[X] My Assistant

[FirePower]

Ares shrank back as Kanoa put his arm around him. He wasn't used to being around people and he didn't find the experience particularly enjoyable. Needless to say, he was secretly relieved when the trio left the apartment for shady acres. He only half-listened to Kanoa as he gave the unabridged version of his life story. He was more than ready to get to the skate park, if only to catch a few minutes by himself.

Soon enough the group came to a man made lake. It must of been close to the skate park, because Kanoa told them to start putting up stuff before heading off on his skateboard. Ares simply shrugged and nodded before going his own way. He settled on the side of the lake farthest from the other two. Things went quickly and before long he was down to his last flag. He decided to hang it from the top of a nearby lamppost, one of few that was bare. He scampered up the pole with ease and was soon at the top. He was about to hang the flag when the metal moved underneath him. Luckily Ares' reflexes were quick enough that he managed to grab the pole before he could fall all the way and break his neck. He slid down the pole to the ground and looked to see what had made the metal move.

"Zor!" A strange, disk-like pokemon the same blueish color of the pole floated down to Ares' eye level. Ares put two and two together and assumed that he'd accidentally stepped on the bronzor and that had been what caused him to lose his balance on the pole. It looked like it wasn't going to just accept an apology.

"Volgen, ember" Ares told his houndour, which had been waiting loyally at the bottom of the pole. It nodded and shot a quick burst of flame at the bronzor. It, in turn, tried to fire a blast of psychic energy at Volgen. It didn't seem to have any effect on Volgen, which confused both Ares and the bronzor.

"Smog," Ares said, focusing back on the battle. Volgen exhaled, and a thick purple smoke came out of it's mouth. It snaked towards the bronzor and engulfed it in the toxic air. The bronzor seemed unaffected, which also confused Ares. The bronzor reacted by slamming into Vlgen for a tackle attack.

"Use ember a few more times," Ares ordered. Ember and Smog were the houndour's only offensive moves, and appearently smog wouldn't work against this pokemon. The houndour nodded and promptly ran around behind the bronzor, attacking it with a short blast of fire. It dodged a tackle attack before shooting another blast of fire and running back to Ares. It shot a few more blasts of fire before the bronzor pulled a surprising new move.

It shot a strange beam at volgen, which hit head-on. Immediately the houndour's eyelid's started to droop. It stumbled a few steps before collapsing in the grass, asleep. Ares immediately recognized the move as hypnosis. Volgen was out like a light now, and there wasn't much he could do about it. The bronzor was still looking angry, though. Ares grabbed an empty pokeball from his pocket and threw it at the bronzor it was sucked into the red and white orb with a flash of red light. Ares held his breath as the ball shook violently. The bronzor looked to be giving everything it had into escaping. But alas, Volgen's embers had done their work. The bronzor finally gave up and accepted it's defeat. The pokeball sealed with a click, officially capturing the bronzor. Ares walked over to the pokeball and sent out the bronzor and Cadou, introducing the new team member to his other pokemon.

"You need a name," Ares said thoughtfully. "What about Orbis? It's supposed to mean disk in some language or another." The bronzor rotated in what Ares assumed to be a nod.

"Orbis it is," Ares said. "Okay guys, he... she... it will be working with us from now on. I expect you all to treat... it with respect. That goes for you to, Orbis." Ares had heard the bronzor were genderless, so he wasn't entirley sure how to refer to his own. It was neither a boy nor a girl, but it felt rude to call it and it.

Meanwhile Ares' pokemon each greeted the new arrival. Hope had glided down from her spot on Ares' back to say hello. Cadou gave his usual yawn of acknowledgment. Volgen had woken up while Ares was considering what to call Orbik. Since it was just floating next to Ares and not attacking anyone, the houndour had assumed that it was now a friend and stopped fighting it as well. It observed the bronzor from behind Ares' legs in its usual, lonely manner. The bronzor still looked rather agitated, but it didn't try to attack anyone. Ares promptly returned all of his pokemon, except Hope, and climbed back up the pole to put the flag on the top. After that he started to head back to the others.

