This is the most massive chapter that I've ever, as in ever, written. It tops nine thousand words- You heard me, 9000+- But just barely. But I guess that you guys will have pleasure reading this... At least, I pray.

MoneyStax: I seriously am thinking of reversing Synthia's role from trainer to coordinator, if possible. If you review, then let me know, and I'll oblige since right now her role is ambiguous.

To all who have faithfully reviewed: You guys are the greatest community of people that I've ever known. Keep up the pure awesomeness (And review this one! ;D)

And to those who somehow favorited me but never reviewed: WTF? I can't do anything about it, but can you please take two minutes to write a sentence? Maybe three? Oh well.

Happy reading to all (Even those who won't review)!


A few hours later later, after Ziri had woken up and snarled at Alex for good measure and vented all his anger at her ridiculous and totally unwarrented stunts, he finally cooled down and told her everything he knew about Falkner; his Pokemon, his tactics...

"So, he does that… Always?" Alex asked thoughtfully after a long silence as he finished.

"Well, yeah…" Ziri replied, "He did that even though his opponents swapped out their Pokemon. No variation at all… Unless you count the Double Team that time. But, everything's the same, and that's his Achilles Heel."

Then he groaned. "This sucks… I have no set battle strategy like him. So, you have no clue what I do… But I guess the fact that I know what you do sort of makes up for it."

Alex perked up at this. "Really?"

"'Course. You prefer to soften up the opposition first from afar before you actually get your hands- Or paws- Dirty. But if you have to you'll just barrel in for no good reason. Simple."

She blinked, but then realized that what he said was true. And that made her curious; what kind of mental capacity did he have?

He yawned, and leaned back; Alex suddenly had the nasty feeling that in the Pokemon Center that the chairs were not designed to withstand just how far Ziri could stiffen his spine.

For some odd reason, it did, but that didn't make Alex feel any better- The entire Center was now staring as this kid flattened himself across a chair made to hold 135 degrees of leaning, not a perfect 180.

The chair ominously creaked, but suddenly Ziri snapped back, breathing out- But that wasn't the only the only thing that did, since it also had the nasty side effect of getting the chair slapping his back hard. And sending him sprawling.

"Oww," was the mumble.

And then he got back up, generally unscathed with a lightly bruising back, and walked back to his seat.


Hannah was trying to get through the streets of Violet City, but there was no arguing with the crowds. Especially the kind that she attracted

She was beginning to regret taking along Ziri, for good measure, as the weak-hearted men had instant, slow, or delayed nosebleeds; the stronger-hearted ones were stopping the traffic all for a good ogle and wolf-whistle or two. But she just walked on, knowing if she stopped and started raging she'd have the title of "Feisty" slapped on as well. And that was the last thing she wanted.

She was beginning to wonder why she couldn't run as fast as Ziri or maybe vault over them like him…

In the meantime, Urya was bounding through the crowd, who parted instantly for this… odd addition to the city's population. Meaning, how many boys do you see everyday with a gray Beldum and girlish hair? Half of them thought that he was a girl…

That's when he crashed into a heavyset man right in front of Hannah, and as he staggered off, bemused at his sudden negative acceleration, Hannah seized the chance immediately; snagging his arm, he announced in the sweetest and loudest voice possible, "There you are, honey!" and began dragging him off toward the Contest Hall.

They didn't stop for another fifteen minutes; while it certainly scattered the crowds and turned away the mean, her cheeks burned with the carrying whispers of "That indecent girl" and all phrases metaphorical to that.

She finally stopped, and took deep breaths, trying to hyperventilate her system into cooling down. "Uh," Urya asked slowly, aware that she could knock him out cold without even giving him a second glance, "Why are you-?"

"I… am angry. That's it. Now, go away to wherever you need to go. Now."

He immediately retreated; Hannah sighed, and walked into the contest hall.

Twelve noon.


Ziri was now taking liberties and walking over to the training field- With Alex trying to keep up in his wake. That is, his jogging wake.

"Ziri… slow… down," she gasped, as she for the third time in the last fifteen minutes fell to her knees.

He gave her an exasperated glance. "Hello? We've got less than three hours before the match, so don't you think we're entitled to warm-ups beforehand?"

"No… It's just… that… you're going too fast, and it's hot…"

He completely stopped this time, and gave her another exasperated glance. "What do you want me to do, carry you?"

He then groaned at his own comment, because then he suddenly realized it would be more than likely that she'd faint on the way there. Ziri was sweaty as well, but he was used to Johto summers; so he barely felt it.

If she was from Kanto, though…

He punched himself on the side of the head for good measure, and then picked her up, gingerly. "Hmmm?" she mumbled, too exhausted to care.

"I will never forgive myself for this," he mumbled.

Setting her on his shoulders, he sprinted for the training field.


As Hannah walked in, she was suddenly greeted by the sight of a crowd of people surrounding someone she couldn't see. Thankfully, though the crowd was evenly split between male and female, nobody saw her…

As she walked further towards the desk, she heard a high pitched screaming.

"I can't believe him! Why did he just say that? Why? Why? He was gorgeous, too! That incredible brown hair, and those perfect arms… How dare he ask-!"

"But, are you-?"

"Um, excuse me, are you here to register?"

