July 26th, 2010 Photoshop and drawingtablet PCBCOS Entry: Round 3 Entrants: Sandy Gano and team Opponent: Aka Kanda and his team (Edowaado) Theme song: Link Chapter 5 "We rule the skies" "What a bunch of cheap bastards," Sandy grumbled as she clutched her hat and pressed it against her skull. Every time the wind blew, it attempted to rip it off her head. If it succeeded she knew she'd never see her favourite headgear again. And of course, standing on top of the 55 story Goldenrod Department Store, she was subject to a lot of wind. What an absolutely lousy location for a battle, she thought. Not only didn't she dare approach the sides of the building, it was also far too small and confined for most of her Pokemon to properly fight there, despite the fact that it was quite a large rooftop. At least she had had a few days to rest up this time. Sandy had half expected to have to fight her third round match on the same day as her first two matches. The unexpected extra time had given her the opportunity to wash her Pokemon, rest them up, and at the insistence of Tarim she had even crawled back into the ruins of the Underground to retrieve the Black Glasses he had lost during their second match. "What time is it?" Sandy asked one of the Magnemites hovering nearby. They had speakers mounted to their bodies where normally their screws would have been. "14:51 HRS," said one of the camera-carrying Magnemites. "9 MINUTES UNTIL YOUR MATCH STARTS, COMPETITOR 23." "I have a name, you know..." Sandy mumbled, as she snatched her hat again. This time the wind had actually slightly lifted it off her scalp before she managed to press it back down again. "MY APOLOGIES, JANIE ROBINSON," the Magnemite's metallic voice droned. Sandy thought she could hear a slight tone of sarcasm as the creature pronounced the name. Was it just her, or did just about everyone in this blasted tournament know that it wasn't her real name? "NO SIGN YET OF COMPETITOR 09, AKA KANDA. IF HE FAILS TO ATTEND AT 15:00 HRS, YOU WILL WIN BY DEFAULT, MISS ROBINSON," another Magnemite joined the conversation. "I don't want to win by default," Sandy said, "I'm sure you guys can give him some extra time." "UNFORTUNATELY WE CANNOT. WE HAVE A SCHEDULE TO ADHERE TO." Sandy sighed. She didn't remember her first two rounds being this tightly organized. In fact, she still wasn't quite sure how she had passed her round one match. Perhaps organizing things as tightly as this was simply one of the Magnemites' specific quirks. "7 MINUTES," they droned in tandem. "You can stop counting down now," Steve said. When he had heard Sandy and Aka were going to be each other's opponents in the third round, he had insisted upon coming with Sandy. He 'totally had to be there', as he had put it, seeing how it was his roomie versus his former opponent. As far as he was concerned, this match was as much about him as it was about them. Thus inviting himself to come along, he had installed himself on one of the building's air-conditioning units so that he could best survey the battlefield. Kinata had used similar arguments, when she told Sandy she wanted to watch their match, although she at least had formulated it as a polite request. She and her Luxray and Pikachu were seated on the same unit as Steve. Steve pointed to the stairwell, from which they had all ascended some fifteen minutes earlier. "He's here," he said. In the opening of the door stood Aka Kanda. The wind picked up, sweeping through his hair and slamming the door shut behind him with a loud clang. He did not seem to flinch, although the Raticate on his shoulder briefly looked back to check out the source of the noise. "Hello again," Aka said, "I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long." "Hello," Sandy replied. Steve jumped down from his high perch and walked over to Aka. "Man, where were you?!" He demanded. "We heard the entire building collapsed on top of you! Least you could have done was come back and let us know you're okay." H4X quickly joined its master, as it always did. "Sir," it said, "It was just one wall, not the 'entire building'. We are standing on said building, so clearly-..." "Yes, yes!" Steve interrupted, impatiently waving his hand, "You know it was just a figure of speech!" As they bickered a faint smile darted across Aka's face. "I just needed some time alone," he finally said, "It's nothing personal." And turning to Sandy: "I've been looking forward to seeing you again. I hope we'll have a good match, although..." he added with a grimace, "... I think we already know I can't really beat you." Sandy didn't reply. He seemed normal enough now, friendly even. His face and arms were covered with small scrapes and bruises, presumably from when the wall toppled over him, but she could see that he was indeed not injured too badly. "Not that I won't try to win, of course," Aka was quick to add, apparently misinterpreting her silence. "Of course," she said and then she smiled. "COMPETITORS