Things are nearing a close to part one of the story.

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Warrior II


This was the first time Ace could remember not enjoying a meal. The food was fine, but eating alone was not. After his disappointing match with Watt, the young Treeck just sat in a scrunched up stupor getting lost in thought.

“I screwed up,” he whimpered. “The other Pokemon hate me now and I’m sure Snow is upset with me too. What’s going to happen now? Am I going to be left behind? Am I going to lose my home for a second time?” Turning his head, he searched around for one of his fellow Pokemon, but they had all left the area, giving him the cold shoulder when he wanted to have one to cry on. “Guess I’m already considered a lost cause.”

“No, don’t be blue,” he heard a nearby voice that suddenly perked him up. “Now you’re a little green. Come on, you’ll get it. Just need to concentrate.”

“I-I just need to concentrate?” asked Ace as he got up and ran to the voice of the Pokemon speaking. “Is that all I need? To concentrate more?”

“Huh? Concentrate?” asked another of Snow’s Pokemon, a Smeargle named Arte. They hadn’t done much more than exchange greetings in the short time that Ace joined the team. For the most part, he had always been off on his own with his face staring at a canvas while he used his paintbrush-like tail to create a “masterpiece” as everyone described his work with varying tones in their voice.

Arte had a rather fat gut on him and like the rest of the team he wore a bandana too though he used his like a smock while he painted. As a result, it had paint splotches on the white fabric that made it more colorful. “Yeah, concentrating is important, so just be still and try not to make too much noise. One little mistake could be the difference between greatness and mediocrity.”

“That is very wise,” agreed Ace as he sat down and remained quiet, attempting to concentrate.

Arte went back to painting, on occasion turning back to Ace who remained eerily quiet and motionless. “Uh, what are you doing?” he asked breaking the silence.

“I’m concentrating like you said,” answered Ace. “It was the advice you gave me.”

“I gave you advice?” he asked scratching his head.

“When you saw I was blue and that I shouldn’t be since I’m still green as a warrior,” Ace explained.

The Smeare scratched his head confused at this. “I said wha- Oh, that!” he replied with a look of revelation on his face. “I was talking to my tail. It doesn’t always become the color I need it to be. First it was blue when I needed it to be green. It’s a bit of a weird habit of mine. Sorry if it confused you.”

“It’s okay,” sighed Ace not getting up from his spot, but sprawled onto his back to stare at the sky. “It just means I can go back to being depressed.”

“For what? How upset the others were?” he asked. “Oh, that’s just Tsune. He’s got this whole Spartan, only the strong survive complex going on. The others just go along with it since he gets pretty scary when angered. I have no idea how a serious mon like that ever ended up with a trainer as mellow as Snow. It’s one of the great mysteries of this world.”

“So, do you have any actual advice for me?” Ace asked, wondering. “About battling, I mean. I don’t wanna let the team down, but I’ve never had to fight before.”

“That makes two of us then,” Arte smiled.

“You haven’t?” questioned Ace. “Are you new too?”

“I’ve been here for quite a while. I think I was Snow’s third Pokemon,” he answered.

“And he hasn’t used you once?” wondered Ace.

“He says he has something special in mind for me with my unique move, Sketch,” he explained. “It lets me copy moves that I see. He’s saving me to learn really strong attacks. Of course, I have to be in a battle to do that so learning my first move is going to be tough if I can’t fight back.”

“That wouldn’t just be tough,” cried Ace as he heard this. “That’d be crazy. How are you expected to go into battle completely helpless? If it was me I’d-”

“You’d run away,” Arte finished his sentence. “I don’t blame you. From what I heard you probably know next to nothing about the outside world. It must be scary.”

“I was terrified, but at the same time excited,” he admitted. “I just started learning about the world beyond the Inner Circle and I want to see more, but not if I have to fight to do it.”

“Sorry to say, but to battle is the path a Pokemon Trainer goes and as one of their Pokemon it is yours as well. “The only thing you can do is find the resolve to do it.”

