The last two days of the convention proved to be a marvelling experience for Randy and his Pokémon. He shopped for all kinds of memorabilia to add to his growing collection, attended various celebrity events and took part in enjoyable activities that made the days pass all too quickly for him. On the last day, he frowned as he heard the convention center administration announce that the doors would soon be closing, and the fun-filled venture was now over.

            He stayed one more night in Celadon to rest up for the trip back to the camp site and rejoin Mark. As he lay in bed that evening, waiting to sleep, he wondered how his companion's training was progressing; he recalled his last conversation with Mark, noting how eager he had been to get started and simply unwilling to wait, and could not help but admire his friend's ambition. Mark was out to take on a challenge few other trainers dared, and was intent on seeing it through the end and put every ounce of effort he could muster into it.

            'It's sure to be quite the spectacle, seeing him battle Red,' he thought as his eyes slowly shut. 'I wonder if maybe he might just be able to beat him?' Was his last thought as he slipped away into his dreams.

            The next morning, he slept in for an extra hour, and packed up his belongings before he headed to the post office to have his memorabilia sent back to Hoenn, rather than carry it all around with him. It was unlikely he'd be returning home anytime soon, now that he was travelling with Mark, and he couldn't very well keep a treasure trove of collectibles with him as he travelled from region to region -especially when there might be more to collect, not to mention hazards of the road that could damage the items.

            Addressing the package to his mother and including a letter with it asking her to take the items to his house, he paid the postage fee and left it in their hands, reminding them that the contents were fragile. With that, he left the post office, calling Skyclaw from her Poké Ball and climbing onto her back, where she took flight and carried him out of the city, following his directions to head back to the camp site.

            “Well girl, our plans may have changed in the long run but I suspect we have more excitement waiting for us, travelling with Mark," he said. “I think this is going to turn into quite the memorable journey."

            She grunted in reply, though he wasn't sure if it was out of agreement or skepticism.

            Meanwhile, at the campsite...

            Mark ducked under Vitesse's incoming punch, slowed only by the power bracer worn on her arm, and retaliated with a jab of his own, successfully catching her in the stomach. She huffed, absorbing the punch with her abdominal muscles and then swinging with her other fist, catching Mark in the shoulder as he tried to get out of the way.

            “Come on, girl; keep at it!" Mark urged her on, and put up his guard again in time to block an oncoming kick that nearly stumbled him. She was still wearing the power anklets he'd given her only days before, and though she was slowed by them, her kicks could still easily send Mark flying if she wasn't holding back as she was.

            All around the sparring trainer and Blaziken, Mark's other Pokémon were undergoing their own training regiments. Coal and Siren were target practicing, using projectiles hurled skyward by Tanker as their targets to work on their precision, while Fang and Saber sparred together as well, the Mightyena ducking and dodging the swiping blades of Saber, honing his agility under the Scyther's watchful eye, and sometimes even pursuing Saber when he moved to change location. Fang was wearing the power anklets that previously Coal was wearing, to better develop his speed, while Coal himself was now sharing a power lens with Siren, so that they both could hone their special attack.

            With these training items worn by his Pokémon now under his use, Mark was making progress in the development of his team faster than he dared hope was possible. The progress was most obvious with Vitesse; training with these weighted items was a new concept for her, but even with her speed drastically reduced, she was quickly getting used to the added weight, finding new was to compensate for the burden, and in turn giving her new ways to deliver attacks with greater force.

            And now, with them practicing their martial arts together, her skills were being finely sharpened for the battle ahead with Red, where they would really shine forth. With or without her Mega Evolution, she was becoming more and more powerful...

            But at that moment, her focus was on the sparring match with Mark; she was still attempting to overcome Mark's guard, eventually resorting to a roundhouse kick that Mark had taught her. The kick knocked Mark clear off his feet, but having anticipated it he went limp for the impact, able to successfully roll about in the air and land back o his feet without suffering too much damage.

            “Don't focus too much on direct attacks; if you can't go through my guard go around it!" Mark called to her. She looked at him sharply and let out an annoyed squawk at him, holding up her wrists to remind him of the added burden she carried. “Don't worry about the weights; focus on the technique!" Mark returned. “You've beaten faster opponents before and you can do so again!"

            She scowled at him, and resumed the attack, charging at him and once more trying to power through his guard, but Mark was ready for that, successfully warding off her punches and kicks and landing several of his own. “Don't get frustrated!" He warned her. “Cool your head; keep focused!"

            Adhering to his directions, Vitesse finally came up with a way to overcome Mark's defense, rushing at him she feinted a high strike, prompting Mark to raise his guard for an elevated strike, but then she dropped, falling onto her hands and sweeping at his legs, but unlike when she did this to him at the Pokémon League, he saw it coming, jumping over her leg, after which she came back high with a backwards kick, and once more Mark ducked under it.

            “The same techniques never work twice!" Mark scolded her further before he lunged forth and delivered a punch square to her chest before she could regain her balance. She tumbled off her feet, falling onto her back with a grunt, but then hurled her legs up over her had to flip back onto her feet again.

            “I know you're tired, girl," Mark bade. “But if we're going to win next week we need to push ourselves to the maximum, do you understand?"

            She nodded to him, taking in a deep breath and resuming her combat-ready pose, facing Mark once more. He too resumed his battle stance, and the two inched closer to each other, eyes locked. Vitesse did not make the first attack this time, leaving it up to Mark. He stepped forward with a low, sweeping kick to her ship, but she evaded it easily, and then lunged forward with her leg raised to kick, forcing Mark to jump out of the way to avoid it, but he failed to take advantage of the opening she had left after failing to land the hit.

            And that was when she managed to turn the fight around. She tricked Mark once more, going in with another feinted high punch, successfully tricking him, only to then bring her other arm snapping forward to deliver an uppercut to his gut that knocked the wind out of the Pokémon Trainer's lungs. Mark exhaled sharply, gasped for breath before falling onto his backside holding his stomach where she'd hit him.

            At first, Vitesse eyed him with concern, wondering if perhaps she had been too rough, but relaxed when Mark looked up at her and smiled. “That's my girl," he said, he wheezed, before coughing and holding his stomach. “Ow... didn't see that one coming." He slowly got back to his feet, shaking his head to clear it and addressed her again. “You see? Even slowed down you can find a way around your opponent's guard. Think of two fencers in a duel; they are always facing each other, and sooner or later one of them leaves an opening the other will take advantage of. Watch for it, see it, take it. Understood?"

