Like Reaching for the Sun

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OOC: That works just fine for the challenge thing. It looks more entertaining than what I had in mind, actually. XD

IC:

"It's just glass, you know."

Despite its obvious youth, there was a strange lack of enthusiasm in the voice, its owner sitting on what looked like thin air with an expression of purest boredom on her face. It was a girl, a young one, probably twelve or down in age, and though her dark brown eyes, delicate porcelain skin, neatly braided black hair, and dark purple dress all seemed to be pointing towards cute, there was just something...off about the child's appearance, akin to the experience of looking at a life-size doll. You could tell that it was meant to be pretty, it was plain to see that painstaking endeavors had been undertaken to ensure its prettiness, in a technical sense all about it was pretty, and yet something at the back of your mind insisted that you were really looking at the creepiest thing ever.

Though admittedly the yogurt can in her hand softened the impact slightly.

"And that's just a hologram." the girl continued, nonchalantly flicking a spoonful of yogurt straight at the continuously smiling woman's forehead with pin-point precision, only to have it proceed straight through and strike the cliff-face instead, "It's a challenge, and a pretty easy one if you ask me, but everyone who's come thus far has gotten it wrong." she absent-mindedly dangled her tiny feet over the edge of the invisible barrier as she spoke, "They were no fun, and Vexy's busy so he won't play with me." the child pouted, finally turning her gaze to Adel, "Will you play with me? I can get you through that challenge, you know, but only if you play with me."

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"I-oh, I see. Sorry to bother you, then." with an even deeper blush than before, Laure hastily turned away from the stranger and focused on the nearest cave path, "Let's go, Stella.". After all those times, one would have expected Laure to have grown used to rejection, but it still hurt and it still embarrassed him, especially when he was mistaken for a girl.

"Sorry 'bout that, I'm just on edge."

Laure paused, an expression of sheer surprise on his face as he watched the stranger apologize for and explain his rudeness, before offering...help?

"Laure." the blonde introduced himself in return, "My name is Laure, a trainer also, n-nice...to meet you, I suppose." he nodded, "Oh, and that's alright, I understand. Umm...what exactly do you mean by 'helping each other out'?"

Stella, meanwhile, rolled her eyes, the motives of these two looking painfully obvious to her. Her trainer really was a hopeless sap if ever there was one.
​
 
"It's just glass, you know."

Before Adeltruat could decipher what her Pokedex had to say on the matter, a young girl's voice spoke from behind her, piercing the intense silence of the area, sending a jolt right up the young teenager's spine. Her body jumped back in response to the statement, her miniature computer clattering on the floor moments after it left her grip. Her eyes lingered on the blinking light of the Pokedex, as if the object was urging her to pick it up, instead of looking for the source of the monotonous voice. An eerie feeling crept over her, much like it had done a few minutes back.

She lowered herself onto her knees, arm shaking with uncertainty as she reached for her Pokedex.

"And that's just a hologram." The child's voice informed her.

Adel instinctively looked over to the female as a chunk of yogurt flew through her head and landed on the wall behind her. She gulped as she placed her red device back into her bag, before standing up and taking a deep breath. "She's a child, what are you so scared about? Pull yourself together, Adel! What would Mother and Father say?" Her eyelids shut tight, she clenched her fists and forced herself to be brave, turning around to finally face the young girl. The moment she saw the dainty little girl, she was struck with two vivid emotions - Fear and Awe. The floating girl was delicate and captivating in appearance, and dressed with such appealing clothing. Yet, something just did not seem right about her dollish features. In some way, they seemed equivalent to that of a porcelain doll, beautiful but.. unreal. The fact that she appeared to be seated on nothing didn't help Adel overcome her nagging fear of the whole situation, to be more precise; it worsened a great deal.


"It's a challenge, and a pretty easy one if you ask me, but everyone who's come thus far has gotten it wrong." her voice rang out once more as she swung her tiny feet back and forth. Though she wasn't making eye contact with her, Adeltruat assumed that the rude female was speaking to her, shooting a look of terror to the Pidgeotto who stood by her side. Kinah merely sniggered, an entertained look upon her feathery face. The avian gazed at the raven-haired girl with keen interest, wondering if she was going to challenge them to a battle. The Flying Type's wings were aching to lash out in the fray.

"They were no fun, and Vexy's busy so he won't play with me." The child pouted, and Adel opened her mouth in an attempt to look mature and composed, "Listen, little girl, I-"

"Will you play with me? I can get you through that challenge, you know, but only if you play with me." The girl finally allowed her dark brown eyes to rest themselves on the fifteen-year old, and she instantly regretted mentally dubbing the girl ill-mannered just because she wasn't looking at her before, body stiffening at the young female's question. She swallowed once more, before regaining her composure. Letting out a soft chuckle, she nodded her head as she ran a hand across her ponytail. She would stand her ground with no fear - after all, it was just a little kid.

"Adeltruat Haert never refuses a challenge! Remember that name well!" She pointed one finger at the girl, managing to cease her hand from shaking as she completed the action.
 
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Plodding along the embedded brick road at no more than five miles an hour, it was incredibly naive of the little girl to think that she wouldn't catch anyone's attention, considering she had wrapped herself around her budding Claydol and was riding it like a pitbull on a poodle. Of course, that wasn't to say the awkward thought had ever crossed her mind in the first place. Still, in spite of her unsual take on the task she was definitely making up ground but then again, such a thought was somewhat absent from her conscience in the first place, so its value was close to naught.

Letting out a huff, the girl sat her head on top of the pokemon's smooth cylindrically squished head as they made their way to the foot of the mountain. With her petite naked arms wrapped around the mud doll's neck and her denim clad legs hooked about its torso, Kaoru had set herself up quite nicely for a leisurely ride into the first round. It had even begun to slip her mind that she was still in an actual tournament, considering the rather lackluster attitude she had brought forth so far and not to mention the incredibly uninspiring yet beautifully decorated environment that surrounded her. The only reason she was already on her way was because of the brief encounter she had had with who she assumed was just another participant of the tournament.

Wiping the drool from her lips, which had invariably dribbled onto her partner's head, much to its displeasure, the little urban girl looked up into the distance to see a rather spectacular sight. Numbers upon numbers of trainers and pokemon alike scaled the surface of the cliff face before her. The mountainside looked like an incredibly oversized and rugged Mars bar covered in ants. Small trails and indented platforms lined the vertical ascent and housed many of the tournament's hopefuls, the majority taking the brief break in climb to catch their breaths, socialise or to just take in the majestic view. Obviously, it was clear that some trainers were much more lax about their priorities in competing in the tournament but such a realisation came as a relief for the straggling brunette, who had still yet to approach the first step in her quest.

"Wow...if there's that many people outside, how many people went inside?" Kaoru piped in awe.

Mustering every psychic ability it possessed while simultaneously exerting every physical extremity in its plump round body, all in order to sustain its trainer's weight, Kato tilted its head forward so that its rear eyes now faced the little girl's and prepared to delve into the vacant depths of her consciousness.

'Any sign of that really pretty dog, Kaor~in?'

The sudden intrusion into her mental workings still surprised her, even though Kato had performed the technique numerous times before.

"Huh?! Oh...it's just you Kat," she breathed, petting the doll's smooth top in relief, "umm...are you talking about that Arcanine I saw?"

Blinking its many red eyes, the Claydol shook its head before building up enough energy to send its next telepathic suggestion.

'I was talking about his rider,' it proceeded in a haughtily cheeky manner, 'she was much more attractive.'

"Really?!" Kaoru shot back in surprise, "I didn't know you liked humans Kat, that's surprising... Hey wait, when did you ever see her? You were still in your pokeball..."

An immediate and familiar silence fell over the two. Contrary to what the Claydol's capacity to telepathically communicate with others might seem to be at first, it was actually quite adept in performing such a technique with sufficient ease. In the most severe cases of the pokemon's abuse of power, Kaoru's personal thoughts are very much the opposite of exactly that.

"You were reading my mind again!" the little girl spout, bruising the still mobile doll with her now frantically flailing arms, causing the couple to rock dangerously mid-flight.

