[X] My Assistant

[Kilvaer]

Chloe watched with a frown of dissatisfaction as her Bonsly was knocked unconscious by the sudden surprise attack from her opponent. Unhooking the same pokeball as before, she rescinded Bonsly's shaking form back into his little sanctuary as the referee determined the Bulbasaur as the victor. Unphased nor even showing any hint at concern for the processes of the battle, Chloe replaced Bonsly at her side.

"Beginning the second part of the match! Chloe Davenport, please choose your pokemon!" hollered out the woman in the center of the sidelines of the arena.

Hand slipping to her belt immediately, she withdrew another red-and-white orb and tossed it to the field with a bored expression. A red light sparked out from the pokeball, and in the place where the small orb made contact then bounced an enthusiastic Cherubi.

Not losing a beat with the momentum of her actions, Chloe yelled out with an intense vigor, "Use Razor Leaf! Show our young challenger what she is fighting."

Cherubi, chirping delightedly with itself, spun its small body in a frivolous spin; it's movement conjured a flurry of sharp leaves towards its opponent.

"After a few minutes of silence, Chloe was obviously growing bored, and started saying something about how Melinda should forfeit, being a good trainer knows when to quit, and all that crap."

Please refrain from deciding what my characters do :\ That does conflict with how I wanted to portray Chloe, so as advice to the future you should really just ask or just not mention another character's reaction if it wasn't already in a post before yours.

[The Rose Crusade...]

“Way to go Grondiir!" Melinda shouted in exaltation. She had no idea that the tiny grass dinosaur had so much power! Alas, the girl did know that great power comes at an even greater cost. Mindy knew that Grondiir couldn't last much longer in the battle, being exhausted from his dumbfounding attack. "Watch out Grondiir! Be on your toes!" Melinda shouted. The Bulbasaur responded with a flailing of its vines, eager for more action. But in truth, Grondiir was in pain. The attack had nearly caused him to faint from all of the energy he expended during it. Still, he wasn't going to give up. The pair watched as Chloe calmly returned her crushed Bonsly and sent out what Melinda expected to be her trump card. Instead, a tiny little pink plant came flying out of the pokeball, to whom Chloe attached the name Cherubi. It certainly didn't seem like much, but Melinda knew that she could not judge power by its size. What bothered Mindy the most was not Chloe's choice of pokemon, but rather her reaction to Grondiir's devastative assault on her own pokemon. It was as if Chloe wasn't even fazed, like she had something far more impressive than that!

A Chloe's command, the miniscule cherry pokemon unleashed a barrage of leaves straight for Grondiir. If it had been the beginning of the battle, the Bulbasaur would have dodged them easily. But now, with all of his energy have left him, Grondiir barely managed to miss two or three. He was moving so slowly that he had resorted to chopping at the razor-sharp leaves with his own vines. Unlike her pokemon, Mindy knew when she was beat; when to give up. "It's all right Grondiir, return!" Melinda shouted, holding up the painted pokeball, a red line stretching towards Grondiir.

"Bulbasaur!" The pokemon yelled furiously. It was clear that he would not give up. Melinda tried again to return her pokemon, but he would not budge. The tiny toad pokemon continued to take hit after hit of the powerful fusillade of leaves being pounded upon him. He was determined, beyond any other pokemon Melinda had ever encountered. Grondiir was battling to prove something. To prove to everyone, especially Jaima, and maybe even to himself of what he was capable of, not caring how reckless it was in the end or what others would say. He would not just return to his pokeball defeated. Grondiir would and always would fight until the end.

But Grondiir would soon find out, his body would be the one who would betray him, and it did so with each passing moment. The pink cherry pokemon continued to unload hundreds of leaves at Grondiir, not even breaking a sweat. Grondiir just simply could not keep up with the new, refreshed pokemon. Suddenly his vines stopped their futile defense against the attack, and Grondiir stopped trying to dodge the hits. At last, the pokemon knew it had been defeated. As he lay on the battlefield, he knew that he had gone into battle and won, but most importantly, he would leave with his own sense of Pokemon Dignity.

