Pokémon Paramount Ventures—The Legendary Cygrus Region! [Reboot/Co-Hosted by Zextra and Rainbow Dash]

[Zextra]

Caden gritted his teeth as he braced himself from the attack. He watched Electivire tear right through the Shadow Net, its dark shards being blasted aside upon impact. "There's no time to launch another long-range attack" he thought, a drop of sweat forming next to his ear. "I'm sorry, Sigilyph, but I need just a little more from you" he continued, looking sternly at the battle. "It's...not...over yet!" Caden yelled, whipping his arm to the side one final time.

"Sigilyph! Use Psychic and gather the shards from the Shadow Net and use it as armor!" Caden called. Sigilyph nodded, as the remains of its last attack were absorbed into its vicinity. The energy glowed blue and pieced back together, segments of it attaching onto Sigilyph: A helmet in the shape of a dragon's head latched itself upon its headpiece, a pair of dragon-looking wings attaching onto its own wings, and a shield-like object attaching to its underside. "Now, Sky Attack!" Caden yelled, as Sigilyph was embossed with white energy. It charged down right through the explosion Electivire caused, its shadow armor shattering little by little as it received recoil damage from the shockwaves around it. As the two drew near, a huge shockwave formed and resonated throughout the area, causing even more impact to the battlefield's surroundings.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

[color=#4b0082][b]OOC: Before I'm accused of Godmodding or whatever, Zex and I already agreed on the outcome.[/b][/color]

Finally, the dust and smoke began to settle. Electivire was just barely standing, only holding himself up by one arm. Electricity crackled on his fur, sending up sparks. He slowly rose to his feet, towering over the felled Sigilyph.
Judas stood, his coattails blowing behind him in the gentle breeze. A smile played across his face.
"Umm...Well, it appears that Sigilyph is unable to battle. That means that the victor of this battle is Judas Renict, of Hearthome City!" Rose put up his right arm begrudgingly, Gyarados uncurling from around him.
"[color=#daa520]Well, it appears that is the end of that. Electivire, I do believe it's time for you to exit, stage right.[/color]" Judas held out Electivire's Pokéball, and a red beam of light pulled him into the capsule. Judas then walked over to Caden, and held out his hand. "[color=#daa520]That was a job well-done, Mr. Azure. I expected no less from a Champion of the Sinnoh League. But of course, us Cygrus trainers are the best of the best, no doubt about it.[/color]" All hints of Judas's actions during the battle were gone. And with that, Judas called out to his Eelektross, which had taken refuge behind a large boulder for the duration of the battle. The EleFish Pokémon floated over to his master, who climbed onto his back. Then, Eelektross began swimming across the water, heading in the direction of the Evraflow Tower in the distance.

"Hey, Caden, we should probably get Sigilyph to the Pokémon Centre...I wouldn't be surprised if he was even out-of-commission for the Gym Battle..." Rose was worried. He knew Caden was a strong trainer, he could feel it, but this just didn't seem like something that would happen to Caden. Then, he thought back to Judas's words: [i]"I expected no less from a Champion of the Sinnoh League."[/i] Rose would have to ask Caden about that later. "C'mon, let's get Sigilyph some help..."

[Zextra]

Caden was close to speechless as Sigilyph fell hard to the floor. He looked down at Sigilyph and fell on one knee "Sigilyph, you did all you could" he whispered, taking its Pokeball out of its bag to return it, before accepting Judas' hand. Then, after Judas had left, he turned back to Rose. "Yeah, let's go..." he said softly as he got up. The disappointment shown on his face was clear - hiding it did nothing. "My first loss since Hoenn...since Wallace..." he scolded himself, sighing, as they left the area.

"Yeah, that battle was too much for Sigilyph" he admitted, holding Sigilyph's Pokeball with both hands as they were walking to the Pokemon Center. "And the Gym Battle is in just an hour" he continued. "I have no choice left but to use Milotic" he thought to himself as the two of them entered the Pokemon Center. He checked Sigilyph in to Nurse Joy, thanked her, then took a seat. "But on the other hand...it was exciting...that battle" Caden said under his breath, smiling, as he covered his eyes with his hands.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose sat down next to Caden. "Hey, cheer up. I mean, you're the Champion of the Sinnoh Region!" Rose paused, as the words still seemed foreign to his lips and brain. "Anyway, he had a type-advantage. It was impressive enough that you managed to do as much damage as you did. Tell you what, if you need to, I'll let you borrow Lampent for the upcoming battle. I'm sure he won't mind." Rose turned to Lampent, a pleading expression on his face.
"Lampent, Lam-pent!" Lampent smiled and saluted Caden.
"See? Don't beat yourself up about it! I mean, everybody's gotta lose sometime! If you go through life without losing, then you'll never have the chance to improve! I mean, sure, I was upset when you beat me, but it didn't stop me. I got right back up with my Lampent and Scraggy, and we took down the Terramean Gym like that!" Rose snapped his fingers. "So c'mon, Caden, let's get going." Rose placed Lampent's Pokéball in Caden's hand and curled his fingers around it, smiling.
[i]Why am I growing so attached to him already? I mean, we met just the other day, and yet...I feel like he's my brother...[/i]

[Zextra]

[i]"Milotic, use Hypnosis!" Caden commanded as the serpent released a series of yellow, psychic waves. As the waves headed towards the opposing Pokemon, a Milotic, its trainer, Wallace, called out "Milotic, Safeguard!" The opposing Milotic was now cloaked in a beautiful veil of turquoise light, The hypnotic waves bounced off the aura, having no effect whatsoever.[/i]

[i]*nearing the end of the battle*[/i]

[i]Both Milotics were panting, showing heavy exhaustion. "Milotic, use Dragonmetal Shower!" Caden declared with a worried tone, as his Milotic pulled off the combination of Iron Tail and Dragon Pulse, creating a rainfall of blue and silver shards. "Milotic, blow it away with TwisterTower!" Wallace responded, as his Milotic performed a brilliant Twister attack, skillfully combining it with an Ice Beam to create a colossus of protruding ice needles, which blew away the energy shards from Caden's attack. As Caden was about to declare another attack, his Milotic tipped over in fatigue, rendering it unable to battle. [/i]
[i]"And the winner of this quarterfinal round is none other than....Wallace of Sootopolis City!" the referee announced as the crowd in the stadium went wild...[/i]

Suddenly, reality hit him...

