Pokémon Academy: Ch 3: Winter Cup [IC]

[Chim]

TV-commercial during the past few weeks

Come one! Come all! It’s almost that time again! You know what I mean; the Winter Cup is about to start! The students attending our Region’s pride are going to battle it out to decide who the best is amongst the best. 32 students from each year qualified themselves for this grand stage! You don’t want to miss this. Do you want to see the possible future champ in action? Or maybe a young prodigy you personally know is entering the competition to win this small Pokémon League!

And there’s more. This year we have a special surprise for those that reach the finals. I won’t spoil everything but you, the audience, will love it. So if you want to see this spectacle live come to Ymora’s Pokémon Academy! The festivities start Monday December 1 at 9 AM and will end at Sunday December 7 at 9 PM. My name is Marco, your commentator, and I will see you there!

Sponsored by Brand Industries; the future in technology.

December 1; Academy Grounds 9 AM

The students had a lot to do these past couple of weeks. Extra training was almost impossible next to classes, preparing the stalls and battling in the preliminaries. In the end 32 first years managed to qualify themselves. Just like every year students gossiped about the remaining competitors. Some, like Jacob Robertson and Mareek Sisto, were considered the favorites to gain the title. Others were less popular. Henry Baldwin had by far the most people rooting against him. His previous opponents had prepared strategies to deal with that Vulpix only to find out he somehow traded it for a Skitty. Nobody likes to lose to a Skitty in a trainer battle. Needless to say many students considered it cheap or cheating and hoped to see him lose.

Last, but not least, there were a few competitors not much people had confidence in. Many even asked themselves how the hell they were still in the competition while they weren’t. Lana Everheart and Shiro Advent were considered the weakest.

Surprisingly Kage and Claude had the biggest fan bases. There was a little rivalry going on, like every year, between the different Programs. The Breeders rooted for Kage. At first it was a little awkward when they found out he was blind and they never noticed, but they quickly got over it. Especially when only a handful of breeders managed to qualify and Kage was the best amongst them.

Almost all the Coordinators were cheering for Claude. His outgoing personality made him popular and so did his battle style. Many considered him the one who would show those Trainers what a real Coordinator was all about.

**********************

Galen successfully infiltrated the Academy. Teach gave some last minute advice to lay low for two weeks until the Cup started and use the time to explore the Grounds. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to meet his team before he left HQ. Some unforeseen circumstances delayed their arrival for days.

Right now he was in his ‘house’. RoG had prepared an apartment for him to stay at, not far from the Academy. Last night he received details and green light to start the operation. He was finally allowed to make contact with Evan Reeves or make a move whenever an opportunity arose.

***********************

During the weekend all stalls were prepared and ready. Aside from those that were set up by students, there were some outsiders. A burger stall, bouncing castle, … but the one that stood out most was probably the fortune teller. The stall was run by a friendly old woman and her dark blue (shiny) Gothitelle. The woman only arrived on Saturday and already the strangest rumors were told by students. Some said she was a witch, a descendant of old Nomad Tribes that worshipped Giratina while others swore she could actually see the truth. Two girls told everyone who was willing to listen how the old woman suddenly spoke with a weird voice while her eyes rolled around as she predicted the their future and claimed she didn’t remember anything after. The entire time the Gothitelle pretended nothing happened.

But as time went by the students forgot to gossip and prepared their stalls. It was 9 AM and the first guests already came through the gates. Most of them were family members. People that just wanted to watch the battles and experience the festival usually came later.

((Summary; you can all decide which family members will visit your PCs (or none) and can control them. Max level is around 25 (not much time to train) and only three Pokémon allowed to use in the Cup. The fourth Pokémon can catch up later, but this is to keep it fair.

Stratos it is up to you when Galen walks through the gates. The students already saw him but none of them spoke to him.))

Edited December 22, 2014 by Chimchain

[Tacos]

Ryan got off the bus and ran off to the training facility for some well-needed, last minute training.

Glacien was so incredibly excited to get stronger that he was already in the northern lake training area before Ryan was, leaving the poor boy to run after him. When Ryan got there, he saw there were two different kinds of machines facing two different targets. Ryan walked over to the first and tapped the screen to turn it on. The screen listed various different water moves, with concentrations varying based on the move's power. Ryan scrolled through the options and selected Brine. The machine spewed out a concentrated stream of water that tore away at the paint on the miniature glacier. Glacien followed suit, picking up the move almost immediately. When the paint was beginning to fade, the stream became stronger. Ryan was satisfied with the progress and shot a reassuring smile to Glacien. He then scooted over to the ice machine. It was similar except for that the moves all pertained to the ice type. Ryan looked through the options and saw that Aurora Beam seemed like an appealing and suitable move for a pokemon Glacien's level. The machine sputtered and then spewed out a plethora of dazzling rings, colored with the hues of every color in the rainbow, all surrounding a technicolor beam that represented the core of the attack, the part that did the damage. The poor Spheal tried his best, but he just couldn't get the colorful hues to appear in his perfectly crafted beam. After a few ice blue pokeblocks, Glacien was spewing out an Aurora Beam that was far more dazzling and powerful than the machine itself. Ryan's face lit up at the same time as Glacien's and they both rejoiced over the victory.

Next came Feroces. Oh poor Feroces. He couldn't make much progress here. His natural moveset was never stellar. So Ryan instead decided to push him. The two hustled over to a room that was laid out much like a power plant. Someone was already in there, training what looked like an Electivire. Ryan watched with awe as the large pokemon threw himself at a dummy, his body surging with electrical power with every lunge. Ryan looked down at Feroces questioningly. The Luxio shot back a look of determination, as if he wouldn't leave until he could do that. It was about an hour of training before Feroces seemed to get the hang of it. At first, his attacks were coming out just like spark, only causing minor paralysis and having no other repercussions. He even got so angry that at one point he tried to bite the dummy, and Ryan shouted with surprise when the dummy had little ice fragments left on it after the bite. Not realizing what he had done, Feroces shook it off as if Ryan was just being crazy, and continued lunging at the dummy. He finally ended up dealing heavy damage to the dummy, but in turn, took a fine amount of damage himself. The Luxio had learned Wild Charge after such hard work. Ryan picked up the tiny electric lion and swung him around in his arms, but eventually dropping him as tiny sparks tickled his skin.

Victoria. Ever so feisty Victoria. The little one was so eager to learn that by the time Ryan had reached her at the dragonic mountain room, she was already spewing blue flames that seemed to be much stronger than Dragon Rage. Ryan went to a machine and saw a diagram showing a flame similar to Victoria's labeled "Dragon Breath." Ryan was practically jumping for joy. His pokemon were getting so much stronger and he felt as if he might be able to do something this Winter Cup. She then jumped at Ryan, sending her head directly into his stomach. Ryan tensed and the little dragon bounced off of his abdominal muscles. Ryan chuckled at the attempt to use Headbutt. The little dragon was running around the whole area, throwing herself off of small cliffs and trying to get better. At one point, she had leapt off of a rather tall cliff and sent a slice through a dummy with her claws. Ryan checked a small book in the corner, and noticed the move resembled Aerial Ace. Deciding the girl had done enough for today, Ryan grabbed Victoria and put her back in her pokeball, despite her kicking and protest.

