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Posted by: Proby May 17 2011, 02:56 PM

The Sun shone down as it tread its path through the forest in Fidona, Furoh. It was a beautiful, clear day. The perfect day for Alex Slasher to have his birthday and turn 15 years of age.

But no matter what the weather was like outside, inside Alex's temporary tree-house accommodation, the atmosphere was tense. The now-fifteen-year-old looked at his reflection in the mirror. Nothing had changed on the surface. His bright orange, spiky hair still was burning his eyes due to its sheer brightness. His bright, blue eyes were still piercing, seeming to thud into the receiver mentally.
He still wore his usual bold coloured, short sleeved and short legged clothing. Today his attire consisted of a green t-shirt holding on its front Treecko logo, some Green camouflage shorts, his watch, bracelet, necklace and white trainers, which today had green stripes to match his clothes.

He took a long, deep sigh. Outside, he was normal. But inside, he was in turmoil. Yesterday, most of his ideals and plans had been ruined. What his goal was- to become the champion of Furoh- had been crushed by his inability to defeat Fidona's Water and Fighting gym leader Maxi Z!. It had forced him to thoroughly reassess his life. Was what he was doing right for him? And if it was, what was he doing wrong?

These questions, however, would have to wait. He took his backpack from his bed and put it on his back. It was still perfect for him; light, easy to carry, yet still with plenty of room. He took a Pokeball form his bag. It was orange and covered in fuzzy, soft material. If any creature or person on Earth could reassure him, it was this Pokemon. he pressed the switch at the front of the ball and it opened. A sudden flash of bright light, and Blaze appeared. Blaze chirped and smiled warmly.
"Tor-Torchic!" he cried cheerfully, jumping into Alex's Arms.
"Hello, buddy!" he said, He was already feeling much lighter at Blaze's presence. "So, your eyes peeled. Ready to watch like you've never watched before?"
Blaze nodded, smiled, and chirped again.
"Ok then, let's go!" he broke into a half run, heading for Fidona's Beach.

Tom Hawk was already there. All his Pokemon (Rose, Staa,Tweet and Rai) were out of their Pokeballs. Staa, a Staryu, was shiny, and his blue colouration shone brightly in the morning sun as he spun round rapidly whilst spurting water, a 'contest move' Tom like to call "Rapid Fountain".
Rose, a Roselia, was apart from Staa and the other Pokemon, and was throwing out various coloured powders, adding in leaved very so often. Her flowers was been painted with white streaks and she wore sparkly powder.
Rai, Tom's starter Pokemon, just like Alex's Blaze, a Pikachu, who wore a red headband and thin scarf, formed a triangle with the other two Pokemon around Tweet and Tom. He too was practising his contest moves. he was currently cloaked in electrical energy and kept darting from side to side as sparks flew form his yellow body.
Tweet, meanwhile, a Taillow, was patiently getting the finishing touches done by Tom to his contest attire. Tom was adjusting the bow tie that went with his Top hat when Alex approached the group, with Blaze following close behind, since Alex had put him on the ground on the way here.

He began a joke conversation with his friend Tom, pretending the two were old school Victorian gentlemen. Tom and he did this often. It was a way of amusing one another.
"Why hello there, Mr. Hawk. I see that sir is prepared fully for today's festivities!"
"Why good morning to thee too, Mr. Slasher! I am indeed prepared."
"Well, I hope sir was more fortune than my humble self did in yesterday's events." said Alex, and he couldn't help but look away in shame.
"Thanks Alex" said Tom, who then reverted to his normal voice as he gave Alex some proper, serious words. "Hey listen; try not to get upset about yesterday. You can always try again. Come back to Fidona later. I've failed many, many times before, and I'be always got right back up again. You know music, listen to "That;s Life". Good song for your situation. Just be determined, You'll do it some day. Time is your bets friend."
"Well, apart form you, anyway..." said Alex as he nodded. He felt much better, much more reassured, by Tom's words. Tom was good at cheering people up.
"Haha, why of course. Of, and Alex? Happy Birthday mate."
"Cheers." said Alex. His birthday. Now that he'd sort of averted the crisis going on in his mind, it was finally sinking in. This was meant to be a happy day for him. His first birthday away form home. It was a big step.

Alex looked once again at Tom. he wished he could be a better friend, not Just to Tom, but also to anyone else, like Tikal for instance. He had always been the main man, the one in charge. He hadn't done much for his friends. But he'd received tons of favours and advice from them. Alex decided now. He'd be a better trainer and a better friend. Those were his goals.

Tom smiled, and returned his Pokemon, aside from Rai, who, like Blaze, spent most of his time outside his Pokeball, only returning to it at night time occasionally or if it really was necessary. The Pikachu went up to Blaze, and the two started a conversation. their trainers left them to it, ignoring it. They did it a lot.

"So, you ready for this?" asked Blaze, who was both as warm and comforting as he was.
"Yeah, of course. Look at my awesome headband! I'm a Ninja mouse!" replied Rai, who was a bit of a joker.
"Haha!" laughed Blaze. He loved Rai's jokes.

"Well then, I'm ready." said Tom. Alex nodded. He wanted to say something. After all, he'd just made a resolution to be better friend. he struck upon his words.
"Listen, mate, you need help with this, just call me. Or Tikal. Or Tyson. Hey, that reminds me, where are those two?"

Posted by: rt117 May 19 2011, 11:20 PM

Having tried to get a good night's sleep after a long day, Tikal had found herself restless throughout the entire slumber due to Tyson's disappearance. She had tried to stay awake the entire night as she waited for him in silence, yet he never came. And that made her worried. Where could he have gone? Last time she saw him he was waiting for his chance at a gym battle, and just like that he had disappeared. Tikal knew that her anxiety over his disappearance would throw her off today, or at least put her in a bad mood.

As the sunlight began to creep into her bedroom, the girl began to stir from her slumber. She had fallen asleep in exhaustion for waiting up so long for Tyson, trying to hold onto some belief that he would be alright. Opening her eyes, Tikal pushed herself up slowly, only to find something heavy pressing on her chest. "Nidoran, I need to get up." she groaned, not even looking at the Pokemon. He had a habit of sleeping on her chest while she slept, normally competing with Igglybuff for this space, who eventually settled for her side. However something clicked into place in her mind, as she realized that it was too heavy to be Nidoran.

When Tikal finally woke up and her vision cleared, she stared in shock at the Pokemon before her, who resembled Nidoran very clearly. However it wasn't him, rather a larger and almost scarier version of her Pokemon. Her movement caused the new Pokemon to awaken, staring back at her with the same expression her Pokemon always had, as if nothing had changed. Slowly, Tikal came to the realization that overnight, her Nidoran had found the ability to evolve into his next stage, a Nidorino. While this did bring a smile to the girl's face, the fact that she would never again see his original form did sadden her slightly. She needed to remember however that change was a natural part of life: everything went through it.

"They're going to be so surprised when they see you." Tikal told her Nidorino, trying to bring herself back into a cheery mood. While she couldn't get Tyson's disappearance off of her mind, she still had a day to go through, and with any luck he could turn up before sunset. When Nidorino finally moved, Tikal hopped off the bed and got changed into some fresh clothing, which included a pair of jean-shorts and an orange shirt with yellow highlights. While moving about the room, she stirred the rest of her team from their slumber. Igglybuff looked rather confused as she sat alone on the bed, while Charmander and Totodile (who had been sleeping against each other in a rather harmonious way) literally fell against one another before realizing what was going on. Before anyone had time to make a closer inspection of Nidorino, the five Pokemon were recalled into their Pokeballs. Tikal decided to wait until breakfast to let them figure things out. After all, Alex was probably waiting on her at this very moment.

Rushing out the door once she got all of her things together, she had expected to see Alex standing there, waiting for her. However it appeared that he already left the hotel to go do his own thing. At this realization Tikal frowned slightly, having hoped to at least find a note on his door to direct her to where she would meet him. It was likely that he had told her where to meet the night before, but with other things on her mind it was easy to forget such a thing.

"Maybe he went to go check out the beach." she noted to herself as she started to walk away from where they had spent the night, trying to think of what else could have caught his attention. This place did seem to have a nice beach after all, being by the water and all. And if she didn't find him there, then there was always the excuse to go get food. With this in mind, she began to run headlong for the beach in hopes of not spending the entire day on her own. As she continued on toward the beach, she spotted the familiar face, and looked rather relieved to see him talking to Tom. Catching her breath, Tikal spoke:

"You know... you could've left a note on your door or something."

Posted by: Protoman Jun 2 2011, 01:11 PM

With his head finally no longer spinning, a groggy young man stood up fully. Rubbing his head, he noticed immediately that he was pulling out shrubbery.

"What the..." was the first set of words that came out of his mouth. He sat up, head starting to pound into his brain once more. "Ouch!" Looking around briefly, he vaguely made out a crudely made door, several nick-knacks, and a sheet covering up the window. He gripped his head, wondering what exactly happened the day before he arrived, but nothing came to mind.

"Hey," a strange man called out to Tyson, who was apparently sleeping in his bed, "little dude! You're finally up!" This man had to be in his twenties, standing at 6'2". His dirty blonde hair was hanging over his tanned face, barely making his eyes visible. The swimming trunks that he was wearing(which were now completely soaking the carpet that was under his feet) were a bright green with great white sharks swimming across the legs. Tyson, now completely baffled, simply stared at the man.

"Uh, yeah," Tyson said, groggily, still feeling somewhat drained from whatever happened yesterday. He attempted to stand up, only to collapse back onto the bed. "Where am I? Who are you? Why did you save me?" The man simply laughed a little before backing up.

"So many questions, dude," he responded, flipping his hair back. He looked at Tyson, who looked back at him. Surprisingly, the man looked younger than Tyson expected. If he wasn't mistaken, the guy was roughly around his age. Not surprising, however, were the commonly seen surfer traits. Blue eyes, pearly white teeth, shark tooth necklace and all. "To start off, the name is Victor, but you can call me Vic." Tyson put his left thumb up to show that he got that part. "I saved you because your friends asked me to save you."

"My friends," Tyson said in a surprised tone. Aw man, Tikal's gonna be pissed when she finds out that I passed out right before my battle at the gym!

"Yeah," Vic told him, pulling out Tyson's three Poke Balls and tossing them to him. "These three were extra worried about you." Tyson took a breath of relief after finding out just who Vic was talking about. He grabbed the Poke Balls from him, bowing to show his thanks.

"How can I ever repay you for saving my life, Vic?" Tyson asked. Vic paused for a moment, placing his hand upon his chin. After a few minutes, Vic snapped his fingers in discovery.

"Battle me," he responded with a smile. Tyson, who was slightly confused, agreed.

Posted by: Proby Jun 4 2011, 07:15 AM

Alex turned round at the sound of Tikal's voice.
"Huh? Oh hey Tikal. Umm... Sorry 'bout that. My mood earlier was frankly foul... I'm sorry about that. Trust me though, I'll remember next time."

"So, umm... you seen Tyson around?" asked Alex. But before Tikal could answer, a crafty Krabby had snuck up on Alex and was now pinching his leg. His companion, a Shellder, followed suit, clamping his shell on Alex's other leg.

"YOW!" yelled Alex, spinning round to see his attackers. "You pesky little things! You're gonna pay! Go, Blaze, go, Swamps!"

The Flame haired boy then proceeded a squidgy sludgy blue ball. Blaze, already out of his Pokeball, straight away jumped in front of Alex. Swamps, his Mudkip, emerged out of the other ball.
Alex angrily stomped the ground with his left foot, and Hummed a song at the same time. Blaze lept at the Krabby and Swamps at the Shellder. Blaze used a hugely powerful Ember that made the Krabby rocket into the water. Swamps did the same thing to Shellder with an almighty Water Gun.

Alex smiled. Battle over. But just as he was about to turn his back, the two angry water Pokemon emerged from the water. The Shellder sent Icicles at Blaze, who was too late. He also had been turning his back. The icicles had hit him, and he was now pinned to the floor. He squirmed as he tried to remove them.

Meanwhile, Krabby was attacking Swamps, but the Mud fish Pokemon, curiously, was allowing it to happen. He seemed to be really concentrating on something. The Krabby tried everything, shooting mud, Bubblebeam, but nothing seemed to faze Swamps. Then Suddenly, Swamps let out a hugely powerful attack that sent the Krabby deep out of shore. That Crab was never coming back. Then Alex realized: Swamps had used Bide. But it had obviously taken a toll of the poor Pokemon, because he fell down on all fours. Alex almost shouted "NO!", when Swamps started to glow. A blinding flash of light, and there was no longer a Mudkip there, but a Marshtomp. Swamps had evolved.

Blaze was still struggling to escape the icicles. Shellder was taunting him, just like Maxi Z!'s had done in the Gym battle. Blaze, looking at Swamps, seemed to have a flash in inspiration. He also started to glow. Within seconds, he'd also evolved and there was another flash of light. there, in front of Alex and any other onlookers, was a Combusken. Blaze was now strong, and he had powerful arms. He plucked out the Icicle spears like they were nothing and charged at the Shellder. The Clam Pokemon seemed to gulp, and Blaze arrived, kicking the Shellder twice and sending him into the Ocean once more.

Alex couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock. Two of his Pokemon had just evolved. He turned round to his friends, looking for guidance.
"Umm, guys?"

Posted by: Protoman Jun 7 2011, 08:04 AM

After finally getting up and putting on his shoes and socks, Tyson stood in front of his opponent, waiting for the first move to be made.

"I'm waiting on you," Vic told Tyson plainly. A smirk crept onto Tyson's face as he pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it into the air. "Blaze," he called, "let's rumble!" As the sphere opened widely, a white light landed on the ground, revealing a Cyndaquil. Dancing around happily, Blaze stood in front of the two trainers, smiling.

"Nice choice, dude," Vic told him, putting his index finger and thumb in his mouth. After whistling, rustling was heard from the cabin that they were in.

"Who are you whistling to," Tyson asked, looking confused. Vic, saying nothing, simply smiled.

"You'll see," he responded as a green and yellow turtle came sliding out of the doorway. Tyson, simply astounded, watched the turtle spin on his back towards Vic. After finally reaching the trainer's feet' the turtle flipped onto his feet, revealing its brown shell.

"Is that a Turtwig," Tyson asked in astonishment. Vic nodded as he pet the Turtwig gently. Tyson instantly noticed the main difference between this Turtwig and many others. What made this turtle different from its other relatives was the purple bandana around his face.

"His name is Donatello," Vic told them, "and he's been my best friend for ten years."

"Amazing," Tyson said, smiling at the length of time that they spent together. He knew that he spent nearly the same amount of time with his Cyndaquil.

"Well," Tyson said, clenching his fists tightly, "let's see how strong he is!" Vic chuckled at Tyson's challenge, clenching his fists as well.

"Okay then," Vic responded, "time for me to drop my surfer attitude and put on my trainer face." Vic cracked his knuckles and looked at Tyson and his Cyndaquil named Blaze. "Gimme your best shot!"

"With pleasure," Tyson called to his new rival, "Blaze, use Ember!" With that being said, several small flames shot out of Blaze's mouth, approaching the Turtwig.

"Dodge those gnarly flames, Donny," Vic exclaimed, watching as Donatello spin on his shell away from the embers. Tyson, who was expecting this, simply smirked.

