@AbysmalDemon

If there was one thing her parents taught her before she was sent to the lab, it was to vent extreme emotions any way she could. Unfortunately for her, her main way to vent, attacking something with maracas, was not available to her, due to the horned boy's presence. If he wasn't looking, then maybe she could get away with one whack, but for now, she was stuck with shaking them around in a contained frenzy. The reason? Somehow, the horned boy she owed had managed to be convinced to tag along and aid in the search for the pokeman's trainer. If only he could understand poke language, then maybe she could explain to him just how much of a bad idea this was.

For Deneb, it was a different story. Although he was brought along to help find the crying woman, this ferry trip was yet another way to further his own goal. It allowed him access to another part of the region, which meant that he could yet find solution, or a part of one for his problem.

"Please brace for impact and stay inside, a storm is approaching."

Deneb and Maractus looked up at the speaker. While Maractus' face lit up with concern, Deneb's expression remained the same as always. Still, the two ran around, trying to find Charlie. Whatever was going on, they'd have to stick together.

@OtomostheCrazy
Charlie ran around to find Deneb and his Maractus among the crowd of running and screaming people. Charlie could see the black clouds, blue lightning, and the giant black silhouette looking over them, fading in and out, like it was popping in and out of existence. Soon the water in front of the strange storm began to shake violently, sending waves crashing upon the Ferry every minute. Soon one wave was too much to to handle. It rose at least twenty feet in the air, spiraling towards that at faster rates than before. "Beldum is in my Pokéball. Put Maractus in its Pokéball. I know this sounds crazy, but we need to jump." The wave got bigger and faster, hurtling towards the ship at a faster pace. "NOW!" Without a countdown Charlie jumped from the boat into the warm waters below as the wave crashed down on the Ferry, shattering it into pieces.



The pipes blew before the rest of Team Nexus could board the speedboats, and they instead had to go out into Dune Town to get to another exit. "Let's go raise some hell." The team walked out of the building towards the housing, and of course, the Pokémon Center. Del Rosas took a small bottle stuffed with a rag out of his back pocket. From another pocket be procured a lighter. He set the rag on fire, and threw the bottle at a cluster of houses, lighting them on fire, spreading throughout the many dry materials used to make the structure. Del Rosas lit a cigarette and took a long draw before stopping at the front of the Pokémon Center. He put the cigarette out on some guys neck before walking in to the Center. "There's no use helping her. By now the poison is probably all throughout her system, she'll be dead in a couple of minutes." The man released a Luxio into the lab from its Pokéball. "Either someone challenges us. or you all die. It's really not a hard choice."

One by one, all 20 of the Team Nexus members began to release one of their Pokémon. "No one? Ok then. How... About... This!" He walked over to Hotaru and put a small blade up to her throat. "Stop! I'll fight you!" A middle aged man from the corner of the center said. "Just don't hurt the girl." Del Rosas just smirked, before in one fluid motion he to over the knife from the girl's throat and threw it at the man who challenged him, striking him with the 6 inch blade halfway through his chest. "Anyone Else?"

Rylen's eyes widened as he found himself sprinting with all haste. Within moments, the silence of the tension that was the group moving in on the Pokemon Center was broken by a blade landing on the tiling, creating a clanging noise. Rylen had managed to deflect the thrown knife, but it visibly cut his hand as he went to stop it, he had no idea why he did what he just did. He was actually a little ways off to get a breather, but as he walked back he saw this scene unfold, and stepped in immediately.

"You want a challenge? I'll give you one then", he was the first to step up. His eyes had a new glare that his new friends had never seen. There was an irrational strength behind it. He recognizes this kind of situation... Of course, it was a bit different, and maybe more severe than poachers, but it looks like his Larvitar knew as well, and was the first to step forward.

"If I win, you leave...", he said. He had a feeling they wouldn't simply leave, there were well over a dozen of them... He might have to battle all of them, but he's fought very strong trainers before. He held onto that confidence. That was also a Luxio there, a fair bit more leveled than his Larvitar, but he had a typing advantage. Still, he's seen many trainers have a way around those things, this may be no different.

Who were they? He asked himself... What purpose did they have here? As he ran those questions in his head, he quickly came to one priority, to drive them out. If they insisted on hurting people, and by extension, perhaps Pokemon, then he only knew one thing, and that was to stop them.

Orion stared at the scene in shock. It felt like everything had happened in a flash. His gaze remained on the fainted woman's body, unable to say anything or react, until the perpetrators of the murder entered the pokemon center. He only snapped back to reality as one of the men threw a knife at one of the civillians inside. The young man turned to the attackers. He found it hard to keep his footing until he heard a familiar voice call out to the men.

Picking one of the pokeballs from his belt, Orion tossed it out. "You won't get away with doing whatever you want!" he yelled out. "Leif, Han! Please help us out! Prepare your spikes!" Han nodded and purple shuriken-like spikes appeared in his hands, glaring at the other pokemon. Orion didn't feel like these people would ever leave them alone just because they lost a challenge, even if they'd agreed. They didn't seem like the sort to keep their words.

Aegis popped out of her pokeball as well, standing behind Orion, watching the scene.

The events of the day began to take its toll on Hotaru ,but not in a bad way. The news on the tv and the news about her built up a few emotions within her. First sadness, then as her thoughts began to connect the dots. Someone was responsible for the burning of the lab. Who could do such a thing? Then a woman who had asked for a simple glass of water to put some moisture in her dry throat collapsed. First thoughts was that it was just from heat exhaustion.

Then they showed up. A bunch of thugs from their choice of words. They where responsible for the woman. Then came the knife to her neck as they demanded a challenge. When they got one, the one in charge removed the knife from her neck and threw it. The knife was sharp enough to make a good red line across her neck.

The first emotion was fear, then as she connected them to the disasters she wondered if they set fire to the lab as well. That they were the cause of her fathers injuries and the death of so many innocents. This turned that fear into anger. She wasn't the only one either. Rylen and Orion where also stepping up. Zed was already on the defensive. She pulled forth her other pokeball and out came Nephrite.

