd have to try it on the fly.

"Next up, for the Red Corner, we have Annabelle Yu, from Saffron City, Kanto" A chinese looking girl ascended to the cage, entering with a look of grim determination in her eyes. She'd obviously watched the battle, Tag deduced, and now here she was, faced with him.

"This will be a 3 on 3 match, which will end when all three of a trainer's pokemon are unable to battle." The referee waved his flags in an almost semaphore-like pattern. "Reveal your first pokemon!"

"Wooper, let's show them what you've got." The girl tossed her pokeball forward, still looking deadset on defeating Tag. Tag figured this was a fine opportunity to see what his Oddish had. He quickly formulated a plan to get it back into tip top fighting shape for the next match.

"Kyoko." He tossed out the pokeball, revealing the still very wobbly Oddish. Most of the crowd gasped at the thought of Tag sending in the already nearly defeated pokemon into battle. It seemed almost cruel. Tag found their very visceral reaction somewhat amusing, though, as they probably had no idea what he had planned.

"Alright, let's have a clean match. Free switching is allowed. Begin!" The referee flung both of his flags upwards.

"Wooper, Water gun!"

"Oddish...Sleep Powder." Tag took a stab at an attack it could possibly know. From what he recalled, Most grass and bug pokemon learned a variety of status attacks very early in their lives, most likely to compensate for their lack of attack power. The water gun landed squarely on the Oddish, who shrugged off most of the impact, almost somewhat relishing in the cool spray that shoved her roughly backwards. She shook rapidly, flinging the damp little droplets of water from her little body, while simultaneously releasing a purple cloud into the air. Tag sighed with relief; he'd been correct in that regard. From what he understood then, Kyoko would have the full array of Poisonpowder, Stun Spore and Sleep Powder. Useful. He'd have to find out what other moves she was capable of at a later date, but from now he gathered that she at least knew Absorb, as it was a very basic grass move, and the moves Sweet Scent and Acid, since Pistol Jones had ordered those attacks from her. The cloud of sleep-inducing spores floated over Wooper before disappearing, revealing the little pokemon asleep standing up.

"Kyoko, absorb." Perfect. He had been graced with the sheer dumb luck of the girl sending out a water pokemon to start the match, and now Kyoko could reabsorb some of her health back, at least until the girl called for a switch. Oddish waddled and hopped over to the dozing Wooper, bending over slightly. Her head leaves rested on the pokemon's head, glowing green as they started to suck out some of its energy.

"C'mon Wooper, wake up, Water Gun!" she pointed, sound desperate to wake up her pokemon. Tag was quite pleasd with that outcome: he'd frazzled her into forgetting that she could switch pokemon.

"Kyoko, absorb." The Weed pokemon continued to siphon some of the energy from its sleeping pokemon, and appeared to be looking quite fresh. Tag figured she had healed herself to at least a maneuverable amount...and good thing too, the Wooper was stirring.

"There we go, Wooper, Mud shot!"

"Kyoko, Stun Spore!" The mud impacted Kyoko in the face, and she reeled back momentarily, mud covering her face. However, she was still in close, and the green spores that erupted from her fanning head floated over the Wooper. It cried out in pain, shivering in its awkward, stock-still position.

"Wooper, Water gun!" Anabelle commanded, looking on in horror as her Wooper remained in place, a pained look on its face.

"Kyoko, Absorb." It was a silly sight. Kyoko waddled forward, but missed the Wooper all together, due to not being able to see with the mud in its eyes. "Try again, listen for it." She stopped for a moment, tilting her body to one side in what appeared to be an inquisitive stance, then straightened up again. After a moment, she shook her head, as the noise from the crowd was too loud for her to hear where Wooper was.

"Wooper, c'mon, Mud shot!" Another piece of mud launched out of the pained Wooper's mouth, striking the Oddish hard on the side, but no amounting to a great deal of damage. Kyoko, however, used the opportunity to move in the direction of the attack, placing her leaves on the Wooper again and draining its energy. Wooper finally collapsed to the ground, weary due to its lack of energy.

"Wooper is unable to battle. Oddish wins."

"Alright, fine." Anabelle huffed, watching as Tag stared coolly at her from back across the field, hands in his pockets again. "Grimer, you're in charge." The brief flash of light subsided, revealing the smelly, sludgy gunk pokemon.

"Kyoko, return." Tag procured her pokeball, tactically removing her from the field - there was no way she could deal any sort of damage to the sludge pokemon, so he required someone with some more attack. "Bachi, go."

The poison horn pokemon appeared on the field, roaring at Grimer. Both trainer and pokemon looked quite intimidating, but not to the point of softening any attacks.

