Chapter Four: Moschatel

"Let's make this one on one, 'kay?" Cacao called from an equidistance of the two battlers. She had produced two flags of gold and silver, the silver one in her left hand pointed in the direction of Mia, the gold one in the paws of Mocha the Whimsicott, perched on her right wing, aimed at Sienna.

"What? One on one? Why?" Mia complained, in the process of choosing a PokéBall from the six at the chain around her waist.

"One, I'm the ref. Two, I need my coffee so this better not take long. Three, I feel like it. Five, I feel like it. Any questions?"

"Hey, didn't you just skip number f-"

"Perfect. Now hurry up with your decisions."

"I'm ready," Sienna replied, a standard red-and-white PokéBall held in her hands. Mia reached for an identical one at her hips, fumbled with the latch, attempted to juggle it as the sphere was flung haphazardly into the air, and somehow managed to catch it, though her blond hair was slightly askew.

"Really? Me too, what a coincidence!" the blue-eyed girl echoed cheerily, taking her position and mirroring Sienna's, with a PokéBall clutched in hand, ready to throw out.

Cacao looked at Sienna, then Mia, with long, exaggerated turns of the head. Trainer and Whimsicott both twirled their flags simultaneously, as if testing them, biding their time. Cacao swirled the near-empty contents of her mug, before downing it in a slow, nonchalant way. "Hmm, so it looks like you're ready. But are you really re-"

She was cut off by Sienna's irritated sigh and scowl. "Yes we're ready. Just tell us to send out our Pokémon already!"

Cacao shrugged her wings lightly. "My, my, how touchy. It's not very wise to be hasty, Sienna, darling. Sometimes you should just take life nice and s-"

"Shut up and wave your little flag things or I'll go over there and rip your wings off." The Ales Fiore smirked, obviously expecting this answer.

"I was getting to that, dear." Both she and Mocha giggled devilishly, before raising their flags and merrily waving them high. "Do whatever it is that you do."

Sienna rolled her eyes as she tossed out her PokéBall, looking over to Mia's side of the field as she did the same.

"Let's get 'em, Singe!"

"Come on out, Lumaya!"

A purple butterfly with silver-blue wings and large red eyes fluttered above the ground, head swiveling as she took in her unusual surroundings, before focusing in front of her at Sienna's choice of Pokémon, a Goliath in comparison with a tall, proud stance. Its sleek turquoise fur, pale yellow on its stomach-side, shone in the daylight. With a wide, toothy yawn, scarlet spots along the back of his neck erupted in fire.

Sienna smirked at Mia's choice. Score. We have this one in the bag. Her Typhlosion, guessing her thoughts, breathed a stream of fire in the air, roaring in agreement.

Mia's Butterfree stared at Singe for a second, before swiveling to stare hard at Cacao, who held her gaze for a few seconds. Then, "Freee!" the Butterfree, Lumaya, flew forward at an incredible pace, straight at the leaf-winged girl.

"Hey!" Cacao exclaimed, jerking out of the way of the crazy Butterfree, who simply swerved to try and attack Cacao again. "What's wrong with your Butterfree?"

"Hmm..." Mia cocked her head, a thinking expression on her face. "I think she's hungry!"

...You call that hungry? The Butterfree was attacking Cacao like a starving rabid Poochyena. If it wasn't so queer, Sienna would be laughing at the annoying plant-woman.

Cacao sighed. "This is annoying. I suppose it can't be helped..." Sienna waited for Cacao to finish her sentence, but she didn't. Instead, she vanished.

"Where'd she go?" Sienna exclaimed in shock. The brunette Ales Fiore had literally vanished.

"Whoa, it's like magic!" Mia also exclaimed in shock. Though it was more of a 'That's so cool!' type of shock than Sienna's.

"Don't worry my sweethearts, I didn't abandon you. It would be quite cruel of me to leave you to fend for your weak little selves like that, and I'm a very generous person." Cacao's irritating little laugh sounded from an unidentifiable direction. "I just don't exist in your world anymore."

"...What?"

"It's the same thing I did when we first met. Think of it as 'A-Butterfree-is-trying-to-eat-me-I'm-going-AWOL-animal-instincts' kind of thing."

"Animal instincts? ...But aren't you a plant?"

"Plants have feelings too!" Cacao exclaimed in a hurt voice.

Lumaya had lost interest in the now-disappeared Cacao, instead taking a battle position in front of Mia. Singe merely looked down on his opponent with a non-committal puff of smoke.

