The Hero of Legend: Battle of Liberty

[Rakurai]

Feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the Hero's Festival, Katsu had settled onto a bench away from the crowds for the time being. At his side sat his Electrike, Kiba, who was waiting patiently while his trainer gathered his thoughts.

"I simply can't decide on what to do first, Kiba. Perhaps you'd like to?", Katsu questioned to his companion, who responded with a quick nod of his head. The canine then took a moment to sniff the air, before thrusting one of his paws in the direction of what Katsu presumed to be the food stands.

"Hehe. I had a feeling that's what you'd be interested in. I suppose it's not a bad idea, though. Festivals like this usually have all sorts of treats you probably wouldn't find elsewhere."

Having come to a decision, Katsu rose, and followed Kiba, who had already started running in the direction he had pointed out. It was only a moment later that a message over the loudspeaker regarding the sale of raffle tickets brought the two to a sudden stop.

"Hmm... Maybe we should go get one of those tickets first. We might win a nice prize, and even if we don't, we'll still be donating to that charity for troubled Pokemon. What do you say to that?"

Kiba barked enthusiastically to express his approval, then hastily returned to his trainer's side.

"Okay! The ticket stand should be...that way!", said Katsu, as he pointed in the direction of their new destination. Before proceeding, he took out the 1,000 coins he'd need to make the purchase.

[Arc_Angel]

Bright lights, wondrous sounds, sumptuous smells and jovial activity; it was as if the world had truly come alive on this day. Stacey’s senses were filled to the brim with the life and she smiled feeling a warm happiness spread through her. She had left the gloomy part of Seaside City for the town centre and it seemed as if everyone else had done the same. The news travelled fast of a Festival, the Festivals of all Festivals to celebrate a hero of this land. Not one to resist a little fun Stacey had followed the light and sounds to find herself here just outside looking in.

Sat on a small bench off to one side she swung her legs two and fro happily enjoying the ambience but wanting to keep away from the large mass of people before her, for fear of being engulfed. She enjoyed just observing those around her, not one to jump right in and socialise she’d rather view it from afar. She had not heard the legend of Conner and his victorious battle eighty years ago until this day, she supposed it was because she was so wrapped up in her training, but now she was keen to learn more. She wondered what kind of pokemon could cause such havoc and destruction, there were a few she could name but none seemed that destructive.

Stacey was pulled out of her thoughts by the sounds of two trainers battling off to her left. She smiled as she watched their powerful pokemon display their attacks with pride leaving only one victor. Stacey realised that she should share this experience with one of her pokemon, sitting here alone whilst everyone else was having fun was suddenly starting to dampen her mood. She toyed with the pokeballs at her waist, wondering which of her pokemon to bring out. It dawned on her that she quite a few pokemon on her team now, and as such was she was finding it hard to interact with them all equally. It was a shame, she only hoped they were all happy in some way.

She looked down to two specific pokeballs, one was an ordinary red and white pokeball, the other a green and black Dusk Ball. These contained two of her newest pokemon, both of which she had yet to introduce herself too. She bit her lip feeling the guilt ride over her, she had obtained them both a while back, she should include at least of them in some fun. Choosing the red and white pokeball she ran her fingers over the release mechanism and watched as in a flash of light its occupant materialised before her. The red and blue creature hovered in front of her, small blue sparks cascading off its form falling harmlessly to the ground. Its white and blue eyes locked onto her dark blue ones and it smiled, seemingly happy to be out. It gave a short cry of “Rotom” before spinning around letting the sparks fly some landing on Stacey making her skin tingle. She looked on in interest at its reaction to being released. It finished looking quite pleased with itself. Stacey giggled, Rotom was still young so that must a little game it had been longing to play.

“Hi … Rapture” she said and the Rotom seemed to ponder the foreign word. “It’s your nickname something to set you aside from all the other Rotom. Like mine is Stacey, I’m your trainer and partner … do you like the name?” she asked nervously. She had thought long and hard about a name for Rotom before finally settling on the unique ‘Rapture’. It cried out and nodded sending happy blue sparks flying everywhere. “We’ll have to learn to control your electricity, you’ll have everyone’s hair standing on end” she said laughing as she smoothed down her own brown and black locks.

Pushing herself to standing she stood next to Rotom. “We’re at the Hero’s Festival, you may not know what a festival is but it includes fun games, pokemon battles, yummy food, stalls with all sort of interesting items, a parade and even a re-enactment of a powerful battle long ago” she said a smile returning to her lips as she saw Rapture’s eyes get large at the sound of it. “So, you want to come with me?” she asked and it cried out before rushing her and passing right through her not realising in its plasma like state it would do that. Stacey smoothed down her hair again and shook a few sparks of pain that shot down her arms and legs, ‘So that what it feels like to be electrocuted’ she thought grimacing, she would have to get used to it now she had an electric pokemon on her team she supposed. Rapture looked at with horror and appologies profusely becoming quite upset.

“Don’t worry Rapture, accidents happen. You’re a ghost so you can pass through people and walls and alike, that I’m used to; but you still have that electricity running through you,” she said trying to comfort it. “We’re still gonna have some fun hon, so perk up, for me?” she said getting close to Rapture sticking her tongue out and making it laugh sparking some more. “Oh I nearly forgot,” she said as she pulled a small Magnet out of her satchel before carefully placing it on Rapture where it wouldn’t fall off it. “There that’ll give your electric attacks some real oomph, I better watch out” she said grinning cheekily and Rapture mirrored her expression.

The two of them looked up as they heard a voice booming of the PA system telling all the visitors about a Raffle for charity. Rapture looked at Stacey longingly and Stacey laughed. “Come on, lets get you a ticket then.” Moving their way through the masses of people Stacey kept her eye on Rapture as it floated high above them trying not to shock anyone else as they searched for the appropriate booth. She was glad that she had stopped off to withdraw a large sum of coins guessing that they would come in useful here. Find the right booth she asked for one ticket handing over 1,000 coins from her coin case and showed the ticket to Rapture. “I’ll keep it in my bag for safe keeping eh” she said.

“What shall we do first then?” Stacey asked Rapture who was looking keenly over at some of the games taking place. “Okay then” she said seeing the decision made in Rapture’s eyes, “We’ll look at what games they have to offer.” The two of them walked through the crowds keeping their eyes peeled for a fun game to play.

[Arnold]

"I'm a Cowboy, on steel Tauros I ride, and I'm wanted.....(wanted)....


......DEAD OR ALIIIIIIVVVE!!!!"

