See, this is why I need NaNo to even start a novel. D'you know how quickly this would go to the back pages if I didn't feel so guilty about abandoning you guys?

(that, and also my brother has the TV.)

Toppers, thanks as always, and thank you to everyone who keep with me and always give me the support I need to keep going!

Part IV

Rapidash was magnificent.

St.Owl was as fond of fire-types as she was of Eeveelutions, and Rapidash was one of her favorites. It was tall, elegant, fast, and strong, with sleek muscles and shining skin. Its flames burned so bright and hard that the mud underfoot began to evaporate. 

"Might as well make the best of it," Elena remarked. "Rapidash, let's try out Fury Attack!"

The Fire Horse Pokemon reared and darted towards Vaporeon at a speed increased by almost fifteen. To St.Owl's relief, Vaporeon dodged nimbly, but Rapidash merely twirled around and came at it again. As the water Pokemon dodged time and time again, St.Owl could tell it was getting tired, but before she could give it a command, Rapidash landed a hit and continued attacking the weakened Pokemon. 

Desparate, St.Owl shouted the first move that came to mind: "Vaporeon, Tail Whip when Rapidash comes close!"
Vaporeon struck, and Rapidash was set back into the corner of the stadium and lay there for a while until Danie announced Vaporeon the winner. But the exhausted Pokemon was already back in its Pokeball-- it had been approaching Rapidash with malice, as if it wanted to do more than win the battle. 

All St. had wanted was another performance partner, really . . . 

"Thanks for the battle!"

It was Elena.

"Um-- you're welcome."

"You know, I was sure Rapidash had you beat, but I guess it was tiring itself out too. You battle well for someone who never does it."

"Well, my brother battles, and I can't help, well, amending his tips."

She laughed. "You and your Vaporeon make a good match, I think."

St.Owl rejected that possibility immedeately. They were much too different.

"Well," continued Elena, "I should go. Rapidash needs a Pokemon center. But hey, maybe I'll battle you again-- and I'll win next time!"