"Alright, begin!" The announcer waved his flags, though the two trainers didn't appear to be even listening to him.

"Bachi, Leer." "Grimer, Mud slap" Tag inwardly cursed, Mud Slap would more than likely be effective against his Nidorino. Bachi, however, took the hit like a champion, and returned a counter with an icy glare. The Grimer shuddered for a moment, retreating back a few sludgy steps.

"Grimer, Mud Slap again!" "Bachi, return." Tag swiftly beamed back his pokemon, tossing out his third pokeball. "Suzu, go." The Mud slap sailed cleanly underneath the now airborne opponent. Suzu floated overhead, her four arms akimbo on her 'hips'.

"Grimer, Poison Gas!" "Suzu, Safeguard!" Grimer reared up, then harhsly contracted itself, effectively squishing itself ot the ground and wringing out a foul stench from its body, which floated over towards Suzu in a gaseous cloud of nausea. However, Suzu had raised her hands over her head, forming a little blue halo that gently lowered a veil of blue light over its creator. The gas gently impacted, then floated off to the sides, around the gentle shield. Annabelle virtually growled on her side of the field, watching as her attack held little impact.

"Grimer, Pound!" "Suzu, Encore!" Suzu, the faster of the two pokemon, zipped over, clapping her four hands together repeatedly, making the applause sound. Much to Annabelle's chagrin, Grimer once again produced its horrid gas instead of attacking like she had commanded. The gas once again gently drifted around the veil that Suzu had created earlier. Encore was certainly a difficult move for trainers to deal with.

"Suzu, comet punch." The Ladybug pokemon swooped down, unleashing an array of punches on the sludge pokemon, who reeled back in obvious pain. Annabelle hadn't taken into account the Leer that Bachi had fired off before he had been recalled, effectively weakening Grimer's defense, and thus allowing Comet Punch to do that much more damage. Annabelle could only watch helplessly as Grimer released more ineffective poison gas, and Tag's Suzu beat Grimer into the ground.

"Grimer is unable to battle, Ledian is the winner!" Ledian floated up in the air triumphantly, waving her arms in appreciation to the cheering crowd.

"It's not over yet: Butterfree, go!" As Grimer disappeared from the field, another pokeball cracked open to reveal the butterfly pokemon flitting on the field. "Go, Sleep Powder!" Tag turned his head to one side, laughing silently as the powder collided with Suzu's Safeguard veil, still evident on the field. It drifted harmlessly off to the sides. "Suzu, return. Go Bachi."

Annabelle Yu looked utterly flustered at the fact that Tag kept switching his pokemon around, making her choices in pokemon virtually moot each time she summoned one to the field. It was too late for her to play the tactic now, because she was down to her last pokemon.

"Alright, this time for real, Butterfree, Stun Spore!" Much to her surprise, Bachi stood looking rather uninterested as the Stun Spore brushed up against the Safeguard Veil before floating off harmlessly to the sides of the cage again. "Wha?"

After just a moment, the blue veil faded, leaving the field of play. Tag smiled, as she'd forgotten that Safeguard protects its team for a few turns, rather than just on its immediate appearance. That mistake had cost her the match. "Bachi, Poison Sting." Bachi sprung forward, jamming the Butterfree hard with his horn. The Butterfly pokemon slammed hard into the side of the cage before falling down. The referee's flag shot up once more.

"Butterfree is unable to battle. The winner is Taggarty Lee!"

Tag looked positively bored as he recalled Bachi to his pokeball. It appeared that there weren't really many worthy trainers hanging out at the Happy Happy Department Store's Battle Arena. He was about to simply call it quits when he heard "Justin Smart!" announced in the field. His eyes widened with shock as he scanned the room. He appeared utterly surprised to hear that name so quickly. It looked like he would be given the chance to test himself out after all, especially against that ridiculous Hitmontop. However, his pokemon had just endured two battles each...perhap it wasn't the best time to attempt the rematch...but the opportunity, other than that, was pretty rife. It was rare that he'd be given such an opportunity.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin watched intently as Tag trounced Annabelle Yu, from Saffron City, Kanto. It wasn't even a battle. Tag's pokemon completely avoided any type of damage. The only damage he even took was when Wooper used weak attacks on Oddish, which were healed off thanks to Absorb anyway. Hell, Oddish was probably better off after the fight than before.

This made it all the scarier when the announcer said his name, "Justin Smart!" and called him over to the arena. He gulped and audible and cliche gulp before standing up. "Good luck, Justin!" came the energetic cheers of the four people who barely knew him. He tuned them out and walked down to the arena. He had to win. He already won just yesterday, so to lose now would be pathetic.

