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Chen Zhen brought his fist down after it was blocked. This was the closest he had been to getting a full hit on Pansear, and he didn’t even get it. The monkey’s eyes darted to the side. Where did he-

The elbow caught Chen Zhen in the back, thrusting him forward. After the Work Up, the strike did a fair amount of damage to Chen Zhen’s spine. The grass monkey flew forward, throttling towards his fire brethren that shifted into position to strike again.

“Its not over yet!” Salieri yelled as she thrust her hand out to the side. “You’re gonne see some real Dell Forrest kung fu! Lock him up!”

Chen Zhen grit his teeth through the pain and rolled as he touched the ground. Bouncing off, he pushed with his arm to make himself face the right way as he flew towards Pansear legs first. “And take him OUT!”

The Pansear’s kick was predictable. With all that speed in his legs, chances were that he was going to use them to fight. As Pansear’s kick came up, Chen Zhen twisted in the air and matched it’s motion with a spin kick. This pushed Pansear’s leg out of the way across it’s body, probably throwing it off balance. Chen Zhen continued his spin with a spinning back kick, this one aimed at the Pansear’s face.

The Brick Break attack was emanating power from Chen Zhen’s heel, coming off in vibrational waves. To Pansear, who’s face was incredibly close, it would feel like a huge soundless speaker had just been blasted at full volume in his face, making a wave. And if it hit his face, it would send the fire monkey crashing into the arena wall.

Location: Nuvema Town

Reclaiming his breath and straighting up Takamaru Waited for about 15 minutes and still no answer! 'Some Pokemon professor' he thought. "Well, might as well go in huh guys?" he said to his pokemon as he pushed on the front doors which opened with an Erie Creak. There on the front desk sat a parcel with two notes on it, one from The professor and the other from his mother, they Read;

From Professor Juniper

Sorry I'm not here to present these Gifts to you personally along with your Package your mother sent you.

Hope your well,
Professor Juniper

And the next from his mother

From Mom,

Here are some supplies i though you could use on your journey honey,

- 10 Heavy balls, Made by Kurt of Johto
- A Poke Gear, From professor Elm
- An insulated hoodie that will keep you warm in even the coldest of winters, from Mom
- an Old, time worn Scroll with a Seal to protect it from being opened, This was left by your father.

Oh, Takamaru, it pains me to see my little boy growing up and finding his place in the world. don't forget to call me every now and then alright!
Oh! and i almost forgot, here's your Aron you weren't able to Take to unova due to illness, the Nurse joy here in Olivine fixed him right up so i thought i would send your old friend to adventure with you!

Love you always, Mom

Taking his belonging he placed them in his back pack Looking over each item in turn, "10 Heavy balls!, i gotta remember to thank Kurt when i return home" he said picking up the poke gear and attaching it to his belt loop. "This hoodie looks nice as well" he said examining the flawless seems and the Grey trimming on the entirely blue hoodie, folding it he placed it in his back pack along with the scroll he didn't even look over. After securing his belongings he Looked across the counter and seen a little Red & black machine he took to be his pokedex left by professor J. after placing the pokedex in a side pocket on his back pack he picked up the 11Th Heavy ball that was included in his parcel from his mother and jogged back outside.

--

Location: Route one heading Back to Accumula Town

Once he reached The rough pathway leading down Route one he launched the heavy ball into the sky and with a blinding light his Aron, Iron Hide appeared, blinking in it arouse from being asleep in it pokeball for the long trip from Johto to Unova. But once it laid Eyes on Takamaru it sprung to full awareness and excitement seeing its trainer once again and Lurched through the air tackling Takamaru to the ground and licking his face, "Haha, Come on come Iron Hide, I'm glad to see you too now get down" he said lifting the Iron Pokemon from his chest and sitting him in front of his other two pokemon, Spike and Lancer. "Here, time too meet your other two teammates" takamaru said motioning to both the drilbur and the Karrablast. Iron Hide walked up to each in turn and gave each a little sniff and nudge, the three pokemon Began to talk in there own way that Takamaru didn't understand but knew that there were getting along seeing as how they all bore smiles as the talked.

The three pokemon continued to interact all the way down route one until the reached Accumula town just as the sun was setting, "Alright you three, were here now so back in the pokeballs you go" and with three beams of red light the pokemon were recalled to there pokeballs. Once reaching the pokemon center Takamaru first noticed that it was all but empty so he had no troubles finding a room to lodge for the night. Takamaru lay in his bed thinking about the event that have gone by so far, His battle with wayne, getting his pokebex, reuniting with Aron, And as he thought about these events sleep over took him and he was sound asleep.