"Quick Attack, Blaze," Tyson blurted, watching the Cyndaquil dash towards Donatello at full speed. After knocking him off balance, Blaze jumped into the air over Donatello. "Now use Ember!" After shooting the flames at Donatello, Blaze simply dropped back to the ground below. Donatello, who was a rather elusive Turtwig, couldn't seem to dodge these flames this time. After getting back up, Donatello shook his head vigorously.

"You alright, buddy," Vic asked his partner. With a nod, Donatello simply glared at Blaze.

"Pretty good for a kid," Donatello taunted, shifting his weight slightly, "but I'm just getting started with you."

"That's good, Donny," Blaze told him in retaliation, "because I'm just getting warmed up too." Both darted towards each other, colliding head to head with Tackle attacks. Unexpectedly, Donatello bit Blaze on the top of his head. "YEEOWCH!" Blaze yelped as Donatello clamped down. Almost unable to function properly, Blaze just kept jumping around madly. Finally, Donatello released his severe grip from Blaze, making him shake his head in relief.

"Blaze, are you okay," Tyson asked his best friend, who simply nodded in response. Vic laughed and clapped at the show that their Pokemon were putting on.

"This is great man," Vic exclaimed, "so let's get ready for round 2!"

Posted by: rt117 Jun 7 2011, 03:37 PM

Tikal shuffled backward slightly as Alex turned to face her, feeling somewhat embarrassed for nearly crashing into him without her friend even realizing. Though perhaps it was better if he didn't realize what she had almost done. Placing her hands behind her back, she listened as Alex apologized and explained his reason for forgetting, prompting a nod from Tikal.

"It's alright. To be honest I was a little worried after you had left the gym that something might have been wrong. Her embarrassed expression turning into one of slight shame, she continued:

"I wanted to ask if you were okay, but to be honest, I was a little afraid of getting yelled at." If there was one thing she could not stand, it was people shouting at her. Though she had a good heart, she was at times uncomfortable when it came to bad situations, especially when people were sad or depressed as she always felt worried that if she said the wrong thing, she would potentially make a delicate situation worse. Trying hard to smile again, the question of Tyson's whereabouts kept her facial expression set in the same position.

"I haven't seen him to tell you the truth. I don't know where he could have gone, and it's been worrying me all night. He never came in for the night, and I haven't seen him since we all entered the gym." She could not help but worry about him, especially with his headaches. What if he needed their help right now? He could be in danger for all she knew!

It was at that point that Alex had become a target for a pair of water Pokemon, their anger at him somewhat humorous. Though she herself wanted to battle as well, it was not hers to fight, rather her friends. The end of the conflict held quite the surprise as well, for when two of his Pokemon entered the fight, they left having become stronger through the power of evolution.

Suddenly the surprise which she had found this morning with the evolution of her Nidoran didn't seem quite as amazing, for two of his Pokemon had evolved in the same span of time, when only one of hers went through this overnight.

Posted by: Protoman Jun 7 2011, 07:23 PM

The two Pokemon clashed as the trainers simply watched with clenched teeth. Each one was attacking just as fierce as the other one. Quick Attacks, Embers, Razor Leaves, and Bites were flying between the pair until both went in opposite directions. Blaze, breathing heavily and covered in dirt smudges and scratches along with a few marks where Donatello bit him. Donatello, covered in singes and purple marks, was also breathing with difficulty.

"Blaze," Tyson said in compassion. He wasn't quite sure how much more his Cyndaquil could take, but he wasn't planning on finding out. After pulling out his Poke Ball, he pointed it in Blaze's direction. "Return, buddy. You've done a great job." The red light drew nearer the Cyndaquil, who simply sidestepped the beam, much to Tyson's bewilderment. Blaze looked back, much tension on his face, but not from the fight at hand. Tyson already knew what this meant. Blaze's determination was unparalleled by any he had met yet.

"Whoa," Vic said, also astonished by what was going on, "your little buddy's stuck on this battle, huh?"

"Guess so," Tyson responded, "should we finish this?" With a nod, Vic looked at Donatello, who simply glared back at Blaze, smiling slightly at their ability to finish their match. "Run towards him, Blaze!" Without any hesitation, the young fire mouse ran towards both Donatello and the trainer.

"Razor Leaf, Donny," Vic called out to his Turtwig, who swung his head towards Blaze. Digging deep to find some energy, Blaze ducked underneath the first leaf, leaping into the sky before the second one came. With the Cyndaquil's back facing the sun, Blaze let his back erupt into flames.

"Flamethrower," Tyson exclaimed, watching the flames get larger on Blaze's back before he released an almighty Flamethrower that scorched the ground before hitting Donatello. After he was sent rolling backwards, Donatello stopped on his back, knocked out.

"Aw man," Vic exclaimed as he picked up the Turtwig. Tyson, who was paying no attention whatsoever, caught Blaze after her plummeted from so high in the air.

"Good work buddy," Tyson told his Pokemon before looking in Vic's direction. "Thanks for the challenge man." Flashing a thumbs up to Vic, the surfer responded by putting his thumb and pinky finger out to the sides, wiggling them slightly.

Posted by: Seromi Jun 11 2011, 06:54 PM

How on earth did she end up here? Wasn't she supposed to end up at Port Barley? Frustrated and utterly confused, the girl glanced at the map again. Instead of Port Barley, she was at an island where Fidona was supposedly located. Fidona? She checked her paper guide once more to make sure she wasn't reading it wrong. No, she was reading it perfectly. Somehow, the boat had taken the wrong turn and she had ended up on "Fidona". She was supposed to be at Port Barley, starting her adventure there! She breathed a somber sigh before storing the material away in her backpack. Although, the island looked spectacular, despite her situation. The sky was bright, the sunlight was warm on her skin, and the view was vividly beautiful. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. She liked beaches.

"Say, Rio, do you like it here?" The Trainer asked one of her beloved companions.
"Rio!" Her Riolu cheerily responded.
"Zo?"
"Rua!" A Zorua happily agreed.
"Let's go then!"

Mel naively went off, sprinting around town and exploring the area. Her Pokémon closely followed her behind.

She took in the sights, and absolutely enjoyed the ocean breeze. As she began to drift farther from what seemed to be festivities, Mel became slightly more lost than usual. As she roamed the sidewalks, she was becoming a bit more anxious as to where she was. She did not want her experience here in Fidona to end up like Castelia City. It sent a shiver down her spine. Her bright eyes curiously probed her surroundings; tall buildings towered over her, the air was clean, the beach was nearby, and there was an occasional passerby every now and then. Riolu and Zorua brought up what seemed to be a conversation that involved some bickering. It seemed amusing to Mel.

Loud stomps abruptly cut her partners' talk and her thoughts short. What was going on now? Something else other than the buildings loomed over the Trainer. Slowly and cautiously, the teenager looked up to find a giant kangaroo curiously look back at her. She blinked several times, her mind in a mess over what was going on at the time. A puzzled growl snapped Mel back into reality. Mel quietly pulled out her PokéDex with extreme caution, not wanting to scare away the Pokémon. The electronic identified the kangaroo as a Kangaskhan, and mentioned its rarity. Not only was it powerful, but a keeper too! No way was Mel going to escape with an empty hand. She stashed the PokéDex away in her bag, and pulled out a Poké Ball while she was at it. The Kangaskhan merely stood there with an inquisitive look on its face.

"Riolu, go!" she commanded. The fighting Pokémon obeyed by charging at the large kangaroo with a readied fist.

The Kangaskhan had quickly snapped out of its curiosity at Mel just in time to defend itself from Riolu's Quick Attack by mashing its hands on its foe's head. Riolu wobbled a bit from Fake Out, giving enough time for the Kangaskhan to prepare its Comet Punch. It swung, and managed to clip Riolu in the arm, leaving him with a large bruise on his arm. His damaged arm remained limp at his side as Riolu replicated the Kangaskhan's attack, but with more force. The Kangskhan had taken quite the hefty damage, leaving it with some nasty bruises. But the Kangaskhan looked like it wasn't giving up the battle anytime soon. Hadn't the PokéDex said something about this?

But Mel didn't care about that. Of course she didn't, and she was more than willing enough to throw the Poké Ball that she held in her hand. The Trainer recklessly threw the device, and it made a perfect parabola before it bounced off the wild Pokémon's head and sucking it inside. It dropped to the ground, and the Poké Ball violently thrashed around in an attempt to contain the Pokémon. Mel tensed up as the device continued to shake.

"No, no. You do not come out of that ball. You stay." She commanded the wiggling, inanimate object.
A faint click sounded in reply.

"Yess! A Kangaskhan!"

Posted by: Protoman Jun 12 2011, 09:39 AM

With a light breakfast now in their stomachs, Tyson and Blaze stretch, hoping they'll be able to find their way back to the main city. The only problem was...

"Aw man," Tyson exclaimed, "I gave my map to Tikal! Oh no, now how will I get back?" The Cyndaquil, licking his chops from the delicious meal he just enjoyed, began to pull on Tyson's pants leg. Tyson, after sulking for a few minutes, finally gave Blaze his undivided attention. The Cyndaquil pointed to Vic who was petting his Turtwig, Donatello.

"What's wrong, dude," Vic asked Tyson, noticing that his yells weren't of joy.

"I gave my map of Furoh to a friend," Tyson responded, "but my friend is within the main city while we're out here. Which is where the problem lies." Vic, not seeing the problem, chuckled at Tyson's frustration.

"Dude," Vic began, flashing his pearly whites proudly, "I know Fidona like the back of my hand!" Tyson's grimace, curved into a grand smile. "I'll lead you out of here. Me and my buddies!" With that being said, Tyson and Blaze went outside, fully packed and ready to go. When they looked back at Vic, they saw Donatello, but he wasn't alone. Three other Turtwigs, each with a different colored bandanna covering their eyes, stood next to each other. Tyson, now confused entirely, looked at Vic in hopes that he had an answer.

"Uh, Vic," Tyson said to his guide, "I don't think that they are Turtwigs like Donny." Vic laughed again.

"No, they are," Vic responded, "the four of them are brothers." With this jaw-dropping information being fed to him, Tyson simply gawked at the quartet. Noticing them socializing, Blaze walked towards them, being greeted with smiles and cheers.

"So you're the guy that beat our brother Donny," the one in the red bandanna responded, "that's quite the achievement, buddy."

"You got a name," the Turtwig wearing the orange bandanna asked. Blaze swallowed hard, hoping he wouldn't have to battle all four of them.

"Blaze," the meek Cyndaquil responded.

"Radical," the blue bandanna Turtwig responded, "I'm Leonardo, Leo for short. I'm the leader of the group." He stood proudly, flashing a smirk. "The grumpy one with the red on," Leo motioned to red wearing Turtwig, who was scolding Donatello for losing to Blaze, "his name's Raphael." Blaze simply looked at Raphael, who in turn looked back at him, scowling.

"What are you lookin' at," Raph asked, causing Blaze to stop staring immediately. He then looked at the orange wearing Turtwig, who was chasing around small butterflies.

"Oh," Leo responded, "That's Michelangelo. He's totally funny and can lighten any situation that's looking bad." Michelangelo, who didn't know he was being watched at all, simply continued to chase the butterflies around.

--------

With the fraternizing finally over, Tyson and Vic, along with their Pokemon, began their trek back into town.

"I'm curious," Tyson began to ask Vic, "why do you have so many Turtwigs?"

"Oh," Vic simply chuckled as he began to respond, "my mom and dad owned a pair of Torterra. So in turn, I got to keep four of their children." Tyson thought that was a great way for a child to learn about Pokemon...have them raise them from hatching.

"That's pretty cool," Tyson responded, soon hearing rustling nearby. "What was that?" Vic, not hearing anything, shrugged at Tyson's question.

"Probably just some random Pokemon running around," Vic told him, making Tyson ease up. Soon, the rustling turned into loud foot steps. Tyson, soon feeling some kind of warning pop up, slowed his pace down.

"What kind of Pokemon are native here," Tyson inquired.

"Naturally, Bug types, birds, a few Grass types as well," Vic answered, making Tyson more comfortable. The shadowy figure that appeared before them, however, made Tyson stop completely.

"What about THOSE," Tyson blurted, noticing that it was a Kangaskhan. "Those are rare, even by Johto standards!"

"It must have gotten loose from the Safari Zone," Vic responded, "how could my dad have been so careless?"

"No matter," Tyson responded, "I'll help round it up so we can take it back as well." Blaze, happily scampering in front, glared at the large Pokemon in amazement.

"Whoa," Blaze whimpered, "You're big!" Without any warning, the Kangaskhan threw a large fist at Blaze, who jumped into the air. He let some fire out of his mouth before rotating into a ball. The ball grew largely, then began to glow brightly.

"What's going on," Tyson inquired, hoping Vic knew. Vic, however, was just as dazed as Tyson.

"Gnarly show," Vic stated, his Turtwigs looking in amazement too. Finally, the bright glowing stopped and the ball crashed to the ground, colliding into the Kangaskhan. As the beast landed onto its back, The sphere of flames vanished, revealing Blaze, only he was...slightly different. He was of a greater length, originally being rather short and stout. The flames that were usually on his back were now lower and higher, revealing a set on his forehead as well. If that wasn't enough, his coat of turquoise fur had a nice shine to it. Before Blaze made any other moves, he opened his eyes, looking as the Kangaskhan began to alter its form.

"Did Blaze," Tyson began to speak, but was at a loss for words at the moment. Soon, the Kangaskhan revealed itself to be a small black fox Pokemon with red paws and a small part of red on the fur on its head. Without anymore questions, Tyson pulled a small black sphere with yellow lines on the top and the bottom, and a red line across the center. With the push of a button, the sphere expanded, revealing itself to be a Luxury Ball. Tossing it at the fox, the sphere smacked it on it's belly, opening up and drawing the Pokemon inside of it. It first wiggled to the left, causing Tyson's nerves to start playing tricks on him.

"You got it, bro," Vic tried to convince Tyson as they watched on. A second wiggle, this one going to the right, made Tyson's stomach turn slightly. A heavy swallow and sweat dripping were the only things that Tyson was capable of at this second. As the third wiggle, this one to the left, made Tyson bite his lip in anticipation, he finally sighed as the light on the ball finally stopped glowing.

"I did it," Tyson finally said with joy, "I caught a...wait, what is it?" Vic, once again, shrugged at Tyson's question.

"It has to be rare," Vic told him, "it just changed into another Pokemon."

"Good point," Tyson stated, "let's get out of here before any more pop out."

Posted by: Seromi Jun 13 2011, 04:46 PM

It was at this point that the young Trainer realized that she hadn't given her Pokémon names. Mel contemplated over nicknaming her Pokémon; would be easier to tell them apart from the others if she gave them a nickname now? Maybe it was for the better to nickname them; now was the best time too. Her Riolu reminded her of that one constellation that looked like a dog... what was it... oh! Sirius! And her Zorua... Scarlet was perfect because of her species' name, Zorua. But what of her Kangaskhan? Mel called out her new Pokémon, and watched it stare at her with a fixated gaze that exuded nothing but curiosity. The Trainer dug around her bag for a Potion; she eventually found it and sprayed a bit on the kangaroo, Mel felt it wince as the medicine sterilized its wounds.

Gently, the Trainer wrapped some bandages from her first-aid kit on the worst injuries on the Kangaskhan. The Pokémon stared all the more.

