[X] My Assistant

[Douken Sota]

With his chest bare and about to head for the covers, the door opened up behind him, followed by the hyper squirrel's running and Pan's notice about Chichi, hyper as ever. Looknig at the squirrel, Douken thought about it and said, "He was acting like this when we saw the storm, right? He could just be getting a bit of a high with the static in the air. Who knows, if I let out Rusty, and he started doing the same thing, it would prove my point." However, one hyped up Pokemon was enough.

Still, it did not mean he didn't think of an answer. Taking his bag, he dug around the berries until he found what he was looking berry: a yellow, soft berry with a green stem. "Normally, Shuca Berries are used to absorb some of the impact of Ground Type moves, but maybe by having Chi-Chi nibble on it, it would help drain a bit of her energy." Handing the berry to the squirrel, hoping she took it, he said, "If she i still like this, then all she needs to do is release some more electricity to cool off."

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With the chucks of Pokeballs through the windows, the nurse looked over to see what was happening, watching a sudden swarm of Electrode sitting in the main call, each of them chattering their names before lighting up. Knowing what was to come, the nurse ducked down behind the counter as one by one, each of the Electrode exploded, filling the room with smoke and damaging most of the valuable equipment. If that wasn't enough, the door was kicked down large footsteps echoing into the room.

Now, not all of the Chansey were trained for recovery purposes only. One of them was actually trained specifically for Lenolia to protect the hospital from any harm, and she get's ticked off very easily. Holding her hands out, the chansey formed a ball of water in her hands and chucked it straight at the intruder, breaking the smoke away to reveal a Rhydon, and even though there was type weakness, it didn't do much but piss off the Drill Pokemon, letting one punch send her flying.

"Donna!" The Nurse called, running to the fallen Chansey before being taken by one of the men, holding her tight. "Let go of me,"she yelled, squirming around as she tried to break free, failing in the attempt.

"You guys, check every square inch of the place. We don't leave until we get those kids!"

With them all screaming, "Right!" the group broke into two teams, the smaller group of three heading for the back area and the bigger squad of four to the rooms.

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The shaking form the explosions caught Douken off guard and nearly fell over, hurrying over to grab his Pokeballs from the night stand as well as the right eye lens to peer out through the window. Although dark, he could make out the shapes of the bikes. "Damn it, it looks like they are raiding the Center," he told Pan, pocketing the lens and shrunken spheres. "Grab your Pokeballs. We may be seeing them sooner than we think."

[Toogee]

Pan watched as Douken held out the shuca berry to Chi-Chi. She would have thought a berry that absorbed electric attacks would have been more effective, but she wasn’t the berry expert in the room. The pachirisu took the berry within her paws, sniffing the fruit to determine flavor. Chi-Chi was curious of the spicy-sweet smell and proceeded to nibble on the fruit.

Before Pan could thank Douken for his help, the explosions downstairs sent her into a jolt. Being so close to them, the lady had to use Douken’s bed to keep from falling over, leaning on the mattress for support. This certainly wasn’t another thunderstorm; even Chi-Chi was startled by the blast. Pan joined Douken in looking out the window. Sure enough, a group of bikers were moving into the center, and the fighting downstairs had already begun.

“Joy’s still down there!” Pan realized. She quickly ran out of the room and grabbed her belt of pokeballs from her nightstand. By the time she re-entered the hallway, however, the group of four bikers were there to meet them.

“Sorry to wake you up, but we just couldn’t wait till morning to see you guys! We wouldn’t want you to leave before attempting your gym match with Burro.”

Pan recognized the biker as part of the group that greeted them upon arrival into Lenoilia. His red mohawk glistened with raindrops, and his wicked grin stretched across his face as he revealed a pokeball.

“Now, we can avoid a messy battle and simply walk on over to see Burro,” the man asked in a calm but rather smug tone.

“Sorry, but we settled on morning, so we’re not leaving until then.” Pan replied angrily. This was the last thing she needed tonight.

Immediately, Chi-Chi stood in front of her human, ready to do battle. The pachirisu’s determined eyes watched as the biker revealed a small bipedal creature. This pokemon appeared to be a fan of the macabre: he wore a skull over his head and wielded another bone like a club. It was a rather uncommon cubone, a ground type. With the size of the hallway, switching with Turnip was out of the question. It was up to Chi-Chi to hold down the fort.

“Chi-Chi, get in a quick attack!”

The pachirisu immediately dashed forward, striking her opponent with a swift tackle. The cubone stepped back a bit, but his high defense kept it from taking too much damage. The biker responded by commanding a bone club attack. Luckily, Chi-Chi still had the shuca berry, quickly engulfing the rest of the fruit. The cubone successfully struck the pachirisu across her head, but the berry absorbed much of the hit. Still, the blow knocked the pachirisu on her bottom, rubbing the lump on her head.

“Let’s get past those defenses. Use Swift!”

The pachirisu complied, her fluffy tail launching star-shaped projectiles like a catapult (she didn’t even have to get up!). The ground type tried to avoid the attack, but the stars seemed to home in on the target. This attack proved a bit more effective: the cubone was wobbling. Once again, the biker ordered another bone club attack, bit the pachirisu was well aware of the power behind the move. She quickly jumped backwards to avoid a bigger lump on her head.

“Seed Bomb!”

In what was quickly becoming Chi-Chi’s favorite move, she threw three of the sxploive seeds towards the cubone. The opponent was engulfed in tiny explosions, and the botanical energy released proved too much for him to handle. The cubone fell to his side, lying motionless as the pachirisu started cheering.

“Enough of this,” the biker shouted. “Gloom, Sleep Powder!”

The biker released another pokemon, the stinky weed pokemon Gloom. With Chi-Chi distracted by her previous victory, the gloom unleashed a cloud of sleep powder towards the squirrel pokemon. However, the cloud harmlessly passed over the electric squirrel. Chi-Chi giggled at the ineffectiveness of the attack. The pachirisu stuck her tongue as she teased her opponent about the missed opportunity.

*THUMP*

As Chi-Chi looked behind her, it was quite clear that the sleep powder wasn’t meant for her. Pan was lying on her back in a deep sleep. Before the pachirisu could investigate, she was met with a boot. The biker had kicked Chi-Chi across the hall and into the wall. The electric squirrel was dazed and a bit confused, helpless as the other bikers moved in to remove Pan from the center.

[Douken Sota]

It didn't take them long for the group to hurry upstairs to them, and when he heard their voices, he headed to the hallways, standing behind Pan, who was already taking in some combat, using Chi-Chi against a Cubone. Sure, no the best type advantage, but she still had the Shuca Berry, so some of the impact was absorbed during the fight. Still, part of him was tempted to reach into his pocket and pull out a Pokeball himself, joining in the fight, but there was jsut not enough room. Even with Reep being a ghost able to pass through walls, his gut told him that doing so would throw Chi-Chi off. Also, he had confidence in his friend.