"Don't count on it," slipped out of St.Owl's lips, along with a smirk and a friendly handshake. They departed.

~~~~~

"Hey, Mouse, is that a Sandshrew?"

Hazel looked where Jenny was pointing. It was, indeed, a Sandshrew, scrabbling by the side of the Pokemon Center, apparently digging for something. But weren't Sandshrew supposed to be expert diggers? Why was that one so slow?

"Want to catch it?"

That was an idea! Hazel did want a Sandshrew. In reply, she released her Growlithe and nodded towards the Sandshrew.

It understood, even though she hadn't spoken, and crept up on the creature. Sensing something, the Sandshrew turned, but it was too late: the Bite was aimed at its head, and Hazel threw a Pokeball.

It shook once.

It shook twice.

But finally, the button turned white, and Hazel retrieved her newest addition.

"Hey!"

The two girls turned to see a third running towards them, the one that had watched their battle. Jenny grinned at Elena and waved; Hazel offered a shy smile. 

"I've got to dash-- Pokemon center-- but after that, we should battle! My Ponyta evolved."

"I'll battle you," said Hazel shyly. What better chance to try out her Sandshrew?

Once Elena went inside the Pokemon center, Hazel took out her phone and looked up Rapidash, studying its attacks and weaknesses; and then did the same with Sandshrew. By the time Elena returned, she had a plan formulated; or at least a good defense and a suitable offense.

They smiled smiles that two rivals grin, but before they could begin, the Pokemon Center collapsed behind them, scattering rubble and dust.

____

Where am I going with this? No idea.

By the way, there will not be a battle, so don't comment your numbers!

This post was not as long as the others-- sorry. I wasn't exactly sure what I was planning to do, now I have an inkling, but this was just such a perfect place to leave off that I couldn't resist. Hopefully it's suitable!

Remember, nitpick! I'm worried about Elena. And Hazel. Well, to be honest, I'm worried about everyone besides me.

Oh, and by the way, in order to prove to you guys that I didn't cheat (although I do hope your trust in me is enough that this is an unneccesary precaution) I took a screenshot of my results for you.

To conclude this post,  I hereby promise to have another up by FRIDAY! Please nag me, I'll thank you for it!

 Well . . . technically . . . it's Friday! But this might not get posted until Saturday, in which case I'm sorry in advance.

Part V

"What was that?"

Danie, St.Owl, and Abigail looked towards where a sudden, loud sound had come from. Smoke temporarily blanketed the area from view, but as it dispersed, the cause was evident: a large, blue Pokemon, obviously a water type judging by its fins, rather snakelike in build. 

"A Gyrados!" cried the three at once.

"Isn't that where the Pokemon center is?" continued Danie, squinting at the rubble.

"Isn't that where Elena was going?" replied Abi.

Without even discussing it, all three started sprinting towards the mess.

A mess it was indeed.

The collision with the Gyrados had shattered the Pokemon center. Dust and rubble was everywhere; people were crowding around the wreck; the traffic was held up. The Nurse Joy of that station was standing outside the wreck, fretting about the people and Pokemon inside. Police and their Pokemon were removing the rubble, and ambulances loading the people stuck inside up, but there were still plenty of people inside, trapped.

Danie walked up to one of the officers suddenly and asked if they could help. He nodded distractedly, and she threw three Pokeballs into the air. St.Owl suddenly realized she barely knew what any of Danie's Pokemon were, and watched with interest.

You couldn't make out what the first Pokemon, as it instantly shifted to an exact replica of Danie. She addressed it by Squeak-- so it was her Zorua-- and told it to start picking up rocks that it could carry. 

The second was a Combusken, which immedeately began chopping at the rocks with its strong feet.

The third-- and last-- was a Kirlia (beautiful, St.Owl thought), which used a form of Psychic to move the rocks. Inspired, St. called her Espurr, which exited its usual perch on her head and started moving the rocks as well.

Catching on, Abigail called her Squirtle, which began bashing the rocks with a combination of moves.

A few minutes later, Elena hurried up to them, Rapidash nowhere in sight. "Hey!" she said by way of greeting. "Did you notice that Gyrados is still there?"

St.Owl had noticed, and was very nervous about it, too. The Pokemon wasn't doing anything, merely watching, unreadable. It didn't feel wild; it felt controlled and even intelligent, as if it wanted them to clear the rubble away. There was something wrong with that.

"Do you think we should attack it?" Elena asked.

"Well, besides smashing the Pokemon center, it hasn't done anything hostile," St.Owl replied. "I mean, if it's just contemplating going back into the river or whatever, attacking it would be counterproductive. Maybe wait and see if it attacks us?"

"Well then we're doomed, aren't we?"

"Well . . . " St.Owl glanced at her Pokeball. "Maybe not . . . "

Elena seemed as though she was going to ask for elaboration, but as two more people arrived, she was cut off. It was Hazel and Jenny, the former holding her new Sandshrew in her arms.

"We saw you guys helping and figured we might too!" said Jenny brightly. "Mouse has got a Sandshrew that'll be great with digging other Pokemon out."

Hazel nodded and commanded her Sandshrew (conveniently avoiding everyone's eyes), "Use Dig!"

It simply stared at her, a shrug evident in its eyes.

"You can't use Dig?" she said, aghast. "What sort of Sandshrew can't use Dig?"

It looked a bit ashamed. Obviously regretting her outburst, Mouse had the Sandshrew return, and shrugged at her cousin.

"Weird," was all Jenny had to say. "Sorry we couldn't help more."
"We can still help," Mouse pointed out, and summoned her Growlithe. Jenny called out a Bulbasaur, and it began Vine Whipping the wreck.

Meanwhile, St.Owl had slipped away, leaving her Espurr to handle the rocks. She was looking for the Gyrados, or, more specifically, who was controlling it . . . 

~~~~~

Claire didn't know where she was.

She took a wrong turn or something and ended up somewhere she didn't want to be with people she didn't want to see.

"You're not supposed to be here."

She said nothing.

"You should be with the others."

She couldn't even see his face.

"The girls? You are the seventh."

What was happening?

"You have to join them . . . now."

And suddenly light struck her eyelids and she scraped her palms on the ground as she fell . . .

