The Quest for the Legends (version ILCOE)

WHAAAAAAAAAAAA~ I hate cliffhangers... Whens the next Chapter coming?

*sigh* When I've written it. Why does everybody keep asking me that when I obviously can't see into the future?

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RATING

Violence: None.
Gore: None.
Sexuality: None.
Profanity: None.
Other: Nothing special.
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Chapter 20: The Warning

?Huh?? Mark asked stupidly.

?I said, I think we should talk. I really do,? the boy emphasized.

?Who are you, anyway?? Mark asked, puzzled.

?Oh, sorry,? the boy apologized. ?My name?s Alan Ketchum.?

?Ketchum?? Mark suddenly remembered why the boy?s face was familiar. ?As in Ash Ketchum??

?Er,? said Alan and went beet red. ?Yes, kind of.?

?Cool! You?re related to him?? Mark asked excitedly, forgetting all about a murderous Chaletwo.

?Well, yeah,? Alan admitted.

?How are you related to him?? Mark immediately questioned.

?Well? he?s kind of? my father. Err?? Alan?s gaze darted awkwardly around; Mark barely noticed it as his mouth fell open.

?You?re his son? You?re Ash Ketchum?s son?? Mark stared open-mouthed at Alan, not sure if it would be appropriate to ask for an autograph or not. Several people heard him and turned around. Alan screwed his eyes hopelessly shut and looked like he wanted to sink into the floor, then grabbed Mark?s shoulders and steered him out of the Pok?mon Center.

?What?s wrong?? Mark asked as they came out onto the sidewalk. Alan released him and sighed.

?This happens every time I meet somebody??

?Oh,? said Mark blankly. ?Sorry.?

Alan shrugged. ?Well, it?s not your fault. Dad?s famous; of course everybody thinks it?s great to be his son and get a ton of attention.?

?Sorry,? Mark apologized again. ?Man, I would love to be his son,? he added after a short pause.

?I doubt it,? Alan just said. ?I?m sure having a famous father sounds nice, but when you?ve had a famous father for your whole life, you?re getting very sick of it.?

Mark didn?t answer. After all, he had no experience of it. ?Where are we going?? he then asked, noticing that he had been following Alan as he walked down the street.

?Home; we?ll have peace there,? Alan replied.

?Home? You mean to your house?? Mark asked wide-eyed.

?Yes,? Alan answered.

?Your house? As in the one where your father also lives? And Pikachu??

Alan sighed. ?Yes.?

?Wow!? Mark exclaimed, amazed. ?Can I see them??

?Well, Dad is probably working right now ? he?s one of the guys organizing the Pok?mon Festival. But I suppose Pikachu might be at home, if he was too lazy to come with Dad...?

?Can I pet Pikachu?? Mark interrupted eagerly.

??because of all the kids asking to pet him,? Alan finished, rolling his eyes. ?Look, no offense, but you?re kinda predictable.?

Mark blushed. ?Sorry? I just always dreamed of meeting Ash Ketchum??

?Everybody does,? Alan muttered. ?When people meet me, all they want to talk about is him. When people ask me about something, it?s always ?Why did you stop Pok?mon training after two years?? or ?Why didn?t you compete in any leagues?? or ?Is it true that Pikachu isn?t one of your favorites?? or something else in the direction of ?Why aren?t you an exact replica of your father??? And everybody thinks I like to have people stare at me just because my father is famous??

Mark didn?t answer; he felt annoying and stupid.

?Anyway; we?re here.?

Alan stopped in front of a rather normal-looking house aside from being bigger than most of the other houses in the area. He stepped up to the door, dug into his pocket to find a key, and inserted it into the lock. After wrestling with the door for a few seconds while muttering some swear words under his breath, Alan opened the door and invited Mark inside.

Mark looked curiously around. The house was somewhat messy, but not exactly a garbage dump either. White walls, mostly green and blue furniture. A ton of photos were hung on the walls, some depicting Ash, some his wife, some Pikachu, some Alan. Both the quality and quantity of the furniture was a bit above what the average person could afford, but not much.

?Here, come on.?

Alan showed Mark into the kitchen, turned the lights on and inviting Mark to sit down at the table. He hesitatingly took the chair while Alan opened the refrigerator.

?Would you like something??

?Er? I don?t really need?? Mark replied, mainly just for the sake of being polite.

?Something to drink? Coke? Pepsi?? Alan asked, perhaps feeling that tone in his voice.

?Uh, coke, thanks.?

Alan took out a bottle of coke and fetched two glasses. After pouring the drink into them, he sat down opposite him.

?Anyway?? Mark started after taking a sip of his coke.

?Chaletwo.? Alan finished for him.

?Yeah, did he really kill four kids??

?Yes.? Alan nodded sadly. ?I watched them all.?

?Huh?? Mark asked. ?Why the heck did you keep coming back too see an evil, murderous Legendary Pok?mon stare somebody to death??

?He isn?t evil!? Alan protested.

?Killing four random kids sound evil to me,? Mark said.

?Once you see him, you?ll change your mind,? Alan assured him. ?You?ll just know it. It?s impossible that he?d kill those kids just for the sheer purpose of being evil.?

?How do you think you know?? Mark argued.

?It?s just? a fact. I?ve been there to see him every year since I was born. If there is anything in this world I know, it?s that Chaletwo isn?t evil. Trust me.?

They were distracted by a low purr. A big, creamy yellow catlike creature with three stiff whiskers on each side of its muzzle and a gleaming red gem on its forehead trotted into the kitchen. The Persian rubbed itself against Alan?s hand; he scratched its ears in return.

?This is Pamela; she?s my pet Persian. Pamela, this is... uh, what?s your name again??

?Mark,? he said. Pamela looked suspiciously at him.

?She has a thing about judging people,? Alan explained. ?Either she hates you, and will hiss if you come anywhere near her, or? uh oh, I think she likes you. Prepare to be sniffed.?

Pamela walked over to Mark and started sniffing at his shoes. She gradually went up his legs, and then put her front paws on the chair to be able to reach his upper half. After looking him in the eyes for a few seconds with a hypnotizing stare, she lowered herself down again and wrapped her tail around his legs, giving him a ?Pet me? look. Alan laughed.

?Umm, yeah,? Mark said in an attempt to start their conversation again as he stroke Pamela?s fur, ?what were you going to tell me about Chaletwo??

?See? oh, hi, Vicky.?

What looked like a black, floating head drifted through the ceiling. First it freaked Mark out; then he realized that it must be a Ghost Pok?mon.

The head floated down and started circling Mark, observing him with curiosity. The Pok?mon had long black hair that hovered behind her in uneven, wavy strands, each tipped with red. Red pearls formed a necklace around her neck, which wasn?t connected to a body. Her big, red and yellow eyes twinkled.

?This is my Misdreavus, Victoria or Vicky. Vicky, this is Mark,? Alan introduced them.

?Misdree!? squealed the ghost happily. Mark smiled; there was something just funny about a head floating in mid-air looking both creepy and cute.

?Oh, we get no peace?? Alan groaned. Mark turned to see what he was looking at. A Vaporeon, like the one Marge had, was walking into the kitchen. Following it was a green raptor with a bright red belly and dark blue leaves on its hands and head, and a nervous Charmander.

?Um, this is Mist, my Vaporeon, my Grovyle Racko, and Charlie, who was my starter. Guys, this is Mark.?

The Grovyle walked right up to him and grinned.

?Grov,? said the Pok?mon in a greeting of some sort, offering his clawed hand. Mark shook it carefully so he wouldn?t cut himself. The Vaporeon started sniffing at his feet like Pamela had, but stopped fairly quickly and curled up on another chair. The Charmander just stood near the wall like he didn?t want to get himself noticed.

?You kept your Charmander unevolved?? Mark asked. ?Was it because of your father?s Charizard, or did he himself just not want to evolve??

To his surprise, both Alan and Charlie blushed.

?Er? not exactly,? Alan muttered. ?Charlie? uh, just? show him??

The lizard took a deep breath, faced Mark and closed his eyes. He immediately took a bright white glow and started growing. In a matter of seconds, he changed into a Charmeleon. He smiled awkwardly and then started glowing again; as quickly as before, he changed back into a Charmander.

Mark stared.

?Wow,? he breathed. ?Can he become a Charizard like that too??

Alan nodded, still blushing.

?Was he born like that or what?? Mark asked curiously.

?No,? said Alan miserably. ?It?s a long story? oh, and that?s Pikachu.?

Mark watched open-mouthed as a well-known yellow rodent stepped inside. Ash Ketchum?s Pikachu. Mark couldn?t believe it. One of Pikachu?s long, black-tipped ears stood straight up, but the other was almost horizontal, indicating slight surprise. He looked between Mark and Alan, seemingly puzzled.

?Pika?? he asked quizzically. Pamela, who had been sleeping on the floor, looked grudgingly up and walked out of the kitchen with her tail in the air. Pikachu sneered after her.

?Erm, Pikachu, this is Mark,? said Alan. ?Mark, this is Pikachu.?

?I know this is Pikachu!? Mark replied, still staring at the yellow mouse Pok?mon. ?What do you think I am??

Pikachu stepped closer to him and tilted his head. Mark reached out with his hand, not really thinking; he just wanted to get to touch the most famous Pok?mon in the world?

?Mark,? Alan whispered, ?you smell of Pamela.?

Mark didn?t realize his point until it was too late. Upon smelling his hand, Pikachu released an electric shock from the red pouches on his cheeks. The electricity coursed through Mark?s body; he stiffened up for a second and managed to fall out of his chair.

?Pikachu!? Alan scolded, still unable to contain his laughter. ?Shocking people is rude! When are you going to grow out of it??

Mark crawled back onto his chair. ?Ow?? he muttered. ?That? hurt??

?Piii,? said Pikachu, scratching his head.

?Sorry about that,? said Alan laughing. ?He?s never liked Meowth, so he wasn?t very happy when Dad bought a pet Meowth for me. Then she evolved, and now they?re fully-fledged rivals. Hate anything having to do with each other.?

?Oh.? Mark paused. ?What were you saying about Chaletwo, anyway??

?Oh, yes? see? the four kids had something in common.? Alan was slowly getting back to the dark expression he had worn in the Pok?mon Center.

?What?? asked Mark.

?They wanted to catch him.?

Mark choked on his coke. ?What?? he spluttered out. ?You go around saying Chaletwo is oh-so-nice, and next thing you tell me is that he kills people for something that isn?t even conscious? You?re contradicting yourself.?

?I said that was the reason I went back to see him all those years and will do the same now. You, on the other hand, apparently like Legendaries, and looked very taken aback when you saw the poster, so you are definitely within the risk-taking group. Can you tell me honestly whether you want to capture Chaletwo? Just whether you want it, irrelevant of the fact that it?s impossible and all that??

Mark considered this question with a knot in his stomach. He couldn?t deny it to himself.

?I?d want to catch any Legendary? but I still think it?s wrong to do so??

Alan grinned. ?Look who?s contradicting himself now.?

?It?s not the same!? said Mark frustrated. ?I?m not contradicting myself; I?m saying that my conscious and subconscious minds don?t agree!?

?Well, either way,? said Alan, now serious again, ?I suggest that you don?t watch Chaletwo if you don?t want your name on the poster next year.?

Mark gulped down some more coke. He really wanted to see Chaletwo. After all, he had thought Suicune was a crazy killer? but Chaletwo was a real one?

?Is there any way I can see Chaletwo without the danger of getting killed??

?Not really,? said Alan. ?What kills is supposedly not looking into his eyes, just having him direct his eyes at you. Nobody knows whether Chaletwo can kill through video cameras, and nobody has wanted to test that so it?s not aired on TV anymore. But of course? you can probably make yourself a bit safer by concentrating on the risk and not allowing yourself to want to catch him.?

Mark still felt uncomfortable about this, but something made him really want to try, however crazy it was ? it was like something pushed away his fear and told him that he had to see Chaletwo, no matter the cost.

?I think I?ll try that,? he heard his mouth say.

?I really, really think you should just forget about it, though,? said Alan worriedly.

?Nah, I?ll be fine,? Mark said, more trying to assure himself than Alan. ?I don?t even really want to catch him that much. Just see him.? He wasn?t sure if this was true. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.

?Well?? Alan sounded nervous, ?good luck.?

?Thanks for telling me all this,? Mark said. ?Oh, yeah,? he mentioned, looking at Charlie, who was still standing by the wall, ?what is that long story of Charlie??

?Er?? Alan blushed yet again, ?do you know about Molzapart??

?Yeah??

?Well? er, see, I guess it all started when I was nine. I had a dream one night where Molzapart was talking to Dad. I didn?t hear what Molzapart said, though. I told Dad about the dream, and he told me that he had also dreamt Molzapart, and Molzapart had talked to him. I asked what Molzapart had said, but he told me that it was a secret and he mustn?t tell anybody, not even me. So basically, I just forgot about it. Well, then I started my Pok?mon journey when I got ten, Dad gave me a Charmander, I named him Charlie and headed out. I caught? erm, a Pok?mon, and then one day Charlie evolved. He didn?t want to evolve, but we couldn?t stop it so he evolved, and? um, well, then I was training with? er, my Pok?mon, and? well, Molzapart appeared to me. And he said that? er, he needed my Pok?mon for something, and in return he would devolve Charlie. So he did, but Charlie ended up with that ability. So? yeah.?

?Huh?? asked Mark, confused. ?I didn?t get one word of that.?

Alan sighed. ?You know, Rick? The Cleanwater City Gym Leader? His first Legendaries were Raikou, Entei and Suicune. He made an attempt to clone them and modify their genes, crazily trying to fuse them into one. The embryo apparently died, and Rick? well, threw it out.?

Mark nodded. He remembered hearing a vaguer version of this story sometime.

?Well, ?Rainteicune? either wasn?t dead or was somehow brought back to life.?

?Wait a minute,? asked Mark in disbelief, ?you?re saying you caught a Raikou, Entei and Suicune super-clone fuse??

?Well,? said Alan, blushing yet again, ?not super-clone. Just a slightly more powerful clone. And he was just a cub, really,? he added. ?Well, either way, I took him to Dad ? he was really cute and I didn?t know what he was ? and naturally Dad was freaked. He took him to Gary Oak to do some research on him, but then he was already attached to me, so they asked me just to keep him.

Well, then, a while later, Charlie fainted in a battle. When I took him to the Pok?mon Center, he regained consciousness when nobody was with him and started to evolve, and because he was still really weak and hadn?t gotten any medicine, he couldn?t resist the evolution. Because he didn?t want to evolve, he got a bit depressed ? well, very depressed ? and I started keeping him more and more inside his Pok?ball, using Rainteicune instead. When people asked me what he was, I just claimed he was newly discovered and nobody questioned me further because, well, after all I am Ash Ketchum?s son. Only time that?s done me any good, but anyway?

Then, one day, I was training in the mountains, and I saw Molzapart. He flew to me, and naturally I was really scared and all, but he told me to wait so I stopped. Molzapart explained that Rainteicune was a Legendary even if he was man-made and should be wild ? he was pretty grown up then, too ? but because I really loved Rainteicune, he offered to devolve Charlie instead. In order to do that, he needed to get energy for his technique Devolution Beam, and this energy had to be gotten from another living creature. He therefore used something called Power Drain on Rainteicune ? which must have been horrible; he was in real pain ? and then used Devolution Beam on Charlie, but it turned out that because Rainteicune was a modified clone fusion, it didn?t have the effect it was supposed to have. Instead, it made his form unstable so that he started to randomly evolve and devolve at the unlikeliest moments, but we didn?t find out about that yet since it appeared to have worked.