Squeezing its engorged visionary globes together, the Claydol blindly swayed from side to side under its trainer's assault before inevitably coming down in a spectacular spiralling fall. With a heavy and slightly sickening thud, the two landed, rolled and slid to a complete stop on the cold dirt and strangely rugged ground.

"Guh...that hurt," Kaoru winced, patting down her arms after using them to brace for impact before looking over to where her partner in crime had landed, "you alright Kat?"

Lying flat on its back, the Claydol flailed its arms pathetically in the air, gesturing that it was fine and that it really couldn't be bothered replying. Grinning at the sight, the petite girl then hopped up onto her feet to see where they had crashed landed, still unaware that she was covered in a healthy layer of dirt. Following suit, her accompanying pokemon rose into the air while shaking its limbs in a fashion similar to that of a doused Poochyena. When free of all excess dirt and rubble, Kato turned to its trainer to come face to face with an all too familiar expression, a trademark of sorts for the little girl. Slightly wide-eyed and standing completely still, the revelation of their whereabouts seemed to have surprised Kaoru to the extent of being overwhelmed.

'Kaor~in?' Kato managed to pipe, interrupting the girl's current affixiated condition.

"Hweh?" she chirped back, her pupils undilating considerably as life returned to her cheeks, "oh...Kat, sorry, I was just wondering where we are."

Rising to the girl's height, the levitating doll examined all eight lines of sight in a full encircling circumference before finally spouting, 'It looks like we're in some sort of cave or tunnel. We must have flown halfway up the mountain without realising.'

"Ohh...I see, I see."

Clasping her chin between the groove of her thumb and index finger, Kaoru furrowed her brow in feigned concentration before divulging their next course of action. Raising her right foot onto a nearby cluster of rocks, the street girl of petite stature then shot a powerful fist with her index finger fully extended towards the second out of two paths running along the tunnel, the first being in the complete opposite direction.

"We should go that way!" she started, brimming with renewed enthusiasm.

Grabbing Kato by its minute arms, Kaoru quickly threw herself over the pokemon's back and resumed her previous position, much to the surprise and distress of her mobile mud doll.

'W-What makes you think it's that way?'

As the two lined their sights on the path ahead, one particular feature of the winding tunnel's geological traits attracted their attention. A roughly eroded and crude opening graced the otherwise neatly buried path, revealing the only light source and exit out of the enclosure. Then, as if on cue, the answer to Kato's question blazed past along the other side. In the split second the two beings appeared, Kaoru immediately knew it was them; the girl and her Arcanine, the same pair she had seen earlier during the recession of the tournament's first round announcement.

Without another word, Kaoru and her beloved dolly glided through the opening and onto a small plateau, soon realising that they were no longer taking the expedition through the mountain's inner labyrinth, rather, they had now stepped onto one of the many overhanging ledges that plagued its cliff face and the only way to the second round; skyward.
 
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Standing on a cliff ledge, Vulcan gazed in the direction from which a flash of golden light had erupted. The glow briefly returned, altering the hue of an oval of earth. Could be related to the "trials" promised in this stage of the tournament. Or a battle perhaps? A cloud of dust slowly rose into the already-stifling air. With that wreckage, someone could be clearing a path . . .

As he prepared to continue up the mountain, Vulcan paused. The Arcanine tensed, his ears flicking alertly upward. Feeling Roz's hand reach forward to touch his cheek, he turned his head halfway toward her. ("Smells like a couple wild Pokemon. Don't worry; I should be able to handle them.") Roz's hand withdrew.

Waiting for the arrival of his opponents, the fire Pokemon seated himself on the ground, allowing Roz to dismount. Moments later, a nearby boulder shattered into pieces. From the rubble, two Machop launched themselves toward the group of travelers. Without hesitation, Vulcan leaped at his enemies--his subconscious automatically calculating his first reactions while his waking mind planned ahead. One Machop was using a Low Kick while the other was using Karate Chop. Simple enough moves to counter . . . The Arcanine's fur-covered head slammed into the Karate Chop user's body beneath its extended arm, while his downward facing jaws released a burst of flame at the remaining Machop.

Vulcan landed deftly on his feet. The other two fighters were not so fortunate. As the two Machop struggled up from where they had landed, Roz watched calmly. Though her confidence in her own Pokemon might have been commendable, her indifference toward the wild Pokemon probably would have seemed eerie to an onlooker. Again the Machop pair charged, but this time Vulcan waited for them to draw near. One fighting type moved in front of the other, attempting another Low Kick. The Arcanine knocked the Machop to one side with a bat of his paw, but found the Machop clinging firmly to his leg as the third battler's glowing arms shot forward to use Revenge.

Snap! Vulcan's teeth closed. The fighting Pokemon unfortunate enough to have its arms trapped in Vulcan's mouth cried out in pain as it struggled to escape. Keeping his jaws closed, Vulcan released a blast of fire from his throat, allowing it to froth out through the gaps in his fangs and scorch his unwilling victim. Then the dog Pokemon's mouth opened, the force of his burning attack slamming the Machop against a boulder and knocking it unconscious.

Seeing its friend fall, the remaining Machop tightened its grip on Vulcan and began a Seismic Toss. The ability of a 40-pound Pokemon to lift and throw a 340-pound one over ten feet is somewhat enigmatic. Yet this peculiar event did occur. Twisting in a manner more feline than canine, Vulcan managed to bring all four paws beneath his body before he landed. No less determined than it had been at the fight's start, once more the Machop ran toward its opponent. Crouching slightly, Vulcan again waited. One arm lifted for a Karate Chop; one slide brought an Arcanine to a Machop's side; one flick of one paw slammed that Machop to the ground; and one Machop blacked out--all in one heartbeat.

For a brief moment, Vulcan surveyed his foes. Finding them sufficiently incapable of causing further harm, he turned. ("It's over, Roz.") The girl approached him with a quiet smile, removing the bottle of water from her bag and taking off the cap. Laying a hand on the Arcanine's white muzzle, she poured half the water into his mouth. After returning the water to her bag, she questioningly brought out a Super Potion. He shook his head. ("We may need it later.") With a slight nod, Roz returned the item and climbed onto Vulcan's back. Melanie cast a quick look about, then shifted her hold on her trainer's shoulder. "Let's go."
 
Despite settling himself under a tree, the violent rays of the sun beat down on Malic's apparently unconscious body. The old black book had put Malic asleep, that or terrible commute to the location had placed him a state of fatigue and anguish. Unaware of the the time that had passed by, Malic had only noticed the near absence of trainers. Crap, I must have fell asleep. Heh, I guess the others need a little to get ahead, he thought to himself. His Pokedex beeped indicating a notification and he quickly skimmed the message that all the trainers recieved:

"Qualifier Round - Trial of Courage
Time Elapsed: 0.00
Time Remaining: 2.00

Objectives:
- Proceed to Zenith Town and complete your registration within the time limit.
- Overcome challenges and obstacles as encountered.
- Player co-operation permitted.

Restrictions:
- Time Limit: 2 hours.
- No direct interference with other players.
- No flight.
- No teleportation.

Penalties:
- Failure to complete challenge: 20 minutes added to timer.
- KO of own pokémon: -5 points per KO.

Rewards:
- Trial cleared: +20 points and advancement to the next round.
- Fastest completion time: +15 points.
- Most opponents KOed: +10 points.
- KO of wild pokémon: +1 point per KO.
- Completion of challenge: +5 points or 15 minutes deducted from timer.

A race? Interesting. Nothing too hard. It is just a matter of getting there. Prepping himself up, Malic gathered his belongings and called upon Gallade. His other Pokemon proved to be too brutal and slower on their feet, whereas Gallade prefered quick battles and would be able to keep up with the shockingly fast pace that Malic would be setting. Having a nearly deadly fear of caves and Zubat, Malic choose the bright and dangerously high risk cliffside path. Seeing most trainers casually walk, probably due to the fear of falling off and into the watery abyss with sharp bladed rocks just waiting for blood, Malic simply jeered and darted by them, lightly pushing them into the stone wall of the cliff. Some trainers were smart enough to ride on their Pokemon, a plan he would have used by most of his team members are hulking giants who prefer to crush their opponents in small pieces of dust.