            Vitesse nodded to Mark in reply, his directions clear to her, and with that, Mark permitted her to take off the training weights and take a break while he went to check on his other Pokémon to see how their training was progressing. He looked up just in time to see three more stone targets hurled skyward by Tanker, and watched as Coal and Siren struck them out of midair with a Dragon Pulse and Water Pulse respectively, demolishing the targets with impressive precision. Meanwhile, Saber's training with Fang was progressing as he hoped; Fang was still successfully dodging Saber's attacks, but he could see the fatigue showing on everyone's faces; they were getting tired.

            “Time out!" He called, prompting everyone to stop what they were doing and bringing all eyes onto himself. “Let's all take a little break; who wants some lunch?"

            The mention of 'lunch' was certainly enticing to the group; they all left their training areas, and converged at the camp fire where the supplies were. Mark reached into his bag, fishing out some Pokémon food and some bowls, filling up each one and passing them around to the others -except for Tanker. He provided his own food, burying his head into the ground to feed on the minerals and stones underneath.

            “Great job today, guys," Mark complimented his team. “It's only been a few days but we're making good progress; I see improvement in you all every day, and after just a few more, we'll be ready for the next leg of our journey, to..."

            He paused, noticing that none of his Pokémon were eating. They were just staring. He studied their expressions, and noticed that none of them were even staring at him. “Uh... what're you all looking at?" He asked, turning to look behind him.

            “BOOGA BOOGA!"

            A demonic red face screamed at Mark as he turned around, sending his heart leaping right into his throat, followed shortly by him launching from his place out of reflex and practically flying across the campsite to land on Siren's tail, tumbling over her and landing flat on his back. “Mother fu-!" He started to curse, his back aching from his fall. He landed with such a ruckus that Tanker pulled his head out of the ground and glanced over to see what happened.

            The guffawing that soon followed Mark's little start was all that he needed to know the identity of his spookster. How scowled as he sat up, rising from behind Siren to glare at the laughing Randy and Shadow standing behind where he had been only seconds before. And it was not just them; Coal was on the ground, rolling around on his back and laughing hysterically. Vitesse and Fang were covering their mouths to try and hide their amusement, but their snickering still escaped enough for Mark to hear, and feel his face flush with colour as he leered at Randy.

            “Payback for the jump scare I gave you back at the convention, I presume?" He asked, annoyed.

            “Oh, you know it, buddy," replied Randy. “When I saw you were completely oblivious to when I landed I simply couldn't resist, so I called out Shadow to add a little special effect to the spook."

            “That's far more than I did to you; this does not make us even," Mark informed him.

            “I know," replied Randy, before he held up his camcorder. “But the footage will make it all worth it in the end."

            Mark gawked he saw the flashing light of the camcorder showing that it was on record, realizing that Randy had footage of his -rather panicked- reaction to Randy's scare. His face contorted back into a scowl. “I am going to strangle you, Randy!" He barked, leaping over Siren's tail and charging at Randy, who immediately turned and ran, narrowly evading Mark's grabbing hands as she strode away, tossing his camera to Shadow, but Mark kept chasing Randy, but even after all the days of running, Randy still out-sped him and stayed beyond his reach.

            Mark chased Randy around the clearing for at least a few minutes before Mark finally gave up, trudging back over to the campsite and sitting back down. “I better not see that online, buddy," he warned.

            “Oh, come on, think of how many subscribers we'd get with that little scare."

            “Yeah; every tap of the 'Like' button would be another chip off my dignity," returned Mark.

            After a moment or two of seething, the two finally changed topics, and started catching up over the events of the past few days. Within a few moments, the little prank was off Mark's mind, and instead on telling Randy about the progress of their training. Randy was especially impressed when Mark told him about him, Vitesse, Coal and Fang all running back to the camp instead of just hiking, especially when Mark mentioned he had Vitesse and Coal using weighted accessories for training.

            In the meantime, once his Pokémon had eaten enough to sate their hunger, they went back to their daily exercises. Randy let out his Pokémon to join in on the training sessions; Cairo and Shadow took over as Vitesse's sparring partners for Mark while Thorn and Skyclaw joined in on the target practice with Tanker and Siren. Gemstar gave Fang something new to dodge, firing Water Guns at him to serve as an obstacle course, and Saber switched to sparring with Velox instead.

            “So you've been going non-stop since you left the city?" Randy asked. “Damn man, you are committed, ain't ya? And, your Pokémon already show a lot of improvement."

            Mark nodded. “I agree," he said. “It's been a rough few days, with more to come, but I think we'll be as ready as we can be when we battle Red."

            Randy looked at Mark again. “Any luck on a strategy for that?" He asked.

            Mark once more grimaced. “No... I'm still batting zero," he replied, but shook his head before smiling. "But I'm not going to stress myself over it anymore."

            "Oh?"

            "Nope. This isn't the first time I've gone blind into a battle before; sometimes I've won, sometimes I've lost," returned Mark. "All I can do for them is prepare contingencies, train as much as possible, step into the ring and take my best shot."

            Randy nodded. "I agree," he replied. "You can't know everything you're going to face; it might give you a leg up, but when your opponent is an enigma, it's better to just face it head on and think on your feet. It worked for me."

            "Sure did," he said.

            Randy hummed and rolled his eyes as he had a thought, tilting his head back to look at the sky briefly before his eyes drifted over to Skyclaw, watching as she fired a Flamethrower at one of Tanker's targets, striking it squarely with her fire breath. "...I might have an idea."

            "What?" Mark asked.

            "The way Blue described Red's mega Charizard, it sounds like it may well be a Dragon-type, right?" Randy asked.

            "Well, possibly," replied Mark. "Charizard resembles a Dragon already and it's not unheard of for Pokémon to change typing when they Mega Evolve."

            "Exactly, considering Thorn becomes a Dragon-type when he Mega Evolves, and so does an Ampharos," reported Randy.

            Mark looked up in surprise. "A Sceptile I knew, but Ampharos becomes a Dragon-type too?"

            "Sure does," replied Randy. "But let's just say we don't know for certain in this case, Charizard still looks and fights like a Dragon-type." He gestured over to Skyclaw. "Why not have Vitesse train with Skyclaw to prepare? She'd be about the closest thing I'd have to a Charizard."

            "That's..." Mark paused, words catching in his throat as he considered the proposal.

Charizard and Salamence were somewhat similar anatomically, minus the fact that Salamence was a Quadruped and Charizard stood bipedal, but Salamence was perfectly capable of rising onto its hind legs to attack with its foreclaws. It wouldn't be an exact simulation of the battle but with the options available to them it was the closest they could hope for as Randy was the only one with a Dragon-type out of the two of them. Beyond that, as a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, she was probably the only one that even came close to matching Red's Charizard in power.

            "That is actually not a bad suggestion," Mark finally concluded.