This girl; she kept putting herself in harms way. Why? This was getting insane. Two Night Shades in a row and there was no telling if she'd continue to take Kali's attacks for her Pokemon. This wasn't a battle anymore; this was assault. "What are you, crazy!? Get out of the way!" Avan screamed to Henrietta. He looked at the self-imposed judge. Some judge he was.

It was that small side-tracking of his mind that led to Avan's downfall. It was fast and it was a surprise, the Litwick had disappeared as well. Ghost types; what are ya gonna do? The smog soon enveloped the boy and almost instantaneously he could barely breath. Avan pulled up his shirt to his mouth as a make shift filter. Not much of one, in fact, it couldn't be called that even he wanted to. "KALI! -cough- -hack- WIND!" He called out. Maybe it was from seeing the girl that he gained the courage to do this, he knew he would be caught in it, but what other choice did he have?

Now thanks to the Smog, both Avan's and Litwick's visions were obscured; even if the Litwick was the one who was releasing the attack, unless he had x-ray vision, the smog would block sight. Neither of them should have been able to see Kali disappear into the ground. The Yamask didn't want to hurt Avan, but he already gave the command. She wanted to please Avan, and that meant not disobeying a command; but from where would the wind come? The side? In front? No, from directly under the two, straight up. Kali phased herself up and got hit with smog and blasted up an Ominous Wind. The purple wind rushed out and aimed to envelope the enemy, of course, taking Avan with it. Since the Litwick had phased up next to Avan to use it's attack, it was in point-blank range.

[sorry I haven't posted I had gotten busy for a bit]

Kijin continued to watch the battle continue to escalate he wanted to step in but he was told before not to intervene and he had planned on doing just that, but just because he wasn't going to jump into the battle didn't mean he wasn't prepared for anything went wrong.

He kept a certain distance but then things started to take a turn for the wost he started to move in but the smog kept his vision obscured, if he was go running head long into this fight it wouldn't do anything more then just get hurt himself.

He gripped one of his pokeballs getting ready to jump into this but then quickly changed his mind and gripped another one. "Lets go Steelix, Tropious." He throws the pokeballs into the air looking at the two pokemon as they emerge from their pokeballs. "Tropious go use whirlwind on the battle send those two down the alleyway, Steelix move around the trainers surround them with your body and use iron defense." The pokemon let out a unison roar of understanding then move in separate directions.

Steelix moves into the direction of the last know spot of the two trainers since the girl was now heading towards the male Steelix would look around the the alleyway then once it gets a line of sight of the two trying to get out of the blast radius. They might get away from the explosion but the pokemon would continue with its orders, it would quickly let out a roar as it would quickly coil around the two then uses iron defense, and going into a protective shield.

Tropious would quickly fly over the battle the pokemon would then begin to flap its wings quickly the move would go off but as the smog would start to move a bit Tropious would spot another trainer in the smog. It would let out a cry then quickly dives down towards the smog using the vines hidden under its wings. It grabs the trainer from the smog before the explosion would go offer knocking Tropious into the air and into some buildings while holding the trainer in its brace.

Kijin would get knocked back by the blast slamming into a near by wall letting out a loud groan of pain as he covers his face from the explosion.

((When I said before that you didn't have to mention attacks, I didn't mean that it made them ignorable entirely.))

It would be a nice ending, except half of Crown's post never happened. For you see, Tropius had used Whirlwind to send Melty and Kali down the alleyway, an attack that Kali had no defended against(protect blocked the explosion, and it lasts for one attack, which means Whirlwind hits, as you did nothing about it)

So, while an upbeat ending would be nice, this wasn't going to be such a thing. And thus, we have the current scenario;

Kali and Melty being sent down the alleyway by Tropius (Tropious would quickly fly over the battle the pokemon would then begin to flap its wings quickly the move would go off but), Avan and Tropius recovering from hitting the building, Steelix curling around Henrietta and Kijin being thrown back by the explosion.

From here, actions would go forward.

Kali's last move had been protect and thus, without a roll or some sort of chance showing effort, another protect wasn't going to happen.

Melty was going to take advantage of the lack of a shield and, while the two rocketed down the alleyway, he'd release the smog and ignite it as they flew, using the natural flame of his candle.

One might also note the activation of Flash Fire from the previous explosion.

