Chapter 15: The Climax, at last!

Mil

"So... how exactly do you do a quick attack?" I smiled at my sister. "I just want to run really fast, and I do!" She looked at me funny for a second, but then she shook her head. Whatever works for you I guess..." "Huh?" I gave her a funny look back. "Well... you see Milly, I haven't been able to do any moves yet myself and I've tried to want it but..." She shook her head again. "Never mind. It's just a bit of a pet peeve I guess." Now I was really confused...

"NOW!" I dashed out and ran straight toward Greg! He didn't notice me until I was right behind him. "Wha-" He turned and I ran around him the way he didn't look. I now had a second to grab the splinter! But... right when my mouth was about to knock it, he jumped away from me! "HEY!" "Uh oh..." He gave me a bad smile. "Nice try shorty, but not good enough!" He tossed the splinter at me!

The world seemed to slow down. I'mgoingtodie...flashed through my head. That moment, I felt something building up inside my throat. Without even thinking, I spat it out, and launched a black ball! It knocked the splinter down, hit Greg, and knocked him back! "Gah!" I was so surprised at this, I forgot what I was supposed to do! Then I remembered, and quickly ran at the splinter that he dropped.

The splinter was really just a piece of wood with sharp stuff on it, so I had to pick it up with my teeth. I didn't drop it when I ran back to the tree, but it kinda hurt in my mouth. Greg didn't stand back and watch me though, "Gimme that, fox!" He was running after me! He was faster than me, but if I used a quick attack I'd probably drop the splinter! But then I heard Sis call out: "Mil! Go wrong!"

(flash back)

"I'msoconfused!""Aboutwhat?"Ilookedmysister."Whyisitleftandright?Doesitmeanthatleftiswrong?"Shejustlaughed."Nosilly.Theword'right'hasmorethenonemeaning.Youknow,likewhereandwear.""Well,Istilldon'tlikeit!Whatifrightiswrong!"Shejustshookherheadaputahandonmyhead."Okthen...howaboutwecallleftwronguntilyoucantellthedifference,ok?"

I turned and jumped to the left. "Wha-?" Greg didn't know she meant to go left, and I guess that's why he didn't get out of the way in time to not get hit by the wall of fire Jess shot at him. "YEAOW!" Oh well, too bad for him. In fact, it was a shame that he put the fire on his tail out this time by dropping and rolling. He was burned, but not out...

Mike

"Ok Mike... you got yourself into this, you have to go through with it." Truth be told, I was less than up to the task. I was sweating bullets again, shaking, and talking to myself. "Out loud. Not a good sigh." I sighed. My feelings were fighting my logic again. Logically, all I had to do was run out there. I had a theory: if a situation should arise that requires a move, we can instinctively use it.

This theory had been proven more times by the others than I could count. Jess with her battle, Mil playing tag, Meg slapping John, the twins frying Adam, me frying Samantha... the list goes on. The only problem was, none of it truly proves it, and I couldn't get over the fact that my theory was only a theory. Excuse me for not being able to get over the fact that I have human emotions, even if I didn't have a human body at the time.

Plus, there was another flaw I'd just spotted. I'd have to run up in the open a bit before I could quick attack. Otherwise, I'd come up short to the cliff. Needless to say, this was a VERY serious issue, not only because it could get Tom hurt before I could do anything, but it simply helped fry my nerves.

I glanced at my watch again. 30secondsorless...You know that moment? The moment that you HAVE to act? As it's been my experience, the moment one DOES act usually come the second after. It usually doesn't matter, as one second more hesitation to, say, jump off a diving board doesn't matter, but to my systematic way of thinking... 20seconds...

Maybe Mitch will be too careless to notice me... yeah right... 15seconds... I think I'm panicking... not thinking straight... 10seconds...What if I'm getting so worked up for nothing, and this turns out too easy? 5...Don't... 4...think... 3...just... 2...act... 1...NOW!

I dashed out from the bush just as Mitch gave a grunt of impatience and turned toward the forest. Out of sheer dumb luck, he turned on the side of his head that I WASN'T coming from.

That gave me the time I needed to close the space between me and the cliff. Mitch didn't notice me, and Tom's eyes grew even bigger than their already huge size. (if that's even possible). Thankfully, he kept his head and his muzzle shut.

