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"So there IS another way in to the lab other than that window," Kasiya mused as she and her Pokemon made their way down the hall. The base felt completely abandoned right now, and she idly wondered if any of the Rockets were left hiding somewhere, or if they'd all fled. She was still feeling pretty good about everything, though she felt a tiny tug of guilt at her heart as she made her way down a corridor. Her adrenaline had pretty much subsided now and a heavy tiredness was pressing down on her. The same could be said for Shocker as the exhausted mouse had fallen asleep in her trainer's arms, and Kasiya shifted her a bit to make her easier to carry. She was unable to keep herself from nuzzling the Raichu as she walked, planting numerous kisses on her cheeks and forehead as she basked in the happiness of having one of her best friends back with her again, but she knew she needed to get the Electric-type to a Pokemon Center. She needed to be checked over and at the very least, get some actual rest. "All good now," the blonde murmured as she gently snuggled the mouse's velvety fur with her cheek, fighting back more tears at the thought of what Giovanni had put her through.

Having never really been in this part of the gym/base before, it was only natural that Kasiya would take a few wrong turns and a couple of times she wound up completely lost, openly cursing Giovanni for making the basement of the complex some sort of stupid labyrinth. After what felt like forever (in actuality it was about ten minutes) she found herself in familiar surroundings and she pushed on through into the arena, the first thing she noticed was that there was a disturbing lack of her Tyranitar's rampaging. The second thing she noticed, oddly enough, was a sort of muffled honking sound and on the far side of the arena - which was looking as though a nuke had gone off while she was down in the lab - she could see a large ball of fluff rolling around and crashing relatively harmlessly into anything around it. A familiar, beat-up looking Breloom was meditating on the floor next to Ada, who was unconscious. It was safe to say that the poor girl looked rather confused as her Pokemon filed in around her.

"What the...?" she asked, stepping further into the arena and having a better look around. Almost immediately her gaze was drawn to the large Magmortar up on the balcony, which was obviously more heavily damaged than how she left it. "Wait, Portabello?" She looked to the right again, now seeing another figure alongside the Fire-type. "Napalm!" Her eyes narrowed, and even though her heart had started to flutter rapidly at the sight of him, she made an angry little scowl. "Mike!" she yelled, stomping forward and nearly stumbling over a piece of the balcony that was still smoldering. "Your'e supposed to be resting! What are you doing here!?"

=-=-=-=-=

Ah, Mirror Move. It was a move that Erika had forgotten that more experienced Fearow could use, but it was of little consequence. Pet Shop would have already been paralyzed by the spores and Exeggutor was blindingly fast, and Erika didn't have to say a word as the Coconut Pokemon deftly danced out of the reach of Pet Shop's mirrored spores. He put some distance between them, its faces all expressing different emotions as it did so. On her end of the battlefield, Erika appeared to be in a meditative stance, her eyes closed and hands folded neatly in front of her.

Hearing Mike's voice made Shocker stir a bit in her trainer's arms, but her eyes remained closed and she snuggled up a little closer to the girl. Still maintaining a rather annoyed frown she looked over at the unconscious Tyranitar and at the massive destruction the arena had suffered, trying to pretend like she wasn't secretly elated to have Mike here. She then looked over to Portabello, seemingly avoiding eye contact with Mike for now as she knew that if she looked right at him, her facade would be over, despite how hard she tried to hang on to her anger. She knew that everything he said made perfect sense and that he was more than right - it hadn't been very smart of her to attack this place on her own. What if the big bosses had been here? She likely would have lost all her Pokemon to them, and there was no telling what could have happened to her as a result.

His fingers were warm against her cheek and she closed her eyes, realizing that if she'd truly wanted to be alone in this, she never would have sent him a message in the first place. "Yeah, well..." she trailed off, her anger fizzling out as though Ariel had drenched her with a Hydro Pump. "I just wanted her back," was all she managed, looking up into Mike's eyes, and then down at the Raichu in her arms. "I just wanted her back."

She was almost certain that she was going to start crying, but perhaps she was all cried out for now, as all that escaped her throat was a soft sigh. "I'm sorry," she said, looking up at him with a small, almost shy little smile. "I know I shouldn't have tried to do this on my own, but in my defense..." she trailed off, and gestured to the arena. As though just to emphasize her point, a large chunk of what used to be the balcony came loose and crashed to the floor. It was a little surprising that the ruckus hadn't caused the Raichu or Tyranitar to stir. "I think I did pretty good, y'know?"

