Episode 273: Exploud and Clear!

About a few hours have passed since they left Rustboro City. They were still thinking about what Ash had told them. Riku, Naminé, Ethan, Kris, and Lyra remembered Ash telling them about meeting Cascade before the fight against Xehanort's Heartless. But they were worried about Ben; especially Sora. Sora knew Ben is a capable Keyblade wielder, but he couldn't but worry about him. Kairi could tell he was thinking about it.

The group made a stop to take a break and to have some lunch. Sora and Kairi had let out their Pokémon to have some fresh air and to have a meal of Kairi's Pokémon food.

Sora sat down on a log, thinking about Ben when he dove in after Xemnas. Kairi sat down next to her boyfriend.

"Sora, are you thinking about Ben?" Kairi asked. Sora sighed.

"It's hard to keep things from you, Kairi," Sora said.

"It wasn't hard for me to figure out. But, you aren't sure Ben's alive, Sora?" Kairi asked.

"To be honest, I don't know what to be sure about. Ever since that attack from the Heartless yesterday, Ben's been all I could think about. My mom doesn't know that we met him, and I'm not sure how I'm going to tell her. It'll be like when Mrs. Hale was in the hospital and Professor Hale disappearing, leaving Molly all alone, and my dad being killed in that accident all over again," Sora said.

"There are things no one has control over. Not even the most powerful of Pokémon can control what happens next," Kairi said.

"I know. But I can't help it," Sora said.

"Look, Sora, as you remember I was worried about losing you again after you turned into a Heartless to save me back in Hollow Bastion, but you snapped me out of it when I was fighting that Heartless, despite the fact that I know you can handle yourself. I don't want you worrying over it just like I did," Kairi said. Sora knew she was doing what he did for him back then and he smiled.

"I know what you mean, Kairi, and you're right. I mean, Ben's going to be okay, and he wouldn't want me to worry over him like I was doing now. If he can handle himself against the leader of the Organization, then not even an army of Heartless could stop him. Not even the Palamecian Empire could stop him if he lived back then," Sora said.

"And that's the Sora I know and love," Kairi said.

"Thanks for making me feel better, Kairi," Sora said.

"That's what girlfriends are for, Sora," Kairi said. She and Sora kissed each other on the lips. Rei just just observing the couple and she smiled to herself.

"Sora's becoming more like you, Kaito," Rei said, remembering how Kaito and Delia's blossomed. She noticed May looking at her. "May, is there something I can help you with?"

"I wanted to speak with you about something, Master," May said.

"What about?" Rei asked.

"Well, it's more of a question," May said.

"You just need to ask," Rei said.

"Okay. What's the deal with you and that guy Axel?" May asked. Rei was sweating a bit.

"Uh, I don't know what you mean," Rei said.

"Well, I kinda could tell just by how you looked at him, and how calm you were, and what really gave it away was when you told us to stand down," May explained. Rei knew she wasn't fooling May one bit. "Could it be that you're in love with Axel?" Rei sighed.

"Was it really that obvious?" Rei asked.

"To be honest, it was," May said. She gasped when she realized she might have accidentally took a step in some dangerous territory. "Did I overstep? I'm sorry if I did!"

"No, don't apologize, May. I can see there's no fooling you," Rei said. "If Kaito were alive, he'd see through me like I was made of glass."

"Have you met Axel at some point, Master?" May asked.

"I have. Once," Rei answered. "I fought him when we met, and then we ended up talking to each other. Long story, short, Axel didn't seem like an enemy, but it's going to he hard to convince the others the same thing."

"Because he's a member of the Organization, right?" May asked.

"Yeah, that's a huge part of it. And he left the Organization because of his best friend and another Nobody," Rei said.

"An another Nobody? That Saïx guy did mention another name. Xion, wasn't it?" May asked.

"Yes," Rei replied.

"And Roxas is his best friend?" May asked.

"You sure caught on quick," Rei said. "Yeah. Roxas left the Organization just before Axel did."

"Why?" May asked. Rei wasn't sure if she should tell her.