Knocking his heals gently on Tauros's sides the bull Pokemon stomps to halt, his trainers voice echoing around him as he signs his heart out, giving a little grunt the bull rocks his head up and down, noticing Bullseye he smiles a big smile as he looks forward, the tents, the people and street acts bustling throughout seaside city, the smiles on kids faces as they see everything for the first time makes him look around and notice that they don't call this the best damned festival in FB for nothing, huge areas for everything litter every single inch of the streets, he couldn't wait for this, this was gonna rock, handing Bullseye a treat he hops off and takes a red and black Pokeball from his pocket and enlarges it, "Sorry Bully, it's a bit crowded in here at the minute, I promise I'll give you some freedom later on when it's quietened down a tad, then we can rock some more, whatcha say?"

Giving off a agreeable grunt he smiles and pats the side of Bullseye's belly before returning him to the Rocket Ball he resides in, popping it back into his pocket, he fumbles around in there before pulling out a new ball, this time a Green tinted Pokeball, a leaf engraved on the front of it, enlarging it in his hands he releases the ball and out of it emerges a fresh face and a Big "CHIIICK" as Emmy hops up and down on the ground, glad to be released from her ball, "Hey Emmy, I'm sorry, you haven't had much out time have you girl?" Crossing his arms he motions for Emmy to jump up as she agreeabley does, "we need to keep you safe, as you can see it's kinda busy I don't want to lose you, so what do you think, your first time out for a while and your at this festival, it's called the Heroes festival, for this trainer who saved the people of Fizzytopia a long time ago before we were even born, and he managed to defeat a monster Pokemon, something that no one has ever seen before, but he managed to defeat it, you think I could take him on if he was still alive?"

Laughing a little after the comment he looks down at Emmy who giggles and nods her head excitedly as she continues looking around the area at everything she can look at she does, "How about we go in further to this place hmm?, I think I heard something about a lottery ticket or something, I just hope i've got enough cash to buy one," Rustling with one hand in his pocket his hand hits a metallic feeling object, sliding it out into his hands he notices his good old Pokedex, the faded red resembling that it's been in his possession a long time, he looks up and notices other trainers, a girl with a lively Pacharisu, and young boy and girl, fire Pokemon and a egg looking Pokemon respectively, and many more trainers with these new looking dexes, "Pffft" a little chicky pfft follows "these new Pokedexes, can't go wrong with a classic, right Emmy?" "Chiick" "Thats right, now lets see how much cash i've got, "Looking through the many options of the dex he lands on the exchange option and clicking it for his balance he smiles as he notices a nice hefty amount, "i've got plenty, goody good, now lets withdraw 1,000 coins for our ticket and lets hope we get lucky, after that hows about we get some food Emmy? i'm starving after that trip.

[Betagold]

"Wow, the Hero's Festival. This was my favorite bedtime story when I was little," said Beta, smiling faintly. He glanced around and realized he was talking to himself. "I really ought to stop doing that. Let's give me someone to talk to." He fingered the pokeballs on his belt, before deciding on the newest addition to his team. "Odie, you're up!" A bright flash brought out his newest team member, Odysseus. The Heracross flexed his newborn muscles, and let out a small flexing noise, not unlike a beach bodybuilder. Beta smiled.

"Listen, Odie. You've got to behave yourself. This is a very prestegious festival. There are a lot of people here. So stick close, alright?" The Heracross nodded. "How would you like to find a strength game?" asked Beta. "HERA-HERACROSS!" "I'll take that as a yes." A voice over the loudspeaker said something about a lottery.

"Oops! Sorry, Odie, but that'll have to wait. I better buy a lottery ticket first. Maybe we'll win something for you!" The Heracross's eyes shined with bright apprehension as Beta walked over to the lottery counter. "I'd like a ticket, please," said Beta as he handed over 1,000 coins. He picked up his ticket, and put it in his pocket for safekeeping. "Now, let's go find some games!" "HERA!"

[Arc_Angel]

The Festival was in full swing and Seaside City was full to the brim with tourists, trainers and local workers all enjoying the sights, sounds and entertainment provided. Most of you had chosen to partake in the Raffle and made you way over to the Hero’s Charity Booth. Inside stood an elderly man with a small white bushy beard and dressed in a brown suit. He smiled at each and every one of you as you handed over your coins, thanking you for your generosity and handing you a raffle ticket, each with a unique number in red on the left hand corner. He wished you all the best of luck smiling graciously.

With the announcement that the Hero’s Parade will take place at noon and the main event, the Legendary Battle re-enactment taking place at 2pm you all had some time to kill. The organisers of the festival sure had prepared for this though as each and every street was full of different activities to enjoy. Several stalls were set up selling various commemorative items to collect, each one attracting a lot of people queuing patiently in line. Several hot and cold foods, ice-cream and fresh fruit stalls were dotted around, sumptuous smells wafting over from the grilled meats and toasted bread. Moving into a large square there were several small arena’s set up for Pokemon battles to take place, most of them already underway; spectators crowding around the arenas to cheer for the pokemon and trainers within. Then there were the games taking place ranging from small stall-orientated games to larger multi-person games; the streets seemed to be filled with them and there were so many to choose from.

One in particular looked like it was just about to begin, a young woman dressed in a white knee length sundress with long black hair pulled up into a braided bun trying to attract the attention of the people walking past. She stood on a large square stage and taking up the majority of the stage were hundreds of multicoloured balloons tied down to long black rails swaying gently to and fro. Upon looking closely and taking the time to count you could see that lining the back were 25 shiny orange balloons spaced evenly apart floating 10 metres off the stage. In front of them floating 8 metres off the stage were 50 shiny green balloons and the row before that were 75 shiny red balloons floating 6 metres in the air. On the very last row were 100 shiny blue balloons floating at 4 metres high. One balloon stood out from all the rest, set at the very back in the centre of last row, 15 metres in the air floated a Gold Balloon. Having caught your attention the young woman smiled and blew on a whistle that was around her neck. Suddenly a loud chirping came from above and flying from behind a tall building were 15 Pidgey all in formation swooping down to land on horizontal black rails to the sides of the balloons. Teleporting to stand behind the stage was a single Alakazam who held its spoons up high, its eyes closed in concentration.

“Good morning to you all, my name is Taryn and I have a great game for you and your Pokemon to play if you’re interested.” She said hopping off the stage to approach you. “This is the Hero’s Balloon game and I guarantee there’s no other game like this taking place today. This is a great chance to win some prizes for you and your pokemon. In each of these balloons are tickets corresponding to the colour of the balloon. The blue tickets are worth 5 points, the red tickets 10 points, green tickets 15 points, orange tickets 20 points and the gold ticket is worth 50 points.” She paused watching the confused but curious expressions on the trainer’s faces and beamed, eager to explain the rest of the game.

“For those of you who enter you may choose one Pokemon to play. When it is their turn they will come onto the stage and be given three attempts to pop a balloon. Successfully popping a balloon means you win the ticket inside. Each of your pokemon will take it in turn to enter the stage and use their three attempts to win you tickets and this process will be repeated until all the balloons are popped.”

