[X] My Assistant

[Douken Sota]

Watching from the sky, he saw the black Pokemon take up his form again, watching his size grow immensely, but he knew the weakness now, thanks to Justin. However, watching him do jump rope with his arms in a form of Rollout did not look like a pretty site, seeing how it could also act like a shield as well as attack. Either way, the luggering beast at his height could easily knock him out of the air. "Saber, ascend!" With the height Fly can produce, he would be out of range for most ordeals (or so he hoped with this beast), so with the Skarmory's wings giving off a white hue, he burst himself higher into the air, above the ruined roof and looking down at the crowd,, pulling out his lens to check up on things clearer, which started off with a big red dog he was happy to see.

Pan and Nate were hitting the scene, and were able to act fast to get his Pokemon out of the beast's way. "Pan!" he called from the air, "It is a Real Illusion. Find a bruise and aim for it!" Easier said than done with his arms spinning around that rapidly... or was it? Taking another Pokeball from his pocket, he chucked it out to the floor, letting burst out Reep, who seemed to of been getting some very good uses lately. "Reep! Slow him down with Trick Room!" With the collected aura in hand, the broken down restaurant was taken in a blue hue, and the rapid spinning arms were moving in slow-motion.

"Let go of me!" Koldo complained as he fought against the vines. "Let me go! I will show him I am the better! He will provide me with a challenge!" Though pissed off, he figured he should take out the frustration on the giant mass, opening his mouth to shoot out a barrage of purple needle at whatever he could, though ineffective for the spot being on his back.

"Big Brother seems to be having fun," Maya chuckled, the water washing over her body. "Or is it Little Brother now. What do you say, flower buddy? Is he my big brother or little brother?" Her mind was going off course on that idea, just because she was able to evolve first. "Oh, you can let go now." Even as a Dewgong, she let her tongue stick out for that last part.

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Apr 17 2011, 01:09 AM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Nate, Pan and Fenrir causing the ruckus in the crowd. They quickly bolted into action impressively, but the Shadow Zoroark was not quite finished. Though his illusion was found out, he could still cause real damage so long as he, himself, remained unreachable within the beast he created.

"Now what?" Nate asked in response to Pan's same question, ideas flowing through his mind. "Now this happens."

He pulled out Pinch's pokeball and summoned the newly evolved Kingler. The majestic crab looked up at the behemoth before her, but stood strong. "You ready, Pinch?" Nate asked as she looked back to him. "Use Wide Guard...Now!"

Even though Zoroark's illusion certainly had the power and capability of severely damaging everyone on the field of battle, Pinch managed to protect them all simply by holding out her massive pincers. The creature stopped in its tracks, being forced back awkwardly, causing a new danger of hitting the ground, potentially causing the ground to tremble enough to destroy the stands, possibly killing hundreds, but in the very least, it would leave the Zoroark at at least temporarily exposed until he pulled himself back up.

Justin began leaping through the stands, pushing his way past onlookers desperately. They had to defeat Zoroark before the bikers sprang into action to diffuse the situation. But, as he ran, he heard a calming familiarity. "Top!!" He turned around to see Hitmontop zooming through the crowd as well, spinning rapidly as he tended to do upside down, and stop in front of Justin. "Hey, bud," He said, a different idea formulating in his head. He ran to the edge of the stadium, close enough to be heard. "Nate!" He called.

"Dude, get your bitch ass down here!"

"I gotta make sure the bikers don't mess this up!" Justin called back. "I'm taking Hitmontop with me, but use the rest of my pokemon to take down this thing."

"Got it," Nate nodded. He had bigger fish to worry about at that particular moment, however. The creature was falling to the ground and going to make a big bang when it hit, and Nate had to make sure it didn't cause a bunch of people to die. "Da Bomb!" He shouted, sending out the Numel. "I need you to use Magnitude to neutralize the impact. I don't really know if you can-"

"Numel," Da Bomb seemed determined to prove himself. He could, after all, control the quakes beneath the ground with varying levels of Magnitude, so why couldn't he use it to minimize destruction as well? Sure enough, as the beast hit the ground, shockwaves of energy began trying to move through the dirt beneath them, but Da Bomb's Magnitude somehow kept them contained beneath the beast itself. It also had the added effect of doing a lot of extra damage because all that energy was exploding beneath the creature. Ultimately, however, that didn't matter, as it had exactly one weakspot, and the Magnitude wasn't hitting the Zoroark.

It was, however, low to the ground, trying desperately to move the abomination so it could gain altitude once more, but it was difficult to move such a lumbering beast with earth exploding beneath it.

