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Mightyena howled in pain as the heavy set Steel Pokemon slammed into his side. Mike made a pained face at the impact as well, as the snaps that could be heard were a horror to even imagine. The dog limply collapsed onto the ground, not even bothering to get back up. Vince snarled, recalling his Pokemon and spitting a few curses as he released his second and final Pokemon, Sharpedo.

Mike felt a shiver fly up his spine, those Pokemon always terrified him ever since he was kid. And to top it all off, that was one of the Pokemon that nearly killed Shiver. However, the Cloyster did not share his trainer's apprehension, a confident smirk still playing on his face as he waited for his comman. He felt Tentacruel tighten his grip and retaliated with a hard squeeze his own. He could feel the strain on his shell much more than earlier, and while he was still ready for more, a little freedom would be ideal.

"Okay Shiver, we're doing great so far, but we need to cut you loose from that. Ice Beam!" He wished that somehow his Cloyster would shoot out a Thunderbolt, just to end this obscene hug game Shiver was in. Taking in a deep breath, the Ice Pokemon blasted his own point blank beam at his opponent, scoring a direct shot on the side of the Jellyfish's face. Despite type disadvantage, he could tell that one hurt. But it's not enough to bring him down. "Kilik, I need help over here!" Mike called out, pointing to the Tentacruel. Mike racked his brain on how to end this tussle as the Tentacruel lobbed another Acid at Shiver, this one splashing on the Cloyster's outer shell.

It was as Miharu was watching her Pinsir pick itself up off of a cluster of flowers that a name sprang to mind. "I'm going to call you Petunia!" she said cheerily, receiving a thumbs up from the Stagbeetle in return. "Okay Petunia, get that Beedrill! Use your Vicegrip and hold it tight!" she commanded firmly, already loving the new Pokemon to pieces. Petunia gave an affirmative cry and dashed forward, lowering her head and ensnaring the large bee in her pincers. This did allow the Beedrill to attack Petunia right on the top of her head, and several sharp jabs caused the large beetle to release her prey and stagger back, swiping at the top of her head in a vain attempt to wipe the pain away. She was, however, incredibly angry, and she glared down the Beedrill as though it were her biggest enemy.

The Butterfree, meanwhile, had managed to regain its flight and was now trying to decide which foe was more dangerous. It was obviously the Pinsir, but in honesty, the butterfly's trainer wasn't the brightest bulb in the pack. He called for it to Tackle Sparkle, but the little sheep Pokemon happily bounced out of the way, her wool crackling with electricity with each hop. Miharu ordered another Thundershock, and the Mareep happily let the jolt fly, striking for another solid hit. Miharu smiled; the battle was definitely going well so far.

"Whoo!" Mike pumped his fist in the air as the Tentacruel loosened his grip around Shiver with the heavy hit from Lairon, crashing to the floor in a crumpled mess. The Cloyster gave a sigh of relief as he wiggled his shell in joy, free from the annoying Water Pokemon's grip. "Alright Shiver, I think you deserve/want a bit of a break, so back in the ball you go. Good job!" Mike recalled his Pokemon, quickly swapping it for Beacon as he noticed Marty sent out his Golbat.

"What? He hasn't evolved into a Crobat yet?" The boy laughed, pointing at the Poison Pokemon, recalling Kasiya's Crobat, Fang. "What, it's been like, 4 months? It must not like you very much." Mike snickered, amused at how little they've improved.

Marty frowned, crossing his arms. "I'm getting sick of your attitude boy." The Aqua Grunt glanced at his Golbat almost expectantly, glaring at Vince when he heard a slight chuckle escape his partner. "He likes me just fine.! And another thing! I don't see you absolutely decimating us like you said you would, so shut your stupid mouth!" He was starting to lose his cool, and angrily ordered his Golbat to Sludge Bomb Mike's Ampharos, who much to the boy's surprise wasn't even facing the right direction. Beacon waved happily to his trainer as a chunk of explosive poison knocked him on his face.

Mike almost laughed, but felt that picking on the mentally handicapped was something unfit of a hero in active duty, so he choked it down. "Beacon, you gotta pay attention!" He scolded, waving his finger. "Now, I want you to show that meanie Golbat who the boss is with your Thunderbolt!"

Wiping a stray tear off its face, the loopy Pokemon hopped forward, cracking with electricity. He cried out, pointing its flippers at the Sharpedo. That's who he wanted me to attack right? A loud boom and a slight gust of wind could be felt as the electric attack launched out and blasted the shark full force.

Vince let out a surprised gasp, and would have laughed at the Ampharos' 'disobedience' if the Thunderbolt hadn't nearly knocked out his Pokemon in one hit. "Sharpedo, don't worry about that Ampharos!" The grunt yelled, knowing that his Pokemon was toast next stray breeze. "Try to take out the Lairon with Water Pulse!" The Brutal Pokemon, his health next to depleted, sputtered out an aquatic ring, shooting it at the Steel Pokemon in hopes of taking it out.

Vince recalled his Pokemon, mortified at the two boy's powerful teamwork. "This, this can't be happening!" He screamed, scraping at his bandanna in disbelief.

Mike felt that pom poms should be in order after such an impressive attack. "Alright!" He cheered, Beacon clapping loudly. "And don't worry Kilik," Mike said reassuringly. "Beacon may not be the most accurate of Pokemon but he's my little buddy and can do whatever he wants to when he puts his mind to it!" The Ampharos trilled in utter joy, he loved compliments above all else. "Okay champ, let's show them once more your impressive Thunderbolt attack!"

