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Mai let out a depressed sigh. "My dinner..." she whispered, depresly whilist staring out the window.

the mother was still upset that all her hard work and cooking went to waste, well not to waste just into a single stomach instead of several.

"Its ok mom, next time i see Robby ill teach him a lesson on how to not to completely destroy peoples living arrangements and other wise ruin a perfectly nice supper" replied Takamaru, himself currently enjoying a New manga that he recently purchased, volume Two of the 'One piece' collection.

meanwhile, outside one could see a young brown haired toddler thoroughly enjoying herself ridding on top of her big brother's Lairon, Iron Hide. Iron Hide didn't mind letting Tk's little sister ride atop him, she completely adored him anyways.

Mai stared out the window looking at her youngest. "Tk, we need to talk.." she blankly said. thoughts of dinner completely gone.

Closing his manga the twelve year old looked up with a sigh, he knew this was coming ever since she forced him to let Kari play with Iron Hide outside. "i take it you still want me to go back home to Olivine?"

Mai was silent for a moment, "Yes" she finally stated.

"But mama-" he was silenced as his mother cut him off.

"But, i wont force you too. ive seen how you fought and im confident that you'll be ok on your own, well along with Pokemon at least" she stated. Takamaru took relaxed Sigh.

"But now, i want to see how you battle, how you command your Pokemon in the heat of a fight. Tomorrow you will be challenging this towns gym, win, and you'll be free to travel this region with out another word from me." she continued.

"And if i loose?" he wondered worriedly, he did not like that look his mother was giving him.

"Loose, and you will relinquish all of of your current Pokemon your carrying as well as give up your chase to find Lancer. in return you will traverse this Region with pre-picked Pokemon by yours truly" she said, a gleam in her eye. this was Takamaru's test, he already lost once to this woman lenora. but how would he fair if he had something irreplaceable at stake?

Tk was silent for a few moments. walking over to the window he looked down at Iron Hide, then he removed spikes pokeball, the small Mole Pokemon was sleeping soundly. then his thoughts went to lancer.

"well, what do you plan on doing, Tk?" she pushed.

"...were going to fight, and were going to win, that's all." he stated, that same determination present as when he fought that grunt Olysea in the dream yard as well as when he fought Gorm.

Mai's posture loosened as she clasped her sons shoulders. her regular smile set back into place, "now then, you need a bath, your filthy." she said as she took hold of Spike's pokeball. "While your in the bath im going to feed your Pokemon, there going to need to be well nourished for tomorrow." she said kindly as she walked away and out of the new hotel room to retrieve Kari and Iron Hide, leaving Takamaru to his thoughts and to clean.

((I sleep a loot too. Just like, not at the correct times.))

((Oh please, Henrietta defeated Gorm in that tournament. She can destroy him on a whim.))

Hitmonlee reached the apex of his jump and twisted. It was similar to a Rolling Kick, but not as telegraphed; his body would take a split second to shift around and his attacking leg would shoot out to its target. It'd hit Fatass' gut and send ripples wobbling out from the point of impact, then retract as Hitmonlee landed.

"Ehh, it's not as powerful as before," Wayne mumbled, rubbing his forehead with a sigh, "but it is definitely faster."

"Don't worry about power," Elizabeth called over as she tip-toed across the forest floor to reach her shoes, trying not to get mud to stick to the wet soles of her feet. "That'll all come naturally when you master the move!"

She hopped onto the log, butt-first and picked up her shoes, slipping them back on after wiping down her foot. Wayne nodded slowly, thinking of just how long it might take for Hitmonlee to master Earthquake. It wasn't a standard kicking move. This was special; it was a high level technique. Too much power and it took too long to set up; too much speed and they wouldn't be able to do much damage.

"I'd say that's around half its full potential," Zack said, arms folded still, "Both your speed and power need a lot of work. On the plus side you don't seem to be having any trouble with aiming. Not yet anyway."

Wayne flopped forward with a groan. Traaaainnnning... never ended. He nodded again in temporary defeat before standing up tall and determined.

