[X] My Assistant

[Kamaitachi]

As the battle continued to rage on, Cesc shook his head almost in admiration. Mara had taken more hits than anyone and was still standing. Evidently, she wasn't only pretty, but incredibly durable as well. She even worked up the energy to perform a Grasswhistle after being hit.

Unfortunately for Cesc, Oberon had taken the Sweet Scent from earlier, lowering his evasion skills, making it hard for him to 'dodge' the Grass Whistle. Already floored, the Sneasel's head sank to the floor, a little sleep bubble emerging from his nose. Not good.

Meanwhile, Tybalt, taking matter into his own hands, landed with both feet on the Makuhita's Arm Thrust, using the leverage to spring back up into the air, landing gracefully next to his sleeping partner.

"Protect Oberon! Danza Espada!" Normally, Tybalt would perform a slow series of slashes, as if performing a Tai Chi routine. Today, however, considering how the move was to be used, he went through the motions swiftly and without pause, forming something like a barrier of claws. This served to defend him and his partner at the moment, as well as boost his already formidable Zangoose offenses.

For the first time in the match, Cesc had to play entirely defensive, and he absolutely did not enjoy it. A well placed Grass Whistle had turned the situation around. While Mara and Drummer could operate independently of one another, Cesc had placed too much trust in the synergy of his pokemon as a duo, meaning he couldn't just leave one of his pokemon partners on the floor and vulnerable.

"You've got some style after all, Seiccan" Cesc grinned, giving his fellow co-ordinator a quick two-finger salute, which as he brought down, moved into the rock-star horns hand symbol. "Why, I'd be honoured if you let me call myself your rival!"

[Douken Sota]

It seemed that too much synergy had its downfalls too. By relying on his partener who was taking a nap, the Zangoose could not simply turn into a solo fighter and take them on. No, then it would be less stylish and more aggressive like a normal trainer. Either way, with a swords dance to act like a shield, it was clear the Zangoose did not want anyone up front. Drummer's style asked for that and was not going to stand for that, but a hidden card up his sleeve said otherwise. He just wanted to hide it until the competition, but why not show him off.

Besides, he was giving the rocking horns as well as called a rival. Why would he could back any longer?!

Sending his hand into the air, he too flashed the rock on handsign. "And as your rival, I will not let you stand above me! Now, Round!" Turning the handsign into a heavy strum of the guitar, Drummer and Mara gave a cry themselves. Round is a move that takes advantage of teamwork and unison, applifying each other's power, so only needing to call one move cause them both to yell out an amplified ring (Drummer still hated the noise, but he wanted to end the battle before he hit Seican for being loud.). Their voices rang with enough power to push the air into visable rings, mixing together for the amplification of the move.

[Kamaitachi]

"Tybalt! Metal Claw! That's your shield!"

Considering Tybalt had just unveiled the usage of the move in this very battle, Cesc had not yet had the opportunity to teach the Zangoose the Spanish word for it. Abandoning his post as the large ring of sound approached him, he raised both claws in front of him like a pair of metal gauntlets as he charged forward. The determined Zangoose tore through the incoming sound waves, letting them float off of him like a bizarre audible aura. He sustained the brunt of the damage, but doggedly continued through, slashing both sets of gleaming metal claws at Mara once more. Hopping back to his post in front of the sleeping Oberon, he appeared to be quite worn out and on the verge of collapse.

Oberon behind him showed signs of stirring, but nevertheless remained asleep on the field. Perhaps he'd wake up in the next round.

Honestly, he was a bit surprised; he'd expected Seiccan to be a bit of a nutjob co-ordinator as well, but the kid definitely had some spunk to him.

I'm justifying the fact that Cesc's pokemon are still standing by the means that they've got 10 levels on Seiccan's. I figure the next bit of combat should be the last, and then we'll have Hunter call time, then flip a coin to see who wins.

[Douken Sota]

That last metal claw finally did it in for Mara. With her eyes swirling, he was forced to recall her back. Sure, Seican's origional plan was for her to use Mega Drain last round, but the toughened Pokemon seemed ready6 for a hard knockout himself. Still, this technically left the tubby fighter and the battle hardered fuzzball left standing. Mara was out and the Sneasel was in la-la land. Still, he was a lot stronger, but the fact the Makuhita had the type advantage throughout the battle made him wear out the Zangoose so.

