Gregor's POV

I took my place back in the crowd to catch up on the fight I had missed. Albert was commanding his Dwebble against Guy's Pansear. The fight was going well and both Pokémon were fighting their hardest. I couldn't tell who would be winning the match overall at first glance.

The fight continued on for another good two minutes, which was impressive for unevolved Pokemon. The Pokémon both were exhausted from the match and finally Guy's Pansear fainted a little before Dwebble gave up. Guy and Albert returned their faithful Pokémon and sent out their next round of Pokémon, possibly their last round.

Whoever won this challenge I would battle if I beat Tim. Come to think of it, after two tacticians have seen each other's styles they tend to adapt new styles to rival each other's styles. My fighting style wouldn't be the same as other previous battles and neither would Tim's. This match would be very interesting indeed.

Tim finally stomped up to me and put on a cool face. "You're just trying to catch me off-guard, aren't you? Well it won't work on me."

I smiled kindly and explained, "I simply noticed the roots of your hair are a light brown compared to the rest of your black hair. It's a simple observation." He was a sharp one, but I wouldn't dare let on that I thought his observations were keen. I turned back to the fight. Albertus was fighting with his Maractus against Guy's Emolga. This would certainly be a fascinating match-up.

The Emolga raced forward and shocked the maraca-cactus Pokémon, but Maractus retaliated and hit the small rodent away with its prickly arm. Emolga eeped and fell to the ground. Guy encouraged it to continue fighting and it used the attack fake tears. Maractus fell for the attack despite Albert's warnings.

Maractus apologized to the crying and sniveling Emolga, only to get a sharp sting of electricity from the little flying squirrel Pokémon.

"And for your previous question… I think I'll let my hair just grow out…" Tim said in a low voice that I could barely hear.

I turned to him, slightly puzzled. Why was he saying this unless it meant something important to him? Tim wasn't a social man or liked to talk about things that had little significance. Was there a meaning behind his hair color? What did it signify? "Why do you want to let it grow out now? Have you had it black for a while?"

"A few years," He replied guardedly. At least he was talking, that was a step forward from his snubbing me.

"Then is it a good thing? For the change I mean." I asked, forgetting about the battle again. I wonder what a 'few years' means…

He gave a slow and dark shrug. "Why would you care?"

I gave him another kind smile to encourage him. "Our close friends are far away and I don't know about you, but I feel a little out of place." Maybe I shouldn't have said that, but I ended up saying it anyway. Perhaps Tim had very few friends and he felt alone with Utopia off in Lacunosa for the day. And if Luke didn't understand him about this business about a soothsayer, then he was feeling very alone. Maybe I could help in some small way?

Tim stayed quiet. I shrugged slightly and looked at the battle again. Maractus was attacking Emolga with its pin missiles and Emolga was trying with all of its agility to dodge each and every attack.

The match wasn't going to go on as long as the last round though. Guy danced around a bit before saying almost in beat to a song, "Acrobatics, my Emolga." Emolga, since it wasn't holding anything and could move faster, danced in the air and collided with Maractus, causing massive damage.

Albert cried out desperately for his Maractus to withstand the blow, but his Pokémon was too weak to obey. The match went to Guy Fellow; Albertus was left to accept his loss to a much younger opponent. The two shook hands, as the other contestants had done, and went to heal their Pokémon.

Malcolm gave a small announcement that Tim had showed up and would join in the tournament and the small crowd of guys clapped appreciatively. I didn't feel any apprehension about this being a public match or that I might lose. I was going to enjoy this match very much no matter the outcome. And besides, losing for me was a rare thing (not to brag or anything). Tim would be my elder by three years, but Albert was Guy's elder by three years as well and that got him nowhere in the match. Age and badge number didn't matter at all.

Tim and I came out to the battle field and faced each other in civility. I held out my hand and said, "Good luck."

"Yeah, you too I guess." He replied with a determined look in his eyes.

We headed to our sides of the dirt practice field and stared at each other, waiting to see who would draw out their Pokémon first. I wanted to know which Pokémon he would send out first so I could counter. He was only using four and I could choose four of my six. I had more decision making than he did.

