Hey everyone! I'm back from Ecuador! It was a blast! Very warm, very humid, very fun, and very good to get home again. You have no idea how happy I was to be back on US soil. It's when you've been away from the country for a while that you really come to appreciate it. Anyway, enough chatter. Happy reading!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chira stretched lazily in her sleeping bag, unable to sleep. She turned over, gazing at Insight and Cami who were sleeping contentedly on the ground next to her. Scenes from the battle earlier that day rampaged through her mind.

It had gone relatively the same the whole battle as the first bit, and by the time Lance got to his last pokemon, Dragonite, Greg was down to his last pokemon as well.

Lance threw his pokeball out, and as soon as Dragonite appeared, the crowd went spastic. Greg just smiled and threw out his pokemon. His pokemon had all been about the same level as Feraligatr, maybe a couple levels under, so far. Chira bit her lip as he released a kingdra. Chira knew immediately that this was his trump card; this was his strongest pokemon.

"Kingdra, let's end this. Dragon Rage!" The dragon seahorse took a breath and released a stream of what looked like green fire. Dragonite easily dodged it and countered with its own Dragon Rage. Kingdra managed to dodge, but barely.

"Kingdra's a water pokemon, right?" Chris asked. "How is it able to just float there?"

"Most can't," Drake responded. "I don't understand this either. Kingdra shouldn't be able to fight outside of a water arena. This doesn't make sense."

Everyone was silent. No one could understand it. Chira could only stare. There was something about it…

"Dragonite, take it out!" Lance called. Dragonite swept forward, heading straight for it with a Slash attack.

Chira went cold when she saw Greg's smile. "No…"

Kingdra waited until Dragonite got close then used Ice Beam. The blast hit Dragonite square on, throwing it off balance. It careened into the ground, managing to get back up with little difficulty. It roared in frustration as it took flight again, circling cautiously. Lance had been looking for an opening the whole battle, some little weakness in Greg's strategy, which was mostly just dish it out as fast and ferociously as possible.

Chira shifted positions again and gazed to the forest they were camped by. In the distance she could see the old arena, evidently an ancient training spot due to the track, decayed weights, and other non recognizable objects. It proved to be quite good for pokemon training. Cami and Insight even liked it a bit.

Dragonite dove for Kingdra with all the speed it could muster. Chira knew before it had even started its descent it didn't stand a chance. Kingdra's level was one of the highest she had ever seen. At the last possible moment, right as Kingdra unleashed another Ice Beam, Dragonite veered to the side, looped back, and managed to get in an Iron Wing before retreating. Greg was mad.

"Why did you let it hit you?!" he shouted at Kingdra. "You could have prevented that easily!"

"He isn't very happy," Drake commented.

"I don't get it. It's not like it could have dodged that attack. What is he thinking?" Nichole was struggling, trying to understand this guy.

Chira could only bite her lip in anxiety.

Lance seemed to think of something. "Dragonite, use Fly coupled with Dragon Claw!"

Dragonite shot straight up in the air, its wings strongly displacing the air around it. It reached its peak, hovered for a second, and dove for Kingdra, its claws glowing white. Kingdra countered with Ice Beam again, but the attack was met with a Dragon Rage, shocking everyone, especially Greg. Chira smiled, and she could see a similar smile on Lance's face.

That's the way to do it, she thought. Surprise him.

Greg was mad. "Kingdra, Twister!" A blast of air whipped at Dragonite, almost succeeding in throwing it off balance. Before it had a chance to completely regain its balance, the temperature plummeted. Kingdra opened its mouth, letting loose what appeared to be a violent snow storm.

"That's a Blizzard attack!" Chris said. "It's strong against dragon pokemon."

"Don't worry," Drake told him. "Lance has a plan to deal with this kind of thing."

"C'mon, Lance," Chira murmured. "Do something."

He seemed to just be standing there, gazing up at Dragonite who was fiercely fighting the ice and wind. Chira stared at him for several moments before noticing the small smile forming.

"What are you up to?" Chira whispered softly.

Greg was confidant he had won. "Kingdra, finish it! Super Blizzard!"

"Super?" Chris was confused.

"He probably just means put your all into it," Jordan told his cousin. "Pokemon don't usually go all out on their attacks to begin with."

Kingdra released a stronger form of Blizzard and it shot straight for Dragonite.

"Dragonite, now!" Lance yelled, his hand clenched in a fist.

Dragonite dove under the main blast of the attack, easily charging through the rest of it. It dove straight at Kingdra, a powerful blast of electricity shooting from its mouth. Chira smiled as the kingdra shrieked and fainted. Lance had won the battle, but Greg had still put up a really good fight.

He's probably going to end up punishing his pokemon for losing, Chira thought now. It just wasn't fair to the pokemon to give trainers like that their license. When Chira had begun her journey, she had promised never to treat her pokemon friends like that. She hoped she could keep that promise.

They would head to Vermilion City in the morning, Chira, Chris, and Jordan. They were going to get a ride from there to the Orange Islands. She would meet her family there. Drake and Lance were traveling separately. They didn't want any form of connection made between the three. Chira bit her lip. She could only hope her birth family would like her.