"OOOOKAAAAY! LET'S KEEP IT UP!" Pokéstalker was still screaming away into his microphone, "NEXT UP, WE HAVE…. LEAF… AAAAND… IKE! COME ON DOWN!"

"Alright!" Leaf clasped her Blastoise's Pokéball confidently and quickly hurried over to the entrance to the battlefield. Once there, she waited eagerly for a glimpse of her opponent.

A few seconds later, a green haired boy of around twelve stood before her, ready for battle.

"Whaaat?" Leaf was incredulous, "You're not a hot swordsman!"

"Uh… what d'ya mean?" the kid was clearly confused.

"CHOOSE YOUR POKÉMON ALREADY!" Pokéstalker shrieked, "WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

"Yeah, yeah! Just take it easy with the microphone already!" Leaf covered her ears.

"Go Charmeleon!" Ike cried.

'This will be easy for Vegeta,' Leaf thought to herself as she clutched his Pokéball and prepared to toss it, "Go Vege-!"

But before she could finish that sentence or toss the Pokéball, one of the Pokéballs in her bag suddenly snapped open, revealing her Chatot, Blathers!

Blathers flew about dramatically before landing upon the ground in a heroic pose, "Kept ya waiting, huh?" he asked in a low and gravelly voice.

"Blathers!" Leaf exclaimed, "What are you doing? Get back in the Pokéball!"

Up in the crowd, Rylte snickered, 'He forgot his cardboard box!'

Knuckles gaped. First, he gets passed over by Vegeta, and now this! What the heck?

"Leaf pick Blathers?" Toby looked surprised, "Why?"

"I don't think she intended to…" Riley looked sympathetic, "But I don't think she can take it back now…"

"She's a goner," Willow said bluntly.

"What is this?" Blathers looked around frantically, "Where are all my fangirls?"

"Oh, please! Only in your wildest dreams, Blathers!" Leaf snapped, "Now get back in your Pokéball!"

"AND LEAF CHOOSES CHATOT! WHAT A WONDERFUL CHOICE!" Pokéstalker screamed.

"No! NO!" Leaf cried frantically and kept trying to recall Blathers, "I take it back! I take it back!"

Blathers laughed manically and dodged every light beam his Pokéball cast at him, "Muahahaha! My power is far too vast to be contained by a mere Pokéball!"

"Sorry~!" the Pokéstalker sang, "No take backsies!"

"But you didn't call it!" Leaf protested.

"Uh…" Ike looked confused. Was this battle ever going to happen? "Well… uh… Okay, Charmeleon… Why don't you use Flamethrower now?"

"FOOL!" Blathers screamed, "Have you no Saiyan pride? How dare you attack a bird while his back is turned!"

Leaf groaned, "Fine! If I'm going to choose you, Blathers, then you'd better be prepared to fight! Use Featherdance and give it everything you've got!"

"One featherless Chatot coming up!" Blathers sang out. He beat his wings fiercely and Charmeleon became covered in a small mountain of feathers.

"Shake it off, buddy! Use your Flamethrower again!" Ike called out. When Charmeleon unleashed his attack, many of the feathers covering him burned away, but Blathers easily dodged the attack.

"You're too slow! You're too slow! You're tooooo slooow!" Blathers began to moonwalk in place and wink at Charmeleon.

"Quit pushing your luck and use Uproar!" Leaf ordered.

"LOOK AT ME! I'M THE POKESTALKER, AND I HAVE A FANCY, NEW MICROPHONE!" Blathers shrieked.

"Hey!" Pokéstalker cried out indignantly.

"Hang in there, Charmeleon and use Slash!" Ike cried. Charmeleon ran up to Blathers and sliced him with his claws.

"You slashed my experience points in half! And it's been my lifelong dream to become a level one hundred Pokémon! You cruel monster! You've crushed my American dream!" Blathers sobbed.

"Oh, quit your crying!" Leaf frowned, "That's not even true! Just get your head back into the battle and use your Fly attack!"

"As you desire, master," Blathers replied grandly and flew up into the sky.

"Watch out, Charmeleon!" Ike cried.

But when Blathers came soaring back down, the blow was too much for the flaming chameleon, and he fainted.

"Flawless victory!" Blathers declared and proudly rested his tiny foot upon Charmeleon's tail as if he had just conquered a ferocious beast.

"What? It wasn't flawless… You got hit by Charmeleon's Slash attack…" Ike pointed out.

"Let him dream…" Leaf shrugged.

"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS! LEAF WINS! NOW! ONTO THE NEXT BATTLE!"

"Good job, Leaf," Riley said with a smile once Leaf returned.

"Just face it, Riley: I'm doomed…" Leaf moaned and leaned against the banister, burying her face in her hands, "I was just lucky that time…"

"Don't worry about it. You'll do fine with Blathers, I'm sure of it," Riley nodded and patted her arm.

Meanwhile, Rylte was sipping casually on a soda, and Blathers stared at him in awe.