He was about halfway there when a beam of light shot out in front of him, one of his pokemon choosing to come out. He assumed it was Volgen, but instead Orbis appeared, floating in front of him.

"Bron!" it said, floating in front of its new trainer. It had decided it like this human. The human was strong, and certainly worthy of capturing it. It wanted to stay out in case anything happened. It didn't trust the gligar of his to keep him out of trouble. It came out and floated above Ares' shoulder as the boy continued to another boy, who looked to be older than his ward.

"I'm done," Ares told Kanoa in his usual, quiet voice. Orbis quietly regarded the senior magma, not sure what to make of him. It looked like Kanoa was done too, and he thought he'd seen Abraham as well. He stood nearby somewhat awkwardly and waited to continue on their rather unorthodox capture of the skate park.

Ares caught a lv. 9 genderless

[BlackStarLine]

"Yeah, shouldn't be an issue. We were heading up past there anyway. Jump in the back and hold on, it'll be a fairly rough ride." Daniel smiled.

Meanwhile, his mind was trying to figure out whether or not this girl was Magma, Aqua or a civilian... Because something told him she wasn't in the Rebellion considering he hadn't been informed of a new recruit.

"Hey Rachel, can I have a word?" Daniel asked. He hoped the look on his face would tell her that they needed to plan on how to not reveal themselves as Rebellion members just yet.

[Pokefan209]

Mayim giggled, and her blond hair bounced up and down. This Poocheyena was obviously trying to be a comedian, something none of her Pokemon had ever done. Everyone in her new family was very uptight and serious. She smiled at Rachel as the little dog Pokemon was taken away.

"Its totally fine. I can't say I don't mind a little humor!" she laughed, trying to convey a sense of trust into Rachel. If they weren't Magma members, then they would get along just fine. But if they were, she would do everything in her power to make sure they didn't hurt anyone else the way they had hurt her. She would, under no circumstances, ever expect anything more than scum from a member of the notorious Team Magma. There was no way she would ever trust them.

Mayim noticed that her right hand had instinctively began rubbing her left forearm, where a long burn remained from her worst encounter from Magma. She removed her hand and walked over to the car, where she sat down and waited to get to Shady Acres. She didn't really want to talk anymore.

((You know how she says she'll never trust a member of Team Magma? Ironic twist in the future...Look out!))

[Dragonwish2]

"It’s totally fine. I can't say I don't mind a little humor!" Mayim laughed. Rachel smiled, noticing the girl rubbing her arm. A voice from the front of the car caught Rachel's attention.

"Yeah, shouldn't be an issue. We were heading up past there anyway. Jump in the back and hold on, it'll be a fairly rough ride." It was Daniel, whom Rachel had somewhat forgotten amid the giggling and laughter. "Hey Rachel, can I have a word?"

"Sure,” Rachel said, scanning his face and noticing the worry, even though his tone was casual. She saw Mayim heading to the car and hurriedly whispered, “I’ll keep quiet,” then looked back and smiled at Mayim. “Buckle up.” Rachel pulled the seat belt down into the buckle and tapped her Pokéballs, reassured with their presence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shady Acres turned out to be a quaint little park. The car pulled along the curved curb. Rachel looked out the window. Benches, grass, and trees made up most of it. Children could be seen playing with their Pokémon, or teasing wild Pokémon. Further along, a skating ramp was being ridden by many teenagers.

On the other window, there were some buildings. One caught Rachel’s eye. “Hey, look. It’s some kind of dojo.” She glanced at Daniel. “I’m going to check it out. We can meet up later for lunch.” She then turned to Mayim. “Want to join me?”

Rachel opened the car door and stepped out, stretching her legs. She looked back at Mayim and crossed the street carefully, though few cars were there. She looked inside the dojo and saw people and Pokémon training on punching bags, weights, or simply battling each other in a battlefield towards the back. After one check she confirmed there were no obvious Magma inside. She opened the door and stepped inside, wondering if she could practice battling while scouting out any Magma sympathizers.


This post has been edited by Dragonwish2: Sep 24 2011, 11:17 AM

[Kamaitachi]

"I'm done"

Kanoa heard the quiet voice pipe up from nearby. Turning, he looked down to see the young Ares with a...floaty...thing.

