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Pokémon:

Quest of a True Master

Chapter 12

-7 days remaining-

The five weeks had gone by much quicker than Mark had expected... and their results were beyond his expectations. Every six days, just as he had planned, Mark had put his Pokémon through unique training regiments he himself had invented, training that had made his Pokémon strong, efficient, self-reliant and most of all, it had brought them back to the way they had used to be, strengthening the bonds he shared with each one of them, renewing his confidence in them, and their confidence in him. By the thirty-fifth day, he had finished the last of his training with Vitesse.

Palm Tree's training -the fly-by Seed Bomb attacks to raise the accuracy of the Tropius and the timing of Mark's judgement. In the five weeks, Palm Tree had continued practicing on his own, with Mark stopping by on occasion to see how he was doing, taking part in the training to make sure his sense of timing stayed sharp and on-point. He even had to repair the targeting circle eventually, so Palm Tree could continue to practice.

Fang's training had been equally fruitful. Like the other Pokémon, he'd run laps every day, improving his stamina and speed. For his exercises, Mark would throw stones at the Mightyena while he balanced himself on top of several logs Mark had arranged, leaping from one to another; this improved Fang's ability to balance, agility and his capacity to evade an attack. Mark tested his speed by throwing a Frisbee and ordering Fang to catch it before it hit the ground, each throw sending it farther and higher. Fang surprised Mark especially on their last test, when the Mightyena had actually jumped ten feet into the air to catch the Frisbee long before it ever neared the grass. Mark had not even known a Mightyena, even his own, was capable of jumping so high!

But Fang's exercises didn't stop there; Mike also tested his bite strength, giving him branches of wood of varying density and playing a sort of tug-of-war game with him, making the Mightyena fight to keep his grip on the branches. Eventually, after several days, the Mightyena's jaws had grown strong enough to outright shear through the branches, thus rendering the tug-of-war game pointless as his bite force had become too great. Mark had also ensured his diet was rich with iron, toughening up Fang's hide to the point he could take a heavy physical hit and keep fighting -tested by a training battle between him and Vitesse. He'd taken a Blaze Kick from her, and though was unquestionably hurt by the attack, he wasn't down.

Third on the training list had been Siren. Mark trained with her by swimming with her, doing laps around the lake at her side -most of the time, she'd leave him in the plumes, easily able to out speed him in the water. For her first exercises, like with Palm Tree, Mark focused on her accuracy, setting up targets at close range for her to hit with her Water Gun, and targets much further away for her to blast with Hydro Pump. She had a harder time with the farther targets even five days into the exercise, and even on the sixth she had to try a second time to hit them all.

The real thing he wanted to make sure was still up to snuff though was her Special Defense; honing that was tricky, so Mark had to do it through Effort Value, pitting her against Coal and Palm Tree regularly to improve her ability to take Special Attacks. If not for her also knowing Recover he'd have had to use a lot of potions to keep her healthy, and he hated putting her through it, but it was the only way to strengthen her endurance. After the last day, though, it proved to be worth it; she could take almost a direct hit from Coal's Flamethrower and barely flinch.

Tanker had not taken as long as the others. His speed and evasion could not be improved -he was too heavy for that, and his defense was all natural, gained from his diet and all the years he'd trained to take hits. Unlike other statistics though, this trait was ingrained into his very physique and could not be lost. So, once again his training was on accuracy, improving the ability to land blows with Iron Head and Iron Tail, along with Rock Throw and Dig, giving him targets to hit and pressuring the Steelix until he could strike them every time. Only four days were spent on this, and Mark had him keep going to maintain his discipline.

Fifth was Coal. Training him had been easy as well, since most of what they had learned months ago were still fresh in Mark's mind, as well as Coal's. For the Charmeleon, though, Mark came up with something different; since Coal balanced both Speed and Special Attack in his repertoire, he and Mark practiced strafing attacks -unleashing Flamethrower or Dragon Pulse while running around his intended target. Vitesse even voluntarily became his target for a session, to give him some experience in using the same kind of tactic against an opponent who was already moving, and unlike the other Pokémon she was also safe from his Flamethrower, as it did minimal damage to her.

Besides that, Coal underwent the same athletic training as the rest, improving his speed and reflexes. He also displayed a rather comical affinity for catching things in his mouth when they were thrown at him, and then spitting them back at whoever tossed them, be it Mark or Vitesse. Not to mention, of course, his love of sneaking up on some of the others in the early morning and scaring them awake. Fang chased him around the valley for hours one day, barking at him. Neither one of them needed to join the jog that morning.

Finally, Vitesse was the last one to undergo training. More than any other Pokémon he had, Mark knew exactly how to train her, because he'd been doing it for five years, since he'd received Vitesse at the age of twelve and started his journey as a Pokémon trainer. He trained her by sparring with her, running with her and giving her challenges to beat, such as running from one end of the valley to the other -she even jumped clear over the lake to beat her previous time, avoiding the biggest obstacle in her path.

Every day, they fought and ran together. At the end of the training regiment, she was as strong as he remembered her; powerful, fast and skilled, utilizing Mark's own martial discipline into her attacks to improve them. She was unique, in the fact she used Pokémon attacks in combination with human attacks; she'd actually turned her Blaze Kick into a roundhouse kick that could topple trees with one clean hit.

