PKMN: A.H.L pt.7 1 of 2

Both Xander and Damien stood, staring deeply into each other's eyes. A gaze so cold from Xander it could make anyone flinch, but not Damien. He stood there, determined, ready, almost as if he needed to battle. Xander swallowed a bit as he pointed at Damien. "I'm not losing this time, Damien! You hear me?" Damien just chuckled. "I'd like to see you try and beat me. Golbat, wing attack!" Golbat then spun around and swurved toward Pidove, knocking it back with a big gust of high wind. "Pidove, counter back with quick attack!" Damien grinned. "Crunch attack, now!" Xander was shocked. "W-what? Thats not fair!" It was too late to speak those words. Pidove flew right into the fangs of Golbat's mouth. Saliva dripped from its mouth as it bit Pidove hard, driving its sharp fangs into the small Pidove's side and wings. Blood gushed from its body as Xander was shaking. "No....no! Stop it now Damien! This is torture!" "Hmph. The battle has begun and yet your already crying like a little baby. Get over it! If a Pokemon dies, it dies! There's no way for them to escape that fate. You might as well GIVE UP!" Xander clentched his fist and looked down. He was shaking, fear running through his body, chilling him as he watched his own Pokemon cry out for air and even worse, life. He grabbed his Pokeball and aimed it toward Pidove, a dark look on his face. "Return..." Was all he said as Pidove returned inside its Pokeball. He reached for another one and tossed it. Out came Ledian.

"Lets do out best Ledian! Swift attack!" Ledian shot stars at golbat which struck it hard, knocking it back. Damien growled. "This isn't over 'till I say its over! Wing attack again!" Xander screamed. "Protect!" Ledian covered itself in a green ball that deflected Golbat's attack. "What the?!" Damien was puzzled. "Now Ledian, Mach punch!" Ledian threw itself towards Golbat and punched it back and forth. "Try to Crunch it!" Golbat went to bite Ledian. "Ledian! Grab its mouth and hold it open!" Ledian grabbed a hold of Golbat's mouth and stretched it wide open. "Alright Damien, if a death is a death, then I guess its fair to say that I get a say in this." "Do your worst!" Xander smiled, that dark look on his face again. "Finish this beat off with Silver wind!" Ledian shot a big huge silver wind down Golbat's throat, almost choking the thing. Damien growled. "Well I didn't expect you to pull something like that on me..." Damien grabbed his Pokeball and returned Golbat inside. He smiled as he threw another one. "Flareon, standy for battle!"

Xander cautiously stared at Flareon. "Don't worry. When all of this crap with 'team Astro' is done, I'll get you back where you belong, at home! Ok Ledian, Silver wind!" "Dodge it and use Flamethrower!" Flareon swiftly jumped to avoid the silver wind and shot a flamethrower in Ledian's face, nearly cooking the small Pokemon. Ledian crashed into a tree. "Ledian! Get up!" Ledian barely managed to stand up, but still had the fighting spirit. "Good job, now lets try again!" Ledian dashed towards Flareon, ready to attack at any point. "Use flamethrower once more!" Flareon used flamethrower, but Ledian managed to dodge each shot, again and again. "Alright Ledian, go for a Mach punch!" Ledian threw a Mach punch which hit Flareon, knocking it back. "Thanks Xander, you fell for it." "What?!" "Ok Flareon, surround yourself with flames and tackle it!" Xander immedietly knew what it was. "Ok Ledian, prepare yourself and Mach punch it when it comes for you! Flareon's body was surrounded in flames as it dashed past Ledian, its hot body leaving almost a trail of flames behind it.

It stopped, turned around and charged at Ledian, tackling itself into it. Ledian flew back but managed to stay still. Flareon rushed again, knocking into Ledian, but Ledian caught Flareon this time. "Ok, good job Ledian, now knock it down! Ledian threw its fist and punched Flareon, striking it down, only doing little damage. Flareon got back up and growled, charging into Ledian again. Ledian dashed toward and got ready to Mach punch it. Both the fist and flameful body collided, then stopped. Both trainers anxiously waited to see what would happen, which Pokemon would go down first. But it seemed too sudden. Ledian shook as Flareon trembled and fell down. Ledian tried to keep its balance but fell.  Both Pokemon had fainted from the attack. Damien growled and Xander just stood frozen. "Alright Damien, looks like I won, because I know those were your two only Pokemon!" Damien just grinned and returned Flareon to its ball. "I saw that attack. That Mach punch was a heavy hit on Flareon's chest. That weakened it down and even made it faint. Nice approach." Xander was confused. "Commenting on my Pokemon attack eh? Oh well, it don't matter. Now hand over the map peice and Flareon!"