"Rio - I mean, Sirius, what should I name our new team member?" Mel asked her companion, who merely gave a confused look as a reply.

"Riolu, I'm gonna call you Sirius from now on, 'kay?" The said Pokémon stared at his Trainer blankly. She waved at him, "You'll get used to it soon. Zor - Scarlet, how 'bout you?"

The Zorua responded the same way her partner did.

"I'm gonna call you Scarlet; that's your new name." The fox put on a disgusted and surprised look on her face, and scoffed at Mel. "Hmph! Be that way, Scarlet! Our new team member's gonna get a name too, just like the two of you are!"

The teen turned from her Zorua back to her large Kangaskhan. "You remind me of a Bertha, but that name just doesn't suit you! But I think Phoebe would do, don't you think?"

As if a Pokémon could talk. Besides those psychics.

Then something caught her attention.

"Hey wait!" Mel shouted at the Trainer of a newly caught Zorua. She desperately wanted to try out Phoebe in a battle. She didn't care who, she just wanted a battle. Over bushes and under low tree branches, she made her way to the twosome that she had caught sight of. Her Pokémon, however, had some trouble following their Trainer, especially with Phoebe's case.

"Hey," she said once she met up with them, panting slightly, "I saw you catch that Zorua. Can we battle?"

Posted by: Proby Jun 15 2011, 10:07 AM

Alex was too busy reeling from the surprise of evolution to listen to what Tom was saying. Stryk evolving in the gym battle had been easy: he'd had to act quickly then and so had had to quickly accept the evolution. Now, with Blaze and Swamps, it was a massive surprise. His starter Pokemon had evolved. That was kinda weird. And Swamps, who was almost his starter Pokemon, had also evolved.

Well, at least it's not Treecky, or even Leo... he thought to himself. That would be weird, especially seeing as he hadn't had them for a while, especially not Leo.

"Alex, are you even listening to me?" asked Tom.

"Uh? Oh, no, sorry. It's weird..." said Alex, gesturing to his now evolved Pokemon, both of whom still resided outside of their Pokeballs, in an attempt to get himself understood. Fortunately, their close friendship meant Tom could sort of understand what Alex meant. Alex was sure Tikal wasn't so lucky.

"OK Alex, I was just saying we should probably make our way to the festival. It'll be starting soon."

"Oh yeah! Sorry, my mind's elsewhere. Well then, let's go! See ya later!" he said to Tom. No nodded silently and ran towards the co-ordinator's room to get ready, leaving Alex and Tikal on the beach with two evolved Pokemon.

"So..." said Alex as he withdrew Swamps, leaving Blaze outside his Pokeball, "How are things?" He couldn't help he was awkward. He was an awkward person. He didn't like being on his own with a girl. It just... made him feel a little icky. He knew it was a very childish way of thinking. You're fifteen, after all... he thought to himself. You should be getting a girlfriend sometime soon.

But Tikal sort of had something going on with Tyson, at least that's what it looked like to Alex. And Alex being alone with her sort of made him feel like he was intruding on that.

Posted by: rt117 Jun 22 2011, 12:38 PM

Tikal had not been able to understand what was bothering Alex as he seemed to zone out in front of them. It seemed as if it had something to do with the rather speedy evolution of his two Pokemon, but then he would have been happy. After all, his Pokemon would have got stronger, making re-challenging the gym easier. Unless he didn't like change, she couldn't deduct an answer.

Finally he snapped out of the trance with the help of Tom, who was apparently going to be part of the upcoming competition. As he took off to get ready, she glanced over at Alex, who suddenly looked rather uncomfortable in his current situation. This caused further confusion for the girl, as she saw no real reason for him to be uncomfortable. Unless the events of yesterday had somehow stuck with him, the possibility of attempting another challenge against Maxi a likelihood. Or maybe she was over-thinking things again.

"Alright, I'm just hoping Tyson finds his way here." she replied, still unable to help but worry. They seemed to be getting into trouble lately, but she hoped that they would all be fine and well for the festival. After all, she had never been to such an event, and the thought of doing a little exploring was rather inviting. Though quickly recalling the situation at hand, she moved her head to the side slightly, giving him a slightly concerned look.

"Are you okay? You've seemed kind of distant lately, and I'm starting to think it doesn't have anything to do with last night."

Posted by: Seromi Jun 30 2011, 07:30 PM

A Squirtle was sent out. Maybe... Mel had struck an idea.

"Scarlet, you're up!" The Trainer commanded.

The small vixen happily hopped from her side and onto the battlefield. The Zorua's black tail swished side to side from excitement. Scarlet looked back at her Trainer, who gave her a nod. The signal. The small fox's silhouette warped into that of a Emolga. Yet still, her tail stuck out like a sore thumb. Mel had anticipated that clearly, so what was that girl up to? She glowered at the Trainer.

"Don't worry," Mel muttered under her breath, "I have a plan."

"And what plan is that?" Scarlet growled.

"Just trust me," The Trainer replied to the Zorua, whose question came across as a series of grunts and growls to Mel, "I got it."



"Hmph, at least I'm trying!" Scarlet spat at the Zorua. She just hated being one-upped by some jerk. The vixen was much more elegant in her haughty ways, while the other just seemed... so rude.

Mel looked at Scarlet once more, who quickly reverted into her original form once more only to be slashed on her side. The small vixen jumped from the fellow Zorua and landed on her feet gracefully and lightly. It didn't do as much damage as the Trainer thought, seeing that Scarlet still had her usual bravado. She almost sighed in annoyance at the fox's show-off. The Trainer knew that Scarlet looked a bit upset, maybe because the other Zorua - Houdini - probably had been taunting about the fox's transformation issues.

"Alright Scarly, use Leer!" Mel commanded. Her Zorua looked back at the Trainer in horror. She waved it off and attempted to reinforce her focus on the battle by frantically pointing at Scarlet's opponent. Note to self, never call Scarlet "Scarly" again.

The vixen was appalled, outraged even! How dare she call her that hideous nickname? It was far too disgusting to be even thought, let alone said! Scarlet vowed to give Mel a beating of her lifetime when the battle was over. Her Trainer would surely regret calling her such a thing! The fox's attention was forced back onto the battlefield, particularly on that rude male. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at the other Zorua.



The fox easily saw that the fellow Zorua was madly in love with her. Of course, her looks were irresistible. But sadly enough, this one wasn't her type nor was she even looking for anybody. If she were a Zoroark, however, that'd be a different story. Scarlet stared down at the male before her, who was pleading for forgiveness in his behavior. Why, he'd be groveling at her feet if he could stand like a human! But she was not one to be a unkind type. She liked to be the queen of everything. But she almost felt bad for the poor fellow.

"Hmph," Scoffed the vixen, "I suppose this is a day of firsts. Don't let yourself get carried away though, this is a battle not some social meet-and-greet."

"I don't know either," Mel mumbled, scratching her head in confusion, "but whatever it is, I'll gladly take advantage of it. Scarlet, use Scratch!"

"With pleasure," The Zorua said, running at her opponent.

She leaped into the air, done with style of course, with her paw raised and claws out. As she neared to the ground near Houdini, Scarlet struck against the other Zorua with her outstretched claws and managed to be up in the air again. She did a somersault before she once again stuck the perfect landing on her fours back at her Trainer's side. Her most important rule was that Scarlet must always be a show-off, since it bothered Mel quite a bit.

"Scarlet! Stop being so pompous!"

"I didn't know that you learned that word! Bravo!" Sarcastically commented the said Zorua, even though her Trainer wouldn't understand her.



"Didn't I just tell you that this is a battle? I'm trying to help you here," Snapped the Zorua, a bit tensed up by the paw that was about to strike her in the face, "get out of your daydream and fight!"

Scarlet looked to Mel, who nodded again. The signal again. She must have something in mind now, and the Zorua had a good hunch of what her plan is. The fox jumped into the air and began spinning as if she were using Rollout. There was a brief flash of light before the transformation was complete, leaving a Riolu in the place of the Zorua. She landed on her feet in her usual manner a ways off behind Houdini. She turned to face the said Zorua and took an offensive stance. What bothered the transformed fox that most was her tail. She growled that it didn't go well either; her species' trademark tail was still there instead of a Riolu's tail.

"Forget about the tail, we'll work on that later! Use Scratch!" Mel commanded, pointing to where she thought was a weak spot: Houdini's legs.

Scarlet heeded her order with a nod and charged at the fellow Zorua. The vixen's original paw replaced her left illusionary paw, with bared claws. Her body was crouched as she struck at Houdini, feeling a bit bad for the fox. With another somersault, she was at her starting spot when the battle began. Her illusion form faded, with Scarlet looking as sharp as ever. Scarlet just didn't understand why Houdini kept letting himself be distracted. Yes, she was attractive, but not enough to make someone so... unfocused. Whenever she was in a battle, she expected it to be a fair battle and nothing else.

"Come on, just fight me!" Scarlet growled.



"Hmph, that was incredibly tedious." Scarlet irritably grumbled as she returned to her Trainer's side.

The battle itself was just horrendously terrible! She was dominating Houdini mostly because of his lack of focus! Ugh, she'd scream right now if only she'd not end up howling like some lunatic. Phoebe stood there, taking in how the moves were used and such. She was a smart kangaroo, that one. Then there was Sirius. There was a stupidly large grin on his face. What was he so happy about? She growled to get him to stop that smiling. But the Riolu smiled all the more.

"... Stop it, that's creeping me out." Ordered the Zorua.

The Riolu waggled his invisible eyebrows in a silly manner.

"I will not have this nonsense. You stop that right now."

Meanwhile, Mel seemed a bit disappointed about the battle ending so early, and with it being so unfair.

"Meh, I can deal with it as long as we get a fair rematch." She said, unbelievably comfortable with the battle.

The Zorua's face was drained of any color; oh merciful Arceus no, she'd tease the living hell out of Scarlet! She groaned inwardly, the Trainer must've known about her new follower now! Her eyes widened in realization as she looked at Sirius. Oh. Dear. Arceus. He obviously knew about the whole ordeal! Of course, he just sat there and watched the "battle" for the love of Meloetta! If she could, Scarlet would've smack her face in the gesture known to many as a facepalm.

"Name's Melissa, but call me Mel." She warmly greeted, shaking Tyson's hand, "Say, can I come with you? I mean, I have nothing else to do and this is my first time here in Furoh ever."



"Maybe then it would've been a good, fair battle." Scarlet agreed as she and her fellow team mates walked alongside with the group.

"So, seems that Scarlet has made quite the impression on your Zorua, huh?" Mel commented, even waggling her eyebrows in the same fashion as Sirius had. The said fox swore that the Trainer was out to get her for that one time she pranked Mel.

"Ah yes, it seems that our lovely little Scarlet did make quite the impression." The Riolu teased. Phoebe even chuckled at this.

The Zorua felt so embarrassed! Why, she'd die of shame right now if such a thing were possible! Ugh, Scarlet wished that the day would be done and over. She just couldn't bear being teased like this, her dignity would shatter into a million pieces like it was now.



Mel looked at Tyson in confusion, "What's a Ditto?" She waved off the thought as she continued, "Anyway, Zorua's a kind of Pokémon that uses illusions to cloak themselves and prank people. They can take on forms such a Riolu, just like what Scarlet did! She's a bit inexperienced with illusions though."

They abruptly stopped, and their guide suddenly turned the opposite direction waving them goodbye. Apparently they were at the city of Fidona. Tyson was about to leave as well. Mel didn't want to lost again, not like last time when she was still in Unova!

"Um, wait!" Cried the Trainer, "Uh, can I go with you? I really don't wanna go by myself..."

Posted by: Proby Jul 1 2011, 02:44 AM

"Umm... yeah." said Alex. "I'm Ok... I'm just in an oddly reflective mood today. It started with the gym battle, but I've kinda solved that issue for myself. I dunno..."

He was about to carry on and tell Tikal about his awkwardness around her and the reasons for it and to apologize about it, but he was cut short by the unmistakeable sound of a voice he knew. It was Tyson.

He turned round to Tikal and suddenly his eyes were bright again and much more widened and alert. He smiled
"Did you hear that? Follow me."

He went towards where he heard the sound and dashed as fast as he could. There, much to his relief, was a guy with a ponytail, looking rather more dishevelled than when Alex had last seen him. He'd had a rough night, obviously.

"Tyson!" he exclaimed, and ran up to him. "It's great to see you again. Me and Tikal were so worried..."
Tyson didn't get to respond, because Alex had just spotted someone who was in truth, in appearance, extremely similar to him. She wore vivid, brightly coloured clothes and was a little dirty.

Ooh dearie... he thought to himself. You might have just seen your biggest ever rival. And I bet you you're gonna end up travelling around with her...

He went up to her and politely held out his hand to shake.
"Nice to meet you," he said, "My name is Alex. I'm originally from Mawvile, but I moved to Furoh when I was young. I'm a Pokemon trainer, and I'm taking on the four gyms in this region. So, who are you then?"

Posted by: Protoman Jul 3 2011, 09:18 AM

Tyson, who was slightly taken aback by the swiftness of his friends finding him, simply smiled as Alex introduced himself to Mel. He looked and saw Tikal, making him blush greatly as he walked towards her.

"Sorry I was gone," Tyson told her, "I can't remember a thing that happened at all." He looked down, seeing Blaze walking up beside him. The Quilava smiled at Alex and Tikal, letting them know that he had taken a step towards power. After thinking about it, Tyson let his other Pokemon out of their balls, in order for them to see Blaze. Hydro and Aero were surprised as to see that their friend had evolved. Hydro's shock soon turned into frustration.

"I need to evolve now," Hydro said to himself. "It's the only way I'll be able to compete with Blaze." Aero, who overheard this, simply scoffed at Hydro's idea.

"You can't be serious," Aero said to him, making the Squirtle tense up. Aero spread his wings and smirked at Hydro. "I'm going to be the next one to evolve! You won't be able to keep up!"

"Both of you shut up," Blaze told them, not even looking at them. Instead, he was looking at Houdini, Tyson's latest Pokemon. Houdini held his head up proudly, acting as if he won the battle beforehand.

"What happened with you guys," Tyson asked, hoping some good news would come out of Alex's mouth.

Posted by: rt117 Jul 3 2011, 04:07 PM

It didn't take long for Tikal to register that Tyson had managed to find his way back to the group, and no sooner did he approach her that the girl rushed over toward him, nearly knocking him over as she flung herself at him in her own little form of greeting. Though no sooner did Tikal accomplish this, she smiled sheepishly with the idea of the possible reactions that the others may have held.

It wasn't her fault she was so excited though, she had been worried sick about him since he had vanished, even if it was for a day or so. All the possibilities of things happening to him with his condition were enough to keep her worried over night. And only now could her fears be quelled with his presence, though anything that may have happened between him leaving and coming back were up for debate. She didn't want to think of such things though, in fear of ruining the moment.

Finally recovering from her sudden outburst, she released Tyson and smiled, blushing slightly. "It's great to have you back, I've been worried sick." she told him, knowing that it probably wasn't his fault that such a thing occured. Glancing down to his partner Blaze, she crouched down to examine the recently evolved Pokemon with a smile. "And I see you've evolved too! This is even better!" she exclaimed, before hopping back up onto her feet to look back at Tyson.

