The Longest Journey

Gem Archipelago

Chapter 13: Zienna of Crystal

Zienna's Gym was, needless to say, different from most others, since it was not on the mainland, but was located 2 miles off the shore of Crystal, and in order to reach it, you had to play the ride called "Pidgeot's Air Glide".

There was one problem, however…

"Only one of us can go?" Hiiro asked in surprise of the girl standing by the ride's entrance.

"I'm afraid so," the girl said simply. She had to be about Hiiro's age, and like the other gamehosts, she wore a headpiece that looked like the feathers of a Pidgeot and had two wing-like sleeves attached to her dress. Her light blonde hair was secured behind her head in a decorative bun. "Zienna only allows one person to challenge her at once."

"Wow..been so long since we've soloed a Gym I guess we kinda forgot that's how it's done huh Hiiry..?" Ketlin blinked out to the boy beside her.

"I suppose so..." After a moment of thinking, Hiiro turned to Ketlin. "So... you want to go first? I can try to take on Nitira in the meantime."

Looking ahead, the girl frowned out before nodding "Yeah, sorry, but I definitely still got that Cubone to pick with her"

"No problem. Good luck."

Ketlin gave a nod, responding the same as she turned to the girl. "So how I do this ride then?"

"Do you have a Flying Pokémon of your own?

"Er..not..'yet'."

"Then I will lend you my Pidgeot." Gesturing ahead, the girl said: "The course revolves around passing through the rings suspended in the air. However, you are only allowed to glide, so you have to do the steering yourself. The yellow rings are worth 10 points. The red rings are worth 100, and the rainbow colored rings are worth 1000. You have to reach 10.000 points to be able to enter the Gym."

"Aerhn. Y-yeah," Ketlin muttered, heading up to the Pidgeot a bit nervously.

The Pidgeot silently lowered itself as she walked forward. As Ketlin settled on the Pidgeot's back, she noticed the reins secured around its neck.

Taking them a little uneasily, the young Shonen muttered "Maybe I should have taken papa's Poké'riding lessons.."

"In the event that you glide to low, Pidgeot will come back on her own," the girl said calmly.

"It's not gliding low that I'm worried about," Ketlin grumbled, taking a breath as she shut her eyes for a few moments, before opening them again, seemingly getting her determination back in full moxy. "Right let's get some points!"

"Very well," the girl said with a nod, before lightly patting Pidgeot's neck

In response, she spread her wings and ran forward, then kicked off and began her glide toward the Gym.

"WaaaaaaaaahooOOOH!"

Hiiro watched quietly as Pidgeot merely allowed herself to glide, clearly waiting for Ketlin to steer her in the right way.

'Get a grip you've been through worse spaces, kitty,' the girl mentally growled to herself, taking a firm grip on the lead before giving a few careful pulls, watching how Pidgeot responded to them. 'Okay, can do this..where's..Ah!' Spotting a ring a bit ahead, Ketlin began to steer the Flying type for it. "10,000, can do this"

Pidgeot extended her claws as they approached the platform, before she landed carefully. "Pidgeooot."

"Ugh, okay so some of it wasn't my best moves..but then again I guess you Flying types know how it is to get the crash courses in flying huh?" Ketlin sighed for a bit, before hopping down a bit wobbly. "Wah, jet-legs.."

As the girl approached the door, a counter above it read "11.350 points", before it slid open with a soft hiss.

Blinking at that, Ketlin shrugged off, walking in with a slight grin. "Heh, guess I wanted some leeway with my points ..damn where can I.."

However, as Ketlin entered the room, she noticed she wasn't in the clear yet.

While she could see the battlefield from where she stood, there was no visible way to get there.

"..Uuugh," the young trainer growled as she crossed her arms, obviously better than irritated. "Why must Gym Leaders always.." Blinking to the side a bit as she shook her head, Ketlin's brow quirked, making her way to a sign. "Hm?"

The sign held only two words on it;

"Have faith"

Frowning at that, the girl looked to the battlefield, before shaking her head, walking behind the sign. "Henshin for now.." she muttered, pulling something from her pack as she got behind the cover of the sign in question.

After a minute or two, the girl came out, slipping on the last of her costume, her mask, on her face as she stretched out. "Alright Kamen..have faith..eyes say there's nothing there.." She muttered to herself, before grinding her heels along the ground. "Faith asks you to shut your eyes and believe..I believe in myself with eyes open," she growled, before going right for a run, right for the battlefield, and the big gap between her and it.

As she rushed forward, many watching her would have expected her to drop down, but instead, her feet smashed down on the invisible bridge that had been there all along, connecting the entrance to the battlefield.