"You go first!" Mia insisted. Sienna smirked. Your funeral.

"Singe, start things off with a simple Flamethrower!" The Typhlosion opened his mouth almost lazily, before breathing a volley of flames at the Butterfly Pokémon.

"Okay, Lumaya, put up a Light Screen and fly in with a Tailwind!" Mia cried clearly, no trace of worry on her face. Lumaya gave some sort of screech of a cry as a sphere of green surrounded her. Suddenly, a harsh wind picked up, causing Mia's platinum blond hair and blue highlights to blow forward and Singe's Flamethrower to sputter slightly. Lumaya flew forward on the wind, still encased in her glowing shield, and plunged in to the flames.

The green of the Light Screen appeared to flicker as if fought the Flamethrower, the red tongues encasing her. At the last moment, the Butterfree rammed her head into the Typhlosion's cream-colored stomach, effectively shutting off the flames, but causing the Light Screen to shatter.

"Great job, Lumaya!" Mia cheered.

"What do you mean 'great job'? You didn't do anything," Sienna said scathingly. Singe blinked at the Butterfree nonchalantly, debating whether to swat it away or wait for his trainer's orders.

Mia blinked innocently. "Of course I did something! You lost, like, half of your points!"

Sienna also blinked, not so innocently. "Are you high?"

"No, I'm clearly standing on the ground," Mia proclaimed, confused.

Then Cacao's voice spoke up from an undecipherable direction. "Sienna, my dear, Mia is a Coordinator."

Sienna's eyes widened and she nearly doubled over. It made sense; Mia seemed to be like the type who would be a Coordinator, and it explained her battle style, but... A Coordinator... The last time I've been around a Coordinator was...

"What's wrong, Sienna?" Cacao's voice didn't sound concerned at all.

"Just shut up," Sienna mumbled, shaking the thoughts from her head. "Singe, just hit her with another Flamethrower."

"Not so fast!" Mia shouted. "Lumaya, use Crunch!"

Singe opened his mouth dramatically. At the same time, Lumaya also opened her mouth, albeit not so dramatically, zipped around the Typhlosion, and closed her "jaws" on Singe's ear.

The fire-starter howled in pain, vigorously spinning and shaking and just trying to get that goddamn Butterfree off of him. Alas, it did not work; Lumaya held fast. Singe began to let loose streams of fire, creating black marks on the grass and forcing the two trainers to jump back to dodge the flames. But Lumaya remained unsinged and untouched.

"Control yourself, Singe!" Sienna snapped, not much more in control herself. Singe shot Sienna what appeared to be a middle finger, but Typhlosion didn't even have five fingers, so she couldn't be sure. She looked at Mia, who was still smiling that plastic-surgery smile. "What the hell is wrong with your Butterfree?"

"Oh, Lumaya's probably just hungry, that's all!" Mia chirped.

Sienna stared at her with burgundy eyes. "I'm pretty sure Butterfree don't even have teeth. And even then, they're supposed to be herbivores, not cannibal-bugs. Again, what the hell is wrong with your Butterfree?"

Mia cocked her head to the side, appearing to be thinking hard. Finally, she decided on saying, "Psybeam, Lumaya." Sienna showed off her exquisitely colorful language as Singe was blasted with rainbows, and Lumaya still remained latched onto the Typhlosion's ear.

I'm losing against a Coordinator with a Butterfree! Sienna panicked in her head. After all these years... After all this training... I'm still nothing! "Singe, Flame Wheel!" Sienna yelled in frustration.

Singe became cloaked in fire, and Lumaya had to let go of the Typhlosion, lest she wanted to get fried. Sienna took a deep breath and exhaled shakily.

"Hmm, interesting," Cacao commented. "Flame Wheel is a physical move, but Sienna turned it into a special move. Bravo, Sienna, bravo." From nowhere came a deep, sarcastic clapping.

"Smokescreen, Singe, and then Swift in the cover of the smoke." Sienna took another deep breath, getting back into the flow of the battle again. Singe, synchronizing with his trainer, breathed a heavy cloud of black smoke, enveloping the field in darkness.

"My hair!"

"My coffee!"

Singe fired a volley of glowing stars in a random direction, which arced and hit Lumaya dead-on.

"Good choice," Cacao commented, still not visible, though that wasn't saying much, given the choking smoke. "Smokescreen lowered everyone's accuracy, but with Swift, that hardly matters, since it will always hit."