That was where the unexpected came forth. “Gloom, Sleep Powder!” With the new Pokemon introduced, he thought that the plant was there to beat up a snoozing Pokemon, but instead, it was meant for the trainers. Pan took the hit, losing consciousness almost immediately, but it didn't help that he power was still shooting forward. Not even before he could get to his pockets, the remaining mist hit his face, and nearly immediately felt the effects from it. He could feel himself zone out, grow limp, and soon fall over, he too being out, the last sound he could hear being Chi-Chi being kicked across the hall.

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Laughing at the fall of the two trainers, the biker grinned and said, "Good work Gloom. We will get ourselves a nice reward for bringing these two in." Almost on cue, two of the bikers ran over and picked up the sleeping trainers, hefting them over there shoulders.

"What about that Pachirisu?" one of the bikers asked, looking at Chi-Chi in her weakened state.

"One less Pokemon to worry about the Beast. That squirrel should feel lucky. Now c'mon boys, let's take them back and cash in." Heading back to the destroyed floor center, the main one tossed away the Joy, calling back the others. With everyone back, they took them away, laying them on the bikes before revving up, driving away, laughing all the way, as if taunting anyone who knew of the two.

When the engines finally quieted down, they dragged the unconscious bodies from the bikes to the warehouse, throwing them onto steel chairs before beginning to tie them up. As that was going on, the head of the squad took to Burro's Bar. After some interactions, he was lead back to Burro, Justin, and Nate. "Sorry to interrupt your meeting, Boss," he said, taking a knee to him, "but I thought we should inform you we got the kids. We locked them up in Warehouse 16."

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Mar 19 2011, 06:35 PM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Justin looked at the pokegear Burro slid towards him, a reminder of the pain through which Tim had went. And now the man was threatening to do the same to Pan and Douken. Justin felt his fists clench up. He didn't touch the phone, but put his hands on the desk, stood up and looked down on Burro, a glare of hatred bursting from his eyes. "If you hurt them,"

"Then what?" Burro smiled, remarkably unintimidated. "You'll tell your boss-"

"I'll kill you," he said, to even his own surprise. "I will rip your face from your head and shove it up your ass."

"Big talk from a big guy," Burro said, "But I have my secret weapon."

"Whatever is inside that ball," Justin began, "I assure you. It's not loyal to you."

That was when the men came in. "Sorry to interrupt your meeting, Boss," he said, taking a knee to him, as Justin noted the nervous speech, "But I thought we should inform you we got the kids. We locked them up in Warehouse 16."

"Warehouse 16," Burro nodded. "That'll be all." The men nodded and left the room. "So looks like you boys got a choice to make."

"There's no choice here, Burro," Justin said. "If you're going to kill Pan, I'm not on your side. My affiliation doesn't mean I need to choose you over anyone else."

"I'm not going to lose what I have here," Burro insisted, standing up finally. "So I need you on my team. And if you cooperate with me, the girl will be fine."

Justin stopped for a second and looked over at Nate who was actively silent, then looked back to Burro. "What do you need us to do?"

"You're the scouts, right?" Burro asked. "Tell your boss you scouted. Things are under control and that I'm a capable leader."

"I say that," Justin said, "And you let them go?"

"It's the girl you care about right?" Burro asked. "I'll let her go."

"Douken too," Justin insisted.

"I gotta put on a show," Burro shrugged. "Show the people I mean business. I'm gonna kill one of them for their attempt to overthrow me. You can save one. I assumed you'd pick the girl."

"Both of them,"

"No. That's the offer, Justin. I think you already know I'm too stubborn to negotiate."

"And you know that I am too."

"I think when your girl's life is on the line, you'll compromise."

They eyed each other down for a good fifteen seconds before Justin crumbled. "Fine," he said. "Save Pan. But don't, uh, don't make it, like, my decision. Say you don't kill girls or something."

"I can do that," Burro smiled. "So you're welcome to go visit them at Warehouse 16. My guys'll show you how to get there. Don't expect to break them out though. I got a lot of guys."

"Yeah, I bet you do."

"If we're done here, I have some preparations to be made. Bye."

Justin rolled his eyes and led the speechless Nate out of the room. They asked to be escorted to Warehouse 16 and were. Once there, they walked inside and were led to where Douken and Pan were being held. They were awake by the time they got there. "Hey guys," Justin said, rubbing the back of his neck.

This post has been edited by Yzarc Drowsnam: Mar 19 2011, 07:11 PM

[Toogee]

A weary Pan finally came to, blinking her eyes rapidly to rub the sleep from them. She tried to use her hands, but they were tied to the arms of the steel chair she was sitting in. Her legs were in the same situation, tied to the legs of the chair. Douken was tied up in the same fashion, unable to move around. The two were back to back in another warehouse full of art. Pan could see paintings detailing a fierce battle between two lucario, a framed aging map of Furoh, and a collection of beautiful gems of several different colors, among other items. Most of these pieces should belong to a museum, not rotting here in a decrepit warehouse. However, there were more important things to worry about. Standing in the room were Justin and Nate, looking rather awkward about the setup.

“You’re alright,” she replied, seeing the two unharmed. “Listen, we need to find our pokemon, so if you can get these ropes off, we can start looking.” Not surprisingly, Pan’s first concern wasn’t the impending match but her friends. Still, Justin and Nate had disappointed looks on their face.

“What’s wrong? Did they take your team too?”
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Another pair of weary eyes was finally coming to. Chi-Chi was still in the corner of the hallway. She was all alone in the pokemon center; even the nurse was gone. The pachirisu was still fairly weak from the battle, finding it very difficult to move around. She knew she had to find Pan. Who knew how much trouble she was in? And yet, it took all of her willpower just to keep from blacking out again.

Then, a light mist washed over her. Her body began healing, regaining her former strength. The pachirisu felt like she could take on a rhydon, maybe two rhydon! What happened? Did Pan come back for her?

Actually, it was the man with the messy beard, the one from Dream’s End.

“There there little one,” Harvey told the electric squirrel. “Me and Grayson are gathering some people up. Those kids are risking their necks for us; it’s time we pull our share of the work. We just need a bit of time…”

Immediately, Chi-Chi zoomed down the hallway and headed for the door. If they needed time, she would have to make time. The pachirisu would have to find Pan and hold off this strange pokemon the only way she knew how.

With a fistful of lightning in one paw and another of seed bombs.

[Douken Sota]

A low groan came to Douken as he slow too, his vision slowly coming back as he tried to get up, failing in that attempt. When whatever vision came back, he looked at his wrists, tied down tightly and went to see if he could move. Nope, tied down too. Not too surprising. But where was Pan? Looknig around, he couldn't see anyone, but after straining himself, he turned his head to see an arm behind him in another chair. No doubt Pan, especially when she heard her voice.

