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Beldum's single eye opened wide as the Poochyena ran at it, and it floated up, just able to avoid the oncoming Tackle. It's a little shy... Jaeshan thought, but knew that Beldum couldn't get by on dodging alone. However, if he could work to tire out his opponent, then perhaps he wouldn't have to resort to using the only move that a Beldum knew - Take Down.

"Again, Poochyena!" Kirstie called out, and on cue the small Dark-type wheeled around, repeating its attack. This time, it seemed to anticipate Beldum's dodging, and it moved in accordance, running shoulder-first into the hovering Steel-type. On contact, both Pokemon seemed to cry out, although Beldum didn't look too hurt by it. The Poochyena growled at Beldum, retreating as it realized it's Tackle attack wasn't going to work on the resistant Pokemon.

"Take Down," Jaeshan ordered firmly, and Beldum spun in place before rocketing forward and slamming its small yet incredibly heavy body into the Poochyena. Jaeshan knew Beldum would be hurt by the self-damaging attack, but there really wasn't anything he could do. Until evolution, Beldum was stuck as a one-trick Ponyta.

"Use your Howl," Kirstie said, taking a small step forward. Her confidence was pretty stable, but Jaeshan could sense the nervousness coming from the newbie trainer. Poochyena planted its feet and let out a long, terrible how, causing its body to shimmer with a faint red hue that only lasted for a second. It had increased its attack power, which meant that its physical moves would be a bit more damaging.

"Uh... Take Down, again," Jaeshan said with a shrug, already sick of using that command. He didn't see what else he could do though; and he clenched a fist, knowing that this was just another obstacle to overcome as the Beldum shot forward once again.

Rolling to the side, Miharu was just able to avoid being jabbed by the Pinsir (and a female Pinsir at that) as she lunged at the human. Miharu scampered back, relatively unscathed save for a slight, scratch on her upper arm. It stung, and she wiped at it with her hand, feeling the cool trickle of blood on her skin. The Pinsir, however, would not get a second chance to attack the girl as Aska came zooming into the scene, a shining white contrail behind her as she slammed into the attacking Pinsir with a Quick Attack. Apparently, the bird had momentarily forgotten that her ground-bound trainer wasn't as fast as she, so the Pidgeotto had turned around, and just in time, too as Miharu had indeed gotten herself into trouble.

The Pinsir didn't seem to be that slow on the uptake though, as it reached out with its two powerful pincers and grabbed a hold of the Pidgeotto. Still growling, it swung the offending bird in a circle before tossing her to the ground with a heavy thud. Miharu got to her feet, still holding her cut arm as she watched the battle unfold before her. "That's it, we are so catching that thing!" she yelled, deciding right then and there that this would not be a repeat of the vanishing-Scyther-ninja encounter. "We're not gonna get pushed around by you, Pinsir!" she shouted, pointing at the large bug. "Go Aska, hit it with a Sand-Attack!"

Pulling herself up off of the ground, the Pidgeotto mustered the energy to flap her wings quickly and kick up a cloud of sand right into the Pinsir's face. Blinded, it staggered back, clawing at its eyes to get the sand out of them.

Steffi and Yume were in their usual battle stances. The two teens held up a tough look, but deep inside they were very nervous and couldn't help but quaver at the thought of what was coming to them.

Sparky stood firm beside Pix. She was younger than him it seemed, and he was probably a little more experienced. He would have to take care of her, no matter what it took. He looked back at Steffi and Yume and judging by the look on Steffi's face, she wasn't that confident either; which made him even more eager to begin. He growled strongly at what was ahead of them. Sparks begun to emerge from his bright red cheeks.

Flapping noises were heard. Were they birds? She shivered even though it wasn't cold. She suddenly pictured two ferocious birds attacking her poor little Sparky. Frightened she kept a close eye on him. The flapping came closer - it stopped behind the bushes. Then there was silence. And out came two different looking pokemon.

"Pika?!?" Sparky screeched. He had never seen a bird pokemon before.

Fumbling around in her bag, Steffi hastily pulled out her pokedex and pointed it at the two pokemon. They were Pidgey and Spearow. Bird pokemon... Steffi grinned.

"This shouldn't be too difficult!" she called out to Yume. "They're bird pokemon, and they have a weakness to electricity! I'll just have Sparky bring them down!"
Confidently, she turned to her pokemon. "Sparky! Thundershock!"

Hearing the command from his trainer, he built up the sparks of electricity in his cheeks and with a loud "CHUU!" he blindly flung his bundle of electricity towards the two bird pokemon. It hit both of them, and Sparky beamed with happiness. When the attack ended, he expected to see them fainted, but they were still standing.
"Chaaaa!" he shouted in shock. He glanced over to Pix for assurance that they would be able to beat them.

"Oh hardy har, you're a gas." Mike replied with a hint of annoyance. "You should do stand up, really, what are you doing with Pokemon?" Continuing down the cave path, Mike and Kilik waded through knee deep water, the Lavaridge boy carrying his Magby to avoid discomfort. The two boys then made it to a large metal doorway, a giant icon of a stylized skull and crossbones shaped "A" marked it. Mike stopped, tilting his head to the side, cracking his neck. "Well, here we are. Team Aqua headquarters."