Delilah perhaps made the most progress of all. The two walked side by side into the desert area and they got directly to work. Delilah began launching attacks all over the place at Sandshrew shaped dummies. After about two hours, she began to glow. Ryan was practically crying as he saw his little Phanpy suddenly develop into such a large Donphan. Ryan's smile was so large and Delilah wanted to mess with him a little. She charged forward and threw her trunk at Ryan's sunglasses, knocking them off of his face. She then held on to them as she ran through the desert, small rocks falling off of the precipices surrounding her. Ryan ran after her and eventually snagged his glasses as he shook his finger at her. He then brought her back into his pokeball as he went to go to sleep. They were training for so long that Ryan hadn't cared he'd stayed up until 1 in the morning.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryan stood outside the stand with the fortune teller. His feet were frozen like a Trevenant's roots. Maybe this is the time. Maybe things will change. I don't normally believe in this, but I have no choice. Whatever Kage told me might just be false. And this is the time to prove it. My dads said they wouldn't be here until a little later since they missed the ferry. I guess this could help pass the time. He was slightly disappointed that he wasn't the subject of any rumors or gossip. Kage was the top breeder and Jacob was the top trainer. Claude was the most fabulous coordinator. And what was he? The boy who tried to jump off of a cliff on a field trip. He was pathetic, nothing but a loser.

Glacien sat between Ryan's legs, staring up at the boy with confident looks. Ryan looked down and saw the Spheal and gave a quick smile. Glacien rolled around his legs, trying to push him forward.

Ryan felt a quick tap from Glacien and he stumbled forward, right into the hut. He looked up at the fortune teller with unsuspecting eyes. He gave a quick bow before introducing himself. "Hello madame. My name is Ryan Johnson, and I'd like you to help me straighten out my future."

[Aurorix]

Slade had made a stall called, 'Sizzlen' Grill' and as you would expect it was a barbecue. Slade had borrowed a charcoal grill from the kitchen. Slade was head chef, in charge of spicing the spicing the meat, though he spent most of last night doing that already. Being from Celadon he knew a thing or two about spices and he also knows how to cook meat after being taught by his dad during the preparation of parties. Flare and Xemnas were on fire control. 101 and Slade were in charge of making sure the meat was cooking properly and Sasuke took orders in the front of the stand. They had many choices like, Shish Cabob, Grilled Lemon Chicken, and many more. They made it past the point where now they were earning profit. Then out of the corner of his eye he noticed some familiar faces. It was his parents, they were walking together heading straight for his stall. Shit, should've figured they would come! Slade though to himself before turning to Sasuke, "Hey, I uh... need to go the bathroom." Slade said a little panicked, "When 101 tells you to flip something go flip it then come back to the front, ok?" Sasuke nodded as to say he got it, "Ok, great!" Slade said while giving a thumbs up and a smile then running off the men's dorm and going into his room closing the door behind him. He flopped on his bed and grabbed his face and let out a scream of anger. He reached for his suit case under his bed and hidden in it was an Umbreon plushie. It was like new, it's golden rings were still clearly visible and had their shine. "Umbre, what should I do?" Slade said asking the stuffed animal, "They're back, and probably here to take me." Slade said holding the plushie up in the air in front of him.

Edited December 22, 2014 by EXLink32

[DarkLight]

One of the said stalls in the festival had a calm, natural look about it. The furniture and the accessories all seemed to exude a feeling of warmth and nature, as they mostly made of wood. The only exceptions to this theme are the coffee maker, bags of coffee beans, spoons and straws and other ingredients that are set neatly to the side. A Murkrow was flying around looking for anything that could be amiss (and entertaining guests), a Larvesta was seated by the register and the menu as the customers pay for their purchases, which allowed the customers to pet her, and a Mawile was helping to deliver the said purchases from both Danielle and Mareek's end. Their trainer, a girl dressed in a blue furisode, was mostly behind a small counter used to prepare her drinks.

"My my, I never thought I would see you in this outfit again, mon chéri!" A tall woman with slick, brown hair said amicably as she approached Danielle's stall. A man with bright, blue eyes could also be seen chuckling beside the older woman; his arm was wrapped around her shoulder as he glanced at the Pokemon.

"Mama! Papa!" Danielle exclaimed as she ran over from her booth to embrace her parents. She was met with a tight family hug from the both of them before she allowed Avis to give her greeting. "How is everything back at home?"

"Surprisingly lonely." Mr. Chastain replied with a grin. "I never thought it would this boring without your loud mouth. Isn't that right, sweetie?"

"Very true, dear. I miss all of those discussions that we have about your boy friends." The mother laughed as she stroked Avis. "Anyways, Valerie also sends her regards. Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to leave her post to come and see you, but she told us to give you a little something. So, you must stop by our room before the Winter Cup begins, understand?"

Avis cackled as Danielle blushed at her mother's teasing comment. She realized that she didn't tell her parents about Slade yet. "T-Thanks, mom and dad..." She then heard Corona give a chirp to notify her about the new customers. With a thumbs up sign to Corona, Danielle gathered her nerves and nodded towards Avis. "Sorry, I need to go and help out my friends here. Can we catch up later? Avis will show you around~"

Her two parents gave a thumbs up sign themselves and began to follow the Murkrow to the stall. They began to take a look at the wood carvings that Mareek has displayed after they ordered two drinks.

----------

While her master's parents are occupied with Mareek's impressive carvings, Avis took a look around to see how Slade was doing... Only to find that the Murkrow-wannabe is missing. Strange, she could have sworn that Slade was here just a minute ago. Where did he go?

[Azeria]

James was finishing off the final touches on his Magic and Tricks Stall.He had already made a small opening in the Desk in front of him for the "Magic" to come out.He even had ordered a Cane for him to use in his performances."This'll be entertaining..now all i have to do is get out Liona,Luna and Shade."James said as he threw out the pokeballs for all of his pokemon.They had already been informed of their duties and Tytaniell would be with him...it might not be the smartest idea but anything could happen.As he went back to the front,James saw many of the stalls already had one or two customers already there.A few had already come to his stand and by now,James had gotten quite a profit.He turned around only to be grabbed by a large Cofagrigus,instead of the usual golden coffin,it's coffin was made out of Silver instead."Wait the only person i know that has a silver Cofagrigus is...Uncle Thomas"James said as he was turned around by the Coffin Pokemon and came face to face with his uncle.

"Uncle Thomas,how're you doing!"James said as he held his hand out for his uncle to shake which said uncle did."I'm fine m'boy,i'm more interested in how you've been doing at this here school.Made any new friends,had any good battles?"Thomas asked to which James turned around trying to avert the topic."Anyways,me and your aunt will be staying here while this festival of sort goes on,i hope you'll visit us"He said as he turned around telling coffagrigus to drop him while walking out."I'll be checking out this stall i saw being tended to by this nice girl down the road,call me if you need me"Were the last words said before he walked out."Phew,that was a close one...i don't hate Uncle Thomas but he gets too interested in my activities...i know it's not meant to be pushing but what happened 5 years ago...it's too much for me to trust my family."James muttered as he was called to the front by his ferroseed and went back to the front desk only to see 3 more people waiting there."This is gunna take a while."

***********

After the trip,James had made it his literall duty to traing his pokemon up to a suitable level for the winter cup.Along with this,the cane he had imported costed quite a large amount of money.It was fine work and he had to spend a lot of his own money just to buy it,but it would all be worth it.Liona had become a main member of his team overtaking Tytaniell but standing just behind Shade.Liona had been training to learn incinerate to get rid of those pesky steel types in the tournament and had been working on some other moves aswell.It would all pay off in the end.

Edited March 3, 2015 by Dat Assery

[Sutoratosu]

Nemo stood on a stool at Mareek's end of the stand, having been tasked by his trainer to man the front and help Lana, his eyes following various patrons as they walked by, some stopping to browse, others to buy. He was friendly enough for a cubone, able to draw in some onlookers who looked a bit iffy on dropping cash for one of his trainer's many creations organized on the table top. There was a variety of effigy's to choose from, some of them of pokemon, some of them symbols or objects, all of varying sizes. There were even a few functional works like canes and a few small chairs and benches Erce herself had been convinced to go the extra distance and carve.