Turning to look at the recipient, he could make out two human shapes, and by the way she spoke, it could of been Justin and Nate, which made him say, "Pan, don't you find it odd that they are standing there while we are tied up here?" Turning his head to the two, he asked straight up, "So what's the deal? I bet you got to talk to him. Why aren't you sitting here with us?"

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

"He took our pokemon," Justin said, beginning his epic string of lies with a truth. "So we're not a threat. He already beat us, so he doesn't care if we leave. He's keeping you tied up so you'll be forced to fight him tomorrow." He spoke, at first, to dispel the obvious suspicions Douken was having. "Now's the bad news," as if that weren't bad enough. "I'm so sorry."

Nate looked over at his partner, a look of worried concern on his face. "Justin?"

"Burro's not gonna show mercy," he said, "He's angry at me for asking about his secret pokemon, and he's gonna," He paused. "He's taking it out on you. I, um, I begged him not to. But he's- He's gonna kill you." Before they could freak out or otherwise react, he moved in close to them so the nearby guards couldn't hear. "I'm not gonna let it happen. We're gonna figure it out. We'll-We'll-We'll get the townspeople together. We'll figure out how to beat the pokemon. He's gonna give you your pokemon back for the fight, but me and Nate, we're gonna figure out how to beat it. Okay?"

He stood back up and took a few steps back. "I can't break you out right now, though. Too many guards around, we'll probably get caught and-" And he would probably lose the promise Burro gave him about sparing Pan's life. "And it's just too risky. But I promise. I'm not gonna let anything happen to either of you."

He put his hand on Douken's shoulder and then Pan's, on whose he lingered, and nodded. "We'll figure it out."

He led Nate outside of the warehouse, failing to notice all the valuables all around them. His mind was on a single track at that moment. "Justin," Nate began once they were outside. "How are we gonna help Douken? Pan's safe, right? But we don't know how to beat the thing. How are we gonna find out?"

"Our boss is coming tomorrow," Justin said. "He knows how to beat it. All we gotta do is get the info from him and then relay it to Pan and Douken. They can take it from there."

"But is he gonna tell us?"

Their next target was Dream's End. Justin walked with an intensity he had lacked for quite sometime. Finally, a mission about which he truly felt strongly. He was going to find Harvey, get the few people of Dream's End and whatever pokemon they had rallied up. If ever they had a chance of getting out from under Burro's thumb, it was now. They would rally. They would help.

"He's not gonna have a choice."

[Toogee]

Before Pan could call out to Justin, he was already out the door. So, Burro intended to kill them just like the trainer currently buried at Dream’s End. That wasn’t much of a surprise considering the circumstances. It seemed Justin was already putting together a plan, even if he was putting it together as he walked out the door. Despite this, there was a stutter in his voice. He was nervous, afraid of what would happen to them. She wished she could have calmed him down before he ran off to save the day. The best she could do now was talk to Douken.

“What is this, the second time we’ve been taken hostage?” Pan asked Douken to lighten the mood. “We’ll get out of this too.” The last part she said in a bit of a whisper so as to no alert the guards. Luckily, they were a bit preoccupied with a portable television.

“But,” she continued, “if something happens to me, I need you to do me a favor. You’re going to take my pokemon and give them to a Darryn Kellor. You may have seen him at Castle Vonmoto. He’ll know what to do.”

As the conversation lingered, Pan couldn’t help but grow weary. She wished Douken a decent night’s rest (or whatever they could manage while strapped to steel chairs) and went to sleep, her head resting upon the head of her chair.
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The sun rose over Lenoilia once more. The storm had since passed, leaving the city with uncharacteristically clear skies. It was looking like a nice day for the dreary city. There was something else that was out of place in Lenoilia: the helicopter flying over the city. There wasn’t exactly a huge tourist industry for Lenoilia, much less people flying in. However, this was not a trip for pleasure; this was strictly business.

The helicopter made its landing on top of the pokemon center. Out of the passenger side emerged a tall lanky man dressed in a white dress shirt and black slacks. The man gave himself a last minute combing, streaking his greasy red hair back. His lab coat was still in the passenger area, folded in a neat bundle. He looked over the scenery as he adjusted his nametag reading “Dr. Mondo”.

Of course, Dr. Mondo was just a code name. Such precautions were necessary when working for an organization like Team Deception. That of course was the last thing on the scientist’s mind. From initial reports, his prototype was successful. His advanced shadowing technology was still in its infancy, but so far it has managed to give the biker Burro control of much of the city. If such a powerful creature can give an imbecile like Burro control of the city, he could only imagine what an army of the final product could do for Team Deception. Time would tell if this became one of his most successful experiments.

Mondo checked his watch. It would soon be time for the demonstration Burro had promised him days ago. All he was waiting on now was for his bodyguards to show up.

[Douken Sota]

Sleep was hard to get when tied up to a steel chair when the container your in was a freezing from the storm, tied to a steel chair with no backing, and had no shirt. However, he had to try and get whatever sleep he could. Its not like he knew how much he got, but to him, it didn't really matter. Any amount of sleep would do, his mind still remembering the conversation. His mind heard her voice echo statements, hearing him echo back with things like, "Yeah, well trouble always does seem to follow you," and "And if something happens to me, please take mine to Fidona. Look for a home with a sleeping Scizor on the roof and a Kangaskhan at the door."

The creaking of the door woke him up as a pair of bikers walked in, Douken's eyes trying to focus as they walked up to him. "Don't try anything smart, alright?" he asked as the untied his arms from the chairs before tying hi arms to his back before undoing his legs. "That's right. Such an obedient hostage."

As they started to take him away, he turned and asked, "What about Pan?" curious to why she is left there.

"Our boss only needs one victim for the demonstration, so why waste it on such a cute face like hers? Now then, hope you have said your last goodbyes," he cackled as they threw Douken on a bike, driving them off into the food district of town.

The restaurant he was taken to was called Excalibur, and it used to be a big time cooperation. As the customers got to each their meat on the bones with their lands (because back then, what was a for or a knife), they got to watch Pokemon battles that historians believed back in the day in a deep pit, whether it be workers there for the performance, or trainers who had to go through a regulation of rules. However, today, this branch had been broken down for quite some time. The roof had caved in, and walls were broken down, though someone took the time to clear away most of the rubble as he was led inside through the back.

Arms untied again, he was kicked through the opening which lead into the pit area before the gate behind him closed, securing itself to make sure he couldn't leave. Looking around, he surveyed the area best he could before noticing a man in the chair that was meant for the King. Searching through his pocket, he pulled out his lens and peered through it, eying the fat slob and said, "I guess you are the one in control of this city?"

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

Nate and Justin, as per their orders, were waiting on top of the pokemon center when Dr. Mondo arrived, but they waited for the helicopter to power down a little bit before approaching, for fear of decapitation. "Doctor?" Justin asked, holding out his hand.

Mondo looked down at Justin's hand, purposefully left his hands at his sides and looked back up to his face. "Finally, you arrive. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?"

"Yes, sir, I do," Justin said. "Won't happen again."