“Find resolve?” Ace wondered. “I want to see what this world has to offer me and yet that is still not enough resolve? What else could I want?”

“That is not something anyone but you can answer,” Arte told him. “But you’ll know it when you see it. It’s like the feeling I get when inspiration strikes me for my latest masterpiece. My heart becomes emblazoned in flames that fill me with a vigor like I can take on the whole world!” As he looked boldly at the Treecko, his eyes suddenly widened and Ace could swear he saw a fire in them. “Yes! Your skin, that green pigment! That’s the hue I need!”

“Uh, it is?” asked Ace a bit confused, but suddenly saw the paint color on Arte’s tail change to a shade of green that matched his green skin tone perfectly. With brush in paw, Arte attacked his canvas, adding the final touches to his work. “And… done! My greatest masterpiece to date!”

“You finished?” replied Ace as he was eager to see what he had created. Stepping aside, Arte showed him and Ace stood there in awe at what he could only consider a masterpiece as Arte had put it. While the background was a wondrous mix of colors that blurred together in an almost transcendent manner, the subject in the center was done in such a solid, clear fashion that Ace thought it could jump right off the canvas. “It’s amazing. You did a picture of a Pokemon, uh, but I’ve never seen one like this one before.”

“Well, it’s a Legendary Pokemon so it’s to be expected,” smiled Arte as he looked at the Pokemon he had painted. It was a tiny, green Pokemon that resembled a fairy with black rings around it’s blue eyes and a pair of antennae on its head with blue at the tips. “It’s name is Celebi, a Pokemon said to be able to travel through time.”

“Pokemon can even travel through time?” gasped Ace in awe. “I guess it’s easy to see why such a Pokemon is considered Legendary.”

“And why so many trainers are eager to try and find it,” Arte added. “That’s a big reason so many trainers are here. There have been a number of Celebi sightings in this area and things like that draw trainers over here from all over the region. It’s can be seen as a once in a lifetime opportunity to catch see a Legendary Pokemon, let alone capture it. That was actually part of the reason we are here, to try and at least get a glimpse of Celebi.”

“Well, if Celebi is here he’s hiding really well,” commented Ace as he looked at the painting. “But if he’s as amazing as you make him look in your painting then I’d like to see him and find out if he can actually travel in time.”

“You think that’s enough to ignite the fire in your heart?” asked Arte as he placed a paw on Ace’s chest.

“Maybe a little ember,” sighed Ace. “I’m not nearly as fired up as you just were.”

“You’ll figure it out,” encouraged Arte. “Take all the time you need. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to guard my painting till it dries.”

“Thanks,” Ace managed to give Arte a smile before turning to search for a tree branch to relax on. As he did, the Smeargle stood on guard of his painting, determined to protect his masterpiece with his life. A leaf from a nearby tree started to float down gently when a breeze caught it and sent it hurtling towards the painting. Scrambling, Arte attempted to grab the leaf before it flew into his picture. It proved a challenge as it gracefully kept slipping out of his reach and managed to slip past him. Almost touching the painting, Arte was able to stop it in the nick of time and crumbled it in is paws.

“Why does it always seem like everything is out to get me when I finish a painting?” he wondered and saw a bunch more leaves were making their way towards him and his artistic triumph.


An hour passed while Ace tried to rest and ponder what his resolve could be and all he managed to accomplish in that time was about forty-five minutes of sleep when he became too relaxed to keep his eyes open. He only awoke when he did because Snow called up to him.

“Hey, Ace,” Snow waved to him from the ground. “I wanna show you something.”

“Show me something?” wondered Ace as he looked down at his trainer. There wasn’t any sign of disappointment in him that he had done so poorly in that battle. Feeling a bit relieved at that, Ace jumped down from the tree and watched as Snow took a seat at the base of it, pulling some strange object out of his pocket.

