[X] My Assistant

[rt117]

Another collab post with myself and Protoman

Having been nearby Tyson, Tikal barely avoided the traps and danger, almost having to result in hiding behind him in the process. However after watching their battle she sighed in relief, and attempted to slip by with Tyson. Standing in her way was another strong Amazon, waiting for Tikal to make her move. With a stern look on her face, she simply glared at the young girl.

Tikal fell back quickly as her way was blocked by the rather intimidating Amazon, almost falling over in the process. Trying to look past to get Tyson's attention, she found that he was preoccupied, and shrunk back a bit. With the woman pulling out a Poke Ball, she simply looked at Tikal, waiting for her to make the next move.

"I guess that means I have to battle..." she frowned, unsure of who to choose. If it was a water type, then maybe she could use Igglybuff, but a fighting type would mean she could use any of her other Pokemon.
"Erm... you go first."

With a light toss, the Pokemon revealed was a Makuhita, which simply looked at Tikal, smiling. At the sight of the fighting type Pokemon, Tikal could feel her Igglybuff shrink and hide behind her head with a little waver.

"Well that's one Pokemon ruled out." she frowned, before considering her best option. Pulling one of her Pokeballs from her pocket, she revealed her male Nidoran in the flash of light. With a few twitches of its large ears, its pink body stiffened at the foe. With the Amazon simply nodding, she placed her hand forward, to show that Tikal could make the first move.

"I was afraid of that." Tikal said to herself with a weak smile, before glancing down to her Pokemon. "Start with a Leer and weaken the defences." she instructed calmly, not wanting to alert her Pokemon to her unease. Still stiff, the Nidoran's eyes flashed dangerously, staring at the Makuhita with a hard, almost evil glare.

"Focus Energy," the Amazon said calmly, after the Makuhita's defences were lowered. The round bellied
Pokemon simply clasped his hands together, causing him to focus more and his muscles to tense up.
"Now Bulk Up," The Amazon bellowed, making Makuhita swell up like a balloon, soon releasing it. He simply waited for Nidoran to attack.

"Use Focus Energy as well." Tikal called, knowing the move wasn't so original. But she knew that her Nidoran's move pool was not as diverse, and so had to consider her strategy carefully. The Makuhita simply stood, waiting for Nidoran to attack him.

"Attack with Peck!" Tikal decided finally, having realized the battle would otherwise go nowhere. With a battle cry, the Pokemon bristled its poisonous barbs and charged forward, its small yet sharp horn poised at the opposing Pokemon. With the peck attack landing, Makuhita simply grabbed the Nidoran, throwing it into the wall.

"Nidoran!" Tikal called, running over to her Pokemon in sheer worry. Collapsing onto the ground, her Nidoran slowly got back to its feet, before shaking its head and glaring at the Makuhita. Though her worry was clear, Tikal saw the determination in her Pokemon's eyes, and nodded. It would be wrong to pull him from the fight when he was determined.
"Alright then... distract with Leer!"

"Tackle then Arm Thrust," she called out, having her Makuhita rush towards Nidoran, tackling it out of it's gaze before hitting him three times, the third time landing on the horn of the toxic rabbit. Gritting her teeth, Tikal found it harder to watch the battle.

"Peck while its close!" Tikal called, watching the Makuhita attack. Bearing the weight of the opposing Pokemon's arm, Nidoran's spikes bristled as he threw his head up to dislodge the attack, and slam his horn square into the foe, making sure that Makuhita came into contact with its poison-seeping spikes. Makuhita simply could not take the Peck attack, causing him to double over in pain, finally signalling victory for Tikal, who blinked in sheer surprise. Surely there was more to the battle than that. After all, her Nidoran had only gotten in two hits and somehow it had accounted for a knockout. Though with a smile, she bent down and scooped her worn Pokemon up. After a few moments of wincing, Makuhita finally got back up, shaking his head and ready for another battle.

"Quick, another Peck! Try to poison it too while youre at it!" she smiled to her Nidoran as she set him back down. Though a little uneasy on his feet and worn out, he shook his weariness away and charged forward, aiming for the small welt he had made before as he collided with his foe. With a quick side step, Makuhita swept Nidoran's feet out from under him, in an attempt to harm him. With no feet to catch him, Nidoran cartwheeled to the ground in a heap, a growl escaping his throat as he moved to get back up. The poison seeping from his points made him slightly sticky, covering the floor with the same substance. Makuhita simply glared at Nidoran, slowly moving towards him to finish what he started.

Noticing the poison oozing from his spikes, Tikal got an idea.
"Shake yourself off!" she called to her Pokemon, watching as the Makuhita edged closer. Getting to his feet, the small Pokemon began to shake like a dog, spraying the poison everywhere, and coating the floor around him with the sticky substance. Before Makuhita could take another step, he was ensnared within the purple ooze from the Nidoran. He started to feel weaker as the fumes from this gunk began to seep through his nostrils.

"Perfect!" Tikal smiled, seeing the Makuhita struggle with the rather foul-smelling poison. "Now Peck from behind!"
Running around the ensnared Pokemon, Nidoran charged in from behind, where the opposing Pokemon would be unable to defend itself. With the Makuhita in a situation that he couldn't get out of, he seemed to be ready to accept defeat. As the two collided, Nidoran landed a few feet back, though looked rather exhausted from the results of the battle. Fortunately for him however, the Makuhita was not in a better condition. Without warning, the Makuhita collapsed, allowing the Amazon to make him return into his Poke Ball. After stepping to the side, she allowed Tikal to pass.

"Finally." she smiled, moving over to her Pokemon while she attempted to avoid the stickly puddle. Pulling out her Pokeball, she aimed it at her Nidoran, which was resting almost peacefully on the ground. "You need a good rest..." she told him quietly, before returning him and quickly running by to reunite with Tyson.


Tyson looked back, almost surprised as to Tikal's late entry.
"What kept you," Tyson asked, unsure if Tikal had to face the same dangers he had to endure.

"They made me battle." Tikal replied, a little unhappy with that fact. She then smiled. "I won though, but my Nidoran is really tired out, and I'm worried he wont be able to fight."

"That's not good," Tyson said, pondering as to why this was done. He gave Tikal a Potion to use on her Nidoran.
"That should make him feel better.

"Thanks." Tikal smiled, feeling a bit better as she re-released Nidoran, and attempted to apply the potion while avoiding the sticky ooze. "You need a bath." she frowned, wrinkling her nose at the smell. Tyson simply smiled, wanting to laugh at Tikal's statement.

Once having fully applied the potion, she stood upright with her Pokemon in her arms, deciding to let him rest outside his Pokeball. Igglybuff returned to her original position, though was rather aware of the smell.

[Toogee]

(Joint post by Proby and myself)

“So, you’re in high spirits? That’s good.” Maxi smirked at the enthusiastic Alex. “Now, let’s see what skill lies behind that bravado.”

At Maxi’s command, a large water pokemon emerged from the pool: a lapras. She gave out a high-pitched cry to announce her arrival. The transport pokemon hauled herself onto the beach, prepared to take the challenger to the battlefield. Her long neck stretched upward, looking down at the four to see who would be the first to board. As the Lapras went back into the water with Alex, Maxi swam beside the creature. His smooth movements through the water showed that the gym leader was entirely comfortable within the sea. The challengers would be fighting in his element.

Once Alex stepped onto the wooden deck, Maxi climbed onto the opposite side of the deck. He stared back at Alex as he took position, still soaked from the swim.