Tim pulled out a great ball and I automatically knew that it was his Sigilyth. "Beartic!" I called out and my Pokémon emerged, roaring and ready for a fight.

Tim grinned and switched Pokéballs last second. "Cryogonal, Ice-beam." His snowflake Pokémon emerged from his hidden dusk ball and instantly launched an ice beam at Beartic. Tricky man.

Beartic was confident enough to take the hit and brushed it off like it was a mildly irritating bug bite. What was Tim planning with Cryogonal against Beartic? Or did he just want to fake me out for the sake of faking me out? This was truly a tactician's battle.

"Beartic, let's show them a real ice move. Icicle crash!" Cryogonal had weak physical defenses and would suffer from a direct hit whether it was super effective or not. Let's see what you do in retaliation.

"Reflect!" Was the counter order.

So he wanted Beartic up close? "Beartic, stop!" I yelled quickly. "Don't get too close to it." Cryogonal was able to bind opponents with its ice crystals, a move I had seen at Celestial tower. I wasn't going to play into his hands.

My polar bear Pokémon halted his attack and backed up a little warily. Beartic was a surprisingly timid Pokémon for being so large and scary-looking.

Tim seemed slightly impressed at my reaction, but not too much. "Ok then, let's play." He said with a glint in his eye. "Cryogonal, ice beam again."

Beartic dodged the attack this time and waited to hear my orders. I couldn't see any way I could use this battle to my advantage. I could switch out with Throh, but that would play into the close-range bind Cryogonal used. I needed a Pokémon with strong special powers. "Substitutions allowed, right?" I confirmed.

Tim nodded seriously. It almost seemed like he had planned on it, which wasn't good on my side. I didn't want to play into his hands.

I stuck with decision anyways. "Switch out Beartic, go Raven." In a matter of moments my Gothorita was standing in front of me, ready to beat the Cryogonal to bits for me. She's a little defensive of me.

Tim raised his eyebrows in a taunting smirk. "Well that ruins a bit of your bad ass team, doesn't it? You're depending on a girly Pokémon like that?"

My stomach churned a little at the familiar insult.

"Rita goth-goth gothor!" Raven was not going to let that insult past her and summoned up a powerful psyshock attack. The surge of psychic energy slammed hard into Cryogonal, almost creating a crack in its fragile ice body.

Tim Feldman was a little surprised at the attack, but quickly recovered. "Cryogonal, reflect and get closer to the Gothorita." He directed.

"Goth-goth." Raven remarked and held up her hand. The bows on her hair and belly glowed a light blue and Cryogonal was enveloped in the glow as well. "Rita goth." Raven commanded sadistically, glaring at Tim. Raven was usually a happy-go-lucky Pokémon that liked pretty things despite her gothic look. However, in a battle that starts out with an insult, she could utilize her powers very viciously.

Cryogonal, still under the influence of the blue energy, turned around to its trainer and spat out an ice beam. Tim yelped and dove out of the way just in time. He got to his feet and yelled at me, "What kind of attack is that?"

I hadn't spoken since he had insulted Raven, and she took it as a bad sign. She ordered Cryogonal again, "Ori orita goth."

The snowflake Pokémon obeyed and wrapped its trainer in its bind attack. Tim was once again confused and a little hurt by his own Pokémon, but he returned the snowflake quickly to prevent any more attacks from his own Pokémon.

He gave me and Raven a loathing glare and called out his friend Luke. "Careful, Luke," Tim warned his ghost friend. "I think that Gothorita won't hold back on its hypnotizing."

So he did figure out the hypnotizing powers of Raven, at least he was showing his aptitude. I tried to calm Raven down. "Hey, it's ok Raven, I'm fine. You're doing a great job though." Raven gave me a confirming look before loosening up a little.

"You rely on a Gothorita to fight for your esteem?" Tim remarked. Again he was proving to be an equal opponent to myself. And as such, he was trying to disturb my focus, just like how I had tried to trip him up with the remark on his hair.

"Gothorita is a great Pokémon. I think you see that after what happened to your Cryogonal." I tried to brush off his observation. Now wasn't the time to think about the past. "Psyshock, Raven." I directed. Even though it wouldn't do very much to a ghost type like Luke, it would still show them how powerful she was.