The volley soon ended as Cherubi realized that it had defeated her opponent. It stood completely still. Melinda thought it must be dizzy from so much spinning to release its leaves, but it was not phased at all. Melinda calmly attempted to return her pokemon for the third time and was victorious. She kissed the pokemon that held Grondiir and quietly whispered "Thank you" into it. But the battle was not over yet, and Mindy knew it. She clipped Grondiir's pokeball to her belt and in turn picked up a new one almost by instinct. This particular pokeball has had its place on Melinda's belt since she could remember, so it was only instinct that she call upon the pokemon again in her time of need. She brought the red and white pokeball up to her face and clasped her hands around it with her eyes closed. “Please,” she whispered to the pokeball, “Lead us to victory.” Melinda lowered the ball back down to its normal level and stared on the battlefield. This would be where it all ended. The years of training and hard work were all for this point. This would truly be the battling duo’s final test.

"Let's finish this," she announced, "I choose you, Combee!" With a flick of her wrist, the pokeball flew through the air and suddenly there appeared a tri-honeycombed shaped insect flying triumphantly over the battlefield.

"Comveeveevee!" yelled the pokemon. Its battle cry flew through the rafters of the gym. Combee had trained, prepared, and waited all her life for this moment. It was finally her time to shine.

"Let's rev things up Combee, give Cherubi your best Gust attack!" commanded Melinda. Without question, the bee pokemon started buzzing its wings like crazy, sending a strong and cutting gale of wind right at the pink cherry pokemon. "Keep it up Combee!" Melinda cheered. She was proud of the pokemon she has raised and grew up with. It was certainly very powerful now. So much in fact, that Melinda even thought that it had gotten bigger overnight! Nevertheless, the bee pokemon unleashed its gale at full force, not wanting to give its opponent any chances to catch its breath.



This post has been edited by The Rose Crusader: Nov 11 2008, 06:56 AM

[Living Arrow]

"Oh no," Darryn frowned, watching the Cherubi give Jaima's Bulbasaur the relentless attack until he hit the deck in defeat. "Poor Grondir. He did amazingly well though!" He added that last bit for Jaima, extremely impressed with the way in which the small grass type had managed to release its Nature Power move.

In the time it took Mindy to select her second Pokemon, Darryn watched the Cherubi carefully. It was far better trained than his sister's own but it still hadn't evolved. Darryn knew from experience with Cleo's own Cherubi that the tiny Pokemon had fair defenses but its speed wasn't going to match something as agile as a Combee. That, in Darryn's book would have left them evenly matched if not for the clear type advantage that Mindy was expoilting with her choice.

"Woah! Look at that gust!" Darryn gasped, his Pidgey also taking a keen interest in the move. "You could learn a lot from Combee with a strong move like that, Pidgey! Look at the way she's leaning into the move! They way she's keeping rhythm so perfectly with the wingbeats! Man, that's a good gust!"

Pidgey bobbed his head in approval and watched on, fluttering his wings now and again in mock imitation of the feat he was witnessing.

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima didn't respond to Darryn. It wasn't that he didn't agree, or that he was being rude. It was the simple fact that he was contending with two unique and distracting variables: the lump in his throat from his pride in Grondir, and his struggling cyndaquil, who seemed determined to go down to the arena and make sure her friend was OK.

"Em," he whispered, picking her up and stroking the back of her skull, "Em, calm down, sweety. Grondir's fine, Mindy won't let him get hurt, OK?" The cyndaquil's struggles slowed, then stopped, but she still shook. Jaima understood how she felt. He wouldn't be happy until he could see Grondir, either.

He leaned over, watching the combee attack. "Is it just me, Darryn, or is Combee different..?"

[Living Arrow]

"Wha?" Darryn peered at Combee. "You might be right there, Jaima. Look at her faces - they're laughing a lot more than normal... I'd say her confidence is through the roof right now. Plus, she seems stronger than when I first saw her - her flight is a lot more stable and peppy."

Pidgey cheered with squawks and flutters of his wings while Eevee barked delightedly at their friend's effort. Darryn had to hand it to Mindy - Combee seemed to be doing well right off the bat and looked like their was a lot of fight in her from the word go.

"Hey, doesn't it remind you of my little Caterpie earlier today? She got a lot more confident when battling, too, especially when she'd been in battle a couple of times. Reckon it was the treatments we gave them yesterday? Maybe that picked them up a bit and gave them the confidence to fight as strongly as they could? Judging from the way Combee's gust is going, I'd say that was at maximum power right now - a real gale in the making!"