“It’ll be easiest if you sit on my lap,” he explained as he patted his pants. The Treecko took a seat as instructed and felt his trainer gently pet his head. It gave him a feeling of comfort and he reclined back to rest against Snow’s chest as he looked at whatever he was being shown. Snow pressed a button on the device, making an image appear on its screen. The device in question was a multi-functional machine and some of the latest PokeTech on the market. It was capable of a number of things from being a pedometer, to providing the latest weather report, to being a video player and far more than that as well, but, to Ace, he could only describe what he was seeing as magic.

“The human world really is full of incredible things,” thought the Treecko as he looked at it with wonderment, placing a hand upon the device curiously.

“Heheh,” Snow chuckled seeing the look on his face. “Silly, Ace. Yeah, I wanted to show you the device, but more specifically, I really wanted to play something on it for you. Here, watch this. It’s called the Pokemon League and it’s what our ultimate goal is.”

“The Pokemon League,” recalled Ace. “That’s what Tsune was telling me about.”

Pressing the “Play” button, Snow started the video and some epic music started to blast out of the speaker, making Ace jump in fright. Quickly, Snow adjusted the volume to a more comfortable level and apologized to Ace as he rubbed his head to calm him. Ace continued to watch the device and saw a Pokeball float onto the center of the screen and open up causing a dazzling light to burst out of it. The light filled up the screen till it was all white and as it faded a huge stadium was displayed, the massive structure more massive than anything Ace thought was possible. At the zenith of it was a great inferno held within a golden bowl, the flame of Moltres. It burned fiercely as countless fans both human and Pokemon cheered from their seats. In the arena below, several battles were taking place all on different terrains from a slippery one made of ice, to a rough and craggy stone-littered one.

Pokemon were battling against one another using moves unlike anything Ace had ever seen before, the sheer difference in power they possessed from anyone on the Inner Circle seemed overwhelming by comparison. Flames spewed forth like a wild fire, bolts of lightning crashed down like it was the storm of the century going on in just that one spot, explosions were rampant and the ground shook like the world might crack in half. It was terrifying, but at the same time Ace was too enthralled by it to look away.

“Th-this makes everything Watt and I did yesterday seem like nothing,” he told himself. “I was afraid of a few sparks when that Houndoom is fearlessly dodging around a thunderstorm.” For a moment, Ace started to only doubt himself more, but that quickly changed as the screen shifted to another battle taking place between a Blaziken and a Sceptile. Ace didn’t know why, but seeing the huge, green lizard exchanging blows with the Fire Type made his jaw drop in awe and his eyes unable to blink.

“Oh, you like that battle?” noticed Snow as he tapped on screen twice and the camera switched to one focused on that fight. “There, this will let us watch that battle.”

“Use Leaf Blade,” the Sceptile’s trainer instructed.

“A pity our battle had to end so one-sided,” the Blaziken commented as he stood at the ready for his own trainer’s orders as the Sceptile dashed in to strike. The words of the Pokemon were only understandable to Ace as Snow could only hear their usually cries. “It’s so anticlimactic when a big match like this has to end with such an obvious outcome.”

“If you’re still counting on typing to be the sole factor for deciding a battle,” the Sceptile countered. “Then you’re going to be in for a nasty surprise!”

“Use Fire Punch,” instructed the Blaziken’s trainer.

“Well, then show me I’m wrong,” he dared her as he pulled back his fist before thrusting it forward, flames erupting out of it as he did. “Try to defeat me!”

“It’s what I planned to do from the start,” she stated, swinging one of her Leaf Blades against his fist to avert the attack higher as she dodged beneath it. With his attack parried, the Sceptile used her second Leaf Blade to strike upward across the Blaziken’s body, scoring a critical hit.

“Follow up with Bullet Seed,” her trainer ordered and quick to respond, the Sceptile opened her maw and unleashed a barrage of blasts, pelleting her opponent back.

“Don’t let their speed get the better of you,” the Blaziken’s trainer encouraged him. “Fight through it and use Sky Uppercut, now!” With a glare hotter than any flame burning in his eyes, the Blaziken rushed forward, ignoring the bits of damage he was taking from her assault. With his claws dragging on the ground and making sparks, he was at the ready to strike.

