Jack Davis​

It was like clockwork. Charlie just couldn't stop grinning as his plan worked like a charm. Flare had been so taken back by the illusion that it had knocked him out like a light. Charlie canceled the hold he had on the Arcanine's mind and snickered as he walked toward his defeated foe, "It seems I win mutt. Yes, lie there in defeat like the weakling you are. It shames me that this was such an easy fight. I should have know you were but a-" Charlie didn't get to finish as his 'fainted' foe suddenly exploded with fire. Again, Charlie had been caught off guard yet again and he was thrown back due to the power of the attack. He landed flat on his back and struggled to get up.

Alpha watched with awe as did the rest of Jack's pokemon as Charlie struggled to get onto his feet. Charlie looked up in confusion, "H-How...." Charlie fell onto his back and didn't show any sign of getting back up. Alpha looked at Flare, "You won... You won!" Alpha, Bravo, and Delta cheered as Alpha ran up to Flare, "I would hug you! If... you weren't covered in fire... but still, that was amazing!"

Jack sighed as he recalled the defeated Charlie back to his pokeball, "Seems like Charlie isn't up there yet. Well, anyway that was still a good battle. We should probably high tail it out of here now though, we've caused more than enough noise to have some territorial pokemon chase us off now." Jack recalled the Turtwig as well.

Alpha pumped a fist into the air, "Now we can go onto our next plan!" His voice dropped to a whisper as he grabbed Bravo and the two of them formed a circle with Flare, "Here's what we're going to. Bravo, get Echo away from Jack. Try to get her as close to Mello as possible. It'll be hard, but find a way. Flare you're going to have to get Mello to sing again. For some reason Mello's singing affects Echo. I don't know why but that connection could help the both of them."

Bravo frowned, "You know this plan could just blow up in our face and cause me to have my eyes scratched out, you know that right?"

Alpha patted Bravo's shoulder, "Have faith. With Flare in this plan nothing can go wrong! Once we set the spark we'll just have to keep the fire going. Don't let anything separate those two and eventually they'll have to start talking with each other. Once that starts then we can establish a relationship and finally get Mello out of her depression and have Echo be more social! What do you think Flare?"

Kiba, Chapter 6: Connections

"YEAH! BURN THAT SPOON FREAK!" Jev was yelled as he was cheering on Flare. Stella had rushed up behind him as Jev held out his arm instinctively catching and holding back Stella by her head. "JEV! LET ME GO! SHADOAN WANTS YOU TO RETURN!" Jev sighs as he rolls Stella up into a furry ball. "I will later, go cuddle your insomnia induced fur-ball." He then rolled her back to Shadoan like a bowling ball until she unfurled and tried charging again. Jev sighed as he caught her attack and sat on her, poking her head out from between his legs. "Just watch the fight. You haven't beaten me yet and you won't beat right now."

Shadoan sighs as he squints his eyes. He then sits back to watch Flare and Charlie fight as Avaith sat beside his trainer watching. "It would be interesting, though were running the risk." He digs through his fanny pack behind him to pull out a bttle of water and drank it empty. Releasing Light while he was at it. "Go assist Light, try to convince Jev to let her go." Sipping his water, he gave himself some time to think.

"I'm 19. My father and mother were caring but really couldn't afford much so we were living form paycheck to paycheck... I got Avaith when I was a lot younger, 7. We played together, bathed, slept, ate, we just did everything together. When I turned 10, my father gave me a pokeball to capture him in and he simply became my partner in crime. There is not a place I go to without him. I named him Avaith after an old story my mother would tell before bed."

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@Julia

Stage 3: Dragon's Furnace.
The Sneasel ducked and dodged Rocky's punch, leaving its arm stuck into the ice pillar before jumping up onto his head and off into the air, locating the next tunnel, he makes a mad dash and ducks into the next level. dropping another pokeball. (You received Lumine! Entei and Macgyver are the last one's to retrieve!) As Sneasel delves deeper in, the cave gets hotter and hotter until it ducks behind a few rocks through a small passage into its nest to store the last 2 shiny, pokeball's into its nest. Squeezing back out through the hot searing passage, he stands out, ready to defend his nest from the oncoming intruder. To make matters more difficult, the Blazeikien from earlier makes its way down as well, preparing to ambush the ambitious trainer. The temperature is at an all time high within the room as magma pours around the room, keeping the place in a hot flame. The stone walls are now even sizzling red of heat.