Darryn touched at his Net Ball briefly. *When Metapod evolves, maybe she'll be able to bring out that sort of power, too!*

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima thought back, and had to admit the once frightening looking Caterpie had evolved into a strong metapod. He thought of Combee, who Mindy obviously cared for immensely. He shook his head.

"I think the treatments helped, but in the long run, it's how a trainer treats their pokemon. I mean, you put a lot of work into training your pokemon, and so has Mindy. Before yesterday, as far as I know, Mindy hasn't done much treatment wise, and I'd just give mine baths. But Combee is strong, Metapod is strong... The treatments just show more of what our popkemon already hopefully know. That we care enough to spend time with and for them."

[Kilvaer]

Chloe narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the oncoming torrent of wind. It was to Cherubi's disadvantage to endure that onslaught, yet Chloe had hesitated too long to effectively issue an order to elude it without it being already futile. Watching where the grass folded and bloomed at the winds touch gave the gym leader an analytical governance in the arena still; if Cherubi couldn't avoid the attack, she would just direct it into the less condensed flows of the hazardous air.

"Cherubi, duck under that current to your right!" With a confident chipper, Cherubi immediately rolled down in the direction specified and was only mildly thrown back a little, as opposed to a blunt strike of the attack's front. Pleased with the evasion, Chloe yelled out, "Use Petal Dance, and throw it into the wind!"

The small pokemon squeaked delightedly, spinning again in a more fancifully fluid manner, like dancing. From its delicate movements, peculiar flower petals manifested around it. The warm colored petals spiraled like a storm of a spring forest, rising up and spreading carelessly. As the wayward petals caught themselves into the surging winds of Combee's still revolving Gust attack, they virulently shot around in its forceful gravity. Soon a great cloud of red and pink petals had flooded the wind-swept arena, masking the small Cherubi within its thin interior.

Now fully convinced that Cherubi was successfully disguised within the flowers, Chloe whistled to gain its attention. "Cherubi; I want you to use Bullet Seed."

The fluttering petals let slip a familiar chirping, followed by a thick, dull sound of launching solids...

[The Rose Crusade...]

Melinda watched attentively as the Cherubi quickly ducked out of the way of Combee's powerful gust attack, avoiding most the damage but still taking some in the process. "God job Combee!" Melinda shouted. It had been Combee's greatest showing in a battle yet, and it was evident that there was something else other than their training the day before that had caused it. "Keep up the intensity!" Combee had no intentions of letting up his onslaught, only redirecting the attack skillfully towards the moved Cherubi. Mindy was observing Chloe very carefully now, waiting to see what her next move would be.

"Use Petal Dance, and throw it into the wind!" Chloe commanded of her pokemon. Melinda was very familiar with the tactic of Petal Dance; it was a very common move in Floaroma Town. Melinda correctly predicted that the small cherry pokemon would dance gracefully around the battlefield while turning elegantly at the same time. Pink petals flew in every direction, some even caught up with Combee. But, the majority of the petals smashed right into Combee's gust, which was exactly what Chloe wanted. The petals added resistance to Combee's attack so much, that Combee was no longer focusing on attacking Cherubi but rather on defending himself and keeping the stream of air moving. Combee emitted a low growl and pushed her gust harder, blowing the petals away. While Melinda knew what was coming from the petal dance, she could have never expected what the aftermath would be like.

A multitude of salmon colored petals had littered the stadium. Everywhere one could look they would see ten, a hundreds...thousands of petals! All of these leaves not only gave Cherubi a great place to hide, but they confused Combee beyond belief. ”I guess this is what you get from a gym leader…” Mindy thought. Once the petals smashed into the air stream of the immense gust attack, it seemed that they had blown off randomly and were now flying maddeningly around the colosseum. "Combee use Sweet Scent to try and make Cherubi stir." Melinda tried. She didn't know what else to do. If she had used gust again, the petals would just be reenergized and twirling faster, making if much more confusing for Combee and granting Cherubi the greater ability of stealth-like movement in a storm of petals. Combee stiffened his antennae and discharged a rosy gas that diffused throughout the colosseum, sending all of its inhabitants a wondrous attack on the sense of smell. Even though the aroma that wafted around the colosseum was quite exquisite, its affect on the battle went unseen. Cherubi hiding under its layer of petals went unnoticed as the fragrance took effect.