Hannah snapped her attention from the verbal debacle to the attendant. "Um, yes" she said quickly. But then her face fell. "I don't have a Contest Pass, though…"

The attendant blinked. "Oh, we have one more left… You're lucky, you know? Here, do you have a Pokegear, Pokenav, or Poketech?"

As Hannah passed the first option, or at least the one she owned over, suddenly the attendant said "That girl over there… she got more than she bargained for when she talked to the boy that came in here. He doesn't do contests, I think, he just comes in and makes Pokeblocks… The thing is, she tried to get him to take her out on a date, but then he said something about her being not a maiden or something…"

Hannah blinked, as the attendant busied herself registering the Pokegear and by extension the owner for Contests. That sounded exactly the kind of thing that someone she knew would say in a situation like that... "What did that boy look like? I heard her say he had brown hair…" (And perfect arms, she forgot to note)

"Oh, he had this white T-shirt on, with some red stripes on the sleeves and light blue cargo pants… With the hair. Even from here, he looked good enough for at least five dates…"

Ziri? What the heck was he doing here-?

"What's wrong?" the attendant asked, noting the spacing out as she passed back the Pokegear, everything registered. "Do you know him?"

She tore her attention from the ceiling. "Uh, yeah," she said hastily, taking her Pokegear, "I'm traveling with him-"

"WHAT?!"

Turning around, she saw the former center of attention. The jet black hair with pink highlights, the midriff-exposing top, and those short shorts complete with sunglasses; this was one heck of a flirt, Hannah thought, as the two traded looks, one bewildered, the other enraged.

"What are you-"

"What makes you good enough to travel with him?"

The Contest Hall's lobby was silent, as everyone watched the standoff apprehensively. Feeling angered, Hannah coldly retorted "What's it mean for you?"

"He is the best looking guy that I have ever seen in my life, and I am not going to let wallflowers like you get in my way-"

"WHAT!?" Hannah screeched. "I'm a… I'm a WALLFLOWER?"

They glared at each other, neither giving ground. "Of course you are! You might have awesome looks, but-"

"But what!?" Hannah snapped. "So what if I travel with him? He's the bane of my existence!"

Her opponent blinked, and now an evil smile was coming on. "Oh," she cooed, "You must be immune to his charms, and those arms, those beautiful strong arms-"

Not about to be bested, now Hannah declared, in her loudest possible prim voice, "I've seen his arms and his chest, so beat that!"

She stalked out, past her stunned opponent, but she wasn't completely out before the voice behind her screeched "Remember that Synthia Renata will beat you to him, whatever his name is!"

Hannah turned around and yelled back "I actually know his name, idiot!" before stalking off.


Alex had successfully recovered lying on the green grass that Ziri knew happened to have an impossible about of care being devoted to it- This late in summer and only a few patches of brown? Oh well. It wasn't long before she got into shape, having no memory of what happened, but her Pokemon gave him grateful looks anyway.

"So," he said impatiently, after she'd gotten a drink, "You ready yet?"

Blinking, she then quickly nodded and shouted "Blaze, it's time!"

"Fire-types for today, huh? Then try this! Cyndaquil, flame on!"

Twenty minutes later, Alex had succeeded in knocking out his Cyndaquil, but Ziri had taken out her Charmander and Light the Eevee before he succumbed to repeated Quick Attacks. Aipom, however, when sent out, immediately hopped behind Ziri, not liking the look of the Eevee.

Bribery with Oran Berries always helped, and she scampered forward a few seconds later, bluish juice running down her grin. Alex wrinkled her nose in distaste- Though her expression became one of panic when with one Swift attack Dark was thrown away. And did not get up.

Of course, Ziri knew that the Pidgey was coming out, so he wasted no time in ordering another Swift- Which was predictably scatted by a Whirlwind, which predictable was ridden out by grabbing a particularly resilient patch of grass with the tail as it came.

Then came a Quick Attack, which Ziri had been silently egging Alex on to order. Finally, with the tail, it snagged onto one wing, and Aipom hoisted herself up as the Pidgey squawked in panic.

Then came part two of his master plan- Tickle.

The Pidgey fell to earth choking in laughter, and Ziri wasted no time. Swifts, Fury Swipes, and Doubleslaps galore, it was over in thirty seconds.

Now he had his hands on his knees, as the heat started getting to him. "That," he commented dryly, "was the weirdest battle in my whole life. Death by Tickling…"

"That's evil!"

"All's fair in war, you know...."


On the way back to the Pokemon Center, Ziri had a rather hair-raising experience.

"ZIRI!" Hannah shrieked, running up to them and stopping ten feet away, not caring about the commotion she was making (The crowds had instantly parted before her when they saw the look on her face). "WHO WAS THAT… THAT…"

She seemed so angry she couldn't get any words out- But realizing that Hannah had been to the Contest Hall…

Ziri knew that his life would take two possibilities- Live, or die within the next ten seconds. "You mean the flirt?" he asked meekly, instinctively backing away.

"YES! Wait," she said, her voice lowering in volume for a few seconds, "How did you-"

"You went to the Contest Hall, right?" he mumbled, backing away further.

Hannah followed. "What did you do?" she demanded. "Did you do anything suggestive in front of her? Were you sweating when you ran in? Did she-"

"I was busy trying to make some Pokeblocks," he quickly muttered, "And I didn't know that she was going to flirt with me…"

Hannah stopped advance towards him. "Oh."