The Gastly and houndour turned their attention to the villians. "It was you who burned down the lab wasn't?!" She barked. Rylen was on his way to challenge the leader and his Luxio. Rylen and his Larvitar and Rufflet wont be able to fight them all off. But with a little help they wont have to.

She chose her opponent and then looked to Nephrite the houndour and then to Zed her Gastly. They where not going by the rules so she wont. She will open up on one with Gastly using hypnosis. Then Houndour will follow with a ember attack. They will feel how it felt to be burned by fire....

Scholar Leo Cyrule

Dune City; Enroute to Pokemon Center

Oh… what an eventful day this was indeed! It started off great to say the least! When the sanctuary was open, he was able to get in and get out in record time! His new found friend, a Treecko whom adored her new moniker “Maple Leaf”, had practically sought him out. Sought him out like a child in a pet shop saying she wanted that one!

And “that one” was the one the Treecko was going to get! She had immediately approached Leon in a mere two minutes after he had entered, and caught his attention by tugging on his coat. The two had joined each other in prolonged eye contact, and shortly after a spiritual bond and understanding had been established between them. And once the formalities have been dealt with, it was off to the races for them both!

And this is where the day had turned from quite a pleasant experience, into one that left a bad tastes on Leon’s tongue like soured milk. Because never had the young man ever thought that other trainers could be so PUSHY about their Pokémon battles! The scholarly trainer had not even managed to start for the door before he had been approached! His first encounter had been with a much younger trainer who was prattling on about the GLORIOUS wonders of… shorts.

Said trainer could have potentially droned on for hours on end, if Leon hadn’t reminded him that he was going somewhere. But… instead of politely excusing Leon, like he had desired, the clamdigger zealot had immediately jumped in his way and informed him about the… apparent law of trainer’s and eye contact. A battle ensued, and augur had left Leon and Maple as the victor! But the feeling of being relieved of combat… was short lived. As one battle immediately created a chain reaction of battle crazed trainers approaching him from all angles!

And as much as Leon hated it, he did have to give props to his companion. He had no intents on starting a massive collection of pokemon… which meant that she was the only one who could step up to the plate. And what a soldier she was! With every challenge, she rose up like she was “the one” with a fierce determination and crushed them.

Their time doing something less than favorable, had also given Leon a chance to learn how to best work with Maple. She has quite a unique technique. She was like a dancer, she mixed grace and aggression together like an art, and turned both the environment and her challenger’s anatomy against themselves. She even appeared to a bit of autonomy, and is quite capable of adjusting to the situation with minimal feedback from her trainer.

But all the same… the endless fights were annoying. By the time he had reached the gates of Dune City, he already had humored the idea of having the word “HATE” painted on his teeth.

-
“Well, ole girl…” Leon sighed as he finally stepped into the City. He had long removed the sleeves of his coat and slipped them into his bag. Together, the two had found it best to spend some of their earnings on some supplies to help them in the long run. A brand new heavy duty utility machete which had been clipped to one of his backpack’s straps under his arm. And a handful of potions and antidotes. A towel, as they have so many uses. And a prybar. Other than the five poke balls they had been given at the start, the rest of their supplies were from foraging for berries. He was quite thankful that Maple was a grass type… otherwise they might not have made it so far in one go. “We made it to town alright. Now lets see about getting you a check-up at the pokecenter.”

Maple couldn’t agree more. The Treecko was certainly putting up a tough act, but she knew that patching herself up with a mouthful of Oran berries can go so far. A girl has her limits. The small reptile gave her trainer a thumbs up, and then crawled up to his shoulders.

Together they set off towards the Pokecenter.

Micky was expecting his day to go the way it was. Yet he still had his first pokemon and he made 'friends'. The friends thing didn't last long. The trio continued talking as the decided to head to the closest pokeshop to get some supplies. They talked about going to Dune Town to battle with the Gym leader there and train further. They separated within the pokeshop to gather supplies but when Micky arrived at their predetermined meeting point all that was there was a note saying they were leaving Micky behind.

This honestly did slightly irritate Micky, but he didn't let it bother him for long. He quickly paid for his supplies and set out on his journey. On the way to Dune Town he encountered a few wild Pokemon. Two of particular seemed especially interesting to him. A Lillipup and an Ampar were the two that he had to become a part of his team.

On the way he even encountered another trainer. The two each had three Pokemon and the battle was amazing. They even had a few people stop to watch. In the end Micky was the one who received the title of victor. It was an amazing experience and gave Micky more insight into the world of being a trainer.

Once Micky finally set foot in Dune Town his Pokedex sparked to life ringing. He pulled the device and answered it, "Hello?"

"MICKY! Are you alright?"

"Ollie? What's wrong?"

"Thank goodness you're alright. The lab. It was attacked." Micky quickly spoke with his brother receiving the details about what was shared over the news. Ollie told his brother to be safe and Micky said he would. The usual things that happen in a phone call between family after a tragedy occurs. Micky then quickly ran over the events of his day and the call eventually ended when Ollie had to deal with a customer.

As Micky walked through the town he noted how peaceful this place seemed. Until the unspeakable happened. An explosion somewhere nearby shook the ground of the town. Micky didn't have any clue what was happening and wondered if it was some earthquake. That was until he saw some men and women who looked very dangerous. He watched them as they strolled towards the Pokecenter. When the one who appeared to be the leader put a cigarette out on someone's neck in front of the building.

Micky couldn't stand to watch these people do things like this. He quickly got up and ran over to the guy while the people were inside. He helped the guy up and pointed him towards a place that seemed like it should be safe. Micky then walked inside the building to see the attackers with their Pokemon standing off against three people who seemed about the same age as Micky. He quickly grabbed his Pokeballs and released his team. Squirt, Ampar, and Puppy Power jumped out and looked at the scene before them. Micky called out, Squirt, Ampar, Puppy Power. These guys are doing bad things we can't let them get away with it. Let's help take them down." The three shook their heads, even Squirt, and they got ready to attack.