            Randy smiled. “I have my moments," he said. “So, after Vitesse trains for a little bit longer, we'll make Skyclaw her new sparring partner and prepare her for the battle with Red's Charizard." His expression shifted to a grin. “I warn you though, Mark… I'm holding nothing back. If you want to beat Red's Charizard you'll have to beat Skyclaw first."

            “I would expect nothing less, Randy," replied Mark.

            Randy nodded back. “Alright then," he said, standing up. “Well I'm going to go unpack my stuff and let you get back to work."

            “Okay. Talk to you later," Mark returned as Randy walked around him, watching as the other trainer proceeded to his tent and waited until he disappeared behind the flap before turning his attention towards VItesse.

            Her sparring match with Cairo and Shadow was still ongoing, focused mostly on battling Cairo with the Zoroark jumping in when the Lucario needed to catch his breath. Shadow was no match for Vitesse in a straight-up fight; even without typing advantage and his role as a balanced fighter like Cairo, Vitesse was just that much stronger and a more skillful combatant than Shadow. Cairo on the other hand was her match in combat, able to fight her to a complete stalemate despite both Fire and Fighting-type having an advantage over his Steel-type.

            Then he turned his attention towards Skyclaw, who had left target practice to instead go lie down on the edge of the camp. He studied the Salamence, regarding her size and the dense musculature that formed her body; she was big, and as Mark had learned when he had battled her at the title match with Randy, she had incredible power.

Randy's approach with Skyclaw, when they had battled, was to fool the enemy into believing she relied on speed and distance for combat, making elaborate flight patterns that made her hard to hit and hounding her targets with flamethrower. However, when they would try to close in to bring the fight up close, the deception would be revealed, and she would attack with her physical might -strength enough that even Tanker had been hurt by her strike.

'If I can overcome Skyclaw's strength and speed, as well as the flight factor, then I just might have a chance at beating Charizard,' he decided, agreeing with Randy's plan. His other Pokémon were developing well, but she had the biggest challenge out of all of them; to defeat Red's strongest Pokémon.

'Well if there's any Pokémon who can do it… my Blaziken can,' he thought, confidently, already turning the gears in his mind…

Over the following days, training continued, with Randy's Pokémon serving as regular sparring partners for those of Mark's Pokémon, all of them working hard to be ready for the coming battle with Red.

The fruits of their labours were beginning to show every hour, but most of Mark's time was devoted to training Vitesse, joining her every morning for a jog, helping her practice her techniques and refreshment on when and how to use each one. Along with her regular exercises, Mark decided that it would be a good idea to refresh her knowledge on Judo techniques -even expand her repertoire of them, to prepare her for the battle with Charizard.

'Too bad she can't learn Vital Throw,' he thought, disgruntled as he knew of a perfect throw to implement into the attack, but they would have to settle for improvisation.

Some throws, she already knew, such as the Seoi-Nage -the back throw, which Mark had a fondness for; it was quick and easy to execute, especially against larger opponents, he found. Not that he was short; he and Vitesse were the same height, at six feet, three inches tall. But Mark had another he wanted to teach to her.

“If Red's Charizard is a physical attacker as my research suggests," he began, explaining his plan to her. “Chances are he'll be more the frontal assault type, and there's a throw I want to teach you, called the Uki Otoshi -or the floating drop- that'll let you turn a direct attack against him. You ready?"

She nodded eagerly, striking the palm of her left talon with her other fist. “Okay; I better demonstrate first," offered Mark, stretching his arms. “The timing of this move has to be absolutely precise; you'll see why in a sec."

            She nodded again, and Mark gestured her to step closer, locking their arms together and widening their respective stances. Mark counted down from three, and at one, they hopped back a couple of steps before he dropped down to one knee, pulling harshly down on the arm on the same side as that knee. Vitesse squawked in alarm as her feet suddenly left the ground, flipping about in the air before she was thrown onto her back, grunting painfully.

            Mark released her arms. “You okay?"

            She clucked in reply, looking up at Mark as he helped her up.

            “So, you saw how that worked?"

            Once again, she answered with a nod.

            “Alright, you give it a try now."

            And so, Mark turned to being the attacker, making several attempted attacks at Vitesse to teach her the Uki Otoshi throw. Of course, she wasn't as good with the throws as he was -her timing was sometimes off. Mark's greater speciality with the throws had often been his advantage over her in their sparring matches.

            He showed her the throw four more times, out of the eight times she tried, she actually did manage it successfully on her sixth attempt, but failed on the two after.      She was half-successful on the ninth, executing the maneuver correctly but her grip on Mark slipped, and the human was instead sent hurtling through the air. The trainer yelped in surprise as he was sent flying, but forced himself not to tense up, broke his fall by rolling as he hit the ground and avoided any injury.

            Vitesse squawked in shock and ran to Mark's side, fearing that she had hurt him, but before she even reached him, he was already sitting up, and looked up at her with a chuckle.

“Almost had it that time," he said. “Let's keep trying." But he quickly noted the look of uncertainty on her face as he tried to stand up, and tilted his head curiously at her. “What's the matter?"

As Mark watched her, he noticed her gaze had drifted down to his side. He followed her gaze, noticing his shirt had been pulled up during his unexpected flight, exposing the scar on his side; the three discoloured slash marks, which were from Vitesse's talons from back when she was a Combusken. It didn't take long for him to realize what was bothering her, and he let out a sigh, standing up and looking at her.

“You still feel guilty over that, huh?" He asked her, earning a slow nod in response from the Blaziken. “Oh, you silly bird," he said in a low voice, reaching up with his left hand to scratch her neck comfortingly. She cooed lightly, shutting her eyes and leaning into his hand. “Accidents happen, girl. I know you'd never intentionally hurt me, anymore than I would you. Now come on," he pulled back his hand and stepped back from her. “We've got more training to do. You're going to be battling one of the most famous Pokémon in the history of Kanto, so let's show 'em what a team from Hoenn can do, alright?"

With those motivating words, Vitesse was ready to resume, clenching her taloned hands back into fists and nodding firmly to her trainer.

They spent the better part of the afternoon practicing the Uki Otoshi, and by the time they were both too exhausted to continue, it was already beginning to get dark. Mark called all his Pokémon back to the camp, and they shared a hearty meal to conclude the day's events. Mark would give them tomorrow to give most of them time to rest, except for Vitesse as she had her sparring match with Skyclaw to look forward to.

At the thought of that, Mark began to wonder what tricks to expect from Randy. Even if it was only meant to be a sparring match, Skyclaw was a powerful Dragon-type Pokémon, easily on par with any of Lance's dragons -and none of them had Mega Evolution at their disposal, which she would. Fortunately, Mark had faced a Mega Salamence before -the one belonging to Drake of the Elite Four, but that one had been defeated by Fang, not by Vitesse. Even so, Skyclaw was only acting as a stand in for Vitesse's real opponent, who would be nothing like her.

