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The Pokemon Trainers' Club

07: The Pokemon Tournament, Part 3

Malcolm woke up the next morning. He yawned and sat up, and was slightly startled to hear faint noises coming from outside his bedroom. He looked over -- Pikachu was laying next to him on the bed, still sound asleep. He had forgotten Scyther wanted to stay in his room last night, and figured it must be him. Malcolm was rather tired last night, and was half-asleep while he helped set up the couch for Scyther to sleep on. Malcolm quietly got up out of bed, getting dressed, and opened the bedroom door. He thought he saw Scyther still asleep on the couch, but on closer inspection Malcolm realized it was just Scyther's suit laid out on the couch, empty.

Malcolm walked out of his bedroom, and looked in the kitchen, finding Scyther. He was (obviously) out of suit and wearing normal clothes, cooking something on the stove. Malcolm realized that other than the one time Scyther removed his mask during his first battle with Pikachu, he had never really seen Scyther under the suit before. He was a bit short, a good six inches shorter than Malcolm, and he was built very lean. Scyther hadn't even realized Malcolm had walked in, and as he turned to pick up a pan on the counter behind him, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Malcolm!" Scyther gasped. "I didn't even know you were there! Did I wake you up? If I did, I'm so very sorry! I just thought you and Pikachu might like some breakfast for when you got up!" Malcolm was still busy staring at Scyther. His features showed some hints of very slight Asian descent, but the rest of him -- his body, his style of dress, his voice, and his mannerisms -- suggested he was American. Scyther was unsettled a bit by Malcolm staring at him, and Malcolm noticed.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to stare! It's just that I've known you for a while, and I've never seen you out of your suit before," Malcolm explained.

"That's right... you haven't, have you? Well, this is me! The human me under the Scyther suit, anyway," he said.

"And does the human you have a name other than 'Scyther'?" Malcolm joked.

"I suppose while I'm out of suit you can call me Matthew," he said with a smile. "Even if I do rarely take it off. I figured my suit could use a little airing out, and while I was letting it, I figured I'd cook you breakfast to repay you for letting me stay!"

"Like I said last night, it's no trouble at all," Malcolm said. Matthew continued to cook, and Malcolm idly walked over to the couch, looking over the Scyther suit. "This is really well made," Malcolm commented. "Where'd you get this?"

"Hmm?" Matthew looked over to see what Malcolm was talking about, and grinned. "Ah, my suit! All random operatives get their suits straight from the league designer, but I made a few modifications to mine myself. Like the wing mechanisms," he said, walking over as the food cooked. He picked up the main suit, and showed Malcolm the inside back of it. There was a tiny motor connected to the wings, and almost invisible slits in the suit near them. "The wings were just originally there as decoration, but I added this silent motor to make them flap. Not only does that make them look better, I think, but with these slits I also get a little bit of air flow as well." Matthew went back into the kitchen to check up on his food. "I also redesigned the hands and feet of the costume. Oh, and I also redid the mask, to make it fit better, give me better peripheral vision, and allow for better air flow so I don't get hot so easily in the suit," he explained, "letting me wear it for... well, days at a time."

"That's really, really neat," Malcolm said. He was genuinely impressed by the suit and Matthew's work on it. Malcolm was halfway tempted to ask if he could try it on, but he knew that not only would it not fit, it would be pretty rude as well.

"Hey, Malcolm," Matthew said, "if you want to go wake up Pikachu now, breakfast is just about ready!" Malcolm nodded, and went to wake Pikachu up. Pikachu yawned and stretched, greeting Malcolm with a happy "Pika!" and a hug. With that, they went out to eat. The three had a quiet, uneventful breakfast, as Malcolm and Matthew talked about various things. Once they were finished, Matthew got up, taking the plates from the table.

"Are you sure you don't want any more? There's still plenty more," Matthew said. Malcolm groaned.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm stuffed, really." Matthew nodded.

"All right. Anyway, you should go down, report that you're ready for battle, and submit your field card if you're going to," Matthew said. "I can stay here, clean up, and look after Pikachu, if you want?"