@Tangletail@EWillden@Sketcher@Sho Minazuki@AbysmalDemon@Heckno12

As Rylen and Del Rosas shaped up to battle, with Rylen shaking off his knife wound, and Larvitar squaring up with Luxio, battles all around them were erupting. It seems his and others bold declaration of resistance had emboldened other trainers in the Pokemon Center, this hospital of sorts had quickly become a battle ground.

"Larvitar, Sandstorm", he ordered. Immediately the area around their battle was covered in a maelstrom of sand, almost from nowhere.

"Tackle with Leer", the Luxio charged through the sandstorm, taking buffet damage as it leered through it's rush attack. As the attack was about to land...

"Bite!", he yelled. The Larvitar stuck to it's guns and took the tackle head on, along with the leer weakening it, it was a heavy hit, but Larvitar had a clear shot of it's own as it chomped down on the Luxio's neck.

"Don't let go of it, wrestle it if you have to", the Nexus admin was visibly surprised at the gutsy move. These were not the instincts of an amateur. His Larvitar grasped the Luxio in a hug while it's young yet strong jaws kept the Luxio from moving. Combined this with the sandstorm around them, it was definitely a terrible place for the Luxio to be.

"Quick! Charge! Spark!", the Luxio attempted to charge, but Larvitar being a ground type didn't feel a thing as the Luxio struggled by discharging electricity. The Charge did nothing, and the Spark was just a glorified Tackle but without any momentum, Larvitar's jaws remained clamped on the Luxio.

"If I have you locked down, you can't work around the typing... Larvitar, pin it and Bite again!", he declared. Rylen's Larvitar heaved the Luxio off it's legs, letting go at the same time before going in for the final blow. The Luxio was soundly defeated, unable to use it's electricity, it was almost no contest. Even if the Nexus admin Del Rosa had another Pokemon, the sandstorm was still up, which favored him nicely.

"If you have more I'm ready for it", he said. He was lucky he could end this quickly. If he didn't have Larvitar hold the Luxio down like that, it would've simply made use of it's speed while deciding to instead weather the sandstorm rather than charge in like it did, and probably would have won that way, seeing as it was higher level. Still, did this leader guy have anymore...?

Hotaru was more then ready for a fight and she got one. Nephrite the Houndour and Zed the Gastly stood by her side. "You think your tough huh little girl? We will show you not to mess with us." One of the grunts said angrily and pushed forward. One with a Poochyena and the other with a Zubat. She knew right away which one of hers was going up against them. Not that it mattered because this was double battle them two versus her.
Typical, that was one thing that didn't change with these evil syndicates. Team Magma and Aqua had more respect then this group though. At least they were not afraid to fight you one on one.

"Tougher then you if it takes two of you to fight a little frail girl like me."She responded. That did not set well with them. One even spat at the ground towards her. She ignored it and looked to Nephrite. "Alright Nephrite, use howl. Zed you open up with a hypnosis. Let's put that Zubat out of commission." She commanded. She didn't think she would get the hang of battling but when there is a will there is a way.

Nephrite[Houndour] opened up as he was told with a howl attack. This move quickly boosted the attack stats of himself and Zed[Gastly] as well. Then Zed performed his hypnosis attack. His eyes glowed a bright red as the rings shot out towards the Zubat but it failed to come into effect. "Zed do not get discouraged keep at it okay." She followed.

The first grunt, the one with the Poochyena pointed towards houndour. "Alright lets give them the what for, tackle that houndour." Houndour was ready for the first attack and quickly jumped to the side. Nephrite decided to counter right away given Hotaru would have ordered him to anyways. He countered with a headbutt positioning his feet and lunged while lowering it's head for a good solid hit knocking the poochyena away. She could hear its claws skidding across the floor as it tried to stop itself from hitting the ground. It shook its head as it tried to recover from the attack.

The other one decided to focus on the houndour as well. Both of them had dark type moves to throw at the gastly giving them a type advantage. The Houndour was already proving to be the bigger problem. It dove a the pokemon moving in for a leech life attack. Unlike it's dog companion this move did in fact hit catching Nephrite off guard. Zed took this chance to make his second attack.

Zed launched itself at the Zubat as it's tongue came out for a lick attack. The attack hit the Zubat but didn't do a whole lot of damage but it reminded the pokemon that Zed was it's opponent. Sadly Zed was hoping for his lick to paralyze the Zubat but it had no effect this time.

Once more the poochyena tried for another attack. This time it hit shoving Nephrite back a few feet. Nephrite wasn't going to let it end there. It still had energy to go on. It opened its mouth and within its mouth heat began to form as it released it's ember attack. This time the poochyena was able to dodge the attack jumping off to the side. Hotaru was already preparing with a potion in case things turned to worse of Nephrite.

The Zubat's attention was brought on to Zed."Alright it wants to fight fine we will give it one. Use Supersonic." The move ended up hit Zed in force making him a bit confused. Did this stop the ghost type pokemon? No it did not. Zed tried once more for a hypnosis attack. Luck was on the ghost types side as the move finally hit the Zubat with little problems.

Down the pokemon went crashing to the floor in a deep sleep. Nephrite was not able to focus on the Poochyena and only the poochyena with the Zubat asleep. The owner of said Zubat was pulling the hair out of his head."That's not fair damn it. Your not even giving them orders." He yelled. Hotaru rose a brow and looked in his direction.

"I have full faith in my pokemon. They know exactly what to do in this situation. Maybe you should learn from this." She barked back and then looked back to the battle. The pokemon center floor wasn't looking too good. She could see a burnt spot from where Nephrite's move missed and a few broken chairs as well. Oh well, the center can bill me. "Alright your doing a good job. Now hang in there. Keep attack it as well." Houndour barked in response and shot out a dark mist at the poochyena. The attack hit and the effects already began to show as it began shake a little from the poison taking effect.