"On the contrary, Rose..." he began as he stood up, holding Lampent's Pokeball, "that battle was just what I needed" he looked up at Rose, smiling. "I haven't felt excited like that since my Hoenn days" he explained softly, tossing Lampent's Pokeball back to Rose. He looked up at Lampent. "Thanks, Lampent and I appreciate your support, Rose, but..." he pulled out another Pokeball and gave it a slight toss. "I still have him" Caden smiled, as the Pokeball revealed an Excadrill. "But either way, we should get going" he grabbed his bag and awaited Rose at the entrance to the Pokemon Center.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

"Uh...Alright, then." Rose was a bit confused, but he still smiled brightly, as per usual.
[i]"You know Rose, you've always had the cutest smile!"[/i] he could recall his mother saying.
"Y'know, I've been wondering...How come you didn't tell me you were the Sinnoh Champion? I mean, wouldn't you want people to know? Granted, people from Sinnoh like Judas would know, but still..." Then, an idea struck Rose. "Hey, after we battle the Gym, could you help me with my training? I mean, I want to become just as strong as you one day."
Rose felt like a little schoolgirl who just med the actor she had always been in love with.

((Sorry for the short post; I actually had no idea what to post for once.))

[Zextra]

"There's no reason for me to attract any unnecessary attention here" Caden answered matter-of-factly. "Plus, I prefer to be part of the crowd, rather than sticking out" he continued, smiling. "And sure, I'd be happy to train with you" he continued. "But, I do have a request... don't see me as someone above you...it's embarrassing me" he finished awkwardly. "But, first things first, of course...the gym" he reminded as they left the Pokemon Center to the Flamvius gym.
When they reached the gym, Caden entered, being greeted by the gym leader, Shubura. After finishing their introductions, Caden's battle began. He snatched a Pokeball and threw it onto the battlefield. "Milotic, Spotlight!" he called, as Milotic made its entrance. [i]"Skarmory, you're up!" [/i]Shubura called, revealing the steel bird. "Milotic, start things off with Hydro Pump"...

*****
The last round was underway: Caden's Milotic still stood strong after defeating two of Shubura's Pokemon. Now it was just down to his Milotic and Shubura's Quilava. [i]"Quilava, jump up and use a Flamethrower all around Milotic!" [/i]Shubura called as the porcupine-looking Pokemon let out a burst of fire that encircled Milotic. "I see...the strategy that Rose used in our first battle" Caden recalled, analyzing the position of the flames. "Milotic, Rain Dance!" he called, as black clouds appeared above the battlefield, releasing rain. "Now, Milotic, finish it with Dragonstorm" Caden called as Milotic let out a cry, [i]"Miiiiiillll"[/i]. Milotic's tail lit up - blue in color this time, signaling Aqua Tail. Then came the familiar Dragon Pulse, which shot out against the Aqua Tail. An explosion resulted in a rainfall of shards containing several different shades of blue. The energy shards crashed down on the opposing Quilava, ending the battle.

[evilfusion]

A dense forest awaited Kevin and Mara. The human paused a moment, letting the surroundings imprint themselves upon his thoughts. Years of respectfully wandering a Pokemon cemetery in his free time had the peculiar effect of requiring his silent respect towards the creatures still living. It was a shame how often humans disrespected the hallowed sanctuaries many Pokemon had forged in natural landscapes. As if any of those humans would enjoy the violation of their refuge by wild Pokemon..

Mara tapped her bone club on her mask, breaking Kevin out of his thoughts. He smiled down at her and took the first steps into the forest. Mara was a good companion for that reason. It had taken him far too much time to accept that his viewpoints towards other people and their personal attitudes involving Pokemon was biased and harsh. Her presence was a reminder that he had to stop thinking that way. Many trainers and travelers likely had the mildest of poor intentions, and yet he always suspected more malice than necessary.

His eyes scanned the trees and path as they walked, Mara twirling her bone club with impressive skill and grace, at times walking ahead of him to show off her handling, but other times walking at his side like a partner. Kevin could see the shadows of Pokemon moving against the backdrop of plants and trees, few if any wandering close enough for species identification.

"Hang on, Mara," Kevin said abruptly, walking off the path and sitting down comfortably at the base of a tree. The Cubone paused, confused, but wandered over to where he sat. Kevin inhaled deeply, letting the forest's scent waft through his senses, allowing himself to feel more at ease here, in a natural setting. He wanted to enjoy his traveling, and that wasn't as easy when he was determined to get nowhere in a rush.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

"Yeah! Alright, Caden! Show 'em how it's done!"
Rose watched Milotic's beautiful display, and saw the masterful combination of Dragon-type moves and water take down Shubura's Quilava.
"Ha, so cool! Y'know, I'd go up against the Gym right now, but I'm sure you've gotta rest your Pokémon, right Shubura?"
The Gym leader nodded, and started giving medicine to his Pokémon.
"Alright, Caden, c'mon! I need to train Nidoking for this battle!" Rose had purchased a Moon Stone and used it on Nidorino right before Caden's battle as preparation for his own challenge. Rose opened the ball containing the Drill Pokémon, who let out a triumphant roar and swung around his tail, knocking over a small tree.