"And even better, I'm not the odd one out either!"

With that, she pulled her Pokeball out to prove her point. In a flash of brilliant light, Tikal's Nidorino shook himself off, before wandering forth to mingle with Tyson's Pokemon. Though looking somewhat intimidating by his spike-covered form, it was clear by the look in his eyes that he hadn't changed one bit in his personality.

Posted by: Protoman Jul 3 2011, 07:40 PM

Tyson, who barely had time to react, simply landed on the ground, hugging Tikal back as she grasped his neck tightly. After she released him, both began to blush fiercely, staring into each others' eyes. He felt bad about making Tikal worry about him, even though the event was far from being his fault...entirely. He hadn't eaten anything that day, which may have been the cause of his sudden fainting and becoming lost. He finally snapped back into reality, smiling while still blushing greatly.

"Sorry for making you worry," Tyson responded as Tikal blushed. "I found a way to get back to the city thanks to a friend." As Blaze smiled at Tikal, he then looked towards the Nidorino, inspecting him thoroughly before realizing who it really was. With a smile and a nod, Tyson got back up onto his feet, petting Blaze and Nidorino, being extra careful of his longer horn and other poisonous barbs on his head. "Hey Alex," Tyson began again, smiling as he asked, "how did you do at the Gym?"

"Nidoran," Blaze began, "You've undergone the change as well, I see..." He paused for a moment, smiling as he said this. "Good on you, mate."

"Aw man," Hydro complained to Houdini and Aero. "Even Nidoran changed on us!" The young Squirtle scowled at the sight of both of his friends being on a totally different level than they were. Hydro knew that when evolution occurred, the one evolving becomes stronger than they used to be, each of their moves dealing more damage than they used to. Hydro, who wasn't quite at the evolving point yet, wanted to become the strongest out of Tyson's Pokemon, so the others could envy him. He already knew that the only other Pokemon that could compete with him would be Blaze. He glared at both Nidorino and Blaze, feeling anger as it built up inside of him. Blaze looked over and smiled at the trio.

"We'll all get to the same point," Aero responded. "It just takes time, Hydro."

"Which isn't on our side," Houdini told them both, simply walking off to meet the other Pokemon that they were surrounded by.

Posted by: Proby Jul 7 2011, 11:14 AM

Tyson asked quite a simple question, about what happened yesterday whilst he'd been missing. But Alex found it ridiculously hard to say it. His expression hardened into an angry frown and those around could hear him gritting his teeth in anger.
"I lost my Gym Match." he said to the pony-tailed boy who travelled around with them. He wasn't speaking to Mel, the new girl, here at all. She didn't know how much it meant to him to be the Champion. It was his sole goal in life. And he'd fallen at the first hurdle.

Well, It looks like it's going to be harder than you first thought to get that loss out of your system, he thought to himself.

But, he reasoned, this was his true test as a trainer. It was up to him now if after his fall, he got back up again and carried on or if he just sat there and gave up. Alex started laughing to himself.
"You look crazy", he told himself, though not loud enough for anyone but him to hear. "In fact, I think you are going mad."

Tyson then went off with Tikal, which Alex hoped was not due to him going mad, but wasn't abnormal. However, where Alex would've been left alone or with Tom in this situation, which were people he trusted, he was now left with Mel. Alex didn't trust those he didn't know.

"So, you a trainer too, then? Well, want to see my Pokemon? I'm not battling right now, but I'm sure they'll be happy to say hi."
Alex then reached inside his backpack and pulled out the five Pokeballs that denoted his Pokemon, and opened each of them. Out came the newly evolved Blaze, the newly evolved Swamps, the not so newly but still quite newly evolved Stryk, and Leo and Treecky.

"Ok guys,go and do what you like!" he said. Blaze and Swamps turned round and looked at each other, then nodded. they walked over to Tikal and Tyson's Pokemon group. Stryk flew around the city for a bit. She needed these solo moments, Alex knew. Treecky found a nearby rock and just rested against it. No moving for Mr. grumpy.

Leo, oddly, chose to stay by Alex's side instead of running off to talk to everyone else.
"What's up, Leo?" asked Alex.
The little Shinx looked up at Alex. He then jumped and in Mid-air started glowing.
"Oh. Right. You too?" Alex said.
There was a flash of light as Leo reached the climax of the evolution process, which faded quickly, revealing a Luxio. Alex flipped out Dexter. May as well scan all his Pokemon and register them.

"Luxio, the Spark Pokemon. Luxio travel in tight family groups and are very loyal. They create Electricity by using their muscles."

"Nice." said Alex simply.
---
Blaze and Swamps, now both evolved, trotted over to Tyson and Tikal's Pokemon.
"Yo, Blaze," said Blaze. "I see ya managed to go through the change too, huh? I'm lovin' it, I must say." He then, just to show off, lifted a very annoyed Hydro off the ground. As a Torchic, Blaze would never have been able to do this, but now he was a Combusken, he had the necessary arms, and strength in these arms.

Swamps was also enjoying his evolution. It was less about strength for him. He could now walk on two feet. He no longer had to worry about mixing up his feet when running. It was easy.
"So I heard you like Marshtompz, yeah?" he said, chuckling. Swamps hadn't changed in terms of personality. He was still the joker.
---
After a few minutes, Alex got bored. He also realized they should probably be heading to the Fidona Festival.
"Guys, follow me!" It's festival time!" he then recalled all his Pokemon apart from Blaze, who as often happened, remained outside his Pokeball.

Alex and the group then went towards the Festival, located slightly outside the main city area but still quite close, so that the residents weren't too bothered by all the noise but could still access it easily.

The festival was a massive event. There were loads of stalls and it was all brightly coloured, and often covered in vast amounts of glitter. Alex saw a capsule service and a dress up booth which caught his interest.
"We'll have to check out the exhibits after the main event." said Alex to his companions. "There are some really cool ones around here."

Alex then rummaged around in his bag and pulled out three tickets. Tom didn't know Mel existed, so he'd only bought three for everyone. But Alex had a solution. He quickly ran off and bought another one for Mel, before rushing back and handing it to her.

After this, they rushed to their seats. Alex chose some quite close to the stage itself. It was the third row and in the middle. There was one large horseshoe stand, with the stage in clear view to everyone so people could see all the co-ordinators' faces.

Then, the first group came on to stage. Tom wasn't there, he was group C. This was group A. Each person in the group would perform, and one person would got through to the semi-finals. There were four groups. Co-ordinators participating had already gone though the elimination round, a private show of their skills that had happened the day before. It had been after Alex's gym badge, which was why he hadn't seen it.

The first performance began. The Trainer's name was Harry and he owned an Aron, a Sandshrew and a Vulpix. Their entrance was very colourful. Aron used Iron defence and created a shining backdrop to the fire and dust being thrown around by the other tow Pokemon. The were decorated with cute Viking helmets and all wore capes, with the Sandshrew also holding a toy hammer.

"Well, he looks pretty good. Might be a contender." Alex said.

Posted by: rt117 Jul 11 2011, 10:34 AM

ooc: very very long collab post with Protoman

Tikal followed closely beside Tyson, not wanting him to leave his sight for even a second, in fear of losing him once more to his headaches. Odds were she didn't have to worry too much about it reoccuring, but she didn't want to take a chance and find out the hard way. Despite her intentions, it was hard to keep focused when all the different shops seemed to call to her, the girl constantly losing her focus to the draw of all the different goods in the stalls, the poke dolls in particular.



Fortunately Tyson didn't need to grab her attention, for Tikal was drawn away from the group and toward one stall in particular, walls and shelves lined with all sorts of dolls and plushes. Out of all of the ones she saw, an adorable figure of a red and white legendary Pokemon captured her attention more than any other. It was roughly the size of her Igglybuff, and sat there with adorable eyes.

"Want one of those Poke Dolls?"

Tikal spun around to see Tyson standing behind her, seeming to admire them along with her. No sooner than he asked that question did her eyes light up, her hands pressing together as she spun back around toward the stall with a bright look on her face, hands immediately racing toward the one that had caught her gaze so easily.

As soon as the purchase was made, and Tikal was able to take her eyes off the small soft plush that she held in her hands, she spun around to Tyson once more, embracing him tightly. "Thank you!" she grinned, all of her worries seeming to have left her with her moment of happiness.



Tikal smiled, not seeming to mind his shyness around her. She had gotten used to it after all. As he leaned in to kiss her, she returned the favour by leaning in as well. The moment they made contact, time seemed to stop for them for those few magical seconds, which seemed to span ages for the two of them.



As the pair ended the kiss, Tikal looked at him and smiled again, though moved her hands from his shoulders as she took his hands, her plush now residing under her shoulder. "I think we lost the others." she told Tyson, noting that Alex and the new girl were nowhere in sight, though she didn't seem quite in a rush to go after them.



Tikal couldn't help but shake her head slightly, noting that her words seemed to simply bounce off Tyson, as if he was daydreaming in another realm. There was no real rush however, as they had all day to reconnect with the others. "So... what do you feel like doing?" she questioned Tyson, wondering if he would be able to hear her this time.



Tikal nodded as she released one of his hands, holding onto the other with a gentle grasp. "Sounds good to me, I really need the practice." she replied, unable to shake the feeling that her earlier gym battle was nothing more than a fluke. All the time she had been certain that Alex was a better trainer than she was, especially since he was much more serious about it than her. However the events of the previous day had made her uncertain about how well she really faired in basic battle, and now would be the perfect time to settle it.



Glancing around at the open surroundings, Tikal smiled at the idea of finally having a chance of getting a little bit of practice in. Looking over to Tyson, she wondered if he was really alright with this, having assumed that somewhere he would feel insecure about fighting her. "So how should we do this? Three on three?" Tikal questioned, still hugging her new plush in her arms like a child.



Tikal followed his gesture, moving toward the old building as she wondered who she should use, and in particular, who he would use. Odds were his evolved Pokemon would come first, and he would likely assume the same. *If I use Charmander, then he'd be a target for his Squirtle...* she reasoned, knowing her fire lizard didn't stand much of a chance against water. Which left her with her other choice, Igglybuff. Though only a baby, the Balloon Pokemon proved to be a rather formidable foe in battle, especially with her rather deceptive charm...



Tikal couldn't help but laugh a little, blushing slightly as he declared his status. "Alright, but don't take it easy on me, I want the real thing." she warned, afraid of him slacking off in fear of hurting her feelings. She would never learn that way after all. "Why don't you go first?"



Tikal smiled, having assumed correctly about the presence of Blaze and Hydro. Aero's slot was more of a wild card, but her third option of Igglybuff wouldn't get in the way of that. Plus she had already decided at this point who would go after who. In response to Tyson's choice, Tikal responded in kind with the release of three of her Pokemon: Nidorino, Totodile, and Igglybuff. "You can go first." Tikal smiled, noticing that Tyson was slightly nervous about 'not going easy' on her.



Tikal frowned, Tyson's choice of targets not what she had been hoping for at all. Especially when he was attempting to have his strongest Pokemon knock out her weakest at a distance. It seemed as if she would have to change things up quickly. "Everyone, move to the defensive! Totodile, reflect Flamethrower with Water Gun! Igglybuff, knock Aero out of the sky with Rollout! And Nidorino, use Leer on Totodile!

No sooner did she call out commands that everyone went to work. Totodile puffed out his chest before releasing a stream of water to douse the Quilava's flaming blast, while Igglybuff took the opportunity to spin in place, before flying toward the oncoming Pidgey. Finally, Nidorino was forced to take the brunt of the water spray, before staring at the Squirtle with a fierce gaze, which proved to be more intimidating than before with his evolved form.



*Thats more like it.* Tikal thought with a smile, quick to adapt to her original plan. "Nidorino, use Focus Energy and look for a weak spot!" Tikal called, unable to figure out what exactly Blaze was up to. But whatever it was, it certainly couldn't be good for her. Landing the failed Rollout, Igglybuff recovered rather poorly, looking quite dizzy as she stepped around randomly, unable to gain her bearings. However this wasn't noticed as much by Tikal, who was keeping an eye out for Aero. "Totodile, bring down that bird with Water Gun!" On cue, Totodile changed his watery blast toward the sky, trying to wet the feathers of the Pidgey and make it harder to fly.

Posted by: Protoman Jul 11 2011, 10:35 AM

"Perfect," Tyson told her, hoping she'd try to call his bluff. Meanwhile, Hydro began to squirt water at the Igglybuff, hoping he'd knock it down.

"Flame Wheel," Tyson yelled to Blaze, who rolled around the spiked forehead of the Nidorino, colliding into his side. Meanwhile, Aero began to divebomb the Totodile, hoping his attack would land.

Tyson swore under his breath as the once organized battle began to become quite the mess, With Blaze now poisoned and Aero getting beaten down by Totodile, all of his hopes rested on Hydro. Then, Tyson noticed something rather strange about Aero...his tail was black.

"What the," Tyson exclaimed before realizing what was going on, Aero was never in...somehow, Houdini managed to sneak his way in to the battle, confusing even his own trainer. He then refocused onto the situation with Blaze. Breathing heavily, Blaze felt the poison as it coursed through him.

"Flamethrower, then Flame Wheel!" Tyson shouted, hoping what he was looking for came to pass. She'll have Nidorino dodge the Flamethrower, he thought hopefully. Then, I'll have Blaze roll right into Nidorino with Flame Wheel on the other side.

Hydro, who looked at the Igglybuff, began to feel guilty, until he realized he was in a Pokemon battle. Another quick burst of water was shot at the round pink Pokemon.



Knocking him back farther, Blaze skidded across the ground, panting as he was still enduring the pain coming from the poison as well. Hydro rubbed his head as he was smacked across it by the Igglybuff. Covering himself in a veil of water, he rocketed towards the puffball in fury. Soon, 'Aero' had enough punishment, finally revealing himself to be Houdini. Without any hesitation, he smacked the Totodile on its back, using the move Faint Attack.



Tyson knew things might not end well for him as he watched Blaze barely resist the stare down coming from Nidorino. Hydro loked at the sphere coming towards him, so he decided to use Water Gun to try and slow the Igglybuff down. Houdini, who knew how to handle enraged people, continued to use

Faint attack to his advantage, in hopes of confusing the Totodile. That only left Blaze. Unable to truly focus his efforts only on one Pokemon, he tried his best to show Blaze as much concern as he could. Legs shaking vibrantly, Blaze held himself up before glaring back at the Nidorino. Tyson's face filled with shock as he simply was watching as his three Pokemon somehow regained some form of control.



With Blaze down, Tyson already felt the battle slipping wildly out of control. He could do nothing but look on as Hydro received a viscious headbutt from Totodile, slightly dazed, Hydro delivered a headbutt back, only resulting in his own injury. Meanwhile, Houdini, who knew that Igglybuff was trying to make him lose focus, simply tried to shake her off of him, but to no success. Tyson recalled Blaze, waiting to see what his other two Pokemon could do.



Hydro was knocked to the ground, struggling greatly to get up from his pummeling received. Houdini, who only wanted for Igglybuff to let go, shook harder.



Hydro, who seriously hated anyone clamping onto his shell, began to run around in a panic. As Houdini collapsed onto the ground, the beating he took taking its toll on him as well, Hydro tripped over him, landing ontop of both him and Igglybuff.



Hydro soon was beaten unconscious, unable to take any more damage. That only left Houdini. After face palming for a brief minute, he returned his turtle to his Poke Ball.



