[X] My Assistant

[Duck Tape]

Dynh pointed to Alex quickly and yelled, "OBJECTION!" she then giggled. "Oh wait, wrong gameboy game." she laughed at her own joke.

A small breeze rolled in from over the river and Dynh shivered, "COLD!" she cried as she curled up next to the fire again. "I wish I had packed more clothes." she said going silent as she stared into the fire. "Oh wait!" she exclaimed jumping to her feet again.

"I remembered that I would be sad and lonely with out all my clothes." The tall girl reached down to her go-go boot heels and pulled out a tiny bokeball from one of the compartments. "So I packed them to come along." she said with a smile as she threw the ball. "I choose you wardrobe!" and with that, the wood structure appeared with a red glow. Looming over the three girls and their pokemon.

"Te he!" Dynh giggled as she rummaged through the mounds of clothing inside. She pulled out a shirt very similar to the one she was wearing before (different design) and another pair of leggings. After changing she smiled happily. "Now I'm really warm and ready for BATTLE!" she called after putting her wardrobe back into it's pokeball.

---

CC watched as the other pokemon conversed and whimpered a bit to herself. :I'm stuck!: she whined in a very high pitched voice. :I've fallen and I can't get up! Help me help me! Lacy I'm in a well!: the pokemon was nearly as crazy as it's master.

:Don't worry by dear: Killer Queen said as she hovered close to the cocooned caterpillar. :I shall take care of you: she said with a bright smile as she picked CC up in her lower most mouth and carried her over to the other pokemon.

:I'm getting to old for this,: Whined Cook Wilber as he moved slowly to follow Killer Queen and CC.

:You're barely a year old!: CC whined rocking back and forth in frustration.

[Fei Fei]

"Well, that settles it then," Alex said with a smile as she got up and stretched her arms over her head. "Hey, MD, want to referee? You can fight the winner, if you want." She crossed an arm over her chest, stretching it out. Pokemon battles required very little physical work from the trainer, but Alex didn't like being stiff when fighting. It made her feel bad for her pokemon, who were, you know, basically dog-fighting. Which was usually looked upon as unethical...huh. Was pokemon battling unethical? She took a quick glance to Ouji. Well, Oiji has a poisoned needle on his head. I think having superpowers means you can get into fights without it being unethical.... Ach, what am I thinking about now?! Stupid Dynh, her random thoughts are rubbing off on me.

"Dyyyyynh," Alex whined, walking over to one side of a clearing, Hiiro following at her side, "You're making me random! Get it off!" Hiiro laughed next to his sister. She could say the funniest human-things some times!

Meanwhile, Ouji and Hime noticed that Alex was readying for a fight and they both bounded over to her and the fire-lizard excitedly. Oh boy!, they though, a friendly battle! They were always the best, because it meant that Alex wouldn't be sad with them if they lost (not that they would want to lose).

Though Alex couldn't understand, Ouji called out to her anyway. :Me first! Me first: Hiiro glared at his brother, a pout on his lips.

:No way, Ouji! I got here first!:

Ouji glared, coming to a skidding halt in front of them. :I called it, though!:

:I think you should be a gentleman, Ouji, and let Hiiro go first,: Hime offered, coming up the rear with a slow walk. She cocked her head as Ouji's pink face became pinker. :You ran to fast,: she commented. :You've gotten as red as a voltorb's bottom. Or is it top?:

Hiiro threw his head back and laughed as Ouji blushed more, and Alex looked down, confused. "Eh? Guys? What are you laughing about?" After Hiiro shook his head, calming down, she just shrugged. "Fine. Secrets secrets are no fun, though. Hey, Dynh!" She called over to the other girl. "Are you going to battle or not?!"

[Duck Tape]

"You bet your pink faced Nido I am!" Dynh called back as she ran to the other side of the clearing. "Lets go, Cook Wilber!" she yelled and pointed forward valiantly, "Just let the random in. Once it's there you will see the error of your human ways!" she laughed from deep with in her chest, creating a lower and more menacing sound.

The Nincada sighed as he made his way over to Dynh, ready to fight. "Who will face my powerful bugs!?" she snickered. 'If she pulls out Hiiro now I might have a chance of winning.' she thought to herself.

CC sighed a bit as she watched. She knew she probably wouldn't be called until the end. And even then she would be useless to her beloved trainer.

[Fei Fei]

Alex smirked as Dynh excitedly called Nincada to the field. "Alright then, Dynh!" She looked down at her monsters, giving them a wink. Hiiro began to walk instinctively to the battle-field, but Alex's next words stopped him.

"Alright, Kuchi! It's your turn!" The steel monster picked up her head in alarm, looking over to her 'trainer' with a confused glace.

Hiiro and Ouji looked over to her, too. : oh...I forgot about her,: Hiiro mumbled, ashamed that he'd forgotten his new sibling so soon.

:It's alright,: Ouji mumbled, obviously not happy. :We were so psyched for battle, and concentrating on the usually battle order, that we forgot to take her into account:

Hiiro quirked an eye at his bunny-like companion. :I didn't know you knew all of those words, Ouji.: Ouji spun around to glare at the charmander. :You stupid lizard! I'll Poison you!:

Hiiro ran away, laughing. :Nooo! Don't!: as Kuchi came over to the field, standing hesitantly in front of Alex. Did she really have to take orders from this human? She could fight perfectly well on her own.

Alex smiled at Kuchi patiently. "It's okay, girl. Take your time. Believe in me, because I believe in you. We can do this together!"

Kuchi was still hesitant, looking around warily, but eventually she got into a battle stance, ready to face Nincada.

:Watch yourself, Bug,: she said to him seriously. :I don't know about this human, but I will take you down.:

This post has been edited by Fei Fei: May 26 2010, 02:17 PM

[Charlie Piers]

Mercedes moved Fatima, who had dozed lightly in the waning light, from her lap and stood to stand between and off to the side of Alex and Dynh, in the typical spot of referees, so that she could observe the fight from a good angle.

"Okay, you two. This is a fight among friends, but let's keep it clean. And I don't want to see anyone getting too hurt. I want to have enough potions and revives left to make it through the forest." She looked over to the bug trainer. "Dynh, don't tax yourself too hard. You just fell in the river, and remember, so did CC. Don't either of you get too worked up."