OOC: I hope this challenge is fine. I am not sure what you are looking for which is the primary reason I did not post for so long.

Malic's seemingly endless sprint was halted by the arrivial of a stone avalanche. Several yards ahead of Malic's path, a storm of giant rocks fall from the sky and blocked the only path towards Zenith. Rather than moan and possibly scream about how terrible his luck had to be to end up this horrid situation, Malic ordered Gallade to punch a path through with no vocal command just a simple hand signal. After gathering focus and energy in his fists and plowed through the bulk of rocks only to have come across a crowd of Golems, an entire pack of them topping out at probably 7 or so. The thrill of a battle prevented Malic from actually calculating the exact number of opponents. Angry at the agression of Malic's lone Gallade, they began to charge with an all out attack, with each one performing a Rollout attack. Gallade did not flinch, and was prepared to counterattack with a vicious combination of Pyscho Cuts and Close Comabt attacks, bringing down the horde of wild Pokemon. Wiht the Golems defeated, Malic pressed on despite the threat of exhaustion beginning to settle into his body and the lack of mercy conveyed by the sun's harmful rays.
 
OOC: Objection! There's no such thing as 'only path' in this round, except possibly for the pokémon center door. D: Though I suppose it would have seemed that way because of a huge detour or whatever, carry on. XD

That doesn't count as a challenge, though, only wild pokémon interference. All challenges would be manned by a virtual supervisor who would set out specific instructions for what the challenge entails. =O

IC:

"Oh?" the little girl's lips curved up into a tiny smile, though given the complete lack of expression on the rest of her face it was hard to tell whether it was amused or mocking, "I guess you'd better pick that up, then." she nodded towards the pokédex, which was still crying for attention on the ground, a synthesized female voice just barely audible from the speaker, its monotone tirelessly chanting out the question to an audience that wasn't there.

"You have five minutes to get that question right, by the way." the child continued, nonchalantly leaping off the barrier and landing on the ground in front of Adel, "And it started counting the moment you activated your pokédex, so that's more like three minutes now."

"Two." she remarked after a while, shooting the girl a decidedly bored look, "Didn't you just say that you never refuse a challenge? Or..." she stroked her chin thoughtfully, "...maybe you took my wanting to play with you as a challenge?" not allowing the older girl any chance at a reply, she promptly snatched the pokédex from Adel's bag, barely glancing at the screen before turning to face the continuously smiling hologram, "The Marowak is a liar and the flour was stolen but there is not enough evidence to tell whether it was the Dunsparce or the Cubone who did it, you stupid machine."

"Correct." the synthesized voice replied, the hum of machinery indicating that the barrier was descending, "Challenge completed. Please choose your reward."

Without a further word, the girl thrust Adel's pokédex back into its owner's hands before heading towards a path, not the newly opened one, though, but the treacherous, craggy expanse on the left. Just as she was about to head out of view, however, she paused, briefly turning her head in Adel's direction.

"Iris." the girl said in her usual monotone, adding after a brief pause, "My name. I'll play with you sometime, then, Adeltruat Haert. You were a lot more fun than those other people."

And with that, she vanished behind a bend in the path.
 
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Corey was motionless, standing in one place , as she stared in the direction she had previously been walking - there in the middle of the road a Lucario and two Rilou stood, the three pokemon also remaining still as they stared back at Corey. Coreys eyes locked onto the Lucarios, both of them reading each others minds and personality to figure out if either or was a potential threat - Corey just nodded her head, showing her sign she was not there to harm them. The Lucario gave a small grunt, the two Rilou suddenly taking off down the path and past Corey - who remained in her position to prove her respect to the aura pokemon. It was then that Lucario began walking in the direction of Corey, stopping just in front of her and extending its paw - showing a sign of friendship. Corey was completely shocked at this, not expecting such a magnificent pokemon to extend an invitation like that - so she moved her hand and grasped the paw, following the up and down motion that came with the touch. A few seconds later they both let go, Lucario giving one last grunt before racing off to catch up with its two pre-evolutions before someone else got any idea to attack or capture them. Corey glanced backwards, watching Lucario vanish down the path, then began a slight jog up the hill - too much time had been wasted with this introduction, Corey knew she needed to find a challenge point as soon as possible.

"That was quite a show" came a voice seemingly out of nowhere.

Corey stopped in her tracks, her reaction immediately moving her hand to her pokeballs.

"Who's there!? Show yourself!"
 
"Shee-eez, talk about high-strung."

In an almost demonstratively laid back manner, a slim figure detached itself from the shadow of a surprisingly large tree jutting out of the rough cliffside.

It was a girl, probably in her late teens, clad in a pair of baggy, dark red trousers, held up by a metallic-toned belt and a simple white t-shirt bearing the slightly faded legend 'Sinnoh Regional Day-2, 2002' on the front. It seemed to be a size or two too small for her, however, leaving the better part of her arms and a bit more of her stomach than most would care to see revealed. Most predominant in her features, however, was the set of headphones residing over her ears and holding down part of her untamed - if fairly short - chestnut brown hair, explaining the slightly vacant look in her clear blue eyes.

"Visible now; happy?" she spread out her arms, as if to demonstrate that she wasn't holding any weapons before folding them over her chest, shaking her head, "I just thought that what you did just now was kind of cool, you know. Besides; this is a no direct interference event. You really need to chill." the foreign girl looked the other over without the slightest sign of bashfulness, "You're in the tournament, yah?" she asked rhetorically, nodding in confirmation of her own question, "Thought so. You've got that look about ya'. Guess I'd better introduce myself, then: name's Melody, tournament proctor. If you're looking for a challenge point, you've come to the right place. Hit the jackpot, too." she added with a grin, "See, most of the points are just manned by holograms, but our great lord and master" there was a good bit more than just a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she pronounced the phrase, "thought that this one needed a bit more of a personal touch so here I am." she paused, absent-mindedly scratching herself behind her right ear as she added, "Though...I suppose it woulda' been more enjoyment for you if you had been a guy, eh? So anyway, here's the deal: the format of this challenge is single battle. We both pick a pokémon, then they duke it out and the first one out cold is the loser. Win and you get the quick way up." she nodded towards a serviceable staircase carved into the cliff-face behind the tree, "Lose and you take the scenic route over yonder." she jerked her head towards the fork in the path just a little bit behind Corey, a winding, uneven trail that snaked its way between sharp crags and boulders, "Simple enough, yah? So...you in or what?" she let her hand rest by one of the pokéballs clipped to her belt, waiting for an answer, "Challenger makes the first pick."
 
"You're in the tournament, yah? Thought so. You've got that look about ya'. Guess I'd better introduce myself, then: name's Melody, tournament proctor. If you're looking for a challenge point, you've come to the right place. Hit the jackpot, too."

A grin crept across the new girls face.

"See, most of the points are just manned by holograms, but our great lord and master thought that this one needed a bit more of a personal touch so here I am. Though...I suppose it woulda' been more enjoyment for you if you had been a guy, eh? So anyway, here's the deal: the format of this challenge is single battle. We both pick a pokémon, then they duke it out and the first one out cold is the loser. Win and you get the quick way up. Lose and you take the scenic route over yonder. Simple enough, yah? So...you in or what?"

Melody placed her hand near the pokeballs attached to her belt.

"Challenger makes the first pick."

Corey just stood there for a second, her face completely emotionless, as she listened and then took in all the information that the tournament proctor had just set in front of her. A battle would determine whether or not she'd be one of, if not the, first people to reach Zenith. This was of course a risk though, because if she failed in this battle she'd be sent packing - having to find her way through the most likely longer and equally dangerous path. Corey flashed all of her pokemon through her mind, a slight grin appearing on her face as she reached for a pokeball. Tossing the ball into the air, the pokeball burst open and white light flooded the area - after it cleared, Tropius stood in the bright lights place.

"Of course I accept. I am quite confident that I could win this battle, but I'll just have to wait and see. Tropius here will be my pokemon. And yours will be?"
 
"Huh?"

Melody's gaze lazily snapped to attention, offering a brief glance at her opponent and the newly materialized pokémon.