Still, it was the most practical thing to try, as neither one of the trainers had a Charizard to practice with. 'Not yet anyway,' thought Mark, casting a glance at Coal out of the corner of his eye, whom was wolfing down a bowl of food in his claws.

Fantasia, his mother's Rapidash, Randy's Zangoose, Blue's Alakazam -working in tandem with Fang, and most incredible of all, Lance's mighty Haxorus. Coal was young, but he was getting some excellent combat experience as of late, and it was proven that said experience caused Pokémon to mature more quickly -though no one understood how or why. Did this mean that he would evolve sooner?

Mark shrugged, turning to look at the fire. 'I suppose I'll find out soon enough,' he thought, leaning back and relaxing as he warmed his feet by the fire.

The next morning, Mark emerged from his tent to find Randy was already up as well, preparing breakfast for the two -some packaged cereal and fire-toasted bread. Mark joined him by the fire, and they shared the breakfast.

“You never struck me as an early riser," Mark commented as they started eating.  “I'm not," clarified Randy. “But I'm so stoked for your battle with Red tomorrow that I could barely sleep." He giggled like a child on a sugar rush, shifting side to side and trembling with excitement. “It's going to be freaking awesome I just know it."

            “Why are you so hyped about it? It's not like you're the one battling," Mark pointed out.

            “Maybe not, but like I said, I just have this feeling it's going to be a battle so epic people would be paying to see it," said Randy. “Two former Champions; the Kanto Legend, Red, versus Mark the master strategist of Hoenn."

            “Master strategist?" Mark echoed, giving Randy an incredulous look. “I think you're giving me way too much credit, man; you're making me sound like some famous general or something."

            “Hey, it's got to sound good or it won't sell, right?" Randy returned. “Maybe I should sell tickets to it…" He paused as he caught a dirty stare from Mark. “I'm kidding."

            Mark smirked slightly, and then shrugged. “If I was doing this for the fame, I'd wait until the next World Tournament -if one ever happens."

            “I sure hope one does," agreed Randy. “Don't care where it is; if there's another Pokémon World Tournament I am totally entering."

            “Me too," agreed Mark, and then he added wryly. “Though if I beat all the top contestants before it even happens, maybe they should make me the next World Champion too." Of course, he was kidding as well.

            Randy barked out a laugh. “Hey, I beat you, don't forget," he reminded.

            “Things change," replied Mark. “I'd like to think so have I."

            “Oh really?" Randy asked, looking at Mark with an arched eyebrow. “So, you're saying that now you could beat me?"

            “Well, we were going to find out today, weren't we?" Mark asked, smiling back at his friend.

            “In a one on one," reminded Randy. “Hardly enough for a decisive battle."

            “Then what was that back on the Julia?" Mark asked.

            “A battle just for fun," replied Randy. “What, you want to count that one?"

            “Absolutely," replied Mark. “And the way I see it, Coal kicked Velox's ass."

            Randy's eyes narrowed, but his mouth stretched into a wide grin. “Alright then… how about we up the ante a little?" He asked. “Instead of just the one on one that we planned, let's make a three on three."

            “Sounds good to me," he said. “We'll stick to the plan to put Vitesse against Skyclaw though, and make it a best two out of three battle."

            “Challenge accepted, buddy," replied Randy, still smiling as he laughed giddily once more. “Oh, this is going to be fun."

            Quickly finishing their breakfast, they stood up and moved to a safe distance from the campsite, making sure they had plenty of room for their imminent battle. Mark let out all his Pokémon, so that he could select them from a group and let the others spectate. Having a similar idea, Randy let out his team as well, and both sides gathered and faced the other, with Mark and Randy's eyes meeting even from twenty meters apart.

            Mark felt his heartrate increasing. The last time he'd battled Randy seriously was their title match at the league, and there Mark only managed to defeat half of his Pokémon. Now the battle was toned down, but Randy was no less cunning now than he was before, and that was something Mark would have to look out for.

            “Alright, Mark," Randy called to him. “You asked for it, so now you'll get it. Since you're the challenger, that means I pick first, eh?"

            “That's right," agreed Mark.

            “Then here's my choice," Randy returned. “Gemstar, you're up first."

            At the call of its name, the Starmie jumped into the air, landing before Randy and hopping forward a little more to take position in front of him. At Randy's choice, Mark narrowed his eyes, considering his options. 'Water-type… and I don't have Palm Tree or any electric types -only Vitesse knows an Electric attack, but I'm saving her for Skyclaw. Besides, Starmie's also a Psychic-type; best not to use a Fighting-type.'

            Mark was about to decide on Fang, to send a Dark-type to take on Gemstar's Psychic-type, but he froze the middle of calling out to him, catching his words in his throat. 'Wait a second,' he thought, turning back to face Randy again.

            “What's wrong, Mark?" He called. “Having trouble deciding?"

            “You called me a strategist; I'm strategizing," Mark retorted, narrowing his eyes as he surveyed the rest of Randy's group, studying them until his eyes found Shadow, who was just staring ahead, barely moving. 'I can't be certain of Randy's choices,' he thought. 'He got me with that trick with Shadow once before; Shadow could use his illusion trick to impersonate any Pokémon; if I use Fang, and that turns out to be Shadow, there goes my Psychic immunity, and Shadow's too quick for Fang to catch, not to mention being almost as powerful as Cairo.'

            He surveyed the rest of his team, wondering who he could pick that would be able to carry this battle. 'If that is Gemstar, or Shadow in disguise…' his eyes fell upon Saber. 'Then either way, the tactically best choice for this battle… is actually a Bug-type, because Dark and Psychic share a weakness to Bug-type.'

            “Saber," Mark said to the Scyther, earning a questioning look from the mantis. “Ready for your first battle with your new team."

            Saber's eyes narrowed, but Mark saw him smile, and without hesitation the Scyther dashed forward, taking position in front of Mark and eliciting a shrill cry as he shifted his stance.

            “So, giving Saber a go, are you?" Randy asked.

            “It'll be our first battle," Mark replied. “Why miss the opportunity?"

            Randy nodded in agreement. “A good plan," he said. “Alright; Gemstar versus Saber it is then."

            'If that is Gemstar,' Mark thought. 'But even if it is, Saber still has an advantage thanks to his typing, and even though Randy focuses on making all of his Pokémon fast, Saber's faster still.'

            “Ready?" Mark asked Saber, who scraped his blades together in reply before widening his stance. “Okay, Saber; let's do this!"