The three stood in silence; Ziri now checked his Pokegear. "It's one now," he announced, "So I'm getting back to the Center to take a snooze and chill before marching over to Falkner's. Bye," he said, and lifted one leg to get the heck out of there.

Hannah walked over, as in light-speed walked over which is quite the feat for one wearing two-and-a-half-inch heels, and punched in the base of his skull. Unconsciousness was immediate, though Alex caught him.

"That," she announced, "Is to stop him from getting noticed by people who are too flirty for their own good."

"I hate that woman, Synthia Renata or whatever…"


Two forty-five- Abruptly Ziri stood up from his seat inside the Pokemon Center and went outside, the only explanation he offered to the four that followed him- "It's time."

And with that, he walked his fast pace towards the Violet City Gym, everyone trying to keep up with the pace.


Falkner was getting impatient, to say the least.

He glanced at the clock high on his Gym's wall; two-fifty-five. He gave a derisive snort- Would he and whoever that came with him actually be here at all-?

As if to speak of the devil himself, at that moment the door to the Gym opened and five people walked in.

The most eye-catching of this group of five would either be the one with the girlish hair and the Beldum or the really hot girl that walked…

Busy slapping the very one that came to challenge Falkner. Falkner shook his head in disbelief as the one brave enough to stand before him cowered before a girl. But all the same…

Falkner stood up from his bench on the other side of the Gym and called "I hope you've already gone to the restroom, because nobody's allowed to leave here until this match is finished."

Big mistake. "Have you gone? I'm sure that you'll soil your pants before long in fear…"

The entire bleachers- The ones who were Falkner's disciples and such- immediately yelled "Quiet!"

Of course, not that Ziri would let that go. "Make me! Fools!"

The hot one who Ziri had previously cowered from raised a hand and slapped in the back of his head. "Oww!" he whined. "What was that for-?"

"For making the situation worse than it already is!" came the snappish reply.

The wolf-whistling, predictably, began- But that was when Ziri, deciding that, after going through the flirty chick in the Contest Hall and the… stuff along the way, to throw the rock that he had pocketed outside.

It sailed, not at them, because then Ziri would be instantly indicted on murder charges, but above them- Barely above them, anyway, so that it went thud on the wall right above one trainer's spiky hair. Well, it went through the hair, actually, but who cared.

Silence, while Ziri innocently walked into one of the two marked chalk boxes on one end of the field, obviously having been reserved for this kind of match today. Blinking, Alex joined him on the other box.

Ziri inwardly groaned, knowing exactly what Falkner and his lackeys were thinking:

This is guy is really good with the girls.

"There are things called bleachers, guys," he said offhandedly behind him. Getting the message, they walked up, settling themselves on the metal seats.

Well, Urya wasn't settled; he yelled, "Ziri, kick his ass!"

Everyone in the place gave him a dirty look, especially Falkner. Well, almost everyone save Ziri who hid a smile before changing his look to one of polite indifference.

The ref took his place in the middle of the battlefield (While taking a wary glance at the now abashed Varacei "Urya" Alger to see if he was going to spew more garbage) and shouted "This battle is between Zirienji Axlhedron of New Bark Town with Alessandra Cesarini of Pallet Town versus Falkner, the Gym Leader of Violet City. Each side will use four Pokemon in total- The two challengers will use two each."

"Send out your Pokemon!"

"Aipom, you're up!" Ziri shouted, throwing up the sphere. Whirling, it almost touched the ceiling before it burst open, sending forth the small purple simian.

Who promptly ran backwards behind her owner.

Ziri groaned as it wrapped itself around his neck. "What, you don't want two in a row?"

It shook its head. Ziri sighed. "Well, stick around right now, okay? Maybe- Gah! Don't- Strangling- Gurk-"

Everyone looked away as the tail wrapped itself around his neck.

When they were certain that he'd gone into asphyxiation, they looked over, but his Aipom was dangled on his shoulder innocently, while Ziri was coughing silently.

"Hey, Alex, can you go already?"

"Uh, okay," she mumbled, before sending out Dark.

"And that leaves me," Ziri grumbled. "Cyndaquil, flame on!" he yelled, throwing the ball high, just like Aipom's ball.

In a flash of light, the Fire Mouse Pokemon popped out, and immediately flared his back in a show of force.

Falkner took one look at the two Pokemon, and snickered. "I'll need one minute for the two of you," he said arrogantly, and threw two Pokeballs up, shouting "Go! Pidgey and Starly!"

The same two Pokemon from the morning popped out, and Alex and Ziri simultaneously got out their Pokedexes. Immediately, both chimed "Starly, the Starling Pokemon. Although its body is small, its wings are strong for its size. It is usually found in flocks."

Lucky we're not dealing with a flock of them right now…

The referee raised his flags. "Cyndaquil and Eevee versus Starly and Pidgey. Begin!"

"Cyndaquil, Swift!" Ziri called out immediately. The stars flew outwards, angling themselves towards their targets-

"Pidgey, use Gust! Starly, stay back but use Quick Attack when the stars are gone!"

The wind held up the Swift before it dispersed (Ziri was getting tired of not being able to shoot someone through the wind now) and then the Starly became a blur.

"Dark, Sand-Attack and then Quick Attack!"

