Message from Venus: Okay… thanks everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it helps me so much… here's Chapter 2! And after this huge battle, the actual plot and all that of the story will begin, ok? ^^; Sorry to keep you waiting… Anyway, please go and read (or at least try to, lol) and then review when you're done, thanks a lot!

***

Letting the Moonlight Die

~*Part 2*~

Luna, a pure black fox-like Pokémon known as Umbreon, set her gaze on the night stars flickering outside the window. She was rested against the small bed that her trainer, Damien, was snuggled contentedly in. Luna's eyes were fixed on the beautiful moon. Whenever she looked at it, it gave her everything one could hope for; happiness, courage, and a will to do anything she set her mind to. This would be helpful for the upcoming battle that would take place tomorrow afternoon. Luna knew that though the other Pokémon were very good battlers, Damien counted on her the most to come through for him. It could be a bit nerve-racking, but Luna trusted her trainer, and most importantly, herself. She then let out a small hushed yawn, and carefully laid her head down to rest on her paws, quickly drifting off into a deep sleep.

***

"What do you mean the match is cancelled!?!" Damien watched quietly and helplessly as another trainer around his age of 14 yelled wildly at a chubby man, probably somewhere in his 40s. The trainer looked very mad, and Damien could understand why. Just a few minutes ago, they had received some terrible news… the large stadium in which the final round of the Jade Championships had burned down at around 3:00 that morning. (The cause of the fire had not yet been determined) Therefore the match had to be delayed, and Damien's competitor, known as Jamie, had not taken the news well. Damien just sat in the comfy chair of the Pokémon center, staring down at his Pokéballs, not knowing what to think.

"Well, what do you expect us to do? Let you have the most important match ever on the burnt rubble where the stadium used to be and let the audience just stand there and watch?" The man replied, sarcastically. Jamie looked thoughtful for a second. He didn't want this match delayed, not when he and his Pokémon were all so prepared for it.

"Why don't we have the battle down by the lake? It wouldn't be that much trouble to set up bleachers and everything so the audience could sit and enjoy too, would it?" The man's eyes opened wide.

"That's not a bad idea! But…" He trailed off.

"But what?" Damien found himself entering the conversation. He was getting excited about this idea Jamie brought up, because he too was really looking forward to the match, and wanted it as soon as possible.

"…but there won't be enough room for audience that way." The man told the two anxious trainers.

"Aw, come on!" Jamie cried. "If we wait any longer, everyone who gathered here in Crimson City will leave anyway! They came here for a battle, and so did I!" The man looked at Jamie, a very thoughtful expression upon his face.

"Oh all right." He gave in. Jamie pumped his fist in the air happily.

"Alright!!" He yelled, jumping up and down.

"Great!" Damien smiled from the chair he was sitting on. He looked back down at the Pokéballs which were lying on his lap. One of them was special, the black one with a crescent moon. It was a custom-made Pokéball he had ordered for his special friend ages ago. He'd get them for his other Pokémon also, but he just couldn't afford anymore. Hopefully he'd win money in this tournament. Damien smiled at the Pokéballs, knowing his closest friends were inside, and would be fighting for him in this important match. "I'm counting on you." He whispered.

***

"We are all gathered here to witness the final showdown of the Jade Championships! Only two trainers have made it this far, and they seem to have the toughest Pokémon out there! Be prepared for what should be the greatest battle yet!" The announcer said, this time over two smaller speakers. It was still fairly easy to here his loud voice though. The speakers were attached to the large bleachers which had been set up, and were now crowded with many eager people. Because not all of them could fit, quite a few people stood outside the battlefield, close to the bleachers, and watched the battle from there. Some even brought their own chairs.

Damien, standing on the far side of the grassy field which lay nearby a lake, gazed at his opponent. Jamie stared back, from the other end of the large area. He already had a Pokéball in his hand, an excited grin plastered upon his face. Damien was busy concentrating on which Pokémon he should choose to start this battle first. It would be a 3 on 3 match, like all the others in the League had been.

"Let the battle begin!" The ref, standing fairly close to the bleachers waved his flag, indicating for the trainers to send out their Pokémon at once. At the beginning of a battle, it was a rule for both trainers to send out their starting Pokémon at the exact same time. If one sent out their Pokémon even the slightest bit earlier, the other would have the time to choose a Pokémon with an advantage over it, which wasn't fair at all.