Raven summoned up her three balls of blue energy and hurled them at Luke. Being a ghost, Luke turned invisible and avoided the attack altogether.

"You can find where he is, use your psychic powers." I called out. There was surprisingly very little psychic powers couldn't do; though Luke seemed to be able to use telepathy while Raven didn't. Raven closed her eyes and her blue psychic energy pulsed from her bows. I couldn't tell if she had found Luke yet, but she seemed focused. "Psyshock again, Raven."

"Gothi goth." Raven said in her droning, terrifying voice. She was strangely meaning business and was going to put her all into this round. I hadn't seen her so involved in a battle like this before. What had happened to the flower-loving Gothorita I thought she was? Was that familiar insult somehow more painful today? Her blue energy gathered and shot out in three orbs again. This time they made contact with Luke's invisible form.

The small ghost materialized, though not terribly hurt. At Tim's suggestion, he gathered up shadows to launch at Raven in an orb. I quickly made a note of Tim's courtesy to his friend/ghost compared to his orders with Cryogonal, though I already knew that Tim and Luke were friends and not just battling partners.

But now was not the time to admire relationships. "Watch out for that attack, Raven." I cautioned.

She nodded. "Goth rita ri." She did a splendid backflip and dodged the exploding ball of shadows. A slight dust cloud kicked up from the attack and suddenly Raven was hit backwards by a trick shadow ball attack performed by the Yamask.

"Raven, you alright?" I asked my wounded Pokémon. However Luke had managed such a quick attack, I had to admit that it was impressive. I'll remember to keep an eye out for it again.

My Gothorita was wounded but not terribly. She rose to her feet and tried to hypnotize Luke like she had Cryogonal. The dust cloud cleared and Luke wasn't visible again. Ghost Pokémon certainly could be a pain to fight. If only Raven had foresight… but instead she had an even better move. "Faint attack." And faint attack never misses.

Raven dashed forward with her dark emotional energy and slammed into what looked like solid air, Luke materialized from the hit and seemed dazed from the super effective move. "Don't let up, psyshock him quick!" I directed. This battle was going to prove Raven could take on her own weakness and win, even though Luke was a slight friend and telepathy-speaking ghost. Don't mess with me in a battle though, especially after calling Raven girly.

Raven didn't let up in her attack and pummeled the little ghost with psychic energy. Luke quickly sent off another shadow ball point-blank, knocking my Pokémon back. And sadly that was all she could take. Raven struggled to fight back, but fell flat from sheer exhaustion.

I returned my starter Pokémon with a light sigh. She had done her best and that was all that mattered. I could send Beartic out again, but I had a feeling that Luke could handle him even after a faint attack. I needed to use type advantage; that is, if Tim didn't switch. "Purrloin, pursuit."

My cat sprang out with a hiss and aimed at Luke, but ended up missing. Purrlion was my weakest member and I had been trying to level him up when I came in the challenge. He still needed work on accuracy and beefing up his moves. This would be a great place for him to get experience.

"Why do you have such weak Pokémon in this match? Are you taking the battle easy on me?" Tim glared at me. He seemed to have a prejudice against girly-looking Pokémon.

"I wouldn't go easy on you; that isn't my style." I said confidently. "You can do it, Purrloin. Try another Pursuit." I encouraged. I wasn't going to go easy on Tim at all.

This time Purrloin managed to slap a little at Luke. He jumped back and continued to act as if he was a very strong and feared opponent for the ghost. Just a little more… I thought to myself.

"Luke, use Ominous Wind. Gregor might be holding back but we won't." Tim sneered at me. Luke was certainly a strong Yamask and pulled off the Ominous Wind attack perfectly. It hit Purrloin and sent the young cat skidding back. My Pokémon was shaken by the attack mentally, but his defenses held up brilliantly. This shocked Tim. "What? That cat should have been blown away!"

Eviolite, my friend. I thought. Good old eviolite. That item raised Purrloin's defenses by 50%, making him a good battler by being able to get experience by endurance. But I wasn't about to let on about Purrloin's held item. "You can do it, Purrloin, use pursuit again." Sadly my Pokémon only had pursuit as a dark attack and my attack was already predictable. Maybe Purrloin could formulate a new approach on his own.