"Why are you annotating our match like we aren't the only ones here?" Cacao giggled, and Sienna could imagine her smirk. The orange-clad girl rolled her eyes.

"Lumaya, get rid of this smoke with Silver Wind!" Sienna felt the thick air stir and then clear as a gust of silver blew past, blowing black and silver over Singe and her.

Sienna muttered curses. It was kind of stupid to think that I could win this battle in the cover of smoke. "Flame Wheel, Singe!" Her fire-starter charged forward, blazing and leaving black marks on the golden grass beneath him.

Mia's eyes widened. "Bug Buzz!" Lumaya's silver wings began to vibrate, and a horrible screech hit Singe dead on, causing him to stop in his tracks, shut off his flame, and cover his ears in pain.

"Snap out of it!" Sienna commanded, but her Pokémon wasn't listening, even as his opponent shut her Bug Buzz off and blew a cloud of purple dust at the Typhlosion.

Singe grimaced in pain as the Poison Powder struck and the deadly spores were absorbed in his pelt. He began to sway on his feet.

"Now use Supersonic!"

"Get out of there, Singe!" Sienna knew that she couldn't afford to have Singe poisoned and confused. Luckily, the Fire-type managed to dart out of the way of the ringed waves. "We have to finish this quick. Use Dig."

The ground beneath Singe gave way as he attacked it with his claws. Lumaya looked at the ground warily. "Fly up, Lumaya!" Mia ordered her Pokémon, who obliged, soaring high up.

"Flamethrower!" The ground far beneath Lumaya glowed red for an instant, before giving way to a column of flame. Lumaya shrieked as she was torched by the attack. Her silvery-white wings were charred and stained with ash, flapping wildly in an attempt to keep herself aloft.

"Finish it now! Blast Burn!" Sienna shouted at the top of her lungs. Singe began to inhale, a light flickering in his throat. The flames on his back receded, as if he were concentrating every single bit of fire in his body. Mia's eyes widened, and she tried to shout something, only to be cut off as Singe let loose a beam of concentrated fire, nearly white in the center but flecked with burning color on the edges. On contact, it exploded like a firework into smaller tongues of uncontrolled flame, streams of reds and oranges fluttering and separating in the air.

Cacao flickered back into existence and raised the flag for Sienna's side. Her face was entirely passive as her golden eyes examined Sienna with interest. Mia ran up to her defeated Pokémon and after making sure the carnivorous Butterfree wasn't dead, recalled her in a flash of red. The blond girl looked up at Sienna with wide cerulean eyes.

Sienna suddenly realized her fists were clenched and trembling. Her long nails bit into her sweaty palms, as she exhaled a shaky breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

I'm still weak. After all this time, it's still not enough. Her fingers still shook as she reached for her PokéBall and recalled her starter, who looked at her with an expression of pure concern before disappearing in red. But I'm already here, so I can only keep moving forward.

"Daiquiri, Brick Break the ferret!"

"Marley, stop that Heracross in its tracks with a Psychic!"

"Vodka, help Daiquiri out with your own Psychic!"

"Mikeal, distract that Slowbro with some Fury Swipes!"

The Heracross leaped forward, a claw glowing with white light as it closed in on Mikeal. However, he found himself stopped in his tracks as a blue aura surrounded him, the culprit being the Slowking whose intelligent eyes glowed the same blue that surrounded Daiquiri. His victory was short-lived, however, when the Heracross' partner glowed with a similar blue hue, and the blue bipedal-stag beetle lurched forward again, his claw colliding with the surprised brown-and-cream Normal-type who cried out in pain, but quickly recovered and darted over to Vodka with a glow in its claws, slashing with a vengeance. Neither side was winning, losing, or giving an inch.

"Vacuum Wave!" Daiquiri shot a bundle of silver zephyrs at Vodka and Mikeal, hitting them both squarely and sending out clouds of dust.

"What are you doing? That's your own Pokémon, there!" Temp shouted, yelling, "Marley, stop the Heracross with Water Pulse," as an afterthought.

With bored nonchalance, the black-haired military girl commanded, "Daiquiri, charge through it with a Megahorn. Vodka, keep powering up with a Curse," before turning her full attention on her opponent, shrugging. "Vodka's fine. He's too lovable to feel something like that."