Unfortunately, I was not being very careful with what I was doing. Rather than sneaking up carefully and quietly, I stepped on a bug-sized twig, giving away my presence. Mitch didn't turn, but I could still see the evil smile on his face. "Ah... so you DID come. I was hoping you would." He moved his tail tip right on the splinter launcher. One twitch and it'd fly (for the less than visionary, the launcher was basically a classic mouse trap made of tree bark and a rubber band).

I held my ground, not daring to move. "You see... I've always had this thing about rats... and this body I have seems to agree with me..." Tom started whimpering and silently crying, too terrified to make any real noise. "And that thing is..." he flicked his tail tip, launching the splinter at Tom! "LUNCHMEAT!" Tom screamed. My heart stopped. Time seemed to slow, and before I could help myself, despite how stupid an action it was, I had a flashback...

(Flashback)

"sniff..." "There now, that wasn't so bad." I stood up and looked at my handy work. True, it was only a band-aid on a small scratch, but I couldn't help but love the feeling that came with helping my 3 year old brother. But Tom didn't seem to share my excitement. "Sniff... but it hurt when it come off!" I smilled and rubbed Tom's leg above the band-aid. He always loved the feeling, and it helped him calm down.

"Don't worry. I'll be here for you. and yes, it may hurt for a small bit, but it won't last long." He looked up at me. "Next time too?" I laughed. "Hey, no one said you're going to fall out of a tree again! But yeah, I'll be here for you. I'll always be here for you..."

"NOOO!" I dashed, though there was no way I could cover the distance fast enough. I couldn't let it happen! I couldn't... I... NO! My senses faded. I didn't think about it. I didn't need to: I KNEW what I had to do. I sent a burst of energy through my body, launching me to a lightning speed as I tackled Tom, snapping him out of his trap, sending another splinter at us. But I didn't stop, I kept going... all the way off the cliff, me holding Tom in a tight embrace.

I didn't stop when the ground disappeared under my feet. I didn't stop when I felt the wind going by as we fell. I didn't even stop when I faintly felt Matt catch the two of us and set us down. Only when Tom's screaming stopped and his breathing slowed next to me did I finally loosen my grip, and let my senses slowly come back to me. I looked down at the small yellow face looking back at me.

He was still breathing heavily, but not so much I was worried. There was a huge smile on his face. "Mikey..." He whispered. I could only start petting his head. "It's ok, Tom... I'm here..." Sadly, our moment was interrupted from a scream of pain from up the cliff. And to my satisfaction, it was Mitch's scream...

Meg

"There. Not exactly the Mona Lisa, but then again it's not entirely my fault." I gave John a glare. "Are you saying I'm ugly?" 'Nah, just that Pokemon didn't exist when Leonardo was painting." I shook my non-existent head. John had to be the only guy in existence who could tell bad jokes when facing a battle. Then again, I guess I would start panicking if he ever DIDN'T tell bad jokes when the chips were down.

At any rate, the picture he had drawn wasn't very good, but it was good enough for what I had planned. It was simple: get rid of Samantha's splinter, and she'll have nothing to defend herself with. The solution: have her launch it at a decoy. (no, not the move, you poke-fanatics!) There was just one problem: making it convincing.

"Samantha's a walking ego, but she's not a complete idiot (much as I hate to admit it). So, for her to fall for a less-than-impressive drawing, we're going to have to add some accessories." I turned to John. "Before you even try, I don't mean jewelry, make up, or hair designs." "Aw... no fair!"

"So, here's what I have in mind: we're going to plant our decoy at a corner on the end of a house. This way, we have some room to work, and dodge, when she turns to face it. Plus, the shade will make it harder to tell that it's a decoy.

Sarah, I'm going to tie strings to the top of this cut out. I want you to position yourself on top of the house, and your going to hold it up like a puppet master." She raised a non-existant eyebrow. "I don't think I can hold it steady enough..." I smiled. "That's the idea. those subtle motions should make it more convincing."

John raised a hand. "Yeah, except for one thing. Where exactly do you plan on getting said strings?" I gave him a smirk. "Oh, don't worry, I have a plan..." I let my vines loose, reached over to him, and flicked his scarf off. "Hey!" He reached to snatch it back, but I had already pulled it out of his reach.