Purrloin rushed forward in another attack and Luke predictably avoided.

Purrloin hissed angrily and tensed up, kneading the ground with his claws. Now he was annoyed. He sprang up in the air before Luke could launch a counter attack. In mid-leap Purrloin was surrounded by a white light that signaled him evolving.

I had a quick decision to make. I wanted Purrloin to grow and get stronger, but in this match the eviolite was helping defense. Once Purrloin evolved the item would be useless and the new Liepard would be easily knocked out. But I did want Purrloin to evolve… I decided to let things go as they went, even if that meant I would let Purrloin down. He wanted to grow up and I wasn't going to stop him for one measly battle.

Purrloin grew larger and leaner and crashed into the surprised Yamask. Luke still wasn't wounded terribly even after Purrloin (now Liepard) tried so hard to. Luke sent off a powerful shadow ball (his most powerful and favorite move I guessed) and sent the weakened cat sprawling back towards me.

"Lie!" Liepard hissed angrily despite his wounds.

"It's ok, you did well." I soothed the leopard Pokémon.

Timothy frowned at me. "Wait, are you giving up this round?"

"Liepard doesn't stand a chance against Luke now that his eviolite won't help him." I said with a small smile. "Luke fights very well."

Tim nodded, as if he expected that eviolite was the source of Liepard's defense in the first place. Or maybe he was just playing it that way. "Well thanks, we'll take that as a compliment." He said with a hint of pride.

I patted Liepard on the head and returned him to his Pokéball. Once I got the chance, I would be sure to give Liepard some more battle experience. But now I could only use Beartic and another one of my Pokémon. I knew who my last Pokémon would be, no doubt. "Now I'll introduce you to my last Pokémon for the match, Fraxure." I was glad that Utopia wasn't around, or I'd feel bad for calling out her phobia.

Fraxure, my trusted dragon companion, jumped out of his Pokéball in style. He raised his axe-like teeth in cutting motions and gave a mighty roar. I knew that he was just trying to gage his opponent's power and not exactly a show-off. Fraxure waited for Luke to make a move.

"Luke, switch out."

Just as I expected. "Are you sure you want Cryogonal out in this match?" I said with a hint of concern. "I don't want to be held responsible for what happens to it."

Tim frowned. He seemed to be assessing my statement and deciding whether I was using reverse psychology or not. His will to use type advantage won out and he sent out his snowflake Pokémon despite my warning. "You just don't want to lose your match to an ice-type," The dark-haired trainer replied smoothly. Cryogonal, who seemed completely cured from Raven's hypnotizing effects, hovered in the air, expressionless as always.

I didn't want to give Tim a comeback even though I knew for a fact that I would knock out Cryogonal in one hit. I didn't need to be haughty. "You can show them, Fraxure." I said evenly. "Get in close for our dragon claim."

Tim quickly analyzed my order and quickly directed for an ice-beam attack. Tim was brighter than usual opponents, but this round was still mine. Cryogonal floated to the side and shot a blue stream of ice at Fraxure.

Fraxure, just as we practiced, slashed through the attack with his claws, splitting the beam in half. He was fighting even better than while in practice. Now for our code-word, 'our dragon claim'. Fraxure ran up and brought his claws forward in a feinted dragon claw attack, then quickly opened up his mouth and spat out a super-charged incinerate attack.

Cryogonal fell to the ground, meting slightly before returning itself for fear of melting completely. Fraxure had shown off his fire-type move, but at least I had finally knocked out one of Tim's Pokémon. I was still behind in Pokémon count, but Beartic and Fraxure could pull through to fight Luke, Archeops, and Sigilyth.

Tim's eyes widened at the quick reversal, but he covered quickly. "Impressive I guess." He called out Archeops and ordered, "Dragon Breath."

Fraxure knew full well that a dragon breath wouldn't be that strong, but it would still be super effective. "Counter with your tail!" I encouraged. I couldn't explain it, but Fraxure and I seemed to be the most connected when we battled. Sure Raven was handy and powerful, but Fraxure seemed to be able to read my mind and strategy when we fought. I guess it was because we had trained so well in the past that we had prepared for everything, even code words to surprise opponents with.