Anyway, I released Rainteicune, who was very hurt from that Power Drain thing but Molzapart said that he would be all right, and he went away with Molzapart. Then we discovered Charlie?s instability, and first I thought it would be even worse, but Charlie started gaining control of it after a few days, and now he can evolve and devolve as he wants. So yeah, that?s how it happened.?

There was a long silence after this story. Mark, naturally, was amazed. Charlie appeared to have found something very interesting about the wall. Alan just sat there awkwardly, every now and then lifting his glass to drink. After a while, Mark looked at his watch.

?Um, my friend went to the Gym and she must have finished the battle by now? thanks for the story, though. And the coke.?

Alan suddenly seemed to snap out of a trance. ?Wait!? he said worriedly. ?I?ve told you way too much ? I don?t even know you ? you won?t tell anybody about Rainteicune or anything, will you? I might just have saved your life and all.?

?Of course I won?t,? Mark said simply. ?Oh, yeah ? thanks for the warning too.?

Alan smiled. ?You?re welcome.?

?Bye,? said Mark as he stood up before leaving the house.

He was deep in thought.

Whoa, I love this chapter, and I loved that cliffhanger!! Awsome chapter!! I love it!! Keep up the good work Dragonfree, its awsome!! Can't wait till the next chapter!! I'll be waiting!!

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RATING

Violence: No real violence, no...
Gore: None.
Sexuality:None.
Profanity: A "****".
Other: Nothing of interest.
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The Pok?mon Festival - May 21st: Evolution

Mark was nervous.

He hadn?t told May anything about where he had been; he had just claimed he had been ?doing stuff?. Her being her, she didn?t question him about that. They had then spent the rest of the day reading the posters in the Pok?mon Center, deciding which events they wanted to attend over the next four days and signing up for them. Mark couldn?t concentrate on anything; all he could think about was why Chaletwo would kill people for wanting to catch him ? he couldn?t help wondering why only one person each year had wanted to catch a Legendary Pok?mon. Even if Alan said it, and even if he was Ash Ketchum?s son and all, it just didn?t make sense. There was no way anybody who stood in front of Chaletwo with a Pok?ball wouldn?t want to throw it. And if that wasn?t the reason, what was it then?

He also wondered about Alan?s claim that Chaletwo ?couldn?t? be evil. That made no sense either, unless Alan could read Chaletwo?s mind. And Mark just couldn?t figure out in what other way Alan could have just ?known? that Chaletwo wasn?t evil. Maybe he was just biased or something? but why would he be biased with a murderous Legendary Pok?mon?

Whatever he started thinking, it always ended in a cold shiver running down his spine as he came to some creepy conclusion. He had not had much of an appetite for the rest of the day, and had then had a very hard time sleeping. When he did fall asleep, he dreamt nothing but glowing yellow eyes and the four pearly ghosts of the kids Chaletwo had killed. He felt no better now, as he lay awake in his bed in the Pok?mon Center, his mind still revolving around Chaletwo.

There was a knock on the door. ?Mark? We have to arrive at the evolution-thingy in an hour. If you?re still asleep, wake up already, and if you?re just sitting there doing nothing, get a move on.?

Mark groaned, slowly getting up. Today there was something that had the clich? name of ?The Evolution Solution?. It was for trainers with Pok?mon who evolved by evolution stones; Mark had spoken to Eevee and he had decided that he was ready for evolution.

After Mark fastened his Pok?ball belt around his waist, he hesitated, but then took Eevee?s ball. He looked at it for a few seconds. ?Go, Eevee,? he then said absent-mindedly, dropping the ball onto the floor. The brown furball materialized out of red light and looked up at Mark.

?This is your day,? Mark said. Eevee just nodded unsurely.

?Are you sure you?re ready for this?? Mark asked, concerned. ?We can still quit.?

?I think so,? said Eevee nervously. ?Does it hurt to evolve??

Mark recalled his conversation with Charmeleon after evolution. ?Well, Charmeleon said it mainly felt amazing? but he did mention a bit of pain at one point, yes. He spoke of it like it was very little, though, so it?s probably not that bad.?

Eevee thought a bit. ?I ? I think I?m ready??

?Are you sure you want to evolve now?? asked Mark softly.

Eevee swallowed, collecting his courage for a second, but then replied: ?Yes.?

?All right.? Mark smiled. ?I?m sure it won?t be so bad.? He paused. ?Would you feel better if you got to be out of your Pok?ball for a while??

Eevee nodded slightly; Mark bent down and picked him up. His fur was so soft; Mark realized sadly that he could probably never stroke it again.

?Mark, are you coming?? came May?s annoyed voice from outside the room. He adjusted Eevee in his arms so that he could unlock the door, and opened it. May was tapping her foot impatiently.

?Finally,? she grumbled, but still took the time to smile at Eevee and stroke his bushy tail. He soon fell asleep in Mark?s arms, like he just wanted to be comfortable for his last hour of being an Eevee. Mark felt odd; he kind of wanted to quit suddenly now, but Eevee had made his decision.

?Why aren?t you entering Pikachu, anyway?? Mark asked May thoughtfully. ?Doesn?t Pikachu evolve with a Thunderstone??

?Yeah,? May answered, ?but once Pikachu evolves, it loses almost all of its ability to learn new techniques. So in the long run it?s a big disadvantage to evolve a Pikachu too soon.?

Mark hesitated before daring to ask the next question: ?What does he think??

May shrugged. ?I don?t know. Haven?t asked.?

Mark wasn?t feeling nosy enough to comment on that further, besides that May had always done him the favor of not asking too much; instead, he just changed the subject. ?Are we getting breakfast anywhere?? he asked in spite of himself; he wasn?t sure if he?d be able to eat much either way.

?We can pick something up at a fast food restaurant,? said May. ?Then we have to be at the Green Town Stadium an hour before it actually starts so that you can confirm that you?re entering Eevee, and then? well, I don?t know what exactly happens then. We?ll find out. Somehow Eevee gets evolved, and we can relax for the rest of the day.?

?Okay,? Mark replied. He shot a glance at Eevee; he was still fast asleep, purring softly.

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?Are you signed up for the Evolution Solution??

A green-haired woman with butterfly-shaped pink glasses asked this question politely with a smile pasted over her face. Mark was probably one of the first people to arrive; at least no line had formed yet, which wasn?t that surprising considering that even with the rule of entrants having to arrive an hour before it actually started, they were very early.

?Yeah, Eevee is entered,? he replied through the hole in the glass that separated the gray outside world from the woman?s booth. ?The name is Mark Greenlet.?

The woman turned to her computer and entered something. She peered uninterestedly at the screen, and then stretched out her hand without looking at Mark.

?The entrant, please.?

Mark cautiously woke Eevee up. The Pok?mon looked noticeably more content than he had before; Mark still felt a little twinge of guilt.

?Are you still positive you want to go on with this??

?Vi,? Eevee yawned, stretching. Mark nodded slowly, taking the Pok?ball and touching the Pok?mon so that it dissolved into red light. As Eevee was zapped into the ball, Mark realized with sadness that he would never hold Eevee again.

The woman still waited, her chin resting in her palm as the other arm, still outstretched through the hole in the glass barrier, moved impatiently. Mark slowly minimized the Pok?ball and put it in her hand; the pale, delicate fingers closed around the sphere and she looked uninterestedly at it before putting it under a tube connected to the computer. She pronouncedly pressed a key, and the ball was sucked up into the end of the tube.

?Here,? she said, fetching two buckets from under her desk and handing them to Mark through the glass. He curiously read off one of the buckets:

EVOLUTION STONES ? FULL SET

?Why are you giving us the evolution stones?? May snorted from behind Mark. ?Are we supposed to throw them at the Pok?mon or what??

?That?s the basic idea, yes,? said the woman coldly. May shoved Mark aside to speak to the woman directly.

?What? We?re supposed to go in there and throw rocks at our own **** Pok?mon? That?s totally barbaric!?

?You might want to keep your temper a little bit until you?ve heard the full story,? the woman replied calmly. ?Your Pok?mon will now, with the aid of the Baton Pass technique and some of our special Pok?mon, get their defensive abilities strengthened to the point that they wouldn?t feel a Snorlax stomping on them. We guarantee that to your Pok?mon, this will simply be a game, and everything would be much easier if you would just look at it the same way.?

?Oh?? said May blankly. ?Well, then it?s not that bad, I guess.?

?It certainly isn?t,? the woman stated, somehow not sounding convincing. ?Also,? she continued as she observed her long, perfect, blood red fingernails, ?as a safety precaution, we will keep your other Pok?mon until the Evolution Solution is over.?

She took out two empty, white Pok?ball trays from a big stack beside her and handed them to Mark and May. They took out all their Pok?balls just as a blond-haired boy sped up to them. He ran right into May?s back, and she fell over. Mark was reminded of when he himself had met her for the second time, and smiled as May stood up, muttering swear words under her breath.

?Look what you?ve done!? she snapped at the boy. ?My Pok?balls are all over!?

She started picking up the spheres that were rolling around on the ground.

?Sorry,? the boy panted. ?Mine fell too.?

He also started picking up the Pok?balls while May groaned.

?Just great! Now we need to send out all the Pok?mon to know whose are whose!?

?No need for it,? said the woman in the booth calmly. ?We do an ID check on all the Pok?mon before giving them back to you, anyway.?

?Oh? all right.? May took the nearest six balls and placed them in the Pok?ball tray, handing it to the woman. She glared nastily at the boy, who was still picking up his Pok?balls, as they continued into the stadium.

The stadium itself was medium-sized and rather plain; it had standard Pok?mon arena markings and many rows of seats. There were a few people already there, but not many. Mark and May found themselves good seats, and then just sat and waited as time passed and the seats around them gradually filled up.

This whole thing was a temporary distraction from anything having to do with Chaletwo; however, Eevee had taken his place as what kept haunting Mark as he sat in his seat and waited for the Evolution Solution to start. Maybe he was just paranoid, but if he were subjected to something that was supposed to make him not feel if a rock hit him in the head, he would be very nervous and constantly afraid it would wear off or not work or something. Was Eevee feeling the same? Was he perhaps now wishing that he had just said ?no? when Mark asked him if this was what he really wanted? And what if the stones did hurt him?

But Mark could only wait. It seemed like ages until finally, the crowded stadium silenced and the Pok?mon stepped in.

They were all kinds of stone-evolving Pok?mon. There weren?t that many Eevee seeing as most would rather choose their own evolution, and Mark also noticed that Pikachu were somewhat in a minority ? there were too many Ash Ketchum wannabes in the world. Otherwise there were all kinds of stone-evolving Pok?mon. Some of them looked a bit nervous; others seemed just excited. Mark discovered one of the Eevee looking up at him; he wasn?t sure if it was really his Eevee, but he waved slightly anyway.

?Well, the rules of this game are simple,? boomed a voice over the stadium. ?You throw the stones at the Pok?mon, and once a Pok?mon evolves, it will also help throwing the stones that you didn?t hit with. The game goes on until all the Pok?mon have evolved. The stones will absolutely not hurt your Pok?mon, so don?t worry! You may now start throwing!?

The crowd excitedly started opening buckets. Mark wasn?t going to throw any stones; May opened her bucket, took out a lime green, smooth stone with a yellow lightning bolt shape inside it, and put it in her pocket ? admittedly half of the stone was still poking out. All around them, people were throwing evolution stones down to the arena.

The Pok?mon scattered, trying to get away from the rain of evolution stones despite knowing that in the end they would get evolved no matter what. All of the stones at first either missed and fell to the ground or hit Pok?mon that they didn?t affect; the claim that the Pok?mon wouldn?t be hurt was proven when a Growlithe that got hit by a Thunderstone shook it off easily. The first Pok?mon that evolved, however, was a Pikachu that tripped over a Thunderstone lying on the ground. When the rodent came into contact with the mineral, it became enveloped in a white glow as it lay sprawled on the ground and grew, its ears becoming butterfly-shaped, the tail threadlike with a lightning bolt on the end, and the general shape more chubby. The glow faded, and the newly-evolved, orange-colored Raichu stood up. Some people in the crowd cheered.

The Raichu spotted a green, fossil-like stone with a leaf pattern in it, grabbed it and hurled it at a nearby Weepinbell. The Leaf Stone hit, and the green bell-shaped plant Pok?mon started glowing white; its body lengthened and a leaf in a kind of a thread grew on its back. When the white light faded away, the Victreebel was upside-down; the Raichu helped turn it over, and then Victreebel smacked its leaf into a bright yellow, flame-like stone so that it hit a reddish brown fox Pok?mon with six curly tails ? a Vulpix. Mark watched it evolve, growing three more tails as the others straightened, and become a creamy yellow Ninetales.

The Pok?mon were evolving faster now. Mark saw an Eevee being hit by a blue stone and evolving into a Vaporeon as the Raichu who first evolved offered a Thunderstone to another Eevee. He saw two Flareon at a glance, but as far as he could see, there were no unevolved Eevee left. His stomach churned uncomfortably; his second Pok?mon ever had evolved now. There was no turning back.

A weary, white baby seal Pok?mon was finally now hit by a Water Stone; once it had changed into a more graceful adult Dewgong, there were only two unevolved Pok?mon left, both of them being chased by some of the evolved ones. One was a Growlithe who was clearly enjoying himself a lot; the other was a Pikachu who wasn?t enjoying it at all ? it was in fact giving off flurries of electricity as if to fend the others off. Most of them stopped when they saw this, but some were still following it determinedly.

?That?s my Pikachu!? May suddenly realized.

Mark?s eyes widened. ?The guy who bumped into you must have intended to enter his own Pikachu, and they just used a Pok?dex to identify the Pok?mon inside? so after the balls got mixed up, he entered your Pikachu without knowing it wasn?t his??

?Pikachu, come up here! It?s a misunderstanding!? May called out to her Pok?mon. A few people turned around to see what was going on; Pikachu, now the only unevolved Pok?mon in the arena as the Growlithe had given up just a second earlier, answered with a quick ?Pika!? and then hurried upwards past the first rows of seats. Once he came to the row that Mark and May were sitting in, he ran quickly past all the feet and finally jumped into his trainer?s lap, exhausted. Then he started emitting a bright white glow as Mark noticed that he had accidentally touched the Thunderstone halfway down May?s pocket.

Everybody?s eyes were on the blue-haired girl whose Pikachu apparently shouldn?t have been there but was still somehow evolving now. She just watched, stunned, as Pikachu grew into a Raichu like the first one to evolve.

?Rai,? said Raichu, scratching his head.

?Oh,? said May blankly. ?No more attacks for you, I guess.?

May could be so strange. Mark knew that if there was one thing he would not care about if this had happened to his Pok?mon was whether it would learn some attacks or not.

?Well,? May sighed, ?guess this event isn?t going to be any longer.?

?It looks like all the Pok?mon have evolved ? and we even got to see an interesting twist at the end! We would like to wish you all to return any evolution stones you may not have used at the entrance. Goodbye, and enjoy the rest of the Pok?mon Festival!? came the booming voice.

-------

?The name is Mark Greenlet ? I?d like to get my Pok?mon.?

The same woman from earlier sternly handed Mark his Pok?ball tray. He attached the balls carefully to his belt; then he had to move out of the line. May had already gotten her Pok?mon sorted out, and they walked off.