[Zextra]

Caden received the badge from Shubura and walked over to Rose. He looked over at the newly evolved Nidoking. "I see...Nidoking needs to develop its new strength before your battle...fair enough" Caden said in agreement to Rose's request to train.
"Careful there" Caden laughed as he watched the enthusiastic horn Pokemon effortlessly knocking down a tree. "Well, let's go then" he held out a Pokeball and hurled it into the air. "Milotic, I need your help" he said as Milotic emerged from the light. "[i]Millllll"[/i] it cried in agreement. "Then it's settled" he nodded. "Rose, it's all you - go ahead" he said, passing the move to Rose.

(yeah, again, sorry for the shortpost)

[Hydra of Ages]

Wayne sipped his wine carefully. Cygrus, being a new region without a well-established national government yet, still lacked laws on alcohol consumption for minors- but of course, Wayne was a gentleman. He knew his limits well, and drank solely for the taste anyway.

The grapes had been of evidently superior quality, he could tell. Grown in Cygrus, perhaps? He didn't quite recognize the tone of the acidity as from any soil he'd noticed before- and it was indeed a house blend. The lack of aging left it with a clean, almost watery taste devoid of the fruits of fermentation- he deduced it to be no more than a single year old at absolute most, kept in an oaken barrel no more than six feet below the ground and possibly stored next to... wheat husk perhaps?

Also, there was the vague taste of Oran clogging most of the finer points of the brew. It had potential perhaps, but it was still a rather amateurish decantation. He thanked the stewardess with a borad smile, then put the glass on the table before him without the intention to pick it up again. He picked up his book again; his travels had left him largely without the opportunity to catch up on reading, but the familiar surroundings of the Famvius Town inn provided him with ample time.

It was nice to be back somewhere civil, he thought to himself, even if he'd just finished the most excitement he'd had in nary any day before. Why, he could remember just when he first stepped into Gradnis Forest, less than a week ago...

*

[i]Wayne hadn't been feeling his best that day. The bed at the Center had been lumpy and cramped compared what he was used to, and the damned creaking outside the walls had irritated his sensitive ears to the point where he hadn't even a lick of sleep. But, to complain would be disrespecting the generosity of the nurses to offer him a place to sleep for essentially no money in the first place- so he kept his mouth shut, and dealt with the lack of sleep as much as he could.[/i]

[i]With that in mind, he was irritated to note that he had entered a forest without much of an idea what one was supposed to do in it. After a brief time of shuffling about with no apparent destination in mind, he eventually released Sunshine from his pokeball to scout the area. The results were unimpressive- "trees". [/i]

[i]​Resigned to pointless adventure, he decided simply to chart course for Terramean City and see if he couldn't find some sort of meaning there- only to happen upon a curious paras digging at the bark of a tree. While a paras in itself wasn't interesting -they were common as anything else in his home country after all- the fact it was attacking a tree was a bit odd. Unlike some other clawed insects, Paras didn't feed off of tree grubs, providing to leach nutrient from the ground beneath them or hunt small prey beneath the ground- the incongruity between the countries was interesting, and prompted Wayne to stop for a while to observe. Were there many other differences between pokemon of different countries, he wondered?[/i]

[i]After a few hours of observating other paras and checking guidebooks he brought with him, Wayne came to the conclusion that this paras, if not all Cygrus paras, had significantly smaller mushrooms growing atop their back- and indeed, appeared to have slightly bigger claws, more pointed legs and an overall larger-than-average body mass. If he had to wager a guess as to their strange changes in action, he would hypothesize that Cygrusian paras developed more stunted mind-altering fungus than their Kanto relatives, and as such followed more typical insectoid instincts rather than mindlessly obeying their fungal overlords. He would have observed more if he could, if he hadn't just noticed that a group of nearly twenty paras were staring back at him at this point- and only him. Sunshine squeaked from a fair distance away.[/i]

"...perhaps I frightened them," [i]he thought to himself. Then again, they appeared mostly docile. He doubted any parasect existed in the area- with the weakening of the mushroom, their mental defenses were likely partially immune to indoctrination. Why, any parasect in existence would need to have a mushroom at least twice the potency of the others, a size so unweildly that it was difficult to conceive of one exist- [/i]

[i]He only managed to dodge to the side at the last moment before he was bisected by a great insectoid claw. A red behemoth shook itself free of the topsoill he'd been standing on, a great insect bearing a massive red mushroom with ragged edges and white stripes. It made a skittering sound as it sat up and clackered its claws at him in an obviously threatening way.[/i]

[i]"...Sub...optimal...", he muttered before sprinting in the opposite direction. The parasect didn't make any sound, but followed close behind- Wayne could picture the movement of the feet in his head. How would he get out of this one?[/i]

[i]*[/i]

[i]An hour and a half of quick thinking and bonding between Wayne and Sunshine later, the two celebrated the stranding of the parasect in a top tree. The great creature made silent screaching movements and shook back and forth, but resolutely refused to move back down.[/i]

[i]"Absolutely genius, if I say so myself," Wayne said, gloating. "While the parasect wants to come down, the survival instinct of the host prevents it from possibly tumbling from the tree. Such is why the beast typically live below ground."[/i]

[i]Sunshine screeched in agreement. Presumably. [/i]

[i]"But... what to do with it now... Ah, of course!" Wayne said, snapping his fingers. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball. "In such a state of distress and tire, the parasect will be far easier to capture than before! Voila!", he tossed the capture sphere true and in a flash of light, the mushroom pokemon was absorbed into it. Three twitches later and the ball clicked loudly- Wayne picked up his bounty and smiled a little before twirling it on his finger. "...As, was to be expected, of course," he said briskly, brushing his hair. He gave the ball a long look.[/i]

[i]"I believe I shall call you... Cloud," he said with a smirk. He pocked the sphere and continued to walk before , Sunshine flapping next to him to keep up.[/i]

[i]*[/i]

[i]Alluvium Desert had been a challenge, though Wayne was ready to meet it. Having read up on the desert before, he knew the value of supplies of water- as well as a seperate set of brisk clothes that still covered enough of his skin to prevent sunburn. He even wore a large hat to keep the sun out of his eyes, a major fashion disaster in any other situation. [/i]

