The day of the Pokemon tournament had dawned beautiful and sunny and after her “meeting” with her “pokemon” Kealey had set out to do what every good trainer did on the day of a tournament. Get their schedule and scope out the competition so a strategy could be developed. The diversity of her powers mixed with Ghost’s, provided an advantage, but the lack of offense on Kealey’s part provided an obstacle as well.

Trainer Kealey had barely believed her eyes when she’d gotten that schedule. Shin. In the first round. With his Porygon. It had taken a moment for the fact to sink in, but slowly a broad smirk had spread across the blondes features. Shin had taught her everything she knew about Pokemon, and Kealey had learned well. Very well. In fact, all of his Pokemon books were still in her room. What time she hadn’t spent over the last few days making costumes had been devoted to studying status effects and the different combinations one could make with them.

The kimono was surprisingly easy to move around in and Kealey looked around at the registration table. Suddenly, scoping out the competition didn’t seem like a great idea. Kealey knew Shin, and she knew that he was fighting with a Porygon. Kealey had studied Porygon and with her knowledge of Shin’s powers had a vague idea of the type of attacks she and Ghost would be facing. A memory of something Shin had told her very early on rang in Kealey’s head, something about how physical attacks couldn’t touch ghost types. The smirk turned into a full on smile.

Kealey had promised Shin that when the costume ensemble had completely finished he’d be one of the first to see. That still held true, the only people who had really seen her were Ghost and the people at the registration table. The blond turned and made her way back to the mansion to find Ghost and set up their plan of attack.

Sometime later, about ten minutes before the fight started, Kealey and Ghost made their way to the garden that would serve as the battle ground. The kimono was proving easier to move in than Kealey could have possibly hoped for and the airy material was perfect in the warm weather. Thanks to the nature of the forest battleground, there were fewer people than Kealey had feared. It was still going to be difficult to tamp down the excited energy that kept rising in her chest, but was better than if there was a huge crowd.

Kealey waited, her Ghostly ready to start as soon as their opponent showed and the battle began. Kealey put on her game face, which was a very slight smile, a confident stance, and one hand on her hip. It was game time.

It was a small, plastic toy. White and red plastic with a black stripe and a white button and a simple hinge. It was a pokeball and Ghost was being a good little pokemon and waiting inside. Her insubstantial body compressed to accommodate the construction paper face that was stacked at the bottom of the ball.

It was all she could do to keep from oozing out the not air-tight enclosure, but the grand entrance would so be worth it. What other pokemon would actually come out of the pokeball? None, Ghost hoped. Because it was cramped in there and epic could only be assigned to so many people.

They were shooting for epic here.

"Kealey do you have a camera?" A little voice drifted up from the pokeball in Kealey's possession. "Because I would so love to see Shin's face." In this form, it just wouldn't be the same.

No matter what.

No matter what.

No matter what, the words repeated in Shin's mind, a mantra. In his hand, he clenched the trainer card and his schedule. On his body, he wore his red and blue Chinese suit. The same suit Kealey had made for him. It split down the center into two primary colors by gold. Stylish white Chinese dragons adorned the sea of blue on the left. On the right, spheres of gold burned against red. His hair was light, tussled by the mantra, and his own fretting. No matter what, he repeated. He would win, no matter what. And even friendships wouldn't hold him back.

Even if his first opponent was the woman who had made the suit for him. Even if he owed her a lot. No matter what. That's what the mantra said. That's what he would promise her... when he saw her.

And then, he saw her. And oh boy... she was pretty. For a second, Porygon stalled in following him, and hovered in place. Shin kept walking, eyes on Kealey. Then, he realized he was missing something important. Shin tore his eyes away, back to the Porygon, and he jerked his head towards her for it to follow. Porygon dumbly bobbled after him, to stop a few inches off the ground behind his back.