"I'm not sure," Rei lied. She didn't want to lie to her apprentices, but she didn't want to add more to the list of problems, and it was already long enough. "Anyway, I don't you to tell the others about me and Axel, because they won't understand."

"Okay, I won't tell," May said. "But you should. I'm sure Sora will understand." Rei didn't know how to respond to that, but she knew May was right.

"Say, Sora, I'm in a sudden mood for your nachos," Kairi said.

"Well, then it's a good thing we stocked up on some cheese and tortilla chips back in Rustboro City before we left," Sora said. Knowing that they were about to get lunch started, May and Rei bolted and rejoined the rest of the group just in time for Sora to get lunch started. Ash, Leaf, Ethan, Kris, Lyra, Brendan, and May had their Pokémon out as Lisia had just let out Ali. Rei had her Gardevoir out along with her Arcanine, Ampharos, Kingdra, Leafeon, and a sixth Pokémon they haven't seen before.

It is a bipedal, canine-like Pokémon with predominantly blue and black fur. It possesses a short, round spike on the back of each forepaw, in addition to a third on its chest. It has red eyes, a long snout, and ears. When it opened its mouth to eat, two pairs of pointed teeth, one in the upper jaw and one in the lower, can be seen. It possesses cream-colored fur on its torso and blue fur on its thighs that resemble shorts. It has a medium-length tail of the same blue color as well. It stands on its toes rather than on its entire foot. It has developed four black appendages that hang down from its head. This Pokémon is known as Lucario.

Rei explained that Lucario was a gift she received from Kaito when it was just an egg. Sora sort of remembered meeting her Lucario once as a baby, but Lucario remembered Sora fondly since Lucario had taken a liking to him.

"I swear, Sora, your nachos get more and more tastier every time I eat them," Leaf said.

"Same here! I want more!" Ash said.

"Me too!" Max said.

"Still plenty to go around!" Sora said, making more nachos.

"Sora, have you thought of which Pokémon you'll be using against Norman?" Riku asked.

"I was thinking of using my Fighting-types since I figured he uses Normal-types. But I'm not going to expect an easy win since Norman is a tough cookie to break," Sora said.

"You should realize you have no chance against my dad, Sora. You can train all you want, but you'll never win," Max scoffed.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Max. Sora did win two Pokémon League tournaments, so dad won't find it easy to beat him," May said. Max didn't like how that came out.

"What are you saying, May? Are you saying dad's going to lose against Sora, is that it?" Max asked.

"No, Max, I'm not saying that at all," May argued. "I'm just saying it can go either way, that's it."

"It's not going to go either way; it's going to go dad's way," Max argued back.

"You'd never know," May said.

"I know more than you do-" Max said.

"That's enough!" Rei said, stopping the argument. "I have to agree with May. Being a Gym Leader is more complicated than you think, Max. And I am certain your dad knows that, too." Brendan looked at Sora's Pokémon, stuffed from eating Kairi's Pokémon food, but the only one he didn't see is Treecko.

"Hey, Sora, your Treecko's missing!" Brendan exclaimed. Sora stood up and he saw Treecko was missing.

"You're right, Brendan! Where could he have gone?" Sora asked.

"Don't panic, Sora. I'm sure Treecko hasn't gone too far," Lyra said.

"Marill," Marill said. Pikachu and Angel saw Treecko up in a dead tree.

"Pika!" Pikachu called out.

"Vee!" Angel called out.

The group turned to see the Pokémon couple and they point up to the tree. They looked up and saw Treecko sitting up in the branches.

"Treecko?" Sora asked. He climbed up the tree to the Wood Gecko Pokémon. "Hey, what's eating you, Treecko?"

"Treecko, Treecko, Tree," Treecko said.

"You didn't eat anything. You're not getting sick, are you?" Sora asked with concern.

"Treecko, Treecko, Tree," Treecko said.

"You're not giving me enough to work with here, so what's up?" Sora asked.

"Treecko!" Treecko said, turning his head from Sora, giving him the cold shoulder.