The sand flew directly into the path of the black-and-white blur, which didn't stop in time. The Starly slowed into focus, squawking and waving its wings in an attempt to get its eyes cleared. Well, the job was done by someone else- Painfully.

The Eevee crashed into it, and the sand was shaken loose from its eyes. Getting up, woozy-

"Pidgey, Quick Attack-!"

"Gotcha! Swift!"

Although the Pidgey flew fast, it didn't fly fast enough to evade the Swift, where every star hit dead- As in dead- On.

"Dark, Tackle!" The Eevee dived at the Starly, just getting back to its senses, sending the Starling Pokemon tumbling.

"Starly, get up and use Growl!" Falkner shouted, seething at his apparent inability to land any real blows on his opponents. And now, even this last-ditch effort was meaningless-

"Cyndaquil, Ember!"

The bolts of fire smashed into the Starly, whose feathers began smoking. "Now! Change the target to the Pidgey! Alex," he called, "Cover me!"

She blinked, before calling for a Quick Attack on the Starly as the Pidgey, who was now only getting up was mercilessly pounded by fireballs. Falkner was having none of it- "Dodge with Quick Attack and hit the Cyndaquil!"

"Cyndaquil, use your own Quick Attack!" The bird flapped its wings became a blur, but as it neared the echidna it too became a blur, forcing a pursuit across the battlefield.

A sudden idea hit Alex; "Dark, Helping Hand!"

Suddenly, orbs flew out of the glowing Eevee, which somehow caught up with ease to Cyndaquil and were absorbed. Now, the Cyndaquil became nothing more than a blue-black streak as its speed was nearly doubled by this sudden boost.

Ziri blinked; then, realizing exactly what Helping Hand meant, and that the Starly which had been catching up had now lost the race of speed, yelled "Cyndaquil, turn around and use Swift!"

The blur that was his partner became slightly more distinct, but that didn't stop it from launching stars that were both bigger- And, as it happened, much faster. The stars bashed into the Starly, dropping it into a heap of twitching feathers.

"The Eevee's still helpless!" Falkner shouted in realization. "Pidgey, use Gust!" The winds whipped up buoyed the unwary fox into the air, when it crashed into a wall and bounced off, whimpering.

"Like I'd not pay back what I owe!" Ziri snapped. "Cyndaquil, another Swift-!"

"Use Gust!"

"Sidestep around the Gust with Quick Attack!"

The Pidgey had annoyed him too long- It was time to get unorthodox. The Swift, reduced to their normal size now that the effects of Helping Hand wore off, were buffeted by the wind and sent flying away, but the blur that was Cyndaquil was not. It crashed into the unguarded flank of the Pidgey, this time sending it bouncing in the wall at a slight angle, but walls are walls. Without waiting, Ziri called "Seal its fate with another Ember!"

It had not yet stopped when it launched the Ember, but perhaps it was a good thing, as the Starly had just recovered and now missed the Cyndaquil by centimeters. Once again, another Pokemon crashed into a wall, but now…

"Dark, Tackle!" The Pidgey, now trying to get away in a panic from the flames, missed seeing the recovered Eevee, which slammed into its form. With a squawk, it thrashed around in the dirt, before it fainted.

The referee raised his flag, pointing at Falkner's side. "Pidgey is unable to battle. Withdraw and substitute, please!"

And there came a murmur through the bleachers; apparently, nobody had anticipated such an early knockout on the Gym Leader's side. But, the much smaller number of spectators on the side of the challengers only shook their heads in amusement, while Urya wildly cheered "That's the way to do it!" he yelled, stomping his seat. "Just do it more- Ugh!"

That was Ragnarok whacking his arm to shut him up.

Falkner was shaking with both anger and surprise at the sudden loss- Things were suddenly looking a lot less rosy. He considered sending out his trump card, but that could remain for now- No, he'd rather take them out quietly or at least, if it came to it, soften the opposition…

"Go, Pidgeotto!"

The large, fancily plumed bird appeared, and raised its wings in a show of force. Ziri was unruffled; he had seen bigger Pokemon than this, like Norman's Machoke and how it had tried to smash him into a pulp, while Alex looked nervous.

"It's the evolved form of the bird that we just thrashed," Ziri said lazily. "Easy."

The non-committal tone slightly relaxed her nerves. But…

"Cyndaquil, return!"

The echidna became red energy before he was sucked within the confines of the sphere. Ziri placed it in his belt, before prodding his Aipom. "C'mon," he coaxed gently, "Get onto it!"

It shook its head, still not in a mood of battle.

"An Oran berry?"

She shook her head again. "A Pokeblock?"

She perked up at this. "Ai?"

Instead of elaborating, Ziri just picked out the sweet flavored ones that he'd made, and popped one into her mouth.

Upon entering, she chewed with a curious expression on her face.

Silence. And silence. And more silence.

Just as Ziri was about to call it quits and send out Togepi for good measure…

"AIAIAIPOMAIPOMAI!"

Ziri winced as his ears were mangled by the sudden outpouring of sound, as Aipom jumped off his shoulder and began doing the hyperactive dance.


"What the hell did Ziri put in those Pokeblocks?" Hannah wondered aloud.

"Lots of sugar?" Urya suggested obviously.

Gale glared at him. "You can't add sugar when you make Pokeblocks, kid."

"You're not much older than me!"

"Both of you shut up! Now!"

They did.