?What did Eevee evolve into, anyway?? May asked curiously.

?Didn?t check yet,? Mark admitted, blushing. He stopped and took out Eevee?s Pok?ball. He took a deep breath.

?Go.?

Mark dropped the ball. A beam of red light shot out of it and took shape into something with a catlike head, long rabbit-like ears?

And covered in spikes.

EEK. JOLTEON.

*dies* That was SUCH a surprise. Honestly. XD! I thought...nvm. Vaporeon would've been cool too. But JOLTEON. Surprise, surprise~ That's just, wow. I loved this ending of the chapter. It made me hyper. =)

The Evolution festival was pretty confusing, how the evolutions could happen at random, but it's a nice touch of originality. (Jolteon...teh omg. I love it. Just love. <3) I felt a bit bad for May's Pikachu...I always thought it never should evolve. Ah, well, Raichus aren't so bad.

Everything's pretty steady in this chapter (JOLTEON) and I'm glad Eevee finally evolves, through a very original way. 'Twas cool, although my mind was focused on a Vaporeon for a second, or perhaps a Flareon. But Jolteon fits as well. The ending was positively...

^^; Nice job on the chap, Dragonfree! (Jolteon @_@)

That was kewl, I liked.. Loved the orginality of the "evolution thingy" to quote May.. but personally I wouldn't do that, I like to know what pokemon my pokemon is going to be.. just an opinion, still like how you did it, still rate this fic 100/10!

::GASP!:: Ok I finally got here and read this. I really wanted to see what the hype was about and whether this deserved it or not. And the answer is yes. I guess I'll just go through my review rant before I actually talk.

Grammar/Spelling- Nothing I could see wrong so I give you a 10/10 (keep in mind, that I'm not good at that so, getting a ten from me is like having an ant tell you you're tall)

Plot-Hmm, I like it, still not sure where the actual thing is going, but I like it. 9/10

Characters- This is probably my least favorite portion of your fic. I don't know why, but your characters are kind of like people I would hate if they were real. Mark seems like a wimp and a whiner and May just seems like a troublemaker. I tend to avoid people like that. Also, your Pokemon. The biggest problem I have with your fic is the PKMN's names. I absolutely hate it when Charmanders are referred to as Charmander and Eevee's as Eevee. Would you like to be called Human? It's the same thing. Pokemon are sentient creatures (you do a good job of showing that) and they deserve to have real names, and not names from trainers, but names that would be used by others in the wild. I give you a 7/10 (SRY)

Description- I believe it was you who said you don't need a lot of description (on Dragonfly Cave) and I agree. Unless the thing is extremley important to the story, it just slows the progression down. 10/10

Ok, I think that's that. that brings your fic to a 9/10 on my scale. That also qualifies you as a winner of my Tenebra Award. Not that you really care, but you're only the second person to win that award from me, so.. Congratulations.

Jolteon, ::sigh:: A mi, Me degusta Jolteon (sry, a lil spanish in there) anyway, I obviously would never have done that evolution thingy because, I don't like using stones to evolve evee, UMBREON!! I wish he had evolved to Umbreon, but.. whatever. Oh, and very good job not naming who Ash's wife is, you definitely do not need a crap load of Shippers coming after you. Also, you and I, despite the fact that you severely dislike me, think a lot alike. For example, we both have underwater cities in our fics, (although mine?s a lil more like the one of Star Wars Episode 1), our main characters both catch a Gyrados as a early Pokemon (3rd for me, 3rd or 4th for you). I just thought I?d point that out, and let you know, I didn?t steal your ideas.

~Umbra

The name thing for the Pok?mon is about to be explained in this very chapter...

You mentioned two characters you don't like; surely there must be at least that many characters that the reader doesn't like in every fic out there unless the author is really, really bad at making sensible characters. Have you ever read anything where all the characters are people you'd want to be around? I highly doubt you'd want to be around most villains.

What I think you really are complaining about is the fact that here, it's the protagonists who you wouldn't want to be around, not some characters that are there for the reader to hate. But the thing is, real people aren't all likeable. Frankly I don't think you can really subtract from somebody's score on characters for having characters you don't like, to be honest. Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is probably the least likeable character I've ever read about, and that's exactly what makes her so brilliant. You can subtract from the character score for unrealistic or flat characters, but not ones that you don't like.

I hate Umbreon. In the original, Mark bought a Thunderstone to evolve Eevee, actually, so it's not the event's fault...

Anyway, new chapter.

-------
RATING
Violence: Pok?mon battles...
Gore: None... just a mention of throat-slitting.
Sexuality: None.
Profanity: None.
Other: Nothing special...
-------


A/N: I'm afraid that I decided how to start this chapter before realizing that not all of my readers had gotten the ending of chapter 21, so I'll have to clarify it here: Eevee evolved into a Jolteon. The "and covered with spikes" was supposed to make that clear, but I guess it didn't. I'm not going to change the beginning of the chapter to stuff that in, so you'll have to put up with this awkwardness...


The Pok?mon Festival ? May 22nd: The Attack Approval

?Mark! Wake up already if you want to train for the Attack Approval before it starts!?

He hadn?t been sleeping, actually. He had been lying in his bed, staring into the ceiling and thinking. He had dreamt about Chaletwo, with Eevee and May?s Pikachu mixed in, between waking up abruptly. Usually the last thing he remembered before waking up was a pair of glowing, yellow eyes ? Chaletwo?s, presumably. If only he knew what it meant?

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. The Attack Approval. That was something May was very enthusiastic about; she had picked up a booklet on it on their first day in Green Town, and according to it, the contestants would battle judges and were supposed to basically show their ability to create techniques in battle. If they did it well enough, they would get a license for being allowed to use such moves in the Pok?mon League. Mark was really just entering it in hopes of getting an official permission to use Gyarados?s powerful attack in the League; the sea monster?s color had now returned to normal and he seemed to be at full power, but it had taken him a while after having used the attack three times in a row.

Mark stood up and quietly dressed; then he opened the door to see that May had given up waiting for him. He sighed and decided just to go and train by himself.

As he exited the Pok?mon Center and walked slowly out of the city, he looked around for some sort of a pool of water which Gyarados could be released into. It was very grassy around Green Town. A huge forest called Ruxido loomed in the west and Mark knew that the last Gym of Ouen was located in the south somewhere. He wandered off towards Ruxido, figuring that he could just as well go there as somewhere else.

After about ten minutes of walking aimlessly around in the woods ? making carefully sure, of course, to know where the exit was ? Mark still found himself in a completely dry forest. Sighing, he sat down on a rock to think.

A sound was heard. Mark jumped, his heart beating against his ribcage as he stared intensely at the spot where the sound came from.

?Leee?? came a small squeal. A small, curious white head poked out from behind a tree. The head looked kind of alien-like; it would have reminded Mark of an Eevee if it hadn?t been for the fact that it had absolutely no visible features except for two big, cute, ruby red eyes that were pointed at him in a hypnotizing stare.

Mark sat still, and the Pok?mon stepped out to observe him better. It was about the size and shape of an Espeon apart from having a bigger head; the limbs were slender and catlike. The whole body was pure white, covered in fine hairs, with absolutely no markings or special features at all. Behind it, the creature whipped an incredibly flexible, thin tail back and forth like a pendulum; left, right, left, right, left, right?

Ten seconds or so passed before Mark came back to his senses and realized that the Pok?mon had just attacked him with Hypnosis. He blinked a few times; the creature, which still stood in the same spot, stared at him without blinking. There was something very creepy about it.

Mark slowly took out his Pok?dex and pointed it at the Pok?mon. A beep was heard.

?Leta, plain Pok?mon,? said the Pok?dex electronically. ?Its tail has no bones in it and is very flexible. It is usually shy and tends to use its Hypnosis attack to lull its opponent to sleep instead of fighting.?

Mark nodded and closed his Pok?dex. He stood slowly up and grabbed a Pok?ball.

?Go, Jolteon! Paralyze it with a Thunder Wave!?

Mark had checked Jolteon in the Pok?dex the day before, just after seeing what Eevee had evolved into. In addition to the evolution, he had gained the ability to use Thunder Wave and Bite.

The yellow Electric Pok?mon sprang out of the Pok?ball. The long spikes he had in place of fur crackled with electricity, and when he came down on the ground, he sent a flurry of sparks flying at the Leta. The terrified Pok?mon attempted a run for it, but its muscles stiffened up before it could get away.

?Now, Jolteon, use a Bite!?

Jolteon nodded and sank his small but sharp fangs into the Leta?s tail. It cried out in pain and managed with difficulty to raise its paw and attempt to scratch Jolteon, but just hurt itself on the spikes. Mark felt a bit sorry for it, but he shook it off; he was going to catch it.

Slowly, he reached for an empty Pok?ball.

?LEEE!? screamed the Leta. Mark understood it as some kind of a call for help.

?Leeee,? came a chorus of deeper but similar cries from deep inside the forest. The parents were answering. And the relatives. And the friends.

Mark stopped dead, but then threw the Pok?ball quickly, his heart beating hard. The immobile Pok?mon was sucked into it, it wobbled once, twice, thrice?

As the ball stilled with a small ping, a deafening roar sounded. Mark quickly recalled the unnerved Jolteon and picked up the Pok?ball containing Leta. Meanwhile, a whole herd of large, shining beasts emerged from behind the trees and surrounded him.

They were large, resembling horses in size, but had paws with very large, intimidating black claws. Like Leta, they had fine, white fur, but their backs and tails were covered in shiny, metallic armor. In comparison to the rather long neck, the rounded head seemed small; in each head, two red eyes like Leta?s glinted. But the most noticeable feature of these Pok?mon was definitely the metal mask that covered the face. It consisted of three two-foot-long blades: one started between the eyes and continued upwards past the forehead, bending slightly backwards; the other two covered the cheeks, grew below the eyes and then continued on backwards, bending inwards. A kind of spike grew upwards out of each of those two blades slightly behind the eyes, its length varying between the individuals; on some of them it stood pretty straight up, but on others it started off growing backwards but then started bending forward. The three blades met in the muzzle, which was like a rounded chunk of metal.

The Pok?mon stood perfectly still while Mark stared terrified at them. Some scratched the soil impatiently while shooting glances at each other. Mark just stood there, the Pok?ball still clutched in his hand, staring at the monsters.

?What is this?? asked one of the Pok?mon?s voices from the back; it was noticeably one of the deeper ones. A few of the Pok?mon stepped aside to make room for the asker.

Mark gasped at the sight of the Pok?mon that stepped forward. It was a bit different from the rest ? its armor was black like the claws and its fur had a bluish tint, appearing to sparkle slightly. It was a Shiny, and also appeared to be the leader.

?This human caught Hope,? said a voice that sounded female. ?We must do something.?

The Shiny stared at Mark and the Pok?ball in his hand for a while.

?Leave it,? he finally said, turning around. ?She?s old enough to be caught, and if she was not strong enough to prevent this, she belongs to him now.?

?Vigor, she is your daughter!? the female protested.

The leader turned his head slowly. ?She doesn?t have the Shine.?

?But she?s your daughter! She?s my daughter!? screamed the female as Vigor turned and started walking sadly away. He ignored her, and hesitating, the herd followed him. The mother turned desperately to glance at the Pok?ball in Mark?s hand, but then followed the herd.

Mark, who had been frozen with fear since the Pok?mon came, quickly whipped out his Pok?dex.

?Letaligon, metallic Pok?mon. They are an unusual species in that Shinies are unusually common. They live in groups of around thirty, each with one shiny leader. The armor on their bodies is very strong, but light as well.?

He closed the device. He realized that the right thing to do would probably be to release the Leta and let her go back to her mother, but even though he didn?t want to admit it, the greedy part of him just wanted a new Pok?mon. He made up some quick excuse about her father being mean, and decided to keep her.

?Leta, go.?




The Pok?mon came out of the ball, looking around.

?Are they gone?? she asked. Mark nodded.

?Can I come back here when you?ve made me strong?? She was staring in the direction that the herd had gone off to, clearly upset about her father and determined to prove herself to him.

Mark nodded again. ?Yes, you can.? He paused, but then added: ?Can you do me a favor? Do you know a lake or something here??

Leta smiled and disappeared behind some trees to the left. Mark followed, laughing.

-------

?Your mother called you Hope?? Mark said curiously to Leta as she bent down to drink. She had taken him to a clearing in which there was a largish pond; he had sent out his other Pok?mon too and they were now drinking or just relaxing and stretching. ?Is that your name??

?Pok?mon names don?t work like human names,? Scyther commented before Leta had the chance to answer. ?In our language, any sound you make is strictly connected to a meaning, which isn?t the most comfortable way to have one special name that everybody is supposed to know you as. We introduce ourselves as members of our species, and then we give each other nicknames as we see fit.?

?Oh.? Mark paused as Scyther lapped up some more water. ?It doesn?t really make any sense, but it still does. I mean, I?ve always known that you use the word Trainer as a name when referring to your own trainers, so I kinda should?ve figured that if you used names for each other you?d probably also use names for humans? but somehow I?ve never thought of it that way.?

Scyther chuckled. ?We don?t mind just being referred to by the name of our species. Especially if we?re used to that. You can just keep up what you?re doing now; you?re not offending us.?

Mark smiled. ?Well, that?s good.?

?I wouldn?t want you to call me that anyway,? Leta said quietly. Mark nodded.

?Er, well, guys, anyway, what I originally came here with you for was training for the Attack Approval that?s going to be?? he looked at his watch, ?in approximately forty-five minutes. Basically, we?re supposed to battle some judges and show off our creative skills. Gyarados, you were what I really had in mind??

Gyarados just nodded.

?Does your special attack have a name??

?I call it Dragon Beam,? the sea monster replied.

?How did you learn it?? Mark asked curiously.

?I don?t know,? Gyarados answered dully. ?I just could do it after I evolved.?

Mark was still puzzled about it, but he was at least positive that Gyarados weren?t supposed to be able to use anything that resembled a red laser beam that could chase the target, freeze, burn, paralyze and defeat a Legendary in one hit.

?Oh ? why do you stay gray when you?ve used it often?? Mark asked, remembering what he had been intending to ask.

?Don?t know that either,? Gyarados just said. ?But my strength always comes back, even if it takes a while. I experimented a lot with it in the Lake of Purity.?

?Well, at least, then I?ll tell you to use Dragon Beam when I want you to use it,? Mark concluded. ?Guys, any of you got anything special to show off??

The Pok?mon looked at each other and shook their heads.

?Well,? Mark said, shrugging, ?if you think of something, you?ll use it. All right??

His Pok?mon nodded in agreement; Mark seemed to notice Dragonair giving him a look.

?Great.? Mark looked at his watch. ?We?d better get going, I guess.?

-------

?Hi, Mark!?

Mark turned around. It was Alan, who was standing just outside his house.

?Oh, hi.?

?You going to the Attack Approval?? Alan questioned. ?It?s not starting yet. Dad overslept, and he?s one of the judges, so he?s getting ready now.?

?Oh.? Mark paused. ?Er? are you leaving soon? You came out of the house??

?Well?? Alan muttered. ?I like to be a bit ahead of him. Entering with him is kinda embarrassing.?

Mark nodded. ?Well, then we can go now.?

Alan shrugged and they started walking towards the Stadium.

?How does the Attack Approval function, anyway, if you get your technique-creating license?? Mark asked.

?Well, the judges add a thingy to your Trainer card??