“Let’s finish them off now with Solar Beam,” her trainer said, forcing her to stop firing Bullet Seeds, but to remain stationary as she gathered energy from the sun to power up. She could clearly see her opponent coming right towards her, ready to strike, but she stood her ground, charging her attack as her trainer had instructed.

“Why do that?” worried Ace as he watched with his face practically pressed up against the screen. Snow smiled seeing how into the match he was.

“I figured he’d like this,” he thought being as still and quiet as he could, though he doubted a herd of stampeding Tauros could have caught his attention at the moment.

Unable to defend herself, the Sceptile took on the full force of the Sky Uppercut and was sent straight upward over her foe. “Now, end this with Overheat!” Blaziken’s trainer shouted. Quickly, the fighting bird Pokemon started to build up the fire in his body, drawing in all his remaining stamina to push his flames to their absolute limit for the attack.

“It’s all or nothing now,” realized the Sceptile as she sizing up the situation she was in. Unable to dodge while airborne and unable to even move while charging, there was no way the Blaziken’s attack couldn’t miss her. In a situation like this, the best defense was an even more powerful offense, a tactic she enjoyed as much as her trainer. “Heh, we could have probably won with less risk by relying on speed over power, but you love to bet everything on one all-or-nothing attack. That’s fine with me. Winning any other way wouldn’t be as fun!”

The instant the Blaziken unleashed all his stored up power was the time limit the Sceptile had to do the same for her own charged up attack. The Solar Beam and the Overheat fired directly at one another, colliding in the middle and crashed like thunder. The scene of this power struggle quickly drew in everyone’s attention save for the other trainers and their Pokemon still in the middle of their own brawls.

As the Sceptile continued to descend back to the ground the distance between the two Pokemon and the center of their attacks shrank till they were battling at point blank range and about to collide. If either flinched and allowed their attack to falter they would have instantly been overwhelmed by the other’s power, but neither Pokemon hesitated in the slightest, nor did they allow their power to lessen. Finally, as the Sceptile collided with the Blaziken, their attacks burst, the resulting explosion engulfing them both in it and the shockwave threatening to blow their trainers away, but they held their ground, not turning tail for fear of their own safety or running forward to doubt the strength the power of their Pokemon.

The audience was silent as they awaited the outcome that was hidden by a cloud of smoke. They could make out the silhouettes of the two fighters both still standing, but it was impossible to tell who had won that clash if either. Then as they came back into clear view, Sceptile dropped to a knee, burns all over her body from the attack.

“You got me pretty good,” she admitted struggling to keep from collapsing entirely.

“I did,” he groaned, battered from their exchange just as badly. “But this… is your win.” He fell backwards and collapsed to the ground, defeated. The judge raised a blue flag and announced that the Sceptile was the victor and the match went to her and her trainer.

“She did it! She did it!” cheered Ace with excitement as he jumped for joy.

“Wow, look at you go,” chuckled Snow. “That was one of the highlights from the previous Pokemon League. It was an amazing battle. But you know what the best part about that is?” Ace looked at Snow, unsure what that was. Smiling, he gave Ace the answer. “That you can be great like that too cause one day you can evolve into a Sceptile and be just as powerful, maybe even moreso.”

“I can be like her?” gasped Ace as he looked at her standing proudly beside her trainer as he offered her a shoulder to lean on. She stood with a calm gaze like all her injuries weren’t even there and while she appeared happy to have won, the way she stared off into the distance showed she was already looking ahead to her next challenge. “She’s… she’s a true warrior. She’s… just like I wanna be.”

Ace’s whole body trembled with excitement as his heart raced. Pressing a paw against his chest he could feel a powerful warmth inside of him, the resolve he had been looking for. It melted away his fears and made him feel like his whole body was ablaze.

“Someone looks fired up,” commented Snow. “Are you ready to try battling again?”