Time to throw it all into one final move. Not like time was on their side anyways.

"Drummer, give them another Arm Thrust!" With the tubby fighter charging in, arms open, the boat slowly grew closer to the island, which seemed to of been darkened by some heavy clouds.

[Kamaitachi]

Cesc allowed himself a sigh of relief as Mara finally hit the floor unconscious. Even with the majority of his attacks focused entirely on her, it had taken far too long to take the resilient cactus down. Now, the lion's share of the work had to be done towards the end, with the hardly damaged Makuhita still on the field.

Figuring that it was time for more glitz than actual fighting, Cesc ordered: "Tybalt, Danza Espada!"

Once again forming the claw barrier, Tybalt fiercely protected his sleeping comrade from the oncoming Arm Thrust attack. Sadly, with his own fatigue wearing heavily down on him, the powerful Arm Thrust easily crushed his flashy defense, landing several solid hits on the Zangoose's torso. With a pained cry, and holding out one claw in a surprisingly dramatic fashion towards Drummer.

"Zangoose-zan...goose zan zan zangoose."

Romeo, thou art a villain. Cesc thought proudly to himself. His pokemon had clearly taken a liking to their Shakespeare inspired names, now to the point where they were probably quoting them at their enemies whenever they spoke. Part of Cesc felt giddy, that his pokemon were dramatic and playing to the crowd even in fainting. While he hated to see them faint, he noted that even the stoic Tybalt was still working towards Cesc's goal. That was loyalty if he'd ever heard it.

Meanwhile, Oberon stirred once more, but remained woefully asleep on the deck of the boat. With his dark and ice typing both weak to fighting type attacks, it was pretty clear that Seiccan could easily mop the floor with Drummer still in tact, and Cesc needed Oberon awake to counter-attack...

Then the buzzer went off, indicating the end of five minutes.

Cesc snapped his head over to Hunter to see what he'd decided.

Saved by the bell, huh the spanish-speaking co-ordinator chuckled silently to himself, recalling his fainted and sleeping pokemon from the floor of the boat.

"Well, don't be shy. Let's hear the verdict."

[switzerIand]

After five minutes had passed, a bell rang, indicating that the match was over. As the crowd grew silent, they turned their attention to Hunter, he made his way out to the middle of the stage, nearly equidistant between the two combatants. He cleared his throat before addressing the audience with his clearest and loudest voice.

"So, before I announce the winner of this match," Hunter called out before pausing, "Why don't put our hands together for our two competitors, who put up a great show for us today." The crowd burst out with clapping and cheering for the two men. Hunter waited for the crowd to settle down before continuing on.

"So, as you guys know, this was an amazing match with both sides displaying a great amount of thought when choosing their attacks in terms of both appeal and the actual battle. I don't know about you guys, but I was very impressed with how many blows that Seican's Maractus, Mara, was able to take from the higher leveled Sneasel and Zangoose. I'd also like to note Mara's beautifully executed Sweet Scent early in the battle which payed off near the end when Cesc's Sneasel was unable to dodge the Grasswhistle from Mara herself, before she fell. Drummer, on the other hand, was very impressive with his physical attacks. The Arm Thrust at the end, in particular, was greatly preformed and very effective. The pummel of punches from the attack was quick and looked great while also taking out Cesc's Zangoose." Hunter once again paused before continuing on with his judging of Cesc's battle.

"Now, moving on to Cesc. Tybalt the Zangoose and Oberon the Sneasel make an amazing team. There's no other way to put it. The deadly, yet elegant, slashes coming from these two Pokemon couldn't help but to radiate a certain sense of cool. They were flawlessly executed in terms of both the appeal and through combat on their opponents. Cesc's selection of moves and strategy really payed off in the end. The way that Tybalt had used his claws it was .... simply genius!"

"Now with that being said, I've made my choice. The coordinator that has won put thought into his moves in more ways than one. He made sure that his moves would not only look good, but they would also be effective. His moves weren't too flashy, but they worked out very well in the end. So without further ado, the winner is..."

Another pause.

"Cesc!" Zach announced, grinning widely.

