Author's Notes: Now here's where the plot starts getting shuffled up... Don't worry, I have a plan.

Guys, if you want visual reference, PLEASE check my profile. Shia and I have done TONS of art for this silly thing. But since I know most of you aren't going to bother, just picture them as they are as humans, but with tails or big ears or antennae or whatever, and you'll be fine. Kind of like catgirls, but they've all got funky-colored fur or skin or whatever too.

Oh yeah, and the end is my tribute to the awesome little previews that come at the end of the Japanese GX episodes. I wish the dub had them, they're cute. XD

----

Chapter 5

Battle Science! Electricity vs Machine?

When he walked, Chazz Princeton far more closely resembled a feline than a rodent. He did his best to stand with an aura of haughty dignity, with his arms folded behind his back, chest out, and his tail high behind him. He held the jagged bolt that was the tip of his tail aloft behind his head, like some kind of flag risen in his honor.

The boisterous conversations of his peers went quiet as he passed, and their eyes turned to follow him as he marched up the stairs to his seat. Normally, he would interpret this as awe and respect, but there were whispers in his wake, and he thought he caught the words 'defeated' and 'that Jaden kid' or 'Moltres'. His long ears, which had been held high to their full extension like proud sails, folded down behind his head. Chazz snorted and threw himself down into his seat with less grace than he had intended.

Well, he knew what would make him feel better, at least. He snapped his fingers, throwing a little spark into the air, and pointed at a group of other Articuno students who he knew admired him. "You three, get me some tea!"

But the other three boys just exchanged looks and murmured to each other. A few snickered. "Looks like no one's told him, yet..."

Chazz quickly sat up and growled, and a hapless student in the row behind him ducked out of the way of his tail. "No one's told me what?"

A shadow fell on the Raichu, and he glanced up at a large blue-coated Rhydon student. "That's not your seat anymore, Chazz."

Chazz narrowed his eyes and drew himself up, though he still only came up to the Rhydon's chest, "I don't know what you're talking about, my name is right--"

But when he turned to wave at the engraved plate bearing his name that should have been at the fore of his desk, his voice died, and he sputtered. It was gone, and the only evidence it had ever been there was a was square-shaped patch lighter than the rest of his desktop.

Crowler stepped into the room, and Chazz stood, leaning far over his desk. "Dr. Crowler, there's been some kind of mistake, my seat is--"

"Your seat is down there," the Jynx interrupted, leering up at the Raichu and pointing to a low row of seats mostly occupied by students in red coats, "I'm afraid you lost the privilege of sitting amongst such high-ranking students when you lost -- no, you practically GAVE that fight to that Moltres slacker!"

Chazz's ears fell and he backed up slightly. Crowler's face had become a terrifying scowl. The Ice-type wasn't going to show him any pity after he brushed off all those TMs he had so graciously offered. "In fact," Crowler continued in a malicious tone, smirking, "I've arranged another fight for you -- if you lose to Bastion Misawa, you'll be trading in that blue coat for something that goes with those spots on your cheeks!"

"Ch... downgraded to Zapdos?" Chazz's tail tip now hovered around his ankles, and Crowler's comment about his spots sent the class into a fit of snickering. Chazz tried to salvage his dignity by shooting his best glare at all of them, fists crackling with charge, but his indignation only made them laugh harder. Robbed of his bravado, he leapt onto the staircase and darted out of the room, but the uproarious laughter seemed to follow him through the halls.

"I won't -- I can't -- cha!" Chazz babbled as he ran, leaping up onto a railing and jumping down to a lower floor to get away from the raucous sound.

---

"I still say that wasn't fair," Jaden feigned hurt, folding his arms as he walked with Syrus and Bastion, "You two have tails!"

"There's no rule against using your tail to hit the ball," Syrus trailed closely behind him and tried not to be too amused at Jaden's poor sportsmanship.

"Syrus is correct," the Porygon piped up, "I cross-referenced several sports databases and found no instance where soccer match forbade players from using anything other than their hands."

"Yeah, well... still!" Jaden looked back and stuck the tip of his tongue out at them.