Ketlin, or rather, Kamen Trainer didn't bother to even look down, her eyes behind the mask focused on one thing, the battlefield, her goal. As she got to the last legging, she kicked off the ground, spinning a bit in the air as she went into a somersault cartwheel before landing by the center, her hand and finger pointed high as she called out "GYM LEADER OF CRYSTAL! KAMEN TRAINER, CHALLENGES YOU TO A BATTLE FOR YOUR BADGE!"

"There's no need to raise your voice," Zienna's voice called out from above.

Upon looking up, Kamen Trainer spotted the Gym Leader hanging from a series of rods hanging from the ceiling, upside-down no less. Without a word, the woman snapped her legs off and spun a few times before landing on her feet on the ground. As she landed, it also became obvious she was still donning the suit she'd been wearing in the park the previous day.

Rising to her feet, the Gym Leader crossed her arms over her chest solemnly. "So... you came."

"I intend to knock through all of the Gyms within the regions I stand, it's not going to be any different here, Gym Leader," Ketlin said herself, crossing her own arms with a fiery grin.

"So you say," Zienna said simply, unfolding one arm and snapping her fingers once.

Barely a moment later, a single light purple fox-like Pokémon dashed forward, its split tail swaying as it stepped forward.

"The rules are simple; 3 Pokémon each. First to KO all three of the opponent's Pokémon wins."

"Classic rules, fine by me," the girl responded, looking a bit to the Psychic Eeveelution as she began to take her stance, but seemed to stop for a second apparently in thought. "..."

Zienna said nothing. She merely waited.

'Thought she would have Water types..Ami and Terrance tried so hard to get over that weakness...and I wanted to fight to beat her the normal way still?..' Shaking her head, the girl hopped a bit, quickly alternating her feet into the stance before whipping out her leg, sending the first Pokéball flying. 'I won't live with myself if I don't beat the odds!'

As the Pokéball flew out, the beam of light burst out, forming the robust Fire/Fighting type Pignite as he stomped the ground. "PIIIGNI...nite?" Natsu blinked, looking back to his trainer curiously, but quickly grew into a grin as he snorted staring down the Espeon. "PIIIIG-NIIIITEE!"

Espeon merely watched silently, not moving otherwise.

"...Kari, be ready."

"Esp."

"Armthrust!"

Rushing right for the Eeveelution, Natsu began to rapidly shoot out his palms for the Psychic type. "Nite-Nite-Nite-Nite!"

However, Zienna lightly tapped her fingers on her arm - which caused Espeon to start dashing around Natsu rapidly, managing to avoid each of punch aimed at it.

'Grr, damnit I hate running into things that can topple Natsu's speed!' the masked girl mentally growled, focusing a bit as her Pignite continued to thrust for the Espeon.

Just as he reared back for another thrust, the dual Fire type aimed down at the last moment, smashing the floor under himself and the Espeon, Kari, sending bits of the floor flying as it exploded on impact

Unfortunately, the Espeon-or Kari, as Zienna had called her-jumped backward easily, her eyes watching each of Natsu's movements. But before Natsu could make another move, Zienna moved one of her fingers over the sleeve of her jacket, and instantly, Kari rushed forward and smashed into Natsu, sending the Fire/Fighting type rolling backwards.

"PIG!"

"Nrgh!" Ketlin hissed out, rubbing her head as Natsu managed to dig his palms int he ground to stop himself. 'D-damn, Natsu, they're reading our body language to tell where we're going!'

Kari merely turned her head around, cricking her neck a few times, before her eyes suddenly flared a dark purple color.

"..Uh oh"/"Pig-nite.."

The Psychic attack slammed headlong into the Pignite, before it completely immobilized the Pokémon and lifted the Fire/Fighting type off of the ground without Kari showing the slightest bit of effort at all.

Natsu and his Trainer, both gave signs of distress and struggling, the pair gritting their teeth tightly as they snarled at Kari's attack.

'D-dammit, I..we Can't move or hit them like this!'

Zienna said nothing about the move her Espeon pulled, nor did she say anything to Ketlin. She merely watched silently, even as Kari's eyes narrowed and the force of the Psychic attack increased.

"P-piiiIIIIGGG!"

Starting to wobble on her knees, the masked girl growled out, shaking her head repetitively. 'D-dammit..!'

Snapping his eyes open, the fiery pig struggled some more, pulling his body in close on itself, before starting to spin faster within the air. "P-!"

Steadying herself again, Kamen trainer clenched her fists and teeth tightly snarling out. "Faster!"