[i]Both Sunshine and Cloud were of course darkness-dwellers, so Wayne trecked the desert primarily alone, stopping himself from straying off of the main path. It would be disastrous, of course, if he were assailed by an opposing pokemon without a method of defending himself- his pokemon weren't exactly profficient in the sunlight.[/i]

[i]So of course, an attack is exactly what happened.[/i]

[i]Wayne wasn't entirely certain when the attack came, though he knew WHY it did. Out of nowhere, almost an hour into his trek, a quick slice cut clean across his pack and cause a number of bottles of water and supplies to fall out- as well as a number of other small coveinances that he had brought- and nicked his back. Gasping more in shock, he stumbled forward and caught only the glimpse of a sandslash from the corner of his eye before he pulled Cloud from his belt and released the mushroom pokemon.[/i]

[i]"Spore!" he yelled, realizing his mistake only in the next second. Cloud appeared and heard the order, but the subterranian pokemon was quickly blinded by the bright desert sun and released spores- everywhere. In a panic, Wayne withdrew his pokemon, but the damage had already been done. He inhaled a lungful of white dust and quickly saw spots- he stumbled, then pitched forward and the world went black.[/i]

[i]When he awoke, the sky was dark and his skin felt tender, whatever visible patches he had being burned. His throat burned, and he searched his pack only to find but a single bottle of water remaining- which he guzzled immediately. It was only right after that when he realized he certainly wasn't where he had been before- and, he was in fact, lost in the desert.[/i]

[i]As a small consolation, the sandslash was there with him, asleep still. Annoyed, he captured the pokemon despite the lack of sport.. [/i][i]"For the trouble you gave me, you're going to be named Thief. Let that serve you right."[/i]

[i]He sighed, and after a moment sent out Sunshine to scout the area. The report wasn't promising- "Sand". [/i]

[i]With that in mind, he used his knowledge of the stars to pinpoint North and set a probable course for Terramean- only to nearly pitch forward again, his foot caught in a sand trap. He stumbled, cried out, and kicked with all his force- just managing to force the trampinch to release his leg, though bloodying it in the process. [/i]

[i]Either the cry or the blood, unfortunately, caused everything around them to wake up- and Wayne realized uncomfortably that he had stumbled into yet another pokemon nest, this time filled with creatures capable of crushing steel in their jaws. Five... ten.. twenty... he appeared to be in what was likely the spawning grounds for the entire desert's population of the creatures. And he knew how he got there- he was supposed to be... food. [/i]

[i]He whipped Cloud from his pants quickly, the mushroom taking much better to the nocturnal context than the previous one. The Trapinch were angry, but Spore still set them into place easily enough... for most. Others simply shook off the spores as it they were nothing snapping their jaws angrily. [/i]

[i] Wayne realized sadly that spore wasn't working on them for a simple reason- spores needed to be inhaled to work. Trapinch spent most of their lives beneath the ground and could go long periods of time without oxygen by blocking their nasal passages- once they figured out their trick, they were screwed. [/i]

[i]Even worse. He felt the fluttering of wings in the air- he [/i]felt. [i]The air hummed with tension, and when he dodged to the side he felt his desert shirt get singed by blue fire- the flames of a dragon. The vibrava were three in number and obviously annoyed that the food they had brought from the desert road was now attacking the young ones.[/i]

[i]Wayne would need to do some quick thinking. He released Thief from her pokeball and called Sunshine -who'd been hanging out a relatively far distance away to be on the safe side- and called Cloud to him.[/i]

[i]First, he needed some leech seeds on the closest vibrava- then he'd use Sunshine's sonic waves to blanked cover the group of Trapinch, allowing him to...[/i]

*

[i]Forty minutes of explosive combat later, Wayne found himself flying -hovering, really- on the back of Carnivore, a vibrava that had likely tried to eat him in the past. Still, the young dragon was aware of how to reach the end of the desert, or at least the river, so he was pleased he was able to struggle from that situation with a new partner and a minimum of damage. Sunshine's wing would heal in a few days after a stay in the pokecenter, and Cloud was scorched but alive. Thief was perfectly fine, annoyingly- he still hadn't forgiven her for getting him into the mess to begin with. He decided that making her stay with him was fitting enough punishment if this continued to be a pattern- after all, he was barely capable of walking (his right ankle was bloody and he thought he might have a minor fracture in a rib, slight heatstroke, and a number of painful burns) and he hadn't really done anything much more dangerous than anyone else. [/i]

[i]Oh well. He was almost at civilization and it couldn't possibly get worse, could it?[/i]

*

[i]A day of relaxation later, Wayne was crossing the Levia bridge at last. Fortunately, for once he hadn't stuck his foot in anything dangerous, and his pokemon were taking full advantage of that. Sunshine was hanging from the back of his shoulder, sulking- he was still forbidden to fly for a day or so, while the bones in his wing settled. Carnivore was flying above them, doing loops in the sky as he mostly ignored his trainer beneath him, and Thief seemed to be doing nothing except walking. Wayne was vaguely certain she'd stolen his pocketwatch, however, given that he couldn't find the darned thing and there was an odd sparkle between a couple of her quills...[/i]

[i]The trip was mostly uneventful, save for one thing. As he passed the bridge, a woman with a vulpix around her shoulder was muttering to herself- and included there was the name 'Team Draconius'.[/i]

[i]Draconius? That sounded ominous. Wayne filed it away in his memory for later- this was something worth not forgetting, of course. [/i]

[i]*[/i]

Wayne shut his book. Oddly enough, after all he'd been through, the [i]last [/i]thing he wanted to do was read about adventures other smart people were reading. Was he turning native after all?

He chuckled a little at that, and took a sip of the house wine before him. Somehow, it tasted different this time.

