Jory

Gizmo sighed. Well, at least they didn't say we outright suck at our jobs, he thought to himself, trying to find the silver lining. He shrugged, deciding it wasn't worth worrying over. "I'll want to stop by my home first thing. I think I have a few little toys that may help us along the way," he said giddily to no one in particular, glad for the chance to show off his inventions. Even if his grandfather was critical of his magic, it would be hard to argue with the raw utility of Gizmo's designs.

Haven't had the surgery yet, but sitting in a typing position for more than 5 minutes is only a little bit excruciating.

Recently I dislocated my shoulder pretty badly. Like "needs surgery" badly. I started physical therapy last week but I can't really sit around and type since it's pretty painful. That's why I've kinda dropped off the face of the earth and stopped going on my PC altogether. But recently I discovered this new game called Outside and it's awesome. The graphics are amazing and the companions you can acquire are super interesting and fun to be around.

Bark laughed inwardly, keeping a poker face. Unlike Vixen, he had no need to use a chair to achieve his goal of intimidating others. He hefted his shotgun onto his shoulder, looking menacingly at the interloper. "Cat got your tongue? Answer her or you won't have it for long."

Gizmo blinked several times, not quite believing what he was hearing. Still, a small voice in the back of his head angrily whispered that he had only been selected because of his grandfather. He did his best to shake the feeling and pay attention to what the General had to say. However, he found himself constantly wondering whether that had been the case or not. Suddenly, he heard the mention of the Elven Emperor, Zane. A package? To the Fae? he wondered. Throughout all of his childhood, he could remember little of what his family had to say about the Fae. The public, however, was not so quiet. The general consensus seemed to be one of mistrust. The tinkerer, however, did not tend to agree with that assessment. His father had always taught him that when fixing a pocketwatch, it's important to have respect for the original artisan's design. And as far as magic went, the Elves were the most experienced users in the world. The Time apprentice found it rather foolish for the Mortals to be so dismissive of the Elves' knowledge of the arcane. "It'll be great to get out of the city. Plus, I have some new inventions I want to try out," he said with a light grin.

Gizmo greeted his grandfather enthusiastically, glad for the stark contrast his avuncular grandparent presented to his sometimes-too-serious dad. As they made their way into the palace, Gizmo was forced to wonder: What exactly did his granddad want with him? It's not as though we're particularly close. His questions, however, only increased in number as they reached the antechamber. Some man named Leon of the Steel Guild decided to come introduce himself to the General. 'Gizmy' sighed. I guess it's too much to ask for a moment alone. He reached into his toolbelt and pulled out a small contraption he'd been working on lately. He pulled a tool off his belt. It was a golden cylinder slightly wider than the gnome's hand. As he took it out he flicked a switch, causing the top to split open and a wrench to come out of it before closing around the newly emerged tool. He then pulled his goggles down onto his face, raising a hand to his face with his fingers in an "o" and adjusting a lens by turning it slightly. His preparations complete, he began to tinker, periodically pulling a spare part or other small tool from his belt to assist himself.

What? Anyway, @ExLink You were absolutely right. I forgot your Frogadier had Protean. You can post as though the Headbutt attack had no effect.

