Finally, here's the third update!

Update #3: Treecko x Amelia and Roselio x Storm.

~ Meteor Mashed! ~

Treecko and Amelia had by now reached the Cake Zone. The walk there had been filled with Amelia's beautiful singing. They sat at an outdoor table of a cafe directly opposite Cofagrigus' Cake Contraption building. A Vanilluxe waitress came over to take their order.

"I'd like some tea, please," both Treecko and Amelia somehow said at the same time. They glanced at each other.

"OK, with milk or with sugar?" the Vanilluxe asked.

"Milk, please," they both said again. Another surprised exchange of glances.

Vanilluxe didn't seem to notice anything. "Please wait a moment," she said, then left.

Amelia chuckled. "Well, Treecko, it seems as if we have quite some things in common."

Treecko nodded, his expression showing amusement. "...What a coincidence."

Amelia said, "Hmm, we both like tea, and we both like it with milk, we're both the type of Pokémon of a few words... Well, the only difference is probably that you are a rescue team Pokémon and I am an ordinary Pokémon with a passion for music... Since you're a rescue team Pokémon, you must be a tough fighter. As for me, I just love singing, I guess..." She shrugged with a grin.

"Huh... About that..."

As for me, I just love singing, I guess...

Amelia, you don't know this, but we're more alike than you previously thought.

"About singing... I actually, you know..."

Amelia tilted her head to the side and smiled. "Hmm? You what?"

"Yeah, you what?"

Suddenly there was a loud voice with an obvious Spanish accent. Treecko and Amelia looked up to see Lombre and a Whimsicott coming over.

"You what, Treecko?" Lombre smirked as she got closer with Rem following behind.

Treecko's face interestingly got redder than green. "N-nothing." He abruptly changed the subject. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to have a Cake Contraption face-off," Lombre replied.

Treecko rolled his eyes. "That's so you."

Lombre only grinned. "Anyway, this is Rem," she introduced the Whimsicott to her teammate and Amelia.

Amelia smiled. "Hello," she greeted pleasantly.

Treecko nodded. "Nice to meet you."

Rem returned their greetings, and Treecko in turn introduced Amelia.

Lombre looked at Amelia, impressed. "Wow, you like singing? I can sing too!"

"No, she can't," Treecko corrected. "She can scream heavy metal songs, but she can't sing. At all."

Lombre stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to the Umbreon. "Well, Amelia, maybe you could teach Treecko to use his musical skills a bit," she joked. "He relies too much on his brain and logic, I think his taste in music and his vibes are getting rusty."

Amelia laughed as Treecko huffed. "They are not."

Lombre only chuckled, then turned to Rem. "Come on, we'd better be going." To Treecko and Amelia she said, "I guess we'll see you later! ¡Adios!"

"See you later!" Amelia called as the two walked into the gigantic cake-shaped building opposite their cafe.

Then she turned back to the wood gecko. "Lombre is your teammate, isn't she? She seems like a really fun person."

"Yes, she is," Treecko replied. "I guess she is pretty fun... whenever she isn't driving you insane, which is a rare occurrence indeed."

Amelia laughed. "Well then, I hope she doesn't drive Rem insane!"

She suddenly paused as if she'd just realized something. "Oh yeah, you were about to say something before they came. What was it?"

"Oh, that."

Treecko recalled what Lombre had just said.

He relies too much on his brain and logic, I think his taste in music and his vibes are getting rusty.

Hah, she could say that because she didn't know everything about him. Yes, Treecko is a Pokémon of many secrets. He never let anyone know everything about him. Although Breloom had been his best friend since forever, there were some things even Breloom didn't know, and that was how he liked it.

However, he somehow felt as if Amelia was the right Pokémon to whom he should reveal this particular thing he'd kept quiet about, even to his own teammates.

And the brainy, super-logical analyzing and reasoning machine with the rusty music vibes as Lombre had put it made a startling revelation.

"...I sing too."

Take that, Lombre Raindish! The quiet and cold-as-ice Treecko Kimori actually has a soft spot for singing, just like Amelia. Treecko's right, they do have more things in common than they previously thought.