"I assure you, Jaden, the fact I possess a tail played no part in my victory," Bastion held up one hand, and the sun glinted off of his colorful, crystalline silicon casing, "I was simply able to gauge the reaction times of my opponents, and calculate the precise angle and amount of force to apply to the ball so that its trajectory--"

Syrus and Jaden stared at him blankly. "Hey, pal, could ya stick to English?" Jaden requested sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Bastion's face took on an angular frown. "But I haven't switched language modes."

Jaden exchanged a look with Syrus. "You just sound too much like our math teacher. We're not in class, you can chill!"

"Chill?" Bastion tilted his head, "You misunderstand. I was programmed to understand the world in terms of formulae and calculations. To... 'chill', as you put it, would go against my primary operating functions, unless you want me to literally lower my core temperature--"

"No, no, that's okay," Jaden laughed and quickly waved his hands. "I've never seen another Porygon 'morph before -- are they all like you?"

"Not at all, for you see," Bastion set his fist on his chest, smiling proudly, "I'm one of a kind! I was specifically created as a prototype for a line of non-virtual battling Porygons, with cutting-edge AI and robotic engineering."

"Woah," Jaden and Syrus murmured simultaneously, and Jaden grinned, suddenly knocking on Bastion's chest. Bastion blinked at him in confusion, and Jaden practically giggled at the hollow, metallic sound it produced. "You really are a fighting machine!"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Bastion's square smile tilted to one side self-consciously.

"No wonder you always get the highest score on tests. I bet you've got all the answers stored away, huh?" Jaden squinted at Bastion, circling around him and looking for any buttons or switches that might be there for the pushing.

"Well, to be frank, I don't even really need to attend classes," Bastion admitted, pulling his coat collar up when Jaden poked the back of his neck, "My archive contains the complete core curriculum for Battle Academy, and I can easily download new databases containing any information I require."

Sy tugged Jaden away before he harassed Bastion further, and looked up at the Porygon. "Why do you have to go, then? I mean, if you can just download whatever... School seems kinda pointless."

"You might say that Battle Academy is beta testing me," Bastion opened the door to the Zapdos dorm, "I am only a prototype. I was sent here so I could be placed in an uncontrolled environment and maximize my AI with adaptive behaviors. I've been learning how to interact with others, not to mention battling a wide array of exceptionally talented opponents. Hopefully, all of this will help me become efficient both in and outside of battle."

"That's sweet! You're just like Voltron or something!" Jaden hopped from one foot to the other. Bastion just looked perplexed.

Syrus pinned his ears back, grimacing, "I think you need to lay off of the cartoons, Jaden... It's time for us to head back to Red."

Bastion tilted his head thoughtfully for a moment, then held up a hand to stop them. "Wait, I have an idea. I could use some assistance; would you two mind helping me with something?"

"Sure, pal!" Jaden's antennae perked, and he flashed two thumbs-up at Bastion, "Anything for a friend!"

Bastion's smile widened, and he motioned for them to follow him. "I'm afraid my room is in something of a state of disarray. It needs to be--"

"Eee... Painted?" Syrus frowned and wrinkled his nose. The Porygon and Venonat looked down at their small companion.

"Woah, Sy, are you psychic?" Jaden laughed and Syrus shook his head.

"No, I started smelling it when we were coming down the hall. It's kind of distinctive..."

"That makes sense. Eevees and all of their various evolutions have well over a thousand scent receptors in their olfactory glands," Bastion noted casually and opened the door to his room and leaned down, picking up a can of paint, "All of them quite accurate, it seems."

But Jaden and Syrus were too awed at the insane mathematical scribbles covering the walls of Bastion's room to pay attention to his miniature lecture on canine anatomy. Bastion scrunched his shoulders as if he were shy, but the motion was a little stiff. "Sometimes I, ah... Like to challenge my processors by taking all of my calculating functions offline and solving problems manually."

"Sometimes?" Jaden stepped into the middle of the otherwise barren room and gaped at the formulae on the walls. Aside from a bed and a small dresser, the only thing in the dorm was a state of the art computer system. A rack of strange tools and gadgets sat beside it, all plugged into a power block.

Jaden was drawn to the soft glow of the monitor, 'ooh'ing quietly under his breath. "I bet you have some sweet games on this!"