[Douken Sota]

"As expected from a trainer," Seican muttered as he placed his hands in his pockets. Here he was testing out some more complicated looks while Cesc's offensive play seemed to of wooed Hunter. Still, he was able to see some good sides to them, as well as some tricks he could possibly use when going against Fidona's babe of a Coordinator. "Anywya's, good job, Drummer! If we had more time, you would of kicked his ass!" Holding his hand up to Drummer, he got ready for a high five.

Seican got hit in the face again.

"Makuhita..." Drummer muttered, only the Pokemon out able to hear his distaste before kicking the button of his Pokeball, returning himself. It seemed that he only withstood the noise because he was put into a fight. Sure, he didn't like being flashy, but the teamwork moves he could deal with if they can be effective.

"Ow..." he muttered, having a red mark right on his nose. "Either way, Cesc, good match. However, as your rival, I won't let you top me in Fidona, as all the babes in their bikinis will be screaming my name!" That's when a chunk of ice hit him in the face. Right where Drummer hit... "Why does everything go for my face!" Looking up, however, he could see why: hail. It was hailing! This made his jaw drop.

A tropical island, full of hot babes on the beach, and it was hailing! "NO ONE WEARS BIKINIS IN HAIL!"

[Kamaitachi]

Cesc tilted his head with a slight surprise. The new acquaintance, Hunter, turned out to be a surprisingly observant and eloquent fellow. The kid had a nice, clear speaking voice, and a good flow to his speech. To be honest and perfectly egotistical, he reminded Cesc of himself, back when he ran with a tough crowd in The Under back in Orre.

A beaming grin broke onto his face as Hunter declared him the winner. Placing his hands over his heart, he extended them to the audience, mouthing "Thank you" as he turned to face them. Finally, he took a quick bow, then raised his hands to Seiccan, applauding for him as well.

For his first contest match, it was nice to see that his planned combinations had worked well. The main point of the battle though, other than winning, was to learn. Seiccan certainly had a flashy style, and that was something that Cesc needed to take more into account.

Drummer, the Makuhita, broke Cesc's reverie as he arm-thrusted his trainer right in the face. Unable to contain himself, Cesc let out a loud, boisterous laugh, which immediately caught on with some of the crowd. The co-ordinator had a rather infectious laugh, after all. It seemed especially funny that the disagreeable little Fighting Type had listened to Seiccan's command so well, even despite his obvious distaste for his trainer. It spoke volumes to Seiccan's training abilities. In the back of his mind, though, Cesc wondered whether or not his Bardolph would be the same way. The Scyther didn't have the brute force of the Makuhita, but he had those horrifying scythe-arms. A blow from him would be a lot more painful than a palm slap to the face. Seiccan recovered easily enough, which meant that either the Makuhita took it easy on his trainer, or that Mara had somehow inherited his resilience.

"I agree. The match was both excellent and fun." Cesc gave the wannabe rock-star a gracious nod. While the thought of a boudoir of bodacious bikini babes excited him a bit, he would've gladly traded the gaggle of girls for just one fan: Branwys.

As he contemplated her clad in a bikini, a rather large hailstone fell, striking Seiccan in the face. Gagging a little on another laugh, Cesc placed a hand over his mouth. His eyes shone with mirth though, clearly amused by the horrendous physical abuse that Seiccan seemed to endure on a regular basis.

Seiccan, though outrageously loud, made a good point: Why was it hailing on a tropical island?

[switzerIand]

Hunter couldn't help to laugh as he saw Drummer, Seicann's Makuhita, break out of his trainer's grasp and give him a punch straight in the middle of his nose, before returning himself to his PokeBall. He had another outburst about things always going for his face... Before Hunter was hit in the face by something himself. He looked up into the sky, covering his eyes as he did.

'H-hail? But... we are going to a tropical island?' he thought to himself as hail continued to hit his body.

Hunter turned and yelled across the deck of the boat to Cesc. "Uh, hey, C-Cesc? We're heading towards Fidona Island, right?" A nod from the Contest Trainer confirmed this.

"Then why the hell is it hailing?"

Just a short post, I really had nothing to add so I just typed something up fast.

[Douken Sota]

With the boat fulling to the docks, everyone seemed to of taken the extra precaution of leaving the boat and quickly finding shelter until either their ride arrived, or simply ran off to their destination. "Man, this sucks!" Seican said, taking more precautions to protect his guitar then himself. "And here I was expecting bright sun and good waves too! If it is still like this tomorrow, it will seriously mess up the contest!"