"Don't worry, I'll make you a new one later." I carefully pulled a loss string to my mouth, clamped down, and started pulling the strings loose. "Wait a minute, what about the naked issue? I recall you nearly tearing up our table for uniforms!" I gave him another smirk. "What was that about you telling me to 'give it a rest?' Consider yourself lucky I'm only taking your scarf. I was planning on using what's left of your pants if they were here right now."

That zipped him up. In all honestly, It DID still bother me, but I'm not an idiot either. I knew this was no time for trivial matters like that. Besides, who's going try and make me stick with my own closed ideas anyway?

"OK, second of all, the twins are going to stand next to the dummy. This should make it seem like we're all there to take a stand, plus you'll be in position for when her armor's gone." The twins answered together: "But what if she aims for us instead?" I finished with the strings, and then set on attaching them to the dummy. "That's number 4. I'll explain when I get there."

"Number 3 is John. I want you to hide around the corner opposite ours. As soon as she launches the splinter, you rush in and slice the straps on her suit." He shook his head. "And how am I supposed to do that?" I sent my other vine over to Mike's discarded travel bag and pulled out his pocket knife. "Ah... Hopefully the straps will be easier to cut than the thicket was."

"And finnaly, I'm going to position myself right next to the dummy, but out of view. This way the dummy can 'use' my voice." Sarah spoke up. "I get the part about making it convincing, but how does it ensure she's going to aim for it?" "Simple..." I was done with the strings, so I turned toward her. "I'm not going to talk to Samantha, I'm going to insult her."

The room gasped as one. No one DARED to challenge Samantha to an insult contest. NO ONE. PERIOD. It's like challenging a pro wrestler to an arm wrestle. It's just suicide. I sighed. 'Look, I'm not going to stand up to her for long, just enough to get her mad at me, so she launches the splinter at the dummy."

The room let out its breath as one. "Ok then, are we all ready?" I asked around. Everyone nodded but John. I gave him a glare. "So help me, John, if it's a joke..." He shook his head. "No, it's about your position. Where exactly are you going to position yourself? Too far from the dummy and she's not going to buy it."

I sighed again. I had not been looking forward to this part. "The only place she won't be able to see me. Right behind the dummy." The room was silent for a moment. "Then why are you even bothering with the dummy at all!" John yelled at me. I answered "To catch the splinter so I have time to jump out of the way..."

Jess

I amaze even myself sometimes. I was just planning on making Greg pause for a moment, and instead I fry him to a crisp. And call me crazy, but I enjoyed the feeling of launching a wall of fire from my tiny beak. Of course, this wasn't enough to take Greg down. The guy must have been training himself somehow or something, but why wasn't I even remotely surprised? Maybe it because it's Greg: always able to take more than logic allows.

Still, my flame has caused some damage, and it showed from the smoke still steaming off his body. "Gr... ok birdy... you wanna play?" He pulled himself back up, and faded into a nearby tree. "You only won last time 'cause you caught me off guard! Try pulling that again, why don't cha?"

"Well, aside from the fact that it's not 2 on 1 this time. It's 1 on 5." I turned toward the rest of our team. We had prepared a battle plan before hand. I was to take the front, being the only one with fighting experience. Adam was our eyes in the sky to keep track on Greg's tree hopping so we would know if he tried to make a break for Samantha or Mitch.

Katy and Mil were going to cover Tim, who was going to be putting together a little trap for Greg. If all went according to plan, All I had to do was keep Greg from noticing our little trap, and soften him up a bit if I could. Keeping Greg occupied: cake walk. Doing it while covering the others: not so much.

Greg is as dumb as a rock, but observant as a professional chess player. Easy to fool, but hard to hide from. Plus, I couldn't just use my fire too much. I couldn't attack Greg when he was in a tree, and I didn't want to start a forest fire. That in mind, I decided to resort to my weapon of choice: insulting his brain out.