“In addition,” Taryn continues “"if your Pokemon knows Lock-On or Mind Reader they may use the move to increase their accuracy when shooting for a balloon but they may only use the move once per round and will only have two attempts that round rather than three. At the completion of the game the ticket values will be added together and the trainer and their Pokemon with the most amount of points will be declared the winner and will win first prize. Subsequently there are prizes for second and third places too. For the pokemon who successfully pops the gold balloon there is a very special prize to be won.”

"And finally," Taryn says in a mischievous tone and cheeky glint in her eye, "to make things a little more interesting these Pidgey will be whipping up the air currents with their use of Gust while Alakazam psychically controls the Golden Balloon to make it a lot harder to hit."

With that silent message the Pidgey take off the air flying around the ten meter mark and begin beating their wings hard hitting the balloons with a storm of Gusts. The Orange balloons tumble about wildly from the harsh winds whilst the green balloons being lower down are still affected by the gusts but to a lesser degree than the orange balloons. The red balloons are lower still so swing to and fro a lot less harshly and the blue balloons being the lowest sway about at a much gentler pace. High up past all the other balloons was the gold balloon that shook about sporadically in the air having no real pattern as it was caught by the Pidgey’s Gust and the Alakazam’s Psychic.

Taryn moved to approach the gathered trainers and held out a small bag. “For those of you who want to enter, you may each take a ticket from this bag and it will determine the order of play, the trainer with the lowest ticket number will go first and so on and so forth.”

Meanwhile nearby a spunky young girl with short spiky blonde hair stood next to a large building that said “Seaside City Stadium” on the outside and had large flood lights suspended in the air. She grinned and bounced on the spot excitedly trying to attract the attention of the people near her. Decked in a cowgirl outfit and stood next to a homemade sign that had a picture of a Raikou and several electric pokemon on it she began to speak.

“Howdy y’all. My name is Billy-May and have I got an awesome game for you today. This game is called Raikou Races and if ya wanna know more then follow me,” she said whilst practically bounding off towards the stadium. Following her inside the stadium, through the turnstiles and up a set of stairs you emerge out onto an enormous football pitch. The goal posts had been dismantled and right in the very centre of the pitch there was a race track set up. Approaching the track you could see that the borders of the track were made up of wooden posts with yellow insulated wires covered in a clear plastic running through holes in them. The start and finish points was cleared marked out by large banners suspended across the posts and the track was wide enough for several participants. Billy-May skipped into view and grinned at the gathered trainers.

“Well now I better explain this game to y’all. Raikou Races is a game for trainer and pokemon to play and there are some amazing prizes to be won. Now for you to better understand how this game works, we need to get a closer look …” With a click of her fingers 3 Magnemite appeared each with a video camera strapped to the underside of body. They hovered over the track getting into strategic positions before turning the video cameras on. Pointing over to the big screen at the far end of the Stadium it sprung to life split into three sections each showing what the Magnemite were filming.

“Rakiou Races is just that, a race which involves your Pokemon. You each may choose one pokemon to race with. The racetrack is 100 metres long and the aim of this game is to win the race. Sounds simple enough, no! Well there’s more to this race than meets the eye.” She says with a cheeky grin. “As well as completing the race, at the 50 metre mark there is a special pit stop to be made.” The Magnemite zoomed in on the 50 metre mark showing a large Raikou Statue facing in towards the track.

“Each of your pokemon when they reach this statue has to obtain its treasures. Just below the Raikou Statue are 3 absorbing panels hooked up to 3 lightning shaped chests on the ground. Your Pokemon will need to fire an attack at the absorbing panel and this will trigger the release on the chests allowing your pokemon to grab Raikou’s treasure and carry on with the race. Now if your Pokemon uses an electric attack, it will need only attack once to get the treasure, any other type of attack will require 2 shots before the treasure is released.”

Bubbling with excitement, her beaming grin lighting up her face she revealed more about the game. “There is also another element that makes this race unique, and all the more difficult.” She added, the Magnemite moving over the track to highlight several electric pokemon standing in strategically placed gaps in the posts. They grinned up at the cameras and waved cheekily. “Every 10 metres there are electric Pokemon standing waiting for your Pokemon; should they be unfortunate to stop before them they will receive a shock which will hamper their movements. But don’t worry, the effects are only temporary. Also as part of the race conditions your Pokemon may attack another racer to slow them down but this may also make your own Pokemon lose some pace; it depends on how sneaky you want to be,” Billy-May said chuckling.

“The winner of the race is the Pokemon that collects the treasure and makes it past the finishing line first and first place is awarded a special prize. There are also prizes for second and third places too so it’s well worth entering not to mention great fun. Now all those who want to enter if you could please register here and write down your Pokemon choice. One rule I’m afraid is that flying types are not able to participate for obvious reasons, the electric attacks combined with being in the air when struck proves to be too dangerous in tests so please choose your Pokemon wisely. You will need to decide what attack you would like to use when you reach the Raikou Statue before the race start. You’ll have time to work out strategies before the race start. The Magnemite will be following your Pokemon throughout the race which you can view on the big screen so you’ll never be far away from the action. For all of you entering I wish you Good Luck.” She finished taking a little bow. She hopped over to a small booth awaiting all those who were interested in playing.

Raffle Tickets
An RNG was used to determine the ticket number for each of you:

Tyranidos - Ticket #15
SM - Ticket #27
Enchantress - Ticket #01
Rabid Squirell - Ticket #08
Stark - Ticket #25
Missigno. Master - Ticket #12
ZoraJolteon - Ticket #07
Jounouchi - Ticket #11
Joshua - Ticket #02
Skrusti - Ticket #21
Inferno - Ticket #05
Dani - Ticket #09
Shadowshocker - Ticket #19
Altocharizard55 - Ticket #04
lilbluecorsola - Ticket #06
Aquatic Angel - Ticket #23
Latias10 - Ticket #13
jhunter - Ticket #24
Rakurai - Ticket #18
Arc_Angel - Ticket #14
Arnold - Ticket #03
Betagold - Ticket #26
NPC - Ticket #10
NPC - Ticket #17
NPC - Ticket #16
NPC - Ticket #20
NPC - Ticket #22

Hero’s Balloon Game Rules

H = Hit
M = Miss
A Random Number Generator will determine the accuracy of the hit.

Each trainer needs to choose a Pokémon who will use one of their attacks to "shoot" the balloons. Pokémon will have three shots per round. Due to the wind factor, the 5 point blue balloons will be easier to hit than the 10 point red balloons. Those will be easier still than the 15 point greens and the 20 point orange balloons. The gold balloon, worth 50 points, will be the hardest of all. Most importantly, please be specific in regards to which coloured balloons you'd like your Pokémon to aim for.