"Good," the doctor scoffed. "I have too much on my plate to worry about you two. I need to find Burro. I take it you met him?"

"We did," Justin said.

"Good. Take me to that idiot. Hopefully his show will be over soon so I can get out of this despicable town."

"Of course, Sir," Justin nodded, leading the man downstairs into the pokemon center. The three of them began walking through the city, Mondo barely paying attention to where they were walking as his face was buried in his notes the whole way.

"Did many people here know about Burro's pokemon?" He asked, not looking up as they walked.

"Um, yeah," Nate said. "Like everyone."

"And did anyone have sentiments of rising up?" Mondo asked.

"They were pretty defeated," Nate replied.

"Good."

"Question," Justin asked, stopping in the middle of the street. Dr. Mondo actually bumped into him and bounced back a little bit, he didn't even notice.

"I ask the questions, Smart, not you. Maybe when your brain lives up to your name, you can call the shots, okay?"

"Maybe when your body lives up to your head, you can treat me like shit," Justin said as Mondo looked up in shock. Did this kid really just talk to him like that?

"I'll give you five seconds to apologize."

"Save your five seconds, they're clearly too valuable," Justin said. "How do you beat Burro's pokemon?"

"That's what this is about?" Mondo laughed. "You can't beat it. It's unbeatable."

"Then why are you here?" Justin asked. "Why give away an unbeatable pokemon to an idiot like Burro? It was a test, right? So why test it?"

"Justin Smart, you need to stop," Mondo said. "You need to stop thinking. People who think have two job opportunities in this business. One of them is mine, and, sorry to say, the position is filled. The other one is in the ground. You don't want that one."

"Justin, shut up," Nate said. "Dr. Mondo. I'm sorry. Justin is frustrated because Burro kidnapped one of our friends and is planning on killing him for the show. That's why we want to know how to stop him."

"Is this friend Team Deception?"

"No."

"Then I don't care," Mondo shrugged. "I truly do not. Take me to the exhibition, or I'll have you killed. Those are the options, and, truly, I hope you pick correctly."

"Why's that, Doctor?" Justin asked. "Because you need your bodyguards?"

"I have pokemon," Mondo said, "Powerful ones. You think you're my bodyguards? You were the front lines! If Burro was planning on resisting us, or if the people here were to do so, you were to die over me. I don't need you anymore!"

Then, from around the corner, three men, including Harvey, all armed with pokeballs (the contents of which were either weak or empty, but Mondo had no way of knowing). "I might tell the boys how to take it down," Harvey said.

"What is this?" Mondo asked. From around another building, another few people emerged, and then a virtual flood of Dream's Enders overwhelmed the trio in the streets. They may not have been able to take down Burro's pet, but they could certainly take down whatever pokemon this Dr. Mondo had at his command.

[Toogee]

In the halls of the abandoned Excalibur, droves of bikers, thugs, and general criminals gathered in the stands and tables to laugh and heckle at Douken. Many of them were wielding legs of smoked meat, some waving them maniacally at the challenger. Among those eating and watching the show was the de facto leader of the broken city, Burro. He was in the safety of the throne, located outside of the pit Douken was in. Consequently, Burro was able to speak with confidence, knowing that his opponent couldn’t come after him.

“Why yes, challenger,” he replied, “I am Burro, leader of Lenoilia as well as leader of this gym. You should be honored, for you are vying for possession of the one and only…Burro Badge!”

Burro’s greasy fingers latched upon his badge: a beer bottlecap with a red costume jewel glued upon it. It was by no means official, but Burro didn’t care. The pokemon he was about to unleash proved he was more powerful than any gym leader (in his mind).

“But before you battle, there is one rule…there are no rules!!!”

The crowd was roaring with fury as they waited for pokemon to be released. In response, Burro stood up from his throne (quite a feat itself given his size) and revealed his own pokeball. Unlike most, this pokeball had chains wrapped around it, meeting at a lock around the center button. One would think that these chains were for aesthetics if it weren’t for the fact that the pokeball was still shaking. This creature continued its struggle to get out, as if it were still a wild pokemon.

“I hope you’re ready for this, boy.”

While Burro was supposed to wait for a certain VIP to show up, he didn’t see the need to. He was the boss in this town, and if that guy couldn’t trouble himself to be on time, then too bad. Burro waited for no one. One simple press of the pokeball, and the battle began.

What emerged was a two story leviathan, the likes of which no one outside of Lenoilia had ever seen. It was not just one pokemon: it was an amalgamation of several. The appendages were a literal zoo: two flaming hooves of a rapidash, a right arm shaped like a meganium’s head and neck, and a left arm depicting a rhyhorn with an elongated neck. All of this was attached to the body of a snorlax. The head bore the flaming crown of an infernape, the long ears and blood red eyes of an umbreon, and the sharp jaws of a sharpedo. The chimera gave a mighty roar at the challenger as he raised his meganium-shaped arm into the air. The creature would not wait for Douken to call out his pokemon, his arm swooping downward towards the trainer.
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Dr. Mondo assessed the situation: twenty civilians had descended upon him and the two grunts. Judging from the behavior coming from Justin, it appeared at least one of those grunts was involved in the trap. Before responding, the scientist started writing notes once more. Even when he did manage to speak, Mondo continued to look through his notes.

“Very deceptive approach, Mr. Smart,” Mondo said, rather interested in the turn of events. “Though, I must say, pulling this on me is rather…unwise. Since you have forced my hand, it seems I will have to adjust my experiment. According to earlier reports, a trainer had fought this creature before, yes? I didn’t really want to do this, but we’re going to have to assume that trainer was the control.”

“Bastard! He was just a boy!” It took three allies to keep Harvey from pounding the scientist into the ground. Mondo simply kept writing as he continued talking.

“For the next stage, I will give you a hint on combatting this beast. Targeting the aberration on its skin will work wonders. Yes, that is all you are getting, and if you don’t take me to the fight, your friend will not even have that as guidance.”

And so, Justin and Nate led Mondo to the warehouse where Pan and Douken were held. The mob of citizens was following the trio…until a biker gang stormed out of an alleyway. The sudden increase in foot traffic had apparently gotten the attention of one of the roaming gangs. The bikers divided the mob from the trio and prepared to fight. Mondo continued walking and encouraged the grunts to do the same.

“Don’t worry about them, Mr. Smart. You’re in enough trouble as it is. Don’t let that be in vain.”
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“Aw man! The batteries are dead! Quick, I need to see what happens next time on ‘As the Pokeball Turns’!”

Back in the warehouse, the guards were frantic: the batteries on their portable TV had run out. Three of the guards began searching through the maze of boxes for supplies, while one was left to guard Pan. Whatever other guards present last night had left to watch the fight just down the street.