When he walked into the cage, he was met with the cold and somewhat startled stare of Taggarty Lee, the man who Justin had used and betrayed not 24 hours ago. Perhaps Tag was frustrated after losing their fight and thought he needed to prove his skills in a contest against a bunch of kids, not that Justin's reason for being there was any more noble.

"This will be a standard three on three. I see you have four pokeballs, but only the ones you've listed on your registration will be allowed."

"I understand," Justin nodded, consciously avoiding eye contact with his opponent.

Finally, he looked up and over at Tag. He didn't say a word, knowing that Tag didn't want to talk, so instead he readied his first pokeball. "Reveal your first pokemon!" The referee shouted systematically as Justin summoned Bonsly, his weakest of the three.

"Good luck," he said, attempting nonchalance.

[Kamaitachi]

He eyed Justin suspiciously, figuring that the man had, for whatever reason, followed him to the arena to further humiliate him. He listened as a small group of friends cheered up their idiot friend. Odds were, he hadn't informed his friends that he was a criminal. Naturally, they were cheering for him.

"Reveal your first pokemon!" He flung out a pokeball, having selected his Ledian as his first pokemon. His eyes widened for a moment as Justin's Bonsly simultaneously appeared on the field. Bonsly, for a baby pokemon, had very good defense, due it its rocky body, but Suzu more than likely outsped it.

"Good luck" he heard Justin mutter casually. The nerve of him. This was very clearly an important rematch for Tag, and there was Justin, acting like nothing mattered. It was a little upsetting, but it only registered as a faint glint of irritation across Tag's eyes.

"Shove it, kid." Tag growled back in reply. "Suzu, Reflect." The Ledian held out her four arms, forming a square barrier in a translucent, pale yellow light. It spread out, forming a sort of shield in front of her, placing it between her and her opponent. Meanwhile, Tag's mind went furiously to work. Last time he battled Bonsly, he had knocked it out immediately, due to it already having been weakened. That wasn't the case this time, as it was fresh on the field. He didn't see much of Justin's battle with the Pokemon Ranger either, since he had been engaged in his own fight. At the very least, he was hoping that Justin would try to play up the rock > Bug/flying scenario that was presented. He quickly flipped through his mental list of his pokemon's moves. In his mind, the following popped up as viable options against the rock type: Kyoko: Absorb. Bachi: Double Kick. Suzu: Mach Punch.

This was going to be a rough battle. His pokemon had grown considerably since their last meeting, so he wouldn't have been surprised if Justin's, having gone through the same ordeal, were likewise stronger as well. At the very least, setting up reflect would no doubt be a hamper against Justin's physically oriented team.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin had the advantage of both a fresh team and having seen Tag's style before. His ledian had a knack for encoring noncombat moves, but the reflect she put up would likely make attacks less effective as well. This strategy made it difficult for Justin to make a decision but, on the plus side, it was his decision to make, so he could use that to his advantage.

"Copy it," Justin said, crossing his arms. Bonsly had significantly less arms than Suzu but it used its branches as limbs to try to mimic its movements as close to possible. It was off, to say the least, but in practice it worked, and Justin's team was protected behind the same barrier as Tag's. Justin picked what he thought Tag wanted him to do, allowing him to predict Tag's reaction. Immediately after Bonsly used Copycat and simultaneously as Suzu used its next move, Justin called him back and sent out Pinsir to take the attack that was meant for Bonsly.

Pinsir had yet to see much battle. It was knocked out fairly quickly in its only fight, but it was still supposedly powerful, being a rare shadow pokemon. Its only attack, Shadow Rush, was effective against all pokemon and its other ability, Shadow Shed, had the potential to remove all of the barriers (unfortunately including his own) so that was a possibility.

It should be noted that while Justin was no champion, he had taken time the day prior to learn about his pokemon. It was sort of a wake up call when he found himself incapable of properly commanding Pinsir against the other Team Deception members. He already knew full well what Hitmontop was capable of, but Pinsir and Bonsly were his two least used pokemon. Moreover, the whole time he watched Tag battle the two trainers before he arrived in the cage, he had been formulating possible strategies against Tag's team of Oddish, Nidorino and Ledian. His opponent liked to use strategy, and brute force didn't seem the way to go against that.

[Kamaitachi]

Tag nodded, hands still in his pockets as he watched Bonsly mirror his last move to near perfection. There now sat two translucent yellow barriers up on the side of the field, and he did his best to conceal his surprise. He also found himself slightly impressed that Justin simply hadn't yelled "Attack", as he'd sort of expected him to do.