?Trainer card?? Mark stopped abruptly. ?It?s added on your trainer card??

Alan looked puzzled at him. ?Yes, of course. What else??

?But what if?? Mark twiddled his thumbs nervously. ?What if you didn?t have one??

Alan responded with a rush of laughter. ?Wait, you?re serious?? he then added worriedly.

?Erm?? Mark replied, blushing. ?Kind of.?

?But you have Pok?mon!? Alan said in disbelief.

?Yeah? I found Charmander outside, bought a Pok?dex and set off? didn?t remember I had to get a license?? Mark felt horribly awkward, but he couldn?t train illegally forever.

Alan stopped to think for a moment. Then he said: ?Come. Let?s speak to Dad.?

Mark followed him doubtfully back into the house, only to meet the famous Ash Ketchum in the doorway.

Mark was stunned for a second. He stared at the dark-haired man who looked like an adult version of Alan. What he found funny was that every time he had seen Ash on TV, he had looked very tidy and formal. Right now he was just wearing rather normal, boring clothes, looking tired and clearly having had absolutely no time to comb his hair, which all stood on end. The yellow mouse Pok?mon stood just inside, seemingly saying goodbye.

Mark grabbed the man?s hand and shook it nervously. ?Mr.? Mr. Ketchum? delighted to meet you? err? um? eh??

?Nice to meet you. Are you a friend of Alan?s?? Ash asked, smiling slightly.

?Not a friend exactly? we met the other day??

?Well,? Alan interrupted, ?basically, he?s an illegal trainer and needs a license.?

Mark looked nervously at him, worried that this had been way too bluntly put, but Ash just peered thoughtfully at Mark.

?Send out your Pok?mon, please.?

Mark doubtfully reached for his Pok?balls, sending out his non-aquatic Pok?mon. Charmeleon glared at Scyther, but he ignored it. ?I have a Gyarados too,? Mark said.

?My name is Ash Ketchum,? Ash addressed the Pok?mon. ?You might have heard of me.?

Mark?s Pok?mon nodded in agreement; Charmeleon, however, looked him in the eyes.

?Heard of you?? he said with a small smile.

?Oh!? Ash?s expression brightened. ?Nice to see you all evolved and grown-up! I gave you to Rick?s son, though, didn?t I? Did he trade you??

Charmeleon shrugged. ?Long story.?

?Alan,? Ash turned to his son, ?that?s Charlie?s younger brother! Did you know that??

?No,? Alan replied, looking at Mark. ?It?s a small world, eh??

?Well, anyway,? Ash continued before Mark had the chance to answer, directing his next question at Mark?s Pok?mon, ?what do you honestly think of your trainer??

?He?s nice,? Charmeleon answered. ?A little foolish, though?? He shot a glance at Scyther and then at Mark, who just blushed.

?He is very kind and cares about us,? said Sandslash. ?Not the best battler, but a good person.?

?He saved my life,? said Jolteon quietly.

?Mine too,? Charmeleon added.

?He?s not bad,? Dragonair just said.

?I don?t know what he?s like, he just caught me earlier,? said Leta.

?And you?? Ash inquired, turning to Scyther.

The mantis took his time to answer. He looked into Ash?s eyes for a long while, and then at Mark.

?I came with him,? he then began slowly. ?I needed him? something to give me a purpose after leaving behind all that I ever loved? something to make life worth living so I wouldn?t lose all sanity I had left and slit my own throat??

He raised his scythe in front of his face, staring at his own reflection in the shiny surface.

?I guess,? he finished softly, ?that he saved my life too.?

Ash looked at Mark in silence for a few seconds, but then said: ?Your Pok?mon have judged. You deserve to be a Pok?mon trainer. May I have your Pok?dex, please??

Mark handed it to Ash, and he gestured to Pikachu, who darted into the house before returning, holding some kind of a small, box-like device that was around two thirds of his own size. He gave it to Ash, who scratched Pikachu in return before somehow attaching Mark?s Pok?dex to the device and pressing a few buttons on both. A small card, not unlike a credit card, popped out from a slot on the box?s side.

?Done,? said Ash, handing the card to Mark. He looked at it; it had his name, that horrible photo, little icons of his badges, and a bit of other information. On the back were empty spaces for showing his placements in various competitions ? such as the Attack Approval.

?Thank you,? Mark said gratefully.

?Thank your Pok?mon,? said Ash and smiled.

?Um, Dad? Shouldn?t we get going?? Alan inserted. Ash quickly looked at his watch.

?Yes, we should,? he replied, immediately starting to walk quickly down the street. Mark and Alan ran after him.

-------

Mark waited in a line. He had been very late, of course; therefore he got the honours of being at the very end of the line. There were three matches going on at a time, thankfully, so it wouldn?t be too long to wait.

May had, of course, arrived before him, and was currently battling fiercely with her female Lapras against a small, green fairy with two roses, one blue and one reddish pink, on what could be called its hands. The judge, who was a blond-haired woman, commanded her Pok?mon to use a Leech Seed.

?Rooseeeelia,? the fairy chanted, swaying slightly to the sides before pointing its roses straight forward and firing two dark green, sharp seeds out of their middles. The seeds embedded themselves into Lapras?s skin; she let out a whimper as they sprouted roots which dug into her hide and started absorbing her energy. Two vines extended out of the seeds and crawled along the ground to the Roselia; it lowered its arms down and allowed the vines to twist and curl around them.

?Lapras, use an Ice Beam to get rid of it,? May commanded. The sea turtle swung her head back, forming an icy blue orb in her mouth before firing a blast of ice crystals at the long vines that now connected the two battlers.

?Roselia, Sunny Day!? said the judge quickly, and Roselia raised its roses into the air, looking at the sky while emitting a sweet note. Incredibly, the blanket of clouds high above ripped apart to reveal a gap through which intense sunlight shone, casting a golden aura on the battle between the turtle and the fairy.

?And now, Solarbeam!? the judge ordered, her Roselia raising both of its roses into the air again. Two golden orbs of light grew in the middle of each rose in a matter of seconds; then the fairy, with a shrill cry, pointed them down at the frost-covered vines from the Leech Seed. Burning hot sunlight blasted at the ice in a bright beam, melting it instantly but leaving the vines mostly unharmed. Lapras seemed to be getting weaker by now, while Roselia was still brimming with energy.

?Lapras, use Surf, and be ready.? May said these words with uttermost determination, staring at the cute, feminine fairy with disdain. Her Lapras obeyed the command, spewing out a rather weakish-looking wave of water which rushed at Roselia.

?Ice Beam!? May shouted as soon as the water reached the fairy, who didn?t appear to be very hurt by it. Lapras fired another beam of ice towards the Roselia; it braced itself, but its weak, plant-like structure wouldn?t last long against an Ice Pok?mon. The Ice Beam, however, had another effect, which might have been what May had been aiming for: it froze the water flowing past the Roselia, resulting in her getting completely stuck in a sheet of ice. The fairy moaned; its trainer nodded, looking at May, before removing a Pok?ball from her waist.

?Roselia, return,? she announced, recalling the fairy. ?Go, Arcanine!?

She threw forth a new ball; out of it came a huge, orange, striped dog with a thick creamy mane and tail. Mark remembered it as one of the Pok?mon the first junior trainer in Rick?s Gym had owned; this one, however, seemed nowhere near as aggressive and just stood gracefully still, looking its opponent in the eye, while the damaged vines of the Leech Seed found its feet and wrapped around them.

?Lapras, Surf!? May said quickly.

?Arcanine, Overheat,? the judge countered. May?s turtle was, unfortunately for her, not as fast as the great dog, and the Arcanine started glowing with a hellish red aura before opening its fanged mouth and releasing a big blast of flames. The fire was still intensified by the sun, which was still shining through the gap in the clouds that Roselia had created earlier, and Lapras screeched in a high-pitched voice before dropping weakly down.

?Come on!? May hissed. Her Pok?mon rose with difficulty, spurting out a wave of water; the stream hissed as it came into contact with Arcanine?s blazing fur. The dog was panting; the attack it had used earlier had clearly used a lot of energy. Once the water attack dissolved, the dog shook itself violently with a small bark.

?Surf again!? May ordered, but as Lapras prepared to send another wave of water crashing at Arcanine, the judge issued another command:

?Extremespeed!?

Her Arcanine leant backwards with a growl, and then leapt at Lapras, turning into a blur of cream, black and orange in the air for a split second due to its lightning speed, but then ramming powerfully into Lapras and knocking her unconscious.

?Lapras! Lapras!? May gritted her teeth as she prodded her Pok?mon?s body with her foot. The turtle was still limp, and May swore loudly before recalling her Pok?mon.

?You have passed,? said the judge shortly. ?Give your Trainer Card to the guys over there.? She pointed at a desk near the entrance. ?Next!?

May walked past Mark on the way out, still fussing.

?You weren?t supposed to win, you know,? Mark reminded her. ?I mean, they?re professionals. I doubt they?re going to lose a single battle today.?

?Oh, shut up, Mark,? she snapped rudely. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the battles, discovering that there was only one boy before him in line. The judge on the right, an elderly man, was just finishing his battle with a girl, and the boy went to him. Mark felt odd being the next person to go; his stomach fluttered uncomfortably. Just a few meters away from him stood Ash?s opponent, a very nervous, small boy; the two of them appeared to be finishing their battle, and indeed, soon enough the boy recalled his Pok?mon and walked, beaming, towards the desk. Mark took a deep breath and stepped forward.

?Hi, Mark,? said Ash brightly. ?Have you decided which Pok?mon you want to use??

Mark hadn?t, but he still nodded, making a quick decision to leave Jolteon out. He took out his Pok?dex and made the change.

?You said you had a Gyarados, didn?t you?? Ash questioned. ?Are you going to use it??

Mark nodded; Ash took a little remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. The floor on the right side between them started sinking down and then moved to the side under the rest of the floor, revealing a pool of water.

?Oh, yeah? I should most likely make it clear that your objective is not to win the battle,? Ash added. ?Just battle with as much style and creative use of your Pok?mon?s abilities as you can.?

?You won?t be using your strongest Pok?mon, will you?? asked Mark nervously. Ash chuckled.

?Of course not. We don?t want your Pok?mon to go down before you can display anything worth seeing. We?re using Pok?mon around level 50 ? it tests you better to have you battle against something stronger.?

?Oh? I see,? Mark just said.

?All right?? Ash began. ?Six on six, recalled Pok?mon is a defeated Pok?mon.?

He smiled slightly and took out a Pok?ball.

?Go, Breloom!?

The ball opened, releasing a sphere of red energy that formed into a very weird Pok?mon resembling a kangaroo in shape. Its lower body was green, but the long tail, the neck, the petal-like collar and the rounded head were beige in color. On the top of its head was a growth, resembling a mushroom, and finally it had blood red claws on its oddly tucked-in arms and the more powerful, bouncy feet.

Mark figured that this Pok?mon had to be a Grass type, and reached for Charmeleon?s Pok?ball.

?Go! Flamethrower!?

?Breloom, dodge it and then put it to sleep with a Spore attack!?

Charmeleon, as soon as he materialized from the ball, took a deep breath and blew out a blast of fire. Breloom, crying out in a high-pitched voice, jumped skillfully out of the way and one of the four round seeds at the end of its tail started glowing with a bright green aura. Swinging its tail powerfully forward, the kangaroo sent a cloud of sparkly green powder at Charmeleon.

?Don?t inhale it!? Mark shouted stupidly, but the lizard?s eyelids started to drop and he collapsed within five seconds.

?Great job, Breloom,? Ash cheered. ?Use a Leech Seed while it can?t dodge, and then wait for it to wake up.?

?Charmeleon!? Mark screamed, but he couldn?t hear anything through the unnatural sleep. Meanwhile, the kangaroo fired two parasitic seeds like the ones Roselia had used against May?s Lapras, and they sprouted roots that in no time embedded themselves into Charmeleon?s skin. Two vines grew from the seeds and wrapped around Breloom?s legs. Mark knew that the seeds were sucking energy from Charmeleon to Breloom, but he couldn?t do anything about it?

The lizard stirred and heavily opened an eye. Ash immediately gave the next order:

?Mind Reader, now!?

The kangaroo?s eyes glowed red as it fixed its glare on Charmeleon while he rose up; it didn?t appear to do anything. He fired silky flames towards Breloom, but it again jumped out of the way.

?Use a Dynamicpunch!? Ash cried out.

?Dodge it!? Mark countered. Charmeleon growled as he jumped up, but the kangaroo, its eyes still glowing, jumped up too. In mid-air, its arm sprang out and struck Charmeleon in the face. He was thrown backwards and crashed dizzily into the ground; Breloom landed on its feet.

?Charmeleon, Flamethrower!? Mark commanded desperately. Charmeleon rose slowly up, but his gaze was unfocused and he dropped down again.

Mark bit his lip, but then remembered that he was supposed to be thinking up new techniques. He wondered for a second; then the part of him that paid attention in Battle Strategies took control of his mouth.

?Rage!?

Charmeleon stood up again and rushed towards Breloom. The Rage attack would turn pain into power, and was just about Charmeleon?s only chance. What was more was that this would give Mark time to think over his situation.

While Charmeleon madly slashed and bit the kangaroo while steadily having his energy drained by the parasitic seeds, Mark thought as quickly as he could. May had also gotten Leech Seed used against her; she had gotten rid of it with?

?Charmeleon,? Mark shouted, ?attack the Leech Seed?s vines!?

Mark knew that once Rage was used, its power would be lost if another attack was ordered; therefore he didn?t want to tell him to use Flamethrower. The Rage attack had to be getting very powerful now, anyway.

Charmeleon started scratching and biting the vines that linked him to his opponent. Ash told Breloom to use a Stun Spore, realizing that it would not help to attack Charmeleon while any pain would just power up his attacks, but Charmeleon wasn?t affected a lot by the paralysis; the sheer power he had gained through the Rage attack was enough to move his limbs despite the stiffening powder that he had breathed in. Finally, he managed to hack through one of the vines, but having focused his attention on the Leech Seed for too long, Charmeleon wasn?t aware that Breloom was at full health by now and one more order from Ash, this time a Mach Punch, brought him down.

?Return,? Mark muttered. He thought for a bit; the Breloom seemed like a part-Fighting type since it could use all those punches. He vaguely remembered that kicks and punches did not harm Bug Pok?mon a lot? or ones that could fly. Nor did Grass attacks.

He smiled. ?Scyther, do it!?

?Breloom, Leech Seed!? Ash ordered.

Just as Breloom fired two more seeds, Scyther zoomed out of the way. Before Breloom was able to attack, the mantis?s scythes started glowing faintly green, and he dashed at the kangaroo to slash it across the chest. It cried out, blood leaking from the gash.

?Breloom, are you all right?? Ash asked concernedly. The Pok?mon nodded determinedly.

?Great. Mind Reader!? he roared, his Pok?mon?s eyes turning bright red as Scyther returned to slash it again. This time he cut a gash on its shoulder; the kangaroo winced slightly, but nothing more.

?Leech Seed!? Ash then shouted, and Breloom fired two seeds. They hit dead-on this time, despite that Scyther was still moving. Mark suddenly remembered that Mind Reader caused the next attack to hit no matter what.

The two seeds sprouted roots and grew into Scyther?s armor, but as the vines started growing out of them to connect with Breloom, Scyther simply cut them in two with a swipe of his scythe. He prepared to attack Breloom again; Ash meanwhile gave another command:

?Strength!?