Shin's focus returned to Kealey. "It's beautiful." He stated pure undeniable fact with a small smile. "You look good." Now that that was out of the way. "I just want you to know I won't be holding back, just because we're friends. I want a good battle, you hear?" He wagged a finger. "No matter what."

((OOC: Shin is wearing This, as seen Here.))

Kealey knew when Shin was approaching, she knew because she felt the determination before he was even visible. It helped, and Kealey smiled. She’d kind of been counting on that. The other emotions were slightly easier to ignore with determination of that scale. There was unease there too, though, and it made Kealey tilt her head as Shin came into view.

A voice came from the pokeball, and Kealey chuckled softly, ”No camera….but he looks…awesome” she finished off as he approached and a broad grin spread across her features. The costume she’d made, the bi-colored Chinese suit jacket and pants, looked fantastic. Apparently she’d done alright on her own costume as well.

At Shin’s comment, a dark flush rushed up Kealey’s neck and into her cheeks and she silently cursed herself for being so susceptible to a simple compliment. It was sincerely given, Kealey could tell, and for a moment she didn’t know what to say in return. ”You too…” seemed to suffice, though.

Shin had never given her a compliment like that before and it caught Kealey off guard. For a moment things threatened to get awkward…until he pushed those feelings and comments out of the way and got down to business.

”I’d expect nothing less.” Kealey said, her chin raising as her determination solidified again. ”I don’t need ya t’hold back…you might just get a better battle than you‘re hopin‘ for.”

Shin’s Porygon looked good, it looked really good, hovering its way onto the battlefield. It was definitely ready, and Kealey nearly lost some of her concentration when she realized she’d momentarily forgotten about her own partner. ”Here we go…” she whispered as she unclipped the pokeball toy from the obi that Ghost had so beautifully tied. Kealey grinned at Shin, ”They say t’be careful what y’wish for.” she called across the close space.

”I choose you, Ghostly!” she shouted, pushing the release button on the ball and tossing it up in the air with a little underhanded flare, fixing Shin with a steady blue stare.

”Permission to use my powers in the battle, please.” she said. After all, Kealey had made a promise to Shin about using her ability without permission. She wasn’t about to break it, even if this was battle.

The time came at last when Kealey shouted the magic words: I choose you. All she had to do was stop cramming herself in so tight. Stretch her legs. Get the heck out of that confined space. Grab the construction paper face and hold it up with her power.

A swirl of wind greeted her, plucking both trainer's clothes toward the forming pokemon. Nothing said hollywood like some well directed wind.

The pokeball fell away to the ground, but she was already free and drifting mid-battle arena. The false eyes bobbed up to the front of the gaseous ball of Ghost. She was ready.

Outside of her confines she was able to view Shin and his... structured pokemon. How this fight was going to work, she had no idea, but she had just one obligation now. Listen to her trainer and say her name.

"Ghostly." Even if her features were indiscernible, the smile could be heard in that one word. Yes. She was Ghostly. And they were going to kick their mutual friend's barrier butt.

Blue was a good color on her... as was red.

Had he made her blush? Oops. But blue and red were good colors on him, too. She did good work.

>> ”I don’t need ya t’hold back…you might just get a better battle than you‘re hopin‘ for.”

Shin lowered the wagging finger. Neither side would expect less than the best. That was good. Shin took a step back at her comment, and put a hand against Porygon's left flank. He focused his mind on the shards in Porygon's eyes, and narrowed them combatively.

"Then I suppose the battle will exceed my expectations." He taunted, with a healthy grin. "I've still got plenty of tricks, though. This should be fun."

Tackle, Sharpen, Zen Headbutt, Iron Tail, Swift... Those were the main attacks he'd prepared for today. They'd be good, but they weren't... his secret weapon. Shin's eyes swung up to Porygon's face, then back to Kealey, just in time to see her battle pose.

Nice entry.

>> I choose you, Ghostly!”

Ghosty, she chose you.

>> "Ghostly."

