((NO, teh evil iz badd!!!112-78!))

Mike kept wandering about for several more minutes, still looking for the perfect place and eat. His electric partners were still trailing behind him with every step, although they were staring to get impatient.

"If he could understand us, I'd tell him to HURRY UP!", Shockbox boomed.

"If your stomach wasn't the size of the universe, you probably wouldn't be complaning.", replyed Quickster.

"Aha! Found it! The perfect place for us to have lunch!", Mike shouted as he ran off, dodging people left and right, until...KAPLOW! For the third time, he had bumped into something, this time a trainer. "Oh, I'm really sorry, I should've watched where I was going."

"That's okay. I'm fine, I'm fine" Cal replied. "You okay? You took quite a hit there." He said as he offered a hand"

"I'm Cal, who would you be?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm kinda...used to it, I guess.", Mike shrugged. "Anyway, my name is Mike; nice to meet ya Cal.", Mike took the hand, and got himself back on his feet.

"I was just about to get something to eat, was kinda in a rush, and bumped into you, literally."

He then noticed the pokeballs around Cal's waist. "I'm assuming your a Pokemon trainer, and you're going to particpate in the tournement?

Cal smiled and repiled "Of course, I didn't come here just to see the grand opening of the tower I came here to battle!"

"Of course, now that I think about it, they had a 2v2 tourny as well correct? Well I don't really have a second trainer for that, and I was wondering if you would give that opertunity to fight with me? We could talk it over some lunch." Cal suggested as he walked towards the cafe/resturant/stall that Mike was running to.

"Almost forgot. These are my pokemon" He said as he release a Heracross, Syther, Pincer, Lairon and a Zangoose.
"I'm not going to release my Steelix, for obvious reasons, but you get the jist of my team, no?"

"Yeah, I'm assumin you're into Bug and Steel Types, perhaps Normal as well. Oh, here's my team.", he said as they came running along.

This is Proton, my Manectric; Kaboom, my Electrode; Quickster, my Jolteon; Shockbox, my Electabuzz; Lighthouse, my Ampharos; and the star of my team, Static, my Raichu. Anyway, I was going to enter the 1-on-1 tourney by myself, but sure, I'll be you're partner!", he said happliy as they walked down the street to get some lunch.

"As you wish," Sidney replied, taking on her fighter stance. "But don't hold it against me if you get beat up." Hmm, who should she use? Abina had an advantage, but a battle would tire her out, which meant that Sidney and Cassius would have to take the long way back. And she definitely wasn't going to send out Lucifer. "Show him your stuff, Lu!"

The Medicham appeared, doing a few flips too show off--and then she realized who she was fighting. "Oof!" She tripped, landing on her stomach. "Cassius?!" she said, her voice high and squeaky. "You look...lighter." Hence the floatiness.

"Thank you," replied Cassius, "but flattery isn't going to get you outta this fight. You may, however, have the first move." He waited patiently for her to get up, although the suspense was killing him. It had been /ages/ since he last fought a trainer as, well, himself.

Might as well use a move he doesn't like, Sidney thought. Of course, if Sidney wanted to scare Cassius she didn't have to use elements. All she had to do was wave an empty pokeball in his face. But she wasn't that cruel. Here we go. Let's see if I can beat the almighty King of the Dead. "Lulu, Psychic!"

The Pokemon summoned the hidden power within her, then assaulted Cassius with the mental attack.

Cassius was a little out of practice, and didn't get a chance to dodge out of the way. Although he was blown back several feet by the psychic barrage, it took him a moment to remember that it would be polite to look at least mildly injured by the attack.

He formed a rather menacing looking shadow ball with one hand, although he didn't really put as much effort into the attack as he could have. The battle just wouldn't be fair if he went full out, after all.

Pandora watched his trainer and mentor- had he known how to write, he probably would have been taking notes on the powerful ghost's techniques.

Lulu wasn't fast enough to dodge or even use Detect, so she formed a cross with her arms, a desperate attempt to fend off the attack. She didn't seem phased much by it, thanks to satisfactory defenses.

Sidney was wondering if Cassius was really putting his heart and soul into the battle. If he really was as powerful as he said he was, then Lulu probably would have been sent flying backwards by his Shadow Ball. "Hey, Cassius!" she called, repeatedly tossing a pokeball into the air and catching it with one hand. "Think you can handle two?"

The ghost grinned and nodded to Sidney's question- now that could be a fight! Of course, fifty years ago I could have taken on her whole team at once. I wonder if I could still manage that… he wondered, preparing himself for a real fight.

The next Pokemon to be sent out was a very large, very shaggy dog. It was Rex, the Mightyena--aka Ginger's admirer and number one devotee. But when he wasn't daydreaming about the irritable Absol he could be really scary, his teeth bared in a nasty snarl. Maybe the reason for his vicious appearance was due to the ever reoccurring clash of the elements. Or maybe he was trying to Intimidate Cassius.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Sidney put on her game face back on. "Rex, Crunch!" It was almost as if the pooch already knew what the command would be. He charged the ghost before Sidney could finish the order, opening his mouth wide so he could sink his teeth into Cassius.

Meanwhile, Lulu used Calm Mind, planning to boost the power of her next Psychic attack.

The mightyena's attack landed solidly on one of Cassius' head spikes, causing him to wince a little in pain, but that didn't stop him from using his far hand to form another shadow ball. This one, however, had some effort put into it, and was tossed quickly at the meditating Lulu. With his other hand, he threw the dark pokemon off, backing up a few feet to give himself some room to react to his next attack.

Rex was thrown near the cage, the dog managing to land on his own four legs.

The Medicham actually Detected the Shadow Ball in time, giving her a chance to evade. She then used Psychic again, concentrating the attack on the ghost and the ghost alone.