Lopunny is excited just thinking about what Pairing 2: Treecko x Amelia will turn out to be once they've discovered that they both sing.

One thing's for sure: it's bound to be some kind of musical!

...

"Is this wide and empty enough?"

Storm had to roll her eyes again. This was the fourth time Roselio had asked that already. Every time they came across a rather wide plain in the Arcane Area, the Thorn Pokémon had asked her if it was wide and empty enough to have their battle.

"No, Roselio," she had to tell him again. She pointed at the group of Lotad playing about near the pond of crystal-clear water. "There's a group of Lotad playing here. We wouldn't want them to accidentally get paralyzed or poisoned."

"Oh, yeah," he replied brightly. "Sorry, didn't see them."

So on they walked.

"How about here?" Roselio asked again once they'd come to an emptier plain.

Storm shook her head in a no-nonsense manner.

Roselio frowned and looked around. "Huh? What's wrong with this one? There aren't any Pokémon here."

"Look again," Storm said seriously, pointing at something on the ground behind him. Roselio turned and saw some Poké Balls on the ground. He frowned.

"What am I supposed to see again? I don't see anything but a bunch of Poké Balls."

"That's exactly where you're wrong," Storm corrected. "They're not Poké Balls. They're Foongus."

Roselio looked closer and saw that they were indeed Foongus camouflaged as Poké Balls, and they were looking indignantly up at him for having mistaken them as non-living things.

"Oops, sorry about that," he said sheepishly to the biggest Foongus before standing up again. "You're right, Storm. Huh, you have quite a keen eye."

Storm smiled. "Of course I do. When you've battled a lot, you'll see that noticing small details is really important."

They walked on.

Finally, Storm believed they'd found the perfect battle ground. It was quite wide, dotted with multicolored flowers and some shrubbery, and empty of Pokémon.

"Here's where we'll battle," she told Roselio. She added, "Watch out - I won't hesitate to hit you hard."

And that was how they found themselves standing opposite each other, about to start the battle. Storm was the one who started it by shouting, "Ready, set... BATTLE!"

The first move Storm used was Agility. She always does that first so she'd get a speed boost throughout the battle. It was a simple but highly effective strategy - due to her boosted speed, she was able to move again.

"Volt Tackle!" she shouted, running forward as her fur glowed a menacing yellow and electricity began to leap out of her cheeks.

Roselio seemed to have no intention to move, for he just stood there as Storm came closer and closer.

And suddenly, just as Storm was about to hit, he moved. Being the extremely lightweight Pokémon he is, he simply somersaulted above the Pikachu, landing perfectly behind her. At the same time, he whipped out one of his vines from inside his rose. It shot out and coiled itself around Storm's right arm.

Storm knew that the vine was poisonous. She had to get it off quickly or he might poison her. Suddenly, she got an idea on how she could use it to her advantage instead. It wasn't surprising, really - when you've been battling pretty much your whole life, you'd get strategies like this in a split second.

She grabbed his vine and began to pull it towards her, as if she was reeling in fish from a river. At the same time, she got another Volt Tackle ready.

As she pulled his vine, Roselio automatically got pulled to her also with a surprised gasp. At the same time, she was running towards him, her fur once more glowing with electricity.

"Volt Tackle!" she shouted.

This time, it was a real Volt Tackle, and it was a powerful Volt Tackle, too. There was a flash and an epic crackle of electricity and the next moment the Thorn Pokémon was landing painfully on the ground with a thud.

"Crap," he grunted as he sat up, a few petals floating out of his roses. "You hit hard, don't you."

"Told you so." Storm smiled.

It was so, but the battle wasn't over yet. Roselio started with a Petal Dance, trying harder now that Storm had dared ruin his prized roses. He spun and spun like a spinning top that he almost, almost made Storm dizzy. Petals began to get scattered everywhere, surrounding Storm.

Storm was getting a Thunderbolt ready should she need to blast these petals away.

However, the petals never did anything.