"Oh yeah." she said to no-one in particular, fiddling with some unknown settings on her headphones, "Hope you don't mind me listening to my tunes while we do this thing? I don't like the noises much."

Not waiting for a response, she picked out a pokéball in a manner so vacant that it was questionable whether she had even made a conscious choice or just picked at random, enlarging it with the push of a button and flicking it nonchalantly to the ground.

In a flash of white light, a vaguely humanoid creature appeared in front of her, stretching its limbs. Its gray body was thin and wiry, save for a pair of peculiar pink bulges where its legs should have been and a similarly colored protrusion on its head that looked like a bizarre cap. Much like its trainer, the Medicham appeared largely unbothered by its surroundings, nonchalantly continuing its stretching routine.

"Awwright." Melody continued, now addressing a small, handheld electronic device she had dug from her pocket as she tapped in a number of commands, "Sudden death challenge. Ready, set, go. Oh, and you know what the thing about a sudden death challenge is?" her glance briefly rested on Corey again as she pocketed the device, "The thing about a sudden death challenge is...that things tend to happen...suddenly."

The moment she finished her statement, the unmistakable sound of backhand meeting skull became audible. When this had happened was not quite clear, but in a split-second the Medicham seemed to have darted straight past his opponent, delivering a light backhand strike to the Tropius' head as it passed. Now, however, the psychic type looked just as docile as before, maintaining a pose that betrayed nothing but casual disinterest as it faced its opponent, eyes not focusing yet clearly aimed at its general area.

"Fake Out." the proctor elaborated in an off-hand sort of way, "You've got to pay more attention to these things or you'll be knocked out of this before you even get started."


OOC: Oookay...since this is technically PvP, the rules thereof apply. If you make a good action post detailing your attack and/or display general creativity in the battle, it will work in your favor. Make an undescriptive post or nonsensical move and your attack will get blocked and/or countered. Go. :3
 
"You've got to pay more attention to these things or you'll be knocked out of this before you even get started."

Corey had a slight look of impression on her face, but it quickly vanished as the task at hand was not going to be easy as she had hoped - quickly Corey used her hands to sign to Tropius just exactly what he was to do, the flying grass type speeding off up into the sky above the trees. Keeping a close eye on the Medicham, Corey would glance occassionally upward to figure out Tropius' position - it'd be a royal pain if he was out of sight and couldn't communicate.

"I wouldn't underestimate my Tropius, he knows how to be creative when it comes to battling."

Suddenly, the sound of cutting wood could be heard above and that was when Corey's face changed to a grin - looking upwards, hoping the proctor would follow, she continued to smile as her pokemon was following her instructions exactly as she had given them. The large plant like pokemon was smashing its body through the higher parts of the trees and making its way further and further down them, the now large logs falling at a great speed heading in the direction of everyone - Corey included. Not wanting to get caught in the damage, Corey leaped backwards with some flips and jumps - after moving a safe distance away she stood and watched. Tropius was now picking up speed, racing past the flying projecticles he had created mere seconds ago - then stopping mid air and racing back upwards, the wings on his back now glowing white, using a Steel Wing attack to get the large objects in half to create even more tools of damage.

Tropius rested in the air for a second before racing upwards into the sky to await what the psychi type pokemon would do to counter attack his first move - from what he saw before, he would only expect something brilliant.
 
With the only path ahead lying high above her, Kaoru was beginning to think how she would ever get off the mountain. The ledge she had managed to stumble upon only took her so far across the cliff face, whereas the next visible step lied several feet above. If only flying or teleportation had been allowed, this stage of the tournament would have been nothing more than eating cake during someone else's birthday party. But alas, even if such rules were acceptable, they would only hinder her, moreso than she already was, for neither her Claydol or any other of her Pokemon for that matter could harness such abilities.

"BLOODY HELL!"

The abrupt semi-profanity caused both the little chestnut and floating mud doll to recoil in shock, both landing flat on their backs after falling from pawing up the near vertical slat that lead up to the higher ledge. Turning towards the source of the commotion, they were greeted by a lone gruff, straight-cut, big-armed and square-jawed of a man.

"Damn that Lesaile! I've had to deal with seven little chikas today already. You'd think this whole tournament was a giant harem fest."

"U-U-Uwah..." Kaoru couldn't help but stammer as she looked up at the incredibly domineering individual, "W-Who are you?"

Folding his massive arms across his equally buff chest, the box-haired man narrowed his eyes on the petite girl before him. "I'm hear to kick your ass, you little runt!"

She then felt something thud against the ground behind her. Cautiously averting her gaze as to not draw anymore of the man's wrath upon herself, she turned to see Kato lying sprawled in the dirt, all eight eyes spiralling in unison. It had fainted!

"Useless pokemon..." the stranger grunted before returning his attention to its trainer, "Oi runt! You've reached a challenge point, although I suggest you turn around and leave since you're nowhere near ready to take it, but...tch, for the sake of sticking to tournament protocol, I'll fill you in."

All Kaoru could do was nod. She was literally shivering in the man's presence. The sheer feeling of his killing intent radiated all around him, catching and overwhelming her in its reach.

"If you've bothered to look up, you would've noticed another overhanging ledge," he started, remaining firm in stance as a harsh wind blew over them, reiterating the sheer scale of the looming mountain trail, "if by some miracle you manage to reach that platform, I'll consider telling you more about how to get to the top."

Spitting over the edge as he concluded his explanation, the man turned along the path from which she and Kato had previously come, before disappearing around the trail's bend without another word.

'Is he gone?' came Kato's unmistakable and intruding thoughts.

"K-Kat! You fainted!" Kaoru exclaimed in surprise, shuffling over to the still lying Claydol. "W-W-Who was that?!"

'I don't know but I think he's part of the tournament. Check your pokedex.'

Sure enough, there it was under the first round's outline of objectives and rewards. Of course, that still posed the ever important question about why he was so mean.

"Buah. Kat, if he's going to be up there, I don't think I want to keep going." the little girl cried in premature defeat.

'But what about that girl and Arcanine? Don't you want to see them?'

"Oh, right..." Kaoru chirped, her expression immediately changing to one of renewed determination...again, "Now, how are we going to get up to that ledge?"

'Oh oh! I think I know a good way.'

"Really?"

'Hohoho. Just leave it me.'

Without another thought, the revived Claydol hovered towards its trainer, scooping her up onto its head before charging straight for the cliff face. Exerting every physical extreminty in its plump round body, the levitating mud doll launched its passenger above its height before crashing into the rocky vertical slat below. Realising what she had to do, Kaoru instinctively reached for the upper ledge and gripped onto its edge with the tips of her fingers. Centering herself in such a position, the little chestnut ducked her head between her arms to see how her partner had done after hearing its rather spectacular crash with the mountain. Seeing the doll swaying back and forth, swirls decorating its large red eyes, she couldn't help but grin.

"You okay Kat? That sounded painful."

'I-I'm fine...j-just need a little rest...'

Giggling at the thought, Kaoru loosened her grip to retrieve the doll's unkept pocket-sized home before relieving it of its duty. "Return!"

Now seeing this as a good opportunity to let her other partner gain some experience, she shuffled through her two other similar kept pokeballs and released Mai onto the ledge above her. Shaking off the blinding light that escorted all summoned pokemon, the called upon Elekid looked around to see what his trainer had gotten him into this time.

"Uh, could you help me up Mai?" Kaoru laughed, rocking back and forth as another harsh wind blew over the mountainside.

The electric pokemon's eyes immediately widened as he heard his trainer's voice and saw naught but her fingertips in front of him. Rushing to the girl's aid and in no more than five continuous minutes of exhausted struggling, the two fell onto higher solid ground.

"So you made it. Peh! Alright, let's do this then."
 
"That's a curious sight."

Roz stood behind a rocky outcrop, Vulcan at one side and Melanie at the other. The trio were cautiously peering around a boulder's edge at a somewhat surreal image that lay about fifteen meters from their position.