As Ziri tried backing away from the various waving of the tail, the disc that he pocketed but forgotten to take a look at fell out of his pocket. As it tumbled, the tail that Ziri had been wildly swinging caught it on one of its fingers, and Aipom suddenly stopped, a look of curiosity crossing over her face.

"Ai?" it inquired as it slung the disc over its head and caught it.

And that's when it started glowing. Both the disc and Pokemon glowed a soft gold, which caused Ziri to look away since he was so close- But caused everyone else to look in fascination. After all, it wasn't their Pokemon that was oddly glowing…

From the stands, Urya blinked in surprise. "Isn't that the disc-?"

And then the glow vanished, leaving behind no trace that the glow had ever been there save for the fact…

That the disc was gone.

Ziri blinked once, twice, then thrice and punched himself in the face to make sure he was not hallucinating. Yes, he was most certainly not hallucinating. The disc was gone.

Now, his Aipom turned and scampered off, limbs still blurs from the overdose Pokeblock that he had fed it, onto the field.

"Um," the referee said, not quite sure of what to do with this hyperactive Pokemon, but he went ahead anyway. "Begin!"

Ziri opened his mouth for an order, but it never got farther than his throat before his Aipom did something strange. Suddenly, it was glowing red, and rapidly chattering "AiAiAipomAi!" while dancing around, waving its tail at the Pidgeotto.

Translation of Poketalk:

"You couldn't get me in a million years if you had them! You're jealous because I have this awesome tail and all you have are those scrawny wings and that stupid piece of hair running down your back-"

"Pidgeooooo?!?!"

Translation: "WHAT DID YOU SAY????"

The red glow faded, and suddenly, even though nothing had been ordered, the Pidgeotto charged forward at an incredible speed dead at Aipom. The Long Tail Pokemon only laughed at this show of rage, before hopping daintily out of the way, still not down from her high.

The Pidgeotto passed within three inches of Ziri, making him yelp in surprise; before he could yell at his Aipom, he heard a rather loud wham that shook the wall behind him.

He slowly looked behind to behold that the Pidgeotto had faceplanted itself against the wall, and had not yet gotten up.

Whipping out his Pokedex, he was responded by the chime of "Swagger, a normal-type move that enrages a foe so much, it makes their strength rise from their attempts to attack the user but also confuses them."

Ziri paled while in the background he was mildly aware of Falkner angrily yelling out for his Pidgeotto to get a hold of itself- If another of those hit, then it would be instant game over.

But, now Ziri saw the other side of the coin- If Aipom could keep dodging, then it would hurt itself so much that he wouldn't have to order a single move from Aipom…

Oh, well, Ziri thought, I guess I'll just make sure that it goes down faster.

Aloud he yelled, "Aipom, Swift!"

Aipom quickly responded; with a flick of its glowing tail she spammed the Pidgeotto with the rain of stars that caused, if possible, the Pidgeotto to become further enraged. Suddenly, it got to its feet and blasted forward again- Ziri now had the sense to duck as it passed.

Again, Aipom dodged, and so the bird now had its head stuck in the dirt. "Pidgeotto!" Falkner was roaring, "Listen to me, now-!"

"Its head's in the sand, idiot!" Ziri managed to choke out, since he was now laughing so hard he was doubling over.


"That disc is evil," Urya remarked.

"Are you kidding?" Hannah said sarcastically. "That's just another evil move to add to the arsenal of what his Aipom knows. Remember Tickle?" she finished, directing the question at Gale.

His response was to glare at her and turn his attention back to the battle, while Hannah giggled madly.


Alex was obviously confused at this odd turn of events, but if it was helpless, head buried in sand, then all was fine. "Dark, Tackle!" she called confidently, not knowing the fact that to get close here was something borderline suicide.

Ziri blinked. "No, get out of there-!"

Too late; the Tackle attack had dislodged the Pidgeotto. Falkner wasted no time in shouting "Wing Attack, Pidgeotto! Starly, use Quick Attack on the Aipom!"

The first part worked.

Bad for them, good for him. Wings glowing, the Pidgeotto whirled around, and though it looked as if it was busy thrashing around uselessly, the Eevee was too close. It was clipped by a wing and sent an extraordinarily far distance, bouncing around the ground.

"Ouch," Ziri muttered. In a louder voice he called "Aipom, Tickle!"

Obviously, Falkner's second set of orders did not work.

The Starly that had been coming from the side was not missed; one swipe of the tail across its chest and it fell over, squawking in what was obviously mirth. When it finished tumbling across the dirt Aipom leaped over and continued the unconventional assault, resulting in the nasty sound of a Starly laughing echoing through the gym.


"I knew it had to happen," Gale mumbled.

"Are you joking? That's the original Evil Move of Doom," Hannah said through rolled eyes.

"But what about the Eevee?" Urya asked, referring to the nasty hit that Dark had taken from the Wing Attack.

Silence.

"It's over for it," Gale said simply.


He was slightly off, but otherwise correct; the Eevee's time was almost up. Alex was busy trying to coax it to stand, but even she knew that it was more or less of a lost cause. Even though Blaze and Light were trying to cheer it, it kept standing- And falling- over and over again.

It was luck that the Pidgeotto was still confused, bashing itself on the ground and with its own wings- Otherwise, its follow up instantly would have defeated Dark. But Pokemon remain confused for only so long, so time was almost up.