Lethia Geography:
To add some depth to the region, there are certain locations with names that can be discovered that give Lethia more depth as to what the world is like within this region.

Dragon's Furnace:
One of the most hottest places in Lethia in literal terms. This area is where the magma originates from and flows throughout the caves to the other sections of fire pokemon. In Stage 2, the pokemon push the ice pillars into the magma below where the furnace is located to generate steam to vent the heat to other caves throughout Lethia to accommodate the other fire pokemon in the region. The magma within this place is hot enough to melt metals thought indestructible.

Jack Davis​

Bravo walked over to Jack and coughed politely to get Echo's attention, "Hey, Echo. I have something really important to show you. It's really cool."

Echo turned away from Bravo. The Banette frowned, scratched her head, and then spoke again, "This is really important, so if you come with me I'll... make sure the others don't bother you for two whole days. How does that sound?"

Echo glanced up, "Really?"

Bravo smiled, "Really, really. Just come for two seconds. I won't touch you or anything. It'll be fun!"

Echo thought it over and unwound herself from her position and began following after Bravo. She only had to lead the Sneasel just to the tree where Mello was climbing up. Without further ado she quietly left and quickly ran back to Alpha who was being joined by Flare as well. Alpha rubbed his hands together, "And now we wait."

Echo looked around confusedly, wondering what it was that Bravo had wanted her to see. A song began to float in the air and Echo stopped dead in her tracks. That voice. Echo looked up and saw Mello up in the tree, singing. She sounded just like... her. Echo just watched as Mello continued to sing. The song itself seemed to put Echo into a trance as all she did was stare at the singer. Slowly, almost subconsciously, Echo sat down on the grass and closed her eyes. In a way she looked peaceful.

Alpha pumped yet another fist in the air. "All we have to do now is keep them together! I knew that song had something to do with it!"

Bravo nodded her head, "I have to admit, you thought up of a good plan this time Alpha. So have a fun time keeping them together." Bravo began walking away as Alpha looked at her confused, "What?"

Bravo smirked, "It is your plan isn't it? You should be the one that carries it out."

Alpha frowned, "What are you going to do then?"

Bravo looked back with a smile, "Supervising!"

Alpha groaned and turned to Flare, "Hey Flare, buddy. You're gonna stay here and help me out in case things get out of hand, right?"

Jack regarded Kiba's question and shrugged, "Who knows. Still, looks like Echo is taking a liking to Mello now. Well, since we all know each other now and the battle is over we should start planning our next move."

Light tackles Jev to the ground helping Stella up. "You had your fun Jev. The fight's ended." Jev laughs as he falls over and sighs. "Alright, don't deprive this beetle his enjoyment." Avaith sighs as he stands and walks around a bit. His ears alert for any approaching pokemon, his ears catching sound of Mello's song, he sits and lays down to listen closely to her chorus, smiling a bit. Stella is seen cuddling close to Light as he continues to watch the area while Jev walks over and lifts up Charlie, dragging him over to Kiba and Jack. "Heracrooooss." Jev then returns over to Shadoan as the 2 looked each other in the eye. "Alright, our next move is to move towards the coast and capture a water pokemon. We should also look for trainers to fight and earn badge components so we can progress to the finals. Unless someone has any other plans, I think that would be a clean course of action. I also wouldn't mind returning to the vendors to turn in the Turtwigs for part of the reward now."

Shadoan pulls out the map and lays it on the ground. He then refers to his notebook on the information he purchased on the VCR (Vendors Caravan Route) throughout Lethia. "What do you 2 think?"

Kiba, Chapter 6: Connections

Jack Davis​

Jack smirked, "Yeah, we can find the caravans. I'll be needing to heal this guy anyway." Jack held up Charlie's pokeball. "While we're there we can pick up that photo quest. If what Irek said was true then we'll have to guard our backs, but it can be done at a distance. The guy can't be that good. As for the starters, well if anything Flare will be able to take down anyone that gets in our way, so that's good to know. Apart from that once we turn in these starters we can go get the rest."

Alpha just sighed, "Well there is no input to be had. No one knows much about Echo. She just won't talk to anyone. The first week she was just silent. We actually thought she was a mute. Jack was really the first to reach out and she just clung to him. No one else. Anyone got near Jack she would try to rip them to shreds. After we picked up Foxtrot... he tried. After all that time in the ICU though and all the shots and stitches he had to go through... he's afraid of her. For the two weeks after he just couldn't sleep, he constantly had nightmares. Anytime he did sleep out of his pokeball he just would scream. It took a whole lot of money to actually repair his gem eyes lest he walk around blind."