She took a few steps back and looked them both in the eye. "Begin!" She shouted with zeal, and sat down on a close log to keep a watch on the fight from a safe distance. She wanted to be able to call a stop to it if anything got too out of hand. It looked as though they'd be in these woods a while yet, and she would prefer not to use many, if any, potions after the mock-battle was over.

Kepri and Iris both fluttered over to stand before their sleeping sister, in order to protect her in case the fight got to close to the sleeping mareep. Kepri hummed in her buggish way and Iris kept close attention to the fight.

:Go Wilbur! Show the new kid what being a trained pokemon is all about!:

Kepri rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting.

[Duck Tape]

Dynh cocked her head slightly as Mercedes warned her about her body. It was her fricken body! She knew it best! And there was no way the government could take that away from her. That, and cheese, the government was not, NOT allowed to take away her cheese.

“Alright, Cook Wilber. We can do this.” The tall girl kneeled down so she could whisper to her pokemon. “just remember. She is the enemy. She's the government. She's the GOVERNMENT! And she needs to be taken down. No matter the cost.” This was Dynh's version of a pep talk, and oddly enough it got Cook Wilber worked up.

He braced himself, sticking his butt in the air slightly. Ready and willing to do his master's bidding, as long as it didn't involve jumping off a cliff.

[Fei Fei]

Alex cast a calm, confident smile at Kuchi standing before her, happy that the newly acquired pokemon was co-operating so far. That was a good sign, wasn't it? She knew that with pokemon- like people- trust had to be earned, and it often took a long time. Of course, she hoped it didn't take a long time, because she wanted very much to be friends with Kuchi, but she also understood that she couldn't force anything. Maybe if they won this battle, it would be the first step in getting Kuchi to trust her. Hey, she could hope, right?

Her internal musings were put to and end when she heard Dynh's voice being to raise, where she was supposed to be whispering a pep talk to Cook Wilber. She couldn't help a confused sweat drop as the raised voice suddenly became a shout about the government, and Alex had to wonder just what that had to do with this battle. Well, whatever. Far be it from Alex to ever understand what Dynh was talking about. With a roll of her eyes and an amused, resigned smile that seemed to be her usual reaction to Dynh's antics, she braced her own feet, and got ready to start.

"Alright!" She called over to Dynh, giving the other girl a thumbs up. "One pokemon each. Fight until one of us give up, or our pokemon can't fight anymore. Is that good with you?" In front of her Kuchi got ready to battle at well, scoffing at the bug in front of her. Such a small thing hardly posed a threat to her. She ignored the pidgey at the sidelines. It didn't matter to her what a trained pokemon to do- this wasn't about that. Trained, wild, she couldn't care less. This was about showing that she was the best there was.

Alex could already tell that Dynh was going to say something strange when the girl jumped up from her crouching position and pointed a finger dramatically at Alex in the span of less than a second. "Death First! To Battle!!!" She yelled over, far louder than necessary. Yup, Alex thought with a deadpanned look. The girl didn't disappoint. If it was weird or unexpected, you could expect Dynh to do it, it seemed.

"Fine, then," Alex said, her unsurprised look traded for one of battle-ready excitement. "Let's go! Kuchi! Bite!" She yelled excitedly, thrusting her hand forward to start the battle, just as Kuchi leapt from her standing spot to attack the nincada. At least the human could choose a good opening attack. Kuchi would have used Bite, even if the human had said to use something different, anyway.

Dynh threw a cocky smile, and thrust a pointing finger forward, much as Alex had. "Alright, Wilber! You use Bite, too!" Except, the thing was, poor Cook Wilber didn't know the move Bite. He cast a nervous glance back at his trainer, who was too busy laughing maniacally to notice, and he wondered what he should do...

Kuchi didn't wait for the other pokemon to receive an order. Instead, she thrust her horns forward, and the 'jaws' opened, quickly snapping shut to perform the attack on Cook Wilber. The bug pokemon panicked and, as he thrashed about, he performed Scratch, which hit Kuchi's horns. Though her defense was naturally high, being a Steel pokemon, the attack was enough to surprise her out of clamping down on Cook Wilber, and the bug pokemon quickly scurried away, out of Kuchi's reach.

By now, Dynh had noticed that her command hadn't gone quite as planned. She stared, gobsmacked, as Cook Wilber had to take the battle into his own hands, using scratch to get away from the Steel-pokemon's jaws. Alex smiled triumphantly over at Dynh, her hands on her hips. "You'll never win if you don't know what moves your pokemon can learn, Dynh! You'll have to do better than that! Come on, Kuchi! Let's try Astonish, next!"

Kuchi frowned. She didn't like the idea of using Astonish- it wasn't an attack move, so it wouldn't end this any quicker. She had half a mind just to go ahead and use Bite again, when she stopped to really think about it. If she used Astonish, then the nincada would become frightened, and she'd be able to use Bite more effectively. She frowned again. Why was a human able to see that more effectively than she could? Now she really wanted to use Bite instead, just to spite the human girl. She growled, and then ran forward, thrusting her horns in front of her. Except, this time, it wasn't to attack. To use Astonish, her horns were the best method of frightening the opponent.

Alex smiled, pleased (and not a little bit surprised) that Kuchi had actually used Astonish. It was a good sign, maybe, that Kuchi was listening to her. She couldn't help a small snicker of happiness. Baby steps, she reminded herself. Baby steps.

At this point, though, Dynh had stopped freaking, and had braced herself, thinking so hard about what she could have Cook Wilber do that proverbial smoke was coming from her ears. What can he do?!, she thought, bracing her head in her hands. "Ahhh! I have to think of something! Cook Wiber! Use, ah, Harden! Yeah, Harden!"

Cook Wilber looked relieved to finally have something to do, especially now that the mawile was running at him again. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on his outer skin, feeling it harden with a sheen as he did so. Because he'd shut his eyes so closed in concentration, he wasn't looking at Kuchi's frightening display, and so wasn't scared into flinching.

Kuchi frowned again. Well, so much for the human girl knowing what she was doing. Fine, then. She'd do this her way. She raced forward again, prepared to use Bite again. The teeth of her horns snapped shut around Cook Wilber, and neither Dynh nor Alex had a spare moment to try and command their pokemon.

