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Linalee and Violet peered into the room from the crack in the door they had made. It seemed that Dante was busily shouting commands out hte wind to his pokemon. I seemed that he was in a battle already even in the hospital bed.

Mike entertained the Gym Leader for the ten or so minutes his Pokemon were still being healed. He told her of all the things that happened since his match with her. He started at the Cherry Blossom festival and Mitsu's momentary chage to the Rockets, then going on to happily report on leveling the 5 Island Warehouse, he made sure not to stint on the details of Titanium's exploits for destruction. His face turned a little less bouncy as he told of Sarina's death, and what it did to his friend. Pushing that aside, he also went over his completely awful loss to Flannery, and the reasonings behind that too. Felsic's evolution was also covered. He could have sworn he saw her frown at the mention of the Lavaridge Gym Leader, he must have been seeing things. Moving along, he told of what transpired at Viridian Gym, his psychic friend's vain efforts at eliminating Giovanni. He had to go to the rescue, taking on the main man himself. His voice sounded a proud tune as he went over in extreme care each part of the battle. After that, acquiring Napalm's egg was the next little tale he told, followed by his return to Lavaridge and his battle with Nina and Flannery, both of which he won. He finished it up by going quickly over any points he missed, like Napalm's battles with Elekid, his Marsh Badge win, Felsic's other evolution, random tales of Beacon's moronic exploits, and any other points of interest.

"You certainly get around now don't you" Winona said finally, a bit taken back by the adventurous boy's story. "Makes me want to travel with you sometime..." The last sentence was almost too quiet to hear, the girl looked down, slightly defeated. Mike heard the trademark bell of the Pokemon Center, signaling his friends were all healed. Thanking the nurse, he clipped all but Nitro's in, making his way to the sliding doors. He released the Charizard, hopping on.

"Wait Mike!" The Gym Leader ran out the doors, the usual arrogant and superior look on her face was gone, replaced with that of a longing, crushed little girl. "It's not that I really have a problem with you leaving or anything," The girl started, attempting to speak with her usual confidence but somehow each word made her feel even more vulnerable. "but...just come back soon alright?" She walked over to the boy and his Pokemon, standing on her tiptoes, planting a small peck on Mike's cheek. "Promise we'll go traveling some day?"

He smiled, she was just a big softie after all. "I promise." The trainer smiled, taking to the skies of Hoenn.

Winona let out a labored sigh, a tear welling up in her eye. Turning sharply, she ran all the way back to her Gym.

Sunfire's Shadow Ball showed no signs that it had even passed through the surface of the water, and it traveled down, striking Goldeen for a solid hit. Almost instantly, Misty held up her Pokeball, fully intent on calling the Goldfish back.

However, Goldeen didn't seem to want to give up, even though her energy level was hardly enough to keep her swimming. Bravely, the Goldfish tried to initiate a Horn Attack, but she was just too weak.

"Don't push yourself, girl," the gym leader smiled, and recalled her. "She never knows when to give up, that one," she laughed, swapping Pokeballs. "It's time to get serious," she said, holding up her last Pokeball triumphantly. "Misty calls Starmie! It's show time!"

With a graceful throw, Misty sent out the final aquatic Pokemon. It was much larger than Staryu, a large, gorgeous ruby red gem decorating its center core. Its ten limbs were all a rich purple, yet the faceless Pokemon moved swiftly and gracefully, something its unevolved form, Staryu, lacked. "Water Gun!" the Tomboyish Mermaid called, pointing at the Flareon. She smiled as the Pokemon leapt high into the air, a powerful blast of water shooting from its top point.

Try to dodge that! Jasmine nearly yelled in her head; still, she maintaned the appearance of complete composure on the outside, albeit her face was flushed with the suspense and excitement of battling. She saved herself that effort, however, knowing that Steelix would see the situation well enough wthout her intervention.

The hurricane-twister was too quick and strong for the Steelix to evade entirely. Although he had tried to move out of the way, the Iron Snake Pokemon had half of his immense body overtaken by the super-effective attack. Dragon-type attacks didn't harm his Steel constitution very much, but the water element was definately a hard hit for his other type, Ground.

With another enraged roar, the Steelix took the attack painfully; Jasmine frowned, hating to see that hurt. Although he was very much shaken now, he wasn't totally down for the count. Another attack like that, though, and both Jasmine and Steelix knew he would be.

The Olivine Gym Leader knew what the turn-out of the battle would be, but she knew they could still make it a challenge. "Sandstorm!" she cried, once she saw the Steelix was still up. He obliged, whipping up a fierce storm that limited visibility immensely and pummelled the two Pokemon (although Steelix couldn't feel it). With training, Steelix had limited the storm within the confines of the arena, so that neither trainer felt the affects of the thick, unrelenting sand, but they could no longer see how the battle was going. Perhaps that could mean that Krystal would not be able to pinpoint Steelix's position as well, however. Steelix had a slight advantage in this climate.

Ky followed Crenu and got a similar tray of food, only differing from lack of one Pokefood bowl. The silence was very unnerving and looking at M.A., he could tell that she was thinking something was off as well, or at least he hoped she was. He looked down at his food and found his appetite disappearing. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry, it was just that he felt his normal cheeriness being sucked away, much like Nurse Joy's was. Ky watched as Crenu let his Pokemon out, and found that whatever personalities his Pokemon once showed did not appear on their faces now. In fact, it seemed to be similar to that of Crenu's. Ky took a seat across the table from Crenu, again looking into those estranged eyes of his, feeling again his almost icy glare. "I dunno Crenu... There's something wrong. You aren't acting normal and neither are your Pokemon. Did something happen? Am I missing something?" Ky asked. His face then turned to his food tray, trying to gather what appetite he had left.

Not about to be struck by that attack again --it had hurt badly enough the first time-- Krystal used Agility to up her speed, allowing her to escape from the attack...

For the most part.

Her back end was struck, causing her to be hit to the ground, landing with an obnoxiously loud CRASH! She was struck by the Sandstorm as well, dealing a little bit more damage as well. It was obvious that she was in pain.

Yet Krystal rose, summoning the remaining amount of fight that she had left in her. She was a bit dizzy and her vision was blurred a little, due to the storm. Rising up into the air, she summoned a third wave of water, blasting it toward the snake with every ounce of power she had.