-----

So, back through the crowds Justin and Hitmontop ran. It helped to have Hitmontop spinning wildly in front of him. People tended to get out of the way when they saw that headed in their direction. It didn't take long at all for them to get back up into the stands where Burro and his men were preparing to move. Burro was dumb, but he wasn't dumb enough to let a few kids defeat his superweapon and then just hand over the town. He needed to show that he didn't need Zoroark to rule these people.

When he got close, though, there was a group of bikers protecting Burro's place in the stands. It made sense, after all. "Go back, kid," one of them said. "Enjoy the show. This section's off limits."

Hitmontop had stopped spinning to eye down the man who spoke to Justin in such a condescending tone. "I think you already know I didn't just wander up here," Justin said. "I came for Burro. Let me through or I'll let myself through."

The bikers looked at each other and charged Justin and Hitmontop. Two of them summoned pokemon, but the other two deemed their fists effective enough, though they misjudged the situation clearly. The two bikers who approached Justin found themselves against a kid a little bit bigger than he seemed a second earlier. Justin wasn't much of a fighter, but he was certainly strong. He let loose punches wildly, but found that their four arms against his mere two were quite effective.

Hitmontop did not face such a problem. He spun around and toppled the four bikers whom approached him like bowling pins. The two who summoned pokemon let their impressively sized Armaldo and Charizard take the fight to Hitmontop while they turned their own attention towards Justin, whom was already outnumbered.

Hitmontop began his battle against these two pokemon like he tended to begin battles, with a shock. He spun around and clapped his feet together loudly, stunning and knocking back the Charizard and Armaldo. During their moment of confusion, he continued his relentless barrage of attacks by starting a Triple Kick against Armaldo, who took fair damage from each of the hits. Immediately after those hits, he followed up with a Quick Attack to Charizard's face. He moved too quickly for Charizard to land a successful fire attack and Armaldo was barely standing after the entirety of the Triple Kick combined with the Fake Out.

As Charizard turned to attack Hitmontop, he launched himself away, yet again, by attacking Armaldo with Mach Punch. The attack was so fast and precise that Armaldo fell to the floor before even being able to counter the hit. Afterwards, Hitmontop turned to continue engaging with Charizard, but turned headfirst into a fiery bite from the beastly pokemon. The hit hurt, admittedly, as the Charizard wasn't weak, but he continued by unleashing another Triple Kick. It was far less effective on the flying dragon than on Armaldo, but Hitmontop was still much stronger and his attacks still hurt like hell.

Their battle continued for not very long after. Charizard landed two more Fire Fangs, but Hitmontop's Triple Kicks, which continued rising in intensity, eventually did it in. He then turned his attention to Justin, who was basically getting his ass kicked by four very large bikers. The pounding didn't go on much longer, though, as he Rapid Spinned into them and knocked them away, one of them even falling off the stands, potentially injuring himself pretty badly. Neither seemed to care much, though.

Justin stood up, his face bleeding and beaten, but still mostly in tact. "Thanks, bud," he said sincerely, then looked at three bikers who began to stand up, angrily. "What are you guys doing?" he asked. "Can't you see Burro's creature is nothing more than an illusion? He's been playing you the whole damn time. He's nothing! He isn't powerful! Why are you putting your lives in danger, trying to run this town, after knowing what you know?"

"It's not that simple, kid," one of the bikers said. "Burro is powerful, even if that creature is a fake. He has a different kind of power. I'm not going to defy him, because then I'll get whacked."

"You've already seen that the people of this town are ready to push him and the biker gangs out," Justin said. "Do you really think Burro is more dangerous than them? Think about your allegiances. I know what it's like to be on the wrong side of the law, wondering whether or not what you're doing is right. I can assure you, you're in the wrong.

With that, Justin and Hitmontop moved into Burrow's stand, where he stood alone.

"Justin Smart," Burro said. "I'm impressed you got past my guards, even if they did do a number on your face."

"It's your face you should be worried about, Burro," Justin said, not ready to play any games. "I will straight up murder your ass, and you know it, if anything happens to any of those three down there, and your bitch ass army of bikers will do nothing, and clearly have done nothing, to stop me. You don't own this town anymore, so I suggest you call off your bikers while at least some of them still serve you. After they've seen your faulty display of power. After they see your secret weapon fall to three kids, they'll know you're nothing more than the piece of shit you really are."

"I'm sure we'll see about that, won't we?" Burro seemed confident.

[Toogee]

Thank goodness for Trick Room.

Reep’s well-timed attack had turned the tide in our heroes’ favor. Slow was the new fast, so Nate’s kingler and numel were able to set up their attacks well before the beast could turn all of them into a smoothie. Pan was quite familiar with the attack from all her travels with Douken. Thus, she was able to use it to her advantage as well.

