Hezzo! I'm sorry I took so long on updating the last chapter. I just… didn't seem to want to write it. So, during the break, I made myself do it and eventually got done. At least I updated! I'm now listening to Hypnotize, the newest album from System of a Down. Holy monkey butt, it's fricken' great.

Oh, and to make up for my long, long absence, REVIEW RESPONSES! Woo!

Jenn: Yes, Kaiyou is hot. If only you could see a picture of him (that I drew). And Kuvai became "good" when they defeated Anubo, remember? It was Anubo (the jerk) that was making Kuvai "bad." So, when Kuvai got free of him, he was all spiffy again. I think… it's either in chapter 18 or 19. Can't remember, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Thank you for reviewing!

belitagirl: I'm happy you liked Arden; it took me forever to think up of his name and not sound like any other name I've used. I worked hard on him, and my work paid off! Woo!

Brenoan2k5: Thank you! No one ever said any of my stories were gold mines…. Happy. And yes, it is very, VERY safe to say that Kaiyou is the Dark Legendary. I thought I made that clear… guess not. Next time, I'll try to be more detailed. Thank you for reading!

Fate's Dice Kyre -JMK: Your name is very long; it took up a lot of space on my little sheet of paper I used for these notes. Oh well. Answer to your question: yes I did. And what is a "n00b" fic? I have yet to hear the definition of that word… Yummy French Toast. Gimme.

Okay, fic now.

Price for Freedom

Chapter 26

The First Match

The dim, muffled morning rays were what awakened me the next morning. I blinked slowly, looking around the room and letting my brain process where we were. I remembered that we were now at the Hoenn League, waiting for our first match. I glanced down at my Lord, who was still sound asleep, and shook my head to clear my hazy thoughts. I looked back to Kaiyou; should I wake him? His soft breathing and peaceful expression made me reconsider the thought; he had said something the night before about Illauna's training sessions. I could only imagine what the Legendary trainer had put him through. So, leaving my Lord asleep on the bed, I made my way to the living room.

I found that I was the first one up. Kiya, Amburna, Tai, and Kazu were curled up one way or another on their respective pieces of furniture or carpet. I began to make my way back to my room when I heard a yawn, then Kazu's telepathic voice saying, 'Hello, Ayako. I didn't think you would be up this early.'

I turned and smiled. I guessed why he was using telepathy; he didn't want to wake anyone with our conversations. Trying not to embarrass myself in front of the espeon, I tried very hard to control the volume of my own mental voice. (I wasn't tired last night. I didn't need much sleep.)

The espeon cocked his head. 'Not even with the wounds you had? I admit, they were minor since Kuvai healed you, but shouldn't you be tired from your excursions?'

I shrugged and replied, (Not really. I guess he really did a good job healing me.)

He nodded and seemed lost for a small moment. I was about to ask what the matter was, but he beat me. 'Ayako, do you mind… if we… talk?'

Confused, I answered, (We're talking now.)

He shifted uncomfortably on his small purple feet. 'I mean, in private.'

I tried to keep the laugh out of my mental voice. (Kazu, we ARE talking in private. No one else can hear this.)

'You know what I mean,' Kazu responded irritably. I nodded and then went into the Void, Kazu on my heels. I quickly led us to the roof of our inn, and then settled myself on the cold shingles.

"So what do you want to talk about so privately?" I asked as he sat down to my left. He stiffened a bit, and then took a deep breath to relax him. It didn't really work, but he asked all the same.

"Ayako," he began softly, "Do you… well… I… uh…" I cocked my head as he stumbled over his words. I didn't try to pry them out of him though; he seemed to have enough trouble on his own. "I heard from Tai that you met another absol last night."

A little startled by the subject, it took me a bit of time to answer. "Yes, I did. His name was Arden. Nice guy."

At my comment, he grimaced a little bit, and then said, "Tai didn't wanting me doing this. He… didn't want me saying anything to you at all, but I think you should know." He looked towards the rising sun, which was ascending in it glorious rainbow of reds, oranges and yellow before us, and sighed deeply. "He… doesn't like Arden."