Pan was frustrated. They had taken Douken to fight who knows what, while Justin and Nate were MIA since last night. She could only hope they were in the process of rescuing Douken at that moment, but part of her wondered if it was already too late. She had to get out of here, if only to see the outcome of Justin’s plan. She couldn’t make any effort to escape, not with the sole guard keeping watch. Having no other options, Pan attempted to make the guard disappear with her mind, trying to force him to leave the building.

Seconds later, the guard seized up and collapsed to the ground.

“Oh no! I killed him!” Pan gasped. Did she really have that kind of power? The answer became clear just moments later as a pachirisu emerged from behind a column. The guard was only paralyzed, courtesy of a thunder wave attack.

“Pa!” cried Chi-Chi as she ran to Pan. She immediately started chewing off the ropes binding Pan’s hands. After that, the young woman was able to undo those on her legs. She embraced her pachirisu in a hug as she detailed their plan.

“No time to celebrate. We need to find the rest of the team. They’re somewhere in this warehouse. We need hurry up; Douken needs our help.”

Chi-Chi nodded and started sniffing around the warehouse, heading into the labyrinth. It made sense to her; Fenrir did it all the time. The question on the pachirisu’s mind: how did that work?

In contrast, Pan was using her eyes to find her pokemon. She saw a beautiful painting of a litter of sleeping vulpix piled on top of each other, a marble bust of the founder Silver, and a display case of a feather collection. Still no pokeballs. Pan decided to climb on top of a few boxes to get a better view. She was fairly high up, able to get a bird’s eye view of the warehouse layout. The collection of stuff was enormous, but what stood out the most was the collection of red-white spheres just a few yards away. She had found them!

“Hey you!”

In her attempt to retrieve her pokemon, Pan had forgotten that the other guards were still around. She quickly climbed down and rushed toward the pokeball area. There were pokeballs all over the place; how was she able to tell which ones were hers? Chi-Chi came to the rescue, dragging a belt of pokeballs behind her. These were the only ones here that came with a belt, specifically a brown leather one that Pan recognized as hers. She quickly fastened it around her waist and put Chi-Chi on her right shoulder. Pan rushed back through the maze, narrowly avoiding the arms of a hulking guard.

Due to the small space around her, she could not simply summon one of her larger pokemon. And as much as Chi-Chi liked using her seed bombs, there were a lot of historical items around. Yes, even when her safety was at risk, she could still think about the artifacts around her.

As soon as she came into the open space she reached for Fenrir’s pokeball. However, it was too late: the other two guards came at her, grabbing both her arms. Chi-Chi reacted by jumping onto one guard’s face, keeping him occupied. The third guard emerged from the maze and took the incapacitated guard’s position. Together, the two guards forced Pan face down on the ground. Still she struggled, trying to activate one of the pokeballs.

“Come on, just a little more…”

[Douken Sota]

So this is the feared beast everyone has talked about here, Douken thought has his eyes glared at the monster before him. What kind of sick mind would create a being like this? he thought as he saw the arm being lifted in the air (he didn't need glasses to see what such a giant beast was doing). He could easily say he was the opening target!

Jumping back out of the way, he watched the giant arm slam into the floor, creating a dust cloud enough to cover Douken. Reaching into his pocket, he was able to feel the Pokeballs he had (They were stupid enough to not search him), and pulled out two. "Assist me," he whispered to them as the balls enlarged before tossing them to both sides of the giant, revealing Koldo and Maya. I need to stall to find his weakness, his Achilles Heel so to say. Don't want Swagger, cause he seems strong enough. "Maya, Aqua Ring. Koldo, Mud Bomb, rapid fire everywhere on him!"

With the Seel clapping her fins, she took the water in the air from the previous rain to form rings of water around her body before they layered themselves on her, all the while Croagunk opened up his mouth to let out a wild fire of mud balls at the juggernaut. Still, staying close was not going to be the smartest thing, so he began to run for the wall, giving himself distance before running along the circular wall.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

After a little bit of exploring, with Mondo at their side, they came to the quick realization that Pan and Douken had been taken away. To where, though, was quite a mystery. They weren't tied up in their chairs anymore was for certain.

"Where is this display to be taking place?" Mondo asked. "I assume these chairs are where your friends sat?"

"We'll find them," Justin said. "Those bikers outside know,"

Mondo agreed and the three turned and walked outside of the warehouse, unknowing of what was going on elsewhere in the same warehouse (The whole Pan and Chi-Chi thing). As they opened the doors, though, Justin turned to Nate. "Our pokemon are somewhere in this warehouse," he said softly. "Can you find them?"

"Yeah," Nate nodded.

So as Nate turned back into the warehouse to find their captured pokemon, Justin and Mondo approached the battle between the bikers and citizens going on just outside the warehouse. He cautiously tapped the shoulder of one of the bikers, but to no avail, as he still immediately responded by turning with a punch. Justin ducked it, though, and came back up, calmly. "You got that out of your system?"

"What do you want?"

"Where are Pan and Douken?"

"Who?"

"The prisoners. Burro's prisoners."

"Oh, Burro's doing the demonstration now," the biker said. "Pretty sure that kid's gonna get hisself killed."

"Awesome," Justin sighed. "Where is it?"

"Excalibur,"

"Excellent!" Mondo exclaimed. "Well, Mr. Smart, this concludes our interactions for the day, as I know exactly where that is. Unless, of course, you'd prefer my company, as I assume you'll be heading in that direction as well? In which case, I recommend we walk together."

"Who the hell is this guy?" The biker asked.

"He's the guy who made Burro's Secret Weapon," Justin sighed. "Alright, Doctor, let's go."

Justin didn't know where Excalibur was, so he was basically following Mondo, who didn't seem to be in any particular hurry. "Can we move a little faster?" Justin asked.

"I'm still trying to figure out why you feel like you can order me around," Mondo pondered. "You realize I'm the boss, right? More importantly, I guess, is your blatant insubordination and borderline mutiny."

"I'm not opposed to Team Deception," Justin said, not entirely sure, "I don't want to be your enemy. And I don't think we are enemies. I just think that, in a very specific aspect, our goals are different. You know what I mean?"

"You want your girlfriend to live, and I don't care one way or the other," Mondo shrugged.

"If you don't care, then why all this hostility?"

"I'm not in charge of this town, Justin," Mondo said. "Burro is. Stupid and dimwitted as he may be, he's the boss, and if he wants to kill someone to display his power, it's not my business to stop him. My only concern is to ensure the efficacy of my creation."

"It's effic...ant!" Justin shouted.

"Effective?"

"Yeah," Justin nodded. "Yeah, that. He took over the town. These biker gangs, they all belong to him. The citizens have no pokemon to fight back with. They have like, little rattatas or whatever, but nothing strong. He owns this town, and it's because of your pokemon. Your trial run is proven true, right? So why don't you take it back and put Burro out of power before he completely destroys this town, and kills a bunch of people in the process?"

"Because, Justin, if I simply agree to save your girlfriend's life, I don't get to see you squirm."

"Really?" Justin asked. "I'm your motivation for being a dick? You want to piss me off? Why the hell am I worth pissing off?"