It was true that they headed off a little earlier than expected, but it was only so they could have a small window to get their performance stage set up. It also was going to give him time to rent an acoustic, it seemed. Still, it was not the weather he wanted. "Damn it! Of all the times, why must we get the bad weather for a debut?"

However, it seemed more unnatural, but understanding, when what looked like a crystal ball, drifted down the streets, singing along, "Form, form form!"

[Kamaitachi]

"Of course we are." Cesc nodded absently towards Hunter, answering his second question with: "Because our Contest Battle was so cool, clearly." He heard someone in the crowd groan, and admittedly, Cesc agreed with him. Easily not his best work.

* * *

With his bag over his head, Cesc ran alongside Seiccan and Hunter. They'd disembarked in a hurry with the rest of the population on the boat. It appeared that no one else in Fidona had been prepared for the impromptu hail, meaning that it clearly wasn't a natural occurence.

Then, they saw some cloud looking thing float by, singing gaily as it went.

"Well, men," Cesc made something of a pensive face, even going so far as to place his finger and thumb on his chin, stroking the stubble there, "I think there's the reason it's hailing. Wonder if it's under someone's orders?"

The question was answered almost immediately as a pokeball came sailing through the air, only to be met with a blast of Icy Wind from the Castform.

"Gentlemen, I have a fun idea." He grinned to either side of him, at Seiccan and Hunter respectively "A friendly competition: Let's see who can catch it!"

"Flying beneath the cold moon and the earth, Oberon!" Cesc sought to summon his Sneasel immediately, so as to gain an advantage in the hailstorm. As the ball hit the ground, it unleashed a small smoke screen. Usually, Oberon would slice his way out of the smoke, but nothing happened. When the smoke cleared, it revealed the prone form of Cesc's Sneasel, dozing obliviously on the floor.

"Oh..." Cesc placed a hand to his cheek, shaking his head fondly. "That was dumb."

[switzerIand]

As Hunter and company exited the boat side by side, they quickly saw a cloud like form making its way merrily down the street, chiming, "Form! Form! Form!" as it did. "Well, men," Cesc said as he put on a stern looking face, "I think there's the reason it's hailing. Wonder if it's under someone's orders?" His question was soon answered as a PokeBall was thrown at the Castform, only to be rejected by the blast of an Icy Wind attack from the Weather Pokemon. "Gentlemen, I have a fun idea." Cesc proposed, a smile going from ear to ear as he glanced at both Hunter and Seiccan. "A friendly competition: Let's see who can catch it!"

"I'm game, what about you Hitmontop?" Hunter smiled, looking to the ground at his Pokemon, who merely nodded at the question. "Then lets go!" The teenager wasted no time sprinting ahead of Seicann and Cesc, who released his sleeping Sneasel, and gaining a lead on the other two trainers. While running, he looked to his side, but much to his surprise Hitmontop was nowhere to be seen. He looked back down the road from which they came to see his Pokemon staring intensely into... a bush? He jogged back over to his Pokemon, who remained motionless as he stood there.

"What's up buddy?" Hunter said as he got to eye level with the Hitmontop. His Pokemon merely growled in response as the bushes rustled a little bit, and a scorpion-like Pokemon popped out. Hunter quickly took out his PokeDex and had it analyze the unknown species.

"Skorupi, the scorpion Pokemon," the PokeDex chimed, "It burrows under the sand to lie in wait for prey. Its tail claws can inject its prey with a savage poison."

"Ah, so Skorupi, and he's a poison type, huh?" Hunter thought out loud as the Skorupi and Hitmontop engaged in an intense stare down. "Alright, Hitmontop, use Rapid Spin!" Hitmontop wasted no time doing a front flip onto his head and using the point of the top of his head to spin around and deliver several kicks to the Skorupi, causing the scorpion to skid back a couple of feet. This did not please the Skorpi, who immediately charged back at Hitmontop and somehow managed to grab one of his feet as he was spinning, stopping him from spinning. Hitmontop cringed as poisoned leeched into its body.