I burst out laughing. Kazu was startled by my reaction; I suppose he expected me to be angry or something. But I just found it too hilarious to keep in. "Of course Tai doesn't like him!" I said while wiping tears from my eyes via my paw. "Tai doesn't like any Dark! He told me himself! Sure, it was… a long while ago when he said it -it was when Kaiyou first awakened- but I remember it. It was the reason he hated me at first."

Kazu's face fell to uncertainty. "No… he never hated you. Thought you were annoying at first, yes, but never HATED you. Not like Eclipse, but that's different." He looked me straight in the eyes, his lavender orbs piercing mine like knives. "Just… for his sake, stay away from Arden."

Now I was mad. I stood on all fours and towered over the small espeon, exposing my white fangs in a feral snarl. Though the small espeon was surprised, he wasn't scared. "Why should I? Arden's my own race! He's nice! I like him! What if he were to become a good friend of mine, or hell, let's stretch reality for a moment, my mate? Why should I surrender my social life for a gluttonous jolteon who can't seem to be serious for five minutes?"

Kazu sighed and stared at me like I had attacked him. "That's exactly my point…"

My butt fell back to the cold shingles. I was completely stunned. Had he just said what I thought he said? "What… What?"

His shoulders sagged and his expression became pleading. "Oh, Ayako, don't you see? Tai, well, he… he… he's in l-"

(GOOD MORNING, GIRL! I see you!)

I whirled around at the mental voice, trying to find my Lord. I found him on the ground, in his true form, tail wagging and tongue flapping against his chin as he panted. He looked ludicrous. I searched for any trainer who would want to catch him, but when I saw none, I turned my attention back to my Lord. (Why are you here?)

He trotted up to the building more to see us better. He said response as if it were completely obvious. (Why, to train.)

I looked to Kazu, hoping he would provide some insight, but alas, he merely shrugged his shoulders. I turned back to my Lord, who was saying a telepathic hello to an old couple walking their growlithe. They ran away. (How rude,) he admonished.

I sighed and asked, (What do you mean, 'train?' How are you going to train me? And why?)

His canine smile widened. (You seemed so interested in Illauna's training she put me through, I thought I'd give you a little sample. And not only will it warm you up for the second match that's sure to come, it'll keep you in shape since you aren't battling today.)

I frowned slightly. I figured that I was going to get my rear handed to me, but I hadn't had a chance to actually battle against my Lord, and it was intriguing to see how my strength compared to his. "I'll be down," I said after a moment. I turned back to Kazu, and asked, "Can we continue this after the first match?"

He nodded grimly and I took him back to the hotel room and then went outside to my Lord. He was sitting patiently on the lawn, still in his true form. When he noticed me, his ears perked. (Are you ready?) I nodded and then he said with a smirk, (See if you can catch me.) Then, he leaped into the Void.

I scrambled in after him, only to see his fading gold stripes in the distance. I pumped my legs to try and catch up with him, but he seemed to know where I was and kept the same distance between us. I ran into the wall of the Void and sprang up where I thought he was, but then saw that he was exactly where I had been earlier. (Nice trick,) he began, (but not good enough. You'll have to try harder.)

I frowned. "How am I supposed to catch you in here? You anticipate my every move, not to mention you're just faster than me." In the silence that followed, my panting was the only sound.

But then, his canine smile grew again. (Well, you'll have to figure that out for yourself. Imagine you face a pokemon both faster and cleverer than you. What do you do to defeat him?) I rolled my eyes; this was impossible!

"I roll over and die," I answered sarcastically. My Lord thought it was funny and laughed, his canine throat rumbling a strange cough.

(Interesting choice, but no,) he replied. He walked calmly to me and picked me up by the scruff of my neck. (I see we have a lot of work to do.) I didn't struggle against him, just sighed.

"And what kind of work are we going to do?" I asked without much enthusiasm.

(Oh… this and that.)