The last few weeks had been hectic for them all to say the least, Him and Erce and Java. Mareek had been forced to start rationing time in far more stricter manner than usual for training, and had stopped allowing as much nonsense in the process given that free time wasn't exactly growing on trees between having to carve piece after piece of work and setting up and arranging everything to make sure the stand went smoothly.

Nemo had received as much basic sword training as his trainer could squeeze in during his sessions, as well as the most time out of the three of them, being taught proper footwork and stance and grip before going on to movement and coordination on the battlefield, something which Mareek had covered by having multiple targets set up in a single area and ordering The Orphan to strike them all with a maximum of two strikes. The results had gone well, with Nemo becoming more and more adept at his technique and footing as he came to develop his own style for using what little bodily stature he had to most efficiently wield Bone Club like a Bokan or Katana. He wasn't fast by any stretch of the imagination, but Detect had proved to be an interesting and obvious stratagem for it to use, Coupled with Stealth Rock, which Mareek had figured out early on could be used as more than just a simple hazard, but a shield and cover of sorts as well... and a very interesting system of attacking and defending, the way Mareek had figured out how to pair it with ancient power. The last thing to be worked on was a few branches off the Ancient Lightning combination, Nemo learning to channel the energy from Ancient Power into his Bone Rush simultaneously. He didn't have many coverages, but at least he'd be able to stand an actual chance in a fight now, much more than he had when Mareek had found him.

Java meanwhile had seen most of his sessions within the walls of the training center, Mareek focusing on improving the Porygon's response time and resistance to attacks, placing him in front of type machines and having them launch attack after attack, both physical and special based, and all the while having the Co-Strategist use Conversion 2 immediately afterwards without Mareek having to command it. The next step had been even harder; having Java wait just until an attack makes initial contact, and then using Conversion 2 immediately after initial hit, just like he'd tried during the Torkoal encounter on the trip. The going was tough, But Java powered through and in no time had the entire thing down pat, able to wait and ride out an assault with resistance after the impact. Mareek had him immediately move on to training his marksmanship, making sure to have every offensive Move Java knew be used on target after target without Lock-On, large and small, stationary and moving alike, to the point where his accuracy near impeccable even without the use of Lock-On. They had even managed to get him to learn Icy Wind towards the end, something Mareek hadn't much time to work with, but was sure could come in handy with just a bit of thought.

Erce had gotten the least amount of time, but Mareek had made damn sure to use it creatively, having her practice her movement speed by getting her to carve as many sculptures as she could within a few minutes flat, honing her natural speed and reflexes to a razor fine point, not to mention getting their Carvings done in much faster amount of time. She was like a machine when it came to craft, getting work down far faster than Mareek himself could with his own two hands and tools. Along with that a few rounds in the Training center had been done to see how powerful the strength of loyalty really was, with Erce taking the fires that had forged her bond with Mareek and learning Return. Having gotten enough Carvings down ahead of schedule, Mareek had even taken her for extra sessions to work on heat resistance using Vacuum shield and honing her ninjutsu tactic.

All in all, things had been crazy for all of them, yet through it all they somehow had managed to keep up with their Trainer's planning. Mareek had gotten back a bit of his old enthusiasm for a battle, and they could all gladly feel it. But at the same time they each knew that what he cared about wasn't winning to tourney; What he cared about was becoming strong enough defeat a very certain someone when the time came; a certain someone whom Mareek felt needed to be brought to the hands of justice more than almost anyone else for what they did. The tourney meant next to nothing to him; He didn't care about the BP prize, he'd get more than enough from the joint stand he and Lana and Danielle were running now, even with splitting it three ways, and it's not like he was all that great a need of it anyway.

What mattered here was not power, as they had all come to realize from their training, what mattered was Strength, real strength, the type that comes from within, from the heart and the soul. Mareek knew he would need that type of strength to overcome the man he hated most in all the world, and he knew he'd need that strength even moreso to prevent more people like Galen from getting away with their actions. He had a world to change, and instead of using power or money, like so many terrorist organizations had tried in their own missions, he had already decided he'd go an entirely different route; He would have strength of character, strength of heart, and all the resolve that would come with it. He wasn't going to back down, and he wasn't going to flee from any terrorist of any ideology; he would fight them all. Fight them all to make the world a little brighter of a place, a little better of a place. And his whole team knew this, could feel it in the pace of their training, and more than anything else; They could definitely respect his motivation and resolve, even if two of them didn't exactly know it's cause. And all of their training had paid off big time. Here they were, at starting day of the festival, and they were on the road to someday being ready for the fight that would really count. And Nemo couldn't help but be a bit proud of being apart of whatever Mareek was going to do, what he was trying to attain and become. And that proud gleam shone in his eyes as confidence as he watched other vendors and patrons mill by all morning.

Business was going quite well for the stand to be honest, They'd already offset the cost of the wood and other materials, which wasn't much given that most of it had been harvested from the Academy Forest; everything from this point onward would be pure profit on top of what they already had. While true, Mareek would have to split it three ways, not that he had much of an issue with that given that everyone more or less pulled their weight for their share, by the time the festival would be over, he figured he'd have enough to be sitting well for a while. Not that he needed the BP or anything, given his grades and constant training with his team, but it was always nice to have a large surplus...

"Looks like my carvings are a major hit," he said to Lana as he carried over a metal tray filled with request carvings from the work space he'd set up not far away, Erce and Java both attending it and churning out requested products as the commission's came in. "Thanks again for agreeing to help out; Nemo here probably would've had a few issues trying to do it by himself... though he does make good security, doesn't he?" as if on cue the Orphan activated bone rush and made a few quick strikes in the air reminiscent of sword strokes, just as Mareek had managed to teach him in those crash courses. A proud gleam, the very same that he had in his eyes the whole morning, shown as he twirled his Club in his hand, ending the show of his budding skills. "I'm honestly surprised though," Mareek continued, taking the new carvings off the tray and placing them into the Commissioned works section of the table after taking a sharpie and writing the client's names on tags tied to the works, while they were churning them out fast enough to the point where the wait wasn't more than a few seconds, some people nevertheless wanted to walk around and browse neighboring stands until it was done, But either way Nemo made sure to keep vigilance and make sure the only people who came and collected them were the ones who had actually paid and requested, prepared to deal with any would-be thieves trying to snatch carvings commissioned by Clients who had decided to walk around. "I never really expected this to go so well so fast. Erce is churning out commissions a mile a minute thanks to all that training and practice I gave her. Heck, by the end of the festival all three of us will probably be swimming in BP like there's no tomorrow..."

[Felicity]

Claude was fussing about frantically over the remaining details of his stall, making sure the aesthetics were absolutely, positively perfect. For a Face painting stall, looks were the absolute biggest deal. How can the customer trust in the painter if they cannot even make their stall which was prepared days in advance look good? And so, that was why Claude was fussing over his stalls looks. That, and to distract himself from the events yesterday

***

After returning from the trip, Claude had been working non-stop over his stall, the idea enthralling him, that he had not noticed until yesterday afternoon that Lance was discontent. After some thought and very intense messages from Lance, Claude figured out that it was Lances inability to do much to the Torkoal they had encountered on the trip with Mareek. Lance had been unable to do anything, and hindered Java. After that, Lances master had then gone on to trust his newest pokemon in two rather important battles that even Lance could tell were important. Why. not him? What was he lacking? Did he look too weak? Naturally Claude couldn't readily understand all of this, the speech barrier between the two posing a problem, but when Claude suggested going to Redwoods Lab to see about Evolution, Lances reply was violently enthusiastic. Literally

And so, they had gone, talked and Lance was evolved in a magnificent show that awed Claude. His beautiful pink plume, Cyan shell and light green armour making Claude love him even more. And yet, Lance seemed dissatisfied. He was anxious for a battle... But he didn't seem like Lance did before. He seemed more angry than anything else, and this worried Claude.