"I choose Charizard!" Jamie yelled, and sent a Pokéball twirling toward the grass. A huge dragon emerged from the tiny ball, and the ball flew back directly to Jamie's hands. The Charizard looked vicious, like most dragons are said to. He had large wings sprouting from his shoulders, and at the end of his long orange tail was a roaring flame, which was his direct power source. At this same moment, Damien knew the rules well, and knew he had to send out his first Pokémon immediately, but he hadn't had enough time to choose which one he was going to begin with. Panicking, he picked a random Pokéball off his belt, and threw it to the grass as fast as he could. Emerging from the red light was Flura, Damien's elegant little Chikorita. Her leaf was lush and moist, indicating she was healthy, and she put on her best battle pose. But it took Damien a minute to realize the mistake he had made in sending out his cute grass Pokémon against a fierce fire-breathing dragon. The audience gasped. Damien needed to recall Flura, and quick, but before anything could be done, Jamie commanded his Pokémon.

"Ember!" Without moving a step, Charizard opened his mouth wide and let out a large fire ball, which blasted strait toward Flura, nearly hitting her dead on.

"Chiiika!" She screamed as she narrowly avoided the attack. She wanted to look really tough against this dragon, but she was trembling inside, more than she ever had in her life. She felt tears coming to her eyes. Why was Damien making her face against this huge thing, that she knew no matter how hard she tried, would never fall down to her? She began wondering if her trainer even cared.

"Flura, return now!" Damien threw his Pokéball out so that it would catch Flura within it, and return her to its safety. But Jamie seemed to be ready for this.

"Not so fast!" He yelled, and Charizard quickly blew out another small flame, which shot the Pokéball strait back to Damien.

"Ouch!" Damien cried as the Pokéball scolded his hand open its landing. He then realized what Charizard had done. "No fair!" He screamed out. He was worried about his little grass Pokémon; he didn't want her to get hurt. She needed to come back as quickly as possible! Damien quickly tried again, this time only pushing the button in the middle of the Pokéball, which would let the beam soar out to suck Flura up. But the Charizard had this one covered too, as he swiftly flew in front of the beam, blocking it from Flura. The small Chikorita began to tremble.

"I want out of here… now!" She thought to herself, as she backed away from the Charizard's wicked grin. Damien tried again and again to return Flura, but each time Charizard blocked the ball.

"Wow, it seems this Charizard's doing all it can to make Chikorita stay in the battle area! He must really want victory over Chikorita!" the announcer yelled.

"I guess we'll just have to fight it…" Damien growled.

"Chi…" Flura turned her body to face Charizard, and tried to look at least a little tough. Not only was she frightened, but she was also embarrassed, having a huge audience staring down at her. "Chika!" She tried giving a frightening growl, but Charizard only replied with a small chuckle.

"This is amusing…" He thought to himself.

"Alright Charizard, now that she's stuck, let's burn that little Chikorita to ashes!" Jamie commanded. Charizard gave a nod, and with a loud roar, he opened his mouth revealing a huge stream of fire, which was hurled out directly toward Flura.

"Run Flura! Run run run!!" Damien called to his Pokémon. Flura could hear the fear in Damien's voice, and to know that Damien was frightened didn't help Flura at all. But she nodded, and took off, dodging the large flame from side to side. She couldn't let it hit her, she just couldn't. Suddenly, Damien got an interesting idea in his head. "Flura, run toward the water! As fast as you can, Flura!"

"Chiiika!" Flura yelled in response, and took off toward the lake as fast as her tiny legs could muster. But it wasn't enough to outrun the large Charizard, who was much faster then her, being able to fly and all. He flew high, and landed in front of her, blocking her path to the water. Flura skidded to a stop, terrified.

"Ka…" She trembled.

"Now Charizard! Fire Blast!" Jamie commanded.

"No…" Damien said aloud; his mouth dropping. His beloved little Chikorita was going to be ashes in a few seconds if he didn't do something quick. "Vine whip now!" He yelled, without thinking twice.

"Chiii!" Flura shut her eyes slightly, preparing for the powerful attack to collide into her. But at the same time, she released two long green vines from her neck, letting them feel their way to Charizard, and quickly wrapped them around his foot.

Then, the Fire blast hit. Flura felt the worst pain she had ever felt in her life. She could feel her leaf burning right up, and the rest of her body turning black.

