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"Scyther!?" The Scyther gasped, its head withdrawing and the mantis Pokemon pulling on of its scythes against its chest like a person might with their hand. "How dare you!?" It said in Pokespeak in response to Litten's comment, falling for the Taunt like a Shellder for a Slowpoke tail. The flustered Scyther was going to make this little mouthy feline pay for that.

Litten and Tristen would truly know the Scyther fell for the Taunt as the Scyther placed its scythes at its side and with a flap of its wings sent itself diving down towards Litten, wings spread out and glowing as it prepared a Wing Attack. In its Taunted state the Scyther must have not considered a key aspect of this battle, that being all the fire on the ground, the same ground it was now diving towards. Even if it hit Litten then what? Roast yourself in victory?

Meanwhile Matteo was keeping an eye on the flames, noting they were spreading. "Uh oh...Buizel, let's try and control this a bit, use Water Gun." Matteo ordered his Pokemon as it began to douse some of the flames that had spread away from the battle proper, the boy trying to prevent them from reaching the tree line.

The Scyther was certain it had Litten as it swooped in, the subconscious mental calculations all coming up correctly, this was going to be it, sweet revenge and a juicy bit of prey for lunch. As such it was a complete surprise for the Mantis Pokemon when Litten actually moved out of the way just in the nick of time, the Scyther's eyes going wide in that moment. There was no stopping the Scyther's trajectory though, it put all its speed into this attack and if anyone knew a thing or too about momentum it was conserved so it would take the Scyther some effort and time to slow itself down and move, two things it did not have.

All the Scyther would do was slightly turn its head back and look back at the Litten out of the corner of its eye only to see the incoming Flamethrower. For a split second the Scyther realized its errors before the stream of fire consumed the Bug Pokemon completely. The Scyther would proceed to fall out of the sky, burnt to a crisp and landing right in the burning grass. Whether or not the Flamethrower or the burning grass actually knocked it out was irrelevant, that Scyther wasn't going to be sneak attacking anyone any time soon.

"Uh Tristen? Do you have a Water type on you?" Matteo called out a few seconds later after Tristen's victory over Scyther. Tristen would see Matteo's Buizel doing its best with Water Gun to control the flames but it was just one Pokemon and really only managed to contain it from reaching the forest on this side, slowly putting it out but the other end was completely uncontrolled and spreading. "Otherwise I might have to get naked and roll around in the fire for a bit." The boy explained as he reached out into the flames, said fire slowly absorbing into his hand as a little bit of steam emitting from his head. "Flash Fire. Kinda wish I had fireproof clothes..."

"Huh...?" Matteo muttered as the bright light caught his attention out of the corner his eye, the boy turning to focus on the source just in time to see Litten replaced with Torricat, the boy beginning to smile. "It evolved! Congrats!" Matteo congratulated Tristen, so distracted by the evolution that he didn't realize the bottom of his shirt had caught fire until his Buizel called out to him and pointed down at his midsection. "Huh? Oh! Crap!" He shouted, smacking the bottom of his shirt to put it out. That was when the rain began to fall.

"Hey! Who turned the show...er...on..." Matteo began to shout, happy that his shirt was put out thanks to the rain but displeased over getting wet, that was until he turned again to see a towering red monster before him, the boy looking up in awe and his mouth agape. "It's...Gyarados..." He managed to get out, completely enthralled by the Pokemon's appearance, so much so that he didn't even realize that the fires around them were doused nor did he seem to mind the rain falling down on his anymore.

"Bui-bui?" His Buizel would walk up to him and pull on the non-burnt bottom of his shirt to get his attention, Matteo snapping out of his enthrallment to look down at the source of the tugging.

"Huh? Oh...Buizel...right the fire..." He began to say only to notice it put out. Gulping he patted the Buizel's head and gave one more stare at the red Gyarados before turning to Tristen. "Thanks...I um...wow..." He tried to focus on Tristen at least however the shiny Pokemon caught his attention once more and after several more seconds of staring at it again he managed to speak again. "That's the big one, isn't it? From the stories...the Red Gyarados from the Lake of Rage...has to be, you're from around there..." He said, breaking his staring once more and focused on Tristen. "I read an article online about it, years ago some researchers tried to find it but came up empty. I think it was also on the news once. You caught it."