**

And so Claude was now distracting himself from this worry by tending his stall, waiting for people to come join when he noticed some people approaching him. It was his family, Mother, Father and little Ricky, Claudes brother. They all had smiles and waved at him as they approached and Claude responded in kind, happy to see his family after so long, despite their arguments. Claude drank in the sight of them after not seeing them for what felt like ages, his also diminutive father with the cherub-like features and blonde hair that resembled Claude so closely, and his mother who was a beauty in her own right with eyes that matched the shade of Claudes to an exact degree. Claude was even shocked to see how Ricky had grown, now 11 years old and steadily getting nearer to Claudes height, even if he was only at a small 5"2, with a similar combination of Claudes features, true to the families appearance.

Heh, the families appearance, I wonder when that'll be brought up, especially with my participation in the Winter cup... Claude thought to himself, chipping away at the joy of the reunion as they exchanged new of what had been happening between them all.

[TurboAura]

Working it the back of the stall, having Kiai take register duty by taking money and providing paper slips for which kind of ramen dish the customer wanted, Robert was busy in the with the ramen stall that him and Shiro had brainstormed. Starting a few weeks ago, what time that hadn't been battle training, he had done what was needed to get the perfect ramen recipes to serve down pat. While he ended up starting to get sick of all the ramen-tests about half way through, Nikki was more than happy to take care of some batches herself, helping Robert to not be sick of noodles by the 'final test.'

*********

There were two people in perticular that Robert would be very happy to see walking around, though it's not like he knew they were coming. The man was wearing a pretty traditional blue happi while the woman wore one in red.

The guy took a deep wiff of the area, and let out a happy sigh. "Ah, you smell that, honey? Now THAT'S the smell of battle. The calling of competition!" His wife simple gave a chuckle and sighed to her husband.

"Yeah, just remember to not get TOO hyped up, YOU aren't one of the people battling here." She then gave a chuckle to her own thought, getting an awkward 'heh, sorry' for him. "Besides, if you WERE one of the people battling, I would've already beaten you and taken your place." With the challenging statement made, they both looked at eachother as if they had fire in their eyes through determination... only to be interrupted by both of their stomachs growling at the same time. Simply letting out a laugh, they turned to see a nearby Ramen stall. The man started walking forward until she shifted her focus away from her stomache and towards him. "Oh come on Will, have some endurance. You know that's not what we need to find first!"

"Honey, honey. It's not like we're going to be there for long. Trust me, once we get our bowls, we'll look for him as we eat, okay?" With some extra convincing from a second stomache growl, she sighed and followed him over to the stall.

While they were going over, Kiai noticed them from the front. 'Wait, I know those faces. Are those...?' He turned back towards Robert, seeing that his current cooking was keeping him busy and his face concealed, while he turned back and confirmed his suspicion. Sure, they hadn't recognized his new form as they gave him their order ticket without a 'hello,' but it was obvious it was them. And so, when the two had turned away and started looking around them to see if they could find Robert out there, Kiai simply jotted down R.P. On their ticket, hoping it would draw his attention when the order was ready. 'Okay, that should get his attention when he sees that on their ticket. I would try to get that attention now, but he seems too focused on the cooking now.' While ready for any more customers, he kept an eye on Robert, keeping an idea of how it was all being cooked. It's not like Shiro would appreciate cooking the meals on his own, so he'd have to help him out if Robert gets sniped away by those two.

Edited December 22, 2014 by TurboAura

[Aurorix]

Parents:

"Where could that little scamp be?" Groaned a Mr.Kafkin. He was a pretty tall man, 6,2 with black hair and glasses that shimmer in the light. He wore a black trench coat and under a plain white shirt, black pants with black loafers as well. His face was expressionless, you could only tell a hint of annoyance in his voice as he was searching for his child. "Now sweetie, don't be so impatient. We'll find him, and someone here is bound to know where he is." Said the light hearted Mrs.Kafkin. The scent of coffee lingered in the air now as well as the cooking of meat. "Hey, I'm going to get some coffee. You want cream right?" Asked the Mr.Kafkin to his wife. "Yea, and maybe a little bit of sugar too." She responded. Mr.Kafkin then walked over to Danielle's coffee shop and waited in line. He found a Larvesta at the counter taking orders and a girl in what looked like a blue kimono. He turned to the fire bug, not really liking interacting with it and said, "2 coffees, one with cream, and little sugar and he other with just sugar." he then turned to the girl, "Excuse me miss," he said taking out a picture of Slade from his coat pocket, "We're looking for this child, Slade Kafkin, my son. Do you know where he might be?"

Slade:

Slade's eyes then wondered off to the closet to where the birthday gifts Danielle had for him were. There was a new fedora with one of Avis's black feathers attached to the right side of the hat, with a new set of clothes mainly sporting the colors red and black, as well as a Flareon plushie. Slade smiled as he got the new plushie to Slade's personal hidden one. "Well, Umbre you have a new friend. We'll call her Jace, you two have fun until I get back." He smile as he put both of them into suitcase and hid them under the bed once again. He then changed into his new set of clothes that Danielle got him and headed out the door. Slade slowly made his way back to his stall, hopefully they'd be gone by now.

Edited December 22, 2014 by EXLink32

[Tses]

Sissy was wandering around the stalls, looking at how beautiful everyone made their own one, when Miss left her side flying directly to her trainer's parents. Once she turned around, she could see her mother,father and elder brother walking some meters not far from her, with the little ghost pokemon finally arriving in front of them.

"Oh my,are you maybe little Miss?" Sissy's mother said petting Miss. "Misdreavus." Miss gave out a small cry of happiness once seeing them.

"Long time no see little freak." Edward, Sissy's brother, said once he noticed Miss. The Misdreavus gave him a glare, and continued being petted by her trainer's mother.

Sissy ran towards, as soon as she noticed them. "Mum, dad." She said once she reached them. Her parents, gave her a huge hug once they saw her.

"You have changed a lot since we last saw you Sissy." Her father said. "No she didn't. She is still my little baby." Her mother replied. "She is still a small freak on my opinion." Edward added.

"Well I changed a bit. I made new friends and met many pokemon." Sissy replied back at her parents. "As for you. I'm not gonna reply to your comment. You are as arrogant as ever, Ed."

After the greetings, Sissy showed her family around the different stalls and places of the academy. Her parents left for the fortune teller stall once they saw it, being curious if the person inside could tell them anything good, leaving the two siblings alone.

"I see, you haven't evolved your Misdreavus." Her brother stated once their parents weren't close enough to hear. "Take this." He handed over a Dusk Stone at Sissy. "I already evolved my Murkrow, before I challenged Morty, so I don't need this one." He pulled out one of his pokeballs, releasing a Honchkrow. The dark blue bird gave a cry once he saw Sissy and Miss.

"Thanks, I think. But I don't know if I want to evolve Miss or not." She said petting the ghost pokemon. "It's not that I don't want to, but it is her choise to do so." She stopped for a second and the continued. "I will take it and whenever you feel ready we can try it out. What do you say?" She put the stone in her pocket while looking at her pokemon. "Misss." Miss nodded with a yes going on top of her trainers head.