They were almost ready...

_____________________________________________________________________________

Riding on SkyClaw's back, Randy descended from over the mountains towards the valley, grumbling a little at how hard it had been to find the place. Brock had not given very good directions to him, and it'd taken him hours, even with SkyClaw's speed, to get there. "Six miles east of Mt. Silver and four north of the Indigo Plateau; like I can tell which way East and North are from up here!" He muttered with greater annoyance.

SkyClaw glanced over her shoulder, looking at Randy quizzically.

"Sorry, just venting," he assured the Salamence.

They kept flying, descending towards the valley. SkyClaw roared as she plunged out of the sky, her rider buffeted by the wind. Randy had to duck low to keep his glasses from flying off, gripping tightly onto the neck of the Dragon-type to anchor himself, else he be torn from her back and sent spiralling into the wind. When the ground was near, SkyClaw reared back and beat her wings harshly to slow her descent, slamming Randy into her back and almost knocking the wind out of him.

When everything was still, Randy tumbled off of SkyClaw's back, somersaulting over her shoulder and landing seat-first at her left foreleg, panting. "You and your speedy landings," he grumbled.

SkyClaw growled at him a little, and then leaned her neck forward with her mouth wide open, biting down on the top of his head.

Her bite wasn't harsh, but it was enough for Randy to feel pressure around the top of its head, not to mention set him off in panic; his eyes bugged wide open and he flailed his arms. "Hey, I was only joking! Don't make a snack out of me!"

SkyClaw released Randy's head from her jaws, snorting a little and irking an eyebrow as if saying 'serves you right', before she glanced off to the side, hearing someone approaching. Randy rubbed his head where SkyClaw had chomped him, glad she had avoided using her teeth, but followed her gaze when he heard footsteps. Approaching the two was a Charmeleon, moving in a half-sprint as it made its way over to them. Randy stood up, patting SkyClaw on the neck before approaching the Charmeleon, kneeling down to eye level with it.

"That you, Coal?" Randy inquired.

"Ack-ukuk," the Charmeleon croaked in confirmation.

"Hey little fella," said Randy, tickling Coal's chin with his finger. "Where's Mark at?"

Coal turned from Randy and pointed with his right arm towards a camp site near the lake. From there, Randy could see some activity coming from the shore; it looked like two people were trading punches, non-violently -a sparring match, perhaps. Randy stood up and motioned for SkyClaw to follow, before he walked with Coal down to the camp, picking up into a jog after a few steps. SkyClaw followed diligently, although her short legs were not built for running and she fell behind a little, eventually deciding to just take to the air and glide down alongside Randy and Coal.

Once they got to the lake, Randy had a better look at what was actually happening. The two having the sparring match were actually Mark and Vitesse; they had ceased trading blows and were now circling each other, both of them with fists raised and eyes locked. Randy decided not to interrupt the match, standing quietly and watching from a safe distance to see how it played out. 'When Mark told me he sparred with his own Blaziken, I didn't think he was actually serious. Now I've seen otherwise.'

Vitesse made the first move, taking a step forward and feinting at jab at Mark; instinctively the trainer raised his arm to block, falling for the attack, and then Vitesse made her real move, turning herself in a one-eighty and kicking at his legs. Mark barely saw the attack coming and stepped back enough only his front leg was hit, but it didn't throw off his balance. Before Vitesse could regain her balance, Mark stepped forward and delivered a punch to her stomach.

Randy noticed Mark pulled the punch at the last instant, his fist only grazing Vitesse's feathers, but no actually punch had landed. Both fighters returned to their guarded stances, weaving and ducking from side to side as they waited for the other to make the next move. Mark did, lunging forward with a kick; Vitesse caught his foot, turned and hurled Mark through the air, launching him towards the lake. Mark flapped his arms as he found himself soaring out to the water, yelping in surprise.

"SkyClaw," Randy said, plainly.

Understanding her trainer, the Salamence sprang into action, launching herself into the air with a mighty leap and flying out towards Mark just as he began to drop towards the surface of the lake. She narrowly managed to catch Mark on her back, the trainer grunting as he landed and felt himself behind carried through the air.

"The heck?" Mark asked, sitting up. He looked over his shoulder, seeing the blue scales he was lying on and the red wings stretched out at the sides. "A Salamence, here?" He asked, until he noticed the band worn around her neck, spotting the shiny mega stone on the front when the dragon-type turned to look at him. Realization dawned on him in a fraction of a second, recognizing the accessory "Hey, SkyClaw! But if you're here, then..."

Mark glanced back towards the camp, his suspicions confirmed as he spotted Randy down by his tent, standing with Coal and the other Pokémon. He held on and braced himself as SkyClaw circled back, waiting for her to land again before he hopped off of her back. "Thanks, girl," he bade the Salamence, patting her on the neck in gratitude.

SkyClaw rumbled throatily in response.

"Hey, buddy!" Randy greeted Mark as he approached. The two bumped fists heartily as they came in arms reach of one another. "I see Vitesse's technique is good; she sure threw you for a loop."

"Very funny," Mark said, unamused by Randy's pun. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"Seriously?" Randy asked.

