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

[Dementuo]

"Woo, that's quite a fissure." Atrus said, standing next to Rose. "I'm not even sure where the bottom is. Hmm..." he continued on his little monologue. "Well, a fissure that deep would certainly cause quite a fall. I hope no one fell into it... Depending on where the bottom is, and if there are any ledges jutting out of the sides, anything from a few bruises, to a concussion, to death would befall anyone who happened to take a misstep..." Atrus ranted, oblivious to the person he was standing next to. He then turned his head to look at Rose, now noticing his presence. "Oh, hello there. I'm Atrus, a traveling writer." Atrus greeted him, extending a hand. "Always a pleasure to meet another trainer."

[~British Soul~]

The next day, Silver woke up like a brand new person, he needed the sleep, like an abra needs its 18 hours sleep a day. The excursion in the desert had made him forget about the fact that there was a gym in Terramean City, until one of the people in the pokemon center mentioned it "I can't believe i lost yesterday, though then again you can't really tell who the gym leader is going to use."
When Silver heard this however he decided to come into the conversation, "What's about not knowing who the gym leader is going t use."
"Yeah, don't you know? In the Terramean gym you choose what the gym leader will use from a 9-panel grid" The person replied whilst not caring that Silver waltzed into the conversation
"Thanks for telling me this information." Silver said as he left the pokemon center with his pokemon in tow. Unfortunately he had no idea where the gym was, due to the fact that the pokemon center was the first and only structure he saw when he came into Terramean City, so he had to ask one of the locals for directions.
A short 20 minute walk later, Silver had reached the Terramean Gym. Inside he found a rocky battlefiend with a machine that controlled a 9-panel grid which descends onto the battlefield at the start of the math, Silver wanted to examine the machine but what he heard was,
"Stop right there kid." said the mysterious voice who turned out to be none other than the father of Randy, the gym leader. "My son went on a little trip, i'm guessing you're here for a challenege am i right?"
Silver nodded as words couldn't not describe what he was in for. A few moments later, the ref walked in and the gym leader explained the rules of the gym "Before the starts this grid drops in like so. You then touch a panel, and whatever panel you touch will determine what pokemon i use, its all randomized see?"
Silver was a little hesitant, but chose the top-right panel, and a cannon-like device in the gym fired the pokeball towards Randy's father "I hope you are ready" He threw the pokeball and out came a Swampert. Silver gulped at the sight of the fully evolved pokemon, however, he knew what type it was, which narrowed the choice of pokemon to just one and reached for its pokeball.
"I'm counting on you little guy, Totodile get out there!"

When Silver had sent out his pokemon, the referee declared "Now Begin!"

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

Totodile was sure holding its own against Swampert depsite the fact that Swampert is fully evolved, both sides have thrown powerful attacks at each other and it looked as if neither side are giving an inch, so Silver thought he'd throw the match in his favour by using a combo move to surpise Randy's father.
"Use Waterfall, then follow up with an Ice Punch!"
Totodile started running at Swampert with water flowing under it for an attack, then as he got close he jumped up and his fist froze up. As he made contact with Waterfall to push Swampert back a bit, the Ice Punch then made contact with the chin with enough power to make him fall back and bump his head on a rock, as the smoke cleared, Swampert was unable to battle and Silver was declared the winner.
Randy's father awarded Silver the Geo Badge, then after giving a bow, respecting the gym leader, Silver left to heal Totodile back at the pokemon center.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose jumped when he heard Atrus next to him. "GAH! Where'd you come from?!" Then, he shook his head. "Never mind. My name's Rose, by the way." At that moment, Treecko climbed back up the side of the chasm. "Is anybody down there?" She nodded. "You think I could fit?" She shook her head. Rose sighed.
"Alright then...HEY! WHOEVER'S DOWN THERE, I'M SENDING DOWN A LAMPENT! IF YOU'RE CONSCIOUS, LET HIM GET YOU OUT OF THERE![i]" [/i]Rose tossed Lampent's ball into the air, and the Pokémon hovered in front of him briefly. "I need you to go down there and get whoever's there out, okay?" Lampent nodded and began to descend into the darkness.

[Zextra]

"Heh, taking an interest in your opponents?" Rectus asked, teasingly, as he rapidly typed their names in. "Rose...which Rose?" he asked Judas, pulling up a list of nearly a hundred faces named "Rose". "As for Caden..." he did another search on another monitor. "3 badges" he finished as he pulled up Caden's trainer page. Then he turned back to Judas. "But there are still quite a few trainers still stuck without any badges" he sighed, as he looked to screens on the far left of the room. "So, how many do you think will participate in the Evraflow Conference this year, and how many do you think will give us a run for our money?" Rectus asked as he leaned back in his chair.

***
Suddenly, Caden regained consciousness and though he opened his eyes wide, he was unable to see a thing. It took a moment for him to remember just what had happened, and how he ended up wherever he was. When he finally recalled the past events, he found that wherever he was, it]t was pitch-black and completely isolated from the outside - he could not hear anything from the outside, and it felt like nothing was inside the space, either. As he went around feeling the interior of where he was, he noticed a rocky surface closed in at all sides. Reaching around him, he also noticed that his bag had disappeared. He stuck his hand in his pocket, and discovered that his Pokedex was still there. He took it out and flipped it open, using the light coming from it as a flashlight.
He moved the light from the Pokedex around only to find himself trapped in some kind of rocky tomb. As he flashed the light on the ground, he saw the Axew that he had "caught" earlier looking at him expectantly. "Ax-ew!" it called, the cry resonating through the space they were in. Seeing no other way to get out the area, He pointed his Pokedex sensor at the Axew to scan its moves. "Dragon Rage...should be enough to blast out of here..." Caden thought, reading a line on his Pokedex. He walked over to the Axew and told it to use a Dragon Rage to destroy the rocks blocking them from getting out. It let out the attack, and to Caden's surprise, the blue orb that the Axew had fired had not shown any signs of weakness, causing him to rethink his theory of the Axew being sick.
The blue orb shot at the rocks and shattered the "wall" completely, causing an explosion that resonated throughout the cave, even spewing out red sparks. Caden quickly grabbed the Pokeball on the ground to return Axew, protecting it from the aftereffects of the blast.

(Yeah...I know that made almost no sense, but... )

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose had to shield his eyes so he didn't go blind from either the blue light or from the dust and debris flying at him. "Lampent...You didn't do that, did you?"

