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4th place! That was fantastic! Sienna jumped and danced with her confused golduck after the scores were announced. Kipper hadn't understood the numbers at all, but judging by his trainers reaction, they had done well and he would still get to perform. "Alright buddy, this time it's a battle, but it's not like a regular battle. You've just got to look good, but also not lose the battle," Sienna's beam faded a bit as she explained in very simple terms what the next part of the contest would be like.

The bird keeper practically skipped back out on to the stage. An Archeops, huh? It was pretty, an unusual coloration, and seemed to have in its care a Torchic plushie. So cute! But she couldn't get to fond, they were opponents now. She gave her pokemon a pat before they had to part ways. Kipper trotted happily to his place on the stage, tail swishing slightly behind him. Sienna situated herself on her trainer's box. This was much more her element, but she still couldn't shake the Butterfree in her stomach, this still wasn't a normal battle. Had Sienna known she was up against the winner of a previous contest, she may have been even more unsure of herself.

Kipper blinked his green eyes at the Archeops, she seemed nice, though more experienced at this than he was. That made him a little wary, he knew this wasn't his element either, but it was still very fun and he was happy to be in the magnificent glass pyramid, on the water-y stage, in front of the crowd. In addition to recently having evolved, this was quite the experience, and it could be said Kipper was having the time of his life.

A buzzer sounded, and it looked like they would get to go first. Sienna smoothed out the skirt of her white dress before saying with confidence, "Alright Kipper, start with Scald!"

The golduck concentrated on the water around him. Heat, he needed the water to get hot. Steam would provide him with cover, as well as an element of mystic for his performance. The surface of the water began to bubble and gurgle, some of it spilling over onto the metal of the stage with a hissss. Instead of a lake, the water was behaving like a hot spring, increasing the temperature of the glass pyramid. A warm fog spread upwards from the water, reaching to Kipper's waist and getting less opaque as it climbed the air. His head was just visible, as well as his torso. He watched the steam envelope his opponent as well.

"Combine with Signal Beam!"

Laser light shows weren't a common sight in Zatao, but Kipper was about to give this audience one. First, a beam made it's way from the gem on his forehead towards the top of the pyramid, casting many shades of color over the warm clouds in the arena and sending waves of air through the steam. Quickly, he projected two more beams towards the top of both sides the pyramid, over the audience. The last one he shot straight forward, hoping to create a fantastic rainbow through the steam, as well as catch his opponent off guard.

>_>;

The blue glow that diffused through the fog and the strange markings were mysterious and a bit charming. The light also served to make the darting shapes a bit more visible, darker figures against the light. Kishin faltered slightly at the strange sight but never stopped moving. She did make sure to keep herself and her copies from stepping directly on the shapes as much as possible though, to try and keep her selves hidden as much as possible.

Kishin was still hidden, though less so, but they could still use it. "Round, sound mystical," Arissa said to her pokemon.

Kishin heard and took a moment to consider how to manage that. Then from among the fog rose a high, quavering note that faded away. It was answered from somewhere across the field with a slightly deeper, but no less querulous voice that rose a few notes, held the high one a breath before dropping off. From around the field came similar sounds, voices high and low that rose in strange, wavering song that reminded Arissa of recordings of sounds that Walmer sometimes made. The song echoed off the sides of the glass pyramid, making it sound both far off and as if there were still more figures in the fog.

Kishin added some rhythmic clicking sounds to the song, and some of her figures began jumping through the fog. At first there where just a few, hopping up until their backs just broke above the thickest of the fog, then gliding down as if they sank slowly into the mist. Then one leaped high into the air, far enough that she was more than twice her body length above the fog. She spun in a tight corkscrew as she rose, singing a rising scale as she ascended. The momentum left her spinning in the air a moment at the top of her leap before she dove down into the fog again, her song rapidly dropping in both tone and volume as she did. Then another leaped near her, this one's wings fanned out slightly as she rose so that her spinning scattered shreds of fog from her, giving a warbling burble while she was aloft. A third leaped not far off, this one somersaulting a few times in the air with a rapid clicking song before she cured down and grew indistinct again. There was a few more of the kind, but slowly the song tapered off as the arcing forms also returned to simply darting about, leaving only a last few echoes before they too lapsed into silence.

