Maverick was sitting waiting at the pokemon center door by the time I came panting up. My Jolteon and I raced out of the cave as soon as we were at the end, but my short legs were no match for his quick feet. He was very humble about his easy win though, allowing only half a smile to show his satisfaction for his victory.

"Whew, I'm outta shape," I wheezed, exaggerating my state. Maverick's smile widened. "Well, shall we go in and get cleaned up? It's a bit too bright for me out here, after being in the tunnel. Not to mention warm," I added, fanning my shirt. He nodded, and we headed inside.

~~~

About an hour later, after a refreshing shower and healing my pokemon, I stepped back outside. Maverick was back in his pokeball for the time being. "Man it's dusty here," I said to no one in particular. I crinkled my nose. I hated being dirty. It was hot too, which meant the dust would end up stuck to my sweaty forehead. "Something to look forward to I guess," I mumbled. "Well, let's see what this town has to offer." With the pokemon center at my back, immediately in front of me was the gym. I wasn't ready for that yet, I knew, so I looked past it to my right. Some houses were there, so I headed in that direction, and kept an eye out for any pokemon that might live in town too...

The hot August sun welcomed you back into its presence by providing a nice burning blaze. Wind gently played with your bangs as you set your sights on the resident houses in the old mining town. Niner’s Stake could certainly be put into perspective as old. Its golden history spoke of the hard labor it endured.

A couple friendly houses came into view. They were nicely kept which lead back to the history of the town’s laborious history that had probably been put into play. You walked up to the front door and started to knock, but stopped.

Something wasn’t right. An odd feeling churned in your stomach and you knew just as well as anyone that it surely wasn't butterflies.

You tried knocking again, but this time it felt like some force was preventing you from doing so. It felt like a mental block was being put upon you. Without Pokémon out, it was hopeless to know whether or not there was another trainer near doing this to do, but even if you did send one out it may have been too late.

It felt like something was reading your mind, peering into your soul. There was no escape and now the end was growing near.

Sweat running down your forehead, you turned around and saw the perpetrator. About twenty feet away was a white haired beast. A sharp, black blade stuck out from the side of its head while a darkened gem was in the center of its forehead. Blood red eyes met yours, and you knew your life was hanging by a thread. Your journey had only just begun, but now it was coming to a swift end.

... And then it ran. The creature looked at you one final time before taking off in the opposite direction and jumping onto one of the rooftops before swiftly speeding off into the distance.

Once the beast left, so did the ominous emotion.

I shivered. Absol--the disaster pokemon. Seeing one was never a good sign, that much I knew. And as much as I wanted to catch an Absol some day, I definitely wasn't expecting to see one here, in a town no less, of all places. That could only mean one thing in my mind: trouble was brewing. I shook the notion away. The day, although hot, was beautiful. What could possibly go wrong? ... Then again, what could possibly draw an Absol here, of all places?

I decided to push these questions out of mind for the time being. I needed to focus: if I was going to beat the Niner's Stake Gym Leader, I'd need to put all my efforts into training. Lots and lots of training. "Okay Snowl, let's pull ourself back together." There you go talking to yourself again. *sigh.* I knocked on the door of the house nearest the Pokemon Center on the western side of town, and waited to see if anyone answered...

[Sorry for the wait, I didn't see that you'd posted :(]

An older looking woman answered the door. She appeared to be in her late fifties or so. Her eyes lit up at seeing a visitor. "Good afternoon, young lady. Wld you like to come in?"

"Hello. No thank you, I don't want to intrude. I just arrived in town and am preparing to take on the gym leader, and was just wondering if there was any advise I could listen to before doing so, or if there was anything must-see in town you would recommend checking out while I'm here."

The woman smiled broadly. "The gym leader, Petros, is my husband. My name is Matilda." Then, looking in the direction of the gym, she said, "He believes that strength and discipline are the keys to success. You'll have to be strong in those two areas if you want to defeat him." Then, she turned toward the northern part of the town and said, "I think you might want to check out the Cave Dwelling Ruins while you're here. They're a lost part of Sharma's history..."

I looked to the north. "Okay, thanks! I'll keep that in mind." I said goodbye to Matilda, and moved on towards the next house on this side of town. However, once I was closer, I saw a sign by the door that read, "Miner's Guild". Not being a member, I decided to avoid there and continued on to the last house on this side of town, keeping an eye out for wild pokemon at the same time...

A man answered, looking surprised. "Hey there, I just got home from Echo Cave." From his attire, you could tell that he was a miner. "You know, you build up a lot of physical strength as a result of hard physical labor. You should try working out sometime. You should even let your Pokemon join you. Here." He handed you a sturdy disc that you recognized as an HM. "That's the HM for Strength. Use it well!"