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#4b0082]Lampent had to use Protect to prevent himself from being injured. It was then that he saw Caden. "Lamp! Lamp, Lampent!" Lampent's eyes started glowing a faint blue as he attempted to pick up Caden with his Psychic.[/color]
[color=#4b0082][i]...I...Hear something...[/i][/color]
[color=#4b0082]Lampent quickly enveloped himself and Caden in barriers of green light, defending them from a barrage of Psybeam attacks.[/color]
[color=#4b0082][i]Leave this place...[/i][/color]
[color=#4b0082][i]Yes, leave...[/i][/color]
[color=#4b0082][i]You are not welcome here...[/i][/color]
[color=#4b0082]Lampent felt the telepathic messages bombarding him as he looked around. There! He saw a group of Kadabra and Alakazam near the edge of his vision.[/color]
[color=#4b0082][i]Hmph...[/i][/color]

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#daa520]"I don't remember his last name...He's probably the only guy named Rose, though. Meh, it's probably not that important. He probably doesn't even stand a chance." Judas paused before answering Rectus's question "Don't know...Not more than 24, I'd say. A lot of people probably won't manage to beat the Graklus Gym, like every year, so they'll be stuck for a while. Caden probably would be the biggest one, but he's still gonna lose to us, no doubt." Judas smiled, thinking about surpassing the Champion of his homeland.[/color]

[Zextra]

"Hmm...guy...I see. Must be this one" Rectus answered, clicking on a page. "Rosencrantz "Rose" Blackwood" he read as he watched the page. "Also with three badges currently" he continued. "And somehow I feel we're going to get plenty of challenges this year - I think there's a new wave coming" Rectus smiled, breaking Judas' rant.

***
As soon as Caden walked out from the flames, he saw his bag on the ground. "There it is..." he thought as he picked it up, smiling. Suddenly, Lampent appeared before him and he felt his body lift off the ground. Then a green barrier rose up around them as several blasts of psychic energy attempted to attack them. "Kadabras and Alakazams?" Caden noticed in shock, seeing the many psi Pokemon lined up a short distance from where he was when trapped under the rocks. "They must have been disturbed by the pitfall...or the blast..." he thought for a minute as he floated upwards.

[~Kip~]

Leonard challenged the gym leader of Flamvius Town the next day. He barged into the gym, a crazed bull bashing down a rodeo fence. He jumped to the ring in nearly one leap, and then the gym leader accepted the challenge. Before anybody could know it, the battle begun. Leonard started by throwing a PokeBall to the ground, yelling, "Go, Pidgeotto!" the PokeBall hit the ground and bounced up, right beofre opening and releasing a majestic bird. the bird squawked "Pidgeooo!" anmd then flew into the air. the Gym leader then threw a PokeBall into the air, which released Skarmory. Leonard started by ordering Pidgeotto to use Wing Attack, which the Gym Leader countered by having Skarmory use Steel Wing. the two attacks collided, sending both pokemon back.

* * * * * * * * *

"Quilava, use Flamethrower!" ordered the Gym Leader, which made Quilava launch at the injured Mantyke that was owned by Leonard. Leonard countered by having Manytke use Wing Attack. manytke lifted itself up and smacked the Quilava with its fin-like wing-thing. This was the end of the battle, which Leonard had won. The Gym Leader handed him the badge, and leonard was off to the Pokemon Center to rest; tomorrow he would try his hand to find the barren Colloseum.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

[color=#000000]Any attempts at intimidating Coral would've only served to anger her even further, so she couldn't care [/color][color=#000000][i]less[/i] [/color][color=#000000]about Weavile botching the whole thing with her lovey dovey tune. Still, doing anything [/color][color=#000000][i]other than[/i][/color][color=#000000] showing respect to Sera and giving her the answers she needed would've gotten her nowhere, so after a brief sigh and without further ado...[/color]

[color=#4B0082]"It's a good thing you came a little earlier, or this blithering idiot of mine would've gotten a bite mark to his face,"[/color][color=#000000] Coral cast a glare to Moby after saying this; one that would've made any Arbok jealous, [/color][color=#4b0082]"You should [i]know[/i] how mad I can get by now,[/color][color=#4B0082]"[/color]

[color=#008080]"Moby [i]said[/i] sorry,"[/color] [color=#000000]Moby interjected.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]"Shut up, you! [/color][color=#4b0082]I don't wanna hear [i]any[/i] words out of your mouth unless they happen to explain this mess you've made or how you've managed to blow up that...!"[/color][color=#000000] Coral cut herself from berating the poor Moby for a second or two... if only because she realized something about that Reshiram prototype, [/color][color=#4b0082]"YOU WEREN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO TURN IT ON, YOU STUPID OAF!!"[/color]

[color=#008080]"Moby didn't mean to bump it,"[/color][color=#000000] Moby said in a cowardly tone.[/color]

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Lampent finally returned, Caden in tow. "Great, thanks Lampent!" Rose returned Lampent to his ball after he set Caden down. "Geez, Caden, I was scared! You better not get in trouble again!" Rose said, half laughing and half scolding. "I swear...Anyway. Caden, this is Atrus. Atrus, Caden. Say, Atrus, are you competing in the Evraflow Conference, too?" Rose smiled expectantly at Atrus, waiting for an answer.

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#006400]Nathan sat in Flamvius Town's Pokémon Centre, talking to himself. "Caden should have been here earlier...He's always itching for another Gym badge. But...I wonder if he's already moving on to the next Gym or still in that cave, like Shubura said..." Nathan tapped the button on his Pokéball, and the capsule device popped open, summoning an Empoleon in a burst of white light. "Might as well go check. C'mon, Empoleon."[/color]

[color=#006400]*~♪~♪~*[/color]

[color=#006400]Nathan and his Empoleon sat on the small beach in front of the cave. They didn't really feel like going in, at least not yet. "So Empoleon...What do you think about those rumors we heard? About those organizations...Nebulus and Draconius, I think they were called?"[/color]
[color=#006400]The Pokémon looked skyward for a moment, then slashed the sand with his wings, making an [font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]X[/font] shape.[/color]
[color=#006400]"...I [i]really[/i] wish I could understand you, sometimes..."[/color]

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#daa520]Judas Renict sighed. "Blackwood...Yeah, that's it." He sighed. "Probably not even worth it, anyway. He's gotta be a pushover. Seemed to eager; too nice." Judas tapped his fingers rhythmically on the keyboard, and a screen popped up. It was a more detailed profile of Rose. "Let's see...Registered with a Lampent...As of his last Gym Battle, he has used a Lampent, Foongus, Aron, Scraggy, Gyarados, and Nidoking...Yeah, doesn't seem to threatening." Judas sighed once again and plopped down in a chair. He closed his eyes and leaned back, letting the hum of the processors in the room gently send him off to sleep...[/color]

[Zextra]

"Heh, sorry - didn't expect that to happen" Caden muttered sheepishly. "But, whatever, I've accomplished what I wanted to do here" Caden said before turning to Atrus. "Pleasure to meet you, Atrus" he greeted, extending his hand. Then he turned back to Rose. "We should probably start moving along" he proposed as he exited out of the cave. Upon reaching the outside, Caden saw a familiar figure sitting on a bench near the shore of Flamvius Town. He released Milotic into the water and got on its back - the two jet across the water and reached the other side. He glanced back to make sure Rose and the new guy was still on his tail before walking to the bench.
"Nathan, what are you doing here?" he asked as he approached him.

