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Cyllage City Gym - The Climb

Raijin twisted to the side as Francis pushed past him. Using his leg, he'd push himself after Francis, land on his other foot, open his eyes and then kick after Francis in his own Quick Attack.

Raijin began to gain on the flying/normal Pokemon, electricity forming in one hand. Quick to act, trying to hit before Francis could change direction, he'd release a Thunderbolt attack.

Cyllage Gym - The Climb

"Mjolnr," Grant said quietly into the microphone.

Raijin kick off the ground as Francis moved upward, spin himself as he charged another thunder bolt, and he'd fire it upwards at Francis.

The ability would fly by, looking to be the product of a miss caused by a double stacked sand attack. The electricity that had past by would mask the ionized air of the Thunder's lead tracing down past Francis.

Raijin would pull it down as fast as he could. Guided by the rain, and mask by the Thunderbolt, it was unlikely that Francis would be able to detect it in time.

If Benedict and the Pidgeotto did, Grant would file some new found respect for the duo.

Cyllage City Gym - The Climb

((That's dumb, Francis uses Mirror Move for rule of cool.))

Francis' special attack are largely inferior to Raijin's. Their difference as Pokemon and in level determined that much. Francis wouldn't be able to overpower Raijin, even if he copied Raijin's strongest attacks.

Instead, he deflected Thunder as it came down, or rather, he forked it. So close to the bolt, it was unlikely that Francis managed to avoid all of the damage. The heat alone probably did a number.

Raijin, who stumbled as he landed from his combo, hit by the gust, would shake his head. After so many battles, they had slowly begun to wear on him. Still, Francis would have to equate to all of his previous opponents combined to finish him off.

"That's impressive," Grant called over to Benedict. He looked over to Raijin and this time made sure that Benedict could hear when he said "let's see how creative he can get with his attacks!"

Raijin would move into a more passive posture, ready to dodge but not attack. Grant smiled happily at the match, ready to enjoy himself in preparation for his match with Grant. He just had to kill time until Salieri was done.

Route 14 - Gate to Lumiose City

The screen switched to footage of the battle of Amrbette Town. Trainers fought alongside pokémon, calling orders as chaos raged around them. The pokémon of Route 9 clashed with the Ambrette defenders, ripping up their surroundings, blowing the town apart piece by piece. It looked like something out of a movie, which almost made it seem okay, but Wayne reminded himself that it wasn't. That every grimace, every person he saw huddled up behind some debris, overwhelmed by the fighting, was in it for real.

'Yeah,' he said, frowning. Aipom leapt up, landed on his shoulder, and peered at his face. Then poked Wayne on the cheek.
'Hey, what's the matter with you?' the pokémon asked, poking him on the cheek until he looked around.

'Nothing,' Wayne grinned. He held his stomach delicately. 'Well except for being super hungry. We better hurry up or they're gonna run out of waffles, and on Waffle Day of all days. I knew this one guy who was so fat that people said he looked like a Snorlax, and honestly, I could see why. They also said he ate wild pokémon, but that's a liiittle bit ridiculous. You totally have to cook pokémon before you eat them. And use pepper. Mmm-mm.'

Aipom stared at Wayne for a second, then shot Bridgette a pleading look. 'For the love of all things holy, get this kid something to eat.'

Cyllage City Gym - The Climb

Twister was a large move. It could off-set peoples attacks, or scare them into inaction. Giant as terrifying as it may look, it didn't scare Raijin.

"Thunder dome," Grant said. The move wasn't actually derived from Thunder, but Discharge. The electricity would come out as the Twister would try to come upon Raijin, blowing a hole in the technique that would shield Raijin and destroy it in the surrounding area - as Discharge was large itself - allowing him to pass by it unphased.

The air around Raijin was heated and pulled away by the winds of Twister, spreading, mixing and rising with the super heated air that had already surrounded Francis.

"Charge beam, rapid fire," Grant said. The Charge Beams themselves weren't quick to start, but they worked in succession. Across Raijin's fingertips the moves began to spark to life, one then another, then another. Raijin would release them like this as well, creating a new one when the previous one was fired. This would continue until Francis counter-attacked or had successfully dodged sixteen of them.

Route 14 - Gate to Lumiose City

"Shhhh, someone might kidnap you if they learn that you can talk and sell you for money," Bridgette said a little too loudly in response to Aipom's pleading. Then she turned toward Wayne, wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and tried to lead him into the city proper. "Let's hurry up before that guy shows up and eats all the waffles. Maybe we can distract him with Pokemon if he does show up."