"Cherubi; I want you to use Bullet Seed," Chloe calmly and coolly commanded. From a completely random spot on the battlefield and pink figure could be seen rising up from the ground.

”That’s strange…” Mindy thought, “why would it be getting up?” Upon further inspection of the rising pokemon, Melinda sat that the cherry pokemon’s eyes were reeling; swirling around like it was about to be sick. It was if it had gone insane! Each step the tiny pink pokemon took seemed dangerous and hazardous as it lollygagged very slowly around a small invisible circle. It seemed more confused than Combee at this point. Combee had no sense of direction in the flurry of flowers, which was why Melinda could not take advantage of this opportune moment. Eventually however, the pokemon seemed to grasp the concept of bullet seed and began its assault. The pokemon started spinning rapidly and uncontrollably, spitting large golden spheres in every direction. The attack smashed into the walls of the colosseum, some lights, and one almost had hit Darryn who was on the edge of his seat. The attack was overpowering and on the same level as Grondiir’s use of the move nature power. A few of the spheres managed to go on course and headed straight for Combee. It was all so fast; Melinda barely had a second to react. The battle was finished, it was all over now. All she could do was turn away in horror and wait for the impact of the attack on her best friend.

Mindy shied away, not being able to bare the pain brought to her beloved Combee. She waited in fear to hear the frightful crash of the bullet seed on her small tri-hexagonal body. She waited and waited, but the impact never came. Melinda turned around to see Combee desperately trying to hold off the bullet seed attack with her own gust attack. Not only was it gust, but something much more spectacular. Mindy had begun watching the battle at the moment in which Combee added honey to the attack. He was using Melinda and Combee’s own homemade Honey Swirl technique! “Yeah Combee!” Mindy screamed and shouted. They were back in the game, But the battle wasn’t over yet. The four spheres of bullet seed were only slowed by the addition of Honey, not stopped, and were still trying to hit Combee. It was now or never. “Come on Combee, I believe in you!” Melinda shouted with all her heart.

Suddenly, the gust and honey stopped and the bullet seed went crashing into Combee. But there was only one, rather slight, difference from when the gust was at full force. The former Combee was glowing a magnificent shining gold. The all-encompassing light absorbed the four seeds as it began to glow brighter and brighter. Everything in the colosseum stopped for that moment and all eyes were on Combee. Mindy had to put her hand up in fear of being blinded by the fantastic luminescence. The spheres unexpectedly reappeared from the body of the glowing pokemon, covered in the same golden light as Combee and circling around her in a magical pattern. They began at the bottom and swirled around the glowing pokemon in an upward spiral. As these balls moved, pink petals on the ground lifted with them creating a beautiful scene as the petals swirled around Combee in a symmetrical fashion. Throughout the spheres’ journey up, Combee began to somehow morph into something else. Something that was very strange and unfamiliar, yet warm and inviting. By the time the four golden spheres had reached the top they all burst out into four separate directions, leaving a small explosion in their wake. It had all seemed so unreal, so… magical.

Replacing the Combee was now standing a large impressive pokemon wearing a striped black and yellow gown. From a three-hexagoned honeybee the creature had transformed into an insect with two abdomens; one large and one small. The astonishing beast had a total of four wings with a more aerodynamic design than Combee, making the pokemon much faster than ever before. She had sprouted lean arms in her upper abdomen with two claws at the end of each. The new pokemon wore a V-shaped head that appeared to have a large red crystal placed on the top. The stunning new pokemon that stood before everyone had such a strong resemblance to a royal queen that Melinda lost herself in the moment.

“Vi vi VI VI VI! VESPIQUEN!” the pokemon shouted joyously, flapping its wings much faster than ever before.

“Ve…Vespiquen,” Melinda breathed. Her mind snapped back into reality. ”I…I just…wow.” Mindy thought. ”I’ve known all this time that she’d evolve someday because of her princess her marking on her head…but still…” She had never been more proud of herself and her pokemon. All of their hard work and training hadn’t been for nothing, but they had finally accomplished something worthwhile. At this point, the feeling that ran through Melinda and gave chills up and down her spine could not be described into words. Adoration. Joyful. Dignified. Glorious. Yet, none of them really captured the moment. Wait, yes there is a word. Awesome. Simply awesome.