***

"I see..." Rectus was not over-enthusiastic at Judas' response. Then, he noticed Judas falling asleep. "I suppose I'll stick around here for a while until you wake up" he thought as he continued to view the database.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose proceeded across the water on Gyarados's back, coming to the beach just after Caden did. "Good job, Gyarados—return." Rose then looked at Caden, then at the newcomer.
"[color=#006400]Well howdy, Caden. I just thought I'd come to check up on you, y'know? Make sure you're not getting in any trouble...[/color]" Nathan trailed off. "So, I see you've made some new friends," Nathan said looking from Rose, to Atrus, and finally back to Caden. "[color=#006400]So, I heard from Shubura you got your third badge, I see...Cool, I guess.[/color]"
Rose spoke up. "Umm, hi, my name's Rosencrantz Alexander Blackwood. but you can call me Rose, if you want." Rose extended his hand to Nathan.
"[color=#006400]Nice to meet ya, Rose. I'm Nathan Azure, Caden's big bro[/color]." Nathan accepted Caden's hand and shook firmly. "[color=#006400]So...you all want a lift to Grakius Isle? I've got some contacts that can get us there in a snap[/color]."
Nathan smiled at his brother, awaiting his response.

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#daa520]Judas's dreams were filled with images of flame and lightning. Finally, clarity came to him, and he stood in an open field in the midst of a storm. A large, blue, ogre-like Pokémon on a cloud lowered itself to him.[/color]
[color=#daa520][i]I am Thundurus. You are Judas Renict, self-proclaimed master of the Electric-type. I come to you with a test.[/i][/color]
[color=#daa520]"Yes! Anything to prove my worth!"[/color]
[color=#daa520][i]You must battle at full power and fury whenever possible.[/i][/color]
[color=#daa520]"Yes, I already do so!"[/color]
[color=#daa520][i]And you must let me inhabit your body at any time, so as to exact my will through a human vessel.[/i][/color]
[color=#daa520]"Yes, master Thundurus, you already do this at your leisure!"[/color]
[color=#daa520][i]And lastly...You must destroy the Champion of—[/i][/color]
[color=#daa520]At this point, another Pokémon resembling Thundurus, albeit orange instead of blue, came in and opened a portal, sealing Thundurus away.[/color]

[color=#daa520]*~♪~♪~*[/color]

[color=#daa520]Judas awoke with a start. His dreams always played out the same way. Thundurus would come before him and ask the same questions, and the orange Pokémon would come and seal Thundurus in the portal. The dream always cut off at the same point—Thundurus would ask Judas to destroy the Champion of one of the regions, but he never said which.[/color]
[color=#daa520][i]Stupid dreams...[/i] Judas thought to himself. [i]Never had any of these until I came here...[/i][/color]

[Dementuo]

Atrus tucked away a pen he had pulled out during the comotion. "Good, good, good... Perfect!" He exclaimed out loud, to no one in particular. Looking up from the notepad we had been furiosly scribbling on just moments ago, he gave a weak smile. "Ah, sorry, I just had the perfect inspiration for a story I've been meaning to write." He said quickly, looking around at the three people standing around him. "For those of you who don't know..." He began, glancing at Caden and Nathan. "...My name is Atrus. I'm a traveling writer from the Seafoam Islands, all the way in the Kanto region." Atrus introduced himself. He then looked directly at Caden, Atrus' hazel eyes seeming to pierce Caden's eyes. For a split-second, Atrus' eyes seemed to flash a brilliant shade of cyan. He grinned a little. "Well, you seem to have a rather interesting, adventurous life. Would you mind if I tagged along, and cataloged a bit of your time here in Cygrus? It would really help me write my story."

[Zextra]

"Beats the ferry, I guess" Caden replied, looking away. "And Atrus" he started, turning to Atrus. He felt Atrus' gaze blind him momentarily. "Uh...sure, I guess?" Caden replied, dazed.
"So, Nathan, any [i]other[/i] reason you're here?" he asked. "I know you, and you wouldn't be here just to 'check on me'..." Caden accused, staring at Nathan. While awaiting a response, Caden turned to Nathan's Empoleon, who was waddling around. He smiled before stroked Empoleon on the head.

***

"Have a nice nap? It's been six hours..." Rectus yawned, getting up from the computer. "Far too much time to be sitting around, I guess" he scolded himself as the monitors around the room shut down.

[Hydra of Ages]

Wayne sipped his coffee delicately as he tapped on the keys of the Hotel's computer. The machine wasn't exactly...elegant, but it served his purposes- though the Devon Corporation logo made him chuckle a little. The Hoenn-based technology corporation had been Silph's rivals for years, and were almost single-handedly responsible for blocking them from extending into countries outside of Kanto and Johto- though he couldn't quite figure why. The previous head had died not too long ago, suddenly, and there were interesting rumors about his successor...

[i]"Draconius..." [/i]he searched the net, though more specifically he searched the public-access Interpol records. Criminal gangs were always a problem no matter where you went, and Wayne was intrigued at the idea of one shaping up to be notable in Cygrus. Usually they were knockoffs of the famous Rocket family, but every so often there was one or two that exceeded expectations...

The records were spotty, but there [i]was [/i]an entry on a sinnoh-based cell by that name... No names given, but it mentioned a woman from Canalave and a suspicious amount of information regarding most of the dragon-based legendary pokemon. Wayne had an odd feeling about that- true, all his evidence of wrongdoing came from a short word on a bridge... but his father had always told him to follow his intuition.

He drew up a few notes, and took a writing pad and pen with him when he left the hotel for the city streets of Flamvius. First matter of order would be to get more information, and doing that would be simply a matter of canvasing the area. If there were rumors in the area, he'd find the- and then perhaps, he'd follow the trail all the way back to the source....