((No worries. King of the late replies over here.)) {Jacob} Jacob began knocking grunts aside, setting his pace even with the rest of the people in his group. The next grunt in front of him sent out an Elgyem and a Magneton, which were easily dispatched with another similar joint effort from the three of his Pokemon. It seemed as though most super-effective attacks were able to easily knock out the enemies' Pokemon. This is weird, he thought to himself. These Pokemon are using moves that are as powerful as their levels, but their defenses are weaker. It's almost as if they didn't get their experience from battling, he contemplated. {Mareek} The Marowak's vicious assault easily took down the Klang. However, Erce's attack proved to be less effective. The Metang recoiled from the X-Scissor but shook it off, rushing back in with Metal Claw and beginning to attack the clones with reckless abandon, not seeming to realize what they were. Another costumed creep filled in and sent out a Porygon and an Elgyem against Nemo. The Porygon fired a tri-colored beam while the Elgyem used a Psybeam attack. {Robert} Kiai's attack struck home and the Klang was sent flying into the wall, where it stayed stuck. The other one, however, didn't seem overly bothered by the Elekid's attack. In fact, it seemed more pissed off than anything else. It fired a Charge Beam attack directly at the small Electric-type, beginning to glow brightly. Another creep approached with a Metang, launching a Zen Headbutt attack against the Lucario. {Tyron} The teacher noticed the student next to him struggling against his opponent's Klang and reached into his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone and ripped the Cell Battery out of the back, tossing it to the rookie Trainer. "Use this to put your Elekid at the same level as these enemies' Pokemon. After all, he hasn't had the same training as your Lucario!" He then resumed battling against the unknown attackers. Finally, some action! he thought to himself. Although Professor Cadmus wouldn't approve of me saying that in front of the students. {Slade} The Magneton managed to hang on even after the Dig attack thanks to its Sturdy ability. However, once it hit the Klink it was knocked out by the collision. The small gear Pokemon was knocked off course, momentarily stunned. The Elgyem, however, took almost no damage from the Lick. It retaliated with a Headbutt attack to the frog Pokemon's solar plexus, causing it to be temporarily stunned and unable to move. Another creep came in, although luckily for Slade he only had a Magnemite. Unluckily for Slade, that Magnemite began using Lock-On! If he didn't act quickly, it would probably use some kind of super powerful Electric type attack on Sasuke! {James} Shade's Will-o-Wisp attack was successful. However, he left himself open to a Gear Grind from the Klang, taking moderate damage. Liona's Incinerate attack had more than just the intended effect of making Magnemite faint- it also managed to knock out the Klink that had been attacking. Another guy in that weird armor came up with a pair of Balls and threw them, releasing a pair of Elgyems that fired dual Psybeams at Liona. {Bart} On his way past Kage toward another creep, the upperclassman wordlessly tossed a pair of Hyper Potions at Kage. It was clear that he was meant to get his Pokemon in fighting condition while Lucas took care of the Elgyem. {Kage} The Elgyem took damage from the Draining Kiss, but wasn't KO'd. In a panic it forgot to use Shadow Ball and instead used Shock Wave, not following its Trainer's orders. {Claude} Claude was, in fact, wrong in his diagnosis and his Escavalier was not actually paralyzed. However, he had taken a bit of damage. How silly would that be, after all, to get paralyzed at the beginning of a sort of wave survival! Right? RIGHT? RIGHT?!?!? Both Elgyems were cleanly KO'd by the Twin Needle attack. Another creep approached, but began fumbling with his Poke Balls. Something seemed to be wrong with the clip. When he tried jiggling the belt, he accidentally undid the front clasp, causing his pants to fall down! He blushed profusely and quickly picked up his pants, mumbling something about it being cold out before awkwardly shuffling away. The guy with the Porygon smacked his forehead. Why me, Arceus? Why me? he thought. He then ordered his Porygon to use another Thunderbolt attack, hoping to at least whittle the behemoth Bug's health for the wave of creeps behind him.

Gizmo nearly rocketed out of bed as his father entered the small attic. Despite being small even by gnomish standards, it was his attic. The walls were nearly completely lined with a workbench that was strewn with side projects and idle tinkerings. One of Gizmo's favorite things about his father was how good a teacher the man could be when he wasn't busy fussing over his cuckoo clock collection. From an early age he had watched his father working with the tiny tools and parts, and by the time he was eight he was taking apart pocketwatches to learn how they worked. Among the many things he learned from his father was that punctuality was key in growing up in a clockmaker's home. The absence of said punctuality was usually filled with the sharp thwack of a switch across bare knuckles. Truth be told the gnome had never minded it, and by this point it felt natural to wake and sleep as the cuckoos crowed. So when his father walked in to wake him, the young man was out of bed and getting dressed for the day faster than you could say "Fart knuckle salad peaches on the roof of the student hallway emporium." I'm not entirely sure why you'd say that, but there it is anyway. By the time you'd finished reading that seemingly tangential example, Gizmo was already washed up and running down the stairs. His platinum hair was gelled skyward and he wore a pair of purple-lensed welding goggles on his forehead. His smushed, swinish nose wrinkled happily at the smell of tea on in the kitchen. Unfortunately, there'd be no time for tea this morning. All his father should have seen as he motored toward the door was the mud-brown flash of his coveralls and workboots. "See ye later, Da," he said quickly as he exited his childhood home.