Many changes have occured at us during the previous weeks. And now one more with this stone. I wonder what will happen next to us. Her thoughts were traveling back, a week ago when Sherlock evolved and when Miffy started ignoring her, until they reached the stall were Slade was supposed to be, only to see a couple of different pokemon running a barbeque stand.

~~~~~~~

A week ago.

Sissy was training on a couple of combinations between her pokemon, when Miffy fainted Sherlock with a disobeyd Thundershock.It was then that she realized, that if Sherlock gets evolved not only his defences will go up, but also his speed. She was thinking the strategy with the confusion, but that wasn't sure that always gonna be a success, so she headed for professor's Redwood lab, hoping to get a little help.

Leaving the lab, she put on Sherlock's head a King's Rock to make him evolve, but with no success. She withdrew him, and called it a day.

Next day, when she released Sherlock, he started glowing in a blue-white light, growing bigger and taller. Once the light was over, a Slowking was standing in front of her.

With that problem solved she had to make Miffy llisten to her, but with no luck. After the day that she evolved, she started ignoring Sissy. Maybe Edward can help. I hope he comes with mum and dad next week.

~~~~~~~

Once they got something to eat, Sissy turned at her brother with a request coming out from her mouth. "Ed. I need help with my Flaaffy. She keeps ignoring me, more and more every day." She stopped and held in her hand Miffy's pokeball.

"She isn't ignoring you." Edward said putting his hand at her sister's shoulder. "It is more common for a Flaaffy to not battle than a Mareep. Once she evolves into Ampharos, she will start acting as she acted when she was a Mareep. There are some differences between evolutions."

Edward's words made her think for a minute. So I will have to not make her battle unless it is needed, until she evolves. I can handle this. "I think, I get what you are trying to say. Thanks freak." She smiled back at her brother. The only thing that matters now, is how she will do in the winter cup.

[Chevaleresse]

Kage yawned. He had a loose-fitting jacket on over a tee with a slightly wrinkled pair of jeans on, and he hadn't bothered to make sure they actually matched in any fashion. (That was normally difficult anyway, but especially so when he was running on about two hours of sleep.) His parents were showing up later, anyway, so it didn't matter that he wasn't particularly presentable. Lucas wasn't perched on his shoulder as usual; instead, he was cradled inside Kage's jacket as he dozed. The Ralts hadn't evolved yet, despite being strong enough to do so. al'Thor, on the other hand, had evolved mid-battle much to Kage's (and his opponent's) surprise, and was presently floating along a short distance behind xyr trainer. Reina was keeping Virtes in line as the two followed in Kage's paces. The teen stumbled his way into the training facility, ready to get some last-minute training going.

[Jory]

After Jacob had returned from the trip, he had immediately began an intense training regimen with his team. The intent behind it was clear: Win the Winter Cup and send news home that he had done so. After all, with such frenetically busy business-related jobs, his parents had regretfully sent news that they would be unable to attend, but would be watching the televised event from home with the rest of their family. And so, receiving this somewhat saddening news, the young Trainer had resolved to make his message to his family clear: “I don’t need you to be here for me to want to make you proud.” The young man threw himself fully into training his Pokemon, getting only 5 hours of sleep a night due to the intense regimen he had developed for his team. He hadn’t seen Kristen in as many days as they’d returned from the trip, having notified her that winning the Winter Cup had been his dream since he was a child.

First he worked with Chalchi, making sure to train her exclusively on dry land. The Water- and Ice-type was adept at seafaring battles, and so Jacob had decided she could use some more work on land. Rather than continue training her somewhat unreliable Confusion techiniques, they worked hard to take advantage of her natural Ability. And so, it came to pass that Chalchi began working toward summoning water from the very clouds in order to bolster her moveset, learning to control the weather in order to avoid the situation that had arisen in her battle against Flare (in which she was unable to do maximum damage due to Zuko’s Drought ability). They also worked on her accuracy with her Water Pulse and Freeze Dry attacks, learning to more effectively hit fast-moving targets. Finally, Jacob reluctantly put her through endurance training, causing his Pokemon to take Electric-type attacks from a machine in order to increase her resistance to Mareek’s winning stratagem.

Then, he began training Teo extensively. They kept on training his Speed with the knowledge that although a Trapinch moves slowly, a Vibrava or Flygon relies on speed to win. By the time they were through learning to avoid Grass- and Water-type attacks from the machine, Teo was looking faster than he ever had before. Additionally, they trained against dummies of all types, most specifically Normal- and Ice-type dummies. Through the intense training his jaws became much more powerful, capable of delivering not just Bites but the more powerful Crunches native to his species. Additionally, his natural Strength had developed into the more potent Superpower, enabling him to deliver crushing finishing blows to the dummies. Overall Jacob was quite pleased with his progress, and was excited to test his mettle in the tournament after making him sit out the bout against Mareek.

Arete was an entirely different story, however. Her training was much more intense than the others’, much to the Togepi’s chagrin. Through the training she began to realize her true potential, noticing that Jacob’s ability as a Trainer had taken her significantly farther in a short span than her entire life as a wild Pokemon had. And so, on the second day of her intensive routine, she began to reciprocate his enthusiasm for Training with the knowledge that nothing meant more to Jacob than winning the Winter Cup and making his parents and all of Accumula Town proud of him. By noon she had begun to glow harshly and Jacob cheered her on as she evolved into a beautiful Togetic. She began to be able to force opponents into making the same move several times through sheer flattery, as well as gaining the ability to touch the ground to rest her body and create dazzling displays of light using her innate Fairy abilities. Jacob put her through intensive endurance training, allowing her to take a significant amount of punishment without becoming substantially weakened. He went so far as to seek out Phoebe, who gave him an Eviolite stone for the not-fully-evolved Fairy-type to wear around her neck. By the time Arete was done training, she was on par with the Lapras who had taken over the role of “mother” for the team.

Spitfyre continued his exceptional progression under Jacob’s tutelage. He reluctantly swapped out the use of his hardened claws for his tail, allowing him greater reach and significantly more leverage in his striking ability. This particularly applied to Rock- and Ice-types, who Jacob made sure his Fire-type was able to counter with ease. Fulfilling Jacob’s prophecy to Claude, he quickly became the most formidable battler on the team. He was even able to take down Teo, earning the respect of the Trapinch and his longtime best friend through his persistence and unwillingness to lose. His attacking prowess on both sides of the spectrum greatly increased, particularly driven by Jacob’s desire for him to be able to attack quickly and relentlessly. The Charmeleon stayed down-to-Earth, however, and continued to follow Jacob’s orders to the letter as he had long ago realized that his Trainer was a keen strategist and better able to make judgment calls in a tight situation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the tourney approached, Jacob spent time on the phone with his parents and even more time hanging out with Danielle and Slade, both of whom were becoming excellent battlers in their own right. However, his eyes were truly set on Kristen, who he began to see again once his intensive regimen was mostly complete. The girl was abrasive, but he had a huge amount of respect for her persistence and stubbornness. To be honest, he found the second very attractive, as Jacob had never been one to shy away from a challenge.

And so, when the day of festivities began, he found himself wearing his usual V-neck, jeans, and t-shirt in Kristen’s dorm room with his leather jacket hung on the door's hook, talking to the girl about his expectations for the tourney.

“I really think Mareek is my biggest competition. He and his Pokemon didn’t take their last loss to me well. It should make for an amazing battle if we get paired again. But I’m not going to lose. I’m going to prove once and for all that I’m the top Trainer in our class!”

[Commander]

Henry stood outside watching the fair slowly populate after a few hours passed by. A lone Skitty was snuggling with his leg which made him crack a smile. He had little idea how much of an impression Zuko made to students during the year causing this sudden switch to be a little rough. The amount of booing did get to him because of how much people seemed to despise his true ace. The two didn't really care because they had been split apart for so long now and it was good to be back together again.