"I wonder what's the matter with Treecko?" May asked.

"Search me," Lisia said.

"He wasn't acting anything like this recently," Kairi said. Corphish steps in with a smile on his face.

"Corphish, Corphish, Corphish!" Corphish said.

"Corphish?" Kairi asked. Corphish ran up to the tree and knocked Sora off of the tree. Sora lands right on his feet like a cat.

"You know, you didn't have to plow into me like I wasn't there, Corphish!" Sora called out.

"Don't be hard on Corphish, Sora. I think he's trying to help," Kairi said.

"Hey there, buddy! Why the long face?" - Corphish subtitle. Treecko didn't reply. Corphish was really mad now. "Hey, you don't have to be rude about it, you self-centered lizard! I'm trying to be nice, and you're giving me a cold shoulder here! Colder than a Beartic's toenails!" - Corphish subtitle. He fell down the tree and lands right on the ground, with his horns pining the earth like a javelin.

"I take it that it didn't help," Sora said.

"Treecko's been acting weird. Think we should be worried?" Max asked.

"Yeah, but I think we should give him some space for a while until he cools off," Sora said.

"Loudred! Loud! Loudred!" A voice yelled.

"What the heck is that?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know, but it was loud enough to sound very close," Leaf said.

"And it sounds very familiar," Riku said.

It turns out that the loud voice belongs to a Loudred, running and swinging its arms around like a madman.

"Loudred!" The group exclaimed.

The Loudred plowed right through the Pokémon and their backpacks. It then ran off into the woods with Treecko watching from up above. The Loudred kept running and in its path is a young man, with long green hair and brown eyes. He wore a yellow and orange vest over a black shirt, and he wore blue jeans and brown shoes.

"Loudred, stop it!" The young man called out. The Loudred plows pass him, and he goes after it. "Loudred, come back!" Loudred kept on running. Come on! Would you please get back here!" The Loudred ignored him. He jumps to tackle Loudred to the ground. "OKAY!" He takes Loudred down to the ground. Somehow, it manages to calm the rampaging Loudred down. "Talk to me. Are you okay?" Loudred smiled at the young man. "That's good."

"Not sure what's going on, but I'm glad it's over," Sora said.

"Me too," Kairi said.

"I was afraid someone was gonna get hurt," May said.

"So was I," Naminé said.

A few minues later, Loudred is sleeping soundly. The young man apologized for the damge his Loudred had caused.

"Sorry about your stuff back there. I seriously don't know what came over my Loudred. He wasn't like this when I first got him," the young man apologized.

"As long as no one else was hurt, then it's okay," Sora assured him.

"Your Loudred just caught us by surprise," Kairi said.

"Eevee," Angel said.

"Pikachu," Pikachu said.

"Glad you forgive me. My name's Guy by the way," Guy introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you Guy. I'm Sora," Sora introduced himself.

"And I'm Kairi," she introduced herself.

"My name's Riku."

"My name is Naminé."

"I'm Ash."

"I'm Leaf."

"My name's Ethan."

"I'm Kris."

"I'm Lyra."

"My name's Brendan."

"My name is May, and this is my little brother Max," May introduced.

"I'm Lisia."

"And I'm Rei Sakura," Rei finished. "Now that we introduced ourselves, what brings you out here?"

"My Loudred and I are on our journey with our sights set on entering the Hoenn Pokémon League," Guy said.

"Really? So are we. We were on our way to Petalburg City for my fifth Gym battle since coming here," Sora said.

"You've got five? So far, I only got two. Having to earn six more just makes it even harder," Guy said.

"You're right. It's hard, but it's worth it," Sora said.

"You're right, it is worth it. But the thing is, my Loudred is getting a mind of his own and it's just recently. Loudred was just going berserk for no reason," Guy said.

"Really," Sora said. He looked over to his Treecko and saw him still looking up in the sky. He wondered if his Treecko was going through the same phase as Guy's Loudred. "People aren't the only ones who have problems. Pokémon has them the same way as we do. Pokémon just has a different way of expressing it."