{Alvin, Lana, & Tyron} The bulk of the grunts continued charging forward. However, upon reaching the horseshoe they found that they could only fit in about three Pokemon to every one of the Ymora Academy team's! "Shit..." one of them muttered. "Our advantage is being compromised!" However, the majority of the group was battle-hungry, and after seeing the relatively small group there was no stopping the onrush. Two grunts engaged Alvin. One controlled a Klang and a Magnemite, while the other possessed only a Magneton. The Bug-type expert sneered as he quickly threw two Net Balls into the hallway. They burst open, revealing his Heracross and a Shedinja. "Hera, do all the work. Espiritu, disappear!" Hera obliged and rushed her opponents, launching a vicious Arm Thrust attack that was difficult to avoid in the relatively narrow hallway. It connected with the Magneton, doing substantial damage and driving the others back before they could launch an attack. "Now, Phantom Force!" The Shedinja appeared behind the Magneton, finishing it off. However, the moment it was defeated, another creep with an Elgyem took his place. The newly revitalized creep squad then prepared to launch another attack! Lana found herself having an easy time, barely breaking a sweat as Rhy one-shotted most of his opponents with a hearty Bulldoze attack. However, at the rate the grunts were replacing themselves it seemed as though Rhy might tire out before help arrived. Tyron laughed to himself as he controlled half the surface area of the tunnel, his Aggron shrugging off attacks from the creeps' laughably weak attacks and using his claws and tail to sweep opponents out of his way. Although the students were battling seriously, if one or two of them were defeated it was likely Tyron would still be able to hold the tunnel. Any more than that and he would conceivably be overwhelmed. {Jacob, Kage, Bart & 'Ms. Bad Bitch'} "Bart, I'm so glad to see you here. I'm surprised those lame-ass goons didn't jump you," the young woman said sarcastically. Bart glared at her, drawing a surprising silence from his sister. "Really not the time, Marie," he said dryly. Upon arriving, the four Trainers found themselves at the back of the creep group. Most of them had their attention faced forward. However, as they grew closer more grunts noticed them and began to attack. Bart and his sister looked to each other, beginning to devise a plan. "Jacob, Kage, and I will take the right side, while you and your little boy-toy there-" "Take the left side~" Marie finished in a singsong. Her Serperior snapped in front of her like a whip as several Pokemon approached, her tail glowing blue as she slammed them all backward into the crowd. "Looks like there's about forty of these poorly-dressed assholes." She gave their armor a judging gaze. "Tacky," she decided. "You're all tacky and I hate you." With that, her Serperior began laying into the crowd, making short work of the grunts she came across. Bart sighed. "Yeah, sure." He turned to the younger students. "Look, there's about forty, like Marie said. We can each take down ten or eleven before our Pokemon start to wear out, which leaves you each with a half dozen." His Infernape caught an incoming Magnet Bomb that was headed for Bart before throwing it back into the crowd, knocking the Grunt that had ordered the attack on the ground. With that said and done, Bart turned his attention to the crowd. "But you each probably have six-" Jacob began before realizing neither of the upperclassmen was paying attention anymore. He sighed, shook his head, and turned to Spitfyre. He pressed the button on Teo and Arete's balls, preparing them to head into the fray. He decided to completely ignore Kage and smiled with a shit-eating grin. "Alright chums, time's up, let's do this." He took a deep breath as Spitfyre faceclawed. "LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.... MMMMMMMMMMJEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" The first grunt Jacob encountered had with him a Metang and two Klinks. Using a double Incinerate from Spitfyre and Arete as well as a Sand Tomb attack from Teo, he was able to begin making his way into the crowd. A grunt charged Kage with an Elgyem, which, to Kage's surprise, launched a Shadow Ball attack at Lucas. A second grunt charged Mareek with a Metang and a Klang. The Metang rushed Erce, using Metal Claw to engage at close range while the Klang attempted to use Gear Grind against Nemo. {James} The grunt that approached James had three Pokemon: a Klang, a Magnemite, and a Klink. The Klang and Klink both attempted to use Gear Grind on Shade, while the Magnemite fired a Shock Wave at Liona. {Robert} Since Robert was so close to Tyron, only two Pokemon at a time were able to approach him. However, the first pair of grunts came on strong with a pair of Klangs. One used Wild Charge and the other used Gear Grind as they charged for Kiai. {Slade} Two grunts approached Slade with a Klang, Magneton, and Elgyem. While the Klang moved forward with a Gear Grind attack, the Magneton fired a Flash Cannon at Xemnas while the Elgyem prepared a Confusion attack to hit Sasuke. {Claude} Unfortunately for Lancelot, he was pretty badly outnumbered. Luckily, one very silly creep had decided it would be a good idea to use two Elgyems against an Escavalier. However, his partner was not so "gifted" and attacked full-force with a Thunderbolt attack from his Porygon.