__________

Well, I really don't have much to say except I'm happy I got vaguely mysterious at the end there. Unfortunately this part was a lot of filler but the next one should be pretty exciting!

Oh by the way, expect nothing from me on Sunday. It's Sherlock Season Four, nothing comes before it. I hope I can write another post tomorrow though, so you guys won't be waiting too long.

Sorry for doing this about as last-minute as is humanly possible! I got pretty busy pretty fast.

Happy weekend, happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and don't sell your soul to Sherlock! It's bad for your health.

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

Hey guys!

I'm making a new part soon, in fact I'm writing it as I speak, but the author's note I wrote got a bit too long to actually be an author's note. xD  So this'll be a separate post to repond to. Please read, especially the first bit!

Firstly, I have a request to make of ya'll.

Will you reply and tell me which Pokemon you do NOT want
evolved? For example, IJ might reply and say that if she catches an
Onix, she does not want it to become a Steelix.

In
addition, if any of you have a Pokemon that can evolve into more than
one thing, please reply and tell me your preference! For example, Danie
could reply and say that she wants her Kirlia to evolve into a Gallade, not a Gardevoir-- or vice versa! I need these for references in future parts.

@Riddler--
I feel bad that you don't have any more Pokemon besides Rapidash and
Umbreon. If you find another Pokemon that you like, please let me know,
because I don't want to have you feel left out or something when
everyone else's Pokemon are evolving and their parties are getting
bigger!

Secondly, I need to make an amendment to my description
of a contest performer, which was pretty far off the mark. In contests, a
Pokemon shows off its moves and earns points for it. That's the first
stage. In the second stage, trainers hold mock battles, and they lose
points depending on failed attacks, getting hit, etc. I'm telling you
this in case any of you find it interesting, in which case, let me know!

See why I didn't want this in the author's note?
Part VI is coming out TODAY! Probably really soon! Keep your eyes peeled, and poke me if you're still here and read this!

Third page?! This is unnacceptable! My rage gives me motivation! To the TOP!

Part VI

"Glaceon, go!"

The Pokemon sprang out of its Pokeball obediently and began running beside its trainer down the pier.

"Go the other way," St.Owl panted, "and look for someone who might be controlling that Gyrados. If you do, come and get me, but immobilize them first. If they fight back, run."

She had said it all very fast, but Glaceon nodded the affirmative and sped off. St.Owl watched it go until she realized she was slowing down, and faced front again.

Whoever was controlling the Gyrados wouldn't have been too far away--they would need to be able to see what was happening. But St.Owl had traveled a long ways and still hadn't seen--

Oh, of course.

They were underwater!

~~~~~~~

Claire only got to see the light for a short while. She had blinked profusely until she found herself in the middle of a lot of rubble. Looking around, she found herself right back where she'd started-- at the river.

Claire sighed, cursing the irony of it, and started clamboring over the rubble. As she did so, though, her foot slipped, and Claire felt herself falling through the air . . .

Falling . . . 

Falling . . . 

She landed, hard, on her back, and realized she hadn't passed out. Claire thanked her lucky stars and started struggling up-- her spine hurt more than she thought-- but was soon shoved back again by a barriage of rocks, caused by her foot, probably.

That was her last thought before she lost consciousness.

~~~~~

"Busken?"

The Combusken looked at the mini landslide it had accidentally caused with its kicking. It thought it had seen a figure there, but it was probably nothing.

Even so . . . 

It began kicking with renewed vigour. Hopefully it would be able to see if there was someone there before they suffocated.

~~~~

Espurr was sitting on Abigail's head.

She only noticed it when it began kneading at her hair, which was fluffy and probably much softer than it was used to, trying to find a comfortable place to perch. When she reached up a hand to find what was there and felt its tiny body, she made a sigh of resignation and bent over to pick up another rock, resisting the urge to brush her hair out of her eyes.

But it wasn't there anymore.

Abigail was surprised for a moment until she realized that Espurr was merely paying the ride price. She supposed it wouldn't be so bad having Espurr tag along after all.

Her theory was confirmed when the rock floated out of her hands and to the pile of cleared rubble. She hadn't noticed, but Abigail's arms were shaking. Apparently Espurr had beeen concerned.

Well, having another Pokemon on her side couldn't have any bad effects . . . 