"I'm afraid there's not much on there except my extra databanks and backups. It's what I use to acquire new information for my archive, and to keep spare data so the memory disks on my person always have plenty of room," Bastion chuckled when Jaden's antennae sagged in disappointment, "It is, however, connected to the entirety of the school network and the student database. I can research opponents thoroughly and formulate a strategy."

"Woah, you're allowed to look up stuff about an opponent before you fight? Maybe I should try that sometime!" Jaden stood up straight, "But on the other hand, it kinda takes away from the thrill of surprise, y'know? Haven't you ever just fought someone by gut instinct?"

Bastion hesitated. "Not yet. The fighters in test matches are usually determined a week or so before the test actually takes place, and lists of match-ups are freely available through the school network. However..." He trailed off, frowning.

Jaden and Syrus looked at him curiously, but he shook his head and held up the can of paint. "The longer we're idle, the longer this will take. Let's start, shall we?"

---

A few hours and gallons of paint later -- and long hot showers to get it out of fur and fuzz -- Jaden, Syrus and Bastion sat in the Zapdos Yellow cafeteria. Syrus and Jaden were still giggling and recalling key moments in their epic paint battle, and Bastion just chuckled and shook his head. "I can't say that I see the logic in painting each other instead of the walls, but you two certainly seemed to enjoy yourself."

"It was great!" Jaden wiggled in his seat beside Syrus, "Any time you want us to paint something, we'll be all over it like a couple'a Smeargles!"

"You got enough paint on my tail for me to be one," Syrus smiled and pushed up his glasses, "There was so much that I kept scrubbing because I forgot where the white tip on it started and the paint stopped!"

"Sorry, Sy," Jaden reached over and ruffled the aforementioned white spot on Sy's tail, "Next time, I'll use some wild color, like... bright neon green!"

"Ee! I don't want that in my fur!" Syrus fought both a giggle fit and Jaden's hand, yanking his tail out of reach.

Bastion came back from a brief trip to the lunch line and set a large plate with buttered lobster and garnishes before them. That got their attention immediately. "A token of my gratitude. I've never simply... 'hung out' with anyone else, I think the term is? It was different, to say the least."

"Well, you better get used to it -- it's what friends do!" Jaden grinned broadly, "That's one heck of a token! Do you Zapdos guys always eat like this?"

"Not exactly. I don't need to subsist on food... I had quite a few unused lunch credits to spare." Bastion smiled back at them, sitting across the table from the Red students.

"Food's better than money, to Jaden," Syrus grinned slightly at his friend, who was practically salivating. "Go ahead and eat, Jay, I could hear your stomach growling since we first got in here."

Jaden didn't need any more invitation than that, and broke a leg off of his fellow invertebrate, eating voraciously. Syrus turned to Bastion, "Speaking of overhearing... What was Crowler cornering you about earlier? You didn't get in trouble for hitting him with that soccer ball, did you?"

"Oh, no," Bastion folded his hands together, "He believes that I have proven myself as capable in battle as any flesh-and-blood 'morph, and that I should be granted an opportunity to advance to Articuno Blue. If I pass a special arena test tomorrow, I'll change dorms."

"Wow!" Jaden exclaimed with his mouth full, then remembered to swallow, "Must be why you wanted to paint your room, huh? Na, you deserve it! I saw you blast that proctor through the roof with that neato cannon thing! Where was that? I didn't see it in your room."

Bastion smiled and rolled up his sleeve, holding out his exposed arm. The panels of his forearm and hand suddenly jumped up and rearranged themselves with a series of mechanical whirrs and clicks, becoming the barrel of a sleek weapon. Jaden was so impressed he actually paused in his chewing for a moment.

"My Zap Cannon is a bit special -- besides the default electrical attack, with the help of upgrades and my Conversion ability, I can adjust it to draw water vapor out of the air and perform Hydro Pump, or connect a small fuel cell of combustible gas and use Flamethrower, or a whole host of other elemental attacks."

Syrus perked his ears and recalled, "Upgrades? All those gadgets that were beside your computer?"

