Pokébook

Tyler Cohen | 1:30 PM | Violet City

They were so hot-headed. I had lost count of how many battles Kent had waged so far, and it seemed that everyone-- even the thief-- had a place in the little clan.

The lazy little Munchlax hobbled around our group and sucked on a green Pokeblock. I secretly wondered if Kent had used my berries to make them. But it wouldn't matter either way. I leaned back against the white, cold metal wall of the Pokemon center and reached into my pack, taking out a black cloth to clean Gumbo's ball. His always seemed to be the dirty one, and I hated smudged appearances.

And in my head, I started running numbers. In the time the others had spent flaming, body-slamming, and pecking one another, we all could've made it to the next town...or at least made a good distance. But then it occurred to me: the longer it takes us all to travel, the better prepared I can be for Morty.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Pokedex, pulling up Corpfish's data. It evolved into Crawdaunt, who was part Dark-type. That would be perfect for Morty. I flipped the digital pages over the faces of water-type Pokemon that I had fallen in love with as a kid. And there, at the top of the list, were starred my favorites in their fully-evolved forms: Crawdaunt, Kingdra, Golduck, Starmie, Gorebyss, and Alakazam, the only non-water type I really loved.

I looked to my left and jerked away as I saw Kisa peeking over my shoulder at my 'dream team'. She just chuckled and shook her head, pointing at the Pokedex. "You'd fall hard for any electric pokemon with that team."

I frowned, closing the black digibook and stowing it in my bag. "Not if I played my cards right..."

She picked up her things, pondering something for a moment. "So why do you have that Ghastly if you don't like it?"

I sighed and looked down at my things, noticing a few others watching and listening. "Morty gave him to me... He said that he'd keep me safe from my fear." I shrugged, stowing Corpfish's pokeball on my belt before standing, looking at Kent. "And he's strong."

Kent sneered and looked away, reflecting back on the first battle between the two of us. The memory played fresh in my head and I grinned, looking back at Kisa. "But I'm a water guy." I shook my head. "Or maybe a psychic guy."

Kent smirked. "Or just the freak with the blue hair."

I let the fight go, ignoring the sting as I zipped up my bag. But... But, no. It wasn't good enough. I looked up from my bag and at Kent's sneering face. I tried to ignore it, honest. And I picked my fights very carefully.

But the sting was worse than a Beedrill's.

"At least I'm man enough not to hide my own faults behind my arrogance and lack of skill controlling Pokemon that don't even like me."

Kent's face began to flush a deep red, his rage steaming up like a Primeape's. Munchlax continued to run around as the tension condensed between the two of us. No one said a word as Kent fumed, and I just stood there glaring as the wind blew through the city.

Moments ticked on without a word.

Without a movement.

Munchlax swallowed his Pokeblock whole and fell onto his back, asleep.

"...you dick."

Kent's voice fell flat on the ground, his words just sitting there like an immovable Snorlax. And suddenly, I wondered if he was right.

But Kisa broke through the tension with a forced laugh and a clap of her hands as she stood between us, either preventing a fight or asking to be murdered. Sam just started walking towards the next route.

I picked up my things and heaved them over my shoulder, walking on after Sam after one last glance at Kent. No doubt, he was cooling down, but his eyes never left me. It was a fight Pokemon couldn't carry out for us.

I think it was settled, then, that Kent and I would be rivals.

Rivals to the Pokemon league, to the championship, to life.

The race was on.

Kent| 1:45, Thursday| Violet City|

He was a weed among roses. Kent knew he wasn't the nicest guy but he never thought of himself as the villain they were making him out to be. Maybe it was the fact he never even knew anyone but his parents, and few monks. Maybe it was the fact he was used to having to tell people, or rather Pokemon, what they had to do. But he was the dick, Tyler was just pointing it out to him.

"Come on guys," Kent said softly, and signaled for his Pokemon to follow him. Snout and Fang stopped fighting over the last Poffin, and ran over to him, while Lax wandered slowly too him. "Munclax, return."

Kent made the motion to suck Munclax into his golf ball sized home. It welcomes the opportunity to take his nap. Kent walked away from the scene, leaving Max and Kisa to follow the others. Kent would go back to being alone, traveling with only his Pokemon for friends.

"You guys don’t hate me, do you?" Kent asked. It was a pointless question, he couldn't tell if they even knew what he was saying. Fang just smiled, and jumped at Kent. He put his jaws around Kent's head, softly this tie, and licked his face. "Aw come on Fang!" Kent said with a chuckle.

"So, where too next. If I head down route 32 I'll probably run into them, but that's the only way I know to get to Azlea town. I really want to take on Bugsy before I hit Goldenrod," Kent passed back and forth. "Maybe if I cut through the Ruins of Alpha, then I can get to the Cave that connects to Azlea."

"The ruins of Alpha are closed off, for research," someone said behind him. "I tried to go there, wanted to see the Unknown they supposedly found."

Kent turned to meet the gaze of another crazy looking kid. He had wicked spiky hair, that fell down just short of his neck, with a black vest. He looked like he was trying to look punk. A lightning bolt shaped Pokemon hovered around him.

"Hi, my name is Jack," he said with a smile.

"Kent," was his simple response. He quickly took out his Pokedex, and held it up to the lightning bolt. "Romtom, the lightning bolt Pokemon. It often transforms into household appliances to scare humans." Jack also had his Pokedex, scanning the Gible on Kent's head.