[Move used: Round]
[Moves available: Dragon Pulse, Round, Double Team, Tailwind]
[HP: 900/1000]

Kipper listened to the sounds around him, not being able to rely much on his eyes, for the shadows darting through the illuminated steam couldn't be trusted. He still was unsure of which shadow was cast by the real Archeops. The golduck remained vigilant, however, and rooted to his spot in the fog. A haunting song filled the air that reminded Kipper of the depths he had encountered in this very lake. The echoes reverberated against the structure of glass, filling the air around him with the voices of more Archeops than he knew were on the field. Only one, he had to remind himself. There may be an army of singing ghosts here, but they were just made of steam and sound.

The golduck felt a pang of jealousy in his feathered chest. He could never sing like that, he definitely wasn't built for it. Kipper was all muscle now, though he wished for something more artful, like what the Archeops had. It was strong and graceful. His energy wilted slightly at the thought. The fog and the surrounding enemies pressed at his negative feelings.

However, Sienna's voice cut through his melancholy, and brought him back to the reality at hand. "Focus boy, Icy Wind!" She encouraged. Kipper seemed to be rather stagnant in this battle, she knew it would do him some good to be shaken up a bit. The golduck took a deep breath, and exhaled a frost. His eyes shone with a different kind of blue now, similar to the one of his Wonder Room, which he still maintained on the field. Delicate frost began to form on his tail, feet, and webbed hands. It was beautiful, like frozen lace, but only a small detail.

The golduck began to sprint towards one of the outside rings, patches of frozen water and condensing steam following him. He spread out his arms and cast frigid flakes into the air, concentrating on moving the wind with him as well. The flightlessness of his new body bothered him, but he still enjoyed the feel of the chilling wind that he summoned. The steam was all but gone now, having been vanquished by the cold temperature, leaving the view of him and his opponent unobstructed.
Kipper continued to run around the outermost ring at full speed, freezing solid the top of the water, then running towards the next ring, then the next. Finally he stopped once all of the rings of water were frozen solid with an icy glow. A swirling vortex of sharp, white flakes were left in his wake to continue flying around the stadium. The golduck landed with a flourish back in the center ring, keeping his eyes out for his opponent.

[Move used: Icy Wind]
[Moves that can be used: Wonder Room, Scald, Signal Beam, Icy Wind]
[HP: 950/1050]

Kipper's green eyes found he many, now visible, Archeops hard to follow. He didn't want to keep his eyes on all of them at once and risk getting confused, but still kept his guard up. The fossil pokemon lept and whirled around him, stirring the snow that had settled on the stage. Another swirling vortex was created, that slowly closed in on the golduck. He looked to either side, his own attack was going to backfire on him if her didn't do something.

The golduck was really at a loss in the moment and was pelted with shards of ice and damp snow. He didn't like this very much right now. Though he was hurt by the attack, his feathers were embedded with a sheen of ice and snow, which glittered in the sun. Kipper liked how shiny he suddenly was, and hoped that the attack he had taken hadn't hurt his performance too much after all.

"Counter with Signal Beam! Try to aim at all sides!" Sienna called. If Kipper could pull it off, he may be able to send of more of a Signal boost and hit more than one Archeops in the process. It wouldn't hurt that Signal Beam always looked dazzling, too.

Kipper nodded to himself, hearing his trainer. A Signal Beam that could hit more than one target. He summoned energy to the bright red jewel on his forehead once more, which took on a golden halo that radiated. How to throw it so that it would hit the ring of Archeops around him? A ring! The golduck began to spin on the spot, the halo continuing to grow. The golden light added even more sparkle to his feathers and the snow around him as he spun. Faster and faster, the glow continued, until it enveloped his head almost completely. He released the beam as slowly as he could while he spun, so that it would spiral out in a ring. The energy he had built up burst forward, swirling outward with the motion of his body. A bright stream of multicolored, fragmented light bolted forward toward the outer ring of the stadium.

Kipper was happy to have successfully hit some of the clones, but still couldn't seem to have hit the real Archeops. He watched intently as the clones burst into pieces of light, some more, and then fountains of light were colliding in the air above him.

"Counter again with Signal Beam!" Sienna called after glancing at the clock. Their time was almost up!

A low-flying ring of energy collided with Kipper. He hadn't had enough time to intercept the Dragon Pulse with his Signal Beam, though he had managed to put up his arms to avoid a worse blow. Still taking the most force of the blow, he had at least shattered the energy with his arms, creating shining shards of light that twinkled around him.

He quickly fired up another Signal Beam, no more fancy spins. His battle instincts had kicked in and instead, he took aim, and fired. A burst of golden light from his jewel, and a streak of brilliant rainbow light bolted forward, for one of the uppermost Kishins.

[Move used: Signal Beam]