            “Bring it on!" Randy barked in challenge. “Come at me bro!"

            Mark narrowed his eyes once more, this time with suspicion. 'He's trying to bait me, but Randy's patient; he'll just keep waiting until I make the first move.' Remembering his mother's advice, Mark instead gave Saber a different order. “Use Swords Dance!"

            Saber crossed his arms over his chest, and began to twirl in place, ethereal blades of blue energy forming around him and crossing above his head as he continued to spin, until just as suddenly as he began, he stopped, throwing out his arms and shrieking towards the sky as a red glow flashed around his body. Randy, expecting the imminent attack now that Saber had powered up, issued his first comment.

            “Reflect!"

            The glowing center of the Starmie shone brightly, and a veil of energy appeared around it as Mark gave Saber his own command upon hearing Randy's choice. “Feint!"

            Saber charged forth, wings beating so swiftly that they were invisible as he lunged at the Starmie, blade drawn back to strike, only to suddenly halt mid-attack in front of the Starmie, which tensed in readiness for his attack, only for Saber to spontaneously vanish in a blur, and reappear at Gemstar's side, kicking it in the flank and sending it flying.

Gemstar recovered quickly, spinning itself as it descended and then landing back in an upright position -assuming it had any 'true' upright position, considering it was a ten-pointed star… thing, Mark mused. But if it was Shadow in disguise, he hadn't lost his concentration even after that kick, and even though Feint bypassed defensive attacks like Protect, Reflect reduced physical damage altogether regardless of the attack's execution.

“Now, Fury Cutter!" Mark called; using a Bug-type move would guarantee a powerful hit either way.

            But as Saber moved in to the attack, Mark was made aware of his error. “Power Gem!"

            'Wait, what?!' Mark thought. “Saber, look out!"

            But it was too late. Gemstar's gemstone core glowed brightly before a bright red beam of energy shot forth from the core, striking Saber square in the chest and sending him falling onto his back with a cry of agony, holding the flat side of one of his blades against his chest where he was hit.

            “Shit, I thought that was Shadow in disguise!" Mark called.

            Randy barked out a laugh. “Seriously?" He asked. “When Gemstar used Reflect, you should've known right away that it wasn't Shadow -Zoroark can't learn Reflect! Let alone Power Gem!"

            “Saber, are you okay?" Mark called. Power Gem was a Rock-type move, and he had no idea Starmie could learn it, but either way it was an especially deadly attack to be used against a Scyther -Bug and Flying-types alike were both weak against them, and Scyther was both types.

            Much to Mark's relief, Saber was standing back up, coughing and stilling pressing his arm against his chest, but still able to fight. 'I need to stop overthinking things when I battle this guy; I made that same screw up last time when I mistook Cairo for Shadow, and now I just did the same for Gemstar, and Saber paid for it. I can't let Saber take another hit like that; I promised to take care of him.'

            “Here's another surprise!" Randy called. “Gemstar, Thunderbolt!"

            The Starmie began to levitate and spin in place at the command, generating electricity as it spun around. Yet again Mark was nearly caught off guard by the unexpected attack, but he forcefully shook it off, and thought back to Saber's moves, picking the first one that came to mind. “Double Team!"

            Saber crossed both arms over his chest again, and just as the bolt of electricity shot forth from Gemstar's spinning form, Saber seemingly split into two copies of himself, the bolt striking harmlessly where he had been less than a second before. As this continued, he seemingly continued to multiply, until there were five copies of himself.

Dumbfounded by the use of Double Team, Randy changed up his strategy, and Gemstar, at Randy's command, ceased spinning and fired a Bubblebeam from the top point of its body, which bent forward to aim and the stream of tiny, condense, fast-moving bubbles burst forth, but they harmlessly passed through the copy.

            'Yes, it worked!' Mark thought, triumphantly. “Double Hit!"

            Saber suddenly revealed himself from among the crowd, the rest vanishing as he charged forward, striking Gemstar twice with the inner curve of his blades, hard enough to generate sparks as they struck the metallic face around the gem-encrusted core. Gemstar stumbled backward, a low humming sound emitting from the Pokémon as it was struck, as if the strike had disoriented it.

            “Gemstar, Recover!" Randy called.

            Gemstar's core glowed again, and this time the glow expanded from the core and enshrouded its entire body. With that, it turned to 'face' Scyther again, and at Randy's command, fired another Bubblebeam at Scyther, who jumped out of the way.

            Mark remembered the secondary ability of Bubblebeam, and knew what Randy was attempting. 'He's trying to slow Saber down to make him vulnerable,' he thought. 'I don't think so.' “Saber, stay on the evasive -wear it down!"

            Saber complied, swiftly moving out of the way of Gemstar's incoming second attempt at Bubblebeam, and took to the air, banking and ducking under every stream of bubbles and Power Gem rays aimed at him, and when Gemstar attempted another Thunderbolt, Saber once more used Double Team at Mark's command and made six copies of himself, making all of Gemstar's attacks fail as they had no target.

            When Mark saw his chance, he made his final command. “Now, Fury Cutter!"

            Saber's illusions once more disappeared, finally revealing the real Saber behind the Starmie. With his blinding speed, he struck Gemstar before it could even turn around, landing the powerful Fury Cutter, and then a second, and a third and finally a fourth, each strike more powerful than the next, all within a single second. Even with the effects of Reflect, Scyther's sheer power and speed overwhelmed Gemstar's defenses, and after the strikes ended, it collapsed, its gem core blinking like a warning light on a machine.

            “Damn, man!" Randy cursed, running out to the battlefield to the Starmie's side. “Hang on, Gem," he said as he reached into his bag and produced a Super Potion to treat the Starmie's injury.

            “Is she okay?" Mark called, and then grunted; why'd he referred to Gemstar as a she? Starmie were genderless.

            “Seems to be," replied Randy as he sprayed the potion on Gemstar, treating the scraps left by Scyther's blades when using Fury Cutter. “But damn, bro; Saber is freaking savage when he attacks."

            “I noticed," returned Mark, glancing at the Scyther as he returned to his side. “Can't argue with the results. Well done, Saber; not bad for our first battle." He looked at the Scyther's chest. “How's the wound; any injury?"

            Saber put the flat of his blade against his chest, letting out a rumble before pulling his arm away and shifting his shoulders. “Some mild bruising?" Mark asked, earning a nod from Saber. With that, Mark turned to run back to the camp to pick up his medical supplies, but did not walk one step before he looked down and saw Fang standing in front of him, clenching Mark's knapsack in his jaws.