In response, the Fire/Fighting types speed picked up, rapidly rolling faster, moments later beginning to spark and ignite with flames in the air, starting to shake up within the Psychic attack's grip.

Kari frowned a little, but kept up the Psychic attack, though she was at least a little struggling with keeping Natsu trapped like that.

"Faster!"

"PIGNITE!" The pig responded, body spinning more as the flames completely enveloped Natsu's body, turning him from a Pokémon simply in Rollout, to an all out rapidly spiraling ball of inferno being held by Kari's psychic powers.

Kari gritted her teeth, still trying to keep Natsu trapped - until Zienna lightly turned her foot. In response to that, Kari abruptly released the Pignite and braced herself.

As the telepathic grip was released, the fire/fighting type came rushing to the ground, smashing with surprising power, but not into the Espeon as expected, rather, right into the ground. Nearly the moment of impact, the Psychic Eeveelution quickly found a wave of rubble being ricocheted blasted right for her, either super heated or outright on fire by Natsu's flame covered body.

Unfortunately, all the rubble flying toward Kari was ricocheted on an invisible shield of some kind.

'Ugh..that hurt. Dammit, all that energy wasted on a three combo move for nothing,' Ketlin mentally growled, rubbing her head as her Pokémon leapt out of the hole, body still encased in flames as he snorted angrily.

Kari merely stared the other Pokémon down, her tail moving a little behind her, but otherwise, she did nothing at all.

Ketlin gave her head a few more shakes, fixing her mask to keep it from getting tossed off in the process as she growled a little looking to the Psychic type.

Natsu straightened himself out again himself, getting back to his feet as he snorted some flames, trying to get his breathing straight again, obviously more than just worn out from that. "Piiig.."

Zienna watched silently, before briefly wetting his lips - and the second she clucked her tongue, Kari shot forward and rushed straight at Natsu.

The Pignite stumbled, preparing for impact as something seem to cross his mind, stumbling a bit on his footing as he did so. "N-nitte!"

But only a second before the impact, Kari swerved left and kicked off against the ground with a sharp cry, smashing her head right into Natsu's side.

Yelping out, the Fire/Fighting type was sent rolling along again, stopping only a bit thanks to its head hitting the floor a little. Shaking himself a bit, Natsu began to push himself up again, panting heavily from the prior damage catching up to him. "Nnniiiiite.."

Kari watched Natsu for a moment longer, before shutting her eyes. But then when she opened them again, there was a mysterious glow emanating from them as she trained her gaze on her opponent.

"Pig..? N..nite.." Natsu muttered, the energy seemingly starting to drain from him completely, before he hit the floor, snoring.

As her Pokémon had done though, the masked trainer quickly hit the floor, also snoring, though only about half as loudly as her Pokémon. "Meew...zz...

Zienna merely shook her head, before she briefly snapped her fingers... causing a burst of water to suddenly land on the girl's face.

"Blahw!" Kamen Trainer burst up, shaking her head coughing a bit to get the last of the water out of her mouth as she looked around in surprise. "Gah?"

"Your first Pokémon is defeated," Zienna said simply. "If you have no wish to forfeit, call out your second Pokémon."

Giving a deep growl as she picked herself up, the girl recalled her Pokémon as she got into her kick stance again. 'Darn it Natsu, never look a Psychic type in the eyes when they're up to something!' Shaking it off, Kamen Trainer released her second roundhouse, sending out the prickly cactus Pokémon. "Let's go!"

Giving a battle cry, Thorn growled, staring down the Espeon ready to fight

Espeon was silent and merely stared the small Pokémon down evenly. Zienna remained silent, before rubbing her arm again with a finger. In response, Kari's eyes flared with the by now familiar glow of her Psychic attack.

Ketlin growled in response as she saw the Psychic types eyes glow, Thorn in response swinging her arms out harshly, the Cacnea's barrage of thorns launching out for the Espeon.

Upon seeing the thorns rushing at her, Kari switched initial targets to stop the thorns from hitting her.

As the attack left the poison sting barrage in the air, the Grass/Dark type came from above, smashing her thorny arm down hard on the Espeon's head. "CAC-NE-AAA!"

"ESP!" Kari yowled out in pain as her head collided with the ground, before she quickly jumped away, shaking her head to get rid of the stars in her eyes. "Essss..." she snarled out, but she stopped that when Zienna briefly rotated her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, the Espeon exhaled slowly, as though getting rid of her anger, before staring down Thorn again.

Thorn in response, was giving the Psychic type a Cheshire grin, wiggling her shoulders a bit in response. "Cac-neeee-aaaaa," practically she sang out as her Trainer matched the motions of her shoulders.