The pokemon tried to counter despite it's owner not telling it to. At this point it was just trying to survive. The attack however missed by and inch. Giving Gastly the chance to aid his friend. The zubat still fast asleep there was nothing stopping it. Zed attacked with what he could. His lick attack would not effect it due to it's dark and normal typing. It sent forth a curse attack. This move was unavoidable and dropped his health down to half it was putting a horrible curse on the poochyena. The pokemon now suffered from a poison effect and the effects of the curse.

Houndour took advantage of this and launched itself at the poochyena. The attack hit causing the opponent to flinch once more. Zed then used spite draining it of the energy it needed to use another attack.

Once again the Zubat did not wake despite it's trainer yelling at it to do so. The poison and the curse effecting the Poochyena took it's first toll taking a good some of hitpoints from it. Then Houndour attacked once more this time with a ember attack followed by another headbutt.

The match seemed to turn itself around for Hotaru's team as both moves hit in succession. The poochyena getting hit in the face by the ember and as it tried to recover it felt the hard hit sending it into the pokemon centers counter knocking it flat out.

"Hell with this we are getting out of here!" The two grunts said as they saw the two pokemon turning their attention to the sleeping Zubat. They recalled their pokemon and fled out the door that they came.

Hotaru took the time to use her potion on Nephrite and then looked to her friends.

Scholar Leo Cyrule

Dune City; Pokemon Center| ROUND 1 Maple Leaf vs Machop

Leon and his reptilian companion had finally made it to the doors of the Pokecenter. The treecko was resting, on his shoulder and gingerly rubbing a few bruises along her arms. She had a light frown on her lips as she turned her arms about to monitor the damage she had taken from the past fights. She was definitely feeling quite sloppy for allowing that many hits. But it seems like her trainer was perfectly happy with her being fine and alive.

Though, his face immediately changed when the doors slid open. It contorted through an entire series of emotions in just a matter of a second.
First confusion. Everyone inside the room looked worried… no… paniced… frozen in place. But why? Was some famous Pokémon trainer’s mon in critical condition; a trainer who went astray and got hurt? No… it was none of those. That look in their eye, except for a select few, they were pale and frightful.

Then bewilderment. His eyes fell on the floor noticing a few splatter marks of crimson. Paint? No… not paint… not unless a smeargle spread it’s bristles. But even then the fluid was too thin. There was a guy on the ground writhing. Why? Oh… a knife was in his chest. Then that means…

Then cold terror. As the male looked up, he saw something flash in the light. He didn’t know why but his immediate reaction was to quickly step out of the doorway. And that he did. A drop of cold sweat dripped down his chin as he saw a man lounge out the door towards him. A long nasty looking knife swinging through the air. The slash wouldn’t have killed him out right, but it wouldn’t have been pretty if it had met its mark.

The two settled up just outside the shop. The man with a bizarre statement to fashion chuckled madly and licked the blade of his knife, cutting his tongue and spitting out the blood.

“…seriously!?” Leon choked as he watched this.

“Oh… lookie here, a boy scout with a squirt. Tell you what kiddie. I’m feeling rather good today. Fight or die. Loose and I’ll take your fingers, and your Treecko’s legs as a trophy.”

Under normal circumstances… Leon would find himself attempting to persuade an alternative. But with that ultimatum… it didn’t look good. He wasn’t given much time mull it over in thought, as Maple had tapped him on the cheek. When their gazes met, she gave him a look that spoke a single phrase.

“Trust me.”

And… trust would be something Leon would do… if the poor treecko wasn’t so battered and exhausted from the previous fights. But what choice did he have? The two of them would be dead if he didn’t agree.

“F-fine… We’ll fight. We’ll fight…” he inhaled deeply, doing his best to calm his rattled nerves. “Maple… if you’d kindly.”

With that phrase, Maple hopped off her trainer’s shoulder. She slowly walked forward. Moving her arms from side to side in a stretch, easing some of the soreness. But not much.

Short after, the Nexus Grunt had tossed out his mon. A Machop… completely fresh. The difference in the two’s condition was night in day. A difference that was large enough for Leon to immediately regret this decision.

The fight didn’t begin till both mons had squared up, and immediately longed at each other.

Both trainers were dishing out their commands. Pound’s after bullet punches were exchanged. But neither could seem to quite land.

Maple continued dancing around the Machop. Twisting and pirouetting, around punches, using the momentum of her spin to bear her tails against her opponent only to sweep air. A blow was brought down upon her, but a small and graceful bound followed by a spinning cartwheel gave it nothing but the hard ground beneath.

But… time proved to not be on Maple’s side. Quickly and surely the fatigue from her previous fights today had caught up with her. And eventually, it seemed like she had locked up for only a split second. And that split second was all that was needed. A Bullet punch had landed a solid hit. The mighty fist had slammed straight into her gut.

The treecko let out a pained squeak, but instead of being carried off with the force of the punch. The Machop followed his trainer’s instruction to chain up the blow immediately. Instead of allowing his foe to fly off, the machop immediately grabbed hold of the Treecko’s tails and ripped her back towards himself. One final bullet punch and that pained cry practically turned into a squeal of bloody murder.

Only then was the poor thing allowed to go soaring through the air, towards the Pokecenter’s window. Immediately, Leon dived jumped to the side, and caught the mon with his body. Though the momentum was enough to carry through to him, and send him slamming into… shattering… then tearing through the glass window back into the pokemon center. Glass shards jettisoned across the entire foyer.

He hit the ground hard and slid a few feet. His coat protecting him from being clawed apart by the glass. When they finally stop, he opened his arms to inspect the Treecko. She was still conscious, heavily battered, but she’d definitely be worst if he hadn’t stepped in like that.