Alpha looked at Flare, "If I can stop that, if I can at least assure the others that Echo isn't dangerous anymore, then she could start making friends. I just hope that this works."

Echo opened her eyes as Mello had stopped singing. Echo's mouth trembled a bit and she slowly parted her lips, "C-co-could you s-sing ag-again?" Echo gulped as she clicked her claws together.

Kiba, Chapter 6: Connections

Shadoan nodded as he stood up. "Wait, I thought we could only accept one job at a time... Then again..." He stood there to think it over and looking over his map. He plotted a course going through the mountains and presented it to both Kiba and Jack. "Were heading through the mountain terrain and will make our way towards the Vendors near the lake. Any luck, we can find fire pokemon on our travels and fish a water pokemon for our starter job. We can finish that and take on the job Irek mentioned. I know this may or may not work out, but its something to do. AVAITH! Get the others, let them know were moving out! Jev, help him." Avaith got up and looked over in Shadoan's direction, nodding while Jev just lazily walked beside him.
Shadoan glanced over as Kiba exclaimed about the egg hatching. He walked over to inspect it and smiled. "It looks like it will be hatching soon. Then we'll see whats inside." Kiba then looked at both young men and asked "When I first joined you two, you seemed rather uneasy about it... Do you still feel that way?" Shadoan looked back up at him and chuckles. "Not really, no. Everything begins with trust somewhere. Your alright with me."

Jev and Avaith talk to Stella, Light and Ulla to head back towards Shadoan. "We suppose to get Jack and Kiba's team too?" "Looks like it." Both of them start heading off into the section of woods to the source of Mello's Singing. Jev chuckles looking over at him. "You looked anxious to let the girl ride you. Do you like her?" Avaith jerked his head back at Jev. "What do you mean!?" Jev laughs as he closes his eyes, raising one to look at him. "Calm down, Im just asking if you like her. Over the course of our travels, you've stuck by Shadoan thick and thin but you 2 never seem to have time to find your mates. I've seen Shadoan try and fail several times but never seen you try once." Avaith was getting a bit flustered as fire flared from his head and his cheeks blushing red. "There is no need for fireworks, I'll keep my trap shut if, providing we spar next time when we stop to rest." Avaith takes a deep breathe and lets it go as he calms down and nods. "Deal." The 2 find Alpha, Flare, and Echo near the tree with Mello up there singing. Avaith paused to listen, while Jev decided it was time to end the show and move on. Their trainers were waiting for them and they needed to keep moving. "Alpha, time to shut down whatever your planning. Our trainers are calling for us, were heading into Lethia's Mountain region and we need to get going."

Jack Davis​

"That's a good plan. Two birds with one stone. I think it would be better if I just heal Charlie later. He'll need some time just for himself I think."

Echo had her eyes closed and was just listening to the song. She hadn't heard a good song since... well, it didn't matter. She was here now and she wanted to just relax. She laid her back on the grass and placed her arms behind her head. It was just so pleasant, to just hear a voice that sounded so similar to her's. Echo missed her a lot, but it was nice to be reminded of her. "Alpha, time to shut down whatever your planning. Our trainers are calling for us, were heading into Lethia's Mountain region and we need to get going." Echo looked up at the voice and saw the pokemon that were with that one boy. "Plan?" Echo whispered. She got up and looked back over at those pokemon. They didn't look too dangerous, but she wasn't one to be fooled by appearances.

She got ready to move, but stopped. "Um, that was nice. Th-thank you." Echo ran off to Jack, making sure to give a wide berth to those other pokemon. Alpha looked at Jev with enraged eyes, "You're not supposed to say it's a plan out loud!"

Alpha watched Echo run off and groaned, "Great! Good going, now the one way we could get them together is gone. Echo never falls for the same trick twice."

He sighed, "Well, I'll probably be sent back into by pokeball, so I'll see you guys later. If Echo is still out, please try to get her back with Mello. I just know Mello is the key to opening her."

Alpha walked away from the group and headed to Jack. Bravo, Delta, and Foxtrot were already there talking with each other. Foxtrot treated him with a cold glare, no doubt still angry over what he had done with Charlie.