"Supersonic" he commanded calmly, watching as Suzu floated upwards into a higher position. He figured that since Reflect would raise Bonsly's already impressive defense, he'd have Bonsly hurt itself rather than attack it head on. That and he'd probably overused Encore at this point in the three battle streak. To his surprise, though, Justin recalled Bonsly and a Pinsir appeared on the field. He had been worried about this, as he knew absolutely nothing about Justin's Pinsir. It looked terribly frightening, but even slightly more so than any run of the mill Pinsir. Something about it just made it look incredibly mean.

Suzu focused her attention on the opposing bug type, her wings beating rapidly as she unleashed a confusing sound wave over in the direction of Pinsir. It wasn't a terribly accurate attack, but should it connect, it would potentially turn Pinsir's monstrous strength against it. Regardless of whether or not the Supersonic landed, Justin had used his turn to swap, ending that round of combat. As far as he knew, Pinsir, as were all of Justin's pokemon, the physical attacking type, so as Justin called out his next command, he recalled his Ledian, quickly swapping pokeballs "Bachi." he stated simply, as the Nidorino appeared in the field about where Suzu had been earlier.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

As Pinsir shot out of its pokeball, he was hit with subtle waves of sound, by which he seemed to be unaffected. Justin sighed in relief as the unfamiliar pokemon looked back to his owner for a command. "Oh, uh. Shadow Rush." Justin said oddly, as if he felt like he didn't need to say it. There was the possibility of Shadow Shed to break the walls of Reflect, but that would hurt his own barrier while wasting a turn and taking a full powered hit from whatever Nidorina's attack was going to be.

So Pinsir quickly charged the poison rhino pokemon, shadowy goodness surrounding itself. It threw itself on Bachi, a sort of darkness exploding on impact. The barrier glowed, showing clearly that the attack was reduced significantly, something Justin expected. At least he knew that Bachi's attacks would be equally weakened. What he was not expecting, however, was that Pinsir seemed to be in pain, and even after it scampered back behind its own barrier away from the nidorino, it continued to seem to writhe in pain, its arms wrapped around itself and its pincers clapping open and shut.

It seemed as though Pinsir made too much contact with the nidorino's poisonous hide and would be weakened consistently throughout the battle. It seemed clear that he needed to end it quickly to avoid serious damage from the poisoning. Right about then he was certainly regretting not using Shadow Shed.

[Kamaitachi]

Bachi roared in pain as the Pinsir's attack rammed into it. Tag's eyes widened, not having really seen such an attack before. He thought briefly about consulting the ref on an illegal move, but he didn't want to seem like a sore loser. Even worse: What if Shadow Rush were a legitimate move? He'd seem like an idiot then. Unacceptable, he shook his head, almost as if in disgust with himself for even thinking such a thought.

Returning to the battle at hand though, Bachi had taken tremendous damage, even with the defensive barrier in place. He had to think quickly for this next round of combat. Pinsir appeared to be in pain, probably from impacting with Bachi's poison spikes. That was most certainly a plus. On the other hand, the Nidorino seemed barely on the verge of consciousness. Bachi had the most effective attack on what was most likely Justin's final pokemon, Hitmontop. But Bachi would more than likely not last a single round against it at this point.

"Bachi, Peck." he ordered. The attack would be super effective against the bug-type Pinsir, who was reeling from the poison. However, Pinsir's exoskeleton was very tough, and Justin's own copied Reflect was in play as well. He could only hope that Bachi inflicted at least a decent sum of damage.

[Martial]

Andrew slowly waltzed into the large department store. His shoes made absolutely no sound on the hard linoleum floor beneath him compared to those of the heels of the woman behind him. That noise bothered him so much. That constant clicking had to be the only thing bad about this store.

The walls were lined with numerous steel racks and employees standing beside them displaying a false smile. A middle-aged, white-haired woman approached Andrew with the same false happiness. She had a bit of flatness in her tone though.

"Hello and welcome." she said flatly.

Andrew squinted at her as though something was wrong. He did those so often that anyone who knew him would just laugh. Simba, who had been following close to Andrew's leg let out a small snicker. Andrew looked down at him with that same expression, causing the young Shinx to recoil. Andrew's gaze shifted instantly to the floor when he heard a small noise. He had been told that there was some sort of battling arena here.

The two began slowly walking down a Pokedoll-filled isle. Andrew stopped to look at a few of them. They were extremely detail. It was obvious the crafter ((Turns out the plural of crafter is crafter)) spent some time making it look realistic. The only one that really caught his eye was the yellow Shinx plush lying on it's back. Andrew pulled it off the shelf carefully and flipped it over to the view the tag. It read 'SHINY SHINX - SINTENTO' with a $3.99 price tag hanging from that same tag. This was a nice looking plush along with the fact that he thought it was cheap. Simba became somewhat cheerful as Andrew seemed to be ready to buy it. He brought it to the counter, payed, shoved it into his bag, than proceeded towards the hotel-looking elevator.