……………

I jumped off of the cliff face and rocketed into his side, earning a grunt of pain from my Lord. I felt it too, so I staggered when I landed. However, he caught me off guard when he snapped his jaws onto my back leg, then threw me into the face I had just jumped off of. I slid to the ground, panting to the point where my throat dried. I got up to the sound of my Lord's comments.

(That was good,) he said as he stood to his full height. We had been training for hours now, planning strategies, executing tricky attacks, and on my part, getting my butt handed to me. My Lord caught or counter-attacked every attack I had brought to him, giving it back to me with double the force. I knew he was strong, but not like this! Had I really been battling with him and not just sparring, I would have died a thousand times. (But,) he continued in between pants, (you left yourself wide open for a counter-attack, like I just showed you, or a sidestep. You would have crashed right into the ground, breaking all your teeth out.) He then took a defensive stance -which meant I was to attack first- and added, (Now try to hit me again.)

I nodded and launched myself at him again with an aerial ace attack. He sparked, and before I knew it, his thunder blasted me thirty feet away from him. I skidded and rolled another ten feet, then pushed myself back up. It looked like that wasn't going to work. I looked around for some kind of thing to use against him, but all I saw were bushes, trees and cliffs. Then, an idea struck me.

I readied myself again and then flew at him with another aerial ace. He seemed confused by this, but he shrugged it off. When I was close enough, he released another thunder, but I deflected it with my thunderbolt. His defense wide open, I sliced my scythe into his foreleg and landed behind him, staggering from the pain I felt. His leg went limp, but as soon as I was celebrating my infliction on him, he slammed me into the wall with a powerful swipe of his tail and a light thunder for good measure.

I had my eyes closed, so when I heard my Lord's human voice, I started. "Very good," he said, panting, "I didn't expect that." I looked up and saw him looking absently at the wound I had caused; his bright crimson blood slowly seeped into his white shirt and trailed lethargically down his half-bare arm. I gasped. I didn't mean to draw blood!

I hopped onto my sore feet and tried to sputter an apology, but he wouldn't hear of it. "I knew what could happen," he stated soothingly. "It's not your fault. I should have kept my guard better." He sat down on a rock and pulled out a small bag filled with potions and the like. I stared blankly at it for a moment. Where had that come from?

At my blank stare, he said, "I told Illauna what I wanted to do today and she lent me some. Last night, while you were asleep, I went and brought this bag here for today." He began spraying on his arm, which confused me.

"I thought pokemon medicines didn't work on humans?" He flinched, but I assumed it was from the potion, not my question. He shook his head and began to spray me with the super potion bottle.

"Technically, I'm not ENTIRELY human. Oh sure, I look, smell, sound and probably taste like a human, but the symbol on my forehead keeps me slightly pokemon." He sprayed a few more times, then put the bottle away in the bag. "I'm pokemon enough to be healed like this, but not enough to the point if some moron throws a ball at me, I'll go in. Does that make sense?"

I nodded slowly; it really didn't but I didn't want to delve into impossible sciences. He smiled at my understanding and looked at a small watch that he had pulled out of the bag. "We'd better get back now; I bet Shayla's starting to pace. Our match's coming up." He stood, then frowned as he picked at the bloody splotch on his sleeve. "This a problem… I'll look conspicuous…"

I shrugged. "Spit on it, then run it under some water, it'll come out." He looked at me with a quirked eyebrow, and I felt I had to explain myself. "Well… Shayla was reading this Marthy Stewy… magazine and I picked it up."

He rolled his eyes as he transformed into his true form. "You have a strange selective memory.) He led us into the Void and back to the hotel, where through the veil, I could see hundreds of trainers lined up, talking, calming themselves and watching a TV with the current match. Shayla was easy to spot because she wasn't doing any of these; she was pacing quickly while staring at a watch.

Kaiyou and I stepped out of the Void amongst the throng of trainers in front of our own trainer. I was surprised that Kaiyou wanted to reveal himself, but he stepped out into the open before I could say anything. The conversations of the trainers stopped abruptly as he and I stepped out of the protective Void. He surveyed the trainers and then glanced down to Shayla, who wasn't captivated in an awe-struck silence like the other trainers. "Took you long enough," she muttered sternly. Kaiyou merely shrugged his canine shoulders.