“Much has changed since Fidona was first established. Though we have entered the modern world, the Amazons remain, successfully integrating our traditions with the present day. Of those traditions are our martial abilities and our relationship with the sea. Today, you will experience both in this matchup.”

Maxi withdrew two pokeballs from his belt as he explained the instructions.

“This will be a doubles match. You may only use three pokemon. No potions, no revives. Just a clean battle. Now, let’s see what you’ve brought to the table, shall we?”

The gym leader timed the release of his pokemon with Alex’s. Maxi’s first two pokemon proved to be an odd combination: a shellder and a machop (strangely, Maxi did not summon a third). The machop was performing some pre-battle stretches, while the shellder simply taunted his opponents by sticking his tongue out. Despite the antics, Maxi stood firm.

“If you’re ready, you may make the first move.”

Suddenly, the machop went into a defensive position, ready for the battle ahead. The shellder added “der der der” to his taunting routine. The battle was about to begin.

Alex was completely ready for this battle. He had three Pokemon that could in theory defeat Maxi's Pokemon with relative ease, due to super-effectiveness. He wanted to make sure the battle got off to a reasonably good start, so selected a Pokeball with a feather etched into its design, the other with a slightly fluffy light blue protective covering. Another thing about Alex's Pokemon was they each had an individual Pokeball. Blaze's Pokeball was orange and had a complex pattern all over it of burning feathers. Swamps' was blue and orange with a wet gooey covering, and Treecky's was green and had a simple clover leaf etched into it. Alex had had these done in Port Barley shortly before leaving on the boat.

The Pokeballs Alex flew were Stryk's white and black ball (the one with a feather etched into the design) and Leo's fluffy light blue one. Flying and Electric.
Stryk took one look at the Machop and cried a sharp "KRA!". This was not out of fear, but merely Stryk's way of indicating "Machop, you are SO going down!"
Leo's attitude was much more different. He was ridiculously happy. He was literally jumping for joy, but Alex knew as soon as the battle started he would become focused and would battle very hard.
Alex started his attack right away.
"Stryk, Bananas!" he shouted, before humming "Sparky's Dream" by Teenage Fanclub. Alex had a large and varied music collection. His bizzare strategy was not quite as bizzare as it seemed. For one thing, the act of training a Pokemon to respond to weird orders made his relationship with that Pokemon much stronger. Another reason was that although a fantastic trainer, Alex did have a pretty poor memory of moves. He knew pretty much everything else, but attacks were not his forte at all.
But one of the main reasons was because trainers had no idea what to expect. It also made them completely confused as to why this person was using such weird tactics.

Stryk and Leo jumped into actions straight away. They too knew which Pokemon they would be strongest against and knew from Alex's normal tactics that they should attack Pokemon who were in theory weaker than them.
Stryk flew like a bullet towards Maxi's Machop, her wings spread back as if she were about to hit the Machop as soon as she got to him. She was using Wing Attack.
Leo meanwhile was running towards the Shellder. The closer he got the more Static electricity was building up around his body. He was using Spark.

Maxi was used to strange strategies from challengers. Many attempted to make secret codes to keep their moves a secret. However, no matter the strategy, the pokemon almost always went with type weaknesses. This was why Maxi liked seeing flying and electric types in battle. He knew exactly what they were targeting.

The gym leader would soon teach the challenger that it would take more than type weaknesses to defeat him.

As the starly and shinx charged towards their targets, Maxi and his pokemon calmly stood their ground. He waited for the right moment, just as the bird and cub were five feet away from his pokemon. Then…

“Machop, arm yourself. Shellder, Icicle Spear.”

The gym leader kept calm as he commanded his pokemon. The machop grabbed the shellder, taking him away from the Spark attack. The fighting type wielded the shellder like a turret, holding the water pokemon by its top spikes. This put the shellder in a position to launch its ice attack at Stryk. Combined with the Skill Link ability, the shellder was able to launch the maximum amount of spears towards the starly.

Alex cursed to himself. Something in the back of his mind had warned him about this, especially considering Shellder's Icicle Spear. But the problem was he was too eager. Too eager and slightly cocky that he could do this. He sighed.
"Spears fly at Pirates!" he shouted to Stryk. Stryk nodded in midair. She rapidly flew up to avoid the Spears. She dodged left and right.

Meanwhile, Alex looked at Leo, who'd just managed to get himself up from crashing down. Alex started humming "Sweet Dreams" by Beyonce. Leo nodded, and played dead again. But Alex could see that the Shinx was storing up energy, using Charge.

Meanwhile, the Machop and the Shellder were too enthralled by Stryk's efforts to avoid the sharp icicles that were flying at her. Machop was busy holding the Shellder and the Shellder continued to shoot out icicles. Stryk kept dodging these with considerable skill. Eventually she saw a gap. Remembering Alex's earlier order she flew at tremendous speed from side to side, with each sway bringing her closer and closer to the Shellder and Machop. She was using Quick Attack.

Meanwhile, Leo was ready. He stood up and charged at the Machop's back, the Pokemon still not looking behind him. Right at the second that he reached the Machop, Stryk reached the Shellder. Maxi's duo was hit from both sides, and by the Pokemon that would normally not be super-effective against them. All four Pokemon fell to the floor in a heap. Alex looked at the group and gasped; Stryk's wing had been pierced by an Icicle.

Maxi examined the situation. With all the pokemon crowded together (and the starly at least temporarily grounded), this would be a perfect opportunity to counter with a sweeping attack. It would give his pokemon some room to recover and maybe deliver some hurt to their opponents.

“Shellder, Protect! Machop, Ankle Sweep!”

Immediately, the shellder clamped its shell shut, preventing further damage from what was about to occur. Meanwhile, the machop used his hands to gain a “footing”. In what appeared to be an attempt at break dancing, he proceeded to sweep his leg low to the ground and in a circle. It was an attempt to keep the opponents away, and if they were caught up in the attack, so much the better.

The attack had the added effect of hitting the shellder. While it caused no damage, it sent the bivalve pokemon flying into the water. This left the machop alone on land…at least temporarily.

Stryk was down, her wing pierced by an icicle. Leo was lying on the floor, dazed by the Machop's attack. The Machop itself was standing up and looking defiantly at Alex, and Maxi's Shellder was in the water, where no one could see it. This was not good. One sudden attack had ruined Alex's plans.

But suddenly, Stryk started to glow a brilliant yellowish color. She was raised, and hovered in midair. The glow got brighter and brighter until no one could bear to look anymore for fear of permanent damage to their sight. This glow continued for about two more minutes, before Alex felt it subside. When he looked back at Stryk, he saw something that made him ridiculously happy. There, in front of him, was not a Starly, as there had been a few minutes ago, but a Staravia. Evolution had occurred.

And Alex was straight back to attacking. He knew a new move Stryk could now perform upon evolution. He hadn't rehearsed it, so just shouted it out.
"Stryk, Double Team, now, let's go!"
The Staravia nodded, and flew round Machop quickly multiple times in succession. Doubles of Stryk began to appear and follow her around, which Alex imagined would be starting to confuse the Machop. Eventually all doubles fell to the floor, in Sync with Stryk. Even Alex couldn't tell which one was the real Stryk.