The crowd surrounding the two combatants had grown to a rather impressive size. As Prickles anchored himself to the ground, the spectators began to murmur among themselves about this atypical matchup.

"I thought Cacturne was a Dark type." one of them mentioned.
"It is, but that Alazakam hit it with Miracle Eye, which lets psychic attacks effect it. I think."
"Boy, I sure wish we could understand them."

Sasha could feel her brow dampening as she waited for Bishop to issue his next command. With his immunity removed, Prickles as now able to be hit with Bayard's psychic attacks, which as an Alakazam, were naturally powerful. She studied her opponent, whose statuesque expression belied the pounding heart beneath his chest. It had been so long since his last battle, but his movements and thoughts came so naturally you would think it was only yesterday. Bishop raised his hand, pressing his fingers together.

"(Bayard, Psybeam.)" No sooner had the old man snapped his fingers than a did brightly colored beam shoot out of the Alakazam's forehead and slam into Prickles' chest, knocking it back. There was an audible snicker from some of the members of the crowd as the cactus Pokemon bobbed back and forth like an inflatable clown as the attack slammed his upper body into the ground, his legs firmly rooted.

"(Pin Missile!)" she called out. Prickles drew back his arm, throwing it forward and sending a volley of needle-like spines towards the Alakazam.

"(Dodge it with Teleport!)" Snap. In a bright flash of light, Bayard disappeared, reappearing several meters to the left. Prickles turn and loosed another round, which was also dodged. The Cacturne, who surprisingly enough wasn't enjoying the psychic slap session he was partaking in, raised both arms in front of him. He shot out a spread of needles from the right tip, waiting a second before firing from the other. Bayard avoided the first attack, reappearing just in time to be peppered by the second, then a third as Prickles took advantage of the opening. They would have scored a direct hit if not for the Reflect, which slowed down the projectiles, even stopping a few.

"(Good work, Prickles!)" Sasha cheered, proud of her Pokemon's quickness. With all due respect, it wasn't a trait of Prickles' species to be fast thinkers. The girl felt her tensions easing up as both the Ingrain and the Leech Seed

"(Most, impressive, miss.)" Bishop said, narrowing his eyes in concentration. This is no time to get overconfident. he thought. He may have removed the Cacturne's greatest advantage, but it still had a wide array of attacks that would take Bayard down quickly if he was not careful, not to mention its every increasing sustainability.

It was a little hard to believe that the tension in the air was already this thick, as only one round had passed by so far. Keegan could feel the sweat starting to bead on his forehead but he ignored it, refusing to appear weak in front of his father, his mother, Flannery, and all these seemingly-random people. He stared hard at the ground, painfully aware of the fact that even he didn't know where the Arbok would surface. Dig wasn't exactly a weak move, either, so if it hit, it would likely cause a lot of damage to his father's Houndoom.

Todd, meanwhile, stood on his end of the arena, arms folded over his chest and he wore a relaxed, yet confident expression that made the younger Summers feel green with envy. "Houndoom, use Howl," the older man said, still watching the ground intently. The canine took a few steps back and planted her feet before loosing a bone-chilling howl; her body glowing with the slightest trace of red as she nullified the effects of Loki's Intimidate ability.

A small murmur went through the crowd but Keegan couldn't hear anything specific, so he pretended not to notice and instead fixed his gaze on the Houndoom, deciding to concentrate on how much better it would look after Loki had beaten it to a pulp. On cue, the Arbok reappeared in nothing less than an absolute explosion of rock and dirt from directly beneath where the canine was standing, ramming the tip of his head into the Houndoom's belly and sending her skyward. The Dark/Fire-type gave a pitiful yelp as she came crashing back down again and it took a moment for her to be able to get up again. When she did, however, she came up snarling, looking mightily unhappy with Loki. Seeing the successful attack allowed for Keegan to breathe again, and all at once he felt relaxed and comfortable in his own skin. It might have helped that upon seeing his Houndoom tossed across the battlefield like a stuffed toy, Todd's calm demeanor faltered - for no more than a second, but a falter was a falter - and seeing this caused the redhead to actually smile.