As soon as the venusaur let go of Douken’s pokemon, Pan jumped off of Fenrir and onto Turnip. Due to the effects of Trick Room, her fall was slowed, as if the girl was a feather floating softly towards the ground. This was in contrast to when she commanded the venusaur to circle their opponent. The grass pokemon took off like a race car. His stubby legs moved at blinding speed as Turnip ran to the backside of the leviathan. Thanks to Douken’s hint about the bruise, Pan took greater attention to the skin detail and spotted the zoroark-shaped aberration.

“Turnip, use Vine Whip on that spot.”

The venusaur obliged and stood his ground. The creature was too distracted with getting back on solid ground, so Turnip had no trouble using his vines to strike the target. The next few moments were set in bullet time (again, Trick Room). The vines wrapped around the illusion fox and pulled the pokemon out of his illusion’s back. The leviathan disappeared from existence while the zoroark was pulled to the venusaur. Turnip then proceeded to spin the pokemon around over his head, the slow motion effect of Trick Room still in effect. After several full rotations, the venusaur released the zoroark, sending him across the arena. Like a slow motion rocket, the illusion fox was helpless in controlling his flight as he passed by the other opponents.

“Fenrir, Flamethrower!”

The arcanine released a jet of flames in the path of the flying zoroark. The enemy flew right through the flames, the creature briefly engulfed in fire. With the help of Trick Room, the zoroark continued to stay in the air, setting up a perfect opportunity for a combo attack from the other pokemon in the arena.

[Douken Sota]

He couldn't help but smile at the chain of reactions from the team that was brought out. Nate had two of his to knock back and reduce structural damage as Pan used the speed change to use the slow walking plant like a torpedo to his back, breaking the illusion. If it was a case of dumb luck that broke the illusion, it would of been a much harder fight, which now left the black blur hovering in mid-air of the attack. "Koldo, Reep, Maya, Saber, let's go!"

Saying that this was going to hurt was dead obvious, as it seemed like the group were doing their own form of Beat Up! As Fenrir blasted him with the Flamethrower, Douken's released party of four almost simultaneously launched a wave of raged attacked. Koldo, after puffing his cheeks, let out a wave of purple needles for his Poison Sting. Saber let out a set of S-shaped blades by flapping his wings for Air cutter. Reep's eye glowed as energy pulsed from her body with Night Shade. Maya decided it was New Move Debut time, showing off her newly learned Signal Beam from evolution by setting off another rainbow-colored wave of energy (unlike Aurora Beam, it was brighter, but not as steady-looking).

"Skarmory, time to land," he said, patting the armored Bird's neck, taking him down to the stands, and immediately walked up to Justin and Burro. He could easily cut the tension between the two with a butter knife. "Thanks for the save," he muttered as he stood next to Justin, his eyes laid on the pig the bikers called a leader. "You seem pretty comfy in that chair, Burro."

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

As Douken's entire team went to town on Zoroark, along with Fenrir and Turnip from Pan, Nate decided to seal the deal by summoning one of Justin's pokemon. Obviously, Hitmontop would have been preferred. His fighting attacks would decimate Zoroark, but that wasn't in the cards. Justin did have two (technically three, but Pinsir barely counted) bug pokemon. Nate, at least, had the sense to know that summoning another shadow pokemon would only serve to screw things up even more.

The other two were Ninjask and Shedinja. Shedinja was ghost type, though, and Nate knew this, and also knew how frail the poor thing was and how quickly it would get taken down by any of Zoroark's attacks. This isn't to say that Ninjask was capable of taking much punishment, but it wouldn't die from a hit, and it also had its own Bug type attack which would do a number on Zoroark.

Ninjask popped out of her pokeball, golden and glorious as she was. She immediately recognized that it was not Justin whom summoned her, and began flying around panicked, trying to find him. "Ninjask!" Nate yelled, and she focused what little attention she had on him. "Justin's fine. I need you to use Bug Bite on that black fox. Can you do that for me?" Rather than assessing the situation like Hitmontop did earlier, she freaked out. She began zipping through the air, trying to find her real trainer. Why did he abandon her? How could he? "Ninjask!" Nate called out. "Please! I need your help!"

She flew back down to his level and looked him straight in the face. "Justin will be fine. I promise." It seemed to be enough. She immediately turned around and charged Zoroark, who was being struck by all of Douken's simultaneous attacks and spun around behind him to bite down. She didn't do much damage compared to Douken's pokemon, sure, but she helped, and that was enough. Ultimately, the phantom pokemon fell. Hard. All of its illusions dissipated and it lost consciousness.

That was about the time Douken landed next to Justin and Burro. "Thanks for the save," he said as Justin nodded.

"No problem, man," he replied.

