Tumultous Morning Mountain [Raize]

[Van Akiyama]

It was early sunrise when Van Akiyama arrived at the base of Mt. Sunrise with Aska, his Togepi, in his arms. The silver dorm student and the young Pokemon both took a deep breath of the cold morning air as he looked up towards the top of the rocky behemoth before him. The skies above were dyed with red, orange, pink and violet colors as the sun slowly rose above the eastern horizon. There were only a few thin clouds dotting the skies and the stars could still be faintly seen glowing above. The mountain itself seemed to glow with a fiery aura as the morning sun washed over it. The area around the base of the mountain was quiet and a thin layer of dew still covered nearly everything. It was far too early into the morning to expect many, if any at all, students or trainers to come and many wild Pokemon were still asleep or just waking up.

"This is what I wanted to show you. What do you think?" Van quietly told the Togepi in his arms. The normal type Pokemon continued to stare at the mountain in awe for nearly a minute before responding with a happy recital of its name. The trainer could see the look of wonder and joy in Aska's eyes as it stared at the beautiful scene. His other Pokemon had also had similar reactions to the sight of the morning mountain. Van felt a small smile cross his lip at Aska's positive reaction.

"We're gonna spend most of our day here today so we can see the sights at sunset as well." Van said quietly. Aska nodded at her trainer's words, though she also kept her eyes upon the mountain. The mountain's fiery color was getting much more vivid as the sun rose higher into the eastern skies. After watching the mountain and the skies above for a few more minutes, Van brought his gaze down to the area around him and looked for the spot he and his Pokemon usually hung around when they spent their days at the mountain's base.

It only took him a few minutes to locate it and he and Aska were soon seat upon one of several flat rocks that laid in a circle. Aska kept staring intently up at the mountain as Van began to gather a large pile of wood they would use for firewood later to cook their breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the day. By the time he had finished, Aska had lost some of its wonder with the mountain and had begun to explore the small circle of flat rocks Van had designated as their camp for the day. It seemed curious about the rocks around it and began to pick up and examine each of the rocks that caught its attention.

The sun was still low in the sky when dug a small pit into the ground and lit a small fire. The flames only rose an inch or two out of the pit, but it gave a fair amount of light and warmth to the area they were in. Van sat next to the small fire, set his pack next to him and began to get out a few basic cooking materials. Another few minutes later, Van had hung a small pot above the fire and was cooking what would be his and his Pokemon's breakfast later. It was a simple yet delicious stew recipe that his uncle had taught him years ago, made from berries, herbs and meat.

After stirring the food for a few minutes or so, Van allowed the stew to simmer over the heat of the fire and continued watching Aska roam about within the circle of rocks they had set up in. The Togepi was currently looking at a small glittering stone it had found, though it was obvious that it wasn't an item of any given power. It would take thirty minutes for the food to finish. It was much longer than normal, but Van had made much more food than normal and he didn't want to wake his Pokemon earlier than normal.

[Raize Phoenix]

“ What Goes Around ”

Thank God You Blew It, Thank God I dodged A Bullet

WORD COUNT: 512 SONG PLAYING: BEYONCE: VIDEO PHONE OUTFIT: HERE

It was such a lovely morning. Justin had mastered his newly taught thunder move. Justin was quite exxcited and happy to have accomplished such a thing. Being only a monkey, and as goofy & playful as he is, it was quite an outstanding accomplishment for him. He and Raize had been together for while some time & it was thanks to their strong emotional bond & connection that they were able to learn such a high leveled attack. It was also something to thank their technology teacher for. If it wasnt for the assignment, Raize & Justin wouldnt have even had come close to finding it.

Ashura on the other hand, had just come back from gravity cave with Raize the previous day. The duo had become a bit closer. Rai became a slightly better trainer & Ashura became a bit less timid. Though he'd still be quite shy around new people, battles wouldnt scare him as much as they did before encountering Rai. The two had met some interesting pokemon. Ashura was able to grow a pair work up the courage to help Raize encounter them. Despite their recent travel, Ashura was still ready to do more exploring & possibly battle this fine morning.