"Nice one, Loki," he said, now folding his arms over his chest to adopt his father's stance. "Since they seemed to really get a rise out of your Dig, let's see how they feel about a Glare." The Arbok hissed gleefully in reply; oh how he loved to use this move! He darted forward a few feet, his forked tongue occasionally tasting the air as he rose up high on his coils and flared his hood. The face-like pattern on his underside seemed to come into a life of its own, eyes glowing and mouth creeping wider and wider into a slasher-esque smile. In the meantime, Todd had called out for a Fire Fang, having reverted back to his stoic self and the Dark-type had been coming in, flaming fangs bared. She skidded to a stop, however, upon seeing the sinister gaze of the Arbok's patterning, now completely frozen with fear.
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Leroy's Zangoose gave a shriek as it was suddenly being bathed in flames, slashing its claws wildly as though it would help stop the onslaught of flames. In the meantime, Miharu had recalled Petunia and started to run, not making it very far before Mori was at her side. The Ponyta grabbed a hold of the girl by scruff of her neck and tossed her onto her back and the two made a break for it; the Ponyta's blazing mane and tail making them look like a comet. As the flames died down, Leroy got a glimpse of the girl and the Fire Horse as they turned the corner. "This'll make it more interesting, then," he said, looking over to Zangoose and giving a nod. The Pokemon's sleek, white fur was singed black in places, but all the flames had done was piss it off. With a growl, the Cat Ferret Pokemon tore off like a shot, putting its Quick Attack to the test as it was now a footrace between it and the Ponyta, even if the Fire-type had a head start.

Miharu wasn't really the crying type, but as the wind whipped at her face and through her hair, she felt the unmistakable coolness of tears streaking across her cheeks and she choked back a sob, unable to think of a time when she'd felt so frightened; so betrayed. She clung tightly to the Ponyta as she ran, too upset to even consider how Mori's fiery mane didn't wasn't burning her at the slightest contact. In her haste to escape the Team Rocket member and his Zangoose she hadn't paid attention to the direction she'd gone, and she quickly realized that this was not the way to the Pokemon Center. In fact, she wasn't even sure where she was going at all, so for now all she could do was cling to Mori and hope that the young Ponyta could put enough distance between them to keep them safe.

The one, tiny flaw in this escape plan was that Mori was not yet used to having a rider, and being young, did not have the stamina to run for long distances. She managed about three or four solid blocks before she began to slow, and Miharu could feel the Ponyta's chest heaving from the exertion. She looked back over her shoulder, but didn't see anyone follow her, and for a moment, she almost allowed herself to relax. The Zangoose was relentless, however, quickly closing the distance in bursts of speed. It moved like lightning, suddenly appearing at the Ponyta's side and lashing out with its dangerous claws. Mori gave a pained, terrified cry and reared up, sending her rider on a painful collision course with the ground. Shaken up but not hurt, Miharu got to her feet, calling out for Mori to do something - anything - as the Zangoose continued to attack.

Mike could help but smile at Kasiya's words, amused that she would expect anything different. They had always been there for each other, a little spelunking in Rocket territory wasn't going to change that, no matter how much he hurt. Ouch, by the way, but a little pain wasn't going to change that either! There was just something about her that made any sort of hardship seem less like a roadblock and more like a challenge; her shy, sweet smile the light at the end of the tunnel. Just like the one she had on now. He had become so intent on her that he barely noticed the girl recall her Tyrannitar. "Oh right." he said, shaking his head to snap him from subjecting Kasiya to his googly eyes. "She uh, got a little rambunctious after we beat everyone else and tried to take a bite out of P.B., so he had to knock her out."

A thousand apologies, Miss Kasiya. the Pokemon's voice rang inside their heads. Mike waved off the overly-polite Pokemon.

"Her pride might be a bit stung, but she'll be okay. She put up a great fight, you would have been proud. Oh, and congratulations on the evolution!" he bobbed forward as she leaned in, aware that she might still be a bit shy about them. He smiled at Kasiy's adorable hesitation, fully content to take matters into his own hands.

"Now?" Mike began, leaning in and planting a sneaky, but lasting kiss on her lips, unable to not grin as he did, both eager and fully aware of the reaction the action would bring. "We go and drop our Pokemon off at the center and grab a bit of well deserved food. After that, I seem to recall there is a Gym back in Hoenn that needs to be shown just whose the most powerful..." Duo? Team? Compatriots? Ah, screw it. "Couple in all the lands?" The boy raised his hand, balling it into a fist, there was a soft sizzle. "What do you say?" He wore a mischievous smirk. "Wanna keep this hot-streak going?"

