Love(Or Hate...) is in the Air!

"Alexander, use Flame Wheel!"

A large wheel of flames smashed into a caterpie for the seventeenth time that day, knocking it into a tree while burning it to a crisp. The growlithe, Alexander, landed on the ground with a good stance, not wavering for a moment until his partner called, "Nice one, Alexander! Alright, let's see what else we can find around here." The confident puppy pokemon walked over to Jikumo's side and walked with him as they made their way through the woods. His sword was hook to his side, clanking as he walked with his arms crossed behind his head, whistling a random tune that had come into his head. His growlithe partner had a confident stride, looking around with an intense stare, and sniffing the air every now and then.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Viridian Forest, Asuka was on the hunt for a Scizor, since Viridian Forest was the most likely place to look for one, what with it being infested with bugs. The Ice Queen stopped in her tracks when she heard a trainer let out a command. Thinking nothing of it, she continued on her way, looking for the Scizor, when in her line of sight, walked a Growlithe and a red-headed trainer. Asuka didn't even bother paying any particular attention to the trainer, finding him not really worth her time. She had more important things to do than waste any of her time on some random trainer, after all.

Jikumo, despite being focused on training, had his curiosity peak when he saw a girl walking through the forest. Alexander took special notice, turning quickly into his stance and barking at the girl. Jikumo crouched down and pet his partner, attempting to calm it down, then looked up at the girl with a bad poker face, "Sorry about that, Alexander here is pretty tense." He got up and brushed himself off, then put his hands on his hips and smiled at the girl, "I'm Jikumo, and your name is?" Alexander sat back down, his eyes still staring at this potential threat with intensity, but if she wasn't a threat, he could learn to like this girl.

Asuka's response to Jikumo's apology for his Growlithe caused her to scoff at him silently. If the dog was so poorly trained that it tended to run off and investigate every little thing that caught it's interest, than the trainer was clearly not someone worthy of any respect in her eyes. She didn't really have any interest in getting to know Jikumo, no matter how polite he was. "My name is  given to those who are good trainers. If you're little mutt is so poorly trained it runs off at the slightest thing, then you're not worthy of knowing it" she said to him with a cold, uninterested, bored expression.

Jikumo's smiled quickly turned into an enraged scowl at the girl's comment about his pokemon and his training, "The hell did you just say!? Good trainers, huh? Alright then, you asked for it, let's go." This girl probably had a lot of stronger pokemon than he did, but he didn't care. He didn't even know why, but a challenge was presented in front of him, and he accepted it head-on. His face felt flushed, probably from his anger, but it could've been from the girl herself. She wasn't bad looking...wait, what was he thinking? Alexander looked up to his trainer with a supportive look, and walked in front of him, waiting for battle.

Asuka's bored, cold expression changed for a quick second that displayed her amusement, before it quickly went back to it's cold, disinterested look again. The fact that this trainer thought he could best her while he was angry really did amuse her quite a bit. However, she wasn't one to turn down a challenge, so she silently took out a Pokeball. She then threw it at the ground, revealing a glaring, menacing Spiritomb that snarled down at the Growlithe. "Start this off by using two Calm Minds" she ordered her Spiritomb, causing it to let out a snarl as it did as it's trainer commanded.

Jikumo grinned inwardly, but kept his angry scowl on the outside, he was very pissed off, but he never lost his focus in a battle. As he saw the weird, rock/ghost looking pokemon come out of the girl's pokeball, he pulled out his pokedex to scan it. The stats of the Spiritomb showed up on the screen, So, he's stronger than Alexander in levels...well, we'll just have to win with whatever we've got. The ghost rock looked to be setting up some sort of strategy, so he figured he could have a little fun with it. On the inside, he was perfectly calm- well, more of a quiet anger, but on the outside he let his voice shake with anger. It was to fake out the girl and make her think he wasn't focusing. "A-alexander...roar that stupid rock out of here, then use a Flame Wheel!"

Alexander growled under his breath, then planted his feet and let loose a loud roar, shaking the leaves of the surrounding trees and forcing the pokemon to switch out. When the other pokemon would switch in, he would glare at it, intimidating it with his special ability, then jumped into the air a bit. While he was in the air he front flipped over and over, with flames flickering across his fur until he was completely aflame. When he touched the ground, he sped towards the pokemon that would switch in, leaving the grass on the ground burnt and lifeless.

Asuka didn't even respond to the emotions he was feeling. The only time she showed emotion was when her Spiritomb was roared away, causing another Pokemon to take it's place, which revealed that of her Bronzor. If you could call her slightly raising her eyebrow as a showing of emotion, anyway. "Use Hypnosis twice just in case your first one misses" she ordered her Bronzor, causing it to let out an affirmative noise as it used two Hypnosis on the Growlithe.