            “Hey, thanks Fang," Mark said gratuitously, lowering himself to one knee and taking the bag from Fang, reaching out with his other hand and petting the Mightyena's neck, followed by a scratch behind the ear. “Good boy, good boy."

            Fang panted happily until Mark pulled away, turning back to help Saber. Reaching into the medicine pouch, he retrieved a tube filled with a cream meant for soothing muscles pains and bruising, which he uncapped and asked Saber to step closer, which he did. He then spread the pain relief cream over Saber's chest, rubbing it in gently so as not to agitate the bruising further.

            “Once we're done here, we'll head to a Pokémon Center to get you some proper healing," Mark told him. “For now, the cream will soothe it until then."

            Saber rumbled in reply, nodding to Mark. With the cream applied, Saber moved aside to let it take effect, and for the battle to continue.

            With Gemstar and Saber both cared for, Mark and Randy were free to continue their battle. The first round was Marks; the second round was about to begin.

            “Well, winner chooses first," Randy said, gesturing to Mark with a wave of his hand. “Pick your next one, buddy."

            Mark nodded, and looked back at his other Pokémon, wondering who to send out. 'Let's see… Velox, Cairo, Shadow and Thorn. What do they all have in common? Every one of them can fight at close range -one who can only do that. Second Vitesse is the logical choice for any one of them, having one typing that beats at least one of theirs. But I'm saving her to take on Skyclaw, and Randy's doing the same. I don't think Fang would have a chance against Cairo, though, and if I pick him chances are that's just who Randy would pick.'

            He glanced at Tanker. 'With all of them being physically viable Tanker's defense would be useful, but Cairo and Shadow both have the means to beat him,' he then glanced at Siren. 'And as well as Siren can take a hit, Thorn would curb stomp her -he's just too powerful to beat with defense alone.'

Finally, his eyes fell upon Coal. 'Do I dare use him? It's true that I've had a good run with him so far. I already know he can handle three of them… so if I use Coal, Randy will likely use Shadow -Coal already beat Velox once and could do it again. No advantage for either side. I'll have to chance it; I might lose, if I choose anyone else Randy has an instant advantage.'

“Okay Coal, you're up," Mark said.

Coal growled excitedly, bounding forward and taking position, blowing smoke from his nostrils and grinning widely as he faced Randy.

Randy hummed with thought at Mark's choice, and then turned to look over his shoulder. “Thorn, come on up," he said.

'Wait, what?' Mark wondered aloud. 'Why the heck is he picking Thorn? A Grass-type against a Fire-type; it doesn't make sense.'

But Thorn stepped forward, taking position before Randy, and Mark was left dumbfounded as he tried to fathom just why Randy would make such a deliberate tactical error. 'He did this when he sent Cairo against Vitesse when we last battled, and I quickly found out why. From what I remember about Thorn there's nothing he has that gives him an advantage over a Fire-type. Randy is up to something… I have to be on my guard.'

"I bet I know what you're thinking," Randy called in a mocking, singsong voice.

"I bet you don't," Mark retorted in a similar manner. "Coal, Flame Burst!"

Coal inhaled deeply before quickly spitting out a fireball, sending it hurtling towards Thorn, but the Sceptile merely dashed to the side, avoiding it nonchalantly and even avoiding the mini fireballs that followed its impact, scattering all around, but not a one touched the Sceptile.

"Seed Bomb!" Randy called.

Thorn dropped to all fours, arching his back with his tail raised to expose the seeds on his back. After this, the seeds launched from his back, arching through the air; Mark ordered Coal to move out of the way as the seeds began to fall, bombarding where he had been standing less than a second before and exploding upon impact.

Coal narrowly avoided the volley of exploding spheres, the last of them throwing dirt at him but he turned his head away in time to avoid it. But then, Thorn, in a dazzling display of speed, appeared in front of Coal before the Charmeleon even had time to turn his head back in the Sceptile's direction. Thorn grinned in response to Coal's shocked look before whipping around and smacking the Charmeleon with his tail, without Randy even calling out an attack.

Coal was bowled over by the strike, but righted himself and sprang back onto his feet. "Headbutt!" Mark called, and Coal launched himself at Thorn, but once again the Sceptile just twisted his body out of the way, sending the Charmeleon flying harmlessly past, almost comically so, as the Charmeleon flailed his limbs to keep control and land on his feet, spinning around to face Thorn once more.

And as before, Thorn was right there, and delivered a Low Kick to Coal's stomach, once more sending him from his feet, several feet through the air and skidding along the ground.

"Hey! That was dirty!" Mark called.

"Believe it or not, Mark, Thorn's holding back," Randy stated. "He could have done way worse than that."

Mark growled angrily, before issuing Coal his next order. "Coal, jump to the side and use Ember!"

Following Mark's command, Coal leapt aside just as Thorn dashed forward, going to the Sceptile's right and twisting his body in midair, throwing flames from the end of his tail at Thorn. The Sceptile suffered four miniature fireballs to his side; one to the leg, one in the flank and two to his arm -one of which was because he put it up to protect his face. He snarled painfully, and at Randy's command attacked with Leaf Blade, but Coal repeated the maneuver, this time backflipping away and showering Thorn with more flames.

"Now, Dragon Pulse!"

While Thorn was still wincing from the Ember, Coal fired a Dragon Pulse at the Sceptile; being only five feet away the attack was close ranged, giving Thorn the full force of it and sending him skidding. He struggled to stay on his feet, digging his claws into the ground to anchor himself, eventually sliding to a stop.

"Impressive," Randy complimented. "I didn't think Ember could be used like that."

"Never undersell even a weak attack used at the right moment," Mark returned. "You'd be surprised what they can do."

"I'll keep that in mind," returned Randy. "Thorn, Leaf Blade!"

Thorn held out his arms, the leaves that sprouted from his arms glowing and merging into once before extending into scythe-like blades that angled behind him. He growled low before dashing forward once more to attack. Though Mark didn't believe it was even possible at this point, Thorn was even faster than before, closing the distance between himself and Coal with barely a second to count. Coal, acting on instinct, tried to avoid the attack, but barely managed even a hop before the leave blade connected with his stomach, caving in his belly and leaving a shallow cut, as well as knocking the wind out of him.

Coal fell onto his back, and before he could even start to get up, Thorn was on top of him, punching both fists into the ground on either side of his head to cross his leaf blades in front of Coal's throat, pinning the Charmeleon to the ground.

"Ah schnitzel," Mark grunted.

"Owned," Randy returned, blowing air into his palm and rubbing his side with it, all while wearing that smug grin.