Justin & Ashura had been drifting behind Rai all morning. Neither of the two worn out or even tired. They were pumped up & ready for action! Maybe just exercise would wear them out. But a battle was more likely to help get them ready for their day of training. The contest had already passed & Ashura didnt get any experience, so Rai decided to find a way for the three of them to get in a quick battle this morning. Hopefully there will be people at Mt. Sunrise. Training there would be great! Rai thought to himself, coming closer to the mountain's base.

"Alright Justin. You weree awesome in the contest, dont let it go to your head though. Your moves could still be better. And since you dont know what contests are Ashura, allow Justin and I to inform you." He told his pokemon. Justin running in circles then ahead of Raize by a few feet, and Ashura pacing himself, right beside his trainer's left leg. Raize & Justin gave a brief of what contests were like & what the pokemon were to do. They told of the practice contest they even entered. They explained the five styles, the difference between a contest & battle move, and how contests contain double battles. "And since neither of you two have experience with double battle, we're gonna see what you two can do!" Raize exclaimed, finally coming up to the mountain's base.

"Uh. Whats that loving auroma?" Rai asked aloud, noticing some random kid in sight. He saw the set up around the boy. It reminded him of a miniature camp site. "Whatcha cookin' there mister?" He called over to the other kid. Justin & Ashura standing at Rai's legs, Justin on the right & Ashura by the left. "Aipom." Justin called out with a giant smile. "Sno..." Ashura backed away, hiding a bit behind Rai's leg.

TEMPLATE BY RIMY OF OTE LYRICS: BEYONCE: Best Thing I Never Had

“ Comes Back Around”

[Van Akiyama]

Nearly twenty minutes after he had started cooking breakfast, Van took a deep breath of the morning air. The rich aroma from their meal was beginning to spread through the area in and around their campsite. The sun was now just barely above the eastern horizon and beginning to spread its warm glow across the island and a cool breeze wafted through every once in a while. Aska, who had lost interest in the mountain after its fiery glow had begun to fade, had begun picking up the rocks that interested her the most and began to collect them in a small pile next to its trainer, who was watching her while cooking.

After stirring the unfinished stew again for a moment, the sound of voices caught Van's attention. Looking up from the food in front of him, the trainer glanced around the area to see another student and his Pokemon wandering closer. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves about contests. Van watched the other student and his Pokemon for a moment until he felt a small poke on his leg. Turning his gaze back down towards Aska, he saw that the normal type Pokemon was holding up a particularly unique stone towards him. It was green in color and very sleek and smooth, worn by the natural elements for many years.

"Looks like Malachite. It's a very fine gift. Thank you." Van said in thanks to the young Pokemon with a small smile. As Aska gave a happy cry of its name and turned to search for more rocks, Van heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Turning back to the other student, Van could see him and his Pokemon approaching him and asking what the delicious smell was. Aska glanced towards the other trainer and his Pokemon and gave a short, happy wave before going back to its search for rocks. Van took a moment to examine the other student and his Pokemon before responding.

"It's a recipe that I learned several years ago. You're welcome to have some when its done, if you want." Van offered to the other student. He hadn't been expecting other trainers to approach him so early in the day, but he didn't want to appear rude to someone he had just met. He had made more than he and his Pokemon needed, after all. "It'll be done in about ten minutes." he finished. He rolled the small stone of malachite that Aska had given him a few moments ago between his fingers as he spoke and waited for the food to finish.