Jikumo's luck was getting even better, as the pokemon who had switched in was a steel-type, which was weak to his partner's move. He was disappointed, though he didn't show it, at the Hypnosis that was coming at his pokemon as it raced towards it. Using his quick thinking, he came up with a (probably) foolproof plan, "Alexander, use Roar to dispel the Hypnosis, then switch to Wild Charge!" Due to his rolling, the growlithe's roar wasn't direct and wouldn't switch out her pokemon, but it was enough to dispel the Hypnosis attacks and give him a direct opening as he closed the distance between them in a second. Using his powerful momentum, he bounced off the ground as the flames disappeared from his body, going quickly from flame to electricity as he attempting to slam into the plate.

Asuka showed no visible reaction to the way Jikumo was battling. She was extremely calm, and showed no actual emotion. All she did was wait for the Growlithe to get close, and then when it did so, only then did Asuka let out a command. "Bronzor, float to the side of it's Wild Charge, then hit it with two Psywaves" she ordered her Bronzor, causing it to snap into action as it floated to the side, and then launched out two Psywaves while it was still very close. Psywave was an inaccurate move, but the close proximity should make up for the bad accuracy.

Jikumo showed no difference in his fake anger expression, just thought of how he could counter the pokemon's attack. Psywave was an inaccurate attack, but she was using two at the same time, which could be a problem. As Alexander jumped past the bronzor, Jikumo yelled out, "Alexander, jump off that tree and continue with your Wild Charge!" The growlithe landed on the ground and easily out sped the slow, inaccurate attack, the electricity sparking on his fur getting stronger as his speed built up. When he came to a nearby tree, he jumped up and bounced off of it, rocketing towards the Bronzor at full speed.

Asuka would not be able to let a command out in time, and as such, Bronzor was hit dead on by the attack. Bronzor flinched, and actually flew back a bit at the force of impact. Considering by the way Bronzor was grunting and screeching, it seemed that the Wild Charge dealt it quite a bit of damage. If Asuka were anyone else, she might have shown some actual emotion, like show that she was impressed. As it was though, she never changed her expression. She did consider using a defense stat increasing move, but that Growlithe had Roar, and that would simply cancel it out.

So, it appeared that she was stuck with attacks. "Use Confusion, then follow it up with a Hypnosis before it can start moving again" she calmly ordered her Bronzor, causing it to let out a metallic screech as it did as it's trainer commanded.

Jikumo made an evil sneer at the sound of electricity sparking against steel, but kept his calm mindset on the inside. Alexander had landed on the ground, sparking a bit at taking recoil damage, but standing tall and proud nonetheless. He was a tough pokemon, but even he would have trouble with the confusion as it wrapped around his body, but the hypnosis would be trumped by Jikumo's anti-sleep strategy he had worked on awhile back. "Alexander, close your eyes, cover your ears, and use Odor Sleuth!" The growlithe listened to his partner, closing his eyes and using his paws to muffle the sound and avoid the effects of the hypnosis, while tensing its body against the confusion.

When the psychic attack ended, he dropped to the ground seemingly unharmed, but his body was hurt pretty decently. He lifted his nose to the air and began to smell for the Bronzor, and caught his scent almost immediately. "Alright, now use Bite!" After pinpointing where the psychic plate was, Alexander jumped towards it, attempting to take a chunk out of it. Jikumo slowly lost his fake anger expression, and it was replaced by a determined and focused look unknowingly.

Asuka was, inwardly anyway, surprised at the rather unique way Jikumo approached her Hypnosis attack. OK, so perhaps in this battle, she should avoid using any Sleep moves as so far, she was zero for three in that department. So, she had opted for something entirely different. "Bronzor, float above the Growlithe to dodge it's attack, and then slam down onto it with a Faint Attack" she ordered her starter Pokemon, causing the Bronzor to do as it's trainer commanded, only just barely managing to avoid the Bite, and then followed it up with a powerful Faint Attack by attempting to slam down on the Growlithe's back with incredible force.

Jikumo's eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on the match, completely ignoring the fact that he was trying to impress this girl. Battling got his blood flowing, he lived for battling, it was his favorite thing to do. When he saw the bronzor dodge the bite attack, he nodded a bit as if he had expected it, "Alexander, use Leer, then a Flame Wheel max power!" The growlithe landed on the ground perfectly and glared up at the bronzor to lower its defense, then began to spin and burst into flames again. When it was at full speed, it launched itself upwards, the bronzor having no place to run anymore.

Asuka was suitably impressed with how things were going, especially when Jikumo had managed to trap, and take down, her Bronzor. She wordlessly called the Bronzor back into her Pokeball, and sent out her Spiritomb again. Without wasting any time, Asuka quickly went on the offensive. "Start off with Curse, then attack with an Ominous Wind" she calmly ordered her childhood friend, causing the Spiritomb to do as it was commanded.

Jikumo smiled as the Bronzor finally went down, but the battle wasn't over yet, no by a longshot. It was going to be a tough fight, but Alexander wasn't even close to being finished. The damage he had sustained from Bronzor's battle hadn't been too severe, and he was standing tall as the ghostly winds came towards him, reminding the two of their training against the sandstorms. Jikumo took a huge risk and commanded his partner, "Alexander, use Roar twice, one to get rid of the winds and the other to switch out spiritomb!" Alexander planted his feet on the ground and prepared himself as the winds worked their way to him, the flattening grass giving him an idea of where it was coming from.