The treecko seeing this immediately jumped to her feet, and moved to meet the trainer’s eyes. “It’s ok…” he began… though he trailedd off when he saw something offputting. Was that rage? Definitely if he had seen anything like it. The mon’s pupils had narrowed into thin slits. Her glare much more focused and intense. Her body was trembling like a wet Poochyena, and her claws clung harshly to his shirt.

“…Maple?!” he stared at her for a few minutes, and nearly slapped himself across the forehead. No… it wasn’t rage. She was worried. Really worried about him. What was this state she was in again? Overgrowth. Great… just great. She was almost done for. She can’t compete like this… but maybe they can try a different tactic?

How do you destroy a target larger than you? Not by laying into it all at once, but by chopping it into smaller pieces.

“Alright girl… don't worry if we don't win this. You've done your best. But... till then... lets try something different.” he coughed, she set the treecko to the side and pushed himself up just as both the grunt and Machop stepped through. “Time to shake things up a bit… round two. Nobody step in... I'm sure my friend will not be happy about that.”

The Treecko, who's condition was much worse, staggered to her feet dutifully. She was heaving for breath heavily. And instead of taking her graceful stance, dropped down to all fours. Her eyes glaring daggers at her opponent, with enough intensity to melt a mirror.

@Sho Minazuki@EWillden@Sketcher@Tangletail

---

Given all of the events prior, Ian had naturally stepped forward with the others albeit less vocally. Facing a grunt that seemed a bit greener than the others. Given the fact that Ian was easily the greenest of the trainers here, his Sneasel only hatching a few days prior to this event, perhaps it was just destiny for them to be eachothers' opponents.

"So, are we going to battle or are you just going to stare at me?" The grunt asked, his nerves thickly concealed by a confident tone. He sent out a Magnemite, and was pleased to see Ian send out an ice type like Sneasel. "Oh, good. For a moment I thought I'd be at a disadvantage."

The one thing Ian immediately noted about the Magnemite was the small item in between one of its magnets. "Oh, you like that huh? It's a quick claw, so despite the usual difference in speed..." The grunt trailed off before deciding to demonstrate. "Magnemite, use tackle!" Sneasel couldn't even react before the metal Pokemon slammed into her, that kind of speed shouldn't have been possible. The sudden change in mood as the Magnemite floated cockily near Sneasel as she picked herself up. Her smirk seemed to anger the grunt a fair bit as he tensed up and called out to his Pokemon

"Magnemite, hit it with another Tackle!" This time however, it was too late, Sneasel had already retreated and easily dodged the attack that was much slower than before. "What? There's no way! Magnemite's quick claw should have-" The grunt stopped as he saw Sneasel holding the item in question. "b-but how?"

"Pickpocket." Ian explained. He knew that with that item out of the way Sneasel wouldn't have to worry about being outsped, the grunt's lack of experience showed in his insistence on explaining his ace in the hole. "Alright, fine. I didn't want to have to do this but...Gyro ball!" The grunt shouted. As the Magnemite began to spin it also glowed brightly. Sneasel attempted to dodge, but at this range it was nearly impossible. Given her speed though, she did manage to evade taking the attack head on. "Sneasel!" Ian exclaimed as his Pokemon was thrown several feet into the air. She managed to land back on her feet albeit a bit shakily, she jumped back quickly and forced some distance between herself and her opponent.

"Do it again!" The grunt shouted, but from the distance she was keeping a slow move like that would be almost impossible to land. Maintaining the range between them, Sneasel could easily keep in this fight.

Ian stared blankly at the grunt that was glaring angrily at him. The real battle however, was between Sneasel and said grunt's Magnemite. The former had already dodged two more attempts at gyro ball and the latter seemed about as frustrated as a metal ball with one eye could be.

"Ice punch." Ian said in a bored tone. It wasn't that he was terribly confident that Sneasel could beat a Pokemon whose typing was easily a counter to her own, no. It was just that Sneasel was intense enough at this point for the two of them in this battle. The second she heard his command, her claw emitted a blue glow and she charged directly in. "Hah, we've got you this time! Gyro ball!" The grunt shouted. "The ground." Ian said, his Pokemon knowing exactly what he meant. Sneasel slammed her icy claw into the ground shattering the tile and erecting a small chunk of ice between her and her opponent.

The Magnemite easily smashed through the defense just to find that its opponent had seemingly vanished. Particles of dust and ice showered down on the steel type pokemon creating a veil of mist as it glanced around to find Sneasel.

"Leer." Ian said as her eyes pierced through the veil of ice and dust created by the impact. The affected Magnemite backed up slightly, its defenses lowered. Now, Ice punch.

This time, the claw connected with its original target pushing the Magnemite out of the mist and back into its trainers view. "Magnemite, there it is! Use thunderbolt!" The grunt shouted. Sneasel braced herself preparing for an impact that simply didn't come, opening her eyes the reason why was pretty clear. In the center of a solid block of ice was the grunt's magnemite, frozen by her ice punch.

Using a potion on Sneasel, Ian watched as the grunt sprinted out of the center after returning his Magnemite.

"Your funeral, brat!" yelled one of the grunts at Orion. Grinning, three grunts threw out their pokeballs. A Noibat, a Geodude and a Pawniard appeared in front of Han and Leif. The three grunts seemed quite content with their match up against the rookie trainer, chuckling pretentiously and gloating as if the battle was already over.

"Han, scatter the spikes!" Orion said and so Han swung his arms to throw the toxic spikes all around the room on the side of the grunts. "Leif, use Drain Punch on the Pawniard!"

"Pawniard, counter with Fury Cutter!" ordered one of the grunts.

"Noibat, use Gust on the Treecko!"

"Geodude, Rock Polish!"

Leif took one leg back before lunging forward at the Pawniard, who lunged right back at him. Their attacks collided just as the sandstorm from Rylen's Larvitar kicked up. The Pawniard fell back, but before Leif could follow up, the Noibat's gust attack hit him and sent him flying.