Jack looked over his pokemon and pulled out their pokeballs, "Alright guys, hop back in." He withdrew Alpha, Bravo, Delta, and Foxtrot back into their pokeballs and patted Echo on the shoulder. "Alright I'm all set. If we don't get to a carvan today then you can heal up Charlie Kiba."

Kiba, Chapter 6: Connections

Jack Davis​

"Alright, if you can heal him then go for it. He might be a bit grumpy when he comes to though. He hasn't lost a match for me lately."

Jack opened up Charlie's pokeball and the Kadabra appeared, still unconscious.

Echo looked at Mello. She spoke in a shaky voice, "Y-you re-remind me of her...." Echo squeezed her eyes as she thought of her. It had been so long since Echo had seen her and even then she always remembered what had happened. A few tears formed in her eyes that she quickly rubbed away, "I-I'm sorry. I-I won't bother you anymore."

It pained Echo to say that simply because the song just seemed to take her pain away. She didn't think about her fears, she just felt... happy.

Jack got up and stretched, "Once we heal up Charlie we can move out and get this job done with."

Kiba, Chapter 6: Connections

Jack Davis​

Jack took the berries and nodded, "Thank you Kiba." Charlie would have temper tantrums every now and then, especially when a battle wouldn't go his way, but every time he had won. Jack knew that there would always be tougher opponents than the ones Charlie was used to facing, but Charlie had grown soft in a way. Jack remembered when Charlie would train every day from sun up to sun down, only taking breaks to eat and sleep.

Echo was about to turn away when suddenly Mello wrapped her arms around her. Echo's eyes widened. She was stunned at first. And yet, she didn't feel like slicing at Mello. No anger, no fear, and not even a dose of caution sprang up into her mind. Echo realized what was happening, Mello was giving her a hug. Echo's eyes began to water but she also wrapped her arms around Mello as well. "I-I'm sorry for making you mad." Echo whispered softly. She hadn't been held in the arms of another for a long time.

Charlie's eyes opened up and he groaned as he stirred. "Look, I'm not going to gloat. I just hope we can be friends. And hopefully you might start talking to everyone..." A object was dropped in front of him and Charlie blinked as he picked it up. A spoon. Charlie frowned, and then he remembered. It all came rushing back, the challenge, the fire, and worst of all his defeat. Charlie looked at the spoon and felt a sudden surge of anger. A spoon! How dare that mutt demean him even further! Charlie stood up shakily and gripped the spoon tightly in his hand and threw it right at Flare, "How dare you even think of rewarding me for failure you orange mutt! I don't need your charity or kindness! I will not be weakened!"

Charlie stormed off to the trees muttering darkly under his breath. "Charlie! Come back her and apologize!" Jack shouted. Charlie continued walking. "Fine then! Ret-" The pokeball flew out of Jack's hand and into a bush. Jack quickly found the ball, but Charlie was already gone. Charlie moved deeper and deeper into the forest. He wasn't afraid of getting lost. He could sense his trainer wherever he went. Charlie found a clearing and began to pace as thought over what had happened in the battle. He had done everything perfectly. Sure, at the beginning he had underestimated his opponent a little but that couldn't explain how the Arcanine could fight against his illusions. He had chocked him and yet his foe had still managed to breath. How?"

Charlie came to the right conclusion, he had grown weak. He had slowly downgraded his training because the pokemon he usually faced were weak. There was only one way to fix that, train even harder. Charlie looked around the forest and saw a lone Linoone rummaging through a berry bush. Charlie's eyes glowed as he grabbed the Linoone and unleashed his fury upon it. It didn't take much for the wild pokemon to be knocked out. Charlie gritted his teeth in frustration, he needed stronger opponents. The bushes near the edge of the clearing began to shake and twelve more Linoone appeared, all of them glaring at him. Charlie chuckled and narrowed his eyes, "This is more like it."

"Charlie!" Jack shouted yet again. Still no answer. Jack released Alpha and pointed at the trees, "Alpha, Charlie's somewhere in there. Could you bring him back?"

Alpha nodded his head and worked his way into the forest. He locked onto Charlie's position and headed straight for the clearing. Scattered around the Kadabra were various forest pokemon all heavily injured. "Charlie, what have you done!?"

Charlie gave a twisted chuckle, "Training Alpha. It may take some time to work myself back up to my former level, but it won't be long at the rate I'm going."

"This is wrong Charlie. Jack wants you back now."

"Well, you'll have to tell him to wait. Once I raise myself back up I'll kick Flare's a** all day long."