Meanwhile, Leo had got himself up. He hadn't seen Stryk evolving as he was preparing himself and composing himself.
Alex was puzzled that Leo had managed to get himself up. He'd taken a strong hit from the Machop, as had Stryk. Then it ticked inside Alex; both Pokemon who were on the field that he owned had the ability Intimidate, so the physical moves of each Pokemon would be limited. Suddenly a totally different thought struck him. He looked at Leo, who followed his eyes to the water. Alex hummed "Sparky's Dream" for the second time during the battle. Leo wildly covered himself in electricity and jumped into the water, electrocuting it. It was a very risky maneuver but Alex hoped it would not do too much damage to Leo whilst at the same time damaging the Shellder.

With the shellder at the bottom of the pool, he was able to dull the effects of the electirc attack by burying himself within the sandy bottom. This had a sort of grounding effect. It wasn’t perfect though: sparks did reach the water-type. Luckily, he outlasted the attack.

“The boy’s reckless,” Maxi thought to himself. For one, wet cats and electricity don’t mix. As long as the shinx had water in his coat, his electric attacks would bring pain to the cat. In addition, he wasn’t even sure the land-dwelling shinx knew how to swim. The leader really hoped he didn’t have to cut the match short to perform a rescue mission.

Compared to his other water pokemon, Shellder was an odd choice for Maxi’s team. He mainly specialized in offensive types, while the bivalve pokemon was more defensive. If nothing else, Shellder was sturdy. However, he was also a surprisingly fast swimmer, becoming much more dangerous in the water. That was something Alex and his shinx were about to find out.

“Shellder, if you’re still with us, teach this kitty how to play in our pool.”

The shellder zoomed out of the pool floor, his flapping shells leaving a cloud of sand behind him. Like a torpedo, the shellder charged upward to the surface, attempting to tackle the shinx from underneath the depths.

Meanwhile, Maxi’s machop was facing a much more interesting foe. It wasn’t often that an opponent evolved during a match. It was almost like fighting a new pokemon. However, the circumstances remained the same. The new staravia was still wounded from the icicle strike. Machop would have to take advantage of that if he had anyhope of winning.

“Machop, use Foresight.”

The superpower pokemon came over his confusion over the multiple oppoents and glanced over at all the copies. His glowing eyes worked to eliminate several of the copies, narrowing the choices down to a few. His eyes focused in particular on the wounded wing. His target was clear.

[Captain Combuske...]

3rd and final collab post between Myself and 2gamers

Alex regretted Leo's attack almost as soon as he ordered it. It was ridiculously stupid. Whilst Leo could swim (he'd proved that back on the S.S. Empress) he was not great at it, and he could only watch is horror as the Shinx desperately squirmed in the "pool" as Maxi had called it, trying to reach the platform.

"Come on Leo!" Alex cried, with tears in his eyes. But it was useless. Maxi's Shellder rammed into Leo from below with a mighty force that shocked Alex. This Pokemon was strong. So strong that the move made both Pokemon rocket into the air, out of the water. Leo landed with a dull thud on the platform, and it was clear that the little Pokemon was down. He'd been knocked out.

Alex ran over to his Pokemon. He picked the Shinx up. A tear that had been welling up in Alex's eye trickled down his face, and fell slowly into the shimmering water of the pool around the platform. He'd lost before, sure, but this was part of his goal; this was part of his future. He wasn't going to lose when it mattered most. He couldn't! It just wasn't fair!
On top of this, Leo was Alex's Pokemon. They'd spent time together and Alex loved his Pokemon, each and every one of them, as much as he loved his mother and his father. Sure, some he favored over others, but that was natural.

What wasn't natural was thud Leo had made as he hit the platform. The hit Shellder had caused was violent and brutal. The Pokemon couldn't help it; it was strong, it hard a hard shell, and was trying to win a battle for its own trainer. No; it wasn't anybody's fault. Except maybe his own, for stupidly ordering Leo into a perilous environment he was in no way fit to battle in. He was lucky that Pokemon battles rarely caused actual deaths. At least he had the fact that Leo would be better soon to comfort him.

But the battle had to continue and that had to wait. He hadn't lost yet. Once again, that same thought. He couldn’t. He silently walked over to his backpack, and took out two Pokeballs. One was fluffy and Fuzzy. He presently held this out, and spoke gravely but clearly.

"Leo, return." and Leo turned into a wisp of red energy, and this flew back into the Pokeball.

The other was rougher and stenciled. It was also green. Alex currently prayed that the Pokemon he was about to send out was not in a bad mood. Yes, he'd chosen the risky Treecky as his next Pokemon. He paused a moment for breath, before shouting the signal of the battle's restart.

"Go, Treecky! Stryk, Apple Pudden!"
Treecky suddenly emerged. Alex sighed. He didn't look too grumpy.
"Absorb to left! Let's go!"

Stryk flew at Machop, her wing still damage but posed to strike. She was a battler and would fight until her own end. Her strong motherly protective instinct had kicked in as soon as she'd seen Alex in tears over Leo. She didn't care about the pierced wing. She could fight on, and prepared thee Wing attack.

Treecky also targeted Machop. He was always grumpy, that was just him, but by this point in his life he was beginning to warm to Alex. The boy's love for his Pokemon was infectious. He prepared up his Absorb.

The battle had recommenced.

“SHELLDEEEEEEERRRRR!”

The shellder did not hesitate to cheer loudly for its victory, even as Alex was holding the shinx. Maxi called him back to his side of the field to prevent further taunting. Even so, Maxi felt it was a bit premature to “mourn” over one loss. The battle was not over.

“This is no time to despair,” Maxi said to Alex, “This is a time to rally!”

And so, Alex continued by releasing a treecko onto the field. It was another case of type advantage over water types. Rather than play on that however, the challenger chose to focus on attacking his machop. Though this fighting type was good with offense, the machop couldn’t take too many hits. Maxi decided to let his shellder stand by: it was better to let one pokemon get knocked out than risk serious damage to both.

Attacks came from both sides; the machop could not defend himself effectively. The wing attack struck him in the head, addling the pokemon. A hit from an evolved pokemon took a sizable portion out of the machp’s health. His dazed state left him completely open to the absorb attack. The superpower pokemon stumbled forward a bit, as if struggling to attack back. Ultimately, the grass attack would finish him off: the machop fell over face first, his body sprawled upon the battlefield.

Maxi wasted no time recalling the pokemon. There was no need to leave him suffering: the pokeball would keep the pokemon in stasis while he waited for healing. The gym leader held the pokeball to his chest, as if doing a salute. His thankful gesture was quickly followed with the appearance of a net ball within his hand.

Rarely was the element of surprise on Maxi’s side. Everyone was expecting a water or fighting type of some kind. This time was different. This time, he had a new recruit from a far-away land.

“A daring strategy, two against one. We’re tied now.” Maxi nodded to the challenger, a sign of respect. “Now, let’s see how you react to something new…”

With that, Maxi tossed the pokeball upwards, unleashing an otter pokemon. However, this was no buizel. This pokemon was white and blue colored. It’s stocky shape, short limbs, and big black eyes made him appear like an aquatic teddy bear. Finally, his little shell on his belly appeared to be a nice unassuming accessory. The creature did a short backflip upon its release, shouting its name out loud.

“Oshawott!”

Even some of the Amazons took notice as this new creature took the stage. Though it was nice to be the center of attention, the gym leader did not waste much more time on displaying his surprise recruit.

“Shellder, keep that staravia at bay. Oshawott, focus on the treecko. Air Slash!”