"Well I thought you were coming day after tomorrow; it's not even the end of the fifth week yet."

"It's not like I could spend the entire time at the slots in Celadon, man -my finances would never allow it, and the trainers in the fighting dojo in Saffron were barely a warmup for me. Besides, you've been gone for thirty-five days; it is the end of the fifth week."

Mark flushed with embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck. "Whoops... guess I lost a couple of days in all the training."

At that second, Mark felt someone bop him in the back of the head. He rubbed where he was hit, and looked over his shoulder to see Siren had bumped him, whining at him irritably. "Hey, like you brought the calendar, girl."

"A trainer, criticized by his own Pokémon; wish I had my camera out," Randy remarked, snickering.

"Oh, screw you too, man!" Mark retorted.

Randy only kept laughing at how flustered Mark was getting, all of the other Pokémon joining in as well. Mark scowled for a moment, but it didn't take long for a smile to creep across his face too. Soon, he joined in the laughter, until everyone settled back down. Having an idea, Mark glanced at Randy. "Well, why don't you let the rest of your Pokémon out too, give them some time to warm up? After that, we can proceed with the final test."

"Good idea," returned Randy. One by one, he picked out the Poké Balls in his belt, activating them and tossing them into the air, releasing his Pokémon into the valley. "Come on out, guys!"

One by one, Randy's team of Pokémon appeared; Cairo, Velox, Gemstar, Shadow and of course Thorn, emerged from the confines of their Poké Balls, all of them basking morning sunlight and breathing in the fresh mountain air. When the two groups saw one another, they started to interact; although none of the Pokémon were of the same species or made the same sounds, it was well-know they could still communicate with one another, as if they had separate languages of their own that each one understood.

Mark clapped his hands sharply, his Pokémon immediately standing at attention as the clap caught their ears -or whatever passed for ears with Tanker. Seeing this, Randy's Pokémon also glanced over, curious to what Mark had to say. "Okay everyone, listen up," he began. "I'd like each of you to pick a partner from Randy's crew; we're going to be having our last training test today, but it's going to be a little different than the usual routines."

"What you have in mind?" Randy asked.

"Last team standing," replied Mark. "Each of our Pokémon choose their opponent; whoever has the most still standing at the end is the winner."

"A six on six all-out battle, eh?" Randy asked, grinning broadly. "I like the way you think, but are you sure you can keep track of your whole group and issue orders to all of them?"

"I trust my guys to decide for themselves; I'll jump in when I can but for the most part I know they can handle themselves."

"You sure put a lot of faith in them," Randy stated. "Fine then; I'll trust mine to do the same." He turned to face his group. "Alright, guys; pick your opponents. It's time for a brawl!" He glanced at Thorn. "You're the senior member; you go first."

Thorn nodded back to Randy, stepping forward and glancing at Mark's six Pokémon, rumbling in its throat as it looked from one to another.

As he checked, his eyes fell on Coal, who was giving him a rather dirty look. Their eyes met, glaring at one another for a short moment, neither one making a sound. Just when Thorn was about to look away, Coal sprang up and roared at him, startling the Sceptile somewhat; Coal touched back down and laughed at Thorn, slapping his tail against the ground as he clutched his stomach. Thorn scowled at the Charmeleon, fixing him with an angry stare, before he pointed at Coal with his arm.

"You pick Coal?" Randy asked.

"Guess Coal ticked him off," Mark stated.

"He might be biting off more than he can chew," remarked Randy. "Coal's tough for a Charmeleon but Thorn's one of the toughest Pokémon I've ever raised."

"You saying he can't win?" Mark asked Randy, a stern look crossing his face.

"Of course he can't; Thorn never loses."

"Vitesse beat him back at the League!"

"Coal isn't Vitesse; he's not as strong as her!"

"We'll see about that!"

"Rawr!" Coal growled at Thorn.

"GRAAAH!!" Thorn roared back, loud enough that Coal actually cringed.

Vitesse was next to step forward, and she pointed at Cairo; the Lucario narrowed his eyes as he saw her finger aimed at him. "Seems Vitesse wants a rematch with Cairo," stated Randy.

"Their last battle was undecided," admitted Mark. "Okay, Vitesse and Cairo then."

The next three to step up to pick their opponents were Palm Tree, Shadow and Siren; Palm Tree approached SkyClaw, Shadow to Fang, and then Siren to Gemstar. Velox was the last, the poor Zangoose finding itself standing in the shadow of Tanker. His pink eyes grew wide as he looked up at the Steelix, who grinned menacingly down at him, a rumbling noise echoing from his large mouth.

"I think Velox is a little freaked out," Mark stated.

"You're not kidding; I haven't seen him shiver like that since we fought Glacia at the Hoenn League."

Velox chattered excitedly before he turned and ran over to Cairo, pawing at him and chattering something to the Lucario. Cairo's left ear dropped as he said something back to Velox, which to the two trainers sounded like 'Arru, rah reh-oo,' to which prompted Velox to look at Vitesse, seeming no more confident about fighting her than taking on Tanker. He peered at the others, seeing if anyone else would trade places with him, but they were already leaving to go fight their battles.

"Sorry, Velox; that's the way it is," Randy said to the Zangoose.