"Houdini," Tyson said before feeling as if all hope was truly lost. Houdini, however, didn't care about the odds. He looked at all three Pokemon, smiling as he did so, almost disappearing into thin air. Tyson knew this was his Faint Attack, but wasn't sure as to how long he could keep this up. Everyone had their limitations...what were Houdini's?



With a slight nudge, Houdini made Totodile step on Nidorino's foot, hoping to start a small quarrel among the three of them, making them tire themselves out so he could finish the battle.



Almost as if he was taunting them all, Houdini was standing on top of the head of Nidorino, which needless to sat, was quie the dangerous place at the moment. Taunting the Totodile, daring him to attack, he made Nidorino take a step forward before vanishing once again.



Zoura, who began to fade back into visibility, was asleep, right in between the three of them. Unable to wake himself up, Tyson simply shrugged and turned his back, not wanting to watch the finishing results.



Finally noticing the agonizing battle was over, Tyson returned Houdini to his Poke Ball, sighing in disappointment.

"Good battle," Tyson said smiling, hoping she didn't think he was a poor trainer at all.

Posted by: rt117 Jul 11 2011, 10:37 AM

With a nod, Tikal returned her Pokemon to their resting places, except for Igglybuff who wanted to be carried instead. Juggling the two in her arms, she walked over to Tyson, before setting Igglybuff and her doll down before hugging him. "Thanks for the practice... you did great." she reassured him.

Meanwhile, Igglybuff stared at the plush with some concern, poking its lifeless fabric before puffing out. Suddenly it seemed as if she would have some competition against this... thing.

Tikal looked up at him, before brushing the hair from his eyes with a smile. "Come on, we should go get everyone patched back up." she advised, moving to gather her belongings once more. However as she went to get her plush, she couldn't help but laugh as Igglybuff was attempting to wrestle with the doll, seeming disgruntled by it. She picked them both up, making sure to keep the two separated as she waited for Tyson to get himself ready. Glaring at the doll one last time, Igglybuff pouted, puffed out, and crossed her arms while looking away.



Tikal couldn't help but blush slightly as they continued on their journey toward the Pokemon Center. Eventually Igglybuff behaved as she sat on her trainer's shoulder, but only because she had to, for fear of being sent back to her Pokeball. She enjoyed her freedom, but hated having to share it with the red and white soft thing that Tikal carried as well. Entering into the Pokemon Center, she walked over to the counter to see Nurse Joy, and to get a check-up on her Pokemon. Igglybuff was quite unhappy about being removed from her perch on her trainer's shoulder, but at the offer of a sweet from Nurse Joy, the Pokemon seemed more than happy to follow along. As her Pokemon were taken away, Tikal walked back over to Tyson with a smile, taking his hand once more.



"To be honest, I was quite surprised about your decision to bring out your new Pokemon." Tikal told him, following him over to the counter as she waited for Nurse Joy to finish tending to her Pokemon. She hadn't even known he had a new Pokemon until the battle was halfway over, and even he seemed rather surprised about the change. Then again it seemed like a good strategy, to trick your opponent into thinking you were sending something out.



"Maybe that's his thing." Tikal reasoned, thinking back to his earlier transformation of Aero. "Every Pokemon has something about them that makes them unique, just like people. Except theirs are more obvious. Maybe his is the ability to copy the appearance of others?" she reasoned. Then again that sounded like another Pokemon she had heard about long ago. There was apparently a Pokemon who could copy everything about another, even their attacks. But apparently unlike Tyson's mystery Pokemon, this one couldn't get the face right.



"I remember something long ago about another Pokemon that could do this exact same thing. However unlike yours, it could use their moves as well. Maybe it's possible that the two share a similar ability. However I suppose the thing that would set them apart is that yours cant use the copy's attacks, only appearance."



Tikal looked a little uncertain as she was handed the scissors, looking down at them before glancing up at him as he indicated toward his tied-back hair. “You want me to cut it?” she asked, seeming a little baffled by his request. She liked his long hair, but now it seemed he wanted to change his mind. So leaning to his left and right to further investigate where to cut, she brought the scissors to his hair, a small ways away from his ponytail, and began to make the cut. She made sure to cut outside the ponytail, so that his hair wouldn’t be very short, and he could always decide on styling later.

As she nearly finished the cut, Tikal wondered why exactly he had wanted her to make this adjustment. Couldn’t he have gotten someone who actually knew what they were doing to fix it instead of her? Watching as the last snip was made, the clump falling to the ground, Tikal stepped back with scissors still in hand, hoping that she had done a half-decent job.



After cleaning up her mess and getting her Pokemon back, Tikal collected her plus Pokemon once more before moving to Tyson's side, hands clasped together as her gift rested in her arms. She couldn't wait to see more of this festival, knowing that it would be the perfect opportunity to get a few great pictures in. Especially since she had been lacking some nice shots of her earlier battles. Then again, fighting and photography didn't always mix together so well, especially when one was more of a distraction.

"Well... I'm ready when you are."

Posted by: Seromi Jul 25 2011, 02:32 PM

Mel felt as if a thousand things had happened at once. Maybe they did, but who knows?

She was pulled left and right to practically everywhere until the Alex kid said that they were at a festival of some sort. It seemed so odd of her to be so quiet out of nowhere. She was going to change that in a flash, surely! Although, she was left alone with Alex, who apparently seemed a lot like herself. The Trainer still felt bummed about the poor battle that she had before. She also never got the chance to show off Phoebe. She gave a somewhat disturbing grin at the thought of another battle. Maybe, just maybe, the chance was right before her. And that opportunity's name was Alex. As Mel followed Alex, seeing that there wasn't much for her to do around the place and that Tyson ran off with a friend of his, she kept thinking of simple strategies that would possibly win her a battle.

It wasn't long before she accidentally bumped into the guy. There seemed to be something going on, but Mel wasn't sure what the event was. Well, she was about to find out. As the lights on the stage began to dim, a Trainer who went by the name of Harry threw out three Poké Balls while calling out commands. They burst in a spectacularly colorful light, introducing three Pokémon she never saw. One looked like a shrew with a brick-like pattern, another looked like a small fox with small curls on its head and had multiple tails, and the last one was a small, steel turtle. They worked together in a synchronized movement to show off their styles. It was all a big pretty show that captured Mel's eyes. It was certainly beautiful, that's for sure.

All thoughts about her planned battle vanished without a trace as Mel tapped Alex's shoulder. A childish question flowed out of her mouth simply and innocently.

"What are they doing?"

Posted by: Proby Aug 1 2011, 09:25 AM

Alex noticed that Tikal and Tyson were still not sitting there with them. Oh well, he reasoned with himself, they must be... doing something together. They're like, going out aren't they?

The truth was, Alex was no idea what people did in a relationship. he'd never experienced one. All he knew of them was his mother and father and Tyson and Tikal. And Alex wasn't sure if the latter were in a relationship or not.
"It'll happen when it happens." he told himself. "And I suppose you'll know what to do when it does. No point in dwelling on the future when there's the present to deal with."

Alex suddenly realized Mel was still there.
"Oh... sorry. I easily get distracted."

Mel seemed to accept this, but Alex thought she was probably busy watching the amazing spectacle in front of them. This thought was confirmed when Mel turned round to him, and, quite childishly, asked with awe what the guy on stage was doing. Alex laughed kindly.

"They're co-ordinators, the trainers there. What they do is they dress up their Pokemon and get them to perform and make a lovely spectacle and in the end the judges judge who was best. Some places are different from others. In Hoenn, where I was born, there are no extra things, just appeal to the judges, but in Sinnoh, the Pokemon are also made to compete in a dance competition. In Unova, this Dance has become the Musical, and it takes up the major part of the contest life over there. Here in Furoh, the rules vary from Contest to contest. The Fidona festival starts with an appeal round. Then, the Pokemon have to overcome an obstacle course before showing an obedience trial."

Presently, Harry's Pokemon were running the obstacle course now their appeal round had finished. His Vulpix expertly jumped over the hurdle, his Sandshrew managed the "under" hurdle, which were basically like Limbo but going front-ways. His Aron was particularly talented in the mini cave. All in all they finished the course in an impressive 57 seconds.
"Tom can do it faster." said Alex to Mel. "But that's pretty good." Alex sounded like a contest expert, but really, he'd just listened to Tom quite a bit and watched him practising.

Harry's Pokemon now came back to the stage. The Judge handed the trainer a card with some orders on it. The crowd could see the orders due to a big screen overhead, but the Pokemon could not.
"Aron, use Harden!" the co-ordinator said. Aron nodded and his exterior shone slightly.
"That looked too much like Iron Defence to me. The Judges will mark each Pokemon on how well they perform the move." Alex said to Mel.

Next, Harry instructed his Vulpix to perform the move Will-o-wisp. It worked to perfection, which made Alex a little nervous. Harry's strongest Pokemon looked like Vulpix. If he continued into the next round, which seemed likely considering how well he was doing, Tom would have a rough ride.

The final obedience show was Sandshrew's. The little desert shrew tried a hone claws, but went over the top and ended up doing a Slash attack.

Alex watched the rest of the group with interest. There were plenty of talented budding young co-ordinators, but none of them managed to stand up to Harry's impressive display.

During group B, Alex decided that he needed some food and drink.
"I'm hungry." he said to Mel. "Wanna come? There's a nice restaurant that I saw earlier."

Posted by: Proby Aug 1 2011, 09:25 AM

~Accidentally doubled posted. Please ignore this post.

Posted by: rt117 Aug 7 2011, 08:45 PM

ooc: once more, collab post to get everyone hopefully back together again.

Stepping outside of the Pokemon Center beside Tyson, she took one last glance inside to make sure she hadn't left anything behind, before following him back toward the festival. The short hair certainly looked more comfortable in the warmer climate, though she never considered cutting her own short. She liked it that way, having always had longer hair as a child. "So where do you think Alex could have gone to?" she asked Tyson as the Pokemon Center soon vanished behind them.

"I suppose he would be." she replied, watching as Tyson glanced around, wondering if something had caught his attention. She had noticed that one of the booths back at the festival seemed to do a good job at attracting attention that way. Glancing out toward the arena, she began to wonder what it was exactly that he was planning on doing. "Do you know what kind of competition exactly he's participating in?" Having almost completely forgotten about the competition, Tikal had accidentally mixed up Alex and Tom in her train of thought.



"Oh... " Tikal replied with a sheepish smile, suddenly remembering how Tom had left the group earlier to get ready. Though at this point the girl's face became quizzical again when she tried to recall what exactly he had left to go participate in. "But what exactly is he doing? Is it a normal Pokemon battle or something else?" As far as she knew, there was only battles. She had never seen a contest before, so the entire concept of some other type of competition made her curious. Being from the country, there wasn't much else for entertainment.



"So basically, it's something similar to a battle..." Tikal stated, trying hard to conceive such an idea with the information Tyson had given to her. "...but rather than the focus on being knocking out the opponent, it's how well they do it?" she questioned, still a little curious about the entire idea. Perhaps it would be easier to understand it if she saw the event first hand. At least that's how she learned how to battle when she was younger, having watched her father train his Pokemon a few times before he had went off to continuing his training.



"Well then I can't wait. I'm sure I'll understand it better when I see it." she replied with an enthusiastic smile, following him into the festival once more, which was still as busy as ever. Possibly more so, as Tikal started to realize that it was becoming harder to keep track of her boyfriend amongst the rest of the crowd. She was quick to correct this by making sure to stick close to Tyson, afraid of losing him again. They had been separated once already, and she was afraid of him having a headache in the crowd. Unfortunately she sometimes had a habit of fearing the worst.



Tikal had managed to stay close to Tyson despite the crowds, though as they approached she found a slight problem: she couldn't see the competition. Only rarely did being shorter have its advantages, but she never had the benefit of running into those situations. And so as they stopped to watch the competition, Tikal found herself moving side to side, trying to find some way to peek through to watch her first Contest. Eventually she managed to get in to see, after poking her shoulder through between Tyson and someone else, allowing her to squeeze through and watch with a better view.

Posted by: Proby Sep 6 2011, 01:22 PM

Mel didn't answer Alex's question, seemingly enthralled by the beautiful display of Co-ordinating skills. Alex found them equally fascinating, but his stomach was calling out to him. Big time. If there was one thing Alex had learned in his Fifteen years as a human being, it was that when your stomach says you're hungry, it's best to listen to it. So he got out of his seat and went on an epic crusade to find some badly needed nutrition.

... Well, not exactly epic. And not a Crusade either. But it was definitely an important journey.

Alex quickly found his way to the "Restaurant", which turned out to be ideal for him- a Take In/ Take Out cafe which sold some lovely- looking hot meals. And the speed they were making them! Yeah, sure, they had a lot of Pokemon help. Alex was in awe, as Mel was with the contest, in this new idea: Fast Food that both tasted good and was healthy. And actually healthy too, unlike Tauros King and Kanto Fried Combusken, two popular but simply vile to eat in Fats Food Restaurants.

Alex scanned the list of meals, and saw one he loved the look of.
"Oh my Arceus..." he said, closing his eyes and imagining the taste of the food as it hit his taste buds, setting off a beautiful tingling sensation and making Alex's Stomach purr as it got given what it asked for.

"Sir? Can I help?" asked a man. Alex's eyes snapped open again. He then realized he was starting to drool a little. He quickly wiped the corner of his mouth and cleared his throat.

"Uh-hum! Yes, sorry." said Alex, hoping the guy hadn't noticed. "Erm, I would simply love one of your Egg, Mushroom and Sweetcorn pizzas. With Garlic Bread side dish, a Dr. Pepper and Va-va-vanillite Rice pudding with jam."

"Coming right up!" said the Man. He looked at Alex and raised his eyebrows slightly.
Well, he noticed then. Thought Alex to himself, sighing inside his head.

Alex was only there two minutes. it was that quick. And they made it from scratch. it wasn't already ready like some places Alex had dined at where they took ten minutes to make a sandwich and then the bread was too crusty, the egg mayo was just sliced eggs with Mayonnaise dribbled at the opening of the bread, and where they charged you extra for accidentally tripping up and knocking a tray of food into the waiter's chest. He hated those places.

"Thank you!" he said to the guy running the shop, who'd cooked the meal using help from his Chansey for the eggs, his Gallade for shopping up the vegetables, bread and eggs, his Magmar for cooking everything, and his Ninjask for carrying everything all over the place really quickly and carefully.

As Alex left the shop, he saw something shiny on the floor. It looked very much like a coin, so he bent down to pick it up, not knowing that his bag was still open. One of Alex's Pokeballs fell out of the bag and hit the floor on the switch, causing it to open. Alex realized this straight away and stood up properly again to stop it happening once more. He took his bag off his back and did the zip up.

He then looked at who had been sent out. He saw a Green Gecko-like Pokemon. Treecky. His Grumpy but very strong Treecko.

"Oh, hey, Buddy. Want some food? I gots plenty in here."

Treecko looked up at him. His expression had seemed rather nonchalant and uncaring when he's been sent out, but now his eyes opened wide and he smiled, nodding his head frantically. It was then that Alex remembered his Pokemon hadn't had a proper meal since two days ago on the boat to Fidona.