The blast ended. Flura could barely open her eyes, but she slowly did anyway. She saw two black paws lying in front of her, but didn't see the Charizard facing her the same way he had been before the attack. Instead, he was lying in the shallow water; his flame slowly getting smaller and smaller. In his left foot were a few tangled vines, which were no longer attached to anything. Flura winced as she realized the fire had scorched her vines right off, and passed out. The pain traveling through her body was just too much.

"Flura, return now!" Damien ran out onto the field, recalling Flura back into the safety of her Pokéball. He felt a tear or two in his eyes; he couldn't stand to see a Pokémon in such bad condition. But he was very proud of her… especially what happened as she got hit. Flura didn't see it, but her vine whip had wrapped around Charizard's foot just as he used the attack. The scolding hot flames burned the vines right off, but the force of such a tight pull being released so fast sent Charizard flying backward into the water. His flame was getting smaller by the second, meaning his health was rapidly dropping.

"Charizard, return." Jamie held up a Pokéball, pushed the button, and Charizard descended back into it. Jamie didn't want to recall his Charizard, but there was no choice. From the position Charizard was in, there's no way he would be able to get back up onto his feet without a struggle, which would probably result in his bright flame burning right out.

"WOW! What an awesome beginning to this battle, both Chikorita and Charizard fainted simultaneously! What will happen with the next two combatants?" The announcer roared.

Seeing the condition Flura was in, a kind looking nurse with bright pink hair, known to everybody as Nurse Joy, ran out to Damien. He gave Nurse Joy Flura's pokéball gratefully, and she ran off to put her in intensive care. As Damien returned to his spot on the side of the field, he felt one of the Pokéballs on his belt shake a few times. As this happened, a great light flashed, and Luna appeared, staring at Jamie, her eyes filled with sadness and anger. She knew Flura had been hurt badly by Jamie's Pokémon, and she wanted to get out there and have her revenge. Badly. Damien seemed to understand his Pokémon, and he gently placed his hand onto Luna's head, which was covered with short, soft black fur.

"No." He said quietly. "Luna, you're my strongest Pokémon. I know you want revenge, but I need to save you for last." Luna looked up into Damien's sincere green eyes, and nodded slowly. She'd get the revenge she wanted when the time came.

"The next Pokémon will be sent out now!" The ref called. Damien quickly grabbed his next Pokéball.

"Let's go, Bubbles!" he shouted as he tossed the Pokéball onto the grassy area. The Pokéball hit the ground, opened, allowed a Pokémon to emerge, and flung itself back to Damien's hand. The Pokémon that emerged looked a little dizzy and goofy at first, but he immediately made a fighting pose which caused him to look a lot tougher. He was a fairly large turtle-like Pokémon, standing on only his hind leg. His skin was a light blue color, which was gleaming from the bright sun reflecting off it. He had a large white fluffy tail, which curled at the end. And on the top of his head were two white ears, which looked quite feathery.

"Go Blaster!" Jamie sent out his own Pokémon at the same time. An even larger turtle-like Pokémon emerged, almost as big as the Charizard that had been out just before it. He had a huge muscular body, and lacked the "fluff" the other turtle had. Instead, he had a small blue tail which matched his body, and small cat-like ears on the head.

"Blastoise!" he cried in a deep voice.

"Wow!" Cried the announcer. "Jamie has sent out Blastoise, while Damien has chosen a lower evolution form, Wartortle! What kind of match can we expect this to lead up to?"

"Blas…"

"Tor…" The Blastoise and Wartortle murmured, having a stare down with each other.

"Don't worry Bubbles!" Damien called out encouragingly. "He may be bigger then you, but certainly not tougher!" The Wartortle nodded, trusting his trainer. He continued staring at Blastoise, awaiting his first command.

"Blaster, use Bubblebeam!" Jamie yelled. Blaster nodded, and the top parts of his shell seemed to open up. Out came two large pumps, which were almost directly above her shoulders. The Blastiose then began spurting many bubbles out of them. Although the small bubbles looked harmless, they hit Bubbles with a painful stinging sensation, and he was forced to back away a few steps, trying to avoid the rest of them.

"Quickly use withdraw and rapid spin!" Damien figured out what attack would be best. Bubbles nodded and disappeared into his shell, which began spinning swiftly, and lifting itself up, rammed into Blaster. Unfortunately for the Wartortle, Blaster used his own withdraw just in time, and the attack just bounced off.

"Wartortle war…" Bubbles brushed some dirt off his legs as he emerged from inside his shell after getting knocked back.