"Oh hello!" Kanoa grinned cheekily at the Bronzor, peering at it curiously. "You're so...floaty...thingy..." Kanoa seemed rather mesmerized by the Pokemon.

Before too long, Abraham approached as well, re-forming the Magma Team.

"I caught a pokemon too." Kanoa beamed, opening the pokeball to reveal a Petilil. As she popped out of her home, Kanoa reached forward and caught her, holding her in his arms. "Isn't she a cutie?" He looked down at her for a moment, pondering. "I'll call you....Carousel."

He looked between Abraham and Ares, all a-smile from having caught a new friend, and then nodded:

"Ooookay Troops" Kanoa mock saluted them "Let's head on over to Shady Acres, for realsies. We'll put up a few more flags, and then be done with this crappy job."

* * *

Before long, the trio had arrived. Shady Acres was a fairly expansive park, with all sorts of people moving out and about. There were a few vendors for candy and hotdogs, amongst other things. There was a small fountain for people to relax nearby, and a few ground-level fountains for children and people to run through. There was definitely no shortage of benches in the area, and a few man-made rolling hills for people to do whatever they did with hills. Pokemon and people alike were moving about, though since it was still fairly early in the morning, it wasn't as crowded as it could've been.

Kanoa, upon arrival, broke into a run, throwing his skateboard down. Hopping up on top of it as he ran, he made a beeline to the skate park. Not opting to do anything fancy immediately, he rolled up one of the ramps and flipped his skateboard back into his hand before perching at the highest point. Procuring another flag from his backpack, he unfurled it while attaching it to the top. Now, the fence facing the main street ominously displayed the Magma Insignia. It was not met with much resistance; the Noverus population had grown rather used to Magma and Aqua pushing their weight around, so this came as no real surprise to them. A few mutters and a few shrugs was all the Magma Street Team received.

Kanoa, however, turned to Ares and Abraham and gave a thumbs up. He pulled out the box of flyers from his backpack, and handed the duo each a roll of scotch tape. "Let's put a few of these up around the park, and we'll be done."

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Abraham rolled his eyes as he watched Kanoa aka his boss giddily ride his skateboard and plant a flag on top of a tall ramp. It actually looked like fun...But there was the whole "we're on a mission" thing and, really, this kid's immaturity just made it all the more frustrating that he was Abraham's superior.

Gaia, his Swinub, who was still on his right shoulder, looked somewhat curious. "That guy could give me a bad report, and I'd be in a lot of trouble," he said to her. "That guy." She didn't understand what he was saying or the nuance behind it, but she understood his tone and opted to nuzzle the side of his clean shaven face. "Stop being adorable, I'm trying to be sarcastic and angry," he sighed.

Then, Kanoa came back around with his handy-dandy fliers which they were supposed to put up around the skate park. Abraham grabbed some and his roll of tape and nodded. "Yay," he said, dryly. "This is why I got into this business, after all."

He was about to turn to go do as he was told, but he stopped. "Kanoa, if I may," he looked at the kid. "What's our plan here? Do you really think putting up fliers will make Team Aqua just back down? Or the Rebellion, for that matter? If our goal in 'claiming' this park is monetary, we should just enforce some sort of extra tax or something, but these things are purely aesthetic and, more importantly, a huge waste of time." Not that Abraham believed everything which was purely aesthetic was a waste of time. This, though, was. "If we want to claim this place, we need to be doing something. Not just running around saying we were here."

[BlackStarLine]

"Yeah, no worries. I'm just gonna park the car and then have a wander round." Daniel replied. When Mayim & Rachel had got out, Daniel drove the car to a nearby car park and got out, locking the car securely. He then proceeded to wander round the skate park looking to see if Magma or Aqua had tried to implement their force on this public place.

It didn't take long for Daniel to find a Magma flag. He snorted in disapproval and decided on inceneration for this first flag.

"Incinineration it is then. Come on Belle, i'm gonna need your help here." Daniel pulled Belle's pokeball from his belt and released her in front of him. "Right then... This is a little ironic but oh well.. Belle, burn that flag to embers if you please."