[Raize Phoenix]

“ What Goes Around ”

Thank God You Blew It, Thank God I dodged A Bullet

WORD COUNT: 294 SONG PLAYING: BEYONCE: VIDEO PHONE OUTFIT: HERE

"How kind." Rai mumbled with his smile, seeing the togepi hand its trainer a shiny rock. Though it didnt have any actual value, the trainer gave a slight smile to show his appreciation of the cute little pokemon. The pokemon saw Rai & gave a friendly wave back. "Hi there." Rai gave a gentle wave back. His snorunt jumped over to the other pokemon and began to speak. "Sno!"(lets play!) He gave a large smile to the pokemon, giving a friendly gesture to play. It was his first time seeing another trainer's pokemon so of courser he was excited to play with it.

Raize was delighted at the sight of another trainer. He seemed quite friendly & nice. Though he had just met Raize, the guy had offered such a delicious smelling stew of his. It was very polite of him. It was a kind gesture indeed, but Raize didnt think he could accept it. "No thanks. We had breakfast earlier. Besides I dont even know your name. Im Raize by the way." Rai politely turned down the offer, giving an introduction. He didnt want to come off as rude or a moocher or anything. "Say what brings you to the mountain? Not many people come out here." He questioned his classmate. It was rare that Rai came out here often. He only would go every so often to see bird pokemon. Even then, he didnt ever expect to see another trainer, especially not so early.

He looked over at the two pokemon & watched with a smile. It was nice that Ashura was getting along with others. Despite its shy & timid behavior, it was quite a loving pokemon. How adorable the site was to see the two pokemon of completely different typing to get along.

TEMPLATE BY RIMY OF OTE LYRICS: BEYONCE: Best Thing I Never Had

“ Comes Back Around”

[Van Akiyama]

Van gave a small shrug of indifference and stirred the stew again as the other student politely turned down his offer. He wasn't going to force the issue if the other trainer and his Pokemon had already eaten. He would just save the leftovers and heat them up for lunch later that day. After he was satisfied that the stew was fine for the time being, the trainer sat back and began to roll the piece of malachite Aska had given him between his fingers again. He listened as the other student introduced himself as Raize and then asked what had brought him to Mt. Sunrise.

"My name in Van. I came up here to show Aska the morning mountain. After we eat breakfast, we're going to spend the day training here" responded Van, gesturing towards the Togepi as he mentioned her. The young Pokemon glanced towards its trainer when it heard its name, but soon returned to searching for rocks when it realized it wasn't being called on. It had already agreed to play with the Snorunt and had temporarily abandoned its search for interesting rocks to wait for what the Snorunt wanted to do. "What about you? I'm out here often enough and its rather rare to see another trainer around the mountain so early in the morning."

As he returned the question Raize had asked him, Van plucked four Pokeballs and an Ultraball from his belt. He looked at them carefully for a moment, debating whether or not he wanted to call the rest of his Pokemon out yet. He looked at the five spheres that he held in his hands for a few moments before shrugging and tossing them all into the air. Each of Van's Pokemon were released into the small campsite with a flash of bright light.

Belias the Marshtomp and Solum the Lairon each glanced around and greeted Raize and his Pokemon before beginning to explore the area around the campsite. Solum was in search of any rock that might prove tasty and Belias, with nothing better to do, had decided to join it. Verius the Sawsbuck and Squall the Honchkrow also greeted Raize and his Pokemon. However, Squall lazily settled comfortably on its trainer shoulder while Verius settled down on the opposite side of the fire. Ignis the Tepig greeted no one but its own trainer before settling down behind Van, content on completely ignoring the other Pokemon.

"Sorry about that... Ignis got into an argument with the others and hasn't gotten along with them since..." said Van as he glanced towards the small fire type. The Tepig had burned both Belias and Solum with its Flamethrower after it had lost a sparring match against the latter. He had tried to console the Pokemon a few times before, but Ignis had proven too stubborn to accept that it's bad sportsmanship had been the reason the argument had broken out.