She strode through the plethora of bodies to the dome, to which Kaiyou followed us through vanishing in and out of the Void where the facilities were too small to accommodate him. Shayla checked in and then we strode out onto the field. Our opponent was already in his cage-like stand, picking at his fingernails. Shayla, with great dignity, took her spot as the crowd cheered. Over the roar of the crowd, the man we were facing cried, "I'm gonna flatten you with my power, girlie!"

Since I was not participating, I could stand right beside my trainer and watch. The man sent out a very powerful-looking alakazam out, and I looked up to Shayla's face. She wore a menacing grin, and then called out for my Lord. "Kaiyou! Come out!"

My Lord slowly emerged from the Void from the now heightened podium Shayla and I stood upon. Once he was out completely, the announcer began to narrate the battle. "And Cheston sends out his faithful alakazam! But Shayla… what pokemon does she have? I've never seen one like that before!"

Cheston wasted no time. "Alakazam!" he cried, "psychic!"

Kaiyou sat down and began to scratch an itch as the attack hit him, then absorbed into him. The crowd gasped, and then the announcer cried, "It's a Dark type! Psychic attacks are no use here! It seems that Cheston has lost precious time with that attack!"

My Lord charged forward, his mouth open for a crunch attack. He grabbed the alakazam with his jaws, then sent the psychic pokemon flying into his trainer's podium. "Alakazam!" Cheston cried. The pokemon was already fainted, and he disappeared into the red light of his poke ball. The crowd went insane.

"And Shayla Kyreson has taken out one of his pokemon in ONE HIT! Folks, I have NEVER seen the likes of this pokemon! What is it to make it so powerful? And Shayla isn't even commanding it!"

As to prove the announcer's point, Shayla leaned back on the white railing and pulled out a little Garfield comic. Kaiyou was having a field day.

(Don't people train pokemon to a caliber that doesn't make me feel like I'm slaughtering these guys? It seems Illauna and Shayla are the only trainers competent enough to properly train.)

Cheston then threw out his next pokemon, a hitmonlee. Kaiyou sneered at the fighting-type, and sparks came flying around his fur. The judge took down his flags and a new match began.

The hitmonlee charged at my Lord with a high jump kick, but Kaiyou simply knocked him out of the way with a slap of his tail. The hitmonlee was pummeled into the concrete, leaving a dent. But he was not out. He rose, then charged with a mega kick. "Can this hitmonlee withstand the incredible power of this strange new pokemon?" the announcer asked rhetorically. No… I replied bluntly in my mind.

My Lord rolled with the direction of the kick into the Void. For the moment that he had disappeared, the crowd gasped and then went silent. The hitmonlee, now at a loss for what to do, quickly glanced at his surroundings like a paranoid bird. "Where did it go?" the announcer asked.

The question was answered as Kaiyou jumped out of the Void right under the hitmonlee. The fighting pokemon was now in my Lord's jaws, suffering under his cruel fangs. With a quick movement of his head, the hitmonlee flew out of my Lord's mouth and back into the concrete, where it lay still.

"Hitmonlee is unable to battle!" the judge cried, "The new pokemon is the winner!"

The crowd was insane now; they rose to their feet and cheered to a deafening volume. Shayla merely turned a page and continued reading her Garfield. "AMAZING!" the announcer cried, "This new pokemon seems to be unbeatable! Will Cheston be able to overcome this pokemon with his last?"

Kaiyou then howled a haunting note, making the crowd silence momentarily. Then they erupted into an even louder roar, which made my Lord chuckle happily. (They like what see,) he snickered in my mental ear.

I merely shook my head; my Lord was giddy. His tail swung from side to side as he wagged it cheerfully and Cheston sent out Kaiyou's next and final victim. It was a blastoise, sturdy, powerful. Of course, he wasn't strong enough to withstand my Lord's power. Kaiyou snarled, then let his own thunder envelop him in a strange, yellow and gold aura. It sparked dangerously around him, creating an electric shield. He let a feral howl out of his throat, then unleashed it upon the poor blastoise, who could do naught but watch. The electricity hit the water tortoise; then the blastoise fell and did not attempt to get back up. Kaiyou righted his posture as the judge proclaimed Kaiyou and Shayla -who was still reading Garfield- the winners.