"Tanker, he's all yours," Mark called to the Steelix.

~~~~~

The Pokémon spread out to get plenty of room for their upcoming battles. Coal and Thorn were headed over to the trees, keeping pace with each other until Thorn suddenly sprinted on ahead. Interpreting it as a challenge to race, Coal sprinted after him, but Thorn proved to be the faster of the two, leaving Coal in the dust before he vanished into the trees. Coal ran as fast as he could, trying to catch the Sceptile, but quickly lost sight of him; even as he entered the trees, he could see no sign of Thorn anywhere.

Coal growled angrily, searching for any sign of Thorn. The trees were still and as silent as the grave, without a sound from the Sceptile -no way for Coal to track him in that dense copse of trees. The Charmeleon sniffed the air, trying to detect the scent of Thorn, but a Sceptile smelled just like a plant, and he was surrounded by plants; it was like trying to smell a single ear of corn in an entire field.

Unknown to the Charmeleon, Thorn was actually right over his head, leaping from one tree to another to avoid detection, peering down at Coal with a predatory gaze as he waited for his opportunity to attack. Coal, still oblivious to where the Sceptile was, started to venture deeper into the trees, when he heard the leaves rustling overhead; spinning around, he looked up just in time to see Thorn diving at him, his slitted yellow eyes the first and last thing he saw before stars danced across his vision as Thorn spun and struck him with his tail.

Coal was sent sprawling by the hit from Thorn's tail, eyes rolling in a daze, until the Charmeleon shook his head and cleared it, just in time to stop the next oncoming attack from Thorn; the Sceptile charged at him with a leaf blade, slicing at Coal, but the quick-footed Charmeleon jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the attack, spinning in midair and throwing an Ember attack from his tail, bombarding Thorn with small fireballs.

Thorn evaded some of the flames but another scorched his flank, making him wince. Coal then rushed forward and slammed into Thorn's gut with a Headbutt. Thorn's cheeks puffed out prior to exhaling a rush of air, followed by a grunt as Coal delivered a Fire Punch to his chin -Coal was not a physical attacker, typically, but having spent so much time with Vitesse, he'd learned a number of her moves.

Thorn however... was not so impressed.

The Sceptile, in the aftermath of the Fire Punch, had suffered only a scorched chin, and lowered his head to glare at Coal again. Coal's pupils narrowed as he saw the look on the Sceptile's face, followed by an attempt to flee as Thorn dropped to all fours, but he didn't get far before attack came. The seeds on Thorn's back launched into the air, hitting branches and canopies to shower Coal with debris, and one stray seed that landed in the Charmeleon's path, exploding upon impact with the soil and sending Coal flying backward.

Meanwhile, outside of the forest, Cairo and Vitesse had already started their battle. Cairo traded several punches with the Blaziken, sometimes their paws and talons actually collided mid-swing, sending jolts of pain through their arms, but not enough to hinder either of them. With Vitesse being so much larger than Cairo, she had a reach advantage over the Lucario, but Cairo had incredible reflexes, dodging half of her attacks with ease while making counter attacks, though usually he missed due to her being out of reach; his arms and legs were too short to land a decisive attack on Vitesse.

But, paws weren't all he had.

After a punch across the face from Vitesse staggered him, Cairo brought both paws to his side, a light forming between them and growing rapidly to a sizeable sphere of energy. He spun around and hurled the Aura Sphere at Vitesse, too quick for her to evade. The sphere hit and sent the Blaziken flying. Fighting off the daze from the impact, she broke her fall by landing on her hands, somersaulting back onto her feet and skidding to a stop, regaining her footing and immediately setting off with a Flame Charge, launching herself towards Cairo with her body ablaze, crowing with fury.

Cairo's eyes widened as Vitesse raced towards him, putting up his arms in defense only to be launched off of his feet when she collided with him, her greater weight and speed rival to his own sending him backward, hitting the ground with a jarring thud and skidding across the dirt. Cairo tried sitting up, but Vitesse was on him before he could, landing over him and pinning him back down with one hand, her other held up in position to punch him again if he tried to get up.

Their gazes met for a moment, a ghostly silence falling over the two. Before long though, Vitesse's expression softened; she stood up, offering a talon to Cairo. The Lucario looked at her hand for a moment, before placing his paw in it and letting her hoist him up to his feet, smiling at her.

Palm Tree plunged towards SkyClaw out of the air, pulling up at the last minute as he spat a seed bomb towards her, but the swift Salamence effortlessly swerved out of the way of the attack, circling around to deliver her own attack. She breathed a Flamethrower at the Tropius, narrowly missing him, while Palm Tree strafed to the side to avoid a collision with her. He could not outrun her, however; when she circled back a second tie, she pursued him, flying right on his tail and forcing him to dance side-to-side to evade her Flamethrower and Dragonbreath attacks.

What SkyClaw didn't know, however, is that Palm Tree was using this time to gather energy from the sun, feeling it coursing through the veins of his wings and filling his body with power. When he had enough stored, he veered to the side, rearing back to let the wind catch his wings to slow him down, causing SkyClaw to soar past him. Palm Tree fired a mighty Solarbeam at her, the massive beam of white-hot power racing through the air towards the Salamence.

It scored a direct hit. SkyClaw was blown out of control by the force of the Solarbeam, and sent careening through the air, falling harshly to the ground with bone-jarring force, kicking up a cloud of dust upon impact.

Palm Tree stopped to gather his breath, beating his wings gently to float where he was as he panted. Using Solarbeam took a lot of energy out of him, and he needed to Synthesis for a moment so he could regain his strength. However, it seemed SkyClaw was not out of commission yet, nor would she give him that chance; more ticked off than battered, the Salamence soared back into the air, making a beeline straight for Palm Tree. By the time the Tropius saw him coming, she air-tackled him full-tilt, this time making him the one falling out of the sky...

Palm Tree crashed down near the shore, but did nothing to disrupt the battle in the lake between Siren and Gemstar. The Starmie was racing across the water like a surface torpedo, leaving three-feet high plumes in its wake, while Siren futilely tried to catch it, but she was not fast enough to catch Gemstar. Eventually, she stopped trying to chase it, and instead fired a Water Gun after it, attempting to knock Gemstar off course. Her attacks fell short, however; Gemstar was a hard target to hit, even with all the training Siren had done.

Suddenly, Gemstar turned and raced towards Siren, angling the tip of its head forward and launching a Water Gun at her; the Milotic turned her head and shut her eyes as she was struck square in the face, unable to see Gemstar racing past her. When she opened her eyes again, the Starmie had vanished. Siren searched for the starfish, squeaking curiously, until she heard a splash behind her. Siren turned, and looked up to see Gemstar spinning into the air above, generating static electricity as it ascended.