Portabello remained seated after Ada was recalled, acknowledging the Raichu's presence with a simple nod. It is good to see you well. he said simply to Shocker.

On the topic of simple, as the two Pokemon conversed, a large cotton ball silently rolled across the arena, stopping inches from behind the Raichu. A small, yellow snout poked out from the end of it, sniffing the Pokemon. Once suspicion had been confirmed, Beacon popped out from the ball of fluff. Well, his head and now wagging tail did. The overly excited Ampharos honked wildly in a frantic attempt to communicate just how happy he was to see the Raichu. Beacon was, of course, not only oblivious that her rescue was the point of the mission, but that she was ever missing in the first place.

Several minutes of struggling with an enraged Metapod and then patching oneself up later Kressen was ready to begin his nightly ritual. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head he began to stretch his legs for a bit of light exercise before bed. Gigas was beside him following what his trainer did and instructing Odin as well. The meaning behind these actions were lost on the newly hatched Pokemon, but if tried them anyways swaying its body back and forth trying to stretch its muscles.

Mateus could only watch since it was only a cocoon, but that was fine with Kressen. The rowdy bug type had already gotten its exercise for the night in his mind. "Good job guys. Now let's try push ups Odin. Do what Gigas and I do." He got into position and started to push his body up and down off the ground, Gigas mirroring his moves exactly.

Odin stared at the two for a moment before giving it a try. For a moment it wasn't so bad, but then his bladed arms sunk into the ground and he got stuck like in the battle only several hours before. Gigas snorted trying to resist the urge to laugh as Kressen smirked. "Don't worry buddy. I'm sure you can do sit ups and jumping jacks without getting stuck...I think."

"That is also something we could easily do." Mike said, the simple prospect of plans exciting him. "I'm going to have to challenge him sometime soon as well, but I should really work on some of the other Kanto badges first, after I get all the Hoenn ones at least." The thought of the two of them battling side by side in an official Gym badge had him visibly shaking with excitement. "Let's go get Shocker healed up."

Beacon, ever confused as to his actual species, responded to the Raichu's hesitant pat by happily licking her across the face. After all, his tongue spent so much time out of his mouth he had to put it somewhere, and he could say hello at the same time. That's what we call a win/win situation right there. Paying no particular attention to Shocker's reaction, a strange sensation came across the Ampharos as he failed to detect much static pull from her. While most manner of logical thought sprinted from Beacon and never looked back, baser instincts were at least partially familiar to him. He sniffed, confirming his suspicions. Shocker was out of juice. Not good. An electric Pokemon without power could get very sick if not charged. Well he would certainly fix that. An atypically serious expression curling his features, Beacon did what he did best, and detonated in electrical energy, sending a wave of lightning and cotton flying out in all directions.

Portabello, who had given up monitoring the Amprahos' thoughts a long time ago, was taken completely off guard. The last thing he heard was a pop before falling face first on the arena, his fur crackling with static.

Being more than two feet away, Mike was able to react a bit quicker. Hooking Kasiya's waist with his arm, he twirled her around so that he was in between her and the oncoming lightning. He didn't feel like watching her pretty hair, or skin get singed, and on him, people probably wouldn't even notice. The boy's stunt was unnecessary, as before the attack reached them, the ground in front of them burst forth in a torrent of molten rock, absorbing most of the blast, and causing the rest to scatter harmlessly around them. Mike looked over to Napalm, whose cannon was still jammed into the arena floor, which now sported a small crater. "You are amazing! It's like I don't even need to do anything anymore!" he laughed, the Magmortar replying with a simple shrug. He turned to Kasiya, intently checking her over to make sure she was alright. A few out of place hairs, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little combing.

As he fretted over the girl he noticed the flakes of cotton raining down on them like snow, and couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. There was always something crazy going on when they were around each other. At this point, almost getting zapped by his own Pokemon after trashing a Rocket base was becoming pretty commonplace, and he wouldn't want it any other way. Still laughing, Mike pulled Kasiya into a hug, overjoyed that she had stuck around with him despite overwhelming evidence proving he was a complete and total hazard. "I love you." he said between fits, shaking his head apologetically. "We should leave before the roof caves in and we die for real."