Belle obliged by releasing a jet of flame and burning the Magma flag to a crisp. Daniel then proceeded to stick up a poster with the Aqua and Magma logos with a line through them. That should hopefully prove that this part of the city belonged to the people, not them.

[Kamaitachi]

"Kanoa, if I may-"

"Sure thing, Abe." Kanoa smiled, moving in closer, as if it were a clandestine conversation about to be held. He stopped for a second as he moved in close, realizing just how nice Abraham smelled, despite the fact that they'd been walking around all morning. "You smell nice." He stated, plainly.

Abraham, undaunted, continued: "What's our plan here? Do you really think putting up fliers will make Team Aqua just back down? Or the Rebellion for that matter? If our goal in claiming the park is monetary, we should just enforce some sort of extra tax or something, but these things are purely aesthetic, and more importantly, a huge waste of time. If we want to claim this place, we need to be doing something. Not just running around saying we were here."

To be honest, Kanoa stopped listening about halfway through, and opted to smile at Abraham's very pretty face.

"Well." He snapped back to attention at the end of the speech. "My boss put it like this: We put up flags, we claim the territory, right? It's not monetary, it's like...a psychology trick. Once people see our flags, they'll come to take them down, and then we fight them. Then, in broad daylight, we beat them, and the area is ours for realsies."

As if on cue, like PokeGod was trying to prove the surprising efficiency of the mission, one of the Magma flyers went up in flame. Kanoa seemed a bit dumbstruck, then pointed Abraham in the direction of the kid putting up anti-Magma and anti-Aqua flyers.

"See? There you go. We're instigators! Now let's kick some ass." Kanoa whistled sharply with his fingers, not bothering to warn Abraham before doing so. "Alright, Tall-Dark-and-Handsome" Kanoa turned his attention to Abraham, blatantly flirting with him "back me up on this one, okay?"

The lanky teen moved towards the other lanky teen who was putting up the anti-faction flyers. The action seemed...rebellious? That potentially meant that Kanoa's team was about to encounter a Rebellion member...or just a disgrunted teenaged activist. In any case, he was to be run out of the park. Kanoa couldn't help but feel like this kid seemed familiar in some fashion, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Abraham took Kanoa's flirtatious charm as simply teasing and making the situation a little bit more lighthearted. He didn't actually think, or even consider, for that matter, that there was any sort of depth to it. Homosexuality wasn't entirely unfamiliar to Abraham, but Kanoa didn't seem the type, and, more importantly, he very much did seem the type to joke around about it. Seeing as he thought the teasing was aimed at making him uncomfortable, he intentionally did not let it phase him.

Once the kid finished his thing about fighting people once it got taken down, Abraham didn't even have any time to voice his concern, which would have been, "And if we lose?" before the fire erupted. Kanoa seemed all too confident that this awkward arrangement would be able to take on any threat. Abraham was confident, sure, but he was also pragmatic and he was no fan of fighting. He'd won plenty of fights, specifically with pokemon involved (Gaia and Tartarus had learned to hold their own) but he'd had bad personal fighting experiences - More along the lines of just getting the shit beat out of him by groups of thugs for, say, sleeping with a mobster's wife or sister or daughter or, more specifically, scamming said family member out of thousands of dollars.

In any case, Abraham was a planner. While violence may sometimes be apart of said plan, it was more often than not the threat of violence he preferred. When things get violence, they become unpredictable, and that is what he hated the most. Violence is only predictable when one side is very clearly outmatched and, in that case, it usually doesn't result in violence.

Needless to say, Abraham was no fan of Kanoa's (or, more specifically, his boss's) strategy. If Magma wanted Shady Acres, and expected a fight, they should have sent more than three people.

"Alright, Tall-Dark-and-Handsome, back me up on this one, okay?" Kanoa said, moving towards the fire. Abraham sighed and followed. If it was just this one kid, it wouldn't be a problem. They'd threaten a battle, and he'd either run or get beaten pretty handily. But if he was, indeed, a member of Aqua or the Rebellion, he'd likely have reinforcements.

He walked by Kanoa's side, nonetheless, and didn't say a word, but did nod to the guy.