"So, you traveling to Azlea?" Kent finally said.

Samuelle Park - Day 2, 2:01 PM, Route 32

"D'you think Kent's mad at us?"

Sam snorted. "For what? Tyler was right. Kent's pretty annoying."

"It was pretty harsh, though," Kisa murmured, clutching her Vulpix in her arms.

Harsh? It wasn't harsh when it was deserved. The group fell silent.

"Do you think he'd talk to us again after what I did?" Tyler asked.

"He'd be a chicken if he didn't." Sam was aware that she seemed meaner and meaner with each thing she said about Kent, but she just couldn't get over the fact that the bastard bribed his Pokemon into winning.

Bribing his Pokemon was low, incredibly so.

Sam was lost in her thoughts when she crashed into Max, who, surprisingly, was leading the group. He'd stopped walking all of a sudden.

"What the -"

"Look."

A large sign stood in front of them.

"POKEMON TOURNAMENT - ALL TRAINERS WELCOME"

Sam broke the silence first. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm joining that."

Max scratched the back of his head, obviously thinking twice about it. "I don't know. It seems a little weird. It's in the middle of nowhere, and I've never heard about tournaments being held in this route."

"Well, maybe it's a new tournament." Sam shrugged and began walking towards the crowd of trainers gathered at the tournament. An excited buzzing hung in the air, and all the trainers seemed incredibly eager to join it.

"See? There's a lot of trainers around. We probably missed the promotional posters and stuff, Max."

Max shrugged. "If you say so."

In all honesty Sam couldn't care less about whether or not her "friends" joined. She was going to win this tournament, and when she won this tournament she was going to shove her trophy in Kent's face. If she ever saw that bastard again.

I FINALLY POST. And thanks for bringing me in Boltly. 8D

Jack Preston
1:50pm, Thursday, Violet City

"I was going to head Azalea way," Jack replied, "but some guy wouldn't let me go through without Falkner's badge. Dunno what his problem was, but I guess I have to beat the Gym Leader here."
Kent opened his jacket to reveal his Zephyrbadge. Jack opened his eyes enviously.
"So, uh... can I borrow that?"

Kent closed his jacket again. "Get your own. Come on, I'll show you where the Gym is."
The trainers walked back towards the Gym together, Fang chasing Rotom as it faded in and out of view.
"You shouldn't have too much trouble against Falkner," Kent advised as they got near. "That Rotom of yours should shock them into submission pretty quickly."
"So... electricity beats birds?" Jack said. "Wow... I got a lot to learn."
"No worries," Kent grinned, thrusting out his chest and poking a thumb to it. "Just stick with me, and you'll do fine."

* * *

Falkner sighed. "Another challenge today?" Jack looked down at his feet.
"You don't need to worry," Falkner muttered. "I'm obligated to accept all challenges anyway, except in case of emergency. But can we make this a little interesting?"
"What did you have in mind?" Jack asked uncertainly. Falkner took two Poke Balls from his pocket.
"Let's have a Double Battle."
Kent leaned forward in his seat. Jack glanced at him nervously before turning back to Falkner.
"Two-on-two, you mean?"
"Well, yes," Falkner said, "but all four Pokemon in the battle will fight at once. You do have more than one Pokemon?" Falkner threw his Balls into the air and both exploded in a bright flash of light, revealing a tiny green bird with short legs and a... bat?... with fangs and a long spiky tail. Jack reached into Kent's backpack and pulled out his Pokedex, despite Kent's objections.

Natu, a Psychic/Flying Pokemon. Lives in a hidden garden within the Ruins of Alph. Evolves into Xatu.
Gligar, a Ground/Flying Pokemon. Lives in the mountainous region south of Blackthorn City. Evolves into Gliscor.

"Ok," Jack decided, "a Double Battle it is." He threw his white Poke Ball out onto the arena and watched Larvitar burst from it.
"Then Gligar, let's start this with Sand-Attack!" Falkner called. "And Natu, hit that Rotom with a Confuse Ray!"
The opponents geared up for their opening moves. Jack called out his commands.
"Rotom, use Discharge! And Larvitar, use, uh..."
His hesitation cost him as sand blew across his Pokemon. Rotom glowed a bright yellow and lightning forked across the battlefield. Jack was shocked to see the blast hit Larvitar as well as the opponents. When the sand had died down, however, the only one that seemed to have suffered was Natu.

"Ground-type, Jack!" Kent called from the stand. "Gligar and Larvitar both have it, and electricity just doesn't work against it!"
Natu was still recovering from Discharge, and Jack took his chance. "Larvitar, uh, Bite that Natu!"
Larvitar shot towards Natu and had it between his teeth in a few seconds. Natu's eyes rolled upward and it dropped to the ground.
"Lucky break, bud!" Falkner growled as he recalled Natu. "Gligar, hit the deck!"
Hit the deck? Jack thought. He wasn't even attacking. Gligar flew high into the air and dropped like a stone towards the ground.
"Earthquake!" Kent shouted. "Get Larvitar out of the way, quickly!"

Jack was at a loss; what could he do? Larvitar couldn't fly...
Gligar slammed into the ground and the entire arena shook as once again sand billowed across the ground. When it had cleared, Jack's Pokemon were nowhere to be seen.
For a second, both trainers were confused. Then a cry of "Larrrr!" echoed from above. Jack's head shot up to see Larvitar holding onto Rotom's tiny nub of a tail, legs dangling.
"Right." Falkner's voice took on a more serious tone. "Gligar, get up there and hit them both with Wing Attack!" Gligar flapped its wings and began ascending towards Jack's team.