"Hey Greg! Maybe we should start calling you Mr. Smiley from that permanent grin of yours!" "You're just tryin' to butter me up!" He called out, while I made a mental note that he was to my left. "No seriously, your face could be the next Wal-Mart logo!" He growled at that. He KNEW I was goading him, but there was a reason his mother had signed him up for an anger management course, and not just because of that poor puppy (long and sad story, I will say no more)

"Not feeling very happy? Ok then, would you mind being my Halloween costume this year? I can go right in you, you're spooky enough, and fat enough to fit me as a human!" "SHA-DUP!" He roared, his voice a bit closer to my back now. It was also cracking, a sign of limit reaching. Onemorepushshoulddoit...

"You know I think? The only reason you don't want to charge me head on is because you, literally, don't have to guts to do it!" He didn't say anything, but I was ready for him when he charged at my back. I'm not sure how I could tell when he was right behind when he didn't make a sound, but I could, and when I did I jumped to the side, turned, and got ready to launch a flame. Only instead, I was fed a purple knuckle sandwich.

The punch itself wasn't that painful, but it was powerful! It knocked me a back a good 4 feet! "Oof!" I grunted as I landed on my back. Whattheheckwasthat?DidGreglearnamovebehindourbacks?I only had a moment to ponder before I saw another fist heading for my face. I quickly rolled out of the way. Or rather, flopped. It's not easy to roll around with feathers.

I didn't have time to pull myself up or try and attack as Greg kept throwing punches at me. All I could do was flop out of the way. Thisisn'tgood!IfIcan'tpullmyselfupsoon,Igoingtowearmyselfout!Then my next flop landed me against a tree. uh-oh...now I was pinned between the tree and Greg! His sinister smile grew larger as he reached back to throw another punch. Thisisgoingtohurt! I though as I braced myself for the hit.

But Greg's didn't get the chance. Adam swooped down between us, and his tail wind threw Greg off balance. "Wha?" Was all he could get out before Tim tossed the snatched splinter at his face. "YA!" The splinter went right through his head, but that HAD to hurt! Greg, holding a hand up to his face, turned and charged after the fallen splinter, probably hopping to use it himself.

But before he could, he fell right into our little trap. Foof! The ground beneath his feet gave away. "WHHAAAA!" Greg only fell about 5 feet, but it was enough. The plan had been to dig a little pit fall for him to fall into. As he had yet to master his ghost abilities, there was no way he would have been able to pull himself out before we finished him. I pulled myself up, ran to the hole, and filled it up with as much fire as I could dish out. When I stopped, I fell over, completely worn out.

"Huff... huff... could someone check if he's down?" I panted out. Adam flew in and looked down. "If by down you mean burnt to an even darker black, yeah, I'd say he's down."

"Whew." I let out a sigh of relief. "You know, you're getting good at this Jess. This is your second battle victory! And you seem to be enjoying yourself while fighting too." I shook my head. "Maybe so, but I still want to be human again like the rest of you..."

John

"Ok... everyone in position?" everyone nodded to Meg's whispered question. I however, didn't bother. None of the others could see me at my position: peeking around the corner, playing with the pocket knife, and lost in thought. Yes, I WAS paying attention, but I had a lot on my mind!

SincewhenhasMeghadadesiretobeaheroortakerisks?Theclosestthingshe'severgottentothiswasthattimethattreealmostsmashedherhouse.Andallsheendangeredthenwasherbathroom!Something'sgoingonherethatI'mmissing...Wait.I stopped playing with the knife. She'snotthinkingaboutTHATisshe?Ifshegetsherselfkilledover...

"Hey Samantha, you look 20 pounds fatter in that tree trunk!" Meg's taunt brought me out of my brooding in a snap. I quickly peeked around my corner. The building I was hiding behind was at an angle to the one the others were set up at, making me unnoticeable as long as Samantha didn't get too close to my building. That said, I was grateful that Samantha was busy turning toward 'Meg.'

"No I don't. It's beyond you're pitiful understanding, but it makes me even more noble and majestic than before! And even if it did, it would only make me more ravashing and distinguished! Not that a Censored like you'd be able to comprehend!" I struggled to hold back a 'fowl play' joke. Funny how easy it is to forget how serious a situation is when it doesn't affect you directly.

I dared another peek. Samantha was glaring down 'Meg', or at least I thought she was, I couldn't see her face from my angle through her armor. Still, it looked like she was falling for it. That was good. "Oh really? Well, I guess that makes sense, you've had to waddle since you got here, so all that weigh must not be from the suit!" SincewhenhasMegbeentrainedintheartoftrashtalk?I'dbetterhaveawordwithJesswhenthisisover...