[FirePower]

Ares silently stayed in the background as Abraham joined the group and they continued towards the main part of Shady Acres, only speaking to stop Orbis from blasting Kanoa with a hypnosis attack when the higher-ranking magma called it a floaty thingy. He simply watched without comment as Kanoa skated on ahead to the tallest ramp and came back to the group, giving both Ares and Abraham some fliers and tape, with orders to hang them up around the park.

While Abraham stayed to question the effectiveness of the mission, Ares went off to get the mission over with.

'I don't make rules. I just follow 'em,' Ares thought, his comments on Abraham's question. 'That's what's best for everyone, really.' With his gligar and bronzor at his side, he ambled around the park, looking for a suitable place to put up a few papers. He noticed a nearby dojo and settled on posting some fliers there, sendingt Hope up ahead with one. The gligar's trainer followed behind it, though more slowly. The first flier the gligar had put right above the door to the dojo, and Ares put several others on the walls, making his way up the wall of the building as he did so. After a little while he heard someone coming and quickly left before he caused any trouble.

Ares continued his walk around the skate park, doing his best to stick to the shadows and avoid the skaters. He posted a few fliers here and there, but he usually waited until there were few, if any, people watching. He didn't like attracting attention to himself under normal circumstances, much less while on the job for the hated team magma. Taking a break from his work, he climbed up one of the trees and scanned the surrounding area, Hope resting on a branch above his, and Orbis down at the base of the tree.

Teenagers were hanging around the skate park with their boards, performing tricks, grumbling about the new magma flag (usually both), or just hanging around. Over by the dojo was a girl with long blond hair, probably the person he'd heard coming earlier. He could also see that Kanoa and Abraham were confronting another person, but they seemed to have it covered. As it was Ares didn't really want to make a scene or be a part of anyone else's.

"M'kay you two. Time to get back to work," Ares mumbled, lowering himself to the ground. Above him, Hope yawned and glided down next to Ares, apparently having taken a short nap. It sellted on Ares' back and the trio was off again.

[Pokefan209]

Mayim sat patiently in the car as the two whispered secrets back and forth that she would never know. It didn't matter, though. Rebels or Civilions, she was getting a free ride. She grabbed the leather belt and clicked it into its compartment, then drummed her fingers absently as they drove to Shady Acres Skate Park. She thought about Duece, for some reason. He was probably gone by now, off doing some big assignment for Aqua. She didn't get to see him as often as she'd like, and whenever she did, it was about a mission or Aqua HQ. They never got that special time that kids and guardians should have together. True, Mayim was 17; however, she had never had the proper childhood.

Mayim jolted out of her thoughts when she noticed that her eyes had begun watering up and that the car was no longer moving. She stepped out, straightened out her shirt, and dusted the crud off her butt. She followed closely behind the two teens. One stopped at a poster with the Magma insignia on it and snorted at it, making Mayim sigh in relief. At least these guys weren't Magma. The boy then proceded to click open a Pokeball and send out a-

Vulpix.

A fire-type pokemon, with a striking resemblence to the Flareon that had burned her arms and made Mayim a scaredy-cat of fire-type pokemon. Mayim's eyes turned into large circular discs, and she stepped back, thinking of a logical plan. However, all she could think of was the fire pluming from the little fox pokemon toward the poster. The fire that could bring so much destruction. So much pain.

Suddenly, and without any warning, Mayim ran.

She looked back to make sure that they weren't looking, blindly running away from the fox menace. Unfortunatly, this meant that she didn't see where she was running, which was directly into an 18-year-old boy named Kanoa. She turned just in time to see his shocked face, and tried slowing down, putting up her hands, waiting for the impact that was sure to come.

[Dragonwish2]

Rachel decided on a punching bag first. She released all of her pokemon and stood in front of it, in a fighting position. "Jaklyn, to the left flank! Marcus and Blake, to the right! Togepi, you've got the front! Let's practice strike manuever King!" She held her position, rigid. Her Pokemon flew about the bag. Jaklyn sprung from the floor, unleashing a fury of Vine Whip on the bag. Togepi leapt in front of Rachel and darted back and forth in several directions. Marcus tackled the bag from Rachel's right side, and while the bag still shook Blake scratched the bag. It proved sturdy, taking all of the hits. Rachel swung a foot at it and kicked, shoving it backwards. She smiled in triumph and turned to her Pokemon, who had lined up behind her. "Great job, guys!"