"That would be great! Thank you so much!" Malcolm said. He went down, submitting his Playground 1 card for use again in his battle in an hour. With that taken care of, he returned to the elevators, going back up to his room. Malcolm, Pikachu, and Matthew bided their time until Malcolm looked at his watch.

"Pikachu and I should get down to the arena, the match is going to start in twenty minutes," Malcolm said. Matthew nodded.

"No problem. You guys go ahead, and I'll be down there as soon as I'm back in suit!"

Malcolm and Pikachu went down to the arena. They went into the competitors' entry door, and went over to the battle enclosure, finding the receptionist waiting for them.

"Good morning, Malcolm! Good morning, Pikachu! Are you both ready to battle?"

"You bet!" Malcolm said excitedly.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed. The receptionist smiled.

"Very good, very good. Go ahead and enter your booth, Malcolm. I'll bring Pikachu in just as soon as the match is ready to begin!" Malcolm nodded, and walked in. As he entered, it was obvious that Treecko's trainer had used some sort of Foliage field card. Malcolm's balls and balance beams were still present, but now there were several bushes and trees in the arena as well. Most of the arena was grassy, with bits of dirt and sand here and there. Malcolm was about to walk into his booth, when he noticed the other trainer entering the arena from his side of the enclosure. He called out to Malcolm.

"Hey! Hey, Malcolm!" Malcolm looked across, having to shout back.

"Hello!"

"Good luck with the match!" Treecko's trainer shouted. "Treecko and I are looking forward to it!" Malcolm nodded.

"So are we! Good luck to you, too!" Malcolm shouted back. They waved one more time, and they went into their booths. At least this trainer was a lot nicer than Squirtle's, Malcolm thought to himself. Hopefully he'd be a little better, too!

It didn't take long before the pokemon were brought into their starting circles. While the booths were being lifted, Malcolm used his cameras to take a look at Treecko. Malcolm could already tell that much more work was put into Treecko's suit than Squirtle's. Treecko's suit was made of rubber, and very shiny. It was mostly pale green, except for a dark red-orange patch which covered Treecko's lower jaw, the front of his neck, his chest, and his belly. Treecko was simply sitting motionlessly and calmly in his starting circle. A large, darker green curled tail hung behind him, and his large, opaque, yellow eyes stared straight ahead at Pikachu unsettlingly (for Malcolm, at least). Once Malcolm confirmed with the judges that he was ready to begin the battle, he took out his usable cards, setting them on a small shelf on the console, just in case.

"Pikachu," Malcolm said through the headset, "there aren't any balls around you right now, so we're going to have to size up Treecko the hard way. As soon as the battle starts, I want you to charge at him as quickly as you can! Don't give him the chance to dodge!" The countdown began, and only then did Treecko finally slowly stand up. As it hit zero, Malcolm shouted, "Now, Pikachu! Charge!" Pikachu charged straight ahead as fast as he could, but to Malcolm's surprise, Treecko was almost just as fast as Pikachu. He darted off to the side as soon as Pikachu started charging, and ran right up a tree without hesitation! Pikachu stopped, wondering what happened, but Malcolm noticed Treecko moving through the branches towards Pikachu. He realized Treecko was going to try to pounce down onto Pikachu, and Malcolm gasped. "Pikachu, dodge left, quick!" Pikachu jumped off to his left just as Treecko jumped down from the tree, landing on all fours where Pikachu was just seconds ago. "Behind you, Pikachu, charge!" Pikachu spun around, charging at Treecko, but Treecko was back up the tree quick as a flash.

Right now, Pikachu was at a disadvantage. It was just a matter of time before Treecko caught him.

"Pikachu, get away from the tree, quick! 20 back!" Pikachu was about to turn to run, but Treecko's trainer had already inserted a card -- Oil Slick 2. A nozzle came down, and before Pikachu could move, he and all of the grass around him was covered in thick, slippery black oil. Malcolm gasped. "Pikachu!" Pikachu tried to run, but being covered head to toe in the slippery oil offered no friction, and Pikachu fell down flat onto his face. He tried to get up, and found that by moving very, very slowly, he could get back onto his feet. "Pikachu, stay calm!"