[Raize Phoenix]

“ What Goes Around ”

Thank God You Blew It, Thank God I dodged A Bullet

WORD COUNT: IDK SONG PLAYING: BEYONCE: VIDEO PHONE OUTFIT: HERE

Raize, still standing looked as Van had released his team of pokemon. He tossed up multiple pokeballs & one ultraball. Rai stood in amazement, maybe the student had a rare and powerful pokemon. It was such a variety that Rai became a little uneasy about his team. A marshtomp & larion named greeted Rai & his slightly timid Ashura, just before walking around to explore the area. They seemed to begin searching for something just like the togepi, having nothing else to do. The sawsbuck and honchkrow greeted Rai as well. His smile from responding to the marshtomp & larion still held up. He even let out a small playful laughter, watching the bird rest on its trainer's shoulder. The sawsbuck laid down on the opposite side of the fire. It seemed to have been taking a break from life to just relax. The final pokemon tepig had revealed itself. It rudely greeted no one but Van, his trainer. Though it seemed impolite Rai was ready to brush it off, maybe today just wasnt a day for them. Raize smile had finally faded when he realized that the pokemon were done with introductions & had went on with the scheduled program of their lives.

In the mean time, Van had answered Rai's slight questioning. His name was Van and Van planned to train after they would eat. To Rai it sounded like a nice picnic, with an abnormal but better setting than some grassy field. From here the sunrise & sunset was lovely so it made sense that someone would come to see at least one of them. Van then gave his own questions. Being the sociable person he was, he didnt mind questions, whether stupid or serious. "Well, I just wanted to get more comfortable with my snorunt, Ashura, over there." Raize gazed over towards the snorunt to see him &^ togepi playing happily with rocks.

"Im also here for a bit of training & to hopefully get a bit more experience with double battle, but no one seems to be up for it." Raize stopped, returning to the rude tepig. Rai had a feeling that the the little piggy hadnt done anything wrong, it was just misunderstood. The poor pokemon probably meant no harm when it got into the argument, but he wasnt Rai's pokemon so he wasnt sure what the case was. "Well hi there tepig." The trainer waved gently at the pokemon. Rai moved closer, realizing he was still standing, to the fire and took a seat near van & the tepig.

TEMPLATE BY RIMY OF OTE LYRICS: BEYONCE: Best Thing I Never Had

“ Comes Back Around”

[Van Akiyama]

Van watched his Pokemon introduce themselves to Raize as he placed the pokeballs and ultraball back onto his belt. Although he kept a friendly smile as the Pokemon had greeted him, the other trainer seemed a bit uneasy around his Pokemon. After all of his Pokemon had finished their introductions and greetings, Van glanced down towards Ignis and began to pet the fire type behind the ears while he apologized for its behavior. The Tepig seemed to enjoy its trainer's attention and moved to Van's side after a moment. It watched Aska and Ashura searching for rocks with a calmer look on its face, though it still ignored the other Pokemon. Aska, who had only recently been hatched, was the only other Pokemon Ignis was willing to talk and play with anymore.

After casting a glance towards stew on the fire again, Van listened as Raize explained that he was out at the mountain to get more comfortable with his Snorunt and for some training. As he listened, Van followed the other's gaze towards Aska and Ashura. Aska had found yet another shiny stone, which glinted in the morning light, and was quickly carrying it to the small pile of stones it had already found. As Aska placed the stone on top of the small pile, a loud crunching sound caught Van's attention. Glancing over, Van noticed that Solum had picked up and began to chew a rather large rock. Belias had gotten bored of searching for rocks and was now sitting next to and talking with Verius.

As Van watched his other Pokemon, Ignis looked over toward the other trainer who had greeted it with a small wave. The Tepig watched as the other human took a seat near it before raising one of its front legs and returning the wave and greeting. After watching Solum finish the rock it had found and begun its search anew, Van turned his attention back to Raize.

"If you're out here for training, how about a quick battle? The stew will still take some time to finish." Van offered. Squall, Belias, Aska and Solum all turned their eyes to their trainer at the mention of a battle. They all seemed eager to start their training for the day He continued to pet Ignis as he glanced over towards Raize and his Pokemon. Van continued to pet Ignis as he and his Pokemon waited for an answer.