"That's one way of putting it," Lisia agreed.

"You might have hit the nail on the head there. Being with the same partner and training with the same patner day after day can cause some loads of stress," Max said. May looked at her brother with a sly look.

"Really, so you're a big expert now?" May asked.

"As I matter of fact, I am. And being with you day after day will make go berserk too," Max said, slyly.

"What was that?!" May exclaimed in a threatening manner and raising her fist. Max feared May was gonna hit him.

"Sorry May! I was only joking, I swear!" Max cried. May winced when she realized who was present.

"Oh Max, you should know I wouldn't hurt my sweet and adorable little brother," May said, getting chipper. She crosses her arms. "But you should be careful with what you say just in case."

"That isn't what I was talking about, but you had the right idea, Max," Sora said. He looked over to Guy with an idea. "So, how about you have a battle with me, Guy." He looked right at him.

"What?" Guy asked.

"Maybe, a battle might let off some steam," Sora said.

"That's not a bad idea, Sora. Maybe a battle will be just the thing to relieve stress," Ethan said.

"And you're on!" Guy said, accepting his challenge. Before Sora could make up his mind on who to choose, Treecko jumps down from the tree and stands in front of Sora.

"Looks like Treecko wants to battle your Loudred," Sora said. Both Trainers took their positions. Pikachu sat next to Angel for the duration of the match. Treecko spat out his twig and stares right at Loudred. Loudred stares right back at Treecko. "Okay Treecko! Start things up with Quick Attack!" Treecko dashes towards the Big Noise Pokémon. Loudred takes the hit, bt barely felt it.

"Loudred! Use Stomp!" Guy ordered. Loudred slams his foot down on Treecko.

"Bullet Seed!" Sora ordered. Treecko fires Bullet Seed and it pelts Loudred right in the face. Loudred gritted his teeth, taking the hit. Treecko gets back up as Loudred was starting to lose his footing. Loudred regained its footing.

"Loudred! Use Screech!" Guy ordered. Loudred uses his sound attack and it harshly lowers Treecko's defense. "Now use Earthquake!" Loudred jumped into the air and came down with lightning speed. The ground began shaking.

"Jump to dodge it!" Sora called out. Treecko jumps out of the way before Earthquake even reaches him. "Now use Pound!" Treecko lands a blow onto Loudred with his leafy tail. Loudred rolls right into a tree.

"Ah man, Loudred!" Guy exclaimed.

"Good work, Treecko!" Sora said. Loudred gets back up and stares right at Treecko. He does the same back at Loudred. Suddenly, both Pokémon began to evolve right at the same time. "Treecko! You're evolving!"

"Loudred!" Guy gasped. Treecko had evolved right into a Grovyle. Sora felt proud since all three of his Hoenn starters had all evolved.

Loudred has evolved into a blue, bipedal Pokémon with a large mouth. It has red eyes, a stubby nose, and two peg-like teeth in each jaw. It has protruding tubes with holes along its body: seven forming a crest on top of its head, one on each elbow and knee, two along its back, and one at the end of each of its two tails. The tubes along its head-crest and tails are tipped with yellow, while the ones along its back have yellow semicircular patterns on either side. There are two yellow semicircle markings on its belly, but they are rarely seen due to its giant mouth. Its arms have three thin stripes below its elbow and three fingers. Each foot has four claws, three in the front and one in the back, and a yellow paw pad.

"Wow, Treecko's a Grovyle now!" Kairi said, taking out her Rotom Phone and scanning her boyfriend's newly evolved Pokémon.

Grovyle, the Wood Gecko Pokémon

The evolved form of Treecko

Type: Grass

Its strongly developed thigh muscles give it astounding agility and jumping performance.

"So cool that you evolved, but let's check out your opponent," Sora said, taking out his Rotom Phone and scanning the newly evolved Pokémon.

Exploud, the Loud Noise Pokémon

The evolved form of Loudred

Type: Normal

Exploud triggers earthquakes with the tremors it creates by bellowing. If this Pokémon violently inhales from the ports on its body, it's a sign that it is preparing to let loose a huge bellow.