Bastion nodded, and his arm returned to normal. "Yes, and they run on their own independent power-supply, so even if I am weak, they're at full power. But because of this, they have to be charged up if they're to function properly. It's one of the reasons why I plan for every battle beforehand, so I know which plug-ins to test and charge."

"Woah, that kinda sucks," Jaden frowned, "I guess I'd worry more about battles beforehand too, if I had to pick which attacks I was gonna be able to use. But I bet you're still gonna kick butt and win, no matter what!"

"Then we can say we're buddies with someone from Articuno -- we'll be the envy of everyone in Red!" Syrus

"Thank you," Bastion smiled modestly, and Jaden lifted his glass of soda.

"Here's to Bastion and his victory tomorrow!"

Syrus toasted Jaden's glass, before they both began tearing into the lobster. Bastion lowered his head, his smile becoming downright sheepish.

---

Moonlight shone into Chazz's room through the large bay windows that faced the sea. His coat tails gathered on the floor in front of his couch, and for once, his real tail was amongst them, limp and lifeless.

"You understand, right?"

"I know, I know," Chazz muttered to his lap, trying to ignore the large video display across from him. He didn't have to see it to know what was on it. He knew the faces of the two older Raichus on it well, and their disappointed expressions.

"We've heard some disturbing reports about your performance at Battle Academy. Would you care to explain why you failed your last test? Or should I assume you're just getting lazy?"

"No, Jaeger, I..." Chazz sighed, looking up through his bangs. On one side of the screen, the middle child of the Princeton family glowered at him. He did all the talking -- Slade was always far more quiet and stoic, but Chazz had no doubt that Jaeger was simply a mouthpiece for their eldest brother.

If it had just been Jaeger, he might have been able to come up with something to defend himself, a lie or an excuse or a rationalization, but with the way Slade seemed to loom even when he was only on screen rendered Chazz unable to do anything but lower his ears. The oldest Raichu hardly looked the part; with his dark fur, massive outline, numerous stripes and a thick black slash of a goatee, he far more closely resembled some sort of sinister Arcanine.

Slade finally spoke, evenly and without a hint of irritation, "We know you wouldn't do anything to disappoint us intentionally, littlest brother."

"You're just lucky we're too busy to get to the bottom of this," Jaeger's lip twitched. "You could show a little more gratitude while you're at it, Chazz. Do you have any idea how busy we are? Slade's in the middle of an election campaign and I have to manage an international merger, but we can still find the time to call you up."

"I'm sorry -- look, I don't know what happened," Chazz's ears fell lower, until they dragged on his shoulders, "This punk just used some super powerful move out of nowhere--"

"I don't want to hear any excuses! As far as I can tell, you haven't been doing anything except slacking on your schoolwork--"

"That's enough," Slade spoke, and Jaeger fell silent. The bearded Raichu turned his attention to Chazz, "You know the plan, Chazz. Don't let us down."

With that, the transmission cut. Left alone, Chazz sighed and slumped against the back of his couch. He just hoped his brothers hadn't found out that he was in danger of being kicked out of his elite rank at Articuno... If they did, Jaeger wouldn't be the one giving him an earful.

There was motion on the path that snaked in front of the Blue dorm, and Chazz glanced out his window. He stepped to it, pulling the curtain back. On the path, a familiar Venonat in the clothes of Moltres Red lead a small Eevee and a student in yellow.

"How am I supposed to win against jerks who can pull such powerful moves out of nowhere? I'm faster, I'm stronger, I'm more experienced, but I still can't..." Chazz muttered, narrowing his eyes and recognizing the Porygon that was with them, "Looks like robot boy is rooming with the Moltres losers tonight... ch."

He watched the trio head along the path until they were out of his sight, and he turned away from the window, sighing bitterly.

---

A frantic knocking at the door roused Syrus from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and looked around at his roommates -- Chumley and Jaden were sound asleep, and Bastion sat peacefully in the corner with his eyes closed and his lights dimmed. The Eevee frowned and shuffled out bed, opening the door.

"Syrus! Someone told me Bastion was with you two," Dorothy's worried face greeted him, "I thought someone should tell him that there was a huge power outage at the Zapdos dorm. I was afraid he'd could've been hurt."