Though her way of wording was... unusual, Temp had to agree with Ryuuko. While the Furret would clearly be hurt by an attack such as the Fighting-type Vacuum Wave, a Slowbro would resist it due to its second Psychic type. To prove her point, the smoke cleared and Vodka stared straight forward, relatively unscathed, with a completely blank expression on his face, while Mikeal was sprawled across the grass.

Meanwhile, Marley's eyes narrowed at Daiquiri, and he opened his mouth, shooting a stream of high-pressure water at the Heracross, who simply charged through the stream, his forked horn glowing green as it struck Marley in the stomach. Meanwhile, Vodka glowed with a pink energy.

"Marley, Zen Headbutt while it's close!"

"Blow it away with a Vacuum Wave, Daiquiri!"

The Slowking charged forward, albeit rather slowly, with his shell-crown glowing blue, only to be knocked back by a strong gust of silver wind that blew at Temp's auburn hair. The Sinnoh-born girl tightened and untightened her fists in annoyance. "That Heracross is annoying." For a brief moment she regretted the choice not to send out Samwise, her Braviary. He would have made sure that annoying bug went down. "Marley, hold him down with Telekinesis. Mikeal, do what you do best: Fire Punch!"

Ryuuko sucked in a deep breath and muttered something that sounded like, "Oh, shit," but Temp didn't really dwell on that. The Bug and Fighting-type suddenly became enveloped in a blue glow as it was suspended in the air. Mikeal darted towards the immobile Heracross; his tiny fist blazed as the fiery attack struck.

For a moment, nothing moved. Then Ryuuko muttered, "Oh for Arceus' sake..." and all hell broke loose.

Daiquiri suddenly began to flail wildly in mid-air, making sounds that seemed almost primal. Despite the good hold Marley had on him, the Telekinesis shattered instantly. Temp and her Pokémon immediately went on guard, expecting the rabid Heracross to storm them.

They didn't expect Daiquiri to swoon dramatically, before repeatedly ramming his head on the ground.

"Daiquiri, snap out of it!" The mismatched-eyed girl commanded. She didn't seem surprised at all, only slightly annoyed.

"What's wrong with your Heracross?" Temp asked, more out of curiosity than concern.

"He has some stupid honor code that says if he gets one hit on him, he will be shamed forever, and therefore needs to kill himself." Ryuuko sighed. "Change of plans. Vodka, Psychic!"

Vodka suddenly stopped his Curse power-up. He blinked, as if comprehending the command. Then he lifted his arms and Daiquiri froze, trapped in blue.

This is my chance, Temp thought, albeit slightly bitterly. She didn't want to win by some Heracross' stupid crazy "honor code," but she wasn't quite nice enough to lose on purpose. "Mikeal, another Fire Punch! Marley, you break Vodka's Psychic by attacking him with a Signal Beam."

"Oh no you don't!" Ryuuko shouted, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "It's time to improvise. Vodka, defend yourself!"

The Slowbro gave a slow bellow that sounded more like a moan. Just as Marley's Signal Beam was unleashed, it was intercepted. By a Heracross.

"Y-You're using your Pokémon as a shield?" The auburn-haired girl stuttered in surprise as Mikeal was swept off his feet as a big blue bug crashed into him. "That's... That's..."

"Ingenious? I thought so." Ryuuko smiled. "Vodka, drop Daiquiri on the Furret." The Heracross floated his way over to the still confused Furret, before being dropped. Daiquiri immediately began to try to hit his head on the ground. Instead, he ended up headbutting Mikeal repeatedly into the ground.

"Marley, help Mikeal!" Temp shouted. The Slowking's eyes glowed blue as Daiquiri was frozen once more. "Now Fire Punch again, Mikeal!" The Furret began her fiery onslaught.

"This is annoying," Ryuuko mused. "Vodka, let's go with Trick Room and a little special something."

Vodka gave a wide yawn, and from his yawn a pulse seemed to spread around the battlefield, distorting the areas it touched and turning them to negative, before disappearing. Mikeal seemed to be moving at a Shellos' pace. Daiquiri, who had been dropped on the ground, was trying to ram his head into the ground again, but was doing so in slow-motion. The only ones who seemed unaffected were the humans, Vodka, and Marley. After the Trick Room had descended on the arena, Vodka's eyes glowed blue for a second, and Temp tensed herself for something to happen. But nothing did.

"Alright, Vodka, use Fling!" Ryuu's mismatched blue and brown eyes flashed with triumph.

"Fling?" Temp wondered, surprised. What is there to Fling?