Grovye looked up to a nearby tree and jumps. Grovyle uses Leaf Blade to cut off a new twig to use.

"Grovyle must have learned Leaf Blade after evolving. Also, I have an idea on what other attack Grovyle had learned," Sora said. "Grovyle! Fury Cutter!" Grovyle ran towards Exploud with his newly form claws.

"Now, Exploud! Dodge and use Stomp!" Guy ordered. Exploud just stands there, not moving an inch. "Come on, Exploud! Dodge it now!" Exploud starts to suck in some air through the holes on his body.

"What's Exploud doing?" May asked.

"I think it's getting ready for an attack!" Max said. "And a pretty powerful one to be exact!" Exlpoud lets out a powerful Boomburst and it struck Grovyle right on the mark. Grovyle skids across the dirt, keeping his footing.

"You okay, Grovyle?" Sora asked.

"Grov," Grovyle responded.

"Was that Boomburst Exploud just used?" Sora asked.

"It was, but I didn't even call it out," Guy said. "Loudred didn't even know that one before evolving." Exploud goes into another rampage. "Stop it, Exploud!"

"Grovyle! Try to calm Exploud down!" Sora caled out. Grovyle fires Bullet Seed, but it does nothing to calm down Exploud. The Loud Noise Pokémon, breaks the tree it bumped in half and hurls a huge rock. Exploud lands a powerful earthquake. Angel loses her footing and Pikachu catches her in his arms. Angel stares right at Pikachu as he looks up at her.

"You okay, Angel?" - Pikachu subtitle.

"I'm fine, Pikachu. Thank you for your concern." - Angel subtitle.

Exploud runs off into the forest.

"Come back here, Exploud!" Guy called out.

"Quick Attack! Try to catch up with Exploud!" Sora ordered. Grovyle dashes right after Exploud, but he bats the wood gecko Pokémon off by swinging his arms at him. Grovyle fell right on the ground. Exploud continues to run off.

"This has gone way too far!" Guy ran right after Exploud with Sora, Kairi, Riku, Naminé, Ash, Leaf, Ethan, Kris, Lyra, Brendan, May, Max, Lisia, Rei, Pikachu, Angel, Eevee, Azurill, and Marill following him. Exploud ran to a waterfall and began drinking the water coming down. "Hey Exploud! Come on out!"

"Exploud!" Sora, Kairi, Riku, Naminé, Ash, Leaf, Ethan, Kris, Lyra, Brendan, May, and Max called out.

"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu called out.

"Eevee!" Angel also called out.

"Sora, I'm thinking Exploud must be so angry at me, that he doesn't wanna see me ever again," Guy said.

"Don't think that way, man. Exploud is your very first Pokémon," Sora said.

"I know, but I don't think that it matters," Guy said.

"How could it not matter? It should matter to you," Sora said. Grovyle turned to Sora.

"Grovyle, Grovyle," Grovyle said. Sora turned to his Pokémon.

"What is it, Grovyle?" Sora asked. Grovyle pointed straight down the path. "I don't think we can see through the woods, but I think you can have a better view from up above. Let us know as soon as you see something." Grovyle jumped right on top of the trees to act as a lookout.

"Good iea on having Grovyle looking for Exploud from up there," Lisia said.

"I wonder. When a Pokémon evolves, does its personality change, too?" Guy asked.

"Absolutely. When a Pokémon evolves, not only their personalities changes, but their abilities changes as well," Kairi said.

"They may evolve into different Pokémon with different personalities, but their hearts are the same," Riku said.

"Eevee," Eevee nodded with agreement.

"So, Guy, have you been raising your Exploud since he was a Whismur or a Loudred?" Max asked.

"I had Exploud ever since he was just a Whismur. Whismur was a Pokémon that I caught without even trying. And you wouldn't believe what a cowardly Pokémon he was back then. I mean, his voice; you can barely hear him when he spoke. It was a whole different story when he cried. Whismur was a challenging Pokémon to raise, but after some hard work, Whismur had evolved right into a Loudred. And when he did, all the fear and all the crying just disappeared. Seeing how he changed and how strong and brave he got made me really happy. It was great. And then, all of a sudden, Loudred started to get out of control and weird," Guy explained.