The top read "B1F", which meant it was just below him. He could hear the different mechanisms working as the elevator arrived and opened without him doing a thing. A young man ran out in a hurried fashion. Andrew figured it was just a loss, resulting in a fainted Pokemon which needs reviving. Andrew picked up the furry Shinx and stepped into the elevator. The horrid music began to play blasting from all sides. Andrew and Simba fell down a floor in the elevator before the magical "ding" shut off the music and opened the doors.

Thankfully for Andrew, there was a battle going on. This would occupy him for a while.

He proceeded to the benches where he watched the large Pinsir and Ladyba battling. It seemed like it was near the end, but he was unsure. Simba screeched in a cute and excited way. He also loved to watch a great battle.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

While "peck" was an effective attack against the bug-type Pinsir, so too was Shadow Rush on the nidorino. Moreover, Shadow Rush was a stronger attack coming off of Pinsir's stronger power against Bachi's weaker defense. Peck did noticeable damage, certainly, but Bachi's level advantage was no match for Pinsir's raw power. Granted, this stacked with Pinsir's poison, which was just ridiculously inconvenient. "Finish it!" Justin shouted as Nidorino charged.

Before Bachi could get enough air to use his peck attack, Pinsir ducked under him and clenched his opponent's body with his pincers, shadowy goodness making the attack extra effective. Even granted Bachi's reflect, this Shadow Rush was enough to knock it out before it even got a single attack off, though it had done its part in poisoning the shadow pokemon. However, even as Bachi's consciousness slipped away, Pinsir held tight, continuing the damage to potentially lethal levels. Justin became concerned and confused all at once. "Pinsir!" He shouted. "Pinsir, release it!" The ref, on the sidelines, gave a significant glance to Justin, as if to say, "stop it," so Justin continued. "Pinsir! I command you to release the nidorino!"

It turned around and eyed Justin, almost aggressively, its thorny, shadowy horns refusing to let up. Justin returned the glare furiously and tossed out his yet unrevealed pokeball, which was completely unnecessary to hide as Tag knew Justin brought in Hitmontop. "Stun him, Hitmontop. Fake Out!" Hitmontop, spinning on its head, gave a confused glance towards Justin. "On Pinsir," Hitmontop nodded (which was awkward since he was upside down) and moved extremely quickly towards Pinsir, clapping its feet (which were in the air, near Pinsir's head) together. The commotion was something Pinsir was not expecting, and it caused him to fall back, releasing Bachi from his grips. Before he got a chance to recover, Justin pulled him back into his pokeball, with absolutely no intention of playing him further.

He wished he could be disappointed in Pinsir, but he had no reason to expect anything better. Pinsir was new, he was a gift, and he was unstable. While he was an asset to Justin's team, he was unreliable and kind of a dick. He'd need to either be purified or stay in his pokeball. With that, Justin's remaining pokemon were Hitmontop and Bonsly, both fully prepared for battle. Hitmontop was out, though, and Justin's fighter of choice.

"I hereby withdraw Pinsir from the remainder of the battle," he said handing Pinsir's pokeball to the ref. "And accept whatever penalty I deserve for his recklessness."

[Kamaitachi]

Bachi had rushed forward with all his might, but the Pinsir was clearly faster. Before his peck attack could even connect, Pinsir had grabbed the poison pokemon in its pincers, and was squeezing tight. The referee's flag shot up, indicating that Bachi had been defeated, and Tag made to recall his pokemon. The thin red beam of light shot out, but Pinsir turned, deflecting it gently off to the side as it continued to squeeze its prey.

Tag, concerned, tried to recall Bachi a few more times, and was about to leap onto the field himself, but Justin had enacted his plan first. After a few moments, Hitmontop was on the field, and using Fake Out on its own teammate.

As soon as the unconscious Bachi fell from Pinsir's grip, Taggarty Lee rushed onto the field yet again, kneeling down next to his fallen pokemon, panic and concern written all over his tattooed face. He rolled the Nidorino over, looking at the wounds he had received. Bachi's breathing seemed quite okay, albeit a bit ragged from his beating. The damage had mostly come from the crushing motion of Pinsir's horns, and since the Nidorino seemed mostly fine, he simply recalled him to his pokeball. Sighing in relief, he clipped the pokeball back to his belt and returned to his side of the ring.

