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The Pokemon Trainers' Club

#08: The Pokemon Tournament, Part 4

Pikachu was exhausted. He had every right to be after his very tough battle with Treecko. Even though it was still early in the afternoon, Malcolm didn't mind letting Pikachu sleep and be lazy for the rest of the day; he had to make sure he was rested and at his best for his next match later that night. Malcolm, Paul and the other six remaining competitors would be having their quarter-final matches in a matter of hours; the semi-finals and finals would be held in the morning and evening of the following day.

Other than Pikachu, who was sleeping, everybody else had been busy after the morning's matches ended. Scyther was occupied with moving all of his things up to Malcolm's room (where he would be staying for the remainder of the tournament) and making sure things were ready for his move after the tournament. Scyther more or less had everything set up where he would be ready to go with Malcolm to his new home immediately after the tournament, and was finalizing a few things. Paul and Charmander were getting some last-minute exercising and training in to get them ready for the match later. Malcolm had already dropped off his Playground 1 field card for his match later, and now he was juggling trying to help Scyther move things, looking through a list of cards he could currently buy with his point cards, and looking up information about his next opponent.

Scyther had to make a phone call; while he went into Malcolm's bedroom to use the phone in there, Malcolm sat on the couch and opened up his laptop. His next opponent was a trainer and his Furret. As Malcolm looked over the page, he became slightly worried. According to his stats, Furret's record was 22-7, and he was the second place winner of the pokemon show's quadruped speed awards for the last three years!

The remainder of the day went by more quickly than Malcolm would have liked. Scyther put a hold on moving things to go down to watch Malcolm and Pikachu battle, and Paul and Charmander were watching from the stands as well. As Malcolm and Pikachu approached the receptionist, Malcolm could already see inside the battle enclosure slightly. It almost looked like his very first match, when only his Playground card was in effect. As he got closer, though, he could see some things he didn't remember. While the arena was still mostly grassy, the sandy areas had been turned into shallow pits full of thick brown mud. There were more balls and even some loose tires scattered around, and in addition to the balance beams, there were seesaws and a large multi-tiered play structure with swings, tires, and slides.

"Wow, what kind of field card did Furret's trainer use?" Malcolm asked the receptionist.

"He also submitted a Playground 1 card," she explained. "As you can see, the effects of both your card and his card have merged."

"Merged?" Malcolm asked, confused.

"Yes. Since you both submitted a Playground 1 card, that yielded a Playground 2 battle environment for your pokemon. Now go on, the match will be starting soon."

Malcolm entered the arena roughly the same time as Furret's trainer, and they both went into their booths. Malcolm performed his usual before-battle check on Furret as he and Pikachu were led into the arena. Malcolm was impressed -- it was a furry suit, and not only did it look well made, but it was also kept impeccably groomed; not a single strand of fur was out of place. He had mostly dark brown fur which covered his ears, the tips of his front paws, the top and back of his head and neck, and two small whisker-like markings under each eye. The rest of him was cream colored fur on his ear tips, face, neck, chest, and hind paws. The rest of his body from his chest and beyond was alternating brown and cream colored furry rings, his tail ending in a cream tip which was slightly larger in length than the other rings. Furret's body was very long and thin for his size, and he looked just like a ferret thanks to the way Furret's trainer padded his suit. It took Malcolm a minute of careful examination to realize that the tail of the suit actually accounted for almost half the length of Furret's suit. His four rather small-looking paws stuck out from his brown and cream ringed body's front half. The way his trainer had padded his tail, however, made it move in sync with the body, making it look like Furret's body really was that long!

As the countdown started, Malcolm scanned the arena, trying to decide what Pikachu's first move should be. He noticed a grassy patch with several balls laying about near a balance beam a few feet forward and to Pikachu's right; he decided to start Pikachu off there.

"All right, Pikachu, get ready to run 15 R 30 F on my mark."

"Pika!" The countdown ended, and the battle began. As soon as Malcolm gave the word, Pikachu was off and running... as was Furret. Both their trainers apparently had the same idea, but while Pikachu went for the balls, Furret effortlessly hopped up onto the balance beam. Malcolm had to admit, Furret was good.