So much for Kuchi listening to me, Alex thought with a pout, crossing her arms. Though maybe I should have just had her use Bite, anway... Arg! Alex! Stop doubting yourself! Get a hold of it, man! The only thing you can do it fight with her! She nodded to herself, her resolve settling in her eyes. Maybe she couldn't train Kuchi the way she trained Hiiro and Ouji. Maybe she had to let Kuchi do her own thing, at first.

At that same moment, Cook Wilber was glad, so very glad, that Dynh had asked him to use Harden. He was so glad that he was looking up at the sky with tears streaming down his face. Well, maybe the tears were because it hurt a little, too, but it was mostly because it didn't hurt as much as before. Kuchi's 'teeth' snapped at him, and they did hit him, but his newly Hardened skin caused the teeth to slide off, unable to get a grip on his body. He quickly scurried away, close to Dynh, and out of Kuchi's reach.

"Kuchi!" Alex called, cupping her hands around her mouth. "You can do it! I believe in you! Just do what feels right!"

"Hey!" Dynh called over, pointing an accusatory finger at Alex. "That's cheating!"

Alex raised an eyebrow, and lowered her hands to her hips. "Oh? How in the world is it cheating, hm?"

"You can't... you can't just tell a pokemon to do whatever it wants! If you don't click on Fight and then, an Attack, then it just hovers on the command screen, and nothing happens, just asking if you want to Run or Attack all day! That's the way it works!" She stomped her foot in protest, still pointing at a now confused Alex.

Alex's hands fell from her hip as she tried to process what the girl was saying. "What... what does that even mean?"

"It means... Cook Wilber! Use Scratch!"

Alex gawked, making a strangled choking sound as she thrust her own hand forward. "Doge it, Kuchi!"

The mawile didn't need to be told twice. She pushed her horns into the ground in front of her, pushing herself off the ground to dodge the Scratch attack. Cook Wilber went flying past where Kuchi had been, missing completely. He stopped, and turned to look around for the mawile. Except... now he couldn't see. When Kuchi had pushed off from the ground, she'd caused a spray of rocks and dirt to burst up, and it was blocking the small nincada's vision.

Alex smiled excitedly. It really did look like Kuchi knew what to do on her own, and she was proud of the pokemon, but she also wanted to help her out (and, well, maybe because she wanted to do something and not be completely useless). "Kuchi! Just one more Bite! I don't think he has much more left in him!"

Again, Kuchi didn't need to be told twice. For the first time, she smiled confidently. It seemed that the human was finally seeing reason. Of course she could handle this on her own. She ran forward, prepared to use Bite one last time. As the dust began to clear, she saw Cook Wilber with his back to her, and she turned, letting her jaws snap forward to catch the bug in her jaws once again. The Bug-pokemon panicked, but wasn't able to get away, his legs flailing wildly as she snapped him up.

Dynh shrieked, and floundered about, wondering what to do. She hopped from one foot to the other, then yelled out, "Cook Wilber! Use Explosion!"

Alex, from the other side of the field, felt another nervous sweat drop down her face. "Dynh! He definitely can't use that move! Look, he's already fainted! That was great, Kuchi, you can let him go now."

Kuchi let her horns separate, and Cook Wilber flopped to the ground, looking completely worn out. His eyes were swirling in defeat, and Alex smiled nervously. "You should probably have Mercedes look at him, Dynh. The poor thing looks wiped out." Kuchi smiled proudly, and Alex stepped over to the victorious pokemon. "That was great, Kuchi. I'm so proud of you. You really know what you're doing in a battle."

Kuchi snorted. Of course she knew what she was doing. At least the human trainer understood that.

[Charlie Piers]

Mercedes watched the battle with a critical eye, noting where and how the monsters were injured so that she would be able to better care for them later. She found herself unconsciously wincing with sympathy every time a hit landed and wondered if Dynh and Alex would leave each other intact. The nurse really hoped no one got too injured; she could only carry so much healing supplies and their being lost in the woods meant that she couldn't exactly restock.

"Pay attention, you girls," she whispered to her own monsters. "Try and get as much experience as you can from their battle, and learn from how they move and fight. Also take note of where they get hit, so you can help me treat them later." If her pokemon were to eventually help her in the field, they would have to learn from every opportunity they could, like Mercedes herself.

It was an...interesting battle to watch, especially with Dynh's seemingly running gag of not knowing what attacks her pokemon knew. Maybe Mercedes would sit down with her one of these days and run through the attacks her bug pokemon would most likely know.

The fight came to a surprising end when Kushi stirred up something of a sand attack and caught Cook Wilbur by surprise, catching him in a nasty bite and taking him out. Up until that point, it had seemed to the nurse that the tenacious little bug might pull through over the stubborn steel-pokemon, but strength eventually trumped his will-power. Mercedes had to hold back her initial desire to run out to tend to the pokemon and wait until they declared the battle officially over before she stood and hurried over to Cook Wilbur and Kushi. Kepri flitted after her with a med-kit and Iris clutched her trainer's bag in her talons as they followed Mercedes over to the freshly finished battlers.

The nurse-in-training sat crossed-legged on what was previously the field of battle and looked between the two trainers. "That was an...um...good fight, both of you." She nodded to each Alex and Dynh in turn. "Though I do wish you had gone easier on each other. I might have to let Wilbur sleep most of his injuries off so that I don't use up all of our supplies." The nurse shook her head absently as she dug through her effects for the items necessary to take care of the fainted Wilbur, gathering the unconscious monster up in her lap, as well as Kushi.

A revive and a half a normal potion later and Mercedes had the bug-pokemon napping lightly by the fire to try and let him heal up naturally. Mercedes then set her determined eyes on to Kushi. As a newly caught monster, the steel-pokemon would likely not take kindly to healing hands; she didn't even take to being ordered in battle. Looking after her might be slightly challenging, but Mercedes didn't plan on letting difficult patients get in the way of her care.

She took a few steps towards the fiery steel-pokemon, her hands extended slightly and placatingly, and approached. "Okay, Kuschi, I'm going to take a look at you now." Iris rustled her feathers threateningly. There was no way she was going to let some punk newbie-caught upstart attack her master. Just let her try; Iris would beat her her to Kanto before she let that happen.

[Duck Tape]

This battle really wasn't going in the way Dynh had planned it. If only she had Serebii.net to help her. Or even a pokedex from this century. Of course then she could have won. How could she not know what moves Cook Wilber knew!? How could she!? Pokemon should come with manuals.

