Act I: Attack on Taurinno Gym

Marcus wasn't long, and soon pushed himself inside with two poke balls on his hip. He offered a smile to the Gym Leader.

"This is the first Gym I've been in since I challenged the Gym in Rustboro, back in Hoenn. Felt like I barely got out of there by the skin of my teeth. Though, I was only eleven then. And my Kabutops was just a Kabuto." He laughed to himself and stretched his arms.

"So, any special rules for this gym I need to know? Any league rules in Lialta that are different from the ones in Hoenn? I only have two Pokemon, so hopefully that's not a problem."

"Fair enough. Validus, you first."

Taking the Scizor's Poke-ball off his hip, Marcus sent out the Scizor. Validus's amber eyes stared Froslass down and clamped its pincers down tight. For a second, the Scizor was completely still as he waited for orders.

Challenging Gym Leader Kurtis Ise for the Absolute Zero Badge; singles, 2v2

Marcus watched the Froslass warily, thinking quickly. He had an advantage against ice-types, he knew, but ice-types were tricky. He decided to test the ice with all out brute force. It was risky, but sometimes you had to take a risk to understand what kind of trainer you were going up against.

"Validus... Let's show him all the cards." Marcus raised his fist, the keystone bracelet glowing in time with the Scizor, who had begun evolving. Turning black, with purple light radiating both from Validus's core and Marcus's wrist, the Scizor became a Mega Scizor -- a knight with pincers and wings.

"Bullet punch!" Marcus didn't waste time, and the normally slow Scizor, which had been standing absolutely still, suddenly released all of its motion in one powerfully fast motion. The clamped shut pincers shot as true as bullets as the Mega Scizor leapt straight for its target in what was usually a final blow for lesser Ice-type Pokemon.

Not Kurtis's Froslass, however. The Pokemon was hit directly, so fast was the Mega Scizor, but the Froslass clung on to consciousness, and still had the strength to obey and give the opposing a mischievous look when Kurtis called out "Hang on, Froslass! Use Thunder Wave!"

Marcus swallowed when he saw the lightning hit his Scizor. He had trained with it while it was paralyzed like this before, but it always put him on edge to see the powerful Pokemon crippled. Again, the Scizor froze, and neither Marcus nor Kurtis could tell if the Pokemon couldn't move or wouldn't. Marcus was hoping the Scizor just wanted to do another bullet punch -- often, the complete lack of motion indicated that.

Biting his lower lip, Marcus decided to try again. "Bullet Punch!" This time, the Mega Scizor surprised Marcus by responding as he usually did -- apparently training had paid off. The Steel Bug once more crashed into the Froslass, this time knocking the floating Pokemon to the ground. Kurtis recalled the Pokemon.

"Go, Bob! Show that steel type what it's like to punch something that can sink ships!" Kurtis looked focused on the battle. He probably wouldn't hold back now, if he had been beforehand.

A huge Avalugg came out of the Pokeball, and the Gym shook with the force of the thing even landing. Marcus could have sworn the iceberg of a pokemon held its head a bit higher when Kurtis complimented the power of an iceberg. Marcus knew the only way to fight THAT was with speed -- speed to maneuver around the iceberg. Mega Scizor would have to return, but only after preparing the battle field for LegBiter. "Validus, use Rain Dance!"

The paralysis slowed Scizor down considerably, however, and the Avalugg had time, despite its size, to charge Validus down and give him a huge chomp. Validus defended well, using a pincer to guard the blow, but Marcus could still tell the Scizor would need rest. Validus managed to get free from the bite and just barely do the steps required to call down a temporary bout of rain within the gym. Now it was time for Scizor to return, but Marcus could tell the Pokemon, staring down its foe, wanted to go with an exclimation point. When the Avalugg responded to Kurtis's command to Crunch the Mega Scizor, Validus guarded once again, and beyond all odds, reacted with a U-turn despite the clamping jaws and the paralysis. Validus hit the Avalugg once with a pincer, before spinning out of the bite-hold and back towards Marcus. The Scizor looked battered but not defeated. "LegBiter, go!" called Marcus as he simultaneously released the Kabutops and recalled the Mega Scizor.


Marcus's Kabutops jumped twice in the rain, loving the weather. The Pokemon sprayed some of it at his trainer, using a foot to catch a forming puddle and sending it up into the air. "Pbbththh. Hahah. LegBiter, Stone Edge!" laughed Marcus. The Kabutops exhalted in the rain and shot from puddle to forming puddle with amazing speed. Dodging to the left of the Avalugg the Kabutops stabbed the ground with one scythe, both scythes glowing white, and aimed the other for the Avalugg's flank. A group of sharp stones raised out of the ground in the direction the Kabutops had aimed, slamming into Bob.