"Because I hate people like you," Mondo said. "I hate people who think that because their morals are different from mine that I lack them. I hate people with big muscles who think the only way to solve disputes is by fighting. I hate people who are willing to change who they are to get laid. Ignorance, Mr. Smart, is what I hate, and you embody it perfectly."

"I'm gonna save them," Justin said. "And you'll see that it does nothing to impede your mission."

"That's not what matters here, Justin. You've already proven quite well that your priorities are not with Team Deception."

"Are anyone's?" Justin asked. "Does anyone join a criminal organization because of how much they care for it? Everyone just loves doing crime, right? We care about ourselves and we care about the ones we love, but we don't care for who we work for. You don't give a shit."

"I have given my life to Team Deception," Mondo insisted. "All my best work goes to them."

"Well, keep in mind," Justin said. "That your best work may also be your worst if this creature backfires. I sure hope it doesn't get pissed off and target the man who created it."

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

Nate began searching the darkened warehouse and, after a short amount of time, heard the muffled sounds of struggle not too far from him. When he moved a little further and turned the corner, he found Pan and Chi-Chi in a somewhat precarious position. Everyone involved was a bit too preoccupied to notice or, at least, to care about Nate's presence, so he decided to take the opportunity to grab the nearest weapon he could find - a crowbar, incidentally - to help things Pan out the way he wanted. Zing.

So he charged one of the men holding her down. "Pan, stay down!" He shouted, causing everyone (except, hopefully, Pan) to look up at him. While the men holding her down's heads were raised just slightly, he took the pressing opportunity to pound him in the face with the previously mentioned crowbar. Ouch.

At that point, Nate found himself quickly surrounded by strong bikers with his crowbar which didn't seem so little a minute earlier. In any case, at least Pan had a free hand to release Fenrir.

[Toogee]

Mondo was enjoying the taunts towards the muscle Justin. Of course, this was all cover for his true motives. The fact was that the takeover of Lenoilia by Burro was not a side effect but the goal of the experiment. With the last minute adjustment, courtesy of Justin’s interference, his experiment would proceed to go under a “stress test”. By giving the trainer knowledge of the beast’s weakness, it would ultimately prove how powerful it truly was. That is, if they managed to get to the trainer in time…

Soon, Mondo and Justin had arrived at Excalibur, greeted by a mighty roar that emanated from the inside. The scientist walked into the castle-like structure as if he owned the place. He passed by bikers with impunity as he found his way into the stadium. Rather than make his way to Burro, Mondo simply seated himself in the back row. As Justin sat next to him, the scientist kept watching the battle before, a rare smile appearing on his face.

“Magnificent, yes?”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the arena, the chimera used his rhyhorn arm as a shield, blocking the onslaught with ease. He didn’t even flinch from the attack, as if he wasn’t even hurt. What was going on here?

While blocking one attack, the creature prepared another. He raised his meganium arm, a bright ball of energy forming within its mouth. All of a sudden, the beam erupted into a hyper beam that streaked across the room. Though the beam was initially aimed at Koldo and Maya, the creature kept moving his arm to chase Douken with the beam. Several bikers in the front row quickly moved up a few rows to avoid getting hit by the attack. The rest roared in excitement, including Burro, who was making no effort in commanding the creature.

Fortunately, the attack didn’t last too long before ceasing. As the creature was resting, his arms draped down his sides. At this point, the creature’s left leg grew somewhat darker than the rest of its body.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn’t hard for Pan to stay down. The confusion of the sudden action sequence alone kept her still so she could comprehend what was going on. When all was said and done, she saw Nate wielding a crowbar, about to face off against the three angry bikers. Considering they just took a crowbar to the head, chances were pretty good they would be able to handle anything Nate threw at them.

Luckily, Pan had pokemon to handle them.

With a simple press of a button, a large fiery canine appeared behind Nate. At the sight of the arcanine, the trio began to tremble, backing away slowly. Finally, Fenrir bellowed a mighty roar, sending the guards fleeing for their lives.

“Thanks, Nate,” Pan said as she stood up on her feet. She rubbed Fenrir on his shoulder as thanks for his assistance. She called out to Chi-Chi, who was having way too much fun using the fat gut of a second paralyzed biker as a trampoline. Only Pan’s voice stopped the pachirisu from jumping up and down upon her fallen foe.

“We need to hurry. They took Douken to the fight. I’m not sure where- wait, where’s Justin?” She turned her head, expecting him to pop up out of the shadows.

[Douken Sota]

He still sees me as the target! he thought, running for his life as the Hyper Beam trailed behind him (Koldo jumping out of the way as Maya took a hit on her side). He could of taken the time to grab Saber and have him block it, but he feared doing so would have him slow down, and take the blast. No, he had to keep on running. Hyper Beam had to time out eventually. When the attack ceased, he was able to see the beasts arms drop, as if to rest from the blow. Now's my chance! he thought, as he began to charge at the beast, his mind flashing back as he did.

His body was knocked back on the floor, groaning from the hit his Croagunk gave him into his gut. "What was that?!" an older woman called out. She was the tribe's expert fighter, and main objective was to train all of her tribe members into their full strength, and she preferred Pokemon on Human training for some reason.

"This Croagunk is your own Pokemon, but you can't even read his basic movements. Are you going to be as weak as everyone who dared challenged us?!" From her experience in being in guard duty for Maxi, she would throw off her opponent through actual combat, seeing if they could keep her on the ground for five seconds before actually needing to use someone: something that never happened before. "How pathetic. A trainer should ever be as strong as his Pokemon. Now get up!" With his small body getting up, he stood in front of his Pokemon and got ready for the next attack.

In a flash of light, the scene in his mind changed to a moment forward, and the little Douken and Croagunk were leaning back, breathing heavily from such strenuous work out. "Seems like you two got some better bonding there," she told them, sitting down in front of the two. "You may be strong enough to take me on in the future, but do realize this isn't something that should be abused." Douken's young eyes looked at her, wondering what she was trying to say. "Should you come across a moment where you got to do things without the help of any Pokemon, you must use this training. Just remember, do it only as if your life is at sake.

My life is at sake, so I must put what I learned to the test! he thought as he ran for the Meganium arm. "Koldo, Maya. Natural instinct!" Anyone knows there is no such attack called "Natural Instinct," but he wasn't telling them an attack. He was having them act on their own accord as he charged up the green arm, sending himself at the beast with a knee headed for his eye.

Maya groaned from the hit. Even if it was a nick, it still hurt! Luckily, Aqua Ring took effect and washed away some of the pain. With her tongue sticking out, her mouth opened up and launched out a focused blast of water at the Rhyhorn arm, seeing if Brine would do something that imitated a ground and rock type.