When the winds had gotten close, the growlithe let loose a powerful roar, the sound could be heard across the entire forest as the winds were blown away. The powerful ominous winds lowered to a gentle breeze that merely ruffled his fur, yet Alexander felt a huge pain in its chest, like a kind of ghostly power. "Alexander, you ok? C'mon, go for a Roar!" Alexander let loose another roar, this time directed at the spiritomb, hoping to switch it out to a more favorable pokemon for him to defeat.

Spiritomb was switched out via the Roar, but Asuka let a small smirk appear on her face when she realized that she now had him right where she wanted him. Curse takes a quarter of an opponent's health every turn, so Growlithe should be down and out in a few rounds. Her Spiritomb was switched out with a Tynamo, who let a cute little squeak. "Attack twice with two Charge Beams" she ordered her Tynamo.

Jikumo began to sweat a bit, his pokemon had a huge cripple from that Curse attack. It wasn't too long now until he was beaten...but if they were going down, they were going to do as much damage as possible. "Alexander, dodge those Charge Beams, then use Leer and Flame Wheel!" Alexander let out a strained bark, his chest felt like it was being constricted by a dark power, but it kept its determined stance. When the first charge beam flew towards him, he ducked under it, then jumped over the other one, glaring at the tiny eel all the while. When he had dodged both, he started to run towards it, flipping once he was halfway there and bursting into flames. When he got close enough, he put on another burst of speed to quickly close the distance in seconds, which would make it hard to dodge completely.

The Growlithe was a determined little thing, but Asuka was determined to take it down quickly, so her determination surpassed the dog's. Even as the Tynamo was hit full on by the Flame Wheel, and it sent the floating eel flying back. Asuka showed little emotion over it. Her Tynamo barely managed to survive the attack, but it was enough for her to, hopefully anyway, get a good hit on it. "Now, while it's still in the air, hit it with two Charge Beams" she said to the Tynamo, causing it groan weakly as it fired off two Charge Beams at the still airborne Growlithe.

Jikumo grit his teeth as his partner was trapped in the air, it was going to be a close matchup, but their arsenal wasn't all contained of physical moves. As the growlithe's flames disappeared, he glared at the Tynamo before rolling in midair to dodge the charge beam's with just a graze on the fur. As it landed on the ground, it felt the pain in its chest twinge again, before Jikumo said with a confident yet cautious voice, "Alexander doesn't just take orders from me. He can fight all on his own if he wanted! Now, use Close Combat to finish it off!!" Using the most of its speed and energy, the growlithe sped around the tynamo, giving it no escape, then began to kick and headbutt while keeping the spin's momentum, a brutish combination that was extremely powerful if used correctly.

Asuka felt that, if she were to be able to come out of this, then she needed to be able to run out the clock. So, instead of calling out an attack or telling Tynamo to dodge, she instead responded by calling back her Tynamo into it's Pokeball, and switched out with her Spiritomb. Of course, the result of this was that Growlithe had passed through the Spiritomb harmlessly, as it was both a Ghost, and it was immune to Fighting moves.

Jikumo smiled at the girl's move, it was what he'd expected if he had used a fighting move. His partner was on his last legs, but they were determined to make this count. Now that the spiritomb was so up close, it was neigh impossible for them to miss these next attacks. "Alexander, use Flame Wheel, then combo it up with a Wild Charge!!" He thrust his fist forward, hoping that this would be their final hurrah. Alexander gave a loud howl, despite the strain on his chest, and began to roll towards his opponent, flames bursting from his fur once again as he blazed right past it, hoping that the hit would land. When he had came to the other side of the rock spirit, he landed with a slight wobble, before running at the Spiritomb once again with all its might, the electricity building up enough to look like a large lightning bolt traveling at a speed uncomprehendable by the human eye.

Believing that just one more time was needed, she quickly switched out her Spiritomb for her Tynamo again, and allowed it to get hit by the attacks, causing it to faint. However, she knew that there was no more need to fight, as the Growlithe was sure to be done next round. So, she called back her Tynamo, and brought back her Spiritomb again.

Jikumo had not expected the girl to switch out, and Alexander was literally on its last legs now. The Flame Wheel had hit directly, which knocked it out, so the Wild Charge simply didn't hit anything, but now the Curse would completely finish it off. "Alexander! This is our last attack!! Use Ember, then another Wild Charge!!" Growlithe glared at the Spiritomb, but before it could use a single move, its eyes became completely white, and knocked out. The pokemon who had been loyal and unbreakable up until that point had fallen to the ground, completely exhausted. Jikumo's face was in shock, and he said in disbelief, "No...how...? It must've been the Curse attack...f-fine, you win. Wanna go brag about it, now?" He walked over and gently picked up his pokemon, cradling it in his arms softly.