"Pikaaaaa..." Pikachu whined. Malcolm tried to think frantically of something to do, and Treecko was just biding his time in the tree as Pikachu struggled to get some footing in the slick oil. Malcolm wondered why Treecko wasn't doing anything, but he found his answer as a panel opened up in the ceiling. Treecko's trainer was waiting to use another card, this time using an item card to drop a special o-ring gag into the arena. It fell into the trees, getting caught up in the small branches, and Treecko climbed up after it. Once Treecko grabbed the ring, he climbed back down the tree, remaining on the trunk to avoid touching the oil slick. Treecko stuck his tail to the tree, and reached out, attempting to shove the ring onto Pikachu's muzzle.

"Pikachu, duck!" Malcolm cried. Pikachu ducked down, laying flat on the ground in the oil, but Treecko, with some precision orders from his trainer, tossed the ring at Pikachu, scoring a direct hit on his muzzle. The ring, which was made with a strong electromagnet, stuck tightly to the magnets in Pikachu's muzzle. Pikachu tried to pull the ring away, but it held fast, and as soon as he reflexively opened his mouth to try to push it off, it just held tighter, wedging its way into Pikachu's muzzle, holding it open. Both Malcolm and Pikachu were frantic. Pikachu, in his haste to try to get the ring off, had by now lost his balance and was sliding around on his belly in the oil, pulling futilely at the ring. Malcolm was looking through his cards to see if there was anything he could possibly use to help Pikachu. At a loss, he put his cards back down, turning his attention to the match.

"Pikachu!" he ordered. "Get up again, and calm down! Don't worry about that ring, we can beat Treecko without it!" Malcolm had no idea how, but he had to tell Pikachu something to keep him calm and in control. Pikachu slowly got back to his feet, and whined slightly.

Malcolm had to look through the cameras to find Treecko, as in his and Pikachu's panic he had vanished. Malcolm found Treecko on one of his controllable cameras. He was at the base of a tree on the other side of the arena from Pikachu, and picking up a large handful of something. Malcolm zoomed in, finding it was some sort of animal droppings. He gasped -- if Treecko was going to do what Malcolm thought he was going to do with that, Pikachu would be too busy hacking, coughing, and gagging to put up any kind of fight. Treecko, using his free hand and his feet, climbed back up the tree, and began to bound through the branches back towards the tree Pikachu was still under. Malcolm sighed, and took the top card off of his card pile -- a Balls 1 card. It was Pikachu's only chance to make a comeback. He slid it into the card slot, and the touch screen turned on, showing a basic overview of the arena. He could see a Treecko icon moving through the branches towards Pikachu, Pikachu's icon still standing helplessly at the base of the tree, and all the assorted landscape items. Malcolm touched right above the Pikachu icon as he prayed for a miracle, hoping the balls would drop close enough to Pikachu for him to hit them at Treecko with his tail.

"Pikachu, I'm dropping some balls for you to use, they'll be there in just a second!" Treecko, however, was more or less secure in his own victory. Neither Treecko nor his trainer could have seen the panel in the ceiling open, as it was obscured by the tree. Treecko climbed down the trunk, and carefully dropped down into the oil. He didn't have to worry about Pikachu much right now, and once he shoved the animal droppings in Pikachu's muzzle, it would be all but over.

The Balls 1 card finally activated, and two balls dropped out of the panel in the ceiling. The first, to Malcolm's horror, was a tennis ball. The tennis ball dropped through the branches, bouncing off a root and clipping Treecko in the head as it bounced away. Treecko stopped, confused, as his trainer tried to figure out what was wrong. Malcolm figured that with his luck, the other ball to drop would be a golf ball... but he couldn't have been more wrong. A three-pound medicine ball came crashing down through the tree branches, and caught Treecko in the dead center of his head.

"Treecko!" Treecko yelped as the impact threw him off balance and dazed him. He felt like his head was spinning, and he fell face first down into the oil right in front of Pikachu, the animal droppings falling out of his hand into the oil. Malcolm couldn't believe his luck.