I'll be going in quite the opposite direction. Also, I'm calling Sceptile right now.

First. All kidding aside, I'm definitely into this.

Character name: Gizmo Horom Character Age: 19 years old Character Species: Gnome Combat Style: Gizmo uses a combination of clockwork weaponry such as grenades, pistols, turrets, rifles, and other gadgets to gain the advantage over his enemies. As a Horom progeny, he will learn to weave Time magic into his clockwork devices to create area-of-effect time alteration rather than being able to use it himself. His small size allows him to be quite nimble despite having to carry around his Engineer's kit. Character Background: Gizmo comes from a line of Gnomish watchmakers and Time mages. In addition to making some of the finest timepieces in Mithra, he like his father and grandfather is capable of weaving Time magic into his creations, but is unable to imbue his own body with this power. He works in his father's shop fixing and designing timepieces when he is not at the Time Guild. Character Personality: Gizmo rarely pays attention to what's going on around him unless it's relevant to him or his friends. Despite having a somewhat abrasive manner, he genuinely enjoys the company of others and would never say no to showing off his creations. With a high IQ even for a gnome, Gizmo often finds himself lost in his own thoughts and over-analyzing situations. Character Appearance: Standing only two feet tall, Gizmo is quite short. He has platinum Jimmy Neutron-esque hair and always wears a pair of flight goggles. He is most often seen wearing overalls and strapped down with utility belts for his constant tinkering. His eyes are a startling blue and shine with intelligence. His eyes have a tendency to dart around, looking for something else to add to his inventions. He has a flat nose characteristic of the Horom line and a rather large forehead. Character Theme: He's the tinkerer who can understand and fix everything except other people (fae or mortal).

yes.

Quite unrelated to the RP, but I never even realized you were Miku before literally 3 seconds ago xD Quick edit: also super honored by that statement

If Dobby's in, I'm in.

Double post again Alrighty guys, this is where it gets fun. People in Waiting Room B, you get to pick a slot in the horseshoe. Lana will go left of Claude wherever he ends up. There should be 3 of you on one side of Tyron and 3 on the other. You'll each fight 4 grunts. People converging from the exterior, you can just jump in wherever. Each of you will fight 5 grunts. Expect a lot of your attacks to hit. This is going to be back-and-forth between me and each of you fighting, so bear with the potentially-slow pacing. Grunts will have a random selection of 2 of these Pokemon each: Klink Klang Magnemite Magneton Voltorb Electrode Porygon Elgyem Aron Lairon Mawile Beldum Metang Eelektrik Stunfisk