"Pikachu! 2 R will put you next to a ball, then do a 360 L! Try to get your tail low so it'll go high!" Pikachu hopped to his right, standing next to a large kickball. He spun around, squatting as best as he could while he did, and the ball flew at Furret. Furret, however, was ready for it, and hopped a few feet to his left on the balance beam, easily avoiding it. Malcolm frowned; it looked like Pikachu's standard tactics weren't going to work here. Furret, as if to tease Malcolm, turned around, waving his tail directly at his trainer booth, then ran off towards the middle of the arena. Malcolm chuckled. "Hey, Pikachu, I think he wants a chase! Let's give him one, then! There's a lot of balls and balance beams and tires laying around, so keep alert for my orders! Now chase him down, he's 30 degrees left!" Pikachu began to run, chasing after Furret. Both pokemon expertly avoided all of the obstacles in their way. By the time the chase had ended, the two ended up in the empty corner, opposite the far way from Malcolm. It was mostly grassy, save for a small mud pit, and it was free of obstacles. Malcolm was having a hard time seeing the two clearly from his vantage point, so he instead turned to the monitors, watching them from there. While Pikachu panted to catch his breath, Furret began to run circles around Pikachu as quickly as he could. Malcolm wondered what Furret was doing, but it became apparent as Furret occasionally darted in at random times, tackling, nipping, and scratching Pikachu. Every time he did, Pikachu tried to turn to defend himself, but Furret's attack always came from a different direction.

"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu whined, asking Malcolm for help. Malcolm, however, was at a loss.

"Pikachu, he's running circles around you, and I can't keep you up to date on his position as fast as he's moving! Hang in there, buddy, I'll think of something..."

Malcolm clenched his teeth, worried. He had no idea how much longer Pikachu could stand up to this, and with no way to counterattack, it was just a matter of time before Furret got the upper hand. Malcolm wished there was a way for Pikachu to see for himself just where Furret was, when he was suddenly struck by an idea.

"Pikachu!" Malcolm said into the microphone. "I can't direct you where Furret is, and you can't see him, but you can hear him! I'm going to turn on your suit's spring feet and the ears' sound amplifiers. You listen for Furret, and when he moves in for another attack, take him down!" Pikachu nodded in response, and Malcolm pressed two buttons on his remote. The first unlocked Pikachu's spring feet, giving him extra speed and agility, and the other one turned on the sound amplifiers in Pikachu's suit's ears. Thanks to the soundproof arena, Pikachu heard nothing but his own breathing, his heart beating quickly, and the clear sounds of Furret running around him in the grass. Pikachu grinned; Malcolm's plan worked, and he now knew exactly where Furret was. He suddenly heard Furret stop running directly behind him and air begin to rush. He didn't need to be able to see or have Malcolm tell him that Furret was diving at him, going for a tackle and hopefully a pin. With lightning reflexes, Pikachu spun around and did a hop forward of his own to meet Furret in mid-air. Thanks to his spring feet, Pikachu had quite a bit of speed to his own jump, and as soon as the two pokemon collided in mid-air, Pikachu delivered Furret a hard, swift kick to Furret, landing a lucky hit to his balls. This caught Furret completely off guard, and Furret shrieked in pain. Pikachu, whose sound amplifiers were still on, also shrieked; Furret's scream hurt his ears and made them ring. Malcolm quickly hit the button to turn Pikachu's amplifiers off. Furret, however, was rolling around in the grass in pain. Despite his trainer's orders to get up, the helpless Furret continued to roll around, wailing... and managed to roll right into the middle of the mud pit!

Malcolm knew this was Pikachu's golden opportunity, and he wasted no time issuing Pikachu the order to drag Furret out and go for the win. Pikachu waded into the thick brown mud, and as Pikachu began to drag Furret out, Malcolm chuckled. Furret and his beautiful coat of fur were now just one big ball of mud. Once they were back in the grass, Pikachu did a bit of searching for Furret's tailhole, moving his huge tail out of the way as he searched for where Furret's body began. Furret didn't put up much of a resistance; he was still quite immobilized in pain. Once Pikachu found it, he quickly thrust his already erect cock into Furret's tailhole, wasting no time in ramming in and out of Furret's ass roughly, his still engaged spring-loaded feet only adding to the force. Furret continued to wail in pain, half from his still aching cock and balls, and half from Pikachu fucking him. It didn't take long for Pikachu, who was by now mostly covered in mud from Furret, to explode in Furret's tailhole, scoring his third tournament victory!

Pikachu panted, finished, and pulled out of Furret. The two league hands entered, this time dragging a hose with them. The pokemon were still over by Furret's trainer's side of the arena, so the league hands entered through that door. One league hand picked up Pikachu, the other using a light flow of water from the hose to wash off the mud Pikachu had gotten on him. It took them a bit longer to get Furret cleaned up -- the thick mud clung tenaciously to his fur, and Furret himself wasn't being very cooperative, still whining in pain and rolling around. Once Furret was mostly clean, the booths descended, and both trainers ran over to the pokemon. Both Malcolm and Furret's trainer looked down at Furret, whimpering softly.