"Pikachu, Treecko's down right in front of you! Aggressive victory, on the double!"

"Pika!" Pikachu wasted no time using Treecko himself as a sort of mat, climbing over him and working his way behind him. Pikachu shoved his cock into Treecko's tailhole -- the oil making the task quite easy -- and wasted no time at all, pumping in and out as he scored his first aggressive victory of the tournament!

With Pikachu's win, two of the league hands came running in the doors of the arena while the trainers' booths descended. One was carrying a large tank with an attached hose. He took it over to where the pokemon were, and began to spray them and the area around them with the liquid, the oil washing away, leaving both Treecko and Pikachu clean and oil-free. The other league hand went over to Pikachu, taking a small device out of his pocket. He pressed a button, and the electromagnets in the ring turned off, the ring dropping away out of Pikachu's mouth. Malcolm's booth touched the ground, and he ran over to Pikachu, kneeling down and hugging him; his clothes got drenched in the liquid, but he didn't care.

"Oh, Pikachu, you did great!"

"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu squealed, happy at both his win and to have that ring off of his muzzle. He nuzzled Malcolm happily, and Treecko's trainer walked up, picking up Treecko.

"Hey, Treecko, you all right?"

"Treeeecko..." Treecko whined, still dazed from being hit with the ball.

"I'm so sorry about that," Malcolm said to Treecko's trainer, embarrassed. Treecko's trainer chuckled.

"Hey, all's fair in love, war, and pokemon battles, right? Don't worry about it. I really thought we had you for a minute there, but that was a pretty clever move, dropping the balls and hoping for a big one... if not risky. But that was a great match!"

"Yes, I was really scared for a minute there," Malcolm said. "That really caught me off guard, Treecko being able to climb like that!" Treecko's trainer chuckled.

"It's a special chemical I've treated his suit with," he explained. "There's wires running voltage all throughout Treecko's suit, and when I stimulate various parts of his suit with the electricity, the chemical gets very sticky. Once the voltage is cut, it goes back to normal. That's how he's able to climb like he does." Malcolm nodded.

"Well, that's amazing," Malcolm said.

"Listen, I think it's about time we get out of here, but my e-mail address is on Treecko's standings page. E-mail me whenever you get a chance, and keep in touch, okay?" Malcolm nodded.

"I will! Thanks a lot!" he said, and after shaking hands, the two trainers and their pokemon left the enclosure.

Malcolm and Pikachu exited to a huge crowd of fans once again. Scyther was waiting by the door for them, but Malcolm didn't see Paul and Charmander anywhere.

"Malcolm! Pikachu! That was one close battle," Scyther said as the three made their way through the crowds. "You got really, really lucky that ball fell where it did!"

"Tell me about it," Malcolm sighed. "Now I see what makes tournament battles so exciting, though," he added with a small grin.

"Well, just be ready," Scyther said. "This was just your second match, and the ones coming up won't be easy!"

"Pikachu and I are ready for them! Aren't we, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu replied happily. He was just as amazed as Malcolm that he won. It was scary to not be able to move!

"By the way, Scyther, have you seen Paul and Charmander?" Malcolm asked. Scyther nodded.

"Paul said something came up, not to wait for them, and that he'll see you once he's done with his match."

"All right. I hope everything's all right," Malcolm said. With that, the three headed back up to Malcolm's room.

Once Malcolm got Pikachu cleaned up and dried off (and a change of clean, dry clothes for himself), Pikachu practically collapsed on the floor. He was exhausted from his match, and Malcolm didn't blame him one bit.

"Come on, we'll head down and watch Paul's match," Malcolm said. "I think Pikachu's earned this nap." The two headed down, and Malcolm looked at the crowd of people outside the arena, waiting to get in. He groaned. "You may as well go ahead, Scyther. I'll see you after the match." Scyther thought for a minute, then (carefully) grabbed Malcolm by the hand, leading him over to the competitors' and league members' entrance. Scyther opened the door, but Malcolm just looked at him. "Hey, I can't be here!"