~~~~

St.Owl was hesitant about going into the water.

She'd never been able to open her eyes while underwater, for one thing. For another, she really didn't want to ruin her Dementor t-shirt. And, of course, where would she leave her glasses?

She'd almost forgotten, though, that there were two Pokeballs attached to her belt, not one. St. was a bit hesitant to call out the violent Vaporeon, but decided she had no other choice.

It was released into the water and-- shockingly-- started melting into the liquid so it was almost entirely invisible. St.Owl suddenly recalled Vaporeon's ability and was grateful for it-- that would be even more useful now.

"Look for someone who might be controlling that Gyrados," she ordered Vaporeon. "They might be in a submarine or something."

A faint "Por!" came back from the water, and St.Owl guessed the Pokemon had swum away.

~~~~

"Buskeeeeeeen!"

Combusken had been kicking for almost an hour, or so it seemed. But finally, the last rock broke, and it was able to see the sneakered foot of the figure it wasn't sure it had seen.

Its exhausted cry called a few more over, and other Pokemon began to help it clear the rubble off of the form. Finally, it lifted her into its arms, struggling slightly, and brought her to an ambulance.

_____

I . . . did not have time to write what I wanted to write. I'm sorry.

I might be able to get another post in tomorrow, but I'm not sure. Wednesday most likely I will, though.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day!

I love it! I don't really mind if my Bulbasaur evolves to it's final form, but Psyduck can it not evolve at all? I hope you don't mind but I would like to catch a gengar to. (I may add more if you don't mind)  

Thanks for responding so promptly, guys!

I'm feeling very motivated because I want to write a big long post today-- they've been getting increasingly shorter.

Part VII~

"Hn?"
Claire stirred and opened her eyes, shutting them quickly at the assult of light that barraged them. Why was her head pounding like it was? Why did it feel like her tailbone was broken? And oh, geez, why was she so sore, all over?

Claire wanted to get up, but she hurt too much. It was nice and comfortable lying down, after all. She might just stay there for a while . . . 

"Busken!"

Claire choked and sat up much too fast, her eyes shooting open. Something had just shoved into her stomach! She retched and coughed, keeping her head bent to avoid the brunt of the light, and heard a female voice chatising: "Combusken, please! She's in critical condition!"
So it was a Combusken that had poked her. Claire groaned and summoned up enough energy to look up at the bird face that was staring at her in worry. 

"You can lay back down now," said the same voice, and the speaker bent down so they saw eye to eye. The violent pink hair identified her as Nurse Joy, but she was a Pokemon doctor, so what--? "The Pokemon center collapsed," she explained. "Combusken here found you and got you out of the rubble. You have a major concussion, among other damage."

"Well, a bunch of rocks fell on me," Claire sighed. "What else would you expect?"

Normally she didn't talk-- at all-- to strangers. But there wasn't a person alive who couldn't talk to Nurse Joy. She and Officer Jenny were famous for being clones, but possibly the sweetest people alive. Every Nurse Joy was exactly the same; if you meet one, you've as good as met them all. And if you're a Pokemon trainer, you've talked to quite a few.

"You just take it easy," said Nurse Joy lightly. "There are a lot of people here who need help. But someone should be here soon to take care of you. Oh, and also, I hope you don't mind, but this Combusken refuses to come out of the ambulance. It won't listen to its trainer. I think it wants to stay with you."

"That's fine, I guess," Claire replied, "just, please, don't poke me again."

The Combusken chimed its name in agreeance and settled down. Happy that she could lay down again, Claire pushed her body back and allowed her eyes to close, welcoming the bliss that was darkness.

~~~~

"Hey, Glaceon."

The return of her Pokemon made St.Owl look up from where she had been sitting, gazing into the water. Wordlessly, the ice type settled in next to her, and St. sighed as she mindlessly stroked its fur. "No offense, but I wish Espurr was here. You're excellent company, but . . . it really knows how to comfort people."

Glaceon nuzzled St.Owl's knee. "Glace."