- - -



Magma Forest. Kryia wasn't particularly fond of the smell of ash, which probably explained why she wasn't fond of nature's matchstick- the mass of trees that lived here happened to enjoy growing in ash-rich soil, despite the obvious problems with exploding into flame at random times. Despite its habit to burn down and regrow every few years or so, there had been rumors about a certain white dragon making its residence somewhere in the deep depths...

[b]I HUNGER FOR THE HATED BLOOD OF UNOVA'S SCION, [/b]Amut howled in his usual discreet way. Kriya rolled her eyes a little, but otherwise refrained from commenting. Amut hated just about every legendary -actually, just about everybody in general- but bore a special resentment for the Unova dragons. Even if the original being that had sealed him away was long gone, his separate parts still wandered about freely- which was of course, unacceptable to the dark dragon.

Ouryu, for once, didn't seem particularly nervous about this area- if anything, she was excited. To be expected, really- fire types tended to congregate together. She decided not to mention to the vulpix that a burned tree could fall and crush her just as much as it could anyone else.

She removed a pokeball from her belt and tossed it. Yasya appeared with a hop and a skip, the Riolu smiling from behind her face mask- she glanced about in obvious curiosity.

"Help make sure nothing falls on us, Yasya." she said calmly. The riolu lit up at that, smiled, gave Ouryu a hug (to which the vulpix responded to by becoming quickly uncomfortable,) then dashed to the side while looking largely guardian-ish.

Good enough Kyria though with a shrug, entering the forest.



---



Sword Peak.

Oculus made Our home within Falchion mountain, carved deep into the metallic rock by Quattuor's powerful claws. Even now, the Excadrill was hard at work, removing massive chunks of metal and stone as it expanded the base, opened up new tunnels to allow one to pass through the Razor mountain chain uninpeded, and perhaps, one day, stumble upon the fabled peak of Cobalion...

For now, however, that was simply a pipe dream. Eventually all the legends would fall to Them, including the fabled 'heroes' of the pokemon... but there were more important things at the moment.

Darkrai. The elemental of the night and consumer of dreams- living simply in the east, basically outside of Oculus' doorstep. He hadn't told anyone of his people to go after the phantasm. No, this capture he would handle -personally-.

Vacuus appeared without being ask, the armored Lucario posturing before his king. Oculus nodded.

"Go forth." He commanded simply, raising a hand. Vaccuus nodded, and with blinding speed, disappeared.

[evilfusion]

Sera sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers for a moment, then raising two fingers towards Crimson in a light gesture. The Zoroark's eyes lit up and he backhanded Coral's cheek, not so hard as to be considered a blow, but enough of a sting to serve as a penalty. Sera blinked, double checking her hand to verify the gesture and her brow furrowed subtly. That hadn't exactly been the signal for physically hitting, but she chose not to comment, considering it had been a pulled punch at worst.

"That was neither an unemotional response, nor particularly informative," she said coolly. [i]My mistake for asking a human. Such annoying individuals, so self-serving and self-preserving. Pokemon clans would gladly sacrifice themselves as an individual for the greater survival odds of the whole. But yet, the numbers serve my requirements, so they will have to do.[/i]

"So perhaps, I shouldn't ask for a general explanation and instead ask for specific details, loathe as I am to take the time for them," she continued aloud, looking directly at Moby now. "Answer me these, please, and refrain from justification or excuses."

She gestured to the room. "Who made the mess, how, and what exactly was the mess before it became one? Sley, could you gently take Quatra off me for a bit, please?"

The Scizor opened one eye to look at Sera when his name was spoken, and reluctantly came over, placing one pincer beneath the Weavile, and scooping her from his trainer. Quatra whined a little at the separation and prodded the Scizor's armor experimentally. The prod earned no reaction whatsoever, and the dark-type just shrugged and rested her head on its shoulder.

Sera straightened her coat, nodding once to Crimson, who swiftly came to her side, flanking her like a bodyguard. "Go ahead..." she paused. "Moby, I believe it was, yes?"

----

Kevin's moments of peace were abruptly broken when Mara tensed. He opened his eyes, tensing his own body in instinctive anticipation. "What is it?" he asked, scanning the surroundings the best he could. Needless to say, the source was readily apparent: A pale purple serpent was slowly approaching them, a subtle hiss rising from it as it moved, a rattle visible at the end of its tail.

Kevin observed it, not relaxing entirely, but not rushing to take offensive or defensive action. He was better at reading the Cubone's behavior, having spent so much time with her before even heading out of the region he had made home, but he still liked to think of himself as fairly well-connected with Pokemon in general. However, aggression was a notoriously difficult emotion to fully anticipate or defuse, and so he had to be quick on his feet if the Ekans was feeling hostile.

Mara evidently had assumed the latter, as she made no secret of the fact she was readying her bone club to retaliate. Kevin considered telling her to alter her pose so as not to appear like an aggressor, but decided that she probably had a better grasp of the situation than he did, and if for some reason the Ekans was aggressive, lowering her guard could be dangerous to them both.

"Hello," he said, addressing the Ekans, and internally wincing at the fact he was mentally referring to it as an Ekans. Pokemon were more than just species, even if they were wild, aggressive, or dangerous. Pity that he probably wouldn't have a suitable name to call it in the event they had to leave quickly, which would probably dampen the experience. Then again, Torch had been a wild Growlithe that had set fire to his first backpack and named retrospectively, so he retracted that assumption.

The snake hissed loudly when spoken to, and Mara twirled her bone threateningly. Unfortunately, fate chose this moment to have her fumble her hold, and while she caught the bone almost immediately, the opening was there, and the snake struck, moving alarmingly fast for a Pokemon that had approached so slowly. Mara, still recovering from her fumble, barely managed to deflect its jaws with her left paw, and with a grunt of annoyance, she smacked the Ekans' coils with the bone. The snake hissed, backing off a few inches, then struck again, this time aiming for the bone itself. Mara was a second slow in countering, and her already weak hold on the bone enabled it to be knocked from her paw by the force of the snake's strike.

Kevin winced, watching the club land on the grass a short distance away, but he couldn't retrieve it without passing the two and attracting the Ekans' attention to him. He slowly shifted his position, however, so that he would be able to walk or use his own hands and feet. He wouldn't leave Mara to fight danger alone, even if it put him at risk, and he wouldn't leave himself to be a useless target by sitting there and watching like some demented sports fan. Pokemon trainers who felt no need to physically intervene in dangerous Pokemon battles had no right to be trainers.

Mara stared at the club sitting out of her reach, and the Ekans gave a sort of snickering hiss, the tail rattling. Kevin knew off-hand that even though there was a perfectly good, thick club of a tree branch just to the Cubone's left, she wouldn't even consider using it as an alternative weapon. It was something he picked up shortly after meeting her.