"I considered making a stall, but seeing how much spite I'm getting, I doubt anyone would even bother going. I even feel like my Pokemon are slowly turning against me. I really hope Zuko is doing okay." Henry felt really bad the day he handed the Vulpix over to his dad. He had no idea what was going to happen. Suddenly, he snapped out of his thoughts noticing a Vulpix jump right in front of him. "Zuko? What are you...ahhh!" Henry felt something slam into him causing him to fall into the ground. He tried turning around to see what it was, but something was pinning him down not allowing him to even move.

"'sup, Glitchy!" Henry could recognize that blonde girl's optimistic voice just about anywhere. He was silenced for a moment because he thought he was dreaming.

"Citrine, uh...what are you doing here? And why is Zuko here? More importantly how are you even here?" Henry still was in disbelief to what he was seeing. There was no way this was real.

"Aww, it's been six months and all you do is start asking questions. Can't you just say I'm so happy to see you again or something and leave it at that." The blonde haired girl released her grip on the boy as the two got back on their feet now face to face with each other. "And please leave my baby out of this. He told me all the mean things you made him do and that you never paid attention to him."

"You know he can't talk, right? Wait...you're the trainer my dad was talking about. But...you didn't want him...and your an orphan." Henry shook his head. It was just like her to suddenly changer her mind on important issues just like this one. "Nevermind. I guess Zuko is in good hands. Just promise me you won't burn down all of Orre while I'm gone."

The girl smiled simply responding, "I can't make that promise, but we're making progress. I only set the school fire alarm off twice." She notice Henry giving him a funny look. "Ohhh...you have no idea what's going on, do you? Lots of stuff's been happening since you've been gone. Your dad has been paying for my schooling. He wanted to send me here, but it'd be a little too expensive. So I'm just at the school in Orre."

"Uhh...I know my dad is a nice guy and all, but I don't think he'd be so willing to do something like that considering our income. You didn't do anything to him, did you?" asked Henry.

"Oh! I forgot the most important thing. I'm your new little sister." She watched Henry freeze like a statue. "If it's too much to handle, you could always just think of it as me just living in your house from now on. Glitchy? Are you okay?"

"I'm afraid you may have overwhelmed the poor boy." An older brown haired man approached the two children. He wore a brown coat and was a bit scrawny. A tree like thing (Sudowoodo) was slowly walking behind him. "I know it might be hard to believe, but your mother and I decided to adopt Luna. It is a tad bit lonely with you being so far away and seeing the girl has nothing, we couldn't help but bring her under our arms. As for the schooling, I thought we would need a tutor, but it seems she is doing fine from what she learned from you."

"What?" Henry still couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all the trouble this girl put him through, she now decides to reappear, but this time as his sister. "Nevermind, I'm glad to see you two. I just wasn't expecting anyone."

"After the stories you told me, I felt like I needed to come. Luna seemed really excited about this so I took her with me as a surprise. I didn't think she was serious about the pouncing though." Henry's dad pulled out some Poke and gave it to his son. "Why don't you two have a bit of fun now? Don't worry about me, I'll catch up to you two later."

Before Henry could respond, Citrine started pushing him towards the fair. Henry didn't fight it though as he knew the girl would get what she wanted one way or another. That was one thing these two had in common. They were both very stubborn, however, Henry was the more submissive one between the two. He simply looked over to the blonde haired girl wondering where she was going to send them first. In his head, he figured it'd be some kind of food stand.

((tl;dr version: Henry sees his dad and Citrine. He and Citrine are looking for some stall to go to.))

[DarkLight]

Corona chirped happily at the order before she flew off from her counter to give Danielle her next order. Avis, seeing the empty counter, immediately flew over to take the Larvesta's place and swayed side to side, hoping to entertain the stern man as he waited for his order. Once Mr. Kafkin asked for Slade, however, the Murkrow stopped swaying and blinked at the picture. Now she understood why Slade went missing. He must have seen his parents coming to look for him. A sense of dread began to creep into her thoughts as she remembered what Slade had told her about his overwhelming parents.

-------------

"New order, Corona?" Danielle asked her little bug. After a series of chirps and gestures, Danielle swiftly went to prepare the two cups of coffee when Mr. Kafkin asked for Slade. Danielle almost spilled some of her precious Kalosian coffee bean bag if it wasn't for Corona holding it up with her head. She glanced at Avis, who appeared to be just as nervous as she was, giving how still she became all of a sudden. 'Focus Danielle. Your Pokemon could feel your fear too. I do need help if this gets nasty though...' With a smile, she turned around to address the tall man with glasses. "Why, you must be Mr. Kafkin then. It's a pleasure to meet you~ As a matter of fact, Slade is a good friend of mine. He should be in the Sizzlen Grill stall making some food with his Pokemon. It's down a few stalls from here~" Danielle added, her finger pointing to the right of her as it made little circles.

Taking a note of Danielle's signal, Avis uttered a cry to object to Danielle's observation. She then pointed to the barbecue stall and shrugged to indicate Slade's missing presence before she flew off to warn Slade's Pokemon and to find Danielle's parents, who had left them after they received their commission and drinks.

"Forgive me, Mr. Kafkin. My Murkrow must have seen that Slade has taken a break; she has currently taken off to find him for you. In the meantime, why don't you take a look at what my friends, Mareek and Lana, have to offer while I prepare your order? My Mawile will deliver your drinks to you once they are ready~"

Zared and Corona also sensed the tension that came over their master; it became more apparent when Avis flew off in haste. Corona, remembering the Kafkins' dislike of Fire-types, flew off and hid herself behind Erce, uttering a few chirps to explain herself. Zared, however, only gave a brief stare of disapproval to the older man before he went back to deliver the prepared drinks for the other customers. When he passed by Lana and Mareek, Zared poked them both and notified them of the situation by snapping his horn towards Danielle and Mr. Kafkin before he sauntered off.

((ExLink, you could say that Avis notified Flare and the others before she left to find Mr. and Mrs. Chastain))

[Azeria]

"Hmm,i'm gunna go take a break for a while and check some of the other stands"James said as he stood up and put a sign that said that he'd be back in 30 minutes."Hmm,might aswell check out Danielle's stand Huh Shade"He asked the everpresent specter floating next to which said Duskull nodded and floated off to the Shop.The area was completely filled with Stalls and he passed Henry standing with presumed relatives untill he reached his destination;Coffee Stand."Hey,Danielle mind giving me some coffee?Creamed with Sugar please"He asked when it was his turn to get some coffee.(If the Kafkin's are still in line,james'll be behind him and or whoever is behind them.)

Edited December 22, 2014 by Can't Type

[Aurorix]

Parents:

Mr.Kafkin sighed as he thought Slade might make a stall like that seeing as how that's one of the only things he was proud of him for. "Ok, I'll wait over here." He said walking over to the wood carving area and sitting down. Mrs.Kafkin then walked over, she was wearing a red and white floral dress with flowing red hair. "Turns out Slade made a grilling booth over there." Mr.Kafkin said pointing towards Slade's booth. "Well, you must be proud?" Mrs.Kafkin said with a smile, "I mean you were the one who taught him the grill." She said with a smile. He just looked forward and said, "Did I teach him to be a run away? I'm staying here for the coffee, you can go wait by his stall." Mrs.Kafkin was sad at her husbands response but she went over to the stall anyways to see her son. When she got there her son was not there and she saw that growlithe from before as well two others, a Magnemite and a Gible. They just continued running the shop, not even noticing her presence. Then a Frogadier rushed over after while, it seems the frog was leading the stand while Slade was away. She tapped the frog and brought out a small present labeled 'To: Slade'. She gave a smile to the frog and said, "Would you mind giving this to Slade for me." She gave the small box to the Frogdier and returned to her husband. "He wasn't there, so I'll wait here with you." She said happily

Pokemon:

Sasuke and the others noticed Avis signaling towards two people by Danielle's stall told the others about them. Flare began to growl at them and informed the others that they're Slade's parents and told Sasuke to tell Slade to say hidden until further notice. Sasuke nodded and headed off towards Slade's direction to warn him. Meanwhile the others decided to ignore them if they came to the stall and sure enough his mother came. Sasuke told Slade to head back and returned back to the stall but only to be greeted by his mother who proceeded to give him a wrapped gift labeled to Slade. After which she left, leaving the group confused.