[Raize Phoenix]

Even though van didnt seem to be paying attention Rai continued his little spill. He actually came in and out of his own thoughts while talking. "Why does this feel so strange? Its like Everything is setting itself up. As if, we're all just the cast of an ever lasting play. Or we're all just puppets with invisible strings. Nobody has conflict. Everyone just sticks together & is nice. Back at my old school, everyone focused so much on studying that nobody had a life outside the chapters of a book."

He came back to the end of his own little dialogue. Seeing everyone get along pretty well, brought him back to his positive self. Ashura & the togepi had found more useless shiny rocks. Van began tending to his tepig, convincing it to warm up a bit. He then listened to Van's offer. A battle, this early? It seemed like more fun than the everyday at noon battle, Rai had been having often lately. He let out a slight smile at the trainer's offer. He was happy that he wasnt the one that had to offer the battle.

"Sure! Im ready when you are." Raize jumped up walking away from the stew to a safe distance. They would be able to fight but without causing any harm to the stew or disrupting anything else of value. "Since my poke pal here needs to get some training in, I'll use Ashura. If you dont mind, lets make it a double battle. My buddy Justin could use some double battle experience as well." Rai told Van, releasing his aipom.

"Aipom!" Justin stood proud, over hearing everything that had been said. "Hey Ashura! How aabout a battle?" Rai called to the snorunt. "Sno!" The ice pokemon ran over to his trainer, after putting down a shiny rock. "Snorunt. Sno." It nodded at Rai, standing next to Justin. The two were in perfect positioning. If it was anything like the battle yesterday, Ashura would be overjoyed to do it again. Justin on the other hand, was just ready to evolve and reach a higher level of power.

ooc: My posts are going to start getting shorter after this.

[Van Akiyama]

Van rose to his feet and nodded as Raize accepted his challenge and leapt up from his seat. Motioning for his Pokemon to follow, Van followed the other student to a spot only a short distance away from his campsite. All of his Pokemon rose to their feet and abandoned their activities to follow their trainer. Squall, who was still resting on its trainer's shoulder, simply watched the other trainer and his Pokemon. As he took his place on the chosen field of battle, the trainer watched as his opponent sent two of his Pokemon, his Aipon and his Snorunt, onto the field and offered to have a double battle.

"Alright, I'm fine with having a double battle." said Van as he examined his opponent's Pokemon before turning towards his own, "Belias, Aska, you're up."

The Marshtomp and Togepi both nodded and quickly made their way onto the field, taking their places side by side. Both of the Pokemon looked eager to begin the battle. Solum, Verius and Ignis settled a small distance away from the field so that their presence would not interfere with the battle. Squall left its trainer's shoulder and glided over to Verius where it came to rest between the grass type's leafy antlers.

"We're ready when you are." Van said to the other trainer. As he waited for the battle to begin, the trainer scanned the battlefield with his dual-colored eyes. It was the same rocky and slightly inclined terrain that it had been the past several times he had made camp in the area. When he was finished surveying the soon-to-be field of battle, Van removed the small piece of malachite from his pocket and began to roll it between the index and middle middle fingers of his right hand and waited for the battle to begin.

[Raize Phoenix]

"Great. I guess we'll have the first move." Raize mumbled. His pokemon got into place, with space in between each of the two. The duo stood firm & straight. Justin readying itself for the first attack. He was sure he'd be called up to attack first. Ashura was ready to do anything that wasnt too hard or just going to down right impossible for the little guy.

Rai thought for a moment to himself. He had many options. He could either attack with the two pokemon at once or set the battle up to use powerful attacks. He could attack with swift, as usual. He could try an ice shard, too simple. He could quit already, how cowardly it just started. Whatever he'd do, it would just wing it as usual.

"Ashura use icy wind!" He told the snorunt as it jumped up in joy & landed on the ground. Suddenly it shot out chilling wind at the opposing duo. "As for you Justin, swift!" He told the monkey. Though Justin was thrown off by the order, he still got to attack. The monkey jumped into the air & launched multiple golden stars.