"This is bad," Jack muttered. Kent slammed his hands on the barrier in front of him.
"No, Jack, this is good! Remember what Gligar did to the ground just now? Do that to him!"
Jack was confused for a second. Then it clicked. "Right!" He called up to his Pokemon. "Larvitar, get ready to Headbutt Gligar! Rotom, boost him down with Ominous Wind!"
Rotom surrounded itself with purple fog and Larvitar's horn began to glow. Then, just as Gligar got close, Rotom sent its Ominous Wind at Gligar, with Larvitar out in front. Gligar screeched in pain as it was hit by Larvitar's horn, shortly followed by the purple wind. The two Ground Pokemon plummeted, and with a loud echoing crash they slammed into the floor.

Falkner and Jack both rushed into the arena, ignoring the third cloud of sand. Jack was certain that Gligar would be finished, and sure enough Falkner was holding out its Ball for it to jump back in. Upon closer inspection, however, Larvitar had also fainted.

"Huh." Falkner was still wide-eyed as he pulled out a small shiny badge. "Where'd you get that... Rotom, was it? It's pretty strong."
Jack looked at Falkner as he took his badge. "Would you believe my refrigerator tried to eat me?"

Kent|2:25 Thursday| Violet City Pokemon Center|

"Here give your Larvitar these," Kent handed Jack a cup of some light orange drink. "its Apricorn Juice. It will help it recover."

Jack nodded, cautiously giving Larvitar a drink. "Are you some sort of Chef?"

"When I was growing up my Dad put me in charge of feeding the Pokemon. We raised Dragon types," Kent began as the two headed back toward route 32. "Sometimes they wouldn't eat, so I had to teach myself how to get them too. Each Pokemon like different foods and need different foods."

"Think you could teach me a bit?" Jack asked. "I've really just been feeding them the food at Pokemon centers."

"I got a recipe for Ground types I could give you. And for your Romtom some of my skill juice will probably help. Need to find more Apricorns though. Should be plenty in Azlea."

"Wow, what's that?" Jack stood in awe, not sure what to make of it. Kent, how had been looking around for berries while he was talking, hadn't noticed the towering tent they were in the shadow of.

"Look like a Pokeon Tournament...oh and a partner one," Kent smiled, and looked to Jack. "Want to enter?"

Jack looked to the sky for a moment, thinking what to do. "Sure. Might be a good to work with someone else."

"Then let's go!" Kent ran inside, completely ignoring all the people around hi. Knocking a path into the crowd, he and Jack made it to the center stage.

"Yo, we want in," Kent had cut to the front of the entry line, and held out a bribe to excuse it. "Very well, Which Pokemon will you be entering? One Pokemon each. The rest will be held during the battle."

"I'll be using my Gible, what about you Jack? Romtom should work well...I got a few ideas already," Kent didn't wait for Jack's response, grabbing Larvitar's Pokeball and handing it over to the lady.

"You;re in the D Block,team eight. Oh lucky you, you got the last spots!"

***
[u]Route 32 Battle Tent-3:10PM[/u]

Kent and Jack stood on one of the many battle areas. They were up against two kids their own age, with a Heracross and Tootadile.

"First move does to team eight, when ever you're ready"

"Jack, have Romtom use discharge on Fang," Kent whispered, Jack gave him a strange look, but nodded.

"Romtom, use discharge on Gible!" The bolt of electricity hit Gible straight on, but it didn't do a thing to him Instead it stayed on top of him, like an electric shield. "Fang, use crunch of Heracross!"

Fang disappeared in a blur, headed right to the foes Hercross. The bug flew into the air in a wild attempt to escape, but Gible was too fast. He jumped into the air, latching onto its horn Fang's fangs acted as a conductor, and all the electricity around him flowed into Heracross.

"Throw him off with Brick Break!" Heracross reared backwards, and plummeted to the ground. His horn aimed at the ground with Fang still attached.

"Romtom, use Ominous Wind on Heracross!" Jack shouted. The ghost appeared right in front of Heracross, and blew his purple smog right at him. It knocked him completely off balance and Gible was on top now. "Tootadile, use Aquajet on Gible!"

In a flash the water had reached the still falling Heracross, it was all happening so quickly. It hit Gible who had finally unlatched from Heracross, and was falling slowly through the smog.

"Rotom, use discharge on Tootadile!" "Gible, finish off Heracross and Tootadile with Dragon Rage!"

The green flames swirled around the lightning, hitting both Pokemon head on.

"Heracross and Tootadile are unable to battle! Team eight is the winner!"

Tyler Cohen | Route 32 Battle Tent | Thursday, 3:15PM

Sam stood beside me, both of us aligned against an older duo of trainers, probably 17 or 18. They both sneered at us as I held up Corpfish's pokeball and Sam held up Blaze's ball. Our strategy was basic enough: Water and Fire had enough dynamic force to tackle any opponent.

The battle tent captain that would oversee the battle stood in the referee's spot and held up a hand. "Group 1 and Group 2, are you ready to battle?!"

Sam and I nodded. The older teens grinned and nodded. The captain raised her hand, marking the beginning of the battle. Off in a distant corner, another battle began at the same time.

"Corpfish!"

"Charmander!"