Gotengo

~~~Earlier in the morning~~~

During nice weather, the courtyard of the dilapidated building that housed Lumiose’s biggest treehouse was more full than the treehouse itself. The sun shone down on the kids and Pokémon playing around with stacked tires, pipes, wood planks, anything they could get their hands on. One kid’s pretend rocketship was another’s mock classroom.

Salieri’s captures from Route 9 made a home quickly amongst the innocent ruffian children. Her Machop and Cubone were happily ducking it out inside a tiny makeshift arena, kids cheering them on. Nobody was sure if Salieri would mind them coming up with nicknames, and though most thought she would, they did it anyway. The Machop was dubbed “Chopping Man”, and the Cubone, “Klubby”.

The jumpy Helioptile, seemingly the youngest of the four captures, was prone to getting spooked easily, thus earning the less than flattering nickname, “Gerber Baby”.

Even Mia couldn’t avoid getting attached to one of them. Her fondness of bats led her to bond with the Swoobat, who she found herself calling “Treble”. Treble and her Noibat Bass were flapping around her head on the patio. She swatted them away while packing oranges into a tiny knapsack. “Not cute, annoying,” she muttered with a lit spliff hanging off the corner of her mouth.

Once finished, Mia handed the knapsack over to Quacklin’, who was perched on the patio’s railing. “I put two routes on the map. Either one will take a few hours. If you get lost, just look for the coast,” she explained while helping the bird shoulder the sack’s straps. “Head for the Pokémon Center and Sal will meet you there. If the Nurse asks, show her the note I wrote you.”

Quacklin’ looked over his shoulder at his knapsack in admiration. Mia just held onto her spliff and stared at him impatiently, waiting for him to sense it. When he did, he halted. “The most important thing is to avoid anything looking like an octopus. It is not as ridiculous as it sounds. You can tell by my voice that I’m very serious about this.”

The bespectacled teen didn’t actually switch her tone. Nevertheless, Quacklin’ held his wings out like a feathered Jesus. [This delivery shall become an extension of Quacklin’! Those that fly in my way, I cut down! Quack-AH! That’s what a sword does, after all!]

“Good speech,” Mia sighed. She shooed Quacklin’ away with a flicking motion. “Now get out of here. She needs you, and I have to get to free waffle day at the Pokémon Center.”

Deluding himself into believing he had a grand send off, Quacklin’ flapped up a gust of wind, and took off upwards out of the courtyard and into the horizon. Mia watched, making a visor with one hand. “All of her Pokémon are weirdos.”

Mia stepped off the patio, with a yawn and a stretch. She walked past the frolicking children to a patch of grass where Veillantif laid, watching everybody playing with half closed eyes. “It’s free waffle day at the Pokémon Center. Come on.”

Veil looked up at her, then to the ground. “Free waffle day,” Mia repeated flatly. “Waffles. Come on.” The Horsea was unresponsive. “Come on.”

Mia glared at Veil, hit her spliff, and sat crosslegged in front of the sulky Horsea. “Come on.” She sat there staring and smoking for three minutes, and Veil didn’t meet her eyes once. Finally, she put out her spliff and stood up. “I like you better when you’re annoying.”

She walked away to one of the building’s exits, a low hole in the concrete wall that led to an overgrown lot and back to the streets. Bass and Treble followed closely behind, exchanging worried glances. “Veil just needs time,” Mia assured the bats. “We’ll make sure she bounces back. The right way.”

The very first shot missing just barely was pure luck that Francis was still standing, and desperation was once again the name of the game. but then, the electrical energy was in the air, rather, the air that had heated was filled with it. He wasn't sure if that made it a magnetic field, or just an electrified field. Either way, it was clear Francis wouldn't win so easily.

"Push!" He shouted, and the Pidgeotto would open its beak. A moment later, the hot air would shift, and the bit that surrounded him would move, as if as one breath inhaling, and then push outward, most focused in a blast of wind towards Raijin. Heat wave was, traditionally, a "breath of hot air" aimed at one's opponent, but for Francis, who flew, and could manipulate the air with his wings, it was less a breath.

Of course, that wasn't to say for sure that it would stop the electrical field's second shot from hitting him, Francis wasn't going to be able to dodge the second one, and couldn't rely on luck like with the first. His all was in this attack.