"Oh... so the fact that I'm an Australian penguin (that paradox AGAIN?) means I'm fat? What about you, you Australian plant doohickey! (wow... either Samantha's limited dictionary is denying her something snide or she's losing her touch. I pray for the latter.) You're looking a little on the round side!" Then it hit me. Meg...you...

"And I guess you would know perfectly well what it means to be round, blubber baby!"

Ohnoshedidn't!

Samatha didn't gasp, growl, or retaliate. She didn't need to. I could FEEL her anger radiating over to me. The twins and Sarah were probably confused. No one else except me and Meg knew that secret.

When Samantha was born, she had a small problem: she weighed a whopping 18 pounds. The knowledge that she had been born so 'imperfect' (in her opinion, I have nothing against the overweight) has haunted her her whole life. How did me and Meg know? We found her baby picture. We silently swore to never, EVER use this knowledge unless it was a truly desperate situation. This situation fit the bill, but it was still extremely low.

I blinked, and the splinter was heading right toward Meg! I didn't even see Samantha throw it! I didn't get the chance to move. No one did. Twish! It tore right though the paper with out losing any speed, and smashed right into Meg. "YEEAHH!" She screamed, and the twins turned to her with looks of horror. I didn't look toward Sarah, but I can only assume her face was the same.

Time seemed to stop. My mind seemed to shut down: I could not compute what had just happened. I just stood there. Staring at where Meg was hit. She had moved out of my sight, but I could see the splinter. It had a bit of green on it. No...

"Take that, weed!" Samantha spat. Then suddenly, something snapped in me. Once again, I could not compute was happening: I was silently charging at Samantha, blade out.

NOOO!Adrenaline was flooding my veins, dimming my senses outside of the distance between me and Samantha and driving my body forward on instinct. No...notMeg! I couldn't think. Was I following the plan, or did I want to tear her apart?

When I got close enough, I noticed a gap running down the back of her suit. With a quick flick of the knife, I sliced through it, causing her armor to fall off like a wooden banana peel. "WHAT!" She screamed, and turned to face me with an evil glare. She only got to do so for a moment before she was zapped, and to my delight turned a rather overcooked shade of brown as she fainted.

"Good riddance!" I said with a huff before dashing over toward Meg. Time had started again, but I still couldn't think. I didn't look at the twins as I passed them and turned to corner. I saw Meg, lying on her side, whimpering in pain with a small puddle of green fluid by her back legs. "Meg..." I whispered. I closed in... and then I noticed it. The green stuff was only coming from her lower body.

I think it took at least an hour for my frozen mind to compute. When it did, it slowly started to work again, and so did my heart. She musthavejumpedasideatthelastmoment,sothesplinteronlycutagashherleg.It wasn't too serious, and with a little bandage work she would be alright. I felt like an elephant had just been removed from my chest.

I wnet around her, took her scarf off, made a makeshift band-aid, and her whimpers began to fade. "Hey Meg." I whispered. She opened her eyes and turned to me. "You did it. She's down. Good job." She didn't say anything back. She didn't need to.

"Yes, good job indeed!" I heard behind me. I froze. Meg did too. Her look of contentment quickly turned to shock...

Dan

As much as I hate to admit it... There was something deeply satisfying about Mitch getting hit in the face with his own splinter trap. Yes, it clearly hurt way more than anything we would ever have been willing to do, and that it did little actual damage to his snake hide, but it was disturbingly satisfying all the same. Maybe being a Pokemon had gotten to me at that point or something, cause I'm not the kind of guy to have a bloodlust.

"HI-YAA!" Rachel on the other hand... I pretty sure she had a desire the beat up Mitch LONG before she charged him after he was 'splintered.' SMACK! SMACK! And she showed some surprising skills at smacking people with her bunny ears. Needless to say, after seeing Mitch get launched about 5 feet back from her last round of slaps, I decided to stay back and let her handle things. "Come on, snakey! Aren't you supposed to be a level above me on the food chain?"

Mitch didn't reply with words, he just launched himself at Rachel again. She didn't miss a beat and jumped up over him, pulling a mid-air spin that gave Mitch two slaps to the face. Wait...what?Hasshebeenlearningkung-fuinsecretorsomething?She landed behind him and struck a triumphant pose. Ormaybeshe'sjustbeenwatchingWAYtoomuchAnime.