IDENTIFIED AS NO. 09: AKA KANDA, AND NO. 23: JANIE ROBINSON," a Magnemite said, hovering in closer. "YOUR MATCH WILL START AT 15:00 HRS, WHICH IS 2 MINUTES FROM NOW. IT WILL BE A 3 VERSUS 3 MATCH. BATTLE STYLE: TRIPLE. RECALLING A POKEMON BEFORE IT HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT MEANS THAT POKEMON WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM PARTICIPATING IN BATTLE FOR THE DURATION OF THIS MATCH." Sandy noticed how Aka didn't bat an eyelash as the Magnemite announced her false name, and was thankful that he was apparently playing along. Only a slight twinkle in his eyes betrayed that he was greatly amused. It made her wonder even more about him. During the BT she had already noticed that he was a bright kid, but now he seemed downright crafty. The Raticate hopped down on the floor as both trainers took their positions. "So here we go then," Aka said, as he reached for the Pokeballs on his belt. "NOT QUITE YET," the same Magnemite said. Aka paused and looked at it curiously. "Why not?" "THE MATCH STARTS AT 15:00 EXACTLY." "You mean... you want us to wait for 2 more minutes?" Aka asked. "1 MINUTE AND 37 SECONDS." Sandy and Aka exchanged curious glances and looked back again at the Magnemite. It seemed dead serious. "May I at least release my Pokemon yet?" Aka asked politely. "I'd like to let the rest of my team cheer on my fighters." That didn't really sound like someone who doesn't care about their Pokemon, Sandy thought. After consulting its fellow Magnemites, the apparent leader of the bunch agreed to it, and Aka released his team from their spheres. Out popped a Golduck, a Hitmonlee, a Porygon, an absolutely huge Crobat and a large Venusaur with two distinct scars traversing its face. Sandy immediately recognized the final Pokemon as 'Saur', the only Pokemon Aka had left during the final stages of the Black Tourney. Apparently it had also survived the ordeal. It seemed as good-natured and friendly as ever, smiling as the Raticate jumped on its head and watching the Hitmonlee and the Golduck high-five enthusiastically. In fact, the entire team seemed amiable, not at all like the teams Sandy had seen most Rocket members use. Perhaps Isaac was right. Maybe she should give Aka the benefit of the doubt. Aka turned to face Sandy. "If you want to release any of your own Pokemon to cheer you on, feel free to go right ahead," he said. She glanced over her shoulder, at where Solly and Candy were standing. The Blaziken was still sporting bandages over his midriff, where he had been injured during the Black Tourney. He was grinning as usual, while Candy was looking for a good place to sit down. "I think having these two out is good enough," Sandy said. The internal relationships of her own team were considerably more... dynamic. Having them all out at the same time was probably a bad idea for now. "33 SECONDS," the Magnemite leader announced, "PLEASE SELECT THREE POKEMON." This dragged Sandy right back into the reality of this match; a triple battle on top of a skyscraper. It was quite insane, even by PCBC OS standards, and she was unsure which Pokemon she ought to choose. Kyris and Cinder were both good flyers, but technically they were still grounded for that stunt they pulled during the train trip. Sandy didn't really want to let them off the hook just yet. Fang could fly too of course, but the Scyther was far too violent. Setting him loose on Aka just seemed cruel. Using her Steelix was absolutely not an option either. So perhaps Aiko and Tarim then? Ah, but had they had enough time to recover from their injuries? Things would have been so much easier if Solaris and Candy had been fighting fit. "10 SECONDS." "Whoever you choose, I'm sure will be fine," Aka said. He had apparently already made his choice. His Porygon, Crobat and Raticate stood in front of him in a loose battle formation. He had chosen the same Pokemon she would have picked, Sandy noticed, had their positions been reversed. Both the Porygon and the Crobat could fly, while the Raticate was small enough to be carried if needed. "Like I said, I don't really expect to win this round," Aka added, "Well, not unless you dawdle long enough to get yourself disqualified, eh? That would be a bit disappointing, don't you think?" "I agree," Sandy sighed. It was time to make a decision. The Magnemites seemed to get a little agitated. Producing two balls from her bag, Sandy released their contents. With a blinding flash of light, a huge Charizard and a smaller Dragonite were released. The larger dragon stretched its wings, blasted its tail flame and bellowed, while the smaller female rubbed up against him. "You two don't really deserve this," Sandy told them, "But I'm sort of out of options here." Cinder and Kyris turned their heads and nodded at her. They were both so good promising they'd be good, but in the end something would always go wrong. One of them would get carried away or would lose their temper, then the other one would