"Sure you can! You're my guest," Scyther said with a giggle. Malcolm shrugged; he couldn't argue with that. The two went in and took their seats just as the announcer finished introducing Charmander and Machop. Malcolm looked at the monitor. Again, neither trainer had offered a field card, so the enclosure was empty again. Malcolm looked Machop over. He couldn't tell exactly what the suit was made out of, but he guessed it was made of really dull grey rubber, and the three ridges on Machop's head looked like they were made of cardboard. Machop's body structure was more or less the same as Pikachu's and all the other bipedal pokemon's were, but what Machop lacked with his suit's poor appearance he made up for with huge muscles, visible clearly even through the suit. It didn't take a genius to guess that Machop's specialty was forcing other pokemon into submission to get his victories.

The battle started, and Charmander charged at Machop, trying a headbutt. Machop did a neat dodge, stepping to the side at the last minute and sticking his foot out as Charmander charged by, tripping him. Charmander yelped and fell forward, and Machop dived at him to grab him.

"Charmander!" Paul cried. "Roll away from Machop!" Charmander tried to roll sideways out of the way, but Machop connected and grabbed him tightly, holding him down. Charmander struggled valiantly, but Machop was just too strong for him. Charmander took a deep breath, building up a smoke screen, but it was too late -- Machop had already leaned down, beginning to suck Charmander off. Charmander struggled, but Paul thought fast. "Charmander, plan p, on the double!" Charmander grinned, and immediately began to piss in Machop's mouth. Machop, caught completely off guard, began coughing and gagging. He released his grip on Charmander, and Charmander quickly scrambled to his feet. "Great job, Charmander! Run away from Machop, back and right, you need time to get a huge smokescreen ready!" Charmander turned around, running from Machop, and Machop quickly gave chase, obviously angry from Charmander's little escape tactic. Before Paul could give another order to Charmander, the speaker in his booth clicked on.

"Please call your Charmander off," a judge announced through the speaker. "This battle is cancelled."

"Cancelled?! What for?" Paul gasped.

"We have a suspicion that there is cheating in this match, and the judges must run an investigation. Tell your Charmander to stand down."

"Cheating?!" Paul shouted, enraged. "How dare you! Charmander and I would never even think of..."

"Not you," the judge interrupted, cutting Paul off. "Machop and his trainer." Paul blushed, embarrassed.

"Oh. My apologies... right! Charmander, we're done!" Paul said through his headset.

Malcolm and Scyther were watching the match, excited, but they were confused to see Machop and Charmander both suddenly stop.

"What's going on?" Malcolm asked. Scyther shrugged, but they got their answer as the two league hands -- the same ones who had helped carry Squirtle out yesterday and the ones who cleaned up after Pikachu and Treecko's match earlier -- entered the battle enclosure. One effortlessly picked up Machop, carrying him back out and into the judge's booth, which was very close to where Malcolm and Scyther were sitting. The other league hand stood near where Machop's trainer's booth would descend, ready to apprehend him if the cheating was confirmed. The announcer came back on the speakers.

"I've just been notified that Machop has been suspected of cheating!" he announced. "The league is currently doing an examination." The crowd booed loudly, and Malcolm looked at Scyther.

"Cheating?" he asked, surprised. Scyther nodded.

"That's right. Sadly, some trainers will do anything to win, even resort to cheating. Others just flat-out don't agree with the rules, and try to pass their pokemon off as following the rules when they're really not. Then are some who just don't read the rules carefully enough, so they end up not following a few key procedures which makes the judges think they're cheating. Luckily, the league is excellent at catching cheaters."

"How on earth can they cheat?" Malcolm asked. Scyther pointed to his eyes.

"Usually, they're able to see. That's the most frequent one, although sometimes there are pokemon who are not restrained properly. Only random operative pokemon like me are allowed to see and be unrestrained within our suits. After all, we travel around a lot without a trainer to take care of us, so it's kind of necessary."

"That makes sense," Malcolm said. "And I guess that's why you can't compete in tournaments, then?" Scyther nodded.