Damien just grinned. "Oh hehe...this battle isn't over. I've got one more partner ready to battle you." Xander stood stunned. He couldn't believe what he heard. "What?!" Damien laughed as he tossed his final Pokeball and out came an Absol. It stood, furiously waiting to battle. It snorted dirt off the ground. Xander just stood there, a bit nervous, but grabbed his Pokeball containing Leafeon and tossed it. "You already know what I got to offer, so why don't we get this over with, shall we?" Damien grinned and clentched his fist. "Sure, why not. I'd be better if we got this over with anyways. I've got a team to get back to...Absol, night shade!" Absol's eyes glew purple as a shadowy version of itself darkened over Leafeon and struck it down. "Leafeon! Get up!" Leafeon managed to stand up and then stared at Absol. Both creatures stared each other down. Damien folded his arms. "You know whats gonna be so good about this little fight? Its that were using the partners we both started with." Xander again, was confused. "Thats right Xander. this little guy has been my one best friend ever since I started being a team Astro member. I won't even have to tell it what to do. It knows what to do on its own, right Absol?"

The Absol roared as it Lunged at Leafeon and knocked it down. It then picked it up by its horn and threw it into the air, then jumped up and slashed at it several times. Damien smirked, giving Xander the "this is like a wild Pokemon battle" look. Xander swallowed as he cautiously looked up. "Cmon Leafeon, you can do this...we can win!" Leafeon's ears twitched as it launched itself up and tackled Absol, striking it with Razor leaf. Absol crouched down and jumped to avoid most of the leaves but was struck by some of it. The Absol then lunged at Leafeon again and stratched at it once more, then its eyes glew purple as Leafeon tried to stand up, being knocked back once more by another night shade. Xander sweated, knowing there was not much he could do. He had to interfere before things got out of hand. He dashed over towards Leafeon and got in Absol's way. "If your so wild, once don't you try to hit me!" Absol snarled and tackled Xander, knocking it out of the way. Xander held his gut as he looked up. He couldn't believe his eyes.

It attacked him. It really did. As soon as Absol took its eyes off Xander, it slowly walked toward the weakened and almost limp Leafeon. It tried to jump at Absol but it was clawed at, knocked down and stepped on. Xander stood up and almost felt like crying. "No! Leafeooooooooon!" His cry was slowly interupted by someone else's voice. "Empoleon, Ice beam!" An icy cold beam shot out at  Absol and struck it down, knocking it toward Damien. Xander looked up to see some tall woman walk into the battle. She stood there, glaring at Damien. "You have no honor, making your Pokemon battle freely. It kills me to such trainers who would train their Pokemon to kill. It's so worthless." Damien growled and returned Absol to its ball. Xander ran to Leafeon and did the same. "This isn't over Xander! And you...whoever you are...we'll meet again, I'm sure of it." Damien ran off, the map peice held in his hand. After he shortly disappeared, the woman held out a pokeball and returned Empoleon. "This team Astro must be stopped." She looked over at Xander, a smile crossing her face. "It looks like your trying to stop them?"

Xander slowly nodded, speechless. She examined him, slowly looking over him. "I see. I'm sure I'll catch you later when this is all over, Xander. Thats your name, is it not? I heard it being spoken by the grunt. Anyways, you look like a very honerable trainer. Maybe you should come to my gym sometime." A big eye'd look came over Xander's face. "Wait what? Your a gym leader?! Just who are you?" "My name is Suzume, or just Suze for short. I am not the real leader, but a substitute since the real leader is off training. If you think you got what it takes, I'll be waiting for you in Gyona town. Catch you later...Xander." She walked off as Xander smiled. "Alright then...I'll see you in Gyona town..." When she disappeared, Xander looked down, holding the Pokeball that contained Pidove. "I gotta heal him...but first...I should get back to Felona, she might need my help!"

Xander rushed off, rain dripping down his face as a storm rolled in. He knew that Felona needs his help, and hes determined to help in whatever way he can, but will he make it in time? even though his Pokemon are weak, can he still fight with the condition he and his partners share? Find out in the 2nd half of pt.7 to Pokemon: A hero's legend!