Leo, Lian, Nina, and Pluck sat down on the stands as soon as the first battle began.
"Leo, what made you think that you could drag me into this?" Nina asked him.
"It was a last minute decision. No need to be testy." He replied, crossing his arms.
Nina rolled her eyes and watched the battle. They weren't going on until the third battle.
"This is going to take forever." Leo groaned, slumping down in his seat.
"Actually, it looks like the first battle is coming to an end." Lian said as the winners were announced.
The second battle started right after.
"Looks like most people want to get this done quickly." Pluck commented as the two sides clashed.
Soon enough, the second battle ended within a few minutes.
"Yes! Let's go Nina." Leo grabbed the Snorunt's hand and dragged her down to the battlefield.
Their opponents were a Pikachu and an Eevee.
"This'll be easy. Let's take them do- OH MY GROUDON." Leo barely had time to sidestep the Pikachu that had electrified itself and charged at Leo.
Nina quickly fired an Ice Beam, stopping it in it's tracks.
"Don't mess up now, moron!" She yelled.
Leo didn't have time to reply, the Eevee was charging at him at a quick pace. Leo leaped into the air. Landing behind the Eevee, he spun his tails and sent the small fox crashing into the wall with his Sonicboom move. Of course, it wasn't going to give up that easily. The Eevee sprung to its feet.
"Geez. Don't you rats ever give up?" Leo asked, crossing his arms.
- insert record scratch here -
"RATS? RATS! DID YOU JUST CALL US RATS?" The Pikachu yelled.
"... Oops."
Leo was then mauled by the two pokemon.
"Nina, do something!" Lian called out from the crowd.
"No way, Lian. This is too funny to be missed!" She replied, watching the small fight.
Leo finally kicked the Pikachu off him using his feet. He spun his tails and shot out star rays at the eletric type, knocking it out in one clean shot.
Nina dodged an incoming tackle attack from the Eevee and fired a blast of chilling winds, freezing the Eevee on contact.
As the announcer spoke out the winners, Leo rubbed the back of his head.
"Ugh. That was easier than I expected."
"Well, most of the pokemon here are at a lower level than us. We're all about level 25." Nina said as she took her seat in the stands.
Leo groaned again.
Sapphire peered through the window again. She smirked. It looked like the Dawn Stone was all fixed up.
"Okay, Proffesor Rowan. Looks like it's all cleaned up. Now we can do some tests and- WHAT THE HECK." The window crashed open as a black dog rushed over to the scientist and snatched the blue stone out of his hands.
"What the- GET BACK HERE, FIEND."
But Sapphire had already jumped through the broken window and out of the lab's property.
"Suckers. Now, where were the rest going... Oh yeah. Canavale City." She mumbled.
The Mightyena dashed towards Canavale City, the port town, and out of Sandgem Town.
"Ohmygroudon. I'm like, so excited!" A female trainer said.
A Skitty walked beside her, obviously not looking too happy.
The trainer picked up her pokemon, smiling waaay too big. It was creepy.
"Ohmygroudon. Aren't you excited?"
"NO. I AM NOT. NOW PUT ME DOWN YOU OVERSIZED-"
"Skit! Skitty Ski ty!"
"Aw, me too." She said, setting him down. "I don't think we've introduced ourselves. I'm Katie."
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I CARE YO-" The Skitty hissed.
"Hm... You're such a cute little girl!"
"GIRL?! I'M A GUY. I'M A FREAKING GUY."
"I think I'll name you... Sprinkles!"
"SPRINKLES? WHAT KIND OF A NAME IS SPRINKLES. IT'S HANK. HAAAANNNNKKK."
Katie smiled and continued walking. "We should be out of Sandgem soon, Sprinkles."
"MY NAME IS HANK."
"I knowww! I'm like, so excited too!"
They continued walking for a bit before finally sitting down.
"Okay, Sprinkles."
"HANK."
"We're going to Jubilife City! And then we'll enter a contest!"
"CONTEST? I'M A GUY, LADY. I DO MANLY THINGS."
Katie merely smiled bigger. "And I got just the outfit for you to wear!" She put a blue bow on the Skitty's tail.
"WHAT THE HECK. I'M A GUY. GET THIS THING OFF ME."
"... You're right Sprinkles. IT SHOULD SOO TOTALLY BE PINK."
"WHAT? NO. NOO." Hank/Sprinkles cried out.
Too late. By the end of the day, the Skitty was walking next to Katie, wearing a pink bow on his tail.
The two checked into the Poke Center for the night.
"Okay Sprinkles. Tomorrow's a big day. Get plenty of rest." Katie told him as she turned out the lights.
As soon as she did that, Sprinkles/Hank ripped the bow off his tail.
When Katie was in bed, he snuck out the window of the room.
"There is no way I'm letting a moron like her take control of my life." He grumbled to himself as he dashed onto the city street of Jubilife City.
"Okay, fellow pokemon! Rise in shine! Day two of the Iron Island Partner Battle Tournament!" The announcer said. "Man that's a mouthful." He grumbled to himself before continuing.
"It's the final match! Our four finalists are... Leo and Nina!"
Leo and Nina entered the area, yawning.
"What losers do we have to fight next? This whole thing is a big disappointment." He groaned as the crowd cheered for the two.
"Shut up, Leo. At least we're getting some experience." Nina replied, glaring at him.
"Yeah, right."
"And our champions from last year and the year before that... And the year before that, too! WANIZAME AND RHINO."
Leo's jaw dropped as a Garchomp and Rhyperior entered the arena.
"OHMYGROUDON. NINA. WE'RE GOING TO DIE. WWEEE'REEE GOING TO DIIEE." Leo cried as he clung onto the Snorunt.
"Yeah, I know!" She answered, staring at the opponents. "But don't worry, we both got a type advantage over them."