((Report to the OOC for battling instructions after reading)) {Waiting Room B & Tunnel} Kristen balked at the possibility of having to fight those creeps. Every time she tried to think about it, all she could recall was how badly she'd lost her cool during the first round of the Winter Cup. The usually fiery redhead sat despondent on a bench, shaking her head. "I-I'm sorry, guys... But I can't... I just can't, okay?" she said resignedly. Tears began to stream down her face as she cried silently, cradling her Vullaby. Maybe I'm not cut out for this... she thought to herself, suddenly feeling very alone. Lana stood up, brushing her hair back from her face. "I-if you all really need me, I'll go. I can't say no if my friends need my help," she said softly, radiating a quiet determination as she walked into the tunnel. Alvin sneered, pushing his glasses up his nose. "There's no way I'd back down from this. If this school goes up in flames, so does my career as a Bug Maniac!" ================================ Tyron looked the group over, nodding in approval. "Those of you who've come, I applaud you and thank you for your bravery. This isn't going to be easy, so I have a very long-winded and extremely inspirational speech that I've prepa-" he said, suddenly cut off by the sound of a mob of creeps marching down tunnel. Tyron shook his head. "Okay, no time for the speech! We're about to be under attack, so I'd suggest getting in a horseshoe with me in the center. We're going to hold this hallway so they can only come at us a few at a time. Hurry, get in position!" he urged. Alvin took up a position all the way on the right side of the horseshoe, while Lana quietly slid over near Claude, who looked very frightened. "We'll be okay," she promised gently. "We have Tyron here, but we need you to give it your all. Okay?" she asked with a shy smile. {Arena- Jacob, Kage, & Bart} Kage's strategy paid off. The fainted Pokemon were beamed back into their balls by the creeps, who were fuming in frustration. "Even though it wasn't our mission to win, I can't stand that these brats beat us! They're just so powerful," one complained. He seemed to consider his options before turning tail and running away screaming, "Retreat!" The other grunts followed suit, clambering up the walls of the Arena and out through the seating area. Hopefully the defeated members of that organization wouldn't be too troublesome for the fans. As they fled, Bart laughed and shook his head. "They're powerful in numbers, but against strong Trainers who work together they can't do anything." He looked to the other two, cocking his head. "That being said, we should find more people before we get overwhelmed. My sister should be around here somewhere..." he said, trailing off into a mutter at the end. "Let's head through Waiting Room A. We can leave through the tunnel and walk around the outside of the Arena to get to Waiting Room B. I'm sure plenty of people went there to get out through the tunnel." He paused for a moment. "By the way, that was nice battling back there. It would've been a great final." Jacob nodded in agreement, returning Teo and Arete to their Balls. "Right. I'm in agreement with you, especially that part about the final." He looked to his roommate, who had won his battle decisively. "Hey, Kage, let's go." With that Bart led Jacob and Kage down the tunnel, through Waiting Room A, and outside the Arena, only to see a large group of the strangely dressed thugs trying to force their way into the Waiting Room B tunnel. "That's not good," Bart said flatly. He then broke into a run, heading into the fray to help out who he could only presume were students. {Arena Exterior- Mareek and "Ms. Bad Bitch"} The girl had practically dragged Mareek out of the door of the Haunted House and toward the Arena, insisting that he had been walking too slowly despite the fact that he had been walking at exactly the same speed she was. She'd been oddly quiet the whole time, wearing a serious grimace. That changed, however, when she caught sight of the creeps entering the tunnel and the group converging on them from behind. "Hey, wait a second..." she said quietly. She then practically shrieked in delight, clapping her hands. "That's my baby brother! Ooooohhhhh, I'm gonna wring his skinny little neck!" she said excitedly. "Don't fall behind, amateur!" she taunted, breaking into a run and moving to reunite with her brother. ((Battle theme!))

That being said, everyone has posted at this point. When I get back from work later I'll be making a pretty large update.