Or if she had a pokemon like Shaymin. Yeah. If she had that cute little ball of adorable no one could stand up to her! Not even the government! No one could attack anything that adorable... hmm maybe if she asked MD and Alex to help her she could find one. Well really the one. Shaymin was so cute! I had to be hers! It would be her's!

Dynh watched Cook Wilber with a exuberant sigh. "Such a useless thing." she muttered as she looked down at the pokemon in MD's arms with a frown. She turned, flipping her hair out behind her making a show out of it. She couldn't wait until the stupid thing evolved. Yeah. Then she would have a bad-ass bug pokemon! Yeah. Wait.. then she would be just like her dad. Creepy old bug guy. Well he wasn't always old... he use to just sit out of the road with his bugs and battled any passing trainer. Maybe that's what he expected her to do? No. She could have done that from home. No need to kick her out.

She paced up and down the side of the river. "When are we going?" she asked as she looked down into the cold waters. Wincing from their previous encounter. Icy Rivers... her new enemy. Not quiet as malicious as the government, but still a worthy opponent. It may have had the victory this time around, but just you wait! Oh yes. She would get that river back. She just needed a plan. A devious plan... oh crap she forgot to update her deviantart before she left!

Damn! Side tracked again. Oh they are tricky, tricky. But she could not let this be the end of her! She would not lose! "Killer Queen." she said to her pokemon.

The Combee buzzed over to her trainer. Tilting to the side as she looked up at the brown haired girl, waiting for her orders.

"Go forth!" Dynh said pointing to the river. "We won't be beat by that stinky Alex. We'll catch a new type of pokemon. And then we can beat her stupid fire lizard and then you can take out her steel thing. And then we get her cornered and get those poison rats." she snickered. "Yes. We'll get a new pokemon. Alex can flaunt that newbie of her's all she wanted. But Dynh would get an even better new pokemon. And she would kick Alex's new stealy thing around town! AROUND TOWN! Around fricken town. Yeah. Best plan ever.

Killer Queen whimpered slightly as she floated around Dynh. Wondering if she was being serious about attacking the water. The bug looked over the river. Seeing a school of Feebas close by. She buzzed around and flapped her wings quickly, sending a gust at the jumping Feebas. There was a flump from the impact of the wind on the side of the fish.

Dynh smiled brightly, throwing her pokeball while the Feebas was still in the air. "I caught a pokemon~" she sang as she giggled up and down the river. Letting Combee catch the ball, wiggling still in an attempt to get away. But there was the click and then silence from the sphere.

Killer Queen flew the pokeball back to her trainer. Smiling and buzzing happily at her accomplishment. And Dynh patted her head as she picked up the ball. Showing it off for Alex and MD. "I caught a pokemon!" she bragged, doing a victory dance.

This post has been edited by Duck Tape: May 26 2010, 04:33 PM

[Fei Fei]

Alex was sitting by the fire with MD, helping the doctor-to-be with healing the pokemon. Gladly, Cook Wilber hadn't gotten all too hurt- mostly he just seemed tuckered out, and Alex could understand his pain. With a trainer like Dynh, it was a wonder that any of her pokemon every got any rest. Perhaps the battle had finally gotten to him, which was probably why he was sleeping so well, nestled by the warm glow of the flames near him.

As for Kuchi, well... Alex turned her head to look at the Steel-pokemon. She had the feeling that maybe they connected a little bit during the battle, but then again, that could have just been her imagination. If anything, she's just be glad if, at the least, Kuchi was satisfied with the battle. If Alex was able to make her feel more comfortable with her and with the other pokemon, then that would easily be the first step to gaining her trust. With a small smile, she scooted over in her seat to be closer to the mawile, and the pokemon's wine-red eyes glanced at Alex with mild suspicion.

Well, since MD was busy finishing up healing Cook Wilber, Alex had a moment to speak with her pokemon. She rested her chin in her palms and smiled. "I really am proud of you, you know," she started. She felt like that was probably the best way to get through to Kuchi- she seemed to be a very proud pokemon. "You did really well. You did even better than when Hiiro and I fought you, in the cave."

Kuchi looked up at the human as she came close, watching her movement with wary eyes. They had won that battle, and that was just as it should be, in Kuchi's mind, but that didn't mean that this human had the right to just come up and talk to her like that.

When Alex spoke of pride, Kuchi couldn't help but puff out her chest a little, a smug smirk on her face. Well, of course the human was proud. Kuchi was the best there was, after all. It simply made sense. She didn't like, though, that she mentioned the fight with the charmander. She hadn't been in top form for that battle, so it didn't count. She only lost that one because she'd been tired at the time.

"And, you know, if there's anything you want," Alex continued on, not privy to Kuchi's thoughts, "or anything you need, you just have to ask. Even if you want to let Hiiro or Hime know, they can tell me. I want you to be comfortable here. I want to be your friend, not your master or trainer." She hoped that the mawile understood her, or, at least, took her words into consideration. People and pokemon worked best as a team. After all, Hiiro was more like her brother than her pokemon, and Ouji and Hime were like her best friends, her companions. They weren't just tools to be used in battle. In fact, just thinking about them like that made Alex frown in distaste.

Kuchi looked away from the human girl, her mouth slightly downturn in confusion. She didn't understand what the human meant by being friends. After all, if Kuchi was the best, she didn't need friends. Her thoughts were interrupted, though, when the older human girl looked at her, and asked if she wanted to be healed.

Alex blinked, almost surprised when MD spoke. She hadn't noticed that the doctor had finished with Cook Wilber. When MD told Kuchi that she was going to heal her, Alex couldn't help but hold her breath, glancing from Kuchi to MD and then back again. She hoped that Kuchi didn't do anything that Alex would have to apologize for, later...

Kuchi's surprised look turned into a frown when she considered the offer. Healed? Her? Like that Bug had been strong enough to injure her! It was insulting just to think that. Still... she couldn't help but feel that maybe she was a little tired. But not because that Bug had hurt her! A few more moments of thought, and then she grudgingly nodded, looking up at the taller human. After all, if she was tired- which had nothing to do with that Bug- it would be best if she was healed quickly, so that she could continue on with being the best. It was worth it, in that case.

Alex smiled when Kuchi finally agreed. Whatever the pokemon's reason was, she was happy. Baby steps, she reminded herself for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Things like this didn't happen over night.