"Hitmontop, come back!" Zach said, recalling his Pokemon to his Pokemon. He motioned to Bandit on his shoulder. "You're up, Bandit!"

[Douken Sota]

"I'm game!" Seican declared, not letting the loss from the match they have slow him down. However, it seemed it did slow down Cesc, as to take advantage of the icy terrain, he used his own ice type... why was still asleep! Hunter get himself up front fast, but seemed to of quickly engaged in a different Pokemon; a Skoropi. That gave him a good window to take his own lead.

Chasing after the Weather pokemon, Seican decided to take his own choice of Pokemon. "Record, rock the stage!" With a spin of the undesigned Pokeball, the spider came out in the normal flash, running alongside the coordinator. "Lets slow it down! Electro-Web!" With a stactic-filled web fired, it covered up the misty cloud up the electric goo, causing it to turn around and send another Icy Wind their way.

"Don't get too cocky, cause at the end of the day, you are going to be mine!"

[Kamaitachi]

With a sheepish expression on his face, Cesc recalled the snoozing Oberon and broke into a run after Seiccan.

Luckily, in this three way contest, Hunter opted to get distracted by another pokemon entirely. While it was a shame that half of the competition dropped out almost immediately, it meant that there was a better chance for Cesc to snag the Castform.

Seiccan made the smart move of using an electric web to snare the Weather Pokemon, but received a face full of Icy Wind for his efforts.

"Valentine enters!" Cesc announced with a clear, projected voice, throwing his pokeball towards the fray. Stars and hearts burst upwards in tandem volcanos as Cesc's Chimchar burst onto the scene. He, like Cesc and his teammates, was not yet in costume.

"Valentine! Ascuas!"

With a happy cry, Valentine reared back his head before snapping it forward, shooting out an array of little fireballs. Roguish by nature, Cesc had no qualms whatsoever if the attack hit Seiccan's pokemon Record at the same time. Two pokemon with one stone would only serve his advantage. The flaming bolts soared towards Record and the Castform, thanks to Valentine's indescretion as to where the attack actually went.

[Douken Sota]

The Spinarak had to take a moment outof his time to avoid the embers as well as avoid the falling hailing pinging at the small spider's body. "Hey, tell your monkey to aim. If you didn't know, bugs cook easily!" OKay, so it seemed he wasn't completely blind to type advantages. Still, Drummer would of been the better choice if he knew that much. "Now, Record, show them your Night Shade!"

Night Shade seems like a very useful move for looks, because even though the damage is quite constant, it was an illusion that takes advantage of the situation, such as taking the landing spots of the Embers and turking them into flaming pillars.

Of course, being in an Ice form, Fire was not a friendly being, so in order to counter act the "flames," the Castform chose to use Water Gun as quickly as possible, trying to put out what wasn't there.

[Kamaitachi]

"Let's just say Record there got in the way." Cesc laughed "And then we'll agree to disagree."

Cesc ran forward to catch up, now standing on even ground with Seiccan. Valentine now had to dodge the errant Water Gun attacks, hopping about with his simian agility.

Now, though, there was the chance to utilize the illusions on the field to his advantage.

"Valentine! Rueda Fuego!"

At the command, Valentine threw himself forward, somersaulting smoothly across the makeshift battlefield. As he did so, the fire from his head and tail ignited, turning his body into a fireball. Speeding forwards, he bounced off the ground, flying through the air, narrowly missing the panicking Castform. As he landed, though, the Fire MOnkey got a butt full of water from Castform's Water Gun attack, sending him tumbling further across the field.

"Hmmm." Cesc crossed his arms, resting right over left, then raised a finger to his chin in a pensive gesture. "Guess this simply isn't my day."

[Douken Sota]

"Lady luck is jsut on my side! After all, she jsut can't accept an easy win from a battle-trained judge when I was obviously flashier." However, no one seemed flashier than Record, who suddenly began to glow. "See? I am getting another gift already." If the first gift was going to be the Castform, then this one would be evolution.

"Ariados!" From the small green spider came a bigger, red one. Well, more like around double the size, but still bigger. "Now go! Fury Swipes!" With the Long Leg Pokemon leaping into the air, Record landed on the WEather Pokemon and gave a tight group of swings at the cloud. It managed to push off the bug with another Icy Wind, but the Castform seemed pretty worn out.