"Man, that's quite a story," Sora said.

Over to Exploud, the Loud Noise Pokémon was taking a nap when suddenly, a flock of Spearow were in the bushes, watching him. The Spearow all attacked the Exploud, but they didn't realize they made a really big mistake when Exploud woke up and lets out a loud bellow, scaring the Spearow off. Grovyle hears the bellow and heads off in the direction where it came from. It caught the attention of the group as well.

"Exploud!" Guy exclaimed.

"Come on! We gotta head there!" Sora said. Everyone agreed and went to where it came from. Grovyle got to Exploud first and stares right at him. Exploud turned and see Grovyle standing there. Grovyle and Exploud stares at each other, waiting for one to make the first move. Not one of them was flinching or showing any signs of backing down. Clouds forms in the sky above them and the waterfall roars as well. As soon as the sunlight came through, the two Pokémon resumes the battle. Grovyle starts things up by running towards the loud nooise Pokémon, but Exploud easily dodges it by jumping out of Grovyle's way and comes down to land a stomp., but Grovyle dodges it asw ell. Grovyle slashes at Exploud with a Fury Cutter. Exploud takes the hit, but he quickly gets back up and fires Boomburst. Grovyle took a hit from Exploud's Boomburst, but he regains his posture and jumps. Grovyle fires Bullet Seed right at Exploud. The group came along.

"Hey Grovyle! Why did you start without us?" Sora asked. Guy ran to his Exploud.

"You okay, Exploud?" Guy asked.

"Ploud," Exploud replied.

"That's good," Guy said.

"Let's try this again," Sora said.

"Right!" Guy accepted. "I'm ready when you are!"

"Grovyle! Leaf Blade!" Sora ordered. Grovyle comes at Exploud to lands a Leaf Blade onto Exploud.

"Dodge it, Exploud! And then use Stomp!" Guy called out. Exploud just stood there again, and took the hit "Hey, why didn't you dodge?!"

"Leaf Blade again!" Sora called out. Grovyle comes at Exploud to land another hit with Leaf Blade.

"Dodge it, Exploud and use Stomp!" Guy ordered. Instead of dodging, Exploud blocks it by grabbing the attack. Sora gasped in surprise as did Kairi.

"He's just doing whatever he wants!" Kairi said.

"That can't be good!" Rei said.

But why?" Max asked. Grovyle held on with Leaf Blade, refusing to call it quits. Exploud was also refusing to call it quits.

"Grovyle! Bullet Seed!" Sora ordered. Grovyle fires Bullet Seed and Exploud lrts go of Grovyle's attack. "Now use Fury Cutter!" Grovyle swipes at Exploud with Fury Cutter. Guy was getting frustrated with Exploud's attitude.

"If you wanna win this, then you bnetter start doing what I say!" Guy said. Exploud glances at his Trainer and started to walk off. Suddenly, a pack of Mightyena came out of the shrubs and launched their attacks. The Mightyena headed right towards Exploud. "Mightyena?" He knew Exploud was in trouble, so he ran towards his Pokémon. "Exploud, get out the way!" Guy jumps and takes the hits from the attacking Mightyena. Exploud saw how much Guy cared for him and remebered all the times as a Whismur. Exploud was angered by what the Mightyena had done. Pikachu and Angel countered the attacking Mightyena using their speed attacks. One of the Mightyena headed towards Angel to land a bite onto her.

"Angel!" Kairi gasped.

Pikachu gave the Mightyena an Iron Tail right in the face.

"Keep your paws off of her if you know what's good for you!" - Pikachu subtitle. Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the Mightyena and the pack was forced into a retreat. Exploud fires a Boomburst and it makes the Mightyena scatter in the sky.

"What could have set them off?" May asked.

"What could have set them off?" May asked.

"Those Mightyena must have been mad at Exploud for some reason," Max said.