"I am so, so sorry," Malcolm said to Furret's trainer. "Is he all right?" he asked, concerned.

"Oh, Furret will be fine," his trainer said, kneeling down to try to brush some of the water and remaining mud out of Furret's fur with his hands. "Even if he doesn't look it at the moment, Furret is very resilient. I'm pretty sure if I took a kick like that where he did, I'd probably still be rolling on the ground and crying, too!" Malcolm sighed.

"That's good. I'm glad he's okay."

"Furret's just not used to taking such hard hits. More often than not, he's quick enough to avoid them," his trainer explained, now scratching Furret behind the ears to calm him down. "In all honesty, I'm more worried about getting him clean!" he said with a chuckle. "I do want to commend you and Pikachu on a job well done getting past Furret's quick attack, though. Most pokemon are helpless against it, not counting a lucky shot. But Pikachu caught him in mid-air... that's amazing!" he said, standing back up again. Malcolm chuckled.

"I take no credit for that one. That was all Pikachu. That was a good job, buddy," Malcolm said, leaning over to pat Pikachu on the head.

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked with a grin, proudly. Furret had, by this point, regained his composure, and walked up to Pikachu, nuzzling him softly. Pikachu giggled, hugging Furret. "Pi pika," Pikachu said in his most apologetic tone of voice, sorry for having hurt Furret so badly. Furret just squeaked happily and licked Pikachu's cheek. The two trainers laughed at the sight.

Malcolm and Pikachu went up to the stands with Furret and his trainer to watch Paul and Charmander's battle. They talked before the match, exchanging contact information, then turned their attention to the screens as Paul's match began. He and Charmander took a close win over a Totodile, and Malcolm realized that meant Pikachu's next match would be against Paul and Charmander for the semi-finals!

Furret and his trainer had to get back to their own room to get Furret's fur cleaned, leaving Paul, Malcolm, Pikachu, Charmander, and Scyther to take an elevator back up to their rooms.

"You guys can go ahead without me, I'm going to finish up moving the last of my things," Scyther said as he got off on the fourth floor, where his own room was.

"All right. You've still got the spare key card, right?" Scyther nodded. "Okay then. I'll see you when we get back!" The others continued up to Paul's room, and they went in. Charmander yawned, tired from his long day, but Pikachu was still quite hyper and energetic after all the sleep he had gotten earlier. He nipped Charmander, and Charmander yelped, the two running around the room, playing. Malcolm and Paul sat on the couch.

"Hey Malcolm, you know that Charmander and Pikachu will be tomorrow morning's first battle," Paul said. "And whichever one of us wins will be fighting the other finalist for the tournament victory tomorrow night." Malcolm nodded.

"Yeah, what about it?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"You're not nervous?" Paul asked. "Not even just a little?"

"A little, maybe," Malcolm admitted, "but Pikachu and I are ready. We may have lost our first battle to you and Charmander, but we've trained long and hard to be here, and we're going to make up for it tomorrow!" Paul laughed.

"At least that competitive spirit you've had all tournament is still burning strong. Keep it up, Malcolm, I expect nothing less than a phenomenal match from you and Pikachu!" Paul said.

"Only as long as you and Charmander promise to give us everything you've got!" Paul laughed again, but on the inside, he really was worried. He hadn't expected Malcolm and Pikachu to be doing as well as they had been. Paul had come into this tournament planning nothing less than an absolute victory, and while he didn't dare tell anybody else, if he and Charmander lost, it might be the end of them...

Malcolm and Paul continued to talk as their pokemon played with each other for about half an hour. Eventually, Charmander walked up to Paul, tugging on his pant leg.

"Char char!" he whined with a yawn, obviously tired. Paul chuckled, and yawned himself.

"What's the matter, you tired too? I guess it's about time we get to bed, then, I think you deserve a good night's sleep. We'll see you tomorrow, all right, Malcolm?" Malcolm nodded, and got up, Pikachu trotting over to his side.

"You bet. And good luck!" Malcolm said as he and Pikachu left. They headed back down to their room, and found Scyther laying face down on the couch snoring loudly, one arm and leg hanging off the edge of the couch. He was fast asleep, exhausted now that he was finally finished moving all his belongings up to Malcolm's room from his own. Malcolm chuckled. "I guess that's our cue to get some sleep ourselves, Pikachu." Pikachu nodded.