The Pokemon appeared on the field and took their stances, ready to fight. The other duo threw their Pokeballs onto the field and released an Elekid and a Haunter. I grinned, instantly ready to take on the ghost. I didn't even notice the Elekid staring at Corpfish.

Sam pointed her finger at Elekid and gave her first commands. "Blaze, let's start off with a flamethrower!"

"Corpfish, give Haunter a bubblebeam!"

The baby Pokemon launched out, delivering their first attacks just as the opponents launched their Pokemon into action without speaking.

I arched an eyebrow, watching their Haunter. He was leading the charge with a shadow punch to Corpfish. The tiny lobster reached out a claw, grabbing the ghost's fists and releasing a rapid beat of water into the Haunter's eyes. The ghost vanished and reappeared several yards away, holding onto his face like he had been punched. "Hauntah, Haun!"

"Haunter, confuse ray!" the guy yelled out, and the ghost moved his glowing red claw out towards Blaze. Out from the claw shot a red beam of light that distorted the images seen through it. I looked through the beam, seeing a thousand laughing Gengars dancing.

"Corpfish, break Haunter's focus with a faint attack!"

I looked over onto Sam's side of the battlefield where Blaze had already taken out the other girl's...

"Elekid is unable to battle!"

Sam grinned and nudged me. "You'd best keep up, Tyler." But then she looked back up at the field as her Charmander got an eye full of the red beam of light. It began to hobble around, dazed and confused.

Haunter let out a ghastly wail, trying to shake Corpfish's claw off of his head. Gumbo's eyes were a focused, dark red, which meant he was using his full dark power in the faint attack. Haunter yelled again and swung his ghostly fist around his head, socking Corpfish off of his head and down--hard--onto the battlefield. Corpfish staggered up to his many legs and glared at the Haunter as he glared right back.

"Blaze, flamethrower!"

"Gumbo, water pulse!"

The stream of fire took charge towards Haunter, flanked on its sides by the rings of water. The Haunter's eyes widened in shock as he opened his mouth and tried to swallow the attack. He began to blow up like a balloon like only a ghost pokemon could do.

Once the attacks ended, Haunter floated around the battlefield for several moments. But I was getting impatient and I had to take my rage out on something, so, "Corpfish, crabhammer!" I yelled, and Corpfish leaped up to Haunter, slamming his claw into Haunter's mouth and releasing a high-pressure cloud of steam around the battlefield.

"Fire and water..."

"Is Haunter K.O.'d?" I asked, watching through the dense haze. It freaked me out that the male trainer never gave any commands to his Pokemon.

"Chaaaaar.........MANDERRRRR!!!!!!" A flamethrower burst through the steam in a random direction and I realized that Charmander must have still been confused. In my peripheral vision, I watched Sam as she just...watched.

"Charmander, focus! Find Haunter!"

Deep inside the haze, I could hear his dark laughter, echoing in that tricky way that only ghosts could do.

"Haunter's not down," I murmured, trying to think of a plan. I began to get nervous for some reason, and I felt a dark fear come over my neck. And before I could do anything, Corpfish launched from the steamy battlefield and crabhammered Haunter straight over my shoulder. Sam and I jerked out of the way as the two Pokemon slammed into the floor, both too exhausted to fight.

"Corpfish and Haunter are unable to battle! Team one wins!"

Sam grinned over at me and I nodded, returning Corpfish to his Pokeball. "Good job, bud." I grinned and stowed him on my belt, turning to see the steam clear from the battlefield.

The other duo...

They were...gone...

Samuelle Park - Day 2, 3.28 PM, Battle Tent at Route 32

They disappeared as soon as they lost.

But how? It wasn't as if they could run away easily. There was no place for them to hide behind either. Sam was a bit bothered, but she wasn't about to let this take away her moment of glory. Sam smiled at the crowd cheering.

"Sam, they're gone."

"Who cares?" She didn't even return Blaze to his Pokeball. They were on their way to winning this tournament, Sam just knew it.

"Umm...We should care because there seems to be something wrong with this tournament?"

Sam snorted and led her Charmander away from the tent. Honestly, this was their moment. If Tyler wasn't going to enjoy it then she was going to enjoy it enough for both of them. They had a while before their next fight, and Sam didn't want to distract herself by thinking of pointless trivialities.

But Sam couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with the tournament. It was just there, this horrible nagging feeling.

And it grew worse when she remembered that the person at the counter had stuffed their Pokeballs into a big duffel bag without marking it. Then there were the people who kept talking into walkie talkies as if their life - or an extremely important plan - depended on it.

Sam walked up to the counter with a cheerful smile pasted on her face. Maybe she could see Kite for a while. That would be enough to assure her everything was going well.

"Can I see my Bagon for a while? My name's Samuelle Park and -"

"You're not allowed to check on your standby Pokemon."

Sam's heart sank. Maybe Tyler wasn't paranoid. Or maybe she'd caught his disease.

"Why not? It's not like I'm going to use them or anything. I just want to see my Pokemon. Even if it's just Piplup."

"I'm sorry, but we're not allowed to let you -"

"Why not?" Sam stamped her feet. "It's because you lost them, isn't it?" Sam stood on tiptoes, trying to see over the counter at the duffel bag the woman had stuffed her Pokeballs into.

It was empty, replaced by a new one.

"Where are my Pokemon?"

"They're right here and we'll return them right after the competi-"

"Hey, what's going on here?" Tyler came up behind Sam, his Corpfish trailing behind him.

"They lost our Pokemon."