"C'mon, Dark!" Alex begged. "You can do it! Just stand up!" The only reason that the ref hadn't instantly called the KO was because Dark was still struggling to get up, where he had succeeded- And failed- repeatedly.

"Last call!" The ref barked. "If you're Eevee can't stand up longer than three seconds, the next time it stands and falls I'll call the knockout!"

Alex glared at the ref, but in her heart she knew it was true.

But the words emboldened her Pokemon; now he was struggling wildly, and his forelimbs shivered, before he shoved himself up with his hindquarters.

The crowd cheered at this feat, even Falkner's own lackeys (Who did it with some reluctance). The word had spread around town that some random gang of kids was beating the crap out of Falkner; so, some fifty extra people now mobbed the stands while half the town was at the door.

"Dark, now!" Alex cried, knowing that this was likely to be its last move. "Use…"

"Sand-Attack!"

Half the occupants of the gym looked at her in utter disbelief, but the meaning of the attack soon became clear. The sand that was weakly thrown up blasted the Pidgeotto in the eyes while it was still downed- Now, in addition to the confusion (Which was wearing off anyway) it had extra to thrash about.

Dark swayed once, twice, thrice, four times, and fell over.

The ref took one look, and made the call: "Eevee is unable to battle! Withdraw and substitute, please!"

Alex sighed as she returned the fallen Eevee to his Pokeball. "You did good," she said softly.

The two Pokemon sitting by the sidelines perked up; but then Alex threw a Pokeball she already had.

"Go, Pidgey!"

Ziri turned around, slack-jawed, as she sent out the most disobedient Pokemon that he had even seen.

The Pidgey squawked, flapping its wings to take flight, and then entire crowd started murmuring.

Was she trying to beat Falkner at his own game?

"What the heck are you doing?" Ziri growled. "You know that thing won't-?"

"Don't worry."

Ziri blinked, but grudgingly turned back to the battle. "Fine, sign your own death warrant and mine," he said under his breath.

"Pidgey and Aipom versus Starly and Pidgeotto. Begin!"

"Pidgey, use Whirlwind!"

Ziri and Falkner alike were surprised by the sudden drive in Alex's voice, but what surprised Falkner more was the sudden, spiraling wind that drove back both his Pokemon into the wall right behind him.

A weak flap of the wings, and the Starly was downed- But Ziri added his own ingredient to the assault. "Swift!" he yelled. The stars flew in the wake of the wind, smacking the Pidgeotto dead between the eyes.

Everyone in the gym knew that was something of a one-in-a-hundred hit, but the Pidgeotto was knocked out anyway- Even the ref was stunned. "Um… Pidgeotto and Starly are unable to battle! Please send out your last Pokemon!"

Last Pokemon.

The crowd roared as they realized that these two brats had forced Falkner onto his knees with one Pokemon left to send out. That was the rules- Four versus four. Ziri and Alex had defeated three- Falkner was on the ropes.

But why did Ziri now have a bad feeling about this fact?

Falkner seemed to have read Ziri's mind, for he had a thin smile on his face as he gripped his last Pokeball of the match.

"Go, Fearow!"

And Ziri groaned.

Oh, crap.


Gale blinked twice, and then shook his head. In dismay.

"What wrong?" Urya inquired, as the massive bird with a huge beak appeared, cawing loudly to general applause.

"That bird," Gale said quietly, "is Falkner's strongest Pokemon."

"What?" Urya said, aghast. But his mood changed quickly. "But they've got three Pokemon to one! What can he-"

"Watch."


Ziri couldn't help but shiver as he remembered yesterday's battle that he had witnessed between that unknown trainer and Falkner. That bird was so powerful, it had even overpowered the Magnemite, though steel and electric types should have called a victory…

Or was it that trainer's arrogance that had led him to not notice the plight of his Pokemon? Whatever, he wouldn't fall for that.

"Aipom, err… Swagger-!"

"Aerial Ace!"

Ziri groaned as the lightning fast attack that had been seared into his memory yesterday reappeared before his eyes. "Aipom!" he shouted, as the simian was thrown back, "Use Swift!"

"I don't think so! Drill Peck!"

"Try this! Gust!"

The three-way melee resulted in this: One, the spinning motion of the Fearow resulted in the stars of the Swift being scattered; Two, the spinning now resulted in a charge at Aipom; but three, the Gust blew it off course.

The Fearow barely managed to keep itself from repeating another head-in-the-sand incident as it banked up. Nodding a quick thanks to Alex, Ziri yelled "Latch on to the beak with your tail!"

Aipom scampered up to the unsuspecting Fearow and then, to the shock of all, threw itself upwards in a front flip. The flip was more than for show- The flip now resulted in the tail being stretched to its farthest point…

Barely enough to snag the beak shut. As the Gym was filled with the sounds of muffled squawking, Aipom just swung there as the Fearow flew wildly around, the trademark grin acting as a taunt to Falkner.

"Fearow, use Drill Peck!" Falkner seethed. "Then, follow with Aerial Ace-!"

"Pidgey, Quick Attack! Stop the spinning!"

It wasn't the first time Alex had saved his hide today, but he got the feeling that it wouldn't be the last, or so Ziri thought. The small bird crashed into the side of the Fearow's head, instantly causing it to break its concentration. "Fury Swipes on the underside!" Ziri called.