I turned from the battle to Sam, who was still holding a pebble, wondering if he should throw it. "You can put that down, Sam. If Rachel needs help, we'll have plenty of time to charge in." He gave a small nod and relaxed a bit, but he still held onto his pebble. "I'm serious, Sam." "Yeah... but I don't know any moves." " I know that. I don't have any yet either, but I'm still confident in charging this creep if we need to."

He shook his head. "But you've been fighting already." I raised a non-existent eyebrow as I heard another wail of pain from Mitch. "No I haven't! Jess is the only one who..." He shook his head again. "You got them to chase you out of the cave and got hurt from it! And you've been using your body so much... all I've ever done is light a fire, and Jess can do that too!"

I smiled despite myself. He really was a little boy despite all he'd been through and done this last week. He thought he was useless to the group! "Sam... you don't have to do anything special to be a team player here." "But-" I put a paw up to silence him.

"Who was it who decided to bombard Mitch with acorns that one time? Who was it that looked after Tom when the others were busy? And even if Jess can do it for you, you DID give us fire on night one, which we desperately needed! You've done plenty for the group so far! And don't forget, you're still only 8, even if your body's as big as mine!"

"As touching as this is, is it really a good idea to give a motivational speech while your friend is busy fighting?" I jumped and turned to see Rachel standing right next to me, tapping her foot. "Done already?" I asked. "Nah, just letting him pull himself up. No honor in striking a downed opponent, right?"

...

I face palmed. That was the main difference between Mike and Rachel: she isn't as skilled at rational thinking. "Uh... Rachel?" "Yes?" "Mitch is a snake... so anytime he's 'down' means he's in position to move."

...

"Oops..." Was all she could get out before a rather ragged looking ekans reared its bruised head up behind her. Before I even realized it, I unleashed a water gun at his face! Woah...thatwassurprisinglyeasytodo...anditfeltprettymuchlikethrowingup,minusthenausea...The water was barely as strong as, say, a garden hose, but it was enough for Rachel to seize the moment and turn and land a nasty upper cut. Mitch went flying. "See what I mean!" Sam said as Rachel charged after Mitch. I turned to Sam again.

"Ok, I'll admit I didn't see that one coming, but does it really bother you that much, Sam?" He looked at me directly in the eyes. Now, don't ask me HOW I was able to see it in those squinty peepers, but I did, and I saw a fiery determination burning quietly within; an unquenchable resolve to prove himself and unleash some dormant potential. It was almost like smoldering coals, not knowing exactly how or why, but yearning desperately to fulfill a purpose of some kind -whether that turned out to be rekindling the flames of a campfire, or sending an entire forest up in flames.

Wait a minute... since when could I make up metaphors like that? Guess it's just THAT intense of a feeling... I might have to write that one down.

"Ok then, tell you what: you can-"What I was going to offer him (to finish Mitch off), he never heard, as I was cut off by a very angry scream of surprise. I turned back toward the battle, and to my horror saw that Rachel had, by some ill-timed stroke of bad luck, been pinned under the tip of Mitch's tail.

"CHEAP SHOT!"

To say the least, she was not taking it very well. Mitch wasn't looking too good either. He somehow had even MORE bruises than when I last saw him. But he still was holding himself up.

"Not so tough when you can't move, are ya?" He gave his rattle a good shake right next to her face, which caused her wince to a bit (her ears were still extra sensitive even if they COULD land one heck of a smack down).

I started to charge forward, but Mitch turned and said, "One more step, fish, and I'll eat her!" I stopped in my tracks. Dang!I'mstilltoofarawaytohaveanypowerbehindmywatergun!I decided to resort to my strongest ability: talking it out. "I doubt that, Mitch. You were always a bad guy, but you would NEVER go so far as too kill someone!" He gave me a smirk.

"Oh really, Dan? You want to know WHY I never went that far? I'm not an idiot. (couldhavefooledme) If I caused anyone any harm, I'd get in trouble. But what about now? See any adults telling us what to do? I don't have anything to fear here, least of all you, goody-boy!"