"Right. It would be unfair. Plus, we'd have no trainer to use cards for us. Don't get me wrong! Being a random operative pokemon is fun and all, but sometimes I just wish I had a real trainer and I could be a real pokemon, not just a random operative who only gets to battle when my number is called," Scyther sighed. "Oh, well." Malcolm thought for a moment, but his thinking was cut off as the announcer's voice came on over the speakers again.

"The league has just returned their findings -- Machop was indeed cheating, being able to see!" The crowd booed once again. "Swift disciplinary action will be taken against him and his trainer, but in the meantime, Charmander wins by default! He and his trainer will move onto the next tier!" This news made the crowd cheer in excitement. The booths descended, and Machop's trainer was taken away by the remaining league hand. Charmander ran up to Paul, and the two exited the arena.

Malcolm and Scyther were waiting right outside for Paul and Charmander. Before they could say anything, though, one of the league judges walked up.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, Paul," the judge said. "It turned out Machop was able to see in his suit." Paul nodded, but Malcolm looked confused.

"Wait... how could you even tell?" he asked.

"Did you see that fancy dodging Machop was doing?" the judge asked. Malcolm nodded. "And how quickly he was on Charmander's tail after Charmander ran upon breaking out of the hold? He was doing all of this a split second before his trainer was issuing the commands," the judge explained. "You see, the improper reversed delay between Machop's actions and his trainer's commands led us to believe he was either receiving instructions from someone else or, more likely, he was able to see and perform them himself." Malcolm whistled.

"Wow," he said, impressed, "you guys really are good at catching cheaters. I would have never even noticed that!"

Once everything was sorted out, the four headed to the elevators, waiting for a car to arrive.

"Hey, do you guys want to see my room? It's a bit bigger than Malcolm's, so if nothing else, the pokemon will have more room to play!" Malcolm chuckled.

"Sure, I think it would be nice to see someone else's room for a change. Let's stop by my room real quick to pick up Pikachu first." Once the elevator doors opened, they first went up to Malcolm's room, as Malcolm went in, waking Pikachu up and telling him to follow him. Once Pikachu joined them, they took the elevator up to the 31st floor, where Paul's room was. Paul opened the door, and Malcolm and Scyther's jaws dropped. Paul's room wasn't just "a bit bigger" than Malcolm's, it was huge. Malcolm's suite was composed of the living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and balcony; Paul's had all that, but larger, and in addition he had an extra guest room and bathroom.

"Oh, wow!" Scyther gasped. "You got a deluxe suite! I didn't realize you were ranked so high!"

"What do you mean, 'deluxe suite'," Malcolm asked, confused. "And 'ranked so high'?" This set Scyther off into informational overload mode.

"Well, obviously besides the much larger floor plans and extra rooms, the deluxe suites are set apart from regular rooms and the standard suites -- which is what you have right now, Malcolm -- in several ways! There's the larger and more abundant furniture, more features to the entertainment center, an upgrade from the queen-size bed in the standard suite to the king-size bed in this one, the addition of a hot tub in the master bathroom, plus..." Malcolm didn't really want to hear all the details which he could see for himself.

"Scytherrrrrrrrrrr," Malcolm said in his best impersonation of a Scyther's voice, not-so-subtly reminding Scyther of the fact that pokemon are only supposed to be able to say their names. Scyther quickly shut up, blushing underneath his suit, and Paul, Malcolm, and the pokemon laughed.

As they walked in, Pikachu tackled Charmander playfully, and with that the two pokemon were off, playing. The other three sat on Paul's couch, relaxing.

"You know, Malcolm," Paul said thoughtfully, "if we both win our next matches, we'll be facing each other in the semifinals."

"Wow... you're right," Malcolm said, surprised.

"I really didn't think you and Pikachu would be doing so well," Paul admitted. "I mean, this is your very first tournament. Charmander lost his second round match in his first tournament last year." Malcolm shrugged.

"Well, Pikachu and I trained very, very hard to be here, and we're determined to win!" he said, determined. Paul laughed.

