Well, the ball's rolling! Hope you all enjoy it so far, 'cause now we get into the really serious stuff! No more exposition, just going straight into the action.

Just to clarify, any slashes (/) you may see in the italicized parts mean that several Pokémon are talking at once.

Disclaimer: I may own this story, but the characters (excluding OCs) and the Pokémon brand don't belong to me.

Chapter 4: The Tournament

By the next day, Tella, Riley and I were all set for the tournament. Anyone who was expecting to beat us in a fight would be very, very sorely mistaken.

Ok, now, hit me with your best psychic blow. We were in my room, testing every move we knew to make sure we wouldn't have to worry about accuracy or speed or anything. I watched as Tella raised her horn, gathering all of her green psychic energy on its tip. The energy grew into a long whip and swung in my direction with the force of a giant elephant. The whip didn't hit me, of course—this psychic immunity wasn't too bad, if I may say so myself—but even I flinched as it flew through my stomach and against the nearest wall. Despite what the others seemed to think of her, Tella was incredibly powerful.

Ok, that's enough for a moment. Let's rest a bit. I sat next to Tella as she lowered herself down to the floor. I can see why you keep winning this tournament. You're really good.

She smirked in this weird, sarcastic tone I had never heard from her before and turned away. That winning comment they make is a sick joke. The "reward" goes to the loser, not the winner. Two Pokémon face off in the common room, and whoever wins the match gets to rest while the loser goes on to the next match. The process goes on until everyone's gone up, and the final loser is declared the "winner". She turned back to me, radiating anger along with her twisted snarl. And the "prize" for "winning"? You get moved to the front of the line for every other battle that happens that day. Doesn't matter how strong you are, or how hard you try to win; you fight until you can't fight anymore, until someone finally knocks you out.

My heart ached for her as a single tear dripped down her chin. She'd been up on the front line far more than should have been allowed I…I'm younger than the rest of the team members, I don't have as much control over my power as the others do. If I push myself too quickly to keep up with them, I just, I… She threw herself into my arms, openly bawling at the flood of memories coming at her. What's worse, I could feel the horn on her head emitting all of her pain: pain from every punch, shock, slash, and kick she had ever received on those battlefields. I was completely speechless, so I just wrapped my arms around her and held her close.

It shouldn't be this way, Tella. You shouldn't have had to suffer through this…this police state. Trust me; once we get through this tournament, I'm going to do whatever I find a way to escape. We'll be free, like we were always meant to be. You'll see.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the other side of the wall. The wall split down the middle, revealing a nervous Riley. Tella backed out of my arms and wiped her eyes, but Riley still noticed us together, so he quickly looked down and rubbed the back of neck. Hey, uhh…Are you guys ok? It's been a while, and it's almost time for lights out...

Uh, yeah, yeah, c'mon in. I stood up and dusted myself off, going into professional mode. So, just to recap: Tella, you should use your psychic powers for offense while keeping your distance at all times, and Riley, you stick to the Iron Tail, fighting moves won't help much against our competition. Your speed is your greatest edge, so use it. Don't ask me why, but I'm a great tactician, and apparently these two were in sore need of one. If all else fails, just keep your distance until they tire out, then hit'em with all you've got.

There was an awkward silence—none of us really had any idea how this was supposed to work yet—so I stood up and walked over to my bed. Well, good night then. I plopped down on the slab, letting the Network warp and shape it to form the perfect bedding for me.

The two of them stood up in response and walked over to the wall and into the hallway, waving on the way out. See ya, Shade. / Good luck tomorrow, Shade! The wall closed behind them, and I drifted into a peaceful sleep for the first time since I didn't know when.

Anyway, the morning came, and all six of the team came out into the common room for breakfast. Apparently, the tournament took place directly after breakfast, so it was best to eat up before the festivities began. Most everyone was munching down on berries, but for some reason…I just didn't have that much of an appetite for them. I tried a few, but they just weren't…satisfying.

Oh hi! Shade, right? Beautifly flew over to me and hung on to me with her stubby arms. Ugh, Tella was right, she was clingy, not to mention incredibly…fake. So glad you joined us! Sorry about earlier, just following orders. You still hungry?