So, as the alleyway turned into an inferno, with Kali having no protect and no way to halting the momentum(because of the nature of whirl wind) or phasing to safety it seemed more than likely that she'd be hit, it should also be noted that ominous wind would likely be consumed by the flames before it could even hope to act as a defensive shield, if even brief enough for Kali to get a Protect off.

In short, this left very few options of avoiding damage for the Yamask.(and let's hope we don't have to wait days for hits to be taken if dodges can't be thought up, I hate when that happens)

As much as those around might like it, this battle wasn't over.

Henrietta hit Steelix after failing to come to Avan's rescue. Instead, she'd tackle into the iron defensing Steelix and split her head open on the steel before crumbling to the ground.

Her head exploded into agony and she grit her teeth harder as she warily rested a hand against the Pokemon and used it to climb to her feet. She looked around herself.

The judge had interfered.

It seemed like a nice thought but the last she saw of this match, Kali had taken zero reservations in avoiding hitting her and Melty was out of control. Kijin, Kali, Avan, Melty, so many factors she couldn't control, so many things she couldn't stop. The world was out of her hands and it was a frustrating thought.

Today had been horrible. Utterly and completely horrible and now she had this on her hands. She wiped the tears from her eyes and felt the blood from her head run down the side of her neck. It'd cake in her hair when it dried, but that was a concern for later.

It hurt to breath, hell, it hurt to move, but she had to do something. Because she didn't trust the guy that intimidated the hell out of her and the guy that beat the crap out of her(indirectly) to do anything.

Who would?

So, she set about climbing up Steelix. A gap, she just needed a gap. If Steelix stopped her, she had a back up plan. This lead to two scenarios;

First and foremost, if Steelix didn't stop her, she'd drop from the coiled Steelix, land, stumble, fall, catch herself on her forearms, stand up and chase after Melty toward the inferno that was the alleyway.

Second, if Steelix did stop her she'd release Darumi and throw him Melty's Pokeball with the orders to "bring him back!"

And Darumi would set off, with the intent to not fail Henrietta this time.

What Melty probably didn't realize, was that if one is "rocketing down an alleyway", the smog released would be continuesly behind the Pokemon, not around. Smog didn't follow; it wasn't controllable, even if it was released in front of the Candle Pokemon, it'd still stay in place; it was gas and stayed behind as they flew down the alley thanks to the whirlwind attack. And said inferno? Well, that'd be trailing behind the Pokemon as well, since that was where the smog was. The smog would only be around/on top/in distance to affect, would be once the Pokemon's momentum was stopped by either hitting the ground or a building.

Luckily Kali was hit at the same time at Litwick from the Whirlwind, causing her to be approximately next to (if not a bit more in front since she was lighter) the Litwick as they flew and able to see his little plan, even in the air she could at least turn her head, and start to form her own. She wouldn't allow the smog to happen once they landed. From her ghostly hands she point at Litlick and released blue, ring-like waves in a Disable attack. Hopefully the attack-blocker would land. If it did, then she wouldn't have to worry about any more smog.

Eventually the alley would have to end, and when it did it was onto another street on the otherside. Kali would hit the ground hard and be sent into a roll. She laid there for a second before reaching a standing postion. In that instant, she'd release a Haze attack and that would hide her presense presumably; and since it was an Ice type attack, it wasn't flammable.

*

Avan left Tropius, thanking it as he did, and went after Kali only to be blocked by flames in the alley. "No..." He muttered as he tried to see through.

*

Baku was getting quite the show. Action, explosions, Avan getting his a** handed to him; it had everything. His joy ended however when the judge intervened. [Tsk, tsk, no fun.] From his little perch he floated up and whooshed off in the direction Kali was sent. From above he'd watch what events may transpire next.

((Sorry this is late sweatdrop ))

Luckily, being trained to utilise high speed techniques meant that you had good reaction time as well. When Chen Zhen countered his kick, Pansear managed to kick back with his grounded foot before he was thrown completely off balance.

'This is weird,' Chili thought as he watched the fight, eyes occasionally glancing down to the screen on his left, 'The console keeps flagging his attacks up as Brick Break but... none of them look like any Brick Break I've ever seen.

A small smile peaked on the young man's face as he considered that Chen Zhen was already beginning to evolve his techniques. Pansear was still fighting:

By pushing back with his foot as the first kick knocked his leg away, Pansear managed to put a small amount of distance between himself as Chen Zhen. With the next kick incoming and aimed at his face, Pansear bowed back so that it'd fly above him, using his tail as a prop for balance. Chen Zhen's speed may have improved, but that didn't mean he could be void of openings. Now that there was a gap, Pansear unleashed hell.