Syrus's ear caught the sounds of clicks and the whir of booting processor fans, and when he looked back into the room, Bastion was standing. "It's a good thing I was staying with Syrus and Jaden last night; indeed, a power surge could have wrought havoc on my circuit board if I had been plugged in at the time. What caused it?"

"No one knows, there weren't any storms last night," Dorothy stepped back as Syrus and Bastion filed out of the room, followed by a yawning Jaden, "But it looks like the circuit breaker for the Yellow dorm has been completely fried. They sent a crew to the power station this morning."

Bastion frowned at the news, and something occurred to him. "Thankfully, my main computer was unplugged, but I left the upgrades in to charge. I should check on them."

Jaden and Syrus trailed after him all the way to the Yellow dorm, and the trio grimaced when they came to Bastion's room. All of his equipment was out in the hall due to the painting they had done yesterday, and the power block containing his gadgets was smoking faintly. Syrus coughed at the electrical smell and pulled his turtleneck over his nose.

"Oh, man," Jaden frowned deeply, "Your plug-in things are toast. And you have that fight today, right?"

Bastion nodded slightly, and though he outwardly looked calm, the corner of his mouth turned down. "It doesn't look like anything is damaged too badly, but it will take at least a day of repairs before they function at one-hundred percent capacity again. A faulty upgrade is as likely to damage me as my opponent, so I will have to manage with what I have on my person."

"Don't worry, Bastion, I'm sure you can do it," Syrus offered, his smile hidden by his turtleneck, and Jaden nodded enthusiastically.

"You can probably kick all kinds of butt anyway! I mean, what the heck is someone gonna do to a guy made out of this stuff?" Jaden knocked on Bastion's hard silicon nose to demonstrate his point. Bastion put on a smile.

"I appreciate your votes of confidence," he said sincerely, "My test begins shortly. Would you care to be my audience?"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Jaden grinned, "Heck, I'll even wait 'til afterwards to eat breakfast."

Syrus blinked, "Wow, Jaden, are you sure?"

"Yeah. Besides, there are about five vending machines I can hit on the way there, that should tide me over 'til then!"

Syrus sweat-dropped.

---

The trio entered the Articuno arena and were immediately subject to a haughty glare from Crowler. "You're exactly four minutes late, Bastion!"

Bastion blinked. "I believe your watch may require adjusting, sir, my internal atomic clock states--"

Crowler cut him off with a shrill sound of frustration and waved his hand. "Never mind, let's just get this over with! Bastion, Mr. Princeton, take your places."

Everyone lifted their head when Chazz stepped out from where he'd been standing behind Dr. Crowler. His ears were low, and he looked as though Crowler had subjected him to a rather nasty rant before the other three arrived.

"Chazz is your opponent? Mister No-Rules-Duel?" Jaden furrowed his brow, "Gee, I think the mystery of the power outage has been solved!"

Syrus joined him in frowning. "I smell a rat..."

Chazz's ears pinned back dangerously, "Are you two accusing me of something?"

Before Jaden could reply, two more people entered the room. Alexis hovered in, glaring accusingly at Chazz, and she was followed by a tall Umbreon Jaden hadn't seen before. Syrus's ears fell.

"We saw you head to the power station, Chazz," the dark-type spoke quietly.

Alexis narrowed her eyes, "And don't even try lying around me."

"But I didn't --" Chazz backed into his end of the arena, tail twitching nervously, "It... It was an accident! You can read my mind, tell them! I was just letting off steam, I didn't mean to hit anything!"

But Alexis just shook her head. "You'll have to get yourself out of this mess, Chazz. Someone could've been hurt."

"Yeah, and it's awfully handy that you happened to fry all of Bastion's gadgets -- you know, the ones he uses to fight with," Jaden folded his arms, "That was real low, Chazz."

"I didn't even touch any stupid -- just stay out of this, insect!"

Crowler just watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow, then looked over at Chazz. "Well, this is--"

"...something he and I are going to discuss after the fight."

The click of heavy talons on metal announced the arrival of another teacher, and even Crowler lost his cocky expression. Alexis and her companion stood aside for the tall Blaziken. Chazz's reaction was not quite so calm and collected; his ears and tail went limp. "Sensei!"