"We didn't lose -"

"Yes, you did! If you didn't why won't you let me see my Pokemon?" Maybe Sam was overreacting, and maybe she was going against tournament rules but Tyler might be right. What if there really was something wrong with this tournament?

Tyler Cohen | 3:40 PM | Route 32 Battle Tent

I rushed to Sam’s side before she could get us disqualified. She bucked against me, but I pushed her back, keeping her a fair distance away from the organizer. “Chill, Sam…” I grunted, holding her back like she was about to mug the poor woman.

“No! She stole our Pokemon!” I carefully glanced around at the others who were beginning to stare.

“Sam, I’m sure she didn’t steal anything.” I looked her in the eye, finally relaxing as she gave up her struggle.

”All round two participants, please make your way to the battlefields!”

I sighed and looked her in the eye again, keeping my peripherals on Charmander and Corphish. “C’mon, guys. It’s battle time.”

So I led our tiny group into the main show room of the tent where our opponents were already aligned against us. The battle began and, much to the audience’s dismay, the battle didn’t last long. Our opponents came at us with a Ralts and a newly evolved and awkward Sudowoodo. Charmander made short work of the Ralts while Corphish took out the Sudowoodo with no problem.

The problems came after our victory, of course.

Sam left the battlefield in a storm of flying limbs and flying curse words. I could hear her yelling at the Organizer from the battlefield. I quickly balled Corphish and followed after her in a heavily-breathing trudge. She was beginning to wear me out more than the battles.

Once I arrived in the front entrance of the tent, I ran to Sam who, with neglect to the onlookers, was sprawled over the counter, digging around for the sack of Pokeballs which, of course, were nowhere to be found. I groaned and heaved her back onto her feet, where she turned and glared through me like an Arbok. “Aren’t you worried about our Pokemon?” she yelled, this time at me, “They can’t be far!”

…and that’s where my patience ran out.

“SAM!” I dove after her as she made a dash for the back of the tent, dragging her to the ground with a grunt. She looked up at me and I blushed madly, crawling off of her as quickly as I could without being too awkward.

She sighed and looked at the grass underneath us, defeated. “Maybe I am being paranoid,” she murmured, not really owning up to anything. It just wouldn’t be like her to be responsible.

Sam slowly rose to her feet, stroking her hand across the open space on her belt where her Pinplup belonged. “I’m sure they’re fine,” I assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Of course, my expression could’ve been better for the occasion. But I thought I handled her anger well.

But then she dove towards the back room again.

I tailed her, rounding the corners roughly before stopping just inches from her. In front of us was a truck where duffle bags were being loaded.

“………”

“…….I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

She turned to look at me over her shoulder, shaking her head. “My babies are in those bags, Tyler.” She scowled. “If you want to lose your little Ghastly, then feel free; but my Pokemon belong to me and me alone.” She took a firm step out towards the trucks before a couple of brutish guys came to impose their presence on her. She stared up into their muscle-y faces and one of them grinned. “Where are you goin’, lil’ girl?”

Sam just stood there, fists clenched.

I sighed, knowing that she would take a swing if given the opportunity. I came to her side, pulling her back by the shoulders before she could have at her own grave. “I’m sorry, guys. She got lost looking for the Potion center.” I feigned a laugh and nudged her back towards the tent. “We’ll be on our way, thanks.”

That's when we got called back to the tent for the finals. I looked at Sam and she nodded, defeated. "It'll be fine. Let's just knock out this last round and we can do all the investigating we wa-..."

"Guys!" Max ran out of the tent, out of breath. I wondered how he knew to find us back here, but I gave up after he caught his breath. "It's time to go! And you won't believe who your opponents are!"

Sam cut him off with a cocky chuckle. "Max, stand back and learn. We don't need to know who our opponents are because I'm prepared for anything. And I'm sure Tyler can catch up if he'd like."

I sighed and followed her inside beside Max, who left us to stand in the audience with Kisa, who was munching on a bag of Pokecorn, freshly popped in a Torkoal's shell.

We slowly took the steps up to the main stage, pulling out our Pokeballs as our opponents walked up. Sam gave a chuckle and I looked up at the opponents' side.

Dear God.

Kent|4:20 Thursday|Battle Tent

Kent and Jack made quick work through the rest of the tournament. Ground and Electricity went together pretty well. It was only when Kent walked up for his next match that his confidence changed. Because his ego had boosted it to ten times when he saw Sam. In his mind Sam was a straw attempting to hold up a Snorelax.

"Okay, I know these guys," Kent told Jack as they reached the battle lines. "They will probably be using a Corphish and Charmander." Jack nodded. UN sure if that was good or bad. "That's good, by the way."

"The first move goes to team number one! Whenever you're ready, begin."

"Gumbo, use Water Pulse!""Blaze, boil it with Flamethrower!"

A steaming ball of water ran straight towards Fang and Romtom. Romtom dove down and scoped Fang up into the air. Like a sparking surfboard, Gible rode Romtom straight towards Blaze. "Fang, use Crunch and then follow it up with Dig!" Romtom spun in the air, popelling Gible right towards the black lizard. His jaw opened up nearly 180, and snapped right down on Blaze. Not wasting a second, he flipped, throwing Blaze away and dove into the ground.

At the same time Romtom was keeping straight on his path, headed straight toward Gumbo.
Gumbo's pincers raised ready to grab at Romtom, exactly what Jack was hoping for. Romtom was trapped between the spikes, perfect position for a vice grip. "Romtom, use Discharge, then Ominous wind." Jack shouted. Corphish was hit directly by the high volt hit, and instantly released it, lifted instantly by the following attack.