Bob, however slow, was still very much alert, and no puppy that would chase something in circles. The iceberg had far less distance to charge, and as the stones hit his flank, he took the blow fearlessly and used the opportunity to bite down hard on LegBiter's domed, halfmoon head.

"Don't panic, LegBiter! You know what to do!" Marcus called.

Kurtis called out as well, knowing just as much as Marcus that this battle could be decided very quickly if the Kabutops had good fortune. If he wasnt, he could easily be crushed by the sheer weight of the foe he was facing. "Bob, Crunch him! keep him trapped with your jaws and then regain your footing!"

The Ice Gym Leader's ploy was genius, but Marcus was lucky. "Right, then Stone Edge again, LegBiter! You have to end it now, or you'll be stuck under an Iceberg!"

The Kabutops, so playful before, was suddenly more serious in the face of the biting weight of the Avalugg's jaws. The Pokemon reacted to his trainer, and once more a scythe found the ground and blazed white. Just as the Avalugg regained its footing, the Kabutops blindly aimed a Stone Edge at the Avalugg.

The Stone Edge hit the Avalugg right at a soft spot where the neck met the massive body. Marcus stood still, blinking at his luck, as the Avalugg's jaws released Kabutops just as the front half of the Pokemon fell on top of LegBiter and pinned him with its unconscious body.

The Kabutops was not happy, and let its trainer know so with a cry. Marcus quickly recalled his Pokemon as Kurtis did the same.

"That was a fortunately placed Stone Edge," remarked Marcus. "Good job Validus, LegBiter -- you guys just defeated a Gym Leader!"

Marcus ducked and swore loudly, having barely had time to receive his badge before the shot rang out. Quickly, he looked for cover. He wasn't going to bring his Pokemon into a shoot-out, even though both of them could take a bullet once or twice without being crippled or killed -- they had steel and rock armors, after all. Marcus didn't want one of his Pokemon taking a bullet for him, either way. Human fights like these should be left to humans.

Marcus sprinted for cover, ducking behind the partition between the spectator stands and the battle floor. There he took his weighty backpack off his back and sorted through it to find the two halves of his taser rifle -- the stock and the barrel. He began putting them together, quickly turning the nut around the bolt with one hand to solidly attach the two parts. The other was blindly rummaging for the micro-battery taser ammo. Designed to hit softer than a rubber bullet but give the target a little extra, the taser rounds had enough electricity and force to paralyze/stun the target like a Thunder Wave.

Marcus worked quickly, hoping the other two would be able to fend for themselves until he could give them cover fire.

Marcus finished attaching the gun and looked over at Guy. The guy had laughed. At bullets. That either comforted Marcus or worried him more. He would decide when he wasn't possibly being shot at any longer. "Hmm. Bait. Well, one of us could be seen wearing the scarf on our head.. and then duck behind cover fast enough to not get hit. Then when we toss up the scarf the second time, in a bundle, it'll get shot at?" Marcus loaded the taser rifle. "Or I could be the bait. I can cover Nia by shooting back -- he or she will be distracted then, no doubt." Marcus glanced around for Kurtis. "I hope the Gym Leader's okay."

"Kurtis has no flare for the dramatic, does he?" Guy retracted his arm, stuffing the scarf in his pocket. He walked out from behind the stands with his arms wide, "Well done, Kurtis! You sure know how to remove the fun from life, don't you?" Light crunching of snow came from Guy as he walked toward the gym door. He gestured slightly to the wall, and a blue zigzag rushed out the door. He stopped just before going outside, holding up Kurtis who wanted to pursue. "Style points are half the battle."

Just as Guy said those words, the assassin tripped, falling hard on her face. Guy raised his right hand, snapped his fingers, and brought his arm down to point forward at the woman. It took a moment, but Dragoon descended quickly, landing on the assassin's back. Nia showed herself at the same time, revealing her long tongue wrapped around the woman's leg, undoubtedly the cause of her fall.

Kurtis approached the pinned assassin, Weavile on his heels.

"That one," the woman pointed at Kurtis, anger in her eyes.

"Why me?" Kurtis shrugged. I haven't pissed anyone off enough to merit execution, he thought.

"Enough! Tell me who you're working for!" Kurtis was angry.

The woman sighed. "You have no idea, do you?"

"What?" Kurtis was perplexed.

"You think you're the only one being attacked today?" the woman laughed. "All of you gym leaders are going down. Battling is a sin, and you gym leaders are the ones carrying the heresy further!"

Her speech had caught the trainers off guard. She knocked on a Pokeball on her belt, and a Crobat sprang forward. The bat Pokemon dove at Kurtis, attacking the trainer with its fangs. Kurtis fell to the ground, venom tearing through his veins like wildfire. Weavile slashed at the Crobat, but it was too fast. Crobat knocked Marcus back, and the assassin grabbed hold of the Pokemon, fleeing in the air toward the heart of Taurinno.