Her question was quickly when Vodka ran at a disturbingly fast rate, straight to Daiquiri. With a fluid movement that seemed strange in a Slowbro, the pink Pokémon picked up the slow-motion Daiquiri by the horn, and hurled him at Marley. Caught by surprise, Marley took the direct hit, giving a cry of surprise and pain, before falling the the ground, eyes swirled in unconsciousness.

"What's wrong with you?" Temp shouted in surprise and worry for her Pokémon, although she had to admit it was a good attack. Fling is a Dark-type move, which is super-effective against Marley, and was made even more powerful because of the fact that he was hurling a huge, heavy bug. In addition, its power was increased from the Attack power-up when the Slowbro was using Curse. With Trick Room, his Speed was reversed, and boosted even beyond that because of the Speed penalty when he was using Curse. "Don't you care about your Pokémon?"

Ryuu looked at Temp in interest. "Of course I do. Vodka is an adorable emergency food supply, and Daiquiri is... well, Daiquiri. But it's not as if they'll die from a practice battle. Besides, what business is it to you?"

"My Pokémon are my family. They're the only ones who will never leave me. If it weren't for them I would be alone! That's why I'm here for Cereus Calluna in the first place!" Temp felt a surprisingly bitter taste in her mouth as she looked to the ground, feeling guilty that she had let Marley down by losing against this girl who didn't even care about her Pokémon. Renton looked at the auburn-haired girl strangely from his place as a ref. "That's why I respect my Pokémon. I guess you wouldn't know, seeing as you have a twin to keep you company."

"Is that so," Ryuu said in a breezily cool voice, not sounding sympathetic in the slightest. She glanced at her twin, and Temp was surprised by how cold Ryuu's gaze was, and how unhappy Renton's own gaze was.

"C'mon, Renton, let's go. You owe me a smoothie," Ryuu said in an oddly monotonic voice as she took out two PokéBalls and returned her Pokémon, before turning around and beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" Temp cried. "The battle isn't finished ye-" Her voice was stopped cold when a beam of bright white light descended from the teal sky and struck the still frozen Mikeal, causing the grass to be ripped out of the ground from the force of the blast. When the light faded, Mikeal had fainted, and the grass around him was charred black in a perfect circle.

Temp's eyes widened. What was... From before. 'A little special something'... she ordered a Future Sight attack, then. A delayed attack.

Ryuu paused, before replying, "It is now."

Josh gave a wry grin as he looked over at Louise's opponent's face, and Louise threw out her PokéBall. It shifted from shock to horror to confusion to skepticism; Josh thought he took it a lot better than most other people.

"Starmie!" 'Mew' cried out on appearance, spinning and causing her ten purple legs and red gem to flash.

"It's... It's... It's a Starmie?" Sydney said questioningly.

Louise cocked her head, confused. "No, it's obviously a Mew." Louise's chocolate eyes suddenly grew wide. "Oh no, Charlotte, did you go blind?"

"I- Uh- Er-" Sydney tried to think of something intelligent to say. Instead, he noticed something, and his blue eyes widened. The blood drained from his face as he took a few nervous steps back, before scurrying a few more meters away. "It's... It's... It's a Starmie...!" he repeated, this time more in alarm than in question.

"No, it's most definitely a Mew!" Louise argued again.

"Is something wrong?" Josh queried.

"Seafood... allergies..." Sydney groaned, already feeling his throat itch. "Never mind, I'll be fine. I think." I'm going to die. Josh gave him a skeptical look, while Louise beamed. "Um... I guess you can have the first move?"

"No-no-no-no-no-no, you have the first move. I insist." Louise beamed.

"Uh, thanks," Sydney said. There wasn't really anything else he could have said that wasn't a jumbled mass of confusion. "Skarla, Thunderbolt, I guess," the dirty-blond-haired boy mumbled. His Ampharos raised her arms, and with a cry, lit up like a Christmas tree. An arc of lightning separated from her, aimed straight for "Mew."

"No worries, Mew! Counter it with an Aura Sphere!" Louise shouted confidently, and Josh's heart lurched. "Mew" gave a worried mechanical sound, that switched to a screech of pain when the super-effective Thunderbolt hit her.

"Great job defending yourself, Mew!" Louise cheered. Sydney's facial expression matched that of his Ampharos': very confused.

Josh felt sick. I have to help her. But I'm stuck. He fingered a particular PokéBall at his belt, his hands itching to just throw it out. But he couldn't.