Kari frowned darkly, but chose not to respond. Instead, she placed one front paw forward and moved the opposite hind paw back, briefly extending her claws to 'get a feel' of the surface beneath her paws.

'Okay, her Psychic type move can deal damage..if she toughened up her weakness her attack would still hurt the others too, but..'

Snapping her shoulder as Kamen Trainer snapped her neck, the dual Grass type rushed forward for Kari, arms whipping about like windmill propellers. "NEEEAAAA!"

Kari, however, merely staid rooted to her spot, watching Thorn approach in silence. But just as the other Pokémon came in range, Kari kicked off into the air, making the Cacnea pass under her. The second she did though, Kari's eyes glowed and she suddenly dropped back much sooner than she should have.

As she began to come back down though, Thorn smashed her arms down into the ground, sending her flying back as she did leaving the Espeon to hit the ground instead. But after a second look, the psychic type saw several purple colored thorns stuck to the ground along where she landed "Cacnea!"

The Espeon cried out as her feet hit the ground and the thorns, leaping back rapidly, trying to remove some of the thorns stuck in her paws. However, the poison had already started working its way into her system, causing Kari to wobble on her feet as she tried to put some more distance between her and the Cacnea. The look on her face said that her condition was not looking too healthy, though.

Grinning, Kamen trainer clenched her fist as she pumped it in front of her face. "Hit it!"

Taking a deep breath, the Cacnea brought her arms in front of her, thorns gathering a purplish mist before sending it like a blast of water for the psychic type. "Cacnea!"

Kari tried to leap out of the way, but the poison already in her system made her movements sluggish and she wasn't fast enough to move aside in time. The attack hit her dead on and sent her flying backward with a pained cry, landing on her side not too far from her Trainer, where she lay, trying her best not to whimper in pain.

"...You've done well, Kari," Zienna said softly, as her hair moved on its own again, producing a simple Pokéball and recalling the Psychic type.

Ketlin let out her own breath, slouching a moment or two as she gripped her arm, hissing a little at the bruise she sensed under the sleeve of her bodysuit 'ugh, yeah I know that hurt the both of us..'

Zienna was silent, shutting her eyes for a moment, before she called out: "Taiyo."

A few seconds later, her second Pokémon descended from above. Though in all honestly, it looked more like a floating hunk of rock than an actual living being. It was shaped like a sun, and its eyes appeared to be shut halfway; a Solrock.

'Nrgh, another Psychic type..'

Tensing for a few moments, the grass type began to growl, glaring so much that, if it was possible to hurt someone with looks, the Solrock, Taiyo as Zienna had called it, would be well knocked out right then. "Caaaaccneeeaa!"

Taiyo, however, merely hovered, not moving much except for the occasional bobs up and down.

"Nrugh," Ketlin growled out, shaking her head a bit as she looked to her Pokémon in confusion behind her mask. "Thorn..?"

Without a word from her Trainer, and from the shocked look the girl gave her, Thorn rushed for the Rock/Psychic type, smashing her arms this way and that between needle arm attacks and poison sting. "CACNEAA!"

Solrock, however, simply hovered aside, not the least bit affected by the smaller Pokémon's outburst.

"Gah, Thorn, dammit calm down!"

The grass type didn't listen though, instead swinging her arms in any attack to land on the dual type, eyes burning angrily. If one didn't know otherwise, you could have sworn Thorn was a Seviper glaring at a Zangoose.

Zienna watched it for a moment longer, before she moved her fingers across her sleeve.

Immediately, the prongs on the side of Taiyo's boys began to glow, before they burst into flame. Without so much as a noise, Taiyo begin to spin sideways in place, becoming a flying disc of fire, before rushing towards Thorn.

The grass type glared at the flames, suddenly rushing headlong for it smashing her thorny arm into the ground as she ran right for the Solrock. "NEAA!"

"DAMMIT THORN STOP!" Ketlin shouted out, for once, not even flinching as her Grass type became engulfed in flames; she and her Pokémon weren't linked.

Taiyo did not let up however, its prongs striking the ground as it continued to spin, becoming a massive spinning wheel of fire, which started to rush around in circles around Thorn, leaving a fiery wall in its wake.

Thorn still shoved along, smashing right into the flames as she swung her arms for the dual type, the flames catching all around her arms in the process of her attacks. "CACNEAAAAA CAAAAAAAAAC!"

Unfortunately, Taiyo moved out of the way, its eyes glowing - before a series of rocks materialized and slammed into Thorn barely a second after they had been formed.