Kaen didn't look pleased. "Crowler asked me to oversee this fight and set the conditions. I did a little research on Misawa, and had figured out a condition I thought you would both find fitting. But what's this I hear about you disabling his weapons?"

Chazz struggled to come up with an excuse, but Bastion raised his hand politely. "If I may," he started, "I find everyone's concern quite humbling, but I bear Chazz no ill will. While the odds are unlikely that it was mere coincidence that it was my dorm that suffered the power surge, there is a possibility, and that's good enough for me. And besides..."

Without warning, he flipped open his jacket and incited a chorus of gasps and raised eyebrows. Beneath his jacket was a vest, and it was lined with one of every type of gadget he possessed. "I'm always prepared with back-ups!"

Jaden ooh'd and applauded his display, and Kaen smirked slightly. "Well, then, I guess everything's fine. Princeton!"

The Raichu lifted his ears attentively, and Kaen pulled a short metal bar from her belt and tossed it at him. He caught it easily, looking down at it, then back at her.

"The theme of this fight will be armed combat. Neither of you are allowed to come into physical contact with each other -- any blows stuck without the aid of a weapon will be considered invalid. Understood?"

They nodded and she stepped back from the arena. Jaden and his friends quickly took their seats.

"Begin!"

At the sound of the word, Chazz leapt high. He swept the copper bar through the air, and it telescoped out into a full length staff. The Raichu twirled it menacingly and raised it high, bearing down on Bastion with incredible speed --

But the blow hit Bastion's raised arm ineffectively. He had fallen into a defensive position as quickly as Chazz had attacked, and he unflinchingly bore the weight of the staff and the Raichu wielding it, leaving a very surprised Chazz crouched on his raised arm.

"You'll have to do better than that," Bastion looked up at him, "Copper seems a foolish metal of choice for a staff; it's far too soft to do any real damage to my reinforced crystallized silicon--"

Chazz raised his lip, but smoothed out his sneer and smirked right back at him. "This isn't a staff, you bucket of bolts."

Bastion blinked, and the Raichu's fists started crackling. He didn't move from his place on top of Bastion's arm, and arcs of electricity soon conducted madly over the length of the copper staff. "It's a lightning rod!"

A blinding flash of electricity engulfed both fighters, and in the audience, Jaden and Syrus shielded their eyes. Syrus squinted over his arm, "Poor Bastion, how's he going to survive an attack like that?"

Chazz's laughter could eventually be heard as the crackling roar of electricity faded, "Take that! I saw you fighting at the entrance exams! You didn't impress me, you artificial --"

But his voice died, and the smoke cleared. Bastion still stood, and he looked completely unfazed. He tilted his head.

"Indeed, copper is a fine conductor of electrical current," the Porygon looked downright amused, "But I'm afraid silicon is not. You'll have to try something else."

Chazz's ears fell when he realized his electricity was completely ineffective -- and when he saw that Bastion had taken the opportunity to start powering up his own attack. The Raichu found himself staring down the glowing barrel of Bastion's Zap Cannon. "Tri-Attack!"

He started to leap away, but Bastion's aim was precise, and a triple laser struck Chazz in the chest and sent him sailing to the other end of the arena. He almost crumpled, but mustered enough grace to land on his feet, stumbling and clutching his chest and the burned cloth of his jacket. "Chaaa..."

"Woo!" Jaden hooted from the stands, "You go, Bastion! Chazz didn't just bring a knife to a gun fight -- he brought a freakin' stick!"

"Don't count him out yet, Yuki," Kaen's voice spoke up beside him, and Jaden yelped in surprise. The Blaziken was watching the arena with her stony stare. "Princeton is one of my best students."

Indeed, Chazz was far from defeated. Bastion's face took on a look of confusion when the doubled-over rodent started laughing.

"I'm afraid I fail to understand the comedic value of my previous statement," Bastion admitted, and Chazz lifted his head, shaking his hair out of his face. The Raichu was sneering through the pain.

"You," he caught his breath and stood upright proudly, lifting his head high, "can have your stupid gadgets, and your stupid resistance to electricity. I don't need it to wipe the floor with a nerd like you!"