The storm of scratches caused a massive amount of discomfort that sent the bird into wild thrashing through the air, resulting in it crashing into a wall. Too many crashes today was the collective thought of all combatants. "Fearow! Use Assurance!" Falkner shouted.

Ziri had no idea what that was, but suddenly the Fearow was now glowing in a nasty purple light and violently throwing Aipom around. Ziri was sure that there was no way it could hang on much longer with all that movement, so he yelled "Tickle!"

The arms of his Aipom suddenly blurred even faster as it swung up to the underside, and now the Fearow was trying to open its mouth to laugh. The hand on the tail could take only so much- With a howl of pain, Aipom let go, but at least it took down the Fearow as well; in its mirth its wings seized up, sending it into the ground in a dusty cloud and the sound of a muffled thump.

"Aipom, you okay!?" Ziri called, worried.

A few, seizure inducing seconds passed, and his Aipom bounded out of the dust. Although battered and dirty, she looked fine, grin in place.

Behind her however, the Fearow rose in anger, and Aipom felt the brush of the wind.

"Fury Attack."

Now it was leaning backwards, and Ziri remembered the Magnemite and how it had been taken down pretty much with this attack. "Aipom, move!" he shouted.

She wasn't moving. Suddenly, he remembered she was timid- And now, with this gigantic winged figure in front of her, she stiffened, paralyzed in fear.

"Aipom, move! C'mon!" he yelled again, but to no avail.

The furious blows struck, and he had to turn away. Although Alex tried to help with a Whirlwind, all Falkner ordered was to blast through it with Drill Peck, both breaking through and sending her Pidgey into a wild spin as it passed; and when it passed, it banked to the right and around and crashed dead into Aipom, beak-first.

Ziri heard the soft thump, and knew that it was over for her.

"Aipom is unable to battle. Please send out your final Pokemon!"

Ziri returned Aipom, letting out a long breath, and looked at the Pokeball. "You did incredible," he said softly. "I'm not letting what you did go down the drain." Replacing the sphere on his belt…

"Cyndaquil, one more time!" he yelled, and his last hope appeared in a flash of light, flames blazing.

The crowd collectively "ohhhhed" since a lot of them had seen his Cyndaquil use Blaze yesterday. At least that helped- Ziri felt his spirits lift slightly, before he said, quietly, "Make or break time." In a louder voice, he shouted "Ember!"

The flames blasted out; Falkner instantly countered with a call of "Drill Peck!" As the Fearow reared its head back-

"Gust!" The winds blasted outwards-

"Change target! Go through the Gust and hit that Pidgey!" The spinning proceeded to break through yet again; as it whirled forth…

"Not so fast! Quick Attack!"

The body of Ziri's partner crashed into the spinning wings and was promptly thwacked away- But at the very least, the velocity changed enough so that the Pidgey could barely get out of the way.

Ziri breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing a shaky thanks from Alex; I'm not being unappreciated here…

"Swift!" Ziri yelled. The stars shot out, but-

"Again! Drill Peck through!"

Ziri viciously cursed as the stars bounced off, and called for a hop-over dodge which worked- Barely. How was he supposed to attack it? He knew Quick Attacking meant nothing in a Drill Peck, Swift would bounce off, and Ember would just be snuffed. He couldn't even do a Smokescreen to hide Cyndaquil, since the smoke would be siphoned off…

In other words, he had nothing to work with here, and he couldn't even confuse it now that Aipom was knocked out…

What can I-?

And then he remembered how the Pidgeotto had gotten stuck in the dirt floor a long time ago…

Oh.

"Cyndaquil, trash talk it!" Ziri yelled, praying it would work.

"CyndaCyndaquilQuil!"

Translation: "I heard that your mother disowned you because of that dumb beak of yours!"

"Fear!? Fearow! Feeeeaarow!"

Translation: "What!? Come here and get speared on this beak, maggot!"

And then, without Falkner's order, it suddenly went forward, jabbing its beak in a Fury Attack. "Cyndaquil, get away! Quick Attack!"

As it was busy chasing Cyndaquil around, Ziri got another idea. "Zigzag!"

Now the blur that was his Pokemon became jagged as it weaved right, left, right, left, over and over. "Fearow, Drill Peck!" Falkner shouted, not realizing what this was.

"Alex, don't do anything!" Ziri snapped, as he watched his plan unfold.


"What's Ziri doing?" Hannah wondered in disbelief as they watched. "That thing is catching up, and it'll be all over!"

"That's not the only thing going on," Both Urya and Gale chimed.

Hannah blinked, as did all the spectators from within a five foot radius. "What?"

"Look at the Fearow's speed. It's starting to drop!" Urya said. "See? It's trying to chase the Cyndaquil on the path it took, and it's beginning to tire!"

"But it's still going strong," she said worriedly, as now the Fearow increased its speed to compensate for earlier.

"Not for long. It'll tire soon enough, and then it'll be wide open…" Gale's voice trailed off, because everyone knew what would come next.


The Fearow was right above Cyndaquil, and now he knew perfectly what he had to do.

"Cyndaquil, stop!" Ziri ordered. The echidna complied, and now the Fearow overshot its prey, before coming to a stop.

"Are you insane!?" Alex yelled, but Ziri didn't heed her concern. Falkner however, was jubilant.