A deep cackle came from the frog, but it was different from his normal chuckle. A grin could me slightly seen on Koldo's face as he started to say, "That's right. This is what I was looking for!" It seemed the Hyper Beam triggered a part of his memory as well. "Show me more. Have me become stronger. Help me gain the strength so I can get revenge on my own!" With his fingertips glowing silver, he got ready to dash at the arm as well, but then he heard somewhere, "Target the leg! The dark part on the leg, target that!" which made him take a look. Grinning at the bruised-looking area, he figured that hitting an injury would make things worse for the beast, and made a straight dash at it for a rapid combo.

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Apr 15 2011, 10:47 AM

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

When Mondo took a seat near the back, Justin stayed standing, in an attempt to better see what was going on. What he saw surprised him. It seemed as though Mondo, surprisingly, kept his word. It was only Douken in that arena, fighting surprisingly valiantly. It was at that moment that he ran down through the crowd to get closer to the combat. He didn't have his pokemon, so he couldn't help very much physically, but he immediately saw precisely what Dr. Mondo had mentioned. The monstrous creature's left leg was just slightly darker, and that had to be the target.

"Douken!" He called out from the sidelines. "Douken! Target the leg! The dark part on the leg, target that!"

It would still be a difficult battle, but at least he would know how to go about it. Having Rhydons and Meganiums being tossed around and Hyper Beams flying all over the place wouldn't make targeting the imperfection on its leg an easy task, but Douken seemed to be the town's only hope at that moment. What else could be done? Moreover, where was Pan?

------

"Hey Pan, no problem," Nate said, breathing heavily, "Thanks for scaring those guys off. I prob'ly coulda taken 'em though. But thanks. Anyway, yeah, we need to go. Justin's on his way over there. We figured out how to beat the monster, so he's gonna tell Douken. We need to get the stolen pokemon back, though. If Douken beats the monster pokemon, we'll still have to worry about the bikers. Do you know where the balls are?"

When Pan pointed them out, Nate took a few minutes to find his and Justin's pokeballs. He ensured they were his and Justin's by summoning one pokemon from each belt. His was Ninja the Sneasel, and Justin's was Hitmontop, who immediately recognized that something was wrong. He knew Nate and Pan but was curious as to where Justin was.

"We gotta find Justin, Hitmontop," Nate said. "He might be in trouble and he needs our help. You down for that?"

Hitmontop didn't make a sound, but a determined look appeared on his face. He was most definitely down for that. And so they began their paced run through the city. It was a pretty good distance away, and so they couldn't sprint the whole way. Nate decided to leave Hitmontop out so he could move forward at his own pace, but he tended to stay back with Nate and Pan anyway. It seemed smarter that way.

As they walked in awkward silence, Nate pondered what he should say. He wanted to say something to her. As much as he hated to admit in, Justin was pretty much his best friend, and Pan was confusing the hell out of him. All this on top of the fact that Justin was clearly not over Tina, just based on how often he brought her up.

"Justin's a good guy," Nate finally said. "You already know that, I guess, but I just needed to tell you. I'm sure you're great and wouldn't do anything like this, but I just need to make sure he doesn't get hurt. He's quick to think he knows what he wants, if that makes sense, but he's really slow at actually knowing. I guess my point is, please don't start anything with him unless you know exactly what you want. And then make sure he wants the same thing."

He speech came off much more preachy than he had intended. Really, he just wanted to talk, but then came word vomit. "Sorry," he added. "I didn't mean to assume anything. If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine."

[Toogee]

In light of the current situation they were in, Pan found it quite strange that Nate would bring up her relationship with Justin. It really wasn’t the subject she wanted to get into. She didn’t even know all the facts. Still, she took it in stride.

“You know, it’s kind of cute that you care for Justin like that, but we haven’t even been on one date. How about we wait for that to happen before delving too deep into the future?”

In reality, Pan was worrying over the new info that Nate provided. Was Justin just as confused about all of this as she was? Pan thought that he knew what he was doing, that she was the one being stupid over a kiss. What was she to think? In the matters of inexperienced teens dealing with a growing love life, the consequences could be heartbreaking. One of them would have to be the adult in their potential relationship.

And while Pan was thinking about all of that, Douken could be getting crushed like a pancake. Immediately, she refocused on the situation at hand, not giving Nate a chance for a proper rebuttal.

“Right, Douken and Justin need our help. It’s not going to do them any good if we keep strolling around talking about my life.”

With that, Pan climbed up on Fenrir, the arcanine bracing himself for further orders. She was prepared to charge the proverbial (and literal) castle to get her friends out of there.

“Now get up here, give me a direction, and hang on.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Though the beast took a kick to the eye, it was Koldo’s assault on the leg that proved most effective. By hitting the black aberration, the croagunk managed to hit the true foe in the match. The barrage of fists caused a fearsome looking zoroark to tumble out of the beast’s leg. The audience gasped as the giant creature (and Douken’s footing) disappeared into thin air, leaving only a fearsome illusion pokemon in its place. At this point, Burro stopped laughing. Even he was fooled by the illusion.

Mondo was smiling from ear to ear as Douken started falling two stories towards the ground and the zoroark’s waiting claws. He revealed his glee to the only audience he had: Justin.

“Behold! The beast is all but an illusion. The true master of this arena is this zoroark, enhanced by my shadowing technique. By selectively enhancing portions of its brain, it is able to use its abilities and moveset with increased ferocity. Instead of a lumbering beast, he faces a quick-witted assassin!”

The illusion fox watched his human opponent rapidly descended towards the ground. His fight was not with the pokemon but with the creatures who experimented on him. They took him from the wild, cut him open, and exposed him to the dark energy. The process was torturous. He no longer felt as other pokemon felt. The only things he felt were the constant pain from the experiment and the satisfaction he would get by getting vengeance.

The humans cut him up alive. The zoroark would take his revenge out on Douken and any human that crossed his path. He prepared to slash the falling human, just as the scientists did to him.

[Douken Sota]

High up in the air, Douken watched the dark fox roll out, even though it merely looked like a black blur topped with red. What is that? he thought, as he suddenly felt the beast began to vanish. Don't tell me this is an illusion too! A fall like that would probably kill him. If not, the beast who was targeting would. Still, he was losing his floor, and had to react fast!

Slipping his hand into his pocket, he clutched a Pokeball as he started to fall and chucked it down to the floor. Bursting from it was Saber, but time was little. "SABER!" he cried out to catch his attention, and he saw what kind of trouble he was set for. The shadowed fox's claws were glowing, aimed at the human. If he let him get killed, he could be considered free, but then he would lose free daily meals. So, in a sudden burst of speed, the armored bird swooped down and intercepted the sharp claws and caught Douken on his decent, bringing him back into the air, leveled with Burro.

"Thanks Saber, that was close," he panted, eying the shadowed beast. "That was one solid illusion. Almost reminds me of yesterday," he muttered, looking down at his team. He was moved out of place, which meant his Pokemon were the closest targets unless the fox tried to climb out and attack him. Why he was the target, he just couldn't understand. "Koldo, Maya, we need to win in order to leave, but don't think it will be easy." Koldo let off a smirk cough, as if telling him, "So what? That's the way I like it," as Maya gave a nod, the water washing over her body, still cleaning her up. "Right. Let's do this! Mud Bomb! Aurora Beam!"

