Saylee Pokémon: 9 Deaths: 2
Key Pokémon: 13 Deaths: 1
Saylee and Key returned all of their Pokémon and paced off a decent sized battlefield with Jenny and Seka.
"The rules that Seka and I agreed on are that each trainer gets three Pokémon and the battle ends when one team gets completely wiped out," Key explained.
"Gives them the advantage, since they've seen all of our Pokémon," Saylee muttered, running her fingers over her pokéballs as she decided which would be first.
"Well, maybe not," Key said, picking her first. Saylee looked over the pokéball and then picked her own first. "They've only got three each."
"Ready?" Jenny called. "Three, two, one—FIGHT!"
They all released their first Pokémon at the same time. As Saylee had guessed, Key had gone with Python, and she'd released Polly to go with him. Seka also released a Mightyena; comparing it to Polly and Python, Saylee guessed that it was male, though it had a different pattern of fur than both of them, longer and heavier on the black. Jenny groaned aloud as she realized, too late, that Kirlia was not the best first choice of Pokémon.
"Python, blind that other Mightyena with Sand-Attack!" Key commanded.
"Talyn, Howl those other Mightyena down!" Seka shouted.
"Polly, Bite that Kirlia!" Saylee ordered.
"Double Team, Rose!" Jenny yelled frantically. The Kirlia split into dozens of images, trying to confuse Polly, but with her keen sense of smell, Polly easily focused in on the right one and took her down. Meanwhile, Talyn and Python kicked up dirt and howled at each other, each trying to assert dominance. They started snapping at each other even before being ordered to Bite.
When Jenny returned her unconscious Kirlia, Saylee took the opening. "Polly, Bite Talyn!" she ordered. Python moved out of the way just in time as Polly leapt at the other male, fangs bared, and the two of them wrestled Talyn to the ground together.
"Jack, use Quick Attack to get one of them away!" Jenny called, releasing her next Pokémon, a Jolteon. Jack shot forwards to knock Python away, but Polly continued to savage Talyn until Seka returned him. "Now, Thunderbolt!"
"Oh, crap," Saylee muttered as Python howled in pain. "That Jolteon is way stronger than all of our Pokémon. Polly, Sand Attack!"
Polly sprayed sand over Jack, nullifying his electricity, but Python was already out cold.
"Electricity, electricity… go, Leslie!" Key shouted, releasing her Linoone. "Mud Sport!" Leslie began spraying mud over Jack.
"Ew, ew, ew!" Jack yelped, trying to shake off the cloying mud. "Am I on my own out here?!"
"Ardenol, use Quick Attack!" Seka called, releasing a Sneasel. The lithe black Pokémon shot towards Leslie, knocking her aside and stopping her attack.
"Polly, Bite Jack now while he can't use electricity!" Saylee called.
"Leslie, Quick Attack!" Key shouted.
"Quick Attack right back at her, Ardenol!" Seka ordered. Leslie and Ardenol became a black-and-white blur as Polly and Jack scrapped at each other. Polly was doing damage, but Jack was stronger and was able to tackle her to the ground even without his electricity before dashing off to aid Ardenol.
Saylee returned Polly and switched to Teddy. "Teddy, Double Kick that Sneasel!" she ordered.
"Got it!" Teddy called, leaping into the fray and knocking Ardenol to the ground with a pair of powerful kicks to his side. Leslie immediately reverted to spraying mud at Jack, keeping him at bay while Teddy knocked Ardenol out with a final kick.
"I'm down to Edge," Seka said, returning Ardenol and replacing him with another bipedal Pokémon, this one taller and covered in bright red scars and shaggy white fur.
"Edge is a Zangoose," Key said. "He's a normal-type. Watch out for his claws!"
"Slash, Edge!" Seka ordered.
"Helping Hand, Jack!" Jenny immediately added.
"Dodge with Quick Attack!" Saylee ordered. Teddy narrowly avoided Edge's wickedly sharp claws, rolling out of the way.
"Sand Attack, Leslie!" Key called. Leslie kicked up a screen of dust to cover Teddy's escape.
"If Edge is a normal-type, then Double Kick should end him," Saylee muttered. "That Jolteon will be easier to take down if we go two on one."
"Okay, I'll make you an opening," Key replied. "Leslie, Mud Sport!"
Leslie stopped kicking up sand and starting spraying mud again, knocking gaps in the sand screen and briefly blinding Edge and Jack.