"Well, I don't know what I'm worried about, really. I think it's really all Vaporeon. And that Gyrados. You know, Vaporeon's really . . . violent. Unnaturally violent. It's unnerving. But at the same time, I'm worried about it. I don't want it to get into trouble, and I just sent it into the lion's den."

There was silence for a moment.

"No. Well, that's sort of what's bothering me, Glaceon. But really, I'm more worried about what Elena said. That Vaporeon and I are alike. We aren't that alike, are we? I don't want to be like Vaporeon. It's a bit . . . unpleasant.

"But I can't stop thinking about the similarities between us, Glaceon. And there are too many for me to be comfortable with. I-- well, I'm just a bit over my head, I guess. All I wanted was a picnic and Charles Dickens. Look what I ended up with."

And then--

An explosion of noise and water, leaving St.Owl and Glaceon drenched. For a moment, she couldn't believe her eyes. 

Vaporeon was at the head of the wave, holding a single piece of metal in its mouth, the rest of a submarine following obediently behind it.

~~~

Gyrados moved.

It was Danie who noticed it first, and Danie who acted; she called her Pokemon back to her. At first, Abigail thought she was seeing double, as there were two Danies, standing side by side; but then the first shifted back into its Zorua form, and stood ready, snarling at Gyrados.

Gyrados?

Abigail looked up and saw that the Pokemon was no longer stationary. In fact, it was writhing, moving its snakelike body rhythmically. It was almost eerie: she shuddered.

"Espurr," whispered the Pokemon into her ear. Its voice, usually carefree, was urgent. "Espurr espurr es. ESPURR!"

Abigail jumped as it shouted, and found soon why it had: a bolt of light made contact right where she had been standing.

"What--" she whispered.

"Someone's coming!" Danie shouted. "Someone's here!"

~~~~

Vaporeon alighted on the beach, the submarine settling next to it.

Pushing her wonder aside, St.Owl hurried to the machine, looking it over, brushing sand and seaweed off its exterior. It was very plainly decorated, save for one thing: A gigantic, dark circle, almost perfect in make, with a huge, silvery capital L emblazoned in the center. It was obviously some sort of symbol, but not one she'd ever seen before.

She couldn't spend long to dwell on it, however. For at that moment, the top of the submarine burst open, and someone clambered out, casting a shadow onto her.

"Who--" the form began to bellow, but it stopped suddenly. "Ah. I know who you are."

St.Owl's heart raced.

"You're one of the seven. The one who--" he paused suddenly-- "never mind. What are you doing here?"

"Hunting you down," St.Owl replied, with a lot more force than she thought she'd be able to muster. "Your Gyrados smashed the Pokemon center to bits for no reason."

"Oh, there was a reason," the man replied, "which you will find out in time. But, my dear, it isn't safe for you here. You're not supposed to be here. Do you have friends with you?"

St.Owl didn't respond.

"I'll take that as a yes," said the man, almost regretfully. "That's upsetting. Your friends are in grave danger."

"So . . . are you helping me?"

"For now, yes. In any case, I am your only hope, and you can't afford to throw me away. However, later you may think differently . . . "

"You're infuriating. Stop talking in riddles and just answer the question. If my friends are in danger, I need to help them."

"Thank you for confirming my theory, for one," the man said, smiling, "for another, yes, I will help you, in any way I can."

"Thank you. There's no time to waste. C'mon."