[i]Lavender Town, not far from Lavender Tower, Kevin and the Cubone observed one another with mild curiosity before the bone Pokemon would give a small nod and let him come closer. He spoke to her awkwardly, but with no malice, and while she continued to observe him, her posture relaxed enough to tell him she was fine with his presence. Any time he reached a hand towards his coat or belt, even in completely innocent or accidental gesture, her eyes narrowed and the bone club would twirl aggressively. It eventually came to mind that she was simply distrustful of his intentions and suspected he was a trainer hoping to capture her.[/i]

[i]To ease her mind, he displayed the contents of his coat and pockets to show he possessed no Pokeballs or other items that could be used to restrain her, and explaining aloud that he just wanted to interact with her, as a person to a Pokemon, and as an equal seeking company. These were all actions he noted she was surprised and visibly pleased by, and he took to visiting her daily, staying a little longer each time, and preceding each interaction with again revealing he had nothing that could be used to capture or attack her.[/i]

[i]One thing he had noticed, however, was her protectiveness of the bone club. When he asked to see it, she gave him a look that colorfully told him there was no chance of that, and when he was using a stick to draw in the dirt, her expression was that of contempt, not of the action, but of the object itself. Still, these were just minor bumps in the road as they got to know one another, him perhaps more open than her, due to his ability to speak aloud, which she seemed to understand most of. Sometimes she would talk, and even though he honestly had no idea what she was saying, he listened as attentively as he would to someone he could, and her gestures helped a little.[/i]

[i]After a month or so of these visits, broken only on Sundays, when Kevin visited Lavender Tower itself for most of the day, the Cubone offered her bone club to him, with a sort of awkward tentativeness that fit the behavior of what Kevin associated with a purposeful and meaningful step forward, and the look in her eyes, which he had started getting good at reading, told him she was not giving it to him long-term. He smiled, accepted the bone respectfully and studied it with a word of gratitude. Throughout his handling of it, she watched him with a fiercely protective look, and he silently noted she refused to be more than a short distance away from his hands. Still, it meant a lot and he returned it with another smile, so rarely seen for him. From that point on, while she never offered the bone to him again, she was much more relaxed around him. It was an important start to the bond they would forge in the near future.[/i]

Kevin frowned a bit, watching the Ekans warily now. Mara was a competent fighter and gifted with the bone club weapon, but without it, she needed much more direction, as some of their training together had proven. It was not the first time she had been temporarily deprived of the weapon, but the scenario was more dangerous than back then, and so he needed to get his thoughts together so that they could get out of the situation.

"Mara, back away twice, then charge," he said. The Cubone didn't bother acknowledging him; she rarely ever directly acknowledged anything he said in battle, although he was always fine with this. If she found his command or advice worthwhile, she'd follow it, and it threw so many opponents off-guard when they got a vibe that she was disobedient or thick-skulled (pun intended), and it would only distract her and weaken her position to look at or nod to him when he spoke.

The Ekans, which Kevin was still working out a nickname for, hissed suspiciously as the Cubone backed up a pace or two, the eyes peering from behind the bone mask showing passive retreat. She then raced forward, lowering her head enough to make the skull helmet a battering ram. To Kevin's surprise, the Ekans darted with great speed, sidewinding out of her path and swinging its tail, catching Mara's leg and sending her crashing to the grass. As the snake snickered, Kevin readied himself for intervention. If the poisonous Pokemon tried to strike her while she was down like this, he couldn't do nothing. He had Antidote in his bag specifically for this kind of scenario, but it was better to prevent it than to simply fix it.

"Oi, Python!" he said, the Ekans looking over at him with a momentarily stunned expression. [i]Huh...Python...good name. Nice work, mind.[/i] Kevin thought to himself. The confusion was really all Mara needed to push herself up, and Python immediately shifted its gaze to her. Mara darted towards the fallen bone club, and the Ekans attacked, having anticipated the movement, and it swiftly wrapped around the Cubone, constricting her in its coils. Kevin fumbled in his pocket and flung the red and white sphere he had taken out, one of the precious few Pokeballs he had bought before coming to the region.

The sphere enlarged in mid-air, striking Python in the face. It bounced off, opened, and shot a red light at the snake. However, the beam failed to absorb the snake, and dropped to the ground. Still, the blow had stunned Python momentarily, and Kevin hurried over, feinting a grab towards the Pokeball, and then going the opposite way, grabbing the heavier-than-it-looked Cubone club as Python spat a group of poisonous darts from its mouth in the feinted direction, thankfully not even coming close to where he actually was standing.

His heart pounded in his chest. Python, as he now consistently labeled the Ekans, was far more dangerous than he had expected. It was fast, aggressive, poisonous, and could predict its opponent's movements and react accordingly. He would have taken that poison sting directly if he had actually moved for the Pokeball instead of Mara's bone.

Python hissed, its eyes narrowing angrily. Clearly, it had not been amused by the feint, and Kevin noted that with the snake's attention on him, Mara was presently forgotten, still trapped in its coils. He weighed the bone with his hand, then flung it at the snake's head. Python swiftly ducked to the side, the bone flying past. It snickered and faced Kevin again, the eyes expressing smug amusement. The expression didn't last very long as the bone club slammed against the back of its head, making a return trip like a boomerang. For a moment, the Ekans was simply dazed, then it fell forward, faceplanting on the grass, the bone dropping to the ground beside it.

It was too risky to try to pick up either the bone or the Pokeball nearby, and Kevin hastily grabbed a second of the spheres from his pocket and hurled it at the snake. This time, the ball opened and the snake was pulled inside before the ball plopped onto the grass, a red light appearing in the center. The ball twitched and the light flashed steadily. Mara shook her head, regaining her bearings in the moments following her abrupt release from the snake's coils. The ball twitched again, and the red light flashed more urgently, but then there was a click, and the light disappeared.