"Thank you sir! I sure will!" I left the house, and decided to use it right away. I moved off to the side, in front of the gym, and released my current team: Ivysaur, Jolteon, Golduck, Skarmory and Gallade all appeared from their pokeballs. "Everyone, a nice stranger just gave us a gift! I know, I know... you're not supposed to take candy from strangers... luckily, this wasn't candy, so we're okay. Heh. So, who would like to learn strength?" They all eagerly stepped forward. Well, almost all. Skarmory hung back, not sure why I called her out. After tapping Dimitri, Maverick, Kenny and William all with the HM, I returned them each until only Skarmory and I remained. She shifted a bit, uncomfortable in the dry heat. "Skarmory," I said, "I finally found a name for you." She cocked her head, curious. "How could you like to be called Vie? It's french for life, and, well, I think it suites you. What do you think?" Skarmory pondered it a moment, then smiled a beaky smile. She liked it. "Good," I grinned. "Well Vie, how about we see what else this town has to offer?" Letting her stay out of her ball (the excitement of her new name helping her temporarly forget her discomfort in the heat), we headed to the eastern side of town, and the houses there, both of us still keeping an eye out for wild town pokemon...

As you and your Pokemon began walking toward the eastern side of town, a level 35 male Makuhita lumbered his way into your path, almost tripping you. he turned toward you apologetically, but froze when he saw your big scary birdy.

Makuhita... another pokemon that, no matter how hard I tried, I could never convince myself to like. That's right, fear the pretty Skarmory. Mwahah. At least he was apologetic. "Alright Vie, let's give this fella a wake up call. Use metal sound, then air cutter."

Skarmory let out an ear-splitting screech, lowering Makuhita's special defense. He over came his fear temporarily in order to battle, and used Focus Energy. Skarmory send a wave of blurred air at Makuhita, doing good damage. He then hit her three times with Arm Thrust, but non landed a critical hit.

Skarmory: Less than less than Normal
Makuhita: Weakened, Special Defense -2

"Nice hit m'dear, now use double team so he can't hit you so easily, then strike fast and true with aerial ace!"

Makuhita kicked forward some sand, but being slow as dirt [bad pun] (base 25 speed to be exact), he was too late, and Vie had already duplicated. Then, the copies and original all dove in synchronization, and hit Makuhita for some nice damage.

Skarmory: Less than less than Normal, Evasiveness +1
Makuhita: Weak, Special Defense -2

"Good Vie, now use another metal sound, followed by another air cutter. You're doing a great job, keep it up!"

Makuhita was deafened by yet another of Vie's Metal Sounds. He then countered with Vital Throw, doing a little damage to Skarmory, before being defeated by the final Air Slash. Catch the Makuhita?

I scrunched up my nose. Not the pokemon for me. I did move him off the main path though, so he wouldn't be tripped over by someone else. *tumbleweed rolls by* Because there are so many people walking around... :rolleyes:

"Nice victory Vie," I congratulated her. I tried patting her neck, but her metal body, after being in the sun this time, was HOT. I burned my hand, and quickly pulled it away. "WOW. Vie, I'm so sorry. You must be miserable. You want to go back in your ball?" Although I could tell she wanted to be out, I could also tell she was very uncomfortable in this heat. I returned her, and continued walking towards the eastern houses. I still kept an eye out for wild pokemon though. I figured I still had a lot of training ahead of me before my team would be ready to face Petros...

As you past the Pokemon Center on your way to the eastern side of town, you spotted a level 33 female Meditite, meditating in the middle of the road. She seemed both very deep in her thoughts and hyperaware of her surroundings at the same time...

Another pokemon I wasn't too fond of. "Okay Vie, I know I just returned you, but you're up again. Sorry." My bird appeared right where she just vanished from, looking a bit annoyed/confused. "Again, sorry," I smiled apologetically. She shrugged it off. Duty called. "Good. Taunt her, then use aerial ace."

Skarmory taunted Meditite, preventing her from using any non-offensive techniques. She used Hgih Jump Kick, and smashed into Skarmory for some damage. Then, your Pokemon used Aerial Ace for some good damage.

Skarmory: Weakened
Meditite: Almost Weakened

"Hmm... alright, this time I want you to use double team, then use air cutter. Maybe whipping up some wind will help cool you off some too."

Skarmory doubled, sending copies everywhere. Meditite didn't do anything right away. Skarmory then used Air Cutter, doing good damage to the psychic/fighting Pokemon. Meditite retaliated with Hidden power, sending the orbs of energy everywhere. One hit the real Skarmory, and it seemed to be super effective...