On an area of the mountain face that was almost flat, a pool of bright azure water sparkled, standing out in stark contrast to the practically barren terrain that characterized the rest of the cliffs. Purple and white flowers bloomed at the water's edge or in it, surrounded by large leaves of rich green. Rising out of the water were the neck and head of a Milotic, the neck curved with a serene elegance. The drops of water that slid across the creature's smooth skin shone and graced it like master-cut diamonds on a beautiful woman. Segments of the Milotic's body could be seen arching above the water's surface in sea dragon fashion.

("It's unnatural,") Vulcan murmured, watching the water Pokemon warily.

Melanie watched with equal intentness. "It is."

Sensing more than vague, intuitive agreement, the Arcanine turned questioningly toward his companion. Though Roz's glance continued to rest on the Milotic, she seemed to be paying attention as well. Melanie tilted her body, using her beak to motion toward the individual in question. "Either that Pokemon is unlike any I've ever met, or it isn't real. For some reason, I can't access its mind--not because of a barrier or conflicting psychic power. On a psychic plane, that Milotic does not exist."

("So then what is it?")

"I'd feel better if I knew . . . "

For the first time since they had discovered the miniature oasis, Roz shifted her gaze away from the many-hued image. Looking at Vulcan, she motioned lightly toward the Milotic.

("Could be. Do you think it would benefit us to approach?")

A few seconds passed. Though her expression seemed too passive to be thoughtful, evidently Roz had deliberated sufficiently enough to make her decision. Stepping around the cluster of large rocks, she began walking toward the Milotic. Melanie remained perched on her shoulder, and Vulcan sprang easily over the stones before assuming a position at her side. As the small group drew closer to the Milotic, the serpentine creature turned toward them. Its black eyes glittered with the light that reflected off the pool in which it rested. Then, it spoke.

"Greetings, weary traveler."

Considering the fact that its mere "existence" was unnatural, the ability of this Pokemon to speak in human tongue should not have been too surprising. Nonetheless, Roz now stood still, curiosity faintly apparent on her features. A series of clicking and humming noises from her bag gradually drew the girl's attention away from the water type. Holding up the culprit of the sounds, Roz pointed and opened her Pokedex. The screen flickered and displayed the following:

Challenge Point: Riddle of the Stars
Proctor - Milotic
Time Limit - 15 minutes after the riddle is given
Prize - 5 Prestige Points, Alternate Route
Penalty - 7 minutes
Rules - Competitors must give Milotic the answer to the riddle within the allotted amount of time. Every five minutes an answer is not given, a hint will be granted. If they so desire, trainers may receive help from other participants in the competition. Granting no help or false help is advantageous to other competitors, however, and aid from outside the competition is forbidden.

The points of Vulcan's teeth showed as his face altered into what may have been a humorless smile. ("I guess we've found a challenge point.")

The Milotic spoke again. "Have no fear, traveler. Draw closer, that you might hear what I would say." Evidently this particular Milotic was female--or so its voice would suggest. Though somewhat low, the voice was smooth and had a relaxing quality that was to the ears as cool, running water is to sore hands. In other words, it was a voice one would expect from a Milotic.

As Roz moved forward, her Pokemon moved with her. Once she stood directly before her non-existent proctor, said proctor seemed to smile. "I have been awaiting the one who can answer my question, and I wonder if it is you. This challenge will be yours, warrior, should you choose to hear my tale. Will you accept it?"

After a moment of hesitation, Roz looked over at Vulcan. He nodded. Unable to give verbal confirmation, Roz selected the "Yes" option on her Pokedex screen. The Milotic's head bowed gracefully. "As you will." Her head raised, and she began her story.

"Long ago in the land of Johto lived a young boy who loved to watch the stars. Night after night, he would lie awake for hours gazing at them, enchanted by their beauty. Curiously, this boy admired the stars so deeply and for so great a time that a star fell in love with him. Coming to this world in physical form, she approached him. At first the boy was frightened and thought he could never dare to love a being so far beyond him. But eventually, the love became mutual. Unfortunately, the powers of the universe were displeased by this relationship. They found such a thing disgraceful and returned the girl to her position in the heavens while forever dooming the boy to the darkness.

"No one knows what happened to the girl after this. But the boy's heart became engulfed in the blackest misery. The fire that his love for the girl of the stars had lit became tainted and bitter so that it scarred whoever dared to draw near him, cursing them to suffer eternally just as he was cursed. Still, though the boy's hatred steadily grew, his love never died. To this day, he still cries out to the stars at night, hoping that his love will hear him."

Silence fell, and the note of sadness that had lingered about the Milotic during her tale deepened. "The boy who gives his voice to the cold skies . . . Can you tell me his name?"

[OOC: I am a little curious to know any guesses people have as to the boy's name. They may help me decide if the riddle was too simple, too difficult, or alright. ^-^;;

Depending on when I make my next post and on response, I might post hints in the OOC thread.]
 
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"You have five minutes to get that question right, by the way."

The girl panicked at the child's words, realising that she had reached a challenge point.

"Hey!" Adel squeaked in a slightly offended tone as the younger girl swiped her Pokedex away from her without so much as a 'please', forgetting about her previous fear for that split second. She had yet to see what had appeared on the screen of the miniature computer, and was extremely bothered by that fact. The young girl wasted no time in taking matters into her own hands, staring briefly at the Pokedex before speaking, "The Marowak is a liar and the flour was stolen but there is not enough evidence to tell whether it was the Dunsparce or the Cubone who did it, you stupid machine."

Adel raised an eyebrow in confusion, trying to make sense of the child's words.

Before she could decipher the female's statement, the Pokedex beeped in it's mechanical voice, "Correct. Challenge completed. Please choose your reward." The sixteen-year old's mouth hung agape as the device was shoved back into her hands no later than a couple of seconds after the handheld machinery spoke, and the little girl began walking up the dangerous, rock infested path instead of the clearly quicker and safer road that lay ahead.

"Iris." the girl finally introduced herself, "My name. I'll play with you sometime, then, Adeltruat Haert. You were a lot more fun than those other people." Fading away behind the bend before the teenager could have a chance to thank her. <HEY! We didn't get a chance to duke it out!> Kinah squawked with obvious displeasure, flapping her wings in distress. Adeltruat stretched out her arm at the same moment, nearly crying out for the child to wait. She resisted her instinct, sharply reminding herself that there was a time limit to the trial. She drew her hand back, balling it into a fist as she turned and continued down the smooth and short path that was probably an incentive for completing the challenge.

Flipping open her Pokedex, she spoke to it with a paltry tone of happiness, "5 points, if you please." The device whirred and clicked in response, registering the words before replying "Congratulations for completing a challenge point!" Adeltruat chuckled to herself, receiving a slightly disturbed look from the Pidgeotto beside her.

She made a cautious note to thank Iris the next time they should meet, as well as to give her a good lecture about minding her manners.
 
She just didn't get it. No matter which way she went and no matter how long she walked, she would always end up in the same place as before. Besides, seeing that gaping hole in the middle of the mountainside was really starting to creep her out, which was surprising to say in the least, considering that was from whence she had just come.

"You are THE most useless excuse of a trainer I have ever seen."

The man known as "Cid", her challenge point's proctor, stood with arms folded before her, giving her a particularly nasty snarl in the process. After having to put up with the girl's sheer lack of common sense for almost half an hour, his patience was slowly whittling away. He had half a heart to just let her stumble on forever but he had still had a job to do and other players to eliminate. Spending this much time on one person was insulting.

"C-Cid... I-I can't figure it out..." Kaoru cried in familiar defeat, falling to the ground in a teary heap.

"Don't act like we're friends!" the hologram of a man spat, his level of irritation rising without end, "Tch! How can someone be so useless... Damn it! I've got other losers down there waiting for me to kick them up the ass. Hurry the hell up!"

"S-Sorry!" the little chestnut stammered, completely overwhelmed by the man's constant verbal abuse, "I-I follow the trails but even when I take different paths... I-I end up back here..."

"For Oak's sake! I'll just give you the damned hints!" Seeing the little girl cower in place, the burly proctor snapped his fingers before an alarm began to sound from her side in response.