Hesitantly, Sydney called for another Thunderbolt, and Louise chidingly ordered another Aura Sphere. The Thunderbolt met its mark, and this time the Starmie pointedly turned to Josh. Despite its complete lack of a face, Josh could still feel the starfish's "eyes" boring into him, a metaphorical eyebrow raised with impatience, like: "Dude, getting hit by sheep-lightning is painful. Do something."

Josh tried to send "I'm trying" waves at the Starmie, which made him feel kind of stupid. He took a PokéBall from his belt and whispered something to it, before pressing the button in the middle.

Everything went white, even though Josh had closed his eyes in advance.

"Hey, what was that?" Sydney cried out just as the light died down. "A Flash attack? You didn't do that, right, Skarla?" The Ampharos shook her head, partially in reply to her trainer, partially to shake the light out of her head. "Then was it the Starmie? I didn't hear her trainer say anything," he muttered in slight confusion. "Never mind that, then. Thunderbolt, again."

Josh looked up towards the sky and nodded. In his mind he spoke clearly, You know what to do.

The arc of electricity's aim was dead-on, despite the Flash attack. Just as it was about to strike, however, a blue glow traced the outline of the lightning, stopping it dead in its tracks. For a few seconds everything seemed to be frozen, until the lightning began to move again. In the opposite direction. The Ampharos gave a cry, more out of surprise than pain, as she was struck by her own lightning.

"What was that...?" Sydney muttered in surprise at the Starmie, who had on a smug non-face. "But the trainer didn't say anything, though..." He glanced at Louise suspiciously, who was smiling victoriously, but Sydney had a feeling that Starmie's attack had nothing to do with her trainer.

Suddenly a sphere of icy-blue appeared in front of Starmie's red gem and a jagged beam shot out from it, aimed at his Ampharos. Sydney's eyes widened and he shouted, "Cotton Spore!"

Skarla put her yellow arms close to each-other, and between them grew a large white puff of cotton, which she threw out to intercept the Ice Beam. The timing was a tad late, however, and after a short standstill between the cotton and the ice, the wad of now frozen fluff was thrown back at its creator, who gave a sharp bleat as she was hit.

My timing is off. I can't react immediately because the attacks aren't spoken commands, Sydney mused. But where are these attacks coming from? It doesn't look like the trainer is doing the ordering, and if the Pokémon is acting on its own, then it should have acted on its own in the first place... "Skarla, buy us some time with a mass Cotton Spore!" he ordered. His Ampharos began to summon more balls of cotton, which floated in the air and blocked the Starmie's way so she couldn't get a clear shot.

Louise babbled a bunch of random commands at her "Mew," all of which her Pokémon could not follow. Instead, the Starmie began shooting down the cotton balls with Ice Beams, and Sydney struggled to think of a plan. "Start charging a massive Cotton Spore," he ordered, not entirely sure what he was planning to do with it.

Just as the last mini Cotton Spore was knocked down, the enormous Cotton Spore was ready, nearly three meters wide. Just as Sydney was struggling to think of what to do with it, "Mew" advanced with another Ice Beam.

"Skarla! Um..." Sydney struggled to think of an intelligent command. "Improvise!"

Skarla apparently did know what to do with the giant Cotton Spore. With a cry, she threw the cotton ball into the Ice Beam, and for a second, the momentum of the Cotton Spore combated the icy energy. Then it started to get pushed back.

Fortunately, Sidney's Pokémon knew what to do better than the trainer himself. She ran forward and punched the Cotton Spore with a fist of fire. The Grass-type attack caught fire and flew straight into the Starmie, who, despite being resistant against Fire attacks, was still caught by surprise by the giant flaming ball of flaming cotton.

"Whoa. Nice one, Skarla," Sydney said, impressed and slightly intimidated. "Um, catch it off-guard with Thunderbolt."

Skarla again shot a bolt of electricity at the starfish, but the Starmie was already moving, faster than lightning... literally. She began to spin, her body parallel to the ground, and a wind picked up around her, as well as traces of green fire. Josh felt his shaggy black hair, streaked with fading red highlights, blow out of his face in the harsh green tornado. The giant Cotton Spore, still burning, was sucked into the vortex before being dissolved into tiny fragments of flame. The previously frozen Cotton Spores were also drawn in. Skarla's Thunderbolt hit the fiery Twister harmlessly, before being swept into the winds itself. Then the brewing hurricane, spiraling with green dragon-fire, ice, cotton, and electricity, began to separate from the purple Water-type, aimed straight for Skarla.