Or as Chili put it, "Incinerate!" which manifested as a huge flame aimed to swamp Chen Zhen's unprotected body; front, back or wherever was showing.


**

Wayne watched N leave the pokémon center. He had left the teenager with a frown on his face, muttering, "I have enough trouble getting them to listen to me."

He drained the last of the lemonade and crushed the can in his grip. He spied the recycle bin that N had made his shot in and looked away. In a single sweeping motion, Wayne put his hand his pocket, began to walk off and tossed his crunched up can over his shoulder. He heard it tap tap tap and glanced back, expression sinking when he saw the can on the floor a few inches away. He'd make that shot one day.

Wayne sighed, shifting back over to pick the litter back up. When his arm was outstretched, he heard the nurse's soft voice calling him over. It echoed in the pokémon center lobby; now that it was late, many trainers were either getting some sleep or outside.

"Erm, excuse me, trainer?" she called over, a cute, nervous look on her face. Wayne felt blood rush to his cheeks as he scooped up the can and deposited it in the bin. Was it getting hot in here or something? Maybe the air con was broken, "This is your Hitmonlee isn't it?"

"Uhh, sure," Wayne said, blinking a couple of times as he looked at her. She looked about his age; too young to be a nurse in his book. Maybe she just had an uncontrollable desire to heal pokémon? Or maybe she was some kind of benevolent cosplayer who'd snuck in behind the desk.

"Are you just going to stand there?" she asked, "Is something wrong?"

"R-right," Wayne threw his hand up behind his head and laughed, "Sorry, I just didn't expect to see... err," he felt his voice squeak, "Is it hot in here?"

"No, I think it's just you," the nurse told him, before going red in the face herself, "Not that, I- err. Didn't mean it like that. Your pokémon's in the tray, I'll just. I have to go."

Wayne watched her leave and ran a hand through his hair. Well damn. Hot damn. Damn damn damn. Cosplay or not, that nurse's outfit was really working. He took Hitmonlee back and put the ball into his pocket, looking over the desk to see if he could spot the nurse again but she'd vanished into the staff room. With all thoughts of N and his ominous meanderings out of his mind, Wayne made to leave the pokémon center; one last chance to check out the city before going to bed. If all went well tomorrow then he wouldn't be spending another night here.


--

"I should probably call Tess," Wayne said to himself, feeling slightly guilty about liking the nurse. He leant against the rough brick wall of a random building and pulled back his sleeve, revealing his Xtransceiver. He hadn't had it very long, but he'd already transferred his old pokégear's contact list over.

People walked to and fro, the city a dazzling display of attractions; bright lights mostly, alongside places to eat, drink, party and battle. It was a pretty laid back sort of town, Wayne thought, and it was a good sign that all this was happening without much trouble. It reminded him of Village Bridge in that regard.

"Okaaaay," his finger pushed the button on the side of the watch-like communications device and a second screen slid out from a slot beneath the first, positioned on the right. This was a touch screen, which displayed a list of names; the original screen matched pictures to names. He began to glide through the list, passing his foster mother on the way; a beautiful woman with long, flowing black hair. Going a little too far revealed his foster father, a redheaded man whose picture had him scowling at the camera.

"Tess Tess Tess," Wayne muttered, finally locating her name and pushing down. At this point the camera slid open and the second display showed Wayne's image while the other crackled with black and white static. He heard it ringing. Ringing. And more ringing. Eventually he was met with a beep and the screen where Tess was supposed to appear instead displayed 'Contact Out of Range'. Mumbling nothings to himself, Wayne snapped the Xtransceiver closed and tugged his sleeve over it to cover it up.

"What now?" he wondered, looking about. He didn't feel very hungry anymore, so finding a place to eat was out of the question. He wasn't in the mood for battling either; the gym match had tired him out. The trainer looked up to the sky; the occasional bright dot showing stars peeking through the city's dazzle. It was nothing like that at Village Bridge; there every night would show a sky filled with an incredible array that'd make an astronomer wet himself. Was there anywhere like that around here?


--


"Well it's not quite the same, but at least it's clearer than in the city," Wayne said to the budding grass type, "it's nice."