Relief washed over Kevin and he dropped to his knees, taking deep breaths to calm his pounding heart.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

[color=#006400]Nathan sighed. "I'll tell you later, Caden. How about once we get to Grakius? When we let Rose have his battle, I'll tell you what's going on during that." Nathan looked over at Empoleon, who looked as wise and stoic as ever, regardless of the affectionate treatment he was receiving from his master's brother. Nathan's expression of good cheer returned to his face, and he pulled out a small, sleek device. He flipped the device open, and punched a few buttons. "Hey, Clyde? Yeah, can I get a ride to Grakius Isle? Uh-huh. Alright. Much obliged." He shut off the device and turned back to everyone. "Alright, my buddy's on his way. He'll get us to Grakius...But it's getting late, so I suppose we should get some rest. Big day ahead of us, no?"[/color]

[size=6]— — —[/size]

Rose sat in the lobby of the Pokémon Centre, awaiting the results of Lapras's treatment.
"Rose Blackwood?"
"Ah, yeah! That would be me!" Rose put on a cheerful expression, but he was nervous about his new Pokémon.
"Your Lapras is just fine. She appears to have been hurt simply from getting her flipper caught in a Stunfisk nest, but you capturing her got her out. She has you to be thankful for."
Rose sighed in relief and smiled at the nurse. "That's good to know. Thank you very much. Do you mind if I stay the night with her?"
"Not at all. Right this way." The nurse led Rose through a door to a large saltwater lake out back, where his Lapras was swimming around and singing. When the Transport Pokémon saw Rose, she immediately swam over and nuzzled him affectionately.
"Hah, stop it!" Rose climbed onto Lapras's back and rested his head on her neck. The gentle false current of the lake and Lapras's singing quickly sent him off to sleep...

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#daa520]Judas grimaced. He was sure Rectus knew nothing of his dreams, but he was still wary of the fact he might talk in his sleep sometimes...Hopefully nothing had arisen. Judas simply stood and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. "I'm thinking about taking a trip to Grakius. Can I borrow one of your Pokémon?"[/color]

[Zextra]

Caden lowered down as Nathan spoke. "Alright" he responded, listening to Nathan book their ride for the next day. Following this, Caden left for the Pokemon Center. But, he found that he was woozier than normal, probably due to his fall earlier. He quickly took a shower then collapsed onto the lobby couch, even failing to make his way up to the trainer dorms.

The next day, Caden woke up, still in the lobby of the center. He checked the clock, which read 7 AM. "Am I late?" Caden asked himself hurriedly as he wiped his eyes. He quickly got up and ran down to the meeting area. Clyde was there to greet him.

*insert ride here :3*

Caden stepped off their ride, setting foot on Grakus Isle. "Nathan, I'm heading to the gym first" he called, running off towards the Grakus Gym. "This way I can have that talk with Nathan without worrying about this" he thought, entering the gym.

"Hello there, my name is Sorano" a man greeted, walking towards Caden. "I presume you're here to challenge me, the Gym Leader of the Grakus Gym?" he asked, which Caden replied with a nod. "Ah, then I should probably explain the rules here" he announced, clearing his throat. "We will battle as normal, except I will stop the match when I see fit" he explained. "Understood?" he asked, to which Caden nodded yet again. "Great, let's start then" he smirked, twirling a Pokeball. He hurled it onto the battlefield whereas Caden did the same. The first set of combatants were Caden's Milotic and Sorano's Cacturne.

*nearing the end of a long, grueling battle"

Caden's Milotic stood out of breath against Sorano's third Pokemon, Spiritomb. "Heh, you're pretty strong to be able to damage Milotic as much as you have" Caden muttered to Sorano. "But of course - they say I'm as strong as some of the Elite Four" Sorano retorted, much to Caden's shock. "But you've proved your worth - I'm stopping the match here; you passed my test, so here's your reward" Sorano said, handing Caden his fourth badge. Upon thanking Sorano, Caden left the gym, reuniting with Rose, Atrus, and Nathan. "Rose, it's your turn!" he called.

***
"Don't see why not..." Rectus stated, turning on the Pokeball transfer machine near them. He pressed a series of buttons, and a light in the shape of a sphere flashed. When the light had dissipated, a Pokeball sat in the space which it had been in. "That's my Skarmory" he said, tossing the ball to Judas. "And have fun on your trip" he said, briskly walking out of the room.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

[color=#daa520]Judas grunted and nodded, accepting the ball. "In the meantime..." Judas handed a ball to Rectus. "That's my Ampharos. She's yours for the time being."[/color]
[color=#daa520]*~♪~♪~*[/color]
[color=#daa520]Judas reached the top of Evraflow Tower and tossed the ball he received from Rectus into the air, a Skarmory emerging in a burst of light. Judas hopped onto the Armor Bird Pokémon's back and flew off toward Grakius.[/color]

[size=6]— — —[/size]

Rose hopped off the plane and immediately ran after Caden. "I call next battle!" he shouted, full of energy.
"[color=#006400]Calm down, Rose,[/color]" Nathan suggested. "[color=#006400]You're really to hyper when it comes to battling.[/color]"
Rose grinned. "Sorry, I just can't help it! I just want to be a great trainer...Someone kids can look up to. And in order to become that, I've gotta be ready for anything!"
Nathan shook his head, a faint smile touching his lips. "[color=#006400]I remember when I was like that.[/color]" Nathan looked up at the mid-day sky, a gentle breeze whipping his brown hair and trench coat back. "[color=#006400]Yeah, those were the days...[/color]"
The duo walked into the Gym, and watched Caden's battle unfold...

*~♪~♪~*

Rose ran up to congratulate Caden on his win. "Awesome! The Sickle Badge!" Rose examined the badge. It was a simple black crescent with a silver outline, but it definitely meant something more than its appearance let on, just like all the other Gym Badges in Cygrus.
"Well, Sorano, I suppose I'll let you recover your Pokémon before I challenge you, right?"
Sorano nodded at Rose, and politely asked Rose, Caden, and Nathan to leave.


*~♪~♪~*

"Still, even though he's got the strength of an Elite Four member, Milotic did r—" Rose was cut off by a screech and a gust of wind.
Nathan looked up, and he saw a figure on a descending Skarmory. "[color=#006400]Who are you?[/color]"
The man hopped off of his Pokémon companion and approached them. "[color=#daa520]I am Judas Renict, the third member of the Cygrus Region's Elite Four. I came here because I knew [i]you'd[/i] be here,[/color]" the sharply-dressed man said, looking at Caden. "[color=#daa520]I'm here to challenge you to a battle. A full six-on-six battle.[/color]"
Nathan looked from his brother to the new man and back again. [color=#006400][i]Can Caden take this guy? And how do they know eachother? I mean, sure, Caden's the Sinnoh Champ, but...The Cygrus Elite Four is [/i]really [i]tough...[/i][/color]

[Zextra]

The wind had continued to blow, even after Skarmory had landed. Caden stood up, his hand slowly forming into a fist. "I've been waiting for this" he thought as he walked over to Judas. "Fine by me..." he responded before turning away. "Give me a minute, though...I need to withdraw some Pokemon for this" he said as he quickly made a trip to the Pokemon Center. He made a call to Professor Rowan. "Hello, Professor Rowan. I need a favor..." he began...