Mark suddenly got an idea, and blurted out: ?Scyther, wait! Stay there and defend yourself!?

The mantis looked at him, seeming somewhat puzzled, but still did has Mark said, leant backwards and held his scythes out in front of him as the kangaroo came rushing towards him. Just as Breloom was almost within Scyther?s reach, Mark made the next order.

?Fury Cutter! Slash, slash, slash! Quick!?

Scyther?s super-fast reflexes enabled him to attack immediately. His scythes glowed green again and he slashed Breloom three times: once with the left scythe, once with the right one and once with both. The kangaroo was thrown backwards, bleeding in a few places. Ash hurriedly recalled it and took out another ball as Mark smiled to Scyther.

?Go, Graveler!?

Ash sent out a big, rugged rock-like Pok?mon. Its hide was a dark brownish gray; the body was round with four small, bulgy hands and two stubby feet.

?Okay, Scyther?? Mark inhaled deeply. ?Try a Fury Cutter.?

The mantis dashed immediately towards the rock Pok?mon, his scythes glowing. Ash didn?t attempt to order his Pok?mon to dodge it; it probably wasn?t made for trying. Scyther struck the Graveler with his scythe, barely scratching the rock-like hide at all.

?Rock Tomb!? Ash ordered, and his Pok?mon slowly raised its arms. At the same time, the ground in a circle around Scyther seemed to explode upwards and the mantis was buried under rocks, ranging from large chunks to fine dust. He broke out of it in a few seconds despite being severely bruised; unfortunately he had lost his concentration and the glow on his scythes had faded away. Mark took out his Pok?ball and recalled his Pok?mon; Scyther didn?t stand a chance.

?That was the right thing to do,? Ash commented. ?You know when your Pok?mon would only get unnecessarily hurt.?

Mark just smiled slightly and blushed. After a short pause, he took out Gyarados?s Pok?ball.

?Go!?

The sea monster emerged in the pool and apparently did not decide to roar as he usually did when entering battle. His little red eyes just fixed on Graveler and watched.

?Defense Curl,? Ash told his Graveler. The rock curled up into a tight ball, tucking its arms and legs into its body. Mark hesitated, wondering if Ash was about to try to surprise him.

?Graveler, Rollout!? Ash commanded, and his Pok?mon started rolling slowly towards the pool, picking up speed as it went. When it came to the bank, it suddenly bounced upwards and rammed into Gyarados?s head before landing on the other side and rolling a bit on.

?Gyarados, Dive!? Mark shouted, thinking as quickly as he could. Rollout got more powerful each time it was used, he seemed to recall, so it would be best to try and dodge the attack. The sea monster dove into the pool, avoiding the rock Pok?mon as it rolled back with more force than before. After missing Gyarados, the Graveler started rolling back again, but as it was in the air flying over the pool, Gyarados?s shape rose from the surface. He seemed like a figure made of water as he hit right into the Graveler?s body and threw it aside; then the water illusion faded and his real colors were revealed again. Graveler, hit hard by the blow, rose slowly up, but Gyarados breathed out a blast of crimson flames on his own accord and Graveler cried out before falling unconscious when the dragon flames enveloped its body.

?Return, Graveler,? Ash said, holding forward the Pok?ball to recall the rock Pok?mon. ?Manectric, do it.?

Ash sent out a dog-like Pok?mon. It was blue and yellow with spiky fur and a very odd, pointed mane on its head. Everything about it looked like an Electric Pok?mon, so Mark didn?t get his hopes up for Gyarados; however, nothing said he couldn?t go out with a bang.

?Gyarados,? Mark shouted, ?Dragon Beam!?

Ash seemed to be about to command Manectric to attack, but paused after hearing the command, most likely wanting to see what Mark was about to pull out of his sleeve. Gyarados closed his eyes with a low growl, and his colors started fading away. Manectric watched alertly, seemingly ready to attempt to dodge. Then, when Gyarados?s body had turned completely grayscale, his eyes opened and fired a red beam.

Manectric attempted to leap out of the way, but the beam followed easily. Ash looked at it with clear astonishment. As the beam hit the dog, it was sent flying backwards, landing harshly by its trainer?s side.

?Do you want to be recalled?? Ash asked concernedly. The Pok?mon shook its head and growled, standing up again.

?Thunderbolt, then.?

Manectric jerked its head upwards and howled as its fur started sparkling with electricity. Then it fired a bolt of lightning that struck Gyarados as he was still recharging his energy. With a terrible roar, the sea monster collapsed and didn?t get up again.

?Gyarados, return,? Mark said softly. ?Go, Sandslash!?

The pangolin emerged from the Pok?ball and observed his opponent.

?Sandslash, Earthquake!?

?Manectric, Crunch!?

Manectric was faster than Sandslash, jumped at him and bared its fangs. Sandslash defensively slashed the dog across the face, but Manectric aggressively locked its jaws around Sandslash?s front paw. Sandslash sank his other claws into Manectric?s hind leg and as the dog yelped in pain, it released him and staggered backwards. Sandslash grabbed the opportunity and slammed his weight into the ground, causing the eerie Earthquake ripple to reach Manectric and take the Electric Pok?mon down. The dog howled in pain and then dropped weakly to the ground.

?Return, Manectric,? Ash said, recalling his Pok?mon. ?You did a good job.?

Ash stopped to think for a second, but then sent out his next Pok?mon.

?Go, Hitmontop!?

Hitmontop was an odd creature ? it balanced upside-down on its cone-shaped head, with its clawed legs and spiked tail sticking out into the air and its arms held in a boxing position. Its head also had funny hair-like flaps on either side of it. Despite not looking very muscular, Mark knew it was a Fighting Pok?mon like its relatives Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, and that family of Pok?mon was famous for having quite a bit more muscular strength than could be seen on the outside.

Mark nervously looked at Sandslash, whose injured front paw was still bleeding. He wouldn?t exactly last very long, and he wasn?t very fast either. Mark wondered if he should switch. The Pok?mon he had left were Dragonair and Leta. Leta was a Normal type so that was out of the question, but Dragonair wouldn?t do so bad?

?All right, Sandslash, return.?

Mark tried to recall his Pok?mon, but Sandslash moved out of the beam?s way and smashed his paws into the ground again. A second Earthquake attack formed, shaking the Hitmontop badly as the waves hit it.

?Hitmontop, Triple Kick!? Ash commanded quickly, his Pok?mon instantly starting to spin around like a top. Still spinning, it rushed at Sandslash and delivered three blows to his head ? one with each foot and one with the tail. The pangolin looked unconscious, but while Hitmontop was slowing down, Sandslash suddenly extended his claws and delivered a powerful slash. Hitmontop cried out in pain and somehow managed to leap backwards while still balancing on its head.

?All right, Sandslash? I guess you want to go on??

Sandslash nodded determinedly.

?Hitmontop, Revenge attack!?

From Hitmontop?s scratches, red started spreading out and taking over the Pok?mon?s body. Mark thought it was blood at first, but it was too bright red and was more like a glow than a liquid. Once it was completely red, it rushed into Sandslash again. The pangolin was thrown backwards by the force of the attack, but still stood up again. Mark was amazed; he had greatly underestimated Sandslash when he had intended to recall him earlier.

?Now, use a Quick Attack!? Ash ordered, and the Fighting Pok?mon darted in a blur towards Sandslash again. The blow knocked the pangolin out before he could do anything to protect himself.

?Return, Sandslash,? Mark said softly. ?You did a great job.?

Slowly, he picked Dragonair?s Pok?ball and threw it into the arena. The blue snake-like dragon formed on the ground.

?Give me another good Triple Kick now,? Ash said.

?Dragonair, try to dodge!? Mark quickly yelled.

Hitmontop spun towards Dragonair and prepared to perform the attack it had used on Sandslash earlier; Dragonair twisted his body to avoid the two kicks from the legs, but the tail hit him and knocked him down. The dragon recovered quickly as Hitmontop got out of the way of a possible counterattack, but all of a sudden, startling both Mark and Ash, Dragonair?s body burst out in flames. Mark panicked for a second, but the fire died down quickly and Dragonair looked normal.

?Dragonair,? Mark started hesitatingly, ?try a??

The dragon interrupted by breathing a cloud of flames into the air. Mark looked at him, puzzled, having no idea what just happened. He quickly glanced at Ash; he was nodding absent-mindedly to himself while examining Dragonair.

?Hitmontop? try a Rolling Kick,? Ash then ordered thoughtfully. His Pok?mon curled itself into a knot of sorts and rolled towards Dragonair at high speed. The dragon blasted out fire, hitting Hitmontop dead-on; the fighter screamed in pain, but nonetheless performed the attack, delivering a sharp kick to Dragonair?s snout before dropping down, exhausted. Ash quietly recalled it.

?Mightyena, do it!?

Out of his next Pok?ball came a big, wolf-like Pok?mon. Its body had gray, fine fur; however, its back was additionally coated with thicker, pitch-black hairs, along with some black markings on its face and its legs. The canine Pok?mon growled quietly at Dragonair.

?Crunch!? Ash commanded, his Pok?mon leaping towards the snake-like dragon and baring its fangs. Dragonair countered with another fire attack ? Mark was still very confused as to how he could use them ? and Mightyena, yelping in pain, stumbled backwards without actually coming into contact with Dragonair.

?Try a Shadow Ball,? Ash suggested, his Pok?mon leaning slightly backwards. A jet-black orb of shadow started forming in front of Mightyena, rapidly growing in size. Then the Pok?mon barked sharply and the orb shot towards Dragonair. He was hit by it and thrown backwards; the dragon appeared to be shivering as he rose up again with difficulty.

?Use a Howl,? Ash ordered, and Mightyena raised its head into the air before letting out a long, eerie howl. Mark really had no idea what was up with Dragonair suddenly using Fire attacks and was a bit too confused to be able to give proper instructions to his Pok?mon; he just watched Dragonair breathe a long silky tongue of fire which the wolf avoided without much effort.

?Another Shadow Ball, now, and make it count!? Ash shouted to his Mightyena. It leant backwards again, but this time it was much faster charging up a much bigger orb. It was fired straight at the dragon and he was sent flying back towards Mark. He finally got up again after straining for a few seconds, and then?

He flew.

Dragonair just got a strange expression and floated elegantly into the air, his sleek, snake-like body moving as if he were swimming. He seemed astonished at his own accomplishment for a second; then he appeared to snap out of a trance and focused on Mightyena again.

?Shadow Ball!? Ash shouted. Mightyena reared up, forming a big orb of shadow in a matter of seconds, and sending it at the dragon. Dragonair retaliated with another Fire attack, but the Shadow Ball took in the flames somehow and the fiery orb hit the dragon in the face. Dragonair dropped limply to the ground, defeated.

?Return,? Mark said as the Pok?ball absorbed the blue dragon. He suddenly realized that he had only Leta left, and she was very low-leveled compared to the rest of his team. He bit his lip, but nonetheless grabbed the metallic sphere.

?Go, Leta!? he yelled, throwing the ball. It bounced off the ground and popped open; the plain-looking shape of the Pok?mon he had caught earlier emerged from it and looked timidly at Mightyena.

Ash hesitated. ?Mightyena, Take Down, but be careful.?

The wolf leapt towards the much smaller Leta, growling. It smashed powerfully into her body; she let out a high-pitched squeal, but stood up and stared at Mightyena, waving her tail rhythmically. The wolf was quickly hypnotized, and moments later its muscles relaxed, causing it to drowsily drop down as its eyes closed completely.

?Great job, Leta!? Mark cheered. ?Now, um?? He had no idea what kind of attacks Leta might be able to use; finally, he just decided to make his best available guess:

?Tackle!?

He was relieved to see that Leta recognized the attack and rammed her small body into Mightyena?s; he?d have hated to make a fool of himself in front of Ash Ketchum by showing that he didn?t even know his Pok?mon?s attacks. The disappointing part was that the wolf was way to big to be even affected by such a tiny Pok?mon?s Tackle at all. Leta did her best a few times, but Mightyena didn?t even move and Mark saw Ash smiling slightly at Leta?s unsuccessful efforts. The white Pok?mon seemed to give up, walked a few steps backwards and crouched down. Then she charged towards Mightyena.

?Yeah, Headbutt!? Mark quickly said in some kind of a subconscious attempt to make it look like he knew what he was doing. Leta slammed her head into Mightyena?s body, but unfortunately this woke the wolf up. Mightyena growled and bared its fangs.

?Recall her, Mark,? Ash sighed. ?She doesn?t stand a chance.?

Mark had to admit that he was right. He reluctantly took out Leta?s Pok?ball and it absorbed her inside. He looked nervously at Ash.

?You passed,? he said, smiling. ?Tell me, though? what was that thing your Gyarados did??

?Er?? Mark thought a bit. ?I don?t know, to be honest. He just can do that.?

Ash looked puzzled, but like he was realizing something nonetheless. ?Ah well,? he finally said, ?it probably all has some natural explanation.?

?Do you know what Dragonair did?? Mark asked.

?Dragonair? Oh, that was just some clever usage of the Dragon type?s association with fire. Your Gyarados, however? he did something that shouldn?t even be possible.? He furrowed his brow, seemingly thinking hard.

?Well, thanks,? said Mark doubtfully before walking off to the judges? table.

You really don't like me do you? NVM, I know the answer and it's not important to this thread.

The name thing for the Pok?mon is about to be explained in this very chapter

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That's great, but my review is for up to this point. Has it been explained yet? No. Therefore, my complaint stands.

What I think you really are complaining about is the fact that here, it's the protagonists who you wouldn't want to be around, not some characters that are there for the reader to hate. But the thing is, real people aren't all likeable. Frankly I don't think you can really subtract from somebody's score on characters for having characters you don't like, to be honest. Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is probably the least likeable character I've ever read about, and that's exactly what makes her so brilliant. You can subtract from the character score for unrealistic or flat characters, but not ones that you don't like.

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The 7/10 had nothing to do with the fact that I despise Mark and May. The subtraction from the score has to do with the lack of Pokemon actually having names. ('cept a few) I told you. It annoys the heck outta me. Chibi Pika, has many characters I would never hang out with in her fic, but I gave her a ten because she had a nice balnce of likeable/unlikeable, made them realistic and GAVE POKEMON NAMES! Without names in fics, PKMN are just animals. Unless there is a specific point the author is trying to make, they need/should have names. As for "flat" characters? Having a protaganist who whines a lot and never, in 21 chapters, gains a shred of confidence in his battling even after ousting many gym leaders. That's flat. Real people would start to gain some confidence. Unless that person is seriously depressed, which if Mark is, you should've mentioned it. Oh, and is there a reason he has so many barbaric/ muderous Pokemon? Or is that just for an extra spice?(no sarcasm intended)

I hate Umbreon

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Ok, so? I didn't say Evolve it to Umbron or I'll hack the site and destroy your fic! At least I don't think I did, Let me check.......Nope, I didn't I was saying that while your "Evolution Solution" thing was cool, I would never put my Eevee in it for that reason, no need to bash my fav PKMN.

In the original, Mark bought a Thunderstone to evolve Eevee, actually, so it's not the event's fault...

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Again, I wasn't blaming the event I was merely saying why I wouldn't do it.
~Umbra

Umbrazard said:

You really don't like me do you? NVM, I know the answer and it's not important to this thread.

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I dislike quite a few people, but you are not one of them. This is a very common misconception whenever I respond to reviews, because I'm very defensive.

That's great, but my review is for up to this point. Has it been explained yet? No. Therefore, my complaint stands.