"Blaze, use dig and hunt down Gible!" "Gumbo, cushion your fall with a bubble beam, and aim it in Gible's hole!"

"Not so fast!" Kent smirked. "Gible, use Dragon's rage!" A low rumble came from under the tent. Almost instantly green flames broke the surface, in several strategically placed holes. Gumbo and Blaze were launched into the air, bouncing from spout to spout. In their confused state they unleashed a series of flamethrowers and and bubble beams, which by sheer luck hit Romtom, and the recently emerged Fang.

The whole crowd screamed and cheered. Which was when it all happened. While everyone was focused on the battle, the tent collapsed, revealing several large hot air balloons. Each were pure black, with red Rs on every side of it.The symbol for team rocket.

"Foolish trainers, while you wasted your time watching each other play with your weaklings, we were hard at work stealing your extras," one of the members was laughing through a megaphone. "Feel good that they will be trained by the very best They now have an actual use."

"Fuck!" Sam shouted. "I knew this place looked fishy!"

"Come on, we might have a shot if we run," Tyler ushered Sam, along with Kent and Jack, too follow him. The battle tired Pokemon instantly woke up from the threat, and followed with hast.

Max|3:20pm Thursday|Battle Tent

I had no interest in wasting my time with a detour battle binge. I found this one to be very odd anyway. Why on earth would there be a tournament in the middle of a route. Of course Sam and Kent would hear nothing as they once again tried to one up each other. Tyler and Kisa went in too and I waited outside of the tent picking berries while MilkDud grazed and Lady hovered over my head.

With everyone distracted with battles she had no one to scare and thus she was bored and occasionally tried to scare me. After I picked enough berries I decided to watch and study moves being as that I had very much interest in the next gym ahead of us and I planned on obtaining it before the others.

As the finals came up I saw who would be competing and decided to go tell the others.

I find Max and Sam and was about to tell them who their opponents were but of course Sam didn’t care and brushed passed me. "Max, stand back and learn. We don't need to know who our opponents are because I'm prepared for anything. And I'm sure Tyler can catch up if he'd like."

I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Okay I tried to warn you,” I mumbled and returned to the stands where Kisa was to watch.

I watched in mild amusement as my teammates met in the arena for battle. I wondered vaguely how many times they would battle each other.

While everyone was focused on the battle, the tent collapsed, revealing pure black air balloons, with red Rs on every side of it. I groaned. Did we really have to deal with Team Rocket.

I remember Team Rocket came to the far once claiming to be breeders that would take are Miltanks and produce eggs for us. They revealed themselves to be Team Rocket and took off into the air cackling. That year was a slow in production.

"Foolish trainers, while you wasted your time watching each other play with your weaklings, we were hard at work stealing your extras," one of the members was laughing through a megaphone. "Feel good that they will be trained by the very best They now have an actual use."


"Fuck!" Sam shouted. "I knew this place looked fishy!"

I pulled out my Pokeball and Lady flew up beside me. I still had both of my Pokemon since I didn’t enter the silly fights.

“You know, this is very inconvenient,” I said to Kisa who had also jumped up ready to battle.

Jack Preston
4:30pm Thursday
Rocket Battle Tent

Rotom moaned as it saw the blimps take off, knowing Larvitar was up there somewhere. It echoed Jack's feelings to a T. Kent began running towards the nearest of the dirigibles with Fang on his shoulder, and Jack took off after him with Rotom floating alongside.

They were clearly not the only ones upset with Team Rocket, as Pokemon attacks began erupting from all over the "tournament" grounds and flying towards the black balloons. Jack had caught up with Kent (with some effort) and continued towards the last balloon that was still within reach, apparently having had trouble lifting. Fang opened his mouth and shot a Dragon Rage at one of the grunts on the balloon: the green flames hit him in the chest and sent him reeling to the floor in pain. The remaining two threw out a pair of red-and-white balls: Jack expected a battle, but the balls exploded into thick black smoke upon hitting the ground. Jack stumbled backwards as the impact of the blasts hit him, but Kent grabbed his arm and pulled him forward as he kept running.

"Rotom," Jack coughed, "use Ominous Wind and *cough* get this smoke out of the way!"
Rotom inflated itself and blew its purple fog at the smoke, which dissipated within seconds. The balloon had now begun to lift. It was just now that Jack noticed their opponents, the girl with the Charmander and the blue-haired guy with the Corphish were running ahead of them.
"Gumbo," called the guy, "use Water Pulse! Put out their engine!"
How did I not think of that? Jack thought, before realising he had no Pokemon that could attack with water. He watched as the flame that was filling the balloon with hot air was extinguished by the ring of water that gushed from the Corphish's mouth. The grunts quickly realised how boned they were and climbed out of the basket, attempting to run.
"Blaze, stop them! Use Dig!" called the girl. The black Charmander dove into the ground: a few seconds later the earth under the fleeing Rockets gave way, Charmander reappearing a moment later.