join in and before you knew it something would explode again. Ah well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Now I just need a third fighter, Sandy thought. "Aww, sod it," she mumbled, "it's going to be chaos anyway. Might as well make it complete." She produced a third Pokeball from which she summoned her cougar-sized housecat, Tarim. Once fully materialized, the Persian yawned exaggeratedly while placing his front paws forwards in a graceful feline stretch. He followed through with an equally over the top hind paw stretch all the while rippling the muscles underneath his gorgeous fur coat, bending his flexible spine and sheathed and unsheathing his black claws. The cat assumed a nonchalant battle stance and flicked his head forwards a bit, making his shades slide from his forehead over the bridge of his nose, until they reached their final destination: just in front of his eyes. Cinder snorted approvingly, but Kyris just rolled her eyes and shook her head before focusing on her opponents. ________________________________________________ Kyris cracked her neck as she carefully observed the three Pokemon opposing them. She wasn't particularly interested in fighting them, but she could sense that her mate was growing increasingly anxious for a good scrap. Apparently he hadn't had enough yet when he faced that other Charizard a few days ago. Well, when did he ever shy away from a battle anyway? So it seemed she would be getting her talons dirty too. If it made Cinder happy, she'd back him up all the way. It's just too bad, she thought as she glanced to her other side, the darn cat is here too. Cinder always gets distracted with him around. She didn't dislike Tarim personally, but she also didn't understand why her mate would want to befriend that philandering tomcat. The last thing she needed was for Cinder to pick up the Persian's bad habits. [Hrmph! Not a single looker in the bunch,] the cat grumbled, further strengthening her opinion of him. Deciding not to respond, Kyris exhaled sharply and shook her large frame. It wouldn't matter for now. Their opponents did not seem particularly imposing, so this fight was unlikely to last very long. A Magnemite had started a countdown and all six fighters assumed a battle position. In the last few seconds preceding the match, Kyris studied their three foes carefully. The Raticate was a rather scrawny fellow, small even for a member of its species. He's no threat, she quickly decided. Then there was the Porygon. Being a mechanical Pokemon, it was rather difficult to read. It had no muscle tone to judge, no old injuries to assess. Its size revealed nothing of its potential, though the way it had sharply jerked its head to face Cinder as soon as he was called out told her it had the Trace ability and that it had just copied Cinder's Blaze ability. That ability, she knew, was utterly useless unless the user had fire-type moves at its disposal. And Porygon couldn't learn any offensive fire-type moves so there was nothing to worry about there, which only left the Crobat. Now that was an impressive looking beast. It was a female and she was absolutely enormous for her kind. Flapping her four wings only every now and then, the bat effortlessly maintained her chosen altitude despite the fierce gusts coming in from different directions. Kyris had no doubt she'd be very fast and agile. She herself was no Slowpoke, but the Crobat would probably outgun her in terms of manoeuvrability, especially considering the various tall buildings which surrounded their battleground. Still, if she and Cinder worked together, Kyris was confident they could handle the Crobat quite easily. After all, they still had way more firepower. And nothing slowed a speedy Pokemon down like a good round of Thunder Wave. The Dragonite flapped her wings in preparation, waiting for the signal to start. "MATCH START!" the Magnemite leader exclaimed. ________________________________________________ As soon as the order was given by their trainer, the two dragons extended their wings and pushed off violently, immediately taking to the sky like a pair of rockets. The Crobat was close on their heels, flapping and swerving like an aerial acrobat. The combined force of their take off produced a powerful blast of air, which slammed into the remaining combatants. Tarim clenched his jaws as he felt the gales streak through his fur. He hated that feeling. When he looked up, he noticed that the Porygon had also lifted off the floor, quietly hovering higher and higher. It was already higher than the tomcat could possibly jump, the machine's head was constantly pivoting on its body to keep track of the aerial fighters. "Pory, stay there and monitor them!" the Porygon's trainer ordered. Whether or not the order even registered was difficult to tell, as its unblinking eyes betrayed no emotion and the command basically called for the creature to keep doing what it was already doing. Tarim shrugged and turned to