Slade:

As Slade was heading back he was stopped by Sasuke who told him to head back to his room and wait for him to come back. He headed back, hoping they won't find him

[DarkLight]

Danielle looked on disappointingly as Mr. Kafkin sat down, uninterested in Mareek's sculptures. She hoped Avis would find her parents soon to strike a more cheerful chord with him. James' request then broke her out of her thoughts, allowing her to remain calm and collected as she worked on the orders. Danielle began humming a tune as she watched the coffee trickle down into the pitcher. Then she paused her humming briefly as she poured the coffee, adding cream and sugar into each of their respective cups. Once the coordinator was satisfied with her handiwork, she motioned for Zared to come over. "Left one is Mr. Kafkin's, right is his missus." Then, she handed the remaining cup over to James and his floating Duskull. "Here go you, James. Sugar and cream mixed with the finest of our Kalosian coffee beans~ Hope you enjoy it! And while you're at it, why_not take a look at Mareek's designs?"

Zared was a little displeased that he has to deal with the serious man, but complied and walked over to Mr. Kafkin with the two cups that Danielle had handed to him. He lifted up his left hand first to indicate that this one was his. "Mawile~" he greeted politely. At least he wasn't a fire type, Zared couldn't help but feel bad for his teammate in hiding.

-----------

After Avis passed the word on to Flare and his crew, she zoomed past Sissy's family reunion and began searching frantically for Mr. and Mrs. Chastain. This is turning out to be quite a difficult task since there were so many people with Mareek's hand-carved sculptures. If she wasn't in a rush, she would enjoy this hunting session but, alas, Danielle and Slade's life depends on her now.

After some minutes, luckily, Avis finally found her human parents admiring some wind chimes. Her human mother was holding a couple of the ornaments while the father was holding their wooden sculpture carefully in one of his arms. She landed onto Mr. Chastain's shoulder and crowed in distress.

"I still think this -- Oh, Avis! What is the matter?" Mr. Chastain asked the normally happy-go-lucky bird. He and his wife then got an earful to panicked cries before she flew a little a ways back to Danielle's stall, waiting for the parents to follow.

"Marc, I have never seen Avis this scared before, not even when she almost got herself caught in that fish net that one time. Do you think something happened to Danielle?" Mrs. Chastain asked her husband worriedly as she put back the wind chimes onto their respective hooks at the stall. She then encircled her arm around his free one.

Her husband, Marc Chastain, was more calm about the matter at hand. He adjusted his jacket's collar before he responded. "Now now, Carole, let's not jump to conclusions. If something terrible did happen, we would be hearing sirens by now. Perhaps Danielle just needs us for something important."

With that, they both followed Avis back to Danielle's stall.

[Chevaleresse]

Kage covered his mouth as another yawn cracked his jaw open. He wandered over to a plain practice field with a few Substitute dummies set up, the taps of his cane echoing through the room. "Alright, guys, let's take this one from the top. Reina, you've got Bite and Rock Tomb down, obviously. How about we do a Dragon Dance?" The Tyrunt roared and her tail lashed as energy whirled around her, as she called on her proud and ancient lineage to give her power and speed to strike those who opposed her down. "Sounds good, now Bulldoze those dummies!" Kage nearly fell over as his directions were followed and the ground shook. "Alright, alright, you're good. Here." He held out a Pokeblock for Reina, who took it from his outstretched hand almost daintily.

"al'Thor, you're up next." The Steel-type floated toward one of the dummies. "Hone your claws, then smack one of those things with an Ice Punch." There was a sound of screeching metal as al'Thor sharpened xyr metallic claws by scraping them off of one another. Then, a sound almost like breaking glass resounded as the aforementioned appendages were covered in ice and slammed into the unfortunate practice dummy. Kage winced, but was happy with the Metang's progress. "Let's have a- oh, alright." Kage was about to ask for a Light Screen when he heard the faint sound of one being created. It was hard to judge whether it was properly formed, but he had a lot of faith in al'Thor's abilities. "One for you too." He fished the Pokeblock out of the case, then it promptly floated itself over to al'Thor and into xyr mouth. "That works."

"How about you, Vir-" Kage was cut off once again as the Axew bounded forward and slammed the ground, sending another Bulldoze through the field. This time, she sent Kage all the way over. Kage heard a reverberation similar to the one produced by Reina earlier, so he stuck his arm straight out, and a beam of red light lanced outward from the Pokeball he was holding, gathering the small Dragon-type into itself and returning to the ball. He sighed. "Are you ever gonna behave yourself?" He honestly worried about what would happen when she evolved. She was already rebellious and barely followed his orders; he could only imagine the disasters that would occur if she got worse.

Gently shaking Lucas awake, he spoke in a quiet voice to the Ralts. "Hey, bud, I don't wanna be awake either, but we've gotta practice if we want to pull this off." Lucas blinked at his Trainer slowly, then slid down to the ground. "Let's see that Hidden Power again." The Ralts lifted his arms, and a pair of white rings appeared around him. After expanding for a moment, they flew toward one of the dummies, surrounded it, and contracted almost faster than one's eye could follow. There appeared to be no effect for a moment, but then the Substitute doll burst into flames before extinguishing itself. "Nice, great work on that one. How about Trick Room? Pretty sure Reina's faster than you are." Lucas focused again for a moment as a strange sensation permeated the room. Reina, having practiced this before, started to run after the Ralts as he skittered across the field. Despite her best efforts, the Ralts remained frustratingly out of reach. After a few moments of this, Kage clapped. "Awesome, looks like everyone's got their moves down. Now, who wants to go to the fair?"

After a couple minutes of walking, Kage and his partners reached the fair, sans Virtes who was still on timeout in Kage's pocket. He found himself drawn to the smell of the barbecue, and drifted toward the booth where it was taking place.

[Commander]

"Wow, these guys must really hate you or something. Even the thugs in Orre don't give you looks like that. I think that guy even flipped the Pidgey. What did you do to them?" asked Citrine curious at all the looks the boy was getting.

"Most of them think I'm a dick while the rest are sour I'm still in the Winter Cup because I gave Zuko back to you. The looks are because Rosie was able to sweep a couple of trainers," responded Henry ignoring the looks he was getting.

"Well that's a party pooper. Surely not everyone here hates you. What about that guy over there? He seems like he gets along with everyone." Citrine pointed to Claude's face paint stand. Something about this boy intrigued her.

"Who Claude? I guess we get along alright. I don't think flirting will get you anywhere though as I'm pretty sure he's...nevermind." Henry could never seem to keep Citrine in one spot anywhere. He watched the girl walk right up to the stall.

"Hey there pretty thing." Citrine said to Claude. "I hear you're a friend of Henry's. Seems like you're having way more fun than Mr. Grouchybutt over there." She pointed to Henry who was slowly making his way up to the stall, but quickly was distracted by Lancelot who was covered in facepaint. "That bug looks so cute in that face paint. It makes me wonder what Henry would look like with face paint on."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Henry's team was taking a little vacation with his father. They had been training for the Winter Cup when their trainer had been randomly pulled away from them. Gypsy was enjoying another mountain of berries while Paradox was chasing after a pink fluffy tail belonging to Henry's Skitty. Burrows was underground waiting for Henry's order to submerge until he lost his patience. When his head popped out from down below, he couldn't seem to find Henry anywhere. The only knew thing was this tree that he was sure wasn't there before.