Immediately, the shellder started firing icicle spears into the sky, towards the bird pokemon. It was an attempt to prevent another gang-up on his pokemon. Meanwhile, the oshawott’s cute black eyes formed a determined glare, unsheathing his shell. Wielding it like a sword, the otter pokemon slashed forward, sending a horizontal wave of energy towards the treecko. The wave used the surrounding air to form a blade that slashed through the space between the opponents as it headed towards its intended target.

Alex's first reaction to seeing the new Pokemon was shock. He didn't know this Pokemon even existed! He sighed in resignation and his shoulders sagged. He was now going to have to learn about a heap of OTHER Pokemon! He turned back to the battle and saw that Maxi had ordered attacks for his Pokemon. Shellder had started using Icicle spear again, and the spears were going more towards Stryk than he'd like. Luckily, now she was more adept with flying, she evaded these much easier. But they were coming at her much faster. It was getting increasingly harder for her to fly due to her earlier injury and the fact that she was tiring anyway.

Meanwhile, Treecky was faced with a threat of his own, as a huge wave of air was coming towards him in the shape of a blade. Alex saw this.

"Treecky, dodge and use Quick Attack!"

Treecky nodded, and jumped to the side of the attack. He then proceeded to run at a very quick speed, from side to side, in an attempt to make the Oshawott a little dizzy. Treecky reached the Oshawott and hit him powerfully.

While Treecky was battling well, Stryk's energy kept waning. She dodged here and there, attempted to use Wing attack but failed, and dodged again. She was getting more and more tired, her wings starting to droop, and she gradually became lower and lower in the air. This was easy for the Shellder. It simply kept firing the spears and eventually, one hit Stryk's other wing. She cried in pain and fell to the ground, knocked out.

Alex ran over to her too. He sighed. He was now resigned to the fact that unless a miracle came, he would probably not win this battle, so did not cry this time. He was sad, of course, but crying was pointless at this stage. He took out Stryk's Pokeball and returned her.

Presently he returned to Treecky.

"Treecky, use Quick attack again! Let's go!"

Treecky looked back at Alex and shook his head. Clearly he was of the opinion that two attacks was enough work for today.

"Please Treecky!" said Alex. The gecko Pokemon looked back, crossed his arms and faced away from Alex. Alex sighed. Yes, a miracle.

Maxi looked on as Alex went to his fallen staravia. This time however, the boy did not cry. In fact, he seemed to have lost his spirit, his will to fight. Alex was no longer hungry for victory. Once that happened, defeat was inevitable.

Worse, his negative attitude was spreading to the boy’s treecko. The pokemon was no longer following commands. Maxi always believed that trainer and pokemon were connected in some way. If Alex was giving up, so too was his pokemon. It was too bad really. The type advantage gave the challenger a fighting chance.

The oshawott rubbed it side, but remained standing. It had recovered from the quick attack and was waiting for the opponent’s next move. With the treecko being uncooperative, it appeared that the home team would have to make the next move. Perhaps the attacks would shake the stubborn lizard from its complacency.

“Shellder, get into position. Oshawott, Aerial Air Slash!”

The air rang with “clip-clops” as the shellder moved across the stage. It’s back was away from the treecko as the bivalve pokemon closed up. Then, the Unova otter charged towards the shellder, grasping his little scallop in is right paw. Once the oshawoot jumped onto the shellder, the shell sprung open. The shellder acted like a catapult, sending his teammate straight into the air. As soon as the otter reached the peak of his ascent, he took his shell in both hands. The oshawott was coming down towards the treecko, energy blazing around his weapon. He intended to slice his blade down upon the opponent. Upon landing, the oshawott would quickly slash upwards for a second strike, depending on surprise for a second strike. Whether the match would continue was up to the treecko’s speed, dodging skills, and its willingness to use either.

Whilst not wanting to attack, that didn't mean Treecky didn't want to survive the fight. As soon as he saw the attack headed his way, he waited. he was choosing the right time to use an effective counter. As the Oshawott landed, Treecky jumped up. He used the Oshawott's head as a plant for his hands and he performed a graceful cartwheel. He landed facing the Oshawott's back. He quickly drew his arms back and using both pounded the sea otter Pokemon powerfully. He sharply turned round to face the Shellder.

The attack seemed to have done the trick: the treecko was back into attack mode. Though Maxi was supposed to be defending his badge, he didn’t like winning because a pokemon wouldn’t listen to his trainer. This way, at least the leader would get another good battle with this pokemon.

“Alright Shellder, Supersonic.”

As the treecko faced Shellder, the bivalve pokemon started to make a high-pitched screech. It was an attempt to distract the opponent while the oshawott recovered from the earlier assault.

Speaking of which, the oshawott pushed his arms up off the ground in order to stand back up. He rubbed his back; he was going to be sore in the morning. Thankfully, there was only one opponent, so the otter could take a bit of a breather. However, it wasn’t long before Maxi issued another command: a head jerk towards the water. Rather than walk across the stage, the oshawott would swim underneath for a possible sneak attack. The otter obliged, diving off the edge. Underwater, he swam around the pillars holding up the stage, weaving past coral formations and through seaweed. When the oshawott reached the other side (closer to the treecko/shellder duo), he peered from the surface and waited for further orders.

Treecky staggered back, confused by the Supersonic attack.
"Treecky, use Absorb!"
Treecky nodded, but started spinning around, trying to find the Shellder he'd been ordered to attack. He seemed to have decided on a target, and attacked. But Alex couldn't help but put his head in his hands in disbelief. Treecky has attacked mid-air.

Good. The treecko was distracted with confusion. As much as he sympathized with Alex’s cause, Maxi believed it was time to end this match. His oshawott was in position, while his shellder had the opponent in his sights.

“Shellder, Icicle Spear!”

Shellder was called to attention by his trainer’s more forceful tone. Even the normally playful pokemon knew it was time to get down to business. And so, the shellder released a stream of icicle spears towards his opponent. Maxi’s team couldn’t afford for the treecko to get in more grass attacks.

Immediately after Shellder’s attack ended, it was time for the otter pokemon to make a move.

“Now Oshawott!”

Oshawott quickly dived underwater to prepare for an assault. However, he did not immediately reappear to attack. For a few seconds, absolutely nothing happened. Then, the otter pokemon jettisoned from the depths from the opposite side of where he disappeared. He “flew” over the stage, passing by Treecky. The only possible point of contact with his opponent would be from his shell blade and the powerful Air Slash attack.

Oshawott would land on the stage in a roll, stopping in a crouch.

The Air Slash attack sliced at Treecky and this surprise attack made him stagger back. Then, still dazed from the confusion and combined with the sudden hit, toppled over. He stopped moving, but not before a little twitch. Alex's head bowed down. He took Treecky's Pokeball and withdrew his gecko Pokemon.
"Well done Treecky... well done Leo and well done Stryk. A valiant effort from you both. Thanks Maxi, for everything. Goodbye..."
Alex then jumped on the transport Lapars's back. His expression was stormy as he headed back to the shore. He'd lost. That was all there was to say.

The oshawott and shellder started jumping around the stage in joy. They had successfully defended their gym against the challenger. Before Maxi could address Alex however, the boy had rushed off onto the lapras. It was clear he was upset about the outcome of his match. Whatever words of comfort Maxi had for Alex would have to wait. There were still more trainers waiting for their shot at badges.