[CrystalCyae]

Thorn enjoyed the simple and beautiful company of her Pokemon. Especially Roserade. Her intoxicating perfume always made her feel much better about current situations.
Unfortunately, she wasn't with her.
Neither was Milotic, known for soothing her mistress with gentle sounds and gentle contraction when something happened.
Rather, she was alone in the hallway, listening to the rants further ahead. Seems Moby had broken something. And Coral wasn't happy. Though, if she thought about it - rare occurrence - Coral never seemed happy.
She gathered her resolve for an confrontation. Hopefully this one would be more pleasant than those in the past.
"Oh no, Sera wouldn't be happy at all." she said aloud, walking into the room with broken flasks and shattered prototypes.
'In fact, I wager a demotion would probably be in store for Moby, being the one who destroyed the prototype in the first place." she continued, not mentioning that Moby was already of a fairly low status.
She pretended to examine her nails. "Ahh well. I suppose the prototype will have to be rebuilt. And kept out of reach from that Aggron, too."

[~British Soul~]

The sheer force of the sandstorm in Alluvium Desert had made visibility low, this made things harder for Silver as he feared he'd get lost like in Gradnis Forest. Just as he thought he was travelling smoothly, bump, something came up from the ground, and because the visibility was low Silver couldn't see who tripped him up. Using initiative he sent out Staravia who flapped his wings to see who tripped him up, it was a Diglett, so Silver thought he'd defeat him for experience, unfortunately, the Diglett wanted to play games, and popped in and out of different holes, just to annoy Silver
"Soo...you wanna play whack-a-mole huh? Well top bad, the sandstorm is bad enough for me to worry about playing games with wild pokemon." Silver said out loud which was indirectly aimed at Diglett as he walked away from the situation, but the Diglett wasn't done yet and decided to trip Silver up again.
"That does it!" Silver shouted as he was slowly getting mad at the small pokemon "Totodile, get out there and use Water Gun."
Totodile came out and used Water Gun, but the Diglett had hid underground, so Silver told him to keep using it until he had hit his target. It wasn't to be and after 10 minutes of messing around, Silver gave up, which angered the Diglett who decided on a different approach, he hit the ground hard causing an earthquake which started to topple Silver over, and to make matters worse the Diglett even wanted to use Sand Tomb to hurt him even more. The attack was so strong Silver was knocked back a few yards, and with the nature of Snad Tomb the attack continued, and after 3 attacks, Silver had passed out and the Diglett went off knowing he had won.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

About an hour or so later, Silver was able to open his eyes, albeit, it was a slow and steady process as he wasn't wearing his goggles. The first thing he saw was his Totodile who was worried for his trainer. When Silver was able to get on his feet and realised he wasn't wearing his Gogo Goggles, he made it his mission to retrieve them "Ok Totodile, we have to find my Gogo Goggles. The last time i went in a sandstorm like this, i didn't last long." Silver knew that the goggles wasn't far and set out in the direction that the Diglett had sent him.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

"Right. Okay, Nidoking, try to hit Milotic with a ThunderVortex!" Nidoking raised his head, and his horn began to glow a bright blue. Suddenly, a small stream of water shot up from the tip, and it began spinning and expanding at a rapid pace, turning into a massive Whirlpool. Then, lightning erupted from the Drill Pokémon's body and entered the Whirlpool, electrifying it. "Good job! Now, toss it with Dragon Tail!" Nidoking oblidged, his tail glowing turquoise. A spiral of turquoise air also surrounded Nidoking's tail, and he swung it at the Whirlpool-Thunderbolt combo, hurling it toward Milotic.
[i]Heh...Caden's Milotic should be strong, but this ought to give him a run for his money![/i]

[Zextra]

"Milotic, use Blizzard towards the center of the whirlpool" Caden said, as Milotic blew a snowy gust of freezing air towards Rose's attack. The icy whirlwind clashed head-on with the thundering vortex, but instead of stopping it on the outside, the ice froze the attack from the inside out. However, several small thunderbolts continued to crackle, cracking the ice the attack was encased in, much to Caden's surprise. As the ice cracked, water started to pour onto Milotic - although still somewhat effective, the attack's strength had far diminished compared to when it was first launched. When the battlefield cleared, Milotic was rested atop a huge puddle of water, its tail glowing, cracking with electricity. "I wanted to block the attack another way, but it didn't turn out, so I had to revert back to Iron Tail" Caden snickered nervously.

***
Rectus stood atop Evraflow Tower, stroking his Salamence on the head as he greeted Judas upon his arrival back. "You looked like you were having fun" he teased, having observed the battle from far off. "Are you going to complain about how pathetically weak your opponent was again?" he asked, already used to Judas' boastful attitude and personality.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

"Alright Nidoking, good job! Now, let's follow this up with a nice Focus Blaze!" Nidoking put his arms together, and blue spheres of energy began to converge between his hands, slowly forming a huge turquoise ball of blue power. Meanwhile, flames licked the sides of Nidoking's face as he fromed a nice ball of flame in his maw. Finally, after a period of charging, he fired both attacks simultaneously, resulting in a Focus blast with flames spiraling around it.
"Good! Now, to give it some extra [i]oomph[/i], run headlong through your own attack with Gigahorn!"
Nidoking roared and lowered his head. His horn began to glow white, and it doubled in length instantaneously. Then, he rushed forward, a purple aura spiraling around him. The aura of the Giga Impact, however, soon condensed into his horn, further increasing its size and power. Finally, the purple Pokémon drove his horn into his own attack, imbuing his body with its power. The entire thing resulted in a blindingly-white, nearly meter-long horn with an endless spiral of flames coming off of it.
"Try defending against this one, Caden!"