"Double Kick!" Saylee ordered quickly. Teddy leapt through and kicked Edge, knocking him backwards, slamming him into the ground with the second kick.
"Edge? Edge!" Seka shouted, giving up and returning him when he didn't stir. "Dammit. I'm out."
"Double Kick again!" Saylee ordered.
"Quick Attack!" Key added. Teddy and Leslie slammed into Jack from opposite sides, finally taking the Jolteon down.
"Good job, Jack," Jenny said, returning her Jolteon.
"It's all down to you and Sarah-Jane," Seka sighed, planting her shovel in the ground and crossing her arms on top of it as she watched the battle.
"We've got this," Jenny promised, releasing her third Pokémon.
"A Staraptor?" Saylee said in surprise. She'd seen one before, her granny's, which was much older than Sarah-Jane. Sarah-Jane was smaller, but her feathers were a stark mix of black, white and grey rather than almost indistinguishable faded greys, and her beak and crest were both viciously sharp. She looked down her beak at Leslie and Teddy.
"This one is trouble," Saylee muttered. "Teddy, use Rock Tomb!"
"Dodge and hit him with Aerial Ace!" Jenny ordered. Teddy started flinging rocks at Sarah-Jane, but the Staraptor was incredibly fast, and with the extra speed boost of Aerial Ace, she easily dodged the flying boulders and struck Teddy to the ground.
"She's your strongest, huh?" Saylee said, quickly returning Teddy. He wasn't quite down and out, but being half-fighting, there was little he could do against a flier.
"Of course I am, dear. I've been with Jenny the longest," Sarah-Jane said, preening.
"Headbutt her, Leslie!" Key ordered. Leslie leapt as high as she could, but being land-bound, she couldn't land a strike on Sarah-Jane, who just circled above her.
"Close Combat!" Jenny called. Sarah-Jane shot down to pummel Leslie with beak, wings and talons, landing dozens of powerful blows in seconds. "That's enough!" Jenny called when Leslie was clearly unconscious. "You each have one left, right?"
"Seka, are you out already?" Sarah-Jane asked, circling over the battlefield. Seka flipped her the bird. "Tsk. Well, ladies?"
"Azumarills," Saylee muttered. Key nodded and they released Molly and Manami.
"Get 'em, SJ!" Seka called, waving her shovel.
"Double Team!" Jenny ordered. Molly and Manami were surrounded by a flock of circling Staraptor.
"Have Manami use Rollout," Saylee whispered.
"She won't be able to reach Sarah-Jane in the air like that!" Key argued.
"I have a plan, just do it!" Saylee hissed.
"Aerial Ace, Sarah-Jane!" Jenny ordered. All of the Staraptor struck Molly at once, making it impossible to tell which was the real one. Manami was knocked aside as Sarah-Jane targeted Molly.
"Rollout, Manami!" Key called. Manami curled and began to roll, starting out slow but steadily building up speed as she circled Molly.
"Molly, use Water Guns on the Staraptor!" Saylee ordered.
"I don't know which one!" Molly called in distress.
"Don't worry, just start hitting them and weed out the fakes!" Saylee replied. Molly started spraying water nervously at the various Staraptor, dispelling several illusions before splashing the real one.
"What was that meant to be, dear?" Sarah-Jane said patronizingly as she swooped for another attack.
"Now, Manami!" Key called. Just as Sarah-Jane struck Molly, Manami hit her from behind with a powerful Rollout. Sarah-Jane was knocked to the ground, screeching, and failed to get into the air again before a second strike flattened her.
"Molly!" Saylee called, running onto the field to check on her Azumarill just as Jenny did the same for her Staraptor. Sarah-Jane was unconscious, but so was Molly. "Good job," Saylee sighed, returning Molly. "That Staraptor nearly destroyed us. You've had her for a while?"
"She was my first Pokémon," Jenny said fondly, stroking Sarah-Jane's beak tenderly before returning her. "It's been an honour," she added, fistbumping Saylee. "Well, since Key's the last woman standing, I guess that means that Seka and I are in charge of breakfast, huh?"
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"We'd better head back down to Slateport to heal and feed our Pokémon," Seka sighed as the women finished off their toast and the conscious Pokémon the handfuls of pokéblocks that Jenny had provided. "What about you guys?"