Skarmory: Weak, Evasiveness +1
Meditite: Almost Weak

"I feel as if there's something ironic about having fire used against me..." I mumbled. "Vie, use another air cutter. We're bound to get a critical hit sooner or later. You're doing a great job m'dear; we'll heal you up after this battle. Just hang in there."

(woops, forgot that air cutter has a high chance of landing a critical hit)

Skarmory sent another sharp blade of wind at Meditite, landing a critical hit and doing good damage. Meditite hung on with just a sliver of health, and used another super effective Hidden Power. But, this time it only hit several copies. The real Vie was unscathed.

Skarmory: Weak, Evasiveness +1
Meditite: Almost Fainted

"Nice. Okay Vie, finish her off with an aerial ace. Then we'll head to the pokemon center." I had no intention of catching Meditite, so the mod didn't have to ask again... ;)

Vie dove down and smashed her whole body into Meditite, knocking her out. You were right outside of the Pokemon Center, so you made it there without any trouble...

After healing up and refreshing a bit, I stepped back out into the dusty air. I hadn't explored the eastern houses yet, so I gradually made my way that direction, although I was more interested in training for the gym, so I continued to keep an eye out for wild pokemon...

You made it to the eastern side of town, and saw four houses in a generally square-shaped formation. As you approached them, one of the most common Pokemon in the world approached you. Can you guess what it was? If you guessed Zubat, you're correct! The level 36 bugger fluttered about you ceaselessly.

"This looks like a job for William. Come on out my friend!" My Gallade appeared, looking very valiant as always. There was one attack Zubat could use that would bother him probably, but Gallade dominated Zubat in all stats so much that I wasn't really worried about it. Being that his defense is lower than his special defense, and your attack is double that of your special attack, how about you strike him with a super effective psycho cut? You get brownie points if you land a critical on the first round, I joked.

The difference between Gallade's attack power and Zubat's defense power was like the difference between the top of a skyscraper and the pavement below. Gallade swiped at Zubat, doing incredible damage. The little bat looked exhausted, but managed to use Wing attack for a little damage...

Gallade: Less than less than Normal
Zubat: Almost Weak

I hope you don't mind repetitiveness, because we're doing the exact same thing again. Use another psycho cut. My warrior went after the (male?) bat again...

[yup, it's male]

William's blades glowed as he slashed at Zubat one more time. It landed a critical hit this time, knocking out Zubat in the blick of an eye. Catch the little bat?

"Good work William." I tossed an empty pokeball at Zubat. It was a decent level, right gender for my preference, and I happened to really like fast pokemon, of which Crobat was one. I watched the ball flicker and vanish to my box. I then returned William, and continued to look for wild pokemon, slowly making my way towards the first house...

Suddenly, a Gligar shot down from the sky. He landed in front of you, and then took to the air again before doing yet antoher dive. You had found a kamikaze Gligar! Yay? :P He was level 30 and male, and didn't seem to really notice you...

While Gligar was distracted trying to kill himself, I released Kenny. I quickly pulled out my Ice Beam TM, and tapped it to his head. After a moment, it broke. "You break everything you touch," I joked. He saw Gligar diving next to him. "Care to try out your new move?" Kenny smiled (a bit too enthusiastically), and prepared to use ice beam for the first time...

The Ice Beam turned out to be deadly accurate, and hit Gligar mid-dive. He was sent spiralling to the ground, taking good damage. He retaliated with Faint Attack, disappearing before crashing into your duck and knocking him over.

Gligar: Almost Weak
Golduck: Less than Normal

"Yay for yayness!" And 4x super effectiveness, Kenny chimed in. "Yes, that helps too..." Okay Kenny, ...Kenneth... use another pretty ice beam! I thought I felt something vibrate in my pocket, but ignored it. Suddenly though, I was in a very good mood for no real reason. :D

Then, you felt a vibration once again. You were sure it was there this time, since it beeped as well, in that 'high priority' tone. Kennyth (the official hybrid spelling! mwahaha!) used Ice Beam again, almost knocking out Gligar. The kamikaze scorpion used another Faint Attack.

Gligar: Almost Fainted
Golduck: Almost Weakened

"Okay Kenny, finish this up with a water pulse. You're doing wonderfully." Like I'd do anything less. ... :rolleyes:

I pulled out my phone. One new text. I flipped it open to see...

Kenny fired a pulsing orb of water at Gligar. He was knocked out by the final attack. Catch gligar?

Meanwhile, you saw that your text message read:

s-going to circle isle again. figured out secret. maybe.