They set off at a run down the beach.

~~~

"COMBUSKEN!"

Jenny wasn't really sure if Danie was panicking or just frustrated; she was a bit red in the face, her fists clenched, but waves of rage seemed to be emanating from her.  "COMBUSKEN!" Danie shrieked again. "WE NEED YOU!"
A bird face peeped out of a nearby ambulance and shook its head. Danie gritted her teeth. "If you could ignore that 'noble spirit' of yours for once and just get over here and help me fight, that would be nice . . . "

"It's okay," said Jenny brightly. "Hazel and Elena and I are good battlers. Plus, you've still got your other two Pokemon."

"Zorua rarely battles," Danie confessed, "and Kirlia I use sometimes, especially for double battles, but Combusken's the star and it's stuck watching over a random sleeping girl in an ambulance!"

"To be honest," said Elena, walking up to them, "I really think we should be more worried about those people. They did just attack us with a beam of energy."

Jenny looked where Elena was directing, and saw the silhouettes of about ten people, flanked by Pokemon, rapidly approaching. Her heart was pounding, and she sent out Jigglypuff and Psyduck-- for comfort or defense she wasn't sure. 

The figures began to take form, and the group was able to see them more clearly. Most of the people were flanked by Houndoom, but there were exceptions, such as a Noctowl flying above them, or a Misdreavous. All, however, were either Dark or Ghost Pokemon.

The people themselves were almost impossible to see. Their uniforms were almost entirely silver, emitting a soft glow, their mouths covered by scarves. Their hair was tied back with bandanas. Once they were a few inches away from the five, they stopped, and simply stared.

"We need that Gyrados," said one finally. He seemed to be in charge, as his uniform was not plain like the others: it had a dark L emblazoned on it, similar to the one depicted on all their bandanas. "Move aside."

Jenny looked up at the Gyrados, very tempted to say yes. But something was happening. It had stopped its swaying and was instead cowering, moving itself away from the newcomers.

"No," she said firmly, much to the surprise of her companions.

"It just destroyed a Pokemon center," said the man, "and it belongs to us."

"I don't believe you. If it belonged to you, why would it be running away?"

Her companions turned to look at seemed to notice the same phenomenon.

"Well then," said the man. "You leave me no choice."

Jenny's heart jumped.

"Attack!"

______

I have discovered the magic of not writing everything at one time! It's miraculous! I can't believe how quick this was!

I really enjoyed writing this part, and I finally have a real, solid plot in mind! Yay! Expect lots of action in the coming part (which I'm going to start right now, this was a great place to leave off but  I'm feeling the suspense too).

As usual, nitpick! And start watching the shows. They're brilliant. (did I ever tell you I finished all of XY? I'm watching Indigo League and Advanced now :D )

Peace, love, and frogs!

I lied. I didn't start working on it right away. But I'm working on it now, and that's what counts, right?!

Part VIII

Danie was really starting to hate her Combusken.

The attackers had split up into groups of two-- there were ten of them and five girls-- and she had the luck of being pitted against that Misdreavus. With a Kirlia! If Combusken was there, it would at least have a chance. But Psychic attacks didn't affect Dark types at all (as she was facing a Houndoom as well), and ghost-type moves were very powerful against Psychic types. Zorua would have to do the brunt of the work . . . but it would be pitted against another Dark type, which wasn't very helpful either.

Her opponents apparently knew that, because they had confident smirks on their faces. "Kirlia," she said, "whatever you do, don't go after that Houndoom. Really pay attention to your evasion, okay? Both of these are really strong against you, so you'll have to work on your attacks, and use grass-type moves as much as possible."

The three locked eyes, and all called out a move at once . . . 

~~~

"Sabeleye, go!"
It was just Jenny's luck to be pitted against the head guy. Perhaps it was because she had taken the role of "leader"; she really should have known better. However, she was in luck; her Jigglypuff would be strong against the Dark and Ghost-type Pokemon, and Bulbasaur wouldn't be in danger of any weaknesses. With that in mind, she sent them out, and stood ready. She didn't want to see this would be a piece of cake, but . . . it would be a piece of cake.

~~~

Kirlia was getting tired.

Too much dodging, not enough attacking-- it was having trouble. And that was bad news because of the disadvantage it was at already, and every time it was hit, it lost a ton of damage. Danie was thinking of sparing it and recalling it early, but the look in its eyes insisted otherwise: like its master, it was not going to be called out of the battlefield until it was all over. 

Danie, however, had been making a dreadful error. She was setting Zorua against Misdreavus mostly, because of the type advantage, but that left Houndoom wide open and ready to attack Kirlia. While the Misdreavous was about to pass out, Houndoom had lost practically no damage at all, and was attacking the Psychic type with no fear.

Finally, Kirlia moved too late, and fell to its knees; it was all over. Danie called it back, apprehension engulfing her. Two against one just wasn't fair.

~~~~~

Bulbasaur was being left out. 