"Alright, capture time. Now where did I put that Pokeball?" Having to search his bag, he failed to realize the windowhe gave his rival. That, or felt that his luck right now would have Cesc fail.

[Kamaitachi]

In his periphery, Cesc watched his competition digging around for a pokeball. A small hint of pride welled up in his chest, as at the very least, Cesc felt infinitely more graceful than the other kid. The feeling of superiority swirled around in Cesc's mind as a cocky grin slowly took over his face. The capture, like the battle, would be his.

Yet true to the formula of any tragedy, pride brings downfall. Oedipus killed his father, married his mother, then tore his eyes out. Pentheus wound up torn to pieces by his mother. Achilles found an arrow in his only weak spot.

Luckily, Cesc didn't have an ounce of greek blood in him. His hubric downfall wouldn't be a violent and bloody end (yet). As he smoothly dipped his hand into his pocket to procure a pokeball, he flashed his hand out to reveal...nothing.

Blinking curiously at the emptiness in his hand, he dipped his hand back into his pocket, trying to appear as the first time had been a little joke to himself. It, too, turned out unsuccessful; he had no pokeballs on him. It made sense, of course. Cesc hadn't spent money on pokeballs since he began his pursuit of Co-Ordination.

Seiccan definitely had all the right moves in this competition. He hadn't gone for the type advantage, but had worn the mystery pokemon down just fine. In fact, his pokemon had evolved in the midst of the battle. It seemed only fair, Cesc reasoned, that Seiccan won this one. He had, after all, declared them rivals. He'd forced this destiny on them, and here, too, he paid for his pride.

"Valentine, use Nasty Plot!" Cesc reached into his pocket and swept his hand out again, as if he'd been practicing that gesture in the interim. A sinister aura surrounded Valentine for the moment, briefly wrapping him up in it, which seemed cool in itself. Cesc had never had Valentine use the move, but this seemed like it had the potential for a cool combination.

[Douken Sota]

"No need!" Seican said, tossing a Pokeball out from his bag, he caught it in mid air. Once caught, it enlarged as he got himself ready. "Because this catch is mine! Pokeball, go!" Launching it through the air, it hit the Weather Pokemon in the face, falling to the floor. With it falling on the floor, the red dot flashed rapidly, wiggling about as the Pokemon struggled to get out. To add to the tension, the guitarist also rapidly strummed the E string as if a guitar drum roll before the ping.

Castform was caught.

"Hell yeah!" Snatching up the Pokeball from the floor, he stared at it with a wide grin. "You're mine now, FX!" Seican liked the idea with playing with the weather, just like a man backstage controlled the lights and smoke. Even a band needed a stange hand for their effects.

Staring up into the sky, the clouds soon started to fade away, revealing the sun. The ice cubes slowly stopped falling, causing less running for shelter. This left the grin on Seican's face. "And tomorrow, we shall predict bikinis..."

[Kamaitachi]

A small sigh escaped with Cesc's breath. With this, he and his new rival were now even with one victory apiece. That meant that the final battle would teeter on their chances in the Contest Hall. As far as Cesc knew, Seiccan was as much a neophyte to contests as he was, therefore once again at least the grounds were even.

"Nicely done." Cesc grinned, extending his hand. "Your team definitely has some moves. In fact, it really just makes me all the more excited to see how we do in the contest, wouldn't you agree?"

With the capture of the Castform, a pokemon whose name Cesc still didn't know, the sky cleared up immediately. With the threat of hail gone, the classy co-ordinator felt the urge to race Seiccan to the Pokemon Center. Ultimately he decided that too much competition was simply too much competition; he'd reserve his energy for the performance tomorrow.

Hefting his bag over his shoulder, he took to a knee as Valentine monkeyed up to his side, looking forlornly up at his trainer.

"No worries, old friend, we didn't fail. That hag, Lady Luck, smield her ugly smile on Seiccan here. Don't worry, her more beautiful sister, Lady Talent, will take a shine to you tomorrow."

Valentine giggled, waving cheerily at Seiccan. As Cesc stood, placing his hands akimbo, the Chimchar adopted the same pose. The two cheekily grinned their urchin grins at the guitarist.

"C'mon, let's get to the Pokemon Center. There's rest to be had after all of this."