"CAACNEAAA!" the grass type hollered, smashing her fist around through the flames around her and the stones trying to rush Taiyo again, but from the sluggish motions her limbs were giving, the attacks were just as quickly catching up on her.

"Nrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhh!"" the masked girl growled, clenching her firsts tightly, bringing her arms up as she gripped her head. "Dammit..thorn.."

"CAACNEEEAA.."

"JUST LISTEN TO ME!" roared about the room, but the odd thing was, it wasn't voiced by anyone, rather, it was more like a violent sound at the back of one's head.

Unfortunately, it came a little too late as Taiyo rushed forward suddenly and smashed into Thorn with a well-aimed Tackle, sending the smaller Pokémon flying.

"NEA!"

"Nrgh!"

Hissing in unison with her Trainer, Thorn smashed her arms into the ground, managing to launch herself from soaring along it, to flying above it back for Taiyo as the last of the flames began to erupt around her. "CAAAACNEE-"

In response, Ketlin reared her arms back, thrusting them forward as a set of long arms burst through the flames around her Pokémon for the Solrock.

"TURNE!"

The hit caused Solrock to fly through the air a little, but again, it made no noise as it managed to keep itself suspended in mid-air again.

Shaking the last of the flames off, what was the Cacnea thorn, stood with her eyes shut. The Pokémon now a lot taller, and more humanoid in shape with a more angled shaped body, several more sharp thorns lining along her sides, back, and stomach up to her head, which now leaned down, covered in the shadow of a large leaf atop her head, like a straw hat. "..."

Ketlin herself, seemed a bit out of it, eyes shut, but a little swaying where she stood, before she managed to shake it off after a moment, opening her eyes with her Pokémon, a now evolved Cacturne, both Trainer and Pokémon's eyes giving a faint glow for a few moments before turning normal. "..bout time.."

Shrugging at that, still glaring to the Solrock, Thorn growled out. "Cacturne.."

Zienna didn't even respond to the sudden evolution, not really seeming to care, and merely moved her right foot about an inch backwards.

In response, Solrock merely hovered there, as a light yellow energy began to gather around it.

'Ugh what's with these people and their Pokémon with big beams!' the masked girl mentally growled, raising her arms up.

"Cac!" the grass/dark type yelled out, starting to rush for Taiyo, before smashing her arms down into the ground, a blast of sand spreading all around violently. "TURNE!"

Solrock remained hovering, not seeming the least bit affected by the sudden sandstorm. The only real downside being that its attack needed more time to charge now.

Rushing up along the cloud of sand, Thorn began swinging for Taiyo with the thorns along her arms growing longer, this time though, the Grass/Dark types needle arm wasn't just flying around like a wild attack.

Taiyo made no sound as it was struck by the Cacturne's attacks, merely taking the hits as they came. However, just then, it turned to Thorn as the energy solidified in front of it, before releasing into a massive beam toward Cacturne.

For a moment, the attack seem to hit, blowing away some of the sandstorm for the moment, but as it did though, the Solrock could see that the 'Cacturne' it hit, was nothing more than a clutter of sand, just in time for Thorns elbows to smash down from behind the Rock/Psychic type. "CAC!"

That hit sent Taiyo smashing into the ground, where it bounced once, and then stirred no more.

"Nrgh, that was a bit close," the girl sighed out, looking at her Pokémon who gave a nod as she frowned. "Gonna talk about that later.." she grumbled, the duo turning to the Gym Leader.

"…" Zienna was silent, but then, as she tapped her arm… "Let me give you some good advice…"

The pair blinked at that, looking to Zienna curiously as she said that.

"…NEVER take your eyes off your opponent in a Pokémon battle."

Upon hearing those words, the duo whipped back towards Taiyo. The Psychic/Rock type had floated upward slowly, and its body was pulsing with energy, slowly at first, but then gaining more and more speed until it appeared to be blinking between its normal colors and stark white.

Going wide-eyed, the trainer shouted out "LOOK OUT!"

The Cacturne gave her own yelp, quickly bringing her thorny arms up to brace herself as the blast came out. "TURNE?"

The Explosion that followed filled almost the entire battlefield, barely missing the two Trainers and dispersing all of the sand that Thorn had kicked up before. Once the dust had settled, the results of the blast were revealed.

Taiyo was lying on the ground, face up and unmoving, looking more than a little toasted, despite being part Rock type. Thorn was no better, laying face down, crumbled into the rubble shot around from closet to the blasts center, letting out a muffled unconscious moan.

Zienna was silent as she pulled out a Great Ball and recalled her Pokémon silently. "You did good, Taiyo," she murmured quietly.