"Light Screen!" Sydney shouted on impulse. The yellow ram-like Pokémon was quick to conjure a barrier of green around herself, but after a few seconds in the tempest, it was ripped out of existence. The Ampharos was bombarded by the Twister, giving out a cry of pain. However, when the gale subsided, the Electric-type was still standing.

"Alright, good job, Skarla!" Sydney encouraged his Pokémon. "Let's use Discharge!"

Josh's breath caught suddenly as tendrils of electricity shot out from the Electric-type. One hit Starmie directly, and the other shot straight into the sky.

"Xaaaa!" There was a bright flash from above, and all three trainers looked up. Like a falling star, a streak of green and silver shot towards the ground, landing right in the middle of the battlefield and creating a stir of dust that enveloped the field.

"Xatu," Josh whispered, not daring to call out his starter's name. He fumbled for the totem-like Pokémon's PokéBall, and breathed a sigh of relief as, in a flash of crimson, the Mystic Pokémon was recalled before the dust cleared. When it did, Sydney and his Ampharos looked extremely confused by the crater in the ground.

"Hey, did you see tha-" Sydney started, before being cut off by Josh.

"It.. It... It was nothing," Josh lied. "Uh, I hope you don't mind, but can we cut this battle short?"

"Uh, what?" Sydney began to look even more confused. "Well, sure, but-"

"Butler!" Louise said in a high, chiding voice with a pout on her face. "Charlotte still doesn't remember, though! We can't leave until she-"

"It... It's alright," Sydney blurted out, not really thinking. "I- Uh, I remember you, Marydith. I think..."

Louise beamed. "Oh, you do, Charlotte? I'm so, so happy!" Josh felt a twinge of sorrow at the light of her smile: bright, but too bright. Not like before... "Here, Charlotte, do you remember Mew, too?" She held up her "Mew" by it's crystal-like legs as if it were an adorable Teddiursa bear. Sydney visibly flinched and took many steps back.

"Uh, yes, yes I do," Sydney said quickly. "It was really nice to meet you, uh, again, Louise. I mean Marydith. And you too, Josh. I think I'll be going now."

Josh watched the brunette boy walk away, very quickly, with his Ampharos chasing happily after him. The blue-eyed teen gave a sigh of relief, thankful that the other trainer hadn't suspected him.

He turned to look at Louise wearily, who was chatting away happily to the air. Arceus, he thought, I really hope this tournament thing works...

"Hey, you. Yeah, you."

Kelvin knew that voice. Rude, cocky, uncaring... It was the same voice that came out of his own mouth every day, if not a bit older.

His immediate reaction: annoyance.

Kelvin's annoyance increased when he turned around to face stormy gray-blue eyes.

"What do you want?" Kelvin asked equally rudely. The lanky teen he addressed was slouched casually with hands in jean pockets, waved light-brown hair, and a glowing cigarette between stained teeth. Vaguely Kelvin noted the similarities between the teen and himself, although his own hair was auburn, his eyes were a brighter shade of blue, he was a bit shorter than the teen, and he didn't smoke.

"Rude kid," the brunette teen mused between his cigarette. "I was just hoping for a battle. 'Cause, you know, that's what trainers do. They go up to strangers and ask for a brawl."

"But generally they tend to introduce themselves first," Kelvin said in a flat tone, although he was vaguely interested. The auburn-haired boy was somewhat tired of the weak trainers he battled in his own world, and was looking forward to the chance of actually meeting a worthy opponent, like the letter had promised.

"And generally people say their own names before asking for others'," the brunette teen replied airily. "But I'm not really one for manners and morals, so screw that shit. My name's Russell Warren, but you can call me Russ. Pleasure to meet you." He didn't extend a hand to shake, and his stormy-blue eyes were far from welcoming. Not that Kelvin's own icy gaze was any more warm.

"I'm Kelvin Irvine," the auburn-haired boy replied distractedly, fiddling with the PokéBalls at his belt.

"One should look a person in the eye when they're talking," Russ said rather hypocritically as he began to walk a good distance away from Kelvin, before turning around with a red and white PokéBall in his hand, a brazen flash of lightning in his storm eyes. "If they're equals, that is," he finished.

Kelvin rolled his eyes, but a small smirk set on his face and he felt something he hadn't felt in a while: anticipation. "Touche," Kelvin muttered, also taking a few steps back, before selecting a PokéBall and tossing it out. "Caiman, it's your turn."