“Will the next challenger please step forward,” Maxi called out to the group. While the next challenger was preparing, the gym leader met with one of the Amazon servants. He traded his tired team with a fresh set of three. Maxi examined the pokeballs, specifically the tiny totem symbols engraved in their hulls. Each of his pokemon had a representative totem, an elaborate representation of the pokemon. Judging from the symbols, Maxi was dealing with a young but reliable team. Time would tell just how far their training would go.

Once prepared, Maxi turned to the next trainer, his arms crossed as he waited for a response.

“Now, who comes all this way to seek my badge?”

2gamers didn't put it, but I'd like to...
Pokemon Evolution: Stryk (a ) evolved into a

This post has been edited by Proby: Feb 1 2011, 10:54 AM

[rt117]

Tikal watched as the Lapras returned, Alex quickly running off with a look she recognized as despair. In all honesty she had considered him a better trainer than her, which made his apparent defeat all the more nerve racking for the beginner trainer. Seeing that Tyson had not moved, she rubbed the back of her head and stepped forward towards the Lapras. She had come all this way for the gym battle, after having braved the pitfalls and traps on her way and defeating her earlier challenger for the right to participate.

It still didn't mean that she couldn't be nervous though. Carefully moving onto Lapras' back, she cleared her throat, and in an almost uneasy voice, replied:
"I'm next."

She had to carefully consider her options as she made her way towards the platforms, thinking about who to use to gain some advantage. Nidoran of course was an obvious choice, being the strongest of her Pokemon and seeming to have some type advantage. Totodile was of course also considered due to the type of arena they would be facing in. That left her with Igglybuff and Charmander. At the sight of water, Tikal could easily guess that her fire lizard would find his phobia standing before him, which left her down to Igglybuff. While not having such a great advantage, Tikal intended to make use out of one of her Balloon Pokemon's greatest strengths.

Finalizing her team as the Lapras arrived at the platform, she gave the ferry Pokemon a small pat and thanks, finding herself somewhat in love with its species. Unfortunately her affection towards it would have to be set side, climbing onto the platform before standing straight up, and looking at the almost intimidating form of Maxi, almost wishing she had made Tyson go next. Though at the thought of him, Tikal suddenly smiled, her confidence almost returning to her with the idea of winning for him.

"I challenge you to a battle!"

[Toogee]

Maxi watched as Tikal emerged on stage, issuing her challenge. Back on the beach, she seemed shy, almost defeatist as she watched her friend return from his loss. Now, Tikal had a fire in her eyes; she wanted a win. Whether she would be able to keep that fire was another story.

“So you think your pokemon can withstand the power of fists and waves?” Maxi asked. “Very well, but know this. In my society, women are held with high regard. As such, I won’t be holding back.”

As he spoke, Maxi withdrew three pokeballs from his belt. The pokeballs rolled against his fingers, waiting to be unleashed. As soon as he finished, the gym leader tossed two of the balls in front of him, revealing a tyrouge and a croagunk. His next pokemon was released at his side: a buizel. While the otter pokemon simply crossed his arms at the opponent, the pair of fighting pokemon immediately proceeded to do some stretches. Tyrouge began with a few push-ups, while Croagunk did several practice punches in the air.

“Now, reveal your team and make your move.”

As her hand dropped towards her pocket to retrieve two of her Pokeballs, she took one last opportunity to consider her options. Igglybuff, who was noticing that she was only pulling forth two of the orbs from her pockets, gave her a rather worried and questioning look with her large round eyes as she tugged on the sleeve of her shirt. Surely the girl wasn't considering sending her out into battle? Glancing about at the water with something of a shiver, she clung tighter to her shirt, before Tikal plucked the Pokemon and set her down with an almost reassuring look.

"You'll do fine." she reassured, patting the Balloon Pokemon's head lightly with her hand, before standing back to her full height and shifting the Pokeballs into each of her hands. From the left she released Nidoran, who stood readily beside Igglybuff, giving the two challenging Fighting types something of a glare. However noticing their lack of attention, he quickly shifted his attention to the rather worried Igglybuff at his side. Without warning, the rubbery pink Pokemon quickly took cover behind the more intimidating of the pair, only peeking from behind at the two fighting types.

From her right hand, a burst of white light revealed a rather overexcited Totodile, though at the site of the rather smirk attitude of the Buizel from across the battlefield, seemed to calm at his new opponent. "At least Totodile seems prepared." Tikal thought, somewhat unsure of Igglybuff's unease. Though so long as she stayed back and aided defensively, maybe things wouldn't be too bad. "Just keep back." she told her baby Pokemon, before looking to Maxi and giving him a ready nod.

"Let's go guys, start on the defense! Igglybuff, try Charm on Croagunk, and Nidoran use Focus Energy!"
As if on cue, Igglybuff let out a happy call towards Croagunk, trying to distract it from its workout and captivate it with his cute charm, while Nidoran shifted into a defensive stance, eyes seeming to intensify towards the two fighting types. Hopefully it would take Maxi's Pokemon just the amount of time hers needed to move onto the offensive.

Despite the uncertainty of the igglybuff’s effectiveness, Tikal led with it and a nidoran. This surprised Maxi: a normal type would most certainly face difficulty against his fighting types, especially one so young. Surely, she must have some trick up her sleeve.

The challenger began with status moves, the nidoran attempting to raise his critical while the igglybuff lowered croagunk’s attack. The croagunk blushed as the igglybuff charmed him with her cute looks. Maxi regained the croagunk’s attention upon ordering attacks.

“Tyrouge, Fake Out that nidoran! Croagunk, follow up with Mud Slap.”

The tyrouge quickly rushed over to the nidoran, slapping both his hands toward the sides of the poison pokemon’s head. This would hopefully disrupt the nidoran’s focus. Meanwhile, the croagunk built up a wad of mud in his right hand, courtesy of a special gland that secreted mud. Normally, this gland would be used to spread mud over the croagunk’s body to preserve its moist skin. Here, however, it would be used to throw a wad of mud towards the nidoran’s face.

It was quite clear that Maxi’s main focus was on the nidoran.

As Maxi ordered both of his Pokemon to go after her Nidoran, Tikal found herself to be both relieved and worried. While it meant that they were both going after her strongest Pokemon and leaving her Igglybuff alone, she wasn't entirely certain on how well Nidoran could hold up against two opponents, especially after coming out of an earlier battle.

"Nidoran, use Peck on Croagunk when it gets close!" she called, running through a quick strategy in her head. If the Tyrogue landed the attack on one of Nidoran's spikes, then there was a good chance the Pokemon would be poisoned as a result. Croagunk on the other hand would not suffer the same ill effects, and its attack was sure to cause more harm to her Pokemon anyways. However as the Tyrogue landed its attack, the Nidoran's attention on the second Pokemon was lost, instead receiving the Croagunk's Mud Slap. Taking the attack rather hard, Nidoran was forced back toward the edge of the water, mud covering its face.

Now concerned about Nidoran's status, Tikal tried to think of something to do quickly before he took in another blow. It was then she noticed Igglybuff, still standing on the other end of the battlefield, looking a little irritated as its Charm had become ignored by the Croagunk. That was when she had an idea, to solve two problems at once.

"Nidoran, jump backward into the water!" Tikal called, hoping this time it would work. Not having to go too far, the purple Poison Pokemon vanished under the surface of the water, the mud slowly washing from its face to disperse into the rest of the surroundings. Then glancing to Igglybuff, she called: "Now Igglybuff, use Sing!"

Eyes lighting up the moment she was called upon to use her voice, Igglybuff let out a happy cry, before twirling around in a circle once, and beginning to sing an enchanting song to lull the two Fighting Pokemon into a deep slumber.