"Well, we still have six Pokémon between us, so we can probably make it to Mauville alright," Key said, grinning at Seka. "There's no way I'm gonna let you get all eight badges before I do."
"I've already got one more badge than you, so you better shape up," Seka said, showing off the three badges that she'd stabbed into the handle of her shovel. When asked why she was carrying a shovel, she'd only mentioned that it "comes in handy".
"I don't even have one yet," Jenny said ruefully, "but I'm planning to start with Mauville. We'll see you there, maybe?"
"Good luck," Saylee said, getting up. "Zac, William, are you done eating?"
"Can we go heal Leslie now?" Zac whined.
"We'd better go," Key laughed. "See you guys in Mauville!"
"So what's Mauville like?" Saylee asked as they started back up the slope after waving off Seka and Jenny.
"Oh, it's cool! It's full of game houses and casinos and cinemas and stuff," Key said enthusiastically. "I haven't been in a few years, but—oh, hey! I'm over sixteen now! I can totally go in the casinos! Have you ever been to a casino?"
"I spent some time in one in Celadon City," Saylee said vaguely. "Can't say I enjoyed it much."
"Well, I've always wanted to win some of the stuffed animals, so we're going anyway," Key declared. "We need a play day to cheer ourselves up. C'mon!"
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"So, what is this place?" Thomas yawned, looking around the field. There was a sandbox, numerous trees and bushes, and a pond, with a number of young Pokémon playing and napping in the area.
"We're havin' us a day off," Teddy explained. "This here's a place for Pokémon to relax, your Key said. So y'all can sleep in a tree all day, if you want."
"I'm with that plan," Thomas said, leaping up into the nearest tree and making himself comfortable on a branch, careful not to drop his everstone necklace. "You'd better have a damn good reason for bugging me."
"Ooooh, these flowers are delicious!" Wanda squealed, fluttering around some of the more colourful blooms. "Will, Will, you have got to try these out!"
"Sounds good!" William said, beginning to fly after her before making the midair equivalent of a skid-turn. "Hey, who's the new guy?"
"Blubber-butt there is replacing Nina on Saylee's team," Thomas called acidly without opening his eyes.
"His name's Makoto," Teddy reprimanded, indicating the young Makuhita standing by his side. "Makoto, the asshole up there's Thomas. Them there's Wanda and William. These here are Polly and Python, this here's Zac and his sister Leslie, these ladies are Manami and Molly, and that there's Shikoba." The others all barked, growled or tweeted a greeting as they were introduced.
"Well... hi," Makoto said, waving to them. "Nice to meet you all, I guess." He looked up at Teddy. "I'm gonna go work out... I feel a bit underpowered compared to you guys. Umm, later..." He wandered off to a rock pile and began lifting small boulders.
"Something of a loner, is he not?" Shikoba commented. "If you will excuse me, birds of a feather..." he flapped over to the pond and preened at his reflection, before joining a couple of twittering female Taillow in another tree.
"You know, I've never talked to him much," Zac commented, "but he's pretty swish, isn't he? Leslie agrees." Leslie bit his tail. "What?! Come on, he is!" Leslie licked his face. "Fine, I'll race you. Come on!" The two of them tore off to race around the compound.
"Do you want to go swimming, Manami?" Molly asked. "The pond looks pretty big."
"I want to see how deep I can dive!" Manami said excitedly, dashing off towards the pool.
"Remember that you can't dive deeper than your tail!" Molly called, following her.
"I think I'll go an' spar with Makoto," Teddy said. "What're y'all... never mind," he said. Polly and Python were sniffing each other again, and Polly licked Python's face, making him blush. "Have fun, y'all..."
He selected a rock and started playing keepie-uppie with it, exercising his powerful leg muscles. Makoto was lifting a small boulder in either hand. "So, why'd y'all decide to come along with Saylee?"
"The cave's dark and boring," Makoto said, beginning to juggle the boulders. "I want to train in other places. Saylee's foreign, maybe she knows some exotic fighting styles."
"She told me all 'bout a Hitmonchan that she trained once," Teddy said. "She's trained a ton of Pokémon before, she said. I'd kinda like to meet some of 'em sometime, myself."
"Me too," Makoto said, adding a third boulder to his juggling. "I think I would, too. I want to learn all of the fighting styles that I can."
"Y'all wanna to spar with me?" Teddy asked, kicking the boulder aside.
"I'm for it," Makoto agreed, throwing his boulders aside. "Bring it on."