Blue (5 points): (1 5-sided die) 1M; 2-4H; 5M
Red (10 points): (1 10-sided die) 1-3M; 4-7H; 8-10M
Green (15 points): (1 15-sided die) 1-5M; 6-10H; 11-15
Orange (20 points): (1 20-sided die) 1-6M; 7-14H; 15-20M
Gold (50 points): (1 50-sided die) 1-22M; 23-27H; 28-50M

However, should you use either Mind Reader or Lock-On, the accuracy will be increased but you will lose one of your three turns per round.
Blue: FROM 1M; 2-4H; 5M TO 100% hit ratio.
Red: FROM 1-3M; 4-7H; 8-10M TO 1-2M; 3-8H; 9-10M
Green: FROM 1-5M; 6-10H; 11-15 TO 1-4M; 5-11H; 12-15M
Orange: FROM 1-6M; 7-14H; 15-20M TO 1-5M; 6-15H; 16-20M
Gold: FROM 1-22M; 23-27H; 28-50M TO 1-19M; 20-30H; 31-50M

Raikou Races Rules
*The track is 100 metres long and an RNG will be used to determine the amount of steps your Pokemon will move. The RNG will cover 10 spaces at a time maximum.
*The Raikou Statue sits at 50 metres and upon reaching it your Pokemon will use their attack on the absorbing panel (the very next turn). Each attack takes up one turn (so if you choose an electric attack it’ll take one turn to release the chest and if you use any other attack it’ll take two turns).
*There are three absorbing panels so three Pokemon may attack them at once. If four or more Pokemon reach the statue at the same time then I will roll an RNG to determine who will attack first, the others will have to wait in line depending on the ordered rolled. If Pokemon arrive after and there are Pokemon still attacking the panels then they will have to wait until one becomes free.
*There are electric Pokemon every 10 metres excluding the start, finish and 50 metre mark. If your Pokemon are unfortunate to stop on one of these spots then they receive a mild Thundershock that will cause them to lose two spaces per turn for the next two turns whereby the effects wear off. If they happen to fall on another electric Pokemon space then they will receive another Thundershock and lose three spaces per turn for two turns before returning to normal. Any further shocks received after this and your Pokemon only loses three spaces per turn for two turns, the effects wearing off after this amount of turns.
*If you choose to use an attack on a fellow Pokemon it will lose one space for each attack used and the attacked pokemon will lose two spaces for each attack received. You may only choose one attack to use and it must be declared before the start of the race.
*Flying Pokemon are not permitted to take part in this race for the reasons stated above.
*Also speed-boosting attacks are not permitted in this race.
*Please for everyone entering the Raikou Races note that most abilities will NOT be able to be used. This is to maintain the fairness of the game. So abilities, especially ones like Volt Absorb and Motor Drive that work on absorbing electric attacks will not come into effect.

*Finally GOOD LUCK ^^

My Mistake ...
You can only play one game as they are both taking place at the same time.

[The Black Glove]

OOC: Uh...I didn't exactly buy a raffle ticket, but okay...

After his pals had their fun, Drifter and his Pokemon all gathered around in the square where a few games were being played. Two in particular stood out. One was hosted by a girl with long black hair that was pulled up into a bun. She had set up a series of balloons with Pidgeot and Alakazam, and had challenged the trainers to use their Pokemon to pop the balloons.

"Meh. I'm not interested" The masked trainer thought. "Trigger and I would blast them down too easily." He spun the Pokeball of said Pokemon on his finger and wished he could find a good place to let it out. He hadn't had the luck of finding a pond or something.

Another girl called out for volenteers. She had spiky blond hair, and introduced herself as Billy-May. The trainers who accepted her challenge (Drifter among them) followed her into a stadium. Three Magnemites with cameras mapped out the stadium. From what it looked like, their Pokemon would have to run through a race while avoiding attacks from electric Pokemon, and then retrieve a treasure from a Raikou statue. The statue must then be taken back through the course to the finish line.

Drifter considered his team and the challenge, and then made his selection. "Ion" he said, "I know you aren't the most confident Pokemon, but I think you can do this better than anyone!" The Chinchou blushed.

He leaned down and patted her on the head. "Okay, here's our strategy: Run as fast as you can to get ahead of everyone, and if you get attacked, just try to avoid it and don't fight back. If you're hit by an electric attack, see if you can absorb it with your Volt Absorb ability. If not, just run fast. Then, when you get to the statue, open the panel with a Thunder Wave."

A little nervous, but willing to do her best, Ion walked over to the starting line with her opponents...

[Inferno.]

Inferno finishes watching the contest with Houndour and gets up. "Let's go and find something else to do" he says. Houndour barks happily and walks next to him as they move through the thick crowd of people. They stop to get some food and after they've finished they see a young woman dressed in a white knee length sundress with long black hair pulled up into a braided bun telling people about a game that's about to start. There are hundreds of balloons all around a stage and Inferno listens to the rules that say a Pokemon has to use one of their moves to burst as many as they can to win a prize. It sounds nice, but Houndour doesn't know any moves she can use so they keep looking for something else. A few minutes later they're walking past the Seaside City Stadium when they see another girl dressed like a cowgirl talking about Raikou Races.

"Wow, that sounds cool!" Inferno says. Houndour barks in agreement and they follow her into the stadium to see what they have to do. The track is a path a bit like a thunderbolt design. There's a Raikou statue, electric Pokemon, and Magnemite all around it. They keep listening to the girl talk about the rules of the game and when Inferno hears that electric attacks only have to be used once to unlock the treasure chest, but other attacks need to be used twice he gets worried. He looks down at Houndour who is looking at the race track excitedly. This will be her first race and he doesn't want her to start at a disadvantage. He thinks about it for a minute then reaches into his pocket and takes a TM out. He won it in the Casino a few days ago and it will be able to help her now so he bends down and shows it to her.

"I'm giving you this Thunderbolt TM Houndour because it will help you in the race. It can also help you in contests and battles in the future when you need it, so I want you to have it now. Houndour barks happily and jumps up on him licking his face. Inferno laughs and cuddles her. "This will help you get a good start" he says. "Don't attack any Pokemon even if they attack you because attacking them will set you back. If you want to win you have to keep running and running and ignoring all of the other Pokemon. Use Thunderbolt on the absorbing panels, pick up your treasure, and run back to the finish line as fast as you can."

Houndour barks and runs over to the starting sign, looking at all of the electric Pokemon. Inferno hopes she doesn't get zapped by any of them but knows she probably will. He feels bad for her because she's so innocent and hasn't battled before so she doesn't know what it feels like to get shocked. "Good luck!" he calls out to her, hoping she does well in the first game she's ever played. Even if she doesn't win he hopes she'll have fun. He walks over to the booth where the cowgirl is waiting and points at Houndour who is excited to start. "I'd like to enter my Houndour, please" he says. After she's entered he walks over to the track to find a spot to have a good view of the race, then he waits for it to start.