I turned around, crouching and holding my stomach. Well, yeah, but…

Oh, that's right, you get the special diet! Alec mentioned it, your food's over there. She pointed over to the other side of the room, where a pile of stones about the size of my head were lying in a heap. Before I could even prevent it, my instincts kicked in and I ran over to the rocks, grabbing the first one I reached in my claws. I gripped the chunk as hard as I could and pressed into it, smashing it to tiny bits. By now, I had gained a little more composure, and I stopped, took a deep breath, and kneeled down to the bits of stone. I placed one claw on a chunk, and was amazed to feel it sink into my arm. Already I could feel it traveling to my stomach, getting ready for digestion. I had no idea I could even do that; I suppose it has something to do with my Sableye physiology.

Well…good luck with your meal, I guess. See you later! Beautifly gave me this huge grin as she left, but once she got back to Wooper and Combusken I could hear them gossiping as they ate.

Did you see that? His hand swallowed it whole!

Weirdo. This is why we don't associate with cave dwellers; they're just a bunch of freaks.

Well, screw them. I was hungry, and I liked the rocks. Big deal. I finished off the whole pile in pretty much the same fashion, and then walked over to Tella and Riley, who had already finished off their share of the berries and were talking. So, how soon until the tournament starts?

Right on cue, the rest of the berries faded away, and a voice—Alec—came over the some unseen speaker in the room. "Good morning. You've had enough time to eat, so let's get the tournament started. You all know the rules; no going into your individual halls, no attacking non-combatants, and no attacking once one combatant has fainted. Decide amongst yourselves who wins, and let me know when you're done. Begin."

A small ramp rose around the edges of the room as all of the furniture in the center sank into the floor. We all moved behind the ramp, Riley, Tella and I sitting next to each other of course, giving the new fighting area plenty of space. That is, we all did, except for Combusken.

Alright, you know the drill; first up is me—Wooper and Beautifly cheered for him as he put up a hand for silence, arrogant idiot—and last tournament's "winner"—Ralts. Those same hyenas started cackling as Tella floated over the edge of the ramp and into the area. I sighed in relief; Tella against a fighting type? The bird didn't stand a chance.

They faced each other in the area, standing (or in Tella's case floating) on either side. Beautifly flew above the rest of us, and released a sparkly pink dust. Go!

Immediately, Combusken jumped and kicked a blast of flames into the air, aimed straight for Tella. She managed to fly out of the way, but just barely. Aw, poor little Ralts, he smirked. Always running away… He jumped up again and again, unleashing several blasts as Tella flew rings around the area to dodge him.

Stop…stop calling me that… Why didn't she fight back? And Beautifly and Wooper...they didn't even bother watching the match, they just turned their backs, waiting for it to be over. My God...is this what Tella goes through in every tournament? Left up for cannon fodder?

What's the matter, Ralts? Afraid I'll burn you again? A cruel smile, while hard to see on Combusken's beak, was unmistakably forming in his eyes. What a sadistic creep. After all, we have so many fond memories of burns past, don't we, Ralts?

Shuh-Shut up…Shut up, please… She was racing around an inferno pit by now, with Combusken standing in the center of it all like the devil himself. And still, he kept kicking and kicking…most of us had to duck behind the ramp to avoid the blistering heat.

Remember the last time? You were burned so badly, most of that green hair of yours was on fire…prettiest I'd ever seen it. He was shouting now, riding the surge of power he got from all of the fire. If this went on any longer, Ralts was going to be a lot worse than just knocked out. I tried to jump into the fray, with Riley in tow behind me, but Beautifly held us back, stronger than I ever thought she would have been. Poor little Ralts, all alone and crashing in flames, like the little weakling you are. And he exploded in a nova blast of fire.

TELLA! We both reached out as the entire area was engulfed in the twisting expanse of flames. That was it; just like that Tella was gone.

But…as the flames died down, two shapes became visible through all of the smoke. The first was Combusken, panting on one knee, but obviously ecstatic over his victory. The other, just behind him…was Tella. She had managed to put up a green psychic shield just before the blast, and as she brought it down, there was this…feral rage about her that I had never expected. As happy as she was, in battle she had something of a dark side. Tella…

Combusken's head shot up as he spun around to face her. What?

MY NAME IS TELLA! And out of her horn shot a single beam of psychic energy, moving forward to pierce Combusken's chest and shoot clean through to the opposite wall. His eyes bulged upon impact, and as soon as the beam faded away he fell to the floor in a heap, finally bested at his own game. The floor parted to swallow him, and when he came back up a moment later he was perfectly healed, albeit exhausted and traumatized by what had just happened.

And through it all, Tella just stood there, a passive face to her at all times. She didn't smile or cheer, or even yell. She simply floated above Combusken's head and said five simple words: I won. Who's up now?

Woooo, that was intense! I love writing those psycho-babble pieces!

As always, R&R!