“I am,” he nodded looking up at Snow. “And this time I won’t fail!”

“Let’s me see who we can get to battle you this time,” said Snow before Ace tugged at his hand and pointed over to Watt lounging around with his usual smug grin.

“Oh, a bit of a revenge match,” figured Snow. “I guess you feel you need to redeem yourself. Well, don’t worry. This time I know you’ll kick his butt.”


“Back again for another chance to run away with your tail between your legs,” laughed Watt as he stood once more with Ace on the battlefield.

“I’m not going to run away this time,” stated Ace, doing his best to remain composed as he could feel his newfound resolve at war with the dread of his humiliating defeat.

“Then I’ll be able to get some real training in this time,” he retorted. Looking around, he saw that Tsume and the other Pokemon had come around to watch their battle. Ace noticed them too. Looking at Tsune, he had on his usual glare making it hard to tell if he was still disappointed in Ace or not. “We got a nice-sized audience this time too. Perfect for our little show where I’m the star and you’re the comic relief. Just make sure you jump around and cry and scream when I zap you. That’ll get some big laughs.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Ace told Watt, though in truth his fear was in battling and with the start of it drawing nearer his nerves were starting to give. His breathing began to get heavy and his body was shaking a little too. It didn’t help having so many eyes on him, but then he saw Arte among the audience with a sketchbook on his lap and a pencil in paw. He kept moving moving his head up and down as he looked at the battlefield and then back at what he was drawing.

“What are you doing?” Ace asked him.

“My last masterpiece is done,” he explained. “Time for me to find a new muse for my next one. I’m hoping to find it in this battle.”

Hearing his words gave Ace a feeling of relief. His body calmed down once more and his breathing became steady. Turning once more to Watt, he stood tall. “I won’t lose!”

“Huh?” questioned Watt as he looked at Ace. “Trying to act all big and tough? Well, let’s see how long it will last you.”

“Ready to start?” asked Tom to Snow.

“Yeah,” agreed Snow with a nod. “Time to battle.”

“Then that means I can start attacking,” cackled Watt as he heard Tom and Snow talk. Holding his arms over his head, he generated electricity into a ball and quickly threw it at Ace. “Eat an Electro Ball!”

“I didn’t give you the order to attack yet!” cried Tom, unable to react in time to stop him.

The attack flew at Ace, but the Treecko didn’t even flinch as it missed him entirely, flying into a tree out of bounds and leaving a burn mark in it. “A little hasty with your attack,” commented Ace. “Were you trying to scare me into giving up or can you not beat me without some underhanded tricks?” Hearing such a remark, had Watt gritting his teeth in frustration.

“This battle is already a lot different than the last one,” the Pokemon conversed with one another. Among them, Tsune was the only one completely silent.

“I know. Last time it was Ace who was losing his cool and Watt, he…”

“He’s still pretty much the same pain he always is.”

“I’m sorry about Watt,” apologized Tom. “If he’s going to misbehave, maybe I should use a different Pokemon.”

“No, it’s fine,” Snow told him. “Ace really wanted this rematch. He needs it and I think that this battle might be what Watt needs too, you know, considering.”

“Good point,” agreed Tom. “It couldn’t hurt to at least try.”

“What is that supposed to me?” snapped Watt getting annoyed. “I don’t need anything! I’m perfect!” His rantings were quickly met by snickers from the other Pokemon. “Hey! No laughing if you’re going to be laughing at me!”

“I think I’m starting to understand you a little better,” commented Ace.

“Understand me?” questioned Watt. “You barely even know me.”

“and you don’t know the first thing about me either,” he told him. “I’m not weak! Fight me with all your strength and I’ll prove it.”

“Fine! If that’s what you want!” agreed Watt. “Then I expect you do that same! Now, come on! It’s your turn!”

“Ace, use Pound!” commanded Snow and at once, the Treecko rushed forward at full speed before swinging around to strike Watt with his heavy tail.