"You seem pretty comfy in that chair, Burro." Douken continued as Burro became clearly uncomfortable. His secret weapon had fall, as Justin warned him and none of his lackeys were around to protect him from these two men and their two very strong looking pokemon.

[Toogee]

And so, the supposedly unbeatable pokemon crashed into the sand, defeated by three ordinary kids and their pokemon. The zoroark hated himself for being at the mercy of human oppressors once more. He lied upon the ground, waiting for the enemy to finish him off.

“Good work you guys,” Pan said to Turnip and Fenrir. As the effects of Trick Room dissipated, Pan dismounted and greeted her pokemon with strokes of gratitude. Chi-Chi, upon Pan’s shoulder the whole time, took a victory pose, performing a V-sign with her paw.

As they congratulated each other, the zoroark continued to watch from his defeated position, utterly confused by the events. The humans and pokemon were celebrating together, enjoying one’s company. The love shared between trainers and pokemon was a wonder to watch for the zoroark. He hadn’t felt loved by anyone in ages. Was he all wrong? Could he one day have a human friend that would treat him with the same respect and kindness as Pan and the others did? The thought of such a possibility made his shadow condition just a bit less powerful.

That was the last thing he ever saw.

The zoroark began convulsing violently, much to Pan’s horror. She ran towards creature, trying to keep the pokemon still as it shook and slobbered uncontrollably. This was not a result of the battle or from a long-term condition like epilepsy. It was the work of a quick-acting poison, one that did not intend to leave the pokemon alive to learn more about kindness.

“Nate, I need an antidote! Hurry before…oh no…”

Pan held her hands to her mouth as the zoroark was motionless, not even breathing. She wasn’t sure why she felt sad; the pokemon was trying to kill her and her friends just minutes ago. And yet, she felt that the illusion fox wasn’t in his right mind. There was something about him that made him different from normal pokemon. Pan’s pokemon watched in silence as she closed the eyes of their opponent. There was nothing more to be done.
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Mondo’s work was done. The test showed that, while one trainer was no match for the prototype, a group of trainers could take him down with relative ease. The shadow zoroark was not capable of handling the task. Though his initial excitement was gone, Mondo kept looking towards the horizon. He would find a new subject in order to create a truly unbeatable foe. But first, he had to get rid of the evidence.

With the aid of a trigger he kept on himself, Mondo was able to activate a cyanide pill embedded deep within the zoroark’s gut. It was a failsafe in case the pokemon proved too much to handle. It also would help cover the scientist’s tracks, as it was very difficult to detect evidence of shadowfication on a dead pokemon. While the audience looked on in confusion, Mondo simply walked out of the arena. He had much to report on…
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Burro was dumbfounded. As Justin and Douken confronted him, the audience became restless. Some booed at the battle’s outcome, while others were heading towards Burro to see what would happen next. Burro was not about to give up however. Even if he had lost his powerful leviathan, he still had his legion of bikers at his command.

“Kill ‘em! All of them!” Burro roared to his grunts. However, none of them went rushing to fulfill he deed. In fact, several bikers gathered behind Burro’s throne and pushed it over. The large man fell forward to the ground, turning to his cohorts in disbelief.

“You morons! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Don’t you get it? That pokemon was the only thing you had over us. A bunch of kids just defeated it, and you think you can keep bossing us around?”

The unnamed biker kicked Burro in the gut, causing the now former leader to topple over once more. The biker proceeded to make a bold claim, shouting as he talked over Burro’s whining.

“I think it’s time for some new leadership around here. And I think that man is me.”

“Like hell!” shouted another biker. “You couldn’t lead a snorlax to a buffet!”

“Hey, it’s harder than it sounds! Their eyes are closed!”

The arguing quickly grew more intense. Once someone threw a punch at a fellow biker, the entire audience erupted into a fistfight. Some grabbed seats and various food items to up the ante. Others were summoning pokemon to gain a clear advantage. In all of the chaos, Burro started to crawl away, keeping close to the ground in a desperate attempt to escape further bodily injury. He didn’t even bother to check on the zoroark that he admired for so long.

Seeing that the gang of bikers ignited into a sea of violence, Pan abandoned the illusion fox and climbed back onto Fenrir. Somewhere in the audience, Justin and Douken were likely avoiding injury themselves. She looked all around, but there were simply too many people. She raced around the edge of the arena upon her arcanine, calling out for her companions.

“Justin! Douken! Wherever you are, get out of there!”

[Douken Sota]

Watching the panicked Burro try to convince the others to fight, Douken was about ready to give him a bit of a speech about what he felt was the role of the gym leader; not a way to throw around his power, but a way to test the limits of challengers and bring out their potential. Before he could preach to him, however, some of the men began to shove him down and begin to argue, trying to test their own strength against each other to become the new "king." Certainly not good up in the stands.