"Pika!" he responded quietly. He didn't feel tired -- he got his second wind while he was playing with Charmander -- but he certainly wasn't about to turn down the opportunity to get some well-deserved sleep! Malcolm and Pikachu went into their room, climbing into bed and falling asleep almost as soon as they hit their pillows.

Malcolm and Pikachu woke with a start the next morning to the annoying beeping of their alarm clock. Malcolm reached over, turning it off, and he got out of bed. Pikachu yawned, and flopped back down on the bed as Malcolm was busy getting dressed. Once Malcolm finished, he went out into the living room, finding Scyther was already awake and busy looking at something on his own laptop.

"Good morning, Scyther," Malcolm said as he walked over to see what he was looking at.

"Malcolm! Good morning!" Scyther said happily. "I was looking over the other two semi-finalists, and I think I've got a pretty good idea of who's going to win the other match."

"What do you mean?"

"The other semi-final match after yours is between a Flareon and an Umbreon. The Flareon's got some pretty good ratings and a bit of battle experience, his record is 45 and 7 right now." Malcolm whistled, impressed.

"Not bad at all. That Umbreon probably doesn't stand a chance then?" Scyther shook his head.

"Wrong. Umbreon's going to crush him. Umbreon's current post-evolution record is 87 and 2, and he's won over 15 tournaments worldwide." Malcolm's eyes widened in surprise.

"Post-evolution?"

"Yeah. From what I've heard from some friend of mine, he was originally an Eevee, back when the league first began. In fact, he and his trainer -- they're both from Japan -- were some of the league's founding members. By the end of the fifth year, Eevee had amassed an amazing record of 189-3, but it got reset back to 0-0 once the trainer decided to evolve Eevee into Umbreon. That's also when they began to travel the world to take part in competitions other than just the Japanese one." Malcolm sighed. From the sounds of it, whoever won today's match would be up against a monster! Scyther could see the concern on Malcolm's face, and shut the lid of his laptop. "Aw, don't worry about all that right now, Malcolm," he said as he got up. "You or Paul can worry about the next match when the time for it comes. Right now, the only thing you should be focusing on is Pikachu beating Charmander!"

Once the three of them had gotten ready, they headed down to the arena. By the time Malcolm got there, Paul was already in his booth, waiting. Malcolm walked into the arena, and stopped suddenly in surprise. Paul had obviously used some kind of high level Factory field card. The majority of the floor was made from metal squares, with some squares of metal grating here and there, plus concrete lining some of the edges and corners of the arena. Huge exhaust pipes in the floor and walls bellowed out smoke, and the lights in the arena were dimmer than Malcolm was used to. Conveyor belts both built into the floor and on raised tracks slowly moved barrels and boxes around the arena, and power lines ran across the tops of the walls of the arena, one even broken and laying down on the ground. The sound of various machines running cast a dull hum over the entire enclosure. Malcolm sighed as he found that his Playground 1 card only earned him a small patch of grass near the rear of the arena on his side with two small balls laying there.

Malcolm went into his booth, surveying the arena. With the steadily building smoke in the arena, which would soon be closed off once the doors shut, this certainly looked to be Charmander's cup of tea. Malcolm guessed that, at the current rate the smoke was being pumped in, Pikachu would have about 15 minutes before the smoke would start to get really bad and affect him adversely. They would simply have to take Charmander down fast. As the booths began to rise, Paul and Malcolm waved at each other, and the pokemon were led into their starting positions.

"Pikachu, there's a lot of smoke in this arena, and it's only getting worse. Charmander probably won't be affected too badly by it, but you should try to finish this match as quickly as you possibly can anyway. I know Charmander is your friend, but don't hold anything back!"

"Pika!" Pikachu responded, resolutely. With that, the countdown began, and the match started. Malcolm waited to see what Charmander would do, but Paul wasted no time using a card -- a Smog card. Two large panels near the tops of the walls opened up, as thick smog began to billow out, filling the arena! Malcolm groaned. He knew the smoke and smog would just continue to build up even faster now, and that meant only bad news for Pikachu. Pikachu would have to finish Charmander off even faster than he originally thought.