At the same time, the dark dog had raised his head in an extended Howl, more of a battle cry. Then he created his own Shadow Ball, not nearly as powerful as Cassius', but stong nonetheless.

Cassius was having the time of his death, pulling together some of the psychic energy shot at him into a beam of his own. He twisted it about in the air, forming a twirling confuse ray, which he shot back at his psychic attacker.

He kept himself between his two opponents, watching both at once out of the corner of his eyes. The mightyena's shadow ball flew at him moments after he fired the ray, and this time he had a chance to duck. It grazed the top of his head, leaving an odd smell that was something a little like burnt toast in the air, then continued on its path, now heading towards Lulu.

Lulu was too dazed to notice the friendly fire heading her way, and she was hit full by the attack, the fighter sent tumbling back a few feet. "Ahh!" The Pokemon was coming straight at Sidney, and she jumped back, catching the Medicham without losing her balance. "Whew. You alright, Lu?" she asked, setting her down.

"Medi chaaam medi medi medicham cham? (Did you see all those Shadow Balls?)" Lulu replied, her eyes almost rolling back into her head.

"Eh, that's not a good sign. Why don't you try this." Sidney whispered her next order into her ear, the Pokemon grinning like an idiot. Lulu then stumbled up to Cassius, wobbling a bit. She may have just been confused, but she was actually using Stagger.

Cassius blinked, that was weird… Lulu looked like she'd gotten a whole lot bigger. She'd be easiest to take out, and should be the first to get knocked out, since her psychic attacks would do as much damage to a ghost/poison type as Rex's dark type attacks would, but her fighting/psychic type made her an easy target for ghost moves.

"Haunter, haunt haunter haunt haunt haunt haunter! (Pandora, shadow ball attack against Lulu!)" he called, rather pleased with his brilliant trainer strategy. He was clearly getting the hang of this human thing. Pandora sighed and shook his head- Cass really was out of practice to fall for a swagger attack.

It took everything Sidney had to keep from laughing at Cassius. But to see her friend completely out of it was just too much.

Rex came up from behind, leaping onto the Haunter's head and biting down on the horn he missed last time he used Crunch. This time, he wouldn't let go.

Lulu still seemed too mystified to use any real attacks, so she took a step closer to Cassius, smacking him across the face. "Medi cham medicham cham! (That's for killing my daisies!)"

Maybe I should do something to correct this problem, Sidney thought. The battle was really turning into a mess.

The bite and swift smack in the face was enough to snap Cassius out of confusion… sorta. He wasn't quite sure what was happening, but he had enough sense to defend himself against his more seriously damaging attacker, Rex. Although shadow ball would have been more effective thanks to swagger's power up, he used the attack that he found easiest in human form- nightshade. Thin, dark vines sprawled fourth from his right hand, sprouting violet five-petal "flowers" that were really as strong as steel.

The Mightyena let out a yelp as the Night Shade grabbed hold. His cries snapped Lulu out of her confusion, and she suddenly realized what was going on around her. She had to prevent Cassius from hurting Rex, but most of the attacks she knew where of the fighting type, ineffective against a ghost enemy. So she did the only thing she could at that time. She used Psychic again, this one more powerful than the prior attacks.

The psychic attack was enough to snap Cassius out of confusion as well. He snarled, now more than a little damaged by the pair's attacks. The battle instinct inside him welled up- playtime was over.

A dark sort of aura, the same colour and energy type as a shadow ball attack, appeared around him, flickering and flashing as he formed two shadow balls, one in either hand. Both were thrown at Lulu, while the nightshade vine continued to grow, wrapping its self tightly around the mightyena.

Lulu was easily harmed by the dual Shadow Balls, and she was thrown back again, skidding across the grass. "Lulu!" Sidney fell onto her knees at the Pokemon's side.

"Sidney?" the Medicham answered, blinking up at her trainer's face. "Can we stop now before he takes us into the afterlife with him?"

"Cassius!" she said, trying to get the Haunter's attention. "Cassius, that's enough. Battle's over. You win again." As if that wasn't a surprise. She helped her Medicham back to her feet.

Rex was still ensnared in the Night Shade, his barking cut off after one vine had wrapped itself around his snout.

It took a moment for Cassius to register what she'd said, but when he did the vines disappeared immediately, dissolving into a fine black powder. He looked over at Sidney, a little disappointed that it had ended so quickly. "Say, Pandora, up for a little battle to hone your skills?" he asked, hopeful.

"Not on your lack of life, yer majesty" the other haunter replied. "Now stop trying to be the irresponsible one, if I have to be the one to remind you that the human gymleader is counting on you…"

Sidney was a little disappointed the battle had ended so abruptly about as much as Cassius, but she wanted to end the battle before her Pokemon keeled over from exhaustion. "If Ginger were here I'm sure she wouldn't protest taking you on," she said as she walked up to him, a glowing Lulu following behind. The Pokemon was flashing different colors, trying to Recover her strength.

Rex tried to regain his breath. Once he had recuperated from the battle, he wandered over to Cassius as well. "I would've won." He sighed, looking around. "Wait. Ginger's not here?! Y-y'mean...I battled like a gladiator and she didn't even see me?!"

"Uh, need I remind you that we lost," Lulu said, putting her hands on her hips. "You wouldn't want her to see you get beat up, would you?"

"Normally, I'd disprove you there Rex" said Cassius, grinning, "but I think Pandora is right- I'd better get back to human existence." Sighing, the ghost drifted back to where the brown-haired trainer lay. He slashed through most of the ropes with a quick flick of a claw, then dove back in. His hair filled back in almost instantly, although it took him a moment to fit himself back into everything and make sure the body's original owner was safely caged. Once that had been taken care of, his eyes flickered open, turning from blue, to violet, to red.