The ref accepted Pinsir's pokeball questioningly, then handed it back to Justin. "Uh...no penalty; having Pinsir withdrawn from the match is enough." He then turned back to the crowd "Both Nidorino and Pinsir are unable to battle. Green Corner Trainer, choose your next pokemon!"

Tag stood quietly for a moment, arms at his sides. He looked almost defeated for the moment, as he looked at the ground wordlessly. The ordeal was intensely confusing to him. Justin was a low life criminal as far as he was concerned, but he had just shown a great deal of compassion in saving Tag's pokemon from his own pokemon. Perhaps he'd misjudged the kid. The phrase 'he's a good kid fallen on some bad luck', rang through his head. However, this would have to wait until later.

After taking the moment to collect himself, he looked up at Justin. "Thank you, Justin, for saving Bachi. Appreciate it." Before waiting for a response however, he tossed out his next pokeball. "Kyoko, you're up."

He would've been much more comfortable with Suzu on the field, but he now had an idea on how to deal with Hitmontop. Luckily for Tag, Hitmontop had already used up its favoured Fake Out move. Pursuit, however, would make his switching strategy difficult. However, his thought process was interrupted as the referee raised his flags.

"Resume Match!"

"Kyoko, Sleep Powder" he commanded. He figured Hitmontop was the faster of the two, but at the least, Oddish's poison typing would help it resist Hitmontop's more powerful fighting type attacks, and it could probably stand its other attacks. However, he could not help but have his hand rest gently on Bachi's pokeball, unconsciously protecting his unconscious friend.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin accepted Pinsir's pokeball back, nodding at the ref but keeping his eyes down to save face all the while. That's when Tag said perhaps the last thing Justin expected. "Thank you, Justin, for saving Bachi. Appreciate it." He didn't deserve thanks! He deserved to be scolded and yelled at. He used a reckless pokemon without knowing what it was capable of, without being able to control it. This whole thing was his fault, and he didn't deserve praise for putting an end to his own mistake.

Before he got a chance to argue the point, however, Tag's newest pokemon came out of its ball, face to face with the incredibly more powerful Hitmontop. "Resume match!" The ref shouted, leaving Justin in no place to discuss what just happened with his opponent. As Tag yelled for Kyoko to use Sleep Powder, Justin simultaneously yelled for Hitmontop to use his favorite move, "Fake Out!"

Hitmontop quickly spun his way over to Kyoko and, while the plant pokemon mustered up some powdery spores, clapped its feet in front of the pokemon's face, a move that normally takes the pokemon by surprise and gives Hitmontop a chance for a free attack. However, the Oddish seemed well prepared for the attack, and was completely unaffected. Hitmontop's confusion quickly left his face, however, as the spores surrounding him made his eyes heavy. His spinning slowed and his body fell to the floor while he took a much deserved nap, however disappointed Justin may have been.

The trainer knew that withdrawing a pokemon wouldn't wake him up, and moreover that Bonsly was far less than capable of taking this Oddish on. His best option was simply to wait until Hitmontop woke up, and hope that the oddish's weak attacks were not strong enough to do any real damage. Hopefully by the time he woke up, the reflect shields would be down, and he'd be able to simply clean house with Pursuit and Quick Attack, though Mach Punch was unfortunately out of the question due to the nature of Tag's pokemon.

"C'mon, buddy!" he called out, hopefully, "Need you to wake up. Don't get beat by this little oddish!"

[Kamaitachi]

((OOC: I Rn'd to see how many turns hitmontop would sleep, between 1 and 5. I rolled a 3. Hope that's okay, Yzzums.))

Tag watched calmly as Hitmontop sped towards his little berry/weed pokemon, clapping its feet loudly. While Tag was slightly taken aback, his oddish had been well prepared. Luckily for Tag, Justin hadn't quite figured out that Fake Out only worked when Hitmontop appeared on the field, meaning he'd used the one opportunity on his own Pinsir. That being done, Oddish was free to put the Capoiera Pokemon to sleep.

That turn of battle over, Tag immediately resorted to giving himself some breathing space. "Kyoko, come back. Suzu, you're in." Kyoko disappeared from the field, returning to the pokeball in Tag's hand. Simultaneously, the Ledian made her return to the battlefield, glaring at the Hitmontop intensely through with her sunglasses eyes. As she appeared, both the pale yellow barriers on the field finally faded. The Spinning pokemon, after one full turn of combat, seemed to be quite asleep still, so Tag took the liberty of reinforcing his defenses once again.