***
Shortly after, Caden approached their "meeting spot" again, fully prepared for battle. "I wish I had the chance to do this before" he smiled at Judas. "Shall we start, then?" he asked, ejecting a Pokeball from his bag. "Aggron, you're up!" Caden called, releasing the Pokeball onto the field. Emerging from the white flash of light was a rocky, metallic-looking Pokemon; it roared loudly before taking a battle pose.

***
Rectus, now back at the top of Evraflow Tower, was sitting alongside his Salamence and Judas' Ampharos, watching Judas' battle unfold. "Well, I didn't see this coming" he chuckled.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

(NOTE: Zex gave me the authority to use Caden for this battle.)

[color=#daa520]Judas growled faintly after Caden returned. "Very well. Magnezone, draw in the crowd!"[/color]
[color=#daa520]Judas tossed a Pokéball into the air and it popped open, revealing a large silver Pokémon that hovered over the ground. A strange noise that sounded like [i]ZONE[/i] emanated from the silver Pokémon.[/color]
[color=#daa520]"Heh. Magnezone, use Flash Bolt!" The Magnet Area Pokémon fired a silver beam surrounded by golden electricity at the Aggron.[/color]
"[color=#0000cd]Aggron, use Metal Burst![/color]" [color=#daa520]Caden replied, swinging his arm to the side. Aggron's body glowed silver, and it absorbed the entirety of the attack into its body. Then, a massive ball of silver energy burs forth from Aggron's mouth, which slammed into Magnezone.[/color]
[color=#daa520]This battle was going to be intense.[/color]

*~♪~♪~*

"[color=#0000cd]Garchomp, let's finish this! Tyrant Storm!" The Mach Pokémon roared and fanned out his arms. Then, an orange light formed in his abdomen, and he fired an orb of orange energy into the sky. The orb exploded, and many spheres of light rained down from the heavens. Then, Garchomp followed up by spinning rapidly in place, a blue shearing wind surrounding him and reaching toward the sky, capturing the spheres of light and turning the mixture into a massive swirling vortex of dragonic power. Finally, Garchomp leapt into the air and turned sideways, the vortex extending toward Judas's Eelektross.[/color]
"[color=#daa520]Eelektross![/color]"
[color=#0000cd]The EleFish Pokémon couldn't move out of the way, and was struck with the full intensity of the attack. An explosion rocked the surrounding area, and as the smoke cleared, Eelektross was revealed to be knocked out.[/color]
"[color=#006400]Eelektross is unable to battle![/color]" Nathan declared. "[color=#006400]The winners of this battle are Caden and Garchomp![/color]"
Judas grumbled and returned Eelektross to his ball. He then ran off, heading toward the mountains to the far west.
Rose walked over to Caden. "What do you think [i]that[/i] was all about?"

(Sorry the post was not chock-full of detail; I have to get off now, and I wanted to get it over with without having to take too long before I posted the battle.)

[Dementuo]

Atrus, who had been watching the battle unfold and had remained quiet during the entire trip, was now scribbling notes onto his small notepad again. "[color=#0000CD]Good, this part can go there... Ah, yes, that would make things much more exciting... And then if I add this in here, it'll extend it by a few moments... Slow this down a little and give some details, yes...[/color]" He continued mumbling to himself. Jotting down the last few words, he slipped the pen back into one pocket, and the notepad into another on the inside of his coat. He nodded to himself in approval. "[color=#0000CD]Perfect[/color]." He exclaimed, now taking a few short steps up to Caden. "[color=#0000CD]Outstanding battle!" He congratulated him. "I didn't know you had such strong Pokemon... Might I take a look at them?[/color]" He asked, tilting his head slightly. He had direct eye-contact with Caden now. Just as suddenly as the previous time, Atrus' eyes seemed to flash a bright cyan color for a split-second. "[color=#0000CD]...I'd like to look at them so I can write down some more specific details for my story. I'm sure my readers will love such an exhilarating battle like the one you just had, don't you think?[/color]" He said, his eyes narrowing just a little, and an almost unnoticeable smile crossing his face.

[CrystalCyae]

A harsh wind blew a cross Graklus Isle as Ashmin set foot on solid ground once more. Ryn, now a Quilave, looked slightly pale. All in all, exactly the same as when they'd gotten off the boat to Greenvine Town.
The days had passed in a blur, which reminded Ashmin so much of her Johto travels, which had seemed long at the time, but too short upon recollection. It couldn't be helped. There was just so much excitement that her mind couldn't really deal with it. Probably some adreadaline rush or something. She had no clue.

She glanced at Tyla, who was dancing in front of Ryn to make her feel better. Now a Roselia, he shone after the ferry trip, flecks of sea water gleaming on his roses. Ryn smiled slightly, but didin't move forward. The risk of her burning him was still there, albiet doubled in likeliness. Nwither of the two wanted Tyla running around on fire at an point in the future.
The image was somewhat uplifting, making Ashmin feel slightly better. She still hated the sea, or, more specifically, boats, but having fun made that seem further in the past than it really was.

"C'mon you two. Once you've finished dancing, we'll go to the gym. I hear the gym leader is really tough, so we'll have to be better than at Flamvius." she said, striding off to the gym, Ryn and Tyla running to catch up.
When they arrived, however, they were disappointed.
"Some other kid has claimed my next battle spot, once I've healed my Pokemon." Sorano explained. "You'll have to wait until after him to battle me."
Ashmin shrugged. "Alright then, we'll come back later." she smiled, and left the gym.

Outside the gym, not to far from it, actually, they witnissed the last moments of Judas' battle with Caden. Of course, Ashmin only knew of the former, and got a little shock that he was battling before her. The possibility of learning some of his battle tactics before the Conference allured her, so she walked over, a few metres back.
The Garchomp easily defeated the Elektross, which was apparently Judas' final Pokemon. When it was revealed to be knocked out, he grumbled and returned it, before sprinting away, much to Ashmin's surprise.
"That was wierd." she mumbled.

Then the final member of that group of four walked over to the victor, rambling - slightly - about his readers, and about the battle. Then, finally, looking at Caden's Pokemon.
A bit odd, but Ashmin didn't really care.

[Zextra]

"I... honestly don't know" Caden responded to Rose, shrugging. "But what I do know is that you have your own battle to attend to" he smiled, directing Rose to look behind himself - Sorano was walking back to the gym, holding three Pokeballs.
Suddenly, Caden was approached by Atrus, who asked to see his Pokemon. "Thanks, that's nice of you" Caden smiled, quickly letting out his current team as requested, revealing Milotic, Aggron, Garchomp, Absol, Gengar, and Electivire. Once Atrus was finished observing, he returned each of his Pokemon, awaiting Rose to enter the gym.
Caden then approached Nathan. "So, what is this important news you need to tell me?" Caden asked, looking up at him.