"Use Hydro Pump!" Jamie commanded. Instantly, the shell of Blaster began to spin similar to the way Bubbles' had, only this time, instead of rising, water began to rapidly pump of the shell. The large streams of water were all being pumped out in a spinning fashion, so it would be one after another continuously. The first stream was enough to knock Bubbles far back, and the next hit less then a second after. And the next, and the next. The pressure was too much for Bubbles to stand much longer.

"Bubbles! Stand your ground!" Damien yelled, unsure of how to get Bubbles out of this frightening situation.

"Keep on pumping, Blaster!"

"Tooor… wartor..." Bubbles mumbled as he got hit again and again. Becoming more and more agitated, Damien finally came up with something.

"Use Protect, Bubbles!" he yelled. Bubbles quickly used a Protect Attack, shielding him from the water completely. But even with the attack blocked, Blastoise kept going over and over again. Bubbles looked worried as he felt the shield weakening, knowing it wouldn't last much longer. He looked at Damien for support, but was surprised when he saw the smile on Damien's face. Damien had something planned, Bubbles knew it. The shield was wearing down, getting weaker by the second. It would break any minute from now, and Bubbles had begun to worry.

"Keep pumping, Blaster!" Jamie yelled. But Blaster did the exact opposite, he stopped. His arms, legs, and head came out of his shell, and he slowly stood up. Everyone could tell from his expression that he was very worn out, that large attack took way too much out of him. Bubbles grinned. So Damien knew Blastoise would wear itself out this way!

"Alright Bubbles, this is great! Now just finish it with your best Scull Bash!" Bubbles lowered his head, and it began to glow white as it filled itself with energy. He jumped up, and zoomed toward the Blastoise, hitting him strait on.

"Blas…" Blaster moaned as he began dizzy and slowly collapsed onto the soft grass. Unfortunately, to bubble's horror, he also collapsed directly on top of Bubbles. As Blaster was recalled into his small Pokéball, it was revealed that Bubbles too had fainted; his shell slightly cracked. Getting hit by that Blastoise was almost as bad as getting hit with a full-fledged body slam.

"WOW! And this ends in yet another tie for Jamie and Damien! We now await their final Pokémon!" Said the announcer. Damien took a deep breath as he took Bubbles' Pokéball and returned him.

"Alright my friend." He looked down at his black friend, who was still awaiting her revenge. "You can go now! I'm counting on you buddy!" Luna looked up at him, and nodded. She ran out onto the field swiftly, awaiting her opponent's appearance.

"Go Venusaur!" Out of the very last Pokéball came a monstrous Pokémon. He didn't look as deadly as the Charizard, but one look at his blood-hot face told Luna he would be a foe to remember. His body was bulky and green and he stood on all fours. Sprouting out of his back was a giant pink flower, but most wouldn't exactly call it a pretty one. It looked almost like a deadly poisonous sort of plant. Damien's mouth dropped, amazed by the sight of this Venusaur. He had already been amazed that Jamie had raised a Charizard and a Blastoise, two of the strongest and rarest Pokémon, but now a Venusaur also? Amazing! Because Damien had never come face to face with a real Venusaur before, he wasn't yet aware of its strengths and weaknesses.

"For now I'll apply the same strategy Luna and I used with that Primeape…" Damien whispered to himself. As he heard Jamie command Venusaur to use Vine whip, Damien quickly replied, "Dodge it and use Toxic!"

"Uuumbree!" Luna cried as she jumped out of the way, dodging the large vines Venusaur extended. The vines were much larger then Flura's tiny ones, which Damien was used to. Luna then dashed over to Venusaur's large, muscular leg, and bit fiercely into it, secreting a poison, the same way she had done in her battle against the Primeape. Luna grinned, knowing she would soon get some major revenge. Jamie seemed to ignore this, and just ordered Venusaur's next command.

"Use Take Down!" He yelled.

"Saaaur!" Venusaur nodded in response, and turned toward Luna, who had just released the poisonous bite. He stepped back, getting read to charge.

"Luna, agility! Get out of the way right now!" Luna did as commanded by Damien, and quickly took off in the other direction at full speed, then slowed down and skidded to a stop, carefully waiting at the other end of the field. Venusaur had not yet begun to charge, but was about to. A blast from such a large force like that Venusaur could probably send Luna flying, and far. After taking a few more slow but powerful steps back, Venusaur began to charge toward Luna, who still sat there staring, but got her legs in a ready position. Just as he neared her, and prepared to fledge his full body weight into her, Luna crouched down and took a quick dash to the left, toward the water. Venusaur continued running in the same direction for a few more steps, but managed to stop before he ran right out of the field. He turned toward Luna, an angry expression on his face. Damien grinned.