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#daa520]Judas looked over at Rectus. "Hmph." Judas returned Eelektross to his ball after scaling the tower. "The kid was a piece of work. Sure, he stood no chance against me, but he was strong! I mean, what else can one expect of a Sinnoh League Champion, eh? But still, I put him in his place, no trouble. Does that maybe make you want to reconsider my placement as only the [i]third[/i] member of the Elite Four. Judas raised his eyebrow to Rectus. For years now, Rectus had denied Judas his opportunity to advance in position. He had also denied all of Judas's challenges to his position of Champion. It was a bit irritating. "I mean, I beat a Champion! You can't deny that I am a powerful trainer!"[/color]

[Zextra]

"I won't be defending" Caden smiled back. "Milotic, use Dragonmetal Shower!" Caden called. "But this time, there's a little twist" he added as Milotic fired a Dragon Pulse attack on the crackling Iron Tail. The familiar explosion occurred, but the rainfall that showered down this time included a mix of blue, silver, and yellow energy shards. The extra power provided by the Thunderbolt from Rose's last attack was able to nullify the Focus Blast, while the rest of the attack dealt with the flames.

"Now, to deal with that..." Caden remarked, staring at the charging Nidoking. "Counter with HyperTwister!" Caden declared. Milotic fired off a yellow blast of power, signaling a Hyper Beam - then, its tail created a Twister around the blast, orange energy spiraling out of it. The attacks collided, causing a giant cloud of smoke to appear.

At that moment, Shubura approached the two, calling Rose in for his battle.

***
"Judas, everyone knows how strong you are. But, as I've said a hundred times by now, it's not my call whether you move up or not" Rectus mused, returning Salamence to his Pokeball. "If you're so desperate to move up, work things out with Zura" he continued as he walked over to the elevator. "I'm going to go look at the trainer database...you coming?" he gestured towards Judas as he slid a card into a slot on the wall. The elevator suddenly shot up to the floor and its doors slid open.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Nidoking was pushed back by the explosion, but he didn't fall. "Heh, nice move, Caden." Then, Rose noticed Shubura calling him over. "Ah! I totally forgot!" Rose called back, laughing. He whipped out a Moo Moo Milk from his pack and climbed onto Nidoking's back, pouring the nutritious drink into the Drill Pokémon's mouth. "Alright, I think we're ready."

*~♪~♪~*

"Alright then! Gyarados, let's start this off with Storm Roller!" The Atrocious Pokémon readied an Aqua Tail, a spiral of water forming around her tail fin. She then bit down hard on her tail, and lightning shout out from her body in all directions. She then steamrolled toward Quilava, dealing heavy damage and paralyzing it.
"Quilava, respond with a Hidden Power!" Orbs of green light formed around Quilava's body, and they all shot toward the still-rolling Gyarados, exploding on impact.
Rose knew this battle wouldn't be as easy as his past two.

*~♪~♪~*

"Nidoking, let's finish this! ThunderBlast!" Nidoking shot a fire ball from his mouth at the Skarmory, who was still flitting about in the arena. He then followed it up with a Thunder, causing the fireball to explode, releasing flames and bolts of energy in all directions. Skarmory fell to the Gym Floor, exhausted.
"Skarmory, use Drill Peck!" The Armor Bird Pokémon lifted itself off the ground and shot toward Nidoking, whirling at high speeds.
"Nidoking, Counter!" Nidoking braced himself for theattack, and took the full force of it in one of his palms. Then, his other arm glowed bright red, and he slammed his fist into Skarmory, smashing it into the ground and KO'ing it.
"Skarmory, return." Shubura walked over to Rose and held out his palm. "Here, this is the Magma Badge. You earned it."
Rose looked down at the red-and-orange badge and smiled before returning his Nidoking and placing the badge in its case. "Thank you very much, Shubura."
And with that, Rose walked to the entrance of the Gym. "C'mon Caden, time's a-wastin'. We gotta head back to the Pokémon Centre, and then we should probably check out the Magma forest, I think."

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#daa520]Judas looked over at Rectus. "Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'." He headed down the stairs after the champion, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Zura.[/color]
[color=#daa520][i]Peh, that Zura...Always thinking he's better than everyone else 'cause he's got his Dragons...Well, I'm gonna bring him down. Eelektross, Electivire, Ampharos, Electrode, Manectric, Raichu and I are gonna slay his Pokémon like no tomorrow...[/i][/color]
[color=#daa520]"So, why does the great Champion wish to examine the trainer database?"[/color]

[~British Soul~]

Still walking around completely in Alluvium Desert looking for his Go-Goggles, Silver wondered if they were really a big deal. He knew that his eyes were sensitive, but it started to dawn on him that what's lost is lost, however he was determined to find them at any cost.
He looked to the ground to see if he can see if anything was glistening in the sand, but he knew that looking at the ground slowly wasted quite a bit of time, time that he couldn't afford to lose at that.
"There has to be another way." Silver muttered to himsewlf as he considered the options that he had, then he realised something massive, "I got it! I'll use Staravia. Staravia get out there and find my Go-Goggles!" Staravia came out and looked for the Go-Goggles. Fortunately Staravia had seen him wear them when it tried to figure out who tripped Silver up, and all it had to do was look for something glistening in the ground, granted that something else isn't lost in the desert as well.

About 45 minutes later, Silver gave a little sigh and wondered if Staravia was ever going to find the Go-Goggles for him. It looked like all hope was lost as he struggled to bat the sand away from his face when Staravia was circling around in the sky, Silver was vaguely able to make Staravia out in the sand, and decided to run to its location. after 15 minutes of walking Silver finally managed to catch up to Staravia and out of the corner of his eye something shined in the sand, it was his Go-Goggles, and when Silver picked them up he was overjoyed almost to the point that he could hug Staravia, but he wasn't that desperate. "Thanks Staravia, you're an absolute star you are." Silver said to Staravia congratulating it for its hard work as he put the Go-Goggles on, he was lucky to survive this long without them, but felt that he would rather wear them just in case.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few hours of braving the Sandstorm later, Silver could sense that the sandstorm was subsiding and that could mean one thing, he was near his destination, though he wasn't sure. The whole day's excursion in the desert had almost taken its toll on Silver and it looked as if he was about to collapse, just as he had left the sandstorm behind and entered civilisation. When he exited the sandstorm, looking like he was about to collapse, a resident from Terramean City approached him and asked if he needed help to get to the pokemon center, Silver had nodded his head as the guy held him by his arms and took him to the pokemon center which wasn't very far.
When he got there, he limped towards the counter and gave Nurse Joy his pokemon to heal, and the nurse told him to sit down whilst he was waiting. As he sat down he looked at the time and thought there wasn't any point in challenging the gym and he also knew he wouldn't have the strength to get there either so he took the safer option.
After Nurse Joy was done in the examination room, she gave Silver his pokemon and gave him directions to the sleeping quarters where he decided to stay for the rest of the day, and the night.