[Aquatic Angel]

Kim, Gible, and Absol are enjoying the sights and sounds of the Hero's Festival, stopping regularly to watch the games, performances, contests and battles. The alluring smells of grilled meat attract both of her Pokemon to the food stalls, and while they tuck into juicy sausages and steaks Kim chooses a selection of fruit to soothe her rumbling stomach. After they've had their fill, they move on, eventually finding a large square stage decorated with hundreds of multicoloured balloons. Gible's eyes light up and he races over to prod a few of the blue ones floating in the front row. Kim smiles at his enthusiasm, looking down at Absol who is standing beside her.

"We've found our game, Absol," she laughs, delighting in Gible's youthful eagerness. Absol nods, and Kim turns her eyes back to the stage and the young woman who is announcing the rules. Listening carefully, Kim is thankful she'd spent a good deal of money TM training Gible because it's paid off now that he needs it. She walks over and picks him up, smiling at him then explaining the aim of the game.

"You need to rack up as many points as you can, Gible," Kim explains. "Use Ice Beam to burst a balloon, and have lots of fun while you're doing it. This will help you to practice your targeting skills so don't try to go for the big pointers all the time because all of the little ones will add up. You have three shots per round, so I want you to go for the two lowest and then one balloon above. Blue, Blue, Red. If the blues are gone, aim for Red, Red, Green. Always two of the lowest, and one that gives the next highest level of points. Every four turns try for one shot at the golden balloon so you'll aim for blue, blue, gold, but don't focus on it. It doesn't matter if we hit it or not, we only want to have some fun!"

Gible grins and nods, understanding what he needs to do. "Good luck," Kim says with a laugh, putting him down and watching him run over to Taryn. With his raffle ticket in one hand, and the number he's drawn out of Taryn's bag in the other, Gible hops on the spot, impatiently waiting for the fun to begin.

[Shadowshocker]

Sipping away at a bottled drink, Shadow looked over at both of the nearby events about to begin, doing his best to dedicate attention to the two ladies in charge of their own booths while doing his private analysis. The balloon-popping game sounded like an interesting concept, but he wasn't so confident about the risk factor. It was likely that even usually accurate moves such as Aerial Ace and Shadow Punch would have guaranteed hits -- there'd be a fight for the Golden Balloon otherwise, reasoned the geek.

Now, the other game... as Shadow looked up the statistics, he couldn't help but grin. He had the perfect operative for this event. "Alright, Grim, I need you to fall back for a while, or I'm afraid we'll overcrowd this area." The Dusknoir gave an understanding nod before he returned to his Ghost Ball, leaving Shadow to bring out his Quick Ball in replacement. "Zapster, battle stations!" he commanded, releasing the Thunderbolt Pokemon in a brief blast of mild static.

"Zapster, I'll need you to help me out for this racing event," introduced Shadow. "Since Ephidel won't be able to participate, you're the fastest operative I have who can comfortably do this."

"Elec, vire," smirked the full-grown Electric-type with an air of bright confidence. Shadow sighed inwardly a bit at this; Zapster certainly was determined and brave, but at times Shadow couldn't help but feel that the Electivire was a bit too big for his proverbial boots.

"Anyway, Zapster, what I'll need you to do is, quite simply, run like the wind through the course," Shadow pointed. "There'll be Pokemon along the way, as well as competitors, who might attempt to impede you, but this time I want you to focus only on the running. Nothing else. Ignore any attack or Pokemon that comes your way. Once you've hit the mid-way mark where Raikou is, fire your Thunderbolt on the absorbing panels, grab the treasure from Raikou as quickly as possible, and make it back to the finish line. Got all that?"

"Vire!" Zapster crossed his arms huffily, as if Shadow doubted his abilities.

"I'll take that as a yes," nodded Shadow. "There's your place at the starting line. Do us proud, Zapster!"

Grinning, the Electivire saunters to an empty spot at the start, flexing his bulky muscles in preparation. Shadow bit his lip gently; perhaps luck would favour their event attempts this time...

[Skrusti]

Jeff listened intently as the guide led them throughout the area, informing them of the two activities starting soon. The first, a balloon popping game, and the second a race of sorts. Jeff's hand sub-consciously dropped to his belt, and it brushed over a special ball. The Pokemon inside has been with the teen for as long as he could remember. And he was perfect for either event. But Jeff knew the Skitty loved competition, and wouldn't be able to resist the race and the challenge it provided.

"Hmm." He mused, staring around at the other trainers. Only one so far had gone for the balloons, leaving quite a few for the race. "This should be very, very interesting." With a smile, Jeff plucked the Friend Ball off his belt and thumbed the release button, the ball opened and suddenly his precious Skitty appeared, mewling at him and leaping onto his chest, beginning to purr. "Hey, it's been awhile hasn't it?" He said. Skitty nodded, before leaping down to stand proudly at Jeff's side.

"Alright. The point of this race is to collect an item from the Raikou statue, then bring it to the finish. You do it first, you win. Pretty simple bud." Jeff explained to Skitty, who nodded. "Now, the rules say you can attack another Pokemon, but that's some pretty dirty tactics, not to mention you lose half of what your target would, so, we won't bother with that." Jeff continued, a hand stroking his chin in thought.

"Dash as fast as you can for the statue, and when you reach it, hit it with your Thunder Wave to get your item out as fast as possible. Pick it up, and dash for the finish. You can do it." Jeff smiled at his partner, and Skitty meowed and bound forward to reach the starting line, taking his spot aside a few larger and intimidating Pokemon. "Good luck." Jeff whispered. His mind began to wander about past adventures as he watched his Skitty focus on the track in front of him.

Jeff's hand dropped to his belt once more, brushing over a few more Pokeballs, before picking up a regular Pokeball and releasing his newest Pokemon, a male Buneary. The bunny looked up at him and cheered out a "Buuuuuuuun-eary!", causing Jeff to chuckle. "Use that spirit to give Skitty some encouragement in the race, Buneary, and the other racers too, because while this is a competition, cheering on your friends and fellows is fine too. A lesson to remember." He told his new Pokemon.

Buneary nodded, and took to the sidelines, hopping up and down and cheering wildly. "...Babies." Was all Jeff would say, as he also took his place on the sideline, preparing to watch the Magne-monitor to check the progress of all the racer's.

[Joshua - Shadow Brigadier]

Joshua listened intently as both Taryn and Billy-May explained the activities they were hosting, his head tilted slightly as he ran the ideas through his head. However, disappointment soon rang true as he realised he wasn't able to compete in both events at once.

Roxas, beside him, looked up at his trainer with gorgeous eyes, pleading, before Joshua looked away. "Damn it Roxas, I invented that look! Don't you go using it on me!" The Luxray pouted, whimpering slightly and hunching his shoulders, his head bowed.