“Gah!” cried the Electric Type as the attack came at him faster than he expected, knocking him back and allowing Ace to swing around with a few more strikes, the last one managing to send the Elekid tumbling to Tom’s feet.

“How was that one?” asked Ace as he stood at the ready Watt’s next strike.

“Not bad,” smirked Watt as he gut back up and rubbed some dirt off his face. “That actually hurt. There might be some hope for you yet, but let’s see if you can take an attack as well as you can dish it out.”

“Time for Swift!” ordered Tom. Listening to his command, Watt began swinging his arms around quickly as started flinging star-shaped projectiles at Ace.

“Fast!” cried Ace, unable to do anything as he got pelted with with one after another, the stars bursting in a tiny explosion as the made contact. Individually they weren’t much, but the damage added up quite a lot to the inexperienced Pokemon, bringing him to his knees once barrage finally came to an end.

“Well, what do you think?” asked Watt. “You ready for more or was all that just big talk before?”

“It… it hurts,” he admitted. “But…” Slowly, Ace got back to his feet. “But I can handle it because there’s a place I want to reach… and in order to get there I need to get stronger… much, much stronger.” Standing tall, Ace was ready to continue, a flame burning in his eyes. “That’s my resolve!” In a flash, Ace vanished right before Watt’s eyes and reappeared again just as he rammed into him.

“Even faster?” he thought as he was sent backwards, this time managing to keep his balance as he dug his feet into the ground to avoid another tumble.

“That was Quick Attack!” cheered Snow. “Way to go, Ace! Now, again with Quick Attack and follow up with Absorb!” Once more, Ace vanished from sight as he speedily rammed into Watt, this time grabbing onto him and biting down onto his arm. Upon doing so, he began to leech some of the Electric Type’s energy, using it to restore a bit of his own in the process.

“Ugh! Get off me!” groaned Watt as he swung his free arm at Ace, attempting to knock him off, but Ace clung on tighter, attempting to keep on draining away his strength.

“Now’s our chance!” shouted Tom. “While he’s close hit him with Thunder Wave!”

“Looks like Tom decided to step this up too,” grinned Watt as the plug on his head sparked with electricity before he channeled it all into Ace, the attack didn’t hurt Ace, but the intent became clear as it left his body feeling numb. He went from holding on tightly to Watt to suddenly him being the only thing keeping him standing. With ease, Watt was able to free himself and watch Ace drop helplessly to the ground. “Now it’s time for our counterattack.”

“You gotta try and shake off that paralysis,” Snow warned Ace. Desperately trying, Ace could barely struggle to his feet, let alone move around much as his body tingled and spasmed at random.

“Now’s your chance,” Tom told Watt. “Give him a Shockwave!”

“This is gonna hurt!” Watt commented as he swung his arms to build up his voltage, able to do so at his leisure while his opponent couldn’t do anything to defend himself.

“You gotta move,” Snow told Ace once more. “Think you can use Quick Attack?”

“I-I’m trying,” Ace struggled, but the more he attempted to move the stiffer his body felt. Looking at Watt, his body was surging with so much power he was actually lit up like a lightbulb.

“Heheh, all charged up,” he declared. “Now it’s over!”

Unable to move, all Ace could do was take it as a blast of electricity hit him, his numb body finally feeling something as the attack reached over every inch of his body, making him convulse involuntarily before he finally collapsed on the ground smouldering a bit.

“Ace!” cried Snow as he clenched his fists. “Are- Are you alright?”

“He’ll be fine,” stated Watt with a grin. “But no way is he able to battle anymore after that.”

“You’re sure sounding a lot better,” spoke Ace on the ground. “You aren’t frustrated, but don’t sound as smug either. That’s good.”

“Yeah, I do fee-” Watt started to say before he realized Ace was still conscious and getting back up. “But I hit you with everything I had!”

“And I’m glad you did,” smiled Ace as he stood up, his body swaying a bit as he struggled to keep from collapsing. “I don’t know what motivates you, but it makes you stronger. Tell me, do you think I’ve become stronger?”