"Charlie, that was one defeat. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Once I'm done training I'll meet back up with everyone. Just go, I sense a big swarm of Beedrill coming and I'm not missing them!"

Alpha left. What could he do against Charlie? He was no where near powerful enough to face him. Alpha reappeared out of the trees and walked back to Jack. He really didn't know what to tell him, other than that Charlie was now power hungry, again. Alpha walked up to Flare, "Um, Falre, I may need your help. I am nowhere near Charlie's level. Could you help? I'll lead you to him but he's gone into his 'I need to train' mode again. He usually listens to Jack, your battle is causing him to stress." Jack took the Charlie's pokeball from Jack. "I could try it myself, but he'll likely kill me if he wanted to."

Kiba, Chapter 7: Love & War

Jack Davis​

Jack grabbed his pack and threw it on his back. Dammit Charlie, what have you done now? He thought in irritation as he ran after Shadoan, "Echo, stay right there!"

Echo looked up as Mello said it, 'friend'. Echo pulled away and wrapped her arms around her body, "Please don't say that. I don't like that word. So many use it, and all they do is hurt me after they say it." Echo shook her head, "We can't be friends, but maybe... associates?" She asked in a hopeful voice. Echo looked up as she watched Jack and the others run off. It was only Mello and Echo now. She turned back to Mello, her eyes cast to the ground, "I... like listening to you. I don't know why, but you're... different. Can we just... talk?"

Alpha followed after Flare and finally got to the clearing, wheezing heavily, "You're *gasp* fast."

Charlie was busy staring up into Flare's eyes. "Childish... I'm childish? Well look who has their fur in a knot just because I'm training! They're wilds, they don't matter in the scheme of things. Is someone going to come and start pummeling me or put me in jail because I use my power and attack others? That is what we are built to do mutt! We attack and the strongest wins. It's simple in execution. It's how we've worked for centuries, even you can't deny that surge that all of us feel. How we enjoy standing over a defeated foe deciding if they should live or die. Oh, I remember well, you enjoyed it so much you began laughing about it. Don't you remember? You enjoyed dominating me, watching me suffer from your blows. You can't deny it, everyone watched. In fact, with a little bit of grooming here and there you could become just. like. me."

"Don't listen to him Flare!" Alpha gasped, "He's only this way because of his father! The old man enforced no tolerance with any other types!"

Charlie snarled, "Alpha don't you dare!"

Alpha continued, "He was taught that to hate everything that was different! It's his father talking here-" Alpha suddenly gasped and clutched his throat, dropping the pokeball he held in the process.

Charlie narrowed his blue glowing eyes, "I warned you." He looked back up at Flare, "Make one move and I'll snap his neck."

"Charlie!" Jack burst out of the clearing. "Stop this right now!" With Charlie distracted Alpha looked for the pokeball, only to find it gone. Charlie narrowed his eyes and before he could speak a red light appeared behind him and sucked him into a pokeball held by Foxtrot. Jack nodded at the pokemon he had released on the way here, "Good going Fox!" Jack helped Alpha stand back up, "You okay Alpha?" The Hypno nodded his head, "I'll manage."

Jack grabbed the pokeball from Foxtrot and placed it back on his belt. He looked around and groaned, "Dammit Charlie." Most of the pokemon looked pretty banged up, but Jack didn't know what to do. He heard a lot of pokemon coming and he did not want to stick around to greet them. "Guys, let's get out of here." Jack took the berries Kiba had given him and placed them near the injured, but still conscious pokemon.

Jack walked back through the trees and Foxtrot turned to face Alpha and Flare, "People do not change in a day. Neither do pokemon. You can't expect one battle to have a tremendous effect on Charlie, Alpha. You should know by now how his thought process works. As for you," he turned to Flare, "You have beaten down a prideful pokemon in a foolish attempt to change him. Did you even bother to understand his background? Why he acts the way that has generated so much negativity? No, you simply looked at an appearance and concluded that he has always wanted to act that way and that there were no outside factors that contributed to his development."

Foxtrot turned away, "If Charlie was right about one thing Flare, it is indeed that you are a fool." The ghost ran to catch up with Jack and Alpha rubbed his temples, "Foxtrot is partially right. We're both fools. What was I thinking trying to change him! This... this is all my fault." Alpha sighed and walked out of the clearing, not even bothering to converse further with Flare.

Kiba, Chapter 7: Love & War