Wow...neverthoughtI'dhearsomethingsoclichésoundsointimidat-no!thisisnotthetimeforjokesDan!Ok,think!WhatdoIdo?DoIwaitforMikeandMatttogetback?Then I noticed that Mitch was inching backwards, dragging Rachel with him. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be taking my little snack and leaving." No!He'llbeoutofherebythen!Ok...fallbackandgrabarockortwo?No...he'dmakearunforit.ComeonDan,comeupwithsomething!

Then, much to my surprise, a HUGE MISSLE OF FIRE came roaring past me! I'MNOTEVENJOKING! I couldn't turn, I couldn't blink, I just stared as it hit Mitch, picked him up like a leaf on the wind, and cut a hole through about four trees before exploding in a giant fireball that looked like a cross between something out of Biblical times and a small nuke. It left a 20-foot crater, and one SERIOUSLY charred and overcooked snake.

My brain must of shut down for a moment, because it wasn't until the sound of the boom stopped ringing in my non-existent ears before I turned around to see one whipped looking Cyndaquil fall to ground. I turned and charged toward Sam. He was exhausted, but still conscious. "Sam?" "Y...Yeah..." He managed to stammer out. "You have officially forfeited your right to complain. Way to go, little man." He gave me a small smile.

1 Hour Later...

By the time Mike, Tom, and Matt made their way up to us, we were ready to head back home. Rachel was a little bruised, but she was ok. The same could not be said for her pride. "I didn't need the help, you know!" I shook my head in amusement. AfterallthecrazinessI'vebeenthrough,ISTILLthinkit'swierdforateentobejealousofan8yearold.After stopping to pick up a black-burnt snake to take home (or rather letting muscle man Matt handle it) we headed off to rendevouz with the others.

We arrived to find Jess and the others rather comfy sitting around a purple hole in the ground. After we got the weight distributed (Greg was rather light, but we still needed 3 of us to carry him), we set out once again. And boy, did we have some 'hot stuff' to talk about.

"You did WHAT?" Adam roared as we made our way back.

"I think it was Blast Burn." Mike put in.

"Zip it Mike! No one cares! How in the world did an 8 YEAR OLD do a move bigger than Jess's? Come on Sam, prove it!" Adam said.

"Adam! You can't expect him to use such a powerful move again when he's had less than an hour to recover!" I jumped in.

"Exactly! Jess HAS to be the stronger-" Adam said.

"Adam, shut your beak before I put your theory to the test. On you." Due to Jess's threat, Adam was effectively zipped for the rest of the way home.

"Jess?"

"Yeah, Dan?"

"How do you feel about Sam's 5 seconds of fame?" I asked.

"Well, actually I'm kinda relived. I didn't want to be the only one to be able to put up a good fight among us." She said.

"I see..." I said.

"But then again, I can't help but be a little jealous. Especially after the wall of fire I've pulled off myself today." She gave a low chuckle. "I never thought I'd say this, but I may end up viewing Sam as a rival."

Our laughter echoed through the trees around us.

Mike

It was late afternoon when we reached the top of the hill overshadowing our town. Looking down, I could see John, the twins, and Meg waiting for us. "Hey, nice catch guys! We're gonna have one heck of a dinner tonight!"

I could hear the snap of Meg's whip from the top of the hill. When we got down, I noticed that Meg had her back leg wrapped up, yet the four of them had the biggest smiles on their faces. "Where's Sarah?" I asked, playing dumb to the fact that they had something to tell us.

"Oh, she's in her home." John said with a not-so-innocent simile.

"Why?" I asked.

"John, spill it out right now, or I'm fry you." Jess wasn't amused. "Ok, ok... THEY'RE HERE!"

John turned over his should and yelled back at Mike's house. Then the front door opened.

As one, all our jaws droped. Mitch and Greg were dropped to the ground, but none of us notice. All of us were frozen in awe, unable to react. All of us, that is, exacept for little Tom, who just dashed ahead into the waiting arms of the pair of Riachu.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" Tom yelled with glee. As the three of them hugged away, other pokemon began to emerge from all the buildings. As if on an unspoken command, everyone except me, Mitch, and Greg charged to their houses as each ran into the arms of similar looking pokemon. Finally, my shocked brain processed what I was seeing, and one thought ran through my head.

The adults were back.