Thorn climbed off Coal and Mark summoned him back to his side, checking the cut left by the leaf blade to the stomach he'd taken. As he expected, it wasn't very deep -a minor laceration, really. Of course, Thorn would never attack with a full power leaf blade, else he could have done much more damage -even with Coal's natural resistance to grass-type attacks.

"You should be okay, but just in case," Mark said, reaching for his bag and digging out a super potion, only to frown as he realized he was running low. "I'm down to my last few sprays," he said.

“Need to borrow one?" Randy offered.

“I might, depending on how the next battle goes," Mark replied, spraying some of the contents over Coal's wound, making sure to coat the whole length of the cut with the medicinal liquid.

When Mark was satisfied, Coal returned to the rest of the group, and that was Vitesse's cue to step forth to take his place for the battle with Skyclaw, who also stepped in front of her trainer, ready to begin.

“Been a while since we used this, Skyclaw," Randy commented as he reached into his shirt to fish out the necklace carrying his keystone, resting it on his palm as he addressed his dragon. “You ready?"

Skyclaw let out a deep snarl of affirmation, spreading her huge wings out widely, and that was all Randy needed. “Mega Evolve!" He called, clenching his keystone in his hand as it shone brightly, tendrils of light arching out between his fingers and striking Skyclaw. She glowed brightly, obscuring her from sight, before she became engulfed in that violet, crystalline sphere that always formed like a chrysalis when a Pokémon mega evolved, and when it shattered it would reveal Skyclaw in her new form.

In her regular body, she had been large, muscular and bulky, as was normal for Salamence. But when she emerged from the sphere of power, her body was anything but bulky now; she had acquired a far more streamlined appearance. The fins growing from her head had transformed, the top two becoming longer. Her neck was narrower and the gray scaling of her lower jaw had been shed, replaced instead by red colouring that matched the streak on her neck.

The next changes were to the armour-like scales of her underbelly, which had transformed into a vest-like plating in which she could fit her forelegs for more aerodynamics, but the most startling of all were her wings; they had merged together from the pair of long, leathery dragon wings into a single, crescent-moon shaped wing that rested on her back, stretching out and curving forward until the points nearly reached eye level on her.

It had been a while since Mark had seen a Mega Salamance. 'Fang was able to beat Drake's Salamence at the Hoenn League, but now it's Vitesse's turn.' He held up his arm, and touched two fingers to the keystone on his wrist, which shone with the same light as Randy's own stone, enveloping Vitesse in the same kind of light.

When she emerged from the sphere, she had ascended to Mega Evolved form, unleashing a shrill cry and throwing out her arms as she became filled with power, the ribbons of fire extending from her wrists flaring brightly before she shifted to a combat-ready stance.

“Alright, Mark; are you ready?" Randy demanded.

“Ready," Mark returned. “Vitesse?"

She screeched in response, the flames on her wrists intensifying again.

“Go!" Mark called.

“Let's get 'em, Skyclaw!" Randy chimed.

The two Pokémon charged forward. Skyclaw's increase in speed was made apparent when she shot forward like a missile, rearing back and stretching out her foreclaws to attack with Dragon Claw. Vitesse easily ducked out of the way of the claw attack and at Mark's command struck out with Thunderpunch, driving her fist hard into Skyclaw's stomach. The female dragon wheezed from the punch, but then smacked Vitesse with her claw, knocking her away.

“Headbutt!"

Skyclaw lunged forward, and snapped her head forth like a scorpion's tail attempting to sting, bashing the dazed Blaziken with her head and sending her falling into the grass. Mark eyed Skyclaw curiously for a second, but stayed focused on the task at hand, urging Vitesse to move. She did, barely rolling away as Skyclaw attacked with another Dragon Claw, once again missing but just barely.

“Blaze Kick!" Mark called as Skyclaw closed in to attack again.

Skyclaw was reared up on her hind legs with claws raised, but VItesse was faster, throwing her leg upward to kick Skyclaw in the face with her long leg, stumbling her. The fire-type attack wasn't very effective against the dragon, but the impact of the kick was what did the job. With that, Vitesse threw her legs over her head to jump back onto her feet, dropping on all fours, and at Mark's command, charged at Skyclaw and delivered another Thunderpunch to Skyclaw's face.

“Now, Dual Chop!" Mark called.

“Headbutt again!"

Skyclaw, shaking off the Thunderpunch, narrowly avoided the knife hand strike from Vitesse, and as she wound up for another she was bludgeoned on the face by Skyclaw's head, causing her to recoil in pain.

“Giga Impact!" Randy bellowed.

Skyclaw took flight at the command and soared at Vitesse with a deafening roar as a white light formed around it with a conical shape as she attacked.

“Vitesse, look out!" Mark cried out, but it was too late.

Skyclaw landed the Giga Impact, and Vitesse was sent flying. She did not fly far, however, before a blue glow formed around her and stopped her in midair, catching her and saving her from any imminent injury the impact with the ground would have caused her, but she immediately devolved back into an ordinary Blaziken. It did not take Mark long to figure out that Gemstar had caught Vitesse with Psychic, and brought the Blaziken back over to Mark.

She was gently sent down, entering a coughing fit as the Psychic veil dissipated from her. Mark was by her side instantly, supporting her with his arms as Fang dragged Mark's bag over so that he could reach for anything he needed.

“Are you okay girl?" Mark asked, concerned.

With a few more coughs, the Blaziken managed to gather enough of her breath to turn to Mark and nod weakly, holding her chest where she had taken the brunt of Skyclaw's attack.

“She okay?" Randy asked.

“Yeah, she's okay," Mark replied. “I guess we underestimated Skyclaw a bit."

Randy chuckled. “Skyclaw may not be as fast as Thorn when he's Mega Evolved, but she is easily his equal in terms of power," explained Randy. “We did have a bit of an advantage though; you're familiar with Mega Salamence's ability, right?"

It occurred to Mark that he didn't know what ability Salamence gained in Mega Evolution, and so he had no choice but to reply honestly. “No, I'm not."

“It's called Aerialite," explained Randy. “It turns all Normal-type attacks -like Headbutt and Giga Impact, into Flying-type moves, which since Salamence is a Flying-type as well gives it a natural boost in power too."

            “And Fighting-types are weak to Flying-type," Mark concluded, letting out a sigh. “Looks like you win this round, man."

            “Brains may usually beat brawn, but both of our Pokémon are fast and strong," Randy explained, reaching over to Skyclaw and petting her neck with his hand as she devolved back into the form of an ordinary Salamence. “So, at that point it came down to type advantage and strategy; I knew something you didn't, and that won me the day."

            Mark chuckled light-heartedly. “You haven't changed at all; still as elusive as we last battled. Seems even the experience from that didn't help me get a better read on you."