the small Raticate. [I guess it's just you and me, snack.] The Persian sneered, [Your human is not very bright if he thinks he can get away with sending a rat out against a cat.] The rodent reared up and exposed its wicked incisors. [Don't underestimate me! The blood of my father runs through my veins, it gives me strength!] [Oh really? Well, I've got news for you, punk. Everyone has the blood of their father running through their veins.] Tarim smirked at his own cleverness. [So just save it, snack!] "Reaf!" The voice of his trainer made the Raticate swallow what probably would have been an irate reply. It turned its ears to listen. "Don't underestimate the Persian, Reaf! It's a Black Tourney survivor, so he's tough." That's an odd piece of advice, Tarim thought as his eyes darted over the young man's face. The human had briefly broken the cat's concentration and, looking closer, it seemed as if a sly grin danced over his kisser. The cat blinked and the young man looked perfectly serious again. In the background Tarim heard Sandy ordering his companions to fly here and attack there. He heard the ferocity of the attacks the dragons unleashed and didn't even bother to look over his shoulder. He already knew how that battle would end. Crouching back down in his coiled attack position he jowled a challenge to the Raticate. It swivelled round to face him. Its eyes however, no longer exuded the will to fight. Instead they looked curious, looking him up and down; downright staring at him, in fact. It made him feel uncomfortable. [What?!] He demanded, tail lashing. [Is it true?] Reaf asked. [Were you really in the Black Tourney?] [Uh, yeah? What of it?] [Well...] The Raticate said shyly, [My trainer was there too, and so was my father. He... he died there. I was wondering... What was it like?] Tarim's glasses almost slipped off his nose altogether when he heard that. Twitching an ear he repositioned himself and looked back at his trainer. She seemed too preoccupied with the aerial fight and hadn't given him a single order so far. Not that he really needed her to guide him through such a simple fight, but this inquiry had kind of taken him off guard and he was looking for some reassurance. [Can't that wait?] He hissed. [We're in the middle of a fight here! Besides, I never knew your stinkin' dad, if that's what you're after. He got chopped in half long before I ever laid eyes on him! Get your fat toad friend to tell you about it. He was there!] Tarim nudged his head in Saur's direction as he spoke. Subtlety had never been one of Tarim's virtues, but he hoped that adding a little extra insult would rekindle the rat's lust for battle. He could see its whiskers tremble, a brief flash in its eyes, but then it settled down on all fours and looked at him with the most disarmingly honest look he had ever seen since Solly had been a Torchic. [I don't know if we'll meet again after this.] Reaf said. [And I already know what my father was like. Saur told me all about him. I just... I just want to know what the BT was like. I'd like to hear from as many different people as possible.] It sat up again and managed to smile despite its large incisors filling most of its mouth. Tarim was about to slam his face into the concrete underneath his paws, but stopped himself just in time. That would ruin his glasses. After one more glance at his preoccupied trainer he pulled himself up in a sitting position and, hooking his ears behind the bends of the legs of his glasses and pulling them back, he tucked his shades back onto his brow. Wrapping his tail around his legs, he looked down on the Raticate with a growing sense of discomfort. Why did it keep staring like that? Like some babe expecting a bedtime story? [Look...] Tarim started. ________________________________________________ Kyris briefly hovered in place before plummeting down towards the Crobat - her name was apparently 'Goldi' - which zipped and weaved its way through the labyrinth of skyscrapers. The Dragonite wanted to launch her Hyper Beam attack at the speeding bat, but could not get a good fix on her. The last thing she wanted was to miss the darn thing and hit one of the buildings. Her trainer would throw a fit for sure, so there was only one thing to it: dive bomb Goldi from above and drive her into the ground with Dragon Rush. Easier said than done, however. Cinder was flying close behind Kyris. She could hear his wing beat drumming frantically. He had to use his Dragon Dance to even be able to keep up with his mate. So far Kyris' attempts at using Thunder Wave on the Crobat had failed. She kept dodging the attacks at the very last moment. Goldi took another insane high-speed turn, pulling who knows how many G's. The dragons with their bulkier bodies had trouble following her as she careened and spun in between two towers and suddenly pulled straight up, banked and flew over the Department Store's rooftop again. She never flew too far from the building, probably because