Maxi saw his critical error just after Tikal ordered her pokemon. He had underestimated her igglybuff’s abilities. Though it appeared to be a weak fighter, it still had the ability to inflict more status ailments. With the ability to sing, the igglybuff threatened to stall the gym leader’s entire team. While his tyrouge managed to avoid the effect, his croagunk wasn’t so lucky. Already charmed by her cute looks, the poison frog was serenaded by the lovely tune. The attack took away the poison frog’s fighting spirit, causing him to sit down and listen fully. The lullaby quickly took effect, causign the croagunk to doze off in his sitting position.

Maxi would have to change up his strategy. If the little puffball continued charming and singing, she would dull the effectiveness of his fighting force. That alone could put victory in the young girl’s favor. He refocused his attention on the igglybuff.

“It seems I’ve underestimated your little one,” Maxi said to Tikal. “Tyrouge, Mach Punch on that igglybuff!”

The scuffle pokemon rushed across the stage with new resolve. He completely ignored the nidoran, running towards the igglybuff. With speed undetected by the naked eye, he launched his attack on the normal type just as he would a punching bag.

With a look of panic as the Tyrogue vanished from view, Igglybuff, glanced around for a path of escape, but before she could even take a step the attack contacted. Even the Pokemon's plush body could not fully protect it from the Fighting Pokemon's forceful swing, sending the baby Pokemon soaring into the water. With a rather sorrowful expression, Igglybuff floated on the surface of the water, staring back at her foe with large watery eyes, attempting to captivate her foe with her Cute Charm before he could attempt to finish her off.

With an expression of horror, Tikal tried not to look at her poor Pokemon, already feeling terrible for sending out her young one into battle. It was her fault that she had gotten hurt, and she should have known better. Perhaps Charmander would have been the better of the two to use, though even with maturity, the battlefield they were forced to play on did not yield any advantage type-wise. Yet as her eyes fell upon her Igglybuff, Tikal saw something that nobody else saw: determination. Even though her Pokemon was batter and bruised, she still wanted to stay in, to hold out for as long as she could. It was that alone that kept the inexperienced trainer from calling her back, for it would do no justice to hold her back.

Climbing back onto solid ground after having cleaned the mud from his face, Nidoran moved forward toward the slumbering Croagunk, horn poised for a direct Peck attack. He was caught off guard by a loud cry, ears twitching at the hurt sound, and as he rose his head he saw the end of the Tyrogue's attack, Iggybuff falling into the water. Eyes fixated on the Fighting Pokemon, Nidoran completely forgot about the captivated opponent, anger burning in his eyes as he stormed toward the offender.

Tikal quickly caught sight as her Nidoran moved toward the Tyrogue, noticing the enraged look on his face. He was the protector of their little family, and he was obviously hurt by the harm that had come to the baby Pokemon. And with his anger came his determination to knock out Tyrogue, to avenge the family. Tikal couldn't help but smile.

"Peck, now!"

Not even needing the command, Nidoran charged at the Tyrogue like an enraged Tauros, horn poised at the Tyrogue's slender body, intending to cause maximum injury.

Most pokemon that Tyrouge hit were often annoyed or angry afterwords. Imagine the fighting pokemon’s surprise when the igglybuff looked at him with sadness in her eyes. She was a cute and innocent creature that did nothing but charm and sing. It made the inexperienced tyrouge feel a bit guilty about punching her face. As a result, Igglybuff’s Cute Charm had an effect on the brawler.

“Tyrouge, dodge!”

The tyrouge was so distracted with the igglybuff’s charm, he was thrown completely offguard when the nidoran barreled into him. The peck connected with the target with great force, a critical hit. The tyrouge held his side in pain as he fell over, overwhelmed by the attack. Maxi had no choice but to withdraw the fainted pokemon.

Despite the loss, things were starting to look up in Maxi’s favor. His croagunk had just woken up in time to rejoin the fight with the buizel. The otter pokemon did not need to be told to move on stage. Maxi’s pokemon had been trained to double battle; they knew what to do when an ally was knocked out.

“You may have claimed the first pokemon, but don’t get too cocky. You have yet to taste our full strength.”

With that, the gym leader commanded the buizel to perform a quick attack on the igglybuff. It may have been a tough lesson for the baby pokemon, but she was still a threat to his team. Meanwhile, he commanded his croagunk to distract the nidoran with an astonish attack. The poison frog croaked quite loudly as socked his opponent on his side.

At the end of the attacks, the croagunk leaped back to his side of the stage, while the buizel remained in the water to await orders.

This post has been edited by 2gamers: Mar 26 2011, 10:34 AM

Reason for edit: Added one last post.

[rt117]

Before she could even celebrate her first small victory over the Gym Leader, her plans were quickly cut short with the Buizel's swift attack against her Igglybuff, who still remained in the water. Unable to swim or dodge in any way while immobilized by the terrain, Igglybuff was quickly fainted by the Buizel's strike. Only catching a brief glimpse of the knockout, Nidoran's attention became stolen by the abrupt Astonish, the Croagunk having moved before he even had time to react.

A little uneasy over the fainting of her Baby Pokemon, Tikal felt a little more determined to show Maxi business. There was no way he could let her Pokemon down after all. "Totodile, are you ready?" she questioned her Water Pokemon, glancing down at her side. With a spring in his step, Totodile gave something recognizable as a thumbs up, before glancing at the foe Water Pokemon across from him. In a taunt, he stuck out his tongue and pulled on his eyelid, attempting to infuriate his foe before he hopped into the water and vanished from sight.

"Nidoran, stay on the Croagunk with Leer! Totodile, follow after Buizel with Rage!" Tikal called to the pair. While water against water was not as effective, Tikal figured that her Totdile would be just fine so long as he did not use Water-type moves. Nidoran on the other hand still held an advantage against the Croagunk with his Peck attack, which for the most part she had come to realize was rather effective against Fighting type Pokemon.

In accordance to Tikal's orders Nidoran narrowed his eyes as the foe Croagunk, eyes appearing to become evil as they flashed red, intended to intimidate his enemy. Meanwhile Totodile raced through the water at Buizel, eyes seeming to carry the same look of intimidation as he opened his jaws wide, ready to snap down on the Water Pokemon.

The croagunk was a bit worried about his opponent’s angry look. He was clearly mad about losing the little one early on in the match. It seemed he was about to take his anger out on him. With his partner gone, the poison frog would have to act quickly to avoid a similar fate.

Seeing that the nidoran was setting his croagunk up for a major blow, Maxi had to delay the attack long enough to obtain another knockout. There was really only one effective way to do that.

“Croagunk, keep up with Mud Slap.” And so, the croagunk flung another serving of mud towards the nidoran’s face in order to keep him from getting a strike in. The gym leader hated to rely on luck during a match, but until another opportunity presented itself, it would have to do.

Meanwhile, the buizel was trying to swim away from the raging totodile, His lithe body allowed the otter to avoid the fearsome jaws of his opponent, swimming out of the way and behind the totodile. The buizel then proceeded to clap his hands hard, creating a sonic boom, a wave of sound that headed straight for the little gator. The otter pokemon was satisfied with the answer to his opponent’s taunt, not knowing that, in combination with Rage, it could prove his downfall.