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Actually, in chapter one Charmander said that he didn't really have a name, which should at least have told you that in this fic Pok?mon don't have names as opposed to me just not bothering to make names. Technically, you shouldn't even be assuming that they should have names in the first place. They aren't humans. There's no way to know whether they have names or not. There is no canonical evidence to suggest that they do, actually.

The 7/10 had nothing to do with the fact that I despise Mark and May. The subtraction from the score has to do with the lack of Pokemon actually having names. ('cept a few) I told you. It annoys the heck outta me. Chibi Pika, has many characters I would never hang out with in her fic, but I gave her a ten because she had a nice balnce of likeable/unlikeable, made them realistic and GAVE POKEMON NAMES! Without names in fics, PKMN are just animals. Unless there is a specific point the author is trying to make, they need/should have names.

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I don't get your connection between Pok?mon having names and characterization. The Pok?mon in my fic are not animals; you said so yourself. What does their not having names have to do with anything? They wouldn't be more characterized if they had names, and aren't less characterized because they don't.

As for "flat" characters? Having a protaganist who whines a lot and never, in 21 chapters, gains a shred of confidence in his battling even after ousting many gym leaders. That's flat. Real people would start to gain some confidence.

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The flaw in your logic is that he loses all the time and the Gym leaders tend to tell him off even when he wins. He also finds himself just standing there and watching his Pok?mon battle without actually having much of a part in it most of the time. He's been losing confidence throughout the fic because of this. Note that he didn't start out thinking he was a loser.

Oh, and is there a reason he has so many barbaric/ muderous Pokemon? Or is that just for an extra spice?(no sarcasm intended)

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Only Scyther and Gyarados are what you call "barbaric/murderous", which is not what I'd call "so many". Besides that they aren't "barbaric/murderous". They just have unpleasant pasts.

Ok, so? I didn't say Evolve it to Umbron or I'll hack the site and destroy your fic! At least I don't think I did, Let me check.......Nope, I didn't I was saying that while your "Evolution Solution" thing was cool, I would never put my Eevee in it for that reason, no need to bash my fav PKMN.

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I didn't bash it. I did exactly what you did: stated my opinion on Umbreon. If you're allowed to come here and say you don't like Jolteon, I'm allowed to reply and say I don't like Umbreon.

The 7/10 had nothing to do with the fact that I despise Mark and May. The subtraction from the score has to do with the lack of Pokemon actually having names. ('cept a few) I told you. It annoys the heck outta me. Chibi Pika, has many characters I would never hang out with in her fic, but I gave her a ten because she had a nice balnce of likeable/unlikeable, made them realistic and GAVE POKEMON NAMES! Without names in fics, PKMN are just animals. Unless there is a specific point the author is trying to make, they need/should have names.

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Augh, don't drag me into this, Umbra, besides, Dragonfree develops her Pok?mon so much better than me x_X;;;
And personally, Dragonfree already explained her name theory to me and I found it brilliant, and I don't even name all of the Pok?mon in my fic.

~Chibi~

I dislike quite a few people, but you are not one of them. This is a very common misconception whenever I respond to reviews, because I'm very defensive.

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CDould fooled me, but whatever. (I wasn't just basing this on ur review-reply)

Actually, in chapter one Charmander said that he didn't really have a name, which should at least have told you that in this fic Pok?mon don't have names as opposed to me just not bothering to make names. Technically, you shouldn't even be assuming that they should have names in the first place. They aren't humans. There's no way to know whether they have names or not. There is no canonical evidence to suggest that they do, actually.

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Argh, I read chapter 1 a loooooong time ago, so I didn't remember. Also, I'm not assuming, it's simple logic. If humans lived in the wilderness, we would have to identify each other somehow. It makes sense that they would have "names" (btw, I did like your explanation, although I 100% disagree with it, it was very... original.) And I don't base most of my thoughts of off canon, except that they all say their species names. But, you do, so that's just a disagreement we have.

I don't get your connection between Pok?mon having names and characterization. The Pok?mon in my fic are not animals; you said so yourself. What does their not having names have to do with anything? They wouldn't be more characterized if they had names, and aren't less characterized because they don't.

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Ok, I agree, but that is a very strong opinion of mine. I apologise that you found my grade unnacceptable. Looking back, while I don't change my opinion of the name thing, or not liking Mark, (May, I can handle) I guess you were right, 9/10

Only Scyther and Gyarados are what you call "barbaric/murderous", which is not what I'd call "so many". Besides that they aren't "barbaric/murderous". They just have unpleasant pasts.

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I didn't mean to say so many, I wrote that, thhought about, changed it (or so I thought) and posted, sry.

I didn't bash it. I did exactly what you did: stated my opinion on Umbreon. If you're allowed to come here and say you don't like Jolteon, I'm allowed to reply and say I don't like Umbreon.

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But, you said, simply "I hate Umbreon" I said, i don't like Jolteon, and would've rather seen it evolve to Umbreon. But whatever, to each his/her own.

Augh, don't drag me into this, Umbra, besides, Dragonfree develops her Pok?mon so much better than me x_X;;;

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Sry, Chibi. I just... NVm, sry.

Ok, I think I'm just gonna be a silent reader dfrom now on, save us all a lot of trouble.

Fare ye well
~Umbra

OMG I LOVED these chapters!! (Sorry I've been gone.. its the same old pokefan here ^^) but bot, I can't wait to see what happens next OMG LOVE IT!!!

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RATING
Violence: LOTS of Dragonfree-style battles of the more violent sort.
Gore: Just slight blood.
Sexuality: None.
Profanity: None.
Other: Deals with death, suicide and murder...
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A/N: This chapter is the first to contain something that appears in a few places throughout the fic: Short blurbs of Pok?mon's thoughts during battle. They are just paragraphs written in italics in the middle of battles...




The Pok?mon Festival ? May 23rd: The Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament

Mark woke up before May the next day. He had never thought he?d ever be relieved to wake up to a nightmare about creepy yellow eyes, but it was not at all pleasant to be woken up by May?s yells every morning, either. He quickly got dressed, and just as he pulled on his socks, there was a loud knock on the door.

?Hey, sleepy!?

?I?m up already!? Mark called back, walking towards the door and opening it. ?What event is today again??

?The Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament,? May replied.

?What was that again?? Mark asked, yawning.

?It?s a thingy where your Pok?mon battle without trainers,? she explained. ?Look, I have a thingy on it.? She held up a booklet and then started skimming it.

?It says here that it?s ?a competition of how well Pok?mon can handle their own battles without the limits set by trainers and standard battling rules?,? she read and looked up. ?That translates to ?something where your Pok?mon beat each other up and you have nothing to do with it?.?

Mark considered this. He wasn?t the best battler, after all ? maybe his Pok?mon would like to get some time to shine by themselves.

?It also says here,? May continued, ?that trainer-free battling ?helps your Pok?mon?s ability to think independently within battle?, and to ?know their own limits?.?

Mark nodded. That would definitely help him get some badges; after all, he did usually rely on his Pok?mon?s abilities rather than his own when battling.

?Umm, are you entering?? he finally asked.

?No,? she said. ?I prefer to win thanks to my own strategies, not my Pok?mon?s.?

A part of Mark decided to take that as a personal attack, but the other part prevented him from saying anything.

?Well, I like the idea,? he said decisively. ?I?m entering? all of my Pok?mon.?

?Well, the same trainer may only enter a maximum of three Pok?mon,? May read from the booklet. ?So that won?t work.?

?Oh.? Mark paused for a second. ?Well, I won?t enter Leta, the Pok?mon there are probably all much stronger than she is? Jolteon really deserves to be in, though; he didn?t get to take part in the Attack Approval at all...?

?It says here you can?t enter Pok?mon that rely on water to battle,? May pointed out.

?Then I guess Gyarados can?t be entered either,? Mark clarified. After a short pause, he sighed.

?I?m being an idiot ? of course I have to ask them.?

May didn?t reply; he took out his Pok?balls and sent out all of his Pok?mon except Gyarados. He started by briefly explaining the Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament.

?So,? he finished, ?who wants to enter and who doesn?t??

?I want to,? Leta said quietly.

?But?? Mark protested, startled. ?There will be really strong Pok?mon there??

?Yes,? Leta replied emptily.

May?s booklet saved Mark from trying to convince her otherwise:

?Well, the minimum level to enter appears to be 30. It says here that there are five groups: level 30-45, level 46-60, 61-75, 76-90 and 91+. Leta is level 22, isn?t she? So she can?t enter. The rest of you can, though.?

Leta didn?t say anything. She just looked down.

?I?m sorry,? said Mark although he actually felt very relieved. ?What about the rest of you??

?I?ll volunteer not to be in,? said Dragonair after a moment?s pause. ?As fun as it would be to fly some more, I?m not that interested.?

The rest of the Pok?mon looked at each other for a while.

?I guess I?ll pass too, then? Sandslash said finally. ?I don?t really care either way.?

?Great,? said Mark cheerfully. ?That?s all settled, then??

All the Pok?mon except Leta nodded. She just stared emptily straight forward.

?All right,? she finally sighed after everybody?s eyes had been set on her for a second.

?I?m sorry, Leta,? Mark said quietly. She just nodded shortly.

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What had been done with the stadium since yesterday was amazing. Tall walls now divided the arena into five parts, one for each level group. The one for level 30-45 was the smallest, while the level 91+ one was the biggest by far. There weren?t many people accompanying Mark and May on the small section of seats that faced towards the 30-45 part; Mark guessed that almost all of them were probably the trainers of participating Pok?mon, like him, or their friends, like May.

Mark noticed that the walls were much thicker than they needed to be; just as he was wondering why, doors slid open on either side of the mini-arena.

?Welcome to the Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament!? a voice boomed out. ?I will be commenting on the battles today. Let?s just start round one!?

Two men holding Pok?balls appeared in the doors, ready to throw them.

?And the first match is between a level 35 male Jolteon and a level 35 female Vibrava named Terra! Let the battle begin!?

The men threw the Pok?balls; out of them came Jolteon and a weird, green and yellow dragonfly-like Pok?mon. It flapped its wings and floated lazily a little above the ground.

It?s a dragonfly? Pok?mon that fly are weak to electricity, aren?t they? I think May always used Pikachu for them?

Jolteon crouched down, charging up electricity in the spikes on his back. The Vibrava watched him calmly; naturally he found it a bit odd, but he nonetheless released a bolt of lightning that shot towards the dragonfly Pok?mon. She didn?t even attempt to dodge; in fact it was almost like she took the full blast of the attack on purpose.

?And it?s a Thunderbolt!? shouted the announcer.

Jolteon tilted his head with a confused ?Jolti?? as the Vibrava kept floating there without reacting to the attack at all. There were no signs of her being in pain, or even having taken the attack at all.

Suddenly she jerked herself upwards and then dived down. She slammed hard into the ground, causing an explosion of ripples as if she had dived into water. Jolteon was too startled to avoid the attack and cried out in pain as he was hit, accidentally releasing a flurry of sparks.

?Terra used an Earthquake, but Jolteon is not quite down yet!?

Earthquake?

The Vibrava tried diving into the ground again, but this time Jolteon was ready and leapt up just before she landed. He came down on her back, locking his claws into her wings. The Vibrava screeched, flying upwards again in an attempt to shake Jolteon off. In the air, he started charging up more electricity and sending it pulsating directly into her body; she was just as unaffected as the previous time. The Vibrava turned her head around in an attempt to bite Jolteon; he leapt off her in time and she crashed right into the wall.

?Ouch! That must?ve hurt!? came the announcer?s voice as Terra dropped weakly down to the ground. After looking unconscious for a second, she suddenly got up and blasted sparkly flames at Jolteon. Taken by surprise, he was hit; he felt his muscles stiffen but managed to shake it off.

?Nice Dragonbreath there! It almost paralyzed even the limber Jolteon!?

Earthquake? Dragonbreath? Electricity not working? This is weird?

?Jooooolt!? he screamed as he turned around and fired the spikes on his backside in a flurry towards the Vibrava. Like tiny, sharp needles, they tore into the dragonfly Pok?mon?s skin and wings; she screeched in pain.

?Ooh, clever Jolteon!? the announcer said. ?He gets it! It?s safe to reveal now, folks, that the Bug/Flying type that most people assume when they look at a Vibrava is in fact a brilliant disguise, because it is really a Ground/Dragon type!?

Everybody in the audience except May was surprised to hear this, Mark included.

?But back to the battle, Jolteon is using another Pin Missile in an attempt to eliminate Terra from the match! She was weakened earlier when she crashed, so now we just have to wonder whether he?ll make it in time!?

As Jolteon took a short break to breathe, Terra shot into the air again, clearly preparing for another Earthquake, but Jolteon suddenly leapt at her at incredible speed, becoming a streak of yellow in the air as he struck her with his whole body.

?And it?s a great Quick Attack!? the announcer shouted. ?Let?s see if Terra makes it!?

Both Pok?mon landed on the ground, Jolteon on his feet but Terra on her side. She twitched slightly but didn?t get up again.

?And Jolteon is the winner!? came the announcer?s voice as the doors on the sides opened again and the men recalled the two Pok?mon. Mark noticed that Jolteon was very tired after this battle; he hoped the Pok?mon were healed before they had to battle again.

?The next battle is between this level 45 female Scizor and Blade the male Sceptile, who is also level 45!?

Two new Pok?balls were thrown, and the Pok?mon emerged on the arena. Mark compared the crimson red, metallic bug with pincers of some sort on its arms and the large, green, bipedal reptile with a fern for a tail. He had always thought Sceptile was ugly when he looked at the illustration in his Pok?monology textbook, mainly because the tail always reminded him of a Christmas tree; now that he saw one in real life, he thought it didn?t look so bad.

Meanwhile, the Scizor had been performing weird ninja tricks of some sort on the air, seemingly lost in her own world. The Sceptile raised an eyebrow before suddenly roaring and leaping at her, hoping to take her by surprise; however, she somehow grabbed him by the arm in mid-air and threw him to the ground as easily as a sheet of paper.

?Ooh, Scizor pretended to be playing around while she was really building up her power with Swords Dance! Clever move there!?

The reptile got up, seemingly mad about being fooled like that. He suddenly plucked a leaf off his own tail; it started glowing as he leapt at her again with a roar, attempting to strike her with the edge of the leaf as if it were a sword. She narrowly blocked it with her pincer, but then said something. The Sceptile nodded and they turned around, walking a few steps back.

?I think Scizor just challenged Blade to a duel!? said the announcer as the two Pok?mon turned around and rushed at each other. Their arms moved like blurs, attacking and blocking attacks, and the audience could only guess what was really happening from the occasional roars as one of them got hit. Finally, they stopped to catch their breaths. The Sceptile was notably more hurt; he had a big bleeding gash on his forehead and quite a few scratches and bruises, while Scizor?s shiny armor was barely damaged. The reptile looked a lot more tired, too, but he had no intentions of giving up; he grabbed another leaf from his tail and held it in his other hand, and rushed at the bug again.

?Poor Blade doesn?t have much of a chance here, I?m afraid,? the announcer explained. ?His Leaf Blade attack is not very effective on Bug and Steel Pok?mon like Scizor at all.?

This announcement only made the reptilian Pok?mon all the more furious; he started slashing faster and harder with his leaves, and Scizor showed signs of starting to have a hard time keeping up with his speed as she blocked one strike after another. Finally Blade made a fatal mistake; one strike was too low, Scizor saw her chance, leapt into the air and smashed her pincers into his skull.