{Haunted House- Mareek} A squeal of approval greeted Mareek's agreement. The strange young woman clapped her hands quickly together and jumped up and down like a little girl. Suddenly she stopped her antics and put a hand on her hip, leaning her head in. "Thanks for the praise, amateur. Always nice to meet a fan." Eury simply continued staring hungrily at the Cubone, offering it a mocking hiss. Deciding the tiny swordsman wouldn't be a filling enough meal anyway, she put her head on her coils and continued to eye the red-headed boy. Just as quickly as her Serperior had eased up on her target, her Trainer closed in on hers. She stood uncomfortably close to Mareek, her face mere inches from his. "The whole 'fearless' thing is a cute act, amateur. But don't think for a second that I don't see through it. You know how know you're scared of me?" She leaned even closer whispering in his ear. "Because you should be." With that, she flicked him on his nose and skipped off toward the staircase, followed lazily by her Grass-type serpent. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned around. "Mareeeeeeeeeeeeek~" she called in a singsong voice. "Come on! You shouldn't keep a lady waiting!"

{Arena- Jacob, Kage, & Bart} A Porygon and a Magneton flew past Jacob as Bart's Infernape launched a double Fire Punch attack, knocking both of them out cleanly. The former champion grinned as he watched the weirdly dressed creeps stare in disbelief at the teenager who'd bested them. "You didn't really think the top Pokemon Academy was going to be so easy to take out, did you?" he asked mockingly. "Now, Luffy, Flamethrower!" The Infernape inhaled deeply and launched a huge gout of flame toward the remaining Pokemon, knocking them out in short order. "Dragon Rage!" Jacob shouted. Spitfyre launched a blue fireball at the incoming Thunderbolt from the Magneton, causing an explosion in the middle of the field. "Help Teo follow up, Arete! Use Extrasensory!" The Togetic fired a rainbow-hued beam at the Magneton, locking it in place as Teo began a Sand Tomb attack. He used the sand to torpedo himself toward the Magnetic Pokemon, his jaw glowing blue as he prepared a Superpower attack. He slammed his enemy on impact, sending yet another Magneton way across the field. Just as he was about to launch a powerful Psychic attack on the occupied pair, the Elgyem found himself following his teammate across the Arena floor thanks to an Iron Tail from the Charmeleon. Kage's attacks on the Metang landed cleanly, with Reina clinging onto the Steel-type. Lucas's Magical Leaf shield was shredded to bits, but whatever magical properties the leaves had had managed to stop the Sonic Boom. Either way, the Metang was clearly badly wounded, and another solid hit would be enough to take it down. "Gah!" one grunt shouted, clearly frustrated by his squad's lack of success. His teammate shook his head. "We don't need their Pokemon, remember?" he said firmly. "We just need to buy some more time for him to relieve that Professor of his newest test subject." With that said, he grinned. "Metal Claw! Knock those pesky Pokemon away!" The Metang swung its claw at the Tyrunt, landing a powerful blow and knocking her away. He swung his now-free arm at the other Metang, which was still nearby, clearing the field for itself and its partner. "Screw them!" the first grunt shouted. "If they want to stop us, then they'll learn the true meaning of being loyal to a cause!" The Voltorb then began to glow white, looking as though it was about to unleash a devastating attack... {Haunted House- Mareek} As Mareek and Nemo reached the second floor, they were met with a startling scene. Inside the hallway, they saw a group of the strangely-dressed grunts trapped inside a tangle of wild-looking vines and branches that seemed to come from the walls themselves. All of them appeared to be knocked out except for one. He was dangling from his limbs in the center of the room, only vines supporting him in the middle of the air. Suddenly, he began to dance an Irish jig, the vines moving his body like a marionette as he screamed and looked on in terror. The only thing that took Mareek's attention away from the strange display was the sound of cackling coming from behind him. "Excuse me," came a young woman's voice, broken up by the occasional giggle. When she passed Mareek to inspect her handiwork, he would have noticed that she was a dark-skinned girl, her straight black hair tied behind her head in a clean ponytail. Possessing an athlete's build, she wore a green tank top that said 'Bad Bitch' in cursive rhinestones with a pair of short jean shorts and combat boots. and her eyes were coal-black, shining in the faux-gaslight of the hall lamps. Overall she was pretty relaxed, and seemed to be busy admiring her art. "You know, it's rude to stare," she reprimanded the young Trainer. "I suppose you're here because you heard the screaming, right?" The girl laughed. "What a joke. The second I let it out these guys came running, probably hoping to find some helpless little girl." Suddenly, a pair of red eyes dropped down in front of Mareek. A sharp hiss sounded and all he saw was a snake's mouth and fangs. The girl laughed again. "Easy there, Eury. I don't think this one is dinner for you." A Serperior grumbled begrudgingly as it uncoiled itself from the rafters, slithering down to wrap itself around its Trainer's feet. "Although his Pokemon could be dessert..." At this, the Serperior's eyes veritably lit up and she licked her lips, watching the Cubone closely. The strange girl shook her head. "No, no. I have to go find my idiot brother." She looked Mareek up and down, offering a hint of recognition. "You're Mareek Sisto. Gotta say, I was disappointed you didn't make it to the finals. But then again, the way your little swordsman turned so bloodthirsty..." The girl bit her lip, seeming to relish the memory. "I'll tell you what, amateur. You help me get my brother out of the Arena alive and I won't feed your little friend here to Eury."