Then, Alex's sentimental moment was cut short when she heard Dynh's voice carrying across the camp in a juvenile sing-song of victory. It took her a moment to make out exactly what the girl was saying, and when she finally deciphered it, she rolled her eyes. With a deadpanned look and a sigh, Alex turned to face her new, eccentric companion.

"Dynh, what on earth do you mean you captured a pokemon? You've only been by the river for a mome-," Alex had turned with her eyes shut in annoyance, but now she opened them, and her words caught in her throat, her body momentarily frozen. "I-I-I... D-Dy," she tried to warn, but couldn't force the words to come out.

[Duck Tape]

Dynh was far to interested in her victory dance to notice Alex's horrified expression. After all, she'd just caught a pokemon, even though (from what she'd heard Alex say) Alex didn't believe her. Well, she'd show her. She would battle her with this awesome new pokemon, and then Alex and her fire-lizard would be sorry. Because, there was no way she could have caught a stupid poke-... Hm? Dynh blinked, and looked down at the ground under her feet. Was it... Alex's warning from by the campfire fell on deaf ears as Dynh continued to stare at the ground with a blinking stare. She stopped her victory jig and looked down with a cocked eyebrow, tilting her head in confusion.

"We'll fight in the shade?" she muttered questioningly and turned around, wondering what the source of the sudden darkness was.

It didn't take her long to figure it out.

Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened, and for a few moments, all she could do was stare before her mouth began to stutter out what her brain was screaming inside of her head. "G-g-g-g-g-Gyaradose!!!" She finally managed to yell, and began to flail. What should she do?! It was staring at her, and it looked angry and oh Arceus it was probably going to eat her. She wasn't good for eating! She was tall and scrawny and probably smelled like cat food! She began to run towards the campfire, towards the forest, to get away from the raging monster, but suddenly stopped. Then, she turned, and ran over to the raft, despite how Alex and MD were now screaming at her to run away, not towards the thing. Pfft. Like she was going to run to the forest. The last time she was there, she'd gotten lost, and almost died, and then she found a crazy old man and had barely gotten out alive (even if, well, she had gotten a cute little pokemon egg out of it).

"Run Away!!!" She yelled as she jumped into the small boat by the shore, distinctly not looking at the Gyaradose that was close behind her. Of course, she'd left everything of her's by the camp, including one of her own pokemon, but for once, Dynh was thinking about something more important than all of that. That's right. She was wondering why the hell the Gyaradose that was chasing her was red. "Maybe it ate too many luvdisk..." she wondered aloud, for a moment forgetting the danger she was in.

[Charlie Piers]

Mercedes' eyes widened impossibly as she hopped into motion; returning her pokemon to their capsules and stashing them in her bags, wich she threw over her shoulder in a flourish while simultaneously stamping out and throwing dirt on their campfire (ever conscious of her surroundings, even when in a panic). In one motion, she swooped up Alex's bag and ran after Dynh who had actually run towards the giant pokemon. Lastly, she gathered Cook Wilbur up in her arms, who was still sleeping, and jumped into the boat along with Dynh.

The boat shook unnervingly as she practically fell in, dropping all of her belongings (including the poor nincada) on the floor of the small vessel.

"Alex!" She shouted desperately, "Jump!" The nurse commanded, holding out her hands so as to help the other trainer into the boat, even as Dynh pushed off from the shore and began rowing away. The first few strokes were sluggish as the boat struggled against the water tension, giving Alex enough time to jump.

The boat rocked dangerously again, sinking down further into the water under the added weight. There was barely enough room to breathe in the boat, much less move amongst the mess of limbs and bags. Mercedes looked up from where she had been knocked over, glancing back at the monster they were running from.

It's red, she gasped within her own mind. Why...

But truth be told, that was really the least of their problems. The color of what was chasing them really didn't matter as much as the attack power of what was chasing them. Running, therefore, was the best option at the moment.

This post has been edited by Charlie Piers: Aug 1 2010, 09:38 AM

[Fei Fei]

Luckily, Mercedes grabbed all of the necessary supplies before they 'abandoned camp', because Alex sure as hell didn't have any of that on her mind. She was too stunned by the appearance of the strangely colored Gyarados to really worry about trivial things like sleeping bags and food. By the time she's stood up from her seat, Mercedes was already running for the boat that Dynh had inexplicably jumped into.

"Dynh!" She yelled to the girl, turning around frantically to make sure her pokemon were coming towards her. Sure enough, Hiiro was leading Ouji, Hime, and Kuchi up to her, as quick as all of their little feet could carry them. As they were coming up to her, she turned back to Dynh in the boat to yell at the girl once more. "Why the hell are you running towards the danger?! Is your brain that scrambled?!" When her monsters reached her, she and they ran for the boat, each of them keeping a careful eye on the raging Gyarados. No time for calling her pokemon back into their pokeballs now.

Except, when she reached the shoreline, the boat was too far for her pokemon to jump. So, as quick as she could, she bent down and picked Hiiro up, and proceeded to toss him into the boat. The Charmander squawked in surprise, and by the time he hit the floor of the boat with an 'char!', Ouji and Kuchi were flung in beside him, with Hime tossed in not a moment later. The fire pokemon scrambled up, frantically looking up and over the side of the boat, eyes widened in fright. By now, the boat was getting further from the shore! :Alex! Sister!: He called over frantically, and Ouji and Hime joined him at his side, calling to her with fear in their voiced. Kuchi stood back, staring disbelievingly to the shore. She was too stunned for words.

--

Alex threw each of her pokemon into the boat as quickly as she could. Why she didn't just put them in their pokeballs, she couldn't say. Maybe, in her panic, she thought that it would take too long. It probably would have. All she knew was that none of them would be able to make that jump, and it was her job as their sister, friend, and guardian to keep them safe.

Now, it was her turn to jump. The boat was getting a little too far for her liking, but she had some confidence that she could make the jump. Taking a few steps back, she started forward on a running jump. She heard the 'Char! Charmander!' of Hiiro calling to her, and Ouji and Hime joined in with their voices. She'd have to ignore them, for the moment.

Except... when she was about to take her last leap, the Gyarados had turned it's angry glare on her, and unleashed a Dragon Rage attack at ground at her feet. It's thrashing made the attack miss- the surge of energy hitting the water in front of her, mostly, sending the boat rocking on the water- but the surprise of it tripped up her feet, and she fell...