she'd no longer be able to hear her trainer's orders if she did. Cinder unleashed another Flamethrower attack. It shot past the Crobat's left side, forcing her the other way. The Charizard had been attempting to drive Goldi into a more favourable position for Kyris to move in for the finishing blow, but Goldi was always one flap ahead of them. Again she eluded them, by not moving right as intended but instead swerving over the flames and diving to the left. In doing so, she flipped on her back, opened her mouth and shot a ghastly ray of light from her maw and her eyes. [INCOMING!!] Kyris warned, as she rolled to avoid the Confuse Ray attack. Cinder was not quite as fortunate. The ray hit him square in the face. He roared and shut his eyes, but it was too late. When he opened them again, Kyris could see the faint purple glow coming from his eyes. The Charizard was confused and reality became warped to him. Up was down and right was left. No longer in control of his movements, Cinder narrowly avoiding slamming head-first into a nearby billboard. [CINDER!!] Kyris yelled. She dove in behind him to guide him to a more open space when she saw a purple blur approaching from the left. Out of nowhere the Crobat appeared and latched on to Cinder, sinking her fangs into him to deliver her Poison Fang attack. [Get off him!] The Dragonite roared as she rushed in and swiped the parasite off her mate's body. Goldi shrieked and flew off, but in doing so made the critical mistake of flying straight as an arrow. Got you! Kyris immediately opened her mouth to build up the frosty energy she needed for her Ice Beam attack. With a loud roar she unleashed the blast, while she clamped down on her mate and guided him away from hazardous obstacles. But just as the beam was about to hit the bat, she shot behind her Porygon partner who levitated high above the Department Store's rooftop. For a moment Kyris thought she had hit the mechanical Pokemon, but when she looked closer she noticed it had enveloped itself with a green spherical energy field. It's Protect, she realized. Perhaps these guys were better than she first thought. Using the Porygon as a stationary shield was a pretty good strategy. She turned towards Cinder. His eyes had returned to normal, but his shoulder was bleeding. [Can you fly?] She asked. [Yeah, I don't think she poisoned me,] Cinder answered. [Didn't do too much damage either.] She released her grip and he managed to fly under his own strength. [I think we need to be a bit more careful around these guys after all,] the Dragonite said as she set her sights on the Crobat again. Goldi had already shot out from behind her partner's fading protective shield and was once again flying evasive patterns while taunting the dragons. Cinder grumbled angrily. [Keep it together!] Kyris warned him. [Don't do anything rash and we'll be okay.] [Fine!] He said, and they both swooped down in formation. Goldi saw them coming and shrieked another challenge before diving. Again they tried to chase her into an appropriate position, with Cinder's flames driving her on, and again Goldi sought cover behind her Porygon partner. This was getting annoying and Cinder in particular was losing his temper quickly. He snorted flames from his nostrils and belched another Flamethrower at the shield. The fact that it still held only made him angrier. Goldi shot out from behind the barrier and flew straight up, closely followed by Cinder. He had apparently decided to get in close for an attack she couldn't possibly avoid; Blast Burn. Kyris watched from a distance with concern, when her eye suddenly fell on the Porygon Cinder had narrowly missed in his mad dash for Goldi. Its head was sharply titled upwards to follow the action going on above it, a greenish tinge emitting from its eyes. The Dragonite gasped as she realized that it was Lock-On, a move used to target fast moving opponents. She knew what was coming next and roared a warning at his mate. Cinder didn't respond. Hadn't he heard her? She called again, but still he did not react. The Charizard extended his arms, ready to grab the Crobat who was just in front of him, but Kyris knew he would never reach her in time. Already the Porygon's little triangular legs were spinning on its body like mad, driving internal dynamos. Tiny arcs of electricity sparked from its shiny body as the currents within it rapidly built up. She could hear the whirring sounds of dynamos, circuits clicking as they rapidly marched through their attack protocols, and the slowly building whining noise of a devastating Zap Cannon attack being charged. The Dragonite was already on her way to intercept the machine. They had been fools for focusing on the Crobat first! Before she could reach the Porygon, however, it was already done charging. Its legs suddenly hung still, and with a sound which resembled tearing metal it unleashed its attack straight up. Kyris had to abort her own attack and swerve to avoid the secondary