With that, the charge around his copper staff died. "Maybe you would've been tough if I'd been a normal Raichu," Chazz continued, and slowly, he started twirling his staff in one hand. The staff made a quiet whoosh with every rotation, blowing his bangs back. "You would've been able to stop me 'cause I would've been as helpless against you as I would be against some big bad Rock-type."

Bastion watched him curiously, but he was on guard. "So, am I to understand that this isn't the case?"

"Hah," Chazz grinned widely. His staff switched hands and spun faster. "You know what I do to Rock-types, geek?"

The Porygon processed this question, but Chazz didn't wait for an answer, lunging forward. "I turn them into rubble!"

When Bastion tried to block again, Chazz predicted it and skillfully maneuvered around it, slamming the end of his staff into Bastion's prone shoulder. The Porygon recoiled, and with the speed of lightning, Chazz struck again, stabbing the back of Bastion's knee with his staff and nearly knocking him off his feet. The Raichu unleashed a volley of attacks, moving almost faster than the anyone could follow, his strikes precise and brutal. Bastion was able to do little more than stand his ground and block what he could.

"Woah," Syrus blinked, "I didn't know he could fight like that..."

"He prefers to use his electricity," Kaen watched, unmoved by the display of prowess, "But he's also mastered a wide range of Fighting-type moves to deal with those that are immune to it."

"That's..." Jaden gaped, then broke into a wide grin, "That's awesome! He looks cooler than the guys in those kung-fu movies!"

"Don't let him hear you say that, it'll go right to his head," Alexis sighed, "It might look impressive, but at this rate, he's going to wear himself out."

Kaen shook her head. "He'll never learn..."

Bastion, however, did. While he was helpless against the assault at first, he had managed to carefully observe Chazz's movements even while under attack. Though parts of him were starting to crackle and malfunction, and fine white cracks ran through his plating, he jerked at the right moment and managed to stop Chazz's next strike with his hand. The Electric-type pulled back and spun to strike him again, and the mechanical morph blocked that too. That caught the Raichu by surprise, and Bastion seized the opportunity to grab the copper staff with both hands. Chazz struggled, but he could not budge his weapon from Bastion's robotic grip.

"Quite impressive. I have yet to face an opponent as skilled in martial arts combat as you are," Bastion praised him sincerely, smiling at his opponent. Chazz snarled and set his feet on the staff, putting his entire weight on it to try and free it. "But as handy as you are with that staff, it cannot compare to my technology."

Bastion took one hand off the staff and set one of his gadgets into a slot on his arm. He dropped the staff as his arm folded back into a cannon, this time, one that was blue, silver and sleek looking. Chazz fell with his relinquished staff and quickly scrambled to his feet, but before he could attack, he noticed that Bastion's cannon was trained squarely on him once again.

"Hydro Pump!"

Chazz yelped as the jet of water shoved him into the back wall of the arena with the force of a fire hose. As soon as he was out of the way, Bastion turned his cannon on the ground. Water swirled across the floor and knocked Chazz off his feet, and soon covered the bottom of the arena in six inches of water. He stood, grimacing and shaking himself off.

"Congratulations," he hissed, pushing his wet bangs out of his face, "Your ultimate weapon got me wet. I'm terrified."

"Indeed, perhaps you should be," Bastion took another gadget from his vest and replaced the Hydro Pump. His cannon rearranged again, this time into its true form. "I use my Conversion 2 ability to change my type..."

He looked up at Chazz and grinned. "...Into Electric!"

Chazz looked at him incredulously, but sure enough, the lights that colored the Porygon's silicon plating switched from blue to yellow and silver. He now matched his Zapdos uniform.

"What's the point of that? I thought you were supposed to be so smart," Chazz snorted, "Hit me with any electric attack you want -- the worst it'll do is tickle!"

"I use Sharpen to raise my attack," Bastion continued, undaunted, and the corners and edges of all his plates lifted slightly, looking bladed. "Then, I use Lock-On..."

Chazz folded his arms. "Don't waste your energy. Here, I'll stand still so you can hit me with your all-mighty powerful attack."

Jaden could not help but notice Kaen's disappointed expression. "Hey, I thought you said he was one of your best students. Why the long face?"