--

"CHAR!" Hiiro screeched out as he saw Alex fall headfirst into the river, missing the boat by a few feet. He scrambled up, ready to jump into the water to save her, when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Kuchi at his side, giving him a stern look. He stared at her uncomprehendingly. :Why are you stopping m-: he was about to demand, but the newest addition to their team interrupted him.

:Don't be foolish. If you go into the water, the fire on your tail will go out, and you could die.:

Hiiro's disbelieving stare turned into a look of rage, and he shouted at the mawile. :What do you care!? You don't even like Alex! I don't see you jumping in to save her!:

Kuchi glared back at him, taking her hand away from his shoulder. :I'm a steel-type. I'll sink like a rock, and I'll do about as much good as you will. And don't- don't say that.: She looked away, glaring at the wood floor of the boat. :Just because I don't like her doesn't mean I wouldn't try to save her.:

Hiiro didn't know what to say, he was so distressed and frightened. Then, he heard a splash next to him, and he turned quickly to see a pair of pink-purple legs disappearing into the water as Hime called next to him :Ouji!:

--

It was cold. Really cold. She should have turned off the air-conditioner before she went to bed. Or maybe, dad had dumped water onto her to wake her up again, before she was late for school. It was certainly wet enough to feel like he had...

Alex slowly opened her eyes, but everything was hazy, and her eyes instantly hurt as she opened them. She grunted at the painful intrusion, only to see a trail of bubbles exit her mouth and nose. The sight surprised her, and she gasped, but she only took in a mouthful of water.

What the... Then, the events of the past few seconds came back to her, and she felt the rushing water of the river all around her.

Oh shit! I'm drowning in a river with a crazy Gyarados twenty feet away! She flailed slightly, trying to find up from down, and felt her foot kick against a pebbly, sandy riverbed. Bringing her other foot down quickly, she kicked off, moving her arms to surface faster.

When her head came above the water, she took the deepest breath of her life, coughing up the water she'd inhaled only moments before. She looked around, disoriented, and tried to figure out where she was. After blinking the water out of her eyes, she saw the boat a few yards away, with her pokemon, Dynh, and Mercedes safely inside. What worried her was that she didn't see where the Gyarados was. Unlike Dynh or Mercedes, she wasn't overly worried about whatever color it was. It was more important that she was sharing water-space with it.

Something touched her leg then, under the water, and she had to choke back a gasp, feeling fear coil up in her stomach. Then, a moment later, Ouji surfaced next to her, and she stared at the poison pokemon for a moment as he saw towards her, determined, and stuck his head under her arm, like a life-preserver.

She laughed frantically, looking down at the male Nidoran. "Ouji! I don't know if you're big enough to save me!" She said, eyebrows drawn in concern, but the pokemon only looked back at her with a 'don't-talk-to-me-when-I'm-working' look, and Alex smiled to herself, despite the situation. "Thank you, Ouji," she said after her shock had faded, voice raspy from coughing, and she rested her head tiredly against his back (even if his back was a little too small to really rest her head, and his spines got in the way).

Ouji swam determinedly, kicking all of his legs as quickly as he could just to keep them afloat. Alex helped him with kicking her own legs, but she was really getting tired, after being thrashed around in the water, and she was pretty sure that she'd hit her head on the riverbed. Both of them were equally worried about the lack of angry Gyarados swimming about, though...

Aaaaand, there it was. Both of them felt the surging of water from behind them as the Gyarados burst up from behind them, and they both turned their heads, wide-eyed, with fearful gasps. Both of them turned back to face the boat and began to swim as fast as they could.

A burst of dragonic energy hit the water next to them, and they were both thrown to the side. When they'd reoriented themselves, Alex looked up at the dragon-like pokemon, gulping down her fear. Ouji glared defiantly at it, sticking his horn forward obstinately, regardless of how much good it would (or wouldn't) do.

This post has been edited by Fei Fei: Aug 28 2010, 10:48 PM

[Duck Tape]

Dynh was paddling with her hands frantically, crying loudly as her arms worked. She wanted to go home. Back to her stupid brother, with all their teasing, back to her parents with all their nagging.

If there was a god (other than the pokemon gods) and he helped her survive this, she would change! No more plotting against the government. No more video games. She'll help out around the farm! Clean her room. Marry a nice rice guy, like her mother wished! SHE CAN CHANGE!

"MD, fight it! FIGHT IT HARD! ATTACK IT WITH VALOR!" The girl squeaked out as she continued to flail her arms around in the water.

Her mind was so preoccupied she couldn't assess the state the other two girls were in, not realize Alex had fallen in the water, or that Mercedes was a little dazed. Nor could she be thankful that the nurse had grabbed Cook Wilber, or that she had brought CC and Killer Queen back into their pokeballs earlier.

"You have to attack it with water! Cause Gyaradoses get boiling hot when their are angry, and they get all red! And that's why it's red. So attack with water!" There it was, even in the midst of certain doom Dynh was able to twist reality to conform to her mind.

[Charlie Piers]

Mercedes watched Alex fall into the river in horrifying slow-motion, like film skipping off of the movie projector. Her reactions were painfully sluggish, like moving through gelatin, and before she could even make it to the rim of the boat to offer Alex a hand, the brave little nidoran had managed to snap out of his panic before the trained medical professional and jumped into the river to rescue his trainer. It was that little piece of mental battery that lit a fire under Mercedes to kick her into gear. She was trained to handle emergencies; what use would that training do - what use as a nurse would she be - if she lost her wits under pressure.

Mercedes fell to her knees and wrenched her pack open, likely breaking the zipper in her haste, and yanked out a sturdy coil of rope that she always kept at easy access. She uncoiled enough, and searched frantically for Alex and Ouji in the water, spotting them further from the boat than she would have hoped or liked. Not to mention the enraged gyarados was far too close to them for comfort. Forcibly keeping herself from panicking again, she twirled the rope to pick up momentum and aimed carefully, preferring to get it right and have it reach them the first time than tossing it swiftly and missing. The rope sailed and landed - happily - within arm's reach of Alex and her nidoran.