Whump! The bag slammed into Rachel's back, sending her sprawling. Her Pokemon dodged her flying body. She fell four yards away, groaning as she stood carefully. Her back popped in, relieving her for a few seconds as she massaged her shoulders. An attendant rushed over.

"Are you alright?" He looked her over. The attendant was a young man, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, with dirty brown hair that was cropped around his head. He had deep brown eyes and was well muscled, complimenting his height of about six feet. His arms and face were lightly tanned. His mouth puckered into a look of concern. "Looks like the bag did worse to you than you did to it." Rachel smiled at the chance of humor. A pop exploded behind the attendant as the bag burst open, spilling plastic beads everywhere. He looked back at it and laughed. "Your Pokemon must be something to do that. Very nice. Would you like to battle?"

Rachel stopped, confused for a second, then chuckled. "You're very forward with girls, aren't you? No sugarcoating things then?"
The boy laughed, flashing a pearly white smile. "My bad. The name's Chris Burkeley. You looked like a trainer, and trainers can't say no to a battle, am I right?"

Rachel quickly took on the assumed role. "Of course I'm a trainer. I accept your challenge." Chris beckoned her to a door, where they stepped inside.

This post has been edited by Dragonwish2: Nov 25 2011, 05:50 PM

[Kamaitachi]

Just as Kanoa was about to engage Daniel in conversation, a speeding girl ran slap-bang into him! The two tumbled for a moment, rolling in spectacular fashion, ending with Kanoa perched somewhat suggestively over Mayim.

He slowly opened his eyes and blinked at her owlishly, wondering what exactly had happened. No stranger to falling over, Kanoa pulled himself apart from her, dusting himself off as he reached out his hand to help her up.

She had impossibly blue eyes, with equally impossible long light blonde hair. The girl also had some musculature on her, which came as a bit of a surprise to Kanoa for no particular reason.

"Well hey there, Rhyhorn." Kanoa laughed heartily as he helped her back up. He clearly bore no insult or injury from the little event, and still managed to maintain his eternally cheerful demeanor. "Keep an eye out for obstacles like myself, okay?"

Not sure what else to say to her, for fear of making the situation far more awkward than it already was, Kanoa turned back to the business at hand.

Dusting himself off as he moved back next to Abraham, the two made their way over to the kid who was burning posters.

Kanoa wasn't exactly sure how to talk menacingly or villainously to the kid without sounding like a total idiot, so he merely drew out the pokeball for Helipop, his Zubat. The ball burst open, revealing the eager bat, who flapped about excitedly in the air.

"Okay Helipop, let's try out that new move of yours. Air Cutter!" The already erratic and intense flapping somehow intensified further, shooting out a flurry of little wind blades. The crescent shaped projectiles slashed quickly through the air, rending and slicing up the posters that Daniel had put up in place of the Magma ones. Kanoa grinned, popping a thumbs up at his pokepal. "Hey kid, you wanna back off? This is clearly Magma turf now, because there's a big ol' flag there." He wasn't sure whether or not the kid was from the Rebellion (as he had no memory retention, and might've recognized Daniel from the Bungalow), or just some peeved civilian. Either way, this was the perfect opportunity to create a bit of a stir.

[BlackStarLine]

Daniel snorted. "Not likely mate. I'd like to see you try and stop me from tearing those posters down."

Daniel turned to face his opponent and noticed that there were three of them, with 2 hanging around at the back looking rather hesitant. He took note of the Zubat that had launched the Air Cutter attack and decided on using Max to take care of it.

"Max, give it some swagger followed up with a shadow ball!" Daniel commanded, as he threw a pokeball into the air.

Max emerged from his pokeball before giving the Zubat the full swagger effect which heightened the Zubat's attack but also confused it, allowing Max to launch a number of shadow balls at the Zubat.

