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I'M SO SORRY GUYS!

 
I totally should have posted sooner and I had no reason not to. I hope y'all didn't give up on me, besides you, Anonymous and A-maz-ing Topper. Thank you!

PART III~

St.Owl, Danie, and Abigail stood by the water, feeling the spray on their faces and thinking hard. They were all complete strangers. Meeting new people wasn't unheard of, of course; but five people in the same place at the same time twice, in the same week? It was strange.

Danie was thinking about the girls she had met. Of course, they seemed perfectly friendly, but St.Owl was so awkward she was almost suspicious . . . and Mouse, that Hazel, never spoke. Was one of the two conspiring against them?

Abigail thought of an outisde force that could perhaps be luring the five girls together. To do them ill? Or to bring them great success?
St.Owl thought of a monster in the water, a huge Pokemon who could dart up at any moment and put them all down its huge neck. Perhaps it was a water-psychic mix, and was hypnotizing the quintet into meeting up again so it would have a nice dinner.

"Hey, there's that Vaporeon again!"
St.Owl couldn't resist saying it aloud. Eeveelutions were one of her favorite things; she hoped to catch all eight someday. A Vaporeon in the wild was incredibly rare, as Eevee could only evolve into Vaporeon through a Water Stone, which were incredibly expensive. Was it possible that Vaporeon used to belong to a trainer, but was released?

Abigail and Danie looked politely, but it seemed evident that they were not nearly as intregued as St.Owl. Right then and there, the latter girl decided:
"You know what? I'm going to catch it!"
She looked for a way to get down to the shore. There was a path nearby that seemed to wind through the docks and down to the rocks, and St.Owl ran to it. Halfway through, she paused, out of breath, and began walking.

She released her Glaceon once the Vaporeon was in sight. "Catch it off guard," she whispered-- "Use Ice Shard!"

A barricade of pointy ice rained on the Vaporeon, and it twirled, snarling. A jet of water came swirling back at Glaceon, and it slipped out of the way daintily.

"All that performance training paid off," St.Owl muttered to herself. "Get behind it and use Icy Wind!"

Glaceon leaped into the air and used her attack from right behind Vaporeon. But the latter Pokemon quickly put an end to that attack with a lazy Tail Whip that sent Glaceon sprawling. 

"Don't give up! Ice fang!"

Vaporeon wasn't expecting it, and struggled under Glaceon's attack. The former's usually rather melodic voice was more violent, and it snapped viciously at St.'s Pokemon. 

Seizing her chance, St.Owl threw a Pokeball, and Vaporeon was sent inside with a red glow. The button glowed red for at least a full minute, shaking, as if the water type was putting up a real fight. But finally it stopped and the button turned back to white. St. scooped it up and showed it to Danie and Abigail, who had been watching from above and cheered her like a good friend would.

~~~

Claire walked along the sidewalk, arms crossed, staring at the ground. She radiated a natural sort of heat that did not as much intimidate people as to inform them, in a cordial way, well dressed and kindly, that she did not exactly want to be in contact with humans. However, an achingly familiar sound made her head shoot up and find the source.

It was a Vaporeon-- the fishy tail, four legs, and neck frill gave it away. Except it wasn't any Vaporeon. The friendly way it was speaking was an obvious mask of its inner malice; you could see its tail twitching ever so slightly in frustration. From the way three girls clustered around it, it had most likely been recently caught-- and not very happy about it either.

But that wasn't a problem. Trainers could catch whatever they wanted, Claire didn't care. The problem was that this was obviously the very same Vaporeon that attacked her and her Omanyte when they were training. It had been nowhere in sight when they started, and all Omanyte's attacks were on target, so they weren't invading its territory and they hadn't accidentally hit it; no, this was a Pokemon that attacked for fun. What kind of sick trainer would catch a Vaporeon like that?

She certainly could have been unaware of Vaporeon's nature, but surely during her battle-- which was inevitable, as this Pokemon would never have been caught without a fight-- she must have noticed some sort of ferocity, some viciousness. 

Claire decided to stay away from her and her Vaporeon.
It wasn't going to frighten Omanyte again . . . 

~~~

"Okay, here's the deal, Ponyta," said Elena Tierise, looking her Pokemon up and down. "If we want to get really strong, the first thing we have to do is prep you against your weaknesses. If you can win a battle against a water type Pokemon, then you'll be able to beat anything!"
Ponyta whinnied in agreement.

"We're right at the river, so there's bound to be a bunch of water-type Pokemon around here. I bet we could even talk to that girl with the Omanyte and see if she could battle us. It's great practice!"