[Van Akiyama]

Van nodded and waited as a moment of silence took the field after Raize claimed the first move. The other trainer seemed to be thinking about something before beginning the battle. However, after the moment of silence had passed, Raize ordered his first attacks and his Pokemon had leapt into action. "Belias, cover Aska with Protect. Aska, use Nasty Plot." Van ordered. As the Snorunt let loose a blast of frigid wind after a small dance of joy and the Aipom had launched a cluster of golden start, Belias leapt in front of her companion, planted her feet firmly into the ground and raised her arms in a protective manner. The water type began to glow with a bright blue protective aura as she used Protect, protecting both Aska and herself from both of the oncoming attacks.

"Good. Now, use Muddy Water!" Van ordered. As Aska gained a silver aura around it as it raised its own power via its Nasty Plot attack, Belias let the protective aura around it fade and lowered its arms to the ground. A thick pool of spiraling, brown water formed beneath the Marshtomp as it raised its arms towards the opposing Pokemon. Upon the water type's command, the Muddy Water attack erupted forth in a tall and wide wave that crashed violently towards the Aipom and Snorunt. If luck was with him, the attack would not only deal damage, but it would cake mud over their opponents and obscure their vision, lowering their accuracy as well.

[dice=10]
1 - 3, Muddy Water will lower accuracy

[rand=77040510604878432807759936682295349445931198031747814516512736516]

[Raize Phoenix]

Rai watched as his attacks were deflected with the easy use of protect. His icy wind & swift had both gone to waste in an instant. But that wasnt a serious problem. Now he could use icy wind & swift again, but this time protect would have a lower chance of working & saving their targets. Now he had to think of the new incoming attack, muddy water. This was the first time he had seen a muddy water attack before, but hell it was his first time doing a lot of things lately.

"Well then, we'll have to make do with what we've got. Though thats not much at all." Raize noted to his battling duo. "Justin, Ashura, hold on to each other! Desperate times call for desperate measures." Rai told the duo. The two, in fear naturally listened and obeyed every & any command o their trainer. The two quickly bundled up in each other and took the muddy water attack together. Though the damage was sizable, the pokemon were able to slowly rise to their feet after a second or two of just lying there.

"Ai. Pom." The monkey stood. "Sno. Sno." The snorunt stood as well. They had been knocked down & gotten back up. A few more attacks ad Ashura would be out for sure. Justin on the other hand would be able to stand against them for a bit longer. "Lets try again! Justin use swift! Ashura use icy wind!" The barrage of stars spun rapidly and the wind would twist & turn them faster at the opposing marshtomp & togepi. This would lower their speed by one stage & deal decent damage to both pokemon. Hopefully this would be enough for now.

[Van Akiyama]

Van eyed the battlefield as the wave of Muddy Water crashed towards his opponent's Pokemon. As the attack struck its targets, the silver aura that had formed around Aska as it used Nasty Plot disappeared. The young Togepi glanced around slightly before peeking around the Marshtomp that was protecting it and watched with Belias and its trainer as the Muddy Water receded. The trainer was slightly disappointed to see that neither of his opponent's Pokemon had enough mud stuck to them to hinder their accuracy, but he doubted it mattered much in the long run. Van only took a moment to listen as Raize told his Pokemon to repeat the same two attacks from before.

"Belias, brace yourself and use Hydro Pump on the Aipom. Aska, move to your left and use Psyshock on the same target!" Van ordered. Belias immediately planted its finned feet into the ground and dug in as much as it could as its opponents once against launched their attacks. As the barrage of stars and frigid winds bore down on it and Aska, Belias opened its mouth widely. A very powerful jet of water in the form of Hydro Pump erupted from the Marshtomp's open mouth towards the Aipom, ripping through several of the stars as it bore down on its target.