Siren was struck head-on by a Thunderbolt, screaming in pain as the electric attack engulfed her, but she resisted it, gritting her teeth until it subsided. Glaring angrily at Gemstar, she fired a Hydro Pump before it could land back in the lake, hitting Gemstar square in the face and sending it flying from the pressure of her Hydro Pump. While it was blown away, Siren used Recover, healing itself from the earlier Thunderbolt attack.

Gemstar, though having landed far away, also used Recover to heal itself, before it used Surf, riding a wave of water back to the lake; Siren turned to see the small tsunami coming her way, and spotted Gemstar on top of it. With a glint in her eye, Siren took in a deep breath. When she opened her mouth seemingly to exhale, an orange beam of light was surging out of her mouth. With a cry of fury she sent a mighty Hyper Beam towards Gemstar, striking the Starmie off of its little tsunami; Gemstar went flying a second time, spiralling like a kid's top.

It stuck into the ground near Randy, making its trainer jump in fright. "Whoa, what the heck?!" He demanded.

Velox dodged around stone after stone, trying to make his way out to open ground, but with Tanker hot on his tail, he may as well have been running from a bulldozer; unlike him, Tanker didn't have to go around everything, because nothing stopped him; he crushed boulders, toppled stalactites and smashed ledges as he pursued Velox, the Zangoose's speed being the only thing that was keeping him from being flattened while he desperately sought room to move.

Tanker had chased Velox out of the valley and into the rocky outcroppings outside its perimeter; once there, Velox had no room to use his speed. He was the fastest Pokémon in Randy's party, faster than even Thorn or Cairo, but having to dodge obstacles tended to slow down even the fastest runner. Now he was trying to find his way back out of the outcropping but everytime he got close, Tanker stopped him with a rock throw, and the cycle repeated; it was getting to be very exasperating for the Zangoose because he was mostly a physical attacker, and Tanker was virtually invincible against such attacks.

Chattering in frustration, Velox was once more trying to make for the way out to the open again, but not eight steps from it, the rocks on the side exploded, and Tanker emerged again with that diabolical metal grin that made Velox's spine tingle with terror. Squeaking in terror, Velox ran back the other way, with Tanker hot on his tail, running, running...

No ground.

Velox squeaked in surprise as he suddenly felt himself falling, flapping his arms as if trying to fly as he dropped into a ravine he had failed to notice before. He hit the ground hard, stunned for a moment until he heard Tanker coming, and then was back up again, running down the narrow ravine. The Steelix appeared over the ledge, plunging into the ravine before turning and chasing after Velox once more, the iron spikes protruding from his body tearing into the rock as he chased.

Velox ran for several moments, trying to evade Tanker, but even panicked he started to notice the sounds of the Steelix were getting fainter, until they stopped completely. He slowed down, stopping mid-step and blinking in confusion before looking back over his shoulder. What the Zangoose saw was almost comical...

Tanker had come to a complete stop in the ravine, because his spikes had caused a rockslide and half-buried him, leaving him stuck in the middle of the ravine. Velox stared in total bewilderment, trying to process just what he was seeing, before his cheeks puffed out and he fell onto his back, exploding with a chittering laughter. He laughed so hard that he grabbed his stomach, curling into a fetal position with tears in his eyes.

And finally, not far from where Tanker and Velox were having their... battle, Fang was chasing Shadow through a second ravine, barking fiercely as they leapt from rock to rock; Shadow stopped only to taunt Fang before he was off again, making the Mightyena more and more annoyed as he tried to catch the Zoroark. Fang made a leap for Shadow as he started to gain some ground on him, chomping at his leg only for him to leap away at the last second, sending Fang skidding across the rocks.

Fang stood up, shaking himself to get the dust and debris off of his fur, and looked up to see Shadow perched on the ledge above, laughing at the Mightyena. Fang growled, eyes narrowing as a violet light appeared in his mouth; Shadow watched, wondering what was happening, until Fang opened his mouth and launched the Shadow Ball attack at him, surprising the Zoroark and stumbling him as it hit him in the face.

Fang leapt up to the ledge, growling savagely as he landed and went right for Shadow. The Zoroark hurriedly rolled aside, evading the imminent bite from Fang, and got to his feet, and attacked with Shadow Claw. Since both Pokémon were Dark-types, Shadow Ball or Shadow Claw were all that effective against them. Shadow Claw proved even less so; Fang's sturdy hide and natural resistance withstood the attack easily, and Shadow was left wide open for an Ice Fang.

Fang bite onto his arm, making Shadow howl in pain from the force of the chomp. He drew back his other arm and bashed Fang across the face, trying to make him let go to no avail, until he kicked Fang in the underbelly, forcing air from his lungs and his jaw open, which allowed Shadow to pull his arm free, turning and running from the Mightyena. Fang yipped in annoyance and pursued, igniting the chase once more.

Shadow turned a corner, causing Fang to lose sight of him. He charged around the bend, finding himself at the mouth of a dark cave. Fang stopped, looking around for Shadow to no avail; sniffing the air confirmed what he suspected -that the Zoroark had run into the cave. Snorting, Fang padded cautiously into the cave, sniffing the ground to follow Shadow's scent. Unfortunately, unlike a Zoroark, Mightyena did not possess night vision, since it was actually a Plains-dwelling Pokémon, hunting during the day -contrary to most Dark-types which were night-time Pokémon. He could not see very well in the cave, even as his eyes adjusted to the darkness within.

Shadow's scent stopped abruptly in the middle of the cavern floor, as if it simply vanished and stopped him from finding the scent again. Fang raised his head, grumbling in his throat as he sought his target; he could still smell the Zoroark, but he couldn't see him anywhere. Fang shut his eyes, the lids closing as he inhaled deeply through his nostrils, getting a good whiff of the smell of Shadow...

Out of the wall behind him, Shadow emerged; having used its illusion ability to meld with the rock he had become completely invisible until he stepped soundlessly out from his hiding place, eyes fixed on Fang. He opened his muzzle, flames appearing over his tongue -he was prepping a Flamethrower! With a sneak attack on the Mightyena, the battle would be his.

Fang, with his eyes shut, heightened his other senses ever so slightly. He smelled Shadow, but he also smelled smoke. His ears flicked up as he heard the crackling of a fire. The Mightyena's eyes flared open, rolling to the left as he finally figured out where Shadow was, just in the nick of time. Shadow breathed a cone of flames from his muzzle, sending them spreading over the floor when Fang leap clear out of the way, evading the sneak-attack, and now Shadow was wide open.

Spinning around, Fang's jaws opened wide, cold mist flowing from his teeth, as he lunged for Shadow, and bit him once more, bringing yet another howl out of the Zoroark...