From the red appeared a blue scaly figure, scarlet ridges cresting his head, back, and tail. White fangs protruded from his mouth, and his amber eyes flashed in annoyance at his trainer, as if saying, If this is another Bug Catcher, I'm going to turn you into a wallet.

"A Feraligatr," Russ mused. "Not bad for a kid. Come on out, Ace!" The PokéBall erupted in light, and a silhouette emerged from it, flickering in the air as he flew circles in the sky, his red and translucent wings blurring as they buzzed, his body becoming a green streak against the teal sky.

"A Yanmega," Kelvin muttered.

"No, it's obviously an Arceus," Russ said sarcastically. "I suppose I should let you have the first move."

"No," Kelvin argued, an arrogant tone seeping into his voice. "I think the underdog should always have the first move."

The cigarette-smoking teen cocked his head, before smirking between his smoke. "Tch, cheeky kid. Fine, I guess I'll just have to teach you some manners the hard way."

Trivia:

~The title of this chapter, the moschatel, means 'weak but winning.' Um, it's like how Sienna thought she was weak but she still won. Er, yeah, that doesn't make sense really ignore this.

~So yeah, Mia and Sienna had a battle along the Phlegthon, which is the River of Fire... and Sienna used a Typhlosion... Which is a Fire-type... Uh, yeah.

~According Black Mareep, Lumaya, the name of Mia's Butterfree, means free in Filipino.

~According to Kyuuketsuki Fang, Skarla, the name of Sydney's Ampharos, is short for skarlagenrød, meaning scarlet (Even though Ampharos are yellow).

~Sienna's first name means 'a dark reddish color.' Her last name, Roux, means 'red.' She has a warm-colored color scheme and a Typhlosion for a starter. Kelvin's first name means 'blue river.' His last name, Irvine, means 'water.' He has a cool-colored color scheme and a Feraligatr for a starter. (Can anyone say 'foreshadowing'?)

~The name of Kelvin's Feraligatr, is derived from a subfamily of alligators, Caimaninae, which is often shortened to just 'caiman.'

So... I will pretend that it hasn't been five months since I last updated, even though my profile says I'm supposed to update this monthly. And now I will go run away from the angry mob.

Anyways, the reason I haven't been updating recently is because I'm super busy since I just started high school and I have a whole bunch of extracurriculars and stuff. Ew. I'm really sorry, but updates will probably be slow. I still will try to finish this, though.

Apologies go to Black Mareep and Gwen for their characters losing. Especially to Gwen. Ouch, that was pretty harsh on Temp.

Apologies also go to Happy, Fang, and Shelby. I totally butchered Ryuu and Sydney and Russ, but it was partially for effects. Russ punching Kelvin in the face probably would not be good for character development.

And apologies go to everyone for how shitty and boring this chapter was. Granted, it was like more than three-fourths battle scenes, but I did try to spice things up by giving you guys a little character background in the process. But really, this chapter was a whole bunch of blah. I'm so sorry.

As a general sort-of poll to improve this story, I would like to know what you want to see more of, less of, what you think needs changing, etc. I'd also really like to know if it's hard to keep track of characters or if it's hard to picture them. Or if my dialogue seems fake. Or if my battles are too long and boring and dumb. Or if my whole story is dumb.

(I've been having self-esteem issues lately. I've been reading too much of Happy's/Fang's/Oz's/Mega's/Cele's/other-assorted-amazing-people's stuff. Why are you even reading this? You should be reading their stuff. GO)

Anyways, moving on (author's note, y u so long?). Today is a very, very, very special day.

Happy birthday, Chew. You're the bestest, bestest, bestest, sexiest, most amazing best friend/clone/wifey/Scotsdude/Lady Gaga/face/lawnmower ever. Without you, this whole story wouldn't have come together. Without you, I wouldn't have come together. Without you, the universe wouldn't have come together. Will you marry me? (sorry, Book [and Elijah]~)

Anyways, credits go to:

Russ belongs to FirebirdXoX

Kelvin belongs to me

And finally, a character that actually completely belongs to me appears. Actually, the only character that completely belongs to me appears. All the others are pretty much partially made with Chew, the amazing aforementioned person. Kelvin is my one and only Audiat in this story. He will also not be winning the tourney.

That's about all! Ciao, folks~ The birthday girl would like you very much to review. This has nothing to do with my own egocentric needs.