"Move back!" Tikal called, seeing the attempt to strike down her Pokemon. She could only hope however that Nidoran would heed her warning to stop and think, and not continue on with the frenzied strike. While his attacks would certainly be more powerful now, he needed to realize the danger he would inevitably place himself in to exact his swift revenge. Not only that, there was no escape into the waters this time, for it was inhabited by another foe.

Upon hearing his trainer's words, and seeing the Craogunk prepare to strike and blind the charging Pokemon, Nidoran attempted to skid to a halt, then attempted to move to the side to avoid the ball of mud his opponent provided. Quickly, the poison Pokemon attempted to backtrack, eyes still upon the Croagunk warily. ""Use another Leer!" Tikal called, hoping that the move could distract the foe by sending him into a trance, and allow for another direct hit. Listening to her once more, Nidoran's eyes flashed dangerously, a piercing gaze directed at the frog Pokemon's eyes, inviting for a staring contest.

Meanwhile as the Sonic boom connected with the Totodile, he bared his teeth in anger, pupil's narrowing as the strike only enraged him further. With greater ferocity than before the Pokemon charged forward with another attack, meeting his foe's gaze once more.

Once again, the croagunk was caught in the angry glare of the nidoran. However, their staring competition provided the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack. Maxi and his croagunk had the same idea, so the frog pokemon feigned his trance. In fact, he was really waiting for the signal from the gym leader.

“Astonish!” Maxi commanded. In the midst of the stare, the poison frog let off a weird screech as he charged the nidoran with an astonishing blow aimed for the face. It was a risky move, but he had to get some damage in if they had any hope to win the match.

Back underwater, the buizel dashed deeper into the water to avoid the raging totodile. He swam through the coral reef that lay at the bottom of the arena. The otter zipped past ornate formations of polyps in the hopes that the obstacles would slow and exhaust his opponent. The object of the maneuver was to lead the gator deeper into the coral forest, to trap him on multiple sides. Once they were deep enough, the buizel performed a loop, dashing upward and positioning himself behind the totodile. This allowed for a quick attack on the (hopefully) surprised enemy.

The blow to the head had startled the Nidoran, though was more of a headache than anything. For a moment, the Pokemon's eyes were closed, his body trembling slightly as the blow to the head combined with the slowly forming headache seemed to stir something within him. Opening his eyes to glare at the foe once more, his eyes carried something they had never shown before: a glow. From her place, Tikal could see no difference within her Pokemon, until he pushed the Croagunk forward, the foe's form encased in a light purple glow as he was tossed upward with an invisible strength

Once the Croagunk was disengaged and sent flying, Tikal caught sight of the glow for a few brief moments, eyes widening as she came to realize something. "Thats... a Psychic move..." she spoke, blinking a few times before rubbing her eyes. Never before had she thought that a poison type could learn a psychic move, to know a move that the typing itself was weak against.

Back under the water, the Totodile had followed the water type's trap, entering into the maze of the coral reef. Following into the midst of it all, he glanced around with a frown, noticing that the Buizel had vanished. With sharp eyes, the Pokemon quickly glanced about for any sign of the shifty foe. He knew that the whole thing was a trap, the Pokemon unable to be trusted. Suddenly he caught sight of something swimming toward him, and swam backward quickly. Without a second thought, he head snapped forward, jaws clamping down on the otter Pokemon's longer tail, before pulling back and giving him a fierce Headbutt into the thick of the coral.

The croagunk was caught completely off-guard by the psychic attack. However, he was not sent flying from the attack. Such an attack was not that powerful, especially from a low-leveled poison pokemon using it for the first time. That being said, the damage was clear as the poison frog held his head in pain. Though he nearly stumbled over, the croagunk managed to maintain footing. He still had some fight left, though not much more.

“Bullet Punch!” Maxi shouted. The croagunk responded with a fist as fast as its namesake. The attack approached the nidoran’s head with new fervor behind it. With the reveal of the new psychic attack, there was no time for croagunk’s usual tricks. He had to hit hard and fast.

Meanwhile, the buizel’s trap was turned against him by the surprisingly crafty totodile. The otter was getting walloped against the reef; he had to get out of his death grip. The buizel proceeded to clap his hands for a close range sonic boom to drive the totodile away.

The Nidoran simply stood its guard as the attack against it was launched. After all, there was little he could do to avoid an attack with such speed. Tikal had yet another idea: what if the Nidoran's headache had to do with the strength of its new-found psychic attack. She felt bad about allowing such an idea, but they needed to win this. Otherwise the team's efforts would have been for nothing.

"Try using Confusion again!" Tikal called to her Pokemon, almost completely forgetting about the battle under the waters. As the Croagunk rushed toward the Nidoran with blinding speed, the poison Pokemon attempted to keep a stable footing, preparing for the hit. Sure enough, as the attack contacted and further added to the Nidoran's injury, the smaller Pokemon unleashed another psychic assault on the Croagunk's mind, attempting to end the fight once and for all. After all, he would not last much longer.

Beneath the battle zone, the Totdile's following attack was unsuccessful as he was driven back by the force of the sonicboom. Slamming against the hard coral structure, the small water Pokemon bared its teeth in anger, its rage taking over once more. Pushing off from the coral, it swam quickly toward the Buizel, claws out and maw opened to unleash its fury upon its foe.

It happened in seconds. As soon as the croagunk backed away from his opponent, the nidoran struck back with yet another confusion attack. This attack proved to be the final straw. The poison frog held his head in pain and tumbled to the ground. Though he struggled to push himself off the ground, the type matching proved to be too much to handle. The croagunk stumbled back to the ground, clearly fainted from the attack.

Maxi returned the pokemon to his pokeball, a bit taken aback with the surprise psychic move. It was one thing to fight a psychic pokemon; one could expect such attacks and plan ahead. It was quite another when the opponent started using the attack out of the blue. It required powerful hits to dispatch the enemy quickly, moves the croagunk did not possess.

While the gym leader focused his attention on his croagunk, he left his buizel to fend off the other opponent underwater. The buizel had far more training than the poison frog, so Maxi trusted him to handle himself in battle. When he looked down at the water however, he was shocked to find a cloud of bubbles and sand obscuring his view. There was a scuffle going on. Evidently, the otter’s speed could not escape the totodile’s rage. Within the cloud, paws were hitting and jaws were biting. Then, an orange blur rushed out of the fray, heading straight for the surface. It was the buizel, who cleared the surface and was landing on the platform.

Well rather, crash into the platform. The buizel didn’t escape the scuffle: it was thrown out. His limp body was spread out on Maxi’s side of the field. The gym leader recalled the buizel, ending the match.

“It appears your pokemon have developed familial bonds with each other,” Maxi commented. Targeting the igglybuff earlier in the match seemed to have triggered a new resolve amongst Tikal’s team. It was yet another lesson that Maxi would have to remember in his next match.

The lapras had reappeared next to the battle platform, spitting out a precious piece of metal into Maxi’s hand. The gym leader walked over to Tikal and handed her the prize.

“As reward for weathering the storm…the Taminagi badge”

Tikal had won her first gym match.

Rather surprised with such turn of events, Tikal couldn't help but smile a bit as she accepted the gym badge from Maxi. "Thank you, it was a pleasure to battle." she replied, trying to keep some of the excitement out of her voice. Though possibly one of her best victories, she wanted to remain humble toward her superior, the Gym Leader. With that, she turned her attention toward the remainder of her team. Nidoran looked rather worn out as he began to walk toward her, Totodile bursting out from the depths of the water to land on the platform with a look of victory. With a smile she pocketed her new badge, before pulling out her two empty Pokeballs and recalling the two. It had been a long battle, and everyone seemed to be in need of some rest. However before they could do that, she needed to find Alex, who had taken off shortly after the match.