~~~~~

"SkyClaw seems to think they're up here," Randy stated as he, along with Mark, descended from the air above the ravine. "I guess she can smell them."

Mark dropped down off of Palm Tree's back after the Tropius landed, detecting a disappointed hiss from Palm Tree. Mark turned to him, and smiled gently, reaching over to pet his neck. "It's okay, Palm Tree; you tried. Just because you didn't beat SkyClaw doesn't mean your training wasn't a success. Every road has bumps; you just need to face them."

"Coal sure looked like he got the worst of his fight with Thorn, too," agreed Randy. "I feel sorry for the little guy."

"Yeah... I suppose he did bite off more than he could chew with that one," Mark confessed. "Open mouth, insert foot; despite my confidence in Coal, beating Thorn is no easy feat, especially not for a young Charmeleon."

"Eh, it happens; I've got the same confidence in my guys too so I suppose the feeling's mutual," Randy replied. "Now we just need to find the others and see how things turned out for them."

"Shouldn't we have looked for Cairo and Vitesse first?" Mark suggested.

"With the energy those two have, they're probably still sparring," Randy returned. "And if they are, we'd never be able to catch up with them -better to just let them come back on their own."

"I suppose you're right," agreed Mark.

SkyClaw sniffed the ground a little, glancing to the sides before she pointed straight ahead with her tail. Ahead of the four was a rock wall with a corner, which led around to a cave. Outside the cave, they found Fang dragging Shadow out from the blackness, the Zoroark lying flat on the ground, shivering and... oddly blue tinted, ice covering most of its body.

"Whoops," Mark said. "Looks like Shadow got hit with Ice Fang; he's starting to freeze."

"Got any Ice Heals?"

"Back in the camp I do, but I have something better for right now," returned Mark, producing a Poké Ball from his vest. "Coal, come on out," he said, popping open the Poké Ball to let the Charmeleon out. Coal staggered a little as he landed, having not caught his second wind from his battle with Thorn just yet, but he stood firm, glancing at Mark to see what he needed. "Sorry to call you out, Coal, but we need some heat." He pointed past the Charmeleon to the shivering Shadow. "Think you can warm him up?"