Daniel was feeling confident that he would take care of the Zubat quite easily.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

While Abraham did indeed think it a little violent for Kanoa to command his Zubat to tear up a few posters put up by what seemed to be a member of the rebellion, seeing as how the posters were not for Aqua or Magma. Still, the attacks were not aimed at the kid, who responded much more violently.

He summoned a Mightyena which immediately landed two attacks on Helipop, neither of which seemed particularly effective. Swagger had some merit, certainly. Confuse the opponent and raise its attack so if it hits itself, it does so with more power. But Shadow Ball just seemed like a huge mess of a move choice. Mightyena wasn't a particularly strong pokemon to begin with, but its special attack didn't hold a candle to its still somewhat average physical attack power. Why not just use Bite? It would surely be much more powerful.

Needless to say, the Shadow Ball attack did little damage, at least compared to its potential. Helipop clearly seemed to take somewhat of a beating, but this kid's battle tactics were particularly weak, and Abraham was confident enough to step in. "Kanoa, let me handle this. Pull back Helipop before he hurts himself." The advice was sound, as simply recalling a pokemon completely removes any confusion it may have had previously.

In Helipop's place, Abraham considered sending out Chaos, his new Shellder, but opted against it. He was as of yet uncertain of his new pokemon's abilities, strengths and weaknesses, nor was he confident that it would obey him. He'd need a few practice rounds before using him in a real fight. Instead, he opted to use Tartarus, his Elekid.

"You're outnumbered," he said, once Tartarus made his somewhat magnificent appearance. Upon being summoned, he created a field of electricity around himself and spun his arms around rapidly, creating more power within. Abraham looked to Kanoa to his left and Ares as well and then back to the kid who challenged Kanoa. "This isn't going to end well for you if you don't just walk away. Luckily, I'm giving you that option. Walk away."

[BlackStarLine]

"I'll pass if you don't mind. I can easily take on a couple of Magma Grunts such as yourselves." Daniel replied with a slight smirk. So, he was up against a decently levelled Elekid. Daniel decided to keep Max in reserves until he needed him later.

"Max, back here and sit next to me, It's time to let Lily in on the action." Max responded by trotting back over and sitting down next to Daniel, who released Lily at near enough the precise moment that Max sat down.

"Right then, let's see how your Elekid fares against Lily shall we? I'll even let you have the first move." Daniel said.

Needless to say he was feeling confident, however it was only a short step from confidence to overconfidence. If he got overconfident it might lead to his undoing.

[FirePower]

Ares and company ambled towards the commotion as slowly as the trainer allowed. He hated being the center of attention and really didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the skate park, but that was his job at the moment: Cause a scene.

As he wandered among the skaters, Ares continued to put up fliers. It was more of an excuse not to rush to the scene more than anything. He knew that a fight would be unavoidable, though. He absentmindedly started talking to his pokemon about the upcoming battle(s).

"All right, you two, we're prob'ly going to have to fight with some other kid. Or an Aqua Agent. This is supposed to be an important mission, so we'll need to be at the top of our game." He said, trying to calm his nerves. Gligar and bronzor alike voiced their agreement. Just then Volgen came out of its pokeball and started walking at Ares' side, unsure of what's going on. After Hope explained things to the houndour it nodded in understanding and Ares continued his thoughts.

"None of us have any idea as to what we're up against, so we just need to fight our hardest and hope for the best. Judging by the name aqua, odds are we'll be fighting a water type. In that case, sinse Orbis is the only one of you guys not weak to them... it will be reserved kept out of the way for most of t'day's battling. Got that, Orbis?"

"Zor," the bronzor said. It clearly disapproved of the idea, but it wasn't his place to make the plan. The kid had beaten him fair and square, and as such his new trainer was the one calling the shots.

By now Ares had reached the fight scene, where it looked as though Abraham (and/or Kanoa) was about to duke it out with some other guy. It was rather apparent what was taking place, but just to make sure Ares looked for a second opinion.

"Erm, excuse me," Ares asked a nearby person. "What exactly is going on?"

[Kamaitachi]

Kanoa couldn't help but be a bit dumbstruck as a Mightyena appeared, Intimidated his Zubat, Helipop, then proceeded to re-raise his attack and confuse him, then fire off a big black glob of goo.