"Not before we hit you first," Marty punched the air, a visible sweatbead slowly making its way down his face. "Golbat, one more Sludge Bomb!" The Bat Pokemon closed its mouth, churning disgusting toxic mess inside its body until violently vomiting a purple colored gunk ball at the Ampharos.

"Quick Beacon, fire your attack!" Mike shouted, stomping his foot so hard it hurt. The Electric Pokemon's eyes widened as the Sludge Bomb flew towards him, and fired a defensive bolt of lightning at it in hopes to somehow stop it. The two forces met in the air, pressing against each other for only a second before exploding, a shower of acid rained down on the battlefield. Beacon was splashed on the arm with the acidic attack, and yelped in pain as he frantically scraped the sludge off. The Thunderbolt attack that caused the detonation ripped through the small cloud of smoke left behind and blasted the Golbat for a super effective hit.

Mike looked over the Pokemon on the field, Beacon was doing fine aside from some acid burns and Golbat looked like he got the wind knocked out of him with that last attack. "Kilik, don't push Lairon so hard," The boy tried not to sound like a parent, and didn't mean anything particularly accusatory by it. He just worried about Kilik's Pokemon, as he knew they were not as strong as his, at least, he thought so. "You can never be too careful, use someone else!"

And just like that Kilik had scored four out of four knockout blows in the battle. "Kick a** Kilik!" Mike cheered, truthfully disappointed he wasn't able to make a single enemy Pokemon faint. "That's the way to do it!" The Magma boy turned his attention to Marty and Vince, who were shaken up a bit. "Alright, I want to know about a certain someone who was taken here recently. A boy." Mike pounded a fist into his palm, attempting to look as menacing as possible.

"W-we don't know who you're talking about!" Marty replied, recalling his fainted Golbat angrily. He stood his ground, trying to keep up the lie.

"Yeah," Vince added, suddenly feeling quite vulnerable without his own Pokemon at his side. "Last haul we brought in was a girl anyway." The Aqua Grunt practically felt his teeth shoot out as Marty replied to his slip with a swift punch to the face.

Perfect. Mike smirked. That means she's definitely here. ...wait. The boy's brain went over the last sentence Vince said. The last haul we brought it. "You bastards!" The boy shouted, clicking on his gloves, then shooting a unintentional glare at Kilik. "You! Take that warp panel back then, we're splitting up!" Mike pointed to the panel behind them, on the other side of the pool where they warped into this room. "Call me if you have any problems!" He turned back to the two Aqua Grunts, flames shooting out from his hands. "How dare you kidnap an innocent girl!" He gave chase to the fleeing Grunts, angrily throwing fireballs at them as they escaped to the warp panel behind them. With a bloodthirsty scream, Mike dove after them, disappearing in a flash of light as Prickles ran frantically to keep up.

"Finish that Pinsir with your Horn Attack!" William commanded sharply, and before Miharu could react, Petunia had been knocked onto her back by the attack; her arms and legs flailing for a second before she became still. Miharu bit her bottom lip and flinched a little as the coppery taste of her own blood tingled on her tongue. She held up the Pinsir's Park Ball and recalled her, and the large Stagbeetle disappeared just as the Nincada popped up from its hiding place underground, striking Sparkle for an easy critical hit and sending the poor little sheep Pokemon for a tumble.

She came to a stop at Miharu's feet, and at once the girl bent down, lightly petting the fallen Pokemon's head. "You did really well girl," she said, also recalling her into her Pokeball as she stood up. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at the two boys. They were laughing and pointing, and this only seemed to enrage the small girl even further. Two red and white Pokeballs were flung at the same time, and Tingle and Starrie appeared before her. Miharu stood as tall as she possibly could, and looked at the two bug catchers, fury burning in her eyes. "Starrie, use your Water Gun on that Nincada. Tingle, PAY ATTENTION!" she said, raising her voice as she realized her Metang wasn't facing the battle, or anyone else for that matter. The steel type was staring up at the sky, tracing the shapes of the clouds with its clawed fingertips. At the mention of its name, the Metang turned towards the two bugs, its eyes narrowing. "Tingle, Confusion attack on Heracross!"

Before Miharu had even issued Tingle's command, Starrie had already pelted Joshua's Nincada with a Water Gun, and the bug was screeching horribly. It attempted to blindly counter with a Fury Swipes attack, but the swift Staryu got out of the way with ease. Tingle fired off the psychic attack effortlessly, causing the Heracross to stumble as confusion set in on it. Even though it had been ordered to attack Tingle, it found itself unable to do so and it fell over backwards, legs flailing around in all directions.

Kasiya's face lit up when she saw Keegan approaching them, and she waved excitedly. "Oh, that's great!" she said, rubbing her hands together. Maybe I really will challenge Wattson before the day is through. It was hard not to giggle at Flannery's actions though, and she certainly didn't blame the gym leader from wanting to get away from the gym now and then. It was not unlike her father to disappear for weeks on end at times, and he often claimed he was out doing 'special training'. Kasiya had a sneaking suspicion that this 'special training' of his involved a sandy, tropical beach and a half-dozen margaritas.

"Keegan?" Flannery blinked a few times as the redhead neared them. "You're the last person I expected to see here. Last time I saw you two together you were erupting like Mt. Chimney!" She grabbed the stray coins and stuck them into the Coin Case before getting to her feet. "And don't call me 'Flan!' You know I hate that. I am not a freaky dessert," she said grumpily, scoffing and looking away from him, fully intent on ignoring him. However, her curiosity got the better of her in less than two seconds, and she let the childish name slide and turned back to her friends. "What did you want to see me about anyway?" she asked, making sure the lid of her Coin Case was on securely this time. "What's up?"