"Ok then, dude!" Alex said, smiling at his Pokemon. "Here, have some Pizza." Alex took out a slice of Pizza, which was all chopped up already thanks to the Gallade once more. He handed it to Treecky, and the Tree Gecko Pokemon seemed to thank him before starting to eat the pizza. It was odd for Alex. Treecky was actually happy for once.

But Alex knew something was up with his Pokemon. As he ate more of the Pizza, his body started to glow, until it started to glow really brightly, making Alex look away to stop himself from getting blind. Alex eventually felt that the light had gone off and he turned to face his Pokemon. He wasn't surprised. There, in front of him, was not a Treecko, but a Grovyle.
"Gro!" said Treecky fiercely, proving his power to Alex.

"Huh. Will ya look at that. Even Treecky's evolved. Nice one, bud! Dia, all of my Pokemon evolving within the space of a couple of days. Neato."

Then, Treecky remaining outside his Pokeball, the two made their way back towards the stands. Alex saw Tyson and Tikal rushing inside, presumably to find Alex.

"Hehe." said Alex, slightly maliciously, to Treecky, but also to himself. "You won't find me in there!"

But he headed inside, eager to have everyone together and to watch Tom's performance.

When he got inside, he immediately saw Tikal and Tyson again, struggling to get a view. He saw they weren't at their seats, so he went over to them.

"Hey, guys." he said. "Seats are over there. We got a nice view."

He then indicated to them to follow him, and they did, sitting down in their seats at least. Alex looked on stage at the Judge, watching. He took out his food and started eating the Pizza. It really WAS delicious.

"Mmmm..." he said. "Right guys, *chew*" he said to his companions whilst eating, "This next group, *chew*, is Tom's."

The first trainer to make their way onto the stage was not Tom, but a young girl. She had an impressive team of fully evolved Pokemon, and was clearly a trainer in the past. She had a Nidoqueen, a Togekiss and a Rapidash.They very impressive Pokemon, but Alex was sure she was very new to co-ordinating. She wouldn't do too well.
---
Tom, meanwhile, was backstage, putting the finishing touches to his all of his Pokemon's costumes. Rai looked cool his his red Headband and Red cape, Rose looked beautiful with her luscious flowers and sparkly powder, Tweet looked impeccably smart with his top hat and bow-tie,and Staa's shiny colours shone brilliantly.

"Well... guys, this is it. In just a few minutes, we'll be exploding onto the stage. This is massively important, guys. This could be the start of massive success for us. We've been entering contests for ages now, with little success. Never even made it to the semis. I'm hoping to rectify that today."

"So, for my first round, I'm going to be using Rai, Staa and Rose. Sorry Tweet."

Tweet looked at Tom, and seemed to shrug his shoulders. He didn't mind at all. The Taillow just looked happy to be Tom's Pokemon really. Tom smiled. That made him glad for sure.

Tom then proceeded to start strategizing with his Pokemon who were competing, telling them exactly what they had to do.

Posted by: rt117 Oct 13 2011, 01:00 PM

"You won't find me in there!"

Hearing the shout of a familiar voice, Tikal attempted to look behind her to see the source, unsure whether or not she wanted to give up the spot she had fought to get. Though as she caught a brief glimpse of Alex's familiar face, she quickly squeezed back out of the crowd, finding it much easier to get out than in.

"Oh hey!" she greeted with a smile, finding herself standing next to Tyson once more as they finally regrouped. "We were looking for you guys!" She hadn't said anything about the large Pokedoll she held happily in her arms, figuring he would have guessed before asking where it had come from. The revelation that there was regular seating rather than fighting crowds was music to the girl's ears, as she quickly grabbed Tyson's hand and dragged him into following Alex toward the new seats.

Once the group had finally gotten settled in, Tikal figured that they could at least chat before the competition actually started, actually quite interested in seeing what the contest looked like.

"So what have you been up to since you took off?" she asked, placing the Pokedoll in her lap as she leaned upon it, not so much into a straight posture. As she asked, a bright flash appeared at her side as Igglybuff came out, quickly becoming infuriated at the plush that had taken her position. Immediately the baby Pokemon attempted to squeeze under her arm, and push the Latias pokedoll out of Tikal's grasp.

However the attempt quickly ended in vein as the Balloon Pokemon simply slid onto the ground, having been unsuccessful in moving the doll from her trainer's arms. However before she could sulk any further, Tikal picked up the small Pokemon with a smile, allowing her to nestle into one arm while the plush remained in the other.

Posted by: Captain Combusken Dec 11 2011, 11:01 AM

"Oh hey!" Tikal said, smiling.. "We were looking for you guys!"

"Yep, and me you!" said Alex warmly.

When the group were finally sitting down, there was a chance to chat for a little while. Alex noticed the massive soft toy of a Latias in Tikal's lap.

"So what have you been up to since you took off?" asked the girl.

"Oh, I was just hungry, so I went out and got some lovely food!" he exclaimed, his stomach purring with joy as he took another bite out of his Piazza. It truly was divine. "Also, Treecky here evolved." He said this pointing to his now-Grovyle.

Alex watched, chuckling slightly, as Tikal's Igglybuff, clearly jealous of the attention the Latias plush was getting, tried to push it out of her trainer's grasp, before failing miserably and falling on the floor. It was quite cute how the little Balloon Pokemon acted. Tikal picked her Igglybuff up and placed her into the other arm. Igglybuff finally looked happy.

Alex watched as the next guy came on stage. He was an old man, but was clearly rather good at contests. He sent out a Starly, a Pidgey and a Pidove. Together the three of them looked majestic and they were very appealing. The man clearly knew exactly how to co-ordinate his Pokemon to the bets of his ability. However, though the three birds were excellent in the appeal round and quite strong in the obedience round, when it came to the obstacle round, they failed. Alex realised that the three bird Pokemon were likely to be around the age of the old man. As such, they had many sores and aches that old creatures did. They were not strong in the physical aspect of the obstacle and only the Pidove who, though still old, seemed the youngest, actually managed to cross the finish line before the three minuets that were the maximum on the clock had elapsed.

The old and and his Pokemon left the stage and the third co-ordinator, a middle-aged woman, came onto the stage. She threw her Pokeballs, revealing a Marill, a Pichu and a Mime Jr. Their appeal round was spectacular, their Obedience was flawless, especially with Mime Jr. on the woman's team, and they were excellent at the obstacle course. Alex watched in concern. This woman, whose name was Helen, would be a tough opponent for Tom to beat.
---
The woman named Helen left the stage. Tom's expression turned worried. he had absolutely no idea how he could top that. Helen and her team had been astounding. They'd been perfect. For the first time since arriving in Fidona Tom doubted his abilities. He doubted that he would be able to win this contest. He didn't know why he was so nervous. He didn't HAVE to win, right? It wasn't important, after all. But somehow, he felt that if he didn't win this, then everything would be bad for him. He felt he couldn't face Alex and Tikal and Tyson or even that new girl, Mel.

"And now, the last of this final group, Thomas Haaaaaaaaaaawk!" called the MC. Tom put on his brave and confident smile and leapt onto the stage, his three Pokemon in Pokeballs in his hand. He'd changed clothes form his usual green hoodie and jeans and was now wearing his contest clothes. These consisted of smart green trousers, a white shirt with a green tie and green waistcoat on top. He had white shoes and a white hat. he paused for a few seconds as a sudden realization came to him and as he accepted the wild applause from the crowd. he now knew exactly how to win this. he'd spotted a flaw in Helen's game.

"Hello!" he yelled to the crows. "GO, STAA, RAI AND ROSE!"

Tom then threw each Pokeball up into the air a millisecond after the previous one and then jumped up and flipped, landing in a handstand. He'd planned and practised this many times. The then span round, his hat making it ridiculously easy. He kept spinning until the first Pokeball was about to land, and, as it did, he kicked it forwards onto the stage, before doing the same to the other two balls. His timing was flawless and the balls landed exactly where they were meant to in front of him. His worked done he stopped spinning, facing away form the audience. He then jumped up expertly and landed on his feet. He then pointed to Staa, who had been in the first Pokeball. The shiny Staryu needed little costume due to its bold blue colour. It started spinning, orbiting around Tom, producing its "fountain" attack. It sprayed water in the air and started spinning quicker and quicker, until it was so quick that the fountain appeared as a massive halo of water above Tom's head.

Tom then pointed to Rose. The Roselia's petals were painted with beautiful white stripes and she wore her sparkly powder. She pirouetted, landing inside of the halo of water. She then pointed to the sky with her flowers and leaves of all the colours of the rainbow darted outwards until they were caught in the fountain, which now turned into a stunning rainbow halo. When this was in place Tom pointed at Rai. The Pikachu wore his read cape and bandanna an an immensely cool manner. He also back-flipped inside the halo of water and stood on his trainer's head. He then proceeded to use Double team, creating a ring of himself around Tom and Rose. Rai then ran around in a circle, his duplicates following him. After a dizzying sprint the Pikachu stopped suddenly in front of Tom and Rose. He then yelled "PIKAAAAAAA!" and used an almighty thunderbolt attack, creating a ring of electricity just above the halo of rainbow water. It stayed there for a while, for dramatic effect. Then in one motion Staa stopped spinning, stopping abruptly directly in front of Rai;. The Pikachu then brought his Thunderbolt halo down onto the water, causing the rainbow halo to epxlode. The electricity and water disappeared and the leaves shot outwards briefly before falling down slowly onto the ground, forming a ring around Tom and his three Pokemon.

The crowd erupted into a deafening roar. Tom bowed, as did his three Pokemon, before the Rai and Staa jumped backwards forming a horizontal line in front of Tom with Rose. The MC stepped out from backstage and stood in front of the three of the Pokemon.

"Well done Thomas! Now, we must continue onwards to the Obedience round. I will give Tom an envelope with three commands on it, one for each of his Pokemon. The Pokemon will then perform these moves, and, base don how well they do, they will be marked."

The MC handed the envelope to Tom, who carefully slid out the little card. It read:
"Rai [Pikachu]- Thunder Wave
Staa [Staryu]- Recover
Rose [Roeslia]- Growth"

In turn, Tom ordered each of his Pokemon to perform their moves. They completed this excellently and flawlessly.

"And now" said the MC, taking the envelope back "Is the Obstacle course. Your Pokemon have three minutes to clear the course. Each Pokemon must clear each obstacle."

Tom and his Pokemon stepped back as most of the stage fell down and was drawn back in by clever mechanics that Tom knew nothing about. The stage was much smaller now, but it revealed Tom's third and final challenge in this contest- the Obstacle Course. Tom's three Pokemon stepped forward to the starting line. When they were in place, the MC held the stopwatch up.

"You may start.......... NOW!"

And with that, He pressed the button to start the clock and Tom's trio were off. First they had to clear three hurdles and three limbo hurdles, arranged alternatively. They did this expertly and with hardly any fuss. Then came the second obstacle. It was a slalom, with Pokeballs precariously placed on top of each pole. If anyone were to hit a pole too hard the Pokeball would fall, releasing the Pokemon inside, who had been trained to hinder the offending Pokemon's progress. There was a tense moment when Staa nearly hit a Pole, but Tom sighed a sigh of relief and the Staryu carried on, along with hi team-mates, unhindered.

Next up, there was the tunnel of gloom. It was a dark tunnel with three exits. Two exits took you to a Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee. You would have to defeat these foes to advance. His Pokemon cleared this too, avoiding the enemies. Then, they came to the see-saw. Then task here was tricky: in turn, the three of them had to go up the ramp of one side of the see-saw. They couldn't jump at all during the whole thing and had to use their body-weight to push the other side down before they could go down it. There was another tense moment, because Rose was a little too light for the task, but she eventually managed.

Then was the final obstacle, possibly the hardest one. You had to run. Simply a sprint finish. But you had Tennis balls being thrown by deadly accurate Pokemon from the sides. If a ball hit you even once, you had to return to the start. The only advantage was that the throwers couldn't retrieve their balls once thrown and had a limited amount. Tom watched; breathless, as his three Pokemon started making their way across the stretch. Staa was fats with his spinning, and managed to draw the fire a little dodging every ball. But he eventually got bored and went over the finish line. Rose also crossed with little problem, But Rai was in trouble. You could only use one of your attacks to help you in the whole obstacle course, and Rai had chosen Double team. He crated many doubles and they all started running towards the finish line, but within seconds they had been destroyed, leaving only Rai. He jumped through the air and a ball flew towards him. Tom tensed. Just as the ball was about to hit the electric mouse, Rai twisted in the air and the ball flew harmlessly past. he flew over the finish line, and Tom relaxed, extremely relieved that he had finally managed to succeed.
---
Alex watched, minutes later, as the four members of Tom's group lined up on the stage. They all looked nervous, slightly, but had determined looks on their face,s Tom included.

"And the winner of this group and advancing through to the Semi-finals is...... THOMAS HAWK!" roared the MC.

"YEAH!" yelled Alex, another voice amongst the crowd. he smiled- this was going to be great. Tom was advancing. Maybe his friend would even win the festival. That made Alex smile.

Posted by: rt117 Dec 11 2011, 08:21 PM

Tikal cheered along with Tyson, quite happy to see their friend advance onto the next round. Even Igglybuff seemed to clap, though noticing the distraction the applause caused, she tried to take over more of her trainer's arm space, and shove out the Latias doll again, with little success. With that she let out a huff, slumping in her trainer's lap with a pout.

As the crowd began to settle again, Tikal took a moment to glance over at Alex. "Are these competitions always this hard?" she asked. Seeing the obstacle course alone would have been enough to scare her away from such competition. It all seemed quite challenging to her, but perhaps the success and victory from succeeding would be worth it. And maybe it only looked so challenging to those on the outside, the spectators. With some practice maybe such events would be easier.

Then again it would be her Pokemon doing the work, and she was clueless on such training. Perhaps when the competition was over, she could ask Alex or Tom more about the contests, and even get a chance to try things out. The only thing she worried about though was her lack of focus.

Tikal had some difficulty on focusing on a single thing for a long time, especially when she had nothing better to do. It was one of the reasons she hated going on longer walks by herself, as she tended to get distracted by smaller things, and get lost in the process. It was part of the reason she didn't stray too far from home as a child, her mother having worried about her getting lost whenever she went out. Odds were she wouldn't fare so well if she had to focus on a contest, or even worse forget what to do.

At least battles were somewhat entertaining.

Posted by: Captain Combusken Dec 28 2011, 03:14 PM

"The Semi finals," said Thomas Hawk to the four of them during the break, "works differently to the heats. Firstly, none of the three events make a re-appearance. There are now only two head-to-head events. If each player wins one, there is a tiebreaker mixing the two together. The events are a Dance-off and a Battle. The final consists of an appeal round, another new round of disc throwing and catching and a final round of battling."

"Ok..." said Alex. "That's cool. I get it. So who are you using?"

Tom looked at Alex mischievously.

"Well, that would be telling now, wouldn't it?" he said.

"Damn you, man, damn you!" said Alex, slightly exasperated, but mostly jokingly.

The group carried on chatting and shrinking milkshakes down in the festival area, where they were now, until the announcer spoke throughout the stadium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he said over the microphone, "Semi-final contestants, report to the dress up rooms!"