“Vespiquen!” Mindy shouted memorably for the first time. “Let’s show that Cherubi how much we deserve that Stonebloom badge! Show me everything you got!” Melinda commanded.

Vespiquen looked back and smiled at her exuberant trainer. She was so happy herself to have finally evolved, and was ready to show everyone how much that meant to her in this final display of her power. All of the petals had landed and Vespiquen could clearly see the Cherubi on the other side of the field trying to regain a full state of consciousness, yet failing to do so completely. It was finally Vespiquen’s chance to show everyone what she was capable of. And oh boy, was she going to show ‘em.

The Bee Queen started closing her eyes and taking a second to focus. She began by flapping her wings so quickly that loud buzzing sounds could be heard reverberating all over the stadium. It was if she took a few swings of her lower abdomen, the bulk of her yellow and black striped ‘dress’, just to get a feel for the new body part. Suddenly and without warning the pokemon opened her glowing red eyes and unleashed a powerful combination of attacks. The ruby red gem on her forehead began glowing a bright white as hundreds of small white rock crystals emerged from it. These crystals were backed up by a gale that was twice as powerful as when Combee had used gust. Simultaneously Vespiquen flipped her lower abdomen straight towards the dazzled Cherubi and emitted a multitude of miniature purple spikes. The three attacks converged with each other and were sent flying towards the pink cherry pokemon at a blinding speed, faster than any of the audience members had ever seen anything move.

”Awesome,” Melinda watched in awe, ”simply awesome”.

The attacks are as follows:

Power Gem
Gust
Poison Sting

This post has been edited by The Rose Crusader: Nov 21 2008, 05:59 AM

[Living Arrow]

"Argh!" Darryn ducked as the Cherubi's Bullet Seed zipped by his head and crashed into the wall behind him. "Watch where you're firing that thing!" He yelled at the field, his Eevee barking and jumping for joy in the excitement of the moment. He'd been incredibly impressed with Chloe's finesse at using her own Pokemon's attacks in combination with the opponent's to produce such a stunning defensive display but it faded somewhat when he saw the confusion kicking in. Even so, he did not doubt that the Cherubi that staggered upon the field of petals still had bags of fight left.

Darryn gasped as Combee was struck by the oncoming Bullet Seed but when the bug began to glow, Darryn lifted his mobile phone and began to record a video. He'd never seen anything like it! Golden light had bathed Mindy's Pokemon and its shape was changing amid the scintillating lights. When the proud Vespiquen appeared, Darryn threw himself upright and jumped up and down.

"Yeah! YEAAAAH!" He punched at the air and scream at the field. "Way to go Combee!!! GO MINDY!"

His Pokedex, lying open on the barrier at Darryn's feet clicked and whirred into action:
[Vespiquen - the Beehive Pokemon. Vespiquen is the evolved form of Combee. When growing, grubs take residence in Vespiquen's abdomen which feed upon Honey gathered by Combee. When in danger, these grubs react to the hormones emitted by Vespiquen in a variety of ways.]

I'll be on hiatus until Sunday evening - road trip with a friend and lots of booze XD

This post has been edited by Living Arrow: Nov 20 2008, 02:44 PM

[Kilvaer]

Chloe smiled with a silent regard of respect as the small Combee shifted into the greater form of a Vespiquen's regality, divested of its youth in favor of the matured guise of insect adulthood. It was a rare and exquisite sight to see a challenger's pokemon evolve during a battle, and despite her reluctance to getting up to acknowledge this trainer's challenge, Chloe now felt compensated for the time being spent.

Cherubi took the brunt of the impressive array conjured by the magnificent new pokemon. The delightful little cherry spiraled out into unconsciousness as the massive attack struck it deftly. With a casual movement, Chloe recalled Cherubi to the pokeball in her hand and reattached it to her belt.

"Congratulations..." she said,hesitating slightly as she counted her thoughts for a name.
"...Melina. You've earned Gigarte's Stonebloom Badge." Chloe reached into her pocket and pulled out the little, expertly crafted sigil. Tossing it underhandedly to Melinda with an athletic curve, Chloe nodded with a smile to her.