Poor Helipop struggled around a bit in the air, but Kanoa quickly recalled him under Abraham's advice. The hot, older agent quickly stepped forward to engage the guy's Mightyena with an Elekid that appeared on the field.

The Rebellion agent evidently decided to play it safe, and retreated his Mightyena, summoning a Grovyle? Kanoa watched as the grass-lizard appeared on the field, staring down at the little Electric Kid.

"Right then, let's see how your Elekid fares against Lily, shall we? I'll even let you have the first move." The kid seemed a little boastful, and spotting an opportunity to keep further switcheroos from happening, Kanoa stepped back up.

"First move? Well don't mind if I do!" He grinned cheekily, re-opening the pokeball for Helipop, who appeared back in the air, sans attack boost and sans confusion. "Helipop, Mean Look!"

Despite not having eyes, the Zubat fluttered excitedly in front of Tartarus, facing towards the enemy Grovyle. A faint aura of something sinister gently swept through the area, and Daniel would find it impossible to remove his Grovyle Lily, from the battlefield. "So then, second move goes to Abe, don't you think?" Kanoa gave a thumbs up to his partner, Abraham, then quickly switched it so that he was flipping the bird at Daniel. "The tough guy act makes you look real cute, but it's not gonna help you in this fight, buddy."

* * *

A gruff looking child, about Ares' height and age, but with stubble and a deep voice turned to the boy and frowned. "Looks like some guy is trying to keep the Magma goons from taking over this area. Don't see much difference, though. Aqua control, Magma control; it's all just bad. Let them kill each other for all we care." The kid's voice obviously did not match his age, but kids were growing up so quickly these days. "At least we get to watch a cool pokemon battle."

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

"No," Abraham shook his head coolly. "I think I'd much rather see how this fight plays out, one on one. Tartarus, back." Tartarus awkwardly scrambled back to Abraham's side to watch the fight between Helipop and Lily unfold. The last thing Abraham wanted was to build the kid's confidence and make him think he had a chance. If Tartarus stayed in, that Grovyle could have possibly dealt some damage to him, even while taking hits from two sources. She wouldn't be able to switch out, thanks to Mean Look, so she would inevitably be defeated due to Zubat's monstrous type advantage, but if she happened to take out Tartarus in the process? The kid would just get reckless and continue to fight, which is not what Abraham wanted.

At this point, it was a battle of wits, one which he could surely win. Zubat was a notoriously weak pokemon, but unless Kanoa was hopelessly dumb, which was not evidenced, Helipop would win this battle, which would strike a large blow against their opponents' ego. Losing to a Zubat would have that effect on many. And so, rather than joining Kanoa in teaming up on the kid, he opted not to fuel is ego, and sat back to watch the fight before him.

The area was becoming somewhat of a spectacle, and so Abraham backed away, leaving the battle to Kanoa and their aggressor. He made eye contact with Ares, who was speaking to someone a fair distance away and simply nodded. If things continued after Helipop's inevitable victory, he was unopposed to stepping in to aid the fight should Kanoa need it, but hopefully this kid would calm down once he realized he was in over his head. Though, perhaps it was optimistic to expect that of a teenager.

[Pokefan209]

Mayim stumbled into Kanoa, a guy about her age, though slightly taller than her, with impressive stature and muscles. He helped her up and began battling the two Mayim had been chauffured by. She couldn't just stand around and let them take a beating! She analyzed the situation, targeted a Bronzor and a boy who didn't seem to understand the situation, and sent out Oshawott. He made a grand entrence, surrounding himself with bubbles before jumping out with an "Osha!"

"Oshawott, use Water Gun on that Bronzor!"

Oshawott took a big breath, inflating his chest slightly, and sent out a torrent of water at the unsuspecing steel pokemon. Mayim smiled, then stepped away from Kanoa, inspecting him. He was kinda cute, with his muscular build and youthful looks...

Snap out of it, Mayim thought. He's a Magma, and can never be trusted. Stop trying to make him seem okay! He's most definitly not.

But still, as she stared at him, she thought they could at least be friends, if not more...