discharge, but the main attack shot up like a laser. Kyris wanted to scream another warning, but no sound came over her lips as the shockwave caught her breath. She saw the main blast slamming into her partner's back and above the roar of the attack she could hear him shout out in pain and shock. Cinder was falling down, his wings paralyzed from the attack. Landing heavily on the rooftop, the Dragonite slammed her powerful tail down to push herself back into the air again. She raced for her falling mate, who seemed unable to control his descent. Cinder hadn't been flying perfectly straight up, and now that he was hit there was no rooftop beneath him to crash land on. Without her intervention one of two things would happen: he'd regain use of his wings in time to save himself, or he'd make an awfully big crater in the streets below. Kyris was not about to take any chances as she dashed for the tumbling Charizard to catch him. However, as she shot up, Goldi suddenly popped up in front of her and spat a blob of purple bile in her face. [Urgh!] Kyris groaned, as she tried to wipe the stink from her face and her eyes. It bit into her eyeballs and caused her vision to blur, but Kyris pushed past the Crobat. Cinder was cursing loud enough for her to get a fix on his position. A sudden blast of cold air hit her square in the face, which took her breath away, but still she kept going. Sharp pangs of pain in her shoulders told her Goldi had latched on to her and was now riding her like a rodeo champ, slowing her down in the process. [Give me a break!] The Dragonite bellowed as she ploughed through the air like tractor. [Sorry!] The Crobat's reply sounded muffled, since she never released her grip on Kyris' flesh. [Orders are orders. Nothing personal!] With that remark the Crobat threw her four wings out like a parachute, throwing the dragon completely off course. Fighting to recover proper equilibrium, the Dragonite's charge slowed down to the attack speed of an elderly Pidgey. As she faced forwards again, Kyris could just see how Cinder plummeted down, desperately clawing at, but just missing the edge of the Department Store's rooftop. She could hear him groan: [Aww, crap!] as he fell. Before she could react however, she suddenly heard another voice calling. It was faint over the sound of the wind blasting over her ears, but it was very clear. "Cinder, come back!" The command was instantly followed by a beam of red energy shooting down and hitting the injured Charizard in the chest. It caused a chain reaction in his body, breaking down molecules and converting them into energy as a red glow spread over his entire body in seconds. Sparks flashed all around him and for a moment his movements seemed to freeze. Then he was instantly dematerialized and converted into a jagged beam of energy shooting back up to the source of the initial beam. Kyris breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't even need to turn her head to know that Sandy was quickly tucking Cinder's Pokeball back into her bag for safekeeping. Sometimes she forgot that her trainer would always watch their backs for them. As if the recalling of the Charizard had been a direct order from its own trainer, the Crobat released its grip on Kyris and flew back to its partners. Even the Porygon had lowered itself back on the rooftop. The Dragonite quickly swooped down to join them. She was feeling absolutely wretched. ________________________________________________ [So... the MC was a Darkrai?] Reaf inclined his head as he asked the question. His nose bobbed up and down as he inhaled and exhaled excitedly. [Well, I dunno... He sort of looked like one. Or at least like some sort of mutant version.] Tarim wrinkled his nose as he thought back. [Some people kept insisting that it wasn't his real form, but I like to believe in what I see in front of me. So yeah, let's say it was a Darkrai.] He shrugged. Tarim had long since given up on trying to understand the finer details of the BT. [But... I thought Darkrai didn't have those kinds of abilities.] [Look, I don't know either, okay?!] The cat flicked his ears in annoyance. [All I care about is that we iced that fool. If you want to know what it was like, maybe you should ask the giant fire chicken over there.] He lashed his tail in the general direction of where Solaris was standing. [He was there for most of the ride. Got a REAL good feel for the situation. Especially when it blew up in his face.] Tarim sneered at that. Sacrificing yourself was stupid. [I see.] The Raticate said as it rubbed its paws together. [I see, I will ask him about it later then. Uhm, excuse me for a moment!] Reaf darted to the side and suddenly unleashed a blast of Icy Wind from his mouth. Tarim could feel the air turn frigid and he saw how small clumps of ice formed in the super-chilled blast shooting up at some point in the sky behind the cat. When he turned to look, he saw the attack hit Kyris straight in her snout. The Crobat was