'A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.'
Elbert Hubbard

oxo…oxo

May and Drew both passed through the first round with no problems what so ever. Of course they did; they were used to this style. Ash got through too but a little less flawlessly. He had been against a fire type and a water type with Glalie and Grovyle. A little bit of bad luck but he managed to pull through.

The day after it was round two time. I was startled when I saw that I was up against Romano and Ash was up against Drew. May was battling a girl with long red hair and green eyes. She looked kind of like a fox. She managed to defeat the girl and then it was my turn.

I had Absol and Medicham out again. We were only allowed to change if the battles were in the same day. If there was enough time in between (like a night) then we had to keep the battling pokemon we had started with. Romano had used Lapras and Gardevoir in his first battle and he got them out again today, both landing on the battlefield with amazing grace. I had the feeling this battle wouldn't be as easy as the one before. Unswayed, I released my two pokemon and watched at they landed calmly on the stage, Absol moving into a crouch as Medicham folded his arms and eyed the Gardevoir opposing him. She flicked her leaf like hair in a very Drew like way before looking away. Then the battle started.

"Lapras, water gun! Gardevoir, magical leaf!" Romano commanded quickly, taking the opening for first attack like I had against Harley. I frowned as I watched Lapras open his mouth and the water that flew from it towards Absol. At the same time Gardevoir's purple magical leaves flew towards Medicham who was watching it with distaste and apprehension.

"Absol, dodge and use dark pulse. Medicham, dodge and used thunderpunch!" I ordered and watched as Absol sprang to the side of the water pulse and sent his dark energy towards a startled looking Gardevoir. On the other side, Medicham had done a back flip (he was rather fond of them) before hitting Lapras with his thunderpunch. Lapras squealed slightly as he was sent backwards across the field.

"Dodge!" Romano yelled desperately at Gardevoir who seemed to come to her senses at his voice and sprang into the air away from the dark pulse. "Good, now use hypnosis!" he cried. The pokemon nodded before her eyes began to glow softly. I gasped as Medicham's eyes began to droop and he fell to the ground asleep. I growled slightly and Romano smirked as he called his next combo. "Gardevoir, dream eater. Lapras, ice shard." I didn't even think before I countered.

"Absol, protect Medicham!" I called desperation clear in my voice. Absol looked at me determinedly.

"Ab." He reassured me before racing over to where Medicham lay, picking up and throwing him on his back before dodging both of the attacks. Romano's points fell at this and I felt myself smile. My smile turned into a grin as Medicham jumped off Absol's back; awake again.

"Medicham." He said as the presenter started rattling on about how amazing Medicham was for waking up so soon and how good the teamwork was. Well, Medicham wasn't complaining. He was looking quite smug at the praise but it seemed to be ticking the now fuming Gardevoir off immensely.

"Lets go! Medicham, psychic. Absol, razor wind!" I called to them, the confidence back in my moves and voice. They nodded and complied; the horn on Absol's head began to glow as Medicham put his hands together and began to glow pink. Romano panicked.

"Gardevoir, psychic too! Lapras, water gun!" he cried, obviously hoping they would cancel each other out. The pokemon's attacks were sent but the amazing thing was all of them hit. None of the pokemon had time to dodge and the attacks hadn't collided with each other. The four were sent flying backwards in a cloud of smoke and it was several seconds before the outcome was clear. Lapras and Medicham had fainted. I cursed slightly before returning him and drawing my eyes to Absol who was slowly getting up. I smiled at him in question and he nodded, standing up straight as he faced the also battered looking Gardevoir.

"Absol." I said quietly. His ear flickered to me but he didn't turn around. Wise. "We only have thirty seconds on the clock and we're just leading in points. Be careful and try to use dark type moves. They're the most effective. Lets start with crunch, if you can get close enough." I told him. He nodded before springing forwards. This caught Romano by surprise. He hadn't heard our conversation so didn't know what attack I had called.

"Dodge Gardevoir!" he called, but Gardevoir didn't know where to dodge. The unknown is a fearful prospect and it is hard to avoid. She didn't know what was coming so didn't know what action to take. In desperation she sprang upwards into the air but it was a mistake. In the air she couldn't move and, for Absol, crunch was easy. Gardevoir was knocked out with just fifteen seconds to spare and I won.

It was a great battle and as I celebrated with Absol, my arms around his neck, I told him so. It made him smile at least before he walked away from me and backstage. Well, on to the next round.

oxo…oxo

So, that's chapter 9! I'm rattling through these aren't I! I hope you like them and:

Please review!