Petilil let out a happy cry as she skirted across the grass, feeling the wind ruffle her leaves. Since going to the pokémon center earlier, the leaf that had been plucked out to revive Eunmi's Oshawott had been restored. Wayne smiled, standing with his hands pocketed and watching Petilil dance about. She swung around and came to a stop, looking up at her trainer with her leafy 'dress' flowing in the nighttime breeze.

"You're a lot livelier when it's just the two of us, aren't you?" Wayne grinned, leaning back until gravity took hold. He fell to the ground, propped up by his arms while looking at the night's sky. Petilil scurried over and sat next to him, looking at whatever Wayne was looking at; occasionally glancing at him to check his eyeline.

After some time where they did nothing but stargaze, Wayne said, "I still can't believe we lost that match." Calling out for it to stop was useless. Hitmonlee struggled to stand but was soon crushed by Pansear's Incinerate. "I thought for sure we'd win. Do you think..." he gave his pokémon an earnest look, "Do you think it was my fault?"

Petilil shook her head wildly, losing a couple of leaves while she was at it. Wayne smiled, slumping onto his back, eyes to the sky, hands behind head. "Salieri told me I should be like iron if I want Hitmonlee to listen to me. That might work for her. But I don't want to be, y'know?" He turned his head, eyes on Petilil, "I want to have fun with my pokémon. We'll train and battle, sure. But if that's all there was then I'd pick up a computer game."

Wayne felt his eyes begin to close as he stared at the endless heavens. It was an odd sensation, lying in a field and watching the sky. Like everything was going to fall away and it'd suck you up. That there was nothing left to hold onto. Wayne always liked that feeling. It was familiar; it reminded him of home and put him at ease. He didn't know how much time went by, but soon Petilil's breathing turned soft and she fell asleep. Wayne felt the world leave him as consciousness drifted into dream.

((EDIT: ))

The Incinerate attack was like the situation from before, where Chen Zhen had used the burning tree to pole vault out of the way. Only this time there wasn't a tree. And Pansear was much closer to Chen Zhen. Salieri didn't know what to say, except for-

"We're too close to home to lose!" she roared. "I'm not like the others, Chili!"

By the time Chen Zhen finished his spin, Pansear's mouth was already open. He could see the flame build up in the fire monkey's mouth, like it was slow motion. His mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation. Chen Zhen was flying towards Pansear. The only way out of this was tricky.

Just as Pansear could use his tail as leverage, so could the Pansage. Twisting in the air using his tail to swing, Chen Zhen was now flipping forward. This would normally just make him fall on his face, but he had a platform to handstand on: Pansear.

Chen Zhen gently touched his palm down onto the top on Pansear's head. If he had the time, he would have made it into a punch, but the chance that he'd be caught in the Incinerate was too high. Instead, Chen Zhen was now upside down over Pansear as the Incinerate was released, using the fire monkey as his vault this time.

Having avoided the situation, Chen Zhen finished his flip. Now his back was to Pansear's. Salieri held up her index finger high in the air, keeping her intense gaze locked to Chili's eyes. "One!"

Chen Zhen turned around as quickly as he could. The green monkey could feel Salieri's will going through him. It was the purest form of motivation. Pulling his hand back, Chen Zhen made his mitten like hand as straight as possible. He knew what to do.

But Salieri would announce it anyway. She too retracted her hand and brought it back behind her, curling her fingers into a fist. Not once did her amber eyes glance away from Chili. With this intensity, they almost looked bestial. "INCH!"

Chen Zhen thrust his spear hand forward at Pansear, preparing to stop at the fire monkey's spine should he still be there. Assuming the swift strike made contact, Pansear would barely feel it brushing against his spine. But what he would feel would be a tingle in his body, like he was just shocked by a static charge off of a rug.

And assuming this all worked, Salieri would finish the command. She thrust her fist forward at Chili from across the arena, and her hair blew back from the force of her imaginary blow. "PUUUUUUNCH!!!!!"

At the same time, Chen Zhen's spear hand formed into a fist that he would thrust into Pansear's spine. If the attack worked, then the Brick Break would not be like the others. All of it's power was centered into a single point at Pansear's spine and would ripple throughout his body like a shockwave.

What would happen next, if Pansear was struck, would not be that he was sent flying. Instead, the fire monkey would fall forward to the ground in a delayed reaction, the ripple making his injuries internal.

And at the end of it, Chen Zhen would return to a standing position and release a breath that could be seen in contrast to all the heat from Pansear's body. A breath of chilled focus.