[b]OoC: i know it may not seem night to all of you lot, but i'm thinking on the perspective side of it as it might be a new day in others IC posts by the time i next view this thread[/b]

[Zextra]

"Nice match!" Caden congratulated Rose as he received his badge from Shubura. "Well, now what are you going to do?" he asked as he left the gym. "As for me...I'm off to the cave on the water not far from Levia Bridge" Caden explained as he took his leave. "As for Gyarados, you can hold on to her until our battle in Rockius" Caden smiled. "Well, in that case, if I don't see you, I'll see you at the port later" he concluded as he left for the Pokemon Center.

Caden arrived at the Pokemon Center shortly after - following a brief talk with Nurse Joy, he received his Sigilyph back and placed its Pokeball in his bag. After thanking Nurse Joy, he left the Pokemon Center and made his way to the shores of Flamvius Town, where he threw Milotic's Pokeball in the water. The serpent emerged, and Caden jumped on its back. "Milotic, could you take me to that opening over there?" Caden asked quietly, to which Milotic nodded and gave a soft cry. The two of them jet across the water, reaching the opening, where Caden returned his Milotic. He entered the cave to explore.

After spending a fair amount of time in the cave with a flashlight, Caden discovered a pack of sleeping Axew (sans a few, who were probably supposed to be on guard), appearing to be highly intrigued by them. However, one in particular caught his eye - a rather brownish-colored one. "Perhaps it's sick?" Caden thought as he took out a Pokeball. "Sigillyph, give me some help here!" Caden called. "Launch a Hypnosis attack!" Caden commanded. Sigilyph started emitting yellow waves of sleep-inducing hypnosis, forcing the "guards" to fall asleep. "Maybe I should take this one to Nurse Joy" he thought, as he touched it with an empty Pokeball. The little dragon was sucked into the sphere in a red light, and Caden picked it up, putting it in his bag.

He started for the exit, but suddenly, he felt a crack form underneath him. The crack turned out to be more of a fissure, as the ground completely opened up under him. Caden gave a slight shriek out of shock for a split second before he reached into his bag for a Pokeball. He threw the first one he could, and it turned out to be the newly caught Axew, which was still sleeping. "That's not good..." he thought, as he held the Axew closely. The next thing he saw was being trapped by a wall of rocks... His bag and Pokeballs were gone, and Axew was the only one still with him. The space was small and cramped. Only catching a slight glimpse, he rolled onto his back, motionless (for now).

***

"Oh, just checking out potential candidates for the Conference this year" Rectus replied as the two of them shot down to the main computer floor. The doors of the elevator opened, and Rectus walked out to the computer, whose colossal monitors were aligned around the room in a circular manner. The giant screens gave a series of flashes before a view of all the trainers competing in the league that year encircled the room, filling up each screen. "It seems that the trainer who is ahead right now has five badges" he muttered to Judas.

[CrystalCyae]

Last on last. Cyndaquil on Sneasel. Usually, such a battle would be completed within seconds. A Flare Blitz, and Sneasel would be fainted. However, now that Ryn was weakened severely from the previous fight with Pawniard and Houndour, that wasn't an option. But Flamethrower still was.
"Ryn, use Flamethrower!" Ashmin commanded.
Ryn's back flared as she took, hopefully, the final deep breath of the battle. The flames that billowed from her mouth were weaker than the ones before. But Ashmin knew her Cyndaquil wasn't going to give up just yet. She knew it was an opponent she could defeat in normal circumstances. Just because the circumstances were different didin't mean she was giving up.
The fires shot from Ryn's mouth, weak but bright, straight at Manos' Sneasel.
[i]C'mon. Faint stupid Sneasel. If the battle continues too long, I dunno how Ryn would take it.[/i]

[~Kip~]

Leonard was finally able to reach the other side of the Levia Bridge, but this took many days. He was too lazy to walk 10 miles in a day, so he ended up taking close to a week. he knew though, that he had to hurry if he wanted to get to Flamvius Town and challenge the gym leader. And since he was there, he decided 10 miles was quite a long way to walk, so he rested at the pokemon Center for the night. he knew the next day would be important, and so did his Pokemon. in fact, before they went to bed, they were so exited that Leonard had to personally calm them all down. Leonard spent all night planning strategies with his newly evolved Pidgeotto, and his new Shiny Mantyke. Leonard needed to win this league so that he would prove to Oak that he was a good trainer, and so he could make Oak, the closest thing he had to a family, proud of him.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

[b][color=#000000]Coral[/color][/b]

[color=#008080]"Moby sorry," [/color][color=#000000]Moby said in an apologetic tone. Like [i]that[/i] was gonna cut it for Coral. She was just to yell at him once again, until all of a sudden, Thorn turned up to mock a probable demotion, unaware that would never happen to Moby [i]or[/i] Allison. The both of them were [i]already[/i] at the lowest stage one could possibly get, and the closest thing [i]to[/i] a demotion would be if either of the two were to be downright [i]fired[/i]. Still, Coral wasn't [i]about[/i] to take such words with a grain of salt.[/color]

[color=#4b0082]"[i]You[/i] try commanding such a blithering idiot!"[/color][color=#000000] [/color][color=#000000]she spat back, [/color][color=#4b0082]"Maybe he'll bring you down to [i]his[/i] level and beat you by experience!"[/color]

[color=#000000][b]Juan Monsignor[/b][/color]