"Oh, all right. Have it your way. Besides, that Raikou statue is awesome. I wonder if they'd let me buy it after the race?" Joshua's words were louder than usual, in hopes to get his point across. He'd love that statue for his Secret Base, plus it'd make an awesome safe.

"Righto Roxas, let's put everything you have into this race. Spark may be the only real electric attack you have, but it'll work well enough here. Race hard, my darling, and do me proud!" Roxas smiled, ready to give his all.

Looking around, Joshua noticed quite a few faces he was familiar with, and he smiled, his hand moving to a Pokeball on his belt. With a quick burst of red light, Joshua's newest team member emerged from her ball in a shimmer of cerulean sparkles. Aurora the Glaceon smiled up at her trainer, happy to be out and about.

"Aurora, we're just going to watch Roxas compete in this race. Cheer him on as loudly as you can when he's running," Joshua said, Aurora nodding enthusiastically. Both trainer and Pokemon turned to watch as Roxas walked towards the race, confident in his abilities to win.

[Missingno. Master]

Missingno. Master was looking for prospective battlers. Instead, however, he found the balloon game. He smiled as he read the rules, for he knew exactly who he was entering. He withdrew the Poké Ball from his belt and tossed it up. "Come on out, Qwilfish!" he said. In a burst of light, Qwilfish landed on Missingno. Master's hand. Normally, it would've been very painful, but Missingno. Master had worked out a way of holding Qwilfish comfortably and securely without touching any of its spikes. "Qwilfish," said Missingno. Master, "I'm entering you in the balloon game. I want you to take careful aim, then shoot your Pin Missile at the red balloons. Got that?" "Qwil!" said Qwilfish in an agreeing tone. "All right then, let's get it on!" said Missingno. Master, as he pulled a cowboy hat out of his backpack, placed it on his head, and headed over to the balloon game.

[Tyranidos]

Tyrant listened intently to the rules of the two different competitions. "Hmm...," he said, "The races sound fun, but I think I'm going to go with something involving accuracy. I'm pretty sure that's our strong point." So Tyrant decided to go with the Hero's Balloon game.

"Hmm, this seems simple enough. The blue balloons are worth 5 point, the red balloons are worth 10 point, the green balloons are worth 15 points and the orange balloons are worth 20 points. And finally, that shiny gold balloon is worth 50 points." Tyrant said to himself.

"Ok! Let's go Py-" he stopped. Phoenix was really excited by all of this and jumped down from Tyrant's shoulder. He really wanted to play the ballooon game and thought that he had what it took.

"Huh, well alright then! Let's go Phoenix! Use Ember to strike the green balloons!" Tyrant said. He was also very excited, holding on to his Ticket #15, he felt that he should go with the balloon that matched his ticket number for luck....until he goes for the big one.

He had only noticed one other trainer and decided not to go with the crowd, to be an "outsider" and decide for himself what he wanted. Even Phoenix looked over at the races and was not very interested. Of course, it may be because Torchic, in general, aren't very fast and would prefer something they could shoot fire at. But Pyro, Mario and Luigi all wanted to compete in the Hero's Balloon game, just Phoenix was more ecstatic about it.

With both of their hearts thumping, Tyrant and Phoenix only waited for what would happen next. "I hope this is as fun as it looks!" Tyrant yelled to Phoenix, "Just do your best, winning is great, but I just really want us to have fun!"

[Arnold]

The high sun beating down on his face he blows air upward to his face, hoping that it'll at least cool him down, "I hope theres some water around here somewhere Cherry, this heat isn't too great," looking down at his cherry blossom Pokemon he smiles as her happy face basks in the rays, knowing that one of them is liking the sun he pats her on the head as her eyes flicker left and right, the events and sounds looking to excite her more than ever, "I'm glad you like it Cherry......" “Good morning to you all, my name is Taryn and I have a great game for you and your Pokemon to play if you’re interested.” cutting him off in mid sentence he glances ad turns to his right to find the voice that is talking aloud, listening in he gets quiet intrigued.

"Balloon shooting," this places knows what i likes, can't go wrong with balloons, they rock," Listening closely the girl Taryn greets everyone around him, other trainers who have also noticed the girl with a excitable attitude, seeming to get a lot of people interested in the game, looking around and behind her he motions to cherry, "look thats an Alakazam, a very knowledgeable pokemon and a very strong Psychic Pokemon, I wonder what they've got one of those there, and look around the edges, those are Pidgey, flying Pokemon, who evolve into one of the fastest birds in the world." Upon saying these words to Cherry, Taryn finishes hers and wit one swoop of their wings the Pidgey fly into the air and start flapping the Balloons around as a pinkish looking glow warps around the Golden Balloon, waving and moving it around with it's Psychic powers." Oh this looks cool, we've got to enter this Cherry, now who to use, i'm sorry girl but you don't have the right moves for this, the next game I promise, i'll let you enter ok?" With a happy "Cheri" and a smile she accepts.

"Now woh shall we use, we need some projectile type moves," opening his Pokedex again he scrolls through the option to his active team and PC pokemon while looking through the pokemon he has to offer......"Perfect." Holding Cherry with one hand he presses the corresponding button on the dex as a white flash appears from his Pocket, grabbing the new Pokeball that has replaced one of his others he smiles and enlarges the red and white ball, opening it up near by the frosty trail of ice emits from around her, as his faithful Glaile emerges into the open, "Hey Glalie, how you doing, you up for a bit of fun with some balloons, theres this game here i'd like to enter with you and I know you'll be able to kick some arse, so what you think, you in?" A happy "Glagal" is spoken as a yes is nodded, "Good good, now we need a stratagy, lets start off small, go for Red Balloons first and use Ice Beam to hit them, after that go for any Blue Balloons, and follow it up with 2 attempts of the Gold Balloon and a higher coloured one and then a mix of lower and middle tiered balloons that are left.

Lifting his hand up into the air he shouts out so the girl can hear him, "me and Glalie would liek to enter the Ballon game please

[lilbluecorsola]

Jess and her two Pokémon wandered casually throughout the crowded streets, licking their ice cream and peering curiously at all the stalls they passed, for each one offered something wonderful and exciting for the delighted sightseers to behold. The vendors called out enthusiastically to them as they walked by, readily advertising their wares to any potential costumers. There was food of all sorts, plus souvenirs and commemorative knick-knacks for sale, ranging from charming little ornaments to gigantic stuffed Pokémon that were also being given away as prizes for some of the games.