"Venusaur may be strong, but still too slow for you!" He called out to his Umbreon, who also smiled. "Now use your – wait a second" he stopped suddenly, surprising Luna. If he didn't make a command, then Jamie would quickly make one first, she was sure of it. Hurry Up! She was thinking to herself.

"Vine Whip now!" Luna's prediction was correct. Venusaur lashed out his huge thick vines toward her, but luckily she dodged them with graceful jumps. Hoever, she might not last that long.

"What happened to the poison!?" Damien suddenly shouted, as Luna continued to dodge the vines. "Surely the poison should have taken at least some effect on Venusaur by now!"

Jamie smirked as he watched his Venusaur lash at Luna. "You should know that all Venusaur's bodies are immune to poison! That Toxic attack will do nothing to him, ever." Jamie told Damian, who looked a bit surprised. He quickly realized they needed to switch their strategy of poisoning + evading while the opponent is weak. Just as Damien turned his head to look at Luna so he could command her, she tripped, and was finally whacked by one of Venusaur's whips. She was shot 20 feet away, directly into the lake.

"No! Luna!!" Damien cried, alarmed. He knew Luna wasn't weak to the water, but he was pretty sure she couldn't swim; and Luna wasn't exactly in the shallow area, either. As she plunged into the cold lake, Luna continuously tried to push herself to the surface so she could breath. But the minute she finally surfaced, she was knocked back under by a small wave, resulting with her inhaling the water. Popping her head out again, she coughed and put up a good struggle against the waves. She wasn't that far from the shore, but was clueless of how to control her body under water; Luna had never once in her life tried to swim. "Luna!!" Damien called to his friend once again. He reached for Luna's special Pokéball. Recalling her would cause Damien to lose the match, but it wasn't worth losing a friend.

"Vine whip!" Jamie called, getting excited. He was pretty sure that now with Luna in the water, Venusaur would win this battle. Venusaur sent out a single vine which extended out into the water. It lashed at her, and sent her flying a few feet up in the air For a minute Luna was happy to finally be out of that dreadful place, but she soon splashed right back in. Jamie smirked. "Again!" He called.

"No!" Damien screamed, ready to run out and return her to safety. But as he remembered the vine lashed out into the water, hitting Luna, and coming back to the Venusaur, he thought of an idea. Venusaur once again threw out one of his large vines. But this time as it neared Luna, Damien called out, "Grab onto the vine!!" The impact of the vine hitting her nearly blew Luna away again, but she managed to grab hold of the vine with her teeth. After sailing with it for only about 3 feet, the pressure of it going so fast was too much, and she let go, tumbling to the ground. At least it was the steady ground this time. Damien gasped as he saw the large red gashes in Luna's skin, which were caused from such a powerful Vine Whip. Luna was lying on the ground, unmoving, though she looked in great pain.

"Luna my friend, Get up now! Please get up!" Damien cried, and his voice was heard. Luna slowly opened her eyes, and began to rise to her feet, although she was very wobbly and unstable.

"Now's the perfect time to finish her, Venusaur. Solar Beam!!" Ordered Jamie. The large plant on Venusaur's back began to glow as it filled up with solar energy, and before long, he aimed forward, getting ready to release the energy.

"Luna, get out of the way and hurry!" Damien yelled. Luna nodded and slowly began walking to the side, one foot at a time. "Hurry!!!" Damien cried again. Luna tried to break into a dash, but she felt so dizzy and lost total control of herself as she tripped and tumbled to the ground. She barely made an effort to get up.

"Luna!!" Damien screamed loudly, shielding his eyes from the intense light of the Solar Beam as it finally released from Venusaur's flower, heading strait for the struggling Umbreon.

***

Thanks for reading all this, yet again. Now, go review. Please. ^^' Oh, and a few things: The reason this battle was only three on three will be explained in the next chapter, don't worry. (You'd think a final match would be six on six, no?) Also, the Blastoise's Hydro pump… I know it's supposed to come out of the cannons on his back, but I needed it to come out the Squirtle way, lol, would make things a lot easier. I'm sure you can understand. ^^'

~Venus