Terrified beyond belief, Kaoru didn't dare break eye contact with the surpervisor as she retrieved the source of the noise from her trouser pocket. Flipping the case of her pokedex to reveal the buzzing screen beneath, a list of hints related to accomplishing the challenge came into view.

>>Challenge Point
>Proctor: Cid
>Time Limit: Until the end of the round.
>Reward: +5 Prestige Points, -15 minutes from timer
>Outline: Navigate through the mountain trail to reach the mountain top Pokemon Center.

>>Hints
>No. 1: Flowers
>No. 2: Signpost
>No. 3: Cid

Forcing herself to look down, she hastily skimmed the screen before looking back up, her expression unchanged. The sound of flesh hitting holographic flesh resonated above her as Cid slapped his thick hand against his square face.

"Uh... D-Don't worry, I'll work it out." Kaoru chirped, waving her hands up in defence, "Mai! Let's go."

Grabbing the dozing Elekid by the hand, the little urban girl quickly retraced her steps and walked away as quickly as possible, as to not become victim to the man's verbal abuse...again.

"Bout time..."

---

She had again arrived at the first fork in the road, where the mountain trail split into two, the inner trail hugging the mountainside and ascending further upwards while the lower and outer path continued on level and around in the same direction. Previously, she had taken the upper path out of instinct but it simply brought her back to the plateau where she had first met Cid. But with the challenge's hints in hand and a rather irritated partner who was more than ready to get off the mountain and into the cozy confines of the Pokemon Center, the path before her was clear.

A lone sprout pierced the crag and rocky path leading along the outter rim. Luckily for Kaoru, Mai was quick to spot such details and ushered her to follow his lead. Soon enough, they had reached the second fork, the third path diverting into the actual mountain itself, reverting back to the inner network of tunnels, while the fourth continued to proceed around outside. A single wooden stake graced the entrance to the ascending tunnel and led the pair to their third and final challenge.

An hour down and quite out of breath, Kaoru and Mai finally emerged outside onto an even higher ledge, the dropping temperature and continuous ascent wearing them out considerably. Hot, bothered and extremely tired, the little urban girl had never worked so hard in her entire life and had nothing else on her mind but getting to the Pokemon Center so that she could just lie down and go to sleep. It was unfortunate that accomplishing her goal was so close at hand yet was still very much out of her reach, as the third and final hint of her challenge appeared.

"You actually made it." scoffed an all too familiar voice, one that wasn't particularly appreciated by the little chestnut at such a time, "Alright runt, let's finish this."
 
"Nyeh?" Alex was more than a little surprised by the other trainer's question. Shouldn't an experienced trainer be a little more perceptive than that? It took him a few minutes to come to a conclusion. "Oh, I get it, a joke! Ha-ha, very funny. Come on, ya know what I meant! Now, let's go an' find that first challenge, okay?"

Dreave responded with yet another head/body shake. Alex, you are officially the most incredible person I know.

"Thanks, Dreave!" Alex responded as he started down the tunnel, motioning for Laure to follow.

Dreave sighed before drifting after his trainer. That wasn't intended as a compliment...

Alex turned to face his Pokemon indignantly, still marching forward. "Whaddya mean by tha- NYEH?" This last statement was preceded by a large, audible "Whap!" noise as Alex walked face-first into a large, transparent wall, and was sent sprawling. As he picked himself up, cursing, Dreave shot to his side and pointed off to the side. Alex, look!

There, on the left side of the tunnel, sat a teenaged boy who looked only a bit older than Alex, who seemed incredibly amused by the trainer's unintentional faceplant. He walked forward before pulling up the hard hat perched on his head slightly and adjusting his coke-bottle glasses, before striking a rather dignified pose. "Well, it took you long enough," he taunted Alex, who stared at him, seething, but said nothing. "My name is Mark, and this-" he said, removing a small rock hammer from his belt and tapping it agaist the wall, "Is reinforced glass. It's impossible to pass unless you complete a challenge. Otherwise... well, you're stuck here."

Alex growled for a moment and then, on impulse, lashed out with a quick left hook. Mark stood in place, nonplussed, as Alex's fist passed straight through his head. "Oh, and I forgot to mention," he continued, "I'm not really here. All the challenge proctors, including me, are holograms. You can't hurt me, even if you want to- and it would be stupid to try, since that's just asking to be kicked out of the tournament anyway. Now, do you want to hear the challenge terms, or not? Choose quickly, because I'm not all that patient. I've got some digging to do." He began tapping his foot meaningfully.

Alex backed away slightly and quickly whispered to Dreave "What the hell is he talkin' 'bout? If he's one o' those holograms, then he can't dig worth nothin'!"

Dreave shrugged, again bringing most of his body into play. I can't say that I'm not confused either, he replied, But keep in mind that if we don't accept the challenge, we'll probably have to go all the way back to the starting point.

Alex shrugged as well. "Right, then." He returned his attention to the virtual miner, who was still tapping his non-existant boot impatiently. "We accept yer stinkin' challenge- but you'd better be quick 'bout givin' it."

Mark nodded. "Fine. I'll make this something fun.... hmmm.... what should I- I know!" the proctor snapped his fingers. "Somewhere in the tunnels behind you, there are a few fossils. Find me one each and you can pass. Otherwise..." Mark motioned towards the barrier, "This stays in place."

Alex turned his attentions back to the other trainer. "So, we're workin' together to beat this challenge, right? Then let's start lookin'!"
 
At the sight of what looked deceptively much like a wooden edition of a lethal avalanche, Melody's expression betrayed mild interest, the girl actually taking a step back to avoid getting struck by the barrage of lumber that enveloped her pokémon.

When the dust settled the Medicham was, rather surprisingly, still standing and looking largely okay, save for a few bruises and marks here and there, the faint shimmer of a recover technique still clinging to its body as it flicked the last log aside.

"Pretty interesting." she said conversationally, looking completely unbothered by the fact that a lethal barrage of logs had missed her by mere inches, as she gave an off-hand sort of nod to her pokémon. Immediately, the meditative pokémon sprang into the air, lunging towards its opponent with a vicious, full-speed kick.

"You and your pokémon..." Melody continued, true to her usual manner in not even sparing a glance at the combatants as she locked her gaze with Corey's instead, "You communicate by sign-language, don't you?" a slight smile graced her features, "I was right about you; you do know some interesting stuff."

Meanwhile, the Medicham continued on, but something was...off. The trajectory wasn't in Tropius' direction, not even close, and even after it had lunged clean past the dinosaur pokémon, it still went further, higher, with no intention of stopping or turning around.

"Now I'm kind of curious, though."

Despite occurring high above them, the sound of the crash was clearly audible as Medicham and cliff-face made contact, soon followed by another, and another, and another. Despite having taken an obvious beating from bashing against the hard rock, the psychic type flipped gracefully backwards from his handiwork, coasting down the cliffside with the confidence and calm of a professional skateboarder, kicking up a thick veil of dust and dirt in his wake.

"How do you plan to sign your way out of this one?" at her words, an ominous rumble became audible from above, the outer layer of the cliff giving in to the deep cracks that the Medicham's assault had left on it as it shattered into countless, sizable boulders, the rock slide tumbling down from above while the dust cloud from the fighting pokémon descent rose up with the wind, creating a thick haze between the combatants above and their trainers below.

"You might want to take cover, by the way." the teen suggested mildly, taking on a leisurely pace as she strode over to a sizable indent in the cliff-face nearby, leaning back against the stone wall and returning to the enjoyment of her music.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

"...okay?"

Laure, to be honest, was completely lost at this point, but from what he gathered of this Alex guy's manner, the older male seemed to have suggested teaming up, at least for the round, and right now there was nothing he would have liked more. Dark caves were scary places for him, and the thought of having another human being - even one as strange as this - accompanying him was a relief, even eliciting a small smile from the boy as he watched Alex and Dreave bicker ahead of him.

Stella, however, looked anything but happy as she trudged around, but she kept her mouth shut out of pure spite. If Laure was truly gullible enough to let these nobodies leech off his own performance then fine, but the moment those two started slowing them down, she would cut the dead weight, regardless of whether her alleged 'trainer' approved of it or not.