As items started to fly, Douken quickly hopped back on Skarmory's back, the bird almost instantly taking off. "Justin, Skarmory isn't big enough for two, but I am sure I can at least drop you off with Pan and Nate," he told him, looking at the Pokemon's claws. Surely, if he carried him out of the building, not only would the bird have to deal with the extra weight, but Justin would most likely nearly lose his arms. It was that, or Justin and Hitmontop having to fight their way through the mess of a crowd.

Still, he didn't seem to mind, so after waiting for Juston and Hitmontop getting ready, he flew the Skarmory over him ,taking his arms with his claws and flying him over to the fence back to where Pan and Nate was. "We meet up in front of the building," he told them, trying to set up a meeting place so no one would get lost. At this level, he was able to pull out the three Pokeballs and return his teammate before looking at the lifeless Zoroark. Tracing the tat once again, he did a quick prayer for the fox (even though he tried to kill Douken) before launching himself back into the air.

Looknig down, he watched the blurry trio go make their escape, but was more impressive was the blur that was outside the building...

Bunnying Justin was permitted

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Apr 23 2011, 09:58 PM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin looked at Skarmory's claws and cringed for a moment, but realized it was, indeed, the only way out. He did wonder about Hitmontop, though, because he didn't have his pokeballs on hand to return him and make the trip that much lighter. "Hang in there, buddy," he said to Hitmontop. "Jump down when I get back to Nate, alright? I'll catch you before you land."

"Top!"

"Tight," Justin nodded. "Stay safe until then. Alright, Douken. Let's do this thing."

Once Skarmory lifted off the floor, Douken on its back, it grabbed Justin's shoulders, forcing a grunt out of the man, whose muscles were being pretty severely penetrated. "Let's do it quick, alright?" His shoulders were used to claws. When Ninjask was just a little Nincada, she used to climb up and down his back and sink her tiny claws into his body all the damn time. None of that, though, compared to Skarmory, who didn't seem to care at all for Justin's well being except what Douken told him.

Once Skarmory released him and he hit the ground, Douken was off to scout for them. "Justin!" Nate called. "Glad you're okay, man!"

"My pokeballs, I need them, now!"

"Uh, right. Yeah, here." Nate tossed Justin his belt. As he caught it, he saw Ninjask flying straight towards him. He ducked as she flew right past his head. She probably would have decapitated him if he didn't. She just forgot how freakishly fast she recently became is all. He was going to assume that at least. While she tried to turn around, Justin found Hitmontop's ball and pulled it off. He looked up at the balcony where Burro stood, previously, and saw Hitmontop falling gracefully towards the ground. Justin held up his ball and pulled the pokemon from midair.

"Pan," he turned to her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. She almost died, and a lot of that was his fault. Maybe it wasn't but it certainly felt like it. He still betrayed her, and she still almost died. "I'm glad you're okay." He pulled his right hand off of her shoulder and brushed it through her hair, pulling her bangs out of her face. They had been through a lot in the past few hours and it had been a while since any of them had a proper shower. Still, she was so beautiful. "We should go," he snapped out of it. "Things are getting kinda crazy in here."

He looked to his left as Ninjask flew towards him, much slower this time. "Hey pretty girl, don't kill me this time, alright?" He said, pulling out her ball and summoning her back. He noted her happy sounding buzz as she was recalled. He then looked over to Nate, whom called back Da Bomb and Pinch. "I don't suppose Fenrir's got room for three?" He asked Pan.

[Toogee]

As soon as Justin landed into the arena, Pan dismounted off her arcanine and ran out to greet him. The rough sand was a little uncomfortable on her bare feet, but that was nothing compared to what Justin had endured. In addition to his shoulders, his face was an utter mess of cuts and bruises.

“Your face!” exclaimed Pan, shocked at the beating he took. Justin then caressed her hair, with no concern over his own injuries. Once again, Pan was filled with those warm yet confusing feelings. Amidst all the chaos, the first thing Justin did was check on Pan. Not even the fact that she was garbed in dirty sleepwear stopped him from admiring her like a piece of art.

“I’m glad you’re OK too,” Pan replied. “Well, relatively of course.”

Before they could talk further however, Justin pointed out that the group still needed to find a way out. Pan looked around for a safe exit. Scaling the arena walls was out of the question, as there were still plenty of bikers causing trouble up there. She soon spotted a gate, the same opening that Douken entered through. Even though it was closed, that was no trouble for a strong venusaur.

“Turnip, take out that gate!”

The venusaur lumbered over to the gate and began releasing several vines. Each vine wrapped around the bottom section, pushing upward in unison. The pokemon’s strength was enough to force the gate upward, destroying the locking mechanism. Turnip held the gate up with ease, allowing everyone to pass through. Once everyone was on the other side, Pan recalled all of her pokemon. The gate closed behind them, ensuring that no one would follow them. Not that that was too much of a problem; the biers were too busy fighting amongst themselves to notice the group walking off.