"Suzu, Reflect." Once again, the ladybug pokemon clapped her four hands, pulling them apart to form a square, which expanded into a much larger, translucent barrier. As the Hitmontop continued to snooze, despite Justin's protests and encouragement. Hitmontop appeared to be starting to stir slightly, however, signifying to both trainers that he might awaken soon. Justin, however, was left with the choice of leaving his sleeping pokemon at the mercy of Ledian's offense on the next turn or to swap out for Bonsly. Either way, the third round would begin, and Tag would be ready once he saw Justin's choice. At the onset of the third round, Tag and his remaining partners would move into the offensive. Both of them had super effective attacks against the Bonsly.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin could only cringe as Tag's ledian put up yet another reflect shield while Justin's simply faded away. He knew Hitmontop was still the stronger pokemon, but with his attacks reduced so substantially, it would be a tough battle. On the plus side, he didn't really need a barrier to be a sturdy pokemon. On the same side (the plus one), Hitmontop seemed to be waking up. It was almost as if he forgot the wonders of spinning on his head, because he awkwardly moved to his feet and stepped away from Suzu.

Finally, he realized why his balance was off, so he jumped and flipped while spinning so that he landed on his head, spinning rapidly and moving across the arena. "Quick Attack!" Justin called, knowing that the speedy attack, paired with Hitmontop's precision, naturally high strength and significant power advantage would do at least substantial damage to Suzu while being quick enough to ensure he got the hit in incase anything unfortunate were to happen afterwards, such as Supersonic, something Justin was not only afraid of, but unprepared for as well.

[Kamaitachi]

Suzu braced herself as the spinning Pokemon slammed hard into the reflect-screen, forcing her back as well. Hitmontop's sheer attack power was almost too much to deal with at this point, and Tag couldn't rely on her fairly weak attacks. Her most powerful attack, Bug Bite, was rendered almost useless due to Hitmontop's high defense, as well as resistance to that bug attack. Tag mentally lamented his lack of flying moves on her, as she'd probably pull them off quite adroitly.

Unable to rely on return force, Tag commanded another supersonic attack, figuring he could at least get the Hitmontop to hurt itself why he had Suzu lay on with her attacks. The Ledian nodded as she floated upwards, screeching those eerie soundwaves down towards Hitmontop. It had been unsuccessful with Pinsir, perhaps this time she'd land a clean hit.

Unfortunately, this was now Tag's only real chance. Kyoko would have a mountain of a battle if she had to face Hitmontop as well. Upon close observation, Suzu appeared to be trembling slightly, a sign that she was growing fatigued from the constant string of battles. A brief flash of concern appeared over Tag's face, but it was quickly replaced with his normal, somewhat intimidating glare.

Regardless of whether or not the Supersonic was successful, Tag quickly initiated the next round of combat, hoping to hit Hitmontop for some minimal damage. "Suzu, Mach Punch!" Hopefully this would allow the ladybug to outspeed the Hitmontop, barring, of course, the use of Hitmontop's own Mach Punch or Quick attack, wherein he'd have the upper hand in speed once again.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

After Hitmontop's Quick Attack landed and it spun away to try to avoid Suzu's counter, she fired sonic waves, which managed to throw him off balance. "Damn," Justin shook his head. "Hitmontop, keep attacking, you know what to do!" The confusion was making his spinning incredibly awkward and wobbly.

Suzu flew forward with incredible speed, something Hitmontop was unable to muster. He topped over, landing on his side as he took a fairly weak attack from the opposing bug pokemon at an incredibly speed. Hitmontop tried to lift itself back onto its head as Suzu's ridiculously fast attack continued. Finally, Hitmontop managed to look past its confusion and the flurry of tiny punches long enough to begin spinning and land a particularly fast attack of his own, knocking the ledian away from him.

With Suzu's attacks subsiding, it seemed as though Hitmontop's reign of "I have no idea what's going on" had ended after what seemed to be an unknowable amount of rounds of combat, but for technical purposes, we'll say he hurt himself one turn, while taking a Mach Punch from Suzu and then snapped out the next turn and used Quick Attack.

[Kamaitachi]

Tag seemed quite visibly pleased that supersonic had worked this time around. Atop that, Suzu was now pestering the Hitmontop with attack after attack. However, it seemed that the brief blitzkrieg that was Suzu's mach punch seemed to be coming to an end. Tag watched almost helplessly on as Suzu flew backwards as Hitmontop hit her in his attempt to break free of her barrage. He watched the Hitmontop spring forward again in another powerful, Technician boosted Quick Attack. Without delay, he ordered a Mach Punch from Suzu, hoping to at least butt heads. But before Suzu could even muster the energy to launch her Mach Punch, Hitmontop slammed heavily into her. A horrible screeching sound emanated from the bug pokemon as she flew through the air. Tag stepped forward onto the field once more, catching his pokemon friend before she hit the ground (Something he clearly could not do with Nidorino). Tag held the weak, nearly unconscious pokemon in his arms, stroking her head gently.