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"Isn't the water lovely?" Molly sighed, idly floating. She flicked her tail, watching the buoyant blue ball on the end bounce off of the surface of the water. Hearing no response, she looked around. "Oh, where are you now?"
"Boo!" Manami yelled as she appeared from under the water, pushing Molly over. Molly sputtered as she rolled back up right, whacking Manami in the face with her tail. "C'mon, that was funny! Admit it!"
"That was silly," Molly said. "Even evolved, you're still a big child."
"Life's more fun that way!" Manami insisted. "I think I'm gonna go cool Shikoba's jets. Want to come watch?"
"...Okay, that might be a little funny," Molly admitted, glancing at the flock of admirers surrounding Shikoba on the other side of the pool. "Okay, go for it. Just watch out for your tail."
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"What do you think they're up to?" Zac whispered, keeping low as he peered out of the bushes at Polly and Python. They had been playing together for a while, chasing each other's tails, and now Polly was grooming Python, licking his ears. Leslie just bit Zac again. "Ow! What was that for?"
Leslie grabbed his tail and tugged. "You really think we should leave them alone? Why?" Leslie flicked her tail insistently at the pair of Mightyena. Polly had leaned down and licked Python's face again, growling something. Python had looked surprised, and then licked her face nervously. They nuzzled muzzles. "Oh, and they said they were just friends..."
Leslie dragged him off again. "Fine, fine," Zac muttered. "I can see what's happening. And they don't have a clue..."
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"I always wanted to be a Beautifly," Wanda said happily, sunning her wings lazily. "I saw them flying about in the sky and I thought: I want to be that pretty. I really do. And I did!"
"I thought they were pretty too," William agreed. "They are, I mean, you're really pretty too," he added quickly. "But I didn't want to be pretty. No offence, but I wanted to be badass." He flew in a circle, eyes glowing. "How do I look?"
"Badass," Wanda agreed. "I mean, you've got psychic powers and everything! That's so cool!"
"You think so?" William said, sounding pleased. Wanda blew out her proboscis at him.
"Of course," she said confidently, and then, more nervously, "do you... really think I'm pretty?"
"Of course," William echoed, settling down to sun his own wings.
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"Have y'all been sleepin' the whole day?"
"So what?" Thomas said, not opening his eyes or shifting position at all, even when Teddy leapt up and stood on the end of the branch. "Do you want something?"
"Y'all really don't wanna evolve?" Teddy asked. Thomas automatically flicked the everstone that we wore around his neck.
"Nope," he said simply. "Next?"
"Well, it's alright for you," Teddy complained. "Y'all look cool every time. Look at me, though! I need to evolve to stop lookin' so stupid."
"At least you were cute when you were a Torchic," Thomas teased. Teddy kicked him lightly. "C'mon, with that expert training you, you'll be a Blaziken in no time. Lighten up." He cracked an eye open. "Unless you're scared she's gonna get you killed first," he added. Teddy kicked him properly this time, knocking him off of his branch. "Oi!"
"Neither of them was her mistake," Teddy said, scowling at his friend. "She's only tryin' t'do what's right, and I like that. She beats herself up well enough 'bout it, don't you weigh in too."
"Geez..." Thomas climbed up the trunk with his adhesive forelimbs. "Fine, I won't take the piss out of her. You're sure fond of her."
"She's a swell lady," Teddy said, stealing Thomas' spot and leaning back against the tree trunk. "I really respect her. And I'm sure worried 'bout what these Aqua guys are up to. It can't be anythin' good."
"I wouldn't expect it to be," Thomas said, picking a new branch to sleep on. "Now lemme finish my nap before the humans get back, okay?"
"Don't bother, here they come," Teddy said, pointing to where the path to the daycare centre was visible from the tree. The two human girls were walking along it, chatting to the young man who tended the eggs at the daycare centre. It cheered Teddy up to see both of them smiling and laughing. Clearly, they'd had a good day. Both of them were clutching armfuls of dolls, and Saylee had a couple of TMs in hand. It was good to see them cheered up. "C'mon," he said, pushing himself out of the tree and landing solidly on the ground. "Let's round up the others. Your Key'll be wantin' her gym badge tomorrow, ain't she?"
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Sorry this is a little late… would you believe they STILL haven't installed our internet? On the plus side, it looks like calling the complaints line daily to file formal complaints might net us a cheaper rate as compensation, which is always good.