"Take it easy, man! Besides, Charmander and I expect nothing less than to go up against you and Pikachu for the semi-finals. Just remember, if it comes to that, no matter who wins, promise me we'll stay friends!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Malcolm said with a smile. Paul grinned back, but he silently wondered to himself just how far Malcolm and Pikachu's best would get them...

Malcolm suddenly remembered what he was thinking about while he and Scyther were watching Paul and Charmander's battle earlier. He looked at Scyther.

"Hey, Scyther, who's in charge of the random battle operatives?"

"A league official, why?"

"Do you know if he's here? Or how I could get in touch with him?" Scyther looked confused.

"Let me think... I'm pretty sure he'd be with the league judges overseeing everything. But why do you ask?"

"No sense talking about it until I check something out first. I'll be back in a little while. Could you guys watch Pikachu for me?" Malcolm asked as he stood up. Paul and Scyther nodded, and Malcolm left. Paul and Scyther looked at each other.

"What the heck was that all about?" Paul asked.

"I've got no clue," Scyther said. Paul chuckled.

"What, you mean I've finally stumped the all-knowing Scyther?" he teased. He laughed as Scyther began to pout, then remembered something himself. "Oh! You know, it's about lunch time for the pokemon. I'm sure you guys are starving!" he said to Charmander and Pikachu. They ran over to Paul.

"Char, char!"

"Pi pikachu!" Paul went into the kitchen, taking out two cans of the pokemon food, putting it out in bowls for Pikachu and Charmander. They practically attacked the food, gobbling it up ravenously.

Paul went back into the living room, sitting down next to Scyther as the two watched the pokemon eat. Paul chuckled.

"Look at them. It's like they've never eaten before," he said, amused. "Scyther, are you hungry, too? I can get you something if you want?"

"Oh, no, don't worry about me, I'm fine," Scyther said. Once Charmander was done eating, he playfully tackled Pikachu, who was just about done as well. The two pokemon giggled, and ran around the room, resuming playing.

"Those two sure love to play," Paul said. "Say, Scyther, what do you do in your spare time when you're not battling?"

"I try to train at least three or four times a week to stay in top battling condition," Scyther said. "That takes up most of my free time, really. Although when I'm not training, I do enjoy reading."

"I never would have guessed," Paul retorted, sarcastically. Oblivious, Scyther continued on.

"On occasion when there's lots of battles to judge and they need help, I also assist the league judges sometimes. Although I much prefer to be out battling, even if I don't get to do it as much as I'd like."

Paul and Scyther continued talking to pass the time. About half an hour later, the door opened, and Malcolm returned. He had a big grin on his face, and he was obviously quite proud of himself about something.

"You look happy," Paul commented. "Where'd you run off to?"

"Well," Malcolm said, closing the door behind him, "I just finished talking to the league head of the random battle operatives."

"About what?" Scyther asked.

"About you," Malcolm replied simply. Scyther looked rather concerned.

"What about me?" he asked, worried. Malcolm chuckled, walking over to stand by the couch where Scyther and Paul were sitting.

"Relax, Scyther, it's nothing bad. In fact, I think you'll rather like what I have to say, so hear me out." Scyther, still apprehensive, was listening. "See, the head said that what I asked about has never been brought up before, but he's willing to give it a try for you, Scyther. He said that, as long as you're okay with the idea, you can both remain a random encounter operative and be my pokemon as well. It will be part time, of course, only as long as you're not out on call for a random encounter. Whenever you're not, though, you can stay with Pikachu and me. We'll get you a brand new, league sanctioned, tournament ready battle suit, and I'll train you along with Pikachu. You'll be considered a whole separate pokemon when you battle in your league suit, and you'll start off with a clean record. That means you can be any pokemon at all you want; you can stay a Scyther, or be something different. This is, of course, completely up to you, though. What do you think, Scyther?"

For the very first time in his life, Scyther was absolutely speechless. Unable to think of any way to express his excitement or gratitude to Malcolm, he simply got up, running over to Malcolm and practically knocked him over, crushing him in a hug. Malcolm could hear Scyther sobbing softly, but happily, under his mask. Malcolm chuckled, hugging Scyther and patting his back softly.

"Can I assume that's a yes?" Malcolm teased.