"Alex," Mercedes cried out, at once trying to call the girl's attention to the rope, as well as keeping her attention away from the gyarados so that she wouldn't panic. Panicking now could mean certain death. "The rope! Grab on to it, and we'll pull you and Ouji into the boat! Keep breathing regularly! Do not panic! We've got you!"

Mercedes then quickly turned her attention to Dyhn. The girl was in her own kind of panic, shouting nonsense (though that just may have been her) and rowing the boat away from the distressed as fast as she could.

"Stop rowing, Dyhn!" She said with authority, slapping her out of it lightly on the arm and them pushing the rope into her hands. "Here. Take the rope and pull Alex into the boat." Then, without wasting additional time, she reached for her bag again, pulling out her pokeballs. Rope or no, Alex and Ouji would never make it to the boat alive if that gyarados kept attacking them. As she pulled the balls out, she shouted at Cook Wilbur, "Cook, please use Leech Life." Cook Wilbur was the only pokemon out at the moment that, to Mercedes's knowledge, could uses a distanced attack that might have any effect on the monster. Hiro's ember would do no good, and Kushi and Hime only knew physical attacks, if their previous battle was any indication. A bug type move would probably do little good against gyarados's part flying type, but it would be something.

It typically went against a pokemon's moral fiber to listen to the orders of a trainer that wasn't their trainer, but Cook Wilbur was smart enough to know that this probably wasn't the time for indignation or philosophical debates over loyalty. Attracting the gigantic water dragon's attention probably wasn't the best idea, but sometimes getting beat up was worth it if it saved someone else from otherwise certain doom. Mercedes thought so, at least, as she released Kepri, Iris and Fatima. None of them had any kind of moves that would prove effective against the raging gyarados, but hopefully they could pester it to the point that it's notorious rage ran out, or thought they were more trouble than they were worth. Or it could just get even more pissed and kill them all just that much gorier and faster...there was always that.

Well, not exactly the time for second guesses. "Fatima, safeguard! Iris, sandattack! Kepri, use supersonic!" She order, rapid fire. Hopefully, the sandattack would prevent it's attacks from hitting the boat and Alex any more than they were or the confusion would set in and it would hurt itself to the point of wearing out.

[Fei Fei]

Alright. Hiiro's yelling was really starting to get to him. Ouji knew what he was doing. Really. He really, really did. It wasn't like only Hiiro had the right to save their master- their sister, their friend- and the nidoran couldn't help it when his ear twitched in annoyance as the screeching continued. Alex was his sister too, darnit, and he'd get her- them- out of this. He could do it.

Somehow.

He was still working on the somehow.

Alright, so maybe he didn't have a plan, and that Gyarados was big, but the pink pokemon was pretty sure that if Hiiro could just stop yelling for a second, he'd be able to think of something. It probably wasn't a good thing that Alex's head was heavy against his back, the dead-weight sinking him further into the water- the fact that she was so tired that she barely had enough energy to look up at the Gyarados was even more worrying.

Okay. So, maybe he could use some help...

--

Alex could practically hear the muscles in her neck screaming in protest as she held her head up to give the Gyarados before her- them- her best glare. Sure, it was a little weak at the moment, certainly not her best, could probably use a little more down-turned eyebrow and frown, but it would have to do. She didn't think her eyes wanted to manage a full-on narrowing right now, and she was just glad that they were listening to her at all. If she came out of this lucky, the least she could hope for was a mild concussion. Now that her head had stopped swimming (the same could not be said for the rest of her), she could definitely tell that she'd hit her head on the rock-bed of the river. It might have been just the water, but a warm spot at her crown even suggested that she was bleeding. But what did she know- MD was the M.D. around here, not her.

Sooo... anyway... She could probably use some help right now. She was thoroughly grateful for Ouji's help in keeping her afloat (morbidly comical thoughts of her body being thrashed around in the water like a beach-ball, drowned, flashed across her mind), but other than acting as a rather adorable life-preserver, he wasn't getting them anywhere. Even in her mildly-concussed state, she knew that none of her own pokemon had the kind of attack-power needed to do anything more than enrage the Gyarados further (if that was possible, and she wasn't willing to test the theory), and even if a joined attack could potentially fend it off, they didn't have the range needed to reach it, out in the water as it was.

The abnormally red thing really wasn't making it easy for them to send it packing.

Which was probably the point of self-preservation and survival, but at the moment Alex cared less about evolutionary imperatives, and more getting the hell out of here.

Offhandedly, she wondered if she should be worried that the Gyarados hadn't made a move in a while...

--

By this point, Hiiro was frantic. Not that he wasn't frantic already, but he was reaching previously undiscovered leveled of frantic. He was going where no Charmander had gone before in levels of frantic.

A thousand scenarios for saving his sister and brother flitted through his head, many of which involved spontaneously evolving into a Charizard to fly over and save them. However, try as he might, he didn't have it in him to evolve. And that upstart new-comer Kuchi was obstinately standing in front of him, so that, try as he might (no matter how foolish and life-threatening it might be), he couldn't just outright jump in the water and swim to Ouji and Alex.

As lost in his anxiety-ravaged thoughts as he was, he almost fell into the water when Hime turned her worry-wide eyes to him and said the very first thing he should have been thinking.

: Doesn't the lady over there have a Mareep?:

Hiiro and Kuchi both turned in unison to stare at the Nidoran, both with identical looks of bewilderment on their faces. Of course! Electric attacks had the range to hit the Gyarados from far away, and they were even super effective against a Gyarados, red or otherwise.

Kuchi turned her slightly hopeful-but-wary gaze back to Hiiro, and glanced over her shoulder to M.D. :Isn't it a baby, though? I mean, what good are it's attacks going to do against a big ol' Gyarados like that- if it even knows any attacks.:

A flicker of doubt flashed in Hime's eyes, but it swiftly went away again as her determination reasserted itself. :What about the water? Doesn't water... make electric attacks stronger? Thunder Wave would work...:

:It just might...,: Hiiro agreed, desperate enough now that he would agree with any half-safe plan. :No, it definitely will! At least, it would be enough. But, we can't use an Electric attack with Ouji and Alex in the water! They'll be fried!: Horror drew onto his face, and Hime's face mirrored the expression, as if she hadn't thought of it that way.