"Are you okay Leif? We gotta keep going!" Orion looked at the pokemon and nodded. "Use Mega Drain on the Geodude! Han, Quick Attack on the Noibat!"

"Don't let that Froakie get close, Pawniard! Counter with Scratch!"

"Noibat, Gust again!"

"Don't let him get an attack in! Counter with Rollout!"

Han rushed towards the Noibat, but his path was blocked by the Pawniard. Just as the Pawniard skillfully slashed at him, Han stuck out his large tongue and licked the pokemon. The scratch attack phased right through him as he continued his attack on the Noibat, disrupting the Gust attack.

Unexpectedly fast, Geodude rammed into Leif before he could do anything. The Treecko recovered quickly to send a green orb at the rolling Geodude, hitting it with full force. He got back to his feet, standing victorious with his health back. The Geodude, however, seemed ready to go another round.

Just as the opponents were ready to go another round, a cold chill filled the air. A moment later, a wild wind struck the three pokemon. Aegis stood in front of Orion, casting the attack, slowing the pokemon down.

Noibat and Geodude are weak against Ice type attacks as well! Orion looked at Aegis in shock at her sudden appearance on the battlefield.

"Let's go! Wrap this up quickly! Han, use Bubble on Geodude! Leif, use Drain Punch on Pawniard! Aegis, Icy Wind!"

"Pawniard, counter with Fury Cutter! Come on already!"

"Noibat, kill them already!"

"What are you waiting for Geodude?! Get them!"

Han quickly sent his Bubble attack at Geodude as the rock pokemon rolled towards them. Geodude came out of the impact, fainted.

Leif ran at the Pawniard, dodging the now slower pokemon's attack before slamming his fist into the Pawniard's stomach, sending him flying.

The Noibat seemed confused and scared, not knowing what to do. In the chaos, another one of the Ice attacks slammed into the pokemon, clipping its wings and knocking it out.

"That's it! We'll... uh... We'll kick your asses again if you want more!"

@AbysmalDemon



Maractus couldn't believe what she was hearing. The taller human wanted the horned one to jump from the vessel during a storm as violent as this?! That was a dangerous risk in the current circumstances. with the rocking of the ship, his jump could be cut short, or his clothes could get caught on something, or maybe even drown before he could come back up for air. The worst part was, the tall one's suggestion was actually the best choice with the given circumstances. With the intensity of this storm, they'd find themselves buried in water soon. Maractus looked to her trainer, who had already begun to pick her up. She could feel his blood begin to drip down her spines as he lifted and threw her overboard.

Deneb immediately followed suit, jumping off. He took out Maractus' pokeball, and brought her back in before she hit the water. He braced himself as he made contact. The impact of his body onto the water's violently thrashing surface was painful, and it stung as he went through.

A moment froze in his mind. In truth, he was scared. This could be his end. He could die before making any progress on his goal. He couldn't help but wonder if this was his fate. Death by storm, be it sand or water. Did the wind hate him and his family? Should he have tried to make progress back in Unova? He didn't know, and he was scared to think on it. But now he sunk, and his eyes opened to watch as the ship went down as well. Deneb's body continued to sting with pain, restricting his own movements. The boy curled up, and took out his sheathed dagger. His vision blurred. As he sunk lower and lower, he wrapped his arms around the dagger, and Maractus' pokeball, and closed his eyes.

As soon as the ruffians heard Micky three turned to face the young trainer while the others started battling different people. The first one spoke up, "Hey, pipsqueak. You better on get outta here before we have to hurt you."

"No matter what you say or do to me or my Pokemon. We will never back down. We can't stand by and watch you do these horrible things."

"That's a shame then. We're gonna have to hurt you now." As the second one said that the three opposing Micky called out their Pokemon. A Litwick, Pawniard, and Poochyena were what had been placed as obstacles in Micky and his teams way. They were gonna surpass this challenge and make sure these people learned their lesson.

Micky quickly ran over in his mind the types and abilities that stood in front of him. He may have been a clumsy naive idiot but when it cam to Pokemon he was one of the brightest out there. Within mere moments he had a battle plan and gave the first orders. "Squirt Water Sport NOW! Ampar focus your energy. Scrappy stand guard and tackle them if they get to close to Squirt or Ampar." Instantly, Squirt started splashing and lightly spraying water around the area covering everyone around. Ampar landed on the ground and focused getting ready to strike big, and Scrappy jumped in front to cover his friends.

"Tsk. Poochyena throw a sand attack up."

"Litwick use Smog on the pup!"

"Pawniard get ready to use fury cutter if the thing dodges smog." The battle had officially begun. The Poochyena threw up sand all over the place while Litwick shot a cloud of poison at Scrappy. The puppy Pokemon already knew what Micky would've said and darted at the Pawniard in a tackle. It wouldn't do much but this forward attack threw the Pawniard so off guard that when it attempted to hit Scrappy with a Fury Cutter it only nicked the pup while receiving the full force of the tackle to its gut.

All three opponents were thrown off by the attack because none of them suspected that Micky would desire his Pokemon attacking one that had type effectiveness over it in a large amount. They hadn't even noticed that Micky told Squirt to attack the Litwick with a water gun. The ghost/fire type Pokemon hadn't even seen it coming and the water hurt bad. The three quickly looked back at Micky to notice that his Ampar was darting quickly towards the Poochyena with a Wing Attack. The poor Poochyena barely heard it's trainer's warning and tried to jump out of the way but the bird Pokemon's wing smashed hard into its side.

Despite the sand weakening Ampar's attack the boost from focusing his energy caused the strike to be a critical hit launching the Poochyena back. Soon the three other Pokemon repositioned and got ready to strike. Litwick launched at Ampar with a fire spin. Pawniard went after Scrappy with a Fury Cutter. Then Poochyena darted towards Squirt going for a Bite. "Ampar, fly up to try and avoid it then follow with another Wing Attack. Squirt use water gun to send him back before he can reach you. Scrappy Bite him back and hold on."