"I'm thinking this might be their territory. That could be why they attacked us, just like that," Lisia said.

"Makes sense since Mightyena are very territorial Pokémon," Max said. Pikachu went to Angel.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" - Pikachu subtitle.

"I'm always okay with you around. And thank you." - Angel subtitle. She gave Pikachu a kiss on the cheek making him blush. Exploud turned around to see Guy getting back up.

"Hey there, Exploud, I missed you. Are you okay?" Guy asked. Exploud just looked at him. Guy frowned, fearing Exploud will just leave him. Sora, Kairi, Riku, Naminé, Ash, Leaf, Ethan, Kris, Lyra, Brendan, May, Max, Lisia, Rei, Pikachu, Angel, Eevee, Azurill, and Marill were worried about the same thing. "It seems that you're all right, and that's what seems to matter." Exploud holds out his hand, making Guy look up. The Loud Noise Pokémon smiles, filling Guy with happiness. "You're smiling, Exploud! Does that mean you'll let me be your Trainer?" Exploud nodded. Guy and his Exploud hugged each other. "Thank you, Exploud! Of all the Pokémon in the world, I knew I picked the best one!"

"That's so sweet," Lisia said with tears forming in her eyes.

"It is," Kairi agreed.

"Those two really do belong together," May said.

"They make a really good team," Sora said.

"Hey, Sora, thanks so much for all your help," Guy said. "And now thanks to you, Exploud and I are closer than ever."

"No thanks needed. How about we finish up our battle before we get interuppted again. If that's cool with you," Sora said. Guy turned to Exploud.

"What do you think, Exploud? You game?" Guy asked.

"Exploud, Exploud," Exploud said.

"Great! Let's do it, Exploud!" Guy stated as Exploud retook his position.

"You too, Grovyle! Leaf Blade!" Sora ordered. Grovyle comes at Exploud with his Leaf Blade extending from his arm.

"Dodge and use Stomp!" Guy ordered. Exploud did dodge and his foot came down at the Wood Gecko Pokémon.

"Fury Cutter!" Sora ordered. Grovyle swipes at Exploud with his claws. "Now use Bullet Seed!" Exploud gets pelted by the onslaught of Grovyle's Bullet Seed.

"Use Boomburst!" Guy ordered. Exploud lets out a powerful Boomburst and it catches Grovyle in the blast.

"Quick Attack!" Sora ordered. Grovyle dashed right at Exploud with lightning speed.

"Dodge and use Screech!" Guy ordered. Exploud avoided Grovyle's Quick Attack and fires an ear splitting Screech attack.

"Not gonna fall for that again! Quick Attack!" Sora called out. Grovyle avoids Screech and lands another Quick Attack onto Exploud. "Now use Bullet Seed!" Grovyle fires a barrage of Bullet Seed and it pelts Exploud like a a bunch of pebbles raining on a windshield.

"Hang in there, Exploud!" Guy called out. Exploud was getting tired from all the battling he was doing and so was Grovyle. "Sora, next move decides the winner!"

"Wouldn't have it any other way! Grovyle! Fury Cutter!" Sora ordered.

"Exploud! Stomp!" Guy ordered. Exploud comes at Grovyle to land a stomp, but Grovyle came too quick for Exploud, so it fell right into the lake and was knocked out. Guy couldn't believe that he had lost. He calls back his Exploud and he smiles. "Get a good long rest, Exploud. You've earned it." Sora calls back Grovyle to rest up.

"You should take a breather from all the battling you did, Grovyle. You've earned it," Sora said. The two trainers shook hands and smiled.

"Gotta hand it to you, Sora, you're one of the toughest trainers I ever faced. And those two Gym Leaders I faced were nothing to cough at," Guy said.

"You too, Guy," Sora said.

With that said, they parted ways and he thanked them again for helping them find Exploud.

Sora was proud of how closer Guy and Exploud have gotten, and it just made the bond he has with his Pokémon grow even stronger. Riku, Naminé, and the other Trainers felt the same way about their own Pokémon.