Coal croaked in response, grunting with each step as he stepped over to the chilled Zoroark. He stared at Shadow for a moment... before he suddenly began to inhale!

"WAIT!" Mark barked, making Coal stop in his tracks, looking at Mark questioningly. "When I said 'warm' I didn't mean char-broil!" He sighed. "Just use your body heat." Coal looked at him oddly, making Mark groan. "Lie down on his body."

Coal croaked, turning back to Shadow and stepping over to his side before he laid down on Shadow, draping himself over the Zoroark. Coal visibly shuddered as he felt how cold Shadow was, and understood then why he was really doing this. Pulling more of his body up he curled up on Shadow's chest and stomach, letting as much of his natural body heat flow into him as possible. Charmeleon had a naturally high body temperature like all fire-type Pokémon, and to poor Shadow the young one lying draped over him felt like a hot water bottle, quickly warming him.

Mark walked over to Fang, kneeling down and petting him on the head. "Judging by Shadow's rampaging chill, you must've won, eh boy?"

"_Ark!"_Fang chimed happily.

"Man, Fang beat my sneakiest Pokémon?" Randy asked, clearly impressed. "That's one smart Mightyena."

"You know it," returned Mark, scratching Fang behind the ears.

After a few moments, Shadow had stopped shivering, and let out a pleased sigh as he sat up, looking at Coal. He sat up momentarily, smiling warmly at Coal as he brought up a paw and hugged the Charmeleon; Coal grunted as he was squeezed in Shadow's arm, but didn't try to squirm free, knowing Shadow was just showing his appreciation to Coal for warming him, so he simply settled into it, too tired to care that much.

"Well, we found Shadow and Fang," stated Mark. "Now we just need to figure out where Tanker and Velox ended up."

"Tanker sure won't be hard to spot," Randy remarked with a snicker. "He probably left a path of destruction wherever he went."

"Don't make fun of my Steelix; he's big, but he's not clumsy."

The scene was almost too much to bear...

Tanker was wedged in the middle of the ravine, unable to get himself free, while Velox taunted him from a stone's throw away. Tanker groaned as he tried to shut out the mocking from the Zangoose to no avail, and felt horribly embarrassed when he saw Mark and Randy watching him from up on the ledge above the ravine, both trainers gawking and bewildered by what they saw in the pass. All along Tanker's body, rocks had piled on top of him, and the spikes jutting out from his form were buried deep in the stone walls of the narrow pass.

Randy pushed up his glasses, an eyebrow arched as he turned and looked at Mark with a narrow-eyed gaze. "What was that about 'big, not clumsy'?" Randy asked.

Mark rolled his eyes to look at Randy blankly. "Bite me."

~~~~~

Mark had to get Tanker out of the landslide by calling him back to his Poké Ball; the rocks fell to the ground noisily when Tanker was converted to a form of energy and drawn into the ball, where Mark let him back out. With that, the group returned to the valley, descending from the mountain wall and making their way to the campsite, where Mark got to work preparing some food for everybody, starting with the Pokémon.

While Mark worked, Randy set on a stool nearby, legs crossed and tapping his foot as he waited, eyes turned to the afternoon sky. "Okay, so, Fang and Siren won their battles," he said, reminiscing the results of the six battles. "Thorn and Skyclaw won theirs, while Tanker and Velox was indecisive because Tanker got stuck, though Velox did evade him successfully for a while... still, hard to call that a win."

"Why was Velox so freaked out anyway?" Mark asked.

"Why? Tanker's huge, why else?" Randy asked. "Any living thing is often intimidated by something they're outsized by. Plus, Velox is a physical attacker; he probably didn't think he could hurt Tanker."

"Shouldn't that make Tanker the decisive winner?" Mark suggested.

"Well, you know me; even if my Pokémon have their own specializations they have variety in attacks just for when things get hairy," Randy pointed out. "Velox is no exception; it just so happens he knows Fire Blast."

Mark looked at Randy with some surprise. "A Normal-type can use Fire Blast?"

"I know; odd, huh? But yeah, he knows it, and Tanker can't really take Special Attacks that well, right?"

"Right... I guess it's still indecisive."

"The result depends on Cairo and Vitesse's match, then." Randy glanced off randomly, looking for nothing in particular. "Where are those two anyway? Even they should've burned out by now."

"Think maybe they exhausted themselves?" Mark suggested.

"Maybe... we should go look?" Randy added.

"Nah, the smell of the food will bring them," Mark assured. "They're probably resting somewhere, but the wind will carry the smell of the cooking. Soon as they get a whiff of that, they'll come running -especially once Vitesse smells her favorite dish." He looked at Randy. "What does Cairo like?"

"Well, he does really like fish," replied Randy.

"I... did not bring any fish... no luck there. We'll have to just hope he'll come back with Vitesse then."

"Yep."

Moments passed, and Mark served up meals to all of the Pokémon. Seconds after handing the last dish to Velox, he heard a familiar cluck from nearby; Mark turned to see Vitesse and Cairo had finally arrived back, both of them covered in fresh bruises and breaks in skin indicating they had a harsh battle together, nor did they seem at all hindered by their injuries.

Mark noticed quickly that neither one seemed at all displeased; battered and injured, not to mention one of them had to have lost the battle, but both the Lucario and the Blaziken were positively beaming, like they'd had the time of their lives. It struck him as a little odd, but just as he was about to question it, Randy stepped in first, approaching Cairo. "Hey, where have you two been?" Randy asked the Lucario.

"_Arru,"_returned Cairo, looking at Vitesse.

"Just hanging out?" Randy asked. "Well, you two battled right? Who won?"

_"Chaka,"_Vitesse replied, jerking her thumb towards herself.

"_Ru,"_Cairo agreed, pointing at the Blaziken with his paw.

"She won?" Randy asked.

"Vittese, you won?" Mark added, looking over with a smile forming on his face as he peered at his Blaziken. "You beat Cairo?"

"_Chak!"_Vitesse returned in confirmation, winking at Mark.

"WHOO!" Mark cheered, running over to Vitesse and practically throwing himself at her; the two embraced and spun around joyously, both of them cheering loudly as they hugged so tightly they nearly went blue in the face. Taking a breath, they pulled apart, Mark looking up at Vitesse's face. "Then we're back to capacity."

"Well, with that, it means you've won the definitive, Mark," said Randy.

Mark turned to Randy, both he and Vitesse nodding. "Yes, we did," he said. "And that means our training is complete." He looked at Vitesse again, putting a hand on her shoulder as he turned and peered to the south, in the direction of the Indigo Plateau; he couldn't see it from within the valley, but he knew where it was; he'd seen it on a map enough times to discern its exact location, even from a place that was not recorded upon one. "And it's time for us to take on Lance, the Dragon Master."

Mark clenched his free hand into a fist, eyes furrowing with determination. Finally, he was ready to resume his journey.