Without skipping a beat, she turned to the tiered seats to the girl's friend waiting to battle. "I believe it's your turn?"

[Master Houndoom]

Ah, no, I can wait... I mean, you're obviously busy. And pretty, did I mention pretty? 'Cause, yeah... why waste time on me? I'm nothing, really...

That was what Jaima wanted to say. Instead, what came out of his mouth was "Yes'm. A moment, if you will." He removed all but two of his pokéballs from his belt, pushed his thin wire frame glases closer to his forehead, and stood to go down to the arena.

The two pokéballs were decorated, one being painted black and blue, the other having a green top with two red horns coming off of the front and back. Jaima reached the bottom, smiling nervously at Mindy as they passed, and bowed low to Chloe.

"My name is Jaima Kuonji. If it is acceptable to you, I challenge you to a two on two battle for the StoneBloom badge." He swallowed nervously, pushed his glasses up once more, and waited for Chloe's response.

[The Rose Crusade...]

"Em-...er....THANK YOU!" Melinda screamed excitedly as she carefully caught the badge. Mindy had seen many gym badges throughout her life. Many trainers passing through Floaroma town in hope of battling a gym sometimes asked folks where they could find one. While the travelers were disappointed that the town didn't have a gym, Melinda did manage to catch a glance at some of their gym containers and admired the shiny little items that were encompassed inside. Most of them were new, so they had obtained a certain sheen to them. Some were dark and dirty being badges earned from long ago however, and Mindy certainly did not want that to happen to her precious badge. It was a strange badge and it didn’t remind Melinda of anything at first. Upon further observation she had decided that the badge obviously resembled a sprouted plant. It had a gleaming steel circular tone in the middle with green blades shooting out from the center, creating a ridge all around. As the badges Melinda had seen in the past it had a shiny sheen that made it sparkle in the light. It was truly a magnificent reward for the hard fought battle.

Mindy looked up out of her reflection in the gleaming badge and saw Vespiquen smiling at her. Melinda still could not believe that the tiny little Combee that she had spent her whole life was now the regal and magnificent pokemon before her. Not only was the pokemon so extravagant, but it even had the closest resemblance to that of a queen. ”Queen…that’s a nice name,” Mindy pondered. She walked up to the pokemon nearly her size and gave her a big hug. The royal pokemon returned the favor with its newly sprouted arms. “Thank you,” was all Melinda could utter a tears flowed down her eyes. Vespiquen responded with an assuring pat on the back. A sudden chiming of bells awoke Melinda from her dreamlike state. These bells chimed twelve times signifying twelve o’clock. It was finally Jaima’s turn to take a step off the sidelines and into the fray. Mindy could only hope that he was as ready as she was. Melinda returned her dutiful Vespiquen to her pokeball and walked quickly off of the lush battlefield and into the stands. She passed Jaima halfway and whispered, “good luck” to him as he approached the challenger’s box. Mindy sated herself right where Jaima had left adjacent to Darryn and showed him the beautiful badge she had received from being victorious over Chloe. Victorious. Mindy certainly enjoyed the sound of that word; to finally have something worth bragging about. It was a moment she would not soon forget.

[Living Arrow]

Darryn giggled to himself as Mindy made her stunned yet happy way up to his place in the stands with Vespiquen in buzzing tow. He was still in excited awe over Combee's evolution and it was difficult to take his eyes off the impressive Vespiquen that hovered close to Mindy, emitting a firm dulcimer tone from her vibrating wings.

"Stonebloom Badge, WOO!" Darryn grabbed Mindy and hugged her, twirling her around easily in a circle and plonking her feet on the ground. "Lessee! Ooooo shiny! That is so phenom! I knew you'd do it! And the way you got Grondir out of the Stone Tomb and how Vespiquen evolved! It was so awes!"

Eevee sprang up around Mindy's feet and danced there, pawing at the girl's ankles with delight and barking loudly. He tripped a couple of times in his enthusiasm but it didnt seem to bother him. Pidgey fluttered up to Vespiquen and perched on her narrow shoulder, putting a joyful arm around her neck and squawking happily. Darryn grinned at Mindy and congratulated her over and over again while Jaima entered the challenger's box but once their other friend was in position, Darryn led Mindy over to the seats that had just been occupied. His Pokemon followed suit, Pidgey seeming to direct Vespiquen's smooth motions to the seat next to Melinda with coos and squawks of camaraderie.