Burrows quickly moved over to it and began poking it causing it to move a couple inches. This startled the Drilbur and he attacked it with a Metal Claw. While the move didn't really hurt, it did enrage the tree revealing itself as a Sudowoodo. One of its arms began to grow green chasing forming a green cylinder who he planned to whack the mole with. The Drilbur quickly escaped by digging underground. The Sudowoodo tried whacking the ground a few times, but eventually gave up and went back to being a fake tree.

Somewhere nearby, an Electrike was woken up from the loud noise. He looked around noticing a large fair that wasn't there when he fell asleep. Thinking it'd be fun, the Electrike followed behind a large group of Pokemon making sure no one would be suspicious of him being a wild Pokemon. Henry's dad eventually noticed it, but figured it must've been another one of his son's Pokemon.

((Electrike isn't going to be added in this chapter. He's just occasionally going to appear to mess with Henry and his team)).

[Azeria]

"Thanks,Danielle and i'll be sure to check Mareek's stall out!"James replied as he took a sip of his coffee and walked out of the line."Now where was Mareek's woodwork stall again,Shade?"To which the Duskull replied by floating 1 stall away."Oh,there it is.Thanks Shade,here have a Pokeblock"James told the ghost as he threw a pokeblock in the air that was readily grabbed by the Duskull.He walked over to the shop and looked at all the carvings that were made.As he was looking over the carvings,a familiar sight stood there:A Cubone."Is that..what i think it is?"James stutered as he looked at the Ground Type.

[Chim]

Jory

Kristen giggled. She loved it how passionate Jacob was about winning the Winter Cup, but couldn’t help to tease him a little. “I’m sorry to be the one to burst your bubble, Jacob,” her face was deadly serious. “But I’m the one who will kick your ass and win the Cup!” She gave him a playful push and a wink. “Don’t worry, I’ll allow you to be second place. I bet your family would still be proud with that achievement.”

Stratos and DarkLight

“It’s not that surprising. Your wood carving is unique and people can use it as decoration in their house,” Lana replied. She was dressed similar to Danielle but in green instead of blue.

When Zared poked her and pointed to Slades parents. “Should we go over there?” Lana asked uncertain. She had no idea what Zared wanted to achieve. As far as she could tell Danielle was helping out another customer.

Tacos

The Old Lady was still getting her stall ready. “Oh, come in my sweet boy,” she said with her friendly voice. “I’m ready in a minute or so. You can take a seat by my Gothitelle over there by the table.” The Fortuneteller didn’t bother using a name. It was a part of her mystery act.

After she was done lighting some candles the tent was filled with the smell of mint and incense. She took her seat and looked Ryan in the eyes. She was dressed in dark blue with multiple scarfs other fortuneteller’s used. She had a gentle face and appeared to be somewhere in the late fifties. Her hair was grey with some dark spots like she used to have.

“Now, Ryan, you’ll have to be more specific. What about your future do you want to know?” She was still using her normal voice.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Training, training, training. There was much to be done, much to cover, especially after that loss to James. When Lucifer woke up, he flew into a mini-tantrum, until Raiza placated him with the prospect of improving... and his favorite Pokeblock, for effort. The Winter Cup was coming up; not only that, but Raiza couldn't put off how Kage's vision seemed to took place in a snowy place. Even if Professor Cadmus said that the drawing didn't look like the Academy, it was still a pretty debatable point; after all, she wasn't the one who had the vision and only rendered her own personal interpretation of what the Trainer told her.

Well that and she sucked at drawing inorganic things, particularly buildings.

Obviously Lucifer and Toothless both were most pressed to improve and level, still burning over the loss. There was no way the Litwick was going to let Raiza down again; there was no way the Deino was going to lose so easily again. Meanwhile, Rogue watched both her teammates consumed with gusto to overcome themselves within the short amount of time. It did annoy her, the fact that they got beat down this time, but what worried or astounded her more was the amount of effort that the two put into training. If they didn't slow down a little bit, they could tire themselves or hurt themselves, even. Similarly, Achlyx did her best, though she wondered what it was other than pride that drove the others to push themselves; it'd only been a short while that she was with the Heatmor, Raiza, so evidently she still didn't completely understand much of this hullabaloo.

And then, one day after an intense day of training and putting up with going to the gym areas for once, Raiza remembered, with much anxiety and oh crap feelings that her parents would be visiting.

~~~~~

... But, until her parents did arrive, Raiza decided she'd go around and see what her schoolmates' stalls were all about. Lana had gone off to help Mareek out at his stall-- what was it she said again, that they were selling wood carvings? Maybe she'd head on that way. "Come on, let's see what they've all got to offer, pon," she said with a smile, her whole team walking with her, excited for a break in training. With her hand in her pocket, ready to feel her phone vibrate in case her parents texted that they were inside the gates, she walked around aimlessly.

[Sutoratosu]

"I don't know," Mareek said, looking over at the Kafkins. It only took a few seconds before he figured out they were most likely Slade's parents; didn't take a rocket scientist to compare all the similar facial features, and especially not when you don't forget anyone's face. And also didn't take a rocket scientist to notice Slade was gone from that Barbeque stand his roommate had been working on all this time... hmmm, wonder why that was? "It's probably best if we don't though, we'd probably be intruding on something if we walked over at this moment... just a hunch. Trust me on this..."

Nemo meanwhile looked at James curiously as the boy stuttered upon the sight of him, making sure to keep an eye on where the boy's hands went while he was at it. "Yeah, it's a cubone," Mareek said, hearing the other student's question. He reached into his jacket's pocket, pulling out a small spiral bound pad of paper and a cheap pen and placing it on the counter before James. His outfit wasn't all that different from the usual ensemble of his white Jacket that was by now probably a trademark of him along with a black tee and equally black jeans and combat boots to match, a pair of goggles resting atop his head and leather gloves fitted on his hands. He pushed the pad and pen forward expectantly. "So... are you here to just gawk at Nemo, or do you want to buy or commision something?"

At the back of the stand, in the work area, Erce simply gave a glance to the Larvesta as she chirped out her explanation of why she would need to hide. while she wasn't too fond of Fire herself, she had honestly never really had any problems with Little Corona here... so she decided to just let the other bug type stay and hide for a while, so long as she didn't use any fire of hers; the whole place would go up like a very literal tinder box if she did. Having impressed this one condition upon the far younger bug, she went back to her work, scythes moving in a blur as she carved up the next couple of commissioned pieces, Java using Psybeam to move the finished products out of her way and onto the metal transport tray for Mareek to pick up later.

[Felicity]

Claudes mind was literally whirling, grinding out plans to escape his family before the inevitable happened, when a young woman who seemed to know Henry appeared as well as a disgruntled Slade in the distance. Henry didn't look too happy with the current state of affairs, so he figured he'd try and do him a favour, especially because this girl seemed to be not-so subtly flirting, something that oddly enough made him feel uncomfortable.

"I'm sure that with my skill he'd look so wonderful even the people who he sweeped would love and cheer for him, but i'm afraid that might have to wait. Henry, do you see Slade over there? He looks like he has a problem, do you wanna see if we can go help?" Claude suggested, trying to indicate without letting Citrine know what he was trying to do.

[Azeria]

"Sorry,it's just that your Cubone reminded me of lavender town and the Marowak slaughter that took place there a few years ago"James said as he stopped gawking at the cubone now revealed to be named Nemo."I'll never forgot what THEY,did to those poor cubones and marowak"He muttered after."Anyways,do you have a sculpture of a Mew?My uncle's been wanting one but there arent enouh people in Unova that know what mew looks like."James asked Mareek.