~~~~~

-6 days remaining

The rest of the afternoon and the night were spent relaxing, all of the Pokémon resting themselves for the morrow. First thing in the morning, Mark packed his camping gear with help from Randy, taking down the tent that had been Mark's temporary home for over a month, followed by cleaning and drying the dishes before packing them as well. With Palm Tree and SkyClaw dividing the weight between themselves for faster travel, the two trainers left the valley behind.

Mark looked back at that valley one more time, feeling a sense of melancholy as it became smaller as he rose into the air. He'd enjoyed it there; a natural wonder of surprising comfort, lots of space, plenty of solitude and it had served him and his Pokémon well, helping him train them for the challenges ahead. One day, maybe, he'd go back there to train again -maybe if he ever got some additional Pokémon, that's where he'd take them. 'I'll have to remember to thank Brock for telling me about that place when we get back to Pewter City,' he noted thoughtfully.

Rising higher upon the back of his Tropius, Mark turned his eyes forward, seeing the cloud so close he thought he could reach out and grab them. Hanging on to Palm Tree's neck tightly, he felt the cool wind rushing around him, but his blood was hot with anticipation. He was about to go do battle with one of the most powerful Pokémon Trainers that ever lived; a master of Dragon-Types, who although were rewarding to have, were tough to raise -to even have one obeying you diligently was a testament to the fortitude of the trainer, but Lance had dozens of dragons, found all over the world. Whatever six he kept with him, Mark had little doubt in his mind they would be one of his greatest challenges.

Already, he went over who to bring to the battle. 'Coal might be too weak... but his Dragon Pulse may be too vital for me to keep him out of the battle. Vitesse has Dual Chop as well, so she's in. Most Dragon-type attacks are Special Attacks so I need to be careful if I'm going to use Tanker at all. Siren and Fang are definite; with the Ice attacks they both know they may be my best chance to beat Lance.'

He looked at Palm Tree. 'But as much as I hate to think it, I can't count on Palm Tree; he wasn't able to beat SkyClaw, so beating Lance's dragons might be out of his league. I adore this big fellow, but neither of his types have any advantage over Dragon-types, while most dragons can use Fire-type attacks... I can't risk using Palm Tree unless I have no other choice. I need to focus on the others.

'First and foremost, Lance's most famous and strongest Pokémon -his Dragonite, that's the one I have to beat. Siren's the only one who can survive against that Dragonite, Vitesse won't stand a chance. I'll use Vitesse's Mega form and Fang to take on his other dragons, with Coal as a backup for all three of them. If he has any physical attackers, I'll switch to Tanker.' He nodded to himself, confident. "This will work," he muttered.

The flight did not take long. Soon, they saw the Indigo Plateau, home of the Pokémon League, on the horizon. Mark took in a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself for what he was heading towards; as if sensing his confliction and increasing eagerness, Palm Tree flew harder and faster, quickening their journey to the high rise on the mountainside. To the west lay Mt. Silver, the great mountain resting on the border between Kanto and Johto, reaching high into the sky as if to grasp the clouds, blanketing the land to the west with its shadow cast by the light of the rising, morning sun.

As the plateau neared, the massive structure resting high above the land overlooking Kanto to the east and the vast 'Victory Road' below, where aspiring Leaguers were no doubt doing battle with other competitors as their final test before the next Pokémon League challenge. Would-be Champions, clashing like small armies -even from up there in the skies, Mark could feel the vigour that arose like smoke from that place.

But that vigour was nothing compared to how his heart pounded in his chest for his coming battle with the world's greatest Dragon trainer...