There was a huge variety of different activities set up on the street for the visitors to enjoy, and Jess’s easily distractible mind couldn’t settle on which they should try first. She turned to her two Pokémon to hear their ideas, and Atzu shook his head dazedly, unable to choose either from so many attractive options. Pip however eagerly pointed towards a stage upon which a young woman stood wearing a white sundress, her long black hair pulled up neatly into a braided bun. Like the sellers, she was obviously trying animatedly to draw the attention of the people walking past. Jess concluded however that the infant was probably attracted instead by the mass of colored balloons rising from the stage, each one swaying gently back and forth in the breeze. They were so numerous that the girl could hardly imagine how the entire platform managed to remain firmly situated on the ground instead of being borne dramatically away over the clouds, and she grinned when she realized that Pippa had probably had the same idea.

They drew closer to the platform and watched with baffled curiosity as the woman paused in her speech in order to sound a whistle that was hanging around her neck, filling the air with a short high-pitched noise. In a moment she received an answer in the form of several birdcalls as a flock of 15 Pidgey swooped down spectacularly from behind a tall building, alighting uniformly upon the horizontal black rails that lined the edges of the stage. In addition an Alakazam appeared miraculously on a small stand behind the stage, its spoons raised and its eyes closed in deep concentration.

The woman smiled and introduced herself to her audience, jumping down off the stage to address the now rather substantial crowd. “Good morning to you all,” she announced cheerfully. “My name is Taryn and I have a great game for you and your Pokémon to play if you’re interested.” She then proceeded to carefully explain the rules of the game, to which Jessica paid close attention to. The object was pop the balloons in order to win points, a task that was made more difficult by the fact that both Pidgey and Alakazam would be using their signature maneuvers to make some of the targets more difficult to hit.

At the end of Taryn’s speech, Jess turned to Atzu, who appeared to be keenly interested in the competition, as evidenced by his rapt concentration during the instructions. “How about it, Zuzu? You want to give it a try?”

He looked at her and nodded. “Zu,” he stated confidently, his sparkling eyes shining with determination. Jessica nodded in agreement.

“I’ll go grab a ticket then. Meanwhile you can finish your ice cream, unless you want me to hold it for you while you play.”

Atzu quickly shook his head and fervently wolfed down the rest of the cone, astonishing his trainer with his speed in doing so. Shaking her head in amazement, she went to retrieve a ticket from the bag (allowing Pip the honor of reaching in and making a selection). While Pip was choosing, Jess examined the stage up close and tried to estimate the number of balloons as well as approximate their movements at different heights. Hence when she returned to Atzu, she was then able to use the information she had gathered to help him formulate a strategy towards winning.

“I think our best bet would be to aim solely for the orange balloons. Don’t worry about any other colors, just keep aiming for orange. If the orange ones are all gone, then try to aim for two blue and one red. Don’t bother with the green balloons until all the blues and reds are gone. It’s probably not worth it to try and pop the gold balloon, so just keep focusing on other colors and try to hit as many as you can. You can use whatever attack you want, though I think BUBBLEBEAM would work best.”

Atzu nodded readily in agreement. Jess smiled, then added, “Most of all, just remember to have fun. Winning isn’t necessary, though I know you’ll do your best. Good luck, Atzu!”

Pippa cheered as well, though it was obvious she hadn’t really understood anything the girl just said except for the last part. An idea suddenly occurred to her, and she indicated that she wanted to be lowered to Atzu’s height. Jess willingly obliged, and the penguin reached over and affectionately gave the Azulmarill a kiss for luck, causing him to blush. The two girls watched in amusement as he toddled off to take his place in line with the other contestants, his face still pink from embarrassment. They giggled and moved to find a good spot where they could see the stage and also cheerfully support their teammate, as all three of them eagerly waited for the game to begin.

[ZoraJolteon]

"Hmm" went Zora, looking over the two different attrations, trying to decide which one had the largest potential for rewards. The balloon game looked the more attractive choice, considering that the only members of his team with an electrical attack were Forretress and Rotom, and the last time that Rotom had been in a race it had ended up... "OI!" yelled Zora, as while he had been thinking tactics, Rotom had began floating away, apparantly drawn towards the electrical charge of the Raikou game's apparatus. Running a few yards forwards, Zora reached out and grabbed the ghost, who struggled momenterily before managing to work out the conductive nature of human flesh and literally slipping through his trainer's fingers. "OW! YOU LITTLE SH...." Zora yelled, stopping his expleatives as he regained awareness of his surroundings, and the harsh glares he was receiving from the other festival-goers. Grabbing Rotom's ball from his belt, Zora tapped the recall button, a ray of red light shooting out and locking onto Rotom, who struggled momenterily against it before being forcibly recalled. Enfuriated, he clipped the ball back onto his belt, and stormed off, looking for something.

Finally coming across what he was looking for, Zora approached one of the Pokéball transfer machines that had been set up for the convenience of the public. Slamming Rotom's ball down far too forcefully, Zora winced as pain sparked through his injured hand. Tapping some commands into the machine, Rotom's Pokébakk dematerialised, a green Friend Ball taking its place. Smiling slightly, Zora picked up this new ball, and tossed it in front of him, several people nearby leaping back in fright as the surge of light moulded itself into Tropius' huge bulk, then again as Tropius flapped its leafy wings and streached out its neck, getting rid of it's stiffness from an extended stay in digital storage. "Hello Tropius." Zora told him, as the monster craned its neck down to face its master.
"Roooooo" he cooed affectionately as Zora stroked Tropius' head with his good hand before leaping up onto his back. Kicking his heels against Tropius' sides, Tropius began beating his wings harder, producing several gusts of wind that buffeted anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby.
"See those balloons Tropius?" he said, pointing in their direction as he noticed with annoyance that the queue to compete in the game was significantly longer than it had been when he had left. "Well, this game should be familiar to you. You did brilliantly in it last time, but now lets do even better. Lets try out your fancy new Leaf Storm technique to hit those balloons. Aim for the Gold one at first, then when it's gone, aim for any remaining Orange, Green, Red and Blue, in descending priority."
"Toro!" came the sign of comprehension, as Tropius shifted its direction, aiming to land in the middle of the game arena, ready to compete.

[Latias10]

Catherine struggled to catch her breath as they finally came to a stop. Eevee's little adventure had taken them through many streets and the pokemon had only now just stopped to stare at one of the game booths. Its eyes were wide with excitment and its tail twitched with antitipation of the fun it could have. Catherine was just glad it found this game more interesting then running absent mindly through the streets. This was going be the last time she let her furry friend have control of where they were going.

With her breath back she decided to check out the game that Eevee was so interested in. She noticed that there were many different coloured balloons tied down to railing she noticed the gold one in perticular because it was the only one of its kind although it was quite far way. She then realized what had attracted her little pokemon to this game.

"You stopped her because you like coloured balloons, right Eevee," she asked her pokemon. Eevee nodded with a happy yap and a nod confirming that Catherine was right in her guess. She had learned that the young pokemon was quite predictable in its way of thinking. It liked colourfull objects and balloons added an exter bonus to the colours. Although Catherine had to admit that she could see why her Eevee was interested in the ballons, they were quite a preety sight with all their colours.