"Amazing!" the announcer proclaimed as we left the podium, "Simply amazing! What kind of pokemon is Shayla wielding to have that specimen on her team? I feel sorry for the next trainer to cross her!" We strode away -my Lord in the Veil beside us- from the field and into the lobby. Some trainers stepped back from us; others drew close to us and bombarded Shayla with question after question.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Can I have it?"

"I'll trade you ANYTHING for it!"

"I'll give you whatever you want -money, pokemon, ANYTHING!"

Shayla paid no heed to these questions as we slowly made our way to our hotel room. "We won't know who we face next until the prelims are done. We'll chill out at the hotel room until we're called, assuming we get there before then." The last part came out in a gritted frown, and it made me chuckle. I hopped into the Void and joined my Lord.

"That was a nice display you had," I began smugly. "Were we merely showing off power?"

Kaiyou shrugged his canine shoulders. (Depends on how you look at it. One COULD say that I was showing off -which is simply preposterous- or that I was battling. I didn't want to take any chances with hitting a pokemon with too little strength; that would let them get a counter-attack in.) I frowned.

"Not likely," I replied sarcastically. He hit me lightly with his great black paw and scoffed. I sighed and then trotted onward. Arden then entered my mind, and I swooned happily at the thought of conversing with him again. Kaiyou noticed and asked, (…What are you thinking about to have THAT expression on your face?)

I corrected my expression to one of contempt. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

He laughed. (Is my Ayako daydreaming? Oooh, what about?)

"Nothing!" I cried again, this time a little desperate. Wrong move.

(It HAS to be something -something IMPORTANT- to receive a denial like that. Let's see… I doubt it's of anyone I know…) I sighed heavily as he went on, trying to guess. (You have a boyfriend, don't you?)

"I do not!" I cried indignantly.

(You do now,) he replied with a snicker. (My sister was like that when she first fell in love. I know the drill. So who is it? The jolteon?)

I stopped dead in my tracks. Why would he think of Tai? Why not Kazu? I glared up at him, and replied, "NO! It's not him! I would have to have a complete mental breakdown before I even… bleh," I concluded, not able to finish my sentence. But what confused me the most was that it was not disgust that I felt for the jolteon deep inside, though it was what I conveyed. What was that little flutter in my stomach called?

Kaiyou was silent for a little bit, then, (Don't be too sure, Ayako. However, if that's what you want, fine. It's not the jolteon.)

"No, it's not," I replied sternly.

(So who is it?) I sighed again, feeling my stubbornness fade. Maybe I should just tell him…

"A… Another absol. His name's Arden. I met him in the air lock at the beginning of the opening ceremony."

I saw my Lord's eyebrow cock. (Air lock… that's romantic.)

I hit him with my clawed paw. "I never said it was!" I exclaimed. "He's nice, and he's smart, and…"

As I told my Lord what had transpired between Arden and I, he listened silently, merely nodding and interjecting little "yes's" and "no's" whenever I asked him something. At the end, he said softly, (Ayako, you've only met him once. Don't get too carried away in your fantasies. They may misguide you.)

I looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?" But instead of elaborating, he merely shrugged and then leaped out of the Void to our suite. Jumping out after him, I stood in the den, still baffled as I watched him transformed. What did he have against Arden? I frowned and then plopped down onto the couch, not bothering to follow the now human Kaiyou into his room. What did he know about Arden? He didn't meet him. He wasn't there when we met.

I sighed and drifted off to sleep, frustrated at my Lord's narrow mind. Kaiyou didn't know anything… didn't… know anything…

……………………….

Yeah, yeah I know. Sucky ending, but I had to end it somewhere. So meh.

School sucks. We get out on the 21st of December for Christmas. Isn't that stupid? Hate.

Oh well.

Ja!