My style has changed over the months… I apologize greatly for not updating, but during the time I lost interest in Pokemon. It'll take awhile for this to be completed, though it surely will. I'm not abandoning this story!

I'd like to thank It is called Mesataki for reviewing and con-criting.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, only the character names and the essence of them in this story. Plus, the plot.

Once again, Day 2

Edge of Pastoria City, Route 213

4:00 PM

"Where is he? I told him 3 PM. What part of 3 PM does he not understand?" Luna fumed. She was pacing back and forth at the gate of Pastoria, Steiner and Bertha watching her.

"You know, he probably got caught up in some air traffic. The skies are very populated these days," Bertha supplied. Steiner glared at her coldly, which made the Beaver Pokemon wish to retract her statement. But Luna couldn't hear her, so it whether it mattered or not made no difference.

The almost-teen trainer continued her march, now with much vigor. "Which reminds me, why are we here anyway? There's nothing special about Pastoria, 'ceptmaybe that it has a Safari Zone and Wake as the Gym Leader." Steiner chuckled at that part. "Hey, what's so funny?"

The Predator Pokemon was quiet, for a moment. Then he said simply, "Don't you remember when Wake tried to get you and Nicky to partner up and train together?"

Bertha scrunched her eyes simultaneously in deep thought. An imaginary light bulb appeared above her head soon enough. "Aha! Wake felt my skills needed 'tuning' and Nicky was bugging him about being his apprentice, so we were stuck with each other for a day. We were not the greatest partners, you know?"

"Obviously." With that single word uttered, he turned his back from Bertha. She soon responded to his action with silence. And waiting. For a certain blonde trainer.

Seconds became minutes. Minutes became an entire hour. From Bertha's perspective, Luna was on the verge of pulling her hair out. She had an agitated look in her eye, coupled with some unclear murmurs that appeared to sound like, "Before I turn thirteen, before I turn thirteen…"

Why was that goal so important to her? From what I remember, there was no bet between Luna and Nicky about being the first thirteen-year-old Champion. I don't want her to hurt herself, but I'll try my hardest for her so she won't have to! Bertha looked up unconsciously, and saw Nicky trekking across the sand, Theo in tow.

"I'm so sorry, Luna! I swear it wasn't my fault! I had to help several Pokemon trainers with their Pokemon, you see. There was an accident, so I helped bandage them up!" Nicky chirped in an attempt to calm his friend's frazzled nerves. It clearly didn't work.

"Didn't I tell you 3 PM on the dot? Didn't I?" She saw him nod his head and then continued, "I also said to fly on Theo. That's why I gave him to you! From this distance, I saw you were walking, possibly the entire trip, correct?" Another nod, with more fervency.

"I'm really, really sorry! Please forgive me, Luna!" Her friend was on his hands and knees, trying to get greenish haired girl to accept his apology. She crossed her arms and turned away. "C'mon, I couldn't take another round of thinking happy while flying! You have to understand. Please!"

It took only a minute until she faced Nicky, grabbed him by his collar, and made her way towards the beach, dragging the boy. "I'll forgive you this time, but only because I have no time to waste! Let's get going guys!" Choking sounds were emitting from the blonde's mouth, while imaginary puffs of smoke could be seen from Luna's head.

"Well, what do you think about this new development?" Theo looked at his fellow 'partners-in-crime' with his usual positive air.

Even after traveling miles from a city to the next without the safety of a Pokeball, he's still himself, happy and cheerfully pleasant. "I have no idea what Luna has in store for us, is all I'll say," Bertha let out.

"We have no other choice, and therefore I have no opinion," This was Steiner's way of saying he wasn't going to bother with anyone for the rest of the day.

"Hey! If I remembered correctly, I didn't raise Slowpokes! Now get going!" Their trainer's arduous yell rang through the three's ears. They made a swift depart of Route 213 and onto the path into the unknown.

Lake Valor; the outer rim

"I'm confused… Why are we here, of all places?" Nicky looked at his best friend with a questioning stare. But she paid him no heed and continued eyeingthe sparkling clear water with a satisfied smirk on her face. Impatient and tired, he ran to Luna and began to shake her. "Hello? Earth to Luna! We're still in Sinnoh, you know. Not in space!"

She brushed him off without thought. But he heard her mutter, inconspicuously, something along the lines of, "…He'll be here any minute…"

"Who, Luna? Who?" Nicky sounded more panicked than questioning. "You didn't tell me about there were others who were going to help Bertha!"

"Relax…it's an old friend, so we won't have any difficulties." A satisfied smirk graced her lips, "At last, he's here. Took you long enough, Sir!"

A man that seemed to be in his early 30s appeared from the lake's entrance at Route 214. He wore a mask over his bald head and was shirtless, wearing spandex blue pants, with a matchingbrown belt and boots. "Luna! Nicky! You both be better living life to the fullest, from what I hear." He reaches the female trainer, patting her on the head. "You've challenged the Elite Four! That's already an accomplishment!" And next her turns to the blonde male. "Nicholas! Keeping up with all your training, right?"

Nicky's eyes sparkled. "Yes, Master Wake!"

Crasher Wake laughs uncomfortably. "Nicholas, I told you, I am not your Master!"

