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The fine hairs on Nadja's upper arms raised, responding to the chill that swept over the arena, and she narrowed her grey eyes a fraction. Ah yes. He had made reference to his Wailord, and the gym was indeed big enough to hold it. Its massive bulk could withstand a number of assaults before succumbing, but in other areas it was sadly lacking. Defense, for one.

When the rumbling snow settled, the Kingdra was nowhere in sight. Then a tall drift shifted and a head emerged, blinking red eyes. Ophion shook frost crystals off his head fins with a little 'hf,' looking annoyed more than anything else.

Nadja shifted her stance slightly. "Dragon Pulse."

Her Kingdra raised his snout and sighted along it like a gun barrel, seeking out what looked like the Wailord's weakest point with the patience and precision of a trained sniper. The snow was both help and hindrance - while it immobilized him it also propped him up, leaving him free to focus on his aim. A sphere of turquoise light appeared at the tip of his snout, collected energy until the center glowed white, then fired across the arena. If it was a critical hit his ability would deal increased damage.

Hayes' pencil jerked, as did everything else in the room. The programmer made a 'Really?' face at the bold line that had gone right through his logic gates.. then found his gaze drawn by the coffee mug about to roll off the table. "Damn-" He made a grab for it and missed. Porcelain crashed and pencils went everywhere.

The blond leaned back in his chair and blew some hair out of his eyes, staring at the ceiling. What the heck.

Oh, right. It was Seth's day off.

He was probably showing off his Wailord.


Ophion huffed and narrowed his eyes as the shot did considerable damage - but not enough. The poison was taking its toll, and when the earthquake shook the arena it loosened the snow enough for the Kingdra to lose his balance and topple over in a highly undignified manner.

Nadja pursed her lips at her Pokemon's predicament and brushed a loose wisp of hair back into place. "Again."

It was hard to focus, but this wasn't the first time Ophion had been poisoned and wouldn't be the last. The Kingdra's eyes narrowed to slits as it gathered another sphere of energy, brilliant as a dawn stone, and shot it at Narmu. Given his size the Wailord wasn't difficult to hit - it was just a matter of where.

The seahorse sagged, fins drooping and chest heaving. He was on his last round.

The elite raised her brows at the next fighter that materialized then frowned, brows knitting close. What was coming was inevitable, she and her Pokemon knew, but Nadja's jaw tightened at the sound of heavy teeth cracking scale as the Kingdra twisted in a last effort to protect its vitals. A gritty wind whipped through her hair.

Oh, Ophion.

Tyranitar were vicious enough without any intervention. To purposely use a Dark Ball to make it even more aggressive and evolve it to its final stage were the actions of a man who lacked foresight or was completely confident in his abilities. Or both.

Well. Two could play that game.

"Zveya, Swords Dance!" Nadja shouted as Ophion disappeared and her next Pokeball sailed out, cracking open in midair to reveal a streamlined, wickedly curved and hooked form. Her Garchomp issued a vicious snarl of challenge from a wide mouth lined with razor-sharp teeth, brandished its winglike arms and thrashed its tail aggressively.

It had been long - too long - since she'd faced a real opponent. The fire-hair loosed her on the desert sands to sate her blood lust, but all they held were weaklings that fell under her scythes. So Zveya was too confident in her speed, too used to felling her foes with a single stroke to take the dark bulk rushing toward her seriously.

Vicious jaws closed down on a thin arm never meant to withstand them.

"Earthquake!" Nadja called over the hissing veils of sand. The Garchomp roared defiance and pain, wrenching free to leap in the air with one limb at a crooked angle. She came down heavily on her feet and the arena shook for a fourth time that battle.


"Son of a-!"

Hayes gave up.

Zveya snarled at the Armor Pokemon as it went down, her stance triumphant, dominating, and right in the way of the bullrush.

Nadja's brows flew up, but she was quick enough to sidestep as Seth's Tyranitar barreled past and slammed her Garchomp into the wall. "Again!" she ordered a little breathlessly. 450 pounds of massive Rock type hurtling toward you could startle just about anyone.

A guttural sound issued from under the Tyranitar's bulk. The Garchomp attempted to wrap its three working limbs around its opponent and flip it for another floor-shaking tremor, both to cause damage and get the hated thing off her before it crushed her further. Her back fin was already bent.

Hayes was not the only thing residing on the floors below the raging battle. In one of the recreation rooms was a white haired scientist and her almost person sized blimp-pokemon.

Newton was trying to get the hang of his giant hands on the tiny controllers. He was having some difficulty, which was further hindered some mysterious shaking and thundering over head. Finally, he gave up and threw the controller at the ceiling; The tiny thing crashed into the ceiling, bounced off, and almost smacked into Nyx, who was focused on trying to write with all the shaking.

"Ah! Newton, watch it!" Nyx glared at him while he glared at the ceiling. She barely had time to pull out his pokeball and recall him before he flew through the ceiling to unleash his balloon-y rage on whoever was ruining his game.

Though, now that she thought of it, Nyx was curious about what causing all that shaking. If it was a battle... they didn't normally cause such a commotion. She put down her book and started to head to the floor above.

Seth lifted a brow as the Metagross reappeared, only to knock his Salamence from the sky with an unexpected ice punch. Not a typical move that was put on that Pokemon, but very effective. Especially since the Salamence fainted right then and there with the double weakness.

The white dragon was returned promptly, leaving Seth down to only one Pokemon.

This was turning out to be a rather disappointing battle, the elite's frustration being shown in the crease of his brow.

His final ball was tossed, and his faithful Typhlosion appeared. Pele lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at the steel type before her, spiked flames flaring out from her neck.

"Eruption!"

A roar, and soon seering flames and rock were showered upon the Metagross in a powerful attack.