[color=#ff8c00]"Charizard, Solar Beam!"[/color]

[color=#000080]"Tyranitar, counter with Sand Stream,"[/color]

[color=#000000]Ash's Charizard had just fired a green beam of light at Juan's Tyranitar, but the latter had cast a sand storm that was vast enough to cover the entire area, blocking the sun and robbing the attack of most of its power. Tyranitar shrugged off the resulting impact, and was preparing to retaliate with extreme prejudice.[/color]

[color=#000000]"Whoa, now that's one big ass sand storm that Tyranitar has cast, folks,"[/color][color=#000000] the MC announced, [/color][color=#000000]"Then again, it needed to be that big so it could block out the sun, which theoretically would greatly reduce Solar Beam's power. Looks like it got the thumbs up in practice, too. Now, let's see what this crafty Tyranitar has [i]next[/i] up his sleeve."[/color]

[color=#000080]"Tyranitar, press the attack with Stone Edge!"[/color][color=#000000] Juan commanded. A javelin of rock started to form in front of the Pokemon, which then lunged it towards the opposing Charizard. Luckily for Ash, Charizard saw this coming, and soared into the air to evade the flying rock javelin, which continued to fly over the audience's heads with such momentum that it pierced straight into one of the cameras capturing the event. The repair crew were on it in seconds.[/color]

[color=#000000]"Ouch, that's some collateral damage there,"[/color][color=#000000] the MC said in a Captain Obvious manner, "Those of you watching at home would've just [i]seen[/i] the Stone Edge attack going straight through the camera before you've lost all video. Don't worry, the repair crew is working on fixing that camera [i]as[/i] we speak, so you [i]should[/i] regain picture momentarily."[/color]

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

"Oh. Alright. I'll be there soon, okay?" Rose called after Caden. "Hmm..."
"[i]Would Rose Blackwood please come to the front service counter?[/i]" he heard the intercom blare. Rose walked up to the counter and gladly accepted his Pokémon. "Have a nice day!" the Nurse Joy told him.
As Rose exited the Pokémon Center, he saw something off in the waves. "What's that...?" Rose pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it "[i]Lapras, the Transport Pokémon. It loves carrying people on its back across the sea, and they have the ability to understand human speech. However, it has almost been driven to extinction due to overhunting by humans.[/i]"
"Hmmm...Wait...It looks hurt! Gyarados, come on out!" Gyarados roared triumphantly as she burst out of her ball. Rose hopped on her back, and the two began heading toward the Lapras. Sure enough, just as Rose thought, the Lapras was injured—She had some bruising on her neck, and one of her fins was slightly twisted. "You poor thing...I'll get you to the Pokémon Center." Rose tossed a Pokéball, and the Lapras was abosrbed in a harsh red light. It was pretty obvious that Lapras wasn't going to try to escape in her weakened state. And with that, Rose and Gyarados continued heading toward the cave.

*~♪~♪~*

"Hey! Caden! You in here?"
Rose almost stepped down a massive crack in the ground. "Holy Arceus! Wait...Caden? Are you down there?" Rose called out Treecko, as she was the best at climbing out of his entire team. "Treecko, could you go down there and see if Caden's down there?" Treecko looked at Rose quizzically. "Oh, right you haven't met Caden...Alright, go see if there's anybody down there, please." Treecko nodded and started climbing down the wall f the crevasse.

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#daa520]"Five, eh? Sounds interesting. How's Caden Azure and Rose Whatever doing?" Judas asked. A random thought entered Judas's head. "Have you ever thought about having some Contest Halls built around Cygrus?"[/color]

[evilfusion]

In plain view of Coral and Thorn, the air seemed to ripple, like waves of heat rising from its source. The next moment, a bipedal canine materialized into view, occuping that airspace. It was covered in black fur, with red, sharpened locks of fur draped behind its head like a mane or ponytail. Its paws had fierce, impressive claws, and its eyes were sharp and glinting with fierce amusement. The sudden proximity should have been more than enough to make the others jump if unexpected, and the Zoroark eagerly observed their reactions, seeking out that twitch.

To anyone familiar with the Pokemon, particularly if that person was concerned about their boss discovering the scene, the Zoroark was an omen of impending doom.

From the doorway, a second, smaller, black furred biped entered. Like the first Pokemon, a similar crest of red was splashed upon its head, although it took the form of feathers instead of fur. Like the Zoroark, wicked claws adorned its paws and its eyes were eager. Unlike the larger canine, the Weavile moved over to Coral and promptly nuzzled her leg.

To complete the trio of the black and red motif, a bipedal insect-like Pokemon entered, its body covered almost entirely by a natural steel armor, colored a stunning shade of red with a few black markings upon it. In place of paws, a pair of nasty-looking pincers clicked at the ends of its arms. Unlike the other two Pokemon, it seemed bored and reluctant, and only gave the room a passing glance before leaning against the doorframe idly, its arms crossed indifferently and its yellow eyes closing to slits.

Lastly, a tall female human stepped into the room, taking an additional moment to navigate around the Scizor, which gave little indication that he noticed or cared that he was impeding her entrance. A white lab coat draped her body, the logo of the organization emblazoned on the breast. This was Sera, the founder and leader of Team Draconius, and the three Pokemon she was known to have close to her at all times. In the midst of internal disaster, she was not the one you wanted annoyed with you.

Her icy blue eyes swept the room, pausing on the signs of destruction littering the room. She closed her eyes in exasperation, opening them again in slight surprise as the Weavile practically bounced over to her and climbed up her leg, clunging to her coat until she accepted the Weavile into her arms.

"I heard yelling," she said quietly, now examining the Draconius members present with an examining look, the intensity of intimidation significantly reduced considering she now had a Weavile cuddling in her arms. "I'll assume there's an explanation. Crimson, encourage a full and unemotional explanation, please."

The Zoroark smirked and began pointedly studying its claws, then focused intently on Coral, silently commanding her to speak first.