{The Haunted House} Mareek found himself inside the Haunted House. The screaming and battling appeared to be coming from the floor above him. Oddly enough, once he was closer, it seemed as though the girl's screaming was actually laughter. What the hell was going on in here?

{Outside Uno's Lab- Confrontation!} Albert grimaced and wiped the sweat from his forehead as his Probopass took another Thunderbolt attack and crashed to the ground in front of him, its Steel body making a loud noise as it ground to a halt. Professor Uno laughed cruelly, pointing to his Beheeyem. "I told you, Albert. Subject 51 is not to be trifled with. I don't see how you could have possibly thought to defeat me in battle when you're still only a student. I'm more than twice your age and have far more than that in battling experience. So tell me, oh pupil of mine, tell me why I'm wasting my time on you." The student didn't reply, only set his jaw in determination and pulled another Ball off of his belt. "We're not done yet, Professor. I know you've stolen the Master Ball technology from the way you dematerialized that door. A localized molecluar displacement on an object of that mass and composition would take an immense amount of energy, though. How did you get around that problem?" he asked, the scientist in him getting the better of his mouth as he released his next Pokemon. A Magmar appeared and blew a gout of flame into the air, signaling his readiness to battle. "Energy, my dear boy, is something I have in ample supply. But I wouldn't be as concerned with the specifics as I would be with the health of your precious Magmar. Subject 51, Thunderbolt!" "Iggy, Flamethrower!" A blinding yellow lightning chain arced through the air and met a roaring gout of flame, resulting in yet another loud explosion that shook rubble loose from the ceiling. {Arena Corridors- All NPC students, Claude, Robert, James, and Slade} As the students made their way out of the student seating section, they found themselves a part of a sizable group making their way toward Waiting Room B. By the time they'd descended from the second floor to the first, all members of the present party had arrived. As they made their way through the lobby toward the tunnel to Waiting Room B, they saw one of the strangely dressed grunts get sent flying through the double doors leading to their destination. An angry, "AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU DITCH THAT LAME ARMOR!" erupted from the very same doorway. The grunt raised his head off the ground and began protesting that it was in fact totally awesome armor only to have a boulder fly across the room and knock him unconscious. From out of the dimly lit tunnel walked none other than Tyron, who cracked a smile upon seeing the students. His Golem stood next to him, warily eyeing the windows and single other doorway. "Hey, not bad guys! I was afraid that with the PA system out of commission, people wouldn't know to come down here. But you told them all to help facilitate the evacuation, right?" he asked. However, one look at Lana's guilt-ridden face gave the group away. "Okay, so maybe not ideal, but it was a tough situation to deal with. In fact, it's probably even better considering I'm the only one down here." His face took on a more serious appearance. "These guys have Phoebe pinned in Waiting Room A. The people on the field- Jacob, Kage, and Bart- should be able to get to her and help her out. But we've got bigger problems. "These guys were good. They used the element of surprise to disable most of our security. But I'll bet they didn't count on the students being able to resist. I don't see why they wouldn't since this is a battling academy, but small groups of students have had success holding key buildings against them. The upperclassmen are the only reason we haven't been overrun yet. Unfortunately, the Ymora National Guard won't be here for another half hour. And at this rate, we won't even last that long." He looked deep in thought for a moment. "The