"All right, Pikachu, we've got to be quick. Start out with a direct tackle at Charmander!" Pikachu charged forward, trying to tackle Charmander. Paul and Charmander, however, were expecting it. Just like in their first match against Pikachu, Charmander braced himself, catching Pikachu in mid-tackle. This time, however, Pikachu was much stronger and much more agile than he was the first time, and he easily wrested himself out of Charmander's grip, rolling to the side. Charmander, at Paul's orders, circled around behind Pikachu to try to get a better attack vantage point. "Pikachu, 10 R, draw back and get ready for another attack!"

But, to Malcolm's surprise, Pikachu didn't follow his orders...

Pikachu was quite cocky by this point. After all his wins so far, he figured, he could take Charmander down without Malcolm's help and show him how much better he had gotten. Pikachu had no idea that Charmander had moved -- the loud humming of the machinery all around the arena drowned out the footsteps. Pikachu charged forward again at where Charmander was before, but upon finding Charmander wasn't there, Pikachu stumbled in surprise, tripping and rolling forward, right into a large barrel moving around on a conveyor belt. The barrel fell over, and thick black tar spilled out. Pikachu, in a panic, tried to get back to his feet, but the tar puddle quickly engulfed his feet, getting him stuck to the floor. Malcolm, Paul, and all of the spectators were absolutely shocked by what had just happened; Charmander was also confused by all the noise and Paul's lack of orders.

"Pikachu, what in the hell do you think you're doing?!" Malcolm shouted, furiously. Pikachu pulled his feet, trying to move, but he was quite stuck.

"Pikaaaaaa!" Pikachu cried desperately, begging Malcolm for help. Paul, in the meantime, finally overcame his shock, unable to believe his good fortune.

"Charmander! You won't believe this, but Pikachu is stuck in tar! You probably won't be able to get close enough for an aggressive victory without getting stuck yourself, so go for a passive victory. It'll take some tricky maneuvering, though, so follow my directions exactly!" As Paul began to navigate Charmander towards Pikachu, Malcolm was less than happy with Pikachu.

"Pikachu, what on earth are you thinking?" Malcolm shouted. "You cannot win battles yourself, Pikachu! You've been doing great, but that's because we've been working together! The two of us! You have to trust me and my orders, Pikachu." Malcolm sighed, taking a deep breath to calm himself as he noticed Charmander drawing closer to Pikachu. "We don't have time for this," Malcolm continued, more calmly this time. "I'll deal with you later. For the time being, I'm going to get you out of there, and you're going to follow my orders. You understand me?"

"Pi pikachu," Pikachu replied meekly. He was completely embarrassed. He didn't mean to ignore Malcolm; all he wanted was to make him proud and show him how good he could be. He just hoped Malcolm wasn't too mad, and could forgive him. By this point, Charmander was dangerously close to Pikachu; within a few seconds, he'd be in position to get his muzzle on Pikachu's cock. Malcolm got a sudden idea.

"Pikachu, get ready to jump forward as far and as high as you can on the count of three! One, two, three!" On three, Pikachu did as he was told, and just as he jumped, Malcolm activated the feet springs. With Pikachu's jumping force added to the blast of power the initial spring release gave him, his initial jump had more than enough power to not only send him flying out of the tar (startling Paul) but also land him well behind Charmander on clean ground. Malcolm grinned; this match wasn't over yet!

Charmander spun around, and ran back near Pikachu; the two pokemon were now far away from the tar, back near the center of the arena, and they were at a standstill. The smog, however, had been steadily building in the arena, and it was very thick now. Not only was Malcolm starting to have trouble seeing through the haze, Pikachu was beginning to cough every so often from the smoke. During one of Pikachu's coughs, Charmander quickly charged, and caught him off guard. Pikachu fell to the ground, and Charmander rolled him over, beginning to fuck him roughly from behind. Pikachu managed to squirm out of Charmander's hold and away from him, but neither he nor Malcolm knew exactly how much longer he could last before he would be immobilized coughing. Paul wasted no time in taking advantage of Pikachu's weakness.

"Charmander, Pikachu is really starting to suffer from that smog... now's your chance! Build up the biggest smokescreen you can! Knock him out with it if you have to, do what it takes! Just make sure you take home a win for us!"

"Char char!" Charmander replied with a nod. Malcolm looked down, and gasped as he saw the familiar sight of Charmander taking in a huge breath, holding it as smoke began to build. Malcolm clenched his teeth; if Charmander hit Pikachu with that smokescreen, it was as good as over. He had to think of some way to get away from Charmander's smokescreen or cancel it out... when a memory suddenly flashed through Malcolm's mind. It was a few nights back when the five of them were at dinner, and Charmander was bothering Scyther, blowing smoke at him. When Charmander tried again, Scyther held his mouth shut, and Charmander coughed on the built-up smoke. Malcolm suddenly had his answer!