Amid the reunion, Steiner murmured under his breath, "Wake better not be a Deus ex machina in disguise. That will shorten the story significantly…" [1]

"Huh? What are you blabbering about, Stein? Bird gossip, maybe," Theo flapped his wings in the Predator Pokemon's face. Steiner just gave him the death glare, at which the Jubilee Pokemon backed away slowly.

Bertha looked at the two. Didn't this happen just awhile ago?

At last, Wake finally approached the trio of Pokemon. "Bertha the Bibarel! I remember you! Last time we met, you were put under the tutelage of Nicholas here. But now, you're with me!"

"Deus ex machina, indeed," was heard from Steiner. Bertha elbowed him in his ribcage.

The Gym Leader continued, "The champion-to-be called me over to help, because of my previous work with you. From what Luna says, you don't have much time to train. A pity because the view from the mountains in amazing…" He trails off and eyed the patch of sky eastward. "…But we'll have to make do with what time we have left! Now, first, we'll play a game. Luna, Nicholas, and I will put our strongest Pokemon out in front of you."

Nicky quickly grabs a Pokeball from his bag, "Here you go, Master!", and offers it to the bald man.

Trying his hardest to ignore the 'Master' mantra from the boy, he took the Pokeball and sets it down in front of the Beaver Pokemon. Wake then placed his own in front of her.

But unlike the two, who finished their part of the job in a matter of seconds, Luna was hesitant. She had to debate over Steiner, who had the highest Strength and Paris, who had the highest Special Attack. It needed to be someone who would improve Bertha's battle style. "Steiner, return." And thus, she handed her choice over.

Bertha blinked. Wake's and Nicky's Pokemon didn't phase her, yet, because she had no idea who they were, though she had some guesses. But Stein…he could easily destroy her with one Close Combat or Brave Bird. She was doomed already and the game didn't even really start!

Gulping, she waited for Wake to say what would happen next. "Now that we have all three Pokemon, I'll just shuffle them!" The order before his shuffling was Nicky's, Wake's, and then Luna's. But after a minute, no one could tell who was who's.

"Bertha the Bibarel, take your pick!"

All eyes were on her now. Damn, why is it that when I'm the center of attention, something bad happens next? She couldn't take the suspense any longer and closed her eyes. She poked her claw in one direction. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was the one of the left.

Wake picked up the Pokeball and tossed it into the air. A large shadow with wings blocked the sun, crowingloudly. "And it seems that the winner is Luna's Steiner the Staraptor! Congratulations!"

Bertha just blanched. I had a feeling this was going to happen…and it did. Facing the bird, she smiled at him weakly. "Well, what do you think will happen next?"

Surprisingly, he smiled back, "We'll just have to wait and see."

This is no good…when that bird's in a happy mood, he's plotting my takedown!

Wake broke the staring contest with a jubilant hoot. "Friends fighting friends, huh? This'll be interesting!" He then faced Luna and Nicky. "Here's my training technique for the day. Since Steiner is yours, Luna, you'll be battling me and Bertha in an all-out fight right here in Lake Valor! With this, I'll access Bertha's needs, etc. No matter the outcome, of course."

Bertha was just nauseous now. My needs will be help at the nearest Pokemon Center after this match!

Then Nicky began to jump up high in air, his hand raised, "Ooh, ooh, ooh, what about me, Master?"

"Nicholas, if you can stop calling me Master for the duration of the day, you can be referee!"

"Yes! Thank you," he carefully paused, being unused to the name, "Crasher Wake!"

Luna raised her hand next, "Wake, when you said right here in Lake Valor, I'm assuming you came prepared? Because the river bank is too small for a battle."

"Never fear, champion-in-training! Crasher Wake always has backup!" Soon enough, helicopter-like noises were heard from the trees. Three rectangular platforms, powered by fans, floated in the air and landed right in front of them.

Huh? Is this the type of Deus ex machina that Steiner was talking about? Nah, it's probably one of Wake's crazy ideas.

"We're fighting in the water!" All three of them jumped on the platforms, which immediately hovered over the water to the desired positions: Nicky closer to the island cave, Luna to the entrance, and Wake to the back. Bertha swam to Wake, while Steiner flew over to Luna.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. The match can be won in two ways: land three hits on your opponent, or when one of you is unable to battle." He faced the blonde boy, "Nicholas, it's your turn!"

"Really? Oh, right!" Nicky coughed to clear his throat, "May the battle commence!"

Bertha didn't have time to think up something clever to say. Wake didn't even have the time to call out a move. Because both of them stared when they saw Steiner launching himself swiflty through the waters at the Beaver Pokemon, his beak aimed directly at her.

A/N: Cliffhanger!

Hehe…that shuffling game Wake did? I played it too, to see who would be picked. Instead of Pokeballs, however, I used paper cups. I did have a Pokemon in mind, and guess what? I was right!

Notes:

1) Deus ex machina: Basically, at the most suspenseful time in a story, or the most problematic one, a character that is irrelevant to the plot shows up to save the day. Also, this is fourth wall humour, if you get my drift.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you find any grammatical errors or OOC-ness, please tell me. Thank you for reading.

Words: 2201

~Unknown Souldreamer