Jigglypuff was hogging the stage with its fairy-type moves. Not only was it trashing Sabeleye, it couldn't be affected by Dark-type moves. The best Bulbasaur had done was used its Vine Whip to immobilize Jigglypuff's next victim.

It was not fair!

Bulbasaur was fed up and it was going to show it. 

As Jigglypuff attacked Sabeleye, Bulbasaur wheeled towards Houndoom. Its trainer looked taken aback and didn't have enough time to say something before Bulbasaur was using Takedown on the foe.

Houndoom went sprawling. Jenny said something-- Bulbasaur wasn't sure what. It was too busy observing the silver light that was surrounding it, feeling its bulb spread open wide, growing and changing . . . 

When all was done, Ivysaur stood tall and roared with the fierceness of a pride of lions.

~~~~

"This is not good."
The man halted near the fray. "It's too late."

"What d'you mean, too late?" St.Owl said nervously.

"It's already gone wrong," he sighed. "This is far worse than I thought. We must stop this at once."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," St.Owl sighed.

They ran forward a few more feet, but suddenly had to stop.

There were two people in front of them.
"Stay back," said one. "That Gyrados is ours!"

~~~

Combusken was watching the battle.

It was still in the ambulance, of course. It would not leave the girl unprotected. But it felt that it desparately needed to-- Danie was losing, terribly. Combusken cringed when Kirlia passed out. 

Finally, it could bear it no longer.

When Zorua was knocked back by Houndoom, Combusken charged out with a full-fledged Flame Charge and headbutted the foe, hard. Flame Charge was a pretty powerful attack, as they go, and Houndoom had lost a lot of damage. No complicated weakness or resistance with good old Fire Types!

As Combusken surveyed the battlefield with confidence, it barely noticed the glow around its body, or how it was heightening. There was no bigger deal than protecting its own mistresss, it had decided. And it wouldn't celebrate until the battle was over.

~~~

"Team Solar."

"What?"

Well, now that St.Owl looked at them, it was a fitting name. The two from "Team Solar" wore all yellow, giving off a golden sheen. Scarves covering their faces were of the same color. On the middle of their uniforms was a gigantic, red-orange S.

Waitaminute.

Solar . . . and the man had a silver L . . . 

"You're part of a team too,"  said St.Owl. "Team . . . Team Lunar. Solar and Lunar."

"Very clever," said the man, "but this is not the time."

"Your grunts are already there," said the second Team Solar person. "But there are five little girls trashing them. Pathetic. And while they're occupied, I think we'll just snatch this for ourselves."

"I don't think you will," he replied. "Go, Spiritomb!"

St.Owl flinched backwards as the Pokemon was released. Spiritomb was almost legendary, the monster in horror stories, the one that sneaks into everyone's nightmares. 

"You go," said the man from Team Lunar. "I'll make short work of these idiots. Help your friends-- put that Vaporeon to good use."
St.Owl found herself nodding and running off towards the battlefield. Halfway there, the man caught up with her.

"This will be incredibly easy," he promised. "If you see anyone in trouble, help them out, but it won't take me long to scare the grunts away."
"But aren't you on their side?" asked St.Owl, recognizing the L on their clothes. "Why would you scare them away?"

"I'm more than on their side," he replied. "Long story. Just go."
He turned towards the rubble of the Pokemon Center and the Gyrados; St.Owl went to her friends. She looked around for a moment, not noticing much, when--

"Espurr Espurr!"

It was calling her. St.Owl turned her sights towards her Pokemon to find Abigail, in trouble. She was facing two Houndoom and loosing incredibly. It wasn't her fault-- she was a performer, not a battler-- but she needed help, fast.

St.Owl unleashed Vaporeon.

______

I wanted to go a bit further, but I think that would be extending the post out too far . . . 

What is this? Team Lunar and Team Solar? Blaziken and Ivysaur? A strange man neither friend nor foe? What will happen next? Find out in the next part of The Pokemon Solo Write!

(oh, by the way, I'm sorry I didn't narrate everyone's battles. If I cycled through five different ones, it would become pretty tedious-- no offense. I decided to focus on the ones where something big and major happens. To those of you who weren't mentioned, you'll get your turn, never fear.)

Au revoir! I'll do my best to have another post up tomorrow!