"Oh, wow...that's a lot more lore than I expected. So it's possible to find another red Gyarados then...huh..." Matteo said in response to Tristen, the other boy no doubt noticing that look in his eye. Tristen might be thankful that Matteo didn't have one of his fits but that look didn't seem any better. He was going to try and find his own red Gyarados, wasn't he? "Thanks as well, Gyarados." Matteo thanked the sea serpent too before Tristen recalled him.

With the monster of a Pokemon gone Matteo could focus properly on Tristen, looking from him and to Buizel and back. "Yeah, I suppose it's long past our turn huh? Before that though..." With that Matteo inhaled deep and clinched his fists at his side, turning up his body heat as steam began to rise off his body. After a few seconds evaporating the water in his fur Matteo would exhale and then shook his entire body in a very dog-like manner, his fur now all nice and fluffy again. "That's much better. I guess I'll count that as my bi-weekly bath." He said with a chuckle before glancing at their surroundings.

"Well Buizel, we can't let our friends here keep showing us up, let's find you a good opponent and get you evolved as well. You guys can keep up, right?" Matteo said with a grin at Tristen before taking off in a run, just regular speed as he had no intentions of actually racing Tristen. Buizel would soon run after its trainer as well.

A minute or two later Matteo would stop running to catch his breath, now deeper in the forest. As he caught his breath he scanned the area for a bit, his Buizel mimicking its trainer as it too looked around. The boy wouldn't look for long before spotting something that caught his eye; a Greedent. "There we go, something with a bit more oomph but not too crazy." Matteo said before pointing at it and looking down at his Buizel. "Ready? Go introduce yourself to it, use Aqua Jet!" Matteo commanded.

Buizel would summon forth a cloak of water before leaping off the ground and using a jet of water behind itself to send itself flying at the fat squirrel Pokemon at a violent speed. The Buizel would slam into the Greedent that was just sitting on a stump eat, causing the fluffy Pokemon to get swept off the ground and hit the ground rolling, now wet. Buizel would land with grace, sliding across the ground a bit as it looked at its opponent, smirking like its trainer.

"Gree...dent? Greedent!" The Greedent was initially confused, or perhaps looking for its half eaten berry, however it would soon collect itself and look angrily at Buizel and huff. With a cry the Greedent would rush towards Buizel on all fours, glowing slightly with Normal energy as it rammed into Buizel with a Tackle, Buizel trying its best to hold its ground as it slid along the forest floor, wincing.

"Fight back! Aqua Jet again!" Matteo ordered, Buizel doing just that as it unleashed a burst of water behind itself, using its Aqua Jet to push back against the Greedent and quickly winning the struggle as Greedent was sent rolling backwards again while Buizel came to a sliding stop and turned around.

"Gree..." Growled the Normal type as it got back to its feet again, now angrier. Deciding it was time to do some real damage the Greedent would put on a display of surprising jumping ability as it sprung off the ground and arched over into the air, now coming down upon Buizel belly first. Buizel could only look up dumbfounded for a second before the Greedent came crashing down on it with Body Slam.

"Buizel! Are you okay!?" Matteo shouted, only able to see Buizel's tails underneath the fat tree climber. Buizel's tails would twitch in response. "If you can use Bite!" The boy ordered. For a second it was unsure if Buizel heard him but he would get confirmation as the Greedent let out a yelp and leap up off the ground holding its belly, Buizel staggering back onto its feet and spitting fur out of its mouth.

Greedent at this point would be losing its patience with this annoyance and with a cry rushed the Buizel, hands up and mouth opened.

"Heh, really? You're too slow for us! Buizel, jump and use Double Hit!" Matteo ordered.