"If he wants to lose, then let him lose!" he declared. "Fearow, finish it! Drill Peck!"

The spinning, and now it dived.

Perfect.

"Cyndaquil, move aside with Quick Attack!" he yelled, praying Falkner didn't get it early and abort the attempt.

He didn't. The Fearow blasted through the dirt, all the way up its beak and was promptly stuck. The crowd roared and was promptly silenced by a glance from the enraged Falkner. "Get out of there!" he shouted, eyes bulging. "Get out! You can't let yourself get beaten by-"

"Cyndaquil, finish it! Ember!"

Now the flames reignited to rain bolts of flame upon the stuck form of the Fearow. A muffled series of squawks were heard as the feathers began to smoke and blacken; nobody now disputed that it was well and truly screwed.

Well, not truly, anyway…

Ziri noticed the bird, in its desperation, began wiggling its beak from side to side, and was beset by his own panic. "More!" Ziri called, "Don't stop now!"

The barrage continued, but now Ziri realized that by continuing the barrage he was also further panicking the bird and the rate of wiggling increased.

And then it was free, rising into the air.

Ziri groaned and hung his head.

"Crap."

But it wasn't over then. "Now, Fearow!" Falkner ordered. "Assurance!"

Ziri recalled the attack earlier had created the purple aura. Well now, the aura fueled a sudden rush of the massive bird's body, which over and over again battered his Cyndaquil before Alex called "Whirlwind!"

The winds forced the Fearow to crash into a wall, and it would be the last time, because now the Fearow looked at its smaller cousin with malice.

The message was clear- That's the last time, punk.

Ziri was officially screwed. As he watched the unfolding aerial battle, he knew that it was hopeless- Cyndaquil had no way of attacking the Fearow. Falkner wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, and that Assurance move- That thing did double the damage if it even got anything close to hurt for a few seconds beforehand. He had checked the, after all. He watched Alex's Pidgey try to duke it out with its larger opponent in the sky, but in addition to the size it also had strength and matching speed, despite its injuries prior. Sooner or later, it would get hit by that demonic Drill Peck, and it would be all over…

If there was a way to combine Ember, a move to burn the opponent, and Tackle, something to slam into the opponent with-

His Cyndaquil, which had been watching the battle above in frustration, its back snuffed out of fire, suddenly stood up and charged. "Cyndaquil, wait-!" Ziri began, before he noticed that in addition to running forward its back was also ablaze…

Did he hear me mentally? Ziri thought, bewildered, as the charge continued.

"So it wants more, eh?" Falkner laughed, not realizing anything out of the ordinary. "Fearow, drive that Pidgey away with Fury Attack and finish the job with Drill Peck!"

Alex's Pidgey squawked as it retreated to a safe distance, away from the wicked rapidly-stabbing beak. Now the Fearow turned to its most frustrating foe, relishing a chance to take it out-

It, however, panicked when it noticed the flames. What was going on? That thought was echoed in everyone's mind.

Suddenly, Cyndaquil sprung its back upwards into the air, making Ziri think that it was going to use its back as the point of attack- Which might result in its back being broken. As Ziri again opened his mouth to this time order it to stop, the intention of his partner became clear.

It was not using the back to attack because of the flames; rather was using the flames to do something else entirely. The flames had remained blazing on its back; now as Cyndaquil performed a complete front flip, everyone saw that the flames had "traced" the arc of the flip and so "stuck" with the blue-black fireproof skin of the Cyndaquil. Another revolution, and now…

The entire body of the Fire Mouse Pokemon was encased in a literal wheel of revolving flames. And it was rolling, faster and faster-

Although the Fearow remembered the orders to do the Drill Peck, it had no time before the attack struck, the body of its opponent crashing into its chest, and now it had the odd sensation of behind winded- And burned.

Falkner watched in disbelief as his prized Pokemon was sent flying by that little Fire Mouse, crashing into a heap on the floor. The Gym went dead silent, as the flames covering the Pokemon dispersed into nothing, though the spines remained blazing.

Ziri's shaking hand went unconsciously to his Pokedex.

"Flame Wheel," it chimed, and the voice resounded through the Gym. "The user encases itself in flames and charges the foe at high speed. The flames may seriously burn the opponent."

At the last part, all heads inside the Gym simultaneously swiveled towards the Fearow, where the red mark on the feathers literally began spreading before their eyes. As if to further make the point, the Fearow began to thrash in pain but now Ziri had no care in the world besides finishing off his unlucky opponent.

"So, Cyndaquil," Ziri said lightly, "Wanna put it out of its misery?"

His best friend nodded.

"Then let's finish this! Flame Wheel!"

Everyone winced collectively as the final burning charge sent the Fearow into the wall, where it slid down with one final weak squawk and fell in an unmoving heap.

The referee raised his flags immediately. "Fearow is unable to battle. This match goes to Zirienji Axlhedron and Alessandra Cesarini!"

The Gym exploded in sound, and though it all Ziri's ears were oddly ringing, though not from the noise.

I did it. I beat him. I've gotten the badge in the bag.

And the first mile in a thousand...


Hope everyone enjoyed this. This took me two days to write, but I would have posted it yesterday had the site not had a seizure and stopped everyone from logging in. Bah!

Gale and Urya get their badges next. Stay tuned!

Remember to review!! Please!!!!