"Go Jaima! It's your turn to get one of those badges! YOU CAN DO IT!"

[Troy Bolton]

"Jaima, your proposition is accepted. As before, welcome to the Gigarte Arboretum, an official link in the chain of the Furoh Pokemon League. I am Chloe Davenport, and I will be your opponent today," she rolled off, already pulling two Pokeballs from her belt. She surveyed the half-shaking man for a moment, and sighed. Not much of a fight...

"Do you know why I am the dual gym leader of rock and grass? It is the natural balance between them, diamond and paper, yin and yang. They form a perfect balance, supporting one another. Now, Jaima. Let the match begin!" she thundered, allowing her emotions to be swept up with the volume. It was that kind of speech that made the usual dullness and paper-pushing bearable.

"Right. Cacturne, Graveler, let us fight as allies once more." At these words, the elegant leader raised her arms, and with a flourish, released the dual balls. "What's your move?"

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima pushed his glasses up for the umpteenth time and swallowed. He was nervous, and not making a good showing. He hadn't trained his kids properly, as Mindy had trained Vespiquen and Grondir. He had never won a battle before. He hadn't truly lost, either, but he had tied and he had forfeited. His hands were shaking, and it sounded like someone had called his name (he realized, when he calmed a bit, that someone HAD called his name, namely Darryn shouting encouragement). Chloe had one of those cool speeches, and the most awesome thing Jaima could think to say was "Um.... OK..." When asked what his move was, he threw his pokéballs, intending to release Mercury and Shadow. He was releaved when they appeared, Mercury with her arms spread and floating, and Shadow in a three point stance as if he'd just landed from a leap.

Little beknownst to everyone in the arena (What with Darryn and Mindy distracted by her winning of the Stonebloom badge, Jaima trying not to throw up from nerves, and Chloe dealing with yet another challenger), Jaima had made a nearly costly and humiliating error. Had it not been for some quick thinking on Shadow's part, and a Teleport ability from the tiny ralts known as Mercury, he would have been so embarrassed that he likely wouldn't have shown his face to the public for a week.

You see, gentle reader, he forgot his pokémon. They had all been left out to watch Mindy, and, while he had grabbed the pokéballs themselves, he had failed to recall the pokémon who belonged inside them. It was Shadow who noticed which of the many containers Jaima had chosen, and tapped Mercury on the shoulder, thinking hard to her what he wanted to convey. Mercury squeaked, grabbed the riolu's forepaw, and popped them just behind Jaima (there was a noise like the combination of a "bam" and a "whumff", but no accompanying sulfur smell), and Shadow helped her into the ball with her decorations. He was quite used to entering his own ball, but just then Jaima threw the two in the air, re-releasing Mercury. Shadow, left behind, leapt over his trainer's shoulder, flipped, and landed on both hind legs and a foreleg next to Mercury, using the light from her release as a cover.

Suffice it to say, gentle reader, had it not just been explained, you might have never even noticed.

Three things then happened. The rest of Jaima's team began to wail and cry, shouting encouragement to the combatants in their own unique language. Chloe's Cacturne grinned widely upon seeing the ralts (or it could have been its natural facial shape, but it was looking in the general direction of the ralts...), and Mercury began to tremble.

She had mentally probed their opponents, and while the Graveller was thinking Gravelly type thoughts, the Cacturne was empty. A harder probe showed the same kind of emptiness, effortless, almost natural. Mercury couldn't read the cactus pokémon, and knew that if she couldn't read it, she couldn't fight it. She let out a mental wail of terror, sending an image to Jaima (and Mindy, though she didn't mean to) of a black, fanged menace next to a moving pile of rocks, and her trembling before it.

Jaima narrowed his eyes, his fear forgotten in the face of the abject terror from Mercury. "I see," he said, focusing now on the battle at hand. "OK, Shadow, attack Cacturne with everything you have. Keep it away from Mercury until I figure out what to do. Start with double kick!" He turned to Mercury. "I need you to keep Graveller out of the fight. If you can confuse it into thinking Cacturne is the enemy, so much the better, but if not, hypnotise it. We have to buy some time!"