"Nrgha.." the masked girl growled out, shaking her head as she recalled Thorn back into her own Pokéball. "Next time...try listening from the start..ugh that hurts.."

"You've done well to make it this far..." Zienna said simply, finally unfolding her arms. "Unfortunately, your Gym Challenge will end here."

Giving a shake to clear her thoughts, Ketlin looked to the Gym leader, giving a silent growl in response.

"Shin! It's your turn!" she shouted out.

And less than a minute later, a burst of piercing blue erupted from the back of the room, forming a large blue orb which rushed forward, past Zienna and descended upon the battlefield. As it came down, the burst of light dissipated and a single Pokémon smashed down onto the ground, bending through its legs to catch its fall.

The Pokémon had pale silver colored fur, and it looks a little like an oversized cat, with long legs that gave the impression as though its knees were placed the wrong way around, and its long arms ended in three fingers tipped with an orb. Its long purple tail swayed a little bit, before it slowly raised its head to face Ketlin, piercing purplish-blue eyes set in a frown as it straightened up, a tiny smirk playing on its face.

Seeing the Pokémon, Kamen Trainer finally seemed more than just a bit intimidated and surprised. Mouthing out the creatures name a bit dumbfounded. "M..mew..two.."

The Pokémon in question merely smirked almost cheekily, before bringing up one of its hands while placing the other near its hip in a light fist, moving its legs apart. And as it did, a voice resounded through Ketlin's head.

So... you are the next challenger to make it this far... interesting... Come at me and show me what you've got!

Blinking, the girl growled out as she narrowed her eyes. 'Stay the heck out of my head!'

Then I suggest you stop staring at me and start sending out your fighter of choice, was the almost cheeky response.

Ketlin hissed out, taking her stance as she got ready to release her next Pokémon. "They're my precious partners and friends, not my fighters!" Before she could kick out, the opposing ankle's Pokéball shot its light out, causing the girl to blurt out "Aah?"

As the beam smashed itself to materialize like a ball, the blue ball humanoid like Pokémon smashed its fists together, looking to the Mewtwo with a fiery look in his eyes. "Gol-lett!"

'Toku what the heck are you doing, Deva was going to go!'

Looks like you need to retrain this one once you are through here, the Mewtwo chuckled out.

"Enough, Shin," Zienna said suddenly, before taking on a similar stance as the Mewtwo. "Ready?"

Always am.

"Good." Allowing a small smirk of her own, Zienna murmured: "Synchronize."

The second she said that, the Mewtwo's eyes flashed blue briefly, before both it and Zienna moved fluently, placing both fists on their hips and bending forward just a little.

Ketlin looked in all out shock at that, blinking out to herself "You.."

"Keep your eyes on your opponent and never let down your guard!" Zienna snarled out, before she moved.

Mewtwo-or Shin, as Zienna called him-moved in perfect synchro with her, though he was rushing towards Toku whereas Zienna remained standing still, Psychic energy spiraling around his right hand.

Suddenly, Toku's own hand shot out, catching onto Shins fist, the Golett's own hand encased in a veil of shadows. Ketlin's own body matching his, though she seemed off guard from it. "Gol, Lett-Golett-gol"

Blinking, Ketlin growled out, quickly matching the Golett's motions as he jumped back from the Mewtwo, still obviously ready to fight. "Grah, fine well talk later"

Shin remained silent even as his other hand shot forward. However, instead of landing a punch, a blast of Psychic energy erupted from his hand, smashing into the Golett and sending him flying backwards.

"Ngrh!/Gol!" The dual type and his trainer growled out, stumbling back as the attack hit, Smashing their fists into the ground, Golett's a bit harder to steady himself.

Shin brought his hands forward in front of him, holding them in front of his chest with a small space between them. As he held them for a moment, purple energy crackled between them, small blue sparks jumping over the orb before he reared back and threw it right toward Toku, the orb's speed not giving much time to dodge.

Toku blinked out, quickly trying to bring its arms up to at least brace as the attack hit, sending the little ghost/ground type flying as he was blasted back. "GOL!"

"Gah!"

The Mewtwo merely watched for a moment longer, before holding out his hand to Toku, a sheen of blue light surrounding his entire figure.

The Golett/Trainer straightened themselves out, looking in time as the Mewtwo began to glow through strained face. "Lett!"/"Grrr!"

Shin silently brought all three fingers closer together while raising up his arm ever so slowly.

Toku growled out, him and his Trainer struggling to rear their arms back, glaring right for the Mewtwo, the pair shaking sharply as they fought against the psychic attack "G-o-oollleettttt!"