"Okay, Hitmonlee! We got this! And now," he grabbed another pokéball and called forth his choice, "Solosis! You're up!"

The psychic rolled over and Wayne performed a double take, sheepishly putting the ball away. Solosis wore a frown.

[Dude, I've been sitting around for like 4 hours. I'm ready, bro, let's do this.]

"Right you are," Wayne stepped forward, kneeling just past Solosis and aiming a finger towards Hitmonlee, who just kinda stood there. "You'll be working on defending as he works on improving his strength. Let's get to a point where you can defend anything he throws at you! And err... well, preferably nothing could stop Hitmonlee's attacks too... so it's kinda..."

The trainer looked up to Zack, who waved a hand across his neck telling the boy to cut off, and then nodded. Wayne stood up. A mildly confused Solosis rolled into play. Hitmonlee prepared himself. And training continued.

[Eunmi's Flashback]

Salieri nodded, then stretched her arms over her head. "Yeah, you're right about that," she yawned before sprawling out her limbs comfortably and turning the other direction.

"Let's think of....a plan....tomorrow..."

And then the snoring from the Battle Girl began

---The next day---

The door to Salieri's room creaked open, and Koichi took gentle footsteps over to the window. He began to open the shades, allowing light to flood in through the cracks. Salieri began to stir.

"Oy, Salieri, rise and shine. Eunmi's grandmother is almost here to pick her up."

Salieri sat up in bed slowly, her hair a sleepy mess. "Mmm, Dad, it's Sunday...no training on Sunday," she mumbled, half awake with her eyes closing and opening sluggishly.

"Yes, you're right. But you should be awake when Eunmi gets picked up at least, don't you agree?"

"...huh?"

"Eunmi's grandmother. I found her number and called up their house. She's coming over to pick up Eunmi any minute."

"...."

The sentences began to click in Salieri's head as her expression became much more awake. If Eunmi wasn't up already, she'd be up to here her practically shriek, "You did WHAT?"

~~~~

[Present]

"On call?"

Salieri had almost completely forgotten that Gorm, in addition to being a master martial artist (which by default made him one of her idols) was also the man responsible for stealing Henrietta's pokemon (which by default made him one of her enemies). But with Eunmi's words, the memory was recalled.

She understood that she should be sympathetic towards Henrietta. And she understood that she should tell Henrietta not to fight alone when she has friends to fight alongside. But Salieri couldn't help but be curious, especially when she was still in the mood of awe from the revelation that Robby was an iron chef.

"Wow, you got beaten up by Gorm? With one move?" She leaned across the table to Henrietta, her eyes sparkling like a child learning something new and exciting. "That's incredible. Was it a punch? Or a special hold? Probably something really badass, I'm sure."

It hadn't been a punch or anything cool. "A f-flick," she admitted. Still, Henrietta had no intention of stopping now. She looked at Eunmi and said, "I don't have any other leads and," she gulped, "th-this isn't your problem s-so don't worry about me." And don't get hurt because of me.

((Takamaru: I'm going to teach you how to not ruin people's places of home.
Robby: Yer t' one that invited a guy big as me into yer home. Yer expectin' everythin' t' be intact?
Takamaru: It's your fault.
Robby: That everythin' broke? How do you propose I stop that?
Takamaru: Stop being fat, this instant.

Sorry, just seems a little silly, <.<))

((Aaaand end flashback...?))

Eunmi slid back into her seat with a sigh.

"It wasn't my problem until I entered a stupid tournament for your sake," she grumbled. "It wasn't my problem except for the fact that you get hurt all the time..."

Eunmi's eyebrow twitched as she stared down at her sandwich.



Eunmi said this with a couple of waves of her hand, ending by lightly pounding her fist on the table. She stood back up, lightly jabbing Henrietta near her collar bone.

she said, holding up two fingers, "damn" for your sake.

Eunmi spat. "Bull s**t."

((Btw, I realize I did not post paying for Robby's food in my last post, but let's pretend I did. >___>

Eunmi forgets she's not speaking english sometimes.))