"Pikachu! Quick, Charmander's 7 F in front of you, get up there and hold his muzzle shut at all costs!" Quick as a flash, Pikachu darted forward, and reached up, grabbing Charmander's muzzle in a death grip. Charmander was caught completely off-guard; he was just about ready to unleash his smokescreen, but now he quickly found he couldn't even open his mouth! Charmander struggled to get free, but it was no use. With nowhere for the smoke to go and no way for Charmander to get clean air, Charmander was forced to gasp, taking in a huge lungful of the smoke, falling backwards as smoke streamed upwards out of his mouth and nostrils. Charmander hacked and gasped as he tried to get some clean air, and Paul was horrified.

"No! Charmander!" he shouted. Malcolm just grinned. It looked like the tides had finally turned in his favor!

It was only then, now that Malcolm had taken care of all the pressing emergencies of the match, that Malcolm even gave thought to using his cards. He looked at his cards, and found the perfect weapon to use at the moment -- Rain. He put in the Rain card, and sprinklers descended from the ceiling of the arena, water falling through the arena. The weather card made the panels with the smog-pumping pipes close, and the rain began to dissipate the smog in the arena. Everything got soaking wet, including the pokemon. Both Charmander and Pikachu were able to breathe much more easily, and Paul looked slightly optimistic -- Charmander had almost regained his composure. Unbeknownst to them, however, Pikachu now had a huge advantage.

"All right, Pikachu, Charmander's almost better, so let's end this match right here and right now. It's time to give your Thunderbolt attack a test run! Grab hold of Charmander's cock!" Pikachu dived forward at Charmander, pinning him to the ground and grabbing a hold of his cock and balls in his paws. Malcolm turned the dial up to the max, and flipped the switch. While Pikachu felt nothing, the water covering Charmander amplified the power of the attack as a searing pain shot through his genitals. Charmander shrieked in absolute agony, and fell to the ground, curled up in a fetal position, crying and fidgeting. Malcolm nodded. "Sorry to do that to you, Charmander, but Pikachu and I aren't about to leave here the second best. Pikachu! Finish him off, quickly!" Pikachu darted around behind Charmander, moving him around to gain access to his tailhole. Pikachu felt sorry for poor Charmander, though, and since he knew Charmander wasn't about to put up a fight anytime soon, Pikachu took his time, pumping in and out of Charmander's tailhole slowly and deliberately. It took longer than it usually did, but Pikachu orgasmed, exploding inside Charmander's tailhole to take the victory!

As soon as his victory was secured, Pikachu sat next to Charmander, curling up next to him and hugging him tightly.

"Pi pikaaa!" Pikachu said in his most apologetic voice, sorry for having to hurt Charmander so much. He licked Charmander's cheek, who just nuzzled Pikachu back. Malcolm and Paul's booths descended, and the two trainers ran over to the pokemon. Paul walked over to Malcolm.

"Well, it looks like the better man won, Malcolm. Congratulations, man, you deserve that victory."

"Thanks. That was one hell of a match, though," Malcolm sighed, relieved it was over. Paul chuckled.

"Yeah." The two looked at Pikachu and Charmander, who was still whimpering softly. "Say," Paul remarked, "is it just me, or are you and Pikachu getting more and more violent? As I recall, most of the pokemon you two have beaten so far have suffered some painful defeats," he teased.

With the match over, Paul and Malcolm took the pokemon back up to Malcolm's room to let them get some rest. Charmander was, by now, feeling much better, even though he was quite disappointed with his loss. He wasted no time in bothering Pikachu, who was trying to sleep, to play, and the two ran around the room, giggling as Charmander tried to get his own aggressive victory here in the room. Malcolm and Paul laughed as they watched the two, but were surprised as the door swung open, revealing a horrified looking Scyther. Malcolm jumped up, worried.

"Scyther! Is something wrong?"

"Have either of you ever watched that Umbreon battle?" Scyther asked. Paul and Malcolm shook their heads; they hadn't gotten the chance to watch any of the Umbreon's battles all tournament. "He's as agile as Pikachu, as fast as Furret, and as strong as Charmander. Maybe even more so. Your finals match isn't going to be easy, Malcolm." Malcolm groaned, but at least he took one thing to heart: Pikachu's battle with Umbreon would be a great opportunity to test Pikachu's skills to their absolute fullest!

[May 06 2005]