Shin just watched, before tossing his arm sideways, which caused Toku to fly halfway across the battlefield and skidding along the floor.

At that, the masked girl yelped out with her Pokémon, hitting the ground herself as the Golett smashed down. Growling, the girl and her ghost/ground type struggled to push themselves up, however before they could even get a foot down, both slumped to a heap along the ground again. ".."

"Done already?" came the chorused question from both Shin and Zienna. "Pity..."

The Trainer, though, didn't respond, in fact, after a better look, she was outright more out of it then her Golett, who at least managed to twitch its fingers unconsciously

Shin was silent for a moment before his eyes flashed briefly and he crossed his arms, while Zienna walked over to the masked girl.

"Sorry to say..." Zienna said solemnly. "But your Challenge has ended."

As she said that, three of the girls Pokéballs shot out their energy, Natsu, Thorn, and the girls Absol materialize, the first two looking pretty much in no shape still struggling to be out like that, the dark type growling a bit, nudging his trainer's shoulders. "Absol!"

But just then, Ketlin's body floated up slowly, hovering a few inches above the ground. A good look around revealed Shin, holding out his hand and gently holding the girl up off the ground.

Spotting that, the two newer Pokémon of Ketlin's gave their own growls, Natsu quickly holding his hand up to quiet them "P-pig nite..pignite pig.."

"All of you should just rest as well," Zienna said simply. "I will take this girl to her father so she can recover as well."

Natsu gave a look through his one eye, the other still clenched shut from the damage he took earlier, before he became a beam of light, recalling himself back to his Pokéball. Thorn followed a bit after, the Dark type giving a growl as he hopped over to the fallen Golett, picking the Ghost/Ground type up as their pair beamed back to their own cases once again.

Zienna waited until Shin had brought up Ketlin to where she could pick up the girl from mid-air without having to bend down and let the Psychic type set Ketlin in her arms. Turning to him, she said simply: "You get some rest too. I'm willing to bet Gui's gonna show up anytime."

Good, Shin said with a smirk. He's always good for a little target practice.

"Just try not to hurt him too much, I got dibs on that," Zienna said simply, before walking out without a word.

Sometime later, all of the sudden, the previously unconscious, and now unmasked, girl's eyes shot open, quickly sitting up with a start, before just as fast she fell back down to where she was laying on the couch, holding her sides tightly hissing out "GAH!"

"Easy, kiddo," Zero's voice said from somewhere above her. "Try not to move too much. I'm betting your muscles are still sore as heck."

Hissing her breath out, Ketlin squinted, trying to look around a bit confused "Wh-where.."

"My house. Sis brought you here a few hours ago."

Looking up to the blonde, the girl growled, pushing herself up with a loud groan as she did so. "H-hours?"

"Yeah. You were pretty beat up when she brought you here," Zero mumbled.

Hearing that, the girl kept her arm around her stomach, which someone could catch telltale signs of brushings from numerous attacks growing there. "Guess..crashed more on that flying ride then I thought.."

"Really? I was under the assumption that was because you synched up," Zero said simply as he stood from his seat and headed into the kitchen.

Ketlin looked over quickly at that, hissing to herself as she rubbed her neck tenderly, looking around from the couch a bit. "How.."

"You're not the only one who can do that, yanno?" Zero said, pouring some kind of juice in a glass. "You want something?" he asked, turning back to her.

"Nrgh..anything cold" she hissed, rubbing her arms as she looked to the ground. "...ah, wh-where's Hiiry?"

"Not back yet," Zero said, dropping some ice cubes in a glass and pouring some lemonade in it before walking back. "Your dad's out, too. Dunno exactly where he went but I told him about-"

Busting through the door before the blonde could finish, TJ skid into the room, panting a bit obviously having done one hell of a run to get to the house. "Ket!"

Grumbling, the girl let herself slump over laying on the couch again, taking the lemonade with a thanks to Zero as she started to sip it away. "I'm fine..just..rugh..tired.."

Zero said nothing as he took his seat again, sipping on his own drink.

"Sure don't look it, kitten" the girl's father growled, leaning down to look her over. "Jeez, warned cha her skills were tough.."

"I coulda won.."

"Well, Shin is a tough one. He might not be as strong as his great-grampa, but yeah, he's tough," Zero said casually.

"It wasn't him.." the girl growled, pushing herself a bit with a jerk, downing her drink in almost two gulps as she coughed a little. Snarling as she rubbed her chin with her wrist "If Thorn and Toku didn't get all gun-ho on me.."