Jaima had hardly finished speaking when Shadow launched himself at the cactus pokémon, leaping in the air and doing his best to pummel it with his feet. Mercury, encouraged by Jaima's sudden new found confidence, floated in the air and concentrated on the Graveller, putting images into its mind of Jaima having called it instead of Chloe. She put everything she could into the illusion, trying to buy Shadow the time he needed.

The battle was joined in earnest.

Yeeeah, I read back and realized that all Jaima's pokémon were out and he never recalled them... >.>

[Troy Bolton]

The Cacturne blocked the first kick, but the second pierced through its defenses and struck the scarecrow Pokemon right in its thorny torso. Chloe winced- Cacturne was a rather weak defensed Pokemon, and if it didn't get on the offensive soon, the battle would end far too soon for her liking, and that meant paperwork.

To make things worse, a sufficiently confused Graveler stumbled over to Cacturne, and launched itself, tucking in two arms as two others assisted its rather stubby legs in launch.

"Da- Cacturne, grab Graveler and use its energy to chuck it at that Ralts!" The Cacturne took up a defensive pose, and as the rock pokemon threw itself forward, Cacturne grabbed it in one large mitt-like hand. Not skipping a beat, the scarecrow spun around and tossed the impromptu missile in the area of the Ralts. Upon launch, it grabbed its pointy, eternally smiling face- it was dizzy.

[Master Houndoom]

"Kssk," Jaima hissed. The graveler was large and heavy, but it's arc would definitely take it to where it was intended to go. "Mercury, get out of there!"

The little ralts squeaked and dodged, clipped by the stone pokemon. Jaima gritted his teeth. "Sahdow, you're in close! Force Palm!" Shadow didn't need to be told twice, and energy blazed around it's hand as he struck the Cacturne with his open palm.

"Mercury, Double Team! If Graveler attacks, defend yourself!"

"Ral ral!" The psychic pokemon's voice shook, but she still cast an illusion of herself in two, then three places. Jaima could feel her hope that it was enough to make her harder to find.

"Shadow, whatever you do, don't let up! Even if he goea after Mercury, stay on him!" The pokemon didn't respond, but did begin to circle his opponent, in the same direction it had been spinning, hoping, Jaima thought, to keep it dizzy.

[Troy Bolton]

"Cacturne, draw in close to Ralts and Sucker Punch it in the face!" Cacturne, staggering slightly from the Riolu's blow, managed to trip the little blue Pokemon long enough to get over to the Ralts. It drew in close, and punched the closest image. The thorny arm passed through unhindered, and the image dissipated like dust in a late summer's wind. The two remaining images were shaking, however. Something clicked in Chloe's mind.

"It's afraid of you, Cacturne! Just keep pressure on it!" The scarecrow nodded, and hobbled over to the next image. Meanwhile, the Graveler was staggering around, two arms on its head, two more trying to steady it.

"Graveler! Use Rollout on the Riolu!"

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima gritted his teeth. "Shadow, Force palm the plant!" Shadow righted himself as fast as he could, dashing toward the still wobbly Cacturne. His hand, glowing in preparation for the attack, was stretched behind him in order to bring it to bear with maximum effectiveness.

As he ran, the graveler began to roll at the riolu. Mercury saw this, and, though she was terrified, raised her hands, tipping off her real position to her personal Nightmare.

Ralts are best known for being highly attuned to human emotions. What she felt now from Jaima was his fear for her, and his growing concern for Shadow. And she liked Shadow, a lot. She didn't want to see him hurt by the big nasty rock. So she did the only thing she could think to do.

All around the arena, leaves floated up, embued with her psychic powers. And as she saw the Cacturne looming over her, she brought her hands together, commanding them to converge on the Graveler.

At the same time, Jaima was concentrating. The Graveler approached, and when it got a certain distance away, he shouted as loudly and clearly as he could, "Shadow! Jump!"

Shadow did not hesitate, though he wanted to. Instead, he leapt as high as he could, getting hit in the feet as he did (which pitched him backwards) and the graveler, still rolling, continued in a straight line past Shadow and at the object of Shadow's chase, trailing leaves which were psychically directed to hit it.

[Living Arrow]

Is it right to assume that Mercury has learned how to use Magical Leaf? Or is in the process of learning it, at least?