Laure flinched slightly as his newfound companion making a hesitant move towards helping him up, but between Alex's own vigorous efforts towards that end and his nonstop cursing, the blonde was too scared to do so, merely staying rooted to the spot as the proctor - who had appeared far too suddenly to Laure's liking - explained the challenge. Laure gasped as Alex duly proceeded to take a swing at the proctor, only to heave a sigh in relief as the punch proceeded right through. He shuddered a bit, though it was hard to notice with their rather lacking lighting, this Alex sure was...violent.

"So, we're workin' together to beat this challenge, right?" the older male snarled in Laure's direction, far too loud, far too close, "Then let's start lookin'!"

"Oh, right, RIGHT!" the boy concurred hastily, nodding to emphasize his statement. A quick glance at their surroundings soon brought his attention to a far more pressing problem than his companion's violent temperament, however.

The cavern was huge, way too big for even Stella to light up properly, and with Zynthre's continued lack of helpfulness, this meant that they seemed to only have a single light source to go around, and the fossils could be of virtually any size and embedded into any depth of rock for all they knew. Two people or no, finding a fossil, let alone two, in any timely manner was beyond difficult. So...now what? There was a trick to this challenge, surely? The male frowned, shutting his eyes to concentrate. No, surely, SURELY the fossils could not be hidden deep. After all, the proctor was certain of their existence, meaning that they had to be clearly visible at the very least. Given the nature of the competition, it was also unlikely that the fossils would be put into a position where special equipment would be required to dig them out, as such competitors would be very few indeed, not to mention that having rushed competitors trying to tunnel through the walls would be far too much of a security risk.

So...the fossils would probably be on the ground, then, or possibly wedged into grooves in the walls. It was a long shot, but maybe...just maybe.

"Irie, come out."

A flash of white light briefly pushed the ominous shadows surrounding them a bit further back, quickly molding into the shape of a sizable butterfly peering curiously at its surroundings through large, red compound eyes.

"Irie, we're playing a game." Laure hastily explained, knowing that he had precious little time to give his commands before the ditzy bug pokémon's attention was diverted, "It's a fun game. There are fossils hidden all over this area, and whoever finds two of them first wins. Understand?"

Irie nodded eagerly, emitting a series of painfully shrill cries that refracted back and forth between the walls of the cavern and forced the boy to hold his ears. Supersonic...the pokémon might not have been a Zubat, but she seemed to have picked up a trick or two of theirs anyway, for after a few minutes of carefully listening, the bug type sped off into the darkness beyond Stella's light, letting out a delighted cry soon after.

"I think she found something." Laure remarked, nodding at Alex as he began moving in the same direction the Butterfree had disappeared in, "Let's go take a look."
 
<This stinks! No action, no battles, no nothing!> Kinah whined loudly, her wings flapping with frustration as she and her trainer continued on the clean path up the mountain. Adeltruat dismissed the avian's complaint as she observed the pleasant change of scenery. The previous cliff face laden with dangerous ledges and obstructive stones seemed like a mere figment of imagination. Now, they were surrounded with grassy ground and a straight way leading up the cliff at a steady pace. The girl smiled, releasing a sigh as she raised her left arm so that it was parallel to the ground, signaling her ticked off Pokemon to rest on her arm. Kinah grunted, but showed no distaste as she descended onto Adel, tucking her wings neatly as she settled on the girl's arm and closed her eyes in preparation for a short rest.

After walking for at least half an hour with the Flying type asleep upon her shoulder, the girl blinked as her eyes caught something not too far off in the distance. Squinting her eyes, she saw a large circular object blocking the road up ahead, and what looked like an ant sitting atop it. She decided against wearing her glasses, quickening her pace as she approach the gigantic monolith, realising that it was a humongous boulder that was blocking her path. A young man who looked no more than a day past eighteen years held a grin on his face as he sat atop the large rock that was nearly quadruple Adel's height, swinging his legs back and forth as he stared down at her. His short, chestnut brown hair hung to his shoulders, and he smiled as the young girl in front of him meticulously drew back a few steps.

"Hello!" He called out, cupping a hand to his mouth.

Adel dipped her head in acknowledgment, curtsying after she did so. "Are you a hologram too?" she inquired at the young man decked in a white shirt and black pants. The youth smiled cheekily, before thumbing over his shoulder before speaking, "There's no other way to get across, you need to go over this boulder, you know." The girl slowly nodded to show understanding, as the proctor carried on to go further into detail.

"The name's Wilson. And my challenge is fairly easy. You need to get over this big ol' rock here. However, you can only use one of your Pokemon, and levitating, flying as well as teleportation is of course, prohibited." He paused so as to let the girl absorb the new information as she and her Pidgeotto exchanged looks of disappointment. A moment later, he continued, "Also, you can't do anything lethal to the boulder. Literally, its rock hard solid, and no Pokemon that's come this way has been able to break through it yet. The time limit to complete to complete this task is 5 minutes. If you manage to accomplish that, you get either 5 points or 15 minutes deducted from your timer."

"And if not?" Adel asked.

"You need to give me a kiss." Wilson piped up with excitement.

Adel's jaw nearly dropped; however, she soon regained composure and folded her arms, her brow furrowing as she replied in affronted tone, "You aren't even real!"

"Details, details! Who cares about them?" The youth waved a hand dismissively as the girl maintained her stone cold glare. "Seriously, what's the penalty?" she ventured the question again.

"You get 15 minutes added to the timer, so quit wasting your time now, and I'll see you on the other side." He winked before swinging his legs over the top of the boulder and disappearing from his initial place on the pinnacle. Adeltruat quickly whipped out her Pokedex, and all the information that Wilson had just told her before was now displayed in neat text format on the screen of the device, with a large timer at the bottom left of the gizmo counting down. The girl held the Pokedex in its position, observing the variety of claw marks on the boulder, and various holes around the area. Apparently some of the other competitors had decided to tunnel their way under the boulder. She glanced self-consciously at her prim attire, shaking her head as she reached for her belt and unclasped two Pokeballs, withdrawing the sleeping Kinah without any further inquiries and unleashing a new companion to take the bird' place and help complete the challenge.

After the flash of red light died down, one would expect to see a Pokemon standing tall and posed, ready for battle. However, all Adel observed was a brown hided being covered in quills, curled up in a quivering ball.
 
"Hweh?! Cid? How did you get here?" the little urban girl piped in disbelief, falling to her knees to rest after journeying so far up the mountain trail.

Shaking his square-cut head, the miniature muscle man strode over and squatted down beside her. Looking her directly in the eyes he raised a hand to her cheek, sliding the flesh between his thick fingers and squeezed.

"O-Ouch..." Kaoru muttered as the reality of the man's presence hit her, somewhat literally, "You pinched me?"

The man's brow furrowed as he grit his teeth. He had never met a more infuriating person than this simple-minded girl. Everything about her pissed him off, especially her boundless adolesence and oblivious nature. Her existence and presence in the tournament let alone coming under his jurisdiction of the first round was insulting. He was going to get rid of her once and for all.

"I'm real you idiot! What you saw before of me were just holograms." he scoffed irritably, rising to full height and crossing his arms as he looked down on her.

Round-eyed, she simply stared back at him.

"What are you talking about Cid?"

She didn't notice. Slapping an even thicker palm against his face, the proctor hastily calmed himself using some form of perscribed tension suppresion technique and retreated to the nearby rocky stump from which he had waited upon previously. Falling back with a thud, he wiped his face with the back of his heavy hand and resumed his initial demeanor of deep-seeded loathing.

"Let's just get this over and done with." he started tiredly, "Simply put, you failed the challenge. Go back or use that emergency beacon or whatever to get off the mountain. You're done."

"Huh?" Kaoru chirped, a little life returning to her eyes, "But...how?"

"Because I said so." the older man spat, averting her gaze.

The little chestnut screwed up her face, then placed one hand on her chin and scratched her head with the other. She was in deep thought about how she had lost the challenge and what she should do now that it was over. Should she keep going regardless, challenging the continuing dangers of the mountain and see if she could still make it in time? Or would it be easier to just head back to town, relax and spectate the rest of the tournament? In all essence, it was actually a very easy decision.