It was Kuchi's turn to talk some sense. :Not if we get them out of the water first! The tall human has rope. We'll pull them in, electrocute the water and the Gyarados, and escape while it's distracted.:

The three pokemon shared a moment of silence, looking at each other meaningfully, and then Hiiro sprang to action. The tall curly haired human was just standing there, gawking, so he jumped over to her and started 'Char!'-ing in front of her, hoping she would snap out of it and throw Alex the rope. He'd take it himself, but his arms were too short...

Kuchi and Hime ran to the side of the small boat, and began shouting out to the water. :Brother!: Hime yelled. :We have rope! Tell Alex to grab it! Swim towards us, if you can!:

:Hey you stupid nidoran!: Kuchi yelled after Hime. :Keep her head above the water, or you'll get the both of you killed!: Hime looked at Kuchi, clearly unhappy with her choice of words, but couldn't deny that the sentiment was important to convey.

[Duck Tape]

A beat pounded against Dynh's chest, and everything seemed to slow down. Mercedes was yelling something about Alex, and this caused Dynh to look around frantically for the other girl. Moving was uncomfortable, water drenching her clothes and they in turn clung to her body tightly. But it looked like Alex was a lot wetter.

Being in the river drowning could be the reason behind that though. Rivers were notoriously wet. M.D. practically threw a rope at Dynh and rushed to give Cook Wilber orders. He was her pokemon! And stealing a person's pokemon was like stealing a person's livelihood, M.D. must be working for the government! "Wilber do whatever she says!" she commanded grudgingly, to which the pokemon obeyed.

Of course that didn't matter much right now, the brunette reminded herself, looking to the raging pokemon that looked to be charging up for an epic attack. "GRAB THE ROPE ALEX!" Dynh yelled as she threw the rope out as close to the girl as she could. Catch it, catch it, catch it! She had to catch it. They're very lives depend on it.

[Fei Fei]

Over the roar of the water in her ears, Alex couldn't hear anything that was being screamed at her from the boat. All she could do was cling to Ouji and kick her legs - keeping both of their heads over the water was the most important thing, even though her water-logged clothes and the fatigue that was quickly settling into her were threatening to drag her down.

But wouldn't this be fun to write home about? She thought sarcastically. Mom will love to know that I nearly drowned, and just in my first week. Maybe she was getting delirious, thinking about something so stupid when she had much bigger fish to fry. . . M.D would have to check her out for a fever or something later, she suspected. That was going to be a butt-load of not fun. There wasn't anything Alex hated more than being sick.

The blonde trainer was snapped out of her inconsequential internal-rambling when she heard a loud 'slap' in the water next to her, and her stinging eyes glanced over to what had made that noise. She fervently hoped that the sound-maker was not Gyarados-shaped.

Ouji must have seen what it was first, because his tiny legs began to kick at the water furiously, hitting her in the stomach a few times for his efforts. She tried to look for what he'd seen, and then there it was - bobbing on top of the water was a rope. A glorious, Arceus-given rope. Her tired eyes traveled up the rope's length, to look for the person holding it. Her heart sank a little to see that Dynh was the one holding it. Seriously? Dynh? It couldn't have been someone a little more . . . sane? M.D was pretty sane. Then again, Dynh was the biggest of them all, though Alex had to wonder if there was any strength to go with that tallness.

Well, screw it. A rope was a rope, and crazy as Dynh was, Alex trusted her with her life. She kind of had to, in this situation. Reaching her arm as far as it would go, she did a mental cheer when her hand closed around the waterlogged length of braided fibers. She wanted to shout 'pull!' but she was coughing too much for that, and she risked swallowing even more water if she opened her mouth.

Her legs began to kick furiously in the water, renewed vigor coming with renewed hope of getting back into the boat - or, rather, into the boat in the first place.

As Alex kicked, she held Ouji roughly but protectively under her arm, and his red eyes scanned the water like a pidgeot's, looking for an sign of the Gyarados resurfacing. It was like some sort of horror movie, with the monster dipping in and out of the water just to build up suspension.

Then, with a roar so loud it sounded like an explosion, the very last thing that Ouji had wanted to happen happened; the Gyarados burst out of the water, far away enough that Alex and Ouji were only rolled by the waves it created, but close enough that trainer and pokemon could see its angry eyes glaring at them.

"Ohhhhh cra-" Alex started, but her mouth clamped shut when the massive jaws opened to show a ball of light growing larger and larger in the dragon-like pokemon's mouth.

"Mother fu-" she cursed, and her hand convulsed on the rope as she turned and started kicking like Giratina was on her heels. Get to the boat, get to the boat, gettotheboatgettotheboat!

The Hyper Beam struck the water just feet from Alex and Ouji, and the resulting tidal wave knocked them clear into the air. The blond girl and pink pokemon screeched, clutching at each other like lifelines as they were sent flying, and then began to freefall back towards the water. Alex waved her arms uselessly, and Ouji squeezed his eyes shut as tight as they would go. At least he'd been brave in front of Hime, and he'd tried to save his sister - it was just too bad he'd spent that last few moments of his life screaming like a little baby nidoran♀.

Alex didn't know who to thank, and thought that maybe some higher power was looking out for them, because when she and Ouji returned to ground level, they hit not water, but wood. The boat under them rocked like a leaf in a storm, but stayed afloat, and no matter how much her back hurt she started saying her prayers of gratitude. The nidoran♂ scrambled out from underneath her, and shook himself off as best he could, and looked back out to the water.

:It used Hyper Beam,: Hiiro said, his voice shaking. :At least he won't be able to attack for a little while. We can escape.:

:Are you alright, Ouji!: Hime cried, her little eyes welling up as she bounded towards Alex and Ouji's sides, nuzzling the wet pink-furred face. :That Gyarados almost ate you two!:

:Will you just shut up?: Kuchi said, annoyed, as she went to stand next to Hiiro as she and the fire-lizard looked out at the rampaging Gyarados as it thrashed around in a confused rage. :Stupid thing, hurting itself like that. Does bad stuff like this happen to you all often?:

:You'd be impressed by our track record so far,: Hiiro said, his voice sarcastically grave as he turned to help his sister up, 'char'-ing at her to ask if she was alright.

"Hey, Hiiro," Alex rasped, coughing up more water. "M.D., Dynh? I don't mean to be Captain Obvious, but I think it would be a good idea to maybe get out of here." Her voice scratched against her throat, and she made an annoyed face at how hard it was to talk. Bruised ribs might have had something to do with that, too.