A sickening crack was heard. A red-haired teenage girl in the audience screamed, presumably Blade?s trainer. The reptile dropped limply to the ground, his head covered with blood.

The two Pok?mon were recalled; Blade was at least still alive since the Pok?ball worked.

?Blade will now be escorted to the Pok?mon Center to be taken care of,? the announcer assured. ?He will be fine. The next battle is Fury the level 40, and obviously male, Hitmonchan, versus Happy the level 38 obviously-female Chansey! It?s a battle of the sexes! Who will win??

Mark rolled his eyes. They were selecting Pok?mon of at least similar levels to battle, but they kept giving one Pok?mon a type advantage over the other. This Chansey was probably dead meat.

The doors opened. A rather humanoid-looking brown creature wearing a purple tunic and boxing gloves walked out on one side, and an egg-shaped pink creature with a happy expression emerged from a Pok?ball on the other. Fury stretched and yawned while keeping an eye on his opponent, and then faced her to bow deeply. As he rose up again, he suddenly delivered a sharp punch to her head and then a kick to her stomach. Her eyes widening in surprise, the Chansey bounced backwards like a rubber ball, landing on her back and flailing around. Fury walked up to her and smiled apologetically before raising his right fist into the air; his glove sparkled with electricity before he gave the Chansey another punch. She screamed and stopped moving.

Fury stroked nonexistent sweat from his forehead as the Chansey was recalled; Mark saw a dark-haired boy in the audience smack his forehead and guessed that he was Happy?s trainer. Then the Hitmonchan walked out of the arena. Mark wondered why he wasn?t in a Pok?ball; maybe his trainer was one of those anti-Pok?balls people.

?Umm, after this, er, great match, we?ll see Jaws the male Feraligatr, level 42, battle Cannon the Blastoise, level 41 male.?

Two Pok?balls were thrown, opening to reveal two huge, blue Water Pok?mon. One was a bipedal alligator like the one the Mew Hunter had possessed; this one was undeniably larger, though. The other was a gigantic tortoise, also bipedal, with two shiny metallic cannons poking out of holes in its shell.

For a while the two just growled, staring at each other and baring their fangs. Then the Feraligatr ran towards Cannon and they started wrestling. Jaws bit the Blastoise?s cannon; the tortoise Pok?mon started pumping water through it with tremendous force, pushing the alligator slightly back. He moved out of the way and then used what was, according to the announcer, a Dynamicpunch. This sent the Blastoise tumbling backwards until he fell over, and while he lay helplessly on his back, flailing around, the Feraligatr smashed his tail into Cannon?s stomach. With a loud groan, he fell unconscious and Jaws celebrated victory with a few roars. The two Pok?mon were recalled.

?Next battle! We have this level 36 female Raichu against a level 37 male Umbreon called Wraith!?

The two Pok?mon were sent out. One was an orange rodent, most likely one of those that had been evolved in the Evolution Solution, and the other was a sleek, black catlike creature with long ears and tail; Mark recognized it as the Dark type evolution of Eevee. It had glowing, yellow rings on its forehead, ears, tail and legs.

The Raichu charged her yellow cheeks with electric sparks before sending a bolt of lightning at the Umbreon. He took the attack and shrieked slightly in pain, but shook it off. His rings started glowing as a black orb of shadow formed in front of him; then it was fired at Raichu and hit her. She was thrown backwards and moaned in pain before standing up again with difficulty.

?Raichu started off this battle with a Thunderbolt, but Wraith countered with a nice Shadow Ball! Good start!?

Wraith now started kicking sand that appeared under his feet into the Raichu?s eyes. The mouse Pok?mon retaliated by starting to sparkle and slamming her lightning bolt-shaped tail into the Umbreon?s body. His muscles stiffened, leaving him paralyzed and forcing him to stop ? but suddenly Raichu?s body also stiffened with a flurry of electric sparks.

?Ooh? Wraith used a Sand-Attack, and then Raichu countered with a neat Thunder Wave, which would have given her a nice advantage if only it weren?t for Umbreon?s Synchronize ability which causes all special conditions to rebound upon the user!? the announcer called. ?Bad mistake there, Raichu!?

Wraith suddenly opened his mouth and sprayed out a dark purple liquid. The sticky substance went all over the paralyzed Raichu and started seeping into her fur. She moaned.

?Wraith uses a Toxic! Oh, this is deadly!?

With some difficulty, the mouse Pok?mon sent a bolt of lightning at the Umbreon. He couldn?t avoid the attack thanks to his condition, but he clearly had the endurance that his species was known for and took the attack without much trouble while Raichu shivered from the poisoning. Wraith?s red eyes glowed, and he seemed to be healed slightly.

?That, folks, was an example of a Moonlight attack used in daylight,? the announcer explained. ?You can?t really see it because the sun lights everything up, but Wraith just made the moon shine brightly on him, giving him added energy. The Moonlight attack is quite a sight to see in nighttime ? it?s a shame you didn?t get to have a good look at it. Oh, look, Raichu is using a Thunderpunch!?

While he talked, the mouse Pok?mon?s fist had started sparkling, and now she slammed it into Wraith?s face. He cried out in pain as the electricity surged through his body, but he clearly knew that he was going to win this battle; he gave a small smile as Raichu moaned and dropped to the ground, fainting from the poison.

?And Wraith has claimed victory!? the announcer roared as the two Pok?mon were recalled back into their Pok?balls. ?The next battle is between this level 35 male Charmeleon, and a level 37 Jynx who is, obviously, female.?

Mark looked hopefully up; Jynx had a slight level advantage, but Charmeleon had the types in his favor.

The two Pok?mon were sent out at the sides. Charmeleon?s opponent was a humanoid-looking Pok?mon in a red dress. This was, of course, just the standard Jynx outfit, similar to Hitmonchan?s gloves and tunic, and mainly served the purpose of keeping the people who were bothered by naked humanoid Pok?mon at bay; it really limited the Pok?mon?s ability to move freely. Jynx?s face, framed by straight blond hair, had purple skin, scary, white eyes and a round, pink mouth.

Charmeleon, who stood on the other side of the arena, looked calmly at Jynx, his arms folded. Then he moved his hand up to his mouth and breathed out a small flame. He absent-mindedly stared at it for a while; in the meantime, Jynx watched him suspiciously.

All of a sudden, the lizard hurled the small ball of fire at his opponent. Jynx?s dress was hit by it; she let out a very eerie scream and her purple hand glowed icy blue as she cooled it down.

?Clever,? the announcer commented. ?Charmeleon has made up an attack. Wonder if he was at the Attack Approval yesterday??

Jynx all of a sudden ran up to Charmeleon. He seemed somehow hypnotized and didn?t try to run away or attack; she came right up to him, closer, closer, closer? and then she planted a kiss on his cheek.

His eyes opened wide for a second, but as Jynx backed slowly away, he looked dizzy; Mark could?ve sworn he was drunk when he started teetering and muttering something while trying to reach for Jynx?s dress. A few people started laughing, including May; Mark felt his face go red.

?This Sweet Kiss confused Charmeleon thoroughly! What will he do now??

He didn?t manage to do anything at all before Jynx started smiling eerily while staring into his eyes. Mark saw his Pok?mon slowly put up a very dorky grin, before his mouth simply fell open.

?Jynx?s Attract keeps Charmeleon charmed!? The announcer snickered at his own pun while Charmeleon stood there drooling. Mark was probably the only person who wasn?t in hysterics by now; he wanted to sink into the ground when Jynx approached Charmeleon again and kissed him again, this time on the lips. Charmeleon joined heartily in; while they kissed passionately, Jynx slowly lowered Charmeleon onto the ground and closed her eyes. Charmeleon did the same.

As their lips were about to part, Charmeleon?s eyes suddenly opened. Realizing what he was doing, he ripped himself free of Jynx?s arms, wearing a disgusted expression.

?Charmeleon resisted Jynx?s Lovely Kiss! That is quite an achievement, mind you!?

How could I let myself be humiliated like this?

He spat on the ground a few times, looking at his opponent with disgust before releasing a Flamethrower. It hit Jynx in the face, but before she could do anything, Charmeleon?s tail flame flared up to double its normal size as he leapt at Jynx and started clawing and biting like crazy.

?Charmeleon clearly doesn?t like being seduced! He expresses his anger with a Rage attack, and? yes, I think Jynx is down!?

It was true; Jynx was unconscious, her dress charred and ripped. Charmeleon shot her a nasty glare as they were both recalled.

?Our next battle is between a level 43 male Scyther and a male Absol by the name of Armageddon, level 45.?

Mark smiled to his mantis as he was sent out; his opponent was a big catlike creature with thick, white fur, a black face, red eyes and a sickle of sorts sticking out of the right side of his head.

?Absol!? Armageddon hissed, crouching down and leaping at Scyther. He jumped out of the way, but the Absol landed gracefully and turned immediately around to face Scyther again. They circled each other for a few seconds, but then Scyther flew straight at Armageddon with his scythes raised, glowing green. He managed to get a few rapid slashes in before the Absol swished his white-glowing blade and gave Scyther a cut across his chest. They stopped for a second to catch their breaths, but then Armageddon rushed back at Scyther, who blocked the blade with his scythes. He tried attacking back, but the Absol blocked that too.

In the long run, though, what gave Scyther an advantage was the fact that he had two blades while Absol only had one. It didn?t take him long to figure out the perfect way to use this to his advantage, and after that Armageddon was dead meat, receiving one slash after another without being able to do anything to prevent it. Finally, the Absol gave up and crouched down on the ground. Scyther?s expression showed no emotion as the two Pok?mon were recalled.

?Armageddon surrendered, so Scyther is the winner!? said the announcer. ?The final battle of round one is Casey the female Pidgeot, level 45, and a male Haunter, level 44.?

Two Pok?mon were released, one of them an eagle-like bird with a crest of very long, golden and red feathers on its head, and the other a weird, wispy, purple shape with sinister eyes and a jagged red mouth. Two disembodied hands which clearly belonged to the creature appeared out of thin air at its sides.

Casey started rapidly flapping her wings; in a matter of seconds, she had whipped up a small whirlwind and sent it towards the Haunter. He let out some comical screams as his gaseous form was beaten around by the whirlwind and finally sent flying in a random direction; Casey destroyed the whirlwind with a few flaps of her wings in the right places as the ghost Pok?mon floated dizzily back into the arena.

The Haunter?s hands started glowing bright red, along with his eyes. The flapping of Casey?s wings gradually slowed down as she floated irregularly towards the ground; as she landed there, her eyes closed and she collapsed, fast asleep.

Satisfied, Haunter started muttering to himself and then floated down to the sleeping bird Pok?mon. His left hand touched her head lightly and he got an expression like he was trying to remember something; then he nodded and suddenly, a freakishly long, pink tongue came out of his mouth and licked Casey?s head crest. As her feathers dripped with salvia, she twitched violently; without waking up, though.

?And Haunter uses a Dream Eater attack on the defenseless Casey!?

As Haunter licked her again, Casey?s eyes opened. She shook herself while standing up, beating the ghost away with her wings at the same time. Haunter hurriedly floated to a safe distance as Casey took off into the air; then the ghost charged up a black orb of shadow in front of him, picked it up in his left hand and threw it at the bird Pok?mon. This was a fatal mistake; Casey quickly started flapping her wings fast and the strong gust of wind turned the orb back to the user. Haunter let out a sound somewhere midway between a scream and a laugh before the orb clashed with him and they somehow negated each other out so they both vanished.

?Haunter?s Shadow Ball wouldn?t have worked on Casey anyway, as a Normal type,? the announcer explained as Casey and what was left of Haunter were recalled. ?That concludes round one; now it?s time for the winners of round one to go on to round two!?

Mark suddenly now properly realized that all three of his Pok?mon had won their battles. He smiled as it struck him that he himself not being a skilled battler ultimately meant that his Pok?mon were more skilled than most of the other ones.

Still, it was a fact that a few levels could always beat skill.

?You?ve already been introduced to all the Pok?mon, so now it?s just starting the next battle! Jolteon versus Scizor!?

Mark was startled. ?Wait a minute,? he asked May, ?wasn?t Scizor level 45? Why are they pitting her against Jolteon? They were pairing Pok?mon of similar levels earlier!?

?They probably wanted to avoid making two of your Pok?mon fight if possible,? May whispered back. ?Besides, they weren?t exactly always fair earlier either. Maybe they like seeing one Pok?mon get beaten to a pulp and another not needing much effort to win.?

?But still??

May pointed down into the arena, where Jolteon and Scizor had been sent out, and Mark shut up.

Scizor has wings? I guess electricity is worth a try.

Jolteon charged sparks in his body and sent a bolt of lightning towards the big red bug. She easily leapt out of the way, and then zoomed straight towards Jolteon with her pincers raised. She clamped both of them around his right front leg.

A sickening crunch followed by Jolteon?s scream of pain caused Mark to avert his eyes. He immediately regretted having entered Jolteon in the Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament at all.

Jolteon, feeling pain like he had never felt before, pumped electricity into Scizor?s body in order to make her let go. She leapt backwards, leaving Jolteon to look at his awkwardly-angled leg and cringe. He whimpered; Scizor charged at him again, evaded a Thunderbolt and then knocked Jolteon out with a heavy blow to the head.

?Scizor has won this battle, and thus we proceed to the next one,? the announcer said as Jolteon and Scizor were recalled. ?Fury the Hitmonchan and Jaws the Feraligatr are next up!?

?See?? Mark directed at May. ?Those two are somewhere in between Jolteon and Scizor! They could have made Jolteon battle one of them and Scizor battle the other!?

May just shrugged. ?Well, maybe they?re just lazy and are making the winners of the first two battles battle now or something.?

The two Pok?mon were sent out ? again, Fury walked by himself rather than being sent out from a Pok?ball.

Fury was adjusting his gloves for a while, absent-minded; then all of a sudden, he sprang up and gave the alligator a good punch in the stomach.

?Fury?s decided to start this one with a Mach Punch!? cried the announcer. ?Jaws ? Jaws ? he uses a powerful Slash attack, but Fury evades it!? he continued as the humanoid leapt out of the way of the Feraligatr?s claws. ?Fury uses a Comet Punch ? Jaws bites his arm ? ouch!?

The red boxing glove on Fury?s free arm glowed white before he drove it into the alligator?s jaw.

?Fury gets Jaws to release him with a Mega Punch attack! And what does Jaws do??

The Feraligatr, stumbling backwards, opened his mouth and sprayed a jet of high-pressure water at the Hitmonchan.

?It?s a Hydro Pump, but FURY EVADES IT! Wow, that?s some agility there! Fury charges ? he Dynamicpunches Jaws right in the skull! Oww, that must?ve hurt a lot! Jaws is kinda dizzy ? no, wait, he?s down! Jaws is down! Fury has won the match!?

The Hitmonchan smiled slightly as he walked out of the arena; a Pok?ball recalled the unconscious alligator.

?Next up are Wraith and Charmeleon!? the announcer declared as the two Pok?mon were sent out. ?The ringwraith meets the lovebird!?

Charmeleon growled threateningly; some people laughed. Looking at Wraith with a gaze that could kill, he breathed a small flame into his hand like he had done in his battle with Jynx, and clenched his fist. Then he darted towards Wraith with a roar; the much slower Umbreon couldn?t outrun him before Charmeleon slashed him with white-hot claws. Wraith shrieked in pain as his side was torn up.