Walking toward the Lapras, she stopped to turn back to Maxi one last time. "I would love to challenge you again sometime." she grinned, before heading back to shore upon the back of the Lapras, the same way she had came. Hopefully Alex hadn't gotten too far at this point, at least stopping in the Pokemon Center long enough for her to catch up. He had looked rather upset when he had left, and so she wanted to make sure he was alright, or had at least calmed down a bit. It just wouldn't do to have someone in the group sulking, especially when she had a need to make people happy.

Stepping out into the light once more, she hurried down the steps that had carried many traps and dangers, the way down much easier with the majority of the pitfalls having been discovered. From the top she could spot the Pokemon Center in the distance, and so she hoped she wouldn't be too late reaching Alex before he decided to go elsewhere.

This post has been edited by rt117: Apr 17 2011, 11:45 AM

[Captain Combuske...]

Alex was indeed located at the Pokemon Center. he was angry. Furious even, at himself. He didn't understand how he'd lost. He'd trained hard, really hard, at trying to make his Pokemon as strong as possible. heck, he'd even had luck in that battle just then, with Stryk evolving as it happened. Alex looked at her now. All of his Pokemon were outside his Pokeballs, playing, having deserved such a feta after their hard attempts today, apart form Stryk, who, as usual, stood on the table next to Alex, who was sitting down in his chair. Both were watching the antics, Stryk with a motherly eye of someone who wants to make sure nobody gets in trouble, Alex very vaguely, because most of the time thoughts were racing through his mind.

He was absent-mindedly juggling Pokeballs around his fingers, and thinking. What did he need to do now? How could he train his Pokemon from here, to be strong enough to take on a Gym leader. He was angry at himself and despairing slightly. he was just about to leave when Tikal entered the Pokemon Center.

"Oh hey Tikal. Listen, I was thinking, we ought to get somewhere to sleep for the night... how did your battle go?"

This post has been edited by Proby: Apr 20 2011, 04:37 AM

[rt117]

Playing with the Gym Badge in her pocket as she walked into the Pokemon Center, Tikal began to consider her options for what to do from here on. Even though she had managed a victory, the battle had been too close for comfort. And if she planned on going for another gym fight, she and her Pokemon would need more practice before taking on the next challenge. And if she knew Alex, he probably would have been looking for someone to practice with to try again for the next gym fight. With any luck he wouldn't mind a little practice with her, though it would need to wait for another day.

"Hey." she smiled, walking by Alex briefly to confront Nurse Joy about getting her Pokemon healed. As they were taken away, she turned and walked back over to her friend, before taking a seat nearby. As he suggested their next move, she nodded in agreement with a smile. "That sounds like a good plan." the girl replied, before moving her hand from her pocket at his question.

"I think this will explain everything." Tikal added, opening her hand to reveal the glittering Gym Badge resting on the palm of her hand. "It was a really close match, but the moment things started to go in my favour, it went all downhill from there." she explained, before pocketing the badge and settling into her seat once more. "It was too close though in my opinion, so I think my Pokemon need more practice for next time."

Looking over at his team with a smile, she then asked: "How about you? Do you think you'll try again tomorrow?"

This post has been edited by rt117: Apr 19 2011, 03:34 PM

[Captain Combuske...]

Alex nodded at Tikal's answer to his question. Then, she answered his question. As she showed him the glistening, shiny Gym badge, he couldn't help himself from everything falling down further. His head sank, his shoulders sagged, his expression turned even more despairing. He wanted to feel happy about Tikal's success, but he couldn't. Not knowing she'd outsmarted Maxi Z!. It sounded arrogant even in Alex's head, but he had the most training talent. His Pokemon were already much stronger than Tyson and Tikal's, and even Tom's, who'd been training for much longer than Alex, but he'd lost when they'd won. Alex knew that Tikal was an excellent trainer. He just considered himself better, even if it were by a small amount.

"Well done, congratulations" said Alex, trying his best to feel happiness at Tikal's victory. But he couldn't. he was just too distraught at his loss. He needed sleep.
"I'm tired. Let's get those rooms." he said. Tikal seemed to nod at him, but he wasn't paying much attention. He called back all his Pokemon, put them in his bag, and headed to the tourist place.

When he got there, he saw a receptionist smiling warmly at him. Tikal was close behind. Alex didn't know where Tyson was. Tom had left earlier. He'd slipped away during Alex's gym battle and presumably already ahd rented out a room.
"Umm... hi. We're trainers. We'd like to rent out a room each. In Tree-house places if possible? And do you know if another trainer named Tom Hawk came here?" asked Alex.
"Yes and Yes," said the Receptionist, "My name is Cara. I'll lead you. There's two rooms close to Mr. Hawk's in the 'Original Fidonian Experience' hotel."
Cara lead them to some natural spot on the edge of the city using a car where there were tree-houses. She showed them to their rooms, pointed out Tom's, which was between Alex and Tikal's, and then wished them a good night, before leaving.
"See you in the morning. The festival, and we'll check out the culture if Fidona." he said to Tikal, before going into his room and quickly getting into bed.

Alex lay there in bed. Tomorrow was a new day. A new dawn. His birthday. The Fidonian festival, which included the contest part which Tom had been working towards. It would be a new day. But for now, Alex just wanted to sleep. Within minutes, his head was on his pillow and his eyes were shut.

[rt117]

It was obvious from the tone in his voice that Alex was still rather upset over his loss at the gym. Especially with how he reacted when she showed him the Gym Badge. Part of her just wanted to tell him to get over it, and that he would have another chance soon. But something told her that her words would probably sound harsh, and likely would only worsen the situation. Hopefully tomorrow would be a better day for them, especially since she was looking forward to do some exploring, and maybe get some nice pictures in while they were at it. Tikal was beginning to feel that her album was rather lacking in her own battles, but it was rather hard to take pictures while taking part in a battle.

As they got their rooms and retired for the evening, Tikal took a few moments to glance out to the sunset, beginning to feel rather worried. She hadn't seen Tyson since she left to begin her Gym Battle, and thought that he would have caught up to them by now. Maybe he was at the Pokemon Center now, having finished his battle, but would he know to come here? What if they were separated? Somehow she knew that she wouldn't sleep well tonight. But she had other ways to coax herself to sleep.

Walking into her room, she pulled one of her Pokeballs from her pocket, releasing Igglybuff out onto her bed. Opening her big red eyes, the Balloon Pokemon looked up to her trainer with a smile, literally jumping at her. With a smile Tikal caught her friend, before sitting on the bed and releasing the rest of her team. "All of you did great today." the girl commented, giving them all an approving nod before laying back on the bed. "We should try to get some more practice in though, because it was a rather close match back there. I'm sure Alex won't mind a little training."

Clasping her hands together, she rose her head to look at them. "But before we can do that, we need to get a good night's rest." Tikal told them, before glancing to Igglybuff. "Do you think you can help with that?" she asked with a grin, knowing her Igglybuff could not resist singing one of her lovely songs.

Almost immediately, Igglybuff let out a happy cry, before bounding onto her lap and turning to her fellow team. The next few moments were a haze, as everyone drifted off in a sound sleep with the aid of the Baby Pokemon's soothing lullaby.

This post has been edited by rt117: Apr 21 2011, 04:35 PM