With that, Tom left for the dressing rooms, and Alex lead Tikal, Tyson and Mel back to their place in the stands, drinking his coconut milkshake noisily as he did.
---
Tom won his semi-final. He truly was brilliant. He used Tweet for his dancing. Despite logical thinking that the bird Pokemon would be less agile, he was an excellent dancer. In the dancing round, a music track was played. A Belossom stood in the middle and danced to the music, her moves getting more and more complicated towards the end of the performance. Then, at the same time on stage, each Pokemon repeated the performance as accurately as they could. Tom's opponent, a young and rather arrogant trainer with annoying spiky hair named Gerry, had fielded his Ponyta, Mane. The Pony Pokemon was as young and inexperienced as her annoying trainer, and this lack or experience was her downfall. She clumsily attempted to mimic the steps, but it was hopeless, and she kept stumbling. She missed several steps and there was no fluidity to her moves.

Tweet, on the other hand, was brilliant. Alex knew form watching them train that Rai and Rose were better dancers than Tweet, but even so, Tweet was awesome. He didn't miss a single step, not even the extremely complicated ones towards the end. He moved comfortably and fluidly, and, something that was even better; he added his own movements and personality into the routine. Nobody could ever hope to live up to a Belossom, but Tweet came really close to it. He was actually rather inspiring making even Alex, who loathed dancing, want to get on the stage and dance with him.

Tweet won the dance round easily. The battle round was just as good for Tom. New Pokemon had to be chosen. Gerry sent out a Sandshrew named Desert. Tom sent out Rose. It was over very quickly. Rose only needed one Razor Leaf and the much weaker Sandsrew fainted instantly to the strong super-effective attack.

The final took place immediately after the semis. The aim was obviously to attempt to tire out the trainers to make the final a much harder and more gruelling affair.

The finalists were Tom Hawk and Janine Johnson. Janine was a 26-year-old woman, and was in the prime of her co-ordinating career. She was extremely famous due to her many successes. It was rumoured she might be setting up her own contest hall, she was that good. She'd already beaten the four Hall leaders. She used lots of Dragon types, and her style was extremely graceful and elegant. She herself wore exquisite dresses made of a material designed to mirror a dragon's scales, so she constantly appeared to be sparkling slightly in the light. Her main three Pokemon were Dragonair, Kingdra and Vibrava, but she did also own a Hydreigon and an Altaria that she'd used in the heats.

"ROUND ONE, APPEAL!" roared the MC.

And then, Tom Hawk went onto the stage for a second time. He stood in the middle of the stage, a single spotlight on him, wearing his green shirt, white tie, white jacket, white trousers and Green Hat. His head was bowed, and his arms and legs were crossed. A piece of music started playing. Alex recognized it almost immediately as the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHwnrlZRus. Tom started bobbing up and down slightly to the music. He then stood up straight, snapped his fingers on his left hand, then the ones on his right and then both of them, all in time with the music. At about 24 seconds into the music, three Pokeballs dropped from the sky. On each individual beat, they landed, first in his left hand, then in his right, and then on his hat. He then casually flicked the ones in his hands forward, before spinning his hat on his head, taking off the remaining Pokeball, and flicking that forward too. Out came Tweet, Rai and Staa. Rai was dressed up as a detective, and he held a magnifying glass in his hand, he along with Tom, continued the finger snapping and light bobbing up and down, before Tweet, dressed as a Robber with a balaclava and holding a fake bag of money, appeared, joining them. Finally came Staa, Who was not dressed up, but lay down between Tweet and Rai, pointing upwards, jerking upwards and downwards softly.

Then, Rai turned round, spotting Tweet. What then ensued was a skilful chase where Rai chased Tweet round Staa in the middle. Rai used his electricity to form bright lights, exposing Tweet, who was doing his bets to stay shadowed. Finally, to finish off the routine, Staa suddenly jumped up, spraying both with water, allowing tweet to fly away, with Rai staring at the sky, shaking his head in disbelief. It was very funny and displayed the Pokemon very well. But Alex was nervous. he just wasn't sure that it was appealing enough. Staa hadn't been properly showcased and it was a little bit cheesy.

But there was little time for such thoughts as Janine made her way onto the stage. Her appeal round was completely stunning. She, like Tom, seemed to have a bit of an obsession with circles and rings, and did much the same as Tom's routine in the heats. She twirled round in her scintillating dress whilst her Dragonair used Dragonbreath, forming a halo round her head, her Vibrava created a Sand tomb that both didn't touch the others and looked stunning, and her Kingdra mirrored Staa's fountain-like Water Gun. Altogether it was a beautiful performance, but Alex felt cheated. Tom had done this earlier! But as he watched the performance, he became sure that people would forget it. Janine looked the very image of perfection, and her beauty and the beauty of her Pokemon shone across the stage. She would win the appeal round. But that wouldn't be revealed until the end.

However, Tom excelled at the Disc-throwing. Janine's Pokemon found catching the things challenging, and it was clear she had little sporting ability as her Pokemon's movement was very static. The aim of the disc-throwing competition was simple; there was a circle in the middle of the arena. Around this circle were several rings. The aim was to throw a disc into the middle of that circle. The trainer would throw three discs, and each Pokemon that the trainer was using had to go and catch it. The closer in the middle it was, the better. Janine's Pokemon managed to catch all three, but they landed in relatively low-scoring zones. Tom, however, was excellent. Staa caught a low-score, But Rai's speed and agility and Tweet's expert flying meant that they caught the discs right in the centre. A jumping catch was even better, which both Pokemon did. Tom came out of that round winning spectacularly.

And now, all that was left was the battle. And an important battle it was too. This battle would determine the festival. With Janine up by one round and Tom up by one too, all that was left was this. A Battle. Alex couldn't help laughing. In the end, it all came down to battling. Regardless of how you put it, no matter how much sparkly glitter you put on, trainers battling one another was ultimately the way the Pokemon world worked. And that was why Alex,a battle,r was worried for Tom, who had no real battler son his team. His Pokemon were low-levelled and quite weak.

Tom's first Pokemon was Rai. This made sense really. Tom had an odd interest in getting the worst done first. Rai stood no chance against Dragon types. His electric attacks weren't very effective and his only other attacks, normal types, were weak and would barely even scratch the scaly dragons. So Alex was extremely surprised when Janine sent out Kingdra, possibly the only Pokemon that Rai stood a reasonable chance of winning against. But then, Alex remembered his Gym battle with Maxi Z!. Alex had had the advantage there, yet he'd lost, because Maxi had used super-effective types. Alex's thoughts and mood darkened as memories of his defeat welled up again. It would be a while before he recovered properly once more. Alex was entering a minor depression, full of self-doubt. It would be a while before he exited it properly.
---
At first Tom was confused Then he became elated, before becoming worried and suspicious. Rai stood a chance against this Kingdra. But why did Janine bother to send it out? She probably thought she could humiliate Tom, show up his inexperience. Well, Tom wasn't going to fall for that trick.

"Rai, Double Team!" he exclaimed, and the electric mouse obliged, running in a circle around the Kingdra, forming several clones, who stared at him.

"Kingdra, use Dragon Pulse!" ordered Janine, and the Kingdra nodded. It let out a navy blue glowing pulse of energy form its mouth, and it fired it as if one would fire a gun at each Pikachu in turn. The pulses hit, and the clones disappeared. Rai was flung through the air and landed on the floor. He rapidly got back up though.

"Ok, Rai, Thundershock!" said Tom and Rai let a bolt of electricity loose on the Kingdra. It hit with such lightning speed that the Kingdra was stunned. And paralysed, by the look of the attack. Luck was all of a sudden much more on Tom's side, and he ordered his fast little Pikachu to use Quick attack, Thundershock, Tackle, several times, gradually denting the Kingdra's defences as it moved around painfully due to the paralysis. Eventually though, the Kingdra fell, due to one last powerful Thundershock attack. Against the odds, Tom had defeated his first foe.

The next one-on-one did not go well. Janine sent out her Vibrava, and Tom sent out Tweet. It went wrong almost immediately. Tom used a couple of successful Quick attacks and dodged moves for a while, but it was clear that nothing was really happening. Then, Vibrava used Rock Slide, bringing down a super-effective wall of rocks down on Tweet. He was K.Oed instantly.

And then it was down to the last two Pokemon. Tom's Staryu, Staa, versus Janine's Dragonair. The outlook looked bleak for Tom. But would he manage to win this one too? Only time would tell.

Staa started out with a Water gun, spraying the dragonair with water. It did very little, but at least took a little bit of health back. Dragonair followed up with an Agility attack, boosting her speed. Staa used a Rapid Spin attack, sending the Dragonair flying briefly through the air, before coming back at Staa with an Aqua Tail attack. It made Staa lie down for a while, unable to rise briefly, so Tom ordered a Harden attack from his Staryu. It came just in time, too, as a Dragon Tail attack followed up. Most of the blow was absorbed by the hard coat that Staa now had, but some penetrated, hitting Staa further. Staa then used Rapid Spin while Dragonair was still close, which had a large effect on the Dragonair. But it was nowhere near fainted and it used Slam, forcing Staa to be immobile briefly once more. Tom once again ordered Harden, and this time, it absorbed all of the attack. Staa barely felt anything. Instead of getting another attack, Tom used Harden again, and again. Attack after attack from Dragonair bounced off Staa as if nothing had hit it. It looked liek Tom might win. Dragonair was tiring, and Staa still had a lot of energy. But then, he did something stupid. Tom ordered a Rapid Spin attack, and Staa hit the Dragonair. But then, before Staa could move, Dragonair used a powerful Dragon tail attack form behind, on Staa's weak spot. Staa clattered to the ground, its shiny blue gem in the middle buzzing on and off, signalling it had fainted. And that was that. Tom had placed second in the festival, and Janine had won. Tom took the defeat excellently. Alex could see that he was disappointed, but he knew that Tom would be happy at how far he'd managed to come.
---
The awards ceremony was a grand affair. Huge ribbons adorned the theatre, and everything looked beautiful and extremely elegant. The MC stepped onto the stage, followed by the contestants since the heats. It looked really nice and was an excellent end to the festival. In the break, Alex had gone to the dress-up stand and the ball capsules stand. He's bought ball capsules for all his Pokemon, as well as extra ones and some awesome dress-up costumes. Amongst the genuine dress-up nonsense there were some accessories that Alex knew his Pokemon would keep for a long time. Blaze had a cool bandanna. Swamps got given a pair of humorous glasses. Leo got a farmer's hat. Stryk got a simple Rose for her head feathers. Treecky got a fake shruikan.

Now, it was time for the ceremony. Each competitor was presented with a certificate and given some items like a set of Great Balls, some Potions, some nice berries. But it was the prizes for first, second and third place that were the main event.

"In third place," said the MC to the crowd, "Is Gerry Yew!"

Gerry, who Tom had beat in his semi-final, had won the third-place contest. He came up onto the podium, shook the hand of the MC, who then handed him his certificate, and a bronze medal.

"For his efforts, Gerry receives: Ten Pokeballs, Ten Super Potion, a Set of basic berries, a Fire Gem and a Water Stone!" exclaimed the MC, and a little kart of the items was drawn onto the stage.

"In second place, is Tom Hawk!" continued the MC, handing Tom his certificate and his silver medal, "Who receives Ten Great Balls, Ten Super Potions, a set of basic berries, an Electric Gem, a Water Gem and a Sky gem, as well as a Fire Stone and of course his very own Pokemon egg!"

Alex's eyes widened. Wow. These were serious prizes. Tom even got an egg for his troubles! Alex immediately pondered what could be inside. It was certainly exciting.

"And finally, last but by no means least, in first and the winner of the Fidona Festival is.... Janine Johnson!"

Janine stepped onto the first place position on the podium, accepted her certificate and gold medal.

"Janine receives: 10 ultra Balls, 10 Hyper potions, a set of basic and uncommon berries, five dragon gems, a dragon scale, a water stone, a fire stone and a leaf stone as well as three Pokemon eggs!"

Woof. That was a lot of prizes. Janine accepted them and then the ceremony was over. Everyone was cheering, it was truly a fantastic experience. Alex was glad to be part of it all. Tom had done brilliantly. Alex was proud of his friend. As Tom approached them, his new items now stashed safely inside his bad and with his four Pokemon outside of their Pokeballs, Tom was beaming. He was truly happy, and for a moment, Alex was too. Until he remembered his Gym defeat.

Posted by: rt117 Jan 1 2012, 01:03 PM

For this section of the competition, Tikal had remembered her camera, and the lack of pictures she had taken on her journey. So this time she decided to take pictures for the rest of the competiton, so that they would have something to reflect on, and give the girl something to study for when she decided she wanted to give such a competition a try. Fumbling with her camera, she pulled it out after having spotted a small space between the two people in front of her that she could take the pictures.

Upon noticing the distraction of the camera, and that both of her hands were taken in steadying the device she held to her eye, Igglybuff took the opportunity to push the Latias doll off by her feet, before making herself at home upon her trainer's lap, letting out a small content sigh before dozing off, her victory short lived as she fell into a light slumber.

While she had been taking pictures of Tom for the most part, Tikal's attention was pulled toward the sight of the Dragon Pokemon that were performing, taking just as many pictures of them as she had of Tom's team. Tikal loved Dragon Pokemon more than anything, having been no surprise as she could recall that her father was a great Dragon trainer, her mother telling her many stories long ago about his journies across the land. The last time she had seen him was when she was still a young child, having received her Charmander as a gift from him before his departure. Since that day her dream had been simple: to become a great trainer in the eyes of her father.

Out of the three Dragon Pokemon that Janine had owned, her favourite was definately the Dragonair. As a child she had bonded closely with her father's Dratini before he had left, and she had always wanted one of her own. It had always been the favourite of her father's Pokemon, the youngest out of all of them. And with its large adoring eyes, there was never a reason she could be mad at the Dragon Pokemon, even when it left its shed skin around the house. So it was no wonder that she took most of her pictures of Janine's team of Dragonair, as it rekindled old memories of her childhood. She was too drawn into her pictures and memories that she hadn't noticed Alex's expression changed as he pondered back upon his earlier gym battle, one that she had likely made to look easy with her own victory.

As the battle between Janine and Tom came to an end, the Dragon Pokemon winning flawlessly, Tikal took a couple more pictures before sighing. While she loved them, she still rooted for Tom, who unfortunately did not come out as the victor.

"At least he got this far, right?" she questioned, looking over to Alex, who she noticed had left, along with a few other people. His absence dawned on her a few seconds later, before turning off her camera and putting it away, standing up abruptly. This caused Igglybuff to tumble off, but before she could touch the ground Tikal grabbed her and lifted her up into her arms, bending down again to retrieve the poke doll that had been resting on the ground for awhile now, about to go looking for him. Though it didn't take long for her to see him coming back, as did other people as the award ceremony was soon to start. In her confusion she had thought that they would be going elsewhere for the ceremony, but it appeared that wouldn't be the case. So with that she got out her camera again, taking a few more pictures as each of the three winning trainers were called and received their prizes.

As the event came to an end, and the three of them getting back together, Tikal smiled and offered Tom her hand in a handshake, her Latias plush in her other arm, with Igglybuff standing on her shoulder while holding her head. "Congratulations! You did great up there!" she told him, clearly quite impressed on how he had performed, even though he had only come in second place. "What do you think will hatch from the egg?"

Having never seen a Pokemon's egg up close, Tikal had no idea on how to identify what would come from it, which only made her all the more curious about it. Meanwhile upon seeing the rest of the team, Igglybuff jumped down from her perch to go greet her friends, not having seen much of the competition for herself.