"Hmm… Interesting… This Riolu has the ability Pickup!" Blathers declared in a voice sounding eerily similar to Professor Oak.

"Whoa! He does?" Jean looked at Willow with surprise.

"No!" Willow scowled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Guildmaster!" Blathers bowed impressively before Rylte.

'…Guildmaster!' Rylte's eyes widened in understanding, 'Oh! Em! Gee! The prophecy has come true! The unicorns will live peacefully among the leprechauns!'

And the two Pokémon then proceeded to dance and cheer appropriately. Knuckles looked on in disbelief.

The battle taking place ended and the Pokéstalker announced the next trainers

"NEEEEXT UP!… RILEY AND JERN!"

"It's Jean!" Jean cried out angrily as he made his way into the arena.

"But Jean's a girl's name…" Muttered Pokéstalker.

Jean ignored him and narrowed his eyes on Riley "Well, I get to beat Willow's mentor, what a great day for me…"

Riley smiled at the blond haired boy as he removed Rukario's Pokéball from his belt. "I can assure you, I'm stronger than I look."

"Yeah? Well, let's see ya beat my strongest Pokémon." Jean spun his Pokéball on his finger before clumsily dropping it. He quickly bent down to pick it up. "Err… I meant to do that…"

In the stands Willow facepalmed.

"BEGINNNNNNN!" Pokéstalker Screamed.

"GO! MUDKIPZ!" Jean screamed as he violently flung his Pokéball into the arena. Instead of the small blue figure of a Mudkip appearing, it was a very large and muscular figure of its evolved form.

"SWAMPERT!" It roared and crouched down.

Riley frowned realizing he was at a disadvantage and released his Lucario.

On appearing the Lucario stared down the Swampert, before smirking.

"So… Willow who do you think will win here? Jean has the type advantage." Leaf asked.

"Riley will win." Willow stated like it was obvious.

Leaf was taken aback. "How can you be so sure?"

"Jean's far too reckless with his attacks. He doesn't think; he just tries to overpower everything. His Swampert is strong but… that's about it."

Mallori groaned. "It's true, I beat him with my Skitty once."

Jean chuckled "I've got this in the bag! Mudkipz, give him a MUDSHOT!"

Mudkipz mimicked his master's enthusiasm and released a torrent of mud from its mouth directly at Rukario.

"Dodge, and Aura Sphere." Riley calmly ordered.

The Swampert was unable to dodge the attack and took it directly. The Mudfish Pokémon barely flinched.

"Don't just sit and take that!" Jean roared. "Keep shooting! Hydro Pump!"

Leaf frowned. "You know… he kinda reminds me of some guy I met in Sinnoh."

Mallori raised an eyebrow "Who, Jean? Trust me, he's one of a kind."

Leaf returned her attention back to the battle and smiled. "So is Riley."

Jean was red with anger. Riley's Lucario kept dodging his attacks. 'What would Willow do if he was here…?' Jean slipped into a daydream where Willow was strangling him for accidentally hitting him with a stray Hydro Pump.

Jean clicked his fingers. "That's it! Willow you're a genius!"

In the stands Willow raised an eyebrow.

"Mudkipz! Get up close! Try and grab him!" Jean commanded.

Riley looked confused at such a change in tactics. "Rukario! Get ready!"

The Swampert stomped across the field its arms stretched wide to grab the Lucario. As it brought its hands down Riley reacted.

"Rukario! Close Combat!"

Jean facepalmed. "Oh crud…"

With no protection from its arms, the Swampert was struck repeatedly in its vulnerable chest area and was knocked to the ground.

"Come on Mudkipz! One last push! We can win!"

Despite the harsh beating the Swampert had taken it dragged itself to its feet and snarled. A blue aura formed around its body.

Jean cackled. "Aww sweet! Its Torrent, water attacks get stronger! Mudkipz! HYDROOOO CANNON!"

Riley seemed shocked that his opponent knew such a powerful move and sighed. "Rukario, Detect."

Jean registered the command in his head. "NO! Mudkipz stop!"

It was too late; the Swampert had already released its most powerful attack. A spark flashed in front of Rukario, and he vanished just before the attack hit and reappeared a small distance away from the attack's radius.

Jean's Swampert ended its attack, its blue aura faded and it panted heavily. Rukario calmly strode across the field and slugged the Swampert in the face without any orders. The Swampert swayed slightly before collapsing unconscious. Jean's eye twitched in frustration, it looked like he was about to start screaming. But he paused and took a deep breath, calming himself. He looked up at Riley and grinned.

"You really are tough! I can see why Willow got so good training under you."

Riley gave Jean a respectful nod and returned Rukario before walking back down his exit of the arena. As he walked down he saw a flicker of blue in the shadows. Riley closed his eyes and scanned for a life sign.

There was nothing.

Riley opened his eyes and frowned. He was sure he had seen something. After a few moments Riley let out a sigh and continued to walk back to the stands.