Ampar flew up as high as she could in the room avoiding the fire then swiftly dashed downwards straight towards Litwick who wasn't able to react in time and was hit hard which resulted in the Pokemon fainting. Pawniard got right up on Scrappy and cut the pup but before it could retreat Scrappy chomped down on the Pokemon's leg. As Squirt used water gun on the speeding creature it dodged as best it could and eventually got right up to Squirt and chomped down hard. Quickly Ampar was instructed to use gust on the remaining Pokemon. The gust hit Poochyena hard causing it to faint and blew Squirt towards Scrappy and the Pawniard. As Scrappy held on Squirt quickly started spinning and used its tail to connect with the head of the final enemy dazing it. To follow up Ampar flew over and delivered the final Wing Attack to Pawniard causing it to feint.

The three villains looked at their Pokemon in shock at how they lost. Each quickly returned their respective Pokemon and then bolted out of the building following their other defeated comrades. Micky looked towards the others fighting seeing if anyone needed any help.

@Tangletail@EWillden@Sketcher@Sho Minazuki@AbysmalDemon@Heckno12

Scholar Leo Cyrule

Dune City; Pokemon Center| ROUND 2 Maple Leaf vs Machop

Round two started with Machop making the first move. Once again the grunt’s pokemon closed the distance with a flurry of Bullet Punches, keeping Maple on the defensive.

“Maple! Hold off on your attacks till I give the word! Just keep backing up!” Leon called out! His feet carrying him off to the side and out of the way of the conflict. Maple had looked up to him for a moment, even with the focus in her eyes, he could see the confusion in them.

She glanced back just for a moment, and studied what was behind her. By the time her eyes had returned to her foe, she understood her trainer’s intention. The first swing came and instead of ducking or stepping to the side, she stepped back while lowering her head to avoid the blow.

The mon immediately gave way to a lot of ground as the Machop advanced forward with a heavy swing. The motion caused her to completely jump back to avoid taking a detrimental blow.

The exchange continued until Maple leaf felt something soft and rough under her feet. She immediately jumped back before the attack came while telegraphing an opening. And sure enough the offender took the bait.
“Heh, sorry kid. I hope you had a good life! Machop! Fire Punch!”
Not one to waste a chance, the Machop advanced forward with a vicious grin. One first became engulfed in flames as it reared back. The machop immediately stepped forward, but this was it’s first fatal mistake in the fight.

Instead of making sure it had solid footing, the advance had caused the Machop to place one foot on a floor mat, while the other was left in the air.

The treecko, who caught on to her Trainer’s goal did land… but not in a way expected. Instead of landing straight up… She landed on all fours and immediately twisted when her claws had grabbed hold of the mat. The floor covering had immediately been torn out from under the Machop sending him careening heels over head to the ground, while the mat had been tossed into the on looking crowd.

“What the HELL!?” The grunt cried out.

“ATTA GIRL! SWEEP THE LEG!” Leon commanded.
The treecko obeyed with a smirk on her lips. She allowed the momentum of her previous action to carry her as she brought the might of her tails against the side of the falling machop’s legs. There was a crunch, followed by one of it’s legs bending unnaturally before snapping back in place.

The machop let out a pained cry as it tumbled to the ground, holding onto it’s leg.

“Don’t stop now! Bullet seed!”

“Machop! Get up now!” The grunt commanded. But it couldn’t. It could only managed to barely get up on one leg before a hail of high speed projectiles tore into it’s other leg. The Machop dropped in agony. And once again cried out as it’s arm was ruined by another bombardment of seeds.

Relief filled Leon as the fight was drawing to it’s conclusion. He visibly relaxed as Maple now started to walk closer to her opponent. The machop was busy feebly crawling away.

“Well… that was a shade too close from black,” Leon sighed. He then looked up to the grunt. “Your ass is grassed. Maple if you kindly.”

Maple smiled as she placed a hand on the Machops head. A moment later the Machop cried out once she used Mega Drain. A second later the Machop fell to the ground unconscious.

"Tch," the grunt recalled his mon and turned to leave. "Till next time kid."

Leon watched him go. Something told him to stop him... but he just watched as he disappeared. He was more relieved at the thought of surviving a bad situation.

@Otomosthecrazy
Charlie watched as the wave crashed upon the ship and Deneb jumped into the dark water. Charlie let out a sigh of relief, but then he stopped. Deneb hadn't come up yet, and it had been over 15 seconds. At the height he jumped from he shouldn't have gone too far down, and he should have came up for air by now. Charlie panicked. He swam over to the area he jumped from, and dove under. He dove under , but the water was pitch black, there was no way he would see Deneb. He felt a pice of coral and felt around to feel something rough, like the scales of a fish. Almost instantly a Lanturn swam away, it's light glowing. Charlie couldn't take it anymore and kicked off the rocks going up for air. The shadow wasn't fading anymore, and the black silhouette off the giant stood out against the gray cloudy sky. The waves lapped around him as the Lightning crashed on the ship and the many rocks around the area. The last thing Charlie saw before he dove under once again was the flash of light as lightning struck an area next to him.

The once dark water was now illuminated by dozens of Lanturn, each giving off their own radiant glow. He sawn down and saw a dark figure among the glow of the radiant fish. He swam closer and made out Deneb's face. He grabbed his arm and lifted him up towards the light but he was too much. Out of nowhere a light started to glow. It was like the yellow phosphorus of the Lanturn, it was like a bright ruby. All he remembered was that red light, as he was pulled up to the surface, and the red light took over his vision, and he passed out.

...

Charlie coughed as he spat up sea water. His throat was dry, and he could taste the salt oh his tongue. He looked around him as vision cleared an he saw he was lying down on a beach, the water lapping up on the sand, filling up his shoes. He slowly got up, his whole body aching from the painful jump from the ship. He looked up and saw Deneb laying next to him. The storm was gone and the giant Pokémon had disappeared. He hadn't even seen an island from where the ship was, so they must of drifted quite a ways away. He remembered the red light that saved him and Deneb from drowning. "You up?"