The silverhead blinked at that, narrowing his eyes curiously as he spoke, sitting carefully along the couch next to her. "Hm? Thorn I kinda figured being new..but Toku misbehaved?"

"Came out when I was gonna use Deva, was so weird.."

The blonde remained silent, sipping his own drink, just as the communicator in the corner of the room started ringing. "...Hm? Okay, wasn't expecting any calls today..." he mumbled, getting up and heading over.

Sighing, TJ gave Ketlin's back a careful rub, the girl groaned a bit, but began to relax into it. "Jeez kitten..hm, well all together cha roughly alright..I think."

"I'll be better when everyone's recovered at the center"

"Just rest for now before you end up hurting yourself," Zero said solemnly, before picking up the receiver of the phone and bringing it to his ear. "Start talkin', 's your nickel."

"Yes, nice to see you too, Zero," came a casual voice from the other side, one that made Zero jump.

"The heck? Wes! What're you calling for, man?" Zero laughed out.

Blinking to that, TJ looked over, quirking an eyebrow as he worked his ears a bit. "Wes.."

The young man on the other side of the commlink laughed as well. "What, can't I call just cuz I wanna have a chat nowadays?"

"Wes, you NEVER call 'just to chat'," Zero pointed out.

"...Oh yeah, I don't, don't I?"

Ketlin looked over, a bit curious herself at Zero and the other person, this Wes characters conversation. Looking to her father questioningly, she asked "Wes?"

"Sounds familiar.."

The person on the screen had light blonde hair, though it was closer to gray than yellow, which was slightly spiked, but majorly windswept, and he had sharp, amber eyes. From what was visible, he was wearing a blue jacket of some kind, but since you could only see most of his face and the top of his chest, that said very little.

"So, how's things with Rui?" Zero quipped suddenly, making the man on the other side tense.

"Hey! Where'd that come from!" Wes demanded, making the blonde laugh.

"Heh. Never mind," Zero chuckled, before sobering up. "So, what happened?"

At that question, the young man-Wes-sighed. "Well... we got a bit of a problem, I'm afraid..." Wes mumbled.

"...I'm afraid to ask... what is it?" Zero mumbled.

"Well... someone stole the gauntlet."

"WHAT?"

Hearing that, the silverhead leapt up, seemingly figuring things out as he went to the screen. "CHA KIDDEN ME!"

"Unfortunately... no..." Wes mumbled. "I put it in the vault at Phenac a few months back, and I went to check on it two days ago..."

"And it wasn't there anymore..." Zero mumbled.

"Bingo."

"Dammit.." TJ growled, ruffling his hair as he looked to the screen a bit. "First off I like ta say thanks for beaten down Snagem but dammit cha gotta get that thing back, any clues?"

"I know I gotta get it back! You think I'm that retarded?" Wes snarled out.

"'Ey whoa whoa, easy you two."

"Ah... sorry, Zero... Kinda ticked about losing that thing..."

Taking a breath, TJ sighed out holding up his hands apologetically. "Don't blame cha, erm TJ by tha way, some of tha tech tha went into Snagem's little ..'projects' I either helped on or started, tha's why I'm like this."

Wes nodded briefly. "Pleasure. Name's Wes, as you may have figured... Anyway, no, we got no clues yet, but we're doing what we can. Course, there's no telling if it wasn't smuggled out of Orre. That's why I called; to tell you to keep your eyes open."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks for the heads up, man," Zero said with a nod.

"It's not my eyes tha culprits will have ta worry about if I see them with tha thing tha's for sure," TJ snarled out a bit.

"I'll bet..." Wes mumbled. "Anyway, wish we could've met under better circumstances, but maybe we can catch up later, once this is over."

"Lunch will be on me tha's for sure I want every detail on how cha flattened those creeps when we do."

Wes laughed. "I'll hold you on that. Anyway, catch ya later, Zero."

"Same, man. Let me know when ya find that thing, will ya?"

"I will if you will as well," Wes said with a nod, before he and Zero cut the connection at the same time.

"Urgh..." Zero groaned.

"Say that again," TJ growled, holding one arm across his chest, the other laying on it while he rubbed his face with a groan himself. "Thought I wouldn't haveta worry anymore bout that.."

"Um.." the young Shonen muttered, earning a small look from her father as she nodded. "I figured some of the Snagem part but..what's going on?"

"...Guess you never told her what Snagem actually did, huh?"

Sighing, TJ nodded rubbing his face still. "I didn want her to know what happened to some of my projects they twisted with.."

"We got no choice at this point... but let's wait until Hiiro comes back, ne?" Zero offered.

The silverhead nodded a bit, not looking thrilled by the process. "Right.."