They didn't seem to be doing anything but float down to the ground like ordinary petals. The only thing they were doing was obscure her...

Wait.

That was exactly what Roselio wanted, Storm suddenly realized. The petals weren't for attacking; they only acted as a cover-up, so she wouldn't see what he was actually going to do.

But by the time the realization came, it was already too late, for Roselio suddenly emerged through his curtain of petals, both of his vine whips fully extracted.

Storm got hit head-on by a barrage of Poison Jabs. The hits were powerful for a small Pokémon, and she was sent reeling back and gasping, trying to catch her breath.

As the last of the red and blue petals floated to the ground, she saw the Thorn Pokémon jump back and land perfectly. He spun with his roses in the air, shaking them like a pair of red and blue maracas.

Storm stayed put for a moment warily, getting ready to dodge his next attack...

...Which, surprisingly, never came.

Feeling rather exasperated at herself for having been tricked by something like that, she decided to charge with another attack. She fired up another Volt Tackle as she ran towards him with a battle whoop. As she did so, she felt something prick her foot, but took no notice of that. Perhaps it was only a fallen twig.

Her Volt Tackle hit hard, slamming him to the ground again. This time, Storm took no chances. Thanks to her increased speed, she was able to attack him with tackle before he could even prepare his next attack. For the second - or was it third? - time, Roselio landed hard on the ground again, bruising himself and ruining his roses even more.

Storm breathlessly jumped back with satisfaction, watching as the Grass-type slowly (and painfully, it seemed) picked himself up.

She wouldn't admit it, of course, but for some reason she herself felt tired already, which was strange. She could usually endure even very long battles. Her breathing came in short rags.

Roselio finally managed to get back on his feet although he did seem rather dazed, and for some reason he was smiling at Storm.

"Perhaps you would like to check your foot and arm," he suggested.

Storm froze and looked down.

...He spun with his roses in the air, shaking them like a pair of red and blue maracas.

...As she did so, she felt something prick her foot...

Upon closer inspection, she saw a tiny purple barb stuck to her skin.

Storm's eyes widened.

Toxic Spikes.

So that was why she'd felt unusually tired. She'd already been poisoned; her health had already been steadily decreasing.

Now she checked her arm.

...he whipped out one of his vines from inside his rose. It shot out and coiled itself around Storm's right arm...

At first she didn't see anything, but after she'd looked a bit closer, she saw that her arm was dotted with green tendrils.

Leech Seed.

She looked up and stared at Roselio. The Thorn Pokémon somehow looked much fresher... Which was surprising, considering the many times Storm had slammed him to the ground.

It was, Storm suddenly realized, because of Leech Seed. That was why he could recover so quickly, and also why Storm got tired as quickly, too. He'd been sapping her energy.

Now he laughed off his bruises lightly, but was at the same time wincing. "Wow, Storm. Your hits are really powerful. I feel totally beat up. I'm not surprised your hobby is battling."

Another thing Storm learned about Roselio today. He may not seem strong at all, but he was definitely the come-back-from-behind type of fighter. She guessed people underestimate him a lot, but was certain they eventually paid the price.

That, and the fact that he was always so happy-go-lucky. He obviously saw laughter as the best medicine.

Storm looked at him, but the way she did was somehow different.

"You're not too bad yourself," she said.

Would it look strange if Lopunny came with pom-poms? Of course she isn't particularly rooting for anyone in that battle, but she thinks it'll be more fun to watch while waving pom-poms around.

Anyway, Pairing 5: Roselio x Storm is progressing rather differently (or should Lopunny say violently?)... But rather nicely, too. Lopunny has a feeling that the battle will teach both Roselio and Storm new things. For Roselio, that girls can and do pack quite a punch, especially no-nonsense ones like Storm (and that he should also try being more serious for once). For Storm, that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Just because someone wears a cute red bowtie, speaks fluent French, and is prissy about his roses doesn't mean he's a weakling, right?

Well, the battle isn't over yet and none of them is obviously going to back down this easily, so Roselio can certainly expect more bruises coming his way. ^_^"

Again, stay tuned on Wish Park FM~!