Ponyta's flames were bright and attracted a few eyes as it walked next to Elena on the pier. She searched for wild Pokemon left and right, or a path that would lead down to the rocks, but found none. She supposed it just wasn't her lucky day.

But then, finally--

"Ponyta, look at that Vaporeon!"

It was beautiful. Sleek and strong, it was obviously built for battle. Elena wasted no time in running up to its trainer and requesting one.

"Well, I don't know," replied the trainer. "I just caught it, and I don't really battle, so--"

But the Vaporeon cut her off at the same time Elena did. "What better way to break it in than a battle?"

"Well, okay, if both of you want to do it. But I'll probably be no good."

They set up. The girl (who had been introduced as St.Owl) stood on one side with her two friends behind her. Vaporeon sat at her feet, tail curled around its paws, poised like a king. Ponyta stayed by Elena's side.

"I guess I'll be the referee," said the friend with the beanie. "Battle begin!"

"You can have the first move," said St., but her Vaporeon was already leaping into battle. It let out a full-fledged Water Gun without orders and followed up with a Tail Slap. St.Owl was shouting after it, telling it to stop, but seemed to have no power; and she couldn't grab it, for Ponyta was running around the field dodging the attacks so quickly that she would certainly get trampled.

Elena felt hopelessness sink in-- she was prepared for an organized battle! She'd be in a completely different mood if she'd known she was going to be facing a wild Pokemon.

She had just decided to stand and fight when St.Owl unearthed a bellow quite surprising for such an awkward, skinny girl. It echoed over the water in an octave close to what only dogs would be able to hear.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!

"VAPOREON, I AM ASHAMED OF YOU. DON'T YOU KNOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LISTEN TO YOUR TRAINER? WE CAN WIN THIS BATTLE JUST FINE IF WE COOPERATE JUST AS WELL AS YOU COULD ON YOUR OWN! IT'S UNFAIR TO ELENA AND PONYTA IF YOU ACT SO VIOLENTLY!"

Quite a few heads had turned, and soon the battle had spectators. Vaporeon had the decency to look a bit ashamed, but shouted back with a chorus of its own name, its voice getting more and more gruff with each syllable.

"I am a perfectly competent trainer and I will not be spoken to that way!" St.Owl snapped. "I was able to beat you, remember?"

That seemed to strike a sore spot with Vaporeon, but it didn't have a comeback. Smug, St. called it to her feet. "Why don't we try this again? Elena, you can have the first move."

"All right," said Elena. "Ponyta, Flame Wheel!"

St.Owl was impressed by Ponyta's speed: it came hard and fast. But she had a solution. "Vaporeon, Muddy Water!"
Vaporeon shot her a cross look. "Oh, come on, just trust me! Muddy Water!"

It obeyed its master.

St.Owl had drawn a few conclusions and had come up with an on-the-spot strategy. Muddy Water was an attack that affected the stadium, generally making the ground muddy. Ponyta would either slip or get stuck in the mud: its own speed, backfired.

Vaporeon realized this too as Ponyta lost its footing in the middle of the attack and faceplanted into the mud.

"All right, Vaporeon! Tail Slap!"

It complied, lashing its beautiful fin over Ponyta's back, where the fire type lay splayed out. Vaporeon was perfectly ready to use another attack and finish it off, but St.Owl called it back. Something was happening.

Ponyta began to glow and change as it staggered upright. It got taller; a glowing horn sprouted from its forehead. The flames that made up its mane and tail and ran down its back and thighs burned brighter.

"It's a Rapidash!" Danie exclaimed.

____

Rapidash versus Vaporeon: who will win? It's up to you, Riddler! Choose your number-- between ten and twenty! I choose sixteen.

By the way, I'm so sorry I never mentioned what would happen if I was one of the battlers. I hope that your trust is great enough that you believe I really am randomizing these numbers. I'm not a cheater.

That took me over an hour to write! Whew. I hope you enjoy, everyone, and as always, please nitpick! Especially you, IJ, I'm really worried I didn't write Claire right.

The weekend is in sight! Au revoir! 

TOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, no new updates.

I owe you guys an apology for not posting, but I have a little story to tell you about why . . . :

Once upon a time, I turned on Supernatural.

The end!

Well, that's not all; there's procrastination and homework and Sherlock Season Four involved too, but Supernatural is the main cause. 

I'm posting this because pressure.

I HEREBY PROMISE TO HAVE ANOTHER POST UP BY TONIGHT!

If I do not, pester, poke, and write my name in the name box in all caps with a lot of exclamation points until I post something. I genuinly want to finish this just as much as you.