Aska had repositioned itself to be hidden from the a majority of the Icy Wind attack before its eyes had begun to glow. As the blast of frigid wind struck Belias, the Togepi was protected from some of the damage, though a bit of frost still formed on it to hinder its speed. Once it had gotten into position though, its eye began to glow bright violet and a blast of powerful psychic energy in the form of Psyshock was launched towards the Aipom as well. The blast of energy tore through a few more of Swift's stars, letting only a couple of them to strike Belias and Aska.

Although Belias had taken a bit of damage from the attacks, it still had plenty of vitality left to battle with. It had quite a bit of bulk to work with as a Marshtomp, even with its speed being hindered by Icy Wind's effects. Aska, on the other hand, was still quite young and wasn't as durable as its partner. While it still had enough vitality left to survive a few more attacks, it wasn't likely to stay standing as long as Belias was.

[rand=274891273269718599237252950777392842941507267232607900186015332877]

[Raize Phoenix]

In another instant, the pokemon of the opposing trainer would seem to have managed to avoid most of the damage. Fortunately they had been slowed down just a bit & the two pokemon had both taken less than intended damage. Their trainer was indeed a great trainer. He had to obviously be in another class than Rai. Perhaps a higher calibur. But since the trainer seemed to already have been here longer, it could be assumed he had more experience than Rai.

Thoughts of many kinds rushed through Rai's head. The two pokemon had managed to set up for the next move. Though Rai wanted to beat them to the punch line, he was unable to interrupt the opponent's commands & meet the deadlines before he launched the next line of attacks. A hydro pump burst through Justin's swift & launched dead at the purple monkey. Luckily a few of the stars had hit the targets.

Not at the same time, but almost right after the togepi launched an addition to the hydro pump. The purple monkey was once again the target. The monkey didnt panic at all, he simply stood still, awaiting the trainer's following commands. The blast of energy & blast of water rushed towards the monkey, making both him & Rai very much nervous. Suddenly an idea popped in Rai's head.

"Since they ignored Ashura, he should launch his secret weapon. Meanwhile Justin would have to dodge first." His thoughts wrapped up quickly. "Justin, use agility to dodge right & dash towards the marshtomp. If you can, use double hit if you get close enough!" His partner took off with great speed. Combining the increasing speed from agility & Justin's naturally above average speed, the monkey would dart to the left of the hydro pump & head even further left to avoid the psyshock from togepi. The monkey then closed in to the right, getting back on track to attack the marshtomp with a following up double hit.

"Ashura, while he's doing that, spam them with blizzard, while their launching attacks at Justin!" He told them. While the monkey was dodging the opposing attacks, the snorunt fired off multiple ice shards & heavy ice winds at them. As Justin came closer, the snorunt's blizzard let up & had subsided completely once Justin got with in range of the marshtomp. The aipom jumped into the air, swinging its tail at the marshtomp. It had launched its double hit. If this had hit, the other would come right after.

[Van Akiyama]

Van watched as the Aipom managed to avoid both of his Pokemons' attacks entirely with its Agility attack. Once it had safely avoided the attack, the monkey began to charge at Belias for a counterattack. As expected, the Snorunt they had left alone had launched a Blizzard attack at his two Pokemon at the same time the Aipom had begun its charge. Both of the opposing attacks seemed to be aimed mostly at Belias, who had been taking most of the hits during the battle. Van watched as both Belias and Aska braced for the oncoming attacks as they waited for their trainer's orders.

"Belias, use Protect and counter with Mud Bomb! Aska, follow up with Psyshock!" ordered Van. He watched as his Marshtomp raised her fins in a defensive manner and a protective blue aura surrounded her again. Aska once again his behind Belias to avoid a majority of the Blizzard attack, though it still took a fair amount of damage from the frigid winds. However, the battle seemed to be taking its toll on the young Pokemon.