With th poison frog's cheek's puffing, he started to produce more glops of mud in his cheek before firing them at the much smaller opponent as Maya began charging up a rainbow-colored ball of light on her horn. However, before she could fire, her body was engulfed in light! "What the-" Douken watched as her body grew bigger, her fins larger, and her horn longer until the light faded and a new Pokemon stood in front of him. "DEWGONG-GONG-GONG!!" With her cry out, the size of the ball doubled on her horn and blasted at the shadow beast, showing how much more powerful the move got by evolving.

[Yzarc Drowsnam]

"Yeah," Nate shook his head, frustrated with himself for trying to have a real conversation during these times. "Okay, let's go." He hopped up and pointed in the direction he saw Justin and Mondo go after he went inside the warehouse. "They went that way."

---------

Justin nodded when Douken's Croagunk heard him call out and managed to hit the creature's weakspot. Indeed, it turned out it was all an illusion from what looked like an evolved from of the pokemon who screwed with his mind the day before. This illusion, though, was more powerful. It was real.

Mondo confirmed it. Like Pinsir, this Zoroark was a Shadow Pokemon. The thought occurred to him to use Pinsir to try and talk some sense into the other pokemon. Clearly he was under no one's command. He was just fighting. He was not Burro's or even Mondo's pokemon. He was his own. Maybe he could get Pinsir to convince him- No. Pinsir wouldn't help. Pinsir never helps.

Speaking of that asshole, though, where were his pokemon? Nate was supposed to be coming with them. And where was Pan? She was supposed to be at the stadium. Where was she? He watched as Douken's acrobatics and use of pokemon basically saved his life. It left him wondering if any of his pokemon were capable of such feats. Hitmontop, sure. But most of his other pokemon were pretty weak, and, aside from Ninjask, they didn't have very strong bonds.

He made his way back to where Mondo was standing and stood next to him.

"What brings you back here, Mr. Smart?" Mondo asked.

"Well, last I remember, you announced that you were the one who created this beast," Justin shrugged. "Seeing as how it's my job to protect you, I intend to do so from the mob you've surely created, especially now that they know it's just a regular sized pokemon."

"Interesting," Mondo nodded. "Your priorities are odd, Mr. Smart."

"Yeah, well."

"I'm not worried, though," he continued. "Look up there." Justin did so, to where Burro sat, who seemed to be issuing orders to some of his biker lieutenants. "Burro's not prepared to let his town be taken by a mob. You see, the Zoroark was already a success, even if your friend manages to defeat it. Burro owns this town. The illusion of a powerful pokemon became a reality actually worth fearing when he assimilated his biker gangs. Similar to how my shadow technology made Zoroark's illusions worthy of real fear. It really is somewhat poetic."

"I still want to get you out of here soon," Justin continued. "If there's gonna be a battle between bikers and citizens, I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire."

"And what are you gonna do to protect me without any pokemon?"

"I don't need any pokemon to pound face, Doctor," Justin rolled his eyes.

"Well, Mr. Guzman is returning with your pokemon, correct?" Mondo asked. "Let us wait for him to do so, then we can leave."

"We don't need to-"

"I'm much smarter than you, Justin," Mondo insisted. "I know what you're trying to do. Nate is going to side with the citizens of this town and you don't want me to see it. You don't want me to see him commanding his own and your pokemon to help the town reclaim itself. I get it. It's admirable. You clearly care about your partner, and your devotion to Team Deception is clear, even if our goals do clash somewhat in this specific regard."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm not sure yet. But I will continue to ponder how I feel about the two of you. Oh speaking of whom."

Justin followed Mondo's eyes as he saw the crowd of people seeming to rustle around. Something was coming, and apparently Mondo believed it was Nate. Looked bigger, though.

[Toogee]

The zoroark snarled in anger as Douken safely flew over the arena. In order to enact his revenge, the illusion fox would have to dispatch his pokemon first. As the trainer began issuing commands, the zoroark looked back at the pair of pokemon on the ground. They were hurling attacks in his direction, one of the opponents evolving in the process. But the zoroark saw them coming and jumped straight up. He twirled in midair, his body between the balls and beams. The fox landed upon the sand, ready to make his own move.

The zoroark did something unheard of in his species. With a mighty howl, he reformed his illusion! Once again, Douken and his team faced the two story leviathan, more furious than before. This time however, the dark aberration was no longer on his leg. It had moved to his upper back on the right side of his body. It also took a clearer shape: the silhouette of a zoroark. Even so, hitting that mark would not be a simple task as before.

The leviathan elongated his arms and connected them, mouth to mouth. He then started spinning them vertically. His giant body jumped over the heads each time they passed, as if using his arms as a jump rope. What appeared to be silly looking turned into something quite terrifying once the creature started using agility. He was a giant moving turbine, moving across the arena at a dangerous speed. Sand was getting kicked up by the rotating arms. The audience cheered once more as the leviathan galloped towards the croagunk and dewgong. Burro was getting off his throne, taking a bow as if this was all his doing.

CRASH!

The audience looked to the back to see two people riding upon an arcanine. Pan looked around the audience briefly, but her attention quickly honed in on the behemoth in the arena. The creature was headed straight for Douken’s pokemon. She wasn’t going to stand by and just let it happen. She moved without thinking.

“Fenrir, we need to get in there!”

The arcanine obeyed without hesitation, charging through the seating area. Bikers were diving out of the way as the arcanine ran through the crowd. Fenrir cleared the separation wall and landed on all fours within the arena itself. They kept moving towards Douken’s crew as Pan unleashed one of her pokemon.

“Turnip, get them out of there!”

The venusaur appeared from his pokeball, given but seconds to react. Luckily, getting released in such situations was a bit of a common occurrence recently. Turnip used his vines to grab ahold of both pokemon and drag them out of the way. While the croagunk took little effort to carry off, the dewgong was a bit heavier than as a seel. The venusaur used three of his vines to wrap around the sausage-shaped body and fling her to Pan’s side. Though the pokemon were safe and sound, they had another problem. The leviathan was now charging them, racing towards the group with flailing arms. Nor was the creature happy to see the new arrivals. In fact, it was very much pissed.

“OK, now what?” Pan asked Nate, in a half-joking manner. Evidently, her short-sighted rescue plan did not include an exit strategy. She hoped Nate had some wicked pokemon to get them out of this mess.

Back in the stands, a scientist was fervently writing notes while taking in the action. He looked very pleased with how things were turning out. The addition of two more trainers (even Nate) would push the project further, just as he wanted.

“On second thought, Mr. Smart,” Mondo said to Justin as the events unfolded, “I think I’ll stay. Things have become much more interesting…”