“I think we’re safe for now,” Pan said to Justin and Nate. “No need for Fenrir. We can make it on foot.”

And so, Pan, Justin, and Nate headed down the deserted hall to the exit, avoiding the bikers that were fighting above them.
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The fighting spilled out of the dilapidated restaurant and into the streets. It was hard to tell which side of the coup was winning as each individual biker was only loyal to themselves. Noticeably absent was Burro, who was too busy trying to make a daring escape before the other bikers realized he was still around. This was still a good sized city. He could find a nice place to hide while this whole situation blew over.

Just then, Burro was stopped in his tracks by rumbling noise. Even all the fighting ceased as the bikers started looking around. It sounded like a stampede. The gang soon found that it was a stampede, not one of pokemon but of angry people. Indeed, it was a sea of people, perhaps thousands by some counts. They wielded a random assortment of pitchforks, baseball bats, and other items for causing major pain. Leading the charge was a young teenage boy riding upon a rapidash. Though his face was hidden by an oversized Viking helmet, his wild battlecry echoed through the city as he pointed his katana towards the bikers. They had no idea there were this many people in this part of the city. How was this possible?

The bikers did not stick around to find out. The gang scattered in a mad dash to get to their bikes. Others simply ran straight out of the city in a desperate attempt to avoid getting trampled. The roar of motorcycles signaled that the bikers were on the move. As they too headed out of Lenoilia, it appeared that they were no longer interested in running the city.

“I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those kids and their pokemon!” Burro cried as he sped out of Lenoilia with the rest of the bikers.

When Pan, Justin, and Nate exited the restaurant, they saw a very different picture. The bikers were being chased not by angry Lenoilians but by a quartet of zorua. The little foxes yipped and yapped as the bikers retreated, finally howling as the last of the bikers disappeared over the horizon. They were quickly joined by 20 Dream Enders in celebration. They had won the day.

“I knew you guys wouldn’t let us down!” shouted Harvey to the group. “We found these little foxes a bit worse for wear while we were recruiting. A few of us made a capture, and with a little help from Joy, we were able to work out something to scare these guys out of town.”

The man put his large arms around the four visitors, his messy beard tickling Pan’s nose.

“Who’s hungry?”
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That afternoon, the pokemon center was alive with activity. People from around the area were congregating for a buffet of barbeque and cake. The air was no longer filled with doom and gloom. People were sharing tales of victory, most notably the daring battle with the “Lopsided Leviathan”. Others were talking about revitalizing Lenoilia; the victory over the bikers inspired many to begin bringing Lenoilia back to its former glory.

On one of the couches, Pan was applying a piece of Nevermelt Ice to Justin’s face, hoping to reduce the swelling. Luckily, it was wrapped in a cloth towel, so the stinging wouldn’t be so bad. Still, she enjoyed watching him squirm every time she came close with the ice.

“Hold still, hero,” Pan said with a smile as she sat next to Justin. This was after she had showered and changed into her usual outfit of purple vest, black long-sleeved shirt, and shorts. She remained barefoot, often choosing to do so when indoors. Meanwhile, Chi-Chi was racing around the center on top of a zorua, playing with other small pokemon.

In a place like Lenoilia, this was the happiest place in Furoh.

[Douken Sota]

After the stream of bikes reeving off into the distance, Douken figured it as best to find a place to land, having the steel bird land next to the trio who helped him out. Pulling out his lens again, he took a glimpse around, and the crowd he saw outside was gone, but the four Zorua were hopping around excited. With Harvey popping up with 19 more citizens, he heard they were a bit worn out when they were found, which made Douken take another look at them. He met the gaze of another, who let off a familiar snicker... Were they the same four?

-----------------------------------

The Pokemon Center was not in the best shape, considering the Electrode from last night, but it seemed some time was taken to fixing the place up to be manageable. The medical machine was still in critical condition, so as the citizens and guests relaxed, Nurse Joy had to tend to the Pokemon one at a time with it. Still, it was probably the liveliest and most joyous the center has ever been in a long time.

As everyone talked, Douken (back in his full clothing) was taking his time, telling some of the people his side of the story of the Leviathan battle, calling the beast a Juggernaut more than a Leviathan. He even got interrupted to hear that it was their help that he got the information, so he took the moment to thank the crowd listening. As he took a bite from the burger had had in hand, another man walked up and looked at him, before calling out to him in a calm, stern voice. "Hey Kid." Looking up, he was able to see the blur he recognized as Grayson before something came flying at him.. Catching it in midair, he looked at what he got.