Unfortunately for Cid, and Kaoru to an extent, Mai had other plans for his trainer, despite how much he enjoyed doing nothing and having fun doing so. Reaching into the girl's side, the electric pokemon retrieved her slightly scuffed pokedex and shoved it into her hands. Then, using a pointed claw, Mai flipped the casing and directed the girl's attention to the screen where the challenge outline was displayed. Hopefully, she would be able to figure out the rest by herself, although in reality, he didn't expect much.

"Oh!" Kaoru chirped, her eyes lighting up as she read over the intrsuctions, "Cid, look at this. It says there's no time limit for this challenge. That means I can keep trying until I pass, right?"

Cocking a bemused glance over at the screen, the supervising official placed his chin onto his hand as he returned his sights to the rather spectacular view in front of them, heaving a sigh as he did so.

"Challenges with no time limit all conclude when the round's time limit expires...idiot."

"Buah!" the little chestnut recoiled in shock at the revelation.

She hadn't thought of that. But then again that didn't mean it was over. Surely they'd announce the end of the first round when it was over, she knew at least that much. And since no such announcement had been made, she still had time. Besides, despite wanting to call it quits and just kicking back to relax, she kind of wanted to see more of the tournament, especially that girl and her Arcanine, it all seemed really fun. And fun was her middle name!

Smiling at her decision, as well as receiving adoring incoherent cries from her beloved partner, Kaoru slowly rose to her feet and quickly dusted herself off.

"Ready to head down now runt?" her challenge point's supervisor scoffed.

Scratching the back of her head and giving him a sheepish grin, the petite trainer from Kanto then gave him a kiddish but firm response, "Nup!"

"Ehhh?" Cid berrated irritably, "I thought I told you you were finished. There's no point going any further, there's no way you'll reach the top before the end of the round. Just give it up runt."

"I know I probably won't make it in time..." she started nervously, twiddling her thumbs, "But I want to try anyway, for Mai's sake. Plus, it'll be fun! I think..."

At that, the man shot her accompanying Elekid a threatening glare, causing him to flinch. He then slowly started up again in an attempt to entice the girl to heed his suggestion, "Really runt? I see you as the type of kid who'd rather sit out and watch from the sidelines, not having to worry about a thing. You can do that, relax and be stupid down there."

"A-Actually, that does sound nice." she admitted feverishly, looking down at Mai who simply gave her a determined smile in return, both of them ignoring the blatant insult thrown at them, "But I kind of want to see this pokemon I saw before. It was really big and cool and it kind of... it, well, I don't really know. I just felt like I wanted to keep going after I saw it."

"Sounds like a pretty crap reason to go through all of this for..." he remarked, eyeing her still somewhat dishevelled appearance.

Kaoru simply smiled in response. Mai, who had been quite subdued as of late, stepped up in front of her and stared down the still sitting man, its probes surging as if to stand both her and his own ground. Cid glanced a look towards the pair, a bored expression now gracing his features. Heaving a tired sigh the proctor then got to his feet to ensure the girl's decision and to see if he could somehow persuade her otherwise.

"So..." he started, unsheathing a heavy pokeball from his waist and holding it in clear sight by his side, "Do you really want to keep going, useless little girl?"

"Uwah!" she cried, seeing the dark and somewhat threatening orb containing the official's pokemon. "I... Uh, I-I..."

Seeing the girl falter, Mai immediately tugged at her jeans to reassure her of their goal and decision. Patting a curled claw against his chest, the Elekid gave her another determined smile as if to tell her he'd handle anything that'd get in their way. Laughing at the sight, the little chestnut gave the pokemon a small pat, much to his irritation, before turning back to face the miniature muscle-man of an official.

"A-Ah, Cid gomen, but I... I want to keep going, so..."

"Tch! I can't believe it..." Cid suddenly spat, glaring directly into the girl's hollow eyes, now causing her to flinch, "Peh! I guess I have no choice then... Get the hell out of here runt. You passed the challenge."

"Hweh...?"
 
[OOC: My computer arrived a little later than expected, actually after my classes started . . . In any case, sorry about the late post.]

Roz's eyes fixed themselves on the holographic Milotic as her mind withdrew from the surrounding world to consider the riddle she had been given. Melanie looked down at her trainer's still-open Pokedex, while Vulcan watched Roz herself. All three seemed preoccupied with their own thoughts--remembering whatever they could from their own experiences that might help unravel this mystery--and said nothing. Time flowed by as it always did, yet somehow seemed both slower and faster than usual. Though she attempted to remain calm, Melanie could not quite prevent herself from feeling a degree of anxiety as she watched the timer count down on the Pokedex screen.

10:02, 10:02, 10:01, 10:00 . . .

The proctor stirred. Again her smooth voice flowed forth, saying, "You have found no answer to my tale yet? Perhaps this may aid you."

A blinking image of an envelope appeared in the Pokedex, indicating the arrival of the challenge's first clue. Roz opened it, and found five words awaiting her. The boy is a Pokemon. Glancing over at her trainer, Melanie blinked. A Pokemon? This certainly puts a new perspective on things. When she looked back down, the Natu saw that Roz had already opened a search screen and was setting parameters.

Though memory was not Roz's strongest quality, she had tried to remain alert during Milotic's story and was now attempting to recall points that would be significant to a Pokemon's identity. After a moment of thought, she selected "Johto" as the region. Here the girl began to grow a little troubled, but continued concentrating. She moved from 'Pokemon Color' to 'Type 1,' then back, and seemed unsure of what to do next.

Vulcan, who had been watching quietly until this point, recalled a phrase about the "powers of the universe" casting the boy into darkness. ("Try looking for a dark type,") he said.

Roz did not seem surprised or doubtful when Vulcan spoke, but simply followed his suggestion and started the search. Unfortunately, this Pokedex was far from complete; but hopefully it would at least have the Pokemon they wanted. For several seconds, the Pokedex screen was frozen while the device hummed in mechanical thought. A short list of Pokemon appeared.

Scrolling down the list, Roz first reviewed her limited memories of the riddle, then turned questioningly to the white Arcanine beside her. In response he motioned with his head, indicating that the girl should continue studying the list.

"What about the last one--the name at the bottom?" Melanie asked, leaning forward for a better view. Roz selected the final name, and an information window appeared.

Houndour . . . Roz studied the screen mistily. Even to her mind, the clues seemed to fit. Milotic's riddle had mentioned both darkness and fire, and Houndour were native to Johto. The matter of admiring the stars, however, was still something she had not reconciled. Closing her eyes, the female considered the encounter with a pack of Houndour that had granted the Pokemon entry to her Pokedex. Much of that night was an obscure, uncertain memory at best. But she did remember awakening to a strange sound . . . a howl, it was called. Whether the dog Pokemon was trying to talk to the stars was questionable, but the sound was still one not easily forgotten. And Milotic's story . . . it had mentioned a sound or cry, right?

Roz's hazel eyes opened and read the timer still displayed in the top corner of the Pokedex screen. 7:44. She reread Houndour's profile, looked through the search results again, reviewed the challenge point rules, and fell still. The psychic type on her shoulder looked at her curiously. "Is something wrong, Roz?"

("We're not sure of the answer yet.") Vulcan replied on Roz's behalf. ("It's our best guess, but . . . I have the feeling there's something we're missing.")

"Should we wait for the next hint?"

After a moment the fire Pokemon shook his head. ("We've spent enough time here already, and we have no guarantee of getting the right answer even with another clue.") He nodded at Roz. She entered "Houndour" into her Pokedex and pressed "Enter."

The next few seconds were tense as the tournament system reviewed the answer. Milotic looked down at Roz. "I am sorry, warrior. That is not the answer I seek." Roz's Pokedex beeped and displayed the message "Challenged Failed: 7 minute penalty."

("Looks like we'll have to make up for some lost time.") Vulcan immediately lowered himself to allow Roz onto his back, not waiting for any closing speech the hologram might make. As the Arcanine continued on the path up the mountain, he and his two companions heard the Milotic saying, "Farewell, travelers. May fortune be with you."

[EDIT/OOC: By the way, the answer is Houndoom.

Spoiler:
]
 
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