My dragon flipped in the air nimbly despite his buff appearance. The dragon breath attack didn't hit and Fraxure swung his still spinning tail, now glowing like steel, slammed into the ancient bird's head. Archeops squawked in surprise and flapped away from Fraxure.

"I see. Archeops, use acrobatics on Fraxure."

"You can take it!" I called encouragingly.

Archeops ran forward, took to the air, and then threw itself at Fraxure with claws bared. Fraxure glared at the oncoming Pokémon, as if challenging it to a game of chicken. As Archeops was about to strike Fraxure, my Pokémon tilted his head artfully and slashed at the oncoming bird with his tusks.

Archeops' own momentum aided in the effectiveness of the attack and Acrobatics was pretty much nullified. The ancient bird flopped to the ground and Fraxure snorted aggressively.

Once again, Tim was surprised at my tactics and was struggling to keep up. "Archeops, are you ok?" He called out with the caring I had seen on the Celestial Tower when Archeops had evolved.

"You're doing great, Tim. As you can see, I've saved my best for last." I said in a modest tone. "Raven might have been my first Pokémon, but Fraxure is certainly my strongest."

"Maybe Nessa could learn a bit of something from your Fraxure." Tim admitted a little ruefully. He glared and mustered up his competitive spirit. "Well, Archeops still has some fight in him. That slash attack didn't do much at all to him!"

"By all means, show me your moves."

"Then use ancient power!" directed Tim.

Fraxure saw the rocks coming and jumped up in the air spinning while using iron tail on projectiles. It was a beautiful move on his part. He lost momentum as the attack was done and stumbled to the ground. His flashing dodging and parrying was tiring him out, which wasn't going to be in my favor. Archeops probably had more endurance, being a rock-type Pokémon.

Tim was getting frustrated at not being able to cause any damage on Fraxure, and Archeops mirrored his vexation.

How long will this battle take? I wondered to myself. I had Beartic and Fraxure left and Tim had three of his Pokémon that could still fight. If this ended up being a long fight, then would I end up losing? I didn't know how much Tim wanted to compete in this competition. Perhaps he only wanted to fight me. What if he gave up so that he didn't have to keep on going in the tournament? But what was I to do if that was the case? It didn't matter to my fighting style. "Fraxure, you can get close enough." I projected confidence in my voice, though I was still unsure of how the battle would continue.

My dragon roared loudly and charged forward, teeth humming in the air, ready to strike a blow with his iron tail. Archeops was strong enough still to dodge the close range attack and launched another dragon breath attack. Fraxure couldn't counter in time and was knocked back from the super effective move.

I frowned slightly. "You ok, Fraxure?" I asked.

"Xure!" my Pokémon reassured me, sounding like he was saying 'sure'. He jumped to his feet and growled at his opponent.

I smiled back. "Try to get past its defenses." Just then I noticed a strange man in the crowd. Instead of the group of teen trainers in the contest, there stood a man with blonde hair and blue piercing eyes, dressed in slight flight gear attire. The man's focused look made me feel uncomfortable and in awe at the same time. Whoever this person was, I could tell that he was a calculating battler as well. But where did he come from and why was he watching a little playful tournament?

I snapped my attention back to the battle right as Fraxure managed to land a critical hit with his iron tail to Archeops' face. There was no chance of the bird getting up after that blow, though I hoped that no permanent damage had been done. That would be highly unfortunate. "Good hit, Fraxure." I calmly congratulated my Pokémon for his cleverness in a tone that wouldn't get Tim riled up.

My efforts were in vain, Tim could find a way to get offended at anything. He glared daggers at me and called out Sigilyth to the field. "Fine, but your Pokémon has got to get tired at some point. Sigi, use air cutter!"

A long-range Pokémon. I would be in major trouble if Fraxure didn't know his incinerate attack. But should I switch out with Beartic or not? How to win this match?

A/N: ARGH! This took way longer than needed. I didn't want to divide up the fight into two chapters, but I'll have to. I've been playing PMD EoS way too much. :3