Disclaimer: How about not?

Bella Thomas smiled confidently as her Masquerain executed a perfect loop before going into an Ice Beam attack.

"You must be quite the trainer. Your Pokemon seem like they've been raise well," she heard a smooth voice from above.

Tilting her head upward, she saw a trainer riding on a floating Metagross. He had black hair that he kept in a ponytail with red and white tips. His eyes were a dark blue, almost violet.

"Hm? And you are?"

"My name is Artix. I take it you are going to enter the Tournament?" Artix asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course, "Bella said, turning back to her Pokemon, "Why are you here?"

"I am also entering," Artix replied, observing the Masquerain's techniques with interest.

"No. I meant, why are you here?"

"Talking to you? You're around the same age as my brother," he said distantly, as if remembering something.

"Is he here?" Bella asked curiously.

Artix grinned at her and gestured to the Contest Hall, "The real reason I'm here is to tell you that it's your turn to battle."

Jumping up, Bella recalled her Masquerain.

Before she left, Bella turned to Artix one last time, "I'll be seeing more of you, then?"

She left for the stadium, leaving Artix staring at her back.

XXX

"The battle between Bella Thomas and Ari Harper will now begin!"

"Let's go, Masquerain!" Bella shouted, deciding to take advantage of the lack of a ceiling.

"Seviper, you're up!"

The two Pokemon appeared on the stadium and immediately began glaring at each other.

"Seviper, Flamethrower now!" Ari commanded.

"Dodge it, Masquerain, and use Shadow Ball!"

The bug Pokemon flew sideways, but the Flamethrower still managed to graze its wing. Faltering a bit, Masquerain shot an eerie black ball at the snake.

"Seviper!" the Seviper cried as it was hit by the Shadow Ball.

"Now use Ice Beam!"

"Flamethrower again!" Ari shouted. The beam of ice was melted by the searing flames. Masquerain cried out in pain as the Flamethrower threw it backwards.

"Hold on, Masquerain. Use Air Slash!" Bella exclaimed.

Her Pokemon responded weakly before diving towards the snake. Slashing with all its might, Masquerain managed to dodge Seviper's lunge and hit its underbelly.

Hissing in rage, Seviper used Aqua Tail on the small Pokemon and almost crushed it.

"Masquerain!" it cried in protest as it shot up towards the sky again.

"Seviper, hide using Haze. Then attack with Flamethrower," Ari said.

Black mist flew out of Seviper's mouth and into the air. The Flamethrower hit Masquerain dead on.

"Mah!" It cried piteously, as it sank to the ground and fainted.

"Masquerain, return. You did wonderfully," Bella said softly. Then she raised her voice, "Venasaur! Don't fail me!"

The blue and green plant dinosaur roared before shooting blades of sharp petals at Seviper.

"Flamethrower!"

Skillfully dodging most of the unexpected attack, Seviper spat out flames and successfully disintegrating the rest of the Petal Dance.

"Double Edge," Bella commanded. Venasaur rammed into Seviper, taking advantage over its larger body mass.

"Seviper is unable to battle!"

"Return, Seviper. I choose Togetic!" Ari shouted, releasing the Happiness Pokemon, "Silver Wind!"

A strong gust blew in against Venasaur. The dinosaur struggled to not be blown backwards, roaring, "Venasaaaaaur! Venasaaaaaaur!"

"Magical Leaf, Togetic!" A flurry of rainbow leaves shot towards Togetic's target and cut against the already battered Venasaur.

"Synthesis! Then use Solarbeam!"

Taking in the sunlight streaming through the hole in the ceiling, Venasaur healed itself and prepared for the strong attack.

"Wish, Togetic. Hang in there!"

Togetic closed its eyes and braced itself for the worst.

The beam hit directly, damaging the Togetic badly. It wobbled and struggled to stay airborne.

"Togetic, try a Thunder Wave," Ari said cautiously, not wanting to push the hurt Pokemon too much.

With much effort, Togetic pulled out the energy to shoot a weakened Thunder Wave at its opponent. The newly restored Venasaur shook it off with ease, though.

"Double Edge!" Bella shouted, tasting victory.

"Togetic, Baton Pass!" Ari commanded desperately, not wanting the poor Pokemon to get hurt anymore, "Rapidash, let's go!"

A fiery horse sprang out of the Pokeball and neighed proudly, shaking its mane and enjoying the freedom.

"Fire Blast! Hit it hard!"

The Venasaur stood no chance. The star shaped attack hit it before Bella could think of a counter-attack. It had fainted before it hit the ground again.

"Fine. It's been a while since I was driven into a corner. Go, Arcanine!"

The canine barked as it landed with a thud on the stadium.

Ari gritted his teeth. The Arcanine's Flash Fire limited much of Rapidash's attacks, but Rapidash had a Flash Fire of its own. It would be an interesting battle.

"Rapidash, Sunny Day!"

The heat intensified and the air turned humid. Despite the sun's glares, the audience sat at the edge of their seats, eager to see what each trainer would do.

"Extremespeed, Arcanine!"

"Shoot it down with Solarbeam!"

The Rapidash's Solarbeam kicked in immediately. One shot blasted the canine Pokemon backwards, halting the incredibly speedy attack.

"Solarbeam again!"

It was even quicker this time. Arcanine and Bella barely had any time to process what had just happened before Arcanine was thrown against the wall behind them.

"Arcanine! Can you continue?" The canine barked weakly, but got to its feet. Its eyes showed that it would not stop until the battle was over.

"Good. Extremespeed. Don't stop," Bella said.

Arcanine nodded in agreement and disappeared. Rapidash was thrown backwards in a similar manner, but it wasn't allowed to hit the wall. Arcanine hit it again, tossing it forward as the impact knocked the breath out of the fire horse.

Again and again, Arcanine struck before Rapidash could follow its movements. It allowed no time for the horse to recover, always striking when it was weak.

Finally, Rapidash collapsed in front of its trainer. The announcer looked at it questioningly, wondering if he should stop the battle.

Suddenly, a light began to shine on Rapidash and it began to glow.

"Impossible," Bella muttered to herself, "Rapidashes can't evolve. So what is this?"

The horse stood up like it had never been hurt at all, the light still wrapped around its torso.

As the last bit faded away, Rapidash neighed, feeling power surge through its body.

"Flame Wheel right into an Iron Tail!" Ari commanded, relieved. Togetic's Wish had come true.

Flames shot up from around Rapidash. It charged, somersaulting through the air before the fire in its tail turned to steel right before it crashed into Arcanine's face.

The Arcanine roared in agony, and fainted.

"Arcanine is unable to battle. Victory goes to Ari and his Rapidash!"

The mysterious Metagross trainer makes his next appearance! And now he has a name. Just who is this Artix?

I hope this battle makes up for yesterday's.

Favorite characters are still the same. Submit yours!

Still accepting any battle requests. Want to see a character against another character? Tell me! Right now, I'm just pairing up people who might have interesting battles.

The romance topic is still shaky. We've got some readers for it. If you do want romance, send in pairings. I'll ask the owners of each character before pairing them with someone, so don't worry.

Also, I got an idea! What if...this tournament actually had a plotline!? *gasps* But I'd have to make a sequel...Anyways, it's just a stray idea and if you guys don't want it, then I'll discard it.

This chapter wasn't my best, but the weekends are coming, so I'll be able to type all day!

Credits

Ari and Artix- Serpent's Ballet

Bella- PokemonFanXxX

(Not a lot of characters again, but I introduced a new one! That's got to count for something! Again, apologizing to all OCs who are sitting in my folder unused. I'll get to you eventually!)