“Stronger?” questioned Watt before he grinned. “Yeah. Strong enough to be worthy of being my rival.”

“Then all the more reason for me to keep fighting,” he panted. “And push myself even further.”
“Come at me then!” dared Watt. “Time to finish this fight!”

“Ace, attack with Pound!” shouted Snow.

“Use Electro Ball!” commanded Tom.

The two Pokemon followed their commands, Ace rushing Watt while he raised his hands to build up the power for his attack. As the Treecko reached the Elekid, he swung his tail at him while the later countered with the ball of static in his palms. The two attacks collided, causing the ball of electricity to discharge and shock them both. Fighting through the pain, both clenched a fist and with what little strength they could still muster, punched the other right in the side of their face, their attacks connecting in unison. Everyone just stood in awe at the sight as that moment in battle felt like it lasted a lot longer than it did, as if time had frozen. When time started to move again, the two Pokemon collapsed, KO’ed at the same time. The battle ended in a draw.


“A draw?!?” cried Ace and Watt a short while after regaining consciousness and learned the result of the battle from their fellow Pokemon. The two of them had been healed up with some potions along with a few bandages to cover up some of their bigger cuts and scrapes. They also both had an ice pack taped to their cheek that was a bit swollen from the final punch they received from one another.


“You mean after all that neither of us won?” cried Ace.

“There’s no way I could lose to this weak chump,” snapped Watt.

“Weak?!?” argued Ace. “What about being a worthy rival?”

“I never said that,” he scoffed. “You probably just dreamt that after I cleaned your clock.”

“You did say that and you didn’t clean my clock,” countered Ace. “By the way, what’s a clock?”

“The point is, you both did well,” admitted Tsune. “You really redeemed yourself, Ace.”

“I-I did,” gasped Ace, shocked to hear the Zoroark praising him.

“But don’t let it go to your head,” he added. “You’ve got a long way to go if you want to make it to the Pokemon League.”

“How did you know that?” wondered Ace.

“A real warrior always remains alert to everything around him,” he stated.

“Tsune likes to eavesdrop,” commented Arte to everyone’s laughter.

“I do not!” he hissed with embarrassment.

“Oh, by the way,” Arte added. “I managed to get inspired for my next painting. Care to see my rough sketch? I showed the others and they liked it a lot.”

“Yeah,” nodded Ace.

“You should take a look too,” Arte told Watt. “You helped inspire it.”

“Heh, well anything with me in it has gotta be epic,” Watt bragged as the two took a look and their jaws dropped down to the ground in shock. All their fellow Pokemon burst into laughter upon seeing their reactions. At first glance, it was a picture of them punching one another at the climax of their battle, but that was not the case. Instead, it was of the two of them gazing into one another’s eyes romantically as they were about to kiss, each caressing the other’s cheek rather than punching it. Just seeing it was turning the yellow and green Pokemon red with embarrassment.

“Arte! What in the world is- is this?!?” they cried.

“Well, inspiration is a funny thing,” he snickered. “I don’t always draw reality as much as fantasy.”

“A fantasy or a nightmare?” questioned Ace. “Don’t draw me in love with that guy!”

“Yeah! I could do a whole lot better than him!” snapped Watt.

“It’ll be fine,” he assured them. “Once I make the actual painting it’ll look a million times better.”

“Paint that and I’ll destroy you,” threatened Watt and Ace looked to have the same murderous intent.

“My art must not be silenced!” cried Arte as he ran for his life to protect his sketch.

“Come back here and fight like a Pokemon!” shouted Ace as he and Watt chased after him.

“Can’t!” Arte answered back. “I can’t battle yet!”

“Well, looks like Ace is really is becoming part of the team now,” smiled Tsune.


“Time to see what you two are capable of,” Turbine spoke from atop her magnet stone. Beside her was Razor, quietly observing. Before them stood both Ralph and Zera facing one another with a stern look upon their faces as their cheeks sparked with electricity. “The battle between Ralph and Zera will now begin. Fight!”