It was a biker's patch that had a Wailord shooting out a giant Pokeball from his blowhole. Before he could ask about it, he said, "My way of saying thanks. I'm sure Tim would of done the same. Now, if you excuse me, I got some to hand out to your friends as well," he told him before heading off to the others. Douken, taking a bite from the burger, couldn't help but just look at the patch.

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Apr 24 2011, 05:40 PM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin didn't realize how much his face hurt until they got out of the chaos. All of a sudden, he could feel it swelling up as it happened and the pain was damn near unbearable. But it all seemed okay when they were back at the pokemon center and he finally got to be with Pan.

It was just the two of them sitting on that couch. Lots of people were in the pokemon center, doing their things, no one else really mattered at that moment. He just looked at Pan as she put the ice on his face, trying to help, but it still hurt. "It's so cold," he laughed, squirming away from it.

"Hold still, hero," she laughed back, forcing the ice.

Hero. No, that wasn't it at all. He thought it was great that she thought that of him, but at the end of the day, the only reason he was able to help at all was because he was part of a criminal organization, the very same one which caused the problem in the first place. Moreover, his recent acts of "heroism" probably did a number on his reputation within Team Deception. It was hard to tell what Dr. Mondo would do about his and Nate's fairly blatant insubordination, but he actually seemed okay towards the end of the day.

Maybe it was just that he was with Pan that he was so optimistic. On the one hand, he wouldn't get in trouble. Good. He could keep getting paid. On the other hand, he might get in a lot of trouble and get kicked out of Team Deception. Even better. He could go back to a real job in Petropolis and finally get a chance to figure things out with Pan.

"Thank you, Pan," he said, trying so hard to hide his goofy smile, the goofiness of it amplified by his swollen face. He wanted to say something else, but that was really the only thing that made sense. He thought back to Nate's stupid advice about sleeping with her. Honestly, the idea sounded fantastic, but he wasn't sure it sounded good for the right reasons. He wanted more than just a rebound, but if they had sex and then he had to go off on another mission, what would that mean for them? Maybe he should just talk to her?

"So," he began, awkwardly. He looked at her big green eyes which were looking straight back at him with a sort of cute curiosity. "When we get back to Petropolis, we should-" Get dinner. He didn't get to say it, though, because his phone rang, ushering a sigh from Justin. "Sorry," he said, pulling out his cell phone. An unidentified number meant it was one of his bosses. He had to answer it. Instead, he put it away and rejected the call. Once his hand was free, he let it wander to hers and gently touched it. "I want to get dinner with you. I want a chance to be with you without having to fight for our lives. I just-"

"Justin!" Nate's voice came from nearby as he made his way through the crows to find them. "Did you get the call?" Justin just looked up at Nate, a look of pure annoyance on his face. "We have to go, Justin." Rather than answering, Justin sat there, looking at Nate, rage building in his face. "I'm sorry. We're in a hurry."

He stayed silent for a moment, thinking about the consequences of just quitting right then and there. This wasn't a normal job, though. He couldn't quit after screwing up as badly as he did, not knowing what he knew about Team Deception. They would come after him, find some way of clearing themselves, even if it meant killing him. They weren't above that. Dr. Mondo even knew about his feelings for Pan, and he certainly wasn't above going after her.

"Pan," he said, looking back at her, trying not to cry. "Pan, I'm so sorry." He was beginning to think things would never work with her. His affiliation and her goodness were far too conflicting. She would never be with him if she knew, but he couldn't hide this from her forever. What was he going to tell her about why he had to keep traveling around Furoh? What if she wanted to play the hero again while he was the villain? "I have to go."

He let go of her hand and stood up, looking away from her immediately, trying to hide his pathetically weepy face. He didn't pay attention to anything except getting to the front counter to gather his pokemon. When he got to Nurse Joy, she raised an eyebrow at him. "You should put some ice on your face, hun," she said.

"I'm fine," he said. "I need my pokemon back. I'm Justin Smart."

"I'm Nate Guzman," Nate added, nodding politely at her.

"Smart and Guzman," she said, looking under the counter. "Your pokemon aren't healed yet. It's taking longer than usual because our systems are down. I'm sorry."

"We don't have time to wait," Nate shook his head. "They're healthy enough to get us to where we need to go."

She seemed surprised. "Okay. Um. Sure. Hold on a sec." She went to the back and came out a few seconds later with eleven pokeballs. She handed six to Justin and five to Nate, both of whom immediately attached their respective pokeballs to their belts. "Have a safe trip, guys,"

"Thanks," Nate said, "Good luck with the rest of the healing."

She smiled. "Thanks, cutie. Make sure your friend puts some ice on his face, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nate nodded.