"Ledian is unable to battle." the referee dutifully announced, waving his flag over in Tag's direction. Tag sighed as he recalled Suzu into her pokeball; Justin's Hitmontop's strength had been overwhelming once again. He'd managed to put up a decent sort of fight this time, but still he was on the losing end. Now he had only one pokemon left, and the only chance of winning was to put it to sleep and absorb like there was no tomorrow. Even then, he couldn't guarantee that the sleep powder would even connect in the first place. Tag didn't like those odds, considering that at any time, Hitmontop could simply wake up and wipe the floor with his new compatriot.

"I concede." Tag nodded to the referee.

"Taggarty Lee has withdrawn. The winner is Justin Smart!" the referee announced, waving both flags over towards Justin. Wordlessly, as he often liked to exit this way, Taggarty Lee exited the cage. For a moment, he looked down at a very tall kid with a Shinx, glaring fiercely at them (for no good reason other than the fact that he'd just lost, and they were within is glaring-range.) He clearly didn't want to stay in the arena now that he'd been defeated twice in two days by the same kid, so even if Justin yelled, he pretended he couldn't hear him over the crowd as he hit the button for the elevator.

He stood there awkwardly for a bit; his dramatic exeunt had been ruined by the slow movement of the elevator. With a gentle ding, the doors slid open and Tag stepped in. The doors closed and Tag was gone from the arena.

* * *

This post has been edited by Kamaitachi: Jul 14 2010, 12:47 AM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

It seemed as though Hitmontop's Quick Attack was sufficient in bringing down Suzu. Hitmontop, unlike Pinsir, knew when to back down and let an opponent walk away. Justin was admittedly relieved when Tag conceded the match without sending out the oddish, but at the same time, he wanted a chance to win and Tag conceding was basically proof that Justin would have anyway.

"The winner is Justin Smart!"

The ref's announcement went over Justin's head as he ran past Hitmontop and to the cage. "Tag! Wait up, man!" he called out, but as he stepped foot outside the cage, the ref put a hand on Justin's shoulder.

"You can't leave the cage or you'll have to forfeit," he said. "Do you want to do that?"

He watched Tag walk away stoically even though he knew he was heard. He wanted a chance to apologize for Pinsir's behavior. Really, he wanted a chance to hang out with the guy. Tag was smart, strong and wise and Justin really wanted to be friends with him. Partners would be better, but he was pretty much stuck with Nate for the time being. That's another story, though.

"No," he replied, stepping back into the ring and reclaiming his place in the Red Corner, hitmontop still spinning in the center. Justin took this chance to call his buddy back into his pokeball while waiting for the next, and apparently last, contestant. It only made sense that they were nearing the end of the contest. Justin was called up only a few battles after he signed up, and it would seem only one person after him signed up.

"The next and final contestant in this competition is Andrew Harding!" The announcer called. Justin nervously looked out onto the bleachers to find this Harding person when he accidentally made eye contact with Jill, who had moved closer to the ring with her friends, whose names Justin had forgotten. They smiled at each other. She really was cute from this distance. Definitely no Tina, but at the same time, he never felt like he deserved Tina, and his pathetic depression only amplified that.

"Oh yeah," he thought to himself. "The match." He wondered what kind of pokemon Harding would have, but he was confident Hitmontop would be able to clean house, even with Pinsir out of the equation.

[Martial]

((Hey guys, I just kinda wanna apologize because I've been on vacation in Tennessee with broken Wi-Fi :P But, right now, I'm in Kentucky at a hotel with wonderful Wi-Fi! :D))

Andrew shakily rose from the cold bench he sat on. Simba jumped down from his lap at the same moment with a small leap. This could be a bad turnout... My Pokemon are much weaker..., Andrew admitted to himself in a hushed tone. It was enough for Simba to here some, but not a lot.

"Alright..." he said in a somewhat proud tone.

With a few quick steps, Andrew was standing in his corner of the arena. Simba stood out in front of him growling at a high pitch. Andrew just felt stupid after that. To be scared of Simba's puny roar, it would be to be scared of a baby's crying. Though puny, it showed the creatures determination.

Andrew stretched his arm out in front of him and pointed at the opponent.

"Let's go!" he shouted.

"This will be a two-on-two match due to Andrew Harding's lack of a third Pokemon," the referee shouted, "Reveal your first Pokemon!"

Simba squeeked again in the same tone. Andrew laughed, but then quickly recovered and put on a serious face.