Posted by: Captain Combusken May 21 2012, 04:24 AM

Alex could not help but wallow slightly in sadness. Here he was standing next to his friends, and yet all he could think about was how useless he felt. Tom had been so brilliant out there, it was hard for Alex to remember just how bad he'd been in that gym battle. Maxi Z! had completely outclassed him. He was a gym leader, and that was to a degree be expected, especially with Alex so young in his trainer career, but it didn't stop the orange-haired boy from feeling sad. He had been feeling so much better earlier, and now, all of a sudden, the emotions came flooding back. He didn't cry. He didn't want Tikal or Tom to see he was upset, because he knew that it would detract from Tom's win. He missed Tikal's question, and Tom's answer, though Tom later told him that he has merely said that he didn't know.

Alex stood there for a while, totally silent, whilst Tom and Tikal conversed. Then, he managed to bring himself out of his self-inflicted mini-depression, and looked at his two friends. They were laughing, and talking animatedly.

"So, it's decided then!" said Tom "We'll go to those awesome ruins now. Alex?"

"Yeah, sure!" said Alex, smiling warmly. He had to put on a brave face, and show his friends that he wasn't ashamed, wasn't upset.

The three of them set out towards the ruins there and then. It was a warm afternoon in Fidona, and the sun was shining down upon their backs. They chatted as they walked through the green kingdom of Fidona, its mighty trees rustling slightly as a light breeze swept through its leafy terraces. The three of them forced themselves to look away and focus on their path, because otherwise, they knew that they would get lost. And whilst the jungle was beautiful, it was also infamously dangerous.

None of them wanted to get lost.

They carried walking for a while, talking like average teenagers do about seemingly pointless and frivolous things, and Alex's mood began to lighten up. He was enjoying himself. There was still the feeling inside of him, but for now he managed to be happy and actually enjoy the moment.

They were about halfway to the ruins when Tom stopped suddenly, and indicated silently to the other two to do the same. It took a while for Alex to spot the furry shape ahead of them. It was a young-looking Eevee. It was playing cheerfully by itself in the tall grass by the side of the path to the ruins. The look on Tom's face told Alex eveything about his intentions, but Tom felt the need to say it out loud anyway.

"I'm going to capture that Eevee" he said.

And with that, he walked up to the grass. The Eevee suddenly jumped, looking startled. Tom quickly took a Pokeball from his belt and threw it, releasing his Pokemon.

Rai, Tom's Pikachu, appeared, looking brave, cheerful and strong.

"Rai, use Thundershock!" ordered Tom, and the electric mouse obliged, sending a powerful jolt of electricity towards the small Eevee. The Eevee returned the attack with a strong powerful attack that sent Rai flying slighlty through the air.

"Now use Quick Attack!" said Tom and once again Rai set about his task straight away. With lightning speed he hit the Eevee. It was clear that after these two strong attacks it wasn't going to be able to fight longer, so Tom decided that he would capture it there and then. He took out one of the Great Balls he'd received from coming second in the Fidona Festival and threw it towards the Eevee. The ball opened, the Eevee was sent inside and the ball closed, dropping to the floor. It shook a few times, but Rai had done enough damage to it, and it soon settled down, indicating that the Eevee had successfully been caught.

Tom picked up the ball and placed it with his other Pokeballs. He then started walking once more in the direction of the ruins. Alex stared at the place the battle had been just a few seconds ago and nodded in respect. Tom certainly didn't mess around in battle. He smiled and rushed to join up with Tom.

[Tom caught an Eevee]

Posted by: rt117 May 21 2012, 10:44 AM

Tikal was rather surprised by the speed at which Tom set out to capture the Eevee, his Pokemon only needing a couple of attacks to weaken the foe enough for capture. Surely his team had to be strong in order to knock out a Pokemon so quickly. She reminded herself to ask Tom and Alex later on about the possibility of helping her train before her next gym battle.

Despite the beautiful scenery that surrounded the group, Tikal's Igglybuff proved to be quite bored with the rather uneventful trip down the path. She let out a yawn, before being awakened by Tom's battle with the wild Eevee. She took this chance to hop down from Tikal's grasp, noticing a white spiky tuft of something sticking out from a dense bush. Mistaking it for a berry, she quickly hopped over toward it, jumping up and grabbing the star-burst shape with both hands. Too late did she realize that it wasn't a berry.

"So what's so special about these ruins?" Tikal asked, wondering what she could expect to find in such a place. Before either Alex or Tom could answer however, an angered cry arose from the bushes, as a black and white figure launched out of it. Standing just a fraction under her height, the sudden appearance of the enraged Pokemon made Tikal jump back a bit, separated from the others by the new foe. Just behind the Pokemon, she noticed Igglybuff finally let go of Zebstrika's tail, having recovered from the sudden shock of being tossed around while clinging for her life. Upon seeing Igglybuff move, the Zebstrika turned its attention onto her, angry yellow and blue eyes narrowing.

Tikal too recovered, and upon seeing her Pokemon in danger, she quickly grabbed a Pokeball from her pocket, tossing it forward. "Nidorino, defend Igglybuff with Double Kick!"

In a blur of white light, Nidorino appeared between the two, quickly raising its back feet as Zebstrika charged forth into the attack. The electric Pokemon didn't seem too hurt by the attack, instead stomping its front hooves down, electricity crackling from its lightning bolt-shaped mane as it leered at the new foe. "Quickly, close in with Poison Sting before it attacks again!" Tikal shouted, not liking the look of what her foe was preparing for. Before Nidorino could make contact with his attack, the Zebstrika let loose a powerful Shock Wave attack, the powerful lightning bolt arcing through the air and making contact with the Poison Pokemon, the force of the blow stopping him in his tracks.

Despite being badly hurt from the powerful attack, the need to protect seemed to strengthen him, at least enough to endure the direct hit he had taken. Once more standing upright, he charged again, digging his long sharp horn into the enemy's side, poisoning the Pokemon with Poison Sting. Even with his own direct hit, it wasn't enough to slow the foe, as he was soon knocked out by Zebstrika's Quick Attack, having been tossed into the base of a nearby tree.

By then Tikal had managed to get over to Igglybuff, quickly returning Nidorino back to her Pokeball, before calling out her next Pokemon, Charmander. However upon coming out from his Pokeball, Charmander had obviously been taking a nap, still asleep upon being called into combat. A Quick Attack from the foe quickly stirred him from his slumber though, the flame on his tail burning brighter as he realized the situation, and a chance to show his strength. Since Nidorino had been her strongest Pokemon, she knew that it wouldn't take too much for this Zebstrika to knock out her other Pokemon, so she had to choose a different strategy.

"Charmander, use Smokescreen to obscure the foe's vision!" Tikal called, knowing that if the Zebstrika couldn't see, then her Pokemon should have the advantage. Remaining brave before the much larger Pokemon, Charmander spewed forth a great cloud of smoke from his mouth, quickly hindering the Pokemon's vision. It retaliated with a Quick Attack, but rather than hit Charmander, it slammed into one of the trees instead. This brought a smile to Tikal's face, as she had Charmander quickly follow up with an Ember attack. Small red hot embers erupted from her fire Pokemon's mouth, scorching the poisoned Pokemon to cause further harm.

Before either could celebrate from the direct hit however, another Shock Wave erupted from the cloud of smoke, seeming to jump in the direction of Charmander, despite the user's inability to see. Despite Charmander's best efforts to avoid the attack, the bolt of lightning locked onto its target, hitting him dead on, and knocking him out.

Quickly running out of Pokemon, Tikal returned her Charmander and called out Totodile instead. While the cloud of smoke began to dissipate, Tikal called upon her Water-type: "Use Headbutt before it recovers!" With a toothy grin, Totodile quickly rushed toward the Zebstrika, launching himself head-first into his target. Even with the hit, a quick retaliation of Shock Wave was quick to send Totodile flying, and resulted in yet another knock-out. Now able to see once more, the Zebstrika glared at Tikal, Igglybuff suddenly squirming out of her grasp to face the intimidating foe. With a snort, the Zebstrika once more released a bolt of electricity from its mane, but before the attack could contact, Tikal quickly scooped up her Baby Pokemon, turning her back to the attack. Almost instantly she was struck by the Shock Wave, gritting her teeth as the need to protect her youngest drove her to keep shielding the smaller Pokemon. The Zebstrika was indifferent to the action, mane sparking still with electricity as it readied a charge.

Opening her eyes, Tikal loosened her grip on her Igglybuff, simply smiling down at the smaller Pokemon, who was quite shocked at what had happened. The shock soon turned to sadness upon seeing her pained look, then determination to return the favour. Before either of them could react, Igglybuff was suddenly bathed in a bright white light, forcing Tikal to shield her eyes. Zebstrika was unfazed, instead stomping its hooves down, coating the Pokemon in a fiery inferno as it charged forward with a Flame Charge. A figure suddenly flew out from in front of Tikal to meet the attacking Pokemon, a pink rolling ball rolling into the Zebstrika's feet, knocking it to the ground. Tikal watched with a look of glee, as the rolling Pokemon stopped its attack. Her Igglybuff had evolved into Jigglypuff upon recognizing her trainer's deep feelings.

Despite being tired out from the first three competitors, and the lingering poisoning from Nidorino, Zebstrika still had some fight left in it, as the electric Pokemon readied itself to launch another Shock Wave at its new foe. Tikal, knowing that such an attack could knock out her newly-evolved Jigglypuff, she remembered her Pokemon's key move, as it could turn the tide of the battle.

"Jigglypuff, Sing your foe to slumber!" Eyes lighting up at the chance to sing its enticing melody, she puffed her small body up, before releasing a string a beautiful notes, lulling the still-enraged Zebstrika to slumber. The sparks appeared to vanish from its mane as it crumpled to the ground, fast asleep. Following the Sing attack, Jigglypuff unleashed a flurry of Pound attacks upon her sleeping foe, knowing that it could not retaliate while in its slumber.

By the time her foe had awakened, Jigglypuff was quick to deliver the finishing blow with a final Pound attack. Too hurt to continue the fight, the Zebstrika quickly fled, vanishing into the thick greenery of the jungle. Making a face at the fleeing Pokemon, Jigglypuff was quickly scooped up by Tikal, who gave her a hug. "You did great, thank you." she smiled, watching as her newly evolved Pokemon seemed quite pleased with the newly found attention, before quickly hurrying over to her two friends.

Posted by: Captain Combusken May 22 2012, 04:39 AM

Alex did not have long to react to Tom's capture before another shocking event occurred. They were calmly walking when suddenly an enraged Zebstrika charged out from the trees, with Tikal's Igglybuff clinging on and crying at its peril. It charged, knocking Tom and Alex, stunning them. Clearly Tikal hadn't seen this, because Alex saw the flame burning in Tikal's eyes. She was determined to win this fight. She had to protect her Pokemon. But from the start, the battle did not go well, as the powerful beats deflected attacks as if they were nothing. Despite her bets efforts including some ingenious tactics, Alex watched, grimacing, as one by one Tikal's Pokemon were knocked out by the mad beast.

Once her Totodile was knocked out, Alex knew that soon he would have to act, if only to help Tikal from getting harmed. But he still couldn't move very easily. The Zebstrika's electric body hitting him at force had truly stunned him. He could see Tom lying next to him unconscious, his eyes closed. Alex desperately wanted to help Tikal, but he couldn't. He watched with anguish as he took the Shock Wave attack, protecting her Igglybuff. He admired her resilience. But then, something pleasantly surprising happened. Her Igglybuff evolved. Alex already knew what was happening, so he put his hands firmly over his ears. The Sing attack did not affect him, but the angry thrashing Zebstrika calmed down and went to sleep. Tikal removed his hands form his ears and shook Tom. It was enough to wake him up, thankfully, and Alex quickly related the events to him as Tikal rushed over.

"Tikal, you were great there! Congratulations on evolving your Igglybuff!" said Alex.

From there, the three of them carried on towards the ruins, Eventually, they arrived there without any further obstacles or deviations. The ruins truly were majestic things. So ancient that you could see the stone crumbling in places and covered in vines from the forest. There were intriguing depictions of various Pokemon on the walls of the ruins. The three adventurers approached the ruins slowly and quietly, taking in its majesty. They entered the ruins and began exploring.

Inside the ruins was a very similar affair to outside. The walls had paintings of trainers and Pokemon and historic Fidonian events. Tom looked at them with interest, but Alex was far more concerned with the little items laying on the floor. There were little spheres and small items. Alex picked up a few revives and lots of spheres as he travelled through the ruins. Soon though, in his excitement, Alex strayed from his path. Akll he could think about was his gym loss. If he could just collect loads of sweet trinkets, he could somehow prove himself to be good at something. He desperately wanted to be accepted and to feel like a winner. He carried on walking, distancing himself further and further away from Tom and Tikal.

Alex stopped at one point and looked up. He panicked as he realised that Tom and Tikal were gone. He was lost. He started walking around, hoping to find them again. The one thing Alex wanted least of all was to get lost in this strange world.

Posted by: rt117 May 23 2012, 09:09 PM

Oblivious to Alex's disappearance, Tikal stopped every now and then to examine the ageing paintings on the walls with greater detail, trying to scrutinize what Pokemon exactly she was looking at. The figures were quite crude, as she examined what she thought was a Xatu, but had strange curling plumage and an oddly shaped head instead.

Meanwhile, Tikal's Jigglypuff stood by her feet, clearly bored with all of the stopping and staring. She watched as Alex wandered off into another room, Tom seeming too distracted by the drawings on the wall as well to notice that he left. Turning back to her trainer, Jigglypuff tugged on Tikal's clothes, only for her to shift slightly. "Just a sec." she replied, much to her Pokemon's distaste. With a pout, Jigglybuff wandered over to Tom, and tried the same tactic again, only to be shrugged off once more. With a huff, she returned back over to Tikal, crawling up her back before jumping onto her head, proceeding to mess up her hair until she gained her trainers attention.

Realizing her Pokemon was attacking her head, Tikal stepped back and removed her pink companion, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "What's wrong?" she asked, still a bit baffled as she watched Jigglypuff squirm from her grasp, falling to the ground before pointing at the walls in a seemingly random way. Rubbing the back of her head, Tikal had no idea what message was trying to be conveyed, before she looked over at Tom and Alex, only to find that Alex was no longer with them.

"Alex...? Where did you go?" she called, but found no answer in the still air. Worried, she hurried over to Tom, who had finished examining one potion of the wall depicting a portion of the area's history. "I can't find Alex anywhere, I think he wandered off." she frowned, looking a bit worried as she glanced around the room they stood in. This was not the place to get lost in, as none of them knew their way around the ruins.

Without hesitation, she grabbed Jigglypuff (who was annoyed at the fact that her trainer had ignored her earlier message then deciphered it without thanks), grabbed Tom by the arm before he could ask what she was doing, and took off through a hallway she thought that their companion had gone through. Releasing him once they travelled through part of the area, she continued ahead, not realizing that Tom had decided to take a different direction, until Tikal stopped minutes later, finding herself alone with Jigglypuff.

"Oh great... now we're lost too..." Tikal groaned, sliding to the floor.

(ooc: permission was given through PM to control Tom for this post [though not much was done in this sense] )