And there was Shin's boss, wearing a costume as silly, or sillier, than their own. "Epic." And that was all there was to say about that.

>> ”Permission to use my powers in the battle, please.”

Shin nodded once. "I'd expect nothing less. Do your best~" No matter what! Shin smiled. "And may the best man win!"

The judge stepped forward, and dropped his arm. "Pokemon, fight!!"

Porygon leaped onto the battlefield, and instantly launched into a shard-boosted tackle. "Go!"

Shin taunted, and Kealey couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across her face. Sometimes people who knew her and knew about her powers acted like she was fragile or helpless. Shin didn’t, he wouldn’t hold back at all and that was the best thing about this Pokemon fight.

”I’m sure you do…but you’re not the only one with tricks.” the blond said softly, her grin softening to a smile of genuine giddiness.

Ghost was doing her job beautifully and Kealey utterly failed to suppress a giggle at the show her partner was putting on. Shin was impressed, and Kealey’s smile went mega-watt. Impressing a pokemon savant like Shin was no small feat.

Only a nod was necessary for Shin’s next comment, then everything happened really fast. Ghosty said her Pokemon name, the judge started the match, and Shin’s Porygon rushed forward.

”Ghostly, he can‘t hit you! Use Dark Pulse! Make that Porygon flinch!” Kealey knew her strengths and weaknesses, but she also knew Porygon’s. Physical types had a real hard time landing hits on Ghosts.

What Kealey had said was true. The porygon could not physically touch her (though it could maim her construction paper face), but just the same Ghost didn't understand how it was going to do any good to attack a bunch of barrier shards with forcible winds (circular or not).

Luckily, it was not Ghost's job to think. It was trainer Kealey's.

"Ghost-ly" The words were nonsense, but the tone said let's do this thing.

Ghost's one job in this tournament was to remember her list of attacks and their corresponding effects that they would try to recreate via mutation.

Dark Pulse, according to Kealey's readings meant a circular looking attack. Ghostly complied by flying upward and raining down several circular shaped blasts of wind at the shard construction.

The circular-shaped blasts of wind weren't a huge threat. Shin had planned for this.

"Porygon, try to dodge it, and use Iron Tail!" Iron Tail in this case was a whitening of Porygon's conical tail. Porygon shifted out of the way of the attack, turning so his tail blocked some of the blasts. He tanked the hit with the power of metal! Shin's brow creased in concentration, then he forced forwards.

This battle would be difficult. Ghost could go intangible and avoid most of Shin's attacks. Maybe the tail...

"According to rules, an Iron Tail should hit a Ghost!!" He shouted, as Porygon butt-bumped its way across the basketball court, towards Ghostly. It'd hit! ... If it hit. And Steel attacks were usually inaccurate... especially when the steel aspects of the attack were all cosmetic.

The attack that she had called out didn’t do much good, but Kealey wasn’t discouraged. It wasn’t time for that yet. The blond had known from the beginning that this was going to be a slow and arduous battle. It was just the way the two pokemon matched up. Normal versus Ghost was one of the more interesting combinations the Poke-verse offered. Dark Pulse didn’t exactly do what Kealey had hoped. That was fine, all Ghost had to do was stay in the game until Shin gave Kealey the opening she needed.

Kealey winced slightly at what was going to happen, ”Ghostly, you’re going to have to take the hit! Soften the blow as much as you can…it‘s not very accurate either, so it‘s unlikely it‘ll hit again in its next few uses.” The last was said pointedly to Shin and Kealey still had reservations about the action. Yes she was asking Ghost to take a hit, but it was better to take the hit now when power was high and…

”Then while you’re solid, use sucker punch.” They’d spoken about that one, Ghost could reinforce her punch with air to both cushion the blow and increase the strength. No, sucker punch wasn’t a wind attack, but they weren’t using the air as the attack. Concessions had to be made in this kind of battle. Besides, it rendered Ghost solid for a turn, hopefully that would throw Shin off guard enough that Kealey could use their secret weapon. Only time would tell.