?Ow, ow, ow!? was all the announcer said.

Charmeleon now breathed out a cloud of silky flames as Wraith tried to run away. Not built to dodge, he was hit by the full blast, screaming.

?Charmeleon is using quite a strategy here, folks!? the announcer explained. ?He clearly knows that an Umbreon?s skin is very tough, and therefore heated up his claws before his Slash attack to cut deeper. Then, with open wounds there, Wraith is vulnerable, which serves Charmeleon?s main goal: making that Flamethrower hurt.?

Mark stared at his Pok?mon, who was watching closely as Wraith attempted to stand up. That was, to say the least, very well thought-out for a relatively young Pok?mon.

Wraith, who had been struggling to stand up, collapsed again. Charmeleon smiled victoriously as the two were recalled.

?The next match of round two is between Scyther and Casey the Pidgeot! It?s a match of talons and scythes!?

The eagle-like Pok?mon was sent out on one end and Scyther on the other. Mark noticed that he was exhausted and the cut across his chest was just as bad as earlier ? the Pok?mon were clearly not healed between rounds.

Casey stood on the ground, tilting her head and observing Scyther with an expression of disdain. The mantis just stared into her eyes until she suddenly looked up, spread her wings and took off. Scyther did the same, and they flew at each other. Unlike the very planned duel between Scyther and Armageddon, this was more of a cat fight; they scratched aimlessly at each other as quickly as they could, feathers raining down onto the ground. There was no way to see what was really happening until they took a short break to breathe after kicking each other backwards.

Casey?s missing and ruffled feathers were giving her a slightly hard time flying; Mark noticed that she was clearly flapping her wings faster than in her earlier, healthier state. Her left wing bled; Mark wasn?t sure if the red in some other places of her body was just blood from the wing or if they were individual wounds. Scyther, on the other hand, had gotten his slash from the earlier duel scratched up to bleed more, along with some minor scratches in various parts of his body.

The two Pok?mon flew at each other again; Scyther?s strategy had changed, however, as he now focused especially on Casey?s injured wing like she had been focusing on his cut. Casey started having a harder time maintaining her altitude now, and this enabled Scyther better access to her wing. Finally Casey dropped to the ground, exhausted. Scyther also landed, panting. Mark was surprised to see that only Casey was recalled; Scyther was left in.

?And now it?s the semi-finals! Four Pok?mon have gotten this far ? which of them will compete in the final match? We?re about to find out, and in quite a battle ? Scyther versus his own evolved form, Scizor!?

Scyther looked oddly up as the red, armored bug was sent out on the other side of the arena. He got up very slowly, clearly completely out of energy but determined nevertheless.

Scizor?

Scyther?s gaze attempted to tear the Pok?mon in front of him apart.

Nobody can stop me now? I?m getting my revenge?

He dashed towards her as fast as he could in his current state; she leapt out of the way with relative ease.

Fast for a Scizor, are we?

Not that that?s saying much?

He darted towards her again; she was about to dodge him in the same manner as before, but he predicted her movement and tackled her to the ground. Scizor locked her pincers around Scyther?s arm and tightened her grip. This wasn?t quite as effective as it had been on Jolteon, since Scyther didn?t have any bones to break, but it bought her a second which she could use to get up. Scizor then zoomed at Scyther to attack him, but he smashed his scythe into her as she came within reach and sent her unexpectedly flying through the air, crashing down on the ground. As she tried to stand up, he jumped on top of her and pinned her down, quickly bringing his scythe to her throat.

Prepare to die, Scizor.

?STOP THE BATTLE!?

Scyther looked up; a tall, dark-haired boy in the top row had stood up.

?It?s going to kill my Scizor!? the boy yelled.

?Scizor?s trainer,? the announcer said simply, ?when you entered your Pok?mon in the Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament, you signed a paper stating that you were aware of the rules of the Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament. Trainers must not interfere with their Pok?mon?s battles.?

?I DON?T CARE!? the trainer screamed. ?THAT?S MY POK?MON DOWN THERE!?

?The Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament is free of all rules and restrictions of normal trainer battles,? the announcer said calmly. ?The Pok?mon are free to do whatever they want.?

?NO!? Scizor?s trainer roared as Scyther turned his attention back to his opponent. But his scythe didn?t move.

His gaze traveled back to the trainer, then to her again; then he slowly released her and stood up. Scyther said something, but nobody heard it through the roars of the other crowds. Scizor didn?t stand up, clearly admitting defeat; Scyther stared oddly at her as the two of them were recalled.

?That was quite a battle!? said the announcer cheerfully in some kind of a failed attempt to liven up the dead silence.

?I? I wouldn?t have wanted my Pok?mon to be a murderer?? Mark whispered to May.

She shrugged. ?Technically, he already is. Even if the Mew Hunter didn?t make him kill anybody, he?s a predator and??

?Thank you, May,? Mark interrupted coldly.

?Well, our next battle is between Charmeleon and Fury the Hitmonchan,? said the announcer awkwardly; Fury walked into the arena on one side and Charmeleon was sent out of his ball on the other.

?I might add, if you don?t hate me too much,? said May shortly, ?that if Charmeleon wins this, the final battle will be Scyther versus Charmeleon.?

Mark froze completely, his heart skipping a few beats. She was right; how could he not have noticed?

?Oh God?? he muttered. ?They?re going to kill each other??

?I wouldn?t be so sure of that if I were you, Mark,? May pointed out. ?See, even though Charmeleon has the type advantage, Scyther is at a much higher level, and a bigger and stronger Pok?mon in general, besides being one of the very reasons that the Agreement tells Pok?mon to specifically not aim their attacks to be fatal. So basically, Charmeleon is going to get sliced up.?

Mark would have commented on how stupidly calmly she said that, like she didn?t care, but he was too busy worrying.

?And I can?t interfere, as we saw when Scizor?s trainer tried to??

?So we just need to hope Charmeleon loses big time now,? May finished. ?Come on, Fury is at a higher level, and fully evolved. Charmeleon isn?t very likely to win.?

?I guess,? said Mark, despite being absolutely not convinced. Charmeleon had proven himself to be very clever so far in the tournament, and he didn?t look at all about to lose very easily. Mark shifted his attention back to the battle; Charmeleon was just firing a Flamethrower which Fury dodged before punching the lizard in the stomach, chest and jaw in rapid succession.

?Fury used a Comet Punch, and Charmeleon doesn?t appear to be feeling very good?? said the announcer?s voice as the lizard bent over and spat some blood onto the ground. He looked up again, narrowing his eyes, and then breathed a flame into his hand. Fury leapt forward; Charmeleon grabbed the opportunity and threw the fireball. It singed Fury?s shoulder and he slightly lost his balance; landing awkwardly, he was vulnerable for a second and this allowed Charmeleon to jump on his back and dig his white-hot claws into the Fighter?s skin. Fury, while obviously in intense pain, didn?t let out a sound and stayed on the ground, slowly enveloping himself in a light blue aura. Charmeleon jumped off his back, and while Fury turned around, the lizard formed flames in his throat and released a bright blast of fire to hit Fury straight in the face.

?A nice Flamethrower, which has even greater effects due to Fury?s current state ? he used the energy he uses to perform Ice Punch to cool down the pain in his wounds, but this made him more vulnerable to sudden exposure to more heat.?

The Hitmonchan stumbled a few steps backwards, but then suddenly darted forward again as his fist glowed and delivered a punch to Charmeleon?s skull. The lizard was thrown harshly backwards, landing on his side. His consciousness seemed to be drifting away when he forced his eyes open and stood up.

?Charmeleon is clearly tough! That Mega Punch should have knocked him out for sure!?

Charmeleon fired another Flamethrower; Fury was getting too tired to dodge well, and was partially scorched by the flames. After being hit, he held both of his gloved hands into the air before walking out of the arena. It was clear what this was: he had given up. Mark?s heart sank.

?And Charmeleon is the winner! It?s time for the final match: Scyther versus Charmeleon! Incidentally, they are both owned by the same trainer ? this will be interesting??

?No, no, no, please, no?? Mark moaned. ?I?m not watching??

He started staring at an ancient, moldy piece of pink chewing gum that had been stuck on the back of the seat in front of him. May rolled her eyes and sighed.

Charmeleon grinned with satisfaction as Scyther was sent out on the other side of the arena. He growled an insult, but the mantis barely seemed to notice. He was all absent-minded and strange.

It?s time? time to advance?

?Char?? he growled. ?CHAARMELEON!?

He closed his eyes in deep concentration and clenched his fists.

?Mark,? May whispered, poking his shoulder, ?you have to see this.?

Mark looked up. Charmeleon was slowly being wrapped in a white glow?

?Would you look at that!? the announcer yelled. ?Charmeleon is evolving, here at the start of the final battle of the Pok?mon Frenzy Tournament! Now this is something you don?t see every day!?

Mark stared as his first Pok?mon changed in shape for the second time. He grew much larger, the horn on his head split into two narrower ones, his head grew longer and more dragon-like, his neck and tail lengthened, and two leathery wings sprouted from his shoulders. The glow faded away to reveal a fully grown Charizard.

He let out an ear-splitting roar, glaring madly at Scyther. The mantis was clearly astonished, but kept calm. Mark noticed that he didn?t look about to attack at all for some reason.

Charizard bent over and started coughing up a bit more blood; however, he then appeared to get a better idea and spat it at Scyther instead. His face got covered in it...

Blood.

Blood is red.

It clicked in Mark?s brain: something red in a Scyther?s eyes equals disaster. He quickly focused on the chewing gum again.

Charizard took off from the ground, trying out his new ability to fly. Scyther looked at him through a layer of bright red, and then darted towards the nearest moving object with his scythes in the air: Charizard?s wings.

The dragon growled, swung his powerful, flaming tail and smashed it into Scyther?s body, throwing him to the ground. He got up again with some difficulty, blinking; the blood was clearing out of his eyes now, but this hesitation gave Charizard a perfect opportunity to smash his powerful tail into Scyther?s head, knocking him out and driving him face-down into the ground. Charizard flew slowly up with a triumphant smile, raising his tail.

One more attack is sure to get rid of him for good?

?No, please, no?? Mark prayed, still staring at the gum and refusing to look at what was happening.

Charizard lowered his tail slightly.

Why am I doing this again?

We hated each other? but why? I don?t remember him ever doing anything to me?

I? I got him to hate me back? I wanted him to hate me back?

I was afraid that he would attack Mark?

No? I was a jealous little idiot and convinced myself that that was why?

I?ve matured now? but my actions can?t be taken back?

Charizard stared at Scyther, lowering his tail completely.

What have I done?

He suddenly stopped flapping his wings and crashed into the ground.

?It? it looks like this terrifying battle ended in a draw,? the announcer spoke in a slightly trembling voice. ?Charizard has given up, but Scyther doesn?t seem to be in a very good condition either.?

-------

Mark never really remembered what happened after that. He just came to his senses as he lay in one of the couches in the Pok?mon Center and looked at Nurse Joy?s face going in and out of focus as she told him that Scyther was no longer in critical condition.

He looked confusedly around. The windows were dark and the few people in the Pok?mon Center were asleep. May appeared to have been sleeping on the next couch, as she was now sitting and rubbing her eyes as she listened to Nurse Joy explaining something about Scyther.

Mark stroked his forehead and shut his eyes, trying to recall what had happened. It all seemed hazy. He just remembered the battles. He checked his watch; it was half past two in the morning.

?Any questions?? Nurse Joy asked.

?Er, no,? Mark replied, not having listened to what she had been saying. ?May, could you come over here?? he asked as the nurse walked back to the counter. Everything seemed out of order in Mark?s brain.

?What?? May asked as she sat down opposite him.

?I can?t remember anything?? Mark was getting a slight headache too. ?Can you fill me in on what happened after the battle was over??

May raised an eyebrow. ?You don?t remember it? That?s weird.?

?No?? Mark muttered.

?Then again, it makes sense, because you were strange, to say the least.?

?What happened?? Mark repeated in frustration.

?Well, you suddenly stood up, walked down from the audience stands, cussed your head off at the Pok?ball people for not recalling them earlier, took your Pok?balls to the Pok?mon Center, handed them to Nurse Joy without an explanation so I had to tell her what happened, and then lay down here and stopped responding to anything. I waved my hand in front of your face and you didn?t even blink.?

?Huh?? Mark asked. ?That?s weird? I don?t remember it at all??

May just had a puzzled look on her face.

?It?s odd, really, I? wait, Nurse Joy! Charizard! How is Charizard?? Mark asked worriedly, suddenly remembering that Charizard existed. The nurse came back and sighed.

?Physically, he?s pretty much fine ? just the normal Pok?mon battle stuff. But he seems very depressed for some reason; he?s refusing to eat or drink, or even respond at all. I?m worried he?s trying to starve himself.?

?Can I talk to him?? Mark requested concernedly. The nurse nodded and led him into a blue room akin to the one where Mark had talked to Eevee at the Cleanwater City Pok?mon Center. May followed doubtfully.

Most of the Pok?mon inside were asleep or unconscious, lying in beds with various accessories for each one. Charizard was awake, however; he was lying flat on his stomach in a corner near a window, completely motionless and staring blankly straight forward.

?Charizard?? Mark asked carefully. The dragon didn?t react at all. Mark stood right in front of his eyes, but Charizard still seemed to be staring through him.

?Scyther is going to be all right, if that?s what you?re worried about.?

No reactions.

?Can he even hear me?? Mark whispered to Nurse Joy. She nodded gravely.

?He definitely can. He just ignores it.?

Something stirred in the other end of the room; Mark was surprised to see Scyther rising slowly up from one of the beds. Finally Charizard showed some signs of being alive; his eyes moved to the mantis and followed him across the room.

?Killing yourself won?t help.?

Scyther said this in a very calm voice, looking straight into Charizard?s eyes. The dragon closed his eyes and smiled weakly.

?Says who??

Scyther chuckled. ?At least I know what I?m talking about. My situation is very different from yours. Your problem is a thing of the past, a foolish mistake, which didn?t have any grave consequences.?

?It could have,? Charizard muttered. ?I could have killed you??

?But it didn?t happen, and that?s what matters,? Scyther simply stated. ?It is not going to make you suffer in the future unless you consciously let it.?

?I was despicable,? Charizard breathed. ?I deserve to die.?

Scyther sighed deeply. ?All right then. I?m coming with you.?

The mantis raised his scythe to his own throat. They looked into each other?s eyes for a while.

?You wouldn?t do it,? Charizard said suddenly.

?Wouldn?t I?? asked Scyther dangerously. ?I?m not afraid of death. I?ve already died.? He chuckled slightly. ?You know, it actually isn?t that bad in itself. But it isn?t the ultimate solution you think it is??

He paused for a few seconds, but then continued: ?I can?t say I was glad to be back, but I had no intentions of killing myself again. Mark keeps me alive ? being a trainer?s Pok?mon gives me a purpose. And speaking of which? suicide would be a very bad way indeed to thank him for saving your life.?

That hit the spot. Charizard looked at Mark for a second; not much, but definitely an improvement. The two Pok?mon stared at each other for a little while.

?Well, I guess you?re right,? Charizard finally sighed. ?I?ve been an idiot.?

?You?re already forgiven,? Scyther just said.

?Besides? we can always die later, can?t we?? Charizard smiled as he stood up. The mantis smiled back.

?Death is not to be feared?? Mark heard him mutter as the two Pok?mon shook hands.