***
"That was quite unexpected..." Rectus thought, surprised by the outcome of the battle. "I wonder how that loss will affect Judas" he mumbled as he returned Salamence and Ampharos. Following this, he walked to the center of the floor, slid a card into a slot on the wall, and awaited for the elevator to arrive.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

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

[color=#000000]Coral would've [i]normally[/i] retaliated to the back-handed slap that she received, especially considering that she ended up bleeding slightly as a result thanks to those [i]nails.[/i] But she left it alone, expecting the retaliation to get herself nowhere. She even allowed herself to continue bleeding, if only to allow Sera to see the extent of what her Pokemon had done. Then again, Sera would probably be the type that would wave it off anyway, now that Coral thought of it.[/color]

[color=#4b0082]"You're full of crap,"[/color][color=#000000] Coral cursed through gritted teeth after Sera's reasoning, albeit coming off as inaudible.[/color]

[color=#000000]Moby, however, wasn't that ballsy. He was already facing getting fired as it was, and testing Sera like Coral did would only make things worse on [i]his[/i] part. Explanations weren't really his strong suit either, but at least one could get him out of this situation.[/color]

[color=#008080]"Moby didn't mean to destroy prototype,"[/color][color=#000000] Moby stated, [/color][color=#008080]"Moby didn't know how else to turn it off, so Moby sent Aggron to fight it. Moby sorry for mess too. Prototype didn't like staying still for Aggron..."[/color]

[color=#4b0082][i]'I'm [b]so[/b] gonna get myself a lottery ticket if you [b]survive[/b] this, Moby!'[/i] [/color][color=#000000]Coral thought to herself, still angry at Moby for getting himself [i]into[/i] this whole mess, before turning to Thorn, [/color][color=#4b0082]"How much [i]were[/i] you gonna wager, anyway?"[/color]

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

The fight between Charizard and Tyranitar went on for a few more minutes, the MC detailing what's been happening so far to the audience every step of the way. Now though, it was time to finish this.[/color]

[color=#000080]"Tyranitar, use one more Stone Edge!"[/color] [color=#000000]Juan commanded.[/color]

[color=#000000]Another rock javelin was sent towards Charizard... and [i]this[/i] one was right on the money. The flying Pokemon fell down to the ground with a crash, signifying his defeat. Ash ran over to check on him, only to realise he had fainted.[/color]

[color=#ff8c00]"Charizard..."[/color] [color=#000000]Ash said in a defeatist tone.[/color]

[color=#000000]"Well, it's been a long match, but [i]finally[/i] we can declare a winner," the MC declared, "Juan Monsignor has won the tournament!"[/color]

[color=#000000]Cheers roared from the audience as Juan held the Poke Ball that contained Tyranitar in the air in one hand, before retrieving the trophy that a lovely woman had presented him with the other. Pictures were snapped from the press, which had sent newspapers all over the region, with Juan's narrow victory over Ash making the front page.[/color]

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

(I'm gonna just blaze through Rose's battle, as I have more important things to do with Nathan)

Finally, it was down to this. Rose had just barely made a dent into Sorano's Absol (who was still the first Pokémon Sorano had used), and he himself was already down to his last Pokémon—Scraggy.
"C'mon Scraggy, use Dragon Dance!" Scraggy pounded his feet against the ground and his whole body shook violently. A red aura surrounded the Shedding Pokémon and burst outward, sending a small shockwave through the gym.. "Good job! Now, use Focus Punch!" Scraggy started running at Abbsol at full speed, soon becoming a yellow blur. Where his fist appeared to be, a sphere of blue light appeared.
"Absol, use Aerial Ace," Sorano commanded. Absol leapt into the air and shot downward toward Scraggy, white energy trailing around him.
The two attacks collided, and there was a massive explosion. As the smoke cleared, both Pokémon were undeniably exhausted. However, Scraggy's body seemed to have taken on some sort of unnatural glow...
Suddenly, Scraggy was enveloped in a blinding blue-white light, and his form started to expand. Finally, the light dissipated, and there stood a much stronger Pokémon with an orange crest on its head.
"Ha! Alright, Scrafty, let's finish this! Use Drain Punch!" Scrafty nodded and cocked his arm back, a spiraling green aura surrounding it. He slammed his fist into Absol's face, pushing him down through the floor of the gym and sapping his energy. Scrafty then jumped back, his attack completed. Absol lie face-up in a small crater, defeated.
"Alright," Sorano declared. "That is enough. Here, I now present you with the Sickle Badge. Please, take care." Sorano then ushered everyone out, Rose still admiring his new badge.

[size=6]— — —[/size]

[color=#006400]Nathan looked over at Caden and heaved a massive sigh. "Listen, Caden," he began sullenly. "There was...An incident. You see...Dad died." He paused for a moment. "Now, listen, mom and everyone else are fine. It seems like it was just an accident...But that's not truly what happened. Y'see, Caden, there was some guy running around Sootopolis, looking for the Cave of Origin. Now, as you know, it's been sealed off for some time, and it was Dad's turn to stand guard. So, the guy runs up and says something to Dad about [i]needing[/i] to enter the cave. Now, of course Dad didn't let him in. Now, we enter the gap in the story. So, the man forces Dad into the cave, and a couple minutes later, the man leaves. However, Dad is nowhere to be found. So, another person goes to investigate, and they see Dad's arm protruding from a pile of fallen rocks."
Nathan stopped and sniffed as all people due when they cry. "Now, I'm here because I asked around basically all of Hoenn, asking if anyone knew about the man. Then, someone told me that he bore the logo of a criminal organization here in Cygrus. The organization is called 'Team Nebulus', and they're looking for Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus. This person also told me about an organization called 'Team Draconius', who is looking for Dragon-type legendary Pokémon. So, that's the long and short of it." Nathan wiped is eyes. "Oh, right, here. Mom told me that Dad left this Pokémon for you. She said you and this Pokémon are 'meant to protect eachother', whatever that means." Nathan handed Caden a Pokéball with a tarnished surface, as though it had been used for many years.
"So, I best be on my way, and I guess I'll see you around..." Nathan exited the Gym and callled out his loyal Staraptor, who then grabbed Nathan. The duo began flying off toward somewhere in the south...[/color]

[i][b][size=6][color=#ff0000]Attention loyal Cygrus RPers—This is the end of "Season 1" of our RP, and the Opening and Ending songs will change accordingly. Just a heads-up.[/color][/size][/b][/i]