Trainer Kealey said to go solid and punch. Trainer Kealey also said to take the hit. She would have to do these one at a time and in a very particular order that did not match her directions.

The porygon's tail went through her gaseous form. It slapped her construction paper face and the pitiful collection of papers sailed father than Ghost thought it would before fluttering into the dirt. Man. Shin certainly wasn't pulling his punches. That meant that this humble Ghostly shouldn't either.

The Iron Tail over, Ghostly wafted back a few paces and began the process of solidifying herself. This was a very vulnerable time for her, but it was one that passed relatively fast. Sooner than she expected, Ghost launched herself at Porygon. "Haaa!" Somehow punches just felt best with a good shout.

Her solid eyes appreciated the construction's appearance as her fist extended and air floes blasted past and around her arm. He was a lot quirkier in living color, that Porygon.

Tail went through body. Tail missed. Sad, really. This Ghost type wasn't quite playing by the in-game rules. This Porygon owner clenched his fist as the attack sailed through.

That wasn't quite fair, now was it?

D'oh.

The punch, however, seemed like a solid one. Shin's mind flashed to the opening. Sucker Punch was a physical-based Dark attack. Really, a misnomer. There was no punching. But in this situation, he wouldn't eye the price tag on the gift. He'd unwrap it and cherish it, no matter the price.

"Porygon! Use Protect!"

A wall of quickly-drawn shards was brought up in a snap to block the shot. As an added benefit/drawback, the wall was weaker than Shin's usual shard barriers. It was hard as glass, and shattered just as well.

Sucker Punch only hit when the opponent was using offensive moves, see? And there was nothing more offensive than turning someone's nice little punch directly into a pane of painful glass...

Ghostly didn’t get solid in time for Shin’s attack to land. A slight flub as far as the Pokemon universe was concerned, but Kealey couldn’t blame Ghost, she was a novice as far as the game was concerned. The fact that she was a novice too, didn’t occur to Kealey, she’d taken the crash course. That counted for something. No matter, Ghostly was solid now and would have to stay that way for another turn, but she still had use of her wind moves.

”Don’t hit the barrier!” Kealey called, ”Use Ominous Wind. I may not do much damage, but hopefully it will up all of our stats for the next turn!” Then they’d attack. They’d attack hard, and Kealey could only hope she’d get a chance to use her own special brand of status effect.

Come on Shin…give me an opening….

Take a hit while changing states, punch the barrier, don't punch the barrier. Not all of these things were possible. Her mutation and well being were at stake here and Kealey didn't exactly understand her like she understood herself. One of those things that Ghost had come to terms with long ago was that objects in motion tended to stay in motion. Similarly, air sent forward with a punch kept traveling... even if the punch stopped.

Ghost stopped her fist just shy of the new barrier, no simple feat. The air, however...

The barrier shattered with a surprisingly normal sound like glass. She had tried to still the wind so when the shards fell down, they were pushed back by the continuation of the punch wind, but not by much since it had been lessened considerably.

A few pieces bounced off of Ghost's outstretched fist. Small cuts somehow always hurt worse than large ones.

And then it was her turn to do something. Something ominous. Ghost straightened where she stood and raised a broad, general wind. Had the shards not been disappearing, she would have swept the field clean of them.

Did it up her stats? No, not at all, though they could play pretend like it did. What would actually "raise her stats" for real, if anything, was for her to go incorporeal again. Being solid in a fight made her nervous.

Shin felt a sharp hard spike of pain rush through his head as the Protect barrier shattered. It wasn't pleasant, but it was deja vu. This had happened before. When had it happened before...?

It didn't dawn on him there. All that ran through the Asian's mind: ...a couple more hits like that, and I'll have a headache.

Porygon bowed its head, and shook off the feeling as an ominous wind cut across the field.

Shin mimicked the shard construct with a head shake and a mind wibble.