            “Staying unpredictable is exactly how I do things, buddy," returned Randy. “And I never stop trying to devise new tricks to keep it that way."

            “That makes you a pretty good strategist yourself," Mark commented.

            “Eh, the word my last challenger -before Brendan- was 'cunning'," he said. “I can live with that."

            Mark nodded, before putting a hand to his chin in thought. “But if Vitesse can't beat Skyclaw, can she beat Charizard?"

            “As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think we can compare Skyclaw to Charizard," replied Randy. Skyclaw shot him a dirty look, and then leaned over to bite him on the head again, holding his head between her jaws. “Not what I meant, girl!" He cried, prying her jaws open enough to pull his head out of her mouth, glaring at her for a moment until she turned away with a huff. “What I was getting at, a Mega Salamence is one of the fastest Dragon-type Pokémon in the world, but a Mega Charizard is all about power, and that's what you need to be ready for. I know you can think on your feet man, and that's just what you'll have to do."

            Mark nodded again in agreement, hearing logic in Randy's words and once more slipping into thought as he sat next to Vitesse, absently reaching over to the medicine pouch of his bag and feeling around for something to give her, eventually closing his fingers around an plastic tube. He pulled it out, looking at it, and confirming it was the same ointment he had given to Saber, but trying to use it on Vitesse would just smear it all over her feathers. He put it back inside, and groaned, realizing he didn't have anything to give her.

            “Are we going for a second round?" Randy inquired.

            “That's up to Vitesse," Mark replied, looking at the Blaziken. “Try using Roost; let's see if that helps," he instructed her. “Then we'll wait a few hours to let my keystone recharge."

            Within a few hours of rest, Vitesse and Skyclaw could Mega Evolve again, and the battle was ready to resume. Their trainers used their keystones to draw out the inner power of the Blaziken and Salamence to ascend them to their most powerful forms and began their battle anew.

            This time, Mark continued to watch Skyclaw's moves more carefully to help identify which attack she was about to use, while Vitesse's ever increasing speed allowed her to outmaneuver the dragon while she was on the ground. Sensing her disadvantage, Randy ordered Skyclaw to take flight; she compliantly took to the air, avoiding an incoming Thunderpunch from Vitesse, who looked up and watched as the Salamence ascended skyward.

            She was about to jump at Skyclaw when Mark called out. “Stop!" He yelled. “Don't jump at her; she's too fast! Stay where you are!"

            Skyclaw circled overhead, waiting for Randy's next command. He ordered her to use Flamethrower, and the dragon swooped in and exhaled a cone of flames at Vitesse, but she easily banked out of the way, keeping her gaze firmly locked on Skyclaw to watch her, as Mark did. These failed flamethrowers continued several times until Randy knew it was futile, and once more caught Mark off guard with an attack he didn't expect.

            “Swagger!"

            What happened next left Mark somewhat muddled as he had never seen Skyclaw behave in the manner she soon did. She landed on the ground ahead of Vitesse, letting her mouth hang open and eliciting a weird, guttural sound and shook her body side to side, waving her tail above her head in a taunting manner. Vitesse blinked, and then shook her head as the effects found her; Mark's heart sank when he saw Vitesse's eyes cross, followed by a deep scowl.

            “Vitesse, stop!" Mark called as she ran, drunkenly, towards Skyclaw, but in her confused state she couldn't hear him.

            “Giga Impact!" Randy called.

            Skyclaw launched herself forward, once more unleashing the powerful attack that would surely win the battle for her. Mark braced himself as he saw Vitesse about to be blown away by the mighty dragon Pokémon's attack…

            Much to his relief, and his amusement at how it happened, Vitesse weaved out of the way, stumbling off her feet and sending Skyclaw flying harmlessly past like a missile thrown off-course and flying continuously until the Salamence finally managed to slow herself down enough to reorient herself.

            “Vitesse, come on, shake it off!" Mark called out to his Blaziken, trying to reach her through her confused state. She responded to his voice, but her vision was still adrift; she couldn't focus, and would continue to falter in following his commands if he didn't do something.

            Skyclaw was moving in to attack again, with Randy once more calling for a Giga Impact. She soared towards Vitesse at breakneck speeds; she wouldn't be able to luckily stumble out of the path of the attack this time; she had only seconds to react!

            “VITESSE!" Mark bellowed at the top of his lungs.

            His voice finally reached her; she shook off her confusion, and looked over just in time to see Skyclaw racing towards her, eyes furrowed aggressively as she soared. Even with her speed, she would never dodge in time. She reacted purely on instinct, dropping as low as she could, and made her move as Skyclaw began to pass over, grabbing Skyclaw by the neck and putting her other talon against the dragon's armoured chest.

            The dragon screamed -not roared, screamed, as she was suddenly flipped around and sent smashing into the ground with bone-jarring force, all her speed and weight turned against her Vitesse's maneuver. She was sent sliding across the ground, shredding the vegetation and topsoil with her massive wings until she finally came to a stop, and there she went still.

            At that moment, Skyclaw devolved back into the form of a regular Salamence, unconscious.

            “Skyclaw!" Randy called, running out to the dragon's side to check on her.

            Mark and Vitesse both stood panting, the intensity of those last few seconds weighing heavily on them, but upon hearing Randy call out to his Pokémon they shook off their bewilderment and ran over to check the dragon along with Randy -the sheer impact of her hitting the ground would have shaken even Tanker, Mark felt, given the long trail of ruined grass and soil the Salamence had left behind.

            When Skyclaw awoke to the sound of Randy's voice, she hissed painfully as she tried to roll over onto her left, deigning instead to roll the other way and stand up. Her left wing hung limply at her side, and she growled in pain as Randy checked it, moving it as much as he dared knowing her temperament.

            “Is she alright?" Mark asked.

            “Her wing's hurt," replied Randy. “No damage to the skin; probably just sprained or pulled."

            “We better get her to a Pokémon center then; we can't treat that here," Mark stated.

            “No, we can't," replied Randy. “Except there's one problem."

            “What?"

            Randy turned to look at Mark. “She was our ride back to the city," he reminded him, which immediately brought Mark's triumphant mood crashing down to Earth.

            Their only flier's wing was hurt, leaving her out of commission. Though Mark had run back to this camp from Celadon City he hadn't intended to do so again afterword; the plan had been to fly on Skyclaw's back to the nearest town, but now, with a camp to take down, equipment to return and many kilometers separating them from the nearest town, they and all their Pokémon now knew they had no quick way back to civilization.

            Mark let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing his eyes for a moment before stating, defeatedly, their only option.

            “Looks like we're walking…" He said, before adding darkly in his mind. 'Next time you go somewhere far away from the city… bring Palm Tree.'