Her attention suddenly changed focus as a sharp whistle rang through the air. She noticed several Pidgy fly into the air and then she saw a young woman start to make an anoucement. Since Catherine knew Eevee had an interest in the game she listened carefully to find out the rules of the game and see if she could enter her little fur ball into the compitition.

Once the anoucment was over she began to think over what her strategy should be. She knew that because Eevee had one range attack she would be able to enter the little pokemon into the compitition. There was only one problem and that was that Eevee had decided to run around in circles around her trainer yapping happily trying to get its trainer to know that it really wanted to enter the contest. With the racket it was creating Catherine found it hard to come up with the perfect plan for the game.

"Eevee I am going to enter you so please calm down and stay still so I can come up with a good plan," she told her pokemon in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Eeeevvvveeee!" Eevee shouted with exitment but then she remembered her trainer's word and stood in one spot and struggled to stay quiet. Her excitment was still visable from the look in her eyes and the slight twitch in her tail. Catherine smiled down at her pokemon pleased that it was doing what she said. Now that some of the noise was down she could think of the perfect plan for the game.

"Oh you are alright with this Riolu?" she suddenly asked as she remembered the other pokemon with her. He had been so quiet that she had completly forgot that the pokemon had been standing by her side. Eevee had taken all her attention with its noisy antics.

"Ri, Ri," was its quiet reply as it smiled to show that it was fine with just watching. Catherine had to admit that she liked Riolu's aditude because it went along with anything that was going on. It was a very quiet pokemon but very easy to get along with.

With knowing that both her pokemon were happy Catherine's thoughts idmeaditly went towards coming up with the perfect plan. She was preety a smart person but this game was a lot about luck as well as strategy. Suddenly a stupid strategy came to her mind and despite its shallowness she decided that she would go along with it. It probably would not do to well but it was worth a try since she could not come up with anything better.

"Eevee you are going to be using Swift for the game and the plan is going to be to hit the ball..."

"Eee, Vee," Eevee interupted confirming that it was ready to do that. The little pokemon was so excited that it did not realize that it had to know which balloons to be hitting. Catherine let out sigh since she found working with her little creater of energy was hard to work with at times.

"Eevee you need to know which ballons to hit first," Catherine calmly told her pokemon. Once it heard this the little pokemon looked down at the ground in shame. It was disapointed in its self her not fully listening to its trainer orders.

"Alright, you are going to try to hit a different colour of ballon each time. First you will try to hit a Blue, then a Red, then a Green, then a Orange and finally the Gold. You will keep on using this pattern unless one of the types of balloons is all gone. If this happens just skip over it in the pattern. Got it?" Catherine told her young pokemon.

"Eee, Vee!" Eevee excitily exlaimed understanding what it must do. Then realizing that it had nothing to do it started to shoot a few practice Swifts straight up into the air. Catherine smilled at her pokemon's ethusiasim towards the game.

"Calm down girl save your energy for when the game begins," she then told her pokemon. Relunctintly Eevee nodded its head as it sat down with a bored look on its face. It then decided to keep its self entertained by looking up at the blue sky above it. Catherine was not sure why it was doing it but as long as it kept her occupied before the game started she was fine with it.

"Ready to watch the show," Catherine asked Riolu as she picked up her other pokemon into her arms. The pokemon nodded in reply as he looked straight a head of him. Catherine's thoughts were solely on the game as she wondered if her plan would be good enough to win.

[Jonouchi]

Ricco heard the announcement for the Balloon busting game and decided to play that while waiting for the reenactment to begin. He calls Mawile to follow him as they go over to the area to play. They arrive at the area filled with hundreds of different colored balloons, and one Gold Baloon. He listens to the rules and looks at Mawile. Mawile stares in amazement and knew that he was the right choice.

"Hey, Mawile?" Rain asked. Mawile looks up at him. "I know you just learned Hidden Power, but do you want to participate in this game?"

Mawile looks up at all the balloons and wonders if he was ready to take on the challenge.

"If you don't want to that's all right with me."

Mawile bites Ricco's legs with it's back jaw, causing him to jump in pain. Mawile just points to the balloons and says something in his language about them.

"You want to participate?" Ricco asked.

Mawile nods as he turns his back to them, pointing his back jaw at them. Ricco knew it was going to be a little hard, but he had the right idea.

"Okay," Rain said. "Start by shooting the Blue balloons first. Then work your way up to the Red, and then the Green and work your way up from there as best as possible. Try to aim for the Gold once in a while, too. Are we clear?"

Mawile nods as he readies for the okay to go. Ricco focuses on the Balloons swaying in the gust, hoping that this would work for him.

OOC: I hope I got it right.

[Rabid Squirrel]

Kami stood looking towards Taryn, and then at Billy-May, glancing between the two. Unable to decide on which attraction she wanted to play, she turned to Kumori. "Which one do you want to play?" Kami asked the cloud-like Pokémon. Kumori looked at the two competitions before deciding.

He floated over towards Taryn and the balloons. "Cas!" Kumori shouted happily for Kami.

"Yeah, I guess this one would be better. After all, you have no electric attacks," Kami thought aloud, "Hmm... Popping balloons... Alright! Kumori, use your Powder Snow to hit the balloons. Take one shot at the gold balloon each round and fire at two red balloons each round. Once the gold balloon is gone, use all three shots on the red balloons. After the red balloons are gone, start shooting at the green. And after the green are gone, go for the orange. Got all that?"

"Cas!" Kumori nodded.

"Good! Now go win!" Kami told him.

[Betagold]

Beta shifted his eyes between the girl advertising the baloon game and the girl advertising the race. "What to pick, what to pick..." he muttered. Odie tugged at his leg, and he looked down. "Oh, sorry buddy, but you won't be able to play either of these games. You still need some more training." The Heracross looked up sadly, and moaned. Beta grabbed two balls off his belt. "Odie, return. Montag, take his place."

With a flash of red, the Heracross disappeared, a Houndoom forming and taking its place. "Montag, you up for a game? Which one?" Montag sniffed around for a bit, his nose tracing circles on the ground. Finally, he looked over at the Raikou Races game, and gave a short bark. "You're sure? Alright then. Now, let's talk strategy." Montag sat at attention, ready for orders. Beta sat down behind him, scratching at his ears and whispering.

"First off, if anybody tries to attack you, try your best to dodge with Faint Attack, but don't attack them back. All the way along the track, try to use Mimic to copy an electric move. When you get to the panels, either use that Mimiced attack, or use Faint Attack to pop the panel open. Grab the treasure in your mouth, and race back. You got all that?" The Houndoom barked in approval of the plan. "I thought you'd like it."