piggybacking on her shoulders as she flew at blinding speed and seemed to shout at Cinder. Where was Cinder anyway? [Hey, NOT cool!] Tarim said, as he stared at the scene unfolding in the sky. It was only then that he noticed the Charizard some distance away. He was tumbling like a leaf on the wind and the Persian could clearly make out a wicked scorch mark on his back where he had apparently been blasted. Small electric arcs ran over his back, shoulders and wings, the currents apparently paralyzed that entire region of his body. Tarim knew he was unlikely to regain control any time soon. Turning his ears back like radar dishes when he heard his human recall Cinder, Tarim knew that now there were only two fighters left on their side. "COMPETITOR JANIE ROBINSON HAS RECALLED POKEMON: 'CINDER'; CHARIZARD, FROM BATTLE. SUBJECT IS DISQUALIFIED," a metallic voice droned in the background. A few moments later Kyris landed heavily beside him. She was panting from the aerial aerobatics she had apparently performed and looked extremely pale, as if she was about to be very, very sick. The telltale scent of Toxic wafted into the Perian's nostrils and he edged a little further away from her. [Thanks a lot for guarding our backs back there.] The Dragonite growled between her teeth. [You're welcome.] He replied flatly. He had no reason to feel guilty, Tarim figured. If they had wanted his aid, they shouldn't have flown so far away. It was as simple as that. Besides, he hadn't heard them call for help, not one single time. The cat watched with interest as the dragon wobbled and swayed on her feet, her head hung low as she glared at her opponents from underneath her brow. Kyris was angry over what happened to Cinder, the cat knew, so she'd be likely to do a number on their three smug looking opponents if she could. But she was also heavily poisoned. Toxic was the most devastating of poison-type moves, especially if given enough time to work into the victim's system. And it was working fast in the Dragonite. It wouldn't be too long before she'd start tossing her cookies and frankly Tarim didn't really want to stick around for that. Dragonite stomach acid was vile stuff. The Crobat was back into her original hovering position, lazily beating her wings and gliding on the currents. The Porygon had settled back onto the floor and looked as emotionless as ever. The biggest change had occurred in Reaf. Gone was the almost childlike innocence. The rat once again looked ready for battle, but this time it had a smug little grin on its ratty face. It knew that its conversation with Tarim had helped turn the tides in their favour. Tarim didn't know if the Raticate had planned it that way, but he certainly knew how to gloat over it. Casting a quick glance over his shoulder to his trainer and back again at his opponents, Tarim shifted his weight a little as he sat. His posture was flawless and majestic, completely the opposite of the Dragonite's. [You should take a little break.] Tarim said. Kyris' raspy breath paused as she looked at him from the corners of her eyes. He didn't take his eyes of their foes, but just grinned. [Hrmph!] She responded with a tired gesture. [Fine, have it your way then.] Suddenly she stepped forwards and unleashed bolts of lighting from her long antennae. A Thunder Wave she had charged up a while ago hit the surprised Goldi head-on. The Crobat let out a bloodcurdling shriek and flopped down on the floor a few feet below her. She flapped around to turn herself on her belly and shook her head before looking up. [You had it... coming, sister.] Kyris coughed, and turning to Tarim. [Be careful of that Porygon. He's... their main gun. I thought he had the Trace ability, but... I think he... was faking it. I think he has the Download ability... instead.] She hacked again and Tarim thought he could hear something mushy dislodge in her throat. He hoped to Arceus she wouldn't spit it out. Mercifully she swallowed it and turned to give a small nod to Sandy. She responded immediately, extending her hand in which she already had Kyris' Safari Ball ready for her. The same beam of light which had saved Cinder earlier now brought Kyris back home to her cosy, warm sphere, where she could slumber in the dark. Tarim didn't move a muscle as he dispassionately returned the stare of three pairs of eyes. [That seriously was uncool, guys.] ~~~~~~ Previous: Chapter 4 Next: Chapter 6 I don't know if Pory really does have the Download ability, but I figure it would be more useful than the Trace ability. Also, just to clarify: yes, Sandy did recall her dragons a bit early in the fight. It'll be explained in the next chapter. By the way, please note that any opinions expressed about other characters are just the opinions of my characters, not my own. XD Cameos: Steve xIOTAx Kinata SabakuNoKinata The Magnemite crew was first introduced by Athens025, and later expanded upon by BentoDS

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