"Ok, you guys are good," Jack panted as he caught up to the pit where the other three trainers were now standing. The Rockets seemed to have been knocked out by their fall. The girl with the Charmander was flipping out.
"Well, this is great, juuust great. My poor Kite and Piplup are stuck on one of these stupid balloons, we have no idea where they're headed - and just to make things worse, you're back!" she ranted, now glaring at Kent. Jack expected Kent to retort, and clearly Kent was considering doing so - but then he just shrugged and looked at the ground. Jack cleared his throat, as an idea had just materialised in his head.
"Does anyone know how to fly one of these?" he asked, indicating the balloon behind them with a jerk of his head. The guy and girl shook their heads, but Kent just grinned.
"I don't either," he said, "but I see where you're going with this. And once we get where the balloons are going -" he reached down and plucked one of the Rocket grunts' hats, placing it on his own head, "- we've got disguises."

Okay, now that we are getting into the SB, I think its safe to drop the minimum word count to 200 words. I think you will still go over it

Edit: forgot to finish this

Kent|4:40|Flying in a balloon with everyone

"What the hell are you doing?" Sam was hunched over Kent, who was grabbing anything he could find. There was so sort of crude gun in his hands, but with an open top muzzle.

"Its a Pokeball launcher, I hope," Kent said. "If anything happened, this way we can launch our guys on the balloons, and pop the manually. And its awesome too."

They were still far behind the fleet, the four of them were all awkwardly pacing in their uniforms, Kent was the only one whose uniform remotely fit. All their Pokemon were huddled at the side, taking turns using their attacks to speed them up.

"Okay, so once we get there, we try and make it to the center of the fleet, and we attack from all sides. And if that fails, Kent ideas a good back up," Tyler was already climbing around checking the flame, and testing how he could move the thing.

They had broken in, they were both trapped and in the best place. All of them nodded slowly, and signaled for their Pokemon to go. Every side lite up explosively, rocking the balloon back and forth.

Two of the Balloons instantly fell, but the rest were two far for the attacks to work. Kent made quick work of Plan B though. He grabbed Corphish's and Fang's Pokeballs, and made now waste to launch them at two of the Balloons.

"Wait how do we get the Pokemon back?" Jack was a bit freaked right now.

Tyler Cohen | 4:45 | The Balloon

Just when things were starting to work, just when the flame in the balloon began to roar louder, I looked down and watched Corphish's Pokeball soar out from the basket towards a balloon. "You bastard!" I yelled, hopping down where the others stood. With wide, incredulous eyes, I watched as Gumbo's Pokeball soared over the trees and into the balloon of a couple of grunts.

The material on their balloon burst, but they were fighting with Corphish, who had released himself. "Great. Just great!"

But then I watched as a Water Pulse launched Corphish away from the falling balloon, keeping him suspended in air until he reached the next one. "F-Fine..." I muttured, keeping my eyes on the ground. "So Corphish can fight without me."

The tiny lobster bashed his claws against the goons in the nearest balloon and water-pulsed his way back into my arms in our balloon. That left just one ahead of us, the one leading to the hideout. I grabbed onto him and held him close so Kent wouldn't try launching him again. "Now I'll have to find a new Pokeball..." Corphish squirmed and opened his left claw, dropping his Pokeball into my hand.

"But where's Fang?!" Jack looked around at the falling balloons frantically, trying to see his little dragon.

"Oh shit." Kent muttered and looked around as well. But Sam pointed ahead and made the two jerk their heads up.

"Look! The balloon's landing!"

The three of them watched where to land the balloon while I began to ruffle through the bag of Pokeballs, searching for Ghastly's Pokeball with the purple rim around the edges. "Nothing." I sighed and closed the bag, standing up just as Kent extinguished our flame, sending our balloon down slowly to the hideout's base.

We all looked at eachother and nodded, scrambling out of the balloon. A guard was already at the door, shuffling around an armful of Pokeballs. He stopped as he saw the four of us scrambling for the bushes. He instantly dropped his balls and ran to the bushes, holding out one of his own Pokeballs, ready for a fight. "What are you kids doing here?!"

I leaped to the front of the group with Corphish and looked over my shoulders at the others. "Go!" I looked back at the grunt just as he released a fully-grown Rhydon onto our makeshift field.

The Rhydon glared down at Corphish and seemed to laugh at his size. "Rhydon, takedown!"

Corphish dodged without a second thought and readied for my auto-command. "Water Pulse!"

The tiny lobster began blasting the huge rhino while dodging his charges. But Rhydon finally caught up with him and slammed Corphish into the ground, pinning him under his enormous foot.

"Gumbo!" I bit down on my lip, unsure of how to fix it. But then, well, the situation fixed itself.

Corphish started glowing a brilliant red, then white. Rhydon shielded its eyes as he was toppled over from the growing Pokemon beneath his feet. Corphish let out a loud clamor just before its voice deepened. And there he stood, a fully-evolved Crawdaunt.

The beastly lobster glared down at the toppled Rhydon, gripping his huge claws together before delivering a knockout blow to his rocky face in the form of a monstrous Crabhammer.

"Craw!"

I grinned and clenched my fist up in victory as the grunt returned the Rhydon to its Pokeball. He shook his head, backing up a bit, looking around nervously. "Th-This ain't over, kid."

"Oh, I know it isn't." I pointed at the grunt with a smirk. "Crawdaunt, let's teach him why stealing is wrong."

Crawdaunt shuffled its many legs and let out a pressurized bubblebeam straight into the Grunt's gut. He flew back, ambling to his feet before running off without another word. I grinned and held up Gumbo's Pokeball, returning him with a proud grin. "That's how we do it, Gumbo."