Once the winds of Blizzard had died down, the Aipom descended on Belias and struck at the Marshtomp's aura twice with its Double Hit attack. "Now dodge!" Van ordered quickly. As the second blow was about to strike Belias' aura, the Marshtomp suddenly dropped the Protect attack and ducked under the Aipom's second strike. With the second half of Double Hit avoided, she lunged at the now vulnerable and launched a thick sphere of mud at the Aipom. At the same time, Aska sidestepped a bit and launched its powerful Psyshock attack at the purple monkey, angling the Psyshock so that it would hit the Aipom at the same time as the Mud Bomb attack.

As his Pokemon launched their swift counterattack on the Aipom, Van glanced over the battlefield again. Belias still had a fair amount of vitality left to battle with thanks to Protect, though Aska didn't look like it would stay in for more than another hit or two. He'd have to make his next few orders count. His opponents Pokemon seemed to be feeling the effects of battle too, though he could not accurately gauge how much more they could take. With the rate they had been throwing out attacks this battle, Van had a feeling they were wearing themselves down more quickly as the battle went on.

[Raize Phoenix]

The blond haired coordinator began to give up. His tactics were all becoming old pretty darn fast. Using protect every few turns or so were just cheap ways to get out of everything, and not doing much work to do so. And as for actually doing things such as using thunder and blizzard, Rai didnt want to become reliant on moves with with not so well accuracy. "Well, its been a pleasure." Rai muttered, seeing the battle come towards the end.

The purple monkey was doing great! His double hit hadnt been able to do much, but it got everyone's attention away from Ashura, though that wasnt too much better. "Sno!" Ashura paused, seeing his partner get hit. "Aipom!" Justin was struck by the attacks. Seeing as how Rai wasnt going to try to pull off some randomly awesome combo, he'd realized the ending.

"Ai..." Justin landed on the ground, being returned to Rai's pokeball. "Good one." Rai noted, letting him remain in the ball for rest. "Sno?" Ashura questioned, walking over to Rai. "Sno?" Ashura asked. Seeing his partner was unable to continue on, Ashura would no longer want to fight. "Well, you too." Rai returned the snorunt to the pokeball. "Nice one Van!" Rai waved, walking past the trainer & heading into the mountains for further training.

[Van Akiyama]

The end of the battle came as both Belias' and Aska's counterattack met their mark and sent the Aipom sprawling to the ground. Both of Van's Pokemon turned to face the other trainer's remaining Pokemon, but the Snorunt had already retreated back to its trainer. It seemed that the ice type was unwilling to battle two Pokemon at once. As Raize recalled both of his Pokemon, Van walked up to Aska and picked up the young Togepi. She was shaking from both the icy attacks it had been hit with and the weariness of its first real battle.

"You two okay?" asked Van. The Togepi nodded shakily and cuddled up to its trainer for warmth and Belias nodded confidently despite the fatigue it also felt. Van allowed a small smile to form on his lips as he looked up from his two Pokemon toward Raize. He listened to the other student's compliment and waved back as he watched the other depart further into the mountainous area. Once they were alone again, Van nodded back towards the camp that he had set up.

"Let's get back to camp. Breakfast should be done by now." Van said. Both Belias and Aska nodded in agreement and the trio quickly made their way back to the small campsite they had set up. As Van sat next to the finished stew, the rest of Van's Pokemon began to gather around the fire as well. Belias and Solum sat next to each other and began to talk again. Judging by the motions that the water type was making with its fins, it was describing the battle it just had to the Lairon. Aska had leapt from Van's arms as its trainer began to dish up the stew for his Pokemon and settled down next to Verius. The older grass type Pokemon seemed to be caring for the younger Togepi. After eying the Togepi for a moment, Ignis rose from its spot beside Van and approached the normal type. After a short exchange between the two Pokemon, the small fire type settled down next to Verius and allowed Aska to snuggle up against its warm body.

"You both did great. Let's eat breakfast and start training once we're all done." Van suggested. Aska gave a happy chirp of its name at the compliment and Belias made a small pose of victory. The rest of his Pokemon all expressed their agreement as they began to eat and prepare for the day ahead.