As the Greedent closed in Buizel would simply leap into the air and spin around, avoiding whatever attack the Greedent planned and smacking it with each tail, empowered with Normal energy, one at a time. The Greedent's head swiveled each way before the Normal type quickly grabbed the last tail before it pulled back and would Bite down on it hard causing Buizel to cry out in pain.

"Hey! That's our trick! Buizel, Aqua Jet! Get away and come back around!" Matteo commanded.

Buizel would unleash a burst of water behind it like using, blast the Greedent in the face by proxy and freed itself from its grip as it rocketed through the air. The Buizel would be on a collision course for a tree before turning its body at the last second, kicking off the tree, and sending itself slamming into the Greedent head first. Matteo was sure this would be the final blow as the Greedent slide across the ground from the impact, looking worse for wear, however this was not the end.

"Greedent!" The Pokemon cried as it grabbed a hold of Buizel, hugging it and taking them both to the ground with a Body Slam.

"Buizel!" Matteo shouted, another fairly powerful Normal move from a Normal type, this time he could hear Buizel crying out in pain. "This thing just won't go down...Buizel, you can win this! Aqua Jet straight up!" The boy commanded.

Water would begin to spray out from underneath the Greedents belly and at first Greedent would slowly rise off the ground, Buizel slowly becoming visible as it grunted with effort. Buizel would find its second wind and the slow rise would turn into a quick one as they both rocketed up into the air. Buizel would take them as high as the trees before it released the Aqua Jet and sent them both falling back to the ground, however Buizel was not helpless as it used Aqua Jet again to arch back around and safely land on the ground. Greedent was not as fortunate as its landing was fair less graceful as it hit the ground with a hard thud and a cry of pain.

"Gree...dent..." It groaned face down on the ground before going limp, finally succumbing to its injuries. Greedent fainted.

"You did it!" Matteo cheered for his Pokemon, the Buizel looking to him with a weak smile as it gave a thumb's up. Matteo would notice how much of a beating his Pokemon took and quickly jogged over to it, picked it up, and began administering a Super Potion. "That one sure gave us a time...you fought really hard bud." He told his Pokemon before looking to Tristen. "Man, I always forget how hardy some Normal types can be, Buizel had to fight for that one. Hopefully you'll find something a little easier to take down next."

The boys wouldn't have to walk for long before Tristen spotted a prime target for his Rookidee to take on as they came upon an apple tree full of juicy plump apples. Seeing the tree probably reminded Tristen of the Applin they ran into earlier, knocked loose from a tree and bonking that Steenee in the head. Matteo was quickly to step up and sniff the air. "Yep, there are Applin around here." He said, as if Tristen needed such confirmation after seeing one in the area, if there was one there were bound to be more in the apple trees. "They smell extra apple-y, if that makes sense. I guess it's the juices from the apple or something." He said with a shrug, even he didn't know how to explain it.

If Tristen and Rookidee were to look at the apples for long enough they might notice one moving slightly and as if to get confirmation a pair of eyes would poke out from the top for a second before quickly retreating, the hiding Applin aware of their presence. Don't look at me, I'm just a normal apple, it no doubt thought. Was it too late for the saying about a morning bird and a worm to apply?

As soon as the first strike hit the Applin began to cry out and wiggle to try and dislodge its apple from the branch it was affixed to. After taking three peaks and/or scratches the Applin would successfully get its apple to come off the branch causing the Applin to fall to the ground, the apple it was in rolling a few feet away from the tree upon landing. The Applin would just lay there, hiding away in its apple, not moving on the ground. Matteo would look from the Applin and to Tristen after awhile of nothing happening. "...is it going to do anything?" He asked, not really expecting an answer.

If and when Rookidee approached the Applin and once it was close enough the worm inside would suddenly appear, spreading its body out as far as it could go and screeching at the bird, unleashing a burst of Ghost energy as it used Astonish. Immediately after getting off the Astonish the Applin would withdraw into its apple and attempt roll away, not wanting to stick around for the inevitable retaliation but it wasn't going to get far very fast.