Samuelle Park -Day 2, Rocket Hideout Near Slowpoke Well, 5.00 PM

"Guys, what about Fang -"

"Shut up, Kent," Sam hissed. At this rate they were going to get caught. "Quit whining. Do you see how many Rockets there are in this place?"

"That's not the only problem," Max murmured. "How are we supposed to know which ones are yours? Look at those Pokeballs!"

Sam cursed herself for not putting seals on her Pokeballs. Blaze leaned in close to her, as if afraid of all the Rockets scurrying about. "Forget about which ones are ours. First things first - how do we get past all these Rockets?"

"...Good point."

"If I had a Pokemon -" Kent began.

"Shush. I think we can take them on. They're moving out again, see? In a while they'll be gone, and then we can steal our Pokemon back -" Max began.

Sam wasn't paying much attention, but she did watch every move the Rockets made.

"My Pokemon would take these losers out in a snap. Why are we left with the crappy Pokemon?" Kent groaned.

Blaze, as annoyed as his trainer at Kent, flicked his flaming tail in front of Kent. Kent was caught by surprise and fell off balance, knocking a stack of boxes off balance. The thud echoed throughout the room and more than a few Rockets stopped whatever they were doing. They glanced at the rock the four were hiding behind.

"You heard something coming from there, right?"

"Yeap."

"Let's check it out on three."

"Oh crap," Kisa said.

Crap didn't quite fit. They only had five Pokemon with them and all of them were unevolved to boot. Sam clenched her fists and glared at Kent.

"Look what you did!" Sam snapped.

"It was your Charmander that -"

Sam didn't bother to listen to the rest. There was no time. She jumped out from behind the rock to meet the surprised glares of the Rockets. Blaze stepped in front of her and roared.

"What are you doing there?" snarled one. "Get back to work!"

It was only then that she realized she was still wearing the Rocket uniform. Of course! Genius. Sam cleared her throat and nodded. "Uh, right. Of course."

Sam hurried to the shelf and began grabbing Pokeballs, much to the surprise of the other Rockets.

"What are you doing? We're not supposed to touch those yet!"

"The boss wants to see some good Pokemon," someone answered for her.

Sam sighed with relief and turned to talk to the Rocket who had accidentally saved her butt, but froze when she saw it was Kent. He walked away without saying anything else.

Huh. Kent just saved her butt.

Kent|5:10pm|Inside the Rocket Hideout, Slowpoke well

'Come on now! Chop-Chop people!" Kent was milking it, the other Rocket's thought he was in charge, so he was making them due all sorts of crazy. It worked as a perfect distraction. While Kent worked the rockets like houndooms, the rest of the gang dug through the duffel bags.

"Kent, we got them, come on!" Tyler hissed at Kent, who just smiled.

"No way, this is too much fucking fun to leave. Hey lug nut, I said to put the equipment over there, other side of the cave idiot!" Kent almost fell to the floor laughing.

"I said come on! We need to bring these duffel bags to an Officer, right now!"

"Fine, fine!" Kent backed away slowly. "Okay guys, take a break, but not too long now!"

The entire squad of Rockie rockets screamed in joy, collapsing on the ground. That's when all hell broke loose. It was closing in on the night. Which meant it was rush hour in Pokemon world. All light disappeared in an instant. It looked as if the cave entrance had caved in.

A fleet of Gligar were headed straight into their sleeping area, ready to let the Gliscors out to hunt. Goldbat and Crobats began to stir all over, screeching in irritation. The rocks even awoke, or rather the Gravelers, Onix and Geodudes everywhere.

Who ever picked this as a hideout was a dunce, because it was about to be destroyed.

"What the hell is going on!?!?!" Jack dove into a small hold in the wall, hoping for shelter. A terrible move. Jack quickly scurried out followed by a group of ekans.

They were trapped. There was no way out of it, none of the Pokemon, even combined, could take out this carnivorous crew.

"SCOR! Gliiiiiiscor!" A single Pokemon broke this fate though. It seemed impossible. A fleet of Gliscor flew towards the center of the cave, pushing aside everything else. The largest of the pack came forward, slowing gliding over. It examined the group, as if wondering if they would make a fitting meal.

It sniffed the air carefully, circling the once, twice, three times. "Glis...Gliiis!" its voice turned from command, to hunger. It krept towards Kent, the largest, and so of course the prime pick, of the group.

"HEY!" Kent took a step backwards. "No-touchie. Let alone eating me!" Only Kent would do this, it was too Kent. Not even he believed what he just did. He was on a roll though. All the Pokemon were shocked, even the leader was floating in awe of the display. He had one move. One second to think. Not that he ever used it.

Kent chucked a Pokeball at the Gliscor, sending his Munclax baralling towards it. The ball of pure fat hit it in the face. Ass first. "Larvitar, use screech!" Kent somehow got Jack's pokemon to fight for him. Through pure situational desperation. The cave acted as a sound board, making everyone, and Pokemon, to crumble in ear wrenching pain.

Kent was ready though. He had already shot thrown the Pokeball at Gliscor before the attack had gone. It was a split second between failing and working. If it had been thrown too soon it would have hit Gliscor before it was disoriented, too late and Kent would not have been able to hit his mark.

"Go!" Kent commanded. Scooping up the two Pokeballs, returning Munclax in the process, Kent sprinted for the exit. Everyone quickly grabbed for their Pokemon, and the duffel bags.

The escape took all of one minute. The odds of it working were near 1,00 to one. Kent didn't live by odds though. He lived by guts. And a his bladder. And his bladder told him to find a toilet back there.