explosions started at the Academic Building. I'd bet anything that's where we need to be right now. But I can't do it alone. There's too many of these grunts." He looked at the students, his eyes begging them to agree to his next proposition. "I need your help. All of you. If we even want to have a chance of the Academy surviving this, everyone needs to do their part." He walked over to the door to Waiting Room B. "There's a tunnel leading outside just through this room. My Cradily is keeping those creeps away from the exit. If you're willing to help, meet me at the entrance to the tunnel. If not, stay here. You'll be safer that way." With that, he disappeared through the door, presumably to wait in the tunnel. {Arena Center- Jacob, Kage, & Bart} Jacob jumped into action, taking charge of the situation as the weirdly dressed pair rushed him with their Pokemon. "Teo, now!" he ordered. "Arete, use Sunny Day! Spitfyre, you know what to do! Cook 'em!" In one well-orchestrated move, the battle began to unfold. Teo leapt out from under the ground at the Lairon, taking it by surprise on its exposed underside with a powerful Dig attack. As it came crashing down, the traps Teo had laid during the finals began to take effect. The Lairon became stuck in the sand, the already-weakened Pokmon struggling helplessly as it was mired in the grainy substance. The Elgyem suffered a similar fate, but was able to pull itself out after taking minimal damage. However, the Magneton managed to avoid damage by hovering. Meanwhile, Arete rose her stubby arms to the sky and began to hum. One could swear that the sun's intensity became greater, and the flame on Spitfyre's tail reacted in kind. The Charmeleon inhaled and released an Incinerate attack that swept across the field, catching the Magneton, Elgyem, and Lairon as they entered the fray. The Lairon fainted, having taken a serious beating from the combination attack. It was time for the counter-attack from the creepazoids' Pokemon. The Elgyem put its hands together. The lights on them glowed as a yellow orb charged in its hands, then fired a Shock Wave toward Arete. It hit its mark, eliciting a cry of pain from the Fairy-type. Meanwhile, the Magneton was preparing a Magnet Bomb to fire at Arete. Jacob was prepared this time, though. As the gray projectiles flew toward his Togetic, Jacob gave the order. "Arete, evade!" The Togetic flitted off with surprising speed, moving toward the Magneton with the Steel-type attack in hot pursuit. Arete pulled up at the last moment and the Magnet Bomb backfired, striking its user head-on. A series of sharp impacts could be heard from Bart's section of the field as Kage's battle raged on. The Bite attack from Reina landed cleanly, knocking out the frail little Psychic type in one hit. However, the Metang's Trainer was none too happy about his Elgyem fainting. "You've left that little ballerina open! Metal Claw!" he shouted, aiming directly for the exposed Kirlia. The metal construct flew through the air as Lucas attempted to use Confusion. It swung its glowing arm viciously, intending to end the match quickly. However, it was thrown drastically off-course when a Vacuum Wave came from the side, knocking it off its planned path and into the ground. The Metang rose, clearly annoyed by its attack being foiled. "Hey, kid!" Bart shouted, looking about as pissed off as the Metang his Infernape had just saved Lucas from. "Pay attention to typing! That Metang'll rip your team apart if you don't take care of it first!" In the meanwhile, the Voltorb fired off a Sonicboom at al'Thor, hoping to cause damage regardless of the Light Screen. Immediately after it was lifted off the ground and thrown across the Arena by the Confusion attack, buying Kage time to recover from his mistake. {Winter Cup Fairgrounds- Mareek} As Mareek made his way past the Haunted House, he heard the unmistakable sound of a terrified scream and a Pokemon Battle raging inside. Did he want to investigate, or continue onward toward the Arena?