Uploaded May 14th, 2012

Behold, my friends, Alysson VS Gulka!

Bane: Read.

Alysson and Gulka's match began. Alysson tossed out two Pokemon; one was her Normlos, but the other was a new Pokemon. This one-foot tall Pokemon had a red-and-blue body and two small wings (which, oddly enough, were inverted colors to each side of the body), a tiny beak, green rabbit-tail, four padded feet with practically no legs, and, to top it all off, two angry-looking eyes. "Jerbirfur!" it cawed, flapping it's wings proudly and beginning to preen itself.

"Huh. A bird/gerbil Pokemon," Bane observed, silently examining the new Pokemon.

I nodded. "Yeah, it's something alright," I agreed unfocusedly. I made a mental note to ask Alysson about it later.

Gulka had chosen her Muk and Beedrill. Well, at least I won't be falling asleep during this match, I thought to myself as Gulka gave her Beedrill a hyper potion.

"Normlos, bounce on Beedrill! Llama, rage!" Alysson called, opening the battle. Her Pokemon immediately followed, Normlos shooting upward and Llama puffing its chest -Woah, woah, woah, Llama? What on earth would possess her to name a half-gerbil, half-bird Pokemon "Llama"? I added this curiosity to my mental notes as well. Normlos attempted to land on Beedrill, but the Bug-type was just too agile. "Keep trying, Normlos!" Alysson encouraged. Normlos continued her attempts, never staying on ground for more than half a second.

"Muk, sludge bomb at the bird thing," Gulka ordered. Muk let out a noise that sounded like both a groan and a roar at once and shot sludge blobs from its hand.

Llama just stood there and let the blobs hit it, one after the other, only flinching with each hit. "Keep it up, Llama!" Alysson encouraged. "Normlos, try acrobatics!"

Man, bounce, hurricane, and now acrobatics? For a Normal-type this Pokemon sure has a lotta powerful Flying-type moves, I mentally noted. (I'm making a lotta notes, aren't I?) Normlos hopped around the arena on the tip of its tail and nose, then knocked Beedrill flying.

"Beedrill, twinneedle!" Gulka countered. Beedrill caught itself and thrust toward Normlos.

"Acrobatic dodge, Normlos!" Alysson called. Normlos agilely dodged Beedrill's many twinneedle attempts, quickly wearing out the buzzing Poison-type.

Meanwhile, Llama was taking all that Muk was dishing, and I for one was amazed it was still standing. "Alright, Llama, move outta Muk's line of fire, then use roost and wing attack!" Alysson ordered.

Gerbirfur got clear of Muk then closed its eyes in focus. "Roost heals a Pokemon," Bane pointed out upon my quizzical look at the little Pokemon.

"Thanks," I muttered, my full attention on the battle at hand. Llama opened its eyes and gave a great battle cry, suddenly rushing toward Muk at top speed. Considering Llama had very short legs, it was kind of funny to see a tiny round bird/gerbil waddle/running toward the large blob of poison that was Muk whilst crying out "GERBIRRRR!"

Bane held back a snicker and I just smirked. Then the Gerbirfur raised a wing and slapped Muk, knocking it back a good few feet in the process.

We all stared, eyes wide. "What was that!" Bane shouted after a moment. "Are ALL of your Pokemon ridiculously strong!"

Alysson giggled nervously and shuffled her feet. "Actually, Gerbirfur is more of a defensive Pokemon. That's how it was able to take all of Muk's attacks so easily," she explained. "Wing attack may look damaging, and have the added boost from rage, but it's not really very strong."

I looked at Muk. She was right; Muk looked surprised, but it didn't seem very injured. Bane shrugged. "I guess that attack's more for show than battle purposes," he said, now over the shock from the previous display.

I narrowed my eyes on the battlefield. "Not necessarily," I said, in deep concentration. Bane looked to me in confusion, prompting me to continue. "Look at where Beedrill and Normlos are fighting." I pointed out. Bane observed the two aerial-inclined Pokemon duking it out a distance behind Muk.

"Yeah, so?" he asked, still not seeing it.

I sighed. "Just watch for a minute," I said wearily. He observed the fight. Llama (still can't get over that name) was pushing Muk back, ever nearing Normlos and Beedrill's struggle.

"Alright, Normlos, turn it around!" Alysson shouted. Though neither Bane nor I had any idea what she meant, it appeared that Normlos did. The small snake positioned itself just right, so that when Beedrill lunged it hit Muk instead!

"MUUUK!" the blob Pokemon roared in pain. It then turned to Beedrill angrily. "Muk, muk!" it shouted indignantly at the bug.

Beedrill buzzed back angrily. While they were distracted Alysson called both of her Pokemon near to her and whispered something to them. They seemed to understand and ran back into position. I'm not sure Gulka saw this, as she was trying to stop her Pokemon's argument. "Just shut up, you two!" she shouted after several failed attempts at peace-making. They stopped to look at their trainer. "Finally," Gulka grumbled. "Alright, Muk, use mud shot! Beedrill, support with agility!" Gulka commanded, now back on the offensive.

Both Pokemon did as they were told, Muk shooting mud and Beedrill speedily circling the arena. Alysson smirked. "Alright guys, do it!" she shouted.

At her command Normlos jumped on top of Llama, who in turn flexed its wings backwards, somehow holding onto the snake. Normlos shot out a hurricane attack, while Llama aimed the little thing like a bazooka.

This attack was able to easily knock Beedrill into the wall, hard; and it easily blew Muk into the sky, not to mention making the rest of us hold onto the bleachers for our lives. "HEY! TURN DOWN THE A/C, WOULD YA!" Bane shouted, mostly airborne save for his hands that were holding onto the bleacher he once sat on.

Alysson shouted "Sorry!" over the wind and said something to her Pokemon that I couldn't hear over the wind. Suddenly the wind died down and Normlos hopped off of Llama's back. Muk laid, a motionless puddle on the floor, definitely KO'd. Beedrill was in no better shape; it was lodged into the wall so bad that Gulka had to return it to get it out.

After recalling her Pokemon, Gulka stood in silent awe for a moment. Alysson, on the other hand...

"Yay! We did it!" Alysson cheered, twirling in circles with Normlos in her outstretched arms and Llama flying in victory laps over them.

After another minute, Gulka walked over to Alysson and silently handed her her badge. Gulka turned to leave, but Alysson stopped her. "Hey!" Alysson called. Gulka looked over her shoulder. "Just get over it," Alysson said coolly, as Gulka had before.

Bane and I barely held back our laughter, still letting a chortle or two escape. Even Gulka let out a smirk at Alysson's comment. The Gym Leader then turned to look at me. "Hey," she called over. "How would you like a rematch, after you train some more?"

I was a little surprised by this. "Uh, yeah, sounds great." I called back. Gulka left through the ornate doors at the back, still smiling.

Not my longest, I'll admit, but it was longer than chapter 4!

Bane: …Dude.

Grr. Also, to anonymous reviewer "Pokekid", I'm afraid I cannot reveal the final form of Karryash, yet!

Bane: Whatever.

GLARE!

Bane: ...You just said "GLARE!"

...TAITATSU!

Bane: ?

You'll get it later.