"Wait! Where the hell are you all going? Get back here!" Del Rosas clenched his fists up an a ball and punched a hole through the Pokémon Center wall. "Whatever... Time to teach you brats a lesson." From he pocket he procured a black orb about the size of his palm. It was a casing filled with a black black liquid. He threw it on the ground, and it splattered in a small area. The remaining Team Nexus members did the same thing, taking out the black orb, and throwing it on the ground. They went out the door and the last thing Del Rosas said was, "Burn" as he threw his lighter on the ground, and lit up the Pokémon Center. The fire sprinted along the black sludge eventually finding the last splotch of oil, which happened to me on a man's leg. The man screamed as the fire charred his leg. The Pokémon Center started to crumble and piece of the walls were falling off as smoke filled the room and fire blocked the door.

"Is that oil?!", it looks like they won, but they were incredibly... Sore about it. His dislike for them turned into hate beneath the flames that seemed to stoke it. Still, this was no time to stand here and contemplate contempt. If that was an oil fire, water Pokemon had no hope of putting it out, they'd need the fire department.

Already the Pokemon Center staff were having everyone move through the back entrance, which was doable. The injured were picked up and helped out by those still able, Rylen being among the able, but as soon as he got out, one of the nurses spotted his hand injury from blocking the knife from before, and bandaged it up. He watched as the Pokemon Center burned and fire fighters arriving on the scene began to do their work. He sat with everyone in his little group.

"So much for a good night's rest... Should we find a place to set up camp instead?", he questioned.

The victory was short lived for Hotaru and her new friends it would seem. Each trainer beat their opponents successfully. A few others where more injured then some. Rylen with his hand and a new face with another treecko, this one was female though. The pigments were different. As they confronted the goons they decided to cheat their way out in a way that water pokemon couldn't help out, by burning the pokemoncenter down. That confirmed it for her. Those were the people that almost killed her father by burning down the lab. She wouldn't forgive them,... not for this. She decided she would face the gym leaders after all, only to strengthen her team and to build them up. That way she could demolish this gang. She wanted to burn every last one of them for what they did. She had to shake out of her trail of thoughts as the nurse called for everyone to exit through the back.

Hotaru and her two pokemon did so as told. She tried to help certain ones up and get them moving. Once they where out she turned around to see the center had completely erupted into flames. She wasn't sad but could feel wrath building up inside her. Her fists clenched. She looked to her two pokemon who stared right back up at her.

"So much for a good night's rest... Should we find a place to set up camp instead?" Rylen spoke breaking the silence of their little group. Well it wasn't little now, it had grown through the events of the day. Together by chance when molded into a stronger bunch they could be the ones standing victorious against this evil men they faced. They won the pokemon battle but not the fight. She sighed letting the wrath fade for now.

"Might as well Rylen,... highly doubt we will find a place that won't charge us for the night though." She had little hope that anyone would feel nice enough or sorry for them to let them sleep one night free. She sat down in her spot and looked at the dirt below her. Things went from good to worse in a matter of minutes. No center to heal their pokemon so how where they going to be strong enough to fight the gym leader? This was annoying beyond belief.

Orion recoiled, bringing up his hands in a reflex as the oil was set ablaze. He looked around, taking a few steps back, only to see the fire growing incredibly quickly, damaging the building's structure right away. Stunned, the young man didn't move for a few moments until he heard a man screaming. His leg had caught on fire and it was moving up the fabric. "Aegis, Icy Wind! Han, Bubble!" he cried out to them. They both nodded and shot their moves at the man's leg, The Ice and Water type attacks seemed to be doing the trick at first. Orion ran at the man to drag him to one of the broken windows to carry him out. Leif did his best to help with the pulling, and both Han and Aegis had stopped to run over to Orion. Just as they reached the window, something cracked over the group. Aegis' gaze set on Orion, holding her hands out, glowing pink. Before Orion could say anything a pink aura surrounded him and he felt himself move. Next thing he knew, he found himself on the ground outside, with a few cuts and a gash in his left arm from the shards of broken glass on the ground.

Inside, the roof was collapsing, and a big piece was falling on the group. Leif leapt up, striking the hunk of rock with his Iron Tail, and Han threw away the remaining falling pieces with consecutive quick attacks. Aegis turned back to normal once Orion was tossed out. She continued to tug on the man. With Leif and Han's help, they were barely able to pull the man out. Once they were out, the firemen were starting to arrive.

Some minutes later, once Orion was bandaged up and sitting with his friends, he thought about what was happening, but shook the thoughts of the recent events away. "I guess we could set up camp," he said. "Otherwise, I'm sure the authorities would do something so that all of the trainers from the pokemon center don't just remain on the streets."

---

Micky was in pure shock when the retreating team started a fire to burn the pokecenter. He told Squirt to use water gun and Ampar to use gust but to no avail. Soon the nurses instructed everyone to exit out the back before it was to late. Micky instructed his Pokemon to help some people. Squirt used water sport to help in cooling everyone down while Ampar flapped her wings to try and get the air circulating. Once everyone seemed to be out of the building Mick said to his partners, "Time for you guys to get some rest." He then put each of his Pokemon in their respective Pokeballs until Squirt seemed to refuse.

Micky didn't expect this. Sure, the two had gotten off on the wrong foot, but Micky thought that the Poliwag would want to at least rest. He expected less what came next. To Squirt it was obvious that Micky was burning up from all the heat. So, as a sort of olive branch Squirt used water sport on Micky to cool him off. "Oh, that feels amazing. Thanks Squirt." That's when Micky heard familiar voices not to far from him. He looked and realized they were a few of the other trainers battling the monsters who burned down the building. Micky decided to go over and greet the other teens who helped push back the villains. "Hey guys. Name's Micky. You guys did great back there. I hope the authorities can catch those goons."