He felt Napalm shake a bit, and pat his head in hopes to calm him down. "Don't worry little buddy," Mike lifted the Magby up and gave him a smile, his eyes showing what the scarf hid. "You're too tough to be scared of these numbskulls!" Napalm cooed happily, a small bit of molten dribble splashing on the floor. "Good." smiled the boy as he placed the Pokemon on the ground. His attention turned to Prickles, who was staring at the door intensely. "You ready to go get your trainer back?" Mike gave the Cacnea a thumbs up, and the Pokemon replied with an affirmative grunt. He was ready.

"Okay, I know this base relatively well, but I'm not certain as to where they would keep captives, so we may have to split up." Mike motioned for Kilik to follow and opened the door.

Jaeshan noticed that as Beldum managed to hit Poochyena with its Take Down again that it didn't do as much damage as he would have liked. Small damage to the opponent also meant minor damage to Beldum, but it seemed like Jaeshan had underestimated the Dark-type's experience level. Kirstie called for another Tackle, and her Pokemon obeyed, once again jumping at Beldum and trying to damage it. Beldum let out a strange sound and barrel-rolled out of the way, its lone eye staring at the Poochyena accusingly.

"Again!" the spirited girl shouted, and again the Poochyena obeyed without question. Anticipating the dodge, the clever Dark-type stopped and then pounced after Beldum had tried to move, pinning the arm-like Pokemon to the ground. It snarled, baring its fangs at Beldum to let it know that he had the upper paw.

"Beldum!" Jaeshan shouted fearfully, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "Try to get away!"

"Um, now try your Bite attack!" Kirstie said nervously, not wanting to hurt her new friend's Pokemon, but also wanting badly to win her first battle. The growling Poochyena lunged at its pinned opponent, the Dark-type attack dealing normal damage to the dual-typed Beldum. A screeching shriek came from Beldum, its eye closed tightly. Without warning it too lunged forward, using its Take Down in a sort of head-butt fashion. Beldum's sheer weight advantage was enough to send the little canine for a loop, but not before it collapsed from exhaustion, too tired even to maintain its hovering.

Jaeshan grit his teeth and knelt beside the fainted Pokemon, attempting to pick it up. As young as it was, the Pokemon was ridiculously heavy, so Jae had to settle for giving it a gentle pat before returning it to its Pokeball. "Time to get a little more serious," he murmured to himself, clipping Beldum's Pokeball onto his belt and then reaching for another. "Let's show her, Torchic! Go!" The small orange chick appeared in the customary flash of white light, hopping up and down happily. Upon spotting her opponent, her eyes narrowed and she let out a growl, ready for action.

A startled gasp escaped Kirstie's throat as she watched her beloved Poochyena fall. Torchic hopped back over to Jaeshan, looking up at him as if to ask "I did good?" Jaeshan nodded and bent down to scratch her under the chin, looking over at Kirstie now and then as she and her Pokemon had a 'moment.'

"I know how she feels there," he told the chick Pokemon softly, recalling the first time he saw Mightyena fall. "It's never easy to watch your Pokemon faint during battle... no matter how many times it may happen." The young Pokemon looked up at her trainer, not really understanding exactly his words, but getting a general idea as she too watched Kirstie and Poochyena. She let out a soft chirp and nuzzled her head against Jaeshan's arm. "Everything okay?" he called over to Kirstie, who nodded and turned her head away although Jaeshan was able to spot the tears in her eyes. Jaeshan smiled, but not because she was crying or upset, but because he knew she cared deeply for her Pokemon. She's a fine trainer already, he thought, standing up as Kirstie did the same. She was still holding her Poochyena in her arms, and she kissed its forehead before recalling it into its Pokeball and slipping the small sphere into her pocket.

"I'm ready to continue," she said, before Jaeshan had a chance to ask. "I've only just caught my second Pokemon recently, and we haven't trained much, but I'll give him a chance anyway." The statement was more to reassure herself than anything else, and her second Pokemon (coming from a white Premier Ball) was released on the field. Or rather, above it. A small blue bird with red markings on its head and chest, and a white underside flew high above the field, looking down at Torchic with a piercing gaze.

"A Taillow, huh?" Jaeshan sighed, knowing that the advantage was already in Kirstie's favor. Torchic's Embers would barely reach, and he wasn't sure he trusted her Flamethrower enough to let it loose. We'll see how it goes, he thought, calling for Torchic to use her Growl.

Torchic's sharp little growl was met by one from the Taillow as well, and the two Pokemon stopped for a moment, having startled each other. Torchic recovered first, and at Jaeshan's command unleashed a quick Ember that was easily dodged by the airborne Taillow. Kirstie didn't really seem to know what to do at first and finally ordered a Peck attack, which the Taillow attempted to deliver with a shrill screech.

Torchic, however, saw this one coming too and nimbly hopped out of the way, watching her aerial opponent closely. The two birds locked eyes, neither one of them wanting to be the first to take a hit. The Taillow, having been ordered to perform another Peck attack, chose to ignore Kirstie's command and instead dived down towards Torchic with a Quick Attack instead, the telltale white light streaming behind her. Torchic hopped out of the way, attempting to retaliate with a Scratch attack, but it missed by a mile, and the two Pokemon were back at square one yet again.

((I honestly meant for this to be longer but my brain died. Sorry. >.< ))