"When it comes to actual technique, yes." The Blaziken closed her eyes. "But he fails to understand the unseen half of martial arts. He allows his cockiness and anger to blind him."

Back in the arena, Bastion continued. "... To focus on Chazz's electrical current."

"Huh?" Chazz raised his ears.

"And because of that, he loses fights he could otherwise win." Kaen finished, "This match has been decided."

Bastion leaned down and kneeled, setting the end of his cannon in the shallow water. Electricity briefly danced over the surface of the water, and Chazz made a strangled sound. Bright sparks started jumping from him, then, jagged arcs. They hit the water and seemed to be drawn toward the glowing cannon.

"Since my exterior casing is composed primarily of silicon, I can stand in this electrified water," Bastion noted, "However, every aspect of Raichu physiology has the aim of generating and conducting electricity. Normally, this goes relatively unnoticed until the Raichu decides to focus it in the form of an electric attack, but when immersed in a highly conductive substance -- say, water..."

Bastion looked up at his opponent. Chazz suddenly seemed weak. He sputtered and lunged, attempting to mount another attack, but he stumbled and almost dropped his staff. The water caused him to slip and fall to his knees.

"...They cannot help but give off a charge. And if that charge is being drawn into the battery of something else, their strength and energy are rapidly depleted."

"I still..." Chazz wheezed, glaring up at Bastion and struggling to get to his feet, "You'll have... to do better than that to knock me out --"

"I intend to." Bastion stood up as well, and raised his cannon. The end glowed brilliantly with all of the power it had stolen from the weakened Raichu.

"Zap Cannon!"

A huge, thick bolt of lightning shot from the end of the cannon and hit Chazz dead-on. He uttered an anguished "CHAAAAA!" as his lost charge was given back to him, instantaneously and tenfold. The result was much the same as what had happened to Bastion's gadgets -- the power surge overloaded him.

Chazz managed to stay on his knees for a moment, smoking and panting weakly. "N... no, I can't... Can't lose..."

But he couldn't stop himself from falling back into the water with a quiet splash. The arena drained, and a few Chansey nurses came out of nowhere to scoop him onto a stretcher once again.

There was a stretch of silence, until Jaden broke it by leaping to his feet. "I knew it! Way to go, Bastion, that's so game! That was great!"

Syrus joined him in cheering, and even Alexis and her silent companion nodded approvingly.

Crowler sniffed and allowed himself a smirk as Chazz was carted off. "He got what was coming to him. Things might have been different if only he hadn't been such a snob... Oh well!" The Jynx perked up instantly, "Well done, Bastion! As promised, you'll be allowed to transfer to Articuno Blue immediately --"

"Forgive me, sir, but I must decline your offer," Bastion spoke quietly, looking into the audience. "While I'm flattered, I will not feel as if I've truly earned the elite rank until I defeat the best new student in the school."

Crowler was confused, and Bastion pointed straight to Jaden, who paused in his victory dance to blink and motion to himself questioningly. Bastion smiled. "Once I defeat Jaden Yuki, then, and only then, will I feel worthy of advancing in rank."

Jaden perked up immediately. "You got it, man! Let's go, right here, right now!"

"Not yet," Bastion patted his cannon, "For you... I'll need far more than a week to devise the perfect strategy. This was merely a trial. When the time comes for us to battle, I plan to be ready."

"Just say the word, Bastion, and I'm there!" Jaden struck his victory pose preemptively, pointing at Bastion, "It was sweet to watch you fight, and I bet it's even better actually being down in the ring!"

Bastion smiled at his friend -- and now, rival's -- enthusiasm.

---

Next time...

Jaden: Alexis is in trouble! We gotta help her!

Syrus: I think WE'RE in trouble, Jaden! Why'd you drag us out to this old haunted dorm?

Jaden: Hey, when my friends are in danger, I'd go to the ends of the earth for them! Even if I gotta go through that big ugly mutt over there!

Syrus: He's huge! Jaden, don't --

Jaden: Don't worry, Sy, I got a feeling that he's all bark and no bite.

Syrus: I hope you're right -- Next time, Titan, the Hell Dog! A Haunted Dorm! I wish we could just stay home and watch horror movies...