The Garchomp, known as Wanizame, smirked. "You too must feel pretty special to get this far."
"But you're not. You're gonna fall, just like all the rest." Rhino, the Rhyperior said, smiling.
"Let the battle begin!"
Nina didn't even blink before she was hit by Wanizame's claw. She was knocked out instantly.
"And it looks like Nina is already down. Looks like the champs have this covered."
Leo screamed and started to run around in circles.
"OHMYGROUDON. OHMYGROUDON. SOMEONE HELP."
Nina sighed as she was seated next to Lian. "Ugh. We're doomed."
Lian nodded in agreement.
Leo was running around, still screaming.
Rhino was desperately trying to hit the sea weasel with huge boulders shot from his palm.
"Grr. HOLD STILL YOU LITTLE OVERGROWN RAT."
- yet another record scratch -
". . . What... Did you call me?"
"YOU HEARD ME. OVERGROW-"
He was hit by a jet of water.
Rhino groaned, holding his head. "What the..."
"LISTEN, PUNK. I'M NOT A RAT. I'M A SEA WEASEL. I'M A BUIZEL. AND I HAPPEN TO BE THE HOTTEST BUIZEL YOU'LL EVER SET YOUR EYES ON YOU HERE ME!?" Leo yelled. He failed to notice that he was glowing.
"AND IF YOU EVER CALL ME A RAT AGAIN. SO HELP ME I WILL... I will... I will... Uh... Why am I glowing?" And yes he was.
"AW SWEET. I'M EVOLVING." Leo cried. He started dancing as the glow encased his body.
"I'm so awesome. I'm so very very awesome." He chanted. Finally, with a final burst of light, he was a Floatzel.
"SWEET. I'M EVEN MORE AWESOME THEN BEFORE." He yelled as the crowd cheered.
Wanizame rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah kid. Now shut up and let us beat you."
"Not while I'm around." Leo replied. He lept off the ground and hit the Garchomp with his twin tails. Apparently, he had learned Iron Tail.
Wanizame fell back, clutching his head and groaning. "Stupid Floatzel. Rhino!"
"I'm coming!"
The Rhyperior tried to ram his horns into Leo, but the newly evolved pokemon was too fast. He ducked and fired a Water Gun at the rock and ground type, knocking him into the air. He quickly twisted his tails and blew the large pokemon back into the wall. He fainted.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT. Leo took out Rhino. For the first time in years!"
Wanizame blinked at his fallen partner. "... My partner was the one who called you a rat you know."
Leo merely smiled. "No mercy for you, my friend." One Aqua Jet and he was down.
Silence.
More silence.
More moments of silence aside from a few coughs.
"... And I guess we have a winner! NINA AND LEO WIN."
The crowd roared with cheers.
Nina ran down the stands and gave Leo a hug. Leo blinked, trying to hide his blush.
".. So what do we win?" He asked.
"ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" The announcer said.
"WHAT?!" Leo, Lian, and Nina shouted at once.
"... Didn't you know? These tournaments are just for fun!" Pluck said, blinking.
The trio groaned.
"Thanks for the awesome battle." A voice said. The group turned to see Wanizame, beaming.
"Yeah, most of the battles we get here are crap." Rhino said.
"Me and Rhino here are going to Stark Mountain now. See you around?"
"You bet!" Leo said, beaming.
"... This is great and all... But aren't we forgetting something?" Lian said, thinking.
They all blinked for a moment. "OH MY GROUDON THE DAWN STONE." Nina yelled. They dashed out of the cave, leaving behind a very confused looking Pluck.
Moments later, they were all on the shore of Iron Island. Clair and Maria were waiting.
"So, you win?" Clair asked as they came to a stop.
"Yeah..." Leo sighed.
"... OH MY GROUDON DID YOU EVOLVE?" Maria screamed.
Leo leaped back a bit. "Uh... yeah?"
"Where's Louis, did you find his mom?" Lian asked.
"By golly, I sure did!"
The group turned to see Louis and another even bigger Wailord. His mother.
"Ooh. Thanks for getting my baby back to me." She said, rubbing up to her son.
"Shucks, Ma. You're embarrasing me!"
"Aw. That's great... Now. WE NEED TO GET THE DAWN STONE BACK FROM SAPPHIRE." Nina said, stopping her feet.
"Golly! I didn't know you were in such a rush! Hop on!" Louis said.
Lian looked at Pluck, smirking. "Actually, I think I know a faster way to get back to our friend."
Moments later, the trio were on top of the Skarmory, flying away from the ocean and waving goodbye to their friends.
"Whoo! Air travel is so awesome." Leo smirked, leaning back.
"We should do this more often." Agreed Nina.
Hank sighed, trudging through the city. He was lost and hungry. Not to mention the fact that it was getting late. He spot a shadow. He hissed, fur standing on end.
"Who's there?" He asked.
"... Me." A voice answered. A Mightyena appeared from an ally. None other than Sapphire herself.
Hank blinked. "Oh, uh. Hi."
"You look like you could use some help." Sapphire said, smirking. She placed a few berries in front of them. Hank ate them all in one bite.
The canine raised a brow. "Wow." Was all she could get out. "Anyway. I could use a travelling partner. How 'bout you travel with me. I'm going to Canavale City."
Hank wiped the berry juice off him. "Better than here. Let's go!"
Sapphire smirked, walking towards the city with her new companion in tow.
"Well, looks like we're here." A voice said.
"Now how do we get to where we wanna go?" A voice asked.
"Simple. Take down Diagla. Then time won't matter." The voice answered.
"And when that happens... It won't matter what time it is, we'll still be here."
A flash of light rippled through the area, revealing three figures with ragged fur and huge teeth.
DUN.
DUN.
DUNNNNN.