Justin turned around and began walking towards the door, making sure to shoulder check Nate as he did so. Once he got to the front door, he punched the wall, which did not break. It hurt his fist quite a bit, in fact, but that didn't bother him. He walked outside of the pokemon center to see a crowd outside as well. Nate was behind him. "Justin, I'm sorry you didn't get to-"

"Shut up, Nate," Justin shook his head. "Just shut up."

"Okay," Nate nodded. "Sorry."

"Where are we going?"

"I thought you wanted-" Justin turned his head and glared at his partner. "Gigarte."

[Toogee]

As Justin touched Pan’s hand, she knew what was happening. Justin was finally asking her out. He offered her dinner in Petropolis, but that would only be the beginning of the evening. Perhaps they could walk in a park, lie on the grass, and talk until they were whisked to sleep. Who knew what could happen?

And then he left. Without an explanation, without looking back, and without a good-bye.

Pan was very confused. Justin seemed to look forward to finally getting together without all the fighting. And before he could set everything up, Nate called him up. Pan could only guess that his uncle was expecting them back, but couldn’t Justin have waited to at least finish up their conversation? She didn’t even know when they would see each other again.

It began to dawn on her that perhaps Nate wasn’t pulling Justin away but “providing cover”. Maybe Justin was trying to get out of there, away from Pan. Perhaps he wasn’t serious about getting closer. He just wanted to be friends, and when he saw Pan’s face give a hint of excitement, he dashed away. To Pan, this was the most likely series of events. This wasn’t the first time she bombed at dating; it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

As Pan sat on the couch feeling sorry for herself, Chi-Chi ran up onto her lap. The pachirisu had a package of nuts she grabbed from the buffet table. She began feeding the nuts to the girl, grabbing each nut and pressing it against Pan’s lips. The electric squirrel was a constant reminder that Pan would never be alone. She had five pokemon as constant companions, ones that wouldn’t abandon her like the series of dates in her life. Of course, Douken was around as long as she kept heading for major cities with gyms. These thoughts quickly dulled the pain of Justin’s departure.

Besides, she still needed to get to Petropolis. Professor Stone waited…
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“Take care, Ms. Gibbs and Mr. Sota. You won’t be forgotten anytime soon around here.”

“Give my regards to the young fellows. Too bad they left so soon.”

“You kids sure are something special.”

Dozens of well-wishers were saying their good-byes to Pan and Douken. The two were getting ready to depart once more for the city of Petropolis. Pan was brushing her arcanine with her fingers, prepping him for another long journey. Lima was already seated behind Fenrir’s neck. The cleffa was tugging on his mane, as if to take off without Pan. Pan smiled as Lima was shouting “fa fa fa” at the arcanine. Such good spirits were most appropriate for the beautiful blue skies overhead. Storms would no longer stop their journey.

As a gift, Joy allowed Pan to keep the nevermelt ice for future first aid treatment. This paled in comparison to seeing the dozens of people working together to begin work on reviving Lenoilia. With the bikers gone, people began to challenge the notion that Lenoilia was a lost cause. Even the trainers of Dream’s End, having abandoned their dreams to live in squalor, were starting to train again. Within the gloom of the city, a bright light had emerged.

“Hey Douken,” Pan asked her friend, “ready for take two?” The girl swiftly climbed on top of Fenrir, puling Lima closer to her lap. Chi-Chi had peeked out of Pan’s vest to wave good-bye to the small crowd, who was waving back at their heroes.

They would leave Lenoilia a brighter place.

[Douken Sota]

With the Skarmory stretching out his wings, Douken took in a deep breath, staring at the mass of blue sky. The storm, had past, and from the looks of it, they would not run into another. If everything ran smoothly, they would arrive to Petropolis in maybe about two or three days. His mind wandered, thinknig of what Petropolis was like, adding in some details he would o there at least. Top of the list was obviously the new glasses, but afterwords, there would be what Pan has to do there, as well as the Gym. Other than that, there was not much known. He was certainly no fortune teller, and even if he was, he would probably not use it: spoil the fun and all.

Watching the impatient Lima, he couldn't help but smile. Saber wasn't as big as Fenrir, so he couldn't handle as man passengers. In fact, probably the only one he could carry would be Rusty, but he was sure Saber would not be a happy camper with the magnets sticking to his belly. Reep was too slow, so he could complain about he needing to catch up as well. Ah well.

Hopping on the bird's back, he patted his neck. With some strong flaps, Saber took off and began to hover in the air. Giving one last wave to the citizens, he told the Skarmory, "Make sure you follow Fenrir, alright